The English folk legend

English folklore

English folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of centuries. Some stories can be traced back to their roots, while the origin of others is uncertain or disputed...

 of a shire oak, under the spreading limbs of which the ancient Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

 open-air folkmoots and thing

Thing (assembly)

A thing was the governing assembly in Germanic and introduced into some Celtic societies, made up of the free people of the community and presided by lawspeakers, meeting in a place called a thingstead...

s were held, is a feature of Merry England

Merry England

"Merry England", or in more jocular, archaic spelling "Merrie England", refers to an English autostereotype, a utopian conception of English society and culture based on an idyllic pastoral way of life that was allegedly prevalent at some time between the Middle Ages and the onset of the Industrial...

:

"In olden times the rude hustings, with its noisy surging crowds, was the old popular mode of appeal to the people, voter and voteless, a remnant of Saxon times when men gathered under the shire-oak..."

The Shire Oak legend

Legend

A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...

arium has resulted in a number of toponyms in present-day England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Oaks were often markers where three shire

Shire

A shire is a traditional term for a division of land, found in the United Kingdom and in Australia. In parts of Australia, a shire is an administrative unit, but it is not synonymous with "county" there, which is a land registration unit. Individually, or as a suffix in Scotland and in the far...

s came together, as "Three-shire Oak

Three Shire Stone

A Three Shire Stone is a marker point where three counties meet. The term is used in the United Kingdom.Some notable Three Shire landmarks are:*Three Shire Stone...

s" at some of the tripoints of England.

In Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, a venerable "shire oak" was identified at Kelvedon

Kelvedon

Kelvedon is a village and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex in England, near to the town of Witham. It has a population of 3,485.-Origins:...

. Shire Oak is a section of Mansfield

Mansfield

Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....

, Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

, in which county the Shire-Oak Colliery was excavated near Worksop

Worksop

Worksop is the largest town in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England on the River Ryton at the northern edge of Sherwood Forest. It is about east-south-east of the City of Sheffield and its population is estimated to be 39,800...

.

Shire Oak School

Shire Oak School

The Shire Oak School is a coeducational comprehensive school in Walsall Wood, West Midlands, England. More recently, the name was changed to Shire Oak Academy....

 is in Walsall Wood

Walsall Wood

Walsall Wood is a settlement located in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, UK, between Aldridge and Brownhills.-History:In the late-18th century and early-19th century, the workers of Walsall Wood were primarily involved in the mining of limestone...

, West Midlands

West Midlands (county)

The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...

, where there is a Shire Oak Quarry and a Shire Oak Reservoir, and there are numerous examples in England of a "Shire Oak Road" or "Shire Oak Street".

Providing a suitably Anglophone toponym, Shire Oak is a neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

 and Shireoak Drive is a road in Houston

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

.