THE BEECH. 



accompanied witli satiety. He continues, how- 

 ever, by great industry, to obtain a tolerable 

 subsistence through the winter, except in frosty 

 weather, when the ground resists his delving 

 snout : then he must perish if he do not in 

 some degree experience his master's care. As 

 spring advances, fresh grasses, and salads of dif- 

 ferent kinds, add a variety to his bill of fare ; 

 and, as summer comes on, he finds juicy berries 

 and grateful seeds, on which he lives plentifully 

 till autumn returns and brings with it the extreme 

 of abundance."* 



The Beech-tree possesses little legendary in- 

 terest, and its medicinal virtues, which in Pliny's 

 time were considered numerous, are fallen into 

 disrepute. At Domremy, in Lorraine, formerly 

 stood a Beech-tree, under which Joan of Arc, 

 who was born at that place, was supposed to have 

 had her interview with Saint Margaret and Saint 

 Catharine. Another legend is connected with 

 the Beech wood of St. Leonard, near Horsham. 

 That saint, it is said, wished to rest beneath the 

 Beech trees, but being disturbed during the day 

 by the biting of vipers, and at night by the 

 warbling of nightingales, at his request these 

 animals were removed; since which time, tra- 

 dition says of the forest, 



" The viper has ne'er been known to sting, 

 Or the nightie gale e'er heard to sing." 



The name Beech is of northern origin ; bece 

 being the Saxon, bak the Swedish and Russian, 

 and biicJie the German name. Its mast was 

 formerly called buck in this country. In some 



* Forest Scenery. 



