CHAP. CV. CORYLA‘CE. QUE/RCUS. 1779 
in Lincolnshire, have been excavated. (Amen. Quer.) “ It is recorded in the 
Annual Register for 1796, that some labourers, while digging for a fish-pond 
in the grounds of Lord Grenville, at Dropmore, discovered a great number of 
oaks buried 10ft. or 12ft. deep in the earth, and averaging 50 ft. long, all 
perfectly sound timber. At Litchett Park, in 1740, an oak was discovered 
3 ft. under ground, which measured 53 ft. in length, and gave 4ft. at the side 
of the square: there were 33 ft. more of top raised afterwards; so that the 
whole ak was 86 ft. long. In the year 1815, there was a part of an oak 
drawn out of the Thames, near the ferry at Twickenham, with great difficulty, 
by 24 horses. It measured 20ft. in circumference; and Philips says, it is 
known to have lain in the river upwards of 150 years. Among the vast 
quantities of bog timber annually raised out of the fens in Lincolnshire, a few 
years ago one log was taken up, near Sleaford, that contained 300 solid feet of 
timber ; and, in the year 1811, one was dug up that contained 400 solid feet.” 
(Ameen. Quer., fol.- 15.) 
Bull Oaks. These are all very old trees, and hollow; and they are called 
bull oaks, from bulls taking shelter within them, which they effect, not by 
going in and turning round, but by retreating backwards into the cavity till 
the head alone projects at the aperture. Mr. South, in the Bath Society’s 
Papers, 1783, describes an ancient hollow tree, in the middle of a pasture, 
and bearing the most venerable marks of antiquity, which gives the name, 
compounded of itself and its situation, to the farm on which it grows, viz. 
Oakley Farm. The hollow part of this tree was long the favourite retreat of 
a bull; and 20 people, old and young, have crowded into it at one time. 
A calf being shut up there for convenience, its dam, a two-years-old heifer, 
constantly went in to suckle it, and left sufficient room for milking her. .It is 
supposed, adds he, to be near 1000 years old : the body is nothing but a shell, 
covered with burly protuberances. The upper part of the shaft is hollow, like 
achimney. It has been mutilated of all its limbs; but from their stumps arise 
a number of small branches, forming a bushy head, so remarkable for fertility, 
that, in years of plenty, it has produced two sacks of acorns in a season. It 
measured in the middle, round the burls, 29 ft. 3in.; round the stumps of the 
old arms, 31 ft. 6 in.; and in the smallest part, between 2 ft. and 3 ft. from the 
ground, it is 26 ft. in circumference. The aperture into the tree is a small 
il-formed Gothic arch, which appears to have been originally “ hewn out or 
enlarged with an axe; and the bark,” continues Mr. South, “ now curls over 
the wound ; a sure sign that it continues growing.” (Bath Soc. Papers, vol. vi. 
p- 45.) There are many bull oaks in different parts of the country; but that 
in Wedgenock Park (fig. 1625.) is, probably, one of the largest. It has been 
long since fenced round with substantial posts and rails, and has had the two 
extremities of its projecting limbs supported from beneath by strong pieces 
of timber. (See Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. iii. p. 553.) 
Boundary Oaks. Several of these might be mentioned. The Border Oak, 
which stands on the confines of Wales and England, is more remarkable for 
its situation than for its size; it forms the boundary between Shropshire and 
the Principality, as the County Oak, about 30 miles from London, does 
between Surrey and Sussex. The last-named tree is hollow, and contains 
within it seats for nine persons. The Gospel Oak, fig. 1628., is a boundary 
oak dividing the parish of Stoneleigh in Warwickshire, from the parish of 
Baginton. There are many Gospel Oaks in different parts of England, relics, 
as the Rev. W. T. Bree observes (Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. iii. p.553.), of the 
religion of our ancestors : — 
“ Relligione patrum multos servata per annos.” Vinci. 
The custom, says Mr. Strutt, “ of marking the boundaries of parishes, by the 
inhabitants going round them once every year, and stopping at certain spots 
to perform different ceremonies, in order that the localities might be impressed 
on the memories of both young and old, is of great antiquity, and may be 
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