AMENTIFERiE. - - 14D^ 



services rcndei'ed to tlio State, the greatest of wluch was to save the life of a- 



lloman citizen. Shakespeare, in describing the merits of Coriolanus, mentions this 



crown : — 



" At sixteen years, 



When Tarquin made a head from Rome, he fought 



Beyond the mark of others : one then dictator. 



Whom with all praise I point at, saw him fight, 



When with his Amazonian chin lie drove 



The bristled lips before him ; he bestrid 



An o'erpressed Roman, and i' the Consul's view 



Slew three opposers ; Tarquin's self he met. 



And struck him on his knee : in that day's feats, 



When he might act the woman in the scene, 



He proved best man i' the field, and for his meed 



Was brow-bound with the oak." 



Boughs of oak with acorns were carried in marriage ceremonies, as eml^lems of 

 fecundity, Sophocles describes Hecate as crowned with oak-leaves and serpents. 

 Pliny relates of the oaks on the shores of the Cauchian Sea, that, undermined by 

 waves, and propelled by the ivinds, they bore off with them vast masses of earth in 

 their interwoven roots, and occasioned the greatest terror to the Romans, whose 

 fleets encountered these floating islands. The beautiful fiction of the Hamadiyads 

 is frequently referred to by the Greek poets. The Hamadryads ivere nymphs, each of 

 whom was 



" Doom'd to a life coeval with her oak." 



Loudon quotes some lines from the Hymn to Delos, representing Melie as 



" Sighing deeply for her parent oak," 

 And adds, 



" Joy fills her breast when showers refresh the spray; 

 Sadly she grieves when autumn's leaves decay." 



In Appollonius Rhodius we find one of the Hamadryads imploring a woodman to 

 spare the oak to which her existence was attached : — 



" Loud through the air resounds the woodman's stroke, 

 When, lo ! a voice breaks from the groaning oak. 

 ' Spare, spare my life ! a trembling virgin spare ! 

 Oh, listen to the Hamadryad's prayer ! 

 No longer let that fearful axe resound ; 

 Preserve the tree to which my life is bound ! 

 See, from the bark my blood in torrents flows : 

 I faint, I sink, I perish from your blows.' " 



The superstitions connected with the British oak are closely associated with the 

 liistory of the Druids in England. During the early times of these islands, the 

 forests of England were not only useful as a means of subsistence, and a securQ 

 retreat from enemies, but they were also devoted to the most sacred rites of religion. 

 Groves of oaks were more especially preferred by the Druids — these early priests of a 

 dark religion ; and oak branches were always used in their religious ceremonies. 

 The discovery of the mistletoe on the oak was a circumstance of very rare occurrence, 

 and was therefore looked upon as indicative of the peculiar favour of Heaven, and as 



