THE MOUNTAIN ASH. 



285 



with dark Pines and waving Birch, w^hich cast a 

 solemn gloom over the lake below, a few Moun- 

 tain Ashes joining in a clump, and mixing with 

 them, have a fine effect. In summer the light 

 green tint of their foliage, and in autumn the 

 glowing berries which hang clustering upon them, 

 contrast beautifully with the deeper green of the 

 Pines ; and if they are happily blended, and not 

 in too large a proportion, they add some of the 

 most picturesque furniture with which the sides 

 of those rugged mountains are invested."* 



A variety is cultivated w^hich has yellow ber- 

 ries, and another with variegated leaves ; but 

 neither of these, as is the case with many other 

 treasured rarities, has anything beyond its rarity 

 to recommend it. 



The berries, besides being applied to the use 

 from which the tree derives its name, Bird- 

 catcher's Service," are eaten in the extreme north 

 of Europe as fruit, though not, one would sup- 

 pose, until every other kind of attainable fruit 

 is exhausted, for they are intensely acid, and 

 possess a peculiar flavour, which makes them very 

 unpalatable. In seasons of scarcity, it is said that 

 they are sometimes dried and ground into flour. 



Some," says Evelyn, " highly commend the 

 juice of the berries, which fermenting of itself, 

 if well preserved, makes an excellent drink 

 against the spleen and scurvy. Ale and beer 

 brewed with these berries when ripe, is an in- 

 comparable drink, familiar in "Wales." A be- 

 verage resembling perry is still made from them 

 in that country, and is much used by the poor. 

 In Kamtschatka and in the Scottish Highlands 

 * Gilpin. 



