History
bigwetbutts
A large and sturdy, cloth-covered hardback is a worthy receptacle for compendious information about our national tree. This volume comprises a gazetteer of the country's most famed specimens past and present, plus chapters on topics such as oak crafts and industries, oaks in deer parks and in mythology. This last is dealt with in short order, for the author's is a no-nonsense approach. We learn that the Fairlop Oak at Hainault even had its own annual fair, until careless cricketers picknicking nearby set fire to the tree in 1805 and it finally keeled over (some of the wood was made into the pulpit for St Pancras Church, which is pictured). We learn that the earliest oak ships discovered (in Yorkshire) have been carbon-dated to 2030-1780BC, and that in the 16th century, with the advent of cannon, iron masters were paradoxically felling large numbers of oaks for charcoal, compelling Henry VIII to institute a statute requiring 12 oaks to each acre. Constable is one of our last remaining independent publishers and this book was clearly a labour of love.