Chapter 48 of 48 · 3832 words · ~19 min read

Chapter V

; historic cricket matches; stories of the Sussex oddities, the long-headed country lawyers, the Quaker autocrats, the wild farmers, the eccentric squires; characters of favourite horses and dogs (such was the mobility of his countenance and his instinct for drama that he could bring before you visibly any animal he described); early railway days (he had ridden in the first train that ran between Brighton and Southwick); fierce struggles over rights-of-way; reminiscences of old Brighton before a hundredth part of its present streets were made; and all the other body of curious lore for which one must go to those whose minds dwell much in the past. Coming of Quaker stock, as he did, his memory was good and well-ordered, and his observation quick and sound. What he saw he saw, and he had the unusual gift of vivid precise narrative and a choice of words that a literary man should envy.

A favourite topic of conversation between us was the best foot route between two given points--such as Steyning and Worthing, for example, or Lewes and Shoreham. Seated in his little room, with its half-a-dozen sporting prints on the wall and a scene or two of old Brighton, he would, with infinite detail, removing all possibility of mistake, describe the itinerary, weighing the merits of alternative paths with profound solemnity, and proving the wisdom of every departure from the more obvious track. Were Sussex obliterated by a tidal wave, and were a new county to be constructed on the old lines, John Horne could have done it.

[Sidenote: A SUSSEX ENTHUSIAST]

Of his talk I found it impossible to tire, and I shall never cease to regret that circumstances latterly made visits to him very infrequent. Towards the end his faculties now and then were a little dimmed; but the occlusion carried compensation with it. To sit with an old man and, being mistaken by him for one's own grandfather, to be addressed as though half a century had rolled away, is an experience that I would not miss.

To the end John Horne dressed as the country gentlemen of his young days had dressed; he might have stepped out of one of Alken's pictures, for he possessed also the well nourished complexion, the full forehead, and the slight fringe of whiskers which distinguished Alken's merry sportsmen. His business taking him deep into the county among the farms, he was always in walking trim, with an umbrella crooked over one arm, his other hand grasping the obtuse-angled handle of a ground-ash stick. These sticks, of which he had scores, he cut himself, his eye never losing its vigilance as he passed through a copse. Under the handle, about an inch from the end, he screwed a steel peg, so that the stick, when it was not required, might hang upon his arm; while a long, stout pin, with a flat brass head, was also inserted, in case his pipe needed cleaning out. Thus furnished, with umbrella and stick, pipe and a sample of his merchandise, John Horne, in his wide collar, his ample coat with vast pockets over the hips, his tight trousers, and his early-Victorian headgear, has been, these fifty years, a familiar figure in the Weald as he passed from farm to farm at a steady gait, his interested glances falling this way and that, noting every change (and perhaps a little resenting it, for he was of the old Tory school), and his genial salutation ready for all acquaintances. But he is now no more, and Sussex is the poorer, and the historian of Sussex poorer still. I believe he would have liked this book; but how he would have shaken his wise head over its omissions!

[Illustration: MAP OF THE COUNTY OF SUSSEX]

FOOTNOTES:

[4] This is the Sussex preterite of the verb "to join."

[5] _In tye_--not I.

[6] _Chucker_; in a cheerful, cordial manner.

INDEX

à Becket, Thomas, 156, 238

Ainsworth, W. H., 27

Albourne, 204

Alciston, 271

Aldrington, 184

Aldworth, 11, 418

Alexander, Mr. W. C., 308

Alexander of Russia, 316

Alfriston, 266, 273

Almshouses, 38, 227

Amberley, 26, 84

Amberstone, 316

Angels at Rye, 419

Angmering, 83

Ann of Cleves, 247

Architecture, 401

Ardingly, 220

Arundel, 68

Ashburnham, 356

Ashdown Forest, 301, 402

Ashington, 150

Balcombe, 221

Barton, Bernard, 51

Battle Abbey, 7, 348

Battle of Lewes, 245

Bayham Abbey, 395

Beachy Head, 321

Beddingham, 264

Beer, 152, 257, 383, 400

Beldham, William, 74

Belloc, Mr. Hilaire, 72, 152

Bells, 216, 368, 399

Berwick, 271

Bevis of Southampton, 56, 70

Bexhill, 347

Bignor, 108

"Big on Little," 230

Billingshurst, 120

Birling Gap, 325

Bishopstone tide mills, 263

Black, William, 173

Blackdown, 11

Blake, William, 64

Blunt, Mr. W. S., 222

Bodiam, 378

Bognor, 61

Bolney, 216

Book-borrowing, 377

Booth Museum, 175

Borde, Andrew, 214, 332

Borrer, William, the botanist, 133

---- ---- the ornithologist, 90, 132, 133, 182, 194.

