.THE OAK TREE IN ESSEX. 



97 



the moment when the execution was completed. ' Ah, ah ' it is done,' said he, 

 starting up, ' the business is done ; uncouple the dogs, and let us follow the 

 sport.' On the succeeding morning he was married to Jane Se3nTiour."'' 



Lock, in his "Essay Concerning the Human Understanding," 

 (1825 Ed., p. 243) refers to this oak: "The well-known tree in 

 Epping Forest called the King's Oak, which, from not weighing an 

 ounce at first, grew to have many tons of timber in it." The tree 

 has long since disappeared. An inn called the "King's Oak" 

 indicates the locality where it formerly stood. 



Fainnead Oak. — At High Beach there is still a fine oak at 





Fig. 4. — Cuckoo ok Bedford Oak, Efping Fokest. 



" Fairmead Lodge." Its bole measures 29 ft. and 30 ft. in cir- 

 cumference at different heights. The tree and the Lodge were 

 illustrated by Mr. H. A. Cole in The Essex Naturalist for 1893 

 (Vol. vii., p. 86). 



''^ Cuckoo''' or '' Bedford'' (9^/^.— We have also in Epping Forest 



an oak tree formerly called the " Cuckoo Oak," but more recently 



I named " Bedford Oak," in honour of the Councillor of the City 



of London of that name who did so much towards rescuing Epping 



* I am indebted for this extract to Mr. B. G. Cole. 



