CHAPTEE V. 



BEECH-TKEE. 

 Fagus sylvatica. 



This stately tree grows on the sunny hill's side, 

 And merry hirds sing round it all the day long. 



Oh, the joy of my childhood at evening-tide, 

 To sit in its shadow and hear the hirds' song ! 



A STATELY beech, pre-eminent in sylvan majesty, told 

 concerning her own state and dignity. 



Music breathes from me, she said ; my numerous and 

 spreading branches, at one time aspiring in airy lightness 

 above the general mass of foliage, at another, feathering 

 to the ground, are the haunt of innumerable birds. You 



