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Afoot in England
Afoot in England is a classic English birding/birdwatching volume by W.H. Hudson. Mr. Hudson is a nature lover, but above all a bird lover, and it was his quest for a more intimate acquaintance with the bird life of the English Countryside that led him "afoot" on many of these birding pilgrimages through un-frequented England, of which he gives us such attractive glimpses. Never before published in America, and long out of print in England.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1909
About the author
William Henry Hudson
359 books100 followersWilliam Henry Hudson was an Anglo-Argentine author, naturalist and ornithologist. His works include
Green Mansions
(1904).
Argentines consider him to belong to their national literature as Guillermo Enrique Hudson, the Spanish version of his name. He spent his youth studying the local flora and fauna and observing natural and human dramas on then a lawless frontier, publishing his ornithological work in Proceedings of the Royal Zoological Society, initially in an English mingled with Spanish idioms. He settled in England during 1874. He produced a series of ornithological studies, including Argentine Ornithology (1888-1899) and British Birds (1895), and later achieved fame with his books on the English countryside, including Hampshire Days (1903), Afoot in England (1909) and A Shepherd's Life (1910). People best know his nonfiction in Far Away and Long Ago (1918). His other works include: The Purple Land (That England Lost) (1885), A Crystal Age (1887), The Naturalist in La Plata (1892), A Little Boy Lost (1905), Birds in Town and Village (1919), Dead Man's Plack and an Old Thorn (1920), and A Traveller in Little Things (1921).
Argentines consider him to belong to their national literature as Guillermo Enrique Hudson, the Spanish version of his name. He spent his youth studying the local flora and fauna and observing natural and human dramas on then a lawless frontier, publishing his ornithological work in Proceedings of the Royal Zoological Society, initially in an English mingled with Spanish idioms. He settled in England during 1874. He produced a series of ornithological studies, including Argentine Ornithology (1888-1899) and British Birds (1895), and later achieved fame with his books on the English countryside, including Hampshire Days (1903), Afoot in England (1909) and A Shepherd's Life (1910). People best know his nonfiction in Far Away and Long Ago (1918). His other works include: The Purple Land (That England Lost) (1885), A Crystal Age (1887), The Naturalist in La Plata (1892), A Little Boy Lost (1905), Birds in Town and Village (1919), Dead Man's Plack and an Old Thorn (1920), and A Traveller in Little Things (1921).
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 15 reviews
August 9, 2020
Really enjoyed the book. Sometimes, the author is pretty opinionated and judgmental, and representative of the the time period being the early 1900s. I did find his insights into 'tramping' very refreshing, enjoying the slower pace to truly savor the sights and natural world, rather than rushing through it. He would stay in places for an undetermined amount of time in order to not rush the moment--something I really loved and am challenged by in our modern times, where most travel itineraries are packed. Definitely want to read more of his works!
August 4, 2011
Hudson was a naturalist, and ornithologist, best known for his exotic romances, especially Green Mansions. In Afoot in England he collects various essays about his explorations of England. His descriptions of bird behavior and human behavior are wonderful. He observed the smallest details and the grandest monuments and described them beautifully.
May 7, 2018
The practice of walking in the countryside, or rambling, has been popular in England since the 18th century, and William Henry Hudson (1841-1922) was an influential figure in the field of walking tours. For Hudson, these excursions were more than a hobby. They were part of his vocation—as a naturalist, an ornithologist, and a prolific writer whose many works include the novel Green Mansions.
As the essays in Afoot in England make clear, Hudson was a man of strong opinions—whether on cows or on women’s dress—and he makes his views on travel evident from the start. The pleasure in travel, he believes, lies in discovering “the charm of the unknown,” which is diminished if one reads a guidebook before encountering an experience on one’s own. Best to read it after the journey, he says, when reading won’t come between the viewer and the scene.
His short essays recount his own discoveries as he travels around the country: the mob at Stonehenge at dawn, the stock-doves at Salisbury, the historic ruins at Roman Calleva, the gibbet between two parishes (and the story behind it), the poor moulting blackbird persecuted by a chaffinch, and the pretty wagtail, whose “tail is as much to her, both as ornament and to express emotions, as a fan to any flirtatious Spanish senora.”
Interested in people as well as in nature, Hudson, while on his tours, preferred to stay in the home of locals rather than in inns, and his profiles of individuals introduce us to an assortment of eccentrics. He presents us with a glimpse of a squire, now dead, who ruined himself with agricultural ambitions and turned to writing sonnets; an old woman, now paralyzed and unable to get about, but hungry to tell her stories, who captures him as an ideal listener; and an elderly father who can transform the ordinary events of market day into exciting tales for his young children but who, for all his “schemes for the improvement of his fortunes,” is just a dreamer, unable to earn a living.
In my favorite episode in the book, Hudson visits a curious church, where the organ is thunderously blaring, the choir-boys are running up and down the aisles, pummeling one another or dancing to the music, and the vicar—the organist—appears “more like an Italian monk or priest than an English clergyman” and has “a subtle look…not easy to fathom.” When Hudson remarks that he doesn’t believe that ancient churches should be demolished to build new ones—like the one they are in—the vicar agrees but explains that the old church was beyond repair. It was so dank, he says, that it abounded in frogs, pets of the parishioners, who would feed them with favorite morsels—“bits of meat, hard-boiled eggs chopped up, and earth-worms”—at the Sunday service!
I found two literary pieces in the collection of little interest, partly because I didn’t know the works, and partly because the online edition I purchased garbled one essay and omitted the poetry from the second, so that the comments had no meaning. (I found the poetry in the Project Gutenberg edition.) If I were reading this again, I would buy the reasonably priced paperback edition of the book or a used copy of an old edition.
