4 MEMOIR OF PENNANT. 



of the various natural productions of his country, 

 which were thus often presented before him. 



Having thus slightly sketched the ancestry and 

 ahode of this great Welsh naturalist, we shall endea- 

 vour to trace his career in life, and particularly as it 

 is connected with the many and voluminous works 

 which he finished, and which, to the present time, 

 hear a high rank in their particular department of 

 the literature of our country. 



THOMAS PENNANT was bora at Downing on the 

 14th June 1726; and, as he himself tells us, to pre- 

 vent all disputes regarding that event, " in the room 

 called the Yellow Room ; that the celebrated Mrs 

 Clayton of Shrewsbury ushered me into the world, 

 and delivered me to Miss Jenny Parry of Merton, 

 who, to her dying day, never failed telling me, ' Ah, 

 you rogue ! I remember you when you had not a 

 shirt on your back *."' 



In those days, it was customary for the children 

 of the higher ranks to be nursed from home, and 

 there was generally considerable competition in the 

 selection of a nurse. The offspring of persons hold- 

 ing a station in society, as the foster-brother or 

 sister, was generally looked upon as a dependant of 

 the family, who, in their turn, thought it incumbent 

 upon them to do what lay in their power for their 

 support and prosperity in after life. Accordingly, 



Hist, of Whiteford and Holy well, p. '2. 



