OF FOREST-TREES. 



S19 



2. Besides the use of it for the husbandman's tools, goads, &c. the CH. XVI. 

 wheel- wright commends it for being all heart ; if the tree be large, and ^ 

 so well grown as some there are, it will saw into planks, boards, and 

 timber ; our Fletchers commend it for bows next to Yew, which we 

 ought not to pass over, for the glory of our once English ancestors : In a 

 statute of Henry VIII. you have it mentioned. It is excellent fuel ; but 

 I have not yet observed any other use, save that the blossoms are of an 

 agreeable scent, and the berries such a tempting bait for thrushes, 

 that as long as they last, you shall be sure of their company. Some 

 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, being ripe, is an incomparable 

 drink, familiar in W ales, where this tree is reputed so sacred, that there 

 is not a church-yard without one of them planted in it, (as among us the 

 Yew,) so, on a certain day in the year, every body religiously wears 

 a cross made of the wood ; and the tree is by some authors called Fraxi- 

 nus Cambro-Britannica ; reputed to be a preservative against fascinations 

 and evil spirits ; whence, perhaps we call it Witchen, the boughs being 

 stuck about the house, or the wood used for walking-staves. 



so straight as those raised from seeds. In former times this tree was supposed to be 

 possessed of the property of driving away witches and evil spirits ; and this property is re- 

 corded in one of the stanzas of a very ancient song, called, the laidley worm of 

 Spindleston Heughs : 



Their spells were vain. The hags returned 



To the queen in sorrowful mood. 



Crying, that witches have no power. 



Where there is Rown-tree wood. 



The last line of this song leads to the true reading of a line in Shakspeare's Tragedy of 

 Macbeth. The sailor's wife, on the witches requesting some chestnuts, hastily answers, 

 " A Romn-tree, witch !" But all the editions have it, " Jromt thee, witch !" which is 

 nonsense, and evidently a corruption. — See an edition of Macbeth, by Harry Rowe. 



This tree will grow upon almost any soil, either strong or light, moist or dry. It will 

 flourish on mountains and in woods, and is never affected by the severity of weather, being 

 extremely hardy. When loaded with fruit, it makes a most delightful appearance : 



Sanguineisque inculta rubent aviaria baccis. virg. 

 Of this species there is a cultivated Service, titled by Linnseus, Sorbusfoliis pimatis, subtiis 

 villosis. Caspar Bauhine calls it, Sorbus sativa ; and Clusius, Sorbus legitima. It grows 

 naturally in the south of France, in Italy, and in most of the southern countries of Europe, 

 where its fruit is served up as a desert. 



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