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Article A CHAPTER ON OAKS. ← Page 4 of 6 →
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A Chapter On Oaks.
3 , 000 square yards , or more than half an acre , and could have afforded shelter to a regiment of a thousand horse . On one of the estates of the Duke of Bedford there is a tree growing , called the Oakley Oak , having a head measuring 110 feet in diameter . Another , in Bycote Park , is said to have been extensive enough to cover 5 , 000 men . The great Oak at Magdalen College , Oxford , which fell in the summer of 1788—its rushing sound alarming all the college—must have been a tree of goodly proportions in the time of Alfred the Great . This magnificent tree could have sheltered 3000 menfor
, it flung its boughs through a space of sixteen yards on every side from its trunk . And the village of Ellerslie , RenfreAVshire , the native place of Wallace , there still stands the " Old Oak , " among the branches of which , tradition says , that the Scottish patriot , Avith 300 of his men , hid themselves from the English . But more interesting than all these ,
if the mterest be of a different kind , is Heme ' s Oak , which Shakespeare , in " the Merry Wives of Windsor , " has made immortal . The identity of this celebrated tree lias long been the subject of discussion . The result has not been eminently satisfactory . It is well knoAvn that there were tAvo oaks in "Windsor Park , both locally known as the oak of Heme the Hunter—that is to say , opinion is divided as to which of the two Avas the tree supposed tobe described by Shakespeare . A great deal has been written by Shakesperian commen tators and others in favour of both trees , and it appears to us , that the
claims of both have been urged Avith equal ingenuity and . ability . Tbe latest Avriter on the subject is Mr . William Perry , wood carver to the Queen , AA'ho has recently published " A Treatise on the Identity of Heme ' s Oak , showing the Maiden Tree to have been the Beal One . " Without entering into the details of so erudite a question , Ave may state briefly that Mr . Perry is strongly of opinion that the tree Avhich stood near a spot called the Fames' Dell , in the Home Park , Windsor , and which fell in 1863 , * Avas the tree , ancl not the one Avhich was cut down in 1796 . Mr . Perry argues his case very ingeniously , and at the same time very honestly , and Ave must say that he has produced
better proof on his side of the question than the majority , at least , of his opponents have done on their side . We believe the balance of evidence to be decidedly in favour of the oak which fell in 1863 . Among the believers in this tree is Her Majesty , as Avas also George III ., and Mr . Perry has executed a bust of the great dramatist out of the AVOOC ! for the Queen . The neat little work before us contains several illustrations of the oak itself , and also an engraving of a casket which the author designed and executed out of it for Miss Burdett Couttsto Avhom he dedicates his book . In a statement which
, accompanies Mr . Perry ' s book , he appears to think that he finds incontrovertible evidence that he is right . The statement is certainly singular . It is this : —While Avorking up a portion of this venerable tree into covers for the book under our notice , looking on the end he observed a great peculiarity . The annular rings accumulated in a healthy and vigorous manner up to a certain point , where' they suddenly ceased ,
became almost imperceptible , then increased again in size , till they attained nearly their former width , afterwards gradually diminished toAvards the outer edge of the tree where they finally became undistinguishable . Upon mentioning this phenomenon to an intelligent gardener of fifty years' experience , without informing Mm in Avhat AVOOC ! he had observed it , the gardener remarked that the tree must have been struck by lightning , or blighted in some way , so as to have . stopped its growth , otherwise such an appearance Avould not have been presented . It Avas in the nature of trees , as with
human beings , Avhen they arrived at maturity they began to decline , just as man does , but it was generally a gradual process ; the rings in the trunk Avould become smaller and smaller by degrees , as the sap flowed less and less up the tree . Mr . Perry has since examined the AVOOC ! more closely and from the healthy part of the tree to the outside of the piece he has counted 164 annular rings . If to these are added 20 for the sap Avhich ivas Avasted away from it , and 44 years , which , time at least it is knoAvn to have been dead , we are carried back as far as 1639 as the latest time when the tree could have been scared or blighted . HOAV much earlier than this it may have been Mr . Perry is
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Chapter On Oaks.
