SPANISH CHESTNUT, 193 



Men call me the old chestnut of Tortworth. That aged 

 tree, say they, stood there when King John came to the 

 throne, and must have been at least five hundred and 

 forty years old. One of their scribes relate that I even 

 then was called by the name which I now bear, and which 

 attaches to me, though little more than a venerable ruin. 



Some of you, young trees, have been planted within a 

 comparatively short period; standing singly, or in groups, 

 you embellish homes which had no existence in my young 

 days. Far as the eye could reach, extended a wild forest, 

 or wide common, covered with ferns or rushes ; and deer 

 came in troops, to feed upon my nuts in autumn. I have 

 seen the wild boar, with his long tusks and shaggy mane, 

 ranging where now sheep pasture ; and wild cattle, such 

 as no one could have met unharmed. 



I remember the time when yonder yew first arose 

 from the earth, a small tufted plant, with nothing that 

 indicated its future greatness. Some wandering bird 

 must have brought the berry, which, on account of its 



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