4 



THE CHESTNUT. 



of Henry IL_, he speaks of a very noble and large 

 forest which grew on the boreal part of it ; ^ Nigh to 

 London/ says he/ extends a huge forest, the woody 

 resort of wild beasts, a hiding place for deer, boars 

 and wild bulls, &c.' * A very goodly thing it seems, 

 and as well stored with all sorts of good timber as 

 with venison and all kinds of chase ; and yet some 

 will not allow the Chestnut to be a free-born of 

 this island, but of that I make little doubt." 



Dr. Ducarel, in his Anglo-Norman Antiquities 

 observes, that many of the old houses in Nor- 

 mandy when pulled down are found to have a 

 great deal of Chestnut timber about them. As 

 there are not any forests of Chestnut-trees in 

 Normandy, the inhabitants have a tradition that 

 this timber was brought from England ; and there 

 are some circumstances, which, when rightly con- 

 sidered will add strength to this tradition ; for 

 many of the old houses in England are found to 

 contain a great deal of this timber ; several of the 

 houses in Old Palace Yard, Westminster, and in 

 that neighbourhood, which were taken down in 

 order to build Parliament and Bridge Streets, 

 appeared to have been built with Chestnut." 



Hasted, who contributed to the Philosophical 

 Transactions a letter confirmatory of Ducarel's 

 views, says : " The ancient Norman buildings are 

 mostly of this wood, which in all probability was 

 fetched home from this country ; most of the 

 stone wherewith our monasteries and buildings 

 of such sort were erected came from Normandy. 

 This seems to have been a mutual trafBck for 

 some centuries between the two countries." 



* Proxime patet foresta ingens, saltus nemorosi ferarum, latebrae 

 cervonim, damarum, aprorum, et taurorum sylvestrium. 



