Chapter IV.
"But open eyes may well discern Samples of pretty
British fern, Wallrue, Spleenworts, Black Maiden-hair, On that old
wall, if scann'd with care.
"Then hasten, search the rocks and lanes, The meadow
brooks, the heather plains, The hedge, the dingle, copse, and all, But
don't forget the old stone wall."—C. S.
On a glorious day late in August, I found myself
left to pass a solitary morning. Esther had gone out immediately after
our early breakfast, without explaining what her errand might be, and
her mother always remained in her room till the middle of the day. I
brought my drawing materials and fern-book, and placed them by the
Wardian case, off which I was bold enough to take the cover. I had
readied the group of Spleenworts in the regular order, and not knowing
whether any of these dainty little ferns were to be found in the
neighbourhood, I addressed myself to Esther's house-collection. The oval
seed-masses, with their covers opening along one side, had enabled me to
ascertain that three of those in the case were Spleenworts. The largest
of these might be four or five inches high, with leaflets, broad and
irregularly indented, placed alternately up the stalk, which was of a
dark brown colour. This I decided must be the Rock Spleenwort, (Asplenium
Fonta-num, fig. 8.) The second, scarcely above two inches high, with
its forked fronds and linear seed-masses, could not be otherwise than
the Forked Spleenwort, and I remembered Esther telling me that she had
got it among the rocks on Arthur's Seat, {Asplenium Septentrionale,
fig. 3.)
The third was, I knew, a very scarce one. I remember
seeing a specimen that had been brought from Wales. Its slender form and
few forked leaves placed alternately along the stalk, left no room for
doubting it to be the Alternate-leaved Spleenwort, (Asplenium
Alternifolium, fig. 4.) I had examined all these plants, compared
them with the descriptions in my book, and begun to sketch them, when
Esther returned.
"You are surely not taking specimens for your
collection off my dainty pets!" she exclaimed.
"No," I answered meekly, "only making drawings of
these three Spleenworts. This is the next group we have to study, and I
don't know whether any of these small ferns are found here. The
characteristic of the family is, that the seed - masses are placed in
thicker or thinner lines, the cover opening towards the middle vein."
"We are going an excursion," she replied, putting my
pencils together for me. "I have been to get ponies, and papa will
escort us. There is a beautiful waterfall ten miles higher up the
valley, and there are nice little ferns growing out of the rock there
which probably belong to this very family. Make haste and get ready,
while I cut some sandwiches to take with. us. You deserve the treat for
contenting yourself with taking the portraits of my pet ferns."
I made all the haste possible, and was ready a
quarter of an hour before the ponies arrived. I took up my book
to see what I should be likely to find. Sea Spleenwort—no, that
only grew near the spray of the sea. Lance-shaped Spleenwort— no, that
is a Cornish fern. How beautiful, the little sketches of them in my book
were! The verdant hue and graceful contour of the spray-loving species,
with its broad leaflets—how 1 wished for it! (Asplenium
Marinum, fig. 5.) Nor did I covet less the finer,
smaller foliage of the Lance-shaped Spleenwort, (Asplenium
Lanceolatum,)
But I resolutely turned away my thoughts from what
was beyond my reach, and set forth on my expedition with an eager,
hopeful heart.
The ride up that beautiful valley was enjoyable in
the extreme. My kind cousin told me to call a halt whenever I wished to
pluck anything. The ponies, he said, would stop anywhere, and for any
given time. We had passed through two villages, and a pretty parsonage
house was in sight on the other side of the river, when I espied some
plants growing in an old wall. In a moment I had jumped off my pony. My
cousin smiled, and offered me his knife to assist in extracting my
treasures from their stony hiding-places. Some fine fronds, of a
beautiful dark green colour, with alternate pinnae and irregularly cut
pinnules, were already in my hand. The frond was broad at its base, but
tapered off very elegantly, forming the figure of a very acute triangle.
It only needed the long seed-masses at the back to assure me that this
was the Maiden-hair Spleenwort or Black Maiden-hair, (Asplenium
Adiantum-nigrum, fig. 1.) I had seen the fern before, and its
graceful form was familiar to me. By its side grew a pretty
little fern with black stalks and little oval dark-green leaflets; this
I quickly ascertained to be the Black-stalked Spleenwort. The long
seed-masses lay in faultless order on the backs of the little leaflets,
(A. Trichomanes.)
My companions seemed scarcely less pleased than
myself, that our excursion had already been productive of new specimens,
and we pressed on cheerily. The valley soon became more wild. We passed
through a very sequestered village called Gunnerside, and ascended some
rising ground, from whence we had a splendid view of the wide hill
country stretching far away to the very borders of Westmoreland. The
road led along the edge of one of the hills. We passed the mouth of a
lead mine, and the miners whom we met greeted us with cordial good-will.
A very rough road led down the hill. At last we crossed a most romantic
bridge which spanned the peat-stained waters of the Swale, and tying our
ponies to a gate, we scrambled along a rocky wood, and then climbed down
a very precipitous bank to the foot of a deafening waterfall. The narrow
gorge, shut in with rocks and wood, was wild and lovely in the extreme,
and for a few moments I forgot to seek for ferns. Esther unpacked the
basket, and we ate our sandwiches with great relish, drinking from a
little spring which was bubbling from the rock.
"Look about quickly," said my cousin, "and find what
is to be found, for I wish to return in good time that I may shew you
the cockle quarry."
I began a close searching of the rocks, and was soon
rewarded by finding several beautiful plants of the rare Green-stalked
Spleenwort, (Asplenium Viride.) It so closely resembles
the Black-stalked Spleenwort, that no one who knows the one can be in
doubt about the other. The only apparent difference is in the colour of
the stalk. The leaflets of the Green-stalked Spleenwort are rather
broader than those of the Black-stalked, and the latter is a stouter,
stronger plant. But these matters would only be noted by a close
observer.
We mounted our ponies to return, crossing the moor
from Gunnerside instead of keeping to the road. Arrived at the quarry, I
found that the stone was a conglomerate of the shells of the Giant Lima,
called in the language of the country, Cockle. Here in the crevices of
the rock flourished the petted little Wall Hue, (Asplenium
Euta-mu-raria.)—a plant that will only grow where it pleases. All
this very attractive family of ferns haunt stony places, growing out of
fissures in the rocks and walls, from whence it is next to impossible to
remove their roots. It is a pretty sight to behold these graceful plants
lavishing their beauty upon the otherwise barren rock, or adorning the
crumbling wall. It proves that God will leave no corner of His creation
without its appropriate and harmonising beauties,—the ancient rocks with
their entombed organisms rejoice in new life, as the stone snail and
bright insect creep across them, and the verdant fronds of the
Spleenwort kiss their aged surface at every motion of the air. The
smiling verdure delights the eye, and brings to the heart the words of
sacred song—
"O all ye green things upon earth, bless ye the Lord,
Praise Him, and magnify Him for ever."