88 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



{T. hypokitca) frequented the sides of the streams, 

 and we found no fewer than eleven nests containing 

 eggs. Several grey wagtails {M. boarula) were 

 running briskly over the stones in the brooks ; and 

 lower down, the jsied wagtail (J/, alba) was very 

 common. 



The shades of evening beginning to deepen, we 

 gave up nest-hunting, and made the best of our way 

 back to Woolfenhall. It was"; with pleasurable feel- 

 ings of satisfaction, mingled with a shadow of regret, 

 that my delightful ramble had almost come to an end, 

 that I trudged along over peaty moss, and rushy 

 swamp, through ling, and whin, and beds of grace- 

 ful bracken fern ; my ears keenly alive to the many 

 wild, but harmonious sounds that stirred the peace- 

 ful scene and sent a thrill of pleasure through me. 

 Faintly, from the hills, came, at intervals, the 

 mournful wail of the golden plover ; the ringing 

 " Poo-e-lee, poo-e-lee," of the curlew, and the 

 laughing cackle of the grouse. From the brooks rose 

 the incessant plaintive piping notes of the sandpiper, 

 whilst high overhead "drummed" many a snipe. 

 These sounds were at times almost drowned by the 

 clamour of our escort of lapwings. As we passed 

 through a coppice near the house, I heard more than 

 once the loud "churring" note of the nightjar 

 ( C. Ew-optTJis) — a bird not uncommon on these hills ; 

 but whose pair of beautifully marbled eggs it has not 

 yet been my good luck to take. 



It was quite bed-time when we got to the house, 

 tired and hungry enough, for the liberal supply of 

 provisions we took with us had long ago been ex- 

 hausted. There is nothing like a ramble on the hills 

 for sharpening one's appetite. Thus came to a close 

 a day fraught with pleasant recollections to me, and 

 I heartily wish many a brother naturalist, who is 

 obliged by circumstances to be pent up in the busy 

 town, but whose heart yearns after the calm delights 

 of the countr)', could inhale the pure ozone, and 

 enjoy the countless beauties of nature to be met with 

 during a day's " Ramble on the Fells." 



R. Standen. 

 Goosnargh, Preston, Lancashire. 



ON THE ORIGIN OF HAIR-BELL, 

 FOXGLOVE, &c. 



THE question as to the correct spelling of the 

 vulgar name of Cavipanula rohmdifoUa has 

 been well ventilated in Science-Gossip, but does not 

 appear much nearer solution than when first begun, 

 indeed, it seems hopeless to expect it ; authors, 

 botanists, and others, do not appear to know to which 

 plant the name properly belongs, e.g.* in Bentham's 

 "Handbook of the British Flora," " Hairbeli, see 



* For the references from * to ** I am indebted to the 

 Rev. Kirby Trimmer, of Norwich. 



Harebell " occurs ; on reference to the latter, we find 

 C. rotiuidifolia is intended. 



In Babington's " Manual of British Botany," hairbeli 

 is given in the body of the work, and in the index of 

 popular names, harebell {C. rotiuidifoUa). In his 

 " Flora of Cambridge " that plant is called haiebeU. 



R. Buxton's " Botanical Guide," " C. rohmdifoUa, 

 round leaved bell-flower or hairbeli." 



E'en the slight Harebell raised its head 

 Elastic from her airy tread. 



Hooker, Brit. Flor. 



The laughing, the nodding, the dancing Harebell. 



R omance of Nature. 



" Hare's Bells" occurs in Ainsworth's Dictionary, 

 but having reference only to " Jlyacinthiis Angliciis." 

 "Harebell, squill, or wild hyacinth," Smith, "Flora 

 Brit." " English hyacinth or harebell," Lightfoot, 

 " Flora Scot." " Harebell or wild Hyacinth," 

 " Eng. Bot." "Wild Hyacinth or Harebell," 

 Hooker, "Brit. Flora." "The azured Harebell," 

 Shakespeare's Cymbeline. 



The Harebelle for her stainless azure hue 

 Claims to be worn of none but those are true. 



Browne's Britannia' s Pastorals. 



"Hairbeli, the name of a flower ; the hyacinth," 

 Johnson, Diet. 5 ed. fol. 17S4. " Harebells, Hyacin- 

 tJnis non-scriptiis," " Calendar of Flora," Bishop 

 Stillingfleet.** 



Withering, " Arrangement of British Plants," 7 ed. 

 1830, has the following passage : " HyacintJuis tiojt- 

 scriptus is the genuine British harebell, whilst the little 

 campanula, and which we call heath bell, is the hare- 

 bell of Scotland, while the harebell of England is the 

 Scottish blue bell, intimately associated with one of 

 our most popular modem airs." 



In this mass of confusion it seems utterly im- 

 possible to arrive at any satisfactory decision. It 

 appears to me, from the very obvious resemblance 

 the flower bears to a bell attached to a hair, that hair 

 bell would be the popular name, rather than hare 

 bell, the only reason assigned for the latter being that 

 the plant lived on heaths, and hares also. 



The popular name of Digitalis is almost as obscure 

 as hairbeli. It is asserted, and with considerable show 

 of probability, that foxglove should be foxes' glew, or 

 gliew — being Anglo-Saxon for music, or a ring of small 

 bells attached to an arch, and which seems to have 

 been a favourite instrument with our Saxon progeni- 

 tors ; and as the arrangement of the flowers bore a 

 resemblance to that of the bells, they gave the plant 

 the name of foxes' bells. In support of this we have 

 the Norse names, rev bielde, fox bells ; and reveleika, 

 fox music. In support of foxglove, or rather of the 

 affix glove, we have in English fairy gloves. Old 

 German fingerhuit = fingerhat, from whence is de- 

 rived the local word hutkin (the finger of a glove 

 being frequently used to protect a cut or sore finger) 

 and fingerkraut = finger plant. The Flemish, vinger- 



