CUES NUT. 85 



The Romans called them Costarica, after a city of that 

 name in Thessalia, from whence they first procured them, 

 and where they were grown in great abundance by the 

 Grecians ; they still retain the same appellation in all the 

 European languages. In German Castanienhawn ; in 

 Swedish and Danish Castanietrae ; in French Chdtaignier; 

 in Italian Castagno ; in Spanish Castano ; in Portuguese 

 Castanheire. In Russian Keschtan. 



Some authors affirm that the chesnut-tree is a native 

 of this country. Dr. Ducarel maintains, in his Anglo- 

 Norman Antiquities, that it is an indigenous, or na- 

 tive tree of this island ; in proof of this he alleges, that 

 many of our old buildings in London, and other places, 

 contain a great quantity of this timber ; and among the 

 ancient records to which he appeals, produces a deed of 

 gift from Henry the Second to Flexley abbey, of the tithe 

 of all his chesnuts in the forest of Dean. 



The remains of very old decayed chesnut-trees may be 

 seen in the Forest of Dean, Enfield Chase, and in many 

 parts of Kent. At Fortworth, in Gloucestershire, is a 

 chesnut-tree fifty-two feet round : it is proved to have 

 stood there since the year 1150, and was then so remark- 

 able, that it was called " The great chesnut of Fortworth" 

 It fixes the boundary of a manor. Mr. Marsham states 

 that this tree is 1100 years old. It is mentioned by Sir 

 Robert Atkyns in his history of that county, as a famous 

 tree in King John's time ; and by Evelyn in his Sylva, to 

 have been so remarkable for its magnitude, in the reign of 

 King Stephen, as then to be called the great chesnut, as 

 already noticed ; from which it is presumed to have been 

 standing before the Conquest. 



Cheshunt, or Chestrehunt, in Hertfordshire, is sup- 

 posed to have been so called from the chesnut-trees with 

 which it formerly abounded. Camden remarks, that 

 Cowdery Park, near Midhurst in Sussex, abounded in 



