SECOND DAY. 35 



J. You spoke of the thrush loving the 

 hawthorn. There are several of those 

 beautiful trees in this neighbourhood. One 

 often sees them on the hills and downs, 

 standing alone, their beautiful foliage exhi- 

 biting in strong contrast their gnarled and 

 weather-beaten trunks. It is truly a most 

 picturesque tree. Can you tell why they 

 are so frequently seen thus detached ? 



S. " A bird of the air shall tell of the 

 matter." Many of them are of very great 

 age. I can fancy the thrush, the ouzel, or 

 the wood-pigeon, scared by the fowler in 

 ancient times, dropping a berry here and 

 there, which took root, to the amazement 

 of the wandering swineherd. The Anglo- 

 Saxons regarded this tree with superstitious 

 veneration ; and in some parts of Ireland, to 

 this day, if you talked of cutting one down, 

 you would create a terrible hubbub in the 

 neighbourhood. I am hardly free from the 

 imputation of tree-worship, so much de- 



