256 WOODS AND WILDS OF SHETLAND. [Feb., 



cropping of live stock. But for the clothing of a few spots with 

 the specimens I have now mentioned, Shetland would be absolutely 

 naked, and that is the aspect, as already stated, which the country 

 generally exhibits. The trees are shrubs; the shrubs are stunted, 

 and lift their heads only when sheltered. If they attempt to over- 

 top their walls, they are decapitated by the wind. A ]\Iountain Ash 

 and an Elder liad grown to a small size in tiie garden of a minister 

 at Sandsting — the denominations are exceedingly well represented in 

 Shetland, and there are several ' ministers ' in most parishes — and as 

 those birds which prefer nesting in trees are put to great shifts, each 

 of the above-named specimens was graced by a crow's nest. 



It would be easy to write an essay on the Elder — that tree of ill- 

 omen, on which no woman of the superstitious North would hang 

 her cradle and its precious contents when she went afield to work, 

 whose wood was carefully avoided in the making of household 

 articles, and whose peculiar demon, the Elder- Witch, was one of the 

 worst of an indifferent tribe. These, however, are old-world-stories, 

 and I am able to praise the Elder as the hardiest shrub of Shetland, 

 and the one which, in spite of its large leaves, is best suited to 

 exposed aspects, and forms the hardiest living shelter-fence. When 

 planted for the purpose of shelter, it is invariably protected by a 

 wall when young, and on looking over the fence, it is pretty sure to 

 lose its top in the manner already described. Some of the best Elder 

 fences I saw, as well as some of the best farming, were in Unst ; and 

 having been firmly established by the skill and perseverance of an 

 industrious small farmer, they proved sufficient, in regard to shelter 

 and defence, for the little enclosures in which the good man's calves 

 and cattle were grazing. 



In searching for the reasons why the Elder proves itself the 

 hardiest of shrubs, we meet with one of the ' mysteries ' of natural 

 history. As a tree of the North, it has become habituated to cold, 

 but it does not appear that its power of such resistance can be 

 detected in the structure and anatomy of the plant. Constitution 

 and vitality are powers which greatly prolong life, but we cannot at 

 present reach the source of these endowments by dissection. 



The roots of the Elder are, however, particularly numerous and 

 vigorous, which may, perhaps, in some degree, indicate the existence 

 of the powers referred to. But we are here on ground which the 

 ablest botanists are not yet able to venture upon freely, and, when 

 nothing better offers, the arboriculturist must be content with unex- 

 plained facts, and with such knowledge as experience teaches. 



H. EvEESIIED. 



