340 A DISCOURSE 



BOOK IV. the Cherry-tree, (the wild one I suppose,) which has a very smooth rind, 

 ^''^'''>r''*^ as tlie witty Calphurnius : 



Die age : nam Cerasi tua cortice verba notabo, 

 Et decisa feram rutiJanti caimina libro. 



Repeat, thy words on Cherry bark I'll take. 

 And that red skin my table-book will make. 



Let us add the sweet Propertius : 



Ah quoties teneras resonant mea verba sub umbras, 



Scribitur et vestris Cynthia Corticibus. Lib. i. Eleg. xviii. 



• Theociit. And so deep were the incisions made, as that of Helena * on the Platan, 

 lawl'fdyii.'ia ('w? Traptcov riq a-jay-jofr,) that one might run and read them. And thus for- 

 saken lovers appeal to Pines, Beeches, and other trees of the forest. But 

 we have dwelt too long on these trifles, omitting also what we might re- 

 late of feasting, banqueting, and other splendid entertainments under 

 trees, nay, sometimes in the very bodies of them. We will now change 

 the scene, as the Egyptians did the mirth of their guests, when they 

 served in a scull to make them more serious : for thus, 



Amongst other uses of groves, I read that some nations were wont 

 to hang, not malefactors only, but their departed friends, and those 

 whom they most esteemed, upon trees, as so much nearer to heaven, 

 and dedicated to God, believing it far more honourable than to be buried 

 in the earth. And that some affected to repose rather in these woody 

 places, Propertius seems to speak : 



Di faciant, mea ne terra locet ossa frequent! 



Qua facit assiduo tramite vulgus iter. 

 Post mortem tumuli sic infamantur amantum. 

 Me tegat arborea devia terra coma. 



The gods forbid my bones in the high road 

 Should lie, by ev'ry Wand'ring vulgar trod. 

 Thus buried lovers are to scorn expos'd : 

 My tomb in some by-arbour be inclos'd. 



The same is affirmed of other septentrional people, by Chr. Cilicus de 

 Bello Dithmarsico, lib. i. It was upon the trunk of a knotty and sturdy 

 Oak the ancient heroes were wont to hang the arms and weapons taken 



