them. "They were left to their own shift," says a military writer, "and constrained to eat fruit and the cornes growing upon their ground-apples, pease, and green wheat." The Earl of Leven sent a special complaint of the straits he was put to to the House of Lords, dated August 12, 1645, and said, "The common soldiers began to be sicke with eating of fruite "; as well they might be if they ate cider apples in August.

The general himself took up his quarters in Aconbury Camp. His own tent was on the very summit of the hill. It commanded the road from Monmouth to Hereford, by which the king's forces might be expected if they came to relieve the city. It looked down also upon the Mynde, the fortified mansion of that noted loyalist Sir Robert Pye, and enabled that also to be closely watched. The royal garrison had retired from the Mynde on the approach of the Earl of Leven, and had removed the military stores, but any activity displayed here would be one of the first signs of the king's approach, and an advantageous opportunity might occur for attacking them. Meantime foraging went on in the valley of the Worm, all round the Mynde. Cattle and sheep were seized and slaughtered at Wormilow Tump for the Earl's forces. "Herefordshire felt every day more and more,' says Mr. Webb, "how disastrous was the presence of ill-fed, unpaid, unrestrained soldiers in actual warfare. Three years before, as we have seen, the poor farmers in this district had been harassed by troops sent from the Monmouthshire border, who carried off all their cattle and stores, and at that time sent an urgent complaint to the King and Parliament against that dangerous papist, the son of Lord Herbert" (p. 194). The graphic description of the terrible evils of actual warfare is well given in Mr. Webb's valuable work, which should be read by all interested in the county.

The Earl of Leven did not remain many days at Aconbury. The news arrived suddenly that the King and his forces were close at hand. A panic seized his troops, and the same night, in the words of the brave Governor, Barnabas Scudamore, "the Scottish mist began to disperse, and the next morning vanished out of sight.” So ended the remarkable siege of Hereford.

Peace has reigned since this period on Aconbury Hill, and it has been devoted to agricultural purposes, in one way or other-of late years the hill has all been planted with timber, and in the recesses of its northern steep sides the fox and the badger find a home.

In 1884, the Royal Engineers took possession of the camp. They invaded it, as their predecessors had done, to take advantage of its central commanding position, but unlike them, for the peaceful object of the Ordnance Survey. To-day, the Woolhope Naturalist Field Club comes to enjoy the extensive prospect from its summit; to search, amidst its luxuriant vegetation, for the many wild flowers that grow here, and thus to meditate on its history.

The Rev. J. Tedman, in thanking Dr. Bull for his excellent paper, would venture to give a few further particulars respecting the neighbourhood which might, perhaps, prove interesting. "The hill, it will be observed, follows the general law of hills in the district, having on one side, the north-west, a short and

steep ascent; on the other, the south-east, a long and gentle slope. It is situated chiefly in the four parishes of Aconbury, Much Birch, Little Birch, and Much Dewchurch. The wood which now crowns the summit and is obstructive to the view is of modern origin, having been planted about 50 years ago by the ownersthe Governors of Guy's Hospital-on land formerly occupied as a farm; the inner camp, however, having been surrounded by a wall for a rabbit warren,—a fact still indicated by the name of a farm close at hand called "The Warren." On the south slope of the hill in past time there was an extensive common, on which were built many cottages, with large gardens enclosed from the waste. The common itself was enclosed by Act of Parliament in the early part of the present century. King's Thorn Common, on the west slope of the hill, still remains, and is celebrated in the annals of the neighbourhood as a meeting place where the inhabitants have listened at different times to the teachers of the Primitive Methodists and of the Salvation Army, to the delegates of the Labourers' Union, and to candidates for the House of Commons. The cottagers of Aconbury Hill are a thrifty race, and from their well-cultivated gardens a good store of flowers, vegetables, strawberries, and other fruits are produced for the Hereford market. The women and children collect in their season mosses and wild flowers for decoration, elderberries and cowslips for wine, nuts, chestnuts, &c., selling them in Hereford market, thus turning an honest penny to supply household wants. Of the surplus population, not a few of the "young men" enter the militia, while the "maidens" find in household service the means of earning an honest livelihood. The people of Aconbury Hill may not have much book learning, but I have never met with any labouring people who have learned better than they have how to earn a frugal living by honest thrifty labour."

