Melksham Court.
Ancient Forest--Huts of the Britons on its margin. Roman Settlements in
the vale country--Destruction of the Danes--Gradual diminishing of the
Forest--Pageant in the days of Richard II. in honour of his marriage with
Anne of Luxemburg--Journey of the young Queen--Dangers attendant on the
way--Arrival in London--Margaret of Silesia, a confidential friend and
first-cousin of the Queen, accompanies her--Death of the Queen--Marriage
of Margaret; afterwards that of her Daughter to Sir William
Tyndale--Anecdote of Piastus, her immediate ancestor, and his elevation to
the throne of Poland--A descendant of Margaret of Silesia concealed for
three days and nights in the Yew-tree of Stinchcombe Wood--The Burning of
his Mansion in the Valley--Reference to William Tyndale, the Apostle of
the English Reformation, descended from Margaret--Beautiful Scenery around
the remains of the old Forest, which now bears the name of Stinchcombe
Wood--A dilapidated Court-House in the Valley, where the Tyndale family
once resided--Its present condition and past greatness.--_Page 1._
Ruins of Bradgate Palace.
Scenery before and around the Ruin--Beautiful group of Chesnut-trees
growing there in the days of Edward I.--Clear Stream of Water, beside
which Lady Jane used to walk--Ruins of the little Mill mentioned by
Leland--Vale of Newtown, Hill and Ruin--Sketch of Bradgate Palace--Lady
Jane's Tower--Concluding Observations--Poetry.--_Page 21._
Oak of Chertsey. Glendour's Oak.
Battle between Henry IV. and Hotspur--Fall of Hotspur--Battle witnessed by
Owen Glendour from the topmost branches of the Tree--Return to his Castle
in the Vale of Glyndwrdwey--Mode of Warfare--Remarks respecting him--Dread
entertained by the English of his possessing supernatural Powers--Anecdote
of his early Life--Beautiful Scenery of Bethgellert--The bard
Rhys-Cock--Stone on which he used to sit--Building of a Church by Henry
IV. in commemoration of the Battle in which Hotspur fell--Present
condition of the Church, and of Glendour's Oak.--_Page 31._
Yew Trees of Skelldale.
Historical notice of the Monks of St. Mary's at York, who took shelter
beneath seven Yew-trees--Their sanctity and mode of life--Conjectures
respecting the state of Britain, when the fraternal Yew-trees first arose
from the earth--Hardships endured by the recluses--The charity of their
Abbot to a stranger--Splendid Abbey of the Fountain.--_Page 43._
Oak of Howel Sele. The blasted Oak.
Contrast between the bleached and skeleton-looking Tree, and the lawns and
thickets by which it is surrounded--History of Howel Sele--His Fight with
his cousin Owen Glendour--His Death, and the inhuming of him within an
hollow Oak--Search made for the Chieftain by his Vassals--Weary watchings
of his Widow--Arrival of Madoc, after many years, at the Castle of the
murdered Chieftain--Telling of Glendour's Death, and how he had charged
him to make known where the body of Howel Sele was concealed--Working of
the Vassals by torch-light, and the discovery of his Bones.--_Page 51._
Queen Mary's Tower.
Winfield Castle--Peverel's Tower--Apartment and Tower of Mary, Queen of
Scots--Ruins, when best seen--Heavy Storm during the Night--Aspect of
Nature in the Morning--Old Tree within sight of Apartments occupied by
Queen Mary--Beautiful Ash growing before her window.--_Page 57._
Chesnut of Tortworth.
Celebrated as a large Tree in the days of King John--Chesnut-tree
preferred among all others by Salvator Rosa--Notice of Penda, of his son,
Wolfere, and Eva--Wolfere, Governor of Mercia--Benefactor of the City of
Gloucester--Caer Glou, or the Bright City--Persecutions of the Christians
by Penda--Piety of Eva, who became, on the death of her husband, Abbess of
the Nunnery of St. Peter's--Baptism of Penda.--_Page 61._
Oak of Ellerslie. Wallace's Oak.
Observations on the aged Tree--Place of its Growth--Sports and sorrows of
Childhood--Assembling of the Village Children, with young Wallace, under
the shade of the Oak of Ellerslie--Claim of Edward to the fealty of
Scotland on the Death of the young Queen--Advance of his
Armies--Contemporary Events--Wallace, when grown to manhood, takes up arms
against the English--Joined by his young Companions--Concealed with many
of his Officers, in an hollow of the Oak of Ellerslie, beneath which they
had played in Childhood--Escape to the old Oak of Torwood, which becomes
his head-quarters--Scenery on the banks of the Carron--Conversation with
Bruce--Captivity and Death of Wallace--Veneration in which his Memory is
held by the young People of Ellerslie--Memorial Spots associated with his
Name.--_Page 69._
The Nut-Tree of Rosamond's Grave.
Rebuke of St. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, to the Sisters of Godstow
Nunnery--Removal of Rosamond's Hearse from before the Altar--Her Burial in
the Churchyard--Belief of the Nuns respecting her private Marriage with
the King--Sketch of her Life--Interview with the Queen, and retirement
from her bower at Woodstock to Godstow Nunnery--Her Death--Visit to her
Tomb.
