FLE

THE

E C E.

BOOK I

A R G U M E N T.

THE fubject propofed. Dedicatory addrefs. Of paftures in general, fit for fheep: for fine-wool'de fheep for long-wool'd sheep. Defects of pastures, and their remedies. Of climates. The moisture of the English climate vindicated. Particular beauties of England. Different kinds of English fheep: the two common forts of rams defcribed. Different kinds of foreign Theep. The feveral forts of food. The diftempers arifing from thence, with their remedies, Sheep led by instinct to their proper food and phyfic. Of the fhepherd's fcrip, and its furniture. Care of fheep in tupping-time. Of the caftration of lambs, and the folding of fheep. Various precepts, relative to changes of weather, and feasons. Particular care of new-fallen lambs. The advantages and fecurity of the English shepherd above those in hotter or colder climates; exemplified with respect to Lapland, Italy, Greece, and Arabia. Of sheepfhearing. Song on that occafion, Cuftom in Wales of fprinkling the rivers with flowers. Sheep-fhearing feaft and merriments on the banks of the Severn.

THE

ΤΗ

HE care of fheep, the labours of the loom,
And arts of trade, I fing. Ye rural nymphs,
Ye fwains, and princely merchants, aid the verse.
And ye, high-trufted guardians of our isle,
Whom public voice approves, or lot of birth
To the great charge affigns: ye good, of all
Degrees, all fects, be prefent to my fong.
So may diftrefs, and wretchedness, and want,
The wide felicities of labour learn:

So may the proud attempts of restless Gaul
From our strong borders, like a broken wave,
In empty foam retire. But chiefly Thou,
The people's shepherd, eminently plac'd
Over the numerous fwains of every vale,
With well-permitted power, and watchful eye,
On each gay field to fhed beneficence,
Celeftial office! Thou protect the fong.

On fpacious airy downs, and gentle hills,
With grafs and thyme o'erfpread, and clover wild,
Where fmiling Phoebus tempers every breeze,
The fairest flocks rejoice! they, nor of halt,
Hydropic tumours, nor of rot, complain;
Evils deform'd and foul: nor with hoarse cough
Disturb the music of the paftoral pipe:

But, crouding to the note, with filence foft

The close-woven carpet graze; where Nature blends Flowrets and herbage of minuteft fize,

Innoxious luxury. Wide airy downs

Are Health's gay walks to fhepherd and to sheep.

AH

All arid foils, with fand, or chalky flint,
Or fhells deluvian mingled; and the turf,
That mantles over rocks of brittle stone,
Be thy regard: and where low-tufted broom,
Or box, or berry'd juniper arise;

Or the tall growth of gloffy-rinded beech;
And where the burrowing rabbit turns the duft;
And where the dappled deer delights to bound.
Such are the downs of Banftead, edg'd with woods,
And towery villas; fuch Dorceftrian fields,

Whofe flocks innumerous whiten all the land :
Such those flow-climbing wilds, that lead the step
Infenfibly to Dover's windy cliff,

Tremendous height! and fuch the clover'd lawns
And funny mounts of beauteous Normanton*,
Health's chearful haunt, and the felected walk
Of Heathcote's leifure: fuch the spacious plain
Of Sarum, spread like Ocean's boundlefs round,
Where folitary Stonehenge, grey with mofs,
Ruin of ages, nods: fuch too the leas
And ruddy tilth, which fpiry Rofs beholds,
From a green hilloc, o'er her lofty elms;
And Lemfter's brooky tract, and airy Croft +;
And fuch Harleian Eywood's ‡ fwelling turf,
Wav'd as the billows of a rolling fea :

* A feat of Sir John Heathcote in Rutlandshire.

A feat of Sir Archer Croft.

Of the Earl of Oxford.

And

And Shobden *, for its lofty terrace fam'd,

Which from a mountain's ridge, elate o'er woods
And girt with all Siluria †, fees around
Regions on regions blended in the clouds.

Pleasant Siluria, land of various views,

Hills, rivers, woods, and lawns, and purple groves
Pomaceous, mingled with the curling growth
Of tendril hops, that flaunt upon their poles,
More airy, wild than vines along the fides
Of treacherous Falernum ; or that hill
Vefuvius, where the bowers of Bacchus rofe,
And Herculanean and Pompeian domes.

But if thy prudent care would cultivate
Leiceftrian fleeces, what the finewy arm

Combs through the spiky, steel in lengthen'd flakes;
Rich faponaceous loam, that flowly drinks

The blackening fhower, and fattens with the draught,
Or marle with clay deep-mix'd, be then thy choice,
Of one consistence, one complexion, spread
Through all thy glebe; where no deceitful veins
Of envious gravel lurk beneath the turf,

To loose the creeping waters from their springs,
Tainting the pafturage: and let thy fields

* A feat of Lord Bateman.

In

+ Siluria, the part of England which lies weft of the Severn, viz. Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, &c.

Treacherous Falernum, becaufe part of the hills of Falernum was many years ago overturned by an eruption of fire, and is now an high and barren mount of cinders, called Monte Novo.