Great old trees. The old yew at Runnymede near which Magna Carta was signed - known or local to me throughout my life: fished the river there as a very small child, slid and tobogganed on the frozen river with hundreds of others in the great winter of 1963, caught some of my first Thames barbel from that reach of river in my teens, a tree that stood within several yards of where I was living in the 1980s. Just as interesting is another tree in the area, Herne's Oak, which lies in Windsor Great Park, a tree named after a Celtic God, Herne, The Hunter - here is a New Age-y rendering of the chap -
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wDQCF3lGS0M/UVcYaEF85yI/AAAAAAAAC7Y/2ZmMemSvGhU/s1600/Herne.jpg
You might remember him from that old Robin Hood TV series, complete with Clannad music, years ago.
The tree was chopped down by mad king George III's people in the 1790s, its location largely forgotten, then replanted later, maybe in the right spot, maybe not. Ancient time, belief and magic - we need more of it, as an awareness of such things helps us anchor ourselves in our ever-shifting present.
As for knowing everything, "I know nothing, Mr Fawlty.".
PS - As for everybody.... Well, for those who like to be tormented, I can say that when taking a walk in Windsor Great Park with my girlfriend one Sunday in the early 1980s, something that we did very often as two staff-only entrances to it lay within a minute or two's walk from our home, whilst wandering through the then unpoliced grounds, gawping at magnificent ancient oaks and deer as we went, a
Mini Metro screeched round a corner of one of the private roads, nearly wiping us off it and out permanently. A pretty gal, clearly batty as a box of frogs in an aristocratic sort of way, clapped her hand to her mouth, offered us a very winning smile and an "I'm s-o-o-o sorry!", then bombed off.
Lady Diana.
Frequently exchanged friendly waves with Her Majesty and Prince Philip behind the wheels of their various cars and Land Rovers, too.
Long ago and far away.
