THE OAK, 5 



which the Romans translated gkms (acorn), applied 

 also to such fruits as dates, nuts, beech-inast, and 

 olives. These all contain large quantities of oil, 

 which renders them particularly nutritive. 



Whether the custom existed among the ancient 

 Britons, or (as is more probable) was imported by 

 the Saxons who came from the thick oak forests of 

 Germany, it is certain that, during the time when 

 they held sway in this country, the fattening of hogs 

 upon acorns in the forests was accounted so im- 

 portant a branch of domestic economy, that, at about 

 the close of the seventh century. King Ina enacted 

 the pajiage laws for its regulation. The fruit of the 

 oak then formed gifts to kings, and part of the dowries 

 of queens. So very important was it, indeed, that 

 the failure of the acorn crop is recorded as one of the 

 principal causes of famine. One of the most vex- 

 atious acts of William the Conqueror, in his passion 

 for converting the whole of the forests into hunting- 

 grounds, was that of restricting the people from fat- 

 tening their hogs ; and this restriction was one of 

 the grievances which King John was called upon to 

 redress at the triumph of Runnemede, where his 

 assembled subjects compelled him to sign Magna 

 Charta. It is to be observed that swine's flesh was the 

 principal food of most nations in the earlier stages of 

 civilization ; and this is to be attributed to the extreme 

 ' rapidity with which the hog species multiply. 



Up to a recent period, large droves of hogs were 

 fattened upon the acorns of the New Forest, in 

 Hampshire, under the guidance of swineherds, who 

 collected the herds together every night by the sound 

 of a horn. At the present time, the hogs of Estre- 

 madura are principally fed upon the acorns of the 

 Ballota oak ; and to this cause is assigned the great 

 delicacy of their flesh. 



The history of the importance of the oak as timber 



b3 



