CHAP. XXXIV. ^UIFOLIA^CE.E. /LEX. 511 



running stream of water, as long as yon perceive the least impurities in it, and 

 so reserve it in some earthen pot to ferment, scumming it as often as anything 

 arises, for four or five clays ; and, when no more filth comes to the top, change 

 it into a fresh earthen vessel, and prepare it for use, thus : Take what quantity 

 you please of it, and, in an earthen pipkin, add a third part of capon's fat, 

 or goose-grease, to it, well clarified, or oil of walnuts, whicji is better; incor- 

 porate these on a gentle fire, continually stirring it till it be cold ; and thus your 

 composition is finished." (Hunters Evelyn, p. 268.) The u.-e of the grease 

 or oil is, to prevent the preparation from freezing; and also to diminish eva- 

 poration when the birdlime is spread out on the barks of trees, or other sur- 

 faces, to attract birds or vermin. At present birdlime is manufactured in but 

 few parts of Britain, though in some parts of Cumberland and Westmoreland 

 it is made in small quantities. It is made on a large scale in Italy, and also in 

 Turkey; from which latter country it is imported into England for the use of 

 London bird-catchers, and for other purposes. We recommend gardeners to 

 trv it on the stems of trees and shrubs, and on wires and lines stretched round 

 flower-beds, as a protection against hares and rabbits. 



Medicinally, a decoction of the bark is given for calming a cough. The 

 berries are purgative, and six or eight of them will occasion violent vomiting ; 

 though they are considered as poisonous to men, yet they form the food of 

 some birds, more especially of thrushes. The bark is mucilaginous, emollient, 

 and solvent. 



The principal use of the holly in Britain, after all, is as a hedge plant, and as 

 an ornamental shrub, or low tree. In the latter capacity, it is surpassed by no 

 evergreen whatever, whether we look on the plant in its native state, with its 

 deep shining oreen leaves and coral berries, which remain on the tree for half 

 the year; or in its numerous variegations of the gold or silver leaves, and 

 white, yellow, or coral berries. 



Mythological, legendary, and poetical Allusions. The use made of the holly at 

 Christmas, for ornamenting churches and dwelling-houses,is well known; though 

 the origin of the practice is uncertain. The custom of placing evergreens in 

 places of religious worship prevailed before the introduction of Christianity; 

 and several texts of Scripture, particularly in the 40th, 41st, 51st, and 55th 

 chapters of Isaiah, and in the 8th chapter of Nehemiah, have reference to it : 

 but the evergreens originally made use of were branches of the pine, fir, and 

 cedar, and sprigs of box. Holly appears to have been first used for this pur- 

 pose by the early Christians, at Rome ; and was probably adopted for deco- 

 rating the churches at Christmas, because holly was used in the great festival 

 of the Saturnalia, which occurred about that period, and it was the policy of 

 the early fathers of the church to assimilate the festivals of the Pagans and 

 Christians as closely as possible in their outward forms, to avoid shocking 

 unnecessarily the prejudices of newly made converts. It was customary 

 among the ancient Romans to send boughs of holly, during the Saturnalia, as 

 emblematical of good wishes, with the gifts they presented to their friends at 

 that season; and the holly became thus to be considered as an emblem of 

 peace and good-will. It was for this reason, independently of any wish to con- 

 ciliate the Pagans, well adapted to be an emblem of the principal festival of a 

 religion which professes, more than any other, to preach peace and good-will 

 to man. Whatever may have been the origin of the practice, it appears to be 

 of very great antiquity; for Bourne, in his Antiquities of the Common People, 

 p. 173., cites an edict of the Council of Bracara, canon 7o., forbidding Chris- 

 tians to begin to decorate their houses at Christmas with green boughs at the 

 same time as the Pagans; the Saturnalia commencing about a week before 

 Christmas. Dr. Chandler, in his Travels in Greece, supposes this custom to be 

 derived from the Druids, who, he says, decorated dwelling-places with ever- 

 greens during winter, " that the sylvan spirits might repair to them, and 

 remain unnipped with frost and cold winds, until a milder season had renewed 

 the foliage of their darling abodes." In England, perhaps the earliest re- 

 cord of this custom is in a carol in praise of the holly, written in the reign of 



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