WOOD SORREL. 79 



grounds and thickly-wooded valleys that 

 enriched the country of the Dobuni. In still 

 remoter ages, the Romans entrenched at a 

 short distance, and when their sons had 

 gained a settlement in Britain, spacious 

 villas arose upon the site of those rude vil- 

 lages in which our ancestors had dwelt. But 

 my thoughts are not with scenes of rapine, 

 I would rather speak concerning the well- 

 head of that clear stream, whose mellow 

 voice is heard far down the valley, even 

 when its course is concealed by the droop- 

 ing branches of such trees as border its 

 rapid course. Mosses, damp with glistening 

 spray, throng and crowd around the old 

 stone trough, into which the waters leap 

 from out the rocky bank. Tufts of ferns 

 and hart's-tongue bend into the stream, 

 when, flowing over the old trough, they 

 form a small lake, which often reflects the 

 summer moon, and the quivering branches 



