158 WILD FLOWEES. 



to receive its red colour from the blackberry ; 

 and in several parts of the south of France 

 this fruit is so large and juicy, that it is 

 commonly called, pinte de vin. The bramble 

 leaves and stems are used in dyeing, and the 

 young tops and leaves were a common salad at 

 the tables of the ancient Greeks. 



One common use of the bramble stem must 

 have often attracted our attention, when we 

 have wandered in the quiet village churchyard. 

 Its young shoots serve to bind down the sods, 

 under which repose the "young men and 

 maidens, old men and children." 



" O'er some of these 

 The flight of centuries has passed — alas ! 

 Above the wept remains of others, yet 

 The fresh-reared hillock waves not in the wind 

 Its friendly robe of green." 



The bramble was, of old, used for this pur- 

 pose ; for Jeremy Taylor, when commenting on 

 the certainty of man's mortality, says, " The 

 autumn, with its fruits, prepares disorders for 

 us, and the winter's cold turns them into 

 sharp diseases ; and the spring brings flowers 

 to strew upon our hearse ; and the summer 

 gives green turf and brambles to bind upon 

 our graves." 



The thorny branches of this plant exhibit 

 many a reddish green spray of leaves in winter. 

 It is a native both of cold and hot climates, and 

 found wild in every country in Europe. Several 

 species of rubus, known by the name of dew- 

 berry, cloudberry, and bilberry, are common iu 

 Britain ; and the raspberry {Rubus idceus) is 



