46 ANCIENT WYCH ELM. 



acorns, leaves, and innumerable et cetera of Britain's 

 guardian tree. However highly the Druids might vene- 

 rate the oak, and make it the emblem and residence of 

 their deity, yet the intrinsic value of this tree was un- 

 known to our remote forefathers. All their knowledge 

 of its virtues was probably included in its uses for 

 building, its acorns for their swine, and, perhaps, its 

 bark for preserving the skins which they used. Modern 

 ingenuity and necessity have brought its various quali- 

 ties into notice, or our oak would have received such 

 honors, as in days of darkness were conferred upon in- 

 animate things : Attica considered the olive as the gift 

 of her tutelary goddess, and some benevolent saint 

 would have been lauded and hymned, for having en- 

 dowed the oak of Britain with such extensive virtues 

 for the good of mankind. 



The other tree, that I mentioned above as one of our 

 boasts, is a wych or broad-leaved elm (ulmus montana), 

 standing near the turnpike road. This very fine and 

 stately tree was saved, when the merciless ax levelled 

 all its companions, at the solicitation of a lady now no 

 more, and remains a testimony of her good taste, the 

 civility of the agent, and the ornament of our village. 

 When in youth, this species presents a character deci- 

 dedly different from the common elm (ulmus campes- 

 tris). Its branches at times are so strong as to be nearly 

 equal in size with the main stem that supports them, 

 and loaded with such a profusion of foliage, that the 

 sprays become pendent, and give the idea of luxuri- 

 ance with weakness, of a growth beyond strength ; ad- 

 vancing in age, its arms and sprays become less pensile, 

 as the .leaves are smaller and less burdensome ; yet they 

 hang commonly in large heavy masses, like what we 

 formerly were accustomed to see in the aquatintas of 

 Jukes, and the prints of that period. It can however 

 occasionally assume the appearance of elegance and 

 lightness, and is usually less aspiring and more branch- 

 ing than the common elm ; its dense foliage yields a 

 fine shade for cattle, and it deserves even on this ac- 

 count, if it possessed no other merit, a more general 

 cultivation. The wych elm, though a rare tree in some 



