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THE NATURAL HISTORY OF WILTSHIRE
JOHN AUBREY
TO
GEORGE POULETT SCROPE, ESQ. M.P.,
&c, &c. &c.
___________________________________
MY DEAR SIR,
BY inscribing this Volume to you I am merely discharging a debt of
gratitude and justice. But for you I believe it would not have been
printed; for you not only advocated its publication, but have
generously contributed to diminish the cost of its production to the
"WILTSHIRE TOPOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY", under whose auspices it is now
submitted to the public.
Though comparatively obsolete as regards its scientific,
archaeological, and philosophical information, AUBREY'S "NATURAL
HISTORY OF WILTSHIRE" is replete with curious and entertaining facts
and suggestions, at once characterising the writer, and the age in
which he lived, and illustrating the history and topography of his
native county. Had this work been revised and printed by its author,
as he wished and intended it to have been, it would have proved as
useful and important as Plot's "Staffordshire" and "Oxfordshire";
Burton's "Leicestershire"; Morton's "Northamptonshire"; Philipott's
"Kent"; or any others of its literary predecessors or contemporaries.
It could not have failed to produce useful results to the county it
describes; as it was calculated to promote inquiry, awaken curiosity,
and plant seeds which might have produced a rich and valuable harvest
of Topography.
Aubrey justly complained of the apathy which prevailed in his time
amongst Wiltshire men towards such topics ; and, notwithstanding the
many improvements that have since been made in general science,
literature, and art, I fear that the gentry and clergy of the county
do not sufficiently appreciate the value and utility of local history;
otherwise the Wiltshire Topographical Society would not linger for
want of adequate and liberal support. Aubrey, Bishop Tanner, Henry
Penruddocke Wyndham, Sir Richard Colt Hoare, and the writer of this
address, have successively appealed to the inhabitants of the county
to produce a history commensurate to its wealth and extent, and also
to the many and varied objects of importance and interest which belong
to it: but, alas ! all have failed, and I despair of living to see
my native county amply and satisfactorily elucidated by either one
or more topographers.
By the formation of the Society already mentioned, by writing and
superintending this volume and other preceding publications, and by
various literary exertions during the last half century, I have
endeavoured to promote the cause of Topography in Wiltshire ; and in
doing so have often been encouraged by your sympathy and support. For
this I am bound to offer you the expression of my very sincere thanks;
and with an earnest wish that you may speedily complete your
projected "History of Castle Combe,"
I am,
My dear Sir,
Yours very truly,
JOHN BRITTON.
Burton Street, London.
1st September, 1847.
EDITOR'S PREFACE.
IN the "Memoir of John Aubrey", published by the Wiltshire
Topographical Society in 1845, I expressed a wish that the "NATURAL
HISTORY of WILTSHIRE", the most important of that author's unpublished
manuscripts, might be printed by the Society, as a companion volume to that
Memoir, which it is especially calculated to illustrate.
The work referred to had been then suggested to the Council of the
Society by George Poulett Scrope, Esq. M.P., as desirable for
publication. They concurred with him in that opinion; and shortly
afterwards, through the kind intervention of the Marquess of
Northampton, an application was made to the Council of the Royal
Society for permission to have a transcript made for publication from
the copy of the " Natural History of Wiltshire" in their possession.
The required permission was readily accorded; and had not the printing
been delayed by my own serious illness during the last winter, and urgent
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