76 



THE LARCH 



ably fine specimen it is^ for English growth ; 

 although, I perceive, it has passed its prime, 

 and the leading shoot at the top is bent, if not 

 broken." 



I have reason to think," said Mr. Long- 

 hurst, *^^that this tree was planted by no less a 

 personage than King James I. This garden, 

 we know, formed part of his favourite domain, 

 which he enclosed with a wall ten miles in ex- 

 tent. About five hundred yards of the wall still 

 form the boundary of this estate ; and a mile- 

 stone inserted in it, shews us the date, 1621. 

 The mount, pond, and opposite moat, would 

 scarcely have been executed by any one not 

 possessed, like the builder of the wall, of royal 

 enterprise and resources ; and the trees all 

 bear an appearance of some two hundred years' 

 standing. This solitary and stately larch, 

 dropping its graceful feathery branches into 



