The Natural History of Selborne

Hop-pickers, W.F. Witherington

• 1792: September 15, 1792 – Hop-women complain of the cold.
• 1791: September 15, 1791 – The springs are very low: the water fails at Webb’s bridge.
• 1789: September 15, 1789 – The hops at Kimbers grow dingy & lose their colour.  T.H.W. left us, & went to Fyfield.
• 1788: September 15, 1788 – Gathered many of the baking pears to disburthen the boughs, & keep them from breaking.
• 1787: September 15, 1787 – Women make poor wages in their hop-picking.  Housed all my potatoes, & tyed-up many endives.
• 1786: September 15, 1787 – The golden-crowned wren, & the creeper, certhia, seen in my fields.
• 1785: September 15, 1785 – The dripping weather has lasted this day nine weeks, all thro’ haying, & harvest: much hay is also spoiled of the second cutting: so that men, having lost both crops, will in many parts be very short of fodder, especially, as turnips have missed in many places.
• 1784: September 15, 1784 – Mr Randolph left us.  The autumn-sown spinage turns-out a fine crop: but it is much too thick. We draw it for use.
• 1781: September 15, 1781 – Thunder & lightening in all quarters round.  The spring called Well-head sends forth now, after a severe hot dry summer, & dry spring & winter preceeding, nine gallons of water in a minute; which is 540 in an hour; & 12960, or 216 hogsh. in 24 hours, or one natural day.  At this time the wells are very low, & all the ponds in the vales dry.
• 1778: September 15, 1778 – Just at the close of day several teams of ducks fly over the common from the forest: they go probably to the streams about Alresford.
• 1776: September 15, 1776 – Swallows catch at walls as they flie about.
• 1774: September 15, 1774 – Ring-ouzels appear on their autumnal migration.  Were seen first last year on the 30th: the year before on the 11th.
• 1772: September 15, 1772 – Papilio Atalanta abounds.
• 1771: September 15, 1771 – Muscae & papiliones abound on on the asters.
• 1768: September 15, 1768 – Black warty water-efts with fin tails & yellow bellies are drawn up in the well-bucket.

Notes:
Seasonal hop-pickers are sufficiently a part of English rural life to feature in a historical pageant. Here is a picture of turn-of-the-20th-century/a>hop-pickers in the Alton area, not far from Selborne.