STARS OF EARTH.
 
 STARS OF EARTH; 
 
 OR, 
 
 WILD FLOWERS OF THE MONTHS 
 
 LEIGH PAGE. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 JOHNSTON E, HUNTER, AND CO. 
 
 MDCCCLXVIII.
 
 ' Spake full well, in language quaint and olden, 
 
 One who dwelleth by the castled Rhine, 
 When he called the flowers, so blue and golden, 
 Stars, that in earth's firmament do shine ; 
 
 Stars they are, wherein we read our history, 
 
 As astrologers and seers of eld ; 
 Yet not wrapped about with awful mystery, 
 
 Like the burning stars, which they beheld. 
 
 Wondrous truths, and manifold as wondrous, 
 God hath written in those stars above ; 
 
 But not less in the bright flow'rets under us, 
 Stands the revelation of His love. 
 
 Bright and glorious is that revelation, 
 Written all over this great world of ours ; 
 
 Making evident our own creation, 
 
 In these Stars of Earth, these golden flowers.' 
 LONGFELLOW. 
 
 2091 26G
 
 INTRODUCTION'. 
 
 ' Flowers ! flowers ! bright, merry-faced flowers ! 
 I bless ye in joyous, or saddened hours : 
 
 I love ye dearly, 
 
 Ye look so cheerly. 
 
 In summer, autumn, winter, or spring, 
 A flower is to me the loveliest thing 
 
 That hath its birth 
 
 On this chequered earth : 
 Oh ! who will not chorus the lay I sing?' 
 
 HO does not love flowers fair, luxu- 
 riant wild-flowers with which our 
 earth is so beautiful ? What pure, 
 healthful thoughts they bring to the 
 mind ! with what warm, bright, happy 
 feelings they stir the heart ! They are ' a 
 joy for ever.' 
 
 ' Flowers are the brightest things which earth 
 
 On her broad bosom loves to cherish ; 
 Gay they appear, as children's mirth, 
 Like fading dreams of hope they perish.
 
 2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In every clime, in every age, 
 
 Mankind have felt their pleasing sway ; 
 
 And lays to them have decked the page 
 Of moralist and minstrel gay.' 
 
 Old and young, rich and poor, the learned and un- 
 taught, all acknowledge alike the common sentiment. 
 The humblest little child delights to gather them ; the 
 greatest scholar disdains not to bend his cultured intellect 
 in scanning their simplest beauties. They are bound in 
 our memories with the sports of childhood, the plea- 
 sures of youth. Who, in later years, can look upon even 
 the humble daisy, that raises its glad face from out the 
 meadow grass, or scent the fragrant hawthorn from the 
 roadside hedge, and not feel 
 
 ' My childhood's earliest thoughts are link'd with thee : 
 The* sight of thee calls back the robin's song, 
 
 Who, from the dark old tree 
 Beside the door, sang clearly all day long, 
 
 And I, secure in childish piety, 
 Listen'd as if I heard an angel sing 
 With news from heaven, which he did bring 
 Fresh every day to my untainted ears, 
 When birds, and flowers, and I were happy peers.' 
 
 Or who can see a group of village children roaming the 
 meadows in search of flowers, and not remember, 
 ' I did the same in April time, 
 
 And spoilt the daisy's earliest prime ; 
 
 Robbed every primrose-root I met, 
 
 And ofttimes got the root to set ; 
 
 And joyful home each nosegay bore, 
 
 And felt as I shall feel no more ?'
 
 INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 Ah ! it was with joy undimmed we wandered amongst 
 the beauteous wild blossoms, ever ready with loving 
 hearts to admire, wonder, linger over them ; and with 
 what force and eloquence they ever spoke to our hearts 
 of affection and piety! Who can look upon a flower, 
 and not feel the power, the wisdom, and beneficence of 
 a Supreme Being, who decks our world with such heavenly 
 beauties, who regulates the changing seasons, the burst- 
 ing bud, the opening blossom, the ripening fruit, and fall- 
 ing leaf? All these teach us the truth of the Psalmist's 
 words, that it is ' the fool who hath said in his heart 
 There is no God ;' for 
 
 ' There is a tongue in every leaf, 
 
 A voice in every rill 
 A voice that speaketh everywhere, 
 In flood and fire, through earth and air, 
 A tongue that's never still. 
 
 'Tis the Great Spirit, wide diffused 
 
 Through everything we see, 
 That with our spirits communeth 
 Of things mysterious, life and death. 
 
 Time and eternity.' 
 
 I am sure, my dear young friends, you must all delight 
 in flowers ; and I purpose that we take each month a 
 country ramble together, and see what loveliness adorns 
 our earth, wandering through woods, and lanes, and 
 sunny meadows, adown the streamlet's banks, or out 
 upon the healthful, breezy moor, culling our little bouquet
 
 4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 as we go, and tracing God's love even in ' the flower of 
 
 the field ;' for 
 
 ' There is a lesson in each flower, 
 A story in each stream and bower ; 
 In every herb on which you tread 
 Are written words, which, rightly read, 
 Will lead you from earth's fragrant sod 
 To hope, to holiness, and God.' 
 
 Therefore, in our rambles, by which we hope to add 
 to our enjoyment of nature, our further knowledge of 
 the useful and beautiful, and renewed vigour to mind 
 and body, let us be careful we 'rightly read' those 
 'written words ;' 
 
 ' For, though we view each herb and flower 
 
 That sips the morning dew, 
 
 Did we not own Jehovah's power, 
 
 How vain were all we kne'A- !'
 
 I. 
 
 y ANUARY. 
 
 ANUARY is a cold, withering month, 
 and but few plants dare to expose 
 the delicacy and beauty of their 
 blossoms to its ungenial influence ; 
 yet still, in a clear, bright, frosty 
 morning, we may venture forth, and hope 
 to find a stray flower or two. We must 
 not grieve if a carpet of snow hides from 
 our eyes the beautiful grass-land ; but re- 
 member how beneath it lie, protected from nipping frost 
 and chilling blast, the many roots and seeds that will 
 spring and bud when summer skies appear. The trees 
 are leafless ; and one wonders where the sparrow or 
 robin finds a sheltering nook ; but their pretty twitting 
 is still heard from joyous, grateful hearts, as they flit 
 about the hedge-row, picking a chance hep from the 
 dog-rose or white-thorn, and hiding, to enjoy their prize, 
 beneath the foliage of a holly-bush. 
 
 Very beautiful is the holly (Ilex aquifolittm} at all
 
 6 JANUAR Y. 
 
 seasons, but never more so than during these winter 
 months, when its bright, dark leaves glance among the 
 otherwise bare branches of the thorn, or privet hedge. 
 In ancient days, this beautiful evergreen was called Holy 
 
 HOLLY Ilex aquifoli 
 
 Tree, on account of its being used to deck the churches 
 at Christmas time, and hence the corruption of holly. 
 Its pretty, white, wax-like flower does not appear until 
 April ; but is scarcely so beautiful as its poisonous scarlet
 
 JANUARY. 7 
 
 berry, which glows so brightly in this winter month. 
 The glossy leaves are usually edged with sharp spines, 
 but those on the upper branches are often smooth and 
 harmless, as Southey describes in his beautiful little 
 poem on the holly-tree : 
 
 ' Below a circling fence its leaves are seen, 
 
 Wrinkled and keen ; 
 No grazing cattle, through their prickly round, 
 
 Can reach to wound ; 
 But, as they grow where nothing is to fear, 
 Smooth and unarmed the pointless leaves appear.' 
 
 The holly-wood is very hard and white, and is much 
 used by the turner and mathematical instrument maker. 
 The bark contains a substance from which bird-lime is 
 made. 
 
 It may be that the snow has melted from yon gently 
 rising hillock that faces the sun, and we may find a sprig 
 or two of common chickweed or stitchwort (Stellaria 
 media) to carry home to our pet canary. It is a pretty, 
 elegant plant, with pearly-white starry blossoms, delicate 
 green leaves, and spreading, branched, brittle stems. It 
 flowers throughout the entire year, and its constantly 
 ripening seeds form an abundant supply of food to the 
 
 birds. 
 
 ' The little chickweed, oh, the little chickweed ! 
 'Tis a simple flower, and is sweet indeed 
 Sweet and ingenuous as a child, 
 Running about in the woodlands wild.' 
 
 There are eight species of stitchwort, but perhaps the
 
 8 JANUAR Y. 
 
 prettiest of all is the greater stitch wort (Stellaria holostea), 
 often called satin-flower, which shows its delicate cluster- 
 ing blossoms in the hedgeside during May. It is a more 
 erect plant than the common chickweed, its slender stems 
 often growing as high as two feet. The lesser stitchwort 
 (Stellaria gramined) is a still more weak and brittle 
 plant, its stems growing longer, and supporting them- 
 selves amongst the surrounding bushes, where it loves 
 best to bloom. The Alpine stitchwort (Stellaria ceras- 
 toides) is a low plant, with fine silky leaves, common, I 
 believe, in the Highlands of Scotland. 
 
 The Latin name of Stella signifies star, and is there- 
 fore very appropriate to our pretty, silvery, star-like 
 blossom. Its name of stitchwort is derived from its sup- 
 posed usefulness in curing pains or stitches in the chest 
 or side ; and that of chickweed, because hens feeding 
 upon it were believed to lay more eggs. 
 
 As we wander onwards, we shall doubtless find a 
 flaunting dandelion (Leontodon taraxacum], which is 
 familiar to almost every eye. Common, and generally 
 despised, it is nevertheless a handsome flower, glittering 
 like a golden star in the fields and meadows of the new- 
 born year. Its leaves, which are large and coarse, grow 
 from the root; and, being deeply cut, with the lobes 
 turned backward, its name was consequently made from 
 two Greek words, signifying lion and tooth. Its root is a 
 medicine used in England ; its leaves are sold in the 
 French markets for salad ; and in some countries the
 
 DANDELION Leontodon taraxacnr, 
 9
 
 JANUARY. ii 
 
 young roots are roasted and ground, and mixed with 
 coffee. The stems are full of a milky juice, which 
 indelibly stains linen, or the fingers which gather them. 
 Every one knows its downy balls of seed, that succeed 
 the flower; how, as children, we called them 'clocks,' 
 and blew, and blew, to ascertain the fleeting hour of the 
 summer's day. 
 
 ' The dandelion, with globe of down, 
 The schoolboy's clock in every town, 
 Which the truant puffs amain, 
 To conjure lost hours back again.' 
 
 When Linnaeus, the great Swedish botanist, proposed 
 the use of a floral clock, to be composed of plants which 
 opened and closed their blossoms at particular hours, the 
 dandelion was one he selected on account of its petals 
 opening at six in the morning. The hawkweed was 
 another it unfolds at seven, the succory at eight, the 
 celandine at nine, and so on ; the closing of the blossoms 
 marking the corresponding hours of afternoon and even- 
 ing. Nor is this the specific effect of light and air, as 
 they are found to do the same if placed in a dark room. 
 
 ' 'Twas a lovely thought, to mark the hours, 
 
 As they floated in light away, 
 By the opening and the folding flowers, 
 That laugh to the summer's day. 
 
 Thus had each hour its own rich hue, 
 
 And its graceful cup or bell, 
 In whose coloured vase might sleep the dew, 
 
 Like a pearl in an ocean shell.
 
 12 JANUARY. 
 
 Oh ! let us live, so that flower by flower 
 
 Shutting in turn, may leave 
 A lingerer still for the sunset hour, 
 
 A charm for the shaded eve.' 
 
 But now we have reached our little sunny bank, the 
 snow has disappeared from the grass, and see what is 
 raising its glad face to the genial sunshine ! 
 
 ' A daisy, with its pinky lashes.' 
 
 Pluck it, and look at its delicate white petals, sur- 
 rounding a golden centre, and backed by a delicate star 
 
 of green ! 
 
 'Wee, modest, crimson-tipped flower,' 
 
 What poet has not loved to sing of it ! ' The robin of 
 
 flowers ;' 
 
 'The golden tufte within a silver crowne ;' 
 
 ' The poet's darling,' as Wordsworth lovingly designates 
 it. . Ben Jonson and Chaucer call it 'Day's Eye,' be- 
 cause it is 
 
 ' The little daisy, that at evening closes.' 
 
 The Scotch give it the pretty title of gowan 
 ' The opening gowan, wet wi' dew.' 
 
 In Italy it bears the name of meadow-flower ; in France, 
 that of marguerite. It was the device of the unfortunate 
 Marguerite of Anjou, and also Marguerite of Valois, 
 that noble, pious princess, the protecting friend of 
 Calvin, so famous for her wit and beauty, so beloved by 
 all around her, who was called by her brother, Francis
 
 CHRISTMAS ROSE Helleborus niger 
 13
 
 JANUARY. 15 
 
 the First, king of France, his ' Marguerite of Marguerites.' 
 Its botanical name is Bellis perennis, derived from the 
 Latin bellus, beautiful. 
 
 And now, with our sprig of holly, our chickweed, dan- 
 delion, and bunch of daisies, let us wander from those 
 sunny fields to the open heath-land beyond, and gather 
 a few golden flowers from 'the never bloomless furze,' 
 which loves a sandy soil, and is to be found so plentifully 
 on high lands. 
 
 ' Fringing the fence on sandy wold 
 With blaze of vegetable gold, 
 The furze (but ah ! beware the thorn, 
 Too oft 'mid brightest blossoms born !) 
 The furze still yields its fragrant bloom.' 
 
 The dwarf species (Ulex nanus) is a low, prickly shrub, 
 its golden blossoms opening first in autumn, but linger- 
 ing on through the winter months, defying winter frosts, 
 and gleaming in beauty when stormy blasts have withered 
 every other flower. The common gorse, or whin ( Ulex 
 Europ(zus\ is a very bushy shrub, growing from two to 
 five feet high, beset with thorns, and its numerous papi- 
 lionaceous, or butterfly-like blossoms, often clothing the 
 hill side with a lustrous beauty. It does not continue to 
 bloom quite so late as the dwarf species ; but as early as 
 May the moor will gleam like a sheet of gold under the 
 sunlight, a glorious mass of yellow blossoms ; and most 
 delicious is the odour of its fragrance, borne on the soft 
 summer air. When Linnaeus first beheld our native
 
 i6 JANUARY. 
 
 moorland in all its loveliness, he is said to have fallen 
 on his knees, and thanked God for the sight. 
 
 Small is our January bouquet, and yet with such must 
 we be content In the garden we may find a Christmas 
 rose (Helleborus niger) nestling in its bed of dark, shining 
 leaves. It is a poisonous plant, as are also the wild 
 varieties, which, however, do not blossom before Feb- 
 ruary, and have greenish purple flowers. The ancients 
 held the Christmas rose in great esteem and veneration, 
 and used in winter time to scatter their floors with its 
 beautiful white blossoms, to hallow their houses, and 
 guard themselves from the power of evil spirits. Let 
 us gather one of its short, thick-stemmed flowers, and, 
 placing its snowy whiteness in contrast with yellow furze 
 and glistening holly, deck the parlour table with this 
 scanty show of winter blossoms. Then let us circle 
 around the comfortable, cheery hearthstone, to discuss 
 our pleasant walk ; and, dwelling on all the wonders and 
 beauties which it has revealed, let us pray : 
 
 ' Instruct us, Lord, 
 E'en by the simple lesson of a flower, 
 To live by Thee.'
 
 II. 
 
 FEBRUARY. 
 
 ' Come forth, ye lovely heralds of the spring ! 
 
 Leave, at your Maker's call, your earthly bed ; 
 At his behest your grateful tribute bring : 
 
 To light and life, from darkness and the dead, 
 Thou timid snowdrop, lift thy lowly head.' 
 
 HE cold ungenial month of February 
 has arrived, with its chilling winds 
 and sleety showers, its alternate 
 changes of snow and thaw; but 
 even in spite of these we may find a 
 bright sunny morning to tempt us out into 
 the sheltered lane, and be able to gather 
 a small nosegay out of the few wild-flowers 
 that dare at the season when the Almighty 
 ' scattereth his hoar-frost like ashes' to brave the 
 wintry blast, and proclaim, in their exquisite perfection 
 and beauty, 
 
 ' The hand that made us is divine.' 
 
 Many of the trees and bushes around us are beginning 
 B
 
 1 8 FEBRUARY. 
 
 to give some faint indications of existence, to remind 
 us the beautiful spring-time is close at hand, when 
 
 ' The folded leaf is woo'd from out the bud.' 
 
 The fresh green of the elder-tree and gooseberry, the 
 darker leaf of the honeysuckle, or perchance an early 
 'catkin,' or tassel-like blossom of the hazel, may be 
 seen ; the faint aromatic odour of the ground ivy de- 
 tected, though it does not flower until a month later. 
 Its young leaves, however, are often gathered now by 
 country people, as a cure for coughs and colds. Early 
 as it is, we may chance to find, on some rubbish heap 
 near the garden, an early blossom of the dingy helle- 
 bores, of which we have two species : the green helle- 
 bore (Helleborus viridus) ; and the stinking hellebore 
 (Helleborus foetiduf). Both are highly poisonous, bloom- 
 ing in woods and waste places, and bearing greenish 
 flowers, those of the latter somewhat larger and tinged 
 with purple. The green leaves are numerous and 
 pedate, or bird-footed; the stems are usually short, 
 thick, and sturdy. 
 
 At this time, also, the bright little winter aconite 
 (Eranthis hyemalis) raises its yellow satiny cup above 
 the ground : 
 
 ' The aconite that decks with gold 
 Its merry little face.' 
 
 At one time it belonged to the hellebore tribe, but is 
 now classed among the ranunculus family. Its green
 
 FEBRUARY. 19 
 
 leaves spread like a drooping frill around the neck of 
 the stem, close beneath the flower. It grows near to 
 the ground, and from this has derived its botanical name 
 from the Greek, signifying earth flower. Like all the 
 aconites, it possesses highly poisonous properties. It 
 is a beauteous little blossom, which we value all the 
 more for appearing at this dreary season, when so few 
 flowers gladden our sight. Well has Clare described it, 
 
 ' The winter aconite, 
 
 With buttercup-like flowers, that shut at night, 
 Its green leaf furling round its cup of gold, 
 Like tender maiden muffled from the cold.' 
 
 But 
 
 ' Already now the snowdrop dares appear, 
 The first pale blossom of the unripened year ; 
 As Flora's breath, by some transforming power, 
 Had changed an icicle into a flower.' 
 
 Let us hunt first for this exquisite herald of spring, 
 'the fair maid of February,' as it has been called, 
 which, though considered a doubtful wildling, may often 
 be found adorning the lanes of the south of England. 
 With the earliest gleam of sunshine, when nature still 
 rests in her winter's sleep, and only the robin is heard 
 piping his little song of gladness, then will 
 
 ' The snowdrop, who, in habit white and plain, 
 Comes on, the herald of fair Flora's train,' 
 
 venture to peep from the compact little flower-sheath, in 
 which it has so long lain snugly enveloped, and show its
 
 20 FEBRUARY. 
 
 beauteous fair face above the snow, which it rivals in white- 
 ness : 
 
 ' Lone flower, hemmed in with snows, and white as they.' 
 
 Who does not experience a gush of true pleasure in 
 
 SNOWDR OP GalantJnts. 
 
 discovering the first snowdrop ? or fail to welcome with 
 gladness, the little bunches of white blossoms that peep 
 from out their nest beneath the sheltering tree, bringing 
 to the flowerless earth the cheerful promise of brighter 
 skies, and more genial sunshine ?
 
 FEBRUARY. 21 
 
 ' Like a star on winter's brow, 
 Or a gleam of consolation 
 In the midst of sorrow, thou 
 Comest, pearl of vegetation.' 
 
 How beautiful are its pair of straight-veined, pale-green 
 leaves ; its drooping bells, composed of three outer 
 petals, enclosing their inner triplet delicately edged 
 with green ! How daintily they bend from the tender 
 
 stalks, 
 
 ' Like pendent flakes of vegetating snow,' 
 
 braving the chilling frosts, yet timidly gathering in 
 clusters, nodding and trembling 'neath every sweeping 
 blast ! Exquisite, delicate little blossom, how we love 
 thee ! coming in this wintry season, when so few others 
 visit us. Its botanical name (Galanthus) is taken from 
 the Greek, and signifies milk-flower. The Germans call 
 it snow-bell ; the French give it the name of perce- 
 niege snow-piercer, which is even prettier than our own. 
 The snowdrop is considered the emblem of hope, 
 doubtless because it comes 
 
 ' The early herald of the infant year ;' 
 
 but a pretty legend tells us of its first adoption, which 
 my young friends may be amused to hear. 
 
 It is said that Hope, one day standing leaning on 
 her anchor, watching the snow as it fell on the earth, 
 and Spring patiently waiting till the wintry blast had 
 passed away, lamented that those beautiful white flakes
 
 22 FEBRUARY. 
 
 were not fair blossoms to gladden the land, rather than 
 chilling snow to leave all so bare and desolate. Upon 
 which Spring extended her fair arms, poured forth her 
 sweetest smiles and warmest breath on the falling 
 flakes, which immediately assumed the form of flowers, 
 and dropped on the earth in scattered clusters of 
 beauteous snowdrops. Hope, enchanted with the sight, 
 caught the first trembling blossom as it fell, and at 
 once adopted it as her emblem. Thus 
 
 ' The pallid snowdrop, like the bow 
 
 That spans the cloudy sky, 
 Comes fraught with hope, for well we know 
 
 That brighter days are nigh ; 
 That circling seasons, in a race 
 That knows no lagging, lingering pace, 
 Shall each the other nimbly chase, 
 Till Time's departing final day 
 Sweep snowdrops and the world away !' 
 
 Another doubtful wildling to be gathered now, is the 
 spring crocus (Crocus vernus), which so often blooms in 
 our garden borders, and is frequently to be found in 
 little tufts adorning the pastures of the southern counties 
 of England. Its flowers are lilac, and, like the snow- 
 drop, it possesses erect, narrow, green leaves, and a 
 bulbous root, which all autumn and winter lies hidden 
 beneath the ground, but seems to leap into life at the 
 first summons of spring. 
 
 ' Down in its solitude under the snow, 
 Where nothing cheering can reach it ;
 
 FEBRUARY. 23 
 
 There, without light to see how to grow, 
 It trusts to kind nature to teach it. 
 
 It does not despair, nor be idle, nor frown, 
 
 Locked in so gloomy a dwelling ; 
 Its leaves they run up, and its roots they run down, 
 
 Whilst the bud in its bosom is swelling.' 
 
 The crocus is said to be named 
 after a beautiful youth, who was 
 changed into a flower by the gods, 
 on account of his impatient love for 
 a shepherdess named Slimax, who, 
 in consequence, died through grief, 
 and was turned into a yew-tree. 
 
 But see ! we have come upon 
 the pretty, small, blue blossoms of 
 the procumbent speedwell ( Veronica 
 agrestis\ which trails its stems along 
 the ground, and is the first of all 
 the speedwells. We have eighteen 
 kinds ; but the largest, and perhaps 
 the best known of all, 
 
 'Brighter than bright heaven the speedwell 
 blue,' 
 
 is the germander speedwell ( Vero- 
 nica chamcsdrys}, which decks with 
 its brilliant blue blossoms the April CROCUS-O^ 
 meadows, and which we shall gather in that month.
 
 24 FEBRUARY. 
 
 On yonder sheltered hedgebank we shall likely find 
 the leafy blossom of the red dead nettle (Lamium 
 purpureum), which is common by every wayside, and 
 blooms throughout the summer. Its dark-green leaves 
 faintly tinged with purple, and its purplish-red flowers, 
 are not beautiful, neither is its smell agreeable ; but we 
 prize it now when our nosegay is so small. Its foliage 
 is somewhat like the stinging nettle, which we are all 
 afraid to touch ; but it is called ' dead', or ' blind', 
 because possessing no venomous power. 
 
 Surely a gentle perfume scents the air ; and an ad- 
 venturous little violet ( Viola odorata) is to be found 
 in some sheltered nook, half hidden by its heart-shaped 
 green leaves, but betrayed by its own sweet odour. 
 
 ' In the woods this simple flower 
 
 Conceals its purple crest, 
 But from out her grassy bower, 
 Her scent betrays her nest.' 
 
 Oh, who will be first to pluck it from its retreat, with 
 that vague happy feeling that theirs is mayhap the first 
 eye that has lighted on it since it was fashioned by the 
 hand of God ! All poets love the 
 
 ' Violets dim, 
 
 But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes, 
 Or Cytherea's breath.' 
 
 Sir Walter Scott tells us : 
 
 ' The violet in her greenwood bower, 
 
 Where birchen boughs with hazel mingle,
 
 FEBRUARY. 25 
 
 May boast itself the fairest flower, 
 In glen, in copse, or forest dingle.' 
 
 But the shrinking violet is too fit an emblem of modesty 
 to boast. An old English sonnet speaks of it also as 
 the emblem of faithfulness. It is a native of every 
 part of Europe ; and many a copse-wood in England is 
 made beautiful by its deep purple, and sometimes white 
 blossoms, so rich and generous in their fragrant sweet- 
 ness. Our greatest of English poets has declared it to 
 
 be a 
 
 ' Wasteful and ridiculous excess 
 
 To throw a perfume on the violet.' 
 
 The dog-violet ( Viola canind) is a larger, brighter flower, 
 holding its head erect to view. Its blossoms are beauti- 
 fully streaked with purple lines, but scentless. It is of 
 it that Clare has so exquisitely written : 
 
 ' Violets, sweet tenants of the shade, 
 In purple's richest pride arrayed, 
 
 Your errand here fulfil : 
 Go, bid the artist's simple stain 
 Your lustre imitate in vain, / 
 
 And match your Maker's skill.' 
 
 There are several other species; but rarely are any 
 found to bloom before March or April. So gather our 
 precious early-comer gently, for its delicate flower is 
 fragile, and soon fades. 
 
 ' The trembling violet, which eyes 
 The sun but once, and, unrepining, dies ! '
 
 26 FEBRUARY. 
 
 The marsh violet ( Viola palustris) bears a pretty, 
 transparent-looking flower. It is an inhabitant of bogs, 
 and very plentiful in Scotland ; as is also the yellow 
 violet, or mountain pansy ( Viola luted), that decks the 
 moorland heaths. A syrup is made from violets, which 
 is most useful in chemistry. 
 
 We must not forget to look for a bit of common 
 groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) as we wander along, which 
 provides such ample store of food for the little birds 
 that gladden our woodland walk with the varied notes 
 of their full-hearted song. At almost all seasons of the 
 year, in summer's warmth or winter's cold, we may find 
 it springing up, a true emblem of constancy : 
 
 ' Through storm and wind, 
 
 Sunshine and shower, 
 Still will you find 
 Groundsel in flower.' 
 
 There are, 1 believe, nearly six hundred species of 
 groundsel, and nine are British kinds. It is to be found 
 in almost every British settlement ; its seeds having 
 doubtless been conveyed in the grain taken to foreign 
 lands, as has happened with many of our wild-flowers. 
 
 The spurge laurel (Daphne laureola), with its bright 
 evergreen leaves, has been conspicuous during all the 
 winter months ; but now we chance to see its pale 
 yellowish-green pendent flowers, which hang in clusters, 
 like little waxen bells, beneath its dark, shining, palm- 
 like leaves, situated in circular rows around the extremity
 
 FEBRUARY. 27 
 
 of its few branching stems, which grow often three feet 
 high. Unlike the Daphne mezereon, which we shall 
 gather next month, it is not sweet-scented, though its 
 bluish-black berries are equally poisonous to all but 
 birds, and eagerly sought for by the thrush and black- 
 bird. The spurge laurel is a native of Britain, more 
 common than the mezereon, and may in mild seasons be 
 gathered as early as January. It is one of the hand- 
 somest evergreens in the woods and hedges of the south 
 of England, but is more rare in Scotland, and gleams as 
 brightly during winter's storms as 'neath the summer 
 sunshine. Its fruit is highly useful as a medicine. The 
 genus is named from the nymph so beloved of Apollo, 
 who, imploring the protection of the gods, was changed 
 by them into a laurel. 
 
 The sweet fragrant blossoms of the common rosemary 
 (Rosmarimis officinalis) now also begin to show on the 
 low shrubby evergreen bush, and very pretty are its pale 
 blue or lilac-coloured blossoms, its narrow leaves, with 
 their grey under-surface, which are said to thrive best by 
 the seaside. Its botanical name is compounded of two 
 Latin words signifying sea dew. In olden times the 
 rosemary was esteemed an emblem of constancy. In 
 Hamlet we read : 
 
 'There's rosemary for you, that's for remembrance;' 
 And in the Winter's Tale : 
 
 ' For you there's rosemary and rue ; 
 Grace and remembrance be with you.'
 
 28 FEBRUARY. 
 
 It was frequently used at funerals, and planted on tombs, 
 and was deemed as essential in the wedding wreath as is 
 now the orange blossom. It is said that Anne of Cleves 
 wore it in her hair on the morning of her marriage with 
 Henry. A rich scent or oil is distilled from the rose- 
 mary ; and bunches of it used formerly to be used by 
 our forefathers to stir their ale, and give a fragrant, spicy 
 flavour to the beverage. 
 
 If the month is genial, the river side may be enlivened 
 by a few early blossoms of the marsh-marigold (Caltha 
 palnstris), rearing its sturdy stems close by the water's 
 
 edge. 
 
 ' Oh brave marsh marybuds, rich and yellow !' 
 
 This brilliant golden flower, with its handsome round 
 green leaf, oft decks the mountain streams of Scotland ; 
 and in Lapland it is greeted as the harbinger of spring, 
 though it does not bloom there until May. It always 
 chooses a moist, shady spot, 
 
 ' Not the sunny plain, 
 
 But where the grass is green with shady trees, 
 And brooks stand ready for the kine to quaff.' 
 
 It is common in France, and flowers luxuriantly on the 
 marshy lands of Holland. 
 
 And now we have culled nearly all February's flowers ; 
 and our bouquet for so wintry a month is not so small 
 after all. If our homeward way lies through a clayey 
 soil, we are likely to find an early blossom of the colts- 
 foot ( Tussilago farfarus), whose heart-shaped leaves do
 
 MARSH-MARIGOLD Caltha palustri:. 
 29
 
 COLTSFOOT Twsilago farfarus. 
 30
 
 FEBRUARY. 31 
 
 not unfold until the bright yellow flower has faded away. 
 It is well described by Bishop Mant : 
 
 ' On scaly stem, with cottony down 
 O'erlaid, its lemon-coloured crown, 
 Which drooped unclosed, but now erect, 
 The coltsfoot bright develops ; decked 
 (Ere yet the impurpled stalk displays 
 Its dark-green leaves) with countless rays, 
 Round countless tribes, alike in dye, 
 Expanded.' 
 
 The cottony down, which is found on the under part of 
 the leaf, is gathered by country people for tinder ; and 
 the feathery part of the seed is used by them for stuffing 
 mattresses. The leaves are often mixed in our British 
 tobacco, and the flowers infused as a remedy for coughs. 
 The botanical name is derived from tussis, a cough. I 
 am sure my young friends must all know the handsome 
 green leaf of the coltsfoot, so named from its fancied 
 resemblance to the foot or hoof of a colt, which may be 
 seen in every wayside walk ; but I dare say few of them 
 ever thought how useful it could be made, though its 
 spreading roots and many seeds cause it to be a some- 
 what troublesome plant to many a farmer. Very beauti- 
 ful are the ripe seeds of the coltsfoot, that float away on 
 their airy wings, and disperse themselves far and near : 
 
 ' In nature's field take what you will, 
 Each thing displays consummate skill' 
 
 Much knowledge may be gained from the simplest
 
 32 FEBRUARY. 
 
 little flower, or humble tangled weed that creeps along 
 the grass. How wonderful is its structure ! Its perfect 
 arrangement and adaptation to its position and require- 
 ments, from the bursting bud of spring, to the wafting of 
 the downy seeds by the autumnal winds, all testifying to 
 
 ' The well-ordained laws of Jehovah.' 
 
 'Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even 
 they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord.' 
 Ps. cvii. 43.
 
 III. 
 
 MA R CH. 
 
 ' Strew, strew the glad and smiling ground 
 With every flower, yet not confound 
 The primrose drop the spring's own spouse, 
 Bright day's-eyes, and the lips of cows. ' 
 
 that 
 
 OU often hear of the ' black winds of 
 March,' and yet it is as often styled 
 'the merry month of spring.' In- 
 consistent as this seems, there are, 
 indeed, days when bitter winds and 
 sleety showers sweep across the meadows, 
 checking and withering the bursting bud ; 
 and then, again, the warm, bright sunshine 
 breaks forth, as though bidding nature rejoice 
 
 ' Winter has passed with its frowns away, 
 And the beautiful spring is coming !' 
 
 The merry-hearted bird, springing from bough to bough, 
 
 twits his little song, or trims his feathered suit, 
 c
 
 34 MARCH. 
 
 ' Though tender leaves on tree and bush 
 Scarce hide the blackbird and the thrush.' 
 
 Let us, my young friends, choose such a sunny morning 
 for our healthful ramble in the country. We shall find 
 that vegetation has rapidly advanced since we took our 
 last pleasant wander together, that nature is awakening 
 from its winter sleep, and many fresh flowers await our 
 gathering, in addition to the coltsfoot which now carpets 
 the ground with its bright yellow flowers, the pale 
 clusters of the spurge laurel, the gaudy dandelion 
 flourishing everywhere, and the modest little spreading 
 chickweeds. The violet, so prized in our last walk, may 
 now be gathered in profusion, the air is perfumed with 
 its fragrant sweetness ; and the pure, innocent daisy, so 
 loved by us all, is scattered thickly over the fresh green 
 of the newly springing grass, 
 
 ' As though some gentle angel, 
 Commissioned love to bear, 
 Had wandered o'er the greensward, 
 And left her footprints there.' 
 
 Truly no season is more lovely than our dawning 
 spring, so worshipped by the poet, so welcomed by every 
 lover of nature. Charles d'Orleans, who was taken 
 prisoner at the battle of Agincourt in 1415, and re- 
 mained for twenty-five years a poor solitary captive in 
 England, wrote so delicately and beautifully of the 
 return of spring, that I cannot resist giving a portion of 
 his verse to my young friends :
 
 MARCH. 35 
 
 4 Now Time throws off his cloak again 
 Of ermined frost, and wind, and rain, 
 And clothes him in the embroidery 
 Of glittering sun and clear blue sky. 
 With beast and bird the forest rings, 
 Each in his jargon cries and sings ; 
 And Time throws off his cloak again 
 Of ermined frost, and wind, and rain.' 
 
 Wandering across the fields, we shall likely find many 
 new pleasures greet us ; and perhaps the first in this 
 month's list may be the lesser celandine, or pilewort 
 (Ranunculus ficaria), whose golden blossoms, 
 
 ' Shining like the glist'ning star,' 
 gleam brightly from hedge-bank or meadow-grass, 
 
 ' The first gilt thing 
 That wears the trembling pearls of spring.' 
 
 Every lover of wild-flowers welcomes the celandine as 
 one of the fairest and earliest of our spring blossoms. 
 
 ' Ere a leaf is on the bush, 
 In the time before the thrush 
 Has a thought about its nest, 
 
 Thou wilt come with half a call, 
 Spreading out thy glossy breast 
 
 Like a careless prodigal ; 
 Telling tales about the sun, 
 When there's little warmth, or none.' 
 
 So sings Wordsworth, that true poet of flowers, whose 
 verses have immortalized the celandine, which he claims 
 as his own :
 
 36 
 
 MARCH. 
 
 ' There's a flower that shall be mine, 
 Tis the little celandine.' 
 
 Beautiful as the celandine is, I grieve to confess it is a 
 very injurious plant to the land, and is said to destroy 
 
 anunculus Jicaria. 
 
 all others growing near it. A large number of its blos- 
 soms spring from one root ; and its heart-shaped leaves
 
 MARCH. 
 
 37 
 
 are spotted with a paler green. At night, and before 
 rain, the flowers close, and open only in the brightest 
 sunshine. 
 
 The major celandine 
 (Chelidonium majus) 
 is common in hedges, 
 and blooms in May. 
 There is also the sea 
 celandine, or yellow- 
 horned poppy (Glau- 
 cimii hitcum\ which 
 grows by the coast, 
 and flowers in June. 
 
 But let us look for 
 that 'earliest nursling 
 of the spring,' that 
 beautiful woodland 
 flower, 'the primrose 
 pale ' (Primula vul- 
 garis), so delicate in 
 the sulphur tints of its 
 pretty heart - shaped 
 petals, set off to such 
 advantage by its own 
 handsome green leaf: 
 
 ' On the wood's warm, sunny side, 
 Primrose blooms in all its pride.' 
 
 Who that loves spring sunshine and opening flowers, 
 
 via vulgar
 
 38 MARCH. 
 
 does not welcome this fair blossom, which seems yet 
 fairer for its early appearance in the very dawn of spring ? 
 Well does it merit its name of prima rosa, or first rose ; 
 for even in February, when we have ventured forth to 
 pluck the delicate snowdrop, and ere we have rejoiced 
 
 to see 
 
 ' The vernal pilewort's globe unfold 
 Its star-like disk of burnished gold,' 
 
 we may discover an early blossom ; nay, perchance, even 
 
 ' A tuft of evening primroses, 
 O'er which the mind may hover till it doses ; 
 O'er which it well might take a pleasant sleep, 
 But that 'tis ever startled by the leap 
 Of buds into ripe flowers.' 
 
 Our English poets have paid due honour to this sweet 
 spring flower, that unites such delicate beauty of colour, 
 form, and fragrance. Milton speaks of the 'pale prim- 
 rose : ' 
 
 ' The rathe primrose, that forsaken, dies.' 
 
 Ben Jonson calls it * the spring's own spouse.' Words- 
 worth speaks of the early passing away of this flower, 
 which rarely continues to bloom later than May : 
 
 ' Primroses, the spring may love them, 
 Summer knows but little of them.' 
 