Bosham, 54

Bowls, 248

Boxgrove, 41

Bramber, 27, 139

Brambletye House, 229

Bramston, James, 106

Brede, 374

Brightling, 380

Brighton, 81, 160, 419

"Brighton," a poem, 167

Broadbridge, James, 107

Brown of Brighton, 52

Browne, Sir Anthony, 47

Buckhurst, 400

Buncton Chapel, 150

Burgess, John, 209

Burgon, Dean, 422

Burne-Jones, Sir E., 178

Burpham, 422

Burrell, Timothy, 211

Burton, Dr., 289

Burton Park, 107

Burton, West, 110

Burwash, 278, 382

Burwash, Henry, 386

Bury, 111

Bustards, 194

Butler, James, 151

Buxted, 297

Byron, Lord, 167

Cade, Jack, 309

Camber Castle, 360

Canute, 55

Capel, Edward, 342

Cary, C. F., 76

Caryll, John, 17, 20, 28, 130

---- Lady Mary, 17

Catt, William, 260

"Cenotaph of Lord Darnley," 40

Chailey, 236

Chanctonbury Ring, 146

Charles II., 26, 169

Charlotte, Princess, 61

Charlton, 44

Chichester, 33, 420

Chiddingly, 314

Chidham, 56

Chithurst, 11

Chowne, Thomas, 267

Christ's Hospital, 122

Churches locked, 299

Cissbury, 154

Clapham, 81

Clayton, Mr. C. E., 413

Climping, 76

Cobbett, William, 15, 101, 120, 175, 231

Cobden, Richard, 21

Coleridge, S. T., 76

Collins, Stanton, 273

---- William, 12, 28

Coombs, Master, 430

Cooper, W. D., 419

Copley, Anthony, 6

Cotton, Reynell, 119

Covert Family, 217

Cowdray, 3, 6, 7

Cowfold, 131

Cowper, William, 42

Crabbet, 221

Crane, Stephen, 374

Crawley, 218

Cricket, 74, 81, 103, 132, 165, 235, 268, 384

Crowborough, 301

Crowhurst, 357

Cuckfield, 211, 248

Cuckoo, The, 311

Culloden, 371

Cuthman, Saint, 135

Dacres, The, 307, 337

Dale Park House, 72

Dalmon, Mr. C. W., 117

Danish vessel, 379

Danny, 200

Darby, Parson, 323

D'Arcy, Penelope, 87

Death presages, 305, 326

Dedisham, 119

Deer, 297

Defoe, Daniel, 8, 285

De Montfort, Simon, 235, 245

"Denis Duval," 363

Devil in Sussex, 195, 303

Devil's Dyke, 192

Devonshire, Duke of, 318, 331

De Warenne, William, 243

Dew ponds, 428

Dialect, 405

Diaries, 200, 204, 211, 233, 305, 313, 397

Dickens, Charles, 171

Dinners, 213

Ditchling, 208

Donkey race, 385

Dorset, Sixth Earl of, 398

---- Mrs., 110

---- Parson, 110

Downs, The, 2, 23, 258

Drayton, Michael, 124

Drewitts, The, 9

"Duckings," 401

Dudeney, John, 236

Duelling, 386

Duncton, 107

Dunstan, Saint, 303

Eartham, 42

Easebourne, 21

Eastbourne, 318

East Dean, 325

East Grinstead, 227

East Hoathly, 312

East Mascalls, 219

Egerton, J. E. Coker, 382

Egremont, Earl of, 32, 99

Eld, Lieut.-Col., 169

Electioneering, 141, 188, 262

Elizabeth, Queen, 4, 303, 366, 379, 395

Ellman, John, 282

Elsted, 20

Epitaphs, 82, 103, 107, 111, 134, 169, 188, 198, 219, 245, 249, 250, 285, 294, 304, 312, 333, 344, 371, 398

