SELBORNE. Xlll 



clumps, which give great richness to the vista that presents itself 

 in the long Lith. This Lith, as seen from the village, is very 

 rich and beautiful, but one feels an incompleteness about it, 

 inasmuch as it presents no prominent object to wVich all this 

 beauty is subservient, and thus impresses one with the melan- 

 choly idea of a very fine assemblage of natural beauties wasting 

 " their sweetness on the desert air." There is not even a bit 

 of water visible, though that might be easily obtained by ju- 

 diciously damming up the Bourne ; and ponds of moderate 

 dimensions in such places, if properly kept, are proved to repay 

 fully the ground which they occupy. There are some ponds of 

 considerable dimensions, and not uninteresting for their aquatic 

 plants and the aquatic birds that resort to them, but they are 

 concealed in the woods and do not tell in the scenery of the long 

 Lith. Further down there are some reaches of the Bourne, 

 which might throw a little liveliness into the picture, but they 

 do not come into the general view. 



In former times, when the Priory was in the full bloom of its 

 architecture, and in the full enjoyment of that feasting and 

 fox-hunting for which its inhabitants were celebrated, it is im- 

 possible to judge how much of pictorial interest its gray towers 

 and turrets may have given to the scene ; but, the rich seclu- 

 sion of the long " lith " remains as evidence of the exquisite taste 

 which guided Peter de la Roche in the choice of a situation for 

 his priory. 



The home lands of the priory now compose an extensive and 

 valuable farm, the farm buildings standing nearly but not exactly 

 on the site of the ancient edifice, though in point of beauty the 

 spot chosen by the monks is preferable, lying very sweetly on the 

 bank of the Bourne, so as to have given a beautiful exposure to the 

 western or great entrance of the building. Not one stone of that 

 building remains upon another, though many have been dug out 

 of the ground ; and stone coffins, bones, a few coins, and other 

 articles of small value have also been obtained. The stones have 

 been used for building purposes ; and the bones and rich mould, 

 quite regardless of all peril from the ghosts of the monks, have 

 been mingled with more modern and less holy matters, for the 

 carnal purpose of increasing the productiveness of the land. 

 Fragments of old stained glass windows, in leaden tracery, and 

 remarkable for the thickness of the glass, though its colours have 



