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decay the varied forms of picturesque beauty they now present. There are 

 many also of these old Pollard Oaks which from the position they occupy have 

 been allowed to pass through all the stages of their existence without other 

 ills to contend with than such as tree life is necessarily subject to. 



The vallies of the Wye and the Lug and their tributaries abound with 

 these ancient relics of tree grandeur which are usually held in much esteem by 

 their owners, and by the inhabitants of the district. Their great age insures this 

 tribute of respect. The Iolo M.S. as versified by Miss Jans Williams says : 



Three hundred years an Oak expends in growth, 

 Three hundred years in majesty stands forth, 

 Three hundred years declines and wastes away, 

 Then dies, and lakes three hundred to decay. 



The many generations of men these trees have seen out : the many changes which 

 have taken place during the long period of their existence : the many varied 

 scenes enacted as it were in their presence, are all in some sense expressed in 

 their very aspect, and certainly throw an air of romantic history around them. 

 In a life-time these old trunks scarcely seem to change, and yet ever and anon 

 when its decay has reached a certain point a storm blows an old tree over, and as 

 other generations of men witness its gradual decay, the beauty of old Chaucer's 

 moralising lines forces itself upon the mind : 



" Lo the oake that hath so long a norishing, 

 Fro' the time that it pinneth first to spring. 

 And hath so long a life as we may see, 

 Yet, at the last, wasted is the tree." 



These old trees are too numerous to mention individually, and only such of them 

 will be described in these notes as seem from their position or other circumstances 

 to be worthy of record. 



"Eve" at Mobeton Station (Q. pedunculataj.— Some thirty or forty 

 years ago there stood in the Lug meadows, near Moreton, two very large Oak 

 trees, about a hundred yards apart. They were gTeat massive trees, and were 

 known by the names of "Adam" and "Eve." Though still lofty, they had 

 suffered from many a storm, had lost many branches, and were perfectly hollow. 

 During a violent storm about this time — possibly that of January 7th, 1839 — 

 "Adam" was completely blown down, and lay for some years afterwards in the 

 meadow. "Eve," too, lost its top and remaining branches at the same time. 

 The spacious cavity within this latter tree has long been well known; 21 

 grown sheep have been counted as they came out from it ; a party of 13 are said 

 to have drank tea within it ; and it has been the scene of much pic-nic-ian fun. 

 When the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway was made, the line included Eve in 

 its boundaries, and the hollow bola was quickly appropriated as a residence by 

 an economical navvy. The top was sloped off evenly from 9 feet on one side to 

 16 feet on the other ; a thatched roof was put on ; a brick fire-place was built in 

 a low opening on the south side, with a chimney beside it ; a door was fitted to the 



