158 NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.
A Remarkable Meteor.—A meteor of great brilliance was observed at
Chelmsford on Sunday evening, April 22nd, at 7.35- The evening was line and
clear, and it was still almost broad daylight, the sun having set at 7.$. The
meteor appeared near the zenith, and took a course a little to the east of south,
emitting a dazzling greenish light, and leaving behind a number of sparks. About
10º above the horizon it suddenly "went out," but for a short distance it was
still visible as a red hot ball before finally disappearing into space.—Thomas S.
Dymond, Chelmsford, April 24th, 1894. [This meteor appears to have been seen
in various parts of England. The Hon. R. Russell recorded it as seen at Hasle-
mere, in "Nature" (April 26th), and at Williton in Somersetshire. It "broke
suddenly into view at thirty-seven minutes past seven, about 50º above the
horizon, and gradually very steadily fell towards the earth, a high range of hills,
the Ouantocks, forming the eastern boundary. A very large elm-tree standing
about a quarter of a mile from us, the meteor became hidden by the tree, so that
we could not see its contact with the ground. It was of as bright a light as the
sun at midday. We should much like to know if it was seen by parties the other
side of the hill. It fell just as steadily as a spent rocket-stick, leaving for some
little distance a tail of sparks. Apparently the meteor was about two and a halt
miles from us, the Ouantocks being three miles." Another observer, writing
from Margate, noted it at twenty-five minutes to eight, its direction being "from
north-west to south-east, the altitude 45º to 30°, in view about thirty seconds ;
colour a brilliant green, and apparent dimensions about the volume of a Roman
candle." From Guildford it was noticed at exactly the same time, falling "in a
direct line to the earth, leaving behind a magnificent train of blue. After
travelling to within, apparently, a very short distance of the earth, it broke into
three pieces, something like the bursting of a sky-rocket, the lower portions being
about the size of a breakfast cup. The sight was the more remarkable, there
being no star visible in the clear light of day."—Ed.]
Fairmead Lodge, Epping Forest.—This lodge, sometimes known as
Sotheby's, has already ("Two Forest Lodges," Essex Nat., vol. vii., p. 83, and
see also E.N., vol. vi., p., 206) been identified with that known in former
ftimes as New Lodge. A reference to it probably occurs in the recently
published "Correspondence of Mr. Joseph Jekyll." Writing under date July 18th,
1826, he says:—"Poet Sotheby invites the boys to a Fete Champetre at a hovel
he has built in a bog on Epping Forest, where his brother the Admiral is to waltz,
but they have no stilts, so decline it."
A few years later on, in January, 1834, Mr. Jekyll records Mr. William
Sotheby's death, and says of him that "he was a man of considerable talents and
many virtues . . . Many of his original compositions were highly poetical, but
his principal fame will rest upon his translations. His 'Virgil,' his 'Wieland,'
and I think, too, his Homer, manifest a scholar's intimacy with the idiom of their
respective languages, and extraordinary facility of versification." Jekyll's view of
the matter in 1829 was somewhat different : "Think," he says, "of Poet Sotheby
translating Homer after Pope" ; and in 1825 he alludes to "Botherby's" having
left a card on him, "which he has not done these seven years. It has no black
edges, so it is probably to shew he has not hanged himself."
In 1822, Mr. Sotheby was involved in a dispute with the Benchers of the
Inner Temple, of whom Jekyll was one, and they expected a satire from him.
Incidentally we are told that it was Byron who christened him "Botherby," and
not, it is added, "without good reason."