Deborah, Rebekah's
nurse, was buried under an oak--the most honourable place of interment
--probably next to the cave of Machpelah, which seems to have been
appropriated to the remains of the patriarchal family alone. The
further use of yew trees might be as a screen to churches, by their
thick foliage, from the violence of winds; perhaps also for the
purpose of archery, the best long bows being made of that material, and
we do not hear that they are planted in the churchyards of other parts
of Europe, where long bows were not so much in use. They might also be
placed as a shelter to the congregation assembling before the church
doors were opened, and as an emblem of mortality by their funeral
appearance. In the south of England every churchyard almost has its
tree and some two; but in the north we understand few are to be found."
Even in that passage, full as it is of all the quietness of the English
countryside, something of the secret of Gilbert White, his ever living
incommunicable charm may be found: his extraordinary and gentle gift of
becoming, as it were, one with the things of which he writes, his
wonderfully sympathetic approach to us, his so simple and so consummate
manner.
Pages:
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435