44 THE PINE. 



pine a mountaineer, so truly indeed, are all conifers 

 children of the heights, that it is supposed by some 

 that the very name of Pinus is but an altered form 

 of the ancient Celtic word for a mountain, as pre- 

 served to this day in Ben Lomond, Ben Nevis, Ben 

 Cruachan, and in the name of the Apennines. Were 

 this the place, an entire chapter might be written 

 on geographical names taken from plants and trees, 

 and, contrariwise, on names of trees, &c., taken from 

 those of countries and localities ; it must suffice, 

 however, to indicate that such a subject awaits the 

 scrutiny of the curious, and to mention the Morea, 

 as so called on account of that peninsula resembling 

 in its outline the leaf of the mulberry-tree, Moru-s 

 nigra; and Buckinghamshire, as signifying the 

 home of the beech-trees, " beech " being only 

 another spelling of the older Teutonic name, buck, 

 or buck. 



As we are made best acquainted with it, the 

 Scotch pine is generally found in great platoons, or 

 used almost alone for large plantations. Sometimes 

 it is mingled with others of its race ; frequently 

 it is the only tree over an area of miles in extent. 

 It is altogether unfit for a hedgerow tree, being 

 incapable of giving shelter when standing alone, 

 and soon becoming unsightly. Whether formed of 

 this tree alone, or of conifers in variety, a pine-wood 

 is one of the most imposing scenes in nature. It is 

 totally different from a forest of trees such as oaks. 



