The Natural History of Wiltshire

The Natural History of Wiltshire

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Natural History of Wiltshire, by
John Aubrey (#2 in our series by John Aubrey)
Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: The Natural History of Wiltshire
Author: John Aubrey
Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4934] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on March 31,
2002] [Most recently updated: April 14, 2002]
Edition: 10

Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE
NATURAL HISTORY OF WILTSHIRE ***

This eBook was produced by Mikle Coker.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF WILTSHIRE
JOHN AUBREY
TO
GEORGE POULETT SCROPE, ESQ. M.P.,
&c, &c. &c. ___________________________________
MY DEAR SIR,
BY inscribing this Volume to you I am merely discharging a debt of
gratitude and justice. But for you I believe it would not have been
printed; for you not only advocated its publication, but have generously
contributed to diminish the cost of its production to the "WILTSHIRE
TOPOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY", under whose auspices it is now
submitted to the public.
Though comparatively obsolete as regards its scientific, archaeological,
and philosophical information, AUBREY'S "NATURAL HISTORY
OF WILTSHIRE" is replete with curious and entertaining facts and
suggestions, at once characterising the writer, and the age in which he
lived, and illustrating the history and topography of his native county.
Had this work been revised and printed by its author, as he wished and
intended it to have been, it would have proved as useful and important
as Plot's "Staffordshire" and "Oxfordshire"; Burton's "Leicestershire";
Morton's "Northamptonshire"; Philipott's "Kent"; or any others of its
literary predecessors or contemporaries. It could not have failed to
produce useful results to the county it describes; as it was calculated to
promote inquiry, awaken curiosity, and plant seeds which might have
produced a rich and valuable harvest of Topography.
Aubrey justly complained of the apathy which prevailed in his time
amongst Wiltshire men towards such topics ; and, notwithstanding the

many improvements that have since been made in general science,
literature, and art, I fear that the gentry and clergy of the county do not
sufficiently appreciate the value and utility of local history; otherwise
the Wiltshire Topographical Society would not linger for want of
adequate and liberal support. Aubrey, Bishop Tanner, Henry
Penruddocke Wyndham, Sir Richard Colt Hoare, and the writer of this
address, have successively appealed to the inhabitants of the county to
produce a history commensurate to its wealth and extent, and also to
the many and varied objects of importance and interest which belong to
it: but, alas ! all have failed, and I despair of living to see my native
county amply and satisfactorily elucidated by either one or more
topographers.
By the formation of the Society already mentioned, by writing and
superintending this volume and other preceding publications, and by
various literary exertions during the last half century, I have
endeavoured to promote the cause of Topography in Wiltshire ; and in
doing so have often been encouraged by your sympathy and support.
For this I am bound to offer you the expression of my very sincere
thanks; and with an earnest wish that you may speedily complete your
projected "History of Castle Combe,"
I am,
My dear Sir,
Yours very truly,
JOHN BRITTON.
Burton Street, London. 1st September, 1847.
EDITOR'S PREFACE.
IN the "Memoir of John Aubrey", published by the Wiltshire
Topographical Society in 1845, I expressed a wish that the
"NATURAL HISTORY of WILTSHIRE", the most important of that
author's unpublished manuscripts, might be printed by the Society, as a
companion volume to that Memoir, which it is especially calculated to
illustrate.
The work referred to had been then suggested to the Council of the
Society by George Poulett Scrope, Esq. M.P., as desirable for
publication. They concurred with him in that opinion; and shortly
afterwards, through the kind intervention of the Marquess of
Northampton, an application was made to the Council of