CHAP. CV. CORYLA‘CE. QUE’RCUS. 1749 
time,” having been beaten by the storms for nearly a thousand winters, they 
promise to endure a thousand more. (Ibid.) 
The ancient Britons appear to have first used the oak for ship-building ; 
the alder (see p. 1680.), the cypress, the pine, &c., having been previously 
used for that purpose by the Romans. The Britons, indeed, appear to 
have possessed a species of navy almost from the earliest period of their 
existence as a nation. The ancient name of Britain, according to the 
Welch bards, was Clas Merddin, “ the sea-defended green spot ;” and we read, 
that, before the invasion of Britain by Julius Cesar (52 B. c.), a naval engage- 
ment took place between the Romans and the Veneti, aided by the Britons, 
or Cymry, in which the vessels of the latter are said to have been so firmly 
constructed, that the beaks of the Roman ships could with difficulty make any 
impression on them. These vessels were built of oaken planks, their sails 
were made of skins, and their anchors were attached to iron chains, or cables. 
The Saxons, who settled in Britain about the middle of the fifth century, were 
famed for their piracies at sea, and seem to have kept up a formidable marine. 
Their vessels, we are told by Aneurin,a Welch bard, “ were single-masted, 
carrying one square sail. They had curved bottoms, and their prows and poops 
were adorned with the heads and tails of monsters.” (See Saturday Magazine, 
vol. iv. p. 73.) | King Alfred, who ascended the throne in 872, had nume- 
rous vessels, some of which carried sixty oars; and his enemies the Danes 
were also celebrated for their ships. The English vessels, at this period, are 
known to have been of oak; and that the Danish ones were built of the 
same timber is extremely probable. Professor Burnet, writing on this sub- 
ject, says, “ An ancient vessel was discovered, some years ago, in a branch of 
the river Rothen, near the west end of the Isle of Oxney, in Kent, and about 
two miles from the spot where formerly stood the Roman city of Anderida. 
The timber of which this vessel was constructed is oak, perfectly sound, and 
nearly as hard as iron; and some persons believe it to be one of the fleet 
abandoned by the Danes after their defeat in the reign of Alfred. This, how- 
ever, is but conjecture: still, whether it be so, or whether it be a wreck of 
some Danish pirates, it must have lain there many centuries. (Lit. Reg.) 
Sir Joseph Banks records, in the Journal of Science (vol.i. p. 244.), the fol- 
lowing account of an ancient canoe found in Lincolnshire in April, 1816, at 
a depth of 8 ft. under the surface, in cutting adrain parallel with the river 
Witham, about two miles east of Lincoln, between that city and Horsley 
Deep. It seems hollowed out of an oak tree: it is 30 ft. 8in. long, and mea- 
sures 3 ft. broad in the widest part. The thickness of the bottom is between 7in. 
and 8in. Another similar canoe was discovered in cutting a drain near 
Horsley Deep; but it was unfortunately destroyed by the workmen before it 
was ascertained what it was. Its length was nearly the same as the former, 
but it was 44 ft. wide. Besides these, three other canoes, resembling the above 
in construction, have been found in the same county : one in a pasture near 
the river Trent, not far from Gainsborough ; and two in cutting a drain through 
the fens below Lincoln. One of these is deposited in the British Museum. 
Conjecture alone can be indulged with regard to the probable age of these 
three canoes; but the fact of their being hollowed out of the trunks of old 
trees must carry them back to a very early date, and establish their extreme 
antiquity. Long before the time of Alfred, the Britons were familiar with 
ships regularly built : vessels such as these are found only amongst the rudest 
people, and in the earliest stages of society ; and the epoch when any of the 
European nations used such canoes must be remote indeed.” (Aman. Quer.) 
The fleet of King Edgar, however, appears to have consisted chiefly of boats ; 
and, though that of William the Conqueror, amounting to 900 vessels, with 
which he invaded England in 1066, is said to have consisted of ships, the 
representations extant of them bear but little resemblance to our men-of- 
war. William set great value on his navy, and was the monarch who first 
gave exclusive privileges to the Cinque Ports. John was the first who as- 
serted the exclusive right of the English to the dominion of the seas ; and, in 
5x 4 