Eridge, 393

Etchingham, 387

Fairies, 425

Fairy rings, 426, 428

Felpham, 62

Fernhurst, 10

Ferring, 75

Field Place, 115

Fig gardens, 156

Figs, 156

Findon, 152

Fireworks, 252

Firle, 264

Fishbourne, 54

Fish culture, 201

Fishermen, 173

Fittleworth, 94

Flaxman, Anna, 65

Fletching, 235

Folk-lore, 76

Ford, 77

Forest Row, 403

Fowington, Master, 425

Framfield, 293

Frewen Family, 379

Friston, 326

Fulking, 197

Fuller, Thomas, 70, 84, 125, 133, 147, 180, 237, 267, 351, 386

---- Jack, 380

Furniture-hunters, 143

Gage Family, 264

Gale, Leonard, 222

---- Walter, 305

George IV., 67, 162, 164, 170, 240, 383, 387

Gibbets, 209

Gibbon, Edward, 235

Gilchrist, Alexander, 66

Gipsy queen, 195

Glynde, 281

Godwin, Earl, 55

Goodwood, 39, 40

Gordon, Mr. H. D., 17

Goring, 78

Goring Family, 146

Graffham, 21

Gravetye, 230

Gunn, Martha, 164

Hailsham, 316

Halland, 313

Halnaker, 40

Hampnett, West, 40

Hand Cross, 218

Hanging in chains, 9

Hangleton, 196

Hardham, 423

Hardham, John, 30

Hare, Julius, 336

Harmer, Sylvan, 308

Harold, 55, 243, 351

Hartfield, 403

Harting, South, 16

Harvest home, 343

Hastings, 340

Hawker, R. S., 274

Hayward's Heath, 211

Hay, William, 281

Hayley, William, 42, 62

Hazlitt, William, 100, 168

Headless Horseman, The, 129

Heathfield, 296, 307

Heathfield, Lord, 308

Henfield, 132

Henley, 9

Henley, W. E., 158, 190

Herons, 88

Heron's Ghyll, 299

Hessel, Phoebe, 170

Hickstead Place, 204

Highdown Hill, 79

Hitchener, Miss, 116

Hogge, Ralph, 297

Hole, Mr. W. G., 25

Holinshed, 360

Hollington Rural, 345

"Hollow Ways," 278

Horne, John, of Brighton, 434

Hops, 293

Horsfield, T. W., 61, 83, 103, 216, 217, 230, 236, 249, 256, 262, 292, 319, 320, 325, 346

