A WILTSHIRE WATER-MEADOW 67 



red-purple hoods and bright yellow stamens. 

 Here and there is a delicate lady's-smock, and 

 a few daisies. Amongst the dock-leaves rises 

 occasionally the fat stem and pale mauve head 

 of a butter-burr. What, by the way, has it 

 done to annoy the botanists ? Why is it called 

 by one " the most pernicious of all the weeds 

 that this country produces " ? and the only 

 evidence he produces against it is that it is 

 " planted near bee-hives by Swedish farmers, 

 on account of its early flowering." What harm 

 does it do ?' I have only seen it in this one 

 muddy spot, where nobody wants to grow 

 anything else, and the mauve heads, seen amongst 

 the dock-leaves, are not unattractive. 



The copse ends at the old wooden rail, and 

 beyond it opens up what has brought me here, 

 the first view of the water-meadows in glory 

 indescribable, carpeted with masses of marsh- 

 marigolds. The whole valley is bathed in 

 sunshine, and here is the spot to pause for a 

 quiet smoke in the shade, thinking over battles 

 fought with big trout in this meadow in past 

 seasons and plans of campaign for the future. 

 To-day we will reconnoitre, and it is time to 

 leave the shelter of the copse, climb through 

 the rails and into the meadows. The long 

 boots, made for very different work in the 



