Strutt’s Delicice Syloarum. 385 
sequestered spot, which. recommends itself to our notice as 
well by its own intrinsic beauty, as by the circumstance of its 
having been, as Mr. Strutt informs us, the favourite haunt of 
the poet Gray, and ‘ the scene of his poetic musings.” ‘This 
charming tract of woodland, which is of considerable extent, 
lies only a few miles from Stoke Pogis *, in Buckingham- 
shire. It possesses sufficient inequality of ground and variety 
of surface to give additional interest to the sylvan scenery. 
The oak, the birch, and the holly contribute their shades; 
and the native juniper, a local if not a rare shrub, flour ishes 
here in profusion, and casts a dark and sober-coloured mantle 
over the whole landscape. But that which constitutes the 
peculiar feature of the place, and marks its character, and 
from which, indeed, it derives its appellation, is the beech, 
“ That wreaths its old fantastic roots so high,” 
and appears to be the staple growth of this part of the coun- 
try. These trees are of great antiquity, and many of them 
of a large size; and, having been pollarded or lopped, most 
probably for fuel, at some remote period, have since been 
* In the church-yard at Stoke, which probably suggested the idea of his 
celebrated elegy, the mortal remains of the poet are entombed. 
