400 WANDERINGS AND PONDERINGS 



Chapter XIV. 



[In which the Insect-Hunter treateth of the brook Oney, and of the 

 Lady Pools.] 



The brook Oney, like its companion Lug, rejoices in a va- 

 riety of appellations ; and we find its course laid down in all the 

 maps, though in no two alike, and its title given as Oney, 

 Pinsoley, Pinsoly, Pensoly, Pensilly, andPinsley; but Speed, 

 Camden, and all the best early authorities, call it Oney. 

 This stream rises at Milton, to the west of Shobden Marshes, 

 and runs through those marshes ; and, south of Kingsland, 

 forms the mill-head at Waterloo Mill, near Cobnash, and winds 

 along the Kingsland meadows, by Walton's and Wegnall's, 

 into the town of Lemster, through which it passes, flow- 

 ing under an inhabited house, beside the Priory, or poor- 

 house. It turns two flour-mills near the bottom of the 

 Etnam-street, and then runs nearly in a direct line along the 

 Midsummer meadows, passing under the London road, about 

 a mile out of Lemster, and immediately afterwards falling 

 into Lug, as before specified. 



Although the extreme source of Oney, or Pinsley, as it is 

 more generally called, is undoubtedly at Milton, a great por- 

 tion of its water is derived from the Lady Pools, in Shobden 

 Marshes. These are large basins, shaped like inverted cones, 

 and of great depth, varying from thirty to forty feet; the 

 largest is about twenty or twenty-five feet in diameter, but the 

 margins are so unstable, that it is difficult to measure them 

 with much accuracy. They contain water of the most brilliant 

 purity, and their bottoms are covered with sand almost as 

 white as snow, which is thrown up by the great force of the 

 spring, and seems to be in a perpetual boil : the surface is 

 perfectly calm, and without the least ripple. 



The Insect-Hunter had frequently heard of the fame of 

 these strange pools, and therefore determined to visit them. 

 A company, consisting of the Cynophobist, and three industri- 

 ous Insect-Hunters, was formed ; and two gigs being obtained, 

 the party started on a cloudless summer day, to examine these 

 natural curiosities. We left our vehicles at a way-side public- 

 house of humble pretensions, and, procuring a guide, were 



