4 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



" A hedge of holly, thieves that would invade. 

 Repulses like a growing palisade." 



Its slowness of growth makes it very 

 permanent when once established. 



The genus Hex of which there are 

 about 140 species are all evergreen 

 shrubs or trees with firm, polished, 

 usually spiny leaves. They are 

 generally distributed throughout the 

 temperate regions of both hemispheres, 

 being most abundant in South \ 

 America, and rarer in Africa and 

 Australia. Various highly ornamental 

 species may be seen in cultivation in 

 this country, the white and yellow 

 edged varieties are the most common, 

 they are known as the silver and 

 and golden holly. Our only native 

 holly (I. aquifolium), occurs over the 

 whole of Western Europe, from South 

 Norway to Turkey ; it is killed by the 

 winter frosts in Eussia. In our own 

 country it is hardier than even furze 

 or broom, surviving with little injury 

 frosts to which they succumb. In 

 woods in the north of Scotland young 

 plants spring up annually from self- 

 sown seeds. In the highlands it 

 attains an altitude of 1,000 feet. 



In the language of flowers the holly 

 is the emblem of foresight. It is the 

 badge of the Drmmmonds. And the 

 ancient family of Irvine have also 

 adopted a holly bush as their floral 

 crest, with the motto 11 sub sol, sub 

 umbra, virens" which may be freely 

 translated " under the sun, under the 



shade, flourishing." This perrennial 

 verdure of the holly has given rise to 

 the common proverb regarding any 

 noted Munchausenite : — 

 " He only lies when the holly's green." 



In "The Vision" Burns represents 

 his angelic visitor as crowned with a 

 chaplet of holly — 



l! Green slender leaf-clad holly boughs, 

 Were twisted gracefu' round her brows — 

 I took her for some Scottish Muse 

 By that same token." 



And when he has proved his devotion 

 as a follower of the Muses, he also 

 earns the like guerdon : — 



"And wear thou this" she solemn said, 

 And bound the holly round my head; 

 The polished leaves and berries red 



Did rustling play ; 

 And like a passing thought she fled, 



In light away. 



The use of holly at Christmas may 



lay claim to be one of the u venerable 



and time-honoured institutions" of our 



country. Two hundred years ago Poor 



Robin in his Almanack sings : — 



" With holiy and ivy so green and so gay, 

 We deck up our houses as bright as the day, 

 With bays and rosemary and laurels 



compleat, 



And everyone now is a king in conceit." 



This custom of decorating our houses 

 with holly in winter is a relic of a 

 primeval rite. Our pagan ancestors 

 dressed their habitations with ever- 

 greens as a shelter for the spirits of 

 the woods when the trees were bare 

 and leafless in winter. The early 

 pioneers of Christianity found the 



