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RECORDS OF WOODHALL SPA and NEIGHBOURHOOD;
RECORDS OF WOODHALL SPA and NEIGHBOURHOOD;
HISTORICAL, ANECDOTAL, PHYSIOGRAPHICAL, AND ARCHÆOLOGICAL, with OTHER MATTER. by J. CONWAY WALTER, Author of “ Letters from the Highlands ,” “ Forays among Salmon and Deer ,” “ Literæ Laureatæ ,” “ The Ayscoughs .” Notes on Parishes Round Horncastle , &c. horncastle : w. k. morton , high street ....
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INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
The series of “Records” of various kinds which will be found in the following chapters are drawn from personal reminiscences, extending over more than half a century, combined with notes collected from many different sources during at least two-thirds of that period. In dealing with such material one is apt, even unconsciously, to be egotistical, and to linger too long and too fondly over scenes and incidents of which one might say, in Virgilian phrase, quorum pars , si non magna , at parva fui
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CHAPTER I. THE HISTORY OF THE WELL.
CHAPTER I. THE HISTORY OF THE WELL.
It has been remarked that the discovery of many of our medicinal springs has been due to some romantic incident, or, in other cases, to some occurrence partaking almost of the ludicrous. At the famed Carlsbad, for instance, a princely hunter pursues his stag into the lake where it has sought refuge, whereupon the unusual cries of his hounds, too eagerly breasting the waters, speedily reveal to him the strongly thermal nature of the spring which feeds the lake, and the discovery has benefited th
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CHAPTER II. LOCAL RECORDS OP THE PAST.
CHAPTER II. LOCAL RECORDS OP THE PAST.
To those who visit Woodhall Spa, in its present advanced and advancing condition, it must be difficult to conceive the very different condition of the locality even in the middle of the 19th century. If the Victorian era has been a period of remarkable progress, nowhere has it been more so than at Woodhall Spa. The place was, in those days, only accessible with great difficulty. The roads, scarcely indeed worthy of the name, were so bad that the writer well remembers going there, as a boy, wi
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CHAPTER III. NATURE NOTES.
CHAPTER III. NATURE NOTES.
The great charm of Woodhall Spa is its “Rus in Urbe” character. The visitor can hardly go for ten minutes in any direction from his hotel or lodgings but he finds himself by the woodside, among the hedgerows or on the heath, where the jaded spirit, or the enfeebled frame, may draw fresh energy from the bracing air, richly charged with ozone, and even at times perceptibly impregnated with the tonic flavour of the iodine. The author of a recent publication who visited Woodhall Spa, in 1897, says
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TO THE NIGHTINGALE. 2 a.m., April 27.
TO THE NIGHTINGALE. 2 a.m., April 27.
How from that tiny throat, Songster of night! Flows such a wealth of note, Full of delight; Trembling with resonance, Rapid and racy, Sinking in soft cadence, Gushing with ecstasy, Dying away, All in their turns; Plaintive and gay, Thrilling with tones aglow, Melting in murmurs low, Till one’s heart burns? Once in the wilderness, By desert well, Hagar in loneliness, With Ishmael, Sighed to the silent air, Tears on her
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CHAPTER V. DENIZENS OF THE WOODS, &c. QUADRUPEDS.
CHAPTER V. DENIZENS OF THE WOODS, &c. QUADRUPEDS.
It is the inevitable, if regretful, duty of the recorder of the past to have to inscribe “Obiit” over the mention of many an individual who comes under his notice, and this applies to the four-footed animals, as well as to the birds and the wild flowers, of Woodhall. Of some of the most interesting, it must be said that they are gone, and their place knoweth them no more. The first I may mention is the Badger. This animal used to be fairly common in these parts; whether it is now quite extinct
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HYMENOPTERA
HYMENOPTERA
Vespa germanica Crabro cribrarius V. vulgaris C. albilabris Bombus lapidarius Halictus leucopus Bombus hortorum Apis mellifica Formica rufa ...
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DIPTERA
DIPTERA
Platychirus clypeatus Calliphora vomitoria Scatophaga stercoraria...
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COLEOPTERA
COLEOPTERA
Geotrupes spiniger Otiorrhyncus picipes G. stercorarius Psylliodes cupro-nitens Coccinella 7-punctata Ragonycha fulva C. variabilis Meligethes æneus Strangalia armata Necrophorus humator Polydrusus pterygomalis N. ruspator N. mortuorum Strophosomus coryli Aphodius rufipes...
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HEMIPTERA-HETEROPTERA
HEMIPTERA-HETEROPTERA
Miris lævigatus Leptopterna ferrugata Calocoris roseomaculatus Œtorhinus angulatus Orthotylus scotti C. bipunctatus Nabis lativentris Those marked * are new to Lincolnshire. *Piezodorus lituratus (abundant on gorse) *Onychumenus decolor Stygnus rusticus (at roots of heather) *Psallus alnicola (on birch) *Dictyonota strichnocera (on gorse) Asciodema obsoletum Miris calcaratus Lygus viridis (on birch) Orthotylus ericetorum (abundant on heather) ...
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SPIDERS.
SPIDERS.
Anyphæna accentuata Meta segmentata Epeira gibbosa (a first record) Epeira marmorea (doubtful, not yet recorded in Britain) Dictyna arundinacea Xysticus pini Diœa dorsata (a first record) Epeira sollers Epeira quadrata Linyphia triangularis E. scalaris Theridion varians ...
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CHAPTER VII. GEOLOGICAL NOTES.
CHAPTER VII. GEOLOGICAL NOTES.
