Up to the tavern door we post; "And let it be of duffil grey, As warm a cloak as man can sell!" THE Chestnut tree, usually called the Spanish Chestnut, grows in great perfection in the warm air of Spain. It is considered, however, by many good judges, to be native to Britain; at any rate it reaches the bulk of a timber tree in our woods and groves. A full-grown chestnut is a striking and majestic tree. It throws out arms equal in size to those of the oak; and they often spring from the rugged trunk at different angles, and thus cross each other, with an appearance of intricate net-work. The head of the tree is usually very massy and spreading. The leaves form a rich covering to the branches: they are long and tapering, with edges sharply notched like the teeth of a saw, and smooth surface; the colour is a pleasant light green, which assumes a darker shade as the tree grows older, fading however in autumn into a golden-yellow. The chestnut is disposed to thrive in any soil or situation; but it prefers to strike root in rich loam, and to wave its branches in warm breezes. It lives for many centuries; but it will not permit anything else to live within its shade. ones. The chestnut may be reckoned as the most valuable of the mast-bearing trees. Its nuts are sweet and mealy, affording good food for man as well as for beast. The trees cultivated for their fruit are usually grafted In many parts of the south of Europe, they form a large portion of the food of the poor, who make bread of their flour; and they are also eaten as a delicacy at the best tables, either roasted or stewed. In this country, the fruit of the chestnut is mostly left to hogs and squirrels, for it is small and seldom comes to its full growth. The wood of the chestnut is strong and lasts well. It is used for most of the purposes that oak is used for. The worst of it is that the tree, while to all appearance quite sound, may yet be rotten at the heart. In working, too, it is apt to turn out brittle, and to break off in roundish masses. It is preferred to other woods in making tubs and vessels to hold liquor, as not being likely to shrink after it has once been seasoned. makes the straightest, tallest, and toughest of hop-poles; for which purpose it is cut down at an early age. It A LINNET choir sang in a chestnut crown,— A hundred, p'r'aps, or more, Till the stream of their song ran warbling down And entered a cottage door; And this was the burden of their lay, "I love my sweet little lady-bird, And I know that she loves me : 'Chip, chip, cherry chip, cherry, cherry, cherry chip!" We linnets are a merry band, A happy company." It chanced a poet passed that way, His ear their language caught; Quoth he, as he heard the minstrels sing, "What heavenly harmony! I shall steal that song, and carry it home To my dear family— Chip, chip, cherry chip, cherry, cherry, cherry chip!"" And that song they sing now every eve, His children, wife, and he. Next came a boy, with a curly head, And laughter-lighted eye, "I've a cage at home, sweet birds," he said, "And I'll catch you by and by; My sister would feed and love you well, My mother would happier be; Come, tell me," he said, "my little birds, Shall I take you home with me? 'Chip, chip, cherry chip, cherry, cherry, cherry chip!'" And all that night the little boy dreamt He heard the birds in the tree. war'-bling còt-tage com'-pa-ny EDWARD CAPERN. list-en (lìsn) heav-en-ly choir (kwir), or quire, a body quòth, said. of singers. lay, round'-e-lay, song. bùr-den, chorus, refrain. min-strel, songster, musician. hār-mon-y, agreeable combina tion of sounds; music. ROBINET, a peasant of Lorraine, after a hard day's work at the next market-town, was running home with a basket in his hand. "What a delicious supper I shall have," said he to himself. "This piece of kid, well stewed down, with my onions sliced, thickened with my meal, and seasoned with my salt and pepper, will make a dish fit for the bishop of the diocese. Then I have a good piece of barley loaf at home to finish with. How I long to be at it!" |