9 8 



The Delights of Hedgerows. 







in 



bashfully its white head, or nodding to its later-come 

 neighbours, the blue and white hyacinths not far 



off; later on, 

 follow the cam- 

 pions and hare- 

 bells, the for- 

 get - me - nots, 

 the stately fox- 

 glove, with its 

 pyramids of 

 purply pink 

 bells; and the 

 succession is 

 quite as full, 

 and their array 

 of flowers is 

 quite as large all through the summer and autumn. 



" By ashen roots the violets blow," 



sings the late Laureate, but the violet loves other than 

 ashen roots ; it is very fond also of hazel and birch — 

 a fact which Sir Walter Scott was clear on when he 

 wrote — 



" The violet in her green-wood bower, 

 Where birchen boughs and hazels mingle." 



Hedgerows have thus managed to assert the charac- 

 teristic element of English landscape and life, and are 

 rich in associations. Did not Mr. Robert Browning 

 miss the hedgerows of his native land amid the glorious 

 sunshine of Italy ; and has he not recorded this feeling 

 as with a lightning-flash of inspiration ? And no wonder, 

 when my small morsel is of such importance to me ! 

 He sings his song under the title, " Home Thoughts 

 from Abroad " — 



