48 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
fine tree, with a circumference of 23 feet, a bole of 23 feet, and 
contains 765 feet of timber. 
The two “ Ampthill Oaks” grow in Ampthill Park, Bedford- 
shire. This park extends over the sides and summit of the rising 
ground, and its sweeping glades and hollows, with much wood of 
later growth, display a greater number of venerable oak trees than, 
perhaps, any other park in England of the same extent. On one 
of the two trees the following verses are fastened :— 
** Majestic tree, whose wrinkled form has stood, 
Age after age, the patriarch of the wood ; 
Thou who hast seen a thousand springs unfold 
‘Their ravelled buds, and dip their flowers in gold, 
Ten thousand times yon moon relight her horn, 
And that bright star of evening gild the morn. 
Gigantic oak ! thy hoary head sublime, 
Erewhile must perish in the wreck of time. 
Should round thy head innoxious lightnings shoot, 
And no fierce whirlwind shake thy steadfast root ; 
Yet shalt thou fall, thy leafy tresses fade, 
And those bare scattered antlers strew the glade. 
Arm after arm shall leave the mouldering bust, 
And thy firm fibres crumble into dust. 
The muse alone shall consecrate thy name, 
And by her powerful art prolong thy fame, 
Green shall thy leaves expand, thy branches play, 
And bloom for ever in the immortal lay.”’ 
This provoked the following retort from Lord Wensleydale :— 
** Tl] bet a thousand pounds—and time will show it— 
That this stout tree survives the feeble poet.” 
The two trees stand at a short distance from the mansion, and are 
nearly of the same girth, namely, a little over 35 feet at 3 feet up. 
“Queen Elizabeth’s Oak” stands in Hatfield Park, Hertford- 
shire. ‘On the morning or afternoon of November 17, 1558, 
for Mary died between 4 and 5 a.m., Elizabeth was sitting 
under this tree, when a deputation arrived from the council to 
apprise her of her sister’s demise and to offer her their homage. 
She fell on her knees, and exclaimed in Latin, Domino factum 
est illud, et est mirabile inoculis nostris, ‘\t is the Lord’s doing, 
and it is marvellous in our eyes.’” It stands half-way down the 
avenue leading from the house towards Hertford. It is surrounded 
by a fence, and is not in vigorous health, or of a very remarkable 
bulk. We have no measurements of this historical tree. 
