THE FOREST TREES OF BRITAIN. 
35 
tree, being called " the Imperial tree" from its 
excellent properties, — that it slept all night,* 
and wakened and was alive all day, with- 
drawing its leaves if any one attempted to 
touch them. Above all, however, it was 
useful as a preservative against magic ; a 
sprig worn in the turban, or suspended over 
the bed, was a perfect security against all 
spells, evil eye, &c, insomuch that the most 
formidable wizard would not, if he could help 
it, approach its shade. One, indeed, they 
said, who was very renowned for his power 
of killing plants, and drying up their sap with 
a look, had come to this very tree and gazed 
on it intently ; " but," said the old man who 
told me this, with an air of triumph, "look as 
he might, he could do the tree no harm !" a 
fact of which I made no question. I was 
amused and surprised to find the superstition 
which, in England and Scotland, attaches to 
the Rowan-tree, here applied to a tree of 
nearly similar form. Which nation has been 
in this the imitator, or from what common 
centre are all these common notions derived ?' 
" The Mountain Ash is found in a native 
state throughout the whole of Europe, and in 
several of the northern countries of Asia and 
North America. The parts of Great Britain 
where it attains its largest size are the Western 
Highlands and the western coast of Scotland. 
On the hills of Cheshire and Derbyshire it 
does not often attain a great size : in such 
situations an entire tree, with roots, leaves, 
and flowers, is sometimes found not more 
than nine inches high. Ordinarily it grows 
very rapidly during the first five years of its 
existence, and at the age of twenty years 
forms a tree of the same number of feet, with 
a single erect stem and a bushy head. The 
branches are smooth, and vary in colour from 
grey to purplish-brown. The buds, before 
their expansion in the beginning of April, 
are large and downy. The leaves consist of 
from seven to nine pairs of narrow, acute, 
notched leaflets, terminated by an odd one. 
These are somewhat downy underneath in 
their young state, but soon become quite 
smooth. The flowers are numerous, resem- 
bling in shape those of the Pear, but much 
smaller ; in odour, those of the least fragrant 
varieties of Hawthorn. In early summer they 
are conspicuous from their number, and ar- 
rangement in large white clusters ; when these 
are shed, the tree is still a pleasing object, 
from the brightness and elegant shape of its 
leaves. As autumn advances, it asserts its 
* Most plants of the Acacia tribe, which have com- 
pound leaves like the Ash, fold the leaflets together 
during the night, thus protecting their upper surfaces 
from the cold and damp. The same property resides 
in clover, and several other English plants of the same 
natural order. 
claim to be considered a fruit-tree, in appear- 
ance, if not for utility. Its flowers are th<-n 
succeeded by numerous bunches of coral-red 
berries, which, until devoured by the Thrush 
and Storm-cock, or scattered by the equinoc- 
tial gales, infallibly distinguish it from every 
other tenant either of the wood or the park. 
' In the Scottish Highlands, on some rocky 
mountain covered with dark Pines and 
waving Birch, which cast a solemn gloom 
over the lake below, a few Mountain Ashes 
joining in a clump, and mixing with them, 
have a fine effect. In summer the light-green 
tint of their foliage, and in autumn the glow- 
ing berries which hang clustering upon them, 
contrast beautifully with the deeper green of 
the Pines ; and if they are happily blended, 
and not in too large a proportion, they add 
some of the most picturesque furniture with 
which the sides of those rugged mountains 
are invested.'* 
" A variety is cultivated which has yellow 
berries, and another with variegated leaves ; 
but neither of these, as is the case with many 
other treasured rarities, has anything beyond 
its rarity to recommend it. 
" The berries, besides being applied to the 
use from which the tree derives its name, 
' Bird-catcher's Service,' are eaten in the 
extreme north of Europe as fruit, though not, 
one would suppose, until every other kind of 
attainable fruit is exhausted, for they are in- 
tensely acid, and possess a peculiar flavour, 
which makes them very unpalatable. In sea- 
sons of scarcity, it is said that they are 
sometimes dried and ground into flour. 
' Some,' says Evelyn, ' 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 when ripe, is 
an incomparable drink, familiar in Wales.' 
A beverage resembling perry is still made 
from them in that country, and is much used 
by the poor. In Kamtschatha and in the 
Scottish Highlands an ardent spirit is dis- 
tilled from them, which is said to have a fine 
flavour. 
" As a timber-tree, the Mountain Ash does 
not attain a size which renders it available by 
the carpenter ; but its wood, being fine- 
grained, hard, and susceptible of a high polish, 
is used for smaller manufactures, principally 
in turnery. As coppice it may be applied to 
most of the uses ot Ash, Hazel, &c. ; and the 
hark is employed by the tanner. In the days 
of archery it ranked next to the Yew as a 
material for bows, and was considered suffi- 
ciently important to be mentioned in a statute 
of Henry VIII."— Pp. 277—286. 
Gilpin. 
D 2 
