Jefferies Land - A History of Swindon and Its Environs #267820

Life teaches no harder lesson to any man than the bitter truth - as true as bitter - that "A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house." And foremost among modern prophets who have had to realize its bitterness stands Richard Jefferies, the "prophet" of "field and hedge row" and all the simple daily beauty which lies about us on every hand. The title of "The Painter of the Downs" might be given to him, as it was to the veteran artist H. G. Hine, for his glorification of his native country in word-pictures as vivid and glowing as the colours on the canvas.<br><br>But Wiltshire never realized, during his lifetime, the greatness of the man whom she had reared, and it is open to question whether she honours his memory now.