THE OAK. 



35 



occupations of which exactly accord with the cha- 

 racter of the Oak, whose aged arms are extended 

 towards it with a peculiar air of rustic vigour, re- 

 tained even in decay: like some aged peasant, 

 whose toil-worn limbs still give evidence of the 

 strength which enabled him to acquit himself of the 

 labours of his youth. It is mentioned by the late 

 Doctor Hunter, in his edition of Evelyn's Sylva ; in 

 the following note on a passage respecting the ex- 

 traordinary size of an Oak in Sheffield Park : " Nei- 

 ther this, nor any of the Oaks mentioned by Mr. 

 Evelyn, bear any proportion to one now growing at 

 Cowthorpe, near Wetherby, upon an estate belong- 

 ing to the Right Hon. Lady Stourton — the dimen- 

 sions are almost incredible : within three feet of 

 the surface it measures sixteen yards, and close by 

 the ground twenty-six yards : its height in its pre- 

 sent ruinous state (1776) is almost eighty-five feet, 

 and its principal limb extends sixteen yards from 

 the bole. Throughout the whole tree the foliage is 

 extremely thin, so that the anatomy of the ancient 

 branches may be distinctly seen in the height of 

 summer. When compared to this, all other trees 

 are but children of the Forest." — Book iii. page 500. 



According to this statement, it should appear that 

 the Cowthorpe Oak was, at that time, ten feet more 

 in girth than the Powis Oak in Bromfield Wood, 

 near Ludlow, which measured sixty-eight feet round, 

 and nearly forty feet more than the Swilcar Oak ; 



