76 MESPILUS. 



defend the villages of N. Durham against the raids of the Scotch 

 moss-troopers, hedges were ordered to be planted around the " little 

 closes or crofts " lying hardbye theAdllage ; and the hedge was to be 

 "a dooble set of quicksett and some ashes." Quicksett is the name 

 still given to the young planted thorns ; and any doubt as to the 

 meaning is removed by the further order to each tenant " to sow 

 haws and shaffs of ashe for seven yeares to come." Raine's N. Dur- 

 ham, p. xxxii. — The plantation of hedges for peaceful purposes suc- 

 ceeded, and has been commensurate with the progress of agriculture, 

 so that there is no plant which contributes more to give a character 

 to the existing landscape. And it is not easy to overrate the whole- 

 some influence of the hawthorn, in early summer especially, on the 

 population itself ; for then it is radiating from every road, and lane, 

 and footpath, a stream of incense and of beauty which nor young nor 

 old can resist, — a balm than which that of Gilead is not more virtuous. 

 Nothing which gives us a happy hour can be insignificant. There is 

 a pleasure in seeing our nice boys and girls carrying home flowered 

 branches of the Thorn, albeit this attempt to prolong the outdoor en- 

 joyment is often a fruitless one. It is at all events a visible testimony 

 to the ascendency and power of the shrub over them and their hap- 

 piness. 



Further " in this northern district," the Hawthorn is "one of the 

 greatest accessories to the beauty and scenery of our denes and deep 

 ravines, and few that are at all wooded but owe a great portion of 

 their interest to the presence of this tree ; as a proof of its eff"ect in 

 such localities, we might instance the ravines in the neighbourhood of 

 the Pease-bridge, on the great northern road between Berwick and 

 Edinburgh, where large and ancient Thorns are seen mixed with a 

 few detached and knarled oaks, the vacant spaces enriched vfith the 

 golden blossoms of the whin." Selby, Brit. For. Trees, p. 70. — 

 There are also many fine Thorns cherished in the policies or grounds 

 surrounding the residences of ovu* gentry ; and many in the haughs 

 which lie along the sides of our waters. These afi'ord a favourite con- 

 cealment in which the Thrush seeks to build her nest : 



" Within yon milk-white hawthorn bush, 

 Amang her nestlings sits the thrush ; 

 Her faithfu' mate will share her toil. 

 Or wi' his song her cares beguile." 



Our thickest and wildest deans too contain abundance of Thorn ; 

 and it is foimd occasionally, in small groups or solitary, on our moors, 

 but stunted and hung in a livery of grey lichens, — a kind of garniture 

 which also gives character to the miserable hedges of those districts, 

 where the soil and climate prove only favourable to the parasites. On 

 the sides of our highest hills also an occasional Thorn catches the 

 eye and serves as a sort of land-mark to the shepherd. They grow 

 generally on a rough stony spot, or on a cairn ; and are cankered 

 stunted productions with small leaves and few or no flowers ; or, if 

 the site is exposed to the east winds or the northern gales, the shrub 

 lies squat to the ground with tortuous branches, intertwisted closely. 