In a county like Lincolnshire, mainly agricultural, in which the operations of man are, for the most part, confined to the earth’s crust, in ploughing and sowing, and, as some one has said, in “tickling” the earth’s surface into fertility,—in such a county we are not led ordinarily to explore the inner bowels of the world; as is necessary in mining districts such as certain parts of Yorkshire, Durham, Cornwall and elsewhere. Yet, with regard to our knowledge of its geological features, Woodhall
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CHAPTER VIII. THE ARCHÆOLOGY OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD.
CHAPTER VIII. THE ARCHÆOLOGY OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD.
In entering on this portion of our Records we are passing from the Natural to the Artificial, from the operations of the Creator to the works of the creature. A systematic process of enquiry would shew that, as in geology, so here, the subject-matter lies in layers. We have the prehistoric period concerning palæolithic and neolithic man; then follow the British, the Roman, the Saxon, the Danish, and the Norman strata, or eras; so many have been the elements which have contributed to the mouldi
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Rectors of Bucknall from a.d. 1219.
Rectors of Bucknall from a.d. 1219.
Richard (clerk) 1219 Eusebius 1227 Bartholomew de Bukenhal 1244 Henry ---- William Gascelyn 1294 William de Rasen 1297 Thomas de Swayneshaye 1298 Walter de Maydenstone 1299 Robert de Wythme 1306 John Denery 1307 Richard Mahen ---- John Mahen de Chipping Norton 1318 Richard de Norton Ralph de Saleby 1330 Roger Sutton Richard Starkie 1399 Richard de Crumwell 1406 Thomas de Grenley 1410 John Glaster 1421 John Endrik John Arthur 1470 John Archer Robert Clifton 1503 John Galyn John Sheffield 1520 J
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“The last dying speech and confession of the Horse at Stock’s Market.
“The last dying speech and confession of the Horse at Stock’s Market.
Ye whimsical people of London’s fair town Who one day put up, what the next day pull down; Full sixty-one years, have I stood in this place, And never, till now, met with any disgrace! What affront to crowned heads could you offer more bare, Than to pull down a king to make room for a mayor? The great Sobieski, on horse with long tail, I first represented, when set up for sale; A Turk, as you see, was placed under my feet, To prove o’er the Sultan my conquest compleat. Next, when against monarch
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SOMERSBY.
SOMERSBY.
Bright Somersby! the sometime summer haunt Of Norsemen and of Dane, whose bards mayhap Foretold—a nest of nightingales would come, And trill their songs in shades of Holy Well; Prophetic bards; for we have lived to see Within your bounds a large-limbed race of men; A long-lived race, and brimming o’er with song, From lays of ancient Greece, and Roman eld, To songs of Arthur’s knights, and England’s prime, And modern verse, in graceful sonnet sung. Each of the brood was clothed upon with song; Ye
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SUPPLEMENTARY.
SUPPLEMENTARY.
In the year 1890, an enthusiastic Tennysonian, giving an account in the “Globe” newspaper, of an excursion to Somersby, which he approached from Louth, says that he was somewhat disgusted to find that his Jehu, though familiar with every ragamuffin on the road, and with the gossip and traditions of the villages through which they passed, had never heard the name of Tennyson. Somersby itself, at the time when Tennyson there enjoyed ramble and reverie, was so withdrawn from the outer world that i
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A GLOSSARY OF LINCOLNSHIRE WORDS & PHASES.
A GLOSSARY OF LINCOLNSHIRE WORDS & PHASES.
Argufy . To matter, be of importance. “It does not argufy at all,” i.e. “It does not signify,” or “It makes no difference.” Bab . A sort of dredge, with hooks below it, to clear out fen drains of the weeds. Bage . A paring of turf formerly used for fuel. Bandy-ball . The game of hockey, also called shinty or shindy. Banker . A navvy employed in digging or repairing fen drains. Bat . A small bundle of straw or grass. Battle-twig . An earwig. Baulk . Hiccough. Bealto . To squeal, or bawl
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APPENDIX I. VERNACULAR NAMES OF WILD PLANTS.
APPENDIX I. VERNACULAR NAMES OF WILD PLANTS.
Adam’s Flannel Mullein Alehoof Ground Ivy Alexander’s foot Pellitory All-heal “Very precious”—Spikenard. “The Box of Ointment,” Mark xiv., 3–5, worth “300 pence.” Valeriana officinalis Ambrose Wild sage Arse-smart Water pepper Ass-ear Comfrey Ass’s foot Coltsfoot Aaron’s board Spirea Bairn-wort Daisy Ball-weed Centaury Ban-wort Violet Base-rocket Burdock Beard-tree Hazel Bedlam Cowslip Oxlip Beggar’s buttons Beggar’s needle Shepherd’s needle Bell-bloom Daffodil Benewithe Woodbine Biddy’s eyes P
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APPENDIX II. LIST OF FOSSILS
APPENDIX II. LIST OF FOSSILS
found at Woodhall Spa, or in the neighbourhood, compiled by Professor J. F. Blake , given in the Government “Geological Survey Memoirs,” pp. 191, 192. Ammonites Berryeri. Langton and Baumber. Ammonites decipiens. Baumber. Ammonites serratus. Woodhall, Langton, and Baumber. Ammonites mutabilis. Horncastle. Ammonites hector. Baumber. Belemnites nitidus. Woodhall. Cerithium crebrum. Horncastle. Rostellaria mosensis. Langton and Horncastle. Rissoa mosensis. Woodhall. Dentalium Quenstedti.
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