REV. M. C. H. BIRD ON ACORNS. 
333 
oracle and Balaam’s prophecy, has, however, an accommo- 
datingly double rendering. One, and the usual reading, is — 
“ If the Ash precedes the Oak, 
Then you may expect a soak ; 
If the Oak precedes the Ash, 
Then you’ll only get a splash.” 
The alternate rendering states just the opposite — 
“ If the Ash is before the Oak, 
Then there’s sure to be a smoke ; 
But if the Oak is before the Ash, 
Then there’s sure to be a splash.” 
The truth is that the Oak generally foliates first, whilst the 
Ash usually blossoms first. 
In Dr. Brewer’s “Phrase and Fable” the following tables 
are given, but the locality in which the observations were 
made is not stated: — “In the years 1816, 1817, 1821, 1823, 
1828, 1829, 1830, 1838, 1840, 1845, 1850, and 1859, the Ash 
was in leaf a full month before the Oak, and the autumns 
were unfavourable. In 1831, 1833, 1839, 1853, and 1860, the 
two species of trees came into leaf about the same time, and 
the years were not remarkable either for plenty or the reverse ; 
whereas in 1818, 1819, 1820, 1822, 1824, 1825, 1826, 1827, 
1833, 1834, 1835, 1836, 1837, 1842, 1846, 1854, 1868, and 1869, 
the Oak displayed its foliage several weeks before the Ash, 
and the summers of those years were dry and warm, and the 
harvests abundant.” 
In Vol. VI., p. 347, of our “ Transactions,” will be found a 
table drawn up by Mr. A W. Preston, giving dates of the first 
leafing of deciduous trees ; taking therefrom the figures 
referring to Oak and Ash for the years 1888 to 1897 inclusive, 
and comparing them with the rainfall for the concurrent 
seasons as given by the same gentleman, clearly proves that 
neither version of the aforementioned poetic item of weather- 
lore can be relied on. 
VOL. IX. D 