 There are several varieties, but the commonest is the 
 one we have just gathered, and two lilac kinds, which 
 latter are sometimes found in the north of England, and
 
 MARCH. 39 
 
 Scotland, but do not bloom until July. Not one of the 
 primrose tribe but what is rejected by all grazing animals, 
 excepting swine. I have heard of primrose ointment 
 being made from the flowers, and used as a cosmetic. 
 The cowslip and oxlip both belong to this genus ; but of 
 them we shall speak when they bloom. 
 
 We shall now find growing on the bank the little 
 barren strawberry (Potentillafragariastruni), so precisely 
 similar in flower and leaf to the wood strawberry (Fra- 
 garia vesca), but differing, inasmuch as its pretty white 
 blossom is followed by no fruit. It grows in patches, 
 and loves to nestle beneath the shelter of a spreading 
 tree. The wood strawberry is common throughout Great 
 Britain, and grows in abundance in the woods of France. 
 It does not blossom until May ; and I dare say you all 
 know how sweet and refreshing is the fruit it bears : 
 
 ' Fragrant, if small, and pleasant to the taste, 
 
 Agreeable alike in form and hue ; 
 
 With nought unwholesome, nought that seems misplaced, 
 Perfection in the strawberry we view.' 
 
 There is a delicate plant that sometimes puts forth its 
 little green flowers as early as this, though more abun- 
 dantly during next month. It is the tuberous moschatel 
 (Adoxa tnoschatellind), an unobtrusive blossom, flourish- 
 ing in moist woods and shady places. 
 
 ' Adoxa loves the greenwood shade ; 
 There, waving through the verdant glade, 
 Her scented seed she strews.'
 
 40 MARCH. 
 
 Its stems are solitary and upright, its flowers gathered 
 in little yellow-green clusters, and emitting a musky 
 
 TUBEROUS MOSCHATEL Adoxa moschatellin 
 
 scent, which has led this plant by some to be called 
 musk crowfoot It flowers in March and April, ripening
 
 MARCH. 41 
 
 its berries in May, and scattering them as the poet has 
 said. 
 
 Scarcely have the wintry winds died away ere the 
 mezereon (Daphne mezereoii) appears, one of the first 
 blossoms to greet the returning spring, with its sweet 
 odours, and the beauty of its delicate purple-pink wreaths. 
 Its clustering flowers, which gather round the shoots of 
 the former year, appear before the leaves are out, as 
 Cowper says : 
 
 ' Mezereon, too, 
 
 Though leafless, well-attired, and thick beset 
 With blushing leaves investing every spray.' 
 
 It is to be found in almost every part of Europe ; and, 
 blooming at a season when flowers are few, it has 
 become quite a garden plant. The branches make a 
 beautiful yellow dye ; the acrid bark is valuable in 
 medicine, and if bound down upon the skin, will raise a 
 blister. Its root is often applied for toothache, but 
 should be used cautiously, as it is apt to heat and inflame 
 the mouth. Its scarlet, one-seeded berries, which in 
 autumn cluster around the stems, are highly poisonous 
 to man and beast, though harmless to birds ; and dearly 
 do the thrush and blackbird relish them. This plant, 
 and several of the Daphne, are often called laurel, from 
 the similarity of their shining leaves to that shrub. It 
 was formerly called spurge olive, and mountain pepper ; 
 and the Italians have given it the endearing name of 
 biondella little fair one.
 
 42 MARCH. 
 
 If we examine the earthy top of some old wall, we 
 shall likely find, growing also in little patches, the small 
 white blossoms of the common whitlow grass (Draba 
 vernal). Its flowers are cross-shaped, its stem only about 
 two inches high, and a circle of delicate leaves surround 
 its base. The whole plant is so small, that we must 
 examine very carefully the low green moss in which it 
 loves to dwell, ere we shall detect it. 
 
 Every child has noticed, throughout the summer, 
 when wandering by the river-side, the large broad leaf 
 of the butter-bur (Tussilago petasites), growing on a 
 stalk some two feet high, and known to them under the 
 name of 'umbrellas.' Petasites is taken from a Greek 
 word signifying a broad covering, and is doubtless given 
 to the butter-bur on account of its magnificent leaves, 
 which are finely veined, and very hairy. It belongs to 
 the coltsfoot tribe, and, like it, the flowers precede the 
 leaves. In this month of March, the spike-like heads of 
 downy, dusky, flesh-coloured blossoms appear, affording 
 early food to the cheerful bee : 
 
 ' While from their cells, still moist with morning dew, 
 The wand'ring wild-bee sips the honied glue, 
 In wider circle wakes the liquid hum, 
 And, far remote, the mingled murmurs come.' 
 
 How beautiful are the hedges now becoming with the 
 white blossoms of the early sloe, or blackthorn (Primus 
 spinosa), which hang like snow-wreaths over its dark 
 branches long before any leaves appear ; but these take
 
 MARCH. 43 
 
 the place of flowers as spring advances. What school- 
 boy does not relish in the autumn its harsh unwholesome 
 fruit, in flavour like an unripe damson, and which is 
 often used, I believe, in the adulteration of port wine ! 
 Country people make a medicine from the infused leaves, 
 and say that the name of blackthorn is derived from the 
 fact of its blossoming during the ' black winds of March.' 
 Let us gather a branch for our nosegay, but take heed 
 of torn ringers, for its thorns are strong and sharp. 
 
 ' Without a wry face, difficult it is 
 To eat the austere berries of the thorn : 
 Most difficult to penetrate the fence 
 With its sharp spines thick set on every side.' 
 
 I wonder if any of my young friends have ever observed 
 a flower familiarly known by the name of pickpocket, 
 but more correctly called shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa- 
 pastoris), on account of its little heart-shaped seed-vessels, 
 which are not unlike the form of a tiny purse, and which 
 are much more conspicuous than its clusters of small 
 white flowers. We must pluck a piece to examine as 
 we go along. It is to be found in almost any hedge or 
 field, and flowers nearly all the year. 
 
 And now, as we approach this old wall, how sweet is 
 the fragrance of the wallflower (Cheiranthus cheiri), that 
 greets us with its delicious odour ! Its flowers are rich 
 in all the varied hues of red and yellow : 
 
 ' The yellow wallflower, stained with iron-brown.'
 
 44 MARCH. 
 
 We have only one British species of this shrubby plant, 
 from whence proceed all our garden varieties. It is 
 much prized in the East. It flowers early, heedless 
 of March winds, and blooms throughout the summer, 
 flourishing by the seaside cliffs of our southern coasts, 
 or lingering near the old ruin. From this it has been 
 called 'fidelity's flower:' 
 
 ' When the proud tower and battlement 
 By time are all decayed and rent, 
 Then, in misfortune's gloomy hour, 
 Springs up fidelity's sweet flower.' 
 
 The common dog's mercury (Mercurialis perennis) 
 often puts forth its blossoms during this month, though, 
 being green, we are apt to overlook them. It is a 
 very common plant, speedily overrunning any neglected 
 ground. Its flowers grow in spikes, on long slender 
 stems ; its leaves are handsome and abundant, forming 
 thick patches of dark green. It grows about a foot 
 high, blossoms the whole summer, and is exceedingly 
 poisonous. 
 
 The graceful fritillary (Fritillus meleagris), which 
 sometimes adorns the English meadow, but is by no 
 means a common plant, blooms also at this season. It 
 is a solitary pendent flower, its dark, tulip-shaped bell 
 being curiously spotted with dull pink. There is just 
 this one native of the family. Its name is derived from 
 the Latin, fritilhis, signifying a dice-box. In former 
 times it was called Guinea-hen flower, on account of its
 
 MARCH. 45 
 
 spotted appearance ; and a poet, in writing of it, has 
 
 said : 
 
 ' Chequered are thy leaves, as when 
 
 Persecution's shadows fall 
 On the paths of righteous men, 
 Like a gloom funereal.' 
 
 The golden saxifrage (Ckrysosplenium oppositifolium) 
 may be sometimes gathered 
 as early as this, growing by 
 the water-side. It is a succu- 
 lent plant, rising some few 
 inches high. Its yellowish- 
 green blossoms, nestling 
 amongst its upper round 
 green leaves, are small, and 
 richly tipped with golden 
 yellow. 
 
 The family of the saxifrage 
 is numerous. Several species 
 grow on rocks, stones, or dry 
 walls, the commonest of which 
 is the rue - leaved saxifrage 
 (Saxifmga tridactylites), which 
 has small white flowers, red- GOLDEN 
 
 oppositifolium. 
 
 dish leaves covered with sticky 
 
 hairs, and grows only a few inches high. The meadow 
 saxifrage (Saxifraga granulata) is a handsome plant, 
 growing a foot in height, with larger white flowers, and 
 kidney-shaped leaves. Both these flower in May. But
 
 46 MARCH. 
 
 the best known of all is the species so common in the 
 cottage garden, called none-so-pretty, and London pride 
 (Saxifraga umbrosa). It is a native of Ireland, and indi- 
 genous also in England. Its flowers are a pinky white, 
 dotted with dark red. 
 
 ' The none-so-pretty is a lightsome flower, 
 Called Amourette in France ; and will not be 
 Confined, but runneth even where it lists, 
 And gives its heart to whom it liketh best.' 
 
 Blooming in the' moist wood, or by the streamlet's 
 
 edge, 
 
 ' Drooping its beauty o'er the watery clearness, 
 Wooing its own sad image into nearness,' 
 
 we may chance to find a first-born blossom or a clump of 
 
 ' Daffodils, 
 
 That come before the swallow dares, and take 
 The winds of March with beauty,' 
 
 as Shakespeare beautifully expresses his allusion to the 
 early flowering of this plant. He further tells us that, 
 
 ' When daffodils begin to peer, 
 Why, then comes in the sweet of the year.' 
 
 The single daffodil (Narcissus pseudo-narcissus), the 
 daffadowndilly of former days, is by no means an un- 
 common flower : 
 
 ' Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 
 Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.' 
 
 Its drooping head is composed of a deep yellow cup, sur-
 
 MARCH. 
 
 47 
 
 rounded with a circlet of paler lemon-coloured petals. 
 Its leaves are long, narrow, and a bright, deep green. 
 
 NARCISSUS Narcissus poetics. DAFFODIL Narcissus pseudo-narcissits. 
 
 It is rare, I believe, in Scotland, but in the south of Eng- 
 land blooms freely in many a moist meadow, its usually 
 brilliant golden blossoms sometimes assuming a more 
 delicate cream-like tint, equally beautiful. It belongs to 
 the narcissus tribe, named after Narcissus, a beautiful 
 youth, who, as the poets tell us, falling in love with his
 
 48 MARCH. 
 
 own image in the water, pined away into a daffodil. 
 But the poetical narcissus (Narcissus poeticus) is a fairer 
 and more rare blossom than the daffodil. It has a snow- 
 white flower, composed of six petals, with a yellow cup 
 in the centre, edged with a fringe of deep purple or 
 scarlet, and is scented with a strong, delicious fragrance. 
 
 ' Narcissus, drooping on his rill, 
 Keeps his odorous beauty still' 
 
 It is a less hardy plant than the daffodil, and does not 
 bloom until May, thus escaping the easterly winds that 
 are so destructive to it 
 
 ' When the chilling east invades the spring, 
 The delicate narcissus pines away.' 
 
 We have now, I think, gathered almost all our March 
 flowers, and the waning sun bids us hasten homeward. 
 As we go, let us observe how the hazel-tree is now decked 
 with its hanging tassels, and the sombre alder is donning 
 its dark, gloomy foliage. The flowers of the ash are 
 coming out on its leafless boughs ; the spiry branches of 
 the Lombardy poplar are unfolding their drapery ; and 
 the beautiful green bursts forth from its winter shield 
 in the well-cased buds of the horse-chestnut, that, ere 
 summer dawns, will be 
 
 ' Clad with blossoms white and fair, 
 Blossoms that perfume the air ; 
 Spreading wide, and towering high, 
 Emblem of luxuriancy.'
 
 MARCH. 49 
 
 How beautiful are the golden balls, or children's 
 ' pussy-cats,' of the willow, which is usually called palm, 
 and used in the religious ceremonies of Palm Sunday ! 
 In Ireland, where the church holds the anniversary of 
 Christ's entrance into Jerusalem as a high festival, 
 branches of yew are used instead of willow, and, after 
 the priest's benediction, become 'blessed palms,' to be 
 suspended in the church or home. Many are the asso- 
 ciations of trees and flowers with the religious ceremonies 
 of the church, as well as the celebration in olden times 
 of great national sports and victories, when Beauty was 
 crowned with myrtle, the patriot with oak, when bays 
 
 formed 
 
 ' The victor's garland, and the poet's crown.' 
 
 And in later times each saint's day claimed its own 
 particular flower : St. Valentine, the crocus ; St. George, 
 the harebell ; St. Bartholomew, the sunflower ; St. Patrick, 
 the wood-sorrel ; and we are told that 
 
 ' The Michaelmas daisy, among the dead weeds, 
 Blooms for St. Michael's valorous deeds.' 
 
 Thus, when wandering through rural scenes, we are sur- 
 rounded by the most interesting associations, awakened, 
 it may be, by the humblest blossom that has sprung in 
 our pathway, and which also, by the perfection of its 
 beauty and structure, is ever telling of a supreme Creator, 
 and proclaiming 
 
 ' The hand that made it is divine.' 
 D
 
 SO MARCH. 
 
 How often, also, when viewing the trees of the forest, 
 or ' flowers of the field,' may we be reminded of portions 
 of Scripture, and of Scripture truth ! Our Saviour him- 
 self drew the attention of his disciples to the beauties of 
 the earth for this purpose : ' Behold the grass of the field.' 
 'Consider the lilies.' Think of the mustard-seed, the 
 barren fig-tree, the seed-corn and tares, and 'APPLY 
 YOUR HEARTS UNTO WISDOM.'
 
 IV. 
 APRIL. 
 
 April has come, the capricious in mien, 
 
 With her wreath of the rainbow, and sandals of green ; 
 
 Storms on her forehead, and flowers at her feet, 
 
 And many-toned voices, but all of them sweet ; 
 
 Playing, like childhood, with tear and with smile, 
 
 Weeping for ever, and laughing the while ! 
 
 Months follow, fairer, when April is gone, 
 
 But none of the year have a gift like her own ; 
 
 Richer their colours, and sweeter their breath, 
 
 But no month of them all sees so little of death.' 
 
 ;>OW lovely are our woodlands in this 
 showery, sunshiny month of April, 
 when the young -leaved boughs of 
 the forest trees, in their half-unfolded 
 beauty, are gently waving, and the 
 songs of the joyous birds ring merrily 
 through the woods ! 
 
 ' Up, let us to the fields away, 
 And breathe the fresh and balmy air ; 
 
 The bird is building in the tree, 
 
 The flower has opened to the bee, 
 And health, and love, and peace are there.'
 
 52 APRIL. 
 
 Yes ! spring has come at last, delicate, fresh, emerald 
 
 spring ; 
 
 ' And earth exulting, from her wintry tomb 
 Breaks forth with flowers.' 
 
 Many a lovely blossom is peeping from meadow and 
 hedgeway ; 
 
 ' Bells and flowerets of a thousand hues' 
 
 are spreading their gay carpet of variegated colours, 
 
 ' As if the rainbows of the fresh green spring 
 Had blossomed where they felL' 
 
 The bluebell bends to every passing breeze ; the speed- 
 well 
 
 ' Gleams like amethyst in the dewy grass ;' 
 
 and the celandine the beautiful celandine glistens like 
 gold from out the verdant meadow ; whilst the air is 
 perfumed with the sweet odours of violets, ground-ivy, 
 hyacinths, and many spring flowers. 
 
 ' The welcome flowers are blossoming, 
 
 In joyous troops revealed ; 
 They lift their dewy buds and bells, 
 
 In garden, mead, and field. 
 From the green marge of lake and stream, 
 
 Fresh vale, and mountain sod, 
 They look in gentle glory forth 
 
 The pure, sweet flowers of God.' 
 
 There is not, however, a sweeter or more beautiful 
 blossom in this month than the wood-anemone (Anemone 
 nemorosa), that droops its modest head in such abundance
 
 APRIL. 53 
 
 alike in wood and sheltered valley. It is the wind- 
 flower of our old poets, 'Vherbeau ventl or wind-herb, 
 of the French. The English name is taken from the 
 
 WOOD-ANEMONE Anemone nemorosa. 
 
 Greek word anemos, or wind, which was given by the 
 ancients, why, I am unable to tell you, unless it be that 
 ts delicate petals, so soon ruffled 'by the spring winds,
 
 54 APRIL. 
 
 are often first found quivering in the fierce breezes of 
 March. A poet has spoken of 
 
 ' The coy anemone, that ne'er uncloses 
 Her lips until they're blown on by the wind ;' 
 
 but I am more disposed to think it is to the warmth and 
 brightness of the genial sunshine that the ' coy anemone' 
 chooses to ' unclose her lips ;' for, when he pours his 
 radiant beams with fullest light and vigour on the earth, 
 
 ' Then, thickly strewn in woodland bowers, 
 Anemones their stars unfold.' 
 
 What, my dear young friends, can be more exquisite 
 than these fair, tinsel-looking, quivering blossoms, that 
 nod and tremble amongst the grass, raising their slender 
 stems, with graceful, drooping heads, amidst their triple 
 circlet of dark, smooth, beautifully -cut leaves! The 
 flower is white and star-shaped, delicately pencilled with 
 purple lines ; the veins of the green leaves are tinged 
 with crimson. And thus we see even this lowly blossom 
 the divine Hand has streaked with loveliness and beauty. 
 
 Though continuing to bloom in rapid and plentiful 
 succession, it is frail when gathered, and dies quickly ; 
 thus we are told, 
 
 ' Its beauty but awhile remains ; 
 For those light-hanging leaves, infirmly placed, 
 The winds, that blow on all things, quickly blast.' 
 
 There are various legends attached to the anemone.
 
 APRIL. 55 
 
 Some poets have told us it owes its origin to Flora, the 
 goddess of flowers and gardens, the privileged enjoyer of 
 perpetual youth, who, jealous of the exquisite beauty of 
 a Grecian nymph, changed her into this blossom. But 
 the fable most commonly received is that connecting it 
 with the death of Adonis, who was killed whilst hunting, 
 and over whom Venus shed many tears, each tear that 
 fell to the ground springing up a beautiful anemone. 
 Now, my young friends may not all know that the 
 ancient Greeks and Romans held a mythology, which is 
 simply a collection of legends and fables, of course all 
 fictitious, yet differing from fiction, because once believed 
 to be an account of events that had actually taken place. 
 Gods and goddesses were supposed to have presided 
 over these events ; and temples were raised to their 
 memories, in which festivals were held, that often lasted 
 for days and weeks. Now, Venus was honoured as the 
 goddess of love and beauty, the mistress of the Graces, 
 and queen of laughter. Adonis was her beloved favour- 
 ite. He was passionately fond of hunting, and so bold 
 and daring in the chase, that Venus, fearful lest in thus 
 exposing himself he might one day be slain, forbade him 
 to hunt wild beasts. But alas ! Adonis, over-confident in 
 himself, heeded not the injunction, and received a mortal 
 injury from a wild boar. Then we are told the plentiful 
 tears of Venus gave birth to the wood-anemone. 
 
 ' The flower which sprang, as ancient fables tell, 
 When 'neath the wild boar's tusk Adonis fell,
 
 56 APRIL. 
 
 The youth beloved of Venus, from whose eyes 
 Poured crystal tears, like raindrops from the skies.' 
 
 The elegant, silky pasque-flower (Anemone pulsatilla) 
 may also be gathered in this month, growing on banks 
 or chalky pastures, but is not a common plant. Its 
 delicate purple stars of flowers are larger than the wood- 
 anemone, but do not grow so tall. 
 
 Another bright ornament of our spring meadows is 
 that 'fragrant dweller of the lea,' the 'freckled cowslip' 
 (Primula veris), of which the peasant-poet Clare has so 
 beautifully written : 
 
 ' Bowing adorers of the vale, 
 Ye cowslips delicately pale, 
 
 Upraise your loaded stems ; 
 Unfold your cups in splendour ; speak ! 
 Who decked you with that ruddy streak, 
 And gilt your golden gems ?' 
 
 Exquisite indeed is this softly-fragrant, pale yellow 
 blossom, with its handsome primrose leaf, and drooping 
 flowers, or 'nectared bells,' supported on one delicate 
 
 stem : 
 
 ' Cowslips wan, that hang the pensive head.' 
 
 Hasten, my young friends, search far and wide for the 
 largest, most perfect blossoms, and let us make a cowslip 
 ball, by nipping off the clusters from the top of the stem, 
 and passing them upon a string. Take care to press the 
 flowers closely together, then draw them up into a ball, 
 and tie the string securely. What a sweet-scented toy 
 to toss into this lovely April air !
 
 APRIL. 57 
 
 The cowslip, or ' lips of cows/ as Ben Jonson calls it, 
 loves a moist soil and open situation. I have heard of 
 wine being made from cowslips, and also of ' cowslip tea ;' 
 but I have little inclination to taste either. Montgomery, 
 in his Walk in Spring, writes very beautifully of the 
 cowslip and its uses, though he tells us nothing of what 
 an injurious weed it becomes when abundant in pasture- 
 land. 
 
 ' Now, in my walk, with sweet surprise 
 I saw the first spring cowslip rise, 
 
 The plant whose pensile flowers 
 Bend to the earth their beauteous eyes, 
 
 In sunshine and in showers. 
 
 Lovely and innocent as they, 
 
 O'er coppice lawns and dells, 
 In bands the rural children stray, 
 
 To pluck thy nectared bells. 
 
 Whose simple sweets, with curious skill, 
 The frugal cottage dames distil, 
 
 Nor envy France the vine ; 
 While many a festal cup they fill 
 
 With Britain's homely wine.' 
 
 The oxlip (Primula elatior) is also now in flower, but 
 is somewhat rare. It greatly resembles the cowslip, but 
 has larger flowers, spreading wider, and more upright, 
 but not so tall. It has been called the great primrose, 
 and the green leaves are much the same. 
 
 In this same moist meadow we are sure to find the
 
 58 APRIL. 
 
 pale lilac, wan-hued cuckoo-flower (Cardamine praUnsis). 
 
 Shakespeare's 
 
 ' Ladies' smock, all silver white, 
 That paint the meadow with delight j' 
 
 thus named by the great dramatist from its fancied 
 resemblance, when blooming thickly, to linen spread 
 upon the grass. The flowers, when first they open, are 
 tinged with a delicate purple, but, when exposed to the 
 heat of the sun, gradually fade to a silvery white. Its 
 leaves are different at the root to those on the stem ; 
 but all are small, though the flower often springs a foot 
 high; Its foliage is pungent. It is called cuckoo-flower, 
 because it usually blooms when that bird begins to sing. 
 There are five species, but only one common as this, 
 that is, the small, white-flowered, hairy, bitter cress (Car- 
 damine hirsuta), the leaves of which are often gathered 
 for salad. Like the cuckoo-flower, it loves best the 
 moist meadow, or borders of a stream, 
 
 ' Or where old winter leaves her plashy slough, 
 The lady's smock will not disdain to grow.' 
 
 What a grace is now added to our hedgerows by the 
 dark blue flower of the lesser periwinkle ( Vinca minor}, 
 its large glossy leaves glistening in the sunshine, so 
 bright in their green as to give it the name of 'little 
 
 laurel!' 
 
 ' The fresh periwinkle, rich in hue.' 
 
 Though not generally a common plant, it is most abun-
 
 APRIL. 
 
 59 
 
 CUCKOO-FLOWER Gz
 
 60 APRIL. 
 
 dant in some parts, and, spreading rapidly, soon covers 
 large plots of green. 
 
 ' Through primrose tufts in that sweet bower, 
 
 The periwinkle trailed its wreaths ; 
 And 'tis my faith that every flower 
 Enjoys the air it breathes,' 
 
 writes Wordsworth. Its name is derived from vincio, to 
 bind, in consequence of its tough, trailing stems. Very 
 lovely is this rich, many-flowered plant, which blooms all 
 summer, its bay-like leaves flourishing far through the 
 winter months. 
 
 ' The lesser periwinkle's bloom, 
 Like carpet of Damascus' loom, 
 Pranks with bright blue the tissue wove 
 Of verdant foliage.' 
 
 In Italy wreaths are made of the periwinkle, to deck the 
 graves of infants. There is a white variety, also very 
 beautiful, but not quite so plentiful as the blue kind. 
 The larger periwinkle ( Vinca major) does not bloom 
 before May. It is much less common than the lesser 
 periwinkle, and, as its name implies, both flowers and 
 leaves are larger, the whole plant more erect. 
 
 Also, now trailing its long stems by every hedge-side 
 is the fragrant ground-ivy (Glcchoma hederacea), its blue 
 or lilac flowers peeping out from the shelter of other 
 
 plants. 
 
 ' And there, upon the sod below, 
 Ground-ivy's purple blossoms show, 
 Like helmet of Crusader knight, 
 In anther's cross-like form of white.'
 
 APRIL. 61 
 
 Its blossoms grow in whorls of threes, and are supported 
 at the base by a couple of dark, scallop-shaped leaves. 
 In olden times the ground-ivy was infused for coughs, 
 
 GROUND-IVY Glechoma hederncea. 
 
 and was regularly cried and sold in the streets of 
 London. Both flowers and foliage make it a very
 
 62 APRIL. 
 
 pretty plant ; but it is one most injurious to pasture- 
 land. 
 
 The cranesbills are beginning to bloom in this month ; 
 and every one must recognise the little dove's-foot 
 cranesbill (Geranium molle), which blossoms on almost 
 every bank and waste place. It has long spreading 
 stems, and round grey -green leaves, deeply cut into seg- 
 ments, and downy as velvet. Its flowers are small, and 
 of a purplish red. There are seventeen species of cranes- 
 bill, but this blooms earliest of all. None, however, 
 are more beautiful than the herb-Robert, or poor robin 
 (Geranium Robertianum\ which blooms next month, 
 a lovely flower, that shows its pretty pink blossoms in 
 all places ; and when these have died away, its leaves, 
 in autumn often assuming a rich crimson glow, are as 
 beautiful as the flowers themselves. Unfortunately it 
 has a strong, unpleasant smell, and on that account is 
 called stinking cranesbill. It is stated to have been 
 called after Professor Roberts of Oxford, but many 
 believe its name to bear a much older date. The name 
 geranium is derived from the Greek, and signifies a crane. 
 The seed-vessels of the plants, from being long and 
 pointed, are supposed to resemble the bill of a crane. 
 
 Ah! here we have come upon the cuckoo-pint (Arum 
 maculatum} 
 
 ' The hooded arum, early sprouting up ' 
 better known by its familiar names of lord-and-ladies
 
 APRIL. 63 
 
 and wake-robin ; in France fancifully called bonnet de 
 grand pretre, or high-priest's mitre. From the centre of 
 its large, broad, glossy leaves, spotted with a darker 
 green, rises a sort of column of lighter green. Carefully 
 unrol this leafy sheath, and you will find a delicate, rich 
 violet pillar, tapering at the summit, and surrounded by 
 rows of white and red beading, the whole being as 
 elegant in form as it is beautiful in colour. 
 
 ' Oh, cuckoo-pint, toll me the purple clapper 
 That hangs in your clear green bell.' 
 
 In winter a thick cluster of bright orange berries sur- 
 round the stem, and are very conspicuous. Though 
 highly poisonous, they are eaten, and seemingly relished 
 by birds. The root of the plant is about the size of a 
 nutmeg, and contains a farinaceous powder, not a bad 
 substitute for flour. It is sold in Portland Island and 
 Weymouth ; and in London you can buy it under the 
 name of Portland sago. The starch made from the root 
 was highly prized in olden times, when ladies, and gentle- 
 men too, were attired in ruffs and frills, so large and 
 stiffly starched, that one wonders how they contrived to 
 move either head or hands. 
 
 But we have not time to linger, for many April blos- 
 soms are yet to gather. There is that 'little western 
 flower,' 
 
 ' The shining pansy, trimm'd with golden lace.' 
 
 Shakespeare tells us that 
 
 ' Maidens call it love-in-idleness.'
 
 64 APRIL. 
 
 This pretty little wild heartsease ( Viola tricolor], so 
 common during the summer months, is a species of 
 violet, its name of pansy being a corruption of the 
 
 HEARTSEASE Viola t 
 
 French pensfa thought. 'There's rosemary,' says poor 
 Ophelia, 'that's for remembrance; pray you, love, re- 
 member ; and there is pansies, that's for thoughts.' It
 
 APRIL. 65 
 
 is rich in names given by the old poets, such as, Jump- 
 up-and-kiss-me, Herb-trinity, Pink-of-my-john, Three- 
 faces -under- a -hood, etc. It is a general favourite : 
 Spencer speaks of * the pretty paunce ; ' Dryden of 
 'pansies to please the sight ;' Hunt mentions the 
 
 ' Heartsease, like a gallant bold, 
 In his cloth of purple and gold.' 
 
 But Milton gives the finest description : 
 * The pansy freaked with jet.' 
 
 It blossoms on banks and cultivated fields, and varies 
 much in colour, being sometimes pure white, at others a 
 delicate cream, or tinged with yellow, blue, and purple. 
 
 Wandering through the woodlands, we cannot fail to 
 notice a small white, delicate, bell-shaped flower, which 
 blooms freely in the shady place, yet may often be found 
 decking the high mountain. It is the pretty wood-sorrel 
 (Oxalis acetosella), which never appears earlier than 
 April, though frequently growing in cold countries. It 
 was found by Captain Parry in places where scarcely 
 any other flower ventured to blossom ; and we are told 
 that, 'when he saw no longer the wood-sorrel, he had 
 reached the dreary regions of perpetual snow.' It is a 
 humble little flower, lowly in growth, its delicate pearl- 
 white petals elegantly veined with purple lines : 
 
 ' The trim oxalis, with her pencilled leaf.' 
 Almost as beautiful is its bright green triplet leaf, shaped 
 
 like three small hearts joined together at the points, and 
 E
 
 66 
 
 APRIL. 
 
 which spring profusely around the blossoms. It is the 
 most sensitive wildling we have; for so soon as the 
 evening dews begin to fall, it droops its leaves around 
 the stems, and ever seems to shrink at the approach of 
 night, or the faintest whisper of a coming storm. Its 
 
 WOOD-SORREL Oxalis acetosella. 
 
 roots resemble coral beads strung together, as Charlotte 
 Smith describes it : 
 
 ' The wood-sorrel, with its light green leaves, 
 Heart-shaped and triply-folded, and its root 
 Creeping like beaded coral.'
 
 APRIL. 67 
 
 Its seeds are each cased up in a sort of elastic covering, 
 which, when fully ripe, suddenly bursts open, and ejects 
 its contents to a great distance. Its leaves contain a 
 most agreeable acid, resembling lemon, and in con- 
 sequence are commonly eaten on the Continent in salads 
 and fish-sauce. The salts of lemon, which is so often 
 used to remove iron or ink stains from linen, was formerly 
 made from a preparation of the juice extracted from its 
 leaves. 
 
 There were many old names to the wood -sorrel ; 
 amongst others, it was formerly called cuckoo's meat, 
 because it was thought the cuckoo loved to feed upon 
 it ; and Alleluya, from the veneration in which the plant 
 was held. A peculiar reverence was ever felt for the 
 number three ; and therefore the fact of its being a 
 trefoil was sufficient to proclaim it holy. Even as early 
 as the time of the Druids, its triple leaf was looked upon 
 as an emblem of the mysterious Three in One, which 
 they ever endeavoured to illustrate in their worship ; and 
 their reverence was increased by the crescent mark on 
 each fully matured leaflet, in which they beheld an 
 emblem of the moon, another of their symbols. It is 
 the true shamrock of Ireland, and the undoubted plant 
 from which, as was said, St. Patrick, the first missionary 
 sent to that country, plucked one of its pretty trefoil 
 leaves, when illustrating the doctrine of the Trinity to 
 his disciples. 
 
 The trefoil, which many erroneously suppose to be
 
 68 APRIL. 
 
 the original shamrog, adopted by the Irish as their 
 national emblem, and the blossom which is now worn 
 by them on St. Patrick's day, their patron saint, is the 
 white Dutch clover (Trifolium repens), which, as well as 
 the sweet-scented, common purple clover (Trifolium 
 pratense), is so valuable an herbage plant to the farmer : 
 
 ' Sow in good time the trefoil, that in spring 
 Will juicy herbage to the cattle bring ; 
 Cut it, and dry it for the winter rack ; 
 Be provident, and thou shalt nothing lack.' 
 
 They are called trefoils on account of their triple leaflets. 
 Observe how the bees swarm and hum over the clover 
 
 field, 
 
 ' Flying solicitous from flower to flower,' 
 
 and sucking the honey from each full blossom. There 
 are seventeen species of wild trefoils, purple, yellow, and 
 white. One, very common ( Trifolium filiforme), has small 
 yellow flowers, which bloom on almost every country 
 wayside. There are many old superstitions connected 
 with the clover, which was supposed to possess a peculiar 
 charm against witchcraft. Many a peasant, in past days, 
 wore a spray to keep away the witches, and preserve 
 him against all magic arts ; and even yet there seems a 
 lingering belief in its virtue, for we are all apt to exclaim 
 at our luck when we chance to find a four-leaved clover ! 
 There is not a more lovely flower to be gathered 
 during this month than the beautiful blue-bell, or wild 
 hyacinth (Hyacinthus non-scriptus), which blossoms so
 
 APRIL. 69 
 
 abundantly in our woodlands, and continues, as Keats 
 has said, 
 
 ' The shaded hyacinth, alway 
 Sapphire queen of the mid-May.' 
 
 How modestly does each spike of flowers droop from 
 the thick, succulent stem, that seems to bend beneath its
 
 .70 APRIL. 
 
 weight of beauty, and seeks to hide amidst its abundant 
 sword-like leaves 
 
 ' The languid hyacinth,' 
 
 as one of our poets has called it. How pure is the deep 
 blue colouring of its blossoms ! 
 
 * Hyacinth, with sapphire bell 
 Curling backwards.' 
 
 How delicate its fragrance, caught up by the sweet 
 spring air, scenting 
 
 ' The lone copse or shadowy dell, 
 Where clustered knots of blue-bells blow ! ' 
 
 Sometimes it is found white ; and our garden varieties 
 vary in all the shades of pink, purple, and blue ; but 
 these roots are all brought from eastern countries, and 
 are much more powerful in scent than our common wild 
 hyacinth 
 
 The whole plant is full of a poisonous clammy juice, 
 from which formerly starch and glue were made. Poets 
 have loved to extol the beauty of the hyacinth, that 
 blooms in the midst of delicate anemones, ' pale prim- 
 roses,' and fragrant violets. Most beautifully Shake- 
 speare speaks of it as one of the 'fairest flowers' with 
 which to sweeten the sad grave of poor Fidele : 
 
 ' Thou shalt not lack 
 
 The flower that's like thy face, pale primrose, nor 
 The azured blue-bell, like thy veins ; no, nor 
 The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander, 
 Outsweeten'd not thy breath.'
 
 APRIL. 71 
 
 A legend is told of how this flower was named after 
 Hyacinthus, a youth whose education had been entrusted 
 to Apollo, by whom he was greatly beloved. Whilst 
 playing together a game of quoits, Zephyrus, one of the 
 winds, who was jealous of the affection existing between 
 them, blew the quoit of Apollo on to the head of 
 Hyacinthus, who was instantly killed with the blow. 
 Apollo, disconsolate at the death of his favourite, 
 changed his blood into a flower, which has ever since 
 borne his name : 
 
 ' Apollo with unweeting hand, 
 Whilome did slay his dearly loved mate, 
 Young Hyacinth, the pride of Spartan land ; 
 And then transformed him to a purple flower.' 
 
 The ancient poets also inform us that the leaves of the 
 plant were streaked with black, emblematic of sorrow ; 
 and Milton has spoken of it as 
 
 ' That sanguine flower inscribed with woe.' 
 but we look in vain for such lines in our beautiful wild 
 hyacinth, and consequently it has been named Hyacin- 
 thus non-scriptus, which signifies, not written. 
 
 One can scarcely wander near a corn-field without 
 finding a spray of fumitory (Ftimaria officinalis). Its 
 name is derived from the Latin fumus (smoke) ; but 
 why, I am unable to tell you. Its smell, though un- 
 pleasant, is in no way similar to smoke. Its small, deep, 
 purple, rose-tinged flower, has a black spot on it, is 
 tubular in form, and drooping, grows in a spike-like
 
 72 APRIL. 
 
 fashion up the stem. Its leaves are branched, or divided 
 into segments, and are of a beautiful blue-green colour. 
 
 That it is somewhat of a pest to the husbandman, we 
 may infer from the rhyme, which perhaps also explains 
 the significance of its botanical name : 
 
 * Smoke of the earth we fumitory call, 
 For like a vapour it o'erspreadeth all 
 The ripening corn-field ; and the farmer's spleen 
 Is roused to see it creep the stalks between.' 
 
 But if hated by the farmer, it was not so in former days 
 by the country maid, who valued it as a cosmetic, though 
 holding it in some awe, on account of many superstitious 
 associations connected with this plant : 
 
 ' Fumitory too, a name 
 Which superstition holds to fame ; 
 Whose red and purple mottled flowers 
 Are cropped by maids in weeding hours, 
 To boil in water, milk, or whey, 
 For washes on a holiday, 
 To make their beauty fair and sleek, 
 And scare the tan from summer's cheek.' 
 
 The lovely blue flowers of the Germander speedwell 
 ( Veronica chamcedrys) are now sprinkling the grassy 
 banks with their short-lived abundant blossoms, or 
 gleaming brightly from every wayside, as though 
 bidding ' good speed' to every passer-by. It has been 
 called bird's-eye, from the white rays that mark the 
 centre of its flowers, which grow spike-like up the 
 stalk :
 
 APRIL. 73 
 
 ' The little veronica called the bird's-eye, 
 It hath a blue tint like a summer sky : 
 True image the Greeks termed it ; why should not we 
 In its beauty and grace fair resemblance see ?' 
 
 The rose-like green leaves are notched, and grow in 
 pairs up the stem. 
 
 A commoner species is the ivy-leaved speedwell 
 ( Veronica hederifolia), which has small, delicate, paler- 
 blue blossoms, and thick ivy-shaped leaves. It has 
 long, entangling stems, which spread rapidly over the 
 corn-fields, creeping so closely to the ground as often, to 
 escape observation. 
 
