as an ook cometh of a litel spyr
The Colonial Williamsburg website gives the stats: it is 70 feet tall and nearly 100 feet wide, with a trunk circumference of 14 feet. It must have been there forever, right? Well, apparently this tree is misleading. Again, from the CW website:
C. Justus Brouwers, the first landscape superintendent for The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, is said to have found the tree during a walk in the Pungo woods near Virginia Beach, Virginia. According to local legend, Brouwers transplanted the young tree to Williamsburg, probably sometime between 1932 and 1936, around the time of the Colonial capital’s restoration. A study of photographs taken before the Restoration found no Compton oak on Market Square.
When I stood under it, my mind took me to Sherwood Forest. There is a tree there - a Major Oak - that is 800 to 1,000 years old. It is a tree so large that its long branches are braced to prevent them from breaking and damaging the entire tree. It is the location of the legendary Robin Hood and his merry men. It could be the rumored trysting place of Robin and his betrothed Maid Marian. Nearby is St. Mary's church where the two were supposedly married.
The Compton Oak at Williamsburg could have similar stories attached. People get engaged in its shadow. Couples are married inside its umbrella.
Stand tall, oh mighty oak, for all the world to see. |
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