CHAP. CV. 



coryla n ce;e. que'rcus. 



1771 



ground 37 ft., in circumference. The height of the trunk is 

 about 17 ft before it throws out branches. The inside is 

 quite decayed ; and, being open on one side, cattle are ge- 

 nerally found sheltering in it. The head is still in a vigorous 

 and flourishing state. The Gospel Oak (fig. 1617.) stands 

 near Stoneleigh Abbey ; and it derives its name from the 

 custom which formerly prevailed, when the minister and 

 other officers of the parish went round its boundaries in 

 Rogation Week, of stopping at remarkable spots and trees, to 

 recite passages of the Gospel. 



Westmoreland. The Earl of Thanet's Hollow Oak, in Whinfield Park, 

 measured, in 1765, 31ft. 9 in. in circumference. (Bath Soc. Papers, vol. i. 

 p. 66.) 



Wiltshire. In Savernake Forest there are many 

 large and noble oaks. The 

 King Oak (fig. 1619.) has a 

 trunk which is 24 ft. in cir- 

 cumference, and is hollow : 

 this tree is very picturesque. 

 The Creeping Oak, in the same 

 forest (fig. 16 18.), is also a very 

 remarkable tree. 



Yorkshire. The Cowthorpe 

 Oak (fig. 1620.) is a very remarkable tree. The following are the dimensions 

 of this tree, as given in Hunter's Evelyn : — Close to the ground, it measured 

 78 ft. in circumference ; and at 3 ft. from the ground, 48 ft. The following 



1618 



1619 



1620 



account was sent to us by a correspondent 

 in Yorkshire, in October, 1829 :—" Cow- 

 thorpe is a small village on the right bank 

 of the river Nidd, in the wapentake of 

 Clare, in the West Riding of the county 

 of York, and about a mile and a half on 

 the right of the great road from London 

 to Edinburgh, where it crosses the river 

 by Walshford Bridge. This stupendous 

 oak stands in a paddock near the village 

 church, and is the property of the Hon. 

 E. Petre of Stapleton Park, near Ferry- 

 bridge. On a stranger's first observing 

 the tree, he is struck with the majestic 

 appearance of its ruined and riven-look- 

 ing dead branches, which in all directions appear above the luxuriant foliage of 

 the lateral and lower arms of the tree. In 1722, one of the side branches was 

 blown down in a violent gale of wind ; and, on being accurately measured, 

 was found to contain upwards of five tons of wood. The largest of the living 

 branches at present extends about 48 ft. from the trunk ; and its circum- 

 ference, at about one yard from the giant bole, is 8 ft. 6 in. Three of the 

 living branches are propped by substantial poles, resting upon stone pedestals. 

 The diameter in the hollow part, at the bottom, is 9 ft. 10 in. : the greatest 

 height of the dead branches is about 56 ft. It is evidently of very great anti- 

 quity, as all tradition represents it as a very old tree." 



The Wellbred Oak, on Kingston Hill, near Pontefract, is supposed to be 

 800 years old. Its height is 70 ft., and its trunk 33 ft. in circumference : it 

 is Q. pedunculata. The trunk is quite hollow, and open on one side j and 

 the asses and other cattle grazing on the common often shelter in it. 



Scotland. — Dumfriesshire. An oak at Lochwood, in Annandale, is men- 

 tioned by Dr. Walker, in his Essays y &c., as measuring, in 1773, 60ft. in height ; 

 with a trunk 14 ft. in circumference, at 6 ft. from the ground ; and a fine, spread- 

 ing, circular head, about 60ft. in diameter. Through thekindness of Hope John- 



