184 



SYLVAN SKETCHES. 



And then a vine- tree overran the sail. 



Its green arras tossing to the pranksome gale : 



And then an ivy, with a flov^rering shoot, 



Ran up the mast in rings, and kissed the fruit. 



Which here and there the dripping vine let down ; 



On every oar there was a garland crown." 



Leigh Hunt, translated from Homer. 



Milton speaks of " the Ivy-crowned Bacchus.^"* 

 One great charm in the Ivy is, the attraction its 

 berries offer to birds of song, which are constantly 

 hovering about it with their cheerful harmony. But 

 great as is the renown of this elegant shrub, it is charged 

 with a most destructive and deceitful nature ; for while 

 it clings fondly to the tree by which it has risen, it kills 

 it in the manner of the bear, by the strictness of its 

 embrace. On this account it has often been found 

 necessary to destroy it. There is a good paper on this 

 subject in the Transactions of the Linnaean Society, in 

 the eleventh volume : the author of which, Mr. Repton, 

 is inimical to its destruction, — for he justly observes, 

 that it is highly ornamental, and useful to the trees ; 

 and that it does not girt them nor rob them of their 

 juices, as it derives the whole of its nourishment from its 

 own roots in the ground, as is shown by the destruction 

 of it, when its stem is cut through by the ignorant and 

 prejudiced. Linnaeus affirms that it does no injury to 

 buildings, but this it is not easy to allow; for we see 

 that the branches will make their way into a crevice or 

 defect in the wall, and enlarge it by the gradual in- 

 crease of their bulk, as by the driving in of a wedge. 

 Robert Bloomfield tells us, that the largest Ivy he ever 

 saw was at Ragland Castle. " In this building, says 



