An Autobiography of an Ancient Athlete & Antiquarian

AUTOBIOGRAPHY £50, and an edition of Unprinted Letters of Cromwell, but nothing came of either. Early in November, the Brent Water was out in four places, and I got badly wet going to the Hale. On the 18th November, the water was again much out at '' Welsh Harp," and in the evening I took my eldest daughter to see the great floods at Richmond. I had the dirtiest and muddiest ride in my life on the 2nd December, through "Honeypot Lane,'' at the back of Stanmore Marsh, the water being over my treadles most of the way when I had ploughed my way through, and my trousers pockets were full of mud. I had to have an ostler throw buckets of water over me. On the 5th December my eldest nephew, E. W. Rye, married at H.B.M.'s Consulate at Cairo, to a Dalmatian (Austrian) girl, Annetta, daughter of Mario Florio Puhalo-· vitch, of Lissa. 9th December I tried a new triplet, which I had bought, with F. and A. in a vile fog. During the ride A.L.R. was so done that he fell off the end seat without our missing him, indeed we were unkind enough to say we got on better without him. On the 18th Professor Wright stayed with me at Hampstead about his projected Dialect Dictionary. At Christmas I went again to Selborne, this time by rail. G.B. and I took a dog cart through the Old Alton road, by which Gilbert White used to get to Alton, but had to unharness and lead the horse home, for the way was absolutely impassable, the high sides having fallen in. On the Sunday evening we drove over to Alresford. On Bank Holiday we had some rabbit shooting at Farmer Bailey's, where the very deep indoor well struck my fancy greatly. The boys and I rode the triplet by Barnet to Potter's Bar, about 12 miles only, in the vilest weather on the 30th, taking 1.20 to get there, and 1.15 back. I cannot trace that I published any book this year, so this was my blank year. February 3rd-9th, 1895, was an intensely cold week, the worst in my memory, and it kept on for another week. On the IIth, the gas at the office gave out owing to the water in the mt:ter freezing, and I caught a bad cold and was practically in bed till the 19th when a thaw set in.