757 



MOOR. 



MOOR. 



758 



admitted into the presence of a prince, he will wait till the moon is in 

 conjunction with the sun, for 'tis then the society of an inferior with a 

 superior is salutary and successful." 



Aubrey, in his ' Miscellanies,' says, " At the first appearance of the 

 new uioon after New Year's Day (some say any other new moon is as 

 good), go out in the evening and stand over the spars of a gate or stile, 

 looking on the moon, aud say 



All hail to thee, moon, all bail to tlicc, 



I prith'cc, good moon, reveal to me 



This night who my husband (wife) shall be. 



You must presently after go to bed. I knew two gentlewomen that 

 did this when they were young maids, and they had dreams of those 

 that married them." Dr. Jainieson has quoted these words as used in 

 Scotland, in a different form. 



Tacitus, in his ' Manners of the Ancient Germans," observes that 

 " they hold their meetings on certain days, either at the new or full 

 moon ; for they consider these the most favourable times for entering 

 on any business." 



Brand quote* Ducheene's ' History of England,' p. 18, where, speak- 

 ing of the Irish, he says, " Quand ils voyent la nouvelle lune, ils fle- 

 chissent leg genoux et recitent 1'Orauon Dominicale, a la fin de laquelle 

 ils disent a haute voix, address-ant leur parolle vers file, ' Laisse nous 

 aussi ains que tu nous as trouvez ;' " which Vallancey confirms in his 

 ' Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis," No. xiii., p. 91. " The vulgar Irish 

 at thin day retain an adoration to the new moon, crossing themselves, 

 and raying ' May thou leave us as safe as thou hast found us." " Park 

 observed a similar practice in the interior of Africa among the 

 Mandingoes. 



The Han in the Moon, one of the most ancient and most 

 popular of our superstitions, is supposed to have originated in the 

 account given in the Book of Numbers, chap, xv., v. 32, &c., of a 

 man who was punished with death for gathering sticks on the 

 Sabbath day. From allusions by Dante it would seem that the 

 Italians in his day fancied that the man in the moon was Cain with a 

 bundle of thorns (see the ' Inferno ' xx, 125-6 ; Par. ii.) Most nations 

 have their traditions on this subject ; Grimm in his ' Deutsche Myth,' 

 has collected a great many. 



MOOR, a name given to extensive wastes which are covered with 

 heath, and the soil of which consists of poor light earth, mixed gene- 

 rally with a considerable portion of peat. The want of fertility in 

 moors arises chiefly from a deficiency or superabundance of moisture, 

 the subsoil being either too porous to retain it, or too impervious to 

 allow it to escape. Both extremes occur in some moors, which are 

 parched up in dry weather, aud converted into a dark mud by any 

 continuance of rain. A considerable portion of iron in a state of 

 hydrate is also generally found in the soil of moors, which is very 

 hurtful to the vegetation of plants, except heath, fmze, aud other 

 coarse plants, which almost entirely cover the moors. This iron is 

 carried down through the light surface-soil, aud, if it meets with a less 

 porous earth below, is frequently deposited in a thin layer, cementing 

 the particles of silicious sand, which are carried down with it, and 

 forming what is called the lieat.li-pan or moor-band. This substance is 

 perfectly impervious to water, and wherever it exists in a continuous 

 state, all attempts at improvement are vain, till it is broken through or 

 removal. The roots of trees occasionally find a passage through inter- 

 stices or fractures of the pan, and then often grow luxuriantly. But 

 wherever young trees are planted, without the precaution of breaking 

 through the moor-land, they invariably fail, and disappoint the expecta- 

 tions of the planter, who, seeing fine large trees growing around, 

 naturally imagined that the soil was peculiarly fitted for them. If the 

 stump of a large tree, which has been cut down, is grubbed up, pieces 

 of the moor-band may often be seen all around the stem, at a short 

 depth below the surface, so arranged as to show evidently that the tap- 

 root, having found an aperture, and extending its fibres downwards 

 into a better soil, has, in swelling, broken the pan and pushed it aside. 

 When the moor consists of a loose peaty earth of little depth incum- 

 bent on a rock, as is the case in many mountainous countries, no art 

 can fertilise it. In dry weather the whole surface has the appearance 

 of a brown powder like snuff, which becomes a spongy peat as soon as 

 it is soaked with rain. The hardiest heaths and mosses alone can bear 

 this alternation ; and where the substratum of rock is not broken into 

 crevices through which the roots penetrate, all vegetation ceases except 

 mosses and lichens. 



In the valleys, where the waters have brought various earths mixed 

 with decayed vegetable matter from the surrounding hills, the sub- 

 stance deposited is mostly peat, which is useful as fuel in proportion 

 to the quantity of bitumen and carbon which it contains. When the 

 peaty matter is mixed with a considerable portion of clay and sand, 

 forming a peaty loam, and a convenient outlet can be found for the 

 superabundant water, it is very capable of improvement, chiefly by 

 draining, burning, and liming. [BARKEN LAND.] As soon as the 

 heath is destroyed by burning it together with a portion of the surface, 

 and the peat bog has acquired a certain consistency by draining, the 

 application of lime will enable it to produce potatoes and oats, and the 

 peaty matter will soon be converted into a rich soil, abounding in 

 i.-t, and requiring only repeated cultivation to become extremely 

 fertile. [PEAT.] Much judgment is required to know whether a con- 



siderable capital may be safely laid out in the improvement of moors- 

 In some cases the return is certain and very considerable ; in others 

 the capital is entirely thrown away. Sometimes extensive moors havo 

 been converted into nourishing farms of arable and grass land, as in 

 many parts of Scotland and the north of England ; sometimes they 

 have been most advantageously planted with forest-trees, and, where 

 there is a great extent of waste and a scanty population, this is gene- 

 rally the most certain mode of improving a property, although the 

 return is slow and distant. 



