35 



was seen by John, Lord Delamorej but it has long since dis- 

 appeared. The " Groaning Oak " at Baddesley, about two miles 

 from Lymington, continued an object of great curiosity "for a 

 spacq of eighteen or twenty months, owing to the groaning noises 

 that issued from it. In the hope of discovering the cause of the 

 unusual sounds the owner bored a hole into the trunk." After 

 that, as Gilpin quaintly remarks, " the tree never groaned." The 

 'Cadenham oak was remarkable because it produced buds and 

 leaves every year in the depth of winter. Gilpin himself saw it in 

 1781. Afterwards leaves were sent to him on January 5th, 1782; 

 these were fairly expanded and about an inch long. A lady who 

 visited the tree in 1786 found fresh sprouted leaves an inch and 

 a half long. The production of winter foliage in the Cadenham 

 oak is similar to what commonly takes place in the well-known 

 Glastonbury thorn ; in the latter, both leaves and flowers appear 

 in moderate quantities in mid-winter. They are not so abundant 

 as in May, but they are said to possess the true hawthorn frag- 

 rance. I understand it is possible that the Cadenham oak or one 

 of its descendants may still exist. It would be interesting to verify 

 this. 



It is stated that there are few, if any, oaks now living in the 

 New Forest, which are remarkable for their size, as compared with 

 the old trees mentioned above. 



Among other interesting oak trees in the district may be 

 mentioned the Mount joy oak at Canford Manor. This noble 

 veteran is still 6oft in height, with a girth of 17ft. A quaint legend 

 is associated with this tree, for which I am indebted to the agent, 

 Mr. T. J. Meaby. The story is, that Lady Mount joy, who lived 

 at Canford Manor about the middle of the 15th century, was a 

 cripple, and she asked her husband to grant her some land on 

 which to build almshouses. Lord Mountjoy, in the rough fashion 

 of those days, told her that she could have as much land as she 

 could crawl around. She thereupon crawled on her hands and 

 knees from the Manor House round the great oak and back 

 again. The result, according to the legend, was the erection of 

 the almshouses at Wimborne, which survive to this day. 



A very handsome oak at Charborough Park is 87ft. in height, 

 with a girth of 14ft. 2in. This has a clean stem up to 50ft., and 

 has a fine head. At Melbury Park, Dorset, there is an extra- 

 ordinary oak, known as Billy Wilkins' oak, which swells into an 

 Immense burry trunk 38ft. in girth. This is said to be 700 or 800 

 years old, and perhaps the largest in England. 



At Rockingham Park, in North Hants, there are what are 

 known as " brown oaks," yielding exceptionally valuable timber. 

 Five of these were recently sold for -£100 each.' Elwes says that 

 ■■ brown oak, when the timber is of good colour, is superior to 

 any other for the interior decoration of houses, and for making 

 sideboards and other heavy furniture. Bog oak that has been 

 buried for centuries in peat bogs is used for furniture, picture 

 frames and small ornamental work. 



