1770 AIinORKTU.M AND I'RUTICETUAI. PART III. 



rouiulinj^ country. Near Ncwce gate, in the same park, stands the Roan Oak, 

 the branches of wliich are ahnost all partially decayed, and distorted and twisted 

 into the most fantastic forms. One of these resembles a writhing serpent, 

 and another forms no bad representation of a lion cowering, and jnst ready to 

 spring on his prey. The trunk of this tree is 20 ft. 3 in. in circumference. 

 The Magii Oak, which is supposed by the country people to be haunted by 

 evil spirits, has a hollow open trunk, and is nearly 30 ft. in circumference. 

 Another, situated in a ravine, called the (iutter Oak, is also hollow, and has a 

 trunk nearly 40 It. in circinnfercncc. (See (iard. jMag., vol. xii. p. 312.) 



Suffolk. The lluntingfield Oak. The following account of Queen Eliza- 

 beth's Oak {fill, 161.5.) is copied from A Topoiirapliical mid Jli.itorical De- 

 scription ofSiiffolli, published in 1829 : — " Ihudingjicld. An oak in the park, 

 wiiich Queen Elizabeth was particularly pleased with, 

 afterwards bore the a[)pellation of the Queen's Oak. 

 It stood about two bow-tiiots from the old romantic ii 

 hall ; and, at the height of nearly 7 ft. from the ground, 

 measured more than Jl yards in circumference; and "^^ 

 this venerable monarch of the forest, according to all '' 

 appearance, could not be less than oOO or 600 years 

 old. Queen Elizabeth, it is said, from this favourite 1615 



tree shot a buck with her own hand. According to the representation of its 

 appearance in Davy's Ijcttrrx, the principal arm, ' now dry with bald antiquity,' 

 shot up to a great height above the leafage ; and, being "hollow and truncated 

 at the top, with several cracks resembling loopholes, through which the light 

 shone into its cavity, it gave an idea of the winding staircase in a loftv Gothic 

 tower, which, detached from the ruins of some venerable pile, hung totterin"' 

 to its fall." Mr. Turner, curator of the Botanic Garden, Bury St. Ed- 

 mund's, who sent us the above extract, has also obtained for us the following 

 statement of the present appearance of this venerable tree from his friend 

 Mr. D. Barker, florist, Heveningham Hall : — " It is decidedly Q. peduncn- 

 lata ; and, according to a historical account in my possession, it is now be- 

 tween 1000 and 1 100 years old. At this time (November, 1836), some parts 

 of the tree are in great vigour, having healthy arms 10 ft. in circumference, 

 and one even larger. The boughs cover a space of 78 yards ; but the trunk 

 has long since gone to decay, it being now quite hollow in the interior. 

 The circumference of the trunk is 42 ft. at .5 ft. from tlie ground ; and the 

 height 7j ft." The great hall of the mansion, within " two bow-shots " of 

 which this oak grew, according, to Davy's Lcttcm, was remarkable for hem" 

 "built round six straight massy oaks, which originally supported the roof as 

 they grew. Upon these the foresters and yeomen of the guard used to hang 

 their nets, crossbows, hunting-poles, great saddles, calivers, bills, Sec. The 

 roots had been long decayed," continues Davy, writing in 1772, " when I vi- 

 sited this romantic dwelling ; and the shafts, sawn oH" at the bottom, were 

 supported cither by irregular logs of wood, or by masonry." {Letters^ &c., 

 i. p. 240.) No trace of this old hall is now remaining, the ruins having been 

 taken down about the end of the last century. 



Surrey. The Grindstone Oak, near Farnham, was once an enormous tree. 

 Its circumference, near the ground, is still 48 ft. ; and at 3 ft. high, .33 ft. It is, 

 however, fast waning to decay. {Amccn. Qnrr.) 



Sussex. The venerable oak at Northiam, . . -^i' --. 



famed for its size, and for having given shelter to 

 Queen Elizabeth, who once breakfasted under its 

 extensive branches, on her way through the village c? 

 to London, was partially blown dow n in a storm "^J^' 

 in 1816. (Gent. Mag., Siipp/., 1816, p. 619.) r^S^ 



Warwickshire. The Bull Oak, in Wedge- 

 nock Park ifig. 1616.), is a remarkable spe- 

 cimen of an oak of this kind. It measures at 

 1 ft. above the ground 40ft., and Oft. from the 1016 



