THE BIRCH, Written on hearing a Cottager's Wife regret ing that a Birch-broom had Cost her Three-pence; when, a few years ago, she could buy Two for Three-halfpence. THE BIRCH. Why father of the forest Pan, ** O! nurse thy Britain's native plant,* Nor let her sons, in future, want, The streams that once were dear. Among our indigenous forest trees, the Birch is one; and peculiar to this Island, † A wine drawn by making incisions in the trunk of this tree, was formerly much in use.-A Gentleman resident near Nant Franco, in Carnarvonshire, when he treated his friends with this native beverage, called it his Franconian; and, had he been in favor with the Nine, would probably have been as warm in its praise as Horace was in that of his Falernian. Her birchen shades, in days of yore, Were seats of sages*-knowledge; Yet vanish'd now the vocal groves, * Marchwiail bedw (birch) briglas.-This line, which is an invocation of the Birchen groves, begins a series of triplets, each ending with a moral sentiment; they are called the Warrior's Triplet (Englyn milwr) a measure peculiar to Llowarch hên, and as old as the Sixth Century. David ap Gwilim, was the Ovid of Britain, and died about 1400; Birch must have been in great abundance in his time, as one of his favorite subjects is Cariad yn y Llwyn bedw (love in the birchen groves) his Amatory Odes to the beautiful Morvydd, amount to 250; every thing written by this genuine son of Nature and the Muse, that could be found, were collected and published, in 1789, by Messrs. Jones and Owen, of London.-The Llegy on this Bard crntains the following uncommon thought :--Bellach, naw llawenach Nef. Heaven is now a happier Heaven. His Morvydd now, in vain would seek, To form the wreath," that silent speaks, And Scotia too, indignant views, The beams meridian play; Where erst in shades, her Mountain Muse, *Y cae bedw (the birchen wreath or chaplet); it is still the custom in Wales to adorn a mixture of Birch and Criavol, or quicken (opulus arbor) with flowers, tie it with ribbon, and leave it where it is likely to be found, by the person intended, on May morning. D. ap Gwilim, addressing a chaplet, given by Morvydd, has the following beautiful line : " Vy medw rhwym, vy myd ai rhoes." "Y vun lwys a'm cynhwysai, In groves my Fair and I were gay, Of Hazle, Birch, thy garments May. The Birks (Birch) of Invermay, a well-known Scotch Song. Alass! they droop'd, they died away, Adieu the Birks of Invermay. Plant on ye Gwydirs,* Fifest proceed, A tyrant's plans revoke; Undo what Edward ‡ once decreed, And crown our cliffs with oak. *The Wynnes of Gwydir, long eminently known (as Tylwyth Sion ap Meredydd) were, for centuries, the Chiefs of an extensive district in Southern Snowdonia, an intermixture of rocky and sylvan scenery; but, the shelter which the woods afforded to the perturbed spirits who were let loose upon the country; when the accession of Henry the seventh put an end to the Wars of the Roses, rendered it necessary to cut them down. Mary Wynne, Duchess of Ancaster, the last of this great race, conveyed this property into that family, and Lord Gwydir, who now possesses it in right of his Lady (Willougliby); is planting, to a great extent, the eminences that tower above this venerable mansion. The Earls of Fife, Finlater, and others, have also planted in Scotland, upon a large scale. It was one of the politic acts of this prince to cut down the woods in the forest of Snowdon, the trunks, of them are still frequently found in the turberies, and hazles with nuts attached, which ascertains the time of fructification to have been that of destruction. In this act Edward only copied the Emperor Severus, who died at York, and who is said to have lost 50,000 Romans by the re peated excursions made by the Britons, from their woods and ambushes. |