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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1847 Excerpt: ...this furious queen Therewith appeased be; The cup of deadly poison strong, As she knelt on her knee, She gave this comely dame to drink; Who took it in her hand, And from her bended knee arose, And on her feet did stand: And casting up her eyes to heaven, She did for mercy call; And drinking up the poison strong, Her life she lost withal. And when that death through every limb Had shewn its greatest spite, Her chiefest foes did plain confess She was a glorious wight. Her body then they did entomb, When life was fled away, At Godstow, near to Oxford town, As may be seen this day. From " The Woodland Companion," by Dr. Aikln. The oak stands at the head of British timber-trees, as well on account of its utility as of the grandeur and majesty of its figure. It arrives at a bulk equal, if not superior, to that of any other tree of the forest; and by the vast arms which it throws out on every side, it forms a mass which fills the eye of the spectator, and impresses him with gigantic ideas. Its rugged bark and jagged deepgreen leaves add to its character of rustic and masculine strength. The oak most delights in a rich, strong soil, in which it strikes its roots to a vast depth. It loves hilly rather than boggy ground, and thrives best in large plantations. It is injured by cropping; whence may be estimated the mischief annually done to this noble tree by the custom of cutting large branches for the celebration of the 29th of May. It forms the largest head, and spreads in the most picturesque figure, when growing singly, as in parks and ornamental grounds; but it rises with a tall and straight trunk only in woods and close plantations. The uses of the oak-tree are very various, and comprehend almost every part of it. The acorns (which, in common with the...