Highways and Byways in Sussex

by E. V. Lucas

In all its beauty dress'd.

That time's arrived; I've had my wish,

And lived to eighty-five;

I'll thank my God who gave such grace

As long as e'er I live.

Still when the morning Sun in Spring,

Whilst I enjoy my sight,

Shall gild thy new-clothed Beech and sides,

I'll view thee with delight.

Most of the trees on the side of Chanctonbury and its neighbours were self-sown, children of the clumps which Mr. Goring planted. I might add that Mr. Charles Goring was born in 1743, and his son, the present Rev. John Goring, in 1823, when his father was eighty; so that the two lives cover a period of one hundred and sixty years—true Sussex longevity.