ASH. 91 



the corpse down for a few minutes, say a 

 prayer, and then throw a stone to increase 

 the heap, which has been accumulating round 

 the root. Dr. Walker says he measured the 

 trunk of a dead ash, in the church yard of 

 Lochabar, in Scotland, which, at five feet from 

 the surface of the ground, was fifty-eight feet 

 in circumference. 



The Romans used the ash-leaves for fod- 

 der, which were esteemed better for cattle 

 than those of any other tree, the elm ex- 

 cepted ; and they were also used for the same 

 purpose in this country, before agriculture 

 was so well understood, and our fields 

 clothed with artificial grasses. In Queen 

 Elizabeth's time, the inhabitants of Colton 

 and Hawkshead fells remonstrated against 

 the number of forges in the country, because 

 they consumed all the loppings and croppings, 

 which were the sole winter food for their 

 cattle. In the north of Lancashire they still 

 lop the ash to feed the cattle in autumn, 

 when the grass is upon the decline ; the cat- 

 tle peeling off the bark. The Rev. Mr. Gil- 

 pin tells us, that, in forests, the keepers make 

 the deer browze on summer evenings on the 

 spray of ash, that they may not stray too far 

 from the walk. 



The ash is thought to be a very improper 



