1903 Folk- Lore 331 



unfolding slowly but surely each page of marvels and 

 mysteries, rejecting nothing, but always maintaining a high 

 standard of excellence and efficiency, and endeavouring 

 to learn something, elementary though it may be, by a 

 careful and steadfast perusal of nature's ever-open book ? 



Nothing is too insignificant in the study of natural 

 history, no fact or record too trifling ; a note jotted down on 

 the spot is worth a cart-load of recollection. 



Never shall I forget my cradle days with nature. Well 

 do I remember, as if it was only yesterday, my first intelli- 

 gent acquaintance with her treasures — that initial sight, in 

 my tender years, of the delicate blue of the hedge-sparrow's 

 eggs in its mossy homestead ; the first indelible imprint will 

 never be effaced from my memory. And I revere and 

 cherish the memory of a grandfather now gone hence who 

 first imbued within my young mind a love for nature study. 



FoIk=Lore— II. 



By Charles Moslev. 



The Will-o'-the-Wisp. 



The old order changeth, giving place to new, and the 

 will-o'-the-wisp has had to yield up its haunts before the 

 march of the contractor. What is now a populous neigh- 

 bourhood, and a thriving suburb of a large manufacturing 

 town in south-west Yorkshire, was once — and that not such 

 a great long time ago — a dreary waste of swamp and bog. 

 The name of Marsh, by which this neighbourhood is now 

 known, doubtless owes its origin to the original character of 

 the ground. 



The heyday of the will-o'-the-wisp dates back to before 

 my time, so that what I relate is from the accounts of those 

 who knew this district in the state I have alluded to. The 

 haunt which this mythical being mostly frequented was a 

 patch of ground somewhat hollowed out and of more than 

 normal dampness, containing a number of trees. Here 

 amongst these trees did the will-o'-the-wisp enjoy its 

 antics, to the fright and bewilderment of many who chanced 



