TREES IN MYTH AND LEGEND. 2O0 



(Sa/ix fragilis) famous by the delight he took in reposing 

 beneath the full shadow given by its wide boughs and ample 

 foliage. He used to remark that it had been the delight of his 

 early days and of his waning life. Many are the single and 

 grouped trees which have been celebrated for interesting 

 associations, like the Burnham beeches, beneath which Gray 

 wandered to be soothed in his musing by the gentle whisperings 

 " of the nodding beeches," which, he says, " are always dreaming 

 out their old stories of the winds." It may be said that these 

 are poets and sentimentalists : but we are all, if not poets, at 

 least somewhat sentimental, at any rate, as regards nature, and 

 trees somehow must always be an attractive part of nature. 

 Their influence on our lives cannot be too much emphasised, 

 for they serve, for one thing, to tie us more and more to our 

 country. Who knows but that by getting rural people to 

 cultivate a greater interest in trees and their lore we may not 

 take a step onward in solving the difficult problem of the 

 migration of the rural population to towns? On the other hand, 

 by educating townspeople in tree habits, tree names, and tree- 

 lore, they might gain a new delight in country walks and summer 

 holidays. At any rate, it is certain that woodmen and such- 

 like would be much better of a little knowledge of tree-lore, if 

 only to colour their work and make their lives more interesting. 

 Though of less importance than the utilitarian value, the 

 aesthetic value of trees is immense and cannot be too much 

 exaggerated, since they greatly influence the lives of men. 



