200 
HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS. 
heard them with fear. Suddenly the shouts of furious 
men came remotely on the ear. The fugitives rushed on. 
Osmund stood for a moment; then snatching up his oars 
he rowed his trembling wife and fair child to a small 
island covered with the great Osmund Royal, and helping 
them to land, bade them to lie down beneath the tall 
Ferns. Scarcely had the ferryman returned to his cottage, 
when a company of Danes rushed in ; but they hurt him 
not, for they knew he could do them service. During the 
day and night did Osmund row backwards and forwards 
across the river, ferrying troops of those fierce men. When 
the last company was put on shore, Osmund, kneeling 
beside the river's bank, returned heartfelt thanks to 
Heaven for the preservation of his wife and child Often, 
in after-years, did Osmund speak of that day's peril; and 
his fair child, grown up to womanhood, called the tall 
Fern by her father's name. 
Osmunda regalis, Linnams. 
The Osmund Royal, or Flowering Fern. 
(Plate XIX. fig. 2.) 
This plant has a very stately aspect, growing to the 
average height of three or four feet, but sometimes found 
