Dr. John Aiken and Mrs. Anna Letitia Barbauld "Well, Robert, where have you been walking this afternoon?" said Mr. Andrews to one of his pupils at the close of a holiday. _R_. I have been, sir, to Broom Heath, and so around by the windmill upon Camp Mount, and home through the meadows by the river side. _Mr. A_. Well, that's a pleasant round. _R_. I thought it very dull, sir; I scarcely met with a single person. I had rather by half have gone along the turnpike road. _Mr. A_. Why, if seeing men and horses is your object, you would, indeed, be better entertained on the high road. But did you see William? _R_. We set out together, but he lagged behind in the lane, so I walked on, and left him. _Mr. A_. That was a pity. He would have been company for you. _R_. O, he is so tedious, always stopping to look at this thing and that! I had rather walk alone. I dare say he is not got home yet. _Mr. A_. Here he comes. Well, William, where have you been? _W_. O, sir, the pleasantest walk! I went all over Broom Heath, and so up to the mill at the top of the hill, and then down among the green meadows by the side of the river. _Mr. A_. Why, that is just the round Robert has been taking, and he complains of its dullness, and prefers the high road. _W_. I wonder at that. I am sure I hardly took a step that did not delight me, and I brought home my handkerchief full of curiosities. _Mr. A_. Suppose, then, you give us some account of what amused you so much. I fancy it will be as new to Robert as to me. _W_. I will, sir. The lane leading to the heath, you know, is close and sandy, so I did not mind it much, but made the best of my way. However, I spied a curious thing enough in the hedge. It was an old crab-tree, out of which grew a great bunch of something green, quite different from the tree itself. Here is a branch of it. _Mr. A_. Ah! this is mistletoe, a plant of great fame for the use made of it by the Druids of old in their religious rites and incantations. It bears a very slimy white berry, of which birdlime may be made, whence its Latin name of _viscus_, It is one of those plants which do not grow in the ground by a root of their own, but fix themselves upon other plants; whence they have been humorously styled parasitical, as being hangers-on or dependants. It was the mistletoe of the oak that the Druids particularly honored. _W_. A little further on I saw a green woodpecker fly to a tree, and run up the trunk like a cat. _Mr. A_. That was to seek for insects in the bark, on which they live. They bore holes with their strong bills for that purpose, and do much damage to the trees by it. _W_. What beautiful birds they are! _Mr. A_. Yes; they have been called from their color and size, the English parrot.