THE 



fHOITS OF THE COUNTRY-SIDE 



CHAPTER I 



The Ideas associated with Autumn— Often Pessimistic, but needlessly so- 

 Autumn the Period of Fruition— The Infinite Variety of Nature— Why 

 Fruits thought of less Interest than Flowers— The Hedgerows— Hawthorn 

 or Whitethorn— Worlidge's Mystery of Husbandry—Th^ May— The 

 Poets thereon— Tree-worship— Haws— The Cross of Thoms— Adam in 

 £den— The Doctrine of Signatures— The Traveller's Joy— The Privet- 

 Buckthorn— Gerard's Generall Historie of Plantes—1\\ft Wild Roses 

 of our Hedges— Hips— The Sweet Briar— Eglantine of the Poets— 

 Bedeguar— The Field Rose— Drying Plants— Hazel— Powers of Divina- 

 tion—The Squirrel's Hoard— Nut-shells and their Occupants— Keats on 

 the Autumn— Prognostications from Nuts— Why we eat Almonds and 

 Raisins-Culpeper in Defence of Nuts— The Guelder-rose- Snowball- 

 tree— Woody Nightshade, Its poisonous Berries— Dry-beaten Folk- 

 Black Nightshade, or Petty Morel— Hop— The Vine of the North— The 

 Herbalist Lobel— Willow-wolves— The I\7— Its great Variation in 

 Form— Gerard thereupon— Is Ivy harmful to Trees ?— Shakespeare on 

 Parasites— The Poet's Crown— Christmas Decorations— Black Bryony— 

 Red-berried Bryony— Bacon on Climbing Plants— The Blackthorn- 

 Blackthorn Winter— Sloe Tea— Spindle-tree— Wayfaring Tree— The 

 Foure Bookes of //usiafidfj—Paikinsoa's Theatrum Botanicum—The. 

 Yew— The Saturnalia— Clipping Dragons and Peacocks— The English 

 Archers— Churchyard Yews— Dogwood— Honeysuckle— The Blackberry 

 —Dewberries— Cloud-berries— Stone-bramble— Raspberry— Strawberry 

 —Mediaeval Prescriptions-Barberry- Bird-cherries— The Cuckoo-pint 

 or Wild Arum. 



THE ideas associated with Autumn, we are afraid, 

 are often not altogether happy ones. If we are at 

 all inclined to be pessimistic the thought suggests itself 



