CHAP. CV. CORYLA'CEiE. ^UE'rCUS. 1761 



an arrow, shot by Sir Walter Tyrrell at a stag, glanced and struck King 

 William II., surnamed Rufus, on the breast, of which stroke he instantly 

 died, on the 2d of August, 1100." "King William II. being thus slain, 

 was laid in a cart belonging to one Purkess, and drawn from hence to Win- 

 chester, and buried in the cathedral church of that city." " That the spot 

 where an event so memorable happened might not hereafter be unknown, 

 this stone was set up by John Lord Delaware, who has seen the tree growing 

 in this place." (Gilpin's Forest Scc?i., i. p. 167.) This stone was erected in 

 1745 ; and it is said that, in the reign of Charles II., the oak was paled round 

 by that monarch's command, in order to its preservation. This tree appears to 

 have blossomed at Christmas, like the Cadenham Oak, mentioned below. 



The Cadenham Oak, about three miles from Lyndhurst, is another of the 

 remarkable trees of the New Forest. This tree, which buds every year at 

 Christmas, is mentioned by Camden. " Having often heard of this oak," 

 says Gilpin, " I took a ride to see it on the 29th of December, 1781. It was 

 pointed out to me among several other oaks, surrounded by a little forest 

 stream, winding round a knoll on which they stood. It is a tall straight 

 plant, of no great age, and apparently vigorous, except that its top has been 

 injured, from which several branches issue in the form of pollard shoots. It 

 was entirely bare of leaves, as far as I could discern, when I saw it, and un- 

 distinguishable from the other oaks in its neighbourhood; except that its 

 bark seemed rather smoother, occasioned, I apprehended, only by frequent 

 climbing. Having had the account of its early budding confirmed on the spot, 

 I engaged one Michael Lawrence, who kept the White Hart, a small alehouse 

 in the neighbourhood, to send me some of the leaves to Vicar's Hill as soon 

 as they should appear. The man, who had not the least doubt about the 

 matter, kept his word, and sent me several twigs on the 5th of January, 1782, 

 a few hours after they had been gathered. The leaves were fairly expanded, 

 and about I in. in length. From some of the buds two leaves had unsheathed 

 themselves, but, in general, only one." (For. Seen., i. p. 171.) One of the 

 young trees raised from this oak at Bulstrode was not only in leaf, but had 

 its flower buds perfectly formed, on December 21. 1781 ; so that this property 

 of coming early into leaf had been communicated to its offspring. " The 

 early spring of the Cadenham Oak," Gilpin continues, " is of very short du- 

 ration. The buds, after unfolding themselves, make no further progress, but 

 immediately shrink from the season, and die. The tree continues torpid, like 

 other deciduous trees, during the remainder of the winter, and vegetates 

 again in the spring, at the usual season." When " in full leaf in the middle 

 of summer, it appeared, both in its form and foliage, exactly like other oaks." 

 (Ibid., p. 174.) Another tree, with the same property of early germination, 

 has been found near the spot where Rufus's monument stands. This seems 

 to authenticate Camden's account of the death of that prince ; for he speaks 

 of the premature vegetation of the tree against which Tyrrell's arrow 

 glanced; and this may be one of its descendants. (See Camden's Account of 

 the New Forest.) 



The Bentley Oak, in Holt Forest, according to a letter from R. Marsham, 

 Esq., in the Bath Society's Papers, was, in 1759, 34 ft. in circumference at 

 7 ft. from the ground, and was found, 20 years afterwards (viz. in 1778), to 

 have increased only half an inch. Mr. Marsham accounts for taking the 

 measure so far from the ground, by mentioning that there was an excres- 

 cence about 5 fto or 6 ft. high,"which would have rendered the measure unfair. 

 At Beaulieu Abbey, Gilpin observes, there was, some years ago, " a very 

 extraordinary instance of vegetation. The main stem of an oak arose in 

 contact with a part of the wall, which was entire, and extended one of its 

 principal limbs along the summit of it. This limb, at the distance of a few 

 yards from the parent tree, finding a fissure in the wall, in which there might 

 probably be some deposit of soil, shot a root through it into the earth. 

 Thence shooting up again through another part of the wall, it formed a new 

 stem, as large as the original tree; and from this proceeded another horizontal 



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