MOUNTAIN SERVICE. 85 



the wood used for walking staves." It seems 

 to have been one of the sacred Druidical 

 trees, as stumps of it were frequently found 

 near the circle of their temples ; and Mr. 

 Lightfoot remarks, that this tree may to this 

 day be observed to grow more frequently 

 than any in the neighbourhood of the Druidi- 

 cal circles of stones, so often seen in North 

 Britain. 



It is curious to observe for what opposite 

 purposes plants are used in different coun- 

 tries. The mountain-ash, which our northern 

 friends so religiously planted to keep off en- 

 chantment and sorceries, is most carefully 

 propagated by our more southern neighbours, 

 as one of the principal charms by which they 

 entice the belles of Paris into the public gar- 

 dens, where they are at liberty to use all the 

 spells and witcheries which they are mistresses 

 of; and it must be confessed that no tree has 

 a more enchanting appearance when lighted 

 up with lamps than the mountain-ash, by its 

 brilliant scarlet fruit, in the months of August 

 and September. 



At Strathspey, in Scotland, it is the prac- 

 tice of the country people to make a hoop 

 with the wood of this tree, through which 

 they oblige all the sheep and lambs to pass 

 both in the morning and evening of the first 



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