18 The Presidential Address.
drainage, and both the Holly and the Yew to have been also
more abundant than at present, though I do not know of any
confirmation of the statement, in Mr. Palin's 'Stifford and
its Neighbourhood,' that the submerged forests at Grays
consist largely of Yew and Elm.22 The thickest parts of
Epping Forest a few years back gave some idea of the
denseness of the underwood in a primaeval forest; but, even
there, such evergreens as the Butcher's Broom,23 the Lesser
Periwinkle (Vinca minor), and the early-flowering Daphne
laureola and mezereum24 could live, whilst Primulas, Orchis,
Hetre n'etait pas assez commun pour donner des bois de construction, ou
qu'il ne s'etait pas rencontre sur le chemin des armees romaines."—
DeCandolle, loc. cit. Professor Rolleston suggested that "prater" may
here mean "besides," and not "except."—Journ. Boy. Geogr. Soc,
vol. xlix., p. 320.
22 Op. cit., p. 41, on the authority of the late Richard Meeson, F.S.A.,
P.G.S., who writes: "The submerged forests of the Thames in Grays are
also worthy of notice. There are here three ; the upper one consists
almost entirely of yew-timber and brushwood, about three feet thick;
then three feet of river mud; and then another forest about the same
thickness, principally yew; then three feet more mud ; and then the
lowest, containing, besides the yew, large trees of elm and oak." On
p. 81 occurs the following further reference to "the subterranean forest
discovered in making the railway skirting the river to Barking. This
moor-log, or vein of buried wood, lies three or four feet under the surface,
and is about ten feet in depth. It contains yew trees fourteen or sixteen
inches in diameter, and perfectly sound; willows more than two feet in
girth, but like touchwood; and mingled with it is small brushwood, and
even hazel-nuts, which appear sound to the eye but crumble to the touch.
Some have indulged learned surmises that these are the remains of the
devastation of the Deluge ; others, that they are the remnants of the old
forest, beaten down and buried by storms and inundations at a later age;
but the most practical conclusion is, that they were purposely laid there
by some of the rude engineers of olden times, as foundations for works to
shut out the troublesome flow of the Thames."
23 Ruscus aculeatus, the Cneoholen, or Knee Holly, still abundant in
Epping Forest, happens to be the first Essex plant recorded by William
Turner, "the father of English Botany," in his 'Herball' (1551), who
says of it, "This bushe groweth verye plenteously in Essex" . . . .
24 Daphne mezereum, L. "M. Watson, malgre l'assertion de plusieurs
botanistes, qui disent l'espece bien spontanee et qui la croient native,
pense qu'elle est d'origine etrangere. Il convient, toutefois, que la
distribution geographique sur le continent est contraire a cette idee.