ALL IN THE DETAIL
material matters. His lifelong friend John Mulso told him: “You are yourself the richest man I know; for you are the only man of my acquaintance that does not want money.” Gilbert never married, though he certainly sowed some wild oats as an undergraduate.
Gilbert’s duties as a curate were far from onerous, extending to a total of around 50 baptisms, weddings and funerals a year. His faith may, of course, have been deeply personal. He was no evangelist, though it is clear that he ministered in an unpatronising manner to the rural poor, and was deeply loved by them. The memorial window to him in St Mary’s Church, Selborne, depicts St Francis ministering to the birds, but it is wrong to view Gilbert as a Franciscan figure. He was influenced by natural theology, which was in vogue at the time and provided arguments for the existence of God based on reason and the experience of nature.
If anything, Gilbert was a pre-Darwin biologist, a meticulous observer and recorder of natural phenomena. His secret was simple: he had an inquiring mind and wrote everything down, in concise descriptive language. So few naturalists do. He kept remarkably detailed but clear journals, concentrating on birds, the garden, weather, seasonality, phenology (the study of seasonal phenomena) and what we can loosely term rural affairs, but he could be wowed by anything, and was. His writings suggest he was a rural polymath, with a wonderful turn of phrase.
Gilbert wanted to know how things worked. This meant that he was not averse to shooting birds, and locals were forever procuring specimens for him. Gilbert dutifully examined all specimens, and sometimes ate them. During one harsh winter, he cooked up the remains of a dissected bittern, and “found the flavour to be like that of wild duck, or teal, but not so delicate”. He loved birds, especially what were then known as the hirundines – the martins, swallow and swift – and was fascinated by the mysteries of their migration. He could hold conversation with any modern birder, though he would be amazed by the extent of change
TOP Gilbert White’s house contains a treasure trove of natural history
ABOVE Installed in 1920, the stained-glass window at St Mary’s depicts St Francis preaching to birds that featured in White’s writings between his era and ours (his corncrakes and wrynecks are long gone, and the cuckoo now calls at Selborne only in passing). Today, the Selborne Society seeks to perpetuate interest in natural history in Gilbert White’s name.
Gilbert White was the first to start asking the right questions about nature, and to seek out the interconnectivities. Above all, he loved life – all life – and articulated this passion with great lucidity. His message to all of us is simple: observe, note and learn. His alert, inquiring mind is still very much part of the intense feeling of spirit of place, or genius loci, that is forever Selborne.
Matthew Oates