CELEBRATED TREES. 219 



endeavoured to persuade her that the noise she 

 heard was only the bellowing of the stags in the 

 forest. By degrees, however, the neighbours on 

 all sides heard it, and the thing began to be much 

 talked of. It was by this time plainly discovered 

 that the groaning noise proceeded from an Elm, 

 which grew at the end of the garden. It was 

 a young, vigorous tree, and to all appearance 

 perfectly sound. 



In a few weeks the fame of the Groaning Tree 

 was spread far and wide, and people, from all 

 parts, flocked to hear it. Among others, it 

 attracted the curiosity of the late Prince and 

 Princess of Wales, who resided, at that time, for 

 the advantage of a sea bath, at Pilewell, the seat of 

 Sir James Worsley, which stood within a quarter 

 of a mile of the Groaning Tree. 



Though the country people assigned many 

 superstitious causes for this strange phenomenon, 

 the naturalist could assign no physical one that 

 was in any degree satisfactory. Some thought it 

 was owing to the twisting and friction of the 

 roots. Others thought it proceeded from water, 

 which had collected in the body of the tree, or 



