1266 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



with a clean bole about 40 ft. long. At Sherborne Castle, Dorsetshire, a tree 

 measures about 75 ft. high, and 1 2 ft. 9 in. in girth at 3 ft. At Corsham Court, Wilts, 

 there are two trees, one 80 ft. by 6 ft. 9 in., which is grafted on the common oak, the 

 other 80 ft. by 7 ft. with a straight clean bole of 40 ft. At Longleat, Wilts, Col. 

 Thynne measured one in 1903, 78 ft by 1 1 ft. 10 in. At Bowood, Wilts, I saw a hand- 

 some tree in 1906, 92 ft. by 9 ft At Croome Court a tree 74 ft by loi ft., which 

 on 4th June 1906 still bore some leaves of the previous year, showed no graft mark 

 at the ground, which indicates that it may be a seedling of more recent origin. 

 At White Knights, Berks, in the grounds of the Wilderness, a tree of moderate 

 size is grafted on the common oak. At Kew a very fine tree, which also appears 

 to have been grafted on the common oak, measured, in 1907, 74 ft by 12 ft. 3 in. 

 In Wales the only tree that I know is at Stackpole Court. It measured in 1906, 



76 ft. by 6 ft. 8 in. 



In Scotland I have seen one tree which looks like an original Lucombe oak ; 

 it grows in the park at Dunkeld, near the Abbey ruin, and measured in 1904, 62 ft. 



by 7 ft. 9 in. 



In Ireland the only tree I have seen which looks like an original, is one in the 

 grounds of Kilmacurragh, said to have been purchased by Mrs. Acton over a 

 hundred years ago; and when I saw it in 1908 was 78 ft. by 7 ft., with a clean 

 bole of about 40 ft. 



Loudon quotes a letter from Pince as follows: "When the original tree had 

 attained 20 years' growth, and was about 3 ft. in circumference, Mr. Lucombe, being 

 then far advanced in years, had it cut down for the purpose of making his coffin out of 

 it. He, however, lived so much longer than he anticipated, that several years before 

 his death, he had another much larger and older tree cut down, sawn into planks, and 

 carefully deposited under his bed in readiness for the above purpose ; and inside those 

 planks, over which for many years he had reposed, he was at length put to rest, at the 

 advanced age of 102 years." Of this tree I possess a relic in the shape of a corner 

 piece, which I bought at a sale of the effects of Mrs. Woodman, a granddaughter of 

 Mr. Pince, who told me that it was made with other furniture from the tree above 

 mentioned. The wood is fine and close-grained, showing a good deal of figure, and 

 of a pale yellowish brown. It has not shown the least symptoms of warping or decay, 

 and is untouched by wood-boring beetles. 



The seedlings of the original Lucombe oak are quite different in habit, bark, 

 and character, and show their origin very clearly in the corky nature of the bark. 

 The two largest trees of this kind that existed, so far as I know, grew on each 

 side of the entrance of the old Exeter Nursery. One, stated by Napper to be 

 the original var. crispa'^ of Loudon, was 12 ft. in girth in 1891. I am informed 

 by Mr. Robert Veitch, of Exeter, that it was cut down some years ago, and 

 I could find no trace of it. The second, when I visited Exeter in 1902, was 

 standing on the west side of the nursery gate, and measured about 60 ft. by 



1 Cf. Loudon, fig. 1 7 18, who gives its dimensions in 1838 as 63 ft. high and 9 «. in girth. It was raised, as above 

 stated, as a seedling in 1792. 



