1883.] THROUGH SHERWOOD FOREST. 17 



the forest is generally denominated the ' Dakery/ and the 

 southerly portion is distinctively known by the name of Sherwood, 

 The quaint town of Worksop therefore may be said to be the 

 capital of the ' Dukery,' and Mansfield to be the- capital of 

 Sherwood. The inhabitants of Yorkshire and the northern 

 counties invariably journey to Worksop, if desirous of visiting the 

 forest, while the dwellers in the counties of the sunny south 

 wisely choose the route to Nottingham, and drive from thence to 

 Mansfield, or pass along the railway to that ancient and interest- 

 ing town. Starting from Mansfield the tourist proceeds for a 

 short distance along the highway leading to Worksop — passing at 

 a tangent the pretty "\dllage of Mansfield- Woodhouse, formerly 

 the seat of the Digby family, who were distinguished for their 

 loyalty to the Stuarts — and then diverges to the highway which 

 would eventually bring him to Ollerton and Retford. Views of 

 the forest are to be obtained in every direction along the route, 

 and the large tracts of corn-growing land brightly intersperse the 

 sombre wilderness of forest, and make up a scene of picturesque 

 beauty. Having wandered for about three miles along a highway 

 overhung with the fragrant Lime and the deepening fohage of the 

 Elm, the first object of interest is to be seen close beside the 

 road ; and this old memorial of the dead past is often unnoticed by 

 the visitor as he saunters leisurely along. It is the skeleton, so 

 to speak, of an Oak tree that at one time must have been of huge 

 dimensions, and capable of gi\^ng shade to hundreds of men. It 

 is generally known by the name of the ' Parhament Oak,' tradi- 

 tion asserting that King John, of Magna Charta fame, who was an 

 ardent devotee of sport, and occupied during certain seasons of 

 the year a palace in the woods at Chpstone, for the purpose of 

 facilitating Ms deer- hunting procli^dties, once had occasion to call 

 his parliament together, and the senators of his court assembled 

 under the gigantic Oak which now stands near the hii;hway. 

 Whtiher such traditional information is correct, cannot well be 

 ascertained; but great care is taken of the 'relic,' and it is 

 chained together, so that a dissolution of the trunk cannot easily 

 take place. For 600 years it is supposed to have withstood the 

 blasts of winter, and many years "odll yet elapse before it ceases to 