The Life of the Fields

by Richard Jefferies

THE

Life of the Fields

By RICHARD JEFFERIES

AUTHOR OF "THE GAMEKEEPER AT HOME," "NATURE NEAR LONDON," "RED DEER," "THE STORY OF MY HEART: MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY," ETC.

London

CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY

1884

[All rights reserved]

NOTE.

My thanks are due to those Editors who have so kindly permitted me to reprint the following pages:—"The Field-Play" appeared in Time; "Bits of Oak Bark" and "The Pageant of Summer," in Longman^s Magazine; "Meadow Thoughts" and "Mind under Water," in The Graphic; "Clematis Lane," "Nature near Brighton," "Sea, Sky, and Down," "January in the Sussex Woods," and "By the Exe," in The Standard; "Notes on Landscape Painting," in The Magazine of Art; "Village Miners," in The Gentleman's Magazine; "Nature and the Gamekeeper," "The Sacrifice to Trout," "The Hovering of the Kestrel," and "Birds Climbing the Air," in The St. James's Gazette; "Sport and Science," in The National Review; "The Water-Colley," in The Manchester Guardian; "Country Literature," "Sunlight in a London Square," "Venice in the East End," "The Pigeons at the British Museum," and "The Plainest City in Europe," in The Pall Mall Gazette.

RICHARD JEFFERIES.

CONTENTS.

		PAGE
THE FIELD-PLAY		1
I. Uptill-a-Thorn		1
II. Rural Dynamite		10
BITS OF OAK BARK		26
I. The Acorn-Gatherer		26
II. The Legend of a Gateway		30
III. A Roman Brook		36
THE PAGEANT OF SUMMER		41
MEADOW THOUGHTS		65
CLEMATIS LANE		78
NATURE NEAR BRIGHTON		87
SEA, SKY, AND DOWN		99
JANUARY IN THE SUSSEX WOODS		106
BY THE EXE		114
THE WATER-COLLEY		127
NOTES ON LANDSCAPE PAINTING		132
VILLAGE MINERS		146
MIND UNDER WATER		160
SPORT AND SCIENCE		180
NATURE AND THE GAMEKEEPER		191
THE SACRIFICE TO TROUT		197
THE HOVERING OF THE KESTREL		203
BIRDS CLIMBING THE AIR		210
COUNTRY LITERATURE		215
I. The Awakening		215
II. Scarcity of Books		221
III. The Villager's Taste in Reading		227
IV. Plan of Distribution		233
SUNLIGHT IN A LONDON SQUARE		239
VENICE IN THE EAST END		245
THE PIGEONS AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM		252
THE PLAINEST CITY IN EUROPE		257