A FOREST. 5 



adjoining grange, the " conygar," i. e. coney - 

 gard, the rabbit keeper's dwelling, may, perhaps, 

 have been the situation of the sylvan warren ; but 

 there are no remains, or any other indications, of a 

 forest ever having been in existence. Names and 

 traditional tales are all that remain in most places 

 now to remind us of the ancient state of England, 

 or to make credible the narratives of our old his- 

 torians, who lived when Britain was a fores-t. 

 Where shall we look for the remnants of that 

 mighty wood filled with boars, bulls, and savage 

 beasts, that surrounded London? Even in our 

 own days, heaths, moors, and wilds, have disap* 

 pearecl, so as to leave no indications of their former 

 state but the name. Woods and forests seem to 

 be the original productions of most soils and coun- 

 tries favourable for the abode of mankind, as if 

 inviting a settlement, and offering materials for its 

 use. As colonies increase, wants are augmented ; 

 the woods are consumed ; the plough is introduced, 

 division of property follows ; a total change and 

 obliteration ensues, though the ancient appellation 

 by which the district was known yet continues. 



The parish consists in parts of a poor, shattery 

 gray clay, beneath which we find, in some places, a 

 coarse lias; in others a spongy, rough, impure 

 limestone ; in other parts a thin stratum of soil is 

 spread over an immense and irregular rock of car- 

 bonate of lime, running to an unknown depth : this 

 in many cases protrudes in great blocks through 



