,"1'J AKHOUl.Tr.M AND FRUTICETUM. PART JIT. 



llenrv \"l., ami preserved in the 1 Harleian MS., No. ,">:{!)<>.; in illustration 

 ,f \\hich it mu-t In 1 observed, that the- ivy, being dedicated to Bacchus, was 

 u-x-.l a- a vintner's simi it) winter, and hung outside- the door. 



" Nay, Ivy, nay, it >hall not ho I \vys ; 



Let llol\ haf'ethe may.stry, as the manor ys 

 Holy sto'inl iutlu- tiulj,; fay re to behold ; ' 



l\ \ stoii.i :ciifh>nl tit:' tliin- ; .-he ys full sore a eold 



Moly and hy> inery men they da\vn>yn anil they .synp, 

 ivy "ami hur inaydenys they \vepy:> and they wrynp. 

 !*\ hatli a lybc; she lajilit'ii with the cold, ' 

 So'nnit tliey'all hate that uyth Ivy hold. 



" Holy hath herys a.s ml as any Koso, 

 'I'liey footer the hunters, kepi- hem from the doo 

 Ivy hath berys as black as any slo ; 

 Ther eon) the oule and ete hyin as she goo. 



-' Holy hath byrdys, a fill fayre (lok, 

 The S'vghtyhgale, tin- I'oppyngy, the g.iyntyl Lavyrok. 

 Hood Ivy! 'what byrdvs a.st thoii ! 

 Non but the Howlct that ' IIuw '. ILnv '.' " 



Stowe, in his SK/TCI/ of London, pnblisheel in 1,M>S, says that, in his time, cvorv 

 man's hou-c, the parish churches, the corners of the streets, conduits, market 

 crosses, cvc., v. ere decorated \vith holme (holly), ivy, ami bayc-s, at Christmas. 

 The disciples of /oroaster believed that the sun never shadows the holly 

 tree; ami the followers of that philosopher \\lio still remain in Persia and 

 India, arc ^aid to throw wati-r impregnated with hollv bark in the lace of a 

 child ne-,\l\ born. In tin- laniiiiaiie of flowers, the holly signifies foresight. A 

 LM'eat number ot curious caroU, ;nul other verses, ancient and modern, referring 

 to the n-e of the holly at Christmas, will be found in Forster's I'crcunid/ 

 ('ri/aiihir, p. 7^7.; and an elegant poem by Southey, alluding to the circum- 

 stance of t!ie louer leaves of large 1 plants being spinous, while the upper are 

 entire, i-> printed in Dr. .John-ton's Flora of Benrick njxni 1'icec<l,\o\. i. p. 10. 



Soil taut Sifiid/ioii. The holly attains the largc'st sixe in a rich sandy loam ; 

 but it will ::row, and even thrive 1 , on almost any soil, provieled it is not over- 

 charged with moisture. Cook sa\s, it doe's best on soil somewhat gravelly ; 

 .Miller, that it prospers on i:rave-l over ehalk ; and liouteher, that it refuses 

 not almost an\ sort oi barren ground, he>t or cold, and often indicates where 

 coals are to be found; a proof that it \\ill grow both on lime and cla\ : in 

 short, the holly is found on all soils, exevpt in be>gs or marshes. The forest 

 of Nee-dwootl, \\hich e'ontams so manv fine Iiollies, is e)n a free loam v soil, in- 

 clining to -sand rather than to stitiVlav ; the 1 largest hollies in the New Forest 

 are mi L r i'a\t IK soil, on a substratum ot chalk or clav. The largest hollies in 

 Buckinghamshire, Kent, and Surre-y, are in loam on chalk; the hollies at 

 Tvniniiham are on deep alluvial sand; those 1 in Abereleenshire, e>n granitic 

 e-lav. The- hol!\ does not grow at ver\ great elevations in Europe; audit 

 is al\\avs found in a most jjrosperons state when somewhat shaded by 

 deciduous trees, but not overtopped by them. The- most favourable situation 

 si tins to be a thin scattered wood of oaks, iu the intervals of which, as at 

 N'ee-d\\ood and NYw Forest, the holly grows up, at once sheltered, and par- 

 tiallv shaded. At the same' time, the- holly will grow completely beneath the 

 shade- and drip of other tive-s ; for which reason it is equalled as undergrowth 

 bv no other evergreen shrub or tire 1 , except the box. The common laurel 

 \\ill aUo >_:n>w under the 1 drip and shade of other tree's ; but it is more tender 

 than either the box or the holl\, and soon becomes naked below. 



I'rujtagal'wn find (.'nlhtri'. In the days of Evelyn, it was customary for 

 planter-; to collect seedlings of lives of different sorts from the woods; and 

 thi-i uas more especially the 1 ease with the: hollv, on ae'connt of the length of 

 time the seed he's in the ground before it comes up. " ( )f this noble tree," 

 Evehn sa\s, "one may take 1 thousands of vouni; plants, four inches long, out 

 of the woods (".'row ing amongst the fallen leaves), and so plant them ; but this 

 1 honld be before the cattle bc'/m to crop them, especially she'e'p, who are 

 ! ' d\ ot them when tender. Stick them into the- ground, in a moist season, 