 But surely we have gathered a sufficient store of 
 flowers to-day ; both limbs and minds will be growing 
 weary. It is time to bend our steps homeward ; yet, 
 before saying good-bye to the woods, let us raise our 
 heads and take a glance at the many stately trees that 
 blossom in this month the oak, chestnut, ash, willows, 
 and birch ; the wild pear, box-tree, etc. ; and look at that 
 bright mass of foliage that twines and festoons itself from 
 branch to branch, and down amongst the low shrubs and 
 hedges. It is the red-berried bryony (Bryonia dioicd}, 
 one of our most graceful climbers, that weaves its pretty 
 white blossoms veined with green, its rich vine-like leaves, 
 and curling tendrils, through every thicket : 
 
 ' The bryony, 
 So lavish of its vine-like growth.' 
 
 Well does it merit its old name of white vine, from the
 
 74 APRIL. 
 
 luxuriant richness of its foliage. In autumn it is covered 
 with hairs, and adorned with deep red berries, which are 
 said to be poisonous, but are relished by birds. Its 
 white root is full of starch, which, when dried, yields a 
 flour that has been found useful to the poor in times of 
 scarcity. Do my young friends know that there have 
 been seasons of famine, when the poor peasantry have 
 been compelled to subsist on wild roots and seeds, sorrel, 
 boiled nettles, etc. ? Job speaks of mallows and juniper- 
 roots being eaten at such times : 
 
 ' For want and famine they were solitary.' 
 ' Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots 
 for their meat' 
 
 Job xxx. 3, 4. 
 
 Ought not our hearts to be full of gratitude that God 
 has provided so amply for its; that in our days such 
 times of dearth are unknown ; that He has made us rich 
 in plants for food and- clothing, shelter and shade ; 
 gladdened our lives by the fair verdure of the fields, 
 and the fairer flowers that adorn them ? For 
 
 ' He might have made the earth bring forth 
 
 Enough for great and small, 
 Enough of corn, and wine, and oil, 
 Without a flower at all. 
 
 He might have made enough, enough 
 
 For every want of ours, 
 For medicine, luxury, and for toil, 
 
 And yet have made no flowers.'
 
 APRIL. 
 
 75 
 
 Let us, then, thank Him also for the profusion of 
 summer blossoms, which scatter their buds of beauty 
 on every side, as fresh and fair as when Adam first 
 beheld them in Eden.
 
 V. 
 MA Y. 
 
 ' Hail ! beauteous May, that dost inspire 
 Mirth, and youth, and warm desire ; 
 Woods and groves are of thy dressing, 
 Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing ! ' 
 
 "* NOTHER month has passed away since 
 we enjoyed our last sunny ramble 
 together, my dear young friends; 
 and 
 
 ' Flowery May, who from her green lap throws 
 The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose,' 
 
 has arrived, with a host of fresh blossoms 
 to gather. Hasten, and let us away to the 
 beautiful woodlands, so joyous with many voices hailing 
 the advent of summer ; for 
 
 ' May is the very month of mirth ! 
 And if there be a time on earth 
 When things below in part may vie 
 For beauty with the things on high, 
 
 77
 
 78 MA Y. 
 
 'Tis in that balmy vernal time, 
 When nature revels in her prime, 
 And all is fresh, and fair, and gay, 
 Resplendent with the smiles of May.' 
 
 Opening flowers and bursting buds greet us on all sides, 
 
 * As if the dew of April showers 
 Had woo'd the sun, and turned to flowers.' 
 
 The trees are so rich in their emerald green, that the 
 light is scarce seen through their quivering leaves. All 
 nature is fresh, and fair, and beautiful, filling the heart 
 with gladness : 
 
 ' The little brooks run on in light, 
 
 As if they had a chase of mirth ; 
 The skies are blue, the air is warm, 
 Our very hearts have caught the charm 
 That sheds a beauty over earth.' 
 
 The mountain-ash, the service-tree, the wild-pear, and 
 crab-apple, which all belong to the Pyrus family, are 
 now in bloom. Very beautiful is the mountain-ash 
 (Pyrus aucuparia), whether we see it in spring, adorned 
 with its bunches of white flowers and graceful feathery 
 leaves, or in autumn, when decked with glittering clusters 
 of rich coral berries, so loved by birds. 
 
 Strong indeed is the honey-like fragrance emitted by 
 the service-tree (Pyrus torminalis), and very handsome 
 are its white hawthorn-like blossoms, and large dusty 
 leaves, in shape not unlike the sycamore, but looking as 
 though they had grown by the door of a corn-mill.
 
 MA Y. 79 
 
 The wild-pear (Pyrus communis) is a tall tree, with 
 thorny branches and snow-white blossoms. The crab- 
 apple (Pyrus mains] is a small tree, with spreading 
 branches and white blossoms exquisitely tipped with 
 rose-colour. 
 
 These two last are the origin of all our cultivated 
 varieties. 
 
 Many of the Prunus family are also now in flower, 
 of which the sloe is one, which we admired in March. 
 The cultivated plum, cherry, damson, etc., have all 
 sprung from this genus. Very pretty are the white 
 blossoms of the bird-cherry (Prunus padus\ springing 
 from their fresh green leaves. And equally beautiful is 
 the wild-cherry (Prunus cerasus) : 
 
 1 Oh, there never was yet so fair a thing, 
 By racing river or bubbling spring, 
 Nothing that ever so gaily grew, 
 Up from the ground, when the skies were blue ; 
 Nothing so brave, nothing so free, 
 As thou, my wild, wild cherry-tree.' 
 
 The hawthorn-tree (Crat&gus oxyacantha) is now lovely 
 in the beautiful bridal attire of the sweet perfumed haw- 
 thorn or May : 
 
 ' Famed 'mid vernal scene 
 
 For gracing May's propitious hour 
 
 With prodigality of flower, 
 
 Pink-anthered 'mid its petals pale, 
 
 And lending fragrance to the gale, 
 
 Hailed from its fair and sweet array, 
 
 The namesake of the lovely May.'
 
 8o MA Y. 
 
 Few trees can exceed the hawthorn in beauty, or afford 
 so cool a shade in sunny fields. Who knows it not? 
 Who loves it not ? 
 
 ' My childhood's earliest thoughts are linked with thee : 
 The sight of thee calls back the robin's song, 
 
 Who, from the dark old tree 
 Beside the door, sang clearly all day long ; 
 
 And I, secure in chishish piety, 
 Listen'd as if I heard an angel sing 
 With news from heaven, which he did bring 
 Fresh every day to my untainted years, 
 When birds, and flowers, and I were happy peers.' 
 
 The name hawthorn is said to be a corruption of the 
 Anglo-Saxon haegthorn. Its blossoms vary from a 
 delicate white to a beautiful deep pink or blush colour ; 
 and the difference in tinge is the effect of the soil in 
 which it grows. Its haws afford an abundant supply of 
 food to the glad songsters of the woods. There used to 
 be an old custom of 'going a-Maying' on May morning, 
 when the villagers went to the woods, and cut branches 
 of flowering hawthorn to suspend over their doors. This 
 was supposed to be the remnants of a heathen rite, 
 which was paid to Flora, the goddess of flowers. The 
 hawthorn-tree lives to a great age. I have seen one in 
 a garden near Edinburgh, which is said to be upwards of 
 six hundred years old. It reminds one of Wordsworth's 
 verse : 
 
 ' There is a thorn, it looks so old, 
 In truth, you'd find it hard to say
 
 MA Y. -8 1 
 
 How it could ever have been young, 
 It looks so old and grey.' 
 
 Creeping and winding through the intricacies of the 
 hedge, we observe the greenish-white clusters of wild 
 clematis (Clematis vitalba), sometimes called traveller's 
 joy, and virgin's bower, its luxuriant stems often extend- 
 ing twenty feet : 
 
 ' The traveller's joy is a darling thing ; 
 
 None loveth it more than I. 
 I've seen it in courtly gardens cling, 
 I Ve seen it 'mid rocks and ruins spring, 
 I know hedgerows where 'tis wandering, 
 
 And I smile as I pass it by.' 
 
 Though it adds beauty to the trees and bushes it en- 
 twines, it is a very destructive plant, and often injures, 
 and even strangles them. It is, however, one of the 
 most graceful climbers we have, twining and decorating 
 our hedges, which are rendered still more beautiful by 
 the fragrant waving blossoms of the honeysuckle or 
 woodbine (Caprifolium periclymenum} : 
 
 ' So doth the woodbine, the sweet honeysuckle, 
 Gently entwist ;'' 
 
 mingling its sweet breath, and mixing its streaky yellow 
 and red blossoms, with every bush : 
 
 ' Copious of flowers, the woodbine, pale and wan, 
 But well compensating her sickly looks 
 With never-cloying odours, early and late.' 
 F
 
 82 
 
 MAY. 
 
 After the blossoms have faded away, clusters of deep 
 red berries appear to deck the autumn hedge, and afford 
 food to birds. There are two other species of woodbine, 
 
 HONEYSUCKLE or WOODBINE Caprifolium peridymenvn;. 
 
 but neither so common as this. All our poets have loved 
 the honeysuckle. Chaucer speaks of it as 'the fresh
 
 MA Y. 83 
 
 woodbine;' Milton, 'the flaunting honeysuckle;' Barry 
 Cornwall, 'the sweet-breathed, frail-perfuming woodbine ;' 
 but Leigh Hunt, in one half-line from Rimini, describes 
 
 it: 
 
 ' The suckle's streaky light' 
 
 Ben Jonson tells us how 
 
 ' The honeysuckle doth entwine 
 Itself with bryony and jessamine.' 
 
 And here we find this graceful, elegant climber, the 
 black bryony ( Tamils communis\ twining its long stems 
 round the branches of bush and tree, weaving its wreath 
 of bright leaves, even to the highest bough : 
 
 ' The slender bryony, that weaves 
 His pale green flowers and glossy leaves 
 Aloft in smooth and lithe festoons.' 
 
 Its flowers are insignificant ; its poisonous berries, green 
 during summer, gradually ripen and redden as autumn 
 approaches. It gains its name of black bryony from its 
 root, which, however, is white inside, and full of a starchy 
 substance. 
 
 Down by the hedgerow we shall find the greater stitch- 
 wort (Stellaria holosted), sometimes called white-flowered 
 grass, also stellaria or star-flower, from its form. It is a 
 tender, brittle plant, with leaves of a delicate green, the 
 flowers pure white, and rather less in size than a prim- 
 rose. There are several kinds, but none commoner than 
 this, which decks every wayside.
 
 8 4 
 
 MAY. 
 
 COLUMBINE Agt, 
 vulgaris. 
 
 Near it we may dis- 
 cover an early blossom of 
 the common enchanter's 
 nightshade (Circcea lute- 
 tiana), a pretty plant, 
 with small pinkish flowers 
 and heart-shaped leaves, 
 loving best a home in a 
 shady place. 
 
 Here, also, in the 
 hedgeside, we may find 
 the columbine (Aquilegia 
 vulgaris], which is usu- 
 ally of a blue tinge, but 
 which I have often found both red, 
 white, and of a pink fleshy colour. 
 W. Browne speaks of it as 
 
 ' The white, the blewe, the flesh-like colum- 
 bine.' 
 
 None of its tints, however, are either 
 rich or brilliant. L. A. Twamley says : 
 
 ' The columbine ? Full many a flower 
 
 Hath lines more clear and bright, 
 Although she doth in purple go, 
 In crimson, pink, and white.' 
 
 It is a delicate pendent blossom, with 
 five petals, elongated at their base
 
 MA Y. 85 
 
 into a horn-shaped spur. These have been compared to 
 the drops and bells of the fool's cap ; consequently the 
 flower has been made the emblem of folly : 
 
 ' Folly's cap and bells in thee, 
 Columbine so fancy free, 
 Foolish folk declare they see. ' 
 
 Shakespeare, in Hamlet, tells us that 
 
 ' Columbines mark ingratitude.' 
 
 And we are elsewhere told it is the emblem of hope to 
 the deserted : 
 
 ' The columbine, in tawny often taken, 
 Is then ascribed to such as are forsaken : 
 Flora's choice buttons of a russet dye, 
 Is hope even in the depth of misery.' 
 
 It was formerly much used in the decking of churches 
 at Whitsuntide ; and, in consequence, the flower is still 
 considered emblematic of that season. Its leaves are a 
 deep green, notched and cut into segments, the stems 
 dark, and often very rich in colour. 
 
 The major celandine (Chelidonium majus) blooms 
 in this month. Its botanical name is derived from 
 the Greek signifying swallow; and for this reason 
 it was formerly called swallow-wort. It is quite un- 
 like the celandine of Wordsworth, being much taller, 
 having large-lobed leaves, and its seed-pod protruding 
 conspicuously from the centre of its bright yellow 
 flower.
 
 86 MA Y. 
 
 We may also now gather the pretty pink feathery 
 flowers of the ragged robin (Lychnis floscuculi], 
 
 'With its piped stem streaked with jet ;' 
 
 the handsome blossom of the red campion (Lychnis 
 dioica), which grows some two feet high, and often abso- 
 lutely illuminates our hedges with its bright-coloured 
 flowers ; the yellow weasel-snout (Galeobdolon lutemri), 
 or archangel, as it is often called, a tall, slender plant, 
 with bright yellow blossoms mottled with red, and 
 growing in whorls ; the common mouse-ear hawkweed 
 (Hieracium pilosella), which you are so likely to mistake 
 for a dandelion, until you examine its bright lemon 
 blossoms, occasionally striped with red, and its hairy 
 leaves with their grey under-surface ; and the little in- 
 significant field-madder (Sherardia arvensis), that hides 
 itself in the grass, with its small leaves growing in star- 
 like circles, and its modest tufts of lilac flowers. 
 
 We must not, however, linger by the wayside, and 
 neglect the host of blossoms that await us elsewhere, 
 reluctant as we may be to quit the fields and hedges, 
 that are now just bursting into all their summer rich- 
 ness ; where 
 
 ' The waving trees 
 
 Throw their soft shadows on the sunny fields, 
 Where, in the music-breathing hedge, the thorn, 
 And pearly-white May blossom full of sweets, 
 Hang out the virgin flag of spring, entwined 
 With dripping honeysuckles, whose sweet breath
 
 RED CAMPION Lychnis dioica. 
 87
 
 MA Y. 89 
 
 Sinks to the heart, recalling with a sigh 
 Dim recollected feelings of the days 
 Of youth and early love.' 
 
 We will hasten down to the streamlet's side, and gather 
 the tall handsome blossoms of the yellow iris (Iris pseud- 
 acorus\ without which our May bouquet would be quite 
 incomplete. But beware of boggy ground ; for wet feet 
 may bring both a chiding and a cold. The iris, or corn- 
 flag, as it is often called, is one of the rivulet's most 
 beautiful ornaments, with its bright yellow flower, so 
 exquisitely pencilled with deep brown, and its mass of 
 long, dark-green, sword-like leaves : 
 
 * Amid its waving swords, in flaming gold 
 The iris towers.' 
 
 I know of but one other British species, it is the stink- 
 ing iris (Iris fcetidissima), which is also a handsome 
 plant of a dull purple colour, but, as its name implies, 
 possessing an unpleasant odour, yet is often called roast- 
 beef plant ! Its scarlet berries, bursting from the seed- 
 pod, are very bright and beautiful during the winter 
 months. 
 
 'Thou 
 
 Makest no concealment of thy treasure-seeds, 
 
 But show'st them openly to every eye.' 
 
 The iris is by some said to be the fleur-de-hice chosen 
 by Louis VII., king of France, as his heraldic emblem, 
 and called fleur-de-Louis, from which has sprung our 
 corruption of fleur-de-lis.
 
 90 MA Y. 
 
 The summer snowflake (Lencojum cestivuiri) blossoms 
 in moist ground during this 
 month ; and very exquisite are 
 its pure blossoms, bursting in 
 clusters from their dried, up- 
 right, solitary spatha or sheath, 
 like ready-culled bunches of 
 snowdrops. 
 
 And now let us wander across 
 the meadow, where the gay 
 golden buttercups (Ranunculus 
 bulbosus) gleam in profusion, 
 Shakespeare's 
 
 ' Cuckoo buds of yellow hue ;' 
 and under this clump of shadow- 
 ing trees ' consider the lilies of 
 the field' (Convallaria majalis), 
 
 ' Our England's lily of the May, 
 Our lily of the vale.' 
 
 See how prettily the sweet, 
 pure, modest spike of bells 
 peeps from amongst its hand- 
 some, broad green leaves, 
 
 ' The lady lily, looking gently 
 down ! ' 
 
 How graceful is its form, how 
 sweet its scent, how exquisite 
 
 BUTTERCUP Ranunculus bulbosus. its purity !
 
 MA Y. 91 
 
 ' The lily, of all children of the spring, 
 The palest, fairest too, where fair ones are.' 
 
 And, behold, also growing 
 by the root of this tree, 
 
 ' Is the sweet little woodruffe ; how 
 
 lowly it grows 
 Beneath the rough bramble and 
 
 tangled wild rose ! 
 The sly little beauty ! half hidden, 
 
 half seen, 
 Gleam her fairy-like flowers, and 
 
 ruffs of pale green.' 
 
 The sweet woodruff (Asperula 
 odorata) has small white clus- 
 tering flowers, and fresh green 
 leaves, growing in rings or 
 whorls around the stem. 
 
 ' The woodruff lifts her fragrant crown 
 
 Of star-like blossoms, pure as snow, 
 
 With radiant fringe of leaves below, 
 
 In greenwood shade.' 
 
 The dried leaves of these flowers, 
 on account of their scent, are 
 often mixed, I believe, with 
 snuff. 
 
 Common now in the wood is 
 the green tway blade (Lister a 
 
 OVCltCt\ an Orchis, With Spike of SWEET WOODRUFF Asperula odorata. 
 
 small, yellowish-green flowers, and strong, broad, ovate
 
 92 MA Y. 
 
 leaves, growing in couplets. It belongs to a numerous 
 family ; but, as few bloom before the end of May, we 
 will not gather any until next month. 
 
 During this month the common bugle (Ajuga reptans) 
 blooms in moist parts of the wood, so serviceable in 
 healing a cut finger. It is a hardy plant. Its purple 
 blossoms, varying to a lilac or white, mix with its short, 
 broad leaves, growing up an erect stem. There are four 
 species of this plant One we may perhaps find the 
 ground pine, or yellow bugle (Ajuga cham&pitys) as it 
 is common, and blooms in this month. Its flowers are 
 yellow, spotted with red, its leaves long and narrow. 
 
 There, on this grassy bank, 
 
 ' The strawberry weaves 
 Its cornets of threefold leaves 
 In mazes through the sloping wood.' 
 
 This is the common wood-strawberry (Fragaria vesca), 
 a sweet, rose-like blossom, its delicate white petals timidly 
 peeping from amongst its pretty green leaves. Unlike 
 the strawberry (Potentilla fragariastruin) which we 
 gathered in March, its blossom is followed by a sweet 
 and wholesome fruit, which grows plentifully in the 
 woods of France, where it is by many esteemed superior 
 to the cultivated strawberry. 
 
 There, also, we find the herb Paris (Paris quadrifolia), 
 more singular than beautiful, one of our largest green 
 flowering plants. It is called also the love-knot, from 
 the curious way in which four large leaves gather in the
 
 MAY. 
 
 93 
 
 form of a cross around the 
 stem, from the summit of which 
 rises its four-leaved flower, in a 
 cup formed also of four leaflets. 
 Like nearly all green flowers, it 
 is of a poisonous nature. 
 
 And now, what is mantling 
 this old wall, springing from 
 each crevice, throwing its 
 thread-like branches, its small, 
 ivy-shaped, rich green leaves, 
 and many lilac blossoms over 
 the stonework, as though to 
 cover or deck its decay? It 
 is the ivy -leaved toadflax 
 (Linaria cymbalaria}, familiarly 
 called mother - of - thousands, 
 from the profusion of its blos- 
 soms. The tiny flower is shaped 
 like a snapdragon, and of a 
 pale lilac colour, marked with 
 yellow. The leaves are tinged 
 with reddish purple on their 
 under surface. There are six 
 species. 
 
 Beside it we shall likely find 
 the common pellitory of the 
 wall (Parietaria officinalis], its 
 
 IVY-LEAVED TOADFLAX Linaria 
 cymbalaria.
 
 94 MA Y. 
 
 little reddish-purple blossoms crowded closely between 
 the stem and leaves. It is often to be found near the 
 sea. 
 
 EUROPEAN CHICKWEED Trientalis Europcea.. 
 
 About this time the pretty European chickweed, winter 
 green (Trientalis Ettropcea), begins to show its elegant
 
 MA F. 95 
 
 little blossoms, which are of a brilliant white, and droop 
 on their slender stems at the approach of night or rainy 
 weather. Its leaves are a delicate green, the whole 
 plant fragile-looking, as it bends and quivers with every 
 toying breeze. There is but one British species. 
 
 Away on the moors we might find, now opening into 
 beauty, the elegant little Linncea borealis, that droops its 
 fragrant bells with such grace and beauty, and is named 
 after Linnaeus, the great botanist. 
 
 The sweet gale, or Dutch myrtle (myrica gale), blooms 
 during this month, on heath ground. It is a small 
 shrubby plant, with a powerful aromatic odour not 
 unlike the myrtle, which it also resembles in appearance, 
 though a more crowded shrub, with lighter green leaves. 
 
 During May many vetches come into flower. They 
 have delicate leaves, are nearly all twining plants, creep- 
 ing amongst the branches of shrubs, and holding fast 
 with their winding stems and clasping tendrils. 
 
 The pea-shaped blossoms of the tuberous bitter vetch 
 (Orobus tuberosus) are of a blue or pink purple, marked 
 with darker veins. The flowers have long stalks, the 
 leaves growing in pairs on the stem. In Holland the 
 roots are roasted as chestnuts, which they greatly re- 
 semble in flavour. 
 
 The grass vetch (Lathyrus nissolici) is a crimson flower, 
 with slender grass-like leaves, destitute of tendrils. 
 
 The common or spring vetch ( Vicia sativa) is found 
 in pastures, and grows in the borders of fields.
 
 96 MA Y. 
 
 The handsome yellow clusters of the common kidney 
 vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria) are common on hills or sea- 
 side cliffs. Its blossoms crowd together, two on each 
 stem, and lie in a nest, as it were, of white silky wool. 
 
 The sweet-milk vetch (Astragalus glyciphyllus), some- 
 times called the false acacia, which is found in thickets, 
 has a dull yellow, butterfly-shaped flower, with leaves 
 larger than the other vetches. 
 
 There are many other varieties ; but we have not time 
 to linger. All are pretty, graceful plants. Their pods, 
 so full of seeds, yield in abundance food for birds, and 
 often for man also. It was from a species of vetch 
 the lentil (Ervttm lens) still prized and esteemed in 
 Eastern lands, that the mess of red pottage was formed, 
 for which Esau, weary with hunting, sinned, and sold his 
 birthright. Several of the vetches are cultivated in our 
 fields for herbage for cattle. 
 
 But what is that pure white cluster of blossoms which 
 rises yonder amongst the grass ? It is the beautiful ox-eye 
 (Chrysanthemum leucanthemuni), one of our commonest 
 ornaments of the meadow. This tall, graceful flower, with 
 its golden eye, is sometimes called the rnoon-daisy : 
 
 ' Lo, the staring ox-eyes, plentiful are they, 
 
 Gleaming in the pasture, where the children play ; 
 Plucked up, and down trodden, scattered far and near, 
 Spite of every obstacle, they spring up year by year.' 
 
 We may also now gather the pretty wood loosestrife or 
 yellow pimpernel (Lysimachia nemorum], the
 
 MAY. 
 
 97 
 
 Chrysanthemum leucanthemum.
 
 98 MA Y. 
 
 1 Yellow Lysimachus, to give sweet rest 
 To the faint shepherd.' 
 
 Its delicate stems trail over the ground ; its leaves are a 
 bright green, its flowers a pure yellow ; and, altogether, it 
 is a sweet, attractive little flower. 
 
 But, my young friends, time fails me to introduce you 
 to all the floral acquaintances of this month 
 
 ' Bright gems of earth, in which perchance we see 
 What Eden was, what Paradise may be.' 
 
 We will take a glance at the trees and shrubs, and then 
 it must be goodbye. The beech (Fagus sylvatica), and 
 the Scotch fir (Pinus sylvestris), are both in flower now ; 
 the holly (Ilex aquifoliuin), of which we gossiped in 
 January, is in full beauty ; the air is becoming perfumed 
 with the powerful, luscious scent of the elder (Sambucus 
 nigrd), just bursting into flower, a somewhat clumsy 
 ungraceful tree, yet beautiful in its rich, creamy-white 
 blossoms ; the spindle tree (Euonymus Europ&us) is 
 decked with its small greenish -white blossoms ; and 
 the white clusters of the dog- wood (Cornus sanguined}, 
 which bloom often throughout the entire summer, are 
 bursting out on the deep red, white-spotted branches of 
 the bush. 
 
 ' Behold ! the trees now deck their withered boughs : 
 
 Their ample leaves, the hospitable plane, 
 The taper elm, and lofty ash disclose ; 
 
 The blooming hawthorn variegates the scene.
 
 MAY. 
 
 The lily of the vale, of flowers the queen, 
 
 Puts on the robe she neither sew'd nor spun ; 
 
 The birds on ground, or on the branches green, 
 Hop to and fro, and glitter in the sun. 
 
 Now is the time for those who wisdom love, 
 Who love to walk in virtue's flowery road, 
 
 Along the lovely paths of spring to rove, 
 And follow nature up to nature's God.' 
 
 99
 
 VI. 
 JUNE. 
 
 Ye field-flowers, the gardens eclipse you, 'tis true ; 
 Yet, wildlings of nature, I dote upon you, 
 
 For you waft me to summers of old, 
 When the earth teemed around me with fairy delight, 
 And when daisies and buttercups gladden'd my sight, 
 
 Like treasures of silver and gold.' 
 
 UNE comes to us laden with such 
 a bounteous, beauteous wealth of 
 flowers, that it would require many 
 a ramble in meadow, field, and wood 
 to gather half of nature's treasures. 
 We can only pluck those that first 
 catch the eye, nor linger to discover the 
 modest retreat of many a lovely blossom 
 that hides amongst the grass or tangled hedge- 
 way ; for 
 
 ' The spirit of beauty is everywhere.' 
 
 Friends may boast their rich possessions in cultivated 
 gardens and spacious conservatories; but give me the 
 
 101
 
 102 JUNE. 
 
 beautiful, fair woodlands wherein to wander, or the wild, 
 open moor, where the fresh, health-laden breeze comes 
 sweeping by. No gardener's leave is needed there, to 
 gather the sweet flowers that are scattered in wild luxu- 
 riance all around, and which are 
 
 ' A blessing given 
 E'en to the poorest little one 
 That wanders 'neath the vault of heaven.' 
 
 Spring has now quite given place to the warmer, richer 
 days of summer ; the hedgeways have assumed a fuller, 
 the meadows a gayer, aspect than in the earlier months 
 of the year. 
 
 ' Retiring May to lovely June 
 
 Her latest garland now resigns ; 
 The banks with cuckoo-flowers are strewn, 
 The wood-walks blue with columbines ; 
 And with its reeds the wandering stream 
 Reflects the flag-flower's golden beam.' 
 
 How fair and luxuriant are the woods, profuse in the 
 flowering beauty of many a stately tree and more lowly 
 shrub, the bright colouring of their various blossoms 
 subdued and softened by the pure pale green or deeper 
 tints of leafage. The beautiful white wax-like flowers of 
 the glossy-leaved holly are now in bloom ; the yellow- 
 tinged blossoms of the snow-berry, with its pretty soft 
 
 green leaf; the 
 
 ' Laburnum, rich 
 In streaming gold,' 
 
 droops its graceful pendent flowers, contrasting with the
 
 JUNE. 103 
 
 dark green shrubs of rhododendrons, so profusely clad in 
 their groups of delicately-tinged blossoms ; and 
 
 ' The lilac, various in array, now white, 
 Now sanguine, and her beauteous head now set 
 With purple spikes pyramidal, as if 
 Studious of ornament, yet unresolved 
 Which hue she most approved, she chose them all.' 
 
 There is the beautiful guelder-rose, with its bunches of 
 clustering white blossoms and fresh green leaves, which 
 
 Cowper describes as 
 
 'Tall, 
 
 And throwing up into the darkest gloom 
 Of neighbouring cypress or more sable yew 
 Her silver globes, light as the foamy surf 
 That the wind severs from the broken wave !' 
 
 And oh, how delicious scents the 
 ' Syringo, ivory pure,' 
 
 fair as the fairest lily, and yielding a perfume so power- 
 ful, that the very woods are fragrant ! 
 
 ' The sweet syringo, yielding but in scent 
 To the rich orange.' 
 
 It much resembles the orange blossom, and on that 
 account is often called the mock orange. Yonder gleams 
 the noble horse-chestnut, with its abundant fresh green 
 leaves, and obtrusive spikes of showy white flowers. In 
 less conspicuous beauty are the limes and sycamore, the 
 bird-cherry, elder, etc. How beautiful are the hedges in 
 these ' bonnie days of June," with the pretty pink bios-
 
 104 JUNE. 
 
 soms of sweet-brier, or poets' eglantine, entwined with 
 the fragrant honeysuckle ! 
 
 ' Yonder is a girl, who lingers 
 
 Where wild honeysuckle grows, 
 Mingled with the brier rose, 
 And with eager, outstretched fingers, 
 Tiptoe standing, vainly tries 
 To reach the hedge-enveloped prize.' 
 
 The brier, or eglantine (Resa rubiginosd), is crowded 
 with fragrant leaves and sharp prickles, its leaflets 
 covered beneath and at their margins with minute brown 
 glands, which give them such a sticky feeling. But this 
 
 ' Rain-scented eglantine, 
 That gives such temperate sweets to that well-wooing sun,' 
 
 must be so common and familiar to you all, that descrip- 
 tion seems unnecessary. Delicious is its perfume, borne 
 on the soft summer air after rain has fallen : 
 
 ' O eglantine, sweet eglantine, 
 How rich a dower of scent is thine ! 
 A perfume sweet unto the sense 
 As poetry's own eloquence ; 
 Of deepest, tenderest feeling born, 
 And bearing, e'en like thee, a thorn.' 
 
 Its berries are a beautiful scarlet, and much relished by 
 the birds. Its blossoms are smaller, and of a deeper 
 pink than those of the common dog-rose (Rosa canina), 
 which is one of 
 
 ' The sweetest flowers wild nature yields,'
 
 BRIER or EGLANTINE Rosa, rubiginosa. 
 
 105
 
 COMMON DOG-ROSE Rosa, canina. 
 
 10(5
 
 JUNE. 107 
 
 with its soft, faint odour, and delicately flushed petals, 
 that so sweetly 
 
 ' Doth peep forth with bashful modesty' 
 
 from amidst the strong, spiny stems, and luxuriant mass 
 of rich green leaves. It is called dog-rose, from the 
 belief that dogs relish the brilliant scarlet heps, that 
 gleam so brightly in the autumn months, and which 
 form so abundant a provision for birds. A conserve is 
 also made from the fruit, and sold by druggists. There 
 are no fewer than eighteen species of wild rose, some 
 very common, amongst which is the Scotch or Burnet 
 rose (Rosa spinosissima), which I dare say you have 
 often observed blooming in heathy or chalky ground. 
 Its leaves are much smaller, of a darker and less glossy 
 green than those of the dog-rose ; its flowers a soft, rich 
 cream-colour, sometimes tinged with red, and its sharp, 
 needle-like prickles crowd upon the stems. 
 
 There is a long, trailing, white dog-rose (Rosa arvensis}, 
 that has pretty white blossoms growing n clusters, and 
 is especially common in Yorkshire. It is said to be the 
 white rose chosen by the Yorkists as their badge in 
 those terrible civil wars, of which you will all have read, 
 commonly called the ' Wars of the Roses.' 
 
 The heps of all these roses are prized by birds, and 
 yield them an abundant harvest. There are several 
 pretty legends attached to the rose, which we are told 
 was originally white, but received its beautiful blush tint
 
 io8 JUNE. 
 
 from Eve, who, enraptured with its delicate beauty, 
 pressed her lips on the snowy petals, and thus imparted 
 a warmer tint of colour to the blossom. One of them 
 further states that the stems were thornless until the 
 expulsion from Paradise. 
 
 Mixed with this hedge of thorn and eglantine rise 
 the beautiful white pyramidal clusters of the privet 
 (Ligustrum vulgar^), its abundant snowy blossoms 
 rendering it a most elegant shrub. 
 
 ' The privet, too, 
 
 Whose white flowers rival the first drifts of snow 
 On Grampia's piny hills.' 
 
 Its leaves are a rich, glossy green ; and its dark clusters 
 of purple berries serve not only as winter food to birds, 
 but yield a beautiful green dye. 
 
 Trailing through the hedgeway, we may find the pale 
 pink blossoms of the blackberry (Rubus fruticosus}, or 
 the whiter flowers of the dewberry (Rubus ctzsius), which 
 has more pointed, longer leaves than the bramble. It is 
 less common, too, and bears a bluish fruit. 
 
 The raspberry (Rubus idceus) is also common, especially 
 so in Scotland, and forms a favourite covering for game. 
 It has a woody, round, erect stem, and red fruit, which 
 *s considered superior in flavour to the cultivated plant, 
 and which, like the blackberry, makes a delicious 
 preserve. 
 
 ' Ofttimes without man's aid we grow 
 All independently, and throw
 
 SCOTCH or BURNET ROSE Rosaspiwsissima. 
 
 109
 
 WHITE Doc-RosE Rosa arvensis. 
 110
 
 JUNE. in 
 
 Our fruits upon the ground below, 
 Where there is none to gather them.' 
 
 The mountain bramble or cloudberry (Rtibus chamce- 
 morus) blooms during this month on the summits of hills 
 and mountains ; and scarce has the snow dissolved from 
 their cloudy tops ere it puts forth its pure white blos- 
 soms. It is an elegant plant. Its berries, 'which are a 
 brownish-orange colour, ripen in August, and are pre- 
 served by the snow. The Highlanders and Laplanders 
 highly esteem the fruit, which has an acid flavour. The 
 scientific name of rtibus is derived from the Celtic rub, 
 signifying red. 
 
 Behold the pretty bright flowers of the soft, velvety 
 silver-weed (Potentilla atiserina), gleaming like stars from 
 the hedge-side ! The blossom is a pure yellow, the 
 numerous leaves a pretty green, their under-surfaces 
 wearing a grey, silvery hue : 
 
 ' Silver-weed, with yellow flowers 
 Half hidden by the leaf of grey.' 
 
 The roots of this plant are sometimes roasted like chest- 
 nuts, and eaten by village children. 
 
 And here beside it blooms a lovely cranesbill or 
 geranium (Geranium pratense), which is not uncommon 
 in the hedge during this month, but loves best to blossom 
 in the moist copsewood. It is a tall plant, often as high 
 as two feet ; its leaves are deeply cut into segments ; its 
 delicate but handsome flowers a beautiful deep blue or 
 purple colour, frequently as large as a halfpenny.
 
 ii2 JUNE. 
 
 Here are some blossoms of the yellow goat's-beard 
 (Tragopogon pratensis), which you all doubtless conclude 
 is only a dandelion. But observe its long, tapering green 
 leaves winding and twisting about its stems, and you 
 will soon discover your mistake. It closes its flowers at 
 mid-day, and, in consequence, is often called Jack-go-to- 
 bed-at-noon. 
 
 And here also the 
 
 ' Nightshade's purple flowers, 
 Hanging so sleepily their turbaned heads, 
 Rest upon the hedge.' 
 
 Let us gather a few sprays, and rest on this stile while 
 we discuss them. First, we have the woody nightshade, 
 or bitter-sweet (Solanum dulcamara), the garden night- 
 shade (Solanum nigrum\ and the common enchanter's 
 nightshade (Circea lutetiana\ which may all be abun- 
 dantly found in the hedgeside during this month. The 
 latter is a pretty little flower which we gathered in 
 May, with spikes of delicate lilac, or pink-tinged blos- 
 soms, and elegantly-shaped soft green leaves. It grows 
 about a foot high, loves best a shady place, and often 
 grows wild in the neglected recesses of the garden. The 
 garden nightshade is also often found in waste places, 
 and flourishes on the sea-beach. Its flowers are white, 
 its berries black, and, like all the nightshades, poisonous. 
 It is a very common weed in our gardens, and to be 
 found all over the world; and it is somewhat singular 
 that in tropical countries its berries lose their deleterious
 
 JUNE. , 113 
 
 qualities. The woody nightshade gains its name of 
 bitter-sweet from the flavour of the root, which tastes 
 
 GROUP OF NIGHTSHADES. 
 
 bitter when first placed in the mouth, and afterwards 
 becomes sweet. 
 
 ' Shade-loving evergreen, say we not sooth 
 When thee we liken unto fair truth ? 
 Bitter, full oft, is the draught from thy cup, 
 But sweet is the taste which it leaves when drunk up.' 
 
 Its oval, brilliant scarlet berries, which during winter 
 II
 
 ii4 JUNE. 
 
 hang in glistening clusters from the leafless branches, 
 often tempt, by their beauty, young children to partake 
 of their fatal, poisonous juices. Its flowers are composed 
 of a yellow cone and purple petals, and, you will observe, 
 greatly resemble the potato blossom, which in its botanical 
 character is closely allied to the various species of poison- 
 ous nightshade ; but all narcotic and unwholesome effects 
 are removed by the cooking the potato undergoes when 
 prepared for food : 
 
 ' The poor man's bread, the rich man's luxury.' 
 
 The potato was brought from America by Sir Walter 
 Raleigh, who first planted it in his garden at Youghall, 
 near Cork. The Spaniards called it battata, which we 
 have corrupted into potato. 
 
