Part 11

--They led the vine To wed her Elm; she, spoused, about him twines Her marriageable arms, and with her brings Her dower, the adopted clusters, to adorn His barren leaves.

And Beaumont says,

--The amorous vine Did with the fair and straight-limbed Elm entwine.

And Wordsworth, in that beautiful reflection, the Pillar of Trajan, speaks of it:

So, pleased with purple clusters to entwine Some lofty Elm-tree, mounts the daring vine.

There is a beautiful group of Elms at Mongewell, Oxon, which are in full vigour. The principal one is seventy-nine feet high, fourteen feet in girth at three feet from the ground, sixty-five in extent of boughs, and contains two hundred and fifty-six feet of solid timber. Strutt informs us, that, in 1830, Dr. Barrington, the venerable Bishop of Durham, when in his ninetieth year, erected an urn in the midst of their shade, to the memory of two of his friends; inscribing thereon the following classical fragment:

In this once-favoured walk, beneath these Elms, Where thickened foliage, to the solar ray Impervious, sheds a venerable gloom, Oft in instructive converse we beguiled The fervid time, which each returning year To friendship's call devoted. Such things were; But are, alas! no more.

The Chipstead Elm, in Kent, which is an English tree, is a fine specimen; and is of an immense size. It is beautiful as to form, and its trunk is richly mantled with ivy. In Henry V.'s time, the high road from Rye to London passed close by it, and a fair was held annually under its branches.

At Sprotborough, Yorkshire, stands what is justly regarded as the pride of the grounds--a magnificent English Elm. This noble tree is about fifteen feet in circumference in the bole, and still thicker at the height of four feet from the ground, where it divides into five enormous boughs, each of the size of a large tree, and gracefully descending to the ground; the whole forming a splendid mass of foliage, having a diameter of about forty yards from bough to bough end.

The Elm is generally raised by means of suckers, rarely from seeds. It delights in a rich, loamy soil, thriving best in an open situation, and bears transplantation well. It may also be planted in good pasture grounds, as it does not injure the grass beneath; and its leaves are agreeable to cattle, which in some countries are chiefly supported by them. They will eat them before oats, and thrive well upon them. Evelyn says, that in Herefordshire the inhabitants gathered them in sacks for their swine and other cattle.

Fruitful in leaves the Elm.

So prolific is this tree in leaves, that it affords a constant shade during the summer months, and for this reason it has been planted in most of the public and royal gardens in Europe. It is also of quick growth, as it will yield a load of timber in little more than forty years: it does not, however, cease growing--if planted in a favourable situation--neither too dry nor too moist--till it is one hundred or one hundred and fifty years old; and it will live several centuries.

The wood of the Elm is hard and tough, and is greatly esteemed for pipes that are constantly under ground. In London, before iron pipes were used, the consumption of this timber for water-pipes was enormous. It is also valuable for keels, and planking beneath the water-line of ships, and for mill-wheels and water-works. When long bows were in fashion it was used in their manufacture, and the Statutes recommend it for that purpose.

Besides U. campestris there are six other varieties which have been long naturalized in this country, the botanical descriptions of which are:--

2. U. suberosa. Ebr. Leaves nearly orbicular, acute, obliquely cordate at the base, sharply, regularly, and doubly serrate; always scabrous above, pubescent below, chiefly hairy in the axillæ. Branches spreading, bright-brown, winged with corky excrescences; when young, very hairy. Fruit nearly round, deeply cloven, naked. Grows in hedges, and flowers in March.

3. U. major. Smith. Leaves ovato-acuminate, very oblique at the base, sharply, doubly, and regularly serrate; always scabrous above, pubescent below, with dense tufts of white hairs in the axillæ. Branches spreading, bright-brown, winged with corky excrescences; when young, nearly smooth. Fruit obovate, slightly cloven, naked. U. hollandica. Miller. Grows in hedges, and flowers in March.

4. U. carpinifolia. Lindl. Leaves ovato-acuminate, coriaceous, strongly veined, simply crenate, serrate, slightly oblique and cordate at the base, shining, but rather scabrous above, smooth beneath. Branches bright-brown, nearly smooth. Grows four miles from Stratford-on-Avon, on the road to Alcester.

