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Article THE WORK OF NATURE IN THE MONTHS. ← Page 7 of 8 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Work Of Nature In The Months.
" Oft in pleasure ' s dreams they hie Round homestead by the village side , Scratching the hedgerow masses by , Where painted pooty shells abide ; Mistaking oft the Ivy spray For leaves that come with budding spring , And wondering , in their search for play , AA'hy birds delay to build and sing . "
Talking of growth conjures up in one ' s mind the fine old ruin , the venerable relic of the past , clad in its verdant Ivy-garb , Avhich instead of" feeding on ruins old , '' serves to bind the crumbling mass together and preserve it . Round dAvelling-houses , too , it is a preservative from damp , adding tbe Avarmth as well as the dryness of our
houses . Ivy is frequently called a parasite ; but this is incorrect . Its branches , it is true , need some support , be it rock or be it tree-trunk ; but , inasmuch as they independently derive their sustenance from their OAVU root and nob from the living tree that may chance to form that support , the plant cannot be considered parasitic . That it may do injury , sometimes , by strangling the growth of the young tree , round Avhich it has climbed , by its cable-like embrace , Ave can understand , —nevertheless , " take it for all in all , " we cannot hut re-echo the beautiful pleading of Calder Campbell in its behalf : —
" Oh falsely they accuse me , Who say I seek to check The growing saplings flourishing ;—I better love to deck The dead or dying branches With all my living leaves . 'Tis for the old and Avithered tree , The Ivy garlands Aveaves . "
Although the Ivy is no parasite , the last on our list , the Mistletoe is , and that the only one indigenous to this country . Back , far back into the ages of the past , does this plant carry our thoughts j back to the days Avhen the Druids held sway in the land , and Avhen they lopped the sacred branch Avith the knife of gold ; sacred , because it Avas the emblem to them of "The Branch , " Avhich , " taking root upward , " even in the first prophecy and promise of The Father
to fallen man , " greAv doAvnward" through countless generations till it was Manifest in the fulfilment of the prophetic promise—the Son . The Mistletoe has one modern use , Aidiether valuable or not Ave leave to our Fam Young headers to determine , as Avell as the question , Avhich we need not perhaps put—for Ave should not get an answer if Ave did—as to whether to the desired result the presence of toe plant is an absolute necessity . These things are " secrets " of the " Craft , " to which ° w Fair Maidens pay allegiance , ancl it is not for us to seek to solve their " mysteries , "
• " nobody knows , nor ever shall know . "What is done under the Mistletoe !" Our list of "Greenery" is , Ave think , complete , and long be tbe day ere "Meme ' glande " cease to put up in church and hall , castle and cottage , those symbols of His coming , who brought" Peace on Earth , Goodwill ' mongst men !"
^ ag be it ere has died out the race Avith whom there is" a good old fashion when Christmas is come , To call in all their old neighbours with bagpipe and drum , With good cheer enough to furnish every old room "— S 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Work Of Nature In The Months.
" Oft in pleasure ' s dreams they hie Round homestead by the village side , Scratching the hedgerow masses by , Where painted pooty shells abide ; Mistaking oft the Ivy spray For leaves that come with budding spring , And wondering , in their search for play , AA'hy birds delay to build and sing . "
Talking of growth conjures up in one ' s mind the fine old ruin , the venerable relic of the past , clad in its verdant Ivy-garb , Avhich instead of" feeding on ruins old , '' serves to bind the crumbling mass together and preserve it . Round dAvelling-houses , too , it is a preservative from damp , adding tbe Avarmth as well as the dryness of our
houses . Ivy is frequently called a parasite ; but this is incorrect . Its branches , it is true , need some support , be it rock or be it tree-trunk ; but , inasmuch as they independently derive their sustenance from their OAVU root and nob from the living tree that may chance to form that support , the plant cannot be considered parasitic . That it may do injury , sometimes , by strangling the growth of the young tree , round Avhich it has climbed , by its cable-like embrace , Ave can understand , —nevertheless , " take it for all in all , " we cannot hut re-echo the beautiful pleading of Calder Campbell in its behalf : —
" Oh falsely they accuse me , Who say I seek to check The growing saplings flourishing ;—I better love to deck The dead or dying branches With all my living leaves . 'Tis for the old and Avithered tree , The Ivy garlands Aveaves . "
Although the Ivy is no parasite , the last on our list , the Mistletoe is , and that the only one indigenous to this country . Back , far back into the ages of the past , does this plant carry our thoughts j back to the days Avhen the Druids held sway in the land , and Avhen they lopped the sacred branch Avith the knife of gold ; sacred , because it Avas the emblem to them of "The Branch , " Avhich , " taking root upward , " even in the first prophecy and promise of The Father
to fallen man , " greAv doAvnward" through countless generations till it was Manifest in the fulfilment of the prophetic promise—the Son . The Mistletoe has one modern use , Aidiether valuable or not Ave leave to our Fam Young headers to determine , as Avell as the question , Avhich we need not perhaps put—for Ave should not get an answer if Ave did—as to whether to the desired result the presence of toe plant is an absolute necessity . These things are " secrets " of the " Craft , " to which ° w Fair Maidens pay allegiance , ancl it is not for us to seek to solve their " mysteries , "
• " nobody knows , nor ever shall know . "What is done under the Mistletoe !" Our list of "Greenery" is , Ave think , complete , and long be tbe day ere "Meme ' glande " cease to put up in church and hall , castle and cottage , those symbols of His coming , who brought" Peace on Earth , Goodwill ' mongst men !"
^ ag be it ere has died out the race Avith whom there is" a good old fashion when Christmas is come , To call in all their old neighbours with bagpipe and drum , With good cheer enough to furnish every old room "— S 2