200 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS. 



heard them with fear. Suddenly the shouts of furious 

 men came remotely on the ear. The fugitives rushed on. 

 Osmund stood for a moment ; then snatching up his oars 

 he rowed his trembling wife and fair child to a small 

 island covered with the great Osmund Royal, and helping 

 them to land, bade them to lie down beneath the tall 

 Ferns. Scarcely had the ferryman returned to his cottage, 

 when a company of Danes rushed in ; but they hurt him 

 not, for they knew he could do them service. During the 

 day and night did Osmund row backwards and forwards 

 across the river, ferrying troops of those fierce men. When 

 the last company was put on shore, Osmund, kneeling 

 beside the river's bank, returned heartfelt thanks to 

 Heaven for the preservation of his wife and child Often, 

 in after-years, did Osmund speak of that day's peril ; and 

 his fair child, grown up to womanhood, called the tall 

 Fern by her father's name. 



Osmunda regalis, Linncciis. 



The Osmund Royal, or Flowering Fern. 



(Plate XIX. fig. 2.) 



This plant has a very stately aspect, growing to the 



average height of three or four feet, but sometimes found 



