22 Lincolnshire Notes & Queries. 



the legionaries and the dismal creakings of the baggage trains 

 and provision carts, while above, under the blue heaven, the 

 lark carolled as it does now, and the plaint of the golden plover 

 sounded sweet from off the moorlands. 



The north-east corner of Lincolnshire, notwithstanding 

 recent changes and trade encroachments, is still rich in animal 

 and plant life, and presents a wide field for future research. 

 Further westward, and beyond the Trent, lies the Isle of 

 Axholme ; some portion adjoining the great deer chase of 

 Hatfield and Lindholme, in Yorkshire, was once the hunting- 

 ground of English kings. We must turn to the pages of 

 historians, such as Leland, De la Pryme, Dr. Stonehouse and 

 others if we wish to learn its ancient condition before the 

 enterprise of the Dutchman Vermuyden transformed its wastes 

 and swamps and demon-haunted solitudes into fertile lands, and 

 at the same time banished its indigenous flora and fauna. In 

 fact, the entire district, including Thorne waste, beyond our 

 border, and portions also east of Trent, resembled the 

 " tundras " of Lapland and northern Asia, and, like these, 

 was the breeding-home of innumerable wildfowl and waders. 

 Most suggestive of a not remote Arctic character are the 

 lingering of such plants as Selaginella selaginoides, Lycopodium 

 alpinum, recently discovered by the Rev. W. Fowler, also 

 Andromeda polifolia, and Empetrum nigrum, on Thorne waste, 

 Myrica gale, generally, and the impressions of leaves of some 

 Arctic willow in the laminated silts and peaty alluviums. 



Of our sixth district, that south of Grantham and east of 

 Belvoir, I can tell you little, for excepting in passing through 

 by rail, it is a terra incognita to me. The chief attraction is 

 Grimsthorpe Park, which contains many fine oaks, hornbeams 

 and hawthorns, and a small herd of red deer interesting as the 

 only one left in the county, and descendants of those indigenous 

 deer which at one period wandered wild, free and unrestricted 

 through the length and breadth of the land. 



It is customary on these occasions briefly to notice the work 

 done by the Union during the President's year of office. Two 

 meetings have been held, the first at Mablethorpe, on June 

 1 2th, about thirty attending, and Professor L. C. Miall, F.R.S., 

 of the Yorkshire College, presiding. The vertebrate section 

 (ornithology) was, perhaps, the most successful. The full 

 report of this very interesting meeting will be found in " The 

 Naturalist " for August and September, this year. 



