THE ASPEN 125 



matter whereof women's tongues were made (as the 

 poets and some others report), which seldom cease 

 wagging." Among many other allusions to this tree 

 Scott's address to woman in Marmion, as 



" Variable as the shade 

 By the light quivering Aspen made," 



is one of the best known. Far more strikingly 

 poetical is the old Scottish and English legend on 

 the subject, so beautifully told by Mrs. Hemans : 



"... a cause more deep, 

 More solemn far, the rustic doth assign 

 To the strange restlessness of those wan leaves ; 

 The cross, he deems, the blessed cross, whereon 

 The meek Redeemer bowed His head to death, 

 Was formed of Aspen wood, and since that hour 

 Through all its race the pale tree hath sent down 

 A thrilling consciousness, a secret awe, 

 Making them tremulous, when not a breeze 

 Disturbs the airy thistle-down, or shakes 

 The light lines of the shining gossamer." 



A very different version was thus strikingly 

 narrated by a contributor to Notes and Queries 

 many years ago : 



" At that awful hour of the Passion, when the Saviour of the 

 world felt deserted in His agony, when 'The sympathising sun 

 hil light withdrew, And wonder'd how the stars their dying Lord 

 could view' when earth, shaking with horror, rang the passing 

 bell for Deity, and universal nature groaned, then from the loftiest 

 tree to the lowliest flower all felt a sudden thrill and, trembling, 

 bowed their heads, all save the proud and obdurate Aspen, which 

 said, ' Why should we weep and tremble ? We trees, and plants, 

 and flowers are pure and never sinned ! ' Ere it ceased to speak, an 

 involuntary trembling seized its every leaf, 'and the word went forth 

 that it should never rest, but tremble on until the day of judgment." 