Horsham, 6, 112

---- Stone, 113

Horsted Keynes, 233

Hotham, Sir Richard, 61

Hotspur, Kate, 13

Hove, 184

Hubert of Bosham, 55

Hudson, Mr. W. H., 33, 181

Hurdis, Rev. James, 263, 385

Hurstmonceux, 334

Hurstpierpoint, 200

Hutchinson, Mr. Horace, 278, 323

Icklesham, 370

Iden, 372

Iden, Alexander, 309

_Idlehurst_, 220, 241, 384

Iford, 257

Ironworks, 124, 221, 298, 396

Isfield, 292

Jackson, Cyril, 67

James, Mr. Henry, 369

Jeakes, The, 366

Jefferays, The, 315

Jefferies, Richard, 78, 174, 302, 321, 324, 382, 401

Jennings, Louis, 137

Johnson, Dr., 8, 171, 250

---- Thomas, 46

Juxon, Archbishop, 30, 264

Kimber, John, 236

Kingly Bottom, 51

Kingsley, Charles, 428

Kipling, Mr., 2, 178

Kirdford, 120

Knepp, 131

Knox, A. E., 14, 48, 59, 88, 102, 107, 182, 216

Lade, Sir John, 387

Lamb, Charles, 124, 345

Lamberhurst, 396

Lambert, Mr. Clem, 256

Lang, Mr. Andrew, 225

La Thangue, Mr. H. H., 21

Laughton, 314

Lavington, West, 21

Leonardslee, 124

Leslie, C. R., 32, 99

Letter-writing, 321

Lewes, 239, 351

Lillywhite, F. W., 40, 166

Lindfield, 219, 420

Littlehampton, 75

_Lives of Twelve Good Men_, 422

Locker-Lampson, F., 224

Lodsworth, 22

Long Man, The, 271

Lovers' Seat, 346

Lower, Mark Antony, 38, 70, 154, 214, 260, 296, 304, 315, 380, 414, 425

Loxwood, 120

Lullington, 268

Lunsford, Col., 312

Lurgashall, 106

Madehurst, 72

Malling Deanery, 238

Manhood Peninsula, 56

Mann, Noah, 103

Manning, Cardinal, 21

Marchant, Thomas, 200

Marden, East, 52

Maresfield, 296

Markland, Jeremiah, 295

Marley, 11

Marriott-Watson, Mrs., 259

Martello towers, 320

Martyrs, 229, 253

Mascall, Leonard, 236

Mayfield, 303, 402

Medicine, 205, 268

Meredith, Mr. George, 392

Michelham Priory, 316

Midhurst, 3, 20

Milland, 11

Millers, 79, 430

Mills, 80

Montagu, Viscounts, 4, 6, 7, 21

Moore, Giles, 233

Mortimer, John Hamilton, 319

Motor cars, 269

Mount Caburn, 280

Mud, 285

Muntham, 152

Mural paintings, 423

Names, 296, 333

Neale, John Mason, 227

Nelond, Thomas, 131

Newbery, Francis, 308, 310

Newcombe, Thomas, 94

Newhaven, 260

"Newhaven Tipper," 249

Newick, 235

Newland, Richard, 74

Newtimber, 197

Nightingales, 129, 290

Ninfield, 356

Norfolk, Duke of, 69

Northiam, 378

November 5th, 250

Nyren, John, 74, 104, 119, 412

Oakendene, 132

Oates, Titus, 341

Oatmeal pudding, 205

"Old Squire, The," a poem, 223

Oliver, John, 79

"On the Downs," a poem, 259

"On the South Coast," 187

Opie, Mrs., 63

Ospreys, 216

Otway, Thomas, 13

Ovingdean, 177

Owls at Arundel, 70

Oxen, 289

Oxenbridge Family, 371, 374

Paget, Charles, 82, 88

Pagham, 59, 61

Paine, Tom, 247

Palmer, Lady, 83

Parham, 86

Parish, Mr. W. D., 195, 265, 406

Parish clerks, 191, 430

Patcham, 198

Patching, 81

Paul, Saint, 77

Peasmarsh, 372

Pelham, Joan, 321

---- Sir Nicholas, 245, 312

Pelling, Thomas, 177

Penn, William, 151, 284

Percy Family, 97

Pett, 370

Petworth, 22, 91, 96, 100, 290

Pevensey, 328

Piddinghoe, 257

Pitt, William, 171

Plaistow, 120

Plashetts, 291

Playden, 371

Plumpton, 236

Pluralism in Sussex, 154

Politics, 383

_Poly-Olbion_, 125

Pope, Alexander, 130, 398

Portslade, 186

Portus Adurni, 186

Pottery, 175, 369

Powlett, Captain, 129, 131

Poynings, 196

Poyntz, Mr., 8

Pressing to death, 114

Preston, 75, 199

Pronunciation, 265

Pulborough, 94

Pun, A costly, 55

Puritan names, 296

Pyecombe, 198

Quakers, 316

Queen of the Gipsies, 195

Racton, 26

Ravens at Petworth, 102

Realf, Richard, 293

Rewell Wood, 72

Richard, Saint, 420