 The deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) is a very 
 different plant, much less common, but flowering also 
 during this month. It may be found in the hedgeside ; 
 but loves best an old ruin or quarry edge, where its 
 branching stems will often grow four or five feet high. 
 It bears handsome purple flowers, drooping and bell- 
 shaped, which grow in pairs close to the large, dark 
 green leaves. Its berries, which from green become a 
 beautiful glossy black, and are nearly as large as a cherry, 
 are highly poisonous, and it is said half of one is sufficient 
 to prove fatal. History relates how the army of Sweno 
 the Dane, when he invaded Scotland, fell victims to the 
 faithless Scots, who, during a truce, mixed the berries
 
 JUNE. 115 
 
 of this nightshade in the drink of the Danes, and then 
 murdered them when under the influence of the stupefy- 
 ing sleep it produced. Its botanical name of Atropa 
 
 DEADLY NIGHTSHADE Atro^a belladonna. 
 
 belladonna is a somewhat incongruous and strange one. 
 That of atropa has doubtless been bestowed on account 
 of its poisonous properties, and is taken from Atropos,
 
 ii6 JUNE. 
 
 a powerful goddess, one of the Parcse or Fates, three 
 sisters, whom the ancients supposed to preside over the 
 birth and life of mankind. Atropos was the eldest, and 
 believed to cut the thread of human life with a pair of 
 scissors. The other name of belladonna, or fine lady, is 
 given in consequence of the use made of the plant by 
 Italian ladies to remove pimples from the skin ; and 
 many in our own land apply a wash made from it for 
 beautifying their complexions. As a remedy in some 
 cases of disease in the eye, it is, I believe, most valuable. 
 
 But now we have rested, let us mount this stile leading 
 into the corn-fields, and look down on their many revealed 
 beauties. 
 
 Waving so gracefully to and fro 'neath the summer 
 breeze is the common scarlet poppy (Papaver rJuzas), so 
 gay in its brilliant livery, and rich, deep purple eye : 
 
 ' The poppies red, 
 
 On their wistful bed, 
 Turned up their dark blue eyes for thee.' 
 
 This fragile, ill-smelling, finger-staining flower is often 
 called headache ; and by this name Clare speaks of it : 
 
 ' Corn-poppies, that in crimson dwell, 
 Called headaches, from their sickly smell.' 
 
 We have six species of wild poppy, amongst which is 
 the graceful white poppy (Papaver somniferum}, which 
 may also be found in our fields. It is very extensively 
 cultivated, both in European countries and India, for 
 the excellent oil that is extracted from its seeds, and
 
 JUNE. 
 
 117 
 
 the opium, so valuable as a 
 medicine and narcotic. 
 
 ' O gentle sleep, 
 
 Scatter thy drowsiest poppies from 
 above.' 
 
 I have read that, in the East, 
 poppy - seeds are sprinkled 
 on the tops of cakes ; and 
 that the cracknels which 
 Jeroboam sent to the pro- 
 phet Ahijah, when he in- 
 quired the fate of his sick 
 child, are supposed by Dr. 
 Kitto to have been cakes 
 sprinkled in this way. From 
 this may, perhaps, have ori- 
 ginated our own custom of 
 adorning shortbread and 
 other cakes with caraway 
 seeds and comfits. 
 
 Showy and beautiful as we 
 find 'the flaunting poppy,' 
 the farmer views it with no 
 such admiring eye ; for he 
 looks on his fields, and sees 
 
 'There poppies nodding, mock the 
 hope of toil.' 
 
 And the Same may be Said CORN-COCKLE Agrostemma githago
 
 n8 JUNE. 
 
 of the corn-cockle (Agrostemma githago}, sometimes 
 called ' crown of the field,' of which we have but one 
 British species. It is a tall, erect plant, the flower finely 
 formed, and having the fine long green leaves of the 
 calyx standing boldly out round the petals. Its stems 
 and leaves are somewhat hairy ; but its rich purple blos- 
 soms render it highly ornamental. 
 
 The scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) grows in 
 the borders of our corn-fields, and, with the exception of 
 the poppy, is our only scarlet wild-flower. It is called 
 ' the poor man's weatherglass,' on account of its closing 
 its brilliant blossoms in timely notice of rain. 
 
 ' When with clouds the heavens frown, 
 Then thy little head bends down. 
 Little weather-prophet, say, 
 Fair or foul the coming day ? 
 Little scarlet pimpernel, 
 None can tell us half so well 
 What the coming change shall be, 
 None but such an one as thee.' 
 
 About noon, however, it closes its petals for the day, 
 regardless of the brightest sunshine. There is not a 
 prettier flower than this 'little scarlet pimpernel,' with 
 its bright, merry face, and blue or violet coloured mouth, 
 with tufts of gold-tipped stamens, its delicate, trailing 
 stems, and dotted leaves. Take heed how you gather 
 it, for nettles abound, nettles in which, I am sure, my 
 young friends see no beauty, and are afraid to touch ; 
 but grip them firmly, and they will harm you not :
 
 JUNE. 119 
 
 ' If you gently stroke a nettle, 
 
 Mark, it stings you for your pains ; 
 But seize it like a man of mettle, 
 And it soft as silk remains.' 
 
 All do not sting like the small nettle (Urtica wrens), 
 with green blossoms, or the great nettle ( Urtica dioica), 
 with still brighter green flowers, sometimes tinged with 
 purple or red. Mary Howitt says : 
 
 ' The nettle he throve, and the nettle he grew, 
 And the strength of the earth around him he drew.' 
 
 And true indeed is this, applied to our great nettle, which 
 grows by every wayside, often as high as three feet : 
 
 ' The stuff of his leaves is strong and stout, 
 And the points of his stinging flowers stand out, 
 While the child that runs 'mid the grass to play, 
 From the great king-nettle will shrink away.' 
 
 We have, however, a third species, even more virulent, 
 but happily less common. This is the Roman nettle 
 ( Urtica pilulifera\ which is usually seen by the seaside. 
 The botanical term itrtica is derived from tiro, to burn. 
 
 The white dead nettle (Lamium album] is rather a 
 handsome plant, with its large leaf, and white flowers 
 slightly touched with pink, growing in whorls around 
 the stem. Bees and butterflies love it well. It is called 
 dead, because possessing no stinging powers. Our 
 common name of nettle is supposed to be derived from 
 the Anglo-Saxon word ncedl or netel, a needle. 
 
 Despised as the nettle generally is, only to be found
 
 120 JUNE. 
 
 in neglected spots, boasting neither beauty nor sweet 
 fragrance, it is nevertheless a useful plant, possessed of 
 many valuable properties. The peasant esteems it as a 
 safe medicine, and often brews his 'nettle tea.' The 
 young shoots, when boiled, are said to resemble aspa- 
 ragus. In times of famine it has been known to sustain 
 the poor for days. The stalks of the old plant may be 
 dressed after the manner of flax, and woven into cloth. 
 Green and yellow dyes may be extracted from its juices. 
 Few beasts will eat the growing nettle, though they 
 seem to relish it when dried, and mixed with their fodder ; 
 and nettles are often boiled for pigs' meat. Hosts of 
 our beautiful winged insects find shelter and food in the 
 nettle ; and as surely as we find it growing by every 
 roadside, so shall we see it adorned by a bevy of flutter- 
 ing, gorgeous butterflies. 
 
 And now, leaving the corn-fields, we wander down to 
 the streamlet's side to gather a bunch of the true forget- 
 me-not, or water-scorpion grass (Myosotis palustris\ with 
 its beautiful blue petals, and little yellow eye, gleaming 
 so brightly. There is an old legend, which relates how 
 this flower was named by a drowning knight, who, fling- 
 ing it from the stream on to the bank at the feet of his 
 lady-love, exclaimed, 'Forget me not!' and sank to rise 
 no more. But Agnes Strickland tells us that it was 
 Henry of Lancaster who made it the symbol of remem- 
 brance. And thus, like the broom of the Plantagenets, 
 the fleur-de-lis of Henry VIL, and the hawthorn of the
 
 JUNE. 121 
 
 Tudors, it became an historical flower. There are eight 
 species of this plant In the wood we may gather the 
 wood-scorpion grass (Myosotis sylvaticd] ; and in the 
 hedge-bank the pretty turquoise blossoms of the field- 
 scorpion grass (Myosotis arvensis\ so often mistaken for 
 the true forget-me-not. All are blue, and all lovely. 
 
 But a more beautiful ornament to the still stream 
 than even the forget-me-not, is the water-violet or feather 
 foil (Hottonia palustris\ Its pale lilac flowers, growing 
 in whorls around the stem, rise above the stream, but 
 its leaves are all submersed. It resembles the cuckoo- 
 flower much more than the violet. Its scientific name 
 was bestowed in compliment to Hotton, an eminent 
 botanist. 
 
 By the water's edge blooms the water figwort or water 
 betony (Scrophularia aquaticd), a very troublesome 
 plant, I believe, to anglers. It has small, dingy, greenish- 
 purple blossoms, with notched, pointed leaves, heart- 
 shaped at the base, and square stem. The knotted 
 figwort (Scrophularia nodosa), which we shall now find 
 in the wood, or shady place, greatly resembles it, though 
 a taller plant, its small flowers growing in looser clusters, 
 and its stem wanting the green expansion on the square 
 edges, so peculiar in the water figwort. 
 
 Beautiful and fragrant is the meadow-sweet (Spir&a 
 ulmaria), or ' queen of the meadow,' as it has been called, 
 growing some three feet high, and adding grace and 
 beauty to the landscape, with its delicate waving clusters
 
 122 
 
 JUNE. 
 
 of many small blossoms, as pure and white as though 
 
 formed of newly fallen 
 snow. Its leaves are 
 handsome and jagged, 
 its stems tinted with 
 red, and its delicious 
 odour resembles haw- 
 thorn and freshly mown 
 hay. Its ' foam - like 
 flowers' often deck the 
 stream side. It loves 
 best a damp soil : 
 
 ' In the moistened plain 
 The meadow-sweet its lusci- 
 ous fragrance yields.' 
 
 Another friend we may 
 find here, the marsh 
 cinquefoil (Comarum 
 palustre), which has a 
 dingy purple blossom, 
 growing on an upright, 
 branching stem ; and its 
 frequent companion, the 
 water-avens (Geum ri- 
 vale), with its graceful 
 
 WATER-AVENS Geum rivale. drooping flowers, a dull, 
 
 purplish orange, marked with dark veins. 
 
 The valerian ( Valeriana vernus) also loves the moist
 
 JUNE. 123 
 
 meadow, and is very abundant during this month. It 
 is a pretty pale blossom, with clustering, pinky-white 
 flowers, and tall, beautiful leaves. It is said of it : 
 
 ' Accommodating plant, that grow'st in moist or arid ground, 
 Thou flourishing, alike in bleak and sheltered spots, art found.' 
 
 But yonder rise the handsome blossoms and large 
 glossy green leaves of the yellow water-lily (Nuphar 
 hiteuni), with its thick stems and beautiful leaves, on 
 which rests its rich yellow cup, with all the dignity of a 
 queen among her maidens. Exquisite as it is, however, 
 it is not so beautiful as the white water-lily (Nymphcea 
 alba), which blossoms in August : 
 
 ' The white water-lily, so wondrous fair, 
 With her large broad leaves on the stream afloat, 
 Each one a capacious fairy boat.' 
 
 These elegant flowers lift their heads in early morning, 
 and gradually expand their beauties to the rising sun. 
 All day they proudly bask in his genial warmth, but as 
 the evening shadows lengthen, they softly sink to rest, 
 sometimes reposing on the bosom of the water, at others 
 stealing beneath its surface, until the returning dawn 
 bids them once more unfold their silver and golden blos- 
 soms. Our yellow lily is sometimes called brandy bottle, 
 from its peculiar scent, a somewhat unromantic name 
 for 
 
 ' Those lovely lilies, that all the night 
 
 Are bathing their beauties in the lake, 
 That they may rise more fresh and bright, 
 
 When their beloved sun's awake.'
 
 I2 4 JUNE. 
 
 But these beauteous treasures are beyond our reach to 
 gather for our bouquet ; therefore let us away to the 
 green fields and banks, where we shall find nature 
 equally profuse. 
 
 How prettily is the wayside decked with the soft green 
 
 leaves and velvety yel- 
 low blossoms of the 
 creeping cinquefoil 
 (Potentilla rep tans), 
 that creeps along the 
 ground, its glowing, 
 starry face upturned 
 to the summer sun ! 
 And brightly shining 
 amongst the grass is 
 the little butterfly - 
 shaped bird's-foot tre- 
 foil (Lotus corniculatus), 
 familiarly called pat- 
 tens -and -clogs, which 
 is often sown in the 
 field to form pasture 
 for cattle. 
 
 Here, too, the sweet- 
 scented common agri- 
 mony (Agrimonia cnpa- 
 
 BIRD'S-FOOT TREFOIL Lotus corniculatvs. toria), SO prized by the 
 
 village herbalist, raises its long spike of yellow flowers
 
 JUNE. 125 
 
 and deeply notched leaflets, so varied in size ; as well 
 as the tall, very pretty bladder campion or catchfly 
 (Silene inflatd). Its blossoms are white, its leaves sea- 
 green ; and examine how beautifully its inflated flower- 
 cup is veined as with network ! Ancient writers inform 
 us that this blossom, named after the god Silenus, was 
 originally a youth named Campion, who was employed 
 to catch flies for Minerva's owls to feed upon during the 
 day, when they lacked the sight to hunt prey for them- 
 selves. The unfortunate youth happening to fall asleep 
 in the midst of his occupation, the infuriated goddess 
 changed him into this flower, which still bears the form 
 of the bladder or bag in which Campion secured the 
 flies, and droops its timid head as night approaches, to 
 escape the sight of the owls that then wing their flight 
 in the air. 
 
 The short-lived, sweet-scented field convolvulus, or 
 bindweed (Convohtulus arvensis), is wreathing its delicate 
 pink blossoms on hedge-bank and field, a troublesome 
 plant to the farmer, but one well loved by the bee, 
 
 ' Flying solicitous from flower to flower, 
 Tasting each sweet that dwells 
 Within its scented bells.' 
 
 It is a pretty, fragile flower, that closes at the approach 
 of rain or evening : 
 
 ' The bindweed frail, that, when the light 
 Departs, aye bids the world good-night ; 
 And foldeth up its silken vest, 
 As though intent on seeking rest'
 
 126 JUNE. 
 
 Lovely as this blossom is, it is exceeded in beauty by 
 the great bindweed (Calystegia septum), which in autumn 
 adorns our fading hedges with its large snow-white bells. 
 
 BINDWEEDS Convolvulus arvenszs; Calystegia sepitim, 
 
 We have scarcely any mid-flower more elegant in form, 
 or purer in tint. Unlike the smaller convolvulus, how- 
 ever, it possesses no scent, but its blossom is equally
 
 JUNE. 127 
 
 fragile. It loves a somewhat moist situation, and is a 
 great pest to the agriculturist 
 
 We have also a third convolvulus, called the sea bind- 
 weed (Calystegia soldanella), which decks our coasts with 
 its trailing clusters of large pink yellow-rayed flowers, and 
 dark green succulent leaves. This and the great bind- 
 weed formerly belonged to the genus convolvulus, de- 
 rived from the Latin convolvo, on account of its twining 
 character. Calystegia is taken from two Greek words 
 signifying beatttiful and a covering, in allusion to the 
 bracteas which distinguish these bindweeds from the 
 true convolvulus. Perhaps I ought here to explain that 
 the bracteas are those floral leaves which expand them- 
 selves at the same time as the flower, and differ from the 
 leaves in general, as well in colour as form. 
 
 At the seaside we might now also gather the pale 
 yellow blossoms of the sea-cabbage (Brassica oleraced), 
 which ornaments the chalky heights with its abundant 
 clusters of handsome flowers. It is the origin of all our 
 cultivated cabbages, which are scarcely recognisable in 
 this wild, straggling, heartless plant. 
 
 And almost as common on our English coast is the 
 sea-holly (Eryngium maritimum), with its sea-green, spiny 
 leaves, delicately veined with white, its large, tough stem, 
 and blue, thistle-like flowers, which burst in masses from 
 their scaly receptacle. It is a sturdy plant, blooming 
 freely during this and the two following months, in 
 defiance of weather or exposed situation.
 
 128 JUNE. 
 
 1 Eryngo, to the threat'ning storm 
 
 With dauntless pride uprears 
 His azure crest and warrior form, 
 And points his spears.' 
 
 The sea -pea (Lathy rus pisiformis) flowers now, 
 spreading its clusters of purple blossoms over the sandy 
 grass ; as well as the sea-rocket (Cakile maritime^), with 
 its pretty pink-white flowers, and soft bluish-green leaves ; 
 the scurvy grass (Cochlearia maritima\ with white flowers, 
 and tufts of kidney-shaped leaves; and the rock sam- 
 phire (Crithmum maritinium}, with its pale green, fleshy 
 leaves, which make so delicate a pickle for our table. 
 
 But no blossom on our coasts is so gay as the beautiful 
 sea-celandine, or yellow-horned poppy (Glaucium luteum\ 
 which grows close down by the sea, drooping its fragile 
 petals with every whisper of the breeze. Its flowers are 
 a brilliant amber colour, glowing in low bushy groups of 
 delicate sea-green leaves, which, with the stem, are covered 
 with that peculiar bloom called by botanists glaucous. 
 Its peculiar feature is the curved seed-pod, that grows 
 boldly out, often half a foot long. 
 
 But this is a digression from the blossoms of our country 
 ramble, where in the pasture or hedge-side we shall now 
 find blooming the common yellow rattle (Rhinanthus 
 Crista Galli), so tall and erect, with its small yellow blos- 
 soms and swollen flower-cup. It belongs to the figwort 
 tribe, grows about a foot high, and is called rattle, from 
 the noise made by every passing breeze shaking the ripe
 
 YELLOW-HORNED POPPY Glauciunt luteit 
 
 I
 
 JUNE. 131 
 
 seeds in their husks. This plant is a great annoyance 
 to the husbandman ; and so is that pretty pea-shaped 
 blossom, the rest-harrow (Ononis arvensis), which has 
 earned its name from the way its tough roots and 
 branches often check the action of the harrow. It is 
 often very plentiful on the links and chalky cliffs of the 
 seashore. Its flowers are a purplish pink, sometimes 
 white, and it is armed with many strong spines. 
 
 Near the rest-harrow, the common juniper (Juniperus 
 communis), so extensively used in the flavour of gin, is 
 now in bloom. In England it never attains any size ; 
 but in other countries it rises to the height of trees, and 
 often affords a green and fragrant shade. And from 
 this you can understand how Elijah, when threatened by 
 Jezebel, and fleeing to the wilderness, 'lay and slept 
 under a juniper-tree :' 
 
 ' When from King Ahab's wrath Elijah fled, 
 This mountain shrub gave shelter and a bed.' 
 
 The Swedes convert its berries into a preserve and beer. 
 In Norway its branches are strewn on graves. 
 Many of the orchis tribe are now in bloom : 
 
 * In the greenwood, on the hill, 
 
 Fluttering to the breeze, 
 Gay as the fly that's never still, 
 Grow the orchises.' 
 
 In almost any hedgeway or wood we shall find the 
 beautiful purple orchis (Orchis masculd) of early summer,
 
 132 JUNE. 
 
 which has rich purple blossoms marked with dark spots, 
 and grows on a tall, succulent stem, around which the 
 leaves gather. It is strongly scented with an unpleasant 
 odour. The green-winged meadow orchis (Orchis morid), 
 on the contrary, is often sweetly fragrant. Its pinkish- 
 purple blossoms grow thickly amongst the grass. The 
 largest orchis of all is the lady orchis (Orchis fusca), 
 which often grows as high as two feet Its flowers are 
 of a brown purple, and grow in large clusters. The 
 birds'-nest orchis (Ophrys nidus-avis] looks most like a 
 withered leaf fallen to the ground. The bee orchis 
 (Ophrys apifera} and fly orchis (Ophrys muscifera) bear 
 a strong resemblance to those insects ; and one is apt 
 at first to suppose they have actually alighted on the 
 blossoms : 
 
 ' I sought the living bee to find, 
 And found the picture of a bee.' 
 
 The flowers of the bee orchis are brown, variegated with 
 yellow, like the body of the bee. The fly orchis is 
 smaller. There are many other varieties, blooming 
 throughout the summer months, when 
 
 ' Each dry entangled copse empurpled glows 
 With orchis blooms.' 
 
 But I fear we cannot consider them to-day. ' The root 
 of the orchis, after flowering, produces a bulb from 
 its side, and then dies off, the new root strengthening 
 and becoming the flowering root of the succeeding 
 year.
 
 JUNE. 133 
 
 Decking the waste places of our land are the brilliant 
 blue blossoms of the common borage (Borago officinalis). 
 Its flowers are targe, with prominent stamens, its stems 
 and leaves covered with prickly hairs. The bees hover 
 incessantly over it, with busy wing and melodious hum. 
 
 COMMON CISTUS or ROCK RosEHelianthemttm vulgare. 
 
 It was said the flowers steeped in wine proved an in- 
 vigorating cordial : 
 
 ' Famed for driving care away, 
 Rough borage.' 
 
 Also here we have the common cistus, or rock rose 
 (Helianthemum vulgare), the pink variety of which is
 
 134 JUNE. 
 
 supposed by some to be the rose of Sharon mentioned 
 in Scripture. The crumpled petals are very delicate, 
 yet, bright in their golden beauty, adorning many a 
 barren spot with clumps of golden flowers. They fade 
 rapidly, but are so abundant, that they follow each other 
 in quick succession : 
 
 ' The little rock rose, oh ! it fades in a day, 
 As popular favour passes away.' 
 
 How beautifully is the brilliant red saintfoin (Hedy- 
 sarum onobrychis) gleaming under the sunlight rays ! 
 It loves a chalky soil, and decks many a hedge-bank ; it 
 is also cultivated in the field for food for cattle. 
 
 But we are neglecting to gather one of the handsomest 
 flowers of our hedgeside, the tall, showy foxglove (Digi- 
 talis purpured), which 
 
 ' Rears its pyramid of bells, 
 Gloriously freckled, purpled, and white.' 
 
 It is indeed one of the most splendid blossoms we have, 
 raising its commanding spike of flowers with such stately 
 grace by the borders of our woods and forests. 
 
 ' The foxglove tall 
 
 Sheds its loose purple bells, or in the gust, 
 Or when it bends beneath the upspringing lark, 
 Or mountain finch alighting.' 
 
 It often grows to the height of four or five feet, the 
 numerous blossoms occupying about half the length of 
 the stem. Its leaves are a dull green, large, and veiny.
 
 JUNE. 135 
 
 Let us 
 
 ' Explore the foxglove's freckled bell,* 
 
 and we shall find that its tubular flowers, 
 
 ' In whose drooping cups the bee 
 Makes her sweet music,' 
 
 sometimes purple, sometimes cream-coloured or white, 
 are beautifully speckled within. 
 
 Its name is said to be a corruption of fairies' or folk's 
 love, because it was supposed that fairies loved to lurk 
 in its bells ; and many superstitions were connected with 
 it, in consequence of its being held a sacred plant by 
 the Druids, who used it in their midsummer sacrifices. 
 It possesses poisonous properties ; but is highly ser- 
 viceable as a medicine, and seems to be dearly loved 
 by the 
 
 ' Bees that soar for bloom 
 High as the highest peak of Furness Fells, 
 And murmur by the hour in foxglove bells.' 
 
 As we pass the bare wall, we may pluck a patch 
 of the pretty yellow blossoms of the biting stonecrop 
 (Sedum acre), or wall-pepper, as it is sometimes called 
 from its acrid juiciness ; and, before concluding our 
 ramble, gather a few flowers from the various useful 
 flax plants : 
 
 ' Oh, the goodly flax-flower ! 
 
 It groweth on the hill ; 
 And to the breeze, awake or sleep, 
 It never standeth still.
 
 136 JUNE. 
 
 It seemeth all astir with life, 
 
 As if it loved to thrive ; 
 As if it had a merry heart 
 
 Within its stem alive ! 
 
 Then fair befall the flax-field ; 
 
 And may the kindly showers 
 Give strength unto its shining stems, 
 
 Give seed unto its flowers.' 
 
 In this month the pretty little cathartic flax (Linum 
 catharticuin) is in bloom, and abundant 
 by the roadside, though not conspicu- 
 ous, for it grows only a few inches 
 high, and scarcely raises its slender 
 stems, laden with drooping buds and 
 small erect white blossoms, above the 
 summer grass. So delicate and beauti- 
 ful, however, are its small silvery flowers, 
 that it has been called the ' fairies' flax.' 
 We may also find the beautiful blue 
 blossoms of the perennial flax (Linum 
 perenne), and the paler blue kind, called, 
 from its tapering leaf, the narrow-leaved 
 pale flax (Linum angustifolium), which 
 has lighter but perhaps purer blue 
 flowers. Both may be found adorning 
 the chalky hillside, or sandy pasture 
 of the sea-coast, and are alike provok- 
 ingly fragile, scattering their petals at 
 
 CATHARTIC FLAX 
 
 Linum catharticum, every attempt to gather them. But the
 
 JUNE. 137 
 
 species most cultivated for commerce on account of its 
 fibrous stems, from which our valuable linen material is 
 made, and which Mrs. Howitt so truthfully describes 
 in our quoted verses, is the common 
 flax (Linum tisitatissimum}. Often will 
 you find it springing up in the corn- 
 fields ; and truly beautiful are its silky 
 blossoms, with their slender stems and 
 tapering green leaves, that bend and 
 wave with such delicate grace 'neath 
 every passing breeze. It grows about 
 two feet high, and its large erect blue 
 flowers are richly marked with purple 
 veins. There is a peculiar exquisite 
 delicacy in this azure-blossomed flax ; 
 and very prettily has Coleridge spoken 
 
 of 
 
 ' The unripe flax ; 
 
 When, through its half-transparent stalk at eve, 
 The level sunshine glimmers with green light.' 
 
 We read of the cultivation of the flax 
 from the earliest ages ; and in several 
 
 NARROW-LEAVED PALE 
 
 parts of the Bible it is mentioned. In FLAX -*, aii - 
 former times our forefathers reared it sustl ' 
 in sufficient quantity to supply their families with linen, 
 the ladies of the household spinning and weaving the 
 yarn. The flax is one of our most valuable and in- 
 teresting plants, not only on account of its fibrous stem,
 
 138 
 
 JUNE. 
 
 but for the many uses of the 
 seed, which succeeds the flowers, 
 each little round pod being 
 filled with about ten of those 
 small flat brown seeds called 
 linseed, which I think must be 
 so familiar to you all, so much 
 used for poultices, and from 
 which a valuable oil is ex- 
 pressed, the refuse being given 
 to feed cattle or manure the 
 land. 
 
 It is in the stems of the flax 
 that the fibres are found which 
 compose our linen ; and when 
 these are required, the plant 
 is gathered immediately after 
 flowering, being carefully pulled 
 up by the root and dried in 
 the sun. It is then steeped in 
 water, or left to lie in a tank 
 or shallow river until the outer 
 covering of the stalk decays, 
 when it is spread out to dry 
 and bleach, and the fibres are 
 afterwards easily separated from 
 the pith and skin. They are 
 next combed with iron combs, and formed into the tow, 
 
 COMMON FLAX 
 Linum usitatissimi.
 
 JUNE. 139 
 
 which is first spun into yarn, and afterwards woven into 
 cloth. For the manufacture of fine laces, lawns, etc., much 
 combing is required, and only the finer threads taken. 
 The scientific name of Linum signifies thread, and is 
 taken from the Celtic word lin. The cultivation of flax 
 being very exhaustive to the soil, is not much favoured 
 in England ; but it is largely grown in France, Holland, 
 Russia, Egypt, India, etc. Ireland produces nearly all 
 the flax used in its extensive manufacture of linen ; and 
 in Scotland, as well as a few of the midland counties of 
 England, many a field of flax waves in the summer 
 beauty of its sweetly blue blossoms. 
 
 ' Ah, 'tis a goodly little thing, 
 
 It groweth for the poor, 
 And many a peasant blesses it, 
 Beside his cottage door. 
 
 He thinketh how those slender stems, 
 
 That shimmer in the sun, 
 Are rich for him in web and woof, 
 
 And shortly shall be spun. 
 
 He thinketh how those tender flowers, 
 
 Of seed will yield him store ; 
 And sees in thought his next year's crop, 
 
 Blue, shining round his door. 
 
 Then fair befall the flax-field ; 
 
 And may the kindly showers 
 Give strength unto its shining stems, 
 
 Give seed unto its flowers ! ' 
 
 We can never sufficiently appreciate the value of this
 
 140 
 
 JUNE. 
 
 plant, nor the loving-kindness of the beneficent Creator 
 who has so richly provided for our every want. ' He 
 causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the 
 service of man : that he may bring forth food out of 
 the earth.' 'Bread which strengtheneth man's heart.' 
 He hath said, ' While the earth remaineth, seed-time and 
 harvest shall not cease ;' and every season bears witness 
 to the fulfilment of his promise. 
 
 ' He giveth to the beast his food, 
 
 And to the young ravens which cry.' 
 
 He drops sweets into the beauteous flowers to sustain 
 the bee and insect tribes ; with the silky down of the 
 thistle, and wild berries that glimmer and grace the 
 hedgeway, He feedeth the happy birds; and by the 
 grass of the field He nourisheth ' the cattle upon a thou- 
 sand hills.'
 
 VII. 
 J U L Y. 
 
 ' Everywhere about us are they glowing ; 
 
 Some, like stars, to tell us spring is born ; 
 
 Others, their blue eyes with tears o'erflowing, 
 
 Stand, like Ruth, amid the golden corn.' 
 
 j;RIEF though the time has been since 
 we enjoyed our last sunny ramble 
 together, a great change has come 
 over the spirit of earth's dream. 
 The ' merry spring ' blossoms have all 
 faded and gone ; the fresh beauty of the 
 year has passed away ; the fair green of 
 the forest leaves has given place to deeper 
 tints and denser foliage ; the light-hearted 
 birds at noon-day are silent in the woods ; and the hot 
 July sun of full summer shines gloriously upon us. 
 
 ' The primrose to the grave is gone, 
 
 The hawthorn flower is dead ; 
 The violet, by the mossed green stone, 
 Hath laid her weary head.' 
 141
 
 I 4 2 JUL Y. 
 
 Yet still the earth teems with profusion fresh ; new 
 beauties are springing all around. We will not grieve 
 that spring has departed, delicate and lovely as she is, 
 when the richer, more luxuriant beauty of summer fills 
 her place. 
 
 ' They may boast of the spring-time when flowers are the fairest, 
 
 And birds sing by thousands on every green tree ; 
 
 They may call it the loveliest, the greenest, the rarest, 
 
 But the summer's the season that's dearest to me. 
 
 Yes, the summer, the radiant summer is fairest, 
 
 For green-woods, and mountains, for meadows and bowers, 
 
 For waters, and fruits, and for flowers the rarest, 
 And for bright shining butterflies, lovely as flowers.' 
 
 Beautiful are now the exquisite drooping bunches of fair 
 acacia, so graceful in their waving, snowy purity, or 
 
 ' White with faintest crimson flush,' 
 
 and bunches of elegant green leaves. How sweet the 
 faint odour of the lime-trees blossom, that hangs its 
 pretty sprays of yellowish-white bells, beneath their 
 sheath of softest green ! Flowers and leaves are spread 
 down to the very margin of the rivulet ; and even on its 
 limpid surface are 
 
 ' Green tufted islands, casting their soft shades 
 Across the burn-sequestered leafy glades.' 
 
 What can be more beautiful in nature than our hand- 
 some water-lilies, with their rose-like blossoms, and large, 
 smooth, oval, green leaves, resting on the top of the 
 water,
 
 JUL Y. 143 
 
 ' Making the current, forced awhile to stay, 
 Murmur, and bubble as it shoots away ?' 
 
 or the pretty little flower of the water arrow-head 
 (Sagittaria sagittifolid}, which is now in bloom, and 
 easily recognisable by its white blossoms and arrow- 
 shaped leaves, which lie in masses on the surface of the 
 stream ? Whilst by the water's edge, 
 
 ' Rich cymes of fragrant meadow-sweet ' 
 
 wave their creamy clusters, 'neath every passing breeze, 
 and 
 
 ' Where the still streamlet wanders o'er the glade, 
 The pungent cresses grow.' 
 
 There is not a more refreshing or wholesome salad than 
 the common water-cress (Nasturtium officinale) ; only we 
 must gather it cautiously, for it somewhat resembles the 
 water parsnip (Sium nodiflorum), a highly poisonous 
 plant near which it often grows. The blossoms of the 
 water-cress are small, white, and cross-shaped. It is 
 much cultivated in streams near large towns ; and many 
 poor persons make their living by gathering and selling 
 it. In France it is dressed as spinach, and forms an 
 excellent dish. 
 
 I have read somewhere, 
 
 ' It was an ancient saying and belief, 
 
 That those who oft partook of cresses green, 
 Straightway became of public men the chief, 
 Of purpose firm, and resolute of mien.'
 
 144 JUL Y. 
 
 The great water plantain (Alisma plantago) is also a 
 great ornament of the pond, with its large, handsome 
 leaves rising on long stalks from the root, and small, 
 delicate, lilac flowers composed of three petals, blossoming 
 on its many-branched stems ; as is also the common 
 frogbit (Hydrocharis morsus -ranee), its fragile, and also 
 
 COMMON FROGBIT Hydrocha 
 
 three-petalled white blossoms, and thick glossy leaves 
 floating in large patches on the water. Its stems lie 
 horizontally on the surface ; but I have slightly raised 
 them in my illustration, that you might the better 
 observe the sheaths from which the flowers spring, and
 
 JUL Y. 145 
 
 the curious way in which the young buds are enfolded 
 in their casing, through which they may be distinctly 
 discerned. 
 
 On the moist bog we may find the bog-pimpernel 
 (Anagallis tenelld), with its tiny oval leaves, its deli- 
 cate, slender stalks, and sweet little pink blossoms ; 
 and 
 
 ' On the pool's half dry banks, there the red and green hue 
 Of that small moorland darling, the little sundew ; 
 Each plant lying close, like a 'broidered rosette, 
 Shining redly with ruby-gems thick o'er it set.' 
 
 This small but singular plant, the funny little sundew 
 (Drosera rotundifolid) , has white blossoms and crimson- 
 tinged leaves, thickly covered with hairs, tipped with a 
 clammy liquid, which give it the appearance of being 
 covered with the evening dew. Insects, attracted to the 
 sweet fluid, become entangled in these clammy hairs, are 
 thus captured, and die. 
 
 But this is the month of beauty to the wild moorlands, 
 that in winter seem so drear and barren : 
 
 ' The tiny heath-flowers now begin to blow ; 
 The russet moor assumes a richer glow ; 
 The powdery bells, that glance in purple bloom. 
 Fling from their scented cups a sweet perfume.' 
 
 ' E'en the slight harebell/ on its slender stem, bends its 
 azure head in grace and beauty, stirring to every faint 
 whisper of the passing breeze. Come then, hasten, my 
 young friends, and let us away to the beautiful moor, so
 
 146 JULY. 
 
 rich in its array of flowers, where the butterfly and the 
 bee are 
 
 ' Feeding upon their pleasures bounteously.' 
 
 The commonest beauty of the heath is the common 
 ling, or heath (Calluna vulgaris), a low-tufted shrub, with 
 small leaves, and tiny lilac blossoms, which is included 
 amongst the five species of heath, or the more general 
 name of heather. They all have lovely flowers, varying 
 from a dark purplish-red to a delicate rose-colour, and 
 even white. The commonest of all, with the exception 
 of the ling, is the fine-leaved heath (Erica cinerea). Its 
 flowers are larger, and hang like delicate pink bells from 
 the small, fine-leaved stems. The common ling is used 
 for a variety of purposes in the northern counties. The 
 Highlanders make their beds of its sprays, and use the 
 coarser branches to make brooms, thatch their huts, and 
 assist, with a kind of cement, in the construction of walls. 
 It is burned for winter fuel ; the fibres of its stems are 
 twisted into ropes ; and in the Western Isles it affords a 
 yellow dye. It shelters and supplies with food many of 
 our feathered tribe, especially grouse. It nourishes 
 many a bright-winged insect, and 
 
 ' Here their delicious task the fervent bees, 
 In swarming millions tend.' 
 
 In Scotland many of the heaths have been adopted as 
 the badges of the different Highland clans. 
 
 Mixed with these shrubs of ' blooming heather/ that 
 in their flush of beauty give so rich a purple colouring
 
 JUL Y. 147 
 
 to the hills, is a tiny blossom likely to be overlooked by 
 a careless observer. It is the pretty little common eye- 
 bright (Euphrasia officinalis), that may be found studding 
 the sides of the chalky hills, or half lost in the hedge-side 
 or tall grass of the fields, and which has received its 
 botanical name from a Greek word signifying joy or 
 pleasure. It is a cheerful, lowly thing ; its white blos- 
 soms sometimes varying to a delicate lilac, streaked 
 with darker lines ; its leaves a bright green and deeply 
 notched. It is usually only about two inches high ; but 
 varies according to the situation of its growth. It has 
 received its English name from its supposed efficacy in 
 curing diseases of the eye, and Milton speaks of 
 
 ' Euphrasy, to cleanse the visual ray.' 
 
 But modern oculists consider it rather injurious than 
 beneficial. It is a sweet little blossom, however, the 
 sight of which must ever gladden the eye, as poet 
 Elliott must also have thought when he wrote the 
 verse : 
 
 ' Sweet eyebright ! loveliest flower of all that grow 
 In flower-loved England ! Flower whose hedgeside gaze 
 Is like an infant's ! What heart doth not know 
 Thee, clustered smiler of the bank ?' 
 
 And now we come upon 
 
 ' A bank, 
 Whereon the wild thyme blows.' 
 
 A lowly, spreading plant, of rapid growth :
 
 H8 JUL V. 
 
 ( The humble, creeping thyme, 
 Which, with a thousand roots, curling and crisp, 
 Goes decking the green earth with drapery.' 
 
 Delicious, as we tread upon it, is the scent that rises from 
 its small purple flowers and fragrant leaves. 
 
 ' Thyme, the love of bees, perfumes the air.' 
 
