n feet from the ground. Out of the
stem there come not less than fifteen or sixteen limbs, many of
which are from five to ten feet round, and each of which would, in
fact, be considered a decent stick of timber. I am not judge enough
of timber to say anything about the quantity in the whole tree, but
my son stepped the ground, and, as nearly as we could judge, the
diameter of the extent of the branches was upwards of ninety feet,
which would make a circumference of about three hundred feet. The
tree is in full growth at this moment. There is a little hole in one
of the limbs; but with that exception, there appears not the
smallest sign of decay."

Visitors to Tilford can amuse themselves with trying over Cobbett's
measurements. I could not reach to measure it ten feet from the ground;
but at five feet I made its girth, in July, 1907, twenty-four feet nine
inches. Probably it was not much less when Cobbett was a little boy.
That independent, combative mind would not accept another's
measurements, and if he remembered the tree as a little tree, then a
little tree he was right in remembering. Since his day the signs of
decay have set in; the oak is still superb, but a Jubilee sapling has
been planted as a neighbour. Centuries hence the sapling, perhaps, will
be the King's Oak again.

Tilford has another memory of green old age. William Beldham--"Silver
Billy," because of his straw-coloured hair--lived most of his life in
the village, where he kept an inn, and died in a cottage close under the
oak. He was born at Wrecclesham on February 5, 1766, and died February
20, 1862, aged 96, having played thirty-five years' unbroken "great"
cricket, as Lillywhite calls it--a finer name than first-class. Let John
Nyren, most discerning of biographers, describe him:--

"William Beldham was a close-set, active man, standing about five
feet eight inches and a-half. He had light-coloured hair, a fair
complexion, and handsome as well as intelligent features. We used to
call him 'Silver Billy.' No one within my recollection could stop a
ball better, or make more brilliant hits all over the ground.
Wherever the ball was bowled, there she was hit away, and in the
most severe, venomous style. Besides this, he was so remarkably safe
a player; he was safer than the Bank, for no mortal ever thought of
doubting Beldham's stability. He received his instructions from a