258 



JOUENAli 0J<' HORTICULTUKK AND COTTAGE GAUDENEK. 



I March 26, 1874. 



or enooiu-flgement to everyone he met in his walks ; to come 

 home to his bit of mutton, his dear good wife and family, and 

 his pen-and-ink drawings in the evening. His style of art was 

 not the exact and realistic, but the bold and generalising — 

 verging often on what Mr. Eusldn calls the Blottesriue ; his 

 illustrations of the Highland and other scenery only possessed 

 — and according to his convictions were right, inasmuch as 

 they only possessed — a kind of broad and sweeping resem- 

 blance to real scenes ; and his very numerous later drawings 

 were nearly all fancy sketches, exemplifying the true rules of 

 ' picturesque beauty,' as he conceived them. These sketches 

 — made with a reed pen and a brownish ' iron-water ' ink, 

 and afterwards ' toned ' with a yellow wash — he used to give 

 away freely to his friends, until it came into his mind that he 

 might in this way make some money for the benefit of his 

 poorer parishioners. He had already, out of the profits of his 

 books, buUt and opened a school at Boldre for the children of 

 day labourers — twenty boys to be taught reading, writing, and 

 ciphering; twenty girls, reading, sewing, and spinning. To 

 this school he wished to leave a permanent endowment, and 

 also an aid to the school at Brockenhurst, and sold for these 

 ends a collection of his drawings, received £1200 for them, and 

 placed it in the three per cents. The sum being still in- 

 sufficient to carry out all his intentions, he went to work again 

 with his reed-pen, at the age of 78, and in two years produced 

 a large number of drawings. These, ' the last effort of my 

 eyes,' in 1802, were sold by auction at Christie's, and pro- 

 duced no less than £1500. The schools were endowed accord- 

 ingly ; and the Boldre children, in addition to being taught 

 free of all charge, received yearly, the boys a jacket, pair of 

 breeches, and a green vest ; the girls a green frock and black 

 petticoat. The school-house, shadowed by a pair of tall 

 Lindens, stands on the roadside between the church and the 

 vicarage, and the school, locally called ' The Green School,' is 

 still alive, but not flourishing. 



"There are three notable trees, now flourishing in Boldre 

 parish, which are connected with this good old vicar's memory. 

 You may see them in the course of a moderate walk. About a 

 mile from Lymington, well sheltered among soft woody slopes, 

 stands the comfortable vicarage of grey and red bricks, with 

 trim flowery lawn guarded by Scotch Firs, and slanting little 

 meadow, beyond which rises the grovy hUl in whose wood- 

 walks Mr. Gilpin used to stray. Near the south-west corner 

 of the house stands conspicuous an unusually fine Occidental 

 Plane tree, tall, shapely, healthy, which the vicar used to ad- 

 mire more than seventy years ago, and has celebrated in the 

 ' Forest Scenery.' This Plane was the vicar's favourite home- 

 tree. 



" In his walks he was fond of visiting a Yew some two 

 miles distant, — 



" ' A tree,' he s.ays, ' of peculiar beauty ... It stands 

 not far from the banks of Lymington Eiver, on the left bank 

 as you look towards the sea, between Eoydon farm and Boldre 

 church. It occupies a small knoll, surrounded with other 

 trees, some of which are Yews, but of inferior beauty. A little 

 stream washes the base of the knoll, and winding round, forms 

 it into a peninsula. If anyone should have curiosity to visit 

 it from this description, and by the help of these landmarks, I 

 doubt not but he may find it at any time within the space of 

 these two or three centuries in great perfection, if it suffer no 

 external injury.' 



" There it stands at this day; now, in winter time, sombrely 

 conspicuous as you approach it among the naked grey boughs 

 of the Oak coppice. 



" The third tree connected with Mr. Gilpin's memory is the 

 Maple, of which the portrait is here." 



Mr. Gilpin had many friends whoso tastes and literary ac- 

 quirements harmonised with his own. Prominent among 

 these were the Eev. Mr. Mason, author of " The English 

 Garden," and his brother poet the Eev. Mr. Crabbe. The 

 latter has thus pourtraycd Mr. Gilpin : — 



" His frequent vipits felrlom fail'd to please ; 

 Easy himeelf , he soupht his ncighhour's easo ; 

 To a small garden with delight ho came. 

 And gave successive flowers a summer's fame ; 

 These he presented, with a grace his own, 

 To his fair friends, and made Iheir beauties known. 

 Not without moral compliment : bow they 

 • Lite flowers were sweet, and must liie flowers decay 1' 



*' Simple he was, and lov'd the pimple truth. 