5. U. glabra. Miller. Leaves ovato-lanceolate, acuminate, doubly and evenly crenate-serrate, cuneate and oblique at the base, becoming quite smooth above, smooth or glandular beneath, with a few hairs in the axillæ. Branches bright-brown, smooth, wiry, weeping. Fruit obovate, naked, deeply cloven. [Greek: Beta]. glandulosa. Leaves very glandular beneath, [Greek: gamma]. latifolia. Leaves oblong, acute, very broad. Grows in woods and hedges; [Greek: Beta]. near Ludlow; [Greek: gamma]. at West Hatch, in Essex. Flowers in March. N. B. To this species the Downton Elm and Scampston Elm of the nurseries probably belong.

6. U. stricta. Lindl. Cornish Elm. Leaves obovate, cuspidate, cuneate at the base, evenly and nearly doubly crenate-serrate, strongly veined, coriaceous, very smooth and shining above, smooth beneath, with hairy axillæ. Branches bright-brown, smooth, rigid, erect, very compact. [Greek: Beta] parvifolia. Leaves much smaller, less oblique at the base, finely and regularly crenate, acuminate rather than cuspidate. Grows in Cornwall and North Devon; [Greek: Beta] the less common.

7. U. montana. Bauh. Witch Elm. Leaves obovate, cuspidate, doubly and coarsely serrate, cuneate and nearly equal at the base, always exceedingly scabrous above, evenly downy beneath. Branches not corky, cinereous, smooth. Fruit rhomboid, oblong, scarcely cloven, naked. U. campestris. Willd. U. effusa. Sibth., not of others. U. nuda. Chr. U. glabra, Hudson, according to Smith. N. B. Of this, the Giant Elm and the Chichester Elm of the nurseries are varieties.

THE HAWTHORN-TREE.

Cratægus. Calyx superior, monosepalous, 5-cleft. Petals 5. Styles 2 to 5. Fruit a small pome, oval or round, concealing the upper end of the bony carpels. Flowers in cymes. Leaves lobed.

The Hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade, For talking age and whispering lovers made.

High as we admit Gilpin's taste for the picturesque to be, we are compelled to differ from him in his opinion of the Hawthorn. He observes that it has little claim to picturesque beauty; he complains that its shape is bad, that it does not taper and point like the holly, but is a matted, round, and heavy bush. We are glad to find, however, that Sir T. Lauder thinks differently; he remarks, that "even in a picturesque point of view, it is not only an interesting object by itself, but produces an interesting combination, or contrast, as things may be, when grouped with other trees. We have seen it," he adds, "hanging over rocks, with deep shadows over its foliage, or shooting from their sides in the most fantastic forms, as if to gaze at its image in the deep pool below. We have seen it contrasting its tender green and its delicate leaves with the brighter and deeper masses of the holly and the alder. We have seen it growing under the shelter, though not under the shade, of some stately oak, embodying the idea of beauty protected by strength. Our eyes have often caught the motion of the busy mill-wheel, over which its blossoms were clustering. We have seen it growing grandly on the green of the village school, the great object of general attraction to the young urchins, who played in idle groups about its roots, and perhaps the only thing remaining to be recognised when the schoolboy returns as the man. We have seen its aged boughs overshadowing one half of some peaceful woodland cottage, its foliage half concealing the window, whence the sounds of happy content and cheerful mirth came forth. We know that lively season

When the milkmaid singeth blithe, And the mower whets his scythe, And every shepherd tells his tale Under the hawthorn in the dale.

And with these, and a thousand such associations as these, we cannot but feel emotions of no ordinary nature when we behold this beautiful tree." And Gilpin admits, in another part of his Forest Scenery, that the Hawthorn, when entangled with an oak, or mixing with other trees, may be beautiful.

Loudon describes "the Hawthorn, C. oxyacantha, in its wild state, as a shrub, or small tree, with a smooth, blackish bark, and very hard wood. The branches are numerous and slender, furnished with sharp, awl-shaped spines. The leaves are of a deep smooth green, more or less deeply three-lobed, or five-lobed, cut and serrated, wedge-shaped, or rounded. The flowers have white petals, frequently pink, or almost scarlet, and sweet-scented." Its fragrance indeed is great, and its bloom is spread over it in profusion.

Marke the faire blooming of the Hawthorne tree, Who, finely cloathed in a robe of white, Fills full the wanton eye with May's delight.