 The wild thyme (Thymus serpylluin) is often infused 
 as a cure for headache amongst country people ; and 
 a strong oil is extracted from it. And here, 
 
 ' With thyme, strong-scented, 'neath one's feet, 
 Are marjoram beds, so doubly sweet.' 
 
 The sweet marjoram (Origanum mdgare) loves a dry, 
 hilly bank, and will often grow a foot high : 
 
 4 Sweet marjoram, with red-tinged leaves like blushes, 
 Scattered amid the hillside bushes.' 
 
 Like the thyme, it yields an essential oil, which is often 
 applied for the cure of toothache and rheumatism. Its 
 blossoms, growing in clusters, of a deep purple hue, are 
 aromatic and sweet. I know of only one British species. 
 Both the marjoram and thyme are cultivated in kitchen 
 gardens. 
 
 But there is a flower we failed to gather in our last 
 ramble, which still covers the dry hillside, 
 
 ' Where sweet air stirs 
 
 Blue harebells lightly, and where prickly furze 
 Buds lavish gold.'
 
 JUL Y. 149 
 
 It is the broom (Cytistis scoparius), 'the bonnie, bonnie 
 broom,' an evergreen now covered with myriads of 
 golden blossoms, of which Wordsworth writes : 
 
 ' On me such bounty .summer pours, 
 That I am covered o'er with flowers ; 
 
 And when the frost is in the sky, 
 My branches are so fresh and gay, 
 That you might look at me and say, 
 
 That plant can never die. 
 The butterfly, all green and gold, 
 
 To me hath often flown, 
 Here in my blossoms to behold 
 
 Wings lovely as his own.' 
 
 It is not only the delight of butterflies and bees, which 
 hover incessantly about it, but is made serviceable to 
 man. Its branches are used in tanning leather ; its 
 fibres may be manufactured into a coarse cloth ; the 
 young buds are pickled in vinegar, and eaten as capers ; 
 the wood, when old, is valuable to the cabinetmaker ; 
 and the early shoots are often mixed with hops in 
 brewing. It is used for thatching cottages, for making 
 fences and brooms ; and, in Scotland, converted into 
 fuel for winter firing. The flower resembles the furze, 
 both in shape and colour ; its leaves are small and few, 
 and its branches spring up erect and stiff. The French 
 call it ' le genet ;' and it is said the name of Plantagenet 
 was derived from this flower. The first Earl, as a 
 penance for some wicked action, allowed himself to be 
 scourged with broom-twigs ; and ever after took the
 
 ISO JULY. 
 
 name of Plantagenet, or broom plant. It is considered 
 the emblem of humility : 
 
 ' A pilgrim to the Holy Land, Fulke, Earl of Anjou, went, 
 Enjoined to expiate some crime in toilsome banishment ; 
 Placed in the scalloped hat, he wore a sprig of lowly broom, 
 And hence we name humility, the plant of golden bloom.' 
 
 We must not, however, linger on the moors, unless 
 it be to gather a handful of the beautiful blue harebell 
 (Campanula rotnndifolia\ that dances amongst the 
 prickly furze, nodding and bowing with every passing 
 breeze that plays upon the hill-side. Few of you can 
 fail to recognise the beautiful harebell, the blue-bell of 
 Scotland, which, I think, must be as familiar to you all 
 as is the equally beautiful hyacinth, or English blue- 
 bell, which we gathered in April. It blooms on our 
 commonest roadside, and peeps from out every dry 
 pasture or hedgeway ; but it is on hills and moors it 
 loves best to droop its pendent blossoms in greatest 
 and wildest luxuriance. Scott speaks of it as 
 ' The little flower that loves the lea ;' 
 
 but Miss Twamley tells us, 
 
 1 No rock is too high, no vale too low, 
 For its fragile and tremulous form to grow ; 
 It crowns the mountain 
 
 With azure bells, 
 And decks the fountain 
 
 In forest dells. 
 
 It wreaths the ruin with clusters grey, 
 Nodding and laughing the live-long day.'
 
 HAREBELL Campanula rotundifolia. 
 151
 
 JULY. 153 
 
 Ah ! it is a lovely little blossom, 
 
 ' That daintily bends its honeyed bells, 
 While the gossiping bee her story tells.' 
 
 As lovely in purity of colour as it is graceful in form, 
 its delicate head ofttimes bowed to the very ground, 
 bent by the sweeping blast, but not broken, owing to 
 the little resistance offered by its narrow leaves, and 
 the wiry elasticity of its stems. Its scientific name 
 Campanula rotundifolia signifies round- leaved bell- 
 flower ; and you will wonder to hear it so named, when 
 its leaves, shooting out from the hair-like stems, are all 
 so long and narrow ; but examine those growing near 
 to the root, and you will find them round, or heart- 
 shaped. These soon, however, wither and die off, as 
 the plant increases in size and age. Its stem is some- 
 times divided into many branches, but oftener simple, 
 each bearing its own little blossom at the summit. It 
 well merits its name of bhie-bell, for few flowers can 
 boast so pure an azure tint, or are more bell-like in 
 shape. I have also heard it called heath-bell and fairy- 
 bell ; the latter in reference, doubtless, to the pretty 
 legend that is attached to it, of how, when the fairies . 
 held their midnight revels, 
 
 ' And glow-worm lamps illum'd the scene,' 
 it rang its chimes of fairy music, 
 
 ' Perchance to soothe the fairy-queen, 
 With faint sweet tones, on night serene, 
 Its soft bells pealing.'
 
 154 JULY. 
 
 We are told that, ' once upon a time/ a shepherd boy, 
 tending his flock on the hill-side, 
 
 ' Where harebells blossomed wild and free,' 
 
 happened to lead them into one of those magic circles 
 where the fairies had been revelling the eve before ; 
 and as the sheep, wandering amongst the blossoms, 
 chanced to touch them with their feet, each tiny bell 
 commenced to ring its little chime of soft melodious 
 sound, which so charmed both boy and flock that, 
 entranced, they stayed to listen, and lingered on, for- 
 getful of the passing hours. Shades of evening at 
 length beginning to fall, the shepherd was reminded it 
 was time to wend his steps homeward ; but in vain he 
 strove to lead his charge away from that harmonious 
 music. They would not stir beyond the limits of the 
 magic circle ; for hark ! 
 
 ' Whene'er the little airs arise, 
 How the merry blue-bell rings 
 To the mosses underneath !' 
 
 He tried with gentle love to coax them forward ; but 
 every persuasive art failed. Impatient at their obdu- 
 racy, he attempted to drive them on ; but all to no 
 purpose. At length, in the midst of his despair, when 
 evening was yielding the world to deepening night, a 
 happy thought occurred to his mind ; and stooping, 
 he gathered a bunch of the delicate blossoms, which, 
 in consequence of his rough and hasty handling, rang
 
 JULY. 
 
 155 
 
 out a louder, more melodious peal than before ; when 
 immediately the flock gathered around him, and fol- 
 lowed closely as he stepped forward 
 carrying his musical bouquet. It is 
 said that for days the sheep listened, 
 and were led on, until the fragile 
 blossoms began to fade and die ; 
 then, as the beauty of each withered 
 and passed off, its little fairy chime 
 of sweetness became more subdued 
 and delicate, until the faintest whisper 
 of a sound had softly died away, and 
 never again was heard. 
 
 ' The azure harebell, that did sweetly ring 
 Her wildering chimes to fragrant butterflies. ' 
 
 We have ten wild species of bell- 
 flowers, but none are more lovely 
 than this our common harebell, or 
 the still more delicate and lighter 
 blue ivy -leaved bell-flower (Cam- 
 panula hederaced), which grows in 
 moist, shady places, but is not gene- 
 rally common. 
 
 We will now turn down from our moors, and pass 
 through the wood, though the blossoms there are few 
 in comparison to what we gathered in earlier months. 
 
 Spreading with creeping root through the mossy 
 
 MILKWORT Polygala. 
 vulgaris.
 
 156 JULY. 
 
 ground, we may pluck the lesser winter green (Pyrola 
 'minor}, its flower-stalk rising some six inches from out 
 its cluster of round shining leaves, and bearing pretty 
 little pale pink blossoms. The white flowers of the 
 elder-tree are now giving place to the berries, and the 
 pretty rose -like blossoms of the bramble have burst 
 into full beauty on its long trailing sprays : 
 
 ' Thy fruit full well the schoolboy knows, 
 
 Wild bramble of the brake ! 
 So put thou forth thy small white rose ; 
 I love it for his sake. 
 
 Though woodbines flaunt, and roses glow, 
 
 O'er all the fragrant bowers, 
 Thou need'st not be ashamed to show 
 
 Thy satin-threaded flowers.' 
 
 Pluck some of the white flowers of the dog-wood as 
 we go along, and then let us away to the fields ; for 
 the broad-leaved garlic, or ramsons (Allium ursinum}, 
 makes itself known to other sense than smell. Its 
 clusters of white flowers are pretty, its leaf handsome, 
 and might be taken for that of the lily-of-the-valley, 
 until crushed, and then its disagreeable odour fairly 
 drives us from the woods. There are several other 
 species, usually bearing purple flowers, but none so 
 common as this. 
 
 Wandering onwards, we shall likely find a few sprays 
 of the perforated St. John's wort (Hypericum perforation), 
 a bright yellow flower, tipped with small black dots. It
 
 JULY. 157 
 
 has a strong rosiny smell, and owes its name to the old 
 custom of being gathered to make bonfires on the eve 
 of St. John. It is useful in domestic surgery, and in 
 olden times was considered an antidote to all witcheries, 
 and a protection against accidents from thunder and 
 lightning. Many legends and superstitions are con- 
 nected with this plant : 
 
 ' St. John's wort scaring from the midnight heath 
 The witch and goblin with its spicy breath.' 
 
 Its specific name refers to the minute holes in the leaves, 
 and therefore it has been called 
 
 ' The herb of war, 
 Pierced through with wounds, and seamed with many a scar.' 
 
 In the same dry pasture or hedge-side blossoms the 
 small, upright St. John's wort (Hypericum pulchruni), 
 by far the most elegant of all the species, a tall plant, 
 with flowers smaller than the perforated kind, but 
 equally pretty, with its delicate green leaves, and 
 bright, yellow, clustering blossoms, often tipped and 
 streaked with deep red. There are eleven species, 
 I believe, all yellow flowers, greatly resembling one 
 another, and many with crowded blossoms ; as Cowper 
 tells us, 
 
 ' Hypericum all bloom, so thick z. swarm 
 Of flowers, like flies clothing her slender rods, 
 That scarce a leaf appears.' 
 
 Very pretty is the yellow bed-straw (Galium vemm),
 
 158 JULY. 
 
 with its light tufts of clustering golden 
 blossoms, and numerous circles of ver- 
 dant, slender leaves ; the wood sage 
 (Teucrium scorodonid), with its spikes 
 of greenish-brown flowers and wrinkled 
 leaves, so much resembling the sage of 
 our gardens ; and the common red cen- 
 taury (Erythrcza centaurium], 
 
 ' The crimson darnel-flower,' 
 
 a low plant, with clustering red blos- 
 soms, and light -green, bitter - tasting 
 stems and leaves. 
 
 One of our prettiest vetches is now in 
 bloom, winding its tangled stalks, and 
 clasping tendrils through every hedge- 
 way. This is the tufted vetch ( Vicia 
 cracca), with its rich purple-blue flowers 
 and long silky leaves. There also is the 
 kidney vetch, or lady's fingers (AntJiyllis 
 vulnerarid), which we gathered in May, 
 with its crowded heads of yellow flowers 
 growing in pairs at the end of each 
 stem, from the soft woolly flower-cup ; 
 as well as the meadow vetchling (La- 
 thyrus pratensis\ which frequents the 
 moist meadow, making it gay with its 
 
 YELLOW BED-STRAW , 
 
 Gaiium verum. bright yellow blossoms. Clare says :
 
 JULY. 159 
 
 ' The yellow vetchling I have often got, 
 Sweep creeping o'er the banks in sunny time.' 
 
 By far the loveliest of all our vetch tribe, and certainly 
 one of our most elegant climbers, is the wood -vetch 
 (Vicia sylvatica), which weaves its long stems and 
 branched tendrils through the tangled wood, often 
 climbing to the height of six feet. Its flowers are a 
 delicate white, daintily veined with bluish lines ; and 
 most lavishly does it spread its blossoms during this 
 and the next month : 
 
 ' Where profuse the wood-vetch clings 
 Round ash and elm in pencilled rings, 
 Its pale and azure-pencill'd flower 
 Should canopy Titania's bower.' 
 
 The hedge woundwort (Stachys sylvatica) is also now 
 in flower, raising its spike of purple blossoms streaked 
 with white, and growing in whorls around a stem some 
 three feet high. Its leaves are like the stinging nettle, 
 but soft and downy. It has an unpleasant odour, and 
 only the snail is known to feed upon it. There are 
 several species of woundwort blooming in this month, 
 and resembling one another very closely. 
 
 Another disagreeable -smelling flower we may now 
 gather in the common black horehound (Ballota nigra). 
 It is a very common plant, rising often four feet high ; 
 has dull red blossoms growing in whorls, and dusty, 
 grey-green leaves. 
 
 Here is the Deptford pink (Dianthus armeria}, its
 
 160 JUL Y. 
 
 rose-coloured flowers dotted with white, growing in 
 bunches on long stiff stems ; the great hairy willow- 
 herb (Epilobium hirsutum), a tall, handsome plant, with 
 soft, downy leaves, rich purple blossoms, 
 ' And fruit-like scent so mellow.' 
 The self-heal (Prunella vulgaris), with its heads of bluish- 
 
 PHEASANT'S-EYE Adonis autumnalis. 
 
 purple flowers and purple-tinged bracts growing amongst 
 its blossoms ; the common cow-wheat (Melampyrum pra- 
 tense), which rises about a foot high, has slender straggling 
 branches, and pale, sulphur-coloured flowers ; the pinkish
 
 JULY. 161 
 
 lilac blossoms of the common calamint (Calamintha 
 vulgaris\ so often made into tea by villagers, and whose 
 Greek name signifies good mint ; and the beautiful 
 crimson pheasant's -eye (Adonis autuinnalis), its rich 
 buttercup-shaped flower, with its handsome purple centre, 
 gleaming brightly from amongst its many narrow, 
 branched green leaves, so cleft into segments. An old 
 botanist tells us it was sold by the herb women in the 
 London markets under the name of rose-a-rubie ; and 
 we often hear it named flos Adonis, and Adonis flower, 
 in consequence of the old fable, that it sprang from the 
 drops of blood which fell from the unfortunate Adonis, 
 who was killed while hunting a wild boar, and of which 
 I told you when we gathered the wood-anemone. In 
 remembrance of this legend, it is to this day fami- 
 liarly called by the French, gouttes de sang drops of 
 blood. 
 
 It often adorns the corn-field, where the brilliant blue 
 succory, or chicory (Cickorium Intybus), will sometimes 
 bloom, and prove a noxious weed to the farmer. It is a 
 handsome flower, rich in its deep blue tint, and growing 
 often three feet high. 
 
 ' The chicory flower, like a blue cockade, 
 For a fairy knight befitting.' 
 
 A variety of this plant is extensively cultivated in France 
 and 'Germany, its carrot-like root being roasted, and used 
 
 in the adulteration of coffee. 
 L
 
 162 JUL Y. 
 
 We must not omit to gather the premorse scabious, or 
 devil's-bit scabious (Scabiosa 
 succisa), which blooms in this 
 month, and is common on 
 meadow or pasture. Its name 
 is derived from scabies leprosy. 
 Some species have been con- 
 sidered a cure for that disease. 
 It grows about a foot high. 
 Its round heads of flowers are 
 a deep bluish purple, its leaves 
 toothed, its root fleshy, and 
 as though broken or bitten off 
 at the end, and from this has 
 originated its name. Gerard 
 tells us : ' Old fantasticke char- 
 mers report that the divel did 
 bite it for envie, because it is 
 an herbe that hath so many 
 good vertues, and is so bene- 
 ficial to mankinde.' 
 
 Amongst the corn that waves 
 in the summer breeze, fast 
 ripening 'neath the summer 
 sun, and adding such beauty 
 to the landscape, we cannot 
 
 CORN BLUE-BOTTLE 
 Centaurea cyanus. fail tO notice the beautiful COH1 
 
 blue-bottle (Centaurea cyanus), that raises its erect head
 
 JUL Y. 163 
 
 among the ears of wheat, contrasting its exquisite tints 
 of blue with the less showy colouring around. 
 
 ' No summer sky hath a more delicate hue 
 
 Than thy blossoms, that ope 'mid the rip'ning corn, 
 Nor the veins, the clear sky shining through, 
 Of the fairest maiden that e'er was born.' 
 
 It usually grows from two to three feet high, and is as 
 elegant in form as it is brilliant in hue, with its pretty 
 scaly calyx, its outer florets ranged so exquisitely around 
 the smaller ones within the disk, and its stems and green 
 leaves so thickly covered with a cottony down. A beau- 
 tiful blue colour may be expressed from the plant ; but 
 as its tint is not permanent, it is not now used in dyeing. 
 In Scotland it is termed blue-bonnet, in France bluet ; 
 and in former days we called it hurt-sickle, because it 
 was supposed to blunt the edge of the reaper's hook. 
 Its botanical name is Certtaurea cyanus. It has also 
 been named Chironium ; both appellations being derived 
 from the Centaur Chiron, who, happening to be wounded 
 in the foot by the fall of an arrow when he was entertain- 
 ing Hercules, applied the plant to the sore, which was 
 speedily healed. 
 
 ' The centaury .... 
 
 That from Thessalian Chiron takes its name.' 
 
 Now my young friends may not know what was a 
 Centaur, or who was Chiron, and therefore will feel 
 interested to hear that the Centaurs were an ancient
 
 1 64 JULY. 
 
 people of Thessaly, who tamed their wild horses, and 
 rode about upon them, often hunting wild bulls, or 
 gathering in their stray cattle. In consequence, they 
 frequently were seen on the borders of surrounding 
 countries ; and the sight was so strange to their ignorant 
 neighbours, that they believed them to be monsters, half 
 man and half beast. Chiron was one of these Centaurs, 
 famous alike for his wonderful knowledge in astronomy, 
 music, and the polite arts. He is said to have taught 
 mankind the medicinal use of plants. He was the pre- 
 ceptor of Hercules, whom he rendered the most valiant 
 and accomplished hero of the age. Chiron was greatly 
 beloved by Hercules, who afterwards had the misfortune, 
 when engaged in battle with the Centaurs, to wound 
 with a poisoned arrow his old preceptor in the knee. 
 How it was that our beautiful corn-field blossom was 
 not again applied, or whether it had lost its former effi- 
 cacy, I do not pretend to say ; but we are told that, after 
 excessive agony, Chiron died, and Hercules, frenzied 
 with grief and horror, slew every Centaur present, nor 
 rested till he had utterly destroyed the race from the 
 face of the earth. 
 
 On the waste ground we may gather the small lilac 
 blossoms of the vervain ( Verbena officinalis), a tall, slender 
 plant, with few leaves, called in olden times the holy 
 herb. 
 
 ' Bring your garlands, and with reverence place 
 The vervain on the altar.'
 
 JUL Y. 165 
 
 The Druids held this plant in almost as high veneration 
 as the mistletoe. It was used to purify their altars ; and 
 Mason describes the solemn incantation : 
 
 ' Lift your boughs of vervain blue, 
 Dipped in cold September dew, 
 And dash the moisture chaste and clear 
 O'er the ground, and through the air : 
 Now the place is purged and pure.' 
 
 It was held a sacred plant among the Romans, and worn 
 by the ambassadors when declaring war. 
 
 ' A wreath of vervain heralds wear, 
 
 Amongst our gardens named, 
 Being sent that dreadful news to bear, 
 Offensive war proclaimed.' 
 
 Near it we may find the poisonous henbane (Hyos- 
 cyamus niger), so often smoked by country people as a 
 cure for toothache. Its dingy, cream-coloured flowers, 
 growing in clusters, are beautifully veined with purple, 
 like delicate network spreading over the petals, that sit 
 close to the footstalks of the leaves, which are downy 
 and viscid. It is a powerful narcotic ; its smell is even 
 said to be dangerous to some : 
 
 ' A poisonous mischief it is thine to work ; 
 Baneful the juices that within thee lurk.' 
 
 Nearly all animals avoid it, excepting swine, which are 
 said to relish it ; and from this it is supposed to have 
 derived its botanical name, which is taken from the
 
 166 JUL Y. 
 
 Greek, and signifies pig's-bean. Bishop Mant well de- 
 scribes it and the deadly nightshade : 
 
 ' Laced with purple veins, 
 Fair to the sight, but by the smell 
 Unprized, the henbane's straw-tinged bell, 
 With danger fraught. But e'en more full 
 Of danger, dark of hue, and dull 
 Of aspect, near, with purple flowers, 
 Perchance the deadly nightshade lowers.' 
 
 This is \hzAtropa belladonna, or deadly nightshade, of 
 which we gossipped last month. 
 
 ' Growing on the weedy bank, 
 We shall find the hemlock rank' 
 
 (Conium maculatum}, easily recognised by its disagree- 
 able odour, its tall, smooth stems spotted with brown, 
 and bearing umbels of numerous white flowers. It some- 
 times grows as high as six feet. 
 
 Many thistles are now in bloom too many, I fear, for 
 us to observe all, though their flowers are handsome, 
 mostly blue or yellow. They do not all belong to one 
 genus, and are difficult to distinguish, except by botanists. 
 In many places the young leaves are eaten as spinach. 
 There is the tall marsh sow-thistle (Sonchus pahistris), 
 with its large yellow blossoms and hairy flower-cup ; the 
 fragrant musk-thistle (Carduus nutans), with its rich 
 purple-red flower, which droops from its stem of three 
 feet ; the milk-thistle (Carduus marianus), a very prickly 
 plant, with deep purple flowers, and distinguished by the
 
 JUL Y. 167 
 
 milky-white vein that intersects its dark spiny leaf; and 
 the star-thistle (Centaurea calcitrapa), which, however, is 
 scarcely a true thistle, for its sharp spines deck its flower- 
 cup only. Every schoolboy is familiar with the common 
 sow-thistle (Sonchus oleraceus}, whose milky juice is so 
 relished by the tame rabbit. The carline thistle (Car Una 
 vulgaris) may be distinguished by its yellow flowers, 
 with their inner circlet of purple leaves ; the real cotton 
 thistle (Onopordum acanthium) by its white woolly cover- 
 ing. This last is a majestic plant, frequently cultivated 
 in gardens, and often mistaken for the Scotch or common 
 thistle (Cnicus lanceolatus), the national insignia of Scot- 
 land, so abundant in that country. Well does it merit 
 the defiant motto affixed to it : * Nemo me impune 
 lacessif 'No one touches me with impunity;' or, as 
 we are told the Scotch interpret the Latin, ' Ye mauna 
 meddle wi' me.' 
 
 ' I am Sir Thistle, the surly, 
 The rough, and the rude, and the burly ; 
 
 I doubt if you'll find 
 
 My touch quite to your mind, 
 Whether late be your visit or early.' 
 
 The down on the thistle stems and leaves are gathered 
 by villagers for tinder, and the seeds much loved by 
 birds. 
 
 In the corn-fields we may gather the handsome blos- 
 soms of the field knautia (Knautia arvensis}, which has 
 dark green, hairy leaves, and large heads of purplish lilac
 
 168 JUL Y. 
 
 flowers, growing on a stalk two or three feet high. It 
 is said these blossoms will change to a pretty green 
 colour if held in tobacco smoke. We have but this one 
 species. 
 
 Here also we may find the red bartsia (Bartsia odon- 
 tites), a common, unattractive flower, of a dull purple 
 colour ; as well as the dyer's green-weed (Genista tinc- 
 toria), a tall, light yellow, butterfly -shaped blossom, 
 yielding a good dye, its scientific name being derived 
 from the Celtic gen a small bush ; and the spotted per- 
 sicaria (Polygonum persicaria], with its pretty spikes of 
 small reddish-pink flowers, and long slender leaves, bear- 
 ing a dark purple spot on each, which, tradition would 
 have us believe, was caused by a drop of blood falling 
 on a plant which was growing at the foot of the cross. 
 Another species blooms just now, called the amphibious 
 persicaria (Polygonum amphibiwri); and very beautiful 
 are its spikes of rose-coloured blossoms, blooming 
 by the streamlet's side. The genus has derived its 
 botanical name from the knotted joints in the stems, 
 polygonum being taken from the Greek, and signifies 
 many joints. 
 
 Along by the sea-coast we might gather many flowers ; 
 but we have done enough for this day's ramble, and 
 perhaps we may hope, some future time, to enjoy a 
 wander on the shore. July blossoms are so abundant, 
 we cannot gather half her store of 'buds and bells,' 
 scattered in rich profusion on every side.
 
 JUL F. 169 
 
 ' Springing in valleys green and low, 
 
 And on the mountain high, 
 
 And in the silent wilderness, 
 
 Where no man passeth by. 
 
 Our outward lives require them not ; 
 
 Then wherefore had they birth ? 
 To minister delight to man, 
 
 To beautify the earth ; 
 
 To comfort man, to whisper hope, 
 Whene'er his faith is dim ; 
 
 For whoso careth for the flowers 
 Will care much more for him.'
 
 VIII. 
 A UGUST. 
 
 * Brightly, sweet summer, brightly 
 
 Thine hours are floating by, 
 To the joyous birds of the woodland boughs, 
 
 The rangers of the sky. 
 And brightly in the forest, 
 
 To the wild deer wandering free ; 
 And brightly, amidst the garden flowers, 
 
 To the happy, murmuring bee. ' 
 
 RIGHTLY, indeed, and swiftly, are our 
 beautiful summer months gliding 
 away ; and so imperceptibly do the 
 seasons flow into one another, that 
 it is impossible to mark the time of 
 change. In this warm month of August, 
 we may observe that the forest trees are 
 now being touched with their various tints 
 of yellow and brown : 
 
 ' Autumn laying, here and there, 
 A fiery ringer on the leaves.' 
 
 A ruddier tint has gathered on the orchard fruits ; a 
 
 171
 
 i;2 AUGUST. 
 
 warmer glow is spreading over the swelling grain, 
 bending beneath the soft breeze that travels in long, 
 sweeping waves across the fields ; and a rich promise 
 of plenty rests upon the earth. 
 
 The woodlands are still decked with the 'gorgeous 
 flowerets' of July. Feathery mosses and luxuriant 
 ferns are spreading over our pathway ; but we must 
 not linger over these. Though August does not bring 
 us so many fresh blossoms as the preceding months, yet 
 enough of fair flowers, conspicuous in their golden bright- 
 ness, have sprung up to form our monthly bouquet : 
 
 ' Dewy meadows enamelled in gold and in green, 
 With kingcups and daisies, that all the year please ; 
 Sprays, petals, and leaflets that nod in the breeze, 
 With carpets, and garlands, and wreaths deck the way.' 
 
 We will first gather from the hedges, now decked 
 with the golden cones of the elegant hop (Humulus 
 lupulus), which trails its prickly stems in graceful twin- 
 ings, and droops its fragrant catkins in loose-hanging 
 clusters. Its English name of hop has been derived 
 from the Saxon, hoppan, to climb ; its generic name 
 comes from humus, rich soil, which is needful to its 
 culture. It is valuable as a tonic medicine. 
 
 ' Awhile regarded as a noxious weed, 
 The hop, with tonic properties imbued, 
 Was scorned unjustly ; surely we had need 
 Be careful to condemn, though vile indeed 
 May seem the object, through false mediums viewed.
 
 AUGUST. 175 
 
 The hop is largely used in the bitter flavouring of beer, 
 and extensively cultivated for this purpose in many of 
 our English counties, where the luxuriance and elegance 
 of the hop grounds equal in grace and beauty the 
 famous vineyards of more southern climes. 
 
 ' Here swelling peas on leafy stalks are seen ; 
 " Mixed flowers of red and purple shine between.' 
 
 The wild everlasting pea (Lathy rus sylvestris) is not 
 a common flower, but very pretty, creeping among 
 bushes, or climbing some feet high 
 
 ' With taper fingers catching at all things, 
 To bind them all about with tiny rings.' 
 
 The stems are strong, and each leaf -stalk bears two 
 leaflets and tendrils. Its blossoms grow in clusters, 
 are pink and purple, tinged with green, and look like 
 butterflies turned to flowers. 
 
 ' Thus, year by year, in clusters full of grace, 
 Its blooms expand, and beautify the place ; 
 Thus, like perennial pleasures, year by year, 
 Its clasping tendrils twine and flourish here.' 
 
 The only other species of wild pea is that which we 
 mentioned in June (Lathyms pisiformis), and which 
 still creeps over the sandy links of the sea-shore, cover- 
 ing many a barren spot with its pretty papilionaceous 
 blossoms ; for 
 
 ' Nature pencils butterflies on flowers.' 
 
 But perhaps the greatest ornament of our hedgerow
 
 176 AUGUST. 
 
 is the elegant great bindweed (Calystegia sepium), figured 
 on page 126, and described in June, as blossoming during 
 autumn : 
 
 ' The creeping plant, that steals, and steals along, 
 And everywhere insinuates itself,' 
 
 with its large, white, vase-like blossoms hanging amidst 
 the boughs of the surrounding bushes, and adorning 
 them with the pure beauty of its snowy bells. 
 
 Here also we may find the common tansy ( Tanacetum 
 vulgare), with its waving, dark -green leaves, and yellow 
 clusters of thick, button -like flowers. It is a useful 
 plant in medicine, and strongly aromatic : 
 
 ' The fragrant tansy breathing from the meadow.' 
 
 Its young leaves are often mixed in omelets and pud- 
 dings to form a Lent dish ; but the flavour is strong 
 and unpalatable. It is a tall plant. Clare, in his de- 
 scription of a cottage garden, speaks of the 
 
 ' Tansy running high, 
 That o'er the pale-top smiled on passer-by.' 
 
 Beside it often grows the wood betony (Betonica offi- 
 cinalis), which is also a tall plant, its flowers growing 
 in whorls up the stem. It has few leaves, deep, purple- 
 red blossoms, and somewhat resembles the dead nettle. 
 Country people gather the leaves to smoke as tobacco, 
 or powder for snuff. 
 
 The yellow toad-flax (Linaria vulgar is), with flowers 
 shaped like the snap-dragon, is now conspicuous, a
 
 AUGUST. 177 
 
 gay but troublesome weed, which children call ' butter- 
 and-eggs.' Its expressed juice, mixed with milk, is 
 often used to attract and poison flies. 
 
 But perhaps the handsomest blossom of the wayside 
 is the greater knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa), which 
 grows tall, with large, bright purple blossoms, and hairy 
 leaves. It is very common ; as is also the black knap- 
 weed (Centaurea nigra\ a smaller and less bright flower; 
 but, as occasional blossoms are to be found as late as 
 Christmas, we shall only gather them in our November 
 ramble. 
 
 The wild carrot (Daunts carota) may also be seen 
 here, shooting its tall, tough stem upwards, surmounted 
 by its large cluster of greenish-white blossoms, .faintly 
 tinged with pink, and decked with its graceful feathery 
 leaves. The root smells exactly like our cultivated 
 carrot, but is a pale yellow-white. 
 
 Common, by every roadside, is the common soap- 
 wort (Saponaria officinalis), rising a foot high, with large 
 leaves, and pale, rose-coloured flowers, growing in clus- 
 ters. It makes a lather when placed in hot water, and 
 from this is named. 
 
 Many species of campanula are conspicuous during 
 this month, blooming in the hedge -bank, or woody 
 place ; a genus which, from its bell-shaped flower, has 
 been named campanula, a little bell. One of the com- 
 monest, at least in England, is the nettle-leaved bell- 
 flower (Campanula trachelinm), a handsome, tall, hairy 
 M
 
 i;8 AUGUST. 
 
 plant, with drooping purple flowers, angular stems, and 
 leaves resembling the nettle. We have ten different 
 kinds of campanula, the delicate harebell (Campanula 
 rotundifolid), which we gathered last month, being 
 one of them. The smallest species is the ivy-leaved 
 bell-flower (Campanula hederaced), an elegant little 
 plant, often abundant by the side of a stream, with 
 small blue blossoms, bright -green, ivy -shaped leaves, 
 and delicate stems. But the finest and most beautiful 
 of them all is the giant bell-flower (Campanula latifolia}, 
 towering, in all the beauty of its brilliant blue blossoms, 
 high above the rest, one of the most showy and abun- 
 dant flowers of the woody glens of Scotland, though 
 somewhat rare in England, especially in the south. It 
 is often called the giant throat-wort, and by that name 
 is mentioned in Rokeby : 
 
 1 He laid him down, 
 Where purple heath profusely strown, 
 And throat-wort, with its azure bell, 
 And moss and thyme his cushion swell.' 
 
 It is the Canterbury bell cultivated in our gardens, and 
 its tall spikes of showy flowers often vary from the rich 
 deep purple to a delicate white : 
 
 ' Campanula ! who knows not well ? 
 Beauteous Canterbury bell.' 
 
 Here, by the hedge-side, is the pale yellow spike of 
 wild mignonette (Reseda luted), which yields such a 
 useful dye, and rears its head upwards of a foot high.
 
 AUGUST. 179 
 
 Linnaeus affirmed that its blossoms followed the course 
 of the sun ; looking to the east at sunrise, to the south 
 at noon ; in the afternoon west, and at night north. 
 Our wild mignonette is scentless, unlike the fragrant 
 species of our flower-garden, whose sweetness has won 
 for it the affectionate name of ' little darling.' Cowper 
 speaks of 
 
 ' Window-sashes fronted with a range 
 Of orange, myrtle, or that fragrant weed, 
 The Frenchman's darling.' 
 
 But we must not linger over hedge beauties longer. 
 ' Look on the fields, for they are white already to 
 harvest ;' and many a gay blossom gleams amongst 
 the waving corn, which is now ripening ready for the 
 reaper's sickle. A more beautiful sight can scarce be 
 witnessed. The crimson poppy scatters its falling leaves 
 over the chaffy-coated wheat ; the little scarlet pim- 
 pernel raises its glad face to the genial sunshine. A 
 stray ox-eye, with its golden centre, and circle of white 
 leaflets, droops its head among the tall grass in the 
 hedge-side ; and the showy, starry blossoms of the 
 corn-marigold (Chrysanthemum segetuui) are spread in 
 profusion, making the fields look gay, with their nume- 
 rous golden flowers. In olden times, they were called 
 golds or goolds, which we are told means sun-flower ; 
 and by this name they are often spoken of by the poets, 
 who also frequently allude to the daily closing of this 
 blossom. Linnaeus says it opens from nine in the
 
 i8o 
 
 AUGUST. 
 
 CORN-MARIGOLD Chrysanther, 
 segetum. 
 
 morning until three in the 
 afternoon ; and very beau- 
 tifully does Shakespeare, 
 in his Winter's Tale, tell 
 of 
 
 ' The marigold, that goes to bed 
 
 with the sun, 
 And with him rises weeping.' 
 
 And again, in Cymbeline : 
 
 ' The winking mary-buds begin 
 To ope their golden eyes ;' 
 
 whilst Chatterton speaks 
 of 
 
 ' The mary-budde that shutteth 
 with the light.' 
 
 The marigold, infused in 
 vinegar, was said to pre- 
 vent infection ; and the 
 flower alone to remove 
 effectually the pain caused 
 by the sting of a bee. 
 It is a very handsome 
 flower, and one of the 
 largest golden blossoms 
 we have, flowering very 
 plentifully, until checked 
 
 by winter frosts.
 
 AUGUST, 181 
 
 ' Open afresh your round of starry folds, 
 Ye ardent marigolds ! 
 Dry up the moisture of your golden lids ; 
 For great Apollo bids 
 That in these days your praises shall be sung.' 
 
 It grows about a foot high; and though its brilliant 
 colour is pleasing to our eyes, the farmer loves it not, for 
 to him it proves a troublesome weed, which has been 
 known to destroy the crop of a field. 
 
 And with little more favour does he look upon the 
 handsome field knautia (Knautia arvensis), that raises 
 its large lilac heads above the brown corn, and which we 
 gathered last month. 
 
 Another annoying plant in the corn-land is the spurrey 
 (Spergula arvensis), a pretty little blossom, with small 
 clustering white flowers and slender leaves. 
 
 Late as it is, we may still find, lingering in the 
 shady place, a late blossom of the wood loosestrife, or 
 yellow pimpernel, which we gathered in May, trailing 
 its weak stems and delicate green leaves over the 
 ground. 
 
 We have not time to visit the moors to-day, where the 
 flowers of last month still bloom so fresh, and fair, and 
 beautiful, the brilliant broom, with its butterfly-shaped 
 blossoms, clothing the hill-side as with a gorgeous gar- 
 ment of glittering gold, and filling the soft morning air 
 with its sweet balmy fragrance. 
 
 ' On the low mountain side the purple heath 
 Blossometh freely, swayed by heaven's breath ;
 
 1 82 AUGUST. 
 
 In the low valley, and the rocky glen, 
 And solitudes afar from haunts of men.' 
 
 Thyme and graceful harebell are there ; the little golden- 
 hued, common tormentil ( Tormentilla officinalis), with its 
 pretty blossom of four petals, rearing its slender stems 
 among the grass, or creeping along the ground; and 
 that little parasite, the lesser dodder (Cuscuta epithy- 
 mum), twining its long, leafless red threads through the 
 foliage of every bush and shrub, hanging their branches 
 with its clusters of tiny pink-white blossoms. 
 
 ' The parasite cascula liveth not 
 By nourishment that its own root supplies, 
 But, meanly clinging to another, 
 Absorbs its vital juice.' 
 
