134 



THE HAZEL. 



colour, and, though somewhat oily, has a very 

 agreeable taste. All the Eastern versions of the 

 Bible render the passage (Genesis xliii. 11) by 

 Pistachio-nuts. 



The Hazel was considered by the Romans as 

 injurious to the Vine, and was not allowed to be 

 planted in the vineyard. In the rustic festivals 

 of the same people, the goat, which was also an 

 enemy to the Vine by browzing on the young 

 shoots, was roasted on a spit made of Hazel-wood. 

 The Hazel grows wild in all the temperate climates 

 of Europe and Asia, and is found in England at an 

 elevation of 1600 feet. 



Evelyn derives his family name from this tree ; 

 he says : I do not confound the Filbert, Pontic, 

 or Filbord, distinguished by its beard, with our 

 foresters or bald Hasel-nuts, which doubtless we 

 had from abroad, and bearing the names of Ave- 

 lan, Avelin, as I find in some antient records and 

 deeds in my custody, where my ancestors' names 

 were written Avelan, alias Evelyn, generally." 

 He also mentions several places which received 

 their names from the abundance of these trees 

 growing near them. For the place," he says, 

 " they all affect cold, barren, dry, and sandy 

 grounds: mountains, and even rocky soils pro- 

 duce them ; they prosper where quarries of free« 

 stone lie underneath, as at Hasellwry in Wilts, 

 Haselingfield in Cambridgeshire, Haslemere in 

 Surrey, and other places ; but more plentifully, if 

 the ground be somewhat moist, dankish, and mossy, 

 as in the fresher hollows and sides of hills, hoults, 

 and in hedge-rows." In the legendary history of 

 the early English Church the Hazel stands beside 

 the Whitethorn.* The most signal honour it 

 See Vol. I. p 184. 



