Ruins and Old Trees, Associated with Memorable Events in English History Part 1

Ruins and Old Trees, a.s.sociated with Memorable Events in English History.

by Mary Roberts.

The Oak of Chatsworth,

PLANTED BY HER MAJESTY WHEN PRINCESS VICTORIA.

Wave on, ye old memorial trees, In the wintry wind and the summer breeze: Beacons ye are of days gone by, Of grief and crime, of the tear and sigh.

Ah! may they never come again, In hut or hall, on hill or plain!

But a young tree is growing, Where clear streams are flowing; Its roots are deep in the mother earth, In the parent soil that gave it birth, And its n.o.ble boughs are waving high, Meeting the breeze or the summer wind's sigh; While quivering lights and shadows play On the flowery sod beneath; And flocks lie down in the heat of day, 'Mid the fragrant thyme and heath.

Old trees have fallen down, From the sites where they stood of yore, And now in tower or town Their names are heard no more.

When they stood in their days of pride, The Saxon wore his crown, And oft through the forest wide The Norman wound his horn; But thou in thy beauty's sheen, Young tree, art rising high, Thy waving boughs are seen, Against the clear blue sky.

No dibbling foot of sportive fawn, In silent glen or glade, No squirrel bounding o'er the lawn Thy tender cradle made: But the poet's eye back glancing, Can sing of thy natal day, When the streamlets in light seem'd dancing, And the woods did their homage pay.

A maiden placed thee, forest tree, Where thou art standing now, No care depress'd her thoughts of glee, No crown was on her brow; But she stood, a lov'd and loving one, By her n.o.ble mother's side, And while that gentle deed was done, Hearts turn'd to her with pride.

The old memorial trees, That rise on rock or glen, Dark years of human sorrow Are chronicled on them; But Chatsworth's young oak springing, May spread her branches fair, When nought of sin or sadness Shall vex the earth or air.

The crowns which G.o.d hath given, Shall press not then as now; No sceptre shall be riven, No care shall cloud the brow.

Victoria! s.h.i.+elded by His power, Be thine to triumph in that hour, Queen of the sea-girt isle! Not then, As now, the Queen of suffering men, But reigning still, beloved and glorious, O'er sin, and grief, and death victorious.

CONTENTS.

Melksham Court.

Ancient Forest--Huts of the Britons on its margin. Roman Settlements in the vale country--Destruction of the Danes--Gradual diminis.h.i.+ng 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-c.o.c.k--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 sanct.i.ty and mode of life--Conjectures respecting the state of Britain, when the fraternal Yew-trees first arose from the earth--Hards.h.i.+ps 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 Va.s.sals--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 Va.s.sals 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--a.s.sembling 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 a.s.sociated with his Name.--_Page 69._

The Nut-Tree of Rosamond's Grave.

Rebuke of St. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, to the Sisters of G.o.dstow Nunnery--Removal of Rosamond's Hea.r.s.e 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 G.o.dstow 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 s.p.a.ce of two years--Discovery of the Lady Ela, when gathering Sh.e.l.ls on the Sea-coast--Poetry--Her Return to England, and Marriage with William Longespe--Attachment of William Longespe to his Brother, King John, the Companion of his Wanderings, a Friend who never Deserted him--Wretched Condition of the Country--Founding by William Longespe 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 Rhe--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 Wilts.h.i.+re--Founding of Lac.o.c.k Nunnery, and the Priory of Hinton--Ela's Retirement from the stately Castle, in which her young Days had pa.s.sed to the Society of the Nuns of Lac.o.c.k--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 Part.i.tion by command of Alfred--Origin of marking the respective Boundaries--Gospel-Tree near an ancient Saxon Town--Going round of the Paris.h.i.+oners--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._