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The Rev. R. A. Chudleigh then referred to the conjecture that hill-top entrenchments were constructed for purposes not exclusively military, but were meant to serve also as agricultural camps," or places of security to which tribes that existed in a state of border warfare could betake themselves and their cattle, for safety during the night, against the depredations of their neighbours. He further remarked that whereas many of the theories concerning fortresses of the Aconbury type rest on little else than their own inherent probability, it can be said in favour of the idea that they were agricultural camps, that just such camps exist for just such purposes in some parts of the world at the present day. He told how some New Zealand colonists on being shown an ancient earthwork in the south of England at once recognised and indicated its likeness to a Maori pah, with its winding slope leading up from the pasture below to the stockaded enclosure above, which afforded nightly protection to the tribes and their cattle. The introduction of fire-arms and other causes are now rendering these elevated pahs less desirable than heretofore for either peace or war, and the Maories are selecting less elevated positions. Similar changes have operated elsewhere in the same direction, so that Aconbury itself is no longer the populous and important place that it probably used to be. Still, it can scarcely be doubted that these positions of natural strength would in time of war be of great importance; for no general could afford to leave them unoccupied, or risk their falling into the hands of the enemy.

Mr. W. E. Lewis then said that it was quite correct that the camp was a grazing farm and then a rabbit warren, before it was planted for timber by the Governors of Guy's Hospital. He believed the large holes in the ground in several parts of the camp were stone quarries, from which the stone was procured to build the walls made to inclose the rabbits; and he thought there was no doubt that the portions of walls still remaining were built for this purpose.

After some further general conversation, Dr. J. H. Wood exhibited some rare orchidaceous plants that he had gathered in the parish of Canon Frome. The most rare was the Cephalanthera grandiflora, the large White Flowered Helleborine, which he found growing under beech trees, as it is apt to do. Only one other locality is known in the county for this plant. Dr. Wood brought also Orchis pyramidalis, the Pyramidal orchis, and the Bee orchis, both plants from a limestone soil. Of much greater interest, however, for the day and for the locality, the President found three fine specimens of the same Bee orchis, Ophrys apifera, on one of the cornstone slopes of Aconbury Hill. The Bee orchis had not been noted before as occurring in the central botanical district of the county, so the "find" was good. The extraordinary resemblance of the broad lower petal of this flower to a humble-bee, which seems to be sucking the nectar from the centre of the blossom, always attracts general admiration. It would seem as if the bee was caught and held there, and it has given rise to the following stanza :

Perhaps his fragrant load may bind

His limbs; we'll set the captive free;

I sought the living bee to find,

And found the picture of a bee.

The President also brought some very good specimens of the Fragrant or Aromatic orchis, Gymnadenia conopsea, which he had gathered in the meadows below. It is a very pretty flower and beautifully scented; nor is it very common.

The descent of the hill on its northern side was more steep than the ascent from the south, but a zigzag made it easy, and brought the explorers into the excellent path from the high ground of Birch into the Wall Brook Valley, which presents, as it emerges from the wood, such a picturesque view of the Church and the Priory. The President made a slight divergence here to gather another limestone plant, Aquilegia vulgaris, the columbine, so long a favourite with cottagers, and which has of late, in the many elegant forms it has been made to assume, become so fashionable and attractive in the London horticultural shows. His quick eyes also detected many plants of the broad-leaved Helleborine, Epipactis latifolia, not yet in flower.

A visit was paid to St. Ann's Well, and its pure waters were very refreshing. Its legend is lost, as is many another, from the much more frequent changes of abode by the agricultural labourers in these days. Further up in the same field is the Lady Well; and here, said Mr. Lewis, a lady is said to have committed suicide. Nobody goes for its waters as they do to St. Ann's, but happily the place seems not to be haunted. The water is taken from St. Ann's Well to the Court, and on the way there, St. Ann's Pool is passed.

