hills: e. g. varenne, of kelvedon, botanist. 297 
limes intentionally) by slapping the saddle with his riding-crop. 
My -uncle, Mr. Thomas Butler, still remembers the terror its 
heels inspired in his mind when he was a child. 
In the early days of Varenne’s residence at Kelvedon, he 
very nearly fell a victim to the failing—referred to locally as 
lifting the elbow ”—which had wrecked his predecessor there— 
a very prevalent failing in those hospitable days, when it was 
an invariable custom to offer a caller wine, whatever hour of dav 
it might be. However, in Varenne’s case, he was able, for¬ 
tunately, to pull himself up in time. There are still current in 
the town several versions as to how his reform was brought about. 
One says that, on one occasion, he fell off the big black horse and 
■so injured himself that a neighbouring doctor had to be called 
in to attend him. This doctor, seeing how things were going, 
talked to him so forcibly on the matter that Varenne (so the 
;story goes) vowed he would never again make such a fool of 
himself, and he never did. Another version is that once, when 
in a somewhat hilarious condition, he had occasion to call on a 
prim old lady patient. It was a cold winter’s day, and he had 
been “ keeping himself warm ” with a good many drops of the 
old port of which he had grown so “ wonnerful fond ” (as the 
Essex people say). Rising up in her bed, clad in wrath, ringlets, 
and a mob cap, the old lady pointed a long bony finger towards 
the door and, in flinty accents, bade him take his contaminating 
presence from her dwelling and never to cross her threshold 
again. But (runs the story) she forgave him when he “ signed 
the pledge,” as he did soon after. He lived to become an ardent 
teetotal advocate and to help in founding the Kelvedon “ Band 
of Hope,” which still exists. 
Varenne’s local activities, other than medical, were innumer¬ 
able. Thus, in winter time, he often got up “ Penny Readings,” 
generally in conjunction with Mr. Wiseman, the school-master. 
This form of entertainment was very popular in those days, when 
few of the poorer people were able to read. He himself was an 
exceptionally good reader in public and appeared frequently 
on the platform. The older folks in Kelvedon all say that, 
whenever he and Mr. Wiseman were “ billed ” to appear, there 
was always a “full house.” 
In politics, Varenne was a Liberal of the very virulent type 
prevalent in his day. He acted for several years as Secretary 
u 
