2022 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART HI. 



Gray, in his ShcphcrcVs Week, alludes to the magic powers supposed to be 

 possessed by the hazel nuts : — 



" Two hazel nuts 1 threw into the flame. 

 And to each nut I gave a sweetheart's name. 

 This, with the louoest bounce me sore amazed. 

 That with a flame of brightest colour blazed. 

 As blazed the nut, so may thy passion grow : 

 For 't was thy nut that did so brightly glow." 



From the custom of burning nuts in this manner on All-Hallows Eve, that 

 day (the 31st of October) has received, in some parts of the country, the 

 vulgar appellation of Nutcrack Night. Burns alludes to this custom in his 

 Halloween : — 



" Amang the bonny winding banks 

 Where Doon rins wimpling, clear. 

 Where Bruce ance ruled the martial ranks, 



An' shook the Carrick sjiear, 

 Some merry, friendly, countra folks 



Together did convene. 

 To burn their nuts, an' pou their stocks. 

 And baud their Halloween 



Fu' blythe that night." 



The following pretty lines on this subject were published in a Collection of 

 Pocnis, printed at Dublin in 1801 : — 



" These glowing nuts are emblems true 

 Of what in human life we view : 

 The ill-matched couple fret and fume. 

 And thus in strife themselves consume ; 

 Or, from each other wildly start. 

 And with a noise for ever part. 

 But see the happy, happy pair. 

 Of genuine love and truth sincere ; 

 With mutual fondness, while they burn. 

 Still to each other kindly turn ; 

 And, as the vital sparks decay, 

 Together gently sink away ; 

 Till, life's fierce ordeal being past. 

 Their mingled ashes rest at last." 



Many other quotations might be given, but we shall content ourselves with 

 only one more, from Wordsworth : — 



-^— " Among the woods 

 And o'er the pathless rocks I forced my way ; 

 Until at length I came to one dear nook, 

 Unvisited, where not a broken bough 

 Droop'd with its wither'd leaves, ungracious sign 

 Of devastation '. But the hazels rose 

 Tall and erect, with milk-white clusters hung,— 

 A virgin scene! A little while I stood. 

 Breathing with such suppression of the heart 

 As joy delights in ; and with wise restraint. 

 Voluptuous, fearless of a rival, eyed 

 The banquet. Then up I. arose, 



And dragg'd to earth each branch and bough with crash. 

 And merciless ravage ; and the shady nook 

 Of hazels, and the green and mossy bower, 

 Deform'd and sullie<l, patiently gave up 

 Their quiet being : but, unless I now 

 Confound my present feelings with the past, 

 Even then, when from the bower I turn'd away 

 Exulting, rich beyond the wealth of kings, 

 I felt a sense of pain when I beheld 

 The silent trees, and the intruding sky." 



Properties and Uses. The hazel, in a wild state, affords, by its numerous 

 branches, protection to various small birds : its nuts afford food to the squir- 

 rels, and some other quadrupeds ; to some of the larger birds ; and to man 

 in a wandering and half-civilised state ; but there are a few insects that live on 

 its leaves. Considered as a timber tree, the wood is never of a sufficient size 

 for building purposes; but it is used in cabinet-making, and for various smaller 

 and more delicate productions. It weighs, dry, 49 lb. per cubic foot. It is 

 tender, pliant, of a wliitish red colour, and of a close, even, and full grain ; 

 but it does not take a very bright polish. The roots, when they are of suf- 

 ficient size, afford curiously veined pieces, which are used in veneering 



