AMENTIFERZ, 149 
services rendered to the State, the greatest of which was to save the life of a 
Roman citizen, Shakespeare, in describing the merits of Coriolanus, mentions this 
crown :— 
“ At sixteen years, 
When Tarquin made a head from Rome, he fought 
Beyond the mark of others: one then dictator, 
Whom with all praise I point at, saw him fight, 
When with his Amazonian chin he drove 
The bristled lips before him; he bestrid 
An o’erpressed Roman, and i’ the Consul’s view 
Slew three opposers; Tarquin’s self he met, 
And struck him on his knee: in that day’s feats, 
When he micht act the woman in the scene, 
He proved best man i’ the field, and for his meed 
Was brow-bound with the oak.” 
Boughs of oak with acorns were carried in marriage ceremonies, as emblems of 
fecundity. Sophocles describes Hecate as crowned with oak-leaves and serpents. 
Pliny relates of the oaks on the shores of the Cauchian Sea, that, undermined by 
waves, and propelled by the winds, they bore off with them vast masses of earth in 
their interwoven roots, and occasioned the greatest terror to the Romans, whose 
fleets encountered these floating islands. The beautiful fiction of the Hamadryads 
is frequently referred to by the Greek poets. The Hamadryads were nymphs, each of 
whom was 
“ Doom’d to a life coeval with her oak,” 
London quotes some lines from the Hymn to Delos, representing Melie as 
‘‘ Sighing deeply for her parent oak,” 
And adds, 
« Joy fills her breast when showers refresh the spray; 
Sadly she grieves when autumn’s leaves decay.” 
In Appollonius Rhodius we find one of the Hamadryads imploring a woodman to 
spare the oak to which her existence was attached :— 
“Loud through the air resounds the woodman’s stroke, 
When, lo! a voice breaks from the groaning oak. 
‘Spare, spare my life! a trembling virgin spare! 
Oh, listen to the Hamadryad’s prayer ! 
No longer let that fearful axe resound ; 
Preserve the tree to which my life is bound! 
See, from the bark my blood in torrents flows : 
I faint, I sink, I perish from your blows.’ ”’ 
The superstitions connected with the British oak are closely associated with the 
history of the Druids in England. During the early times of these islands, the 
forests of England were not only useful as a means of subsistence, and a secure 
retreat from enemies, but they were also devoted to the most sacred rites of religion. 
Groves of oaks were more especially preferred by the Druids—these early priests of a 
dark religion; and oak branches were aiways used in their religious ceremonies. 
The discovery of the mistletoe on the oak was a circumstance of very rare occurrence, 
and was therefore looked upon as indicative of the peculiar favour of Heaven, and as 
