Good Books

[Slowpoke]

I grew up in South Carolina and now being held "captive" on the outer edges of the sunny south. I presently live in the small hamlet of Linthicum, just outside of Baltimore, Maryland. Anyway, this time of year is always hard for me because I miss my home state and wish to be hunting in the woods and swamps of the Carolinas. I do make it home a few times in the fall but during the cold winter months my thoughts often drift back home.

With that said, one of my favorite activities is reading especially about hunting and wildlife. When the snow is falling, two of my favorite authors are Archibald Rutledge and Havilah Babcock. Both of these authors were from South Carolina and wrote extensively about their time in the woods and fields from 1890's - 1960's. Rutledge was poet laureate of South Carolina and wrote mainly of deer, turkey, and ducks. Babcock taught at the University for many years and was an avid fisherman and quail hunter. I highly recommend these authors when your season is over a you long for the solace of the woods.

You can probably find them through your local library and if you like them order a copy through Amazon, just be sure to use the link on the Forum's homepage. Who are your favorite authors that wrote of their time a field?

SP

 

[robinghewitt]

Richard Jefferies, The Amateur Poacher.

He starts with an old flinter with a walnut stock cut from a tree planted by his great grandfather, he shoots everything. In the end he loses his blood thirsty streak, watches and goes primitive. No date in the book, I'd guess c1900, here's a taste ::

If the wheel did not knock a spark out quickly; if the priming had not been kept dry or the match not properly blown, or the cross-bow set exactly accurate, then the care of approach would be lost. You must hold the gun steady, too, while the slow priming ignites the charge.
An imperfect weapon-yes; but the imperfect weapon would accord with the great oaks, the beech trees full of knot-holes, the mysterious thickets, the tall fern, the silence and the solitude. The chase would become a real chase: not, as now, a foregone conclusion. And there would be time for pondering and dreaming.

 

[Slowpoke]

AUTHOR: Hawker, James, 1836-1921
TITLE: A Victorian poacher; James Hawker's journal. Edited and introduced by Garth Christian
IMPRINT: London, New York, Oxford University Press [1962]
EDITION:
SUBJECT HEADING: Poaching Great Britain
PHYSICAL DESC: 113 p. illus. 20 cm.


Thanks Robin, this is all I could find in the library system of Maryland. I'll get the library to do a national search.

SP

 

[robinghewitt]

Thanks Robin, this is all I could find in the library system of Maryland. I'll get the library to do a national search.

Or, I could lend you my copy and you could lend me one of those Carolina books - preferably a small one, the postman is only just recovering after those BP magazines you sent ::

 

[Slowpoke]

Robin, you are to much. I thought you would enjoy the extra reading material, not to mention the tasty marinade for your chickens.

All of my books are hardback 1st editions so I'm afraid of the sorting office loosing them in transit. I'll find you some softcovers and send them to you.

SP

 

[robinghewitt]

I'll find you some softcovers and send them to you.

There you go making it all complicated again. Then I'd have to find a reprint copy of TAP which could be a tadge expensive