OF SELBORNE 33 



much from east to west, and contains within it many 

 woodlands and lawns, and the great lodge where the 

 grantees reside ; and a smaller lodge, called Goose-green ; 

 and is abutted on by the parishes of Kingsley, Frinsham, 

 Farnham, and Bentley ; all of which have right of 

 common. 



One thing is remarkable ; that, though the Holt has 

 been of old well-stocked with fallow-deer, unrestrained by 

 any pales or fences more than a common hedge, yet they 

 were never seen within the limits of Wolmer ; nor were 

 the red deer of Wolmer ever known to haunt the thickets 

 or glades of the Holt. 



At present the deer of the Holt are much thinned and 

 reduced by the night-hunters, who perpetually harass 

 them in spite of the efforts of numerous keepers, and the 

 severe penalties that have been put in force against them 

 as often as they have been detected, and rendered liable 

 to the lash of the law. Neither fines nor imprisonment 

 can deter them : so impossible is it to extinguish the 

 spirit of sporting, which seems to be inherent in human 

 nature. 



General Howe turned out some German wild boars and 

 sows in his forests, to the great terror of the neighbour- 

 hood ; and, at one time, a wild bull or buffalo : but the 

 country rose upon them and destroyed them. 



A very large fall of timber, consisting of about one 

 thousand oaks, has been cut this spring (viz., 1784) in the 

 Holt forest ; one-fifth of which, it is said, belongs to the 

 grantee. Lord Stawel. He lays claim also to the lop and 

 top : but the poor of the parishes of Binsted and Frin- 

 sham, Bentley and Kingsley, assert that it belongs to them ; 

 and, assembling in a riotous manner, have actually taken 

 it all away. One man, who keeps a team, has carried 

 home, for his share, forty stacks of wood. Forty-five ol 

 these people his lordship has served with actions. These 

 55 — B 



