250 WILD FLOWEKS OF 



When Yew is out then Birch conies in, 



And many flowers beside ; 

 Both of a fresh and fragrant klnne, 



To honour Whitsontide. 



Green Rushes then, and sweetest Bents, 



With cooler Oaken boughs, 

 Come in for comely ornaments, 



To re-adorn the house. 



It has been supposed that the sombre funereal Tew 

 that appears in most churchyards, and often of im- 

 mense size and great age, was originally planted in 

 such situations from its use in connexion with the fes- 

 tivals of the church. But it is remarkable that Holly, 

 equally wanted at Christmas, should seldom or never 

 be found there, to say nothing of Birch ; and it is 

 most probable, that as the Cypress was the symbol of 

 immortality with the Pagan nations of antiquity, so 

 the Tew was selected by the Christians in northern 

 countries as equally analogous in this respect ; and 

 typical, not only of the immortality of the soul, but 

 of the perpetual endurance of that Church, against 

 which the gates of hell were in scriptural terms never 

 to prevail. 



By the middle of June, in dry stony localities, the 

 little Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca), often displays 

 its scarlet fruit, which fairy-like as it appears, yields 

 not in flavour to the largest horticultural variety. 

 Often, indeed, when sinking wearied on the turf after 

 a toilsome exploration, have I seen its little pitted 

 globes with joy, and refreshed my parched tongue with 

 its grateful and fragrant moisture. 



In a former chapter I alluded to the localities of 

 plants, and I may here add that the habitats they 