A prudent proprietor, before he begins expensive improvements, will 

 do well to have his wastes carefully examined. The soil and subsoil, 

 and the situation of the springs, should be carefully ascertained by 

 boring in different places to the depth of five or six feet. It will thus 

 appear whether any portion can be readily converted into arable land, 

 or improved as pasture, or whether plantations of trees may be safely 

 made. The division of the waste into fields by deep ditches will often 

 be sufficient to lay them dry ; if not, recourse must be had to draining. 

 In the humid climate of Great Britain and Ireland, the water which 

 falls in rains in the winter half of the year is always more than is necessary 

 for healthy vegetation, and ditches are generally indispensable to keep 

 the surface dry. The convenience of enclosures for pasturing cattle 

 and sheep to advantage, added to this, has made the division of wastes 

 by ditches and banks an invariable preliminary to cultivation. Expen- 

 sive draining may not always be expedient, where the soil is naturally 

 poor; but wherever there is sufficient loam, either immediately under 

 the peat or mixed with it, and lime can be obtained at a moderate cost, 

 the soil may always be brought into cultivation, and will fully repay 

 any judicious outlay of capital. 



In many situations on the slopes of hills, or in the valleys, good 

 earth may be found at a moderate depth, which, being carted on the 

 moor, will materially improve the surface. It should be carted out in 

 the beginning of winter, and spread over the surface an inch or two 

 deep. It should be left so a considerable time, especially if there is 

 any appearance of ochre or iron in the earth. The exposure to the air 

 and rain will convert the hydrate or carbonate of iron into an oxide, 

 and thus render it innoxious. The earth also will absorb fertilising 

 portions of the atmosphere, and be much improved. It may then be 

 ploughed in with a shallow furrow, and incorporated with the natural 

 soil by harrowing. A small quantity of lime and manure will bring 

 this mixture into a productive state. 



There are many moors which, although incapable of profitable im- 

 provement as arable land, may, at a comparatively small expense, be 

 much improved as pasture for sheep and cattle. The principal means 

 of effecting this are, judicious draining by ditches, and enclosing the 

 fields with banks or stone walls, both as shelter for the stock and for 

 convenience of feeding. The heath may be burnt aud the ashes spread 

 about, and the surface having been scarified to the depth of a few 

 inches, some grass-seeds suited to the soil and climate may be sown. 

 The surface will soon show a manifest change by the increase of green 

 patches, and a subsequent liming will complete the improvement. 

 When the health of the stock, as well as the increase of food, is taken 

 into the account, it will be found that such an improvement of moor- 

 land soon repays the outlay. 



When the surface of the ground is very uneven with protruding 

 rocks, interspersed with large stones, the only improvement which can 

 be undertaken is to plant trees, chiefly of the fir or pine tribe, which 

 will grow well if put in judiciously. The plants should be of the last 

 year only, and the ground where they are to be planted should be well 

 examined to find out whether there is a moor-band or rock below. 

 The first must be broken through, which may be done by trenching 

 or by means of heavy-pointed iron bars thrust into the ground with 

 considerable force, wherever a plant is put in. If there is a rock below 

 with six inches of earth over it, provided it be not of a very compact 

 and solid nature, the fir-trees will grow rapidly, and the roots will find 

 crevices to strike into. A plantation should begin in a sheltered spot, 

 and it may be enlarged every year towards the more exposed side. 

 Thus even the highest and bleakest hills may in time be covered 

 with wood, and, if properly managed, cannot fail to be profitable. 

 [PLANTATIONS.] 



Muss-land is often confounded with moor; but is very distinct in 

 its nature. Moss-land is produced by the accumulation of aquatic 

 plants, and its origin is chiefly vegetable. When it has a considerable 

 depth, and its substance has lost all power of vegetation, it forms 

 peat-bogs of more or less consistency, as the water is drained off or 

 retained in its pores. In the latter case it appears like a spongy vege- 

 table mass, consisting almost entirely of fibres, so interwoven as to 

 form a very light substance, in which water is easily retained, which 

 keeps up a kind of internal vegetation, by which the quantity of the 

 moss is gradually increased. This is the substance which covers the 

 surface of bogs, and where it' is of some consistence it allows a passage 

 over them [Boo] ; but where it is very thin and loose it deceives the 

 eye by an appearance of solidity, like that of a smooth greep pasture, 

 which, however, gives way to the pressure of the foot, and allows it to 

 sink through it with very little resistance. The only way to improve 

 moss is to drain it, aud then convert the vegetable matter of which it 

 is composed into soil, by means of lime and pressure. The latter is 

 effected by putting on a considerable quantity of earth, especially sand 

 aud gravel, which, incorporating with the moss, consolidates it, aud 



