230 SWALDKIRK. 



chard, immediately adjoining it on the west. Em- 

 bankments of some extent, running on the north and 

 east sides, as well as the occurrence of some huge 

 stumps whitened with age, ascertain this orchard to 

 have been of great antiquity, and of no inconsider- 

 able extent. In traversing it I was surprised by 

 meeting amongst some scattered oaks of modern 

 growth, three aged pear trees, one of unusual size, 

 and still flourishing in a green old age. Leaning 

 against its aged stem, I, in imagination pictured the 

 many seasons that had rolled over its head, the 

 many generations that had passed away, the many 

 scenes that had occurred within its ken, the many 

 events which, endowed with the faculty of speech, 

 it could reveal. 



Thou could'st indeed a tale unfold ! 

 Some have left 

 A splintered stump, bleached to a snowy white, 

 And some memorial none, where once they grew ; 



Yet still the genial spring 

 Finds thee not less alive to her sweet force, 

 Than yonder upstarts of the neighbouring wood, 

 So much thy juniors. 

 Survivor sole, or nearly such, of all 

 That once lived here, oh! could'st thou speak, 

 As in Dodona once thy kindred trees 

 Oracular, I would not curious ask 

 The future, best unknown, but at thy mouth, 

 Inquisitive, the less ambiguous past ! 



By thee I might correct, (erroneous oft,) 

 The clock of history, facts and events 

 Timing more punctual, unrecorded facU 



