26 MY DEVON YEAR 



hedges has a double value in springtime. It screens 

 the road, and is a boon to the adjoining fields also ; 

 for from sudden rain and fierce suns it protects the 

 grazing stock, and against the sleet and icy winds of 

 Spring it also shields them. 



Such hedges are loved by mother ewes, and bleating 

 of many a new-born lamb echoes tremulous along 

 them, when primroses and white violets shine from 

 above ; when the wren's little domed nursery is grow- 

 ing behind the ivy root ; when the thrush plasters her 

 frank nest, then leaves it awhile for the March winds 

 to dry. 



