_Derivation of Windfall._--Arvine, in his _Cyclopædia_, gives the following
plausible reason for the origin of this term, now in such common use.
Query, Is he correct?
"Some of the nobility of England, by the tenure of their estates, were
forbidden felling any trees in the forests upon them, the timber being
reserved for the use of the royal navy. Such trees as fell without
cutting, were the property of the occupant. A tornado was therefore a
perfect god-send, in every sense of the word, to those who had
occupancy of extensive forests; and the _windfall_ was sometimes of
very great value."