The neighbourhood of the ruins, a famous preserve of Religious Houses, is always searched with great interest by botanists, since it frequently yields plants formerly cultivated for their virtues, and which struggled through neglect and have become naturalised. Dame Isabella Gardiner, who grew her saffron at Blackmarston to flavour her cakes and sweetmeats, would not fail to grow also medical herbs for the use of the house-one plant grows wild there in abundance which was formerly held in much esteem, Sambucus ebulus, dwarf elder, Danewort, deathwort, or Dane blood. The Welsh call it, Llysan gwaed gwyr, or the plant of the blood of man. It is said only to grow where blood has been shed, and Aubrey thinks it got its name Danewort from growing abundantly in the neighbourhood of Slaughterford, Wilts, where there was once a stout battle fought with the Danes. The superstition holds chiefly in connection with the Danes, where they fought and bled; there the dwarf elder, or Danewort, will spring up and flourish. Parkinson however thinks it got the name Danewort, because it would cause a flux named "the Danes" at that time, or the "Gripes" as would now be said, and Parkinson is probably right. The worthy prioress knew its virtues; a dram and a half of the root is a strong cathartic; the leaves boiled in oil yield a powerful liniment; and by gentle distillation a valuable lotion is obtained. The berries, too, give out a violet colour, and were formerly used to dye a blue colour. The fresh leaves have a powerful odour, neither cows, horses, sheep, goats, nor swine will eat them; and, when scattered over granaries or placed in mole runs, their scent will drive away the mice and the moles. One Martin Blockwitz composed a volume in its praise, entitled "Anatomia Sambuci." However, the black elder has of late years usurped its place; though the plant will yield an elder-flower water of equal efficiency-Mother Isabella Gardiner doubtless planted it here.

Fuller's teasel, Dipsacus sylvestris, was growing luxuriantly also, and docks of such size and abundance as would supply leaves for all the butter made in the county; but there were not any other plants observed that could be referred to the care of the successive mother prioresses.

At Aconbury Court the Club was received with much kindness by Mr. and Mrs. Flower, who did all they could to facilitate the inquiries of the members, and were themselves very much interested in them. The church was carefully and minutely inspected. The enthusiasm of two gentlemen engaged in taking rubbings of some richly-carved tombstones was delightful to witness.

In the shade of the ancient yew tree, Dr. Bull read a paper on "Fragments of the History of Aconbury Priory and Church." It was commented on by the Rev. F. T. Havergal, and admirably illustrated by rubbings from the stones, made by Mr. Robert Clarke. The Rev. H. P. Marriott Dodington, the incumbent of the parish, brought a print.of the church and priory, which appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine in 1787, from a drawing by that well-known Hereford character of the period, Mr. James Wathen.

The carriages were now taken for the return home, and in the evening "The Birds of Herefordshire" papers were continued by a paper on "Swans, Geese, and Ducks."

The following gentlemen took part in the day's proceedings:-Mr. C. G. Martin, president; Mr. H. Cecil Moore, vice-president; Drs. Bull, Chapman, Gardiner (London), and J. H. Wood; Major Malony, Major Doughty, Captain de Winton; the Revs. D. Cameron, R. A. Chudleigh, H. P. Marriott Dodington, F. T. Havergal, E. J. Holloway, A. G. Jones, W. H. Lambert, H. B. D. Marshall, Stanley Pelly, D. Price, and J. Tedman; Messrs. F. Bainbridge, H. C. Beddoe, John Bradford, Robert Clarke, James Davies, J. T. Owen Fowler, J. Greaves, W. H. Harrison, E. Havergal, John Lambe, W. E. Lewis, B. St. John Mathews, J. Griffith Morris, E. Pilley, J. Riley, J. E. Riley, H. Vevers, and Theo. Lane.