CHAPTER XX. 



SCOTCH FIR. 



Pinus sylvestris. 



" The aspiring fir 



Wears his undying green, but the strong oak 

 Like smitten giant casts his honours down, 

 Strewing brown earth with emerald and gold." 



Mrs. Sigourney. 



" DOST thou not behold, Malvina, a rock with its head of 

 heath ? Three aged firs bend from its summit, and green 

 is the narrow plain at its feet." 



Thus sang the Celtic bard, when describing the tomb of 

 a fallen warrior upon the western shore of Caledonia ; and 



