70 THE MUSIC OF WILD FLOWERS 



sweet-scented flowers in the late summer-time, when 

 the hips and haws begin to ripen. 



Many of White's observations are associated with 

 his beloved Common. There the nightjars were to be 

 seen of a summer's evening and the stone-curlew could 

 be heard calling at night. On one occasion, on I3th 

 October 1778, he notes that " near 40 ravens have 

 been playing about all day." Now he is making ex- 

 periments on the Common to discover if possible the 

 laws which regulated the strange phenomenon of echoes. 

 Now he is investigating a curious humming in the air 

 " to be heard distinctly the whole Common through/' 

 from the top of the Hanger to the avenue gate of Newton 

 Vicarage. Or he is interested in the subject of dew- 

 ponds, " one in particular on our sheep-down, 300 feet 

 above my house, which, though never above three feet 

 deep in the middle, has never yet been known to 

 fail." 



It was by way of the Common too that Gilbert 

 White was wont to visit his particular friend, Richard 

 Yalden, vicar of Newton Valence. The roads were bad 

 in those days, and for six months in the year were 

 practically impassable for a carriage. Indeed in one 

 year it is noted as a rare circumstance that on i5th 

 March " a four-wheel'd post-chaise was brought to ye 

 door at this early time of year." People were depend- 

 ent for society on their near neighbours, and in this 

 respect White was fortunate. A close intimacy existed 

 between himself and the vicar of Selborne and Mr 

 Yalden, of Newton Valence. The friends are con- 

 stantly meeting, " drinking tea " or dining at each 

 other's houses. Mr Yalden was, moreover, connected 

 with White by marriage. 



