ASH ,3^ 



to the charm of the ash, which, in its elegance of form, the 

 lightness of its foliage, and its noble branching,' is one of 

 the most beautiful of our forest trees. Virgil appreciatively 

 designates \tfraxinus in sylvis pulcherrima. It is, moreover, 

 after the oak, the most useful of trees, its timber having 

 a toughness, lightness, and elasticity of fibre that gives it 

 great value. It has been called by an old writer "the 

 husbandman's tree," as there is nothing equal to it for 

 poles, ladders, tool-handles, and such like purposes. Evelyn 

 says of it— " It serves the soldier, the carpenter, the wheel- 

 wfight, cartwright, cooper, turner, and thatcher . . . from 

 the pike, spear, and bow to the plough ; in peace and war 

 It IS a wood in the highest request." Homer dwells on the 

 mighty ashen spear of Achilles, and the mediaeval pikemen 

 had the staves of their weapons of this wood. It has 

 a great power of standing sudden strain, so for weapons 

 axe-hafts, and the like it has. a special value. Hence 

 Spencer, in his description of divers trees, " the builder 

 oak ; the laurel, meed of mighty conquerors ; the yew 

 obedient to the bender's will," sums up the present tree in 

 the pithy comprehensive phrase—" the ash, for nothing ill." 

 We see from a passage in Norden's Surveyor\ Diolo-ue 

 a book published in 1607, that it was necessary in^he 

 reign of Henry VIII. to make a Statute for the pre- 

 servation of certain trees that from their economic value 

 were becoming scarce : the oak, beech, and some few 

 others, and amongst these we find the ash. It was 

 required that « twelve storers and standils= should bee left 

 ■ Ash, far-reaching his umbrageous arms. 



COWPER. 



' Store trees, standing trees, so that everything should not be ruthlessly 