Rickman, "Clio," 248

---- Nathaniel, 316

"Ride to Church, The," a ballad, 286

Ringmer, 284

Roads in Sussex, 290

Robertsbridge, 376

Robertson of Brighton, 419

Robinson, Mr. William, 230

Rocks, 295, 230, 395

Rodmell, 256

Rogate, 16

Roman pavements, 109

Romans, The, 25, 34, 109, 207, 330

Romney, 43

Roper, Squire, 44

Rother, at Midhurst, 20

Rotherfield, 302

Rottingdean, 178

Rowfant, 224

Rudgwick, 119

Rushington, 75

Russell, Dr., 161

Rye, 358, 419

Sackville College, 227

---- Family, 397

Saddlescombe, 197

St. Leonards Forest, 123

Saint Richard, 420

Salehurst, 378

Salvington, 154

Sawyer, F. E., 413

Saxons, The, 25, 330, 405

Saxonbury, 394

Seaford, 262

Selden, John, 154

Selmeston, 265

Selsey Bill, 57

Selwyn Monument, 326

Serpent of St. Leonards Forest, 126

Shakespeare, 13, 308, 321

Sheep, 283

Sheffield Park, 235

Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 115, 418

---- Sir John, 82

---- William, 82

Shirleys, The, 147

Shooting, Knox's description of, 48

Shoreham, New, 186

---- Old, 191

"Shoreham River," a poem, 190

Shovel, Sir Cloudesley, 341

Shulbrede Priory, 11

Shurley Family, 292

Sidlesham, 57

"Silly Sussex," 384

Single lines, 3

Singleton, 44, 46

Slaugham, 217

Slaughter Common, 311

Slinfold, 118

Smith, Charlotte, 110

---- George, 29

---- Horace, 167

---- Sidney, 169, 174

Smoaker, 164

Smuggling, 273, 429

Sompting, 159

"Song against Speed," 269

"Song of Solomon," 414

"Sops and Ale," 320

"South County, The," a poem, 72

Southease, 257

South Harting, 16

Southover, 247

Southwick, 186

Spencer, Herbert, 173

Spershott, James, 36

Springett, Sir Herbert, 286

Stane Street, 40, 119, 120, 431

Stapleton, Thomas, 133

Stapley, Richard, 204

Steyning, 135

Stogton, 52

Stopham, 94

Storrington, 90

Stott, Mr. Edward, 85

Stoughton, 52

Superstitions, 305, 382

"Sussex," a poem, 178

Sussex character, 383, 429, 431, 433

_Sussex Daily News_, 215

"Sussex Drinking-Song," 152

_Sussex Folk and Sussex Ways_, 315, 382, 413

"Sussex Nurse, The," 117

Swift, Dean, 375

Swinburne, Mr. A. C., 187, 190, 322

Tarring, 156, 421

Tattersall, Captain, 27, 169

Taylor, John, 78, 180, 320

Telham Hill, 348

Telscombe, 257

Tennyson, Lord, 12, 418

Thackeray, W. M., 363

Tillington, 102

Tipper, Thomas, 249

Tipteers, 424

Titmice, 226

"To all you Ladies," 398

"To a Seaman," 322

Trelawny, 418

Trespassing, 394

Treyford, 20

Trotton, 12

_True and Wonderful_, 126

Truffles, 83

"Trugs," 339

Tunbridge Wells, 303, 390

Tupper, Mr., 109

Turner, J. M. W., 355, 381

---- Thomas, 313

Twineham, 204

Twyne, Thomas, 250

Uckfield, 295

Udimore, 374

Up-Park, 16

Verdley Castle, 11

Vere, Aubrey de, 12

Wadhurst, 389

Wagers, 388

Walking craze, 218

Walpole, Horace, 338, 376

Warbleton, 311

Warminghurst, 151

Warnham, 120

Washington, 151

Waylett, John, 399

Webster, Sir Godfrey, 262

Wesley, John, 59, 365

Westbourne, 52

West Grinstead, 130

Westham, 332

West Hoathly, 230

Westons, The, 362

West Wittering, 424

Wheatears, 180

Whistler, Rev. Webster, 342

White, Gilbert, 18, 24, 290, 428

Wickliffe, John, 305

Wilberforce, Bishop, 422

---- William, 141

Wildflowers, 302

Wilfred, Saint, 58

Wilkie, David, 32

William IV., 191

William the Conqueror, 320, 348

Wills, Sussex, 215

Wilmington, 271

Winchelsea, 358

Wiston, 147

Witchcraft, 19

Withyham, 397

Wolstonbury, 199

Woodman, Richard, 253, 311

Woolbeding, 21

Worth, 222

Worthing, 158

Young, Arthur, 22, 283

THE END

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.