17 



He would have loved thy modest grace, 



Meek Flower ! To him I would have said 



' It grows upon its native bed 



Beside our parting-place ; 



There, cleaving to the ground it lies 



With multitude of purple eyes, 



Spangling a cushion green like moss ; 



But we will see it, joyful tide ! 



Some day, to see it in its pride, 



The mountain will we cross.'" 



The further you ascend Helvellyn, rarer varieties of 

 plants are found. Thalictrum minus, resembling the maiden 

 hair ; saxifrage oppositifolia, which clothes some of the 

 ridges with its thousands of purple blossoms ; asplenium 

 viride, and the holly fern, or polystichum lonchitis; asplenium 

 scptcntrionale (forked spleenwort), asplenium germanicum, 

 are all plants that a century ago garnished the primeval 

 rocks of Helvellyn ; but to-day some are conspicuous by 

 their absence, and, until a few years ago, it was thought 

 that the native holly fern had been entirely extirpated. 

 When we found that some Wythburn shepherd lads were 

 in possession of a few of the original plants and good, 

 sturdy specimens they were and fearing they might be 

 picked up by some lynx-eyed pedestrian and taken from 

 the district, my brother (who is keeper of the Wordsworth 

 garden at Grasmere) finally secured them, and has now 

 added one of these specimens to the Dove Cottage col- 

 lection, so as to make sure of its preservation to the district. 

 The silene (or campion) will also be added, there being few 

 plants of more importance in this already extensive col- 

 lection. 



No doubt exists in our minds as to the reason these 

 rarest gems have been extirpated from their native haunts, 

 The over-zealous guides, quarrymen, with a sprinkling of 

 so-called local enthusiasts, have much to answer for as 

 regards the extermination of these extreme rarities. It is 

 a gross error to attribute all vandalism to tourists and 



