DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70302#0249
DISCOVERY OF TREES.
219
of ships: there have been Oaks found 20, 30 and 35 yards
long, vet wanting several yards at the small end, some of
which have been sold at 4, 8, 10 and 15 pounds a piece,
which are as black as ebony, and very durable in any ser-
vice they are put to : as for Ash, it is commonly observed
that the constituent parts of their texture are so dissolved,
that they are as soft as earth, and are commonly cut in
pieces by the workmen’s spades, which as soon as they
are flung up into the air crumble into dust; but all the
rest, even the Willows themselves, which are softer than
Ash, preserve their substance and texture entire to this
day. Mr. De la Pryme has seen fir trees, that as they lay
along, after they had fallen, emitted large branches from
their sides, which had grown up to the bulk and height of
considerable trees.
It is very observable, and manifestly evident, that seve-
ral of all those sorts of trees have been burnt, but espe-
cially the fir-trees, some quite through, and others on one
side: some have been found chopped and squared, others
bored through, and others half split with large wooden
wedges, with stones in them, and broken axe-heads, some-
what resembling the figure of sacrificing axes, and all this
in such places and at such depths, as could not be opened
since the destruction of this forest, till the time of the
drainage. Near a large root in the parish of Hatfield,
were found eight or nine coins of some of the Roman Em-
perors, very much consumed and defaced; and it is wor-
thy of observation, that upon the confines of this low
country, between Burningham and Brumby in Lincoln-
shire, are several large hills of loose sand, under which,
as they are yearly worn or blown away, are discovered
several roots of large firs, with the marks of the axe as
fresh upon them as if they had been cut down but a few
weeks, and this Mr De la Pryme has offen seen ; hazel-
f f 2 nuts
219
of ships: there have been Oaks found 20, 30 and 35 yards
long, vet wanting several yards at the small end, some of
which have been sold at 4, 8, 10 and 15 pounds a piece,
which are as black as ebony, and very durable in any ser-
vice they are put to : as for Ash, it is commonly observed
that the constituent parts of their texture are so dissolved,
that they are as soft as earth, and are commonly cut in
pieces by the workmen’s spades, which as soon as they
are flung up into the air crumble into dust; but all the
rest, even the Willows themselves, which are softer than
Ash, preserve their substance and texture entire to this
day. Mr. De la Pryme has seen fir trees, that as they lay
along, after they had fallen, emitted large branches from
their sides, which had grown up to the bulk and height of
considerable trees.
It is very observable, and manifestly evident, that seve-
ral of all those sorts of trees have been burnt, but espe-
cially the fir-trees, some quite through, and others on one
side: some have been found chopped and squared, others
bored through, and others half split with large wooden
wedges, with stones in them, and broken axe-heads, some-
what resembling the figure of sacrificing axes, and all this
in such places and at such depths, as could not be opened
since the destruction of this forest, till the time of the
drainage. Near a large root in the parish of Hatfield,
were found eight or nine coins of some of the Roman Em-
perors, very much consumed and defaced; and it is wor-
thy of observation, that upon the confines of this low
country, between Burningham and Brumby in Lincoln-
shire, are several large hills of loose sand, under which,
as they are yearly worn or blown away, are discovered
several roots of large firs, with the marks of the axe as
fresh upon them as if they had been cut down but a few
weeks, and this Mr De la Pryme has offen seen ; hazel-
f f 2 nuts