THE FILBERT. NAY, gather not that Filbert, Nicholas, Hath Nature's wisdom for the worm ordain'd: Him may the Nut-hatch piercing with strong bill The Squirrel bear, at leisure to be crack'd. It were a happy metamorphosis To be enkernel'd thus: never to hear Of SOUTHEY. The Every one who eats nuts must have observed, that they are very often inhabited by a small white grub; this is the offspring of a weevil, Balaninus nucum, remarkable for its slender and horny beak, with which it drills a hole in the shell of the nut, when young and soft, and there deposits its egg. grub feeds first upon the pulp, and afterwards upon the kernel of the nut, carefully preserving the original hole made by the parent-beetle, by gnawing away the inner edges, in order to facilitate its escape This it effects, when the nut falls to the ground in September or October. The grub then buries itself in the ground, changes into a chrysalis, and in the following Spring assumes its beetle-form. We have noticed that nuts which have been attacked by the weevil, have been invariably rejected by the squirrel and the dormouse, an opinion contrary to that entertained by our admired Poet. THE SHAMROCK. THROUGH Erin's isle To sport awhile, As Love and Valour wander'd, With Wit, the sprite, Whose quiver bright A thousand arrows squander'd; Where'er they pass, A triple grass, Shoots up with dewdrops streaming, As softly green As emeralds seen Through purest crystal gleaming! P Oh! the Shamrock, the green, immortal Shamrock! Chosen leaf Of Bard and Chief, Old Erin's native Shamrock ! Says Valour, "See They spring from me My fragrant path adorning !" But Wit perceives The triple leaves, And cries, "Oh ! do not sever Love, Valour, Wit, for ever. Oh! the Shamrock, the green, immortal Shamrock! Chosen leaf Of Bard and Chief, Old Erin's native Shamrock! MOORE. The national cognizance of the Irish is supposed to have been derived from St. Patrick; who, when preaching in Ireland, convinced his incredulous hearers of the Trinity in Unity, by exhibiting to them a Shamrock or Trefoil, on which plant grow three leaves attached to a single stalk. Anciently the inscription of the Order of the Bath was, Tria numina juncta in uno, taken from the Holy Trinity. At the coronation of James I. numina was omitted, and the motto is now looked upon, as an allusion to the union of England, Scotland, and Ireland, the word regna being understood.-The botanical name of the Shamrock, like that of the Scotch Thistle, is a matter of dispute. Mr. Bicheno, in an amusing paper read before the Linnæan Society, has, with great ingenuity, endeavoured to show that the Wood-sorrel, Oxalis acetosella, is the true Shamrock; while Dr. Withering and Prof. Rennie point out the White Clover, Trifolium repens, and Mr. Loudon marks the Black Medick, Medicago lupulina, as the genuine national emblem of Ireland. STAY thee, thou bird of nimblest wing, Or dart'st right on, as if to meet Stay, Swallow, stay! I fain would view Thy glossy plumes of changeful hue, Where black, and brown, and green, and blue Conflicting vie ; Fain would I view thy belted chest, Thy sable robe, thy snowy vest, Thy front and chin in 'kerchief dress'd, Of reddish dye! The steerage of thy forked tail, Thou wilt not well then, onward go ! Well deem'st thou, thou hast tasks enow, To hold thee through the Summer's glow, 'Till Winter dark. Go! and beneath yon rafter'd shed, Thy six white eggs, with red besprent ; Go! and the mead or hedge-row skim, Or plunge thee in the dimpling stream Or with thy mate, now low, now high, Go! and abroad thy nestlings lead, |