Nov. 22. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



403 



upon record;" but the date of the record is not 

 mentioned. We can hardly suppose that it was 

 cotemporaneous. {lb. p. 29.) An elm at Chequers 

 in Buckinghamshire is reported, by a tradition 

 handed down in the families of the successive 

 owners, to have been planted in the reign of 

 Stephen. {lb. p. 38.) Respecting the Wallace 

 Oak, at EUerslie near Paisley, it is reported that 

 Sir William Wallace, and three hundred of his men, 

 hid themselves among its branches from the English. 

 This legend is probably fixbulous : if it were true, 

 it would imply that the tree was in its full vigour 

 at the end of the thirteenth century. (/6.p.5.) The 

 ash at Carnook, in Stirlingshire, supposed to be 

 the largest in Scotland, and still a luxuriant tree, 

 was planted about the year 1596, by Sir Tiiomas 

 Nicholson of Carnock, Lord Advocate of Scotland 

 in the reign of James VI. {lb. p. 8.) 



Marshall, in his work on Planting and Rural 

 Ornament (2 vols. 179G) refers to a paper on the 

 age of trees, by Mr. Marsham, in the first volume 

 of the Transactions of the Bath Agriculture Society, 

 in which the Tortworth Chestnut is calculated to 

 be not less than 1100 years old. Marshall, who 

 appears to have examined this tree with great 

 care, corrects the account given by Mr. Marsham, 

 and states that it is not one, but two trees. Sir 

 Robert Atkins, in his History of Gloucestershire, 

 says ; "By tradition this tree was growing in King 

 John's reign." Evelyn, however, as we have al- 

 ready seen, speaks of a record that it served as a 

 manor boundary in the reign of Stephen. Query, 

 on what authority do these statements rest ? Mar- 

 shall thinks that a duration of nearly a thousand 

 yeai's may be fairly assigned to the Tortworth tree; 

 and he adds : 



" If we consider the quick growth of the chestnut, 

 compared with tliat of the oak, and at the same time 

 the inferior bulk of the Tortworth Chestnut to the 

 Cowthorp, the Bentley, and the Boddington oaks, may 

 we not venture to infer that the existence of these truly 

 venerable trees commenced some centuries prior to the 

 era of Christianity ? " 



The oaks liere alluded to by Marshall are of 

 immense size. The Cowthorp Oak is near Wether- 

 by ; the Bentley Oak, in Holt Forest, near Bent- 

 ley ; the Boddington Oak, between Cheltenham 

 and Tewksbury (vol. ii. pp. 127. 298.). 



Perhaps some of your correspondents may be 

 able to point out authentic evidence respecting 

 the true dates of ancient trees. A large tree is a 

 subject of interest to the entire neighbourhood : a 

 receives an individual name, like a river, a moun- 

 tain, or a building; and by its permanence it 

 afTcirds a C^ced point for a faithi'ul local tradition 

 to rest upon. On the other hand, the infidelity of 

 oral tradition is well known ; and the mere interest 

 which attaches to a tree of unusual size is likely 

 to give birth to a romantic legend, when its true 

 kiiitory has been forgotten. The antiiiuary and 



the botanist may assist one another in determining 

 the age of trees. By the authentic evidence of 

 their duration which the former is able to furnish, 

 the latter may establish tests by which their 

 longevity may be calculated. L. 



lilNES ATTRIBUTED TO ADMIRAL BTNG. 



The following lines are copied, verbatim et lite- 

 ratim, from a window pane in an upstairs room 

 of the Talbot Inn, Ripley. The tradition is that 

 they were written by Admiral Byng, who was 

 confined in the room as a prisoner when on his 

 way to Portsmouth ; that sentinels were placed on 

 the staircase outside ; that during the night the 

 admiral walked past the sleeping guard, gathered 

 some flowers from the inn garden, and returned to 

 his room ; and that on leaving the following morn- 

 ing, he told the landlady he should see her on his 

 way back to London, when he was acquitted. 

 " Come all you true Britons, and listen to me ; 

 I'll tell you the truth, you'll then plainly see 

 How Minorca was lost, why the kingdom dotli ring, 

 And lay the whole blame on Admiral Byng. 



Sing tantararara, rogues all, rogues all. 



" Newcastle, and Hardwick, and Anson did now 

 Preside at the helm, and to whom all must bow; 

 Minorca besieged, who protection will bring ; 

 They know 'tis too late, let the victim be Byng. 

 Sing tantararara, rogues all. 



" With force insufficient he's ordered away ; 



He obeys, and he sails without any delay; 



But alas ! 'tis too late : who shall say to the king 



Minorca must fall, why accuse Mr. Byng. 



Sing tantararara, rogues all. 



" Minorca now falls, and the nation enraged; 

 With justice they cry, let all who engaged 

 In traterous deeds, with curst infamy swing: 

 What ! none to be found but poor Admiral Byng. 



Sing tantararara, rogues all." 

 Is there any reason to doubt the truth of this 

 tradition, or that the verses were written by the 

 unfortunate admiral ? A. C. G. 



Ripley, Nov. 10. 1851. 



A CHAPTER ON EMBLEMS. 



"An history of emb'ems in all languages, with 

 specimens of the poetry and engravings, accom- 

 panied by some account of the authors, would be 

 a very interesting contribution to our literature." 

 Thus speaks the author of a work remarkable for 

 interest, information, and elegance of taste, viz., 

 Lives of Sacred Poets, by Robert Willmott, Esq. ; 

 and truly such a work would be a great desideratum 

 were the idea here suggested efficiently carried 

 out. 



In our own, and in other languages, many 

 beautiful poems— some of them very gems — exist, 



