The Wearing of the Shamrock and Rose 
animals without bones,” and you will have no fleas in the 
house all the year. 
April 7. — Boy very busy gardening, making his little 
garden pretty with transplanted Primroses, Vesperbells 
and Daffodils. He was much delighted to find that 
some of the Willow branches with which he had fenced 
in his little parterre are actually budding, having taken root. 
April 21. — To-day we had rather a pretty little ceremony 
over the planting of a Red Oak ( Quercus coccifera ) — 
Bloody Oak as it is sometimes called — in the Lily-garden 
by the stump of the old Beech, which, by the way, by its 
rings, was evidently nearly 300 years old. 
Boy led a small procession of some half-a-dozen infant 
villagers up from the garden, through the plantation, 
marching along with trumpet and drum, bearing little 
Union Jacks ; it looked so pretty, winding along by the 
riverside, the little girls in blue and pink frocks and 
white <{ pinnies,” and one tiny golden-haired thing in a 
sun-bonnet tightly grasping its flag. 
We received the procession to the patriotic strains of 
“ Scots wha hae wi’ Wallace bled ” proceeding from Boy’s 
beloved music-box hidden under the garden-seat. Gardener 
was in waiting with the young Oak-tree, whose top was gaily 
decorated with gilt tinsel and red ribbons. Boy solemnly 
planted it, and then a short speech was made to impress on 
the children — the men and women of the future — how the 
Oak had been planted to commemorate the year of the war. 
After which Boy cried, “ Three cheers for the War-tree ! ” 
which was followed by a discordant blast of triumph blown 
on the tin trumpets. A bouquet, I believe, is generally 
offered to ladies who christen ships or open bazaars. In 
this case a basket tied with red, white, and blue ribbon, and 
filled with oranges, was offered to the young Tree-planter, to 
be divided among the members of the procession, who then 
formed up and were photographed, rather to the horror of 
one tiny boy, who began to howl on seeing the camera 
pointed at him. Boy then led off, beating his drum 
vigorously, followed by all the children, and very picturesque 
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