Woodland Gleanings Part 4

At length, a tender calm, Hushed, by degrees, the tumult of her soul; And on the spreading Beech, that o'er the stream Inc.u.mbent hung, she, with the sylvan pen Of rural lovers, this confession carved, Which soon her Damon kissed with weeping joy.

The branches of the Beech are fantastically wreathed and disproportioned, twining awkwardly among one another, and running often into long unvaried lines, without any of that strength and firmness which we admire in the oak, or of that easy simplicity which pleases in the ash: in short, we rarely see a Beech well ramified. In full leaf, it is unequally pleasing; it has the appearance of an overgrown bush.

Virgil, indeed, was right in choosing the Beech for its shade. No tree forms so complete a roof. If you wish either for shade or shelter, you will find it best

Beneath the shade which Beechen boughs diffuse.

Its bus.h.i.+ness imparts a great heaviness to the tree, which is always a deformity:

A gloomy grove of Beech.

Sometimes a light branch issues from a heavy ma.s.s; and though these are often beautiful in themselves, they are seldom in harmony with the tree.

They distinguish, however, its character, which will be best seen by comparing it with the elm. The latter has a rounder, the former a more pointed foliage; but the elm is always in harmony with itself. Gilpin can see few beauties in the Beech; but, in conclusion, he admits that it sometimes has its beauty, and often its use. In distance, it preserves the depth of the forest, and, even on the spot, in contrast, it is frequently a choice accompaniment. In the corner of a landscape, too, when a thick heavy tree is wanted, or a part of one, at least, which is often necessary, nothing answers the purpose like the Beech.

If we would really appreciate the beauty of this tree, we should walk in a wood of them. In its juvenility, contrary to the generality of trees, the Beech is decidedly the most pleasing, not having acquired that heaviness which Gilpin so loudly complains of. A light, airy young Beech, with its spiry branches hanging in easy forms, is generally beautiful. And, occasionally, the forest Beech, in a dry hungry soil, preserves the lightness of youth in the maturity of age.

We must, however, mention its autumnal hues, which are often beautiful.

Sometimes it is dressed in modest brown, but commonly in glowing orange; and in both dresses its harmony with the grove is pleasing. About the end of September, when the leaf begins to change, it makes a happy contrast with the oak, whose foliage is yet verdant. Some of the finest oppositions of tint which, perhaps, the forest can furnish, arise from the union of oak and Beech. We often see a wonderful effect from this combination; and yet, accommodating as its leaf is in landscape, on handling, it feels as if it were fabricated with metallic rigour.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Specific character. F. sylvatica. Common Beech._ Leaves ovate, indistinctly serrate, smooth, ciliate. A large tree, varying from 60 to 100 feet in height, with smooth bark and spreading branches.

Flowers in April and May; grows in woods, particularly on calcareous soils.]

The leaves are of a pleasant green, and many of them remain on the branches during winter. In France and Switzerland, when dried, they are very commonly used for beds, or, instead of straw, for mattresses. Its fruit consists of "two nuts joined at the base, and covered with an almost globular involucre, which has soft spines on the outside, but within is delicately smooth and silky." Beech mast, as it is called, was formerly used for fattening swine and deer. It affords also a sweet oil, which the poor in France are said to eat most willingly.

--The Beech, of oily nuts Prolific.

The Beech abounds especially along the great ridge of chalk-hills which pa.s.ses from Dorsets.h.i.+re through Wilts.h.i.+re, Hamps.h.i.+re, Surrey, Suss.e.x, and Kent; trenching out into Berks.h.i.+re, Buckinghams.h.i.+re, and Hertfords.h.i.+re; and it is also found on the Stroudwater and Cotswold hills in Gloucesters.h.i.+re, and on the banks of the Wye in Herefords.h.i.+re and Monmouths.h.i.+re. It is particularly abundant in Buckinghams.h.i.+re, where it forms extensive forests of great magnificence and beauty. It is seldom found mixed with other trees, even when they are coeval with it in point of age. It is rarely found in soil that is not more or less calcareous; and it most commonly abounds on chalk. The finest trees in England are said to grow in Hamps.h.i.+re; and there is a curious legend respecting those in the forest of St. Leonard, in that county. This forest, which was the abode of St. Leonard, abounds in n.o.ble Beech-trees; and the saint was particularly fond of reposing under their shade; but, when he did so, he was annoyed during the day by vipers, and at night by the singing of the nightingale. Accordingly, he prayed that they might be removed; and such was the efficacy of his prayers, that since his time, in this forest,

"The viper has ne'er been known to sting, Or the nightingale e'er heard to sing."

The wood of this tree, from its softness, is easy of being worked, and is consequently a favourite with the turner. Beechen bowls, curiously carved, were highly prized by the ancient shepherds. Indeed, we learn that their use was almost universal:

Hence, in the world's best years, the humble shed Was happily and fully furnished: Beech made their chests, their beds, and the joined stools; Beech made the board, the platters, and the bowls.

And it is still used for dishes, trays, trenchers, &c. And Dodsley informs us that it was used for the sounding-boards of musical instruments.

--The soft Beech And close-grained box employ the turner's wheel; And with a thousand implements supply Mechanic skill.

We cannot willingly conclude this article without introducing Wordsworth's beautiful description of a solitary Beech-tree, which stood within "a stately fir-grove," where he was not loth

To sympathize with vulgar coppice birds, That, for protection from the nipping blast, Thither repaired. A single Beech-tree grew Within this grove of firs, and in the fork Of that one Beech appeared a thrush's nest: A last year's nest, conspicuously built At such small elevation from the ground, As gave sure sign that they who in that house Of nature and of love had made their home, Amid the fir-trees all the summer long, Dwelt in a tranquil spot.