Castle near old Sarum, the Residence of the Earl of Salisbury surrounded
with Downs--Place of Tournament--Funeral of the Earl, and the mysterious
Disappearance of his Daughter, Ela--Riding forth of Knights in
search--Conjecture respecting her Disappearance--Ela's three
Uncles--Monastry of Bradenstoke--Adventures of an English Knight, William
Talbot, in quest of the young Heiress--His Wanderings in Normandy for the
space of two years--Discovery of the Lady Ela, when gathering Shells on
the Sea-coast--Poetry--Her Return to England, and Marriage with William
Longespé--Attachment of William Longespé to his Brother, King John, the
Companion of his Wanderings, a Friend who never Deserted him--Wretched
Condition of the Country--Founding by William Longespé of the beautiful
Cathedral of Salisbury--Going abroad of the Earl, with his Royal Nephew,
Richard--Disasters by Land and Sea--Narrow Escape from an Abbey in the
Isle of Rhé--Proposals of Marriage to the Lady Ela by Reimund de Burgh,
during the absence of her Husband--Her scornful Reply--Complaint to King
Henry by the Earl on his Return--Apology--Illness and Death of the
Earl--His Funeral--Lady Ela permitted to remain in free Widowhood--Her
Seal and Exercise of the Office of Sheriff of Wiltshire--Founding of
Lacock Nunnery, and the Priory of Hinton--Ela's Retirement from the
stately Castle, in which her young Days had passed to the Society of the
Nuns of Lacock--Visit to the plain Marble Stone that covers the Remains of
Lady Ela--Closing Observations.--_Page 91._
Remains of Dunmow Priory.
Old Church of Dunmow, by whom erected--Tomb of Sir Walter Bohun, by whom
injured--Tomb of the Lady Marian, the wife of Robinhood--Conjecture
respecting the sparing of her Effigy during the Civil Wars--Early History
of Lady Marian--Tournament--Burning of her Father's Castle--Escape to the
Forest--Single Combat with Prince John--Restoration of Robinhood, the Earl
of Huntingdon, to his estates and honours--Death of Robinhood--Retiring of
his Widow to the Priory of Dunmow--Sending of Sir Robert de Medeive, with
a poisoned Bracelet, by King John, to the lady--Her Death--Poetry.--_Page
119._
Gospel-Beech.
Divisions of Great Britain by the Romans--Names given by the Saxons--Minor
Changes and final Partition by command of Alfred--Origin of marking the
respective Boundaries--Gospel-Tree near an ancient Saxon Town--Going round
of the Parishioners--Contrast between the aged Tree and the young Flowers
that spring beside it--Concluding Observations.--_Page 129._
Clipstone Palace and the Parliament Oak.
Condition of the ruined Palace--Hiding-place for solitary birds--The owl,
jackdaw, and crow--Once a place of great note--Its style of building--How
guarded--By whom inhabited--Withdrawing of King John from Clipstone Palace
to London--Its lonely appearance when thus deserted--Rumours respecting an
Interdict--Miserable state of the Country--No Burials allowed in Churches,
nor Marriages within the walls--Bells and Images taken down and laid upon
the ground--A Wedding Party--Appearance of Clipstone Palace when King
Edward I. succeeds to the Throne--Improved condition of the
Country--Notice of the lesser Barons and Burgesses--Style of Building much
improved--Wise Policy of Edward--Notice of a fine young Oak growing in
Clipstone Park--Parties made beneath its shade in the days of John--Again
in those of Edward--Grave Company sitting there--Why convened.--_Page
135._
Ruined Villages in the New Forest.
Desolating of the New Forest--Distress of the Inhabitants--War declared
with France--Departure of the King for Normandy--Wretched condition of
Maine--Burning of Nantes--Illness of William--Bequests to his two
Sons--Their unnatural Conduct--His Death--Poetry--Neglect of his
Remains--Interruption to his Funeral--Hunting Party, convened by William
Rufus, in Malwood-Keep--Arrival of a Monk with ill tidings from
Gloucester--Accidental Death of the King--His remains found by a
Charcoal-burner, and carried to Winchester--Interment.--_Page 151._
Old Trees in Hyde Park.
Ancient condition of the Country--First emerging of one of the old Trees
from its Acorn cradle--Conjectures as to the People who inhabited Britain
at the time--Stages of vegetation in all Trees alike--Contrast between the
small beginning, and the grandeur of a full-grown Tree--Notice of the
Forest that covered the greatest part of Middlesex--Settlement of
Llyn-Din, or the Town on the Lake, called Londinium by the
Romans--Draining of the Marshes, and cutting down of the Forest, embanking
of the River and surrounding the City with a Wall--Gradual progress of
Civilization--Increase of the City--Falling to decay of the old Roman Road
that passed through a portion of Hyde-Park--Contrast between the Past and
Present.--_Page 173._
Hatfield Oak.