V "WOODS AND FIELDS 189 



thouglit coeval with the world itself," the 

 Fig tvee, "under which the wolf suckled the 

 founder of Rome and his brother, lasting (as 

 Tacitus calculated) 840 years, putting' out 

 new shoots, and presaging the translation of 

 that empire from the Caesarian line, happen- 

 ing in Nero's reign." ^ But in other cases the 

 estimates rest on a surer foundation, and it 

 cannot be doubted that there are trees still 

 living which were already of considerable size 

 at the time of the Conquest. The Soma 

 Cypress of Lombardy, which is 120 feet high 

 and 23 in circumference, is calculated to go 

 back to forty years before the birth of Christ. 

 Francis the First is said to have driven his 

 sword into it in despair after the battle of 

 Padua, and Napoleon altered his road over the 

 Simplon so as to spare it. 



Ferdinand and Isabella in 1476 swore 

 to maintain the privileges of the Biscayans 

 under the old Oak of Guernica. In the 

 Ardennes an Oak cut down in 1824 con- 

 tained a funeral urn and some Samnite 

 coins. A writer at the time drew the conclu- 



1 Evelyn's Sijlva. 