The princ.i.p.al varieties of the Beech are:--

1. _Purpurea_, the purple Beech, which has the buds and young shoots of a rose colour; the leaves, when half developed, of a cherry red, and of so dark a purple, when fully matured, as to appear almost black.

2. _Foliis variegatis_, having the leaves variegated with white and yellow, interspersed with some streaks of red and purple.

3. _Pendulata_, the weeping Beech, having the branches beautifully pendent.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BIRCH-TREE.]

THE BIRCH-TREE.

[_Betula._[D] Nat. Ord.--_Amentiferae_; Linn.--_Monoec. Poly._]

[D] _Generic characters._ _Barren_ flowers in a cylindrical catkin with ternate scales. Perianth none. Stamens 10 or 12. _Fertile_ flowers in an oblong catkin, with 3-lobed, 3-flowered scales. Perianth none. Styles 2, filiform. Emit an oblong nut, deciduous, winged, 1-celled. Kernel solitary.

--most beautiful Of forest trees, the lady of the woods.

Coleridge.

The common Birch (_B. alba_) is a native of the colder regions of Europe and Asia, being found from Iceland to Mount Etna; in Siberia, as far as the Altaic mountains; and also in the Himalayas; but not in Africa. It is known, at first sight, by the silvery whiteness of its bark, the comparative smallness of its leaves, and the lightness and airiness of its whole appearance. It is admirably calculated to diversify the scene, forming a pleasing variety among other trees, either in summer or winter. In summer it is covered over with beautiful small leaves, and the stem being generally marked with brown, yellow, and silvery touches of a peculiarly picturesque character, as they are characteristic objects of imitation for the pencil, forms an agreeable contrast with the dark green hue of the foliage, as it is waved to and fro by every breath of air. Only the stem and larger branches, however, have this varied colouring: the spray is of a deep brown, which is the colour, too, of the larger branches, where the external rind is peeled off. As the tree grows old, its bark becomes rough and furrowed; it loses all its varied tints, and a.s.sumes a uniform ferruginous hue.

The Birch is altogether raised from roots or suckers, which, being planted at intervals of four or five feet, in small twigs, will speedily rise to trees, provided the soil suit them, and this cannot well be too barren or spongy; for it will thrive in dry and wet, sandy or stony places, in marshes or bogs.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Specific characters of B. alba._ Leaves ovate, deltoid, acute, unequally serrate, nearly smooth. A moderately-sized tree, seldom exceeding fifty feet in height, with a trunk of from twelve to eighteen inches in diameter, with a white outer bark, peeling transversely, the twigs very slender, and more or less drooping. Flowers in April and May; grows abundantly in extensive natural woods in various parts of the country, particularly in the Highlands of Scotland.]

In ancient times, the Birch, whose timber is almost worthless, according to Evelyn, afforded the Old English warriors arrows, bolts, and shafts; and in modern times, its charcoal forms a princ.i.p.al ingredient in the manufacture of gunpowder. In spring, the Birch abounds in juices, and from these the rustic housewife makes an agreeable and wholesome wine: as Warton sings:

And though she boasts no charm divine, Yet she can carve, and make Birch wine.

Pomona's bard says, also, that

--Even afflictive Birch, Cursed by unlettered idle youth, distils A limpid current from her wounded bark, Profuse of nursing sap.

We are informed that a Birch-tree has been known to yield, in the course of the season, a quant.i.ty of sap equal to its own weight. It is obtained by inserting, in the early part of spring, a fosset made of an elder stick, with the pith taken out; and setting vessels, or hanging bladders, to receive the liquor. The sooner it is boiled the better; so that, in order to procure a sufficient quant.i.ty in a short time, a number of trees should be bored on the same day, and two or three fossets inserted in each of the larger trees. Sugar is now commonly used to sweeten it, in the proportion of from two to four pounds to each gallon of liquor. This is allowed to simmer so long as any sc.u.m rises, which must be cleared as fast as it appears. It is then poured into a tub to cool, after which it is turned into a cask, and bunged up when it has done working; and is ready to be drunk when a year old.

As before remarked, the timber of the Birch is of little value; though in the Highlands, where pine is not to be had, it is used for all purposes. Its stems form the rafters of cabins; "wattles of the boughs are the walls and the door; and even the chests and boxes are of this rude basket-work."

Light and strong canoes were formerly made of this timber in Britain, and also in other parts of Europe; and are even now in the northern parts of America. It also makes good fuel; and in Lancas.h.i.+re great quant.i.ties of besoms are made for exportation from the slender twigs.

The bark is used in Russia and Poland for the covering of houses, instead of slates or tiles; and anciently the inner white cuticle and silken bark were used for writing-paper. Coleridge describes

A curious picture, with a master's haste Sketched on a strip of pinky-silver skin Peeled from the Birchen bark.

There is no part of this tree, however, that is not useful for some purpose or other. Even its leaves are used by the Finland women, in forming a soft elastic couch for the cradle of infancy.

Gilpin particularly notes a beautiful variety of the White Birch, _B.

pendula_, sometimes called the Lady Birch, or the Weeping Birch. Its spray being slenderer and longer than the common sort, forms an elegant pensile foliage, like the weeping willow, and, like it, is put in motion by the smallest breeze. When agitated, it is well adapted to characterize a storm, or to perform any office in landscape which is expected from the weeping willow. This is agreeably described in Wilson's Isle of Palms:

--on the green slope Of a romantic glade we sate us down, Amid the fragrance of the yellow broom, While o'er our heads the Weeping Birch-tree streamed Its branches, arching like a fountain shower.