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| Deer Head Oak, McClellanville, S.C. |
The Deerhead Oak is both larger in circumference, 30.6 feet, and height, 67 feet, than the famed Angel Oak on Johns Island, SC estimated by some to be more than 1,500 years old and thought to be the oldest living thing east of the Mississippi River. Of course, it is hard to estimate the age of these ancient trees, which predate the discovery of America by the Europeans, because boring samples are not reliable due to a tendency for the live oaks heart wood to rot.
It takes some creativity to see the deer head, with its knobby eyes and nose and long antler branches, but no matter if you can't. The value in the tree comes not from its likeness to an animal, but from its beauty and history.
A giant oak stands in the town,
Its known as the Deer Head Tree.
Surely the oldest living thing
Within our community.
For centuries rooted in place,
Watching the seasons pass.
No telling just how old it is,
Or how long yet it may last.
I sometimes wonder if this old tree
Had senses and wit ad tongue,
What stories it might tell us,
Of events since it was young.
~By James O. McClellan
Its known as the Deer Head Tree.
Surely the oldest living thing
Within our community.
For centuries rooted in place,
Watching the seasons pass.
No telling just how old it is,
Or how long yet it may last.
I sometimes wonder if this old tree
Had senses and wit ad tongue,
What stories it might tell us,
Of events since it was young.
~By James O. McClellan
They are correct. If it is 1,500 years old it may have looked like a deer, five hundred years ago. It is a grand dear tree.
11 comments:
It is a grand old tree. I don't see a deer's head, and I don't care to look for one. I just like seeing the grand old tree.
not really seeing a deer head either but it's a beaut of a tree.
Joan, I see the antlers.
I wonder if the two big branches evoke antlers and the rest is left totally to the imagination?
I couldn't see it all at but I had fun looking.
Ain't it, though?
I suppose if you don't worry about the head and just picture the limbs as branches it does work!
Could be!
That is massive indeed.
Oh this is my uncle's poem! I'll have to let him know you featured it on your blog ;)
Omigoodness! Please thank him. It is a beautiful tree.
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