130 OUR WOODLAND TREES. 
Manor-house. But the iron enclosing fence has 
left it unattached, and all who list may stand and 
admire a sylvan scene of rare beauty, and know— 
whilst admiring—that this little bit of choice 
greenwood is in the free right of all—not to injure 
or deface, but to enjoy with that sense of posses- 
sion which true patriotism elevates out of the 
sphere of selfishness. 
Gentle reader! if, in your holiday rambles in 
this beautiful neighbourhood, you chance to 
pass this spot, it will make an impression upon 
you not easily effaced. Perhaps it is a mile from 
Lyndhurst. Just before you reach it you pass 
some Alder ‘bushes, which tell you that running 
water is near. At first you do not see or hear 
the water, but you soon encounter it, hidden by 
the clustering Alders, and then you hear the 
gentle hiss of the flowing current. You know 
the Alder. It is a delightful Tree, perhaps more 
on account of its suggestiveness than because of 
its intrinsic beauty—for it is suggestive of water, 
the calm, flowing river, the gurgling brook, or the 
trickling streamlet. And how delightful is the 
sight of water on a dusty road in the thirsty 
