HERNE'S OAK. 41 



interest. The nobleman who accompanied the 

 party to the tree, acquainted me with this little 

 anecdote, and I must confess that it afforded me 

 no small degree of gratification. Pleasing as it is 

 to see foreigners hasten to look at a tree which 

 our great bard has immortalized, it is still more 

 so to have the perfect conviction, that if any tree 

 in the park has a right to be considered as the 

 real Herne's Oak, it is the tree in question. In 

 a former work, I ventured to give this opinion, 

 and facts which have since come to my know- 

 ledge have only served to confirm it. In that 

 work, a very imperfect representation of the tree 

 was given. By the kindness of Mr. Starke, 

 whose paintings of forest scenery are so well 

 known, and so highly appreciated, I am now 

 enabled to give a more perfect, or rather, an exact 

 one. 



The discussion which has taken place with 

 respect to the identity of the tree, has occasioned 

 some degree of interest on the subject, nor do I 

 think that that interest has yet subsided. At all 

 events I feel sure, that the admirers of our im- 

 mortal bard will thank me for my endeavours to 

 prove the claim, which this tree has to be called 

 " Herne's Oak." 



The discussion I have referred to was com- 

 menced in an article in the Quarterly Review on 

 Mr. Loudon's Arboretum, in which an attack, 



