CHAP. CV. 



CORYLA CEM, ^UE'RCUS. 



17^3 



1599 



A report existing that this tree had been cut down, 



we wrote to Lord De L'Isle on the subject, and 



are informed by His Lordship that the tree is in 



nearly the same state as when drawn by Strutt . N| 



(from whose plate our Jig. 1599. is a reduced 



copy), with the exception of the loss of a large 



bough. The circumference, at 3 ft. from the 



ground, is 30 ft. Lord De L'Isle adds that he 



has no doubt " that the date of the tree is anterior 



to the birth of Sir Philip Sydney, although it is 



certain that this oak (which goes by the name of the Bear's Oak, from the 



family bearings) is the one alluded to by Waller." 



Merionethshire. The Nannau Oak, which was blown down in 1813, measured 

 27 ft. 6 in. in circumference, and had for centuries been celebrated among the 

 Welsh as the Hobgoblin's Hollow Tree, " Dderwn Ceubren yr Ellyll." This 

 celebrated tree was also known by the names of the Spirit's Blasted Tree, 

 and the Haunted Oak. The legend respecting it is, that Howel Sele, a 

 Welsh chieftain, and Lord of Nannau, was privately slain in a hunting 

 quarrel by his cousin Owen Glendower, and his friend Maddoc. The body, 

 in which life was not yet extinct, was hidden in the hollow trunk of this tree 

 by the murderers. Owen returned in haste to his stronghold, Glendewwrdry. 

 Howel was sought for, but in vain ; and, though groans and hollow sounds 

 were heard proceeding from the tree, no one thought of looking in it. After 

 a lapse of years, Owen Glendower died, and on his deathbed enjoined his 

 companion Maddoc to reveal the truth : he did so, and the skeleton of Howel 

 was discovered upright in the hollow of the tree, and still, according to the 

 legend, grasping a rusty sword in its bony hand. A ballad on this subject, 

 by Mr. Warrington, is printed in the notes to Scott's 

 Marmion. This celebrated oak "stood on the estate of 

 Sir Robert Williams Vaughan, of Nannau Park, who, after 

 its fall, had a variety of utensils manufactured from its 

 wood, which was of a beautiful dark colour, approaching to 

 ebony ; and there is scarcely a house in Dolgel'y that does 

 not contain an engraving of this venerable tree, framed in 

 its wood." (Sat. Mag., 1832, p. 50.) Fig. 1600. is a re- 

 duced copy of the engraving of this tree in the Saturday 

 Magazine, which is there said to have been taken from a 

 drawing made of it by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, only a few 

 hours before it fell. 



Middlesex. The Chandos Oak {fig. 1601.) stands in the pleasure-grounds 

 at Michendon House, near Southgate, and is about 60 ft. high. The head 

 covers a space the diameter of 

 which measures about 118 ft.; 

 the girt of the trunk, at 1 ft. 

 from the ground, is 18 ft. 3 in. 

 It has no large limbs ; but, when 

 in full foliage, " its boughs 

 bending to the earth, with 

 almost artificial regularity of 

 form, and equidistance from 

 each other, give it the appear- 

 ance of a gigantic tent." It 

 forms, indeed, " a magnificent 

 living canopy, impervious to the day." {Strutt.) 



Norfolk. The Merton Oak (fig. 1602.) stands on the estate of Lord Wal- 

 singham. It is 66 ft. high, and, at the surface of the ground, the circumference 

 of the trunk is 63ft. 2 in. ; at 1 ft. it is 46 ft. 1 in.; the trunk is 18 ft. 6 in. to 

 the fork of the branches ; the largest limb is 18 ft., and the second 16 ft. in 

 circumference. The Winfarthing Oak is 70 ft. in circumference ; the trunk 



5 y 3 



1600 





1G01 



