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THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. 



On the way back to Alresford station a short stop- 

 page was made at Bramdean to see the circle of large 

 greywether stones erected by the late Col. Green- 

 wood. These stones had been gathered from the 

 surrounding county by the Colonel and erected in the 

 form of a " Druidical " circle. Col. Greenwood, who 

 died some ten or 12 years ago, was a 

 distinguished man, and wrote some books upon 

 " Rain and Rivers " and "River Terraces." Close 

 by, too, is a large cairn of stones erected over the 

 grave of Col. Greenwood's horse, and it was men- 

 tioned as an interesting lact that this cairn figured in 

 the Tichborne trial, as Sir Roger had worked at it. 

 From here a short drive brought the party to the 

 station again, and closed a very pleasant day's outing. 



EARLY BEE SWARMINS. 



Mr. Alfred Jewell, of Mottisfont, writes that he had 

 bees swarm on the following dates : May i, 7, n, 

 17 and 21. 



CURIOUS VIPER FOUND AT BITTERNE. 

 " E. J. M.," of Bitterne, writes under date of the 

 igth inst. : A day or two ago I captured a viper here 

 with somewhat peculiar markings. At the back of 

 the head there is a divided band of bright yellow, and 

 immediately behind this another band of intense 

 black. I have seen many vipers, but never one 

 marked thus ; it is about 2ft. long. Can you inform 

 me if it is any particular kind ? Not having any 

 spirits of wine at hand, I placed the viper in a jar of 

 paraffin. Will it keep in this? I enclose sketch of 

 the markings on viper's head. Replying to the en- 

 quiry, the Editor of the Field says : Paraffin will not 

 keep the specimen. Vipers vary greatly in colour and 

 markings, but we have not seen any like the one 

 described. 



THE CHANGE OF THE STYLE IN BRITAIN. 



Cham bers's " Book of Days '' contains the follow- 

 ing local reference to the Change of Style : 



" The Act for the change of the style provided 

 that the legal year in England 1752 should commence, 

 not on March 25th, but on January ist, and that after 

 the 3rd of September the next ensuing day should be 

 held as the i-jth, thus dropping out eleven days. 



"In Malwood Castle in Hampshire, there was an oak 

 tree which was believed to bud every Christmas in 

 honour of Him who was born on that day. The 

 people of the neighbourhood said they would look to 

 this venerable piece of timber as a test of the propriety 

 of the change of style. They would go to it on the 

 new Christmas Day and see if it budded ; if it did 

 not there could be no doubt that the new style was a 

 monstrous mistake. 



" Accordingly on Christmas Day (New Style) there 

 was a great flocking to this old oak to see how the 

 question was to be determined ; on its being found 



that no budding took place the opponents of the New 

 Style triumphantly proclaimed that their view was 

 approved by Divine Wisdom, a point on which it is 

 said they became still clearer when on January 5th, 

 being old Christmas Day, the oak was represented as 

 having given forth a few shoots." J-.H. K. 



AN OLD HUNT BUTTON. 



The Field says that many hunting readers will be 

 interested in a sketch it gives of what is apparently 

 an ancient hunt button. The original was dug up a 

 short time ago in the garden of Bridge House, Twy- 

 ford, near Winchester, and was sent by Mr. Campbell- 

 At the back is a broken shank, which plainly indicates 

 that it was at least made for a button. The legend 

 " The Joy of Life," with fox, hounds, and huntsman, 

 sufficiently shows the enthusiasm of the designer, and 

 the keenness with which the hounds are running is 

 no doubt to be accounted for by the fact that they are 

 close to their fox, whose white brush is plainly visible. 

 Unfortunately, there is no way of assigning a date to 

 this interesting relic of a byegone time. Whether it 

 was designed for and used by Lord Stawell, Mr. 

 Nicholas Poyntz, Mr. Nicoll, or some other of the 

 old Hampshire M.F. H.'s, or whether it was originally 

 an imported article from some distant hunt, is a matter 

 for speculation. Perhaps a reader with antiquarian 

 knowledge can throw some light on the matter. 



WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. 

 From the meteorological register, made at the Ordnance 

 Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir 

 Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 

 54' 50" N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. 

 Observers Mr. J. T. Cook. 



t Black bulb in vacuo. 



