ROSE TEIBE 205 



when polished. The branches are sometimes used in the country for lighting 

 ovens, as they burn well even while green ; but the chief use of the Haw- 

 thorn is for those green impenetrable hedges which bound our meadows and 

 lanes, which are so hardy that they are not even killed by the sea-breeze, 

 and which when whitened by their flowers are one of the greatest beauties 

 of the rural landscape. By frequently pruning the upper parts of these 

 hedges the side branches increase in size and thickness, and these, with their 

 tough wood beset with sharp thorns, present a firm barrier against the 

 intrusion of man or beast. In early spring, when wet with rains, some of 

 these branches look like shining copper. 



But the Hawthorn has not lost all its beauty when old and almost 

 destitute of its own green leaves ; the ivy winds about its stem and boughs, 

 and the grey lichens crowd on its rugged trunk, as Wordsworth says : — 



"Like rock or stone it is o'ergrown So close, you'd say that they are bent 



With lichens to the very top, With plain and manifest intent 



And hung with lieavy tufts of moss. To drag it to the ground ; 



A melancholy crop : And all seem join'd in one endeavour 



Up from the Earth these mosses creep, To bury this poor Thorn for ever." 

 And then, poor Thorn, they clasp it round, 



The chief lichens which thus hang on the old tree are the Hairy Old Man's 

 Beard ( Usnm barbata), the Stag's Horn (Erernia pninastri), and the Mealy 

 Ramalina (Bamalina farinosa). The bright yellow crusts of the Orange 

 Parmelia {Parmelia parietina) sometimes also cover both trunk and bough,"?, 

 not only of these old trees, but of others which form hedges. 



Many an old Hawthorn-tree is the subject of ancient legend, or has long 

 served as a landmark, or been recorded by the mariner in his book as a mark 

 by which to guide his vessel. On many a village green, too, the old tree is 

 prized, as was that of "Sweet Auburn" : — 



"The Hawthorn-tree, with seats beneath the shade. 

 For talking age or whispering lovers made." 



The very tree, respecting which Goldsmith wrote these lines, was livino- 

 within existing memories in the village of Lissoy, the Auburn of the poet. 

 It was strengthened and suppoi'ted by a heap of stones cemented together 

 and placed around it ; but unfortunately, about fifty years since, it was 

 knocked down by a cart laden with apple-trees, which the carter was driving 

 into Ballymahon, and which struck against the aged and picturesque Thorn, 

 and laid it low. It remained in this condition till it was removed, bit by bit, 

 by persons who prized it as a relic, but the root is still preserved by a gentle- 

 man of Athlone. Mr. and Mrs. Hall, who, in their work on Ireland, record 

 these facts, add in a footnote an anecdote quoted by Mr. Prior, from an 

 American traveller, Davis: — "Some years ago, in the United States, 

 Mr. Best, an Irish clergyman, informed this traveller that he was riding 

 with Brady, titular Bishop of Ardagh, when he observed, ' 3Ia foy, Best, this 

 huge bvish is mightily in the way : I will order it to be cut down.' ' What, 

 Sir,' says Best, 'cut down Goldsmith's Hawthorn bush that supplied so 

 beautiful an image in the "Deserted Village"!' ^ Ma foy,^ exclaimed the 



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