 Vet had some useful cunnijip, froju his youth ; 

 A cunning never to dishonour lent, 

 And rather for defence than conquest meant ; 

 'Twas fear of poi\X'r, with fame denive to rihc. 

 But not enough to make him enemies. 



He ever aim'd to please ; and to offend 

 Was ever cautious, for he sought a friend. 

 Yet for the friendshil" never much would pay, 

 Content to bow, be silent, and obey. 

 And by a soothing suil'rance find his way." 



We are indebted for most of the notes on Mr. Gilpin to a 

 very interesting volume, "Eambles by Patricius Walker," 

 published by Messrs. Longman & Co. 



MERCURY. 



r We received some roots from a correspondent, " Stokt," 

 who stated he had them from Lincolnshire, and recommended 

 to have the leaves they would produce used as Spinach. It 

 came bearing the suspicious title " Mercury," so we sent it to 

 an able correspondent dwelling near Lincoln, asking for par- 

 ticulars. The following is his reply. — Eds.] 



After six hours' immersion in warm water, and a further 

 forty-eight hours in a close propagating case, I am able to 

 recognise in "Stobt's" enclosure a crown of the veritable 

 Lincolnshire Mercury. Of this there is no doubt whatever ; 

 the freshened leaves and the taste of the root are precisely 

 identical with a crown just dug from the garden. This vege- 

 table is grown, or rather grows itself, in thousands of gardens 

 in this county. In many villages every farmer's and cottager's 

 garden has a bed of it; in fact, aplot without a "Markwerry" 

 bed is considered by many to be singularly barren and desti- 

 tute. It is not, however, generally met with in the gardens of 

 the gentry, and I observe that as the farmers rise to this 

 higher position (and they have risen rapidly), the Mercury 

 beds become neglected, and are eventually destroyed. This 

 may be that gardeners have a prejudice against it, regarding it 

 as a rubbishy crop. Certain it is that it will grow in spite of 

 their cultural skill, and clings to its home with the pertinacity 

 of any indigenous weed. Yet it is not a weed, but may be 

 correctly described as a plebeian vegetable, highly esteemed by 

 its numerous humble owners. By these it is valued for its 

 table excellence, earliness, and productiveness, and it is, 

 moreover, credited with medicinal virtues of traditional au- 

 thority as being " good for the blood." 



It is often called Everlasting Spinach, and the name is 

 as expressive as any that could be chosen. It resembles 

 Spinach in growth and leaf form, but is rather woolly, and 

 lacks the bright gloss of that vegetable ; it grows in the same 

 plot from generation to generation, of course spreading out- 

 wards, but not rapidly, and is not at all a " travelling plant," 

 after the manner of Pennyroyal. In many gardens it is 

 grown near to the cottage, so that soapsuds and other refuse 

 are handily given to it, so as to induce a quick free growth, 

 and enable the owner to " cut and come again " a good many 

 times over ; hence the above name is very descriptive and 

 good. It has another homely name — Allgood, as the suc- 

 culent stems as well as the leaves are cooked and eaten. 

 When or 8 inches high it is cropped over, not quite close to 

 the ground, tied in little bundles, and cooked. When served 

 it is not unlike Spinach, but is firmer, and when old very 

 shghtly bitter. Although it has been extensively driven away 

 by gardeners in favour of Spinach, yet Spinach will never sup- 

 plant it in the estimation of the working population. These 

 consider it infinitely preferable to Spinach, and, judging it on 

 its merits, it is highly probable that almost evei-yone liking 

 Spinach would like Mercury better. 



If " Stoet" will plant his crowns 'J inches apart in any con- 

 venient unshaded corner of his garden, in any sort of soil, and 

 give it a covering of manure every autumn, he may have 

 Mercury as long as he lives, and his children after him, even 

 to the thii-d and fourth generation ; and if particularly liked 

 he may improve quality and increase quantity by adopting 

 the cottager's practice of pouring on it soapsuds or any liquid 

 manurial refuse at any season, but especially in the spring and 

 early summer months. It would not be advisable to cut it the 

 first year, but a few sprigs for trial might be thinned-out 

 without any harm being done. It grows 18 inches to 2 feet 

 high. 



Since writing the above I have referred to that valuable 

 work of reference, " The Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary," and 

 on page 532 find the following : — " Mercury (Chcnopodinm 

 Bonm-Henricus). — This perennial plant is known by the 

 various names of Angular-leaved Goosefoot, English Mercury, 

 or Allgood, Good Henry, Good King Henry, and Wild Spinach. 

 In many parts of Lincolnshire, as about Boston, it is culti- 

 vated to use as Spinach ; the young shoots are also peeled, 

 boiled, and eaten as Asparagus. Sow the seed in March, but 



