NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE 29 



By a perambulation of Wolmer forest and The Holt, 

 made in 1635, and the eleventh year of Charles the First 

 (which now lies before me), it appears that the limits of 

 the former are much circumscribed. For, to say nothing 

 of the farther side, with which I am not so well acquainted, 

 the bounds on this side, in old times, came into Binswood ; 

 and extended to the ditch of Ward le ham-park, in 

 which stands the curious mount called King John's 

 Hill, and Lodge Hill', and to the verge of Hartley 

 Mauduit, called Mauduit - hatch ; comprehending also 

 Short-heath, Oakhanger, and Oakwoods ; a large district, 

 now private property, though once belonging to the 

 royal domain. 



It is remarkable that the term purlieu is never once 

 mentioned in this long roll of parchment. It contains, 

 besides the perambulation, a rough estimate of the value 

 of the timbers, which were considerable, growing at that 

 time in the district of The Holt; and enumerates the 

 officers, superior and inferior, of those joint forests, for the 

 time being, and their ostensible fees and perquisites. In 

 those days, as at present, there were hardly any trees in 

 Wolmer forest. 



Within the present limits of the forest are three con- 

 siderable lakes, Hogmer, Cranmer, and Wolmer ; all of 

 which are stocked with carp, tench, eels, and perch : but 

 the fish do not thrive well, because the water is hungry, 

 and the bottoms are a naked sand. 1 



A circumstance respecting these ponds, though by 

 no means peculiar to them, I cannot pass over in 

 silence ; and that is, that instinct by which in summer 

 all the kine, whether oxen, cows, calves, or heifers, 

 retire constantly to the water during the hotter hours ; 



1 Professor Bell adds a note (vol. i. p. 23): "It is remarkable that these 

 three ponds are named respectively after three animals which, formerly indigenous 

 in this country, are now extinct Hogmer, after the wild boar ; Cranmere, after 

 the crane ; and Wolmer, anciently Wolvemere, after the wolf, which doubtelss 

 formerly haunted this wild district. The fish mentioned in the text are now, I 

 believe, quite extinct in these ponds." [R. B. S.] 



