THE OAK. 



39 



the cavity. In 1790, Mr. Rooke gave the measure- 

 ment of it as follows : — The circumference of the 

 trunk above the arch, is thirty-five feet three inches ; 

 height of the arch, ten feet three inches ; width 

 about the middle, six feet three inches ; height to 

 the top branch fifty-four feet. Evelyn, and after 

 him Hunter, makes some slight variation in these 

 measurements. Evelyn calculates that two hun- 

 dred and twenty-five head of cattle might stand 

 within the shadow of its branches ; but at the pre- 

 sent day the herd must be indeed diminished if 

 their owner should mean them to escape the heat of 

 the meridian sun, from the shelter of its few remain- 

 ing branches and thinly scattered foliage. It is 

 no way surprising that this should be the case, as it 

 appears that the loss of them, naturally attendant 

 on the chances of elemental war, and the ravages of 

 time, was anticipated from other causes ; among 

 which may be reckoned the partiality of the Countess 

 of Oxford to the tree, of which the family might 

 well be proud, insomuch that she had, as Mr. Rooke 

 informs us, " several cabinets made out of the 

 branches, and ornamented with inlaid representa- 

 tions of the oak, with the following inscriptions : 



Seepe sub hac Dryades festas duxere choreas : 

 Saepe etiam, manibus nexis ex ordine, trunci 

 CircuieiSe modum ; meusuraque roboris ulnas 

 Quinque ter implebat ; nec non et cetera tanto 

 Sylva sub hac, sylva quanto jacet herba sub omni." 



Ovid Met. 



