128 Recollections of the Vine Hunt. 



Mr. Terry assures me that Mr. Mullens was quite 

 correct in saying that the Swede was scarcely known 

 in that part of Hampshire at the beginning of this 

 century. The first root that he ever saw bearing that 

 name was from seed given to his father in 1802. 

 But this was not the same with the Swede which has 

 been since cultivated. It was a white turnip, with 

 very strong roots, striking so deep into the earth that 

 it was difficult to peck it up ; and it was supposed on 

 that account to exhaust the land too much. It was 

 two or three years later that he first saw the ordinary 

 yellow Swede which grows more on the surface of the 

 ground. I remember that about the year 18 12, an 

 old man, who had been a farm servant from his youth, 

 saw and tasted a Swede for the first time, and amused 

 us by ejecting it disdainfully from his mouth with the 

 observation, that ' it didn't seem deadly good.' 



Nearly the same date must be assigned to the first 

 appearance of the Southdown sheep in that part of 

 Hampshire. The migration of these sheep from their 

 native hills began less than a century ago ; and it 

 must be remembered that their native hills did not 

 comprise the whole range of the Southdowns, but 

 only the eastern portion of them. We know from 

 the excellent authority of Gilbert White, that in the 

 year 1773, these sheep were to be found only to the 

 eastward of the river Adur, near Lancing. He says 

 in a letter, dated December 9th, 1773, ^ One thing is 

 very remarkable as to sheep ; from the westward till 

 you get to the river Adur, all the flocks have horns, 

 and smooth white faces, and white legs ; and a horn- 

 less sheep is rarely to be seen ; but as soon as you 

 pass that river eastward, and mount Beeding Hill, all 



