i8 
SHAKESPEARE’S GARDEN 
He lay along 
Under an oak whose antique root peeps out 
Upon the brook that brawls along this wood. 
As You Like It, II. i. 30. 
And, again, he calls to mind the ancient monarch 
of the forest : 
Under an oak, whose boughs were mossed with age, 
And high top bald with dry antiquity. 
Ibid ., IV. iii. 105. 
Shakespeare knew, too, that the oak, king of trees, 
was fitly assigned to the King of Heaven : 
To the dread rattling thunder 
Have I given fire and rifted Jove’s stout oak 
With his own bolt.— Tempest, V. i. 44. 
How often is Herne’s oak in the Great Park oi 
Windsor the scene for mystery and adventure! One 
example must suffice: 
Till ’tis one o’clock 
Our dance of custom round about the oak 
Of Herne the Hunter let us not forget. 
Merry Wives of Windsor, V. v. 78. 
There is also reference to the oaken crown of 
victory: 
He proved best man i’ the field, and for his meed 
Was brow-bound with the oak.— Coriolanus, II. ii. 101. 
This crown, the corona civica, was given to him 
who had saved the life of a Roman citizen. It was 
made of oak leaves, and bore the inscription, ob 
civem servatum. Under the Emperors it was be¬ 
stowed by the Prince alone, and attended with 
special honours: the fortunate recipient wore it at 
the games, and sat next the Senate, and when he 
entered the audience rose as a mark of respect. 
Among the honours showered on Augustus by the 
