MOUNTAIN ASH TREE. 249 



of them, that they will not always give them time to 

 ripen. 



In Germany, the fowlers bait springes or nooses of 

 hair with these berries, which they hang in the woods to 

 entice the redwings and fieldfares : whence the French 

 name, and the Latin specific name, which has a similar 

 meaning. 



It is said that the Mountain Ash berries, dried and 

 jwwdered, will make a wholesome bread ; and when we 

 consider that the Swedish peasants are often reduced to 

 subsist on bread made of the bark of the elm, fir, or 

 birch tree, we may easily suppose that made of these 

 berries would be a comparative luxury. An ardent 

 spirit also is distilled from them, small in quantity, but 

 of fine flavour. The Scottish Highlanders and the 

 Kamtschadales make that use of them. Infused in water, 

 they make an acid liquor, somewhat similar to perry, 

 which is drunk by the Welsh poor, who call it Diod- 

 Graviole, or Ciavol-drink. In the island of Jura, their 

 juice is used as an acid for punch. 



The wood is used in mill-work, for tables, chairs, 

 &c. : the roots are formed into knife and spoon handles. 

 The fletchers commend it for bows, as second only to 

 yew, and it is an excellent fuel. 



Few persons, even of the inhabitants of London, are 

 entirely unacquainted with the Mountain Ash, its elegant 

 foliage, and glowing fruit ; or with the light and cheerful 

 contrast it makes with the fir, or larch trees : but only 

 those who have travelled northwards, we are told, have 

 seen it in all its beauty. Mr. Gilpin says, that in the 

 Scottish Highlands it becomes a considerable tree, and 

 that a few of them interspersed with the dark pines and 

 the waving birch have a very fine effect. 



In old times the Mountain Ash \\;i an object of great 



