v WOODS AND FIELDS 189 . 
thought coeval with the world itself,” the 
_ Fig tree, “under which the wolf suckled the 
founder of Rome and his brother, lasting (as 
Tacitus calculated) 840 years, putting out 
new shoots, and presaging the translation of 
that empire from the Cesarian line, happen- 
ing in Nero’s reign.’ * But in other cases the 
estimates rest on a surer foundation, and it 
cannot be doubted that there are trees still 
living which were already of considerable size 
at the time of the Conquest. The Soma 
Cypress of Lombardy, which is 120 feet high 
and 23 in circumference, is calculated to go 
back to forty years before the birth of Christ. 
Francis the First is said to have driven his 
sword into it in despair after the battle of 
Padua, and Napoleon altered his road over the 
Simplon so as to spare it. 
Ferdinand and Isabella in 1476 swore 
to maintain the privileges of the Biscayans 
under the old Oak of Guernica. In the 
Ardennes an Oak cut down in 1824 con- 
tained a funeral urn and some Samnite 
coins. A writer at the time drew the conclu- 
1Evelyn’s Sylva. 
