4 THE WILD-P^LOWERS OF SELBORNE 



and then a man comes round with truffles for sale, but 

 not often. The last of the old race died not long since 

 in a hamlet within a few miles of Selborne. A hun- 

 dred years ago truffles abounded, White tells us, in 

 the Hanger and High Wood, They probably abound 

 now at the right seasons, but the supply from France 

 having swamped the English market the search for 

 them has become no longer profitable. And so the 

 profession of truffle-hunting is gone. 



In the churchyard the ancient yew-tree, " probably 

 coeval with the church," sheds its pollen in clouds of 

 dust every spring. The trunk measured upwards of 

 23 feet in circumference in White's time; in 1823 

 Cobbett found it to be 23 feet 8 inches ; it has now 

 increased to 25 feet 2 inches. This is among the 

 largest yew-trees in Hampshire. On the north side 

 of the chancel a small head-stone marks the spot 

 where the old naturalist lies. His grave is in keeping 

 with the beautiful simplicity of his life. No ostenta- 

 tious monument covers his last resting-place ; only a 

 head and footstone ; on the former, under 2 feet in 

 height, is inscribed the letters " G. W.," and the date, 

 "June 26, 1793." Between the low hchen-covered 

 stones not even a mound is raised, but the grass 

 waves above him, and the daisies bloom. 



From the churchyard a path leads down the Lyth, 

 towards the old Priory, about a mile distant. The 

 Priory was dissolved by Henry VIH., and not a stone 

 of it remains. The site is now occupied by a 

 modern farmhouse, known as the Priory Farm. In 

 the garden a stone coffin may be seen, and a few 

 encaustic tiles, but no further trace of the Augus- 

 tinian convent meets the eye. The path down the 

 valley is most picturesque, and was a favourite walk 



