HAWTHORN. 157 



tenacious grasp to their sides in most fantastic forms, 

 as if to gaze on its image in some deep pool below. 

 We have seen it/' he thus writes, " contrasting its tender 

 green, and its delicate leaves, with the bright and deeper 

 masses of the holly and the alder ; we have seen it 

 growing under the shelter, though not the shade, of some 

 stately oak, embodying the idea of beauty protected by 

 strength. Our eyes have often caught the motion of the 

 busy mill-wheel, over which its blossoms were clustering ; 

 and we have seen it growing grandly on the village 

 common, the object of general attraction to young 

 urchins who play about its roots, perhaps the only thing 

 remaining to be recognized when the school-boy returns 

 as the man. "We have seen its aged boughs overshadowing 

 some peaceful cottage, its foliage half-concealing the win- 

 dow, whence sounds of cheerfulness came forth." 



And thus has the natural historian of whom we speak 

 associated a succession of rural images with the fragrant 

 hawthorn, the village hawthorn, the hawthorn that 