3 , 000 square yards , or more than half an acre , and could have afforded shelter to a regiment of a thousand horse . On one of the estates of the Duke of Bedford there is a tree growing , called the Oakley Oak , having a head measuring 110 feet in diameter . Another , in Bycote Park , is said to have been extensive enough to cover 5 , 000 men . The great Oak at Magdalen College , Oxford , which fell in the summer of 1788—its rushing sound alarming all the college—must have been a tree of goodly proportions in the time of Alfred the Great . This magnificent tree could have sheltered 3000 menfor
, it flung its boughs through a space of sixteen yards on every side from its trunk . And the village of Ellerslie , RenfreAVshire , the native place of Wallace , there still stands the " Old Oak , " among the branches of which , tradition says , that the Scottish patriot , Avith 300 of his men , hid themselves from the English . But more interesting than all these ,
if the mterest be of a different kind , is Heme ' s Oak , which Shakespeare , in " the Merry Wives of Windsor , " has made immortal . The identity of this celebrated tree lias long been the subject of discussion . The result has not been eminently satisfactory . It is well knoAvn that there were tAvo oaks in "Windsor Park , both locally known as the oak of Heme the Hunter—that is to say , opinion is divided as to which of the two Avas the tree supposed tobe described by Shakespeare . A great deal has been written by Shakesperian commen tators and others in favour of both trees , and it appears to us , that the
claims of both have been urged Avith equal ingenuity and . ability . Tbe latest Avriter on the subject is Mr . William Perry , wood carver to the Queen , AA'ho has recently published " A Treatise on the Identity of Heme ' s Oak , showing the Maiden Tree to have been the Beal One . " Without entering into the details of so erudite a question , Ave may state briefly that Mr . Perry is strongly of opinion that the tree Avhich stood near a spot called the Fames' Dell , in the Home Park , Windsor , and which fell in 1863 , * Avas the tree , ancl not the one Avhich was cut down in 1796 . Mr . Perry argues his case very ingeniously , and at the same time very honestly , and Ave must say that he has produced
better proof on his side of the question than the majority , at least , of his opponents have done on their side . We believe the balance of evidence to be decidedly in favour of the oak which fell in 1863 . Among the believers in this tree is Her Majesty , as Avas also George III ., and Mr . Perry has executed a bust of the great dramatist out of the AVOOC ! for the Queen . The neat little work before us contains several illustrations of the oak itself , and also an engraving of a casket which the author designed and executed out of it for Miss Burdett Couttsto Avhom he dedicates his book . In a statement which
, accompanies Mr . Perry ' s book , he appears to think that he finds incontrovertible evidence that he is right . The statement is certainly singular . It is this : —While Avorking up a portion of this venerable tree into covers for the book under our notice , looking on the end he observed a great peculiarity . The annular rings accumulated in a healthy and vigorous manner up to a certain point , where' they suddenly ceased ,
became almost imperceptible , then increased again in size , till they attained nearly their former width , afterwards gradually diminished toAvards the outer edge of the tree where they finally became undistinguishable . Upon mentioning this phenomenon to an intelligent gardener of fifty years' experience , without informing Mm in Avhat AVOOC ! he had observed it , the gardener remarked that the tree must have been struck by lightning , or blighted in some way , so as to have . stopped its growth , otherwise such an appearance Avould not have been presented . It Avas in the nature of trees , as with
human beings , Avhen they arrived at maturity they began to decline , just as man does , but it was generally a gradual process ; the rings in the trunk Avould become smaller and smaller by degrees , as the sap flowed less and less up the tree . Mr . Perry has since examined the AVOOC ! more closely and from the healthy part of the tree to the outside of the piece he has counted 164 annular rings . If to these are added 20 for the sap Avhich ivas Avasted away from it , and 44 years , which , time at least it is knoAvn to have been dead , we are carried back as far as 1639 as the latest time when the tree could have been scared or blighted . HOAV much earlier than this it may have been Mr . Perry is