AUGUST. 249 



commencement of March : September, October, 

 November, and December, meaning the seventh, 

 eighth, ninth, and tenth months accordingly. Our 

 Saxon ancestors called it, says Verstegan, Arn- 

 monath, barn-month, from the filling of their barns ; 

 am meaning harvest. Some say it was called, as 

 well as June, Woed-monath. 



In the middle of this month, the young goldfinch 

 broods appear; lapwings congregate, thistle-down 

 floats, and birds resume their spring songs. A little 

 afterwards flies abound in windows, linnets con- 

 gregate, and bulls make their shrill autumnal bellow- 

 ing ; and towards the end, the beech turns yellow, 

 the first symptoms of approaching autumn. The 

 nuthatch chatters, and the robin's pensive note is 

 again heard. 



Hops are gathered this month. We cannot boast 

 of our vineyards ; but we question whether Italy 

 itself can show a more beautiful or picturesque 

 scene than an English hop-garden in picking time. 

 The hops, which have luxuriantly climbed to the 

 very tops of their poles, hang on all sides their 

 heavy heads of scaly flowers in festoons and gar- 

 lands ; and the groups of pickers, seated in the open 

 air beneath the clear lustre of an autumnal sky, 

 age in its contentment, and youth in its joy, and 

 the boys and girls who carry to them the poles 

 covered with all their nodding honours, may match, 

 for objects of interest, the light forms and dark eyes 

 of Italy. Kent, Sussex, and Worcestershire, are 

 the counties most famous for the growth of hops. 



