Caroline Spearing traces the history of a tree rooted in English national identity, which saved the monarchy, and that the ancient Greeks held sacred to Zeus, the father of the gods, especially at his oracle in Dodona
In parts of England, 29 May is still traditionally celebrated as Restoration or Oak-Apple Day, when King Charles II’s Restoration to the throne (in May 1660) is commemorated by the wearing of sprigs of oak leaves, or oak apples – an allusion to the oak-tree in whose branches he successfully concealed himself from Cromwell’s soldiers. Charles II depicted sheltering in the branches of a mighty oak (1 and 2) is one of the enduring images of English history, all the more surely etched upon the national consciousness by its depiction on signs outside public houses across the country.
Remarkably, it would appear, in its outline at least, to be true: the story was in circulation soon after the event and it was written up and published in 1660 by one Thomas Blount. It was a favorite anecdote of the king, himself, who – happily for posterity – happened to tell it to Samuel Pepys who, in turn, dutifully recorded it in his famous diary.
Following Charles I’s execution in 1649, his son signed a deal with Scottish Presbyterians, which led to his coronation at Scone on 1 January 1651. From there, he mounted an invasion of England but suffered a calamitous defeat at Worcester on 3 September. With a bounty of £1000 on his head and cavalry detachments especially mandated to search for him, the king cut his hair short and adopted the dress of a countryman (including coarse stockings and rough shoes, which tore the royal feet to ribbons) as he embarked on his six-week odyssey to the coast and a Channel crossing.
Before heading south, though, he spent several days eluding capture on the Boscobel estate in Shropshire. On 6 September Charles and a Royalist officer, William Careless hid in the leafy branches of a great oak near Boscobel House (6) and watched the Parliamentary search parties fruitlessly crisscrossing the woodland.
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