CHAP. CV.

CORYLA'CETE. QUE'RCUS.

1779

in Lincolnshire, have been excavated. ( Amosn. Quer.) “ It is recorded in theAnnual Register for 1796, that some labourers, while digging for a fish-pondin the grounds of Lord Grenville, at Dropmore, discovered a great number ofoaks buried 10 ft. or 12 ft. deep in the earth, and averaging 50 ft. long, allperfectly sound timber. At Litehett Park, in 1740, an oak was discovered3 ft. under ground, which measured 53 ft. in length, and gave 4 ft. at the sideof the square : there were 33 ft. more of top raised afterwards; so that thewhole oak was 86 ft. long. In the year 1815, there was a part of an oakdrawn out of the Thames, near the ferry at Twickenham, with great difficulty,by 24 horses. It measured 20ft. in circumference; and Philips says, it isknown to have lain in the river upwards of 150 years. Among the vastquantities of bog timber annually raised out of the fens in Lincolnshire, a fewyears ago one log was taken up, near Sleaford, that contained 300 solid feet oftimber ; and, in the year 1811, one was dug up that contained 400 solid feet.”{Amccn. Quer., fol. 15.)

Bull Oaks. These are all very old trees, and hollow; and they are calledbull oaks, from bulls taking shelter within them, which they effect, not bygoing in and turning round, but by retreating backwards into the cavity tillthe head alone projects at the aperture. Mr. South, in the Bath Society'sPapers, 1783, describes an ancient hollow tree, in the middle of a pasture,and bearing the most venerable marks of antiquity, which gives the name,compounded of itself and its situation, to the farm on which it grows, viz.Oakley Farm. The hollow part of this tree was long the favourite retreat ofa bull; and 20 people, old and young, have crowded into it at one time.A calf being shut up there for convenience, its dam, a two-years-old heifer,constantly went in to suckle it, and left sufficient room for milking her. It issupposed, adds he, to be near 1000 years old : the body is nothing but a shell,covered with burly protuberances. The upper part of the shaft is hollow, likea chimney. It has been mutilated of all its limbs; but from their stumps arisea number of small branches, forming a bushy head, so remarkable for fertility,that, in years of plenty, it has produced two sacks of acorns in a season. Itmeasured in the middle, round the burls, 29 ft. 3 in.; round the stumps of theold arms, 31 ft. 6 in.; and in the smallest part, between 2 ft. and 3 ft. from theground, it is 26 ft. in circumference. The aperture into the tree is a smallill-formed Gothic arch, which appears to have been originally “ hewn out orenlarged with an axe; and the bark,” continues Mr. South, “ now curls overthe wound; a sure sign that it continues growing.” ( Bath Soc. Papers, vol. vi.p. 45.) There are many bull oaks in different parts of the country; but thatin Wedgenock Park {fig. 1625.) is, probably, one of the largest. It has beenlong since fenced round with substantial posts and rails, and has had the twoextremities of its projecting limbs supported from beneath by strong piecesof timber. (See Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. iii. p. 553.)

Boundary Oaks. Several of these might be mentioned. The Border Oak,which stands on the confines of Wales and England, is more remarkable forits situation than for its size: it forms the boundary between Shropshire andthe Principality, as the County Oak, about 30 miles from London, doesbetween Surrey and Sussex. The last-named tree is hollow, and containswithin it seats for nine persons. The Gospel Oak, fig. 1628., is a boundaryoak dividing the parish of Stoneleigh in Warwickshire, from the parish ofBaginton. There are many Gospel Oaks in different parts of England, relics,as the Rev. W. T. Bree observes {Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. iii. p. 553.), of thereligion of our ancestors : —

Relligione patrum multos servata per annos.” Virgil.

The custom, says Mr. Strutt, “ of marking the boundaries of parishes, by theinhabitants going round them once every year, and stopping at certain spotsto perform different ceremonies, in order that the localities might be impressedon the memories of both young and old, is of great antiquity, and may be

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