Story of Ginevra (Vol. v., p. 129.).
—Your correspondent ☞ F. is informed that Marwell Old Hall, formerly the residence of the Seymour, and afterwards of the Dacre family, situate between Winchester and Bishops Waltham, is connected by tradition with the story of Ginevra; and the compiler of the Post Office Directory of Hampshire (1848) states, that "the chest, said to be the identical one, is now the property of the Rev. J. Haygarth, Rector of Upham," a village in the immediate locality, "and may be seen in his entrance hall."
H. EDWARDS.
Gospel Oaks (Vol. ii., p. 407.; Vol. v., p. 157.).
—BURIENSIS complains that "the inquiry of STEPHEN has not elicited one answer, nor one additional note of other trees designated as Gospel Oaks." I conjecture that the cause of this silence is, that the oaks so called have long since perished. In this neighbourhood there are two iron-works situated near the boundary of the parishes of Tipton and Wednesbury, which are called respectively Gospel Oak Works and Wednesbury Oak Works. The tradition respecting the name of Gospel Oak is, that it was so called in consequence of it having been the practice in ancient times to read under a tree which grew there, a portion of the Gospels on the annual perambulation of the bounds of the parish on Ascension Day. That Gospel Oak and Wednesbury Oak marked the boundary line of the parishes of Tipton and Wednesbury is highly probable.
FABER.
West Bromwich.
Your correspondent BURIENSIS (Vol. v. p. 157.) has supplied a quotation from Mr. Hollingsworth to the effect, that these ancient trees were probably Druidical, under whose "leafy tabernacles" the first Christian missionaries preached. This view of their origin is borne out by the ordinary practice of Christian missionaries to the Heathen of the present day, who are frequently driven to the shelter of some umbrageous giant of the forest, to deliver the Word of Life. In some cases I imagine that it may be found that such trees have been rendered sacred by the superstition of the native inhabitants; and it is scarcely venturing too much in supposing, that as the moral wilderness becomes cultivated, that similar traditions with our own may be handed down to future generations, and especially if we look so far forward as to the time when the sable inhabitants of the centre of Africa may in their progress be occupied by curious questions of a bygone age in their "N. & Q."
EXON.
I quite agree with your correspondent BURIENSIS as to the origin of the title given to various old oak trees in different parts of the country. These trees were no doubt selected on account of either their position, age, or size, as places of assembly for the early Christians, and from them the "Gospel" was, probably, first preached in their respective neighbourhoods.