ales; and the late
William Philip Price (Commissioner of Railways and for many
years member of Parliament for Gloucester) told me that when
he was a boy the Welsh tongue was still spoken at Landogo,
the next village down the river, midway between Bigswear and
Tintern.

[Footnote]
* I suspect "Gaffer," the English equivalent of "Boss," may be
the same root: _i. e.,_ the _taker_ or contractor.
[End of Footnote]

Philip Baylis showed us some of the old parchments connected
with the Mine Court; one document especially precious being
a copy of the "Book of Denys," made in the time of Edward
III. It sets forth the ancient customs which formed the laws
of the miners. At this point the Verderer had to settle some
matter of the instant, but he put us under the care of a young
man who acted as our guide to one of the ancient and giant
oaks of the Forest, on the "Church Hill" enclosure, about
three-quarters of a mile up the hill above the Park. Nicholls
("History of the Forest of Dean," page 20) thinks the name
Church Hill comes from the setting apart of some land here
for the Convent of _Grace Dieu_ to pay for masses for the
souls of Richard II., his ancestors and successors.

It was a steep climb; and the evening twilight was coming
on apace as we followed the little track to the spot where
the old oak rises high above the general level of the wood,
reminding one of Rinaldo's magical myrtle, in "Jerusalem Delivered":

O'er pine, and palm, and cypress it ascends;
And towering thus all other trees above
Looks like the elected queen and genius of the grove!

Only that for an _oak_ of similar standing we must say "king"
instead of "queen"; emblem as it is of iron strength and endurance.

It is not so much the girth of the tree as its whole bearing
that impresses a beholder; and I do not think either of us
will forget its effect in the gloom and silence and mystery
of the gathering night.

Resisting a kindly pressure to stay the night at Whitemead,
that we might keep to our programme of sleeping at the Speech
House, we started on the last portion of the long day's drive.
The road from Parkend, after we have climbed a considerable
hill, keeps mostly to the level of a high ridge. It is broad
and smooth; and the moonlight and its accompanying black shadows
on the trees made the journey one of great beauty; while the
mountain air lessened the sense of fatigue that would otherwise
have pressed heavily on us after