28)

Time's glory is . . . .
To dry the old Oak's sap.

_Lucrece_ (950).

Here are several very pleasant pictures, and there is so much of
historical and legendary lore gathered round the Oaks of England that it
is very tempting to dwell upon them. There are the historical Oaks
connected with the names of William Rufus, Queen Elizabeth, and Charles
II.; there are the wonderful Oaks of Wistman's Wood (certainly the most
weird and most curious wood in England, if not in Europe); there are the
many passages in which our old English writers have loved to descant on
the Oaks of England as the very emblems of unbroken strength and
unflinching constancy; there is all the national interest which has
linked the glories of the British navy with the steady and enduring
growth of her Oaks; there is the wonderful picturesqueness of the great
Oak plantations of the New Forest, the Forest of Dean, and other royal
forests; and the equally, if not greater, picturesqueness of the English
Oak as the chief ornament of our great English parks; there is the
scientific interest which suggested the growth of the Oak for the plan
of our lighthouses, and many other interesting points. It is very
tempting to stop on each and all of these, but the space is too limited,
and they can all be found ably treated of and at full length in any of
the books that have been written on the English forest trees.

OATS.

(1) _Iris._

Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas
Of Wheat, Rye, Barley, Vetches, Oats, and Pease.

_Tempest_, act iv, sc. 1 (60).

(2) _Spring Song._

When shepherds pipe on Oaten straws.

_Love's Labour's Lost_, act v, sc. 2 (913).

(3) _Bottom._

Truly a peck of provender; I could munch your good dry Oats.

_Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iv, sc. 1 (35).

(4) _Grumio._

Ay, sir, they be ready; the Oats have eaten the horses.

_Taming of the Shrew_, act iii, sc. 2 (207).

(5) _First Carrier._

Poor fellow, never joyed since the price of Oats rose--it was
the death of him.

_1st Henry IV_, act ii, sc. 1 (13).

(6) _Captain._

I cannot draw a cart, nor eat dried Oats,
If it be man's work, I'll do it.

_