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Article A CHAPTER ON OAKS. ← Page 5 of 6 →
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A Chapter On Oaks.
not in a position at present to prove , but considering that the rings are so small as to be scarcely discernible , ancl that some of the outer portion of the tree had been Avasted away , he submits that it is not a very preposterous idea to assume it not improbable it happened during Shakespeare ' s time . Beferring to the first edition of the 'Merry Wives of Windsor , ' published 1602 , Ave find no mention made of Heme ' s Oak , neither do Ave in the reprint of 1619 . The first mention of it is in the first folio edition , 1623 , so that the 2 ) robability is that the story of Heme the Hunter existed before the tree Avas
attached to it , -which , subsequent to 1602 , being blasted , the superstition of the age imputed it to the evil poAver of the spirit of Heme , Avho , according to the previous tradition , ' walked in shape of a great stag , with huge horns on his head . ' We are , therefore , led to suppose that between 1602 and the date of Shakespeare ' s death , 1616 , he perfected the first sketch of the play , by adding to it such information as he could gather , and such improvements as Ms maturer judgment suggested , ancl if Ave take the
period of his retirement from NOAV Place as the probable date when he calmly set himself to revise and bnpiOTe his plays , collecting them together in the form in which they where given to tbe world in 1623—say , 1610 , or 1612—Ave are thus brought to Arithin 27 or 29 years of the date to which Ave can satisfactorily trace the blasting of Heme ' s Oak to have taken place . This evidence , says Mr . Perry , is not sufficient in itself to identify this tree with the play of Shakespeare , yet , Avhen taken in connection with all the other points in favour of the tree which he has previously advanced , forms a powerful collateral evidence which the most sceptical cannot deny . "
Other innumerable instances might be cited of the great age and enormous size to Avhich oak has attained in this country , such as the famous Golyens oak , felled in Monmouthshire in 1810 . This magnificent tree had , it is recorded , been improving for four hundred years , and Avith the exception of a portion at the intersection of its principal limbs , Avas pefeotly sound Avhen it Avas cut down . It contained 2 , 426 cubic feet of timber and Avas sold for £ 500 . This tree had never been prunedand was not more than ten
, feet high in the stem before the lateral branches commenced . Mr . G . B ,. Burnell , F . S . A ., says "the Aveight of a cubic foot of seasoned oak is 58 - 3 lb ., its specific gravity is 0 ' 934 . There are usually about 38 ' 3 cubic feet to the ton . The tenacity per square inch is 17 , 300 lb ., and I have applied a crushing Aveight of 11 , 210 lb . per inch superficial on a cube of English oak Avithout producing any permanent change in its elastic powers . "
The timber found in the oldest buildings is uniformly oak , The doors of the innei chapels of Westminster Abbey are said to be coeval Avith the building . We have a portion of a trenail which Avas used in the foundation of old Blackfriars Bridge , which will bear ample testimony to the lasting qualities of oak Avhen constantl y under Avater , Avhere it Avas submerged for a period of 100 years , ancl is noiv quite hard and sound .
The average height of sixty-six trees now standing in Scotland is 65 feet , the highest one being at Old Kilpatrick in the County of Dumbarton , a place famous for lofty trees . The one in question is 110 feet high , 13 feet in girth , growing on a loamy soil , exposed to the South , and about 175 years of age . At Inverary , in Argyll , there is one 100 feet hi gh and 12 | feet in girth : and another of similar dimensions at Leslie , in Fife , The average girth of 90 trees is 12 feet 3 inches ; certainly a large average for so Many trees in Scotland . The greatest is that of a tree at Hamiltonin the county of
, Lanark , 26 feet . There is another at Dalziel , in the same county , 24 feet , the height of both being 60 feet , the former growing on loam , the latter on strong clay . Amongst the collection of timber shown in museum No . 3 at KBAV Gardens , are some magnificent sections of this kind of Avood , Ave may mention the following : — _ " Common oak , Quercus robur , ( Willd ) . Tree 200 years old , Denmark . " The diameter of this section is about 6 feet
. r , * t "Canadian White Oak . Quercus alba ( Linnseus ) Avidely distributed throughout Canada in all rich soils . Average height 130 feet , height to first limb 70 feet , diameter 30 inches , and quite common 60 inches diameter and found 84 inchs in diameter in the western parts of Upper Canada . Of the twenty varieties of oaks in North America , the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Chapter On Oaks.
