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young thorns for hedges, and he employed himself the while in preparing the ground 
to receive them, 
In England thorn hedges seem to have been in use since the time of the Romans. 
In all old works on husbandry, directions are given for forming “ quickset hedges,” 
and in 1611 an old author gives very particular instructions as to enclosing young 
plantations with a “good ditch and quickset of white thorne.” The wood of the 
Hawthorn is very hard, and difficult to work ; its colour is white with a yellow tinge, 
and it takes a beautiful polish. The branches are useful for many purposes ; they are 
good for fires, as they burn readily ; they are also used for forming dead hedges, and the 
strong knotted branches make good and firm walking-sticks. The fruit of the Hawthorn 
is seldom eaten in England, excepting by children, though it is said to be nutritious. 
In Kamtchatka it is much liked, and a sort of wine is made from it by fermentation 
with water. The bark contains tannin, and was used in former days in the Highlands 
with sulphate of iron to form a black dye for wool. The Hawthorn attains a great age 
when not cut or otherwise injured ; and we quite agree with its warmest admirers in 
thinking that in a picturesque point of view the Hawthorn gives place to no other tree. 
Whether we see it in the spring time, covered with its snowy blossoms, or in the autumn 
with its glowing berries, we must regard it not only as an interesting object in itself, 
but as contrasting and grouping with other trees in a remarkably beautiful manner. 
Phillips remarks that the garland of Flora does not possess a more charming blossom 
than this.British hedge beauty, nor do the most luxuriant species of Asia yield a more 
grateful perfume than this flowering shrub. Hawthorn blossoms have been associated 
with the floral games of May from time immemorial. They were regarded as the 
emblems of Hope, and were carried by girls in wedding processions of the ancient 
Greeks, and laid on the altar of Hymen, which was lighted with torches made of this 
wood, The Troglodytes tied branches of Hawthorn to their dead when they were 
buried. In some parts of France the Hawthorn is called [épine noble, because it is 
supposed to have been the thorn used for crowning the Saviour, and the country people 
believe it always utters groans and sighs on a Good Friday. Others puta bunch of 
Hawthorn in their hats to preserve them against lightning in a thunder-storm. The 
most remarkable legend connected with the Hawthorn is that of the Glastonbury thorn. 
It is said to have sprung from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea, who, it is believed, 
founded the first Christian church in these islands, and that this miracle was wrought 
in order to convince the natives of his divine mission. The legend adds that it was on 
Christmas-day that this vegetation of the staff occurred, and that the thorn still 
continues to blossom annually on the same day. The French have a legend that on 
the day after the massacre of St. Bartholomew, on August 25th, an old thorn in the 
churchyard of St. Innocent, in Paris, came into blossom a second time. 
The poets who have sung the praises of the Hawthorn are almost as numerous as 
those who have written of the rose. 
Chaucer, in his “Court of Love,” makes all his court go forth on May-day to gather 
in the flowers, and— 
“ Marke the faire blooming of the Hawthorne-tree, 
Who finely cloathed in a robe of white, 
Fills full the wanton eye with May’s delight.” 
And we read in Shakespeare’s “ Henry the Sixth :’— 
“ Gives not the Hawthorn-bush a sweeter shade 
To shepherds looking on their silly sheep, 
