42 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



of many others. This is an immense tree of 

 nearly thirty feet in girth, into the hollow bole 

 of which Owen Grlendower threw Howel Sele, 

 a Welsh chieftain, whom he had wounded in 

 quarrel. This was while hunting; and Howel, 

 not making his appearance, search was made 

 for him, but in vain. The oak kept its secret 

 until, Ions after, the truth was told by one 

 Madoc, an accomplice in the crime, at the sug- 

 gestion of the dying Grlendower, and, upon 

 search being made, the skeleton of Sele was 

 found in an upright position, the bones of the 

 hand grasping a rusted sword. 



But it is not alone to the oak that these 

 mythical stories or superstitions attach, for has 

 not almost every country parish its " Shrew 

 Ash ?" The velvety Shrew is a perfectly harm- 

 less little creature. Nevertheless, our ancestors 

 looked upon it as an "uncanny beastie," and 

 invested it with a most malignant character. 

 Nothing in the fields was safe from its evil in- 

 fluence, and whenever it came near a domestic 

 animal, the latter immediately lost all power of 

 limb, and was unable to move. The more 

 superstitious of our forefathers were quick to 

 find antidotes for these dark workers, and the 



