WILD FLOWEES OF MARCH. 



CHAP. V. 



A MARCH MORNING ON MALVERN HILLS. CROCUSES, MEZE- 



REON, APRICOT, PYRUS .TAPONICA, &C. FLOWERS OF THE 



WOODS AND FIELDS. FLOWERING OF THE HAZLE, YEW, 

 AND ELM. 



" Mild-breathing Zephyr, father of the Spring, 

 Who in the verdant meads doth reign sole king, 

 Who, shelter'd here, shrunk from the wintry day, 

 And careless slept the stormy hours away, 

 Hath rous'd himself, and shook his feathers wet 

 With purple-swelling odours, and hath let 

 The sweet and fruitful dew fall on this ground, 

 To force out all the flowers that might be found." 



BEN JONSON. 



We are all familiar with March winds, and nobody 

 doubts but that they will blow ; but the particular 

 days on which such ^lustrations are to take effect, this 

 deponent saith not. Let any one, however, who is 

 unfamiliar with these " blustering railers," only pay a 

 visit to the iced mountain top, or even to such hills 

 as Malvern or the Cotteswolds, and he will be fully 

 awakened to the excitations of the freshening gale. 

 Once in the early part of this very month, we remem- 

 ber scaling the ridge of Malvern with a companion in 

 adventure, many years ago, and the scene was strongly 



