86 



THE OAK. 



second tree tlius enclosed. Bv o-eneral tradition, 

 however, it sprung from an acorn of the Royal 

 Oak, and this is credible enough : for whoever 

 took the pains to rear young trees for St. James's 

 Park and the Chelsea Gardens, doubtless did all 

 in his power to perpetuate the race on the spot 

 v»'here the event took place. From the inscription 

 of 17ST, it would seem that Basil and Eliza Fitz- 

 herbert believed the tree then standing to have 

 been the identical one in which the Sovereign 

 took shelter. But, although they were mistaken 

 in this respect, it must have attained a consider- 

 able size, or they could not have fallen into such 

 an error. From this and other circumstances it 

 appears tolerably certain that the tree now stand- 

 ing is the immediate descendant of the Royal Oak, 

 and that it was planted about the time of the 

 Restoration in 1660, as nearly in the same site as 

 the remains of the old tree would allow, some of 

 the old people alluded to above recollecting that it 

 did not stand in the centre of the old enclosui'e. 



The present Royal Oak, however, is now rapidly 

 following its predecessor to decay. Xo casual ob- 

 server would, from its appearance, suspect that, 

 only hfty years ago, its branches spread over a 

 spacious circumference, far beyond the wall, reach- 

 ing to vithin a few feet of the ground, and so um- 

 brageous that about that time a party of roguish 

 rustics concealed themselves under its shade whilst 

 on the watch for an outlying deer, as it came trot- 

 ting up the green sward to browse on the tillage. 

 Soon after that period, however, it suifered se- 

 verely from the tempests, especially on one occa- 

 sion about forty years ago. The branches, before 

 they had lost their leaves, were loaded with snow. 



