Four Times of the Day is 29 May, Oak Apple Day, a public holiday which celebrated the Restoration of the monarchy (demonstrated by the oak boughs above the barber's sign and on some of the subjects' hats, which recall the royal oak tree in which Charles II hid after losing the Battle of Worcester in 1651). Alternatively, Sean Shesgreen has suggested that the date is 3 September, commemorating the battle of Worcester itself, a dating that preserves the seasonal progression from winter to spring to summer to autumn. Charing Cross was a central staging post for coaches, but the congested narrow road was a frequent
Oak apple due to the superficial resemblance and the preponderance of the oak marble gall in the wild. Other galls found on oak trees include the oak artichoke gall and the acorn cup gall, but each of these has its own distinctive form. Some common oak-apple-forming species are the "Biorhiza pallida" gall wasp in Europe, "Amphibolips confluenta" in eastern North America, and "Atrusca bella" in western North America. Oak apples may be brownish, yellowish, greenish, pinkish, or reddish. Oak galls have been used in the production of ink since at least the time of the Roman Empire. From the Middle Ages to