52 HISTORY OF BRITISH ZOOPHYTES. 
in a nutting excursion in my early boyish days, when, wan- 
dering from my noisy companions, I came to a glade of sur- 
passing beauty, watered by a tiny limpid rill, when I looked 
at the green sward, and the mossy hillocks, and the wild 
flowers, and the encircling copse of hazel intermingled with 
oak and ash, the autumnal tints of whose foliage was 
gilded by the beams of the afternoon sun, my admiration of 
the beautiful gave place to awe; for I thought surely this 
lovely spot must be the playground of fairies, who may be 
here though unseen. Fleeing, and yet trying not to seem 
to flee, I steered towards the edge of the copse, casting at 
times a sidelong glance lest some of the green-coated little 
Jolk* should be at my heels; and guided by the sound of 
my youthful companions I was truly glad when I reached 
them in safety. Oh that, in riper years, I oftener felt the 
presence of Him who is mvisible, and that whether in the 
field, m the family, in the sanctuary, or in the closet, I 
were oftener constrained to say, “ Surely the Lord is in this 
place and I knew it not; this is none other than the house 
* The fairy-folk being one of the names by which these little fays were 
spoken of, explains the origin of the name of one of our stateliest native 
flowers— Fox-glove, 2.¢. Folk’s-glove. Our Scotch name, bloody fingers, is 
a kind of translation of Digitalis purpurea. 
