PREFACE. In submitting the following pages to the public, it has been deemed necessary to state that this work was undertaken chiefly as an amusement, and that it has been hurriedly written in the hours of relaxation from business. The critical reader will, no doubt, observe that in some instances we have been guilty of extravagancies in expression, and in others, of a few slight inaccuracies as to names and localities: it will, however, be granted, we think, that the latter are such as could not have been avoided by a stranger to county; and that, in the main, we have executed our task with an unbiassed judgment. the The reader is guarded against fancying that this volume put forth as a complete record of all the remarkable trees, seats, and gardens in Norfolk. No: in that respect the treasures of this county are not yet half exhausted; and we may take this opportunity of stating that, so soon as the sale of the present work shall warrant such a step, another series of descriptions, &c. will be commenced, similar to that we have just completed. In the meantime, all notices of remarkable trees within the county, not here recorded, will be most thankfully received, as heretofore, at publisher's, in Norwich. Our Whilst gleaning the materials for these pages, we have been sometimes reminded that "our book is on a wrong subject"-that few care about trees-and that there can be but little interesting in such objects, either alive or dead. These are melancholy sayings to be pronounced by men who are reputed to have taste and education; yet had there not been such opinions abroad, our labours would have been almost uncalled for. On this point, we prefer letting others speak in our behalf; and from our extracts it will be observed that, though the few may betray an unconcern as to this particular section of Natural History, the national feeling has been long awakened to the beauties of trees and forest scenery. "I am fond," says Washington Irving, "of listening to the conversation of English gentlemen on rural concerns, and of noticing with what taste and discrimination, and what strong, unaffected interest, they will discuss topics, which in other countries are abandoned to mere woodmen, or rustic cultivators. I have heard a noble earl descant on park and forest scenery, with the science and feeling of a painter. He dwelt on the shape and beauty of particular trees on his estate, with as much pride and technical precision, as though he had been discussing the merits of statues in his collection. I found that he had gone considerable distances to examine trees which were celebrated among rural amateurs; for it seems that trees, like horses, have their established points of excellence, and that there are some in England which enjoy very extensive celebrity from being perfect in their kind. "There is something nobly simple and pure in such a taste. It argues, I think, a sweet and generous nature, to have this strong relish for the beauties of vegetation, and this friendship for the hardy and glorious sons of the forest. There is a grandeur of thought connected with this part of rural economy. It is, if I may be allowed the figure, the heroic line of husbandry. It is worthy of liberal, and freeborn, and aspiring men. He who plants an oak, looks forward to future ages, and plants for posterity. Nothing can be less selfish than this. He cannot expect to sit in its shade, nor enjoy its shelter; but he exults in the idea that the acorn which he has buried in the earth, shall grow up into a lofty pile, and shall keep on flourishing, and increasing, and benefiting mankind, long after he shall have ceased to tread his paternal fields. 66 Indeed, it is the nature of such occupations to lift the thought above mere worldliness. As the leaves of trees are said to absorb all noxious qualities of the air, and breathe forth a purer atmosphere, so it seems to me as if they drew from us all sordid and angry passions, and breathed forth peace and philanthropy. There is a serene and settled majesty in woodland scenery that enters into the soul, and dilates and elevates it, and fills it with noble inclinations. The ancient and hereditary groves, too, that embower this island, are most of them full of story. They are haunted by the recollections of the great spirits of past ages, who have sought for relaxation among them, from the tumult of arms, or the toils of state, or have wooed the muse beneath their shade. "It is becoming, then, for the high and generous spirits of an ancient nation, to cherish these sacred groves that surround their ancestral mansions, and to perpetuate them to their descendants. Brought up, as I have been, in republican habits and principles, I can feel nothing of the servile reverence for titled rank merely because it is titled. But I trust I am neither churl nor bigot in my creed. I do see and feel how hereditary distinction, when it falls to the lot of a generous mind, may elevate that mind into true nobility. It is one of the effects of hereditary rank, when it falls thus happily, that it multiplies the duties, and, as it were, extends the existence of the possessor. He does not feel himself a mere individual link in creation, responsible only for his own brief term of being. He carries back his existence in proud recollection, and he extends it forward in honourable anticipation. He lives with his ancestry, and he lives with his posterity. To both does he consider himself involved in deep responsibilities. As he has received much from those that have gone before, so he feels bound to transmit much to those who are to come after him. "His domestic undertakings seem to imply a longer existence than those of ordinary men. None are so apt to build and plant for future centuries, as noble spirited men who have received their heritages from foregoing ages. "I can easily imagine, therefore, the fondness and pride with which I have noticed English gentlemen, of generous temperaments, but high aristocratic feelings, contemplating those magnificent trees, which rise like towers and pyramids from the midst of their paternal lands. There is an affinity between all natures, animate and inanimate. The oak, in the pride and lustihood of its growth, seems to me to take its range with the lion and the eagle, and to assimilate, in the grandeur of its attributes, to heroic and intellectual man." But still greater things have been said of trees. Landor, in his Conversations, has the following remarkable passages: "Ah, Don Pepino! old trees in their living state are the only things that money cannot command. Rivers leave their beds, run into cities, and traverse mountains for it; obelisks and arches, palaces and temples, amphitheatres and pyramids, rise up like exhalations at its bidding; even the free spirit of man, the only thing great on earth, crouches and cowers in its presence.... it passes away and vanishes before venerable trees. What a sweet odour is there! Whence comes it? Sweeter it appears to me and stronger than of the pine itself. I imagine, said he, from the linden; yes, certainly. Is that a linden? It is the largest, and, I should imagine, the oldest upon earth, if I could perceive that it had lost any of its branches. Pity, said he, that it |