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their favourite saints with the flowers, and other natural be very generally found as such in many parts of the south objects around them. It was a good and commendable of Europe, where it was probably introduced by some of practice, and we should do well if, while discarding their the early Crusaders. errors and superstitions, we still retained this custom, and associated devotional thoughts of the great object of our adoration with all the outward manifestations of His wisdom and goodness, which we cannot fail to observe on every side of us

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With half-dropt eyelids still,

Beneath a heaven dark and holy,

They watch the long bright river drawing slowly
His waters from the purple hill,

And hear the dewy echoes calling

From cave to cave, thro' the thick-twined vine,
And hear the emerald coloured waters falling
Thro' many a woven Acanthus-wreath divine.'

We should like to place the graceful Acanthus leaf in our August wreath-for it is to be found, according to Dioscorides, at this period of the year-only that we think it best now to confine ourselves to plants which are indigenous to this country, hoping at another time to have a gossip with our readers about those which are of foreign origin, and are more especially alluded to by the old classical writers. Tennyson, in his description of youngest autumn,' speaks of 'fragrant trailers;' and one of these, the Clematis, is now in full flower, festooning the hedges in every direc tion. The poets have variously called it 'Traveller's Joy,' and Virgin's Bower,' and no description of a sylvan retreat, or a trysting-place for lovers, would be at all perfect without this elegant creeper. Look what a glorious bower Keats builds up for the moon-loved Endymion :

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Above his head,

Four lily stalks did their white honours wed,
To make a coronal, and round him grew
All tendrils green, of every bloom and hue,
Together intertwined and trammell'd fresh:
The vine of glossy sprout-the ivy mesh,
Shading its Ethiop berries - and woodbine,
Of velvet leaves and bugle blooms divine--
Convolvulus in streaked vases flush-

The creeper mellowing for an autumn blush-
And Virgin's bower trailing airily,

With others of the sisterhood.'

We have alluded, in our song of the month, to the Hawkweed, the blossoms of which-and there are several kinds, all yellow, yet varying greatly in their size and depth of tint-assist in giving that pervading golden' hue to the landscape by which this month is mainly characterised. The historical associations of the Hawkweed, into which Phillips enters somewhat fully, are to us not pleasing ones. It is true, we have visions conjured up of gallant caval cades issuing forth from the porte illised archway of the grim castle, and sweeping over the green sward, and be neath the stately trees of the forest, with the ti-ra-la of bugles, and shouts and merry languter; we have forms of manly beauty and of female loveliness passing before us, amid the waving of plumes, and the sheen and rustle of si ken attire, and the flashing of sunshine upon the silver bells of the hawks, which jingle with every movement— on the burnished bosses, and studs, and buckles, which adorn the caparisons of the stately steeds and ambing jennets-and on the jewelled clasps and ornaments of the rich dresses of the knights and ladies fair; making the whole a perfect picture of enchantment, a gorgeous and bewildering spectacle, which stirs the blood in one's veins, and quickens the pulses, and makes the heart leap like that of the child when he beholds a rainbow in the sky,' or any other sight that is beautiful and animating. But, alas! if we follow the joyous cavalcade to its place of destination-the banks of a shallow stream, wherein the grey willows dip their pensile branches, or the borders of a wood-encircled mere, or rushy pond, we shall see that which will dissipate all the pleasure which the gallant spectacle afforded:

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Up from his still retreat the heron soars,
Aroused by dogs and shouting serving men,
And strives in vain to 'scape his swift-wing'd foe.
A shriek - a swoop-a struggle brief -and then,
Prone on the earth, with blood-bedabbled plumes,
The stately bird lies in death agonies;
While the fierce hawk upon a snowy hand
Exulting sits, caress'd by maidens fair
And gentle dames, who glory in his might,
And think it sport to see him strike to earth
The quiet haunter of the streams and lakes.

The old tradition,' says Miss Pratt. 'that the hawk fed upon the Hawkweed, and led her young ones early to eat the plant, that by its juices they might gain acuteness of vision, was believed, some centuries since, not only in our land, but throughout Europe; for the popular name of this flower in France is L'Epervire, and the Germans call it Habichts kraut. For this reason, and also because the Greeks called it Accipitrina, Phillips presents the Hawkweed as an emblem of quicksightedness, and recommends it as a remedy to those whom Cupid has rendered band. The Latin name of the plant is Hieracium. Like the Marigold, it is one of those which compose the 'Horologue of the Fields,' and is thus alluded to by Charlotte Smith'See Hieracium's varions tribe,

Of plumy seed and radiate flowers,
The course of time their blooms prescribe,
And wake or sleep appointed hours.'

