"Nor tell of Tailer's trembling voice so weak,
While from his lips such charming accents break,
And every virtue, every Christian grace,
Within his bosom finds a ready place."
No encomium could be more deserved, none more seasonably offered or more appropriately conveyed. I knew Mr. Tailer, and am pleased in cherishing recollections of him.
W.
Mistletoe as a Christmas Evergreen.—Can any of your readers inform me at what period of time the mistletoe came to be recognised as a Christmas evergreen? I am aware it played a great part in those ceremonies of the ancient Druids which took place towards the end of the year, but I cannot find any allusion to it, in connexion with the Christian festival, before the time of Herrick. You are of course aware, that there are still in existence some five or six very curious old carols, of as early, or even an earlier date than the fifteenth century, in praise of the holly or the ivy, which said carols used to be sung during the Christmas festivities held by our forefathers but I can discover no allusion even to the mistletoe for two centuries later. If any of your readers should be familiar with any earlier allusion in prose, but still more particularly in verse, printed or in manuscript, I shall feel obliged by their pointing it out.
V.
Poor Robin's Almanacks.—I am anxious to ascertain in which public or private library is to be found the most complete collection of Poor Robin's Almanacks: through the medium of your columns, I may, perhaps, glean the desired information.
V.