word sighting

[eLLioTT morEton]

Woot!

I ran into another old friend recently:

"Though (by statute 4 and 5 W. and Mary, c. 23) 'to burn on any waste, 
between Candlemas and Midsummer, any grig, ling, heath and furze, goss or 
fern, is punishable with whipping and confinement in the house of 
correction'; yet, in this forest, about March or April, according to the 
dryness of the season, such vast heath-fires are lighted up, that they 
often get to a masterless head, and, catching the hedges, have sometimes 
been communicated to the underwoods, woods, and coppices, where great 
damage has ensued."  (Gilbert White, _The Natural History of Selborne_, 
Letter VII.)

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