Hudson was an excellent observer of nature, both wild and human. As a reader who enjoys nature writing, the English countryside, the quirky lives all around us, and a narrator who is himself quite a character, I found Afoot in England a thoughtful and lively ramble—a tour well worth taking.
As the essays in Afoot in England make clear, Hudson was a man of strong opinions—whether on cows or on women’s dress—and he makes his views on travel evident from the start. The pleasure in travel, he believes, lies in discovering “the charm of the unknown,” which is diminished if one reads a guidebook before encountering an experience on one’s own. Best to read it after the journey, he says, when reading won’t come between the viewer and the scene.
His short essays recount his own discoveries as he travels around the country: the mob at Stonehenge at dawn, the stock-doves at Salisbury, the historic ruins at Roman Calleva, the gibbet between two parishes (and the story behind it), the poor moulting blackbird persecuted by a chaffinch, and the pretty wagtail, whose “tail is as much to her, both as ornament and to express emotions, as a fan to any flirtatious Spanish senora.”
Interested in people as well as in nature, Hudson, while on his tours, preferred to stay in the home of locals rather than in inns, and his profiles of individuals introduce us to an assortment of eccentrics. He presents us with a glimpse of a squire, now dead, who ruined himself with agricultural ambitions and turned to writing sonnets; an old woman, now paralyzed and unable to get about, but hungry to tell her stories, who captures him as an ideal listener; and an elderly father who can transform the ordinary events of market day into exciting tales for his young children but who, for all his “schemes for the improvement of his fortunes,” is just a dreamer, unable to earn a living.
In my favorite episode in the book, Hudson visits a curious church, where the organ is thunderously blaring, the choir-boys are running up and down the aisles, pummeling one another or dancing to the music, and the vicar—the organist—appears “more like an Italian monk or priest than an English clergyman” and has “a subtle look…not easy to fathom.” When Hudson remarks that he doesn’t believe that ancient churches should be demolished to build new ones—like the one they are in—the vicar agrees but explains that the old church was beyond repair. It was so dank, he says, that it abounded in frogs, pets of the parishioners, who would feed them with favorite morsels—“bits of meat, hard-boiled eggs chopped up, and earth-worms”—at the Sunday service!
I found two literary pieces in the collection of little interest, partly because I didn’t know the works, and partly because the online edition I purchased garbled one essay and omitted the poetry from the second, so that the comments had no meaning. (I found the poetry in the Project Gutenberg edition.) If I were reading this again, I would buy the reasonably priced paperback edition of the book or a used copy of an old edition.
Hudson was an excellent observer of nature, both wild and human. As a reader who enjoys nature writing, the English countryside, the quirky lives all around us, and a narrator who is himself quite a character, I found Afoot in England a thoughtful and lively ramble—a tour well worth taking.
December 16, 2019
This is a collection of memoirs and essays, mostly about William Henry Hudson's walks around the south coast of England.
This was written in 1905, so it is very dense - thus I found myself re-reading bits occasionally. I found it fascinating, particularly his stories about locals who he met, who offered him overnight lodgings.
A lot of the chapters were primarily about wildlife, and it showed the writer's naturalism knowledge, as well as containing several entertaining stories (a lot of them were about birds fighting with eachother, it seemed).
I have joined the ramblers' association, so this was the main reason I blind bought this; it is worth trying.
This was written in 1905, so it is very dense - thus I found myself re-reading bits occasionally. I found it fascinating, particularly his stories about locals who he met, who offered him overnight lodgings.
A lot of the chapters were primarily about wildlife, and it showed the writer's naturalism knowledge, as well as containing several entertaining stories (a lot of them were about birds fighting with eachother, it seemed).
I have joined the ramblers' association, so this was the main reason I blind bought this; it is worth trying.
Did Not Finish
December 30, 2020Hudson is one of those travel authors you're supposed to like, but I can't get into him.
October 9, 2023
A lovely read with vivid descriptions of the English countryside and rural life. This book allows the reader to escape into a magical world and maybe take a fresh look at their own environment
August 20, 2024
The prose can be beautiful, but many of the attitudes expressed by the author did not age well.
June 12, 2025
I love this author. He has the rare gift of self-effacement, allowing the people and the places in his writing to be beautifully clear!
Read
August 6, 2011it was written a very long time ago and so was written in the style of the time. gets a bit too verbose at times and a bit overenthusiastic; yet, there were some descriptions that were so good that i wrote them down to keep.
Merged review:
it was written a very long time ago and so was written in the style of the time. gets a bit too verbose at times and a bit overenthusiastic; yet, there were some descriptions that were so good that i wrote them down to keep.
Merged review:
it was written a very long time ago and so was written in the style of the time. gets a bit too verbose at times and a bit overenthusiastic; yet, there were some descriptions that were so good that i wrote them down to keep.
August 4, 2011
A collection of essays about Hudson's walks in the English countryside. He observes everything astutely: the birds, the people, the churches... It's full of fascinating little insights. A fun nature ramble.
May 25, 2011
English flora and fauna of 100 years ago, especially birds, as the author roamed the countryside on foot.
Read
February 22, 2013Published in 1909, it is quaint for those with patience to read it's overwhelming detail.
May 20, 2014
a very enjoyable book, good chapters about rambles and walks, and a lovely last chapter about a dog he befriended in Cornwall.
August 30, 2015
I've read a third of this, and liked what I read. I just don't feel particularly interested in carrying on with it at present.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 15 reviews