THE MOUNTAIN-ASH. 171 



among ruins, such as those of roofless abbeys. The 

 spectacle of a dismantled abbey is always full of 

 power for the soul. Art seems fast verging into 

 Nature ; the walls arabesqued with ivy ; every ledge 

 and " coigne of vantage " occupied by the sweet 

 azure of the harebell, grasses, or yellow hawkweeds; 

 the lines of massive pedestals that mark where 

 sprang the glorious pillars ; the broken lacework of 

 the spaces where once were windows; all these 

 things are touching and impressive ; wonderful is 

 it how all seem made more eloquent, when, dis- 

 closed here and there, though crevice and aperture, 

 we get glimpses of the delicate foliage of the ash. 

 No tree harmonizes so well with dilapidation ; the 

 very hue seems a reflection of grey antiquity. 



THE MOUNTAIN-ASH. 



THE mountain-ash must not be associated with the 

 genuine ash. The name is a very unfortunate one, 

 referring simply to the likeness, slight as it really 

 is, between the leaves, and which consists in nothing 

 more than in both being pinnately compound. The 

 mountain-ash is a near relative of the apple and 

 pear. Hence we find in its blossoms the rosaceous 

 type of corolla, while the fruit corresponds, in a cer- 

 tain measure, with that of the orchard, though in 

 dimensions little more than a berry. The charming 

 spectacle which the flowers present in May, places 

 this tree in the first rank of ornamental ones ; and 