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Including, of course, although he does not specifically yellow, or rather a pale straw colour. Such is the Anthemis mention it

The Jessamine, with which the queen of flowers,
To charm her god, adorns his favourite bowers;
Which brides, by the plain hand of neatness drest,
Unenvied rival! wear upon their breast;
Sweet as the incense of the morn, and chaste
As the pure zone which circles Dian's waist.'

The Jessamine, however, beautiful and fragrant though it be, and common as it has become amongst us, is not a plant on which we should here bestow much notice, perhaps, because it is undoubtedly of foreign origin-a native of the sunny Orient-Persia, Arabia, and the islands of the Eastern Archipelago being the countries in which it is principally known as a wild plant. It appears also to

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nobilis, that commonly used for medicinal purposes. There is an old English proverb, which says, Camomile the oftener it is trodden upon the faster it grows;' and this faith is still held to be orthodox in the rural districts of our land. Whether, with the old pastoral poet William Browne, the country people believe the plant to be nutritious to the finny tribes, we cannot say. Speaking of the river nymphs, he tells us that

Another from the banks (in mere good will)
Brought nutriment for fish, the Camomil.'

There is another plant now blossoming, which ought to be a favourite with the poets and scholastic men, if it were only on account of its name-Grass of Parnassus! It has,

however, something more than this to recommend it-grace are men who look rather to the utile than to the dulce, and elegance. Bishop Mant says

'Parnassian Grass, with chaliced bloom,
And globes nectarious, like the earl's
Rich coronet, beset with pearls.'

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In the south of Britain this is rather a rare plant, but in Scotland it is more common. This flower, too, is of the prevailing hue, yellow, though somewhat inclining to white, as is also the more deeply and brightly-tinted Elecampune, that favourite old remedy for many of the ills which flesh is heir to'-one of the largest and handsomest of British wild-flowers, the downy stem frequently growing to the height of six feet, and bearing a profusion of bright golden stars. Of a totally different hue is the fragile little Flax-flower, as blue as is the sky,' as Mary Howitt tells us, who celebrates its praises in a poem of half a dozen dancing stanzas, of which we give the concluding one :Oh, the goodly Flax-flower,

It groweth on the hill,

And be the breeze awake or sleep,

It never standeth still!

It seemeth all astir with life,
As if it loved to thrive;

As if it had a merry heart

Within its stem alive!

Then fair befall the flax-field,

And may the kindly showers,

Give strength unto its shining stem,
Give seed unto its flowers.'

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This is one of those plants, in the praise of which the mere
utilitarian, who is constantly turning away from the beau-
ties and wonders of nature with the contemptuous expression
'cui bono?' may well join with us. We are under so many
obligations to Flax,' says the compiler of the Language of
Flowers,' that we cannot open our eyes without being
sensible of them. We are indebted to it for linen, cloth,
paper, and lace.' Then there is the wild Mignonette, or
Dyer's weed, as it is popularly called, pushing up its spike
of pale yellow flowers amid the nettles and long grasses of
every hedgerow; and on the river's brink may be seen the
tall Hemp Agrimmy, with its flesh-coloured clusters of
blossoms, close by where the Reed Mace, or Cat's tail,
gives its long streamer-like catkins, and grey green leaves
to the wind. If you go to the marsh lands you will most
likely find the Sea Southernwood putting forth its blos-
soms of a verdant tint, and the little glossy Sandworts,
with their white flowers; and the Seaside Convolvulus,
with its rose-coloured bells; and Thrift, or Sea Pink, giv-
ing a delicate flush to the face of the marsh; and the
Horned Poppy, strewing its frail yellow petals upon every
gale; and this reminds us that we have yet omitted to
make particular mention of that most conspicuous feature
of an August landscape, the Scarlet Poppy of the cornfield
and the wayside :—

I wander'd forth one August morn,
When skylarks trilled their matin tune,
Beside a field of waving corn,

With Scarlet Peppies thickly strewn;
Where'er from out the fruitful ground

The bending stalks most thickly sprung,
There did the Poppies most abound,

And there their flaunting streamers hung:

I liken'd them, those Poppies red,
To Pride. My reason for't was this-
Pride e'er is gaily raimented

And groweth most where plenty is.
Perhaps our readers will be satisfied with this conceit of
our own, rather than impose upon us the heavy-we should
say sleepy-task of culling a quotation or two from the
immense mass of allusions and similes with which the
poets, ancient and modern, but especially the former, have
honoured the somniferous family of plants, to which the
common Scarlet Poppy, and several other kinds known to
us, belong. Ceres and the god of sleep both claim the
Poppy as their peculiar flower, accord ng to Hesiod, Vir- |
gil, and other Greek and Latin poets; and we opine that
the sons of the soil,' as Mrs Ellis calls them, of our day,
would not much care if they had taken it altogether to
themselves, for, beautiful an object as it is, giving a rich
crimson flush to the wide waving expanse of golden corn,
it is certainly anything but useful there, and our farmers

which in this case cannot exactly be combined. But we have now reached the limits of our monthly gossip, and must leave unnoticed many plants which are still in blos som. As the most important of them, however, will still be so in September, we shall have another opportunity of alluding to them. A few more descriptive lines, then, and we have done for the present:

