Jan. 3. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



simple reference to Mr. Kemble's invaluable Codex 

 Diplomaticus. I have just taken down the third 

 volume of that work, and, dipping into it at 

 random, at p. 448. I find the following, in the 

 enumeration of the bounds of some lands at 

 Brokenborough, in Wilts : — 



" From thence to the mark which is called the 

 Apple- Thorn, and from the same apple-bearing tree, 

 by the public street, to Woubourne, and along the 

 same water hy a straight course to Geresboiirne, and 

 along the same stream in a straight course to Ord- 

 woldes wood, which is now called Bradene, and 

 through the same wood for about three miles to the 

 boundary mark, which is called holehoke " [Holy Oak]. 



Here are intimations which must have been 

 recognizable in the spot for centuries afterwards. 



At p. 343. of the same volume, we read of 

 " Kentwines Tree " at Shipford, and " Adulfes 

 Tree " and " Ilysemannes Thorn " at Mickleton. 

 At p. 336. is mention of " the single thorn " by 

 Ellenford, and the " Kolan Tree " and " Huredes 

 Tree," near the same place. At p. 328. we read of 

 " the Hundred Tree " at Winchendon. At p. 174. 

 of " Dunemannes Tree " at Bladen. 



In vol. V. at p. 297. we have a remarkable 

 description of boundaries at Blewbury, in Berk- 

 shire, in which we read, if I interpret correctly : — 



" From Hawkthorn [now Hacktliorn] to the Long 

 Thorn on the Ikenild way ; thence to the Third 

 Thorn at Wirhangran; thence to the Fourth Thorn 

 which stands forward on Wrangan Hill ; thence to the 

 Fifth Thorn; thence to the Olive Tree; thence west 

 along the bye road to the Thorn " — and so forth. 



In the same description we read of several 

 " Treowstealls," which mean, I suppose, clumps 

 of trees, and amongst them of "Athelstanes 

 Treowsteal." 



In vol. vi. at p. 8. we read of " Frigedseges 

 Tree," at Ginge, in Berkshire ; at p. 60., of " Wig- 

 gerdes Tree," at Plush, in Dorsetshire ; and innu- 

 merable other instances may be found throughout 

 the book. These have occurred to me on just 

 opening the volumes here and there, and are ad- 

 duced merely to explain to persons unacquainted 

 with the Codex Diplomaticus, the nature of the 

 information upon this subject which it contains ; 

 and there are many other books from which simi- 

 lar focts may be derived. 



The examples I have given exhibit the various 

 parts which conspicuous trees were made to play 

 in ancient times. The Holy Oak and Frigedajges 

 Tree had, no doubt, been consecrated to supersti- 

 tion ; the Hundred Tree marked a place for the 

 general assembly of the people of a district; the 

 trees distinguished by the prefixed names of indi- 

 viduals, indicated that tliey stood on the properties 

 of private owners, — on lands, that is, which the 

 owners had " called after their own names." The 

 memory of many historical trees is probably pre- 



served to the present day in the names of the 

 fields in which they stood. How many Mickle 

 Thorn coppices, and Broad Oak pastures, and 

 Long Tree meadows, and Old Yew pieces are 

 scattered over the country. How many hundreds, 

 and other larger divisions of counties, are named 

 after ancient trees. How many of the old Saxon 

 names of our towns and hamlets indicate that they 

 grew up around a well-known oak, or ash, or 

 thorn, or yew ; in like manner as, in later periods, 

 when strength rather than law was the ruler, the 

 people crowded together their hovels under the 

 protective shadow of the castle of some powerful 

 chieftain, or within the privileged precincts of 

 some consecrated ftme. 



Having thus indicated, or rather enforced, a 

 subject which I think well deserves the attention 

 of your correspondents all over the world, allow 

 me to conclude with a Query relating to a cele- 

 brated tree, of a comparatively modern date, which 

 once existed in the neighbourhood of the metro- 

 polis. 



The Gkeat Elm at Hampstead. — Where did 

 it stand ? What was its ultimate fate ? When 

 and how was it compelled to yield to the great 

 leveller ? It is delineated in a very scarce en- 

 graving by Hollai', which bears the date of 165S, 

 and which is found on a poetical commemorative 

 broadside, printed in that year. This tree, al- 

 though then in full leaf, or so represented in 

 Hollar's engraving, was entirely hollow. A stair- 

 case of forty-two steps had been contrived within 

 its stem, by means of which visitors ascended to a 

 turret erected on the top, which was capacious 

 enough to give seats to six persons, and to contain 

 twenty persons in the whole. The stem of the 

 tree was twenty-eight feet in compass on the 

 ground, and the ascent to the turret was thirty- 

 three feet. The tree must have stood on some of 

 the highest ground at Hampstead, for it is said 

 that six neighbouring counties could be seen from 

 the top of it. The Thames is mentioned as visible 

 from it, with its shipping ; and the following lines 

 indicate the wide expanse which it commanded. 

 The lines were written just at the time when 

 Cromwell was about to assume the Protectorate. 



" Those statel}' structures where the court 

 Had late their mansions, when our kings would sport ; 

 Of whom deprived they mourn, and, desolate. 

 Like widows, look on their forlorn estate : 

 'Tis not smooth Richmond's streams, nor Acton's mill. 

 Nor Windsor Castle, nor yet Shooter's Hill, 

 Nor groves, nor plains, which further off do stand, 

 Like landscapes portray'd by some happy hand : 

 But a swift view, which most delightful shows. 

 And doth them all, and all at once, disclose."* 



* These lines are by Robert Codrington, respecting 

 whom a reference may be made to Wood's Athena, 

 iii. 699. Bliss's ed. 



