THE CHESTNUT. 



7 



and yet be indigenous to Britain, although un- 

 noticed by the invaders of that country. 



The fact that Chestnut timber has been found 

 in ancient buildings in very great quantities would 

 carry great weight, but that it has been recently 

 discovered that the wood supposed to be Chestnut 

 is in reality a kind of Oak, differing from common 

 Oak in those very characters which had been 

 fixed on as distinctive of Chestnut. Besides this, 

 Chestnut timber of large dimensions, is, neither 

 in Great Britain nor the south of Europe, found 

 to possess the qualities, strength and durability, 

 which were supposed to have recommended it to 

 the notice of ancient builders. 



Evelyn's quotation from Fitz-Stephen is a very 

 unhappy one, and the citation of the same passage 

 from Evelyn by Miller, Laud, &c., still more un- 

 fortunate, for the tree in question is neither de- 

 scribed nor even mentioned by name. Evelyn 

 honestly cited the passage as evidence that there 

 formerly existed a great forest near London, in 

 which he thought it probable that Chestnut timber, 

 among other kinds, might grow, and the authors 

 who followed him, perhaps from not being able 

 to refer to the original work, mistaking the drift 

 of his remark, took it for granted that the tree 

 was mentioned, and considered the evidence there- 

 by afforded conclusive, as indeed they well might. 



There can be no doubt that Chestnut-trees have 

 existed quite long enough in England to originate 

 the names of places, but this they might have done 

 without being aboriginal trees. In fact a planted 

 grove of foreign trees, or even a single fine speci- 

 men, might have afforded sufficient reason for giv- 

 ing a name commemorative of the circumstance to 



