128 THE MUSIC OF WILD FLOWERS 



Indeed, while the plant is in flower, a good woman 

 presides over the floral festival and sells hundreds of 

 bunches of blossoms, the profit of which is devoted to 

 some local charity. A little hut, made of wattle and 

 straw, and lined with some household stuff, is made for 

 her beneath the shelter of a high hedge at the entrance 

 to the meadows, and there, from early morn till dewy 

 eve, she remains till the harvest is over. The spot, 

 which is in the extreme north of the county, is situated 

 on the estate which a grateful country granted to the 

 Iron Duke after the battle of Waterloo. The famous 

 avenue of elm-trees, nearly a mile long, perhaps the 

 finest in the county, opens out on the highroad, and in 

 the meadows which lie between the road and the river 

 the colony of fritillaries will be found. The River 

 Loddon here divides the counties of Hants and Berk- 

 shire, and on both sides of the stream the flowers are 

 abundant. In his poem on Windsor Forest Pope speaks 

 of " The Loddon slow, with verdant alders crown'd," 

 and the epithet is true. The stream is a very sluggish 

 one, but in most winters it overflows its banks, and the 

 f ritillary meadows are sometimes under water for weeks 

 together. This condition of things exactly suits the 

 species, which flourishes best in swampy ground, and 

 at Strathfieldsaye it flourishes exceedingly. Scattered 

 over two large meadows, of many acres in extent, on 

 the Hampshire side of the Loddon, the flowers may be 

 seen in marvellous profusion. In places you can hardly 

 see the green grass for the flowers. There are literally 

 wide sheets of purple and of white fritillaries. The 

 flowers are mostly solitary, and except when in bud 

 always drooping, while in shape they are like a tulip. 

 The beauty of the colouring is only equalled by its 



