TIMBER TREES. 21 



those of any other species. Foremost is, or was, that 

 of Herne the hunter, who, as Shakspeare says, 



" Doth all the winter time, at still midnight, 

 Walk round about an oak, with great ragged horns, 

 And there he blasts the tree." 



Then we have King's oak, Abbot's oak, Pope's oak, 

 Chenies oak, Flitton oak, Damory's oak, Fairlop oak, 

 Merton oak, Chandos oak, Yardley oak, and we know 

 not how many more, to all of which there " hangs a 

 tale " ; but we must leave all these, 



' ' Whose boughs are moss'd with age 

 And high top bald with dry antiquity," 



and pass from the monarch to his humbler courtiers, 

 which are, in all respects, subsidiary, but not wholly 

 unworthy companions. 



The ASH 1 is a native of Britain, and one of our 

 most useful trees. The leaves are compound ; that 

 is, each leaf consists of five or six pairs of leaflets 

 placed opposite to each other, along a central leaf- 

 stalk. In habit the tree is disposed rather to grow 

 tall than stout, so that in plantations and close woods 

 the trunk is thin, but in parks and open lawns it 

 becomes a large and imposing tree. 



The duration of the ash is considerable, there 

 being instances in Scotland of trees nearly three hun- 

 dred years old, and many upwards of two hundred 

 years retain their health and vigour. 



It was well known to the ancients, for Homer 

 celebrates the mighty ashen spear of Achilles, and 

 Virgil- 



" The towering ash is fairest in the woods." 

 1 Fraxinns excelsior. 



