"a few notches on old trees." 185 



so yoa see in this case the ash rose and not the Phoenix. 

 This oak was well described in Strntt's Sylva Britan- 

 nica in 1830, when it was then regarded as 1,000 years old. 



Another noted tree is the "Newland Oak" at Newland 

 House, near Monmouth. It measures at the ground level 

 45 ft. 6 in. in circumference, and at 5 ft. from ground, 

 43 ft. 6 in. It averages 43 ft, for about 12 feet of its 

 height. The trunk is apparently solid, but it is really much 

 hollowed, the hollow being filled with dead leaves {Quei'cus 

 peduncidatus). There is a tradition that it was mentioned in, 

 the Domesday Book, but there seems to be no authority for 

 the statement. It is believed to have outlived the 1,200 

 years allotted in the following lines to the Patriarch Oak : — 



" Three hundred years the oak expends in growth, 

 Three hundred years in majesty stands forth, 

 Three hundred years declines and wastes away, 

 Then dies and takes three hundred to decay." 



One of the most vigorous aged trees in the country is 

 perhaps, " the Wotton Oak," near Aylesbury. It measures 

 25 ft. in circumference a foot from the ground, and at the 

 height of 12 ft. divides into four huge limbs, the largest 

 havinof a circumference of 15 ft. The tree is 90 ft. hio-h, 

 and covers an area of more than 50 yards in diameter. His 

 Grrace the Duke of Buckingham possesses also another splen- 

 did tree at the Michenden House, Southgate, Middlesex, 

 called the " Chandos Oak." This has a very large spread of 

 branches. 



At Fredville Park, Nonnington, Kent, are many beautiful 

 oaks. Three have attained much celebrity, and are known by 

 the names of '' Majesty," " Stately," and *' Beauty." They 

 differ in individual character. " Majesty " is the largest, 

 being more than 28 ft. in circumference at 8 ft. from the 



