Windfalls
(Alpha of the Plough)
To Gwen and Phyllis
I think this book belongs to you because, if it can be said to be about anything in particular—which it cannot—it is, in spite of its delusive title, about bees, and as I cannot dedicate it to them, I offer it to those who love them most.
PREFACE
JEMIMA
ON BEING IDLE
ON HABITS
IN DEFENCE OF WASPS
ON PILLAR ROCK
TWO VOICES
ON BEING TIDY
AN EPISODE
ON POSSESSION
ON BORES
A LOST SWARM
YOUNG AMERICA
ON GREAT REPLIES
ON BOILERS AND BUTTERFLIES
ON HEREFORD BEACON
ON MATCHES AND THINGS
ON BEING REMEMBERED
ON DINING
IDLE THOUGHTS AT SEA
TWO DRINKS OF MILK
ON FACTS AND THE TRUTH
ON GREAT MEN
ON SWEARING
ON A HANSOM CAB
ON MANNERS
ON A FINE DAY
ON WOMEN AND TOBACCO
DOWN TOWN
ON KEYHOLE MORALS
FLEET STREET NO MORE
ON WAKING UP
ON RE-READING
FEBRUARY DAYS
ON AN ANCIENT PEOPLE
ON GOOD RESOLUTIONS
ON A GRECIAN PROFILE
ON TAKING A HOLIDAY
UNDER THE SYCAMORE
ON THE VANITY OF OLD AGE
ON SIGHTING LAND