ANCIENT WYCII ELM. 
46 
acorns, leaves, and innumerable et cetera of Britain’s 
guardian tree. However highly the Druids might vene- 
rate the oak, and make it the emblem and residence of 
their deity, yet the intrinsic value of this tree was un- i 
known to our remote forefathers. All their knowledge 
of its virtues was probably included in its uses for 
building, its acorns for their swine, and, perhaps, its 
bark for preserving the skins which they used. Modern 
ingenuity and necessity have brought its various quali- 
ties into notice, or our oak would have received such 
honors, as in days of darkness were conferred upon in- 
animate things : Attica considered the olive as the gift 
of her tutelary goddess, and some benevolent saint 
would have been lauded and hymned, for having en- 
dowed the oak of Britain with such extensive virtues 
for the good of mankind. 
The other tree, that I mentioned above as one of our 
boasts, is a wych or broad-leaved elm (ulmus montana), 
standing near the turnpike road. This very fine and 
stately tree was saved, when the merciless ax levelled 
all its companions, at the solicitation of a lady now no 
more, and remains a testimony of her good taste, the 
civility of the agent, and the ornament of our village. 
When in youth, this species presents a character deci- 
dedly different from the common elm (ulmus campes- 
tris). Its branches at times are so strong as to be nearly 
equal in size with the main stem that supports them, 
and loaded with such a profusion of foliage, that the 
sprays become pendent, and give the idea of luxuri- 
ance with weakness, of a growth beyond strength ; ad- 
vancing in age, its arms and sprays become less pensile, 
as the leaves are smaller and less burdensome ; yet they 
hang commonly in large heavy masses, like what we 
formerly were accustomed to see in the aquatintas of 
Jukes, and the prints of that period. It can however 
occasionally assume the appearance of elegance and 
lightness, and is usually less aspiring and more branch- 
ing than the common elm ; its dense foliage yields a 
fine shade for cattle, and it deserves even on this ac- 
count, if it possessed no other merit, a more general 
cultivation. The wych elm, though a rare tree in some 