 Many of the cudweeds (Gnaphaliuui) are now in bloom ; 
 better known, perhaps, to my young friends under the 
 more general name of everlasting. They are silvery- 
 looking flowers, with downy white leaves and stems, and 
 are but rare wildlings in England. The common cud- 
 weed (Gnaphalium germanicuni) is the most frequent, 
 and grows in gravelly pits, or waste stony places. It 
 may readily be recognised by its strange manner of 
 growth. Its stem is about a foot high, terminated by 
 a head of flowers, from beneath which spring several 
 branches, each bearing a bunch of blossoms, these again 
 being divided, and rising higher than the main stem. 
 The handsomest kind is the Gnaphalium orientate, a 
 shrubby everlasting, which grows to the height of three
 
 AUGUST. 183 
 
 feet, and is a soft yellow colour. It is used in Portugal 
 to deck the churches in the winter season ; and in France 
 is dyed a deeper yellow, and black, and formed into 
 wreaths, to adorn the tombs of departed dear ones an 
 emblem of immortality : 
 
 ' The everlasting flower, wherewith the hand 
 
 Of fond affection decorates the grave, 
 When in the place of death it takes its stand, 
 Weeping for those it had no power to save.' 
 
 Let us now wander down to the little streamlet, that 
 murmurs softly as it steals its way 'neath the overhang- 
 ing branches, the shrubs, and rushes, tangled with many 
 blossoms that fringe its banks. The flag-flower, the 
 beautiful lily 
 
 ' The stately flower, the spotless river queen, 
 With silver chalices on stems of green, 
 Uplifted aye to catch the morning dews ;' 
 
 the water-violet, the plantain, etc., are now all passing 
 away ; but a few sprays of the lovely, bright-eyed forget- 
 me-not are still lingering for us to gather, nodding their 
 tufted heads to every breath of wind. 
 
 Looking down into the water, we discern masses of 
 various grasses, tiny flowers, tufts of silky-jointed threads, 
 through which the bright-scaled fishes and many aquatic 
 insects sport and play, whilst the pond-weeds (Pota- 
 mogctojt), with their brown-looking leaves, and the duck- 
 weeds (Lemnd), with their bright green foliage, float in 
 dense masses on the surface of the stream. And see
 
 1 84 AUGUST. 
 
 how, thickly fringing its margin as far as the eye can 
 look, the spiked purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is 
 rearing its tall, richly-coloured blossoms from amongst 
 the rushes, crowding its square stem with whorls of many 
 flowers. Its leaves are a fine rich green ; and altogether 
 it is one of the handsomest of our water-side plants, its 
 tall spikes of purple blossoms bending to every passing 
 breeze. I have heard that these, and not the orchis, were 
 the 'long purples' which formed part of poor Ophelia's 
 garland. The hyssop-leaved loosestrife (Lythrum hyssopi- 
 foliuni) also blooms in this month, but is less common 
 a smaller and not attractive plant, with dark purple 
 flowers. 
 
 There we may gather the common fleabane (Pulicaria 
 dysentericd), so named from the belief that its smoke is 
 offensive to insects. Its flower is like a yellow star, its 
 leaves downy and pale in tint ; the whole plant about a 
 foot high. 
 
 Another common water-side plant is the tall hemp 
 agrimony (Eupatorium cannabimim], a large, tall, dull- 
 looking plant, with fragrant flesh-coloured, or purple- 
 pink blossoms growing in clusters, often three feet high, 
 its downy leaves studding thickly the reddish stem. 
 There is but one species. 
 
 There is also the Alpine enchanter's nightshade (Circcea 
 Alpina), which greatly resembles the common kind we 
 gathered in May, though a smaller plant, with longer 
 stems.
 
 AUGUST. 185 
 
 One of the handsomest reed plants is now in flower, 
 for which we shall not long have to look, so common is 
 it by every stream. This is the great reed-mace, or 
 cat's-tail ( Typha latifolid), which sometimes grows six or 
 seven feet high. Its leaves are a grey-green, its catkins 
 a greenish-brown. In some countries its downy seeds 
 have been used instead of feathers to stuff beds ; and 
 mats and baskets are often made of its leaves. This 
 is the plant which Rubens represents as the reed or 
 sceptre which was placed in the hand of our Saviour 
 by the mocking soldiery. The reed was often cut and 
 made into a musical pipe by our shepherds of old, 
 first invented, as the legend tells us, by Pan, the god of 
 the shepherds : 
 
 ' The lovely Syrinx, when pursued by Pan, 
 Into the river for protection ran ; 
 She plunged beneath the wave, and, in her place, 
 Tall, shapely reeds sprang up, the spot to grace ; 
 The sylvan god then cut, together bound, 
 And made an instrument of sweetest sound.' 
 
 The other species, the lesser reed-mace ( Typha angusti- 
 folia], is smaller and less common. It rarely stands 
 higher than three feet ; and very dingy is its fussy- 
 looking club of a blossom. 
 
 The sweetest flower of the moist and boggy ground 
 is the common grass of Parnassus (Parnassia pahistris], 
 with its soft, cream-coloured blossoms, so delicately 
 veined, rising from amidst its long-stalked, heart-shaped
 
 1 86 AUGUST. 
 
 leaves. It is a beautiful plant, chaste and elegant, an'd 
 cannot fail to attract our admiration, 
 its white flowers glancing out brightly, 
 in beautiful contrast with its surround- 
 ing leaves. 
 
 ' Thy simple flower, so finely veined, 
 So delicately marked and stained ; 
 Above man's ingenuity 
 The skill divine displayed in thee.' 
 
 There is but one species. 
 
 The yellow, or bog asphodel (Nar- 
 thecium ossifragum}, blossoms still on 
 boggy or moist ground ; but is very 
 rare, except in Lancashire, where its 
 spikes of yellow flowers may occa- 
 sionally be gathered. The poet has 
 told us of 
 
 ' Eden's radiant fields of asphodel.' 
 
 And again, in Pope's Ode on St. 
 Cecilia's Day, we read of the 
 
 ' Yellow meads of asphodel.' 
 
 It was the true asphodel 'the flower 
 of the tomb' which the Greeks used 
 in the decorations of their graves, 
 the ancients believing that the grains 
 
 GRASS OF PARNASSUS 
 
 Pamassiapaiustris. w hich it produces afforded nourish- 
 ment to the dead.
 
 AUGUST. 187 
 
 And now, my dear young friends, our August bouquet 
 is made up ; and, ere we enjoy another ramble, summer 
 flowers will entirely have passed " away, and the few 
 yellow blossoms of autumn alone be left to greet us. A 
 shade of sadness falls as we bid our good-bye to summer, 
 to glorious, sunny summer, with its bevies of glad, 
 happy birds, its rich profusion of varied flowers, its full- 
 leaved, wide-spreading trees. 
 
 ' The summer time ! the summer time ! 
 
 The noontide of the year ; 
 Oh, can there be a human heart 
 To which it is not dear ? 
 
 Then blessings on the summer time, 
 
 Its sunshine and its flowers ; 
 I love its wide, brown moorland wastes, 
 
 And its shadowy greenwood bowers ! ' 
 
 Oh, how bright, and true, and pure is the enjoyment 
 of our summer hours, when, luxuriating in the beauties 
 of nature, we read the great volume of God's handi- 
 work, which tells us, 
 
 ' There is a tongue in every leaf, 
 A voice in every rill !' 
 
 We look on ' the grass of the field,' of which Jesus hath 
 said, ' If God so clothe the grass of the field, shall He 
 not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?' We 
 ' consider the lilies,' and all the gorgeous array of summer 
 flowers that are scattered without stint 'o'er hill and
 
 i88 AUGUST. 
 
 dale,' rich in their fragrant beauty, raising their glad 
 faces to the sky, and each one, down 
 
 ' To the green blade that twinkles in the sun, 
 Prompts with remembrance of a present God.' 
 
 From contemplating ' the stars of earth/ each one of 
 which seems to breathe of heavenly things, our minds 
 naturally soar to ' high and heavenly places,' 
 
 ' Where ever-verdant spring abides, 
 And never-fading flowers ;' 
 
 and our hearts yearn for that home of many mansions 
 which Christ is preparing for us : 
 
 ' Jerusalem, the golden, 
 
 Methinks each flower that blows, 
 And every bird a-singing, 
 
 Of thee some secret knows. 
 My thoughts, like palms in exile, 
 
 Climb up to look and pray 
 For a glimpse of that dear country 
 
 That lies so far away.'
 
 IX. 
 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 ' Spake full well, in language quaint and olden, 
 One who dwelleth by the castled Rhine, 
 
 When he called the flowers so bright and golden, 
 Stars that in earth's firmament do shine. 
 
 Wondrous truths, and manifold as wondrous, 
 God hath written in those stars above ; 
 
 But not less in the bright flow'rets under us, 
 Stands the revelation of his love.' 
 
 JOETHE it was who called the flowers 
 ' stars of earth,' and it is to him that 
 Longfellow refers in the lines above. 
 Surely at no season is the beautiful 
 simile more applicable than during 
 autumn, and especially this month of 
 September, when the blossoms are mostly 
 yellow, from the beautiful broom, the pride 
 of the otherwise dreary heath, to the few stray 
 
 ' Buttercups that will be seen, 
 Whether we will see or no.'
 
 190 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 September, with its pure, genial air, and soft, warm 
 sunshine, is a delightful month, though it brings but 
 few flowers to supply the places of our previous months' 
 profusion ; and we look with sadness on the fast-fading 
 summer blossoms, feeling we have reached 
 
 ' The season when the green delight 
 
 Of leafy luxury begins to fade, 
 And leaves are drooping hourly on the sight.' 
 
 The shady summer is gliding imperceptibly into the 
 gorgeous colours of autumn ; fruit and berries are taking 
 the place of flower and leaf : 
 
 ' The autumn sheaves are on the hill, 
 And solemn are the woods, and still, 
 With clustering nuts on every bough.' 
 
 Ferns are thickening in the woods, nestling in every 
 nook and crevice, waving their luxuriant leaves, in all 
 their feathery grace and beauty, around the perishing 
 trunk of some blighted tree, 
 
 ' A halo hovering round decay.' 
 
 The mosses which carpet the ground are a study of 
 themselves, so soft, and fresh, and delicate. Fully 
 should we be repaid in devoting a 'ramble to their 
 exclusive examination ; for 
 
 ' There's beauty all around out path, 
 
 If but our watchful eyes 
 Can trace it 'midst familiar things, 
 And through their lowly guise.'
 
 SEPTEMBER. 191 
 
 The morning dew is now heavy on the grass : 
 
 ' Dewdrops, like diamonds, hang on every tree, 
 And sprinkle silvery lustre o'er the lea ;' 
 
 where the round buff mushroom, with its rosy-fringed 
 under surface, is gleaming on the meadow : 
 
 ' Up in a night the mushroom springs, 
 
 And who but he must be king of the mead ? 
 
 One loves not the sight of such upstart things ; 
 
 Quickly they rise, and they fall with speed.' 
 
 But let the gatherer be careful they are real mushrooms 
 which he picks, for many a fatal error has occurred in 
 mistaking poisonous fungi. 
 
 ' So much alike, the wholesome and the bad, 
 That with suspicion we must ever look 
 Upon all members of the mushroom tribe.' 
 
 The various grasses are very beautiful now, in their 
 rich brown ripening perfection ; some draped in elegant 
 feathery beauty, others decked with little nodding bells, 
 which I remember as children we used to call ' dothering 
 dollies.' 
 
 Under the name of grasses are included all the various 
 kinds of grain barley, wheat, etc. ; but at present I was 
 referring only to the fancy grasses, as I would name 
 them, which adorn the hedgeway in such delicate pro- 
 fusion. Though we have not time to examine each, 
 let us gather a few for our bouquet, to which they will 
 add much grace ; remembering, however, how invaluable
 
 192 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 are the numerous and more productive grasses to the 
 service of man, constituting not only his own staple food, 
 but ' feeding the cattle upon a thousand hills' in the 
 spring and summer months, and providing for winter 
 an inexhaustible supply of sustenance in the form of 
 hay. ' The eyes of all wait upon Thee, O Lord ; and 
 Thou givest them their meat in due season.' ' Because 
 Thy loving -kindness is better than life, my lips shall 
 praise Thee.' 
 
 The most singular plant of this month is the meadow 
 saffron (Colckicum autumnale\ with its delicate lilac, 
 crocus-like blossom, rising on its slender stem from 
 amidst the meadow grass. It is not a common flower, 
 and our only native species. It blooms in autumn ; but 
 its fruit and leaves do not appear until the succeeding 
 spring. The seed lies buried in the bulb, protected from 
 winter snows, to rise with spring sunshine ; and, ripening 
 during summer, produces its blossoms in autumn. In 
 this a striking evidence, fraught with instruction, is 
 given us of the protective wisdom of our divine Creator. 
 
 ' The well-ordained laws of Jehovah' 
 
 will not suffer that the seed of this late-blooming flower 
 should perish in the nipping frosts, as it inevitably would 
 do if left to follow the usual course of nature. Truly 
 may we exclaim, 
 
 ' Where'er I turn, whate'er I see, 
 Reveals some work, O Lord, of Thee.'
 
 COMMON MUSTARD Sinapis nigra. 
 191
 
 SEPTEMBER. 195 
 
 The meadow saffron possesses strong medicinal virtues, 
 
 * Qualities which, temperately used, 
 Will benefit, but poison if abused.' 
 
 It is given in the alleviation of gout and rheumatism. 
 The French call it morte aux chiens ; but no animal 
 will touch the plant when fresh. It does not appear, 
 however, to be rejected when cut down with the summer 
 grass. The saffron crocus (Crocus sativum), from which 
 the drug of that name is obtained, is also now in bloom ; 
 but it is a doubtful wildling. It resembles the meadow 
 saffron in colour and manner of growth. 
 
 The common mustard (Sinapis nigrd) grows very 
 abundantly about the borders of fields and on waste 
 ground ; and it is well you should recognise so useful a 
 plant. Its stem is upright, with many smooth, spread- 
 ing branches, decked with small lance-like leaves. The 
 lower leaves are very large, rough, and lobed ; the 
 flowers a brilliant yellow, and very numerous. Every 
 one knows what a wholesome stimulant is the mustard, 
 which is made from the seed contained in those little 
 pods you see sitting erect and short, so closely to the 
 stem. 
 
 In the pasture or wood now blossoms also, in full 
 perfection, the tall, handsome golden rod (Solidago 
 virgaured). Its bright yellow flowers are crowded in 
 clusters, and butterflies and moths hover around it in 
 vast numbers. It was supposed to possess valuable
 
 196 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 healing properties, as its botanical name implies, being 
 derived from solidare, to unite ; and in the days of 
 Queen Elizabeth was sold in London by herb-dealers. 
 But the great glory of the September month is in the 
 harvest, which has now become general ; therefore let 
 us hasten to the fields, failing not to gather from the 
 hedgerow as we pass along the country lanes, now being 
 decked with the glitter and brightness of ripening heps 
 and haws. 
 
 First we will pluck a spray or two of the knotgrass 
 (Polygonum aviculare), which has been blossoming since 
 May the 'hindering knotgrass/ as Shakespeare calls 
 it, from its rapid, spreading, entangling growth. It has 
 tiny red and white blossoms, sitting so closely on the 
 stem as to be almost hidden by the leaves. It is more 
 common than pretty, and is to be found anywhere and 
 everywhere, even springing up between the paving- 
 stones of the unfrequented streets : 
 
 ' By the lone quiet grave, 
 In the wild hedgerow, the knotgrass is seen, 
 
 Down in the rural lane, 
 
 Or on the verdant plain, 
 Everywhere humble, and everywhere green.' 
 
 It is a valuable little plant to the many birds it nourishes ; 
 and cattle, especially sheep, are fond of it. Milton tells 
 
 us, 
 
 ' The chewing flocks 
 
 Had ta'en their supper of that savoury herb, 
 The knotgrass.'
 
 SEPTEMBER. 197 
 
 And on this account it is called grass, though bearing 
 no resemblance to a true grass. It gains part of its 
 name also from the knottiness of its stems. 
 
 Another of the commonest blossoms of our roadside 
 we failed to gather last month, but which is still in 
 bloom, is the common yarrow or milfoil (Achillea mille- 
 folium), with its pretty hairy-backed leaves cut into 
 numerous segments. It grows upwards of a foot high, 
 and is called milfoil, from its countless division of leaves, 
 and clustering mass of white or pinkish-purple flowers : 
 
 ' The mille-foil, thousand-leaved, as heretofore, 
 Displays a little world of flow'rets grey.' 
 
 There is a rhyme which says, 
 
 ' Achillea millefolium, the name 
 Of one who counted war a glorious game, 
 Was unto thee applied in ancient time ; 
 
 And hence we liken thee 
 
 To war, th' epitome 
 Of human folly, misery, and crime.' 
 
 It was supposed to possess the quality of stopping any 
 flow of blood ; hence its old name of nose-bleed, or its 
 more common one still of old man's pepper, from the 
 pungency of its leaves. 
 
 A larger species, flowering also at this time, is the 
 goose-tongue, or sneeze-wort yarrow (Achillea ptannica), 
 its white blossoms growing often two or three feet high : 
 
 ' If thy dried leaves we pulverise, 
 The sluggish brain to please,
 
 198 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 Thou dost the startled sense surprise, 
 As sneeze quick follows sneeze.' 
 
 The woolly milfoil (Achillea tomentosa) has bright golden 
 flowers, and is common in Scotland. These comprise 
 our three species of yarrow. 
 
 In the hedge-side also blooms the mugwort (Artemisia 
 vulgaris), a plant well known for its supposed charm 
 against ague, and valued by country people in cases of 
 consumption ; hence the rhyme : 
 
 ' Why should maidens die, 
 
 When the nettle grows in March, 
 And the mugwort in July ?' 
 
 It is largely employed in Sweden, and also in Ireland 
 and Wales, in the place of hops for flavouring beer, on 
 account of its peculiar bitter taste. We often hear it 
 
 quoted, 
 
 ' Bitter as wormwood to the taste.' 
 
 It is tall and erect, with purplish flowers, and leaves 
 dark green on the upper surface, but white and cottony 
 underneath. The common wormwood (Artemisia absin- 
 thium) flowers also at this time, and is common about 
 waste ground. Its leaves are downy, divided into seg- 
 ments, its pale yellow flowers hang in leafy clusters, and 
 the whole plant is usually about a foot high. The 
 common sea-wormwood (Artemisia maritima) is also 
 now in blossom by the sea-coast. 
 
 Here, too, is the common mallow (Malva sylvestris), 
 its large, handsome, purplish blossoms, and round,
 
 SEPTEMBER. 199 
 
 showy leaves, adorning our lanes with their rich 
 beauty : 
 
 ' The mallow purpling o'er the pleasant sides 
 Of pathways green.' 
 
 Children call its young fruit cheeses ; and the French 
 infuse its leaves as a pleasant drink or medicine, a cure 
 for cold or cough. The dwarf mallow (Malva rotundi- 
 folia) also blooms now, and may be recognised by its 
 small, pale, lilac-pink flowers, and roundish leaves ; and 
 the handsome musk mallow (Malva moschata), which 
 has large, beautiful, rose-coloured blossoms, divided 
 leaves, and upright stems. The marsh mallow (Althcsa 
 officinalis) now blossoms by the sea-side, and attracts 
 attention by its handsome flowers and height of two 
 feet. Its thick silky leaves are downy and soft as velvet ; 
 its blossoms a pretty, delicate rose-colour, or purple- 
 blue. It yields, in hot water, an abundance of starchy 
 mucilage, and is said to possess healing properties : 
 
 ' To heal the wound, the grove to decorate, 
 These were its offices in days gone by ; 
 What wonder, then, that we should consecrate, 
 The blooming mallow to humanity ?' 
 
 The mucilage taken from its root is made into a paste in 
 France, called Pate de Guimauve. 
 
 The sea campion (Silene maritimd) is abundant on 
 the coast during this month ; and very handsome are its 
 tall, solitary, white flowers. Its leaves are small, its root 
 creeping.
 
 200 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 The thrift (Statice armeria], so familiar as a garden 
 border, flourishes also on the waste-looking sea-links, 
 adorning many an elevated crevice or height, and 
 brightening large patches of dreary land ; 
 
 ' Flourishing so gay, and wildly free, 
 Upon the salt marsh by the roaring sea.' 
 
 Its flowers, which are a pinkish lilac, grow in heads, or 
 tufts, on a downy stalk a few inches high. Its narrow 
 grassy leaves all spring from the root. Requiring little 
 nourishment, it thrives anywhere, and thus well merits 
 its name. Another species is 
 
 * The sea-lavender, which lacks perfume ' 
 
 (Statice binervosa) ; a sort of everlasting, with pretty 
 lilac-blue blossoms, and bluish-green leaves. 
 
 But this is a digression from our hedge-side and fields, 
 where we may find one or more of the hemp-nettles. 
 The large-flowered hemp-nettle (Galeopsis versicolor) is 
 common in the Highlands of Scotland, though somewhat 
 rare in England. It is a tall, handsome plant, with 
 bright yellow blossoms, having a purple spot on the 
 lower lip. The common hemp-nettle (Galeopsis tetrahit} 
 has much smaller flowers, a delicate purplish-yellow or 
 white, growing in whorls around the stem, which is much 
 swollen beneath its couplet leaves. The red hemp-nettle 
 (Galeopsis ladanum} is a smaller plant, less common. 
 Its flowers are a mottled mixture of purple and crimson,
 
 SEPTEMBER. 201 
 
 growing in clusters of two or three. Its leaves are small 
 and notched. 
 
 On this waste bank we may gather a few sprays of 
 the fool's parsley (CEttmsa cynapittm}, a poisonous weed, 
 often mistaken for the true parsley. Its small white 
 petals, and smooth, deep-green leaves, will add a fresh- 
 ness to our bouquet, as well as a sprig of the tall fennel 
 (AnetJium fcenicufom), with its golden blossoms and 
 drooping leaflets : 
 
 ' The fennel, with its yellow flowers, 
 That, in an earlier age than ours, 
 Was gifted with the wondrous powers, 
 Lost vision to restore.' 
 
 But lo ! here we come upon the beautiful corn-fields, 
 and the reapers' merry voices ring through the sweet 
 September air. Mount this stile, and look upon the 
 abundant, glowing landscape, and say, can there be a 
 fairer sight ? The rich brown wheat, with its myriad 
 bulging sheaths of opening wealth, and brown, drooping 
 leaves, ranked in long colonnades, bends and waves in 
 solemn state, murmuring softly with every rustling breeze. 
 The first deep ranks have fallen 'neath the reaper's sickle. 
 There is a busy anxiety to have the harvest quickly 
 gathered in. Here we see 'the binding into bundles/ 
 the piling together of the sheaves, the harvest-cart lead- 
 ing away to the garner, the maidens and young children 
 following after, gleaning as they go, filling their aprons 
 with the stray heads of wheat, reminding one of gentle
 
 202 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 Ruth, who gleaned in the field of her kinsman Boaz, 
 none reproaching her. The pale stubble of the field 
 looks bereaved and desolate ; for the many beautiful 
 corn-flowers have fallen 'neath the shearer's hook, and 
 now lie faded on the ground, or droop in dimmed beauty 
 amongst the sheaves. Just a few starry blossoms have 
 escaped the ruthless sickle, and gleam bright and golden 
 
 still, 
 
 ' Cheering, through the shortening day, 
 Autumn with her weeds of yellow.' 
 
 There is a starry blossom of the bright ragwort (Senecio 
 Jacobced), with its ragged, shabby-looking leaves ; the 
 little field madder (Sherardia arvensis), its small, pretty 
 lilac blossoms almost hidden ; its stiff, sharp, whorled 
 leaves lying close to the ground. You must not sup- 
 pose this is the dyers' madder (Rubia tinctorum), from 
 which so valuable a dye used to be extracted, though 
 our little plant greatly resembles it in appearance. The 
 botanical name rubia, taken from ruber, signifies red. 
 But the cochineal insect is now much more used than 
 the plant in dyeing. 
 
 The chicory (Cichorium intybus) still shows its cheerful, 
 bright blue blossoms ; and there is the dull-looking red 
 bartsia (Bartsia odontites], an unattractive plant, some 
 eight inches high, yet possessing a pretty little flower 
 when examined. It is very common in the corn-field, 
 but fades very quickly after being gathered. The yellow 
 bartsia (Bartsia viscosa) is a much handsomer flower,
 
 DARNEL Lolimn tevmlenti* 
 204
 
 SEPTEMBER. 205 
 
 but rarer. It has large yellow blossoms stained with 
 purple, round downy stems, and a strong odour of musk. 
 It is plentiful in the west of England. 
 So we see, 
 
 ' The summer flowers are lingering yet, 
 
 But soon they must decay ; 
 Friends of the year, can we forget, 
 Or see them pass without regret 
 
 From us away ?' 
 
 We must not neglect the pretty May-weed (Pyrethrum 
 inodorum), so softly scented, which, in spite of its spring- 
 like name, is an autumnal flower, and often decks the 
 fields as late as December. 
 
 Before quitting the corn-fields, my dear young friends, 
 I should like to draw your attention to the darnel (Lolium 
 temulentum), which not unfrequently grows amongst the 
 wheat, and which it resembles so closely as often not to 
 be distinguished from it until the ear is formed. It has 
 rather broad leaves, and its thick stem rises as high as 
 the corn. It is supposed to be the tare of Scripture, and 
 possesses peculiarly deleterious properties, rendering it 
 most unwholesome when mingled with flour. 
 
 ' As darnel chokes the rising corn, 
 
 And blights the farmer's hope ; 
 So vice, in youthful bosoms born, 
 
 When it for growth hath scope, 
 Makes vain the promise of the morn.' 
 
 And I am here reminded of a passage in Scripture, over
 
 2o6 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 which my young friends may have wondered, and which 
 they will doubtless remember in Genesis how Pharaoh 
 dreamed, 'and behold seven ears of 'corn came up on 
 one stalk.' Now, however extraordinary such an occur- 
 rence would seem with us, it was no unusual thing in 
 Egyptian wheat. 
 
 And now, as we wend our steps homeward, let us raise 
 our hearts in glad thankfulness to the beneficent Creator, 
 who has granted such wonderful fertility to our earth, 
 and this year blessed us with so rich and abundant a 
 harvest ; ' who crownest us with loving-kindness and 
 tender mercies,' and ' hath filled us with the finest of the 
 
 wheat.' 
 
 * Lord of the harvest, once again 
 We thank Thee for the ripened grain ; 
 For crops safe carried, sent to cheer 
 Thy servants through another year ; 
 For all sweet, holy thoughts supplied 
 By seed-time and by harvest tide. 
 
 Daily, O Lord, our prayers be said, 
 As Thou hast taught, for daily bread ; 
 But not alone our bodies feed, 
 Supply our fainting spirits' need. 
 Oh, Bread of Life, from day to day 
 Be Thou their comfort, food, and stay !'
 
 X. 
 
 OCTOBER. 
 
 Flowers of the field, how meet ye seem 
 
 Man's frailty to portray ! 
 Blooming so fair in morning's beam, 
 
 Passing at eve away ! 
 
 Teach this, and oh ! though brief your reign, 
 Sweet flowers, ye shall not live in vain. ' 
 
 CTOBER has now arrived, with its 
 shortening days and cooler breezes. 
 The brightness of the year is over, 
 and a sadness has stolen over the 
 landscape. The trees are touched with 
 red and withering brown ; the first 
 yellow leaves are softly stealing down : 
 
 ' These fading leaves, 
 That, with their rich variety of hues, 
 Make yonder forest in the slanting sun 
 So beautiful.' 
 
 ' A fiery finger' rests upon the beech-tree ; soon the ash 
 
 and poplar 
 
 207
 
 208 OCTOBER. 
 
 ' Each like a fleshless skeleton, shall stretch. 
 Its bare brown boughs ;' 
 
 and we are reminded of the prophet's words : ' We all 
 do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have 
 taken us away.' The corn is all cut and safely garnered ; 
 and the stubble fields look bare and desolate, save where 
 a delicate harebell raises its head in trembling solitude. 
 The thrush and blackbird are silent in the wood, the 
 skylark has warbled his last farewell, and the twittering 
 swallows homeward fly. The summer flowers are now 
 passing rapidly from us, and we grieve to bid them 
 adieu ; but the chill of autumn winds is fast mowing 
 down our few remaining blossoms, and we ask in vain, 
 
 ' Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers, that lately sprung, 
 
 and stood 
 In brighter light and softer airs, a beauteous sisterhood ?' 
 
 Alas ! all are drooping, fading, dying ; yet still is nature 
 beautiful, even in the beginnings of her decay ; for, 
 
 ' Wheeling her flight through the gladsome air, 
 The spirit of beauty is everywhere.' 
 
 The hedges gleam with the bright colouring of birds' 
 provisions. The scarlet heps and crimson haws glisten, in 
 contrast with the clear berries of the nightshade, the red 
 fruits of the bryony, the bright orange-coloured seeds 
 of the spindle-tree, and deep red clusters of the berries 
 of the guelder rose. 
 
 The orchard boughs are bent beneath their weight of
 
 OCTOBER. 209 
 
 ripened fruit, now to be gathered and stored away, 
 rows of rosy apples and freckled pears ; the trees are to 
 be shaken, and pattering nuts to be picked and stowed in 
 sacks for winter use ; and the black fruit of the bramble 
 (Rubus fruticosus) to be plucked and converted into 
 conserve and jam for pies and tarts. The hedges are 
 now full of these trailing brambles, loaded with ripe 
 blackberries ; and we may refresh ourselves with some of 
 the wholesome fruit. In doing so, who is not reminded 
 of that sweet pathetic ballad of the Babes in the Wood, 
 whose 
 
 ' Pretty lips with blackberries 
 Were all besmeared and dyed ; 
 And when they saw the darksome night, 
 They sat them down and cried ?' 
 
 The fruit of the bramble is often made into wine, and 
 in Provence (France) is used to give a deeper colour to 
 particular wines. The roots, dried and then infused, are 
 said to form an excellent remedy against an obstinate 
 cough. I have heard of its branches being used for 
 cords. So you see, my young friends, the bramble, so 
 often despised, is a somewhat useful plant, possessing 
 several advantages. It was the bramble which the trees 
 of Lebanon chose to rule over them, in that parable spoken 
 by Jotham to the men of Shechem (Judges ix. 8-15). 
 
 The beautiful arbutus, or strawberry-tree (Arbutus 
 unedo), is now in blossom ; and nothing can exceed the 
 richness of its dark, glossy, evergreen leaves, or exquisite
 
 210 OCTOBER. 
 
 delicacy of its greenish-white flowers, which hang like 
 little waxen bells beside the ripening scarlet berries, the 
 produce of last year's blossoms. 
 
 ' The leafy arbute spreads 
 A snow of blossoms, and on every bough 
 Its vermeil fruitage glitters to the sun.' 
 
 Its leaves remain all winter, and in spring are pushed off 
 by the shooting of fresh ones. Thus the branches are 
 ever clothed ; and when other trees are losing their 
 beauty, this is in its fullest perfection of loveliness. 
 
 ' Great spring before, 
 
 Greened all the year ; and fruits and blossoms blushed 
 In social sweetness on the self-same bough.' 
 
 This shrub is uncommon as a wildling in England, but 
 is often seen decking the Irish landscape. The fruit 
 resembles the strawberry, but is firmer, and richer in 
 colour. Its specific name, unedo I eat one is said to 
 have originated in the fruit being too unpleasant for any 
 one to desire a second taste ; yet the Spaniards convert 
 it into jam, and the Irish peasantry gather it for sale 
 from the many bushes in the neighbourhood of Killarney. 
 There are two more species of this berry, the red 
 bear-berry (Arbutus uva-ursi], a dwarf shrub, and native 
 of our mountainous heaths, with evergreen leaves, 
 rose-coloured blossoms in short terminal clusters, and 
 smaller berries, a brilliant red, which are much relished 
 by grouse and game ; and the black bear-berry (Arbutus 
 alpina), common in the north of Scotland, a trailing
 
 COMMON IVY Hedera helijc. 
 212
 
 OCTOBER. 213 
 
 shrub, with brilliant leaves, coloured in autumn with a 
 beautiful crimson tinge. 
 
 The ivy (Hedera helix] is one of our latest flowering 
 plants, and now puts forth its pale green blossoms, over 
 which, on sunny days, the many bees and brilliant- 
 winged butterflies hover in swarms. The ivy, which 
 decks with grace and beauty many a hoary ruin and 
 forest tree, is a useful plant, and often yields a winter 
 meal to sheep, which are very fond of it. Many 
 a homeless bird finds shelter amongst its luxuriant 
 
 leaves, 
 
 'When autumn blasts are withering ;' 
 
 and its berries, ripening in April, thus afford food when 
 heps and haws have passed away. Its leaves vary much 
 in form : those on the lower branches are usually five- 
 pointed, but higher up become more oval, and verge into 
 one tapering point only. It has long been a question if 
 the ivy injured the trees up which it climbed, and many 
 botanists argue it does not. Its beauty pleads in its 
 favour. The tenacity with which it adheres to the trees 
 or old ruined wall it adorns, has led it to be considered 
 an emblem of friendship. It is the badge of the clan 
 Gordon. 
 
 But now let us hunt for flowers. 
 
 ' The marsh is bleak and lonely. Scarce a flower 
 Gleams in the waving grass ; 
 And the sole blossom which can glad the eye 
 Is yon pale starwort nodding to the wind.'
 
 2i 4 OCTOBER. 
 
 This is the Michaelmas daisy, or sea starwort (Aster 
 Tripolium), its pale lilac blossoms, with their yellow eye, 
 growing in clusters, and rising on a stem some two feet 
 high. Though attractive, it is not a pretty plant, both 
 leaves and flowers are of too pale and sickly a tint, but 
 we value it now, when brighter blossoms have passed 
 from us. 
 
 ' As cheerfulness lengthens the season of life, 
 
 So thou dost the season of flowers ; 
 When the year waxeth old, thou with beauty art rife, 
 And thou smilest, though dark the sky lowers.' 
 
 And another starry blossom is smiling beneath the 
 autumn sunshine, like a star of gold, from out the short 
 grass, where the first falling leaves are withering. This 
 is the hawkweed picris (Picris hieracioides), an abundant 
 and common flower, with hairy leaves and stems, and 
 yellow blossoms shaped like the dandelion, but lighter 
 and more delicate. Very bright indeed are its starry 
 petals gleaming from the hedge-side, where it sometimes 
 grows as high as two or three feet ; and now that blos- 
 soms are becoming fewer each day, we welcome it with 
 greater gladness. Caroline Bowles exclaims : 
 
 ' Those few tall autumn flowers, 
 
 How beautiful they are ! 
 Than all that went before, 
 Than all the summer store, 
 
 How lovelier far !' 
 
 Very pretty is the premorse scabious (Scabiosa succisa),
 
 OCTOBER. 215 
 
 which now rears its round heads of bluish-purple blos- 
 soms. The flower grows on a tall, slender, hairy stem ; 
 its leaves are oblong, and also hairy, and yield a yellow 
 dye. 
 
 Here, too, is the ploughman's spikenard (Inula conyza), 
 with its dark green leaves, and dingy yellow flowers, still 
 in bloom. When bruised, it emits a strong odour of 
 camphor, from which it may have acquired its name ; 
 for camphor is supposed to be the spikenard of which 
 we read in the Song of Solomon. It is a plant growing 
 from two to three feet high, and is common in the south 
 of England, though somewhat rare in Scotland. 
 
 On the chalky hill we shall find a pretty little orchis, 
 called fragrant lady's tresses (Neottia spiralis), with 
 small, greenish-white blossoms, growing up a stem of a 
 few inches high, the leaves gathering in a tuft around 
 the root 
 
 And near it we may gather the pretty field gentian 
 (Gentiana campestris), a purplish-lilac blossom ; and the 
 autumnal gentian (Gentiana amarella), which may some- 
 times be gathered in spring. It bears numerous blue 
 flowers, and may be distinguished from the field species 
 by the division of its corolla into five, instead of four 
 segments. There are five species of gentian, named 
 from Gentius, king of Illyria ; consequently Dryden has 
 called it 
 
 ' The flower that bears inscribed the name of kings.' 
 As a wildling, it is decidedly uncommon ; but you must
 
 216 OCTOBER. 
 
 often have been struck with its rich blue colouring 
 adorning the garden border 
 
 'The heaven-like blue of the little gentian' 
 
 which, I am told, blossoms on the verge of frozen arctic 
 regions 
 
 ' Living flowers that skirt eternal frost.' 
 
 Alas ! our list of October blossoms is very short, and 
 we have almost gathered all. Some of the flowers of 
 previous months are bright and blooming still ; 
 
 ' And in the woods 
 
 A second blow of many flowers appears, 
 Flowers faintly tinged, and breathing no perfume.' 
 
 Peeping from amongst their overshadowing leaves, we 
 may gather a second bloom of our loved violet ; though 
 it somewhat lacks the sweet fragrance of its earlier spring 
 days, yet we greet it as a dear old friend. 
 
 ' Under a hedge, all safe and warm, 
 Sheltered from boisterous wind and storm, 
 
 We violets lie, 
 
 With each small eye 
 Closely shut while the cold goes by.' 
 
 The wood sage (Teucrium scorodonia) may also still 
 be gathered from the hedge-side. Though not a con- 
 spicuous flower, its spike of greenish-yellow blossoms 
 and crumpled leaves render it rather a pretty plant. It 
 has a bitter flavour, and is in some countries used in the 
 place of hops to flavour beer.
 
 WOOD SAGE Teucrium scorodonia. 
 217
 
 OCTOBER. 219 
 
 But October is more truly the month of fruits than 
 flowers, as James Grahame tells us : 
 
 ' Fruits, not blossoms, form the woodland wreath 
 That circles autumn's brow : the ruddy haws 
 Now clothe the half-leaved thorn ; the bramble bends 
 Beneath its jetty load ; the hazel hangs 
 With auburn branches.' 
 
 Yes ! October is doubtless more the season of fruits. 
 Though the spring blossoms have withered, their seeds 
 have ripened 'neath the summer sun, and been dis- 
 persed over the earth, whilst our attention was wholly 
 absorbed in gathering the fresh flowers as they appeared 
 each month. Thus seedtime has been going on un- 
 heeded by us all the summer through, each blossom 
 fulfilling the purpose for which it was designed by the 
 Creator of all, 
 
 ' Who, ere one flowery season fades and dies, 
 Designs the blooming wonders of the next.' 
 
 Nature, grateful to the glad, genial sun and refreshing 
 rain, is ever faithful. 
 
