CHAP. cv. CORYLA'CE^:. ^UE'RCUS. 1753 



was considered as an omen that some great misfortune would befall the 

 nation. According to Davies's Celtic Researches and Inquiry into the Mytho- 

 logy of the Druids, the apple tree was considered as the next sacred tree to 

 the oak, and orchards of it were always planted near a grove of druids' oaks. 

 This was also favourable to the production of the mistletoe, as it grows abun- 

 dantly on the apple tree, and might be easily propagated by birds, or any other 

 accidental mode of transporting the seed. The well-known chorus of " Hey 

 dcrry down," according to Professor Burnet, was a druidic chaunt, sig- 

 nifying, literally, " In a circle the oak move around." Criminals were tried 

 under an oak tree ; the judge being placed under the tree, with the jury beside 

 him, and the culprit placed in a circle made by the chief druid's wand. The 

 Saxons also held their national meetings under an oak ; and the celebrated 

 conference between the Saxons and the Britons, after the invasion of the 

 former, was held under the oaks of Dartmoor. The wood of the oak was 

 appropriated to the most memorable uses : King Arthur's round table was 

 made of it, as was the cradle of Edward III., when he was born at Caernarvon 

 Castle; this sacred wood being chosen, in the hope of conciliating the feelings 

 of the Welch, who still retained the prejudices of their ancestors, the ancient 

 Britons. It was considered unlucky to cut down any celebrated tree : and 

 Evelyn gravely relates a story of two men who cut down the Vicar's Oak, in 

 Surrey ; one losing his eye, and the other breaking his leg, soon after. 



Biography of the Oak. Several individual oak trees are connected with 

 historical facts or legends, or are remarkable for their age, size, or other cir- 

 cumstances ; and we shall now give a short account of the most celebrated in 

 each county, arranging the counties in alphabetical order. 



Bedfordshire. The Abbot's Oak, at Woburn Abbey, which may be called an 

 English dool tree, is a low pollard-like tree, with nothing remarkable in its 

 appearance, though the associations connected with it are extremely interest- 

 ing. On the branches of this tree, according to Stowe and other historians, 

 exactly three centuries ago, the abbot and prior of Woburn, the vicar of 

 Puddington, and " other contumacious persons," were hanged by order of 

 Henry VIII. Dodds, in his Church History of England, states that Roger 

 Hobbs, the abbot of Woburn at that time, " nobly disdaining to compromise his 

 conscience for a pension, as most of his brethren did, and as many others who 

 do not wear a cowl do at the present day, resolutely denied the king's supre- 

 macy, and refused to surrender his sarcedotal rights. For this contumacious 

 conduct, he was, in 1537, together with the vicar of Puddington, in this county 

 [Bedfordshire], and others who opposed the requisition, hanged on an oak 

 tree in front of the monastery, which is standing in the present day [1742]. 

 He was drawn to the place of execution on a sledge, as is the custom with 

 state prisoners." We saw this tree in September, 1836, and found it in perfect 

 health, though with few arms that would be considered large enough for the 

 purpose to which the tree was once applied. On a board nailed to the tree 

 are painted the following lines, written by J. W. Wiffin, Esq. : 



" Oh ! 't was a ruthless deed ! enough to pale 

 Freedom's bright fires, that doom'd to shameful death 

 Those who maintain'd their faith with latest breath, 

 And scorn'd before the despot's frown to quail. 

 Yet 't was a glorious hour, when from the goal 

 Of papal tyranny the mind of man 

 Daren to break loose, and triumph'd in the ban 

 Of thunders roaring in the distant gale ! 

 Yes, old memorial of the mitred monk, 

 Thou liv'st to flourish in a brighter day, 

 And seem'st to smile, that pure and potent vows 

 Are breathed where superstition reign'd : thy trunk 

 Its glad green garland wears, though in decay, 

 And years hang heavy on thy time-stain'd bo'ughs." 



The Leaden Oak, in Ampthill Park, so called from a large piece of lead having 

 been fixed on it many years ago, is remarkable for having been one of the 

 oaks marked in a survey made of the park in the time of Cromwell, as being 

 then too old for naval timber. It is 67 ft. high ; its trunk is 30 ft. 6 in. in 



