Stray Leaves from a Border Garden 
looking. But I see the building work now going on as 
fast as ever, hurried small birds perpetually on the wing to 
and fro with straws and feathers. I believe the widespread 
belief ivy is bad for walls if allowed to grow on them is 
incorrect ; at least, if the wall be strong and well-builded, 
ivy is useful, as its roots suck up any moisture, and thus 
keep the walls dry. On thinly built “ jerry ” walls, how- 
ever, the moisture can soak through, and then the ivy 
tangle as a harbour for snow and raindrops is a bad friend 
to the building. I was told the other day that ivy such as 
ours ( hedera Helix ) is not known wild either in Australia 
or in America. Old trees covered with ivy, and ivy 
growing in wide beds on the ground as it does here, always 
excite the admiration of Americans. It is strange that ivy 
is first cousin, so to speak, to the tropical aralias. Its name 
seems to come from the Celtic word iw , meaning green, or 
the Anglo-Saxon ifig. Hedera is said to be from the 
Keltic also, from Hedera, a cord. In Italian it is Edera ; 
in Portuguese, Yera; and in Spanish, Yedra. But the yew 
and the ivy seem to have been much muddled up in old 
days as regards names. 
Ivy was dedicated to Bacchus in old days, and there was 
an opinion amongst the ancients that it was an antidote to 
drunkenness, which may be the reason why an ivybush was 
often hung over the door of a Tavern ; and this also may be 
the origin of the talk about “ owls in ivybushes,” and “ good 
wine needs no bush.” Wine-cups were sometimes made of 
ivywood, and I have heard that the wood called “ bentwood,” 
out of which little chairs are sometimes made, is said to be ivy - 
tree. Ivy is called “ bentwood ” here sometimes. Ivy berries 
were said to have been useful as a powder in the Great 
Plague of London, but I do not think they are much used 
now in medicine. The birds seem to eat them when there 
are no more haws to be had. A pair of pretty grey wood- 
pigeons have chosen a tall beech-tree covered with ivy, and 
are to be seen sitting at eventide in sweet converse together 
on a bough, presumably discussing their household arrange- 
ments. Another pair haunt a fir-tree in the avenue, and 
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