 ' True to her trust, tree, herb, or reed 
 She renders for each scattered seed, 
 And to her Lord, with duteous heed, 
 
 Gives large increase. 
 Thus year by year she works unfee'd, 
 
 And will not cease.' 
 
 While some seeds, like the feathery thistle-down, are 
 wafted abroad by the faintest summer breeze, a stronger
 
 220 OCTOBER. 
 
 wind is required to scatter others, such as the ash, etc. 
 Some are dependent on the humble birds for distribu- 
 tion ; others, again, wrapped in hard, thick covering, are 
 allowed to rest where they fall, until the outer coat is 
 decayed, and the matured seed finds its way into the 
 soil, to spring up at its appointed time. Thus we may 
 
 ever 
 
 ' Trace in nature's most minute design 
 The signature and stamp of power divine.' 
 
 Oh ! does not every flower, and seed, and fruit 
 
 ' Speak unto our hearts of Him 
 Who doeth all things well ?' 
 
 And is it not wise to open the book of nature, and take 
 
 ' The smallest flower 
 
 That twinkles through the meadow grass, to serve 
 For subject of a lesson ?' 
 
 for in it we may ever read and learn, 
 
 ' There lives and works 
 A soul in all things, and that soul is God.'
 
 XI. 
 NO VEMBER. 
 
 ' The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year, 
 Of wailing winds and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere : 
 Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the withered leaves lie dead ; 
 They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the rabbit's tread. 
 The robin and the wren are flown, and from the shrub the jay ; 
 And from the wood-top calls the crow through all the gloomy day. 
 
 Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers, that lately sprung and stood 
 
 In brighter light and softer airs, a beauteous sisterhood ? 
 
 Alas ! they all are in their graves : the gentle race of flowers 
 
 Are lying in their lowly beds with the fair and good of ours. 
 
 The rain is falling where they lie ; but the cold November rain 
 
 Calls not from out the gloomy earth the lovely ones again.' 
 
 ERE and yellow leaves, with eddying 
 sweep,' are falling, strewing the 
 damp ground with their withering 
 beauty, fast mouldering to decay. 
 There is a quietness of repose all 
 around, a sweet, tender sadness ; the vigour 
 and eager growth of the year is over, and 
 the earth is resting, as it were, from its 
 labours ; the wind steals mournfully upon the 
 ear, sighing through the leafless branches of the trees, 
 
 221
 
 222 > NO VEMBER. 
 
 where the homeless sparrow in vain seeks shelter ; the 
 melancholy rusty 'caw' of the rook is heard in the 
 wood ; 
 
 ' The little bird yet to salute the morn, 
 Upon the naked branches sets her foot, 
 The leaves now rising in the mossy root ; 
 And there a silly chirrupping doth keep, 
 As though she fain would sing, yet fain would weep ; 
 Praising fair summer, that so soon is gone, 
 Or mourning winter too fast coming on.' 
 
 And thus November steals upon us, with its dews, and 
 mists, and dimmer skies ; and there is little to tempt us 
 out for a ramble where 
 
 ' The dead leaves strew the forest walk, 
 And withered are the pale wild-flowers.' 
 
 Yet still we may find some November blossoms to 
 gather, and one or two we failed to notice in our later 
 months, amongst which is the handsome common viper's 
 bugloss (Echium vulgare), one of the most striking 
 and stately of our wayside plants, if less delicate than 
 many, as elegant in shape as it is rich in hue. Its 
 stems and leaves are spotted, and armed with strong, 
 sharp bristles. These spots are likened to a snake's 
 skin, and the seeds supposed to bear a resemblance to 
 a viper's head ; and from these it has got its name 
 Echium being derived from the Greek signifying viper. 
 It is a rough plant ; but very beautiful are its fine spikes 
 of brilliant blue flowers which are closely set up the 
 stem. It is peculiar in changing the colour of its bios-
 
 NOVEMBER. 223 
 
 soms from a deep red in the bud, to a purple in the 
 opening flower, and a clear blue in the expanded or 
 matured blossom. It flowers as early as June, but may 
 be found as late as December growing by the way-side, 
 the neglected field, or seaside beach. 
 
 ' Here the blue bugloss paints the sterile soil,' 
 oft decking the cliff side or old wall with its beautiful 
 blue blossoms, and rearing its head some two or three 
 feet high. Here also we have the bugloss (AncJmsa 
 sempervirens), which you will observe has smaller clusters 
 of flowers than the viper's bugloss, which are also a 
 bright blue, nestling among the large, bristly leaves. A 
 red dye is extracted from it, which was formerly used 
 to paint the face. Its botanical name, Anckttsa, from 
 the Greek, signifies paint ; hence the rhyme : 
 
 ' Anchusa yields a ruddy stain, 
 
 Which gives false colour to the face ; 
 Be honest, maidens, and refrain 
 
 From trifling with your natural grace.' 
 
 The greater knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa), which 
 commences to bloom in August, is still in blossom : a 
 handsome purple flower, very common in the corn-field 
 or by the road-side : 
 
 ' The iron- weed content to share 
 The meanest spot the earth can spare.' 
 
 The knapweed is familiarly called iron-weed, from 
 the hard cup on which its blossoms burst. Anne Pratt 
 thinks that knapweed was probably knob-\veed in former
 
 224 NOVEMBER. 
 
 times. It greatly resembles the thistle, but may be 
 recognised from it by possessing no prickles. The black 
 knapweed (Centaurea nigra), which also flowers in July 
 and August, is quite as common, but has smaller and 
 duller blossoms, its leaves being rough and hairy. The 
 juice of both plants is expressed for ink. To the same 
 species belong the corn blue-bottle (Centaurea cyanus) 
 and the star thistle (Centaurea calcitrapa], which we 
 gathered in July. 
 
 The common ragwort (Senecio Jacob&a), though 
 blooming first in July, may still be gathered ; and 
 handsome indeed are its bright yellow clusters of flowers, 
 growing often two feet high. The leaves are toothed, 
 the stem branched, and its golden blossoms emit a 
 strong smell of honey. The marsh ragwort (Senecio 
 aquaticus), which is usually found in wet pastures, greatly 
 resembles it ; the leaves, however, are not so divided, 
 the purple flowers are larger, fewer, and scentless. The 
 hoary ragwort (Senecio tenuifolius) is less common. It 
 blossoms by the way-side, its erect stem being often 
 three feet high. It has yellow flowers and pale green 
 leaves, with a thick cottony down on the under surface. 
 To the same species belongs the common groundsel 
 (Senecio vulgaris), which we gathered in our February 
 ramble, and which blossoms all the year through. Every 
 child recognises it as a dainty morsel to pluck for the 
 little caged canary at home. 
 
 Another yellow blossom that often lingers about the
 
 NOVEMBER. 225 
 
 hedge-side and waste place until December, is the 
 common nipplewort (Lapsana communis), a pale-flowered 
 long-stalked plant, with thin hairy leaves varying in 
 form. It has small yellow blossoms on branched strag- 
 gling stems, and grows two, often three feet high. There 
 are, I believe, but two species. Alas ! we have almost 
 come to an end of our November blossoms. 
 
 ' The south wind searches for the flowers, whose fragrance late he 
 
 bore, 
 And sighs to find them in the wood, and by the stream no more.' 
 
 Yet still a few autumn flowers are lingering. 
 
 ' The rosy thrift, 
 Though paler grown, since summer blessed the scene, 
 
 can still add beauty to our nosegay ; but 
 
 ' The sea-lavender, whose lilac blooms 
 Drew from the saline soil a richer hue 
 Than when they grew on yonder towering cliff, 
 Quivers in flowerless greenness to the wind,' 
 
 We may chance to pick a stray crocus or two, doubt- 
 ful wildlings, however ; and here is the ivy, still in its 
 flowering beauty and luxuriant foliage, wearing its bright, 
 evergreen tapestry o'er ' ruin grey,' or up to the highest 
 branches of the surrounding trees, clothing the naked 
 boughs with a freshness not their own, of which the 
 
 poet writes : 
 
 ' Oh falsely they accuse me, 
 Who say I seek to check 
 The growing saplings flourishing : 
 I better love to deck 
 P
 
 226 NOVEMBER. 
 
 The dead or dying branches 
 
 With all my living leaves ; 
 Tis for the old and withered tree, 
 
 The ivy garland weaves.' 
 
 We may still find a pale Michaelmas daisy, a yellow 
 hawkweed, a pretty little Mayweed, or spray of scabious ; 
 and beautiful is 
 
 ' The arbutus, heavy with its ruby fruit ;' 
 
 its waxen-tinted blossoms in drooping clusters, luxuriant 
 stems, and bay-like leaves being more lovely than I can 
 express. Spenser tells us 
 
 ' There is continual spring, and harvest there 
 
 Continual, both meeting at one time ; 
 For both the boughs do laughing blossoms bear, 
 And with fresh colours deck the wanton prime, 
 And eke at once the heavy trees they climb, 
 Which seem to labour under their fruit 5 s load.' 
 
 Ah ! we have still much beauty remaining to deck 
 the November landscape, though the month to many 
 seems so dull and dreary ; but to me each season comes 
 fraught with its own peculiar attractions ; and 
 
 ' I love to tread o'er autumn's sunny plains, 
 'Neath the brown foliage of its rich domains, 
 With mingled leaves of brownish green and gold, 
 Breathing their farewell tale to young and old.' 
 
 And I could almost exclaim with Keats : 
 
 ' Let autumn bold, 
 With universal tinge of sober gold, 
 Be all about me when I make my end'
 
 NO VEMBER. 227 
 
 We may now find many very beautiful varieties of 
 mosses, whether we wander in the wood or on the 
 moor-side, some growing on the old wall, the rugged 
 barks of the trees, or forming the soft carpet beneath 
 our feet. 
 
 ' Here a cluster of mosses too, tiny and rare, 
 With leaves fine and glossy, and stems thin as hair, 
 Not bearing gay flowers, but small cups instead, 
 Which have each an extinguisher popped on its head.' 
 
 There are, I believe, about eight hundred different 
 kinds of mosses ; and though none are of any very great 
 value to man, yet they are not wholly useless plants. 
 A good dye is extracted from the club moss (Lycopo- 
 diiim clavatum). They protect seeds and even trees 
 from winter cold, and afford shelter to myriads of the 
 insect tribes. The reindeer moss (Cladonia rangiferind) 
 is the winter food of the animal after which it is named ; 
 and in it we are given another evidence of the protective 
 wisdom of the Great Creator, who in that cold and 
 barren Lapland, destitute of fertile pastures, has pro- 
 vided a plentiful supply of this luxuriant moss, which 
 neither cold nor snow can destroy. On the contrary, 
 the snow shelters and protects the plant, which, though 
 hidden from the sight, is quickly discovered by the 
 natural instinct of the animal. 
 
 At this season especially, if the weather has been 
 damp, we shall see many varieties of the fungi tribe, 
 amongst which mushrooms and truffles are classed.
 
 228 NOVEMBER. 
 
 ' Oh, look on the strange and the whimsical things, 
 
 That among the wild fungi we find ; 
 And lichens and moss that like fairy-work springs ; 
 
 If ye love not them all, ye are blind ; 
 Ye are blind unto Nature's most glorious looks, 
 If ye read not and love not her forest-born books.' 
 
 The species of fungi is so numerous that much time 
 and space which are not at our disposal would be 
 required to enter upon it ; but I dare say you have all 
 observed in woods and shady places those leathery, 
 spongy substances, some brightly coloured orange or 
 red, a gay green, or pale lemon, growing on the decay- 
 ing root of a tree, or any moist putrid matter, and 
 have wondered what queer -looking unsightly things 
 they were. Well, these are all fungi ; many smaller 
 kinds, infesting wood and trees, are very destructive, 
 and several are highly poisonous. Though you may 
 deem them unsightly things, devoid of all beauty, yet 
 if we examine the bright colouring of some, the singular 
 variety and delicate formation of all, we cannot fail to 
 be struck with admiration at the divine skill displayed 
 even in the humblest vegetation of our beautiful world. 
 Thus we see, my dear young friends, that an examina- 
 tion into the meanest work in the creation tends to 
 make us both wiser and better. Coleridge tells us, 
 
 ' He prayeth best, who loveth best 
 
 All things both great and small ; 
 For the Great God, who loveth us, 
 He made and loveth all.'
 
 NO VEMBER. 229 
 
 As I have said before, November seems to many a 
 gloomy, melancholy month, wherein we ever 
 
 ' Behold the emblem of our state, 
 In flowers that bloom and die.' 
 
 And an oppressive sadness steals over us in witnessing 
 the hourly death of our beauteous summer flowers, for 
 
 ' The yellow leaves around us fall, 
 
 Strewing the dewy glade : 
 A wondrous change is over all, 
 While loudly they to mortals call, 
 
 Like us you fade.' 
 
 Yes, it all appears sad and dismal enough ; but let 
 us examine the leafless branch or bare stalk of the 
 faded plant, and soon a reassuring calmness settles on 
 our minds, a precious hope floods our souls ; for the 
 still small voice of the undeveloped coming bud, that 
 is marked on the frail stem that 'it is not dead but 
 sleepeth,' whispers of the coming spring, the resurrec- 
 tion of flowers ; and though the words, ' Ye all do fade 
 as a leaf,' are echoing through our hearts, faith points 
 with steady hand ' to that inheritance incorruptible, and 
 undefiled, that fadeth not away.'
 
 XII. 
 DECEMBER. 
 
 ' There's not a blossom on the hill, 
 
 There's not a leaf upon the tree : 
 The summer bird hath left its bough, 
 Bright child of sunshine, singing now 
 In spicy lands beyond the sea. 
 
 The drooping year is in the wane, 
 
 No longer floats the thistle down ; 
 The crimson heath is wan and sere, 
 The sedge hangs withering by the mere, 
 And the broad fern is rent and brown. 
 
 , the last month of the year 
 'cold December, barrenness every- 
 where,' has now arrived ; and with 
 regret, my dear young friends, I 
 come for our last gossip, our last 
 ramble together. 
 
 The blustering winds have swept the 
 withered leaves, and stripped the forest bare ; 
 the distant hills have already donned their 
 snowy caps ; the streams are bound with ice ; the dews 
 turned to hoar frosts ; the rook has returned to the nest 
 
 231
 
 232 DECEMBER. 
 
 tree; the lesser birds are silent, and shivering in the leaf- 
 less woods ; and 
 
 ' There's not a flower upon the lea ; 
 The frost is on the pane.' 
 
 Yet we may still gather a bouquet of berries bright, 
 from the transparent pearls of the mistletoe, to the dark 
 purple fruit of the thorny burnet-rose, which will almost 
 equal in beauty our summer nosegays of flowers. 
 
 Let us away this wintry morning, out into the clear, 
 frosty air ! A light shower of snow has fallen ; the 
 feathery flakes, wheeling down from heaven, have 
 covered the landscape with a thin carpet of dazzling 
 whiteness, and have shrouded the forest branches with 
 a sparkling fret-work of spotless purity ; and oh ! how 
 exquisite is now the graceful mountain ash, with its rich 
 clusters of bright coral berries peeping from amid the 
 white drapery ! 
 
 ' In pearls and rubies rich the hawthorns show, 
 While through the ice the crimson berries glow.' 
 
 The eglantine boasts that even in winter she has 
 beauty : 
 
 ' Though of both leaf and flower bereft, 
 Such ornaments to me are left 
 Rich store of scarlet heps are mine.' 
 
 Here is the clear red fruit of the honeysuckle, to mix 
 with the dark orange of the woody nightshade; the 
 deep black of the bramble ; the chocolate-brown of the 
 ivy ; the crimson haws of the thorn ; the scarlet heps
 
 MISTLETOE Viscum album. 
 
 234
 
 DECEMBER. 235 
 
 of the dog-rose ; and the clustering, bright-gleaming 
 berries of 
 
 ' The holly, pointing to the moorland storm 
 Its hardy, fearless leaf.' 
 
 Beautiful indeed is the enduring foliage of the holly, its 
 bright green leaves, in the cultivated kinds, mottled, or 
 edged with pale yellow : 
 
 ' When all the summer trees are seen 
 
 So bright and green, 
 The holly's leaves a sober hue display, 
 
 Less bright than they ; 
 
 But when the bare and wintry woods we see, 
 What then so cheerful as the holly-tree ?' 
 
 Yes, bright and cheerful does the holly render our 
 Christmas-time, brought in with the yew and ivy to 
 decorate our churches, or, mixed with the mistletoe, to 
 adorn our homes. It reminds one of the good old times 
 when 
 
 ' The damsel donned her kirtle sheen, 
 
 The hall was dressed with holly green ; 
 
 Forth to the woods did merry men go, 
 
 To gather in the mistletoe. 
 
 Then open wide the baron's hall 
 
 To vassal, tenant, serf, and all.' 
 
 You will all doubtless oft have admired the silvery, 
 modest mistletoe ( Viscum album], which cheers the woods 
 and orchards of the south of England, and with its white, 
 semi-transparent fruit, forms so beautiful a contrast to 
 the scarlet-berried, spring-leaved holly. But few of you
 
 236 DECEMBER. 
 
 may be aware of the interest attached to this plant, 
 which, though of no known use to man, excepting for 
 the birdlime made from the berries, is remarkable not 
 only as a parasite, but on account of the Druidical super- 
 stitions with which it is connected ; and that a pagan 
 character seems still to be attached to it, is, I think, 
 proved by its not being permitted in church decorations, 
 though taken to ornament our houses. Now, the mistle- 
 toe, as I have said before, is a parasite, living on the 
 juices of other trees, to which its seeds have been by 
 chance or birds transferred and lodged in the bark. 
 
 The thistle tuft is indebted to the summer breeze for 
 the dispersion of its feathery seeds in the air, while the 
 stronger blast is required to scatter abroad the heavier 
 seeds of the ash, etc. ; but it is to the humble and unin- 
 tentional ministry of a bird that the mistletoe owes its 
 dissemination ; and thus we have a beautiful instance of 
 the innumerable means which our Father adopts in 
 spreading fertility, life, and beauty on our earth. The 
 berries of the mistletoe are the favourite food of many 
 birds, especially the missel-thrush, which has derived its 
 name from the fact. After a meal, they fly to the 
 nearest tree to rub and clean their bills from the clammy 
 substance which has issued from the fruit on which they 
 have been feasting, and thus the seed is conveyed, and 
 clings to the branch, stealing under the bark, and 
 speedily taking root. Any of you could easily try the 
 experiment for yourselves, by imitating this contrivance
 
 DECEMBER. 237 
 
 of nature, and carefully crushing a ripe berry against the 
 bark of an apple-tree early in spring. There are about 
 twenty kinds of trees in England to which the mistletoe 
 will attach itself, but on none more readily than the 
 apple-tree, which it often destroys by sucking the sap, 
 and thus robbing it of all nourishment : consequently the 
 mistletoe is looked upon as an enemy in the orchard ; for 
 
 ' It clingeth, it clingeth, and flourisheth still, 
 And sucketh the juices, its own veins to fill, 
 Of the stem which supports it : a parasite bold, 
 That will never leave go, having once taken hold.' 
 
 But it was when found on the oak that the Druids 
 held it in such sacred estimation, and associated it with 
 such cruel practices and sacrifices as would make you 
 shudder to hear of : 
 
 ' The fearless British priests, under the aged oak 
 Taking a milk-white bull, unstained with the yoke, 
 And with an axe of gold, from that Jove-sacred tree 
 The mistletoe cut down.' 
 
 It was gathered on the New- Year's morning with great 
 pomp and solemnity. The chief Druid, clad in a white 
 garment, ascended the tree, and cut down the mistletoe 
 with a consecrated gold pruning hook, allowing it to fall 
 into a pure white cloth, which was held suspended be- 
 neath by the other priests. It was considered a bad 
 omen if a morsel chanced to touch the ground, and some 
 terrible misfortune was anticipated. It was sold to the 
 people, doubtless at high prices, as a sovereign remedy
 
 238 DECEMBER. 
 
 against all diseases, and a preservative against all dan- 
 gers. Even as late as the seventeenth century, it was 
 worn suspended around the neck as a safeguard against 
 witches, and a cure for all sickness, so great were its 
 imaginary virtues ! 
 
 How thankful may we be that we live not in the days 
 of such dark ignorance and superstition, that we only 
 value the mistletoe for the lovely variety its pearly 
 berries make in our Christmas decorations, and that its 
 mystic influences extend no further than the sly kiss 
 beneath its branches at 
 
 ' The merry time of Christmas, 
 
 When young hearts slip the tether, 
 And lips all merry, beneath the berry, 
 Close laughingly together ! ' 
 
 Branches of the box-tree (Buxus sempervirens) are 
 often mixed with the holly and mistletoe at this sea- 
 son, the leaf and general appearance of which must be 
 familiar to you all. I believe there is but one species of 
 box, which varies in size, as well as the tint of its leaves. 
 The dwarf kind is remarkable for its fine glowing colour, 
 which won it the title of 'sunny-coloured box.' The 
 wood of the box is very valuable, being close-grained, 
 hard, and heavy : 
 
 ' Firm and smooth-grained, not easily 
 
 Warped or turned aside ; 
 Like a stoic of old is the boxen tree, 
 Unmoved whate'er betide.'
 
 DECEMBER. 239 
 
 It is used by the turner in making tops, chess-men, pegs, 
 knife-handles, etc. ; is valuable in the manufacture of 
 mathematical instruments, flutes, combs, and, from its 
 extreme hardness, is of especial service to the wood en- 
 graver. In olden times, sprigs of boxwood were carried 
 at funerals, and Wordsworth tells us that a basinful 
 was placed at the door of the house of mourning, and 
 each person took a spray to throw into the grave : 
 
 ' The basin of boxwood, just six months before, 
 That stood on the table at Timothy's door ; 
 A coffin through Timothy's threshold had pass'd, 
 One child did it bear, and that child was his last.' 
 
 The yew-tree (Taxus baccate?) is also much used in 
 our Christmas decorations, and very bright are its red, 
 waxen-like berries, gleaming from amidst its dark, 
 gloomy, evergreen foliage. It is often planted in church- 
 yards as an emblem of immortality. 
 
 But when gathering our berries, let us see if no 
 lingering flower is still to be found to gladden our sight. 
 
 ' The wind-flower and the violet they perished long ago, 
 And the wild rose and the orchis died amid the summer glow ; 
 But, on the hill, the golden rod, and the aster in the wood, 
 And the yellow sunflower, by the brook, in autumn beauty stood, 
 Till fell the frost from the clear cold heaven, as falls the plague on 
 
 men, 
 And the brightness of their smile was gone from upland glade and 
 
 glen.' 
 
 Still, in spite of frost, we may chance to gather a stray 
 corn marigold, with its gay golden dress, or the bright
 
 240 DECEMBER. 
 
 purple blossom of a knapweed, springing up from 
 amongst the trailing branches of the bramble, which 
 now exhibits many a reddish-green spray of leaves. 
 
 The bright yellow hawkweed picris, which we gathered 
 in October, blooms yet as bright as ever, and will shed 
 its beauty on the departing old year, as well as the dawn 
 of the new. 
 
 See, here a timid shrinking daisy, that 
 
 ' Golden tufte within a silver crowne,' 
 
 which some poets have named 'the robin of flowers,' 
 raises its fair, frail head from out the snow, and gazes 
 with sweet, innocent, glad face upturned to the frosty 
 skies. Wordsworth wrote truly when he called it a 
 
 ' Bright flower, whose home is everywhere ! 
 A pilgrim bold in nature's care ; 
 And all the long year through, the heir 
 Of joy or sorrow.' 
 
 And as true is Montgomery's assertion 
 
 ' The rose has but a summer's reign ; 
 The daisy never dies.' 
 
 Turn your eyes upon yon desolate moorland, no 
 longer glowing with the rich purple hue of our beautiful 
 heaths ; no longer 
 
 ' Thyme and marjoram are spreading 
 Where thou art treading, 
 And their sweet eyes for thee unclose ;' 
 
 but the exquisite glitter of the golden furze lingers there 
 still, its half-expanded blossoms awaiting the first gleam
 
 DECEMBER. 241 
 
 of sunshine to spread their butterfly, wing-like flowers 
 on the thorny stems. 
 
 ' The prickly gorse, that shapeless and deformed, 
 And dangerous to the touch, has yet its bloom, 
 And decks itself with ornaments .of gold.' 
 
 It is much prized in several of our continental countries, 
 and is given a place in the richest greenhouses. It often 
 attains a great height. The Rev. C. A. Johns, in his 
 Botanical Rambles, speaks of having seen it so high, 
 that when on horseback he could scarcely reach the top 
 with his cane. 
 
 Alas ! I fear we shall find few other blossoms to greet 
 us at this season, for 
 
 ' Flowers too bright, too sweet to last, 
 Drop all their leaves at winter's blast.' 
 
 And we must be content to think 
 
 ' They'll soon return with genial spring, 
 More bright, more fair, more flourishing.' 
 
 Not only, however, in thfs our winter ramble do we 
 miss the bright flowers of past seasons, but the full- 
 tuned warblings of many birds no longer fill our souls 
 with gladness. Ah ! 
 
 ' 'Tis sweet to see the opening flower 
 Spread its fair bosom to the sun ; 
 'Tis sweet to hear in vernal bower, 
 The thrush's earliest hymn begun ;' 
 
 yet no less sweet are the tender, glad trills of the 
 
 bright-eyed little minstrel that warbles his song of trust 
 
 Q
 
 242 DECEMBER. 
 
 and content from the leafless branch of a snow-clad 
 
 tree, 
 
 ' The bird whom man loves best, 
 The pious bird with the scarlet breast, 
 
 Our little English Robin : 
 The bird that conies about our doors, 
 When winter winds are sobbing.' 
 
 Who does not love the robin, which I have heard 
 called ' the daisy of birds,' as the daisy has been named 
 ' the robin of flowers ?' Who cannot remember how, as 
 children, we encouraged and tempted him with crumbs 
 to hop upon our window-sill, a right welcome guest ? 
 
 ' Ever the first of all the birds 
 To hail the break of day ; 
 And sing what seems a little hymn, 
 To hail the sun's first ray.' 
 
 As we wander through the woods, let us pluck of the 
 many beautiful evergreens, mixing the box 
 
 ' With the yew branch dark, and the mistletoe white, 
 And holly and ivy leaves glossy and bright, 
 With berries that gleam in the hearth's glad light,' 
 
 to deck our homes in honour of the coming Christmas, 
 in remembrance of the time when ' He came unto his 
 own, and his own received Him not ;' when the heavenly 
 host proclaimed, ' Glory to God in the highest, and on 
 earth peace, good-will toward men.' 
 
 And now, my dear young friends, we have gathered 
 our December bouquet, containing few flowers, it is 
 true, but rich in its glossy leaves and varied glittering
 
 DECEMBER. 243 
 
 berries ; and I must reluctantly bid you farewell. Our 
 many sunny rambles are over ; and to all I trust they 
 have brought health, and strength, and better thoughts, 
 to raise the mind from ' nature to nature's God.' I have 
 striven feebly enough it is true to give you such 
 information as the inquiring flower-lover would naturally 
 crave, when plucking the way-side blossom, without tax- 
 ing the memory with hard names, which have so often 
 discouraged the young mind in its desire for know- 
 ledge regarding the beautiful wildlings of our lanes and 
 meadows, moors and woodlands. 
 I have read that 
 
 ' Flowers are the alphabet of angels, by which 
 They write on hill and vale things unutterable ;' 
 
 and the idea is full of poetry and beauty. Shakespeare 
 assures us that 
 
 ' Fairies use flowers for their charactery ;' 
 and Horace Smith has called them 
 
 ' Floral apostles, that in dewy splendour 
 Weep without woe, and blush without a crime.' 
 
 Certain it is, 
 
 ' Your voiceless lips, O flowers ! are living preachers, 
 
 Each cup a pulpit, every leaf a book, 
 Supplying to the fancy numerous teachers 
 From loneliest nook.' 
 
 And thus the study of flowers brings us not only a 
 fuller enjoyment in nature, a keener relish of the beauty
 
 244 DECEMBER. 
 
 that surrounds us, but enlarged and deeper views of the 
 wisdom and goodness of our Almighty Father; and 
 therefore I would say 
 
 ' Blessed be God for flowers ; 
 For the bright, gentle, holy thoughts that breathe 
 From out their odorous beauty, like a wreath 
 Of sunshine on life's hours.' 
 
 Let me trust, my dear young friends, that in these 
 our monthly gatherings 
 
 ' The pure, sweet flowers of God' 
 
 have brought bright and happy thoughts to your minds, 
 added a new pleasure to your future ramble, 
 
 ' A cheerful faith, that all that we behold 
 Is full of blessing^' 
 
 that you may be able to exclaim, in the fulness of your 
 
 hearts 
 
 ' O Father, Lord ! 
 
 The All-beneficent ! I bless thy name 
 That Thou hast mantled the green earth with flowers, 
 Linking our hearts to nature ! By the love 
 Of their wild blossoms our young footsteps first 
 Into her deep recesses are beguiled.' 
 
 ' Receive 
 
 Thanks, blessings, love, for these thy lavish boons, 
 And most of all their heavenward influences, 
 O Thou that gavest us flowers ! '
 
 GENERAL INDEX.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Achillea millefolium, 
 Achillea ptarmica, 
 Achillea tomentosa, 
 Aconite, winter, . 
 
 PAGB 
 197 
 197 
 . . I 9 8 
 
 . 18 
 
 Aster Tripolium, . 
 Astragalus glyciphyllus, 
 Atropa belladonna, 
 Avens, water, . . 
 
 PAGE 
 . 214 
 . . 9 6 
 
 114, 1 66 
 
 122 
 
 Adonis autumnalis, 
 Adoxa moschatellina, 
 Agrimonia eupatoria, 
 Agi-imony, common, 
 Agrimony, hemp, 
 Agrostemma githago, 
 Ajuga chamsepitys, 
 Ajuga reptans, . . 
 
 . 161 
 
 39 
 . 124 
 . 124 
 . . 184 
 . 118 
 . 92 
 92 
 
 Ballota nigra, 
 Bartsia odontites, . 
 Bartsia, red, 
 Bartsia viscosa, 
 Bartsia, yellow, . 
 Bear-berry, black, 
 Bear-berry, red, . . 
 
 IS9 
 1 68, 202 
 . 1 68, 202 
 . 202 
 . 202 
 . 210 
 2IO 
 
 Alisma plantago, . 
 Allium ursinum, . 
 Althaea officinalis, 
 Anagallis arvensis, 
 Anagallis tenella, . 
 Anchusa sempervirens, . 
 Anemone nemorosa, 
 Anemone pulsatilla, 
 Anethum fceniculum, . 
 Anthyllis vulneraria, 
 Aquilegia vulgaris, . 
 
 144 
 . 156 
 199 
 . 118 
 
 H5 
 . 223 
 . 52 
 . . 56 
 
 . 201 
 96, 158 
 . . 8 4 
 
 Bed-straw, yellow, 
 Bell-flower, giant, . 
 Bell-flower, ivy-leaved, 
 Bell-flower, nettle-leaved, 
 Bellis perennis, 
 Betonica officinalis, 
 Betony, water, . . 
 Betony, wood, 
 Bindweed, field, . 
 Bindweed, great, . 
 Bindweed, sea, 
 Blackberry 
 
 157 
 . . I 7 8 
 155, 178 
 177 
 '5 
 . . I 7 6 
 . 121 
 . . I 7 6 
 . 125 
 126, 176 
 . 127 
 
 108 
 
 Arbutus alpina, . 
 Arbutus unedo, . 
 
 . 2IO 
 . 20 9 
 2IO 
 
 Borage, common, 
 Borago officinalis, 
 Box-tree, 
 
 133 
 133 
 
 2^8 
 
 Arrow-head, water, 
 Artemisia absinthium, . 
 
 H3 
 . . I 9 8 
 . 198 
 
 Bramble, 
 Brassica oleracea, 
 Brier .... 
 
 . 209 
 . 127 
 
 1 04 
 
 Artemisia vulgaris, 
 
 . 198 
 
 Broom, 
 
 . 149 
 
 Arum maculatum, 
 Asperula odorata, 
 Asphodel, yellow, 
 
 . 62 
 . 91 
 
 . 186 
 24 
 
 Bryonia dioica, 
 Bryony, black, 
 Bryony, red-berried, 
 
 7 
 
 73 
 . . 83 
 73
 
 248 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bugle, common, . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 . 92 
 
 92 
 
 Cherry, wild, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 79 
 161, 202 
 
 
 223 
 
 
 
 Bugloss, viper's, . 
 
 . 222 
 42 
 
 Chickweed, European, . . 
 Christmas rose, . . . 
 
 . 94 
 16 
 
 
 
 Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, 
 
 96 
 
 Buxus sempervirens, 
 
 Cabbage, sea, 
 Cakile maritima, . 
 Calamint, common, . 
 Calamintha vulgaris, 
 Calluna vulgaris, . 
 Caltha palustris, . 
 Calystegia sepium, 
 Calystegia soldanella, . 
 
 2 3 8 
 
 . 127 
 . 128 
 
 . 161 
 . 161 
 . 146 
 . 28 
 126, 176 
 . 127 
 
 Chrysanthemum segetum, 
 Chrysosplenium oppositifolium, 
 Cichorium Intybus, 
 Cinquefoil, creeping, 
 Cinquefoil, marsh, 
 Circaea Alpina, . 
 Circaea lutetiana, . 
 Cistus, common, . 
 Cladonia rangiferina, . 
 
 179 
 45 
 161, 202 
 . 124 
 
 . 122 
 . I8 4 
 84, 112 
 
 133 
 
 . 227 
 
 81 
 
 Campanula hederacea, . 
 Campanula latifolia, 
 
 155, 178 
 
 . 178 
 
 Clematis vitalba, . . . 
 
 . Si 
 in 
 
 Campanula rotundifolia, 
 Campanula trachelium, 
 Campion, bladder, 
 Campion, red, 
 
 150, 178 
 . 177 
 . 125 
 . 86 
 . 199 
 
 Clover, Dutch, 
 Clover, purple, 
 Cnicus lanceolatus, 
 Cochlearia maritima, 
 
 . 68 
 . 68 
 . 167 
 . 128 
 
 Caprifolium periclvmenum, . 
 
 . 81 
 
 Coltsfoot, .... 
 
 28 
 
 Capsella bursa-pastoris, 
 
 43 
 
 
 84 
 
 Cardamine hirsuta, 
 Cardamine pratensis, 
 Carduus marianus, 
 Carduus nutans, . 
 Carlina vulgaris, . 
 Carrot, wild, 
 Cat's-tail . 
 
 58 
 58 
 . 166 
 . 166 
 . 167 
 177 
 . 18; 
 
 Comarum palustre, . 
 Conium maculatum, . 
 Convallaria majalis, 
 Convolvulus, . . 
 Convolvulus arvensis, 
 Corn blue-bottle, . 
 
 . 122 
 
 . 166 
 
 . 90 
 . 125 
 125 
 
 162, 224 
 118 
 
 Celandine, lesser, . 
 
 ^c 
 
 
 c6 
 
 Celandine, major, . 
 Celandine, sea, . . 
 
 37,85 
 
 37, I2 8 
 
 Cow-wheat 
 
 . 100 
 
 7Q 
 
 Centaurea calcitrapa, . 
 
 167, 224 
 
 Cranesbill, .... 
 
 III 
 
 Centaurea cyanus, . 
 Centaurea nigra, . . . 
 Centaurea scabiosa, 
 
 162, 224 
 177, 224 
 177, 223 
 
 Cranesbill, dove's-foot, . 
 Crataegus oxyacantha, . 
 
 . 62 
 79 
 
 58 
 
 Centaury, red, ... 
 Cheiranthus cheiri, 
 Chelidonium majus, . . 
 Cherry, bird, . . . 
 
 . 158 
 43 
 37,85 
 79 
 
 Cress, water, . . . 
 Crithmum maritimum, . 
 Crocus sativum, . 
 Crocus, spring, 
 
 H3 
 . 128 
 
 195 
 
 22
 
 INDEX. 
 
 249 
 
 Crocus vernus, 
 Cuckoo-flower, 
 Cuckoo-pint, . . 
 Cudweeds, .... 
 
 PAGE 
 22 
 58 
 . 62 
 
 . 182 
 
 Flax, cathartic, . 
 Flax, common, 
 Flax, narrow-leaved pale, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 . 136 
 
 *37 
 . 136 
 1^6 
 
 Cuscuta epithymum, 
 
 . 182 
 
 
 184 
 
 Cytisus scoparius, 
 Daffodil 
 
 . 149 
 . 46 
 
 Forget-me-not, . . . 
 Foxglove, . . . . 
 Fragaria vesca, . . . 
 
 . I2O 
 134 
 
 39, 92 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 Daphne laureola, . 
 Daphne mezereon, 
 Darnel, .... 
 
 . 26 
 . 41 
 
 2<X 
 
 Frogbit, common, . . 
 Fumaria officinalis, 
 
 . 144 
 7i 
 71 
 
 Daucus carota, 
 Dead nettle, red, . 
 Dead nettle, white, 
 Deptford pink, 
 Dewberry, .... 
 
 . 177 
 . 24 
 . 119 
 
 . 159 
 
 108 
 
 Fungi, ..... 
 Furze, dwarf, 
 
 . 228 
 15 
 
 Dianthus armeria, 
 Digitalis purpurea, 
 Dodder, lesser, . 
 Dog's mercury, . 
 Draba verna, 
 
 159 
 134 
 . 182 
 . 44 
 42 
 
 Galeobdolon luteum, 
 Galeopsis ladanum, . . 
 Galeopsis tetrahit, 
 Galeopsis versicolor, 
 
 . 86 
 . 200 
 . 200 
 . 200 
 
 iej 
 
 Drosera rotundifolia, 
 
 . 145 
 . 183 
 
 Garlic, broad-leaved, 
 
 . 156 
 
 . 168 
 
 Dyer's green-weed, 
 Echium vulgare, . 
 
 . 168 
 
 . 222 
 104 
 
 Gentian, autumnal, 
 Gentian, field, . . . 
 Gentiana amarella, . . 
 
