chap. cv. coryla'ce;e. ^ue'rcus. 1779 



in Lincolnshire, have been excavated. {Amcen. Qucr.) " It is recorded in the 

 Annual Register for 179C, that some labourers, while digging for a fish-pond 

 in the grounds of Lord Grenville, at Dropmore, discovered a great number of 

 oaks buried 10 ft. or 12 ft. deep in the earth, and averaging 50 ft. long, all 

 perfectly sound timber. At Litchett Park, in 1740, an oak was discovered 

 3 ft. under ground, which measured 53 ft. in length, and gave 4 ft. at the side 

 of the square : there were 33 ft. more of top raised afterwards ; so that the 

 whole oak was 86 ft. long. In the year 1815, there was a part of an oak 

 drawn out of the Thames, near the ferry at Twickenham, with great difficulty, 

 by 24 horses. It measured 20ft. in circumference; and Philips says, it is 

 known to have lain in the river upwards of 150 years. Among the vast 

 quantities of bog timber annually raised out of the fens in Lincolnshire, a few 

 years ago one log was taken up, near Sleaford, that contained 300 solid feet of 

 timber ; and, in the year 1811, one was dug up that contained 400 solid feet." 

 {Amcen* Quer., fol. 15.) 



Bull Oaks. These are all very old trees, and hollow; and they are called 

 bull oaks, from bulls taking shelter within them, which they effect, not by 

 going in and turning round, but by retreating backwards into the cavity till 

 the head alone projects at the aperture. Mr. South, in the Bath Society' s 

 Papers, 1783, describes an ancient hollow tree, in the middle of a pasture, 

 and bearing the most venerable marks of antiquity, which gives the name, 

 compounded of itself and its situation, to the farm on which it grows, viz. 

 Oakley Farm. The hollow part of this tree was long the favourite retreat of 

 a bull ; and 20 people, old and young, have crowded into it at one time. 

 A calf being shut up there for convenience, its dam, a two-years-old heifer, 

 constantly went in to suckle it, and left sufficient room for milking her. It is 

 supposed, adds he, to be near 1000 years old : the body is nothing but a shell, 

 covered with burly protuberances. The upper part of the shaft is hollow, like 

 a chimney. It has been mutilated of all its limbs ; but from their stumps arise 

 a number of small branches, forming a bushy head, so remarkable for fertility, 

 that, in years of plenty, it has produced two sacks of acorns in a season. It 

 measured in the middle, round the burls, 29 ft. 3 in. ; round the stumps of the 

 old arms, 31 ft. 6 in. ; and in the smallest part, between 2 ft. and 3 ft. from the 

 ground, it is 26 ft. in circumference. The aperture into the tree is a small 

 ill-formed Gothic arch, which appears to have been originally " hewn out or 

 enlarged with an axe ; and the bark," continues Mr. South, " now curls over 

 the wound ; a sure sign that it continues growing." {Bath Soc. Papers, vol. vi. 

 p. 45.) There are many bull oaks in different parts of the country; but that 

 in Wedgenock Park {fig. 1625.) is, probably, one of the largest. It has been 

 long since fenced round with substantial posts and rails, and has had the two 

 extremities of its projecting limbs supported from beneath by strong pieces 

 of timber. (See Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. iii. p. 553.) 



Boundary Oaks. Several of these might be mentioned. The Border Oak, 

 which stands on the confines of Wales and England, is more remarkable for 

 its situation than for its size: it forms the boundary between Shropshire and 

 the Principality, as the County Oak, about 30 miles from London, does 

 between Surrey and Sussex. The last-named tree is hollow, and contains 

 within it seats for nine persons. The Gospel Oak, fig. 1628., is a boundary 

 oak dividing the parish of Stoneleigh in Warwickshire, from the parish of 

 Baginton. There are many Gospel Oaks in different parts of England, relics, 

 as the Rev. W. T. Bree observes {Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. iii. p. 553.), of the 

 religion of our ancestors : — 



" Relligione patrum multos servata per annos." Virgil. 



The custom, says Mr. Strutt, " of marking the boundaries of parishes, by the 

 inhabitants going round them once every year, and stopping at certain spots 

 to perform different ceremonies, in order that the localities might be impressed 

 on the memories of both young and old, is of great antiquity, and may be 



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