Lo! what a wealth of golden lustre fills

The valleys, standing thick with bending corn;
With undulating motion o'er the hills.
Wing'd Thistle seeds upon the breeze are borne;
The scarlet Pimpernel creeps here and there,
Amid the corn the crimson Poppies blush,
Still on the brooks gleam Water-lilies rare;
'Mid purple Loosestrife and the flowering Rush;
Still Honeysuckle blooms perfume the gale
And Bryony wreaths adorn the hedgerows green,
Where peeps the Scabions and the Campion pale
The trumpet-like Convolvuli between:
The blue Campanula, the Chicory wild,

With yellow Toad-flax variegate the plain;
With eye, with ear, with every sense beguiled,
We look upon the fields of ripening grain,
And on the azure canopy above,

And on the leafy woods so richly dight,
Our lips o'erflow with praise, our hearts with love,
To God, who giveth all this plenty and delight.

SHORT ETYMOLOGICAL NOTICES OF THE
TOPOGRAPHY OF ENGLAND.
ALNWICK, latinised by Buchanan Alnevicus, and com-
monly pronounced Annick, has its name, as our readers
will now readily perceive from our definition of wick in
our previous article, from being situated on a bend of the
little river Alne. Though Alnwick is the county-town of
Northumberland, it is a place of very little importance.
Its princely castle, the family mansion of the Percies, is
its principal attraction.

Warkworth is situated at the mouth of the Coquet, which crosses the centre of the county. It has its name from old English wark, i.e. work, and Saxon worth, i.e. a farm-court, a rural habitation, a village, a town. Warkworth, then, indicates the town at or near the work. The work, to which the name alludes, is its ancient castle and celebrated hermitage in the vicinity. This latter consisted of a chapel and a cell, which were both hewn out, by dint of indefatigable labour, from the solid rock, and had neither beam, rafter, nor any piece of timber. The altar was also hewn from the same rock. In the chapel the hermit conducted his devotions; in the cell he lived.-N.B. Our ancestors were wont to denominate any stupendous structure, on which had been expended more than ordinary pains and time, the wark,' by way of pre-eminence. It is thus that that noble educational edifice Heriot's Hospital still popularly goes in Edinburgh by the name of Heriot's Wark.' Thus, also, in this same county of Northumberland, the strongest border-fortress, which the English built to check the incursions of the Scots, situated on the Tweed a mile above Coldstream, was for the same reason styled Werk Castle.' It is now in ruins; but even they testify, like the giant's disjointed members, to the propriety of the name. In like manner, the borough of Southwark, in Surrey, commonly reckoned a suburh of London, derives its name from its vast business, and the magnitude of its works of various descriptions, among which may be particularised her prodigious porter-breweries. Tilbury fort. in Essex, opposite Gravesend, is a striking synonyme. This fort being the principal protection of the Thames, the fortifications and stores are consequently on a large scale. It signifies the fort which cost great labour. or toil, from Anglo-Saxon tilian, to labour, to toil, to till.

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Morpeth is pleasantly situated on a river, which rejoices in two names-Wansbeck, alias Cammas-water. It gives the title of Lord Morpeth to the eldest son of the Earl of Carlisle. It signifies the path of or into the moor or moors; for not far in a westerly direction from this town begins the dreary tract, appropriately called the Waste Grounds,' which the bogs render almost impassable. This

desert district is also called Readsdale, from the river Read intersecting it.

North Shields is most commodiously situated just within the mouth, as it were, of the Tyne, on the Northumberland side, whence its epithet North in contradistinction to South Shields, on the opposite side, in Durham county, standing in exactly the same relation to it that Norfolk does to Suffolk. It may be remarked, that North Shields is to Newcastle what Gravesend is to London, for it is here that the coal-vessels of large draught take in their ladings. The coal is carried down the river from the collieries in keels, or lighters. Hence the men employed in this laborious task are technically denominated keelers or keelmen. A rough, undisciplined, and boisterous race they are, to be sure; yet, like their own black diamond,' they are of more worth and value than many a more sparkling jewel; for they and their hardy brethren, who

In sable squadrons o'er the northern main, With bleak Northumbria's entrails stored, resort, A sooty tribe, to fair Augusta's port,' * constitute the great perennial and prolific nursery whence the British navy is manned and recruited; and their trade, whilst it is directly a source of vast opulence to Newcastle and vicinity, is indirectly the best preparatory prelude to that gallant service, on whose efficiency England's fame, prosperity, and safety from foreign foes, rest.

