54 



THE OAK. 



table made and placed there by tbe reiio^^ned 

 British Prince, Ai'tbur, who lived in the early 

 part of the sixth century; that is, about 1300 

 years ago. Hence the poet Drayton sings : — 



" And so gTeat Arthur's seat ould Wincliester prefers, 

 "Whose ould round table yet she vaunteth to be hers." 



It must have been cut from a tree of immense 

 girth, as it measures eighteen feet in diameter. 

 It has been perforated in many places by bul- 

 lets, supposed to have been shot by Cromvell's 

 soldiers. 



In digging away the foundation of the old 

 Savoy Palace in London, which was built six 

 hundred and fifty years since, the whole of the 

 piles, many of which were of Oak, were found in 

 a state of perfect soundness ; as also was the 

 planking which covered the pile-heads.* In 

 clearing the channel at Brundisium, in Italy, 

 the workmen have drawn up many of the oak- 

 piles that were driven in by Csesar. They are 

 small Oaks stripped of their bark, and still as 

 fresh as if they had been cut only a month, 

 though buried above eighteen centuries seven 

 feet under the sand. These piles were di'iven in 

 by Julius Cxesar to block up Pompey's fleet. ''f 



Our forefathers appear to have discovered the 

 eligibility of Oak as a material for ship-building 

 at a very early period ; the Alder, Cypress, and 

 Pine, having been principally used by the Romans. 

 Professor Burnet, writing on this subject, says. 



An ancient vessel was discovered some years 

 ago in a branch of the river Bother, near the west 

 end of the Isle of Oxney, in Kent, and about two 

 miles from the spot where formerly stood the 



* Burnet. 



t Phillips. 



