194 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 173. 



of Owen Glendower's Oak, at Shelton, near 

 Shrewsbury, — a tree famed from the tradition 

 attached to it, which states that the celebrated 

 chieftain whose name it bears overlooked, from 

 its branches, the desperate battle which took place 

 between Henry IV. and Sir Henry Percy, on the 

 20th July, 1403. 



" There is no difficulty in believing," says E. B., 

 *• from the present appearance of the tree, that it is old 

 «nough to have been of a considerable size in the year 

 1403. Oaks are known to live to a much greater age 

 than this ; and there are documents which prove that 

 the Slielton Oak was a fine large tree some centuries 

 ago. It is perfectly alive, and bears some hundreds of 

 acorns every year, though it has great marks of age, 

 and is so hollow in the inside, that it seems to stand 

 on little more than a circle of bark. At least six or 

 eight persons might stand within it. 



" The girth at the bottom, close to the ground, is 

 44 feet 3 inches ; at five feet from the ground, 25 feet 

 1 inch ; at eight feet from the ground, 27 feet 4 inches. 

 Height of the tree, 41 feet 6 inches." 



What is known of this old oak at the present 

 time ? If it has passed away, perhaps its memory 

 may claim a place in your columns : if not, will 

 some of your correspondents give me some in- 

 formation respecting it ? W. W. 



Malta. 



Mummies in Germany (Vol. vi., passiin). — In a 

 large hall under the Capuchin convent at Florian, 

 and only ten minutes' walk from Valetta, there is 

 a collection of " baked friars," as so termed in 

 common parlance at this island. 



The niches in the walls are all filled, and when 

 one of the order now dies, that mummy which has 

 been the longest exposed, or most decayed, is re- 

 moved to make way for the remains of him who is 

 lately deceased. 



What with the appearance of these mummies, 

 and the smell which comes from them, one visit 

 will satisfy the most curious in such matters. 



Your correspondent Chbvekells will find a 

 well-written description, in Willis's Pencillings by 

 the Way, of a visit which he made to the Capu- 

 <!hin convent near Palermo. W. W. 



Malta. 



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