Shields, or Shiels, signifies properly any temporary erection of boards, branches, turf, or other chance materials, to afford present protection or shelter, a hut. It is exactly

When we first visited them, Virgil's graphic lines, descriptive of young Carthage, flashed on our minds, as literally applicable to the dense swarms, the fervid bustle, and the exhilarating din of the keelers, sailors, carpenters, and other artificers, engaged in the shipping business of these now throng towns, originally but scambling villages, or collections of fishermen's sheds, huddled promiscuously together:

Miratur molem Aeneas, magalia quondam

Miratur portus, strepitumque, et strata viarum.'
The prince, with wonder, sees the stately towers
(Which late were huts, and fishers' homely bowers),
The ports, and streets; and hears from every part,
The noise and busy concourse of the mart.-Dryden.

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draw food for meditation and motives for praise. In those the character of God manifested in his works, and thence times the most intelligent and devout of the people held The prophets seem to have been deeply imbued with this communion with Him in his works as well as in his word. spirit. We can scarcely conceive of such descriptions of

His eye

synonymous with Latin tugurium, from Lat. tego, to cover. The diminutive form is shieling, a little covering. The rooting from their pens, dipped though they were in inspiranatural scenery as are scattered over their writings flowof the term is Anglo-Saxon sceal, i.e. the bark of a tree, rind, tion, without their hearts being now touched by their chaste skull, shell, because a shieling just shelters its inmates from the inclemency of the weather, as a shell the yolk of beauty, and then moved by their bold magnificence. David the egg, or the rind the kernel within. In Scotland we is an illustrious example. Take the book of Psalms and have terms still in common use, that well illustrate this analyse it, and you will be astonished at the frequency with which reference is made to the works of nature. fact, viz., grain, which has been freed from the husks or But this is always done with devout feeling, and yields, shells, is called 'sheilins;' the husks themselves are called 'sheilin-seeds;' and before the introduction of artificial, or as it is intended to do, glory to the great Creator. Take 'deevil's wind,' as that created by the fanners was branded we the 104th psalm; and what is the scene therein presented to us? That of the man according to 'God's own by our superstitious ancestors, the shieling-hill or knowe on which it was customary, on a breezy day, to separate God of nature, in the loftiest strains that ever flowed from heart' breathing forth the praises of his pious soul to the (dight) the chaff from the corn by the natural element, mortal lips. David seems to have been standing on formed an indispensable adjunct to every farmer's steading. And here, lest any of our readers should be disposed 'woody Carmel.' Perhaps it was evening, and all nature to marvel that, in order to elucidate more graphically and glowed with the mellow tint of the setting sun. truthfully the topography of England, we should often have rested on a scene of indescribable beauty and grandeur, his ears drunk in the richest music, his senses were rerecourse for illustration to the living language of Scotland, it seems proper to remark, that, as at the Saxon invasion, galed by the sweetest fragrance. From the base of the many of the Britons, so at the Norman conquest many of the valley Megiddon, rich in pasture and fields of grain. hill on which he stood, for many miles to the east, stretched the Saxons fled into Scotland, where the language was better preserved than in the mother country, where it was In the distance rose the Mount Tabor, and the snowy the scope and policy of the conqueror to extirpate the peaks of the greater Hermon; far to the north he might speech, as well as to cancel the liberties and laws of his descry the mountains of Lebanon; southwards, his eye new subjects. Hence it is that Gavin Douglas's transla- ranged over the mountains of Samaria; while to the west tion of Virgil is the most standard monument of Old Eng-rolled, farther than the eye could pierce, the blue waves lish in existence; not that it can be held perfectly pure and genuine, but because it is least adulterated by Normanisms. The history of North and South Shields is abundantly corroborative of the etymon which we have given. Their names appear only on maps and charts of a recent date.

The Shipwreck. Canto I. Augusta, the Roman and poetical name of London.

of the great sea. It was when he had gone over the inagnificent panorama-his imagination excited to the highest pitch, and his heart overflowing with devout adoration Lord: how manifold are thy works, in wisdom thou hast -that he gave utterance to these remarkable words, ‘0, made them all; the earth is full of thy riches, so is this great and wide sea!'-Wight's Mosaic Creation and Geology.

END OF VOLUME I. (NEW SERIES.)

EDINBURGH: PRINTED BY JAMES HOGG,

HOGG'S

WEEKLY INSTRUCTOR.

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