“I saw in Louisiana a live-oak growing / All alone stood it, and the moss hung down from the branches.” —Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, 1860-61 More than 150 years after Whitman wrote those lines, the ...

For centuries, Sherwood Forest’s ancient Major Oak absorbed stories about Robin Hood, Victorian nostalgia and English identity. In the end, that fame may have helped bring about its decline.

When knights of old went looking for Robin Hood, they knew where to find him. The legendary outlaw has been associated with England’s Sherwood Forest for centuries, and one tree in particular has ...