1764 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART IIT. 
quite hollow, and the cavity large enough to 
hold at least 30 persons. An arm was blown 
off in 1811, which contained 2 waggon loads 
of wood. (Amen. Quer., fol. 14.) A drawing 
of this tree, of which fig. 1603. 1s a copy, was 
sent to us by Samuel Taylor, Esq., of Whit- 
tington, near Stoke Ferry, Norfolk, accom- “% 
panied by the following observations :—“ Of “<4 
the age of this remarkable tree I regret to be 
unable to give any correct data: It is said to 
have been called the ‘ Old Oak’ at the time 
of William the Conqueror, but upon what 
authority I could never learn. Nevertheless, 
the thing is not impossible, if the speculations — wot Braise 
of certain writers on the age of trees be at all correct. Mr. South, in one of 
his letters to the Bath Society (vol. x.), calculates that an oak tree 47 ft. in 
circumference cannot be less than 1500 years old; and Mr. Marsham calcu- 
lates the Bentley Oak, from its girting 34 ft., to be the same age. Now, an 
inscription on a brass plate affixed to the Winfarthing 
Oak gives us the following as its dimensions : —“ This 
oak, in circumference, at the extremities of the roots, 
is 70ft.; in the middle, 40 ft. 1820.” Now, I see no 
reason, if the size of the rind is to be any criterion of 
age, why the Winfarthing should not, at least, equal the me 
Bentley Oak; and, if so, it would be upwards of 700 —~“**"“""“s 
years old at the Conquest ; an age which might very well 1603 
justify its then title of the ‘Old Oak.’ It is now a mere shell—a mighty 
ruin, bleached to asnowy white; but it is magnificent in its decay; and I do 
wonder much that Mr. Strutt should have omitted it in his otherwise satis- 
factory list of tree worthies. The only mark of vitality it exhibits is on the 
south side, where a narrow strip of bark sends forth the few branches shown 
in the drawing, which even now occasionally produce acorns. It is said to 
be very much altered of late; but I own I did not think so when [ saw it 
about a month ago (May, 1836); and my acquaintance with the veteran is of 
more than 40 years’ standing; an important portion of my life, but a mere 
span of its own.” (Gard. Mag., vol. xti. p. 586.) 
Northamptonshire. This county is celebrated for its forests, which are said 
to be sufficient in themselves to build more than twice the number of ships 
which now compose the British navy. There are, also, a great number of old 
trees in this county; probably because the inland situation of it rendered the 
conveyance of timber to the coast too expensive. Some of the most inte- 
resting of these trees stood in Yardley Chase, which was once a part of Salcey 
Forest, though it has been long disforested, and is now the property of the 
Marquess of Northampton. In Hayley’s Life and Posthumous Writings of 
William Cowper, at the end of the third volume, there is an interesting 
poetic fragment, entitled “ Yardley Oak,” of which the following explanation 
is given in a letter from Dr. Johnson,a kinsman of the poet :—“Among our dear 
Cowper’s papers, I found the following memorandum :— ‘ Yardley Oak, in 
girt, feet 22, inches 63. The oak at Yardley Lodge, feet 28, inches 5.’ As 
‘to the Yardley Oak, it stands in Yardley Chase, where the Marquess of North- 
ampton has a fine seat [Castle Ashby]. It was a favourite walk of our dear 
Cowper ; and he once carried me to see that oak. I believe it is five miles, at 
least, from Weston Lodge. It is indeed a noble tree, perfectly sound, and 
stands in an open part of the chase, with only one or two others near it, so as 
to be seen to advantage. With respect to the oak at Yardley Lodge, that is 
quite in decay ; a pollard, and almost hollow. I took an excrescence from 
it in the year 179] ; and, if I mistake not, Cowper told me it is said to 
have been an oak in the time of the Conqueror. This latter oak is in the 
road to the former, but not above half so far from Weston. Lodge, being 
