BEECH FAMILY 



sending their heroes, seeking rest and recreation, to recline 

 under wide-spreading beeches. For example : 



Beneath the shade which beechen boughs diffuse, 

 You, Tityrus, entertain your sylvan muse. 



VIRGIL. 



I ran to meet you as a traveller 



Gets from the sun under a shady beech. 



THEOCRITUS. 



Under the branches of the beech we flung 

 Our limbs at ease and our bent bows unstrung. 



From the Spanish. 



There at the foot of yonder nodding beech 

 That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high, 

 His listless length at noontide he would stretch 

 And pore upon the brook that bubbled by. 



GRAY. 



The following curious story is told by Pliny in his Natural 

 History. " There was a little hill called Corne, in the terri- 

 tory of Tusculurn, not far from the city of Rome, that was 

 clad and beautified with a grove and tufts of beech trees, 

 which were as even and round in the head as if they had been 

 curiously trimmed with garden shears. This grove was, in 

 old times consecrated to Diana, by the common consent of 

 all the inhabitants of Latium who paid their devotions to that 

 goddess there. One of these trees was of such surpassing 

 beauty, that Passenius Crispus a celebrated orator who was 

 twice consul, and who afterwards married the Empress Agrip- 

 pina was so fond of it, that he not only delighted to repose 

 beneath its shade, but frequently poured wine on the roots, 

 and used often to embrace it." 



The ancients also knew that beech wood absorbed very 

 little water and for that reason made excellent bowls. 



No wars did men molest 

 When only beechen bowls were in request. 



VIRGIL. 



In beechen goblets let their beverage shine, 

 Cool from the crystal spring their sober wine. 



MILTON. 



384 



