2 THE OAK 



historical edifices affords ample proof that the indefin- 

 able charm exercised on us by what has proved so last- 

 ing, is a real one and deep-seated in the Saxon nature. 

 In fact, everything about the oak is suggestive of 

 durability and sturdy hardiness, and, like so many 

 objects of human worship in the earlier days of man's 

 emergence from a savage state, the oak instinctively 

 attracts us. The attraction is no doubt complex, 

 taking its origin in the value of its acorns and timber 

 to our early forefathers, not unaffected by the artistic 

 beauty of the foliage and habit of the tree, and the 

 forest life of our ancestors, to say nothing of the more 

 modern sentiment aroused when ships of war were built 

 almost entirely of heart of oak; for the Aryan race 

 seems to have used and valued both the fruit and the 

 wood from very early times, and both Celt and Saxon 

 preserved the traditional regard for them. Memories of 

 our Anglo-Saxon ancestors are still found ib. the English 

 and German names for the tree and its fruit 3 as seen by 

 comparing the Anglo-Saxon dc or cec, the name of the 

 oak, with the English word, and with the German Eiche 

 on the one hand, and with acorn (Eichel) on the other. 

 In early days, moreover, there were vast oak forests in 

 our island and on the Continent, and, although these 

 have been almost cleared away so far as England is con- 

 cerned, there are still ancient oaks in this country, some 

 of which must date from Saxon times or thereabouts, 

 and the oak is still one of the commonest trees in France, 

 parts of Germany, and some other districts in Europe. 