 . 215 
 . 215 
 215 
 
 
 . 160 
 
 
 
 Eranthis hyemalis, 
 Erica cinerea, . 
 Ervum lens, .... 
 Eryngo maritimum, 
 Erythraea centaurium, . 
 Eupatorium cannabinum, 
 Euphrasia officinalis, 
 
 . 18 
 
 . 146 
 . 96 
 . 127 
 
 . 158 
 . 184 
 . 147 
 
 Geranium molle, . 
 Geranium pratense, 
 Geranium Robertianum, 
 Geum rivale, 
 Glaucium luteum, . 
 Glechoma hederacea, . . 
 Gnaphalium, 
 
 . 62 
 . in 
 
 . 62 
 
 . 122 
 
 37, 128 
 . 60 
 . 182 
 
 
 121 
 
 Golden rod, .... 
 
 195 
 if 
 
 
 . 2OI 
 
 
 igc 
 
 Figwort, knotted, . 
 Figwort, water, . 
 
 . 121 
 . 121 
 
 Ground -ivy, .... 
 Groundsel, .... 
 
 . 60 
 
 26,224
 
 250 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Harebell 
 
 PAGE 
 I5O, 178 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Hawkweed, mouse-ear, 
 
 . 86 
 
 Juniperus communis, . . 
 
 . 131 
 
 Hawkweed picris, 
 
 . 214 
 
 
 
 Hawthorn, .... 
 
 79 
 
 Knapweed black 
 
 1 77 22A 
 
 Heartsease, .... 
 
 . 64 
 
 Knapweed, greater, 
 
 1 / / *"! 
 
 177, 223 
 
 Heath, common, . 
 
 . 146 
 
 Knautia arvensis, . 
 
 167, 181 
 
 Heath, fine-leaved, 
 
 . 146 
 
 Knautia, field, 
 
 167, 181 
 
 Hedera helix, 
 
 . 213 
 
 Knotgrass, .... 
 
 . 196 
 
 Hedysarum onobrychis, 
 
 134 
 
 
 
 Helianthemum vulgare, 
 
 133 
 
 Lamium album, . 
 
 . 119 
 
 Hellebore, green, . 
 
 . 18 
 
 Lamium purpureum, 
 
 24 
 
 Hellebore, stinking, 
 
 . 18 
 
 Lapsana communis, 
 
 . 225 
 
 Helleborus foetidus, 
 
 . 18 
 
 Lathyrus nissolia, . 
 
 95 
 
 Helleborus niger, . . . 
 
 . 16 
 
 Lathyrus pisiformis, 
 
 175 
 
 Helleborus viridus, . . 
 
 . 18 
 
 Lathyrus pratensis, 
 
 . 158 
 
 Hemlock, .... 
 
 1 66 
 
 Lathyrus sylvestris, . . 
 
 I7C 
 
 Hemp-nettle, common, 
 
 . 200 
 
 Lavender, sea, 
 
 1 / j 
 
 . 200 
 
 Hemp-nettle, large-flowered, 
 
 . 200 
 
 Lemna, .... 
 
 . 183 
 
 Hemp-nettle, red, 
 
 . 200 
 
 Lentil, 
 
 96 
 
 Henbane .... 
 
 16? 
 
 Leontodon taraxacum 
 
 8 
 
 Herb Paris, .... 
 
 02 
 
 Leucoium cestivum . . 
 
 90 
 
 Herb-Robert, 
 
 . 62 
 
 Ligustrum vulgare, 
 
 . 108 
 
 Hieracium pilosella, 
 
 . 86 
 
 Lily, field, . 
 
 . 90 
 
 Holly, 
 
 5 
 
 Linaria cymbalaria, . 
 
 93 
 
 Holly sea . 
 
 127 
 
 Linaria vul^aris 
 
 176 
 
 Hop 
 
 . 172 
 
 Ling 
 
 i j\j 
 . 146 
 
 Horehound, black, 
 
 159 
 
 Linnaea borealis, . 
 
 95 
 
 Hottonia palustris, . . 
 
 . 121 
 
 Linum angustifolium, . 
 
 . 136 
 
 Humulus lupulus, 
 
 . 172 
 
 Linum catharticum, . . 
 
 . 136 
 
 Hyacinth, .... 
 
 68,71 
 
 Linum perenne, . . . 
 
 136 
 
 Hyacinthus non-scriptus, 
 
 68, 7 I 
 
 Linum usitatissimum, . 
 
 . 137 
 
 Hydrocharis morsus-ranae, 
 
 . 144 
 
 Listera ovata, 
 
 . 91 
 
 Hyoscyamus niger, . . 
 
 . I6 5 
 
 Lolium temulentum, 
 
 . 205 
 
 Hypericum perforatum, 
 
 156 
 
 London pride, 
 
 . 46 
 
 Hypericum pulchrum, . 
 
 157 
 
 Loosestrife, hyssop-leaved, 
 
 . 184 
 
 
 
 Loosestrife, purple, 
 
 . 184 
 
 Ilex aquifolium, . 
 
 5 
 
 Lotus corniculatus, 
 
 . 124 
 
 Inula conyza, 
 
 . 215 
 
 Lychnis dioica, 
 
 . 86 
 
 Iris foetidissima, . 
 
 . 89 
 
 Lychnis floscuculi, 
 
 . 86 
 
 Iris pseudacorus, . 
 
 . 89 
 
 Lycopodium clavatum, . 
 
 . 227 
 
 Iris, stinking, ... 
 
 . 89 
 
 Lysimachia nemorum, . 
 
 96 
 
 
 89 
 
 Lythrum hyssopifolium, 
 
 . 184 
 
 Ivy, 
 
 . 213 
 
 Lythrum salicaria, 
 
 . 184
 
 INDEX. 
 
 251 
 
 Madder, dyers', . 
 Madder, field, 
 Mallow, common, . . 
 Mallow, dwarf, 
 Mallow, marsh, . 
 Mallow, musk, 
 Malva moschata, . 
 Malva rotundifolia, 
 Malva sylvestris, . 
 Marigold, corn, 
 Marjoram, sweet, . 
 Marsh-marigold, . 
 
 PAGE 
 . 202 
 86, 202 
 
 . 198 
 . 199 
 199 
 . 199 
 199 
 . 199 
 . 198 
 
 . 179 
 
 . 148 
 
 . 28 
 
 Nightshade, deadly, . 
 Nightshade, enchanter's, 
 Nightshade, garden, 
 Nightshade, woody, 
 Nipplewort, common, . 
 Nuphar luteum, . 
 Nymphaea alba, . 
 
 GEthusa cynapium, 
 Ononis arvensis, . 
 Onopordum acanthium, 
 Ophrys apifera, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 . 114, 1 66 
 . 84, 112 
 
 . 112 
 . 112 
 225 
 . I2 3 
 . I2 3 
 
 . 2OI 
 . I 3 I 
 . . I6 7 
 .132 
 
 Meadow-sweet, . . . 
 Melampyrum pratense, . , 
 Mercurialis perennis, 
 
 . 121 
 
 . 160 
 
 44 
 
 Ophrys nidus avis, 
 Orchis, bee, 
 Orchis, bird's-nest, 
 Orchis, fly 
 
 . I 3 2 
 132 
 . 132 
 
 Mignonette, wild, 
 Milfoil, .... 
 
 . 178 
 IQ7 
 
 Orchis fusca, . 
 Orchis, lady, 
 
 . 132 
 I*?2 
 
 Mistletoe, .... 
 Moschatel, tuberous, 
 
 . 235 
 
 39 
 
 Orchis, lady's tresses, . 
 Orchis mascula, . 
 
 . 215 
 . 131 
 
 |M 
 
 Moss, reindeer, . 
 Mountain-ash, . . . 
 
 . 227 
 . 78 
 108 
 
 Orchis morio, . . 
 Orchis, purple, 
 
 . 132 
 . 131 
 
 14.8 
 
 Mushrooms, 
 Mustard, common, 
 Myosotis arvensis, . . 
 
 . 191 
 195 
 
 . 121 
 
 I2O 
 
 Orobus tuberosus, 
 Oxalis acetosella, . 
 Ox-eye, 
 Oxlip, . 
 
 95 
 . . 65 
 . . 96 
 M 
 
 Myosotis sylvatica, 
 Myrica gale 
 
 . 121 
 
 
 116 
 
 Myrtle, Dutch, . 
 
 Narcissus, .... 
 Narcissus poeticus, 
 Narcissus pseudo-narcissus, . 
 Narthecium ossifragum, 
 Nasturtium officinale, . 
 Neottia spiralis, . 
 Nettle great 
 
 95 
 
 . 48 
 . 48 
 . 46 
 . 186 
 
 . H3 
 . 215 
 119 
 
 Papaver somniferum, . 
 Parietaria officinalis, 
 Paris quadrifolia, . 
 Parnassia palustris, 
 Parsley, fool's, 
 Parsnip, water, 
 Pasque-flower, 
 Pea, everlasting, . 
 Pea wild . 
 
 . 116 
 
 93 
 . 92 
 . . 185 
 
 . 201 
 H3 
 . . 56 
 
 175 
 
 lye 
 
 Nettle, Roman, 
 Nettle, small, 
 Nightshade, Alpine enchanter's, 
 
 . 119 
 . 119 
 
 . !8 4 
 
 Pellitory, wall, 
 Periwinkle, larger, 
 Periwinkle, lesser, 
 
 93 
 . 60 
 . . 58
 
 252 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Persicaria, amphibious, 
 Persicaria, spotted, 
 Pheasant's-eye, . . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 . 168 
 . 168 
 . 161 
 
 Ranunculus bulbosus, . . 
 Ranunculus ficaria, . 
 
 PAGE 
 . 90 
 
 35 
 1 08 
 
 Picris hieracioides, 
 Pimpernel, bog, . 
 Pimpernel, scarlet, 
 Pimpernel, yellow, 
 Pisum maritimumalos, . 
 Plantain, water, . 
 Ploughman's spikenard, 
 
 . 214 
 145 
 . 118 
 . . 96 
 . 128 
 H4 
 215 
 
 Rattle, yellow, . . . 
 Reed-mace, great, 
 Reed-mace, lesser, 
 Reseda lutea, . 
 Rest-harrow, . . . 
 Rhinanthus Crista-Galli, 
 
 . 128 
 . 185 
 . 185 
 . 178 
 
 131 
 
 . 128 
 
 Polygonum amphibium, 
 Polygonum aviculare, . 
 Polygonum persicaria, . 
 Pond-weeds, 
 Poppy, scarlet, . . 
 
 . 168 
 . . 196 
 . 168 
 . . 183 
 . 116 
 . 116 
 
 R.osa canina, 
 Rosa rubiginosa, . 
 Rosa spinosissima, . 
 Rose, Burnet, 
 Rose, dog, . . . 
 
 . 104 
 . 104 
 . 107 
 . 107 
 . 104 
 
 I-J-7 
 
 Poppy, yellow-horned, . 
 Potamogeton, . . 
 Potentilla anserina, 
 Potentilla fragariastrum, 
 Potentilla reptans, 
 
 . 37, 128 
 . . 183 
 . in 
 39, 92 
 
 . 124 
 
 Rose, white dog, . 
 Rosemary, .... 
 Rosmarinus officinalis, . . 
 Rubia tinctorum, . 
 
 . 107 
 
 . 27 
 . 27 
 
 . 202 
 
 . 108 
 
 
 37 
 
 
 III 
 
 Primula elatior, 
 Primula veris, 
 Primula vulgaris, . 
 Privet, .... 
 Prunella vulgaris, . 
 Prunus cerasus, . . 
 
 57 
 . . 56 
 37 
 . 108 
 . 160 
 . 79 
 79 
 
 Rubus fruticosus, . 
 Rubus idaeus, . . . 
 
 Saffron crocus, 
 Saffron, meadow, . 
 Sagittaria sagittiiblia, . 
 
 1 08, 209 
 . 108 
 
 195 
 . 192 
 
 H3 
 
 1^4 
 
 Prunus spinosa, 
 Pulicaria dysenterica, . 
 Pyrethrum inodorum, . 
 Pyrola minor, 
 Pyrus aucuparia, . . 
 Pyrus communis, . . 
 
 . 42 
 . . 184 
 . 205 
 . . 156 
 . . 78 
 . 79 
 
 Samphire, rock, . . 
 Saponaria officinalis, 
 Saxifraga granulata, 
 Saxifraga tridactylites, . 
 Saxifraga umbrosa, 
 Saxifrage, golden, . . 
 Saxifrage, meadow, . . 
 
 . 128 
 
 . 177 
 
 45 
 45 
 . 46 
 
 45 
 . 45 
 
 Pyrus torminalis, . 
 
 Ragged robin, 
 Ragwort, common, 
 Ragwort, hoary, . 
 Ragwort, marsh, . 
 Ramsons. 
 
 . . 7 8 
 . 86 
 
 . 202, 224 
 . 22 4 
 . 224 
 . Itf 
 
 Saxifrage, rue-leaved, . 
 Scabiosa succisa, . 
 Scabious, premorse or devil's-bit, 
 Scorpion grass, field, 
 Scorpion grass, water, . . 
 Scorpion grass, wood, . 
 Scrophularia auuatica. . 
 
 45 
 
 162, 214 
 162, 214 
 
 . 121 
 . I2O 
 . 121 
 . 121
 
 INDEX. 
 
 253 
 
 Scrophularia nodosa, 
 
 PAGE 
 . 121 
 
 Stitchwort, greater, 
 
 PAGE 
 .8,8 3 
 
 Scurvy grass, 
 
 . 128 
 
 Stitchwort, lesser, 
 
 . 8 
 
 Sea-pea, 
 
 . 128 
 
 Strawberry, barren, 
 
 39,92 
 
 Sea-rocket . 
 
 128 
 
 Strawberry wood . 
 
 20 o? 
 
 
 
 Stonecrop, biting, . . 
 
 ov> y* 
 
 X 35 
 
 Self-heal, 
 
 . 160 
 
 St. John's wort, perforated 
 
 i"?6 
 
 Senecio aquaticus, 
 
 . 224 
 
 St. John's wort, small, . 
 
 lyi 
 
 ' 157 
 
 Senecio Jacobsea, . 
 
 202, 224 
 
 Succory, .... 
 
 161 
 
 Senecio tenuifolius, 
 
 . 224 
 
 Sundew, .... 
 
 MS 
 
 Senecio vulgaris, . 
 
 26, 224 
 
 
 
 Service-tree, . 
 
 . . 78 
 
 
 
 Shepherd's purse, . 
 
 43 
 
 Tamus communis, 
 
 83 
 
 Sherardia arvensis, 
 
 86, 202 
 
 Tanacetum vulgare, 
 
 . 176 
 
 Silene inflata, . 
 
 . 125 
 
 Tansy, common, . 
 
 . 176 
 
 Silene maritima, . 
 
 . 199 
 
 Taxus baccata, . . . 
 
 239 
 
 Silver-weed, . 
 
 . Ill 
 
 Teucrium scorodonia, . 
 
 158, 216 
 
 Sinapis nigra, 
 
 . 195 
 
 Thistle, carline, . 
 
 . 167 
 
 Sium nodiflorum, . 
 
 . 143 
 
 Thistle, common, . 
 
 . 167 
 
 Sloe, .... 
 
 . 42 
 
 Thistle, common sow, . . 
 
 . 167 
 
 Snowdrop, . 
 
 20 
 
 Thistle, cotton, . 
 
 . 167 
 
 Snowflake, summer, 
 
 . 90 
 
 Thistle, marsh sow, 
 
 . 166 
 
 Soap wort, common, . 
 
 177 
 
 Thistle, milk, 
 
 1 66 
 
 Solanum dulcamara, 
 
 . .112 
 
 Thistle, musk, 
 
 1 66 
 
 Solanum nignim, . . 
 
 112 
 
 
 
 Solidago virgaurea . 
 
 joe 
 
 Thrift . . . 
 
 200 
 
 Sonchus oleraceus, 
 
 i yj 
 
 . . 167 
 
 Thyme, wild, . . . 
 
 . 148 
 
 Sonchus palustris, 
 
 . 166 
 
 Thymus serpyllum, 
 
 . 148 
 
 Speedwell, germander, . 
 
 23, 72 
 
 Toad-flax, ivy-leaved, . 
 
 93 
 
 Speedwell, ivy-leaved, . 
 
 73 
 
 Toad-flax, yellow, . . 
 
 . 176 
 
 Speedwell, procumbent, 
 
 . 23 
 
 Tormentil, common, 
 
 . 182 
 
 Spergula arvensis, 
 
 . 181 
 
 Tormentilla officinalis, . 
 
 . 182 
 
 Spirea ulmaria, 
 
 . 121 
 
 Tragopogon pratensis, . 
 
 . 112 
 
 Spurge laurel . 
 
 26 
 
 Trefoil 
 
 68 
 
 
 .l8l 
 
 Trefoil, bird's-foot, 
 
 . 124 
 
 Stachys sylvatica, . 
 
 ' 159 
 
 Trientalis Europsea, . . 
 
 . 94 
 
 Starwort, sea, 
 
 . 2I 4 
 
 Trifolium filiforme, 
 
 . 68 
 
 Statice armeria, . . 
 
 . 200 
 
 Trifolium pratense, 
 
 . 68 
 
 Statice binervosa, . 
 
 . 200 
 
 Trifolium repens, . . . 
 
 . 68 
 
 Stellaria cerastoides, 
 
 8 
 
 Tussilago farfarus, 
 
 . 28 
 
 Stellaria graminea, . 
 
 8 
 
 Tussilago petasites, . . 
 
 . 42 
 
 Stellaria holostea, 
 
 . .8,83 
 
 Tway blade, 
 
 . 91 
 
 Stellaria media, . . 
 
 7 
 
 Typha angustifolia, 
 
 . 185 
 
 Stitchwort, alpine, 
 
 8 
 
 Typha latifolia, . 
 
 . 185
 
 254 
 
 Ulex Europseus, . 
 Ulex nanus, . 
 Urtica dioica, 
 Urtica pilulifera, . 
 Urtica urens, 
 
 Valerian, . . . 
 
 IND 
 
 PAGE 
 
 is 
 . is 
 . 119 
 . 119 
 . 119 
 
 122 
 
 EX. 
 
 PAGE 
 . 64 
 
 Violet, 
 
 
 Violet dog 
 
 2C 
 
 Violet, marsh, 
 Violet, yellow, 
 
 . 26 
 26 
 
 Violet, water, 
 Viscum album, 
 
 Wallflower, . 
 Water-lily, white, . 
 Water-lily, yellow, 
 Weasel-snout, . . 
 Whitlow grass, 
 Wild-pear, . 
 Willow-herb, 
 Winter green, 
 Wood-anemone, . 
 Woodbine, . 
 
 . 121 
 
 235 
 
 43 
 . 123 
 123 
 . 86 
 . 42 
 79 
 . 160 
 . . 156 
 . 52 
 81 
 
 Valeriana vernus, . 
 Verbena officinalis, 
 Veronica agrestis, . 
 Veronica chamsedrys, . 
 Veronica hederifolia, 
 
 . 122 
 . . I6 4 
 2 3 
 2 3 , 72 
 
 73 
 . 164 
 
 Vetch, grass, 
 Vetch, kidney, 
 Vetch, spring, 
 Vetch, sweet -milk, 
 Vetch, tuberous, . 
 Vetch, tufted, 
 
 95 
 . 96, 158 
 
 95 
 . . 96 
 
 95 
 . 158 
 
 Woodruff, sweet, . 
 Wood sage, . 
 Wood-sorrel, 
 Woolly milfoil, . 
 Wormwood, 
 Wormwood, sea, . 
 Woundwort, hedge, 
 
 . 91 
 . 158, 216 
 . . 65 
 . . 198 
 . . 198 
 . . 198 
 159 
 
 
 
 Vetchling, meadow, 
 Vicia cracca, . 
 
 . . 158 
 . . 158 
 oc 
 
 Vicia sylvatica, 
 
 . 159 
 
 60 
 
 Vinca minor, . 
 Viola canina, 
 Viola lutea . 
 
 . . 58 
 . 25 
 
 26 
 
 Yarrow, goose-tongue or 
 
 sneeze- 
 IQ7 
 
 Viola odorata, 
 Viola palustris, 
 
 . 24 
 . 26 
 

 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Holly, ... 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Dandelion, .... 
 
 9 
 
 Christmas Rose, .... 
 
 13 
 
 Snowdrop, .... 
 
 20 
 
 Crocus, ..... 
 
 23 
 
 Marsh-Marigold, .... 
 
 29 
 
 Coltsfoot, .... 
 
 3 
 
 Lesser Celandine, . . 
 
 36 
 
 Primrose, .... 
 
 37 
 
 Tuberous Moschatel, 
 
 40 
 
 Golden Saxifrage, 
 
 45 
 
 Daffodil and Narcissus, . 
 
 47 
 
 Wood- Anemone, 
 
 53 
 
 Cuckoo-flower, .... 
 
 59 
 
 Ground-Ivy, .... 
 
 61 
 
 Heartsease, .... 
 
 64 
 
 Wood-Sorrel, .... 
 
 66 
 
 Hyacinth, .... 
 
 69 
 
 Honeysuckle or Woodbine, 
 
 82 
 
 Columbine, .... 
 
 84 
 
 Red Campion, .... 
 
 87 
 
 Buttercup, .... 
 
 90 
 
 Sweet Woodruff, 
 
 91 
 
 Ivy-leaved Toadflax, 
 
 93 
 
 European Chickweed, 
 
 94 
 
 Ox-Eye, ..... 
 
 97 
 
 Brier or Eglantine, 
 
 105 
 
 Common Dog-Rose, 
 
 106 
 
 Scotch or Burnet Rose, . 
 
 109 
 
 White Dog-Rose, 
 
 no 
 
 255
 
 .256 ILL USTRA TIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Group of Nightshades, . . . . .113 
 
 Deadly Nightshade, . . . . .115 
 
 Corn-Cockle, . . . . . .117 
 
 Water-Avens, . . . . . .122 
 
 Bird's-foot Trefoil, . . . . .124 
 
 Group of Bindweeds, . . . . .126 
 
 Yellow-horned Poppy, . . . . .129 
 
 Common Cistus, . . . . . .133 
 
 Cathartic Flax, ...... 136 
 
 Narrow-leaved Pale Flax, . . . .137 
 
 Common Flax, . . . . . .138 
 
 Common Frogbit, ..... 144 
 
 Harebell, ...... 151 
 
 Milkwort, . . . . . -155 
 
 Yellow Bed-straw, . . . . .158 
 
 Pheasant's-Eye, . . . . . .160 
 
 Corn Blue-Bottle, . . . . .162 
 
 Common Hop, . . . . . *73 
 
 Corn-Marigold, . . . . .180 
 
 Grass of Parnassus, . . . . .186 
 
 Common Mustard, . . . . .194 
 
 Darnel, . . . . . . . 204 
 
 Ivy, ....... 212 
 
 Wood Sage, . . . . . .217 
 
 Mistletoe, 234 
 
 MURRAY AND GIBB, EDINBURGH, 
 PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICB.
 
 LIST OF WORKS 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 JOHN8TONE, HUNTER, & CO., EDINBURGH, 
 
 MAGAZINES: 
 
 The Christian Treasury; Containing Contributions from Ministers 
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 MUSIC- 
 
 The Treasury Hymnal, a Selection of Part Music, in the 
 
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 Hymns selected from Dr Bonar's "Hymns of Faith and Hope." 
 The Letter Note Method of Musical Notation, by permission of 
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 No. 1. FORWARD, - - Old Melody. 
 
 A BETHLEHEM HYMN, 
 2. THE FRIEND, 
 
 Arranged from Mozart. 
 Haydn. 
 
 LOST BDT FOUND, 
 
 Pleyel. 
 
 3. A LITTLE WHILE, 
 
 Adapted from Mendelssohn. 
 
 A STRANGER HERE, - 
 
 Pleyel. 
 
 4. THE BLANK, - 
 
 Pleyel. 
 
 THE NIGHT AND THE M< 
 
 >RNING, Adapted from Rode. 
 
 5. THE CLOUDLESS, 
 
 Haydn. 
 
 THE SUBSTITUTE, 
 
 Haydn. 
 
 6. THY WAY, NOT MINE, 
 
 Altered from Pleyel. 
 
 REST YONDER, 
 
 Steibelt. 
 
 7. EVER NEAR, - 
 
 German Melody. 
 
 Quis SEPARABIT, 
 
 Beethoven. 
 
 8. ALL WELL, - 
 
 . Haydn. 
 
 DISAPPOINTMENT, 
 
 . Haydn. 
 
 CHILD'S PRAYER, 
 
 Weber. 
 
 9. GOD'S ISRAEL, 
 
 Atterbury. 
 
 THE ELDER BROTHER, 
 
 Beethoven. 
 
 DAY SPRING, - 
 
 German Melody. 
 
 10. THE NIGHT COMETH, 
 
 Venetian Melody. 
 
 How LONG, - 
 
 Mendelssohn. 
 
 11. THE Two ERAS, 
 
 Spohr. 
 
 THE SHKPHERD'S PLAIN 
 
 ', - Whitaker. 
 
 12. BRIGHT FEET OF MAY, 
 
 Whitaker. 
 
 HEAVEN AT LAST, 
 
 dementi. 
 
 The above in stiffen 
 
 ed wrapper. Super royal 8vo, 
 
 Single Nos. each 
 
 . 
 
 A Graduated Course of Elementary Instruction in Singing 
 ON THE LETTER NOTE METHOD (by means of which any difficulty 
 of learning to Sing from the common Notation can be easily over- 
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 Royal 8vo, in wrapper, - 01 
 
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 10 List of Works Published by 
 
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 A Junior Course of Instruction in Singing on the Letter 
 
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 An Elementary Course of Practice in Vocal Music, with 
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 Choral Harmony, in Vocal Score, for the use of Choral 
 
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 4. Forgive and Forget. 
 
 5. Handsome Is who Handsome Does. 
 
 6. Better Late than Never. 
 
 7. Do as You Would be Done by. 
 
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 1. Jamie Wilson's Adventures. 
 
 2. Little Silphy. 
 
 3. The May Garland. 
 
 tie May 
 tie Visil 
 
 4. The Visit to Eden Park. 
 
 5. The Two Friends. 
 
 6. Alick Watson and his Quaker Friend. 
 
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 Johnstone, Hunter, & Co., Edinburgh. 
 
 Ill 
 
 FOR THE USE OF CHORAL SOCIETIES, SCHOOLS, ETC. 
 
 Price One Penny each Number. 
 
 Those numbers marked f contain easy MiLsicfor Elementary or School practice. 
 Tftose marked * have an Accompaniment. 
 
 SACRED. 
 
 3. praise the Lord. .... 
 6. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. 
 
 Hark, the loud triumphant strains. (12th Mass.) 
 f7. Brightest and best of the sons of the Morning. 3 v 
 The Lord is.my Shepherd. ... 
 Be joyful in God. .... 
 Characters used in Music. 
 t8. Musical Signs and Abbreviations. 
 How firm a foundation. 
 From Greenland's icy mountains, 
 til. To us a Child of hope is born. 
 Hark, the herald angels. 
 Hallelujah. ..... 
 
 14. Make a joyful noise. .... 
 Sanctus. 
 
 15. Sing unto God. .... 
 17. Great God of Hosts 1 - 
 
 God, forasmuch. .... 
 *20. Blessed is he that considereth the poor. 
 22. Hymn on Gratitude. - ... 
 
 *24. Come unto Me. 
 
 Now to Him who can uphold us. 
 26. Father, whose almighty power (Judas'). 
 *28. There is a land of pure delight. 
 *31 & 32. The earth is the Lord's. 
 *35. Jerusalem, my glorious home. 
 *38. Hear those soothing sounds ascending, 
 *39. Walk about Zion. .... 
 
 He shall come down like rain. 
 *43. Blessed are those servants. ... 
 
 Enter not into judgment. ... 
 *47. Ode on resignation. .... 
 f48. Hark, the Vesper Hymn. 
 
 The hour of prayer. .... 
 
 Thanksgiving Anthem. 
 
 God save the Queen. 
 f50. God bless our native land. 
 
 Colville. 
 
 Mozart. 
 
 WeVbe. 
 
 Pleyel. 
 Colville. 
 
 Mozart. 
 
 Banister. 
 
 Mason. 
 
 Arnold. 
 
 B. A. Smith. 
 
 B. A. Smith. 
 
 Camidge. 
 
 R. A. Smith. 
 
 Fowlie. 
 
 Fowlie. 
 
 R. A. Smith. 
 
 HoUoway. 
 
 R. A. Smith. 
 
 Handel. 
 
 Colintte. 
 
 R. A. Smith. 
 
 Mason. 
 
 Beethoven. 
 
 Portogallo. 
 J. J. S. Bird. 
 J. J. S. Bird. 
 
 Colville. 
 Russian. 
 Douland.
 
 List of Works Published by 
 
 CHORAL HARMONY Continued. 
 
 Forgive, blest shade, Callcott. 
 
 Morning Prayer. ......., Herald. 
 
 51. We come, in bright array (Judas). .... Handel. 
 
 Lead on, Lead on (Judas). ..... Handel. 
 
 f54. Ye gates, lift up your heads. - - - - - Dr Thomson. 
 
 send Thy light forth and Thy truth, - - . - B. A. Smith. 
 
 f56. Who is a patriot. 
 
 Praise the Lord. 
 
 Gently, Lord, O gently lead us. Spanish. 
 
 Joy to the world. 
 f59. With songs and honours. ...... Haydn. 
 
 Hymn of thanksgiving. - . . . AlaZon. 
 
 God is near thee. 
 
 60. But in the last days. - - ' - - Mason. 
 
 *64. Great is the Lord. ....... American. 
 
 Arise, Lord. -------- American. 
 
 *69. Awake, awake, put on thy strength, Zion 1 
 
 *70. I will bless the Lord at all times. - ... -R. A. Smith. 
 
 *71. Hallelujah I The Lord God omnipotent reign eth. - - R. A. Smith. 
 
 God, the omnipotent. ----- Russian National Melody. 
 f72. The brave man. - - - - - - - H. G. Nageli. 
 
 Lift up, O earth I - G. F. Root. 
 
 From all that dwell below the skies. 
 
 When shall we meet again. 
 
 O wake, and let your songs resound. .... Himmel. 
 
 All hail the power of Jesus' name. 
 75. Blessed be the Lord. R. A. Smith. 
 
 Great and marvellous. - . - . i. - R. A. Smith. 
 
 77. Grant, we beseech Thee. - - - . . Callcott. 
 
 Come unto Me when shadows darkly gather. 
 79. The Lord is my Shepherd. ------ Beethoven. 
 
 Let Songs of endless praise. - . - Mason. 
 
 My Faith looks up to Thee. Mason. 
 
 81. Beyond the glittering starry sky. - - - . . - - J. Husband. 
 
 82. Blest Jesus, gracious Saviour. .... Michael Haydn, 
 Hymn of Eve. - - - - - - Dr Ant,. 
 Salvation to our God. 
 
 84. I will arise. Richard Cecil. 
 
 Blessed are the people. 
 
 86. I was glad when they said unto me. Dr Callcolt. 
 
 87. Hark I above us on the mountain. - - - - - C. Kreutzer. 
 
 88. Then round about the starry throne. .... Handd. 
 *91. Oh I how beautiful thy garments, Zion. - - - J. A. Naumann. 
 *92. Put on thy strength, Zioii. - - - J. A. Naumann. 
 *98. Sing to the Lord, our King and Maker. - ... Haydn. 
 
 The Series to le continued.
 
 Johnstone, Hunter, & Co., Edinburgh. 
 
 15 
 
 CHORAL HARMONY Continued. 
 
 SECU LAR. 
 
 1. Let no dark'ning cloud annoy. 
 The Reapers. 
 
 2. There is a Ladye sweet and kind. 
 
 Gentle Spring. .... 
 
 4. And now we say to all, Good-night. - 
 
 The fountain. ..... 
 
 5. Good Morning. .... 
 Swiftly, swiftly, glide we along. 
 
 f9. May-Day. Colville. Harvest time. 
 
 Glossary of musical terms. 
 flO. Spring-time. Silcher. Freedom. 
 
 Rosy May. Scottish. The Daisies. 
 f!2. Summer's Call. .... 
 
 Midnight. 
 
 13. Hark, the Curfew's solemn sound. 3 w. 
 
 16. Serene and mild. .... 
 
 18. How sweet, how fresh this vernal day. 
 Stars of the summer night. - 
 
 19. Thyrsis, when he left me. ... 
 21. The Coquette. The Exquisite. 
 
 Aldiborontiphoscophornio. 3 . - 
 23. Swiftly from the mountain's brow. - 
 *25. It is better to laugh than be sighing. 
 27. Hark, the hollow wood surrounding. 
 
 It was an English Ladye bright. 
 f29. Joyful be. Schneider. Sweet peace. 
 
 lady fair. The last rose of summer. 
 30. The Skylark's song. .... 
 Spring Morning. .... 
 t33. Come and join our trusty circle. 
 
 The Forest. Karew. Sweet love loves May. 
 *34. Glad May-day. .... 
 
 36. Good-night. - - - 
 Bright,j3ubbling fountain. - 
 
 37. From Oberon, in fairyland. ... 
 
 *38. The Chapel. ..... 
 
 t40. 'Tis dawn, the Lark is singing. 
 
 Thrice hail, happy day. ... 
 
 Home 1 Home 1 
 
 Come joy, with merry roundelay. 
 41. Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph. 
 *42. The Gleaners. - .... 
 
 *44. The Sight Singers. .... 
 Hail, festal day. .... 
 
 45. Thy voice, Harmony. 
 43. Rural pleasure. .... 
 
 German. 
 
 Colville. 
 
 Ford. 
 
 Colville. 
 
 Methfessel. 
 
 Colville. 
 
 Colville, 
 
 Scottish. 
 Mozart. 
 Colville. 
 Donizetti. 
 Attwood. 
 
 Cokking. 
 
 Callcott. 
 
 Neiihardt. 
 
 Callcott. 
 
 Webbe. 
 
 Donizetti. 
 
 J. S. Smith. 
 
 Hint. 
 
 K. Smith. 
 
 Moore. 
 
 Mendelssohn. 
 
 Schneider. 
 
 Gabler. 
 
 Silcher. 
 
 Neithardt. 
 
 Eulme. 
 
 Waelrent. 
 
 Stevens. 
 
 Kreutzer. 
 
 G. Webb. 
 
 German. 
 
 Pax. 
 
 German. 
 
 Birch. 
 
 Mendelssohn. 
 Martini. 
 JRossini. 
 
 Kreutztr.
 
 List of Works Johnstone, Hunter, & Co. 
 
 CHORAL HARMONY Continued. 
 
 See the Sun's first gleam. - - - - 
 
 49. The Sprite Queen. 
 
 The Sun'a gay beam 
 
 Behold the morning gleaming. 
 
 52 & 53. All the Choruses usually performed in Locke's Mil 
 55. Hail, smiling morn. ..... 
 
 See our oars with feather*d spray. ... 
 57. Come, gentle Spring. 
 f58. Never forget the dear ones. 3 v. 
 
 Merrily o'er the waves we go. ... 
 
 The foot Traveller. 
 
 61. The Chough and Crow. 3 v. - 
 
 62. The huge globe has enough to do. 3 v. 
 
 63. May Morning. 
 
 Come to the woody dell. .... 
 
 65. Which is the properest day to sing f 
 
 Beat high, ye hearts. - .... 
 
 66. Now strike the strings. .... 
 Since first I saw your face. .... 
 
 67. Step together. 
 
 For Freedom, Honour, and Native Land. 
 
 The Mountaineer. ..... 
 
 What delight, what joy rebounds. - 
 
 68. Come, let us all a Maying go. ... 
 Hark, the Lark, ..... 
 Here in cool grot. ..... 
 
 *73. Come on the light winged gale. 3 or 4 v. - 
 
 *74. Sleep, gentle Lady. 
 
 76. Sparkling little fountain. .... 
 
 The dazzling air. 
 
 *78. On Christmas Eve the bells were rung. 3 or 4 v. - 
 80. Hail, all hail, thou merry Month of May. - 
 83. The sea, the sea, the open sea. - - - 
 
 85. The Singers. ....... 
 
 89. Call John. - 
 
 The Travellers. - - ' - 
 
 90. Laughing Chorus. ..... 
 
 Soldier's Love. 
 
 *93. Foresters sound the cheerful horn. - 
 *94. Gaily launch and lightly row. ' - - - 
 
 My lady is as fair as fine. .... 
 *95. See the bright, the rosy morning. - 
 The land of the true and brave. - 
 *96. What shall he have that killed the deer? - 
 
 *97. The Song of the New Year 
 
 *99. Why should a sigh escape us? ... 
 How sweet the joy. - .... 
 
 *100. Upon the Poplar bough 
 
 Mountain Home. -....- 
 Over the Summer sea. - 
 
 Schuffer. 
 
 Weber. 
 Weber. 
 ic for Macbeth. 
 
 Spofforth. 
 
 Stevenson. 
 
 Haydn. 
 
 Root. 
 
 Abt. 
 
 Bishop. 
 
 Bishop. 
 
 Flotow. 
 
 Pelton. 
 
 Arne. 
 
 Kreutzer. 
 
 Sudd. 
 
 Ford. 
 
 - Irish Melody. 
 
 Werner. 
 
 Tyrolese Melody. 
 German. 
 
 - L. Atterbury. 
 
 Dr Cooke. 
 
 Lord Mornington. 
 
 Callcott. 
 
 Bishop. 
 
 Bradbury. 
 
 Evans. 
 
 G. Shinn. 
 C. S. Neukomm. 
 
 - C. Kreutzer. 
 
 - American. 
 
 - James King. 
 
 G. F. Root. 
 
 F. Kucken. 
 
 Sir H. R. Bishop. 
 
 - Mercadante. 
 
 - John Bennett. 
 
 - Carl Blum. 
 
 - Franz Abt. 
 Sir H. R. Bishop. 
 
 Donizetti. 
 
 O'M. 
 
 - C. Kreutzer. 
 
 Paxton. 
 
 . C. Kreutzer. 
 
 Verdi