150 
The monarch oak, the patriarch of trees, 
Shoots rising up, and spreads by slow degrees ; 
Three centuries he grows, and three he stays 
Supreme in state, and in three more decays, — 
we shall have no difficulty in placing these three amongst the last 
trees of Inglewood Forest. The one nearest Rose bridge, between 
five and six feet from the ground, is eighteen feet in girth; the 
middle one, from five to six feet up, is twenty-one feet in circum- 
ference ; and the one nearest Holm Hill, thirteen feet six inches 
in girth. Knotted and gnarled the trunks of them truly are, for 
for the upper branches have long since disappeared. Long may 
their remains stand to be ornaments to ‘“Cauda’s sweet valley.” 
When we remember that many a band of outlaws found refuge in 
the Forest; and many a holy man, disgusted with the world around 
him, also sought refuge there. Dalston had its hermitage, which 
in 1343 was occupied by a recluse called Hugh de Lilford. Strangely 
has the country altered since then: the old forests are gone, and 
the sound of industry is now heard instead of the hunter’s horn. 
