Dead Man's Plack and An Old Thorn (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

By W.H. Hudson

The title of this popular 1920 classic by the eminent naturalist refers to two locales that inspired him to seek out not only their scientific wonders but also the stories behind their tradition and lore. The first, “Dead Man’s Plack,” details the legend behind a memorial cross where Hudson went to explore the insect life and became immersed in investigating the murder story that occasioned it. The second, “The Hawthorn and the Ivy Near the Great Ridge Wood,” concerns a solitary tree whose beauty and the stories surrounding it, soon far outweigh his curiosity about its botanical “habits.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: Mar 6, 2012
• ISBN: 9781411464919

W.H. Hudson

William Henry Hudson (1841–1922) was an author and naturalist. Hudson was born in Argentina, the son of English and American parents. There, he studied local plants and animals as a young man, publishing his findings in Proceedings of the Royal Zoological Society, in a mixture of English and Spanish. Hudson’s familiarity with nature was readily evident in later novels such as A Crystal Age and Green Mansions. He later aided the founding of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.