Memorials of John Ray / edited by Edwin Lankester.

Date:
1846
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Memorials of John Ray / edited by Edwin Lankester. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    183/242 (page 165)
    blue or sea-green, spotted with black ;) at the driving every year, they take commonly above an hundred dozen young, which they sell at five shillings the dozen. The colour of the puit is near that of a sea-mew, 1. e. white and some- what flecked, only the head is perfectly black ; about the bigness of a teal or widgeon. They come to this meer the beginning of March, and are all gone by the latter end of July or before. They usually drive them about the 6th or 8th of June, sooner or later. They have sometimes divided, and part removed to another meer not far off, but this not often. At Derrington, three miles from Nantwych, Sir Henry Delves has a very fair house, and a large pool or meer near it by the road-side; and we saw among others, these gentlemen’s houses by the way, viz., Sir Thomas Whitgrave’s at Whitgrave, Mr. Cope’s at Ranton Priory, Mr. Holland’s at Adbaston. At Nantwych there is a fair church ; the town is governed by ten constables ; they have a custom like that in Scot- land; when any one is dead, a bellman goeth about the streets the morning that the dead person is to be buried, tinkling a bell he has im his hand, and now and then makes a stand, and invites the people to come to the funeral at such an hour. From Nantwych to West Chester, by Beeston castle, twenty miles. By the way, at Bickly, we saw a pool in my Lord Cholmondeley’s ground, which was made by the falling in of the earth about the year 1657, Cujus historiam descripsit, D. P. W.* Beeston castle was strongly situate upon an high rock, but is now quite fallen down and ruined. We could not find any of those plants, which, in ‘Phytol. Brit.’ are mentioned to grow wild there, and suppose none such are to be found. By the way we observed, Sir Thomas Wilbraham’s house at Woodhay, and Lord Cholmonde- ley’s at Cholmondely, a very stately timber building. At Chester we were shown a fair altar with an inscription, which we copied, and which was dug up in the cellar of * Dominus Franciscus Willughby, ut videtur.