ASH TKEE. 



25 



Ash, the trunk of which is twenty-one feet ten inches 

 round, and seventeen feet high before the branches break 

 out, which are of enoimous bulk. When a funeral of 

 the lower class passes by, thev lay the body down a few 

 minutes, say a prayer, and then throw a stone to increase 

 the heap which has been accumulating round the roots, 



" At Doniray, neai' Clare Castle, in the county of Gal- 

 way, is another that, at fom' feet from the ground, mea- 

 sures forty-four feet in girth ; and at six feet high, thirty- 

 three feet. The trunk has been long quite hollow, a 

 little school having been kept in it : there are very few 

 branches remaining, but those few ai'e fresh and A^gorous. 



" Lastly, in the chiuch-yard of Lochaber, in Scotland, 

 Dr. Walker measiued a dead Ash, the trunk of which, 

 at five feet fi'om the ground, was fifty-eight feet in cir- 

 cumference.^ 



" Consider the value^ sir. of such a piece of timber," 



There is an old superstition relative to the Ash-tree, 

 that a serpent will rather creep into the fire than over a 

 twig of it. This is an old imposture of Phny's,"' says 

 Evelyn, " who either took it up upon trust, or we mistake 

 the tree." 



Cowley, enmnerating various prodigies, says — 



" On the wild Asii's tops^ the bats and owls^ 

 "With all night, ominous, and baleful fowls, 

 Sate brooding, while the screeches of these droves 

 Profaned and violated all the groves. 

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 But that which gave more wonder than the rest, 

 "Within an Ash a serpent built her nest. 

 And laid her eggs : when once to come beneath 

 The very shadow of an Ash was death : 



