CHAP. CV.

coryla'ce^e. que'rcus.

1767

tree, and is probably but little altered during the last century.

The difference between the two engravings of it was so great,that we wrote to the Duke of Portland to ascertain the pre-sent state of the tree; and we have been informed by His Grace,that Major Hooke’s portrait still affords a correct representa-tion of it. “In 1724, a roadway was cut through its vene-rable trunk, higher than the entrance to Westminster Abbey ,and sufficiently capacious to permit a carriage and four horses to pass throughit.” ( Strutt’s Sylva.) The dimensions of this tree are thus given by MajorRooke: —“ Circumference of the trunk above the arch, 35 ft. 3 in.; height ofthe arch, 10 ft. 3 in.; width of the arch about themiddle, 6 ft. 3 in.; height to the top branch, 54 ft.”

Major Rooke’s drawing, which is the same view ofthe tree as that in Hunter’s Evelyn, which we havecopied in Jig. 1609., was made at the same time asthat of the Gamekeeper’s Tree, viz. in 1779. Ac-cording to Hunter’s Evelyn, about 1646 this oak was88 ft. high, with a trunk girting 33 ft. 1 in.; the dia-meter of the head 81 ft. “ There are three great armsbroken and gone, and eight very large ones yet remain-ing, which are very fresh and good timber.”

The Parliament Oak (Jig. 1610.) grows in Clip-stone Park, and derives its name from a parliamenthaving been held under it, by Edward I., in 1290. The girt of this tree is28ft. 6 in. Clipstone Park is also the property of the Duke of Portland, andis supposed to be the oldest park in England, having been a park before theConquest, and having been then seized byWilliam, and made a royal demesne. BothJohn and Edward I. resided, and kept acourt, in Clipstone Palace. In Birchland,in Sherwood Forest, there is an old oak,which measures, near the ground, 34 ft. 4 in.in circumference; and at 6 ft., 31ft. 9in.

“ The trunk, which is wonderfully distorted,plainly appears to have been much larger;and the parts from which large pieces havefallen off are distinguishable. The insideis decayed and hollowed by age; and 1think,” adds Major Rooke, “ no one canbehold this majestic ruin without pronouncing it to be of very' remote an-ttquity; and I might venture to say that it cannot be much less than 1000years old.” (p. 14.)

In Worksop Park, according to the record quoted in Hunter’s Evelyn,there were some noble trees about 1646. One of these, when cut down,measured from 29 ft. to 30 ft. in circumference throughout the bole, whichwas 10 ft. long. Another tree had a head 180 ft. in diameter, and was com-puted to cover half an acre of ground. Other trees, 40 ft. in the bole, gaveTt sl“ are ° f timber at the u PP er en d. The Lord’s Oak girted 38 ft. 4 in.he shire Oak, which is still standing, had then a head 90 ft. in diameter, whichextended into three counties (York, Nottingham, and Derby), and dripped over'' ‘ square yards.

Oxfordshire. Of the Magdalen, or Great, Oak of Oxford , Gilpin gives theo owujg interesting notice: — “ Close by the gate of the water walk of Mag-, en College, Oxford , grew an oak, which, perhaps, stood there a saplinge!1 the Great founded the university. This - period only includes aspace of 900 years, which is no great age for an oak. It is a difficult matterhis t aSCertam dt e age of a tree. The age of a castle or abbey is the object ofthp ^ : ,. even a common house is recorded by the family who built it. Allse objects arrive at maturity in their youth, if I may so speak. But the

8s mm

1609

1608