CLERK AND THE LAST RAVENS 259 



in numberless places all over the country. Every one 

 who knows his "Selbornc" will remember the pathetic 

 history of the last ravens in his neighbourhood told by 

 Gilbert White. That is a long time back, and it is 

 known that ravens continued to breed in Hampshire for 

 over a century after White's death. I am here speaking 

 of the inland-breeding birds; for up till now one pair 

 of ravens still breed on the Isle of Wight cliffs. The 

 last pair of birds that bred inland, on trees, were the 

 Avington ravens. How long they inhabited that ancient 

 noble domain I do not know, but it is certain that they 

 continued to breed annually in the park until about the 

 year 1885. The "ravens' clump" where the birds had 

 their nest still flourishes, but the more famous, im- 

 measurably older Gospel Oak which was an ancient tree 

 when tlie cathedral at Winchester was built and is be- 

 lieved to be the tree under which S. Augustine stood 

 when he preached to the heathen in these parts, is, alas! 

 dead for ever, and its hollow ruinous trunk is slowly 

 crumbling to dust. 



These Avington ravens were a good deal persecuted, 

 but invariably when one lost its life the other would 

 disappear for a few days to find and bring home a new 

 mate. At last some scoundrel got both birds, and that 

 was the end, for of course no others came to fill their 

 place. The old clerk related that when he was a young 

 man he worked for some years as under-woodman on 

 the estate, and he had many exciting stories to tell of 

 his tree-climbing feats. In those distant days — about 

 1850 — climbing contests were common among the men 