not in a position at present to prove , but considering that the rings are so small as to be scarcely discernible , ancl that some of the outer portion of the tree had been Avasted away , he submits that it is not a very preposterous idea to assume it not improbable it happened during Shakespeare ' s time . Beferring to the first edition of the 'Merry Wives of Windsor , ' published 1602 , Ave find no mention made of Heme ' s Oak , neither do Ave in the reprint of 1619 . The first mention of it is in the first folio edition , 1623 , so that the 2 ) robability is that the story of Heme the Hunter existed before the tree Avas
attached to it , -which , subsequent to 1602 , being blasted , the superstition of the age imputed it to the evil poAver of the spirit of Heme , Avho , according to the previous tradition , ' walked in shape of a great stag , with huge horns on his head . ' We are , therefore , led to suppose that between 1602 and the date of Shakespeare ' s death , 1616 , he perfected the first sketch of the play , by adding to it such information as he could gather , and such improvements as Ms maturer judgment suggested , ancl if Ave take the
period of his retirement from NOAV Place as the probable date when he calmly set himself to revise and bnpiOTe his plays , collecting them together in the form in which they where given to tbe world in 1623—say , 1610 , or 1612—Ave are thus brought to Arithin 27 or 29 years of the date to which Ave can satisfactorily trace the blasting of Heme ' s Oak to have taken place . This evidence , says Mr . Perry , is not sufficient in itself to identify this tree with the play of Shakespeare , yet , Avhen taken in connection with all the other points in favour of the tree which he has previously advanced , forms a powerful collateral evidence which the most sceptical cannot deny . "
Other innumerable instances might be cited of the great age and enormous size to Avhich oak has attained in this country , such as the famous Golyens oak , felled in Monmouthshire in 1810 . This magnificent tree had , it is recorded , been improving for four hundred years , and Avith the exception of a portion at the intersection of its principal limbs , Avas pefeotly sound Avhen it Avas cut down . It contained 2 , 426 cubic feet of timber and Avas sold for £ 500 . This tree had never been prunedand was not more than ten
, feet high in the stem before the lateral branches commenced . Mr . G . B ,. Burnell , F . S . A ., says "the Aveight of a cubic foot of seasoned oak is 58 - 3 lb ., its specific gravity is 0 ' 934 . There are usually about 38 ' 3 cubic feet to the ton . The tenacity per square inch is 17 , 300 lb ., and I have applied a crushing Aveight of 11 , 210 lb . per inch superficial on a cube of English oak Avithout producing any permanent change in its elastic powers . "
The timber found in the oldest buildings is uniformly oak , The doors of the innei chapels of Westminster Abbey are said to be coeval Avith the building . We have a portion of a trenail which Avas used in the foundation of old Blackfriars Bridge , which will bear ample testimony to the lasting qualities of oak Avhen constantl y under Avater , Avhere it Avas submerged for a period of 100 years , ancl is noiv quite hard and sound .
The average height of sixty-six trees now standing in Scotland is 65 feet , the highest one being at Old Kilpatrick in the County of Dumbarton , a place famous for lofty trees . The one in question is 110 feet high , 13 feet in girth , growing on a loamy soil , exposed to the South , and about 175 years of age . At Inverary , in Argyll , there is one 100 feet hi gh and 12 | feet in girth : and another of similar dimensions at Leslie , in Fife , The average girth of 90 trees is 12 feet 3 inches ; certainly a large average for so Many trees in Scotland . The greatest is that of a tree at Hamiltonin the county of
, Lanark , 26 feet . There is another at Dalziel , in the same county , 24 feet , the height of both being 60 feet , the former growing on loam , the latter on strong clay . Amongst the collection of timber shown in museum No . 3 at KBAV Gardens , are some magnificent sections of this kind of Avood , Ave may mention the following : — _ " Common oak , Quercus robur , ( Willd ) . Tree 200 years old , Denmark . " The diameter of this section is about 6 feet
. r , * t "Canadian White Oak . Quercus alba ( Linnseus ) Avidely distributed throughout Canada in all rich soils . Average height 130 feet , height to first limb 70 feet , diameter 30 inches , and quite common 60 inches diameter and found 84 inchs in diameter in the western parts of Upper Canada . Of the twenty varieties of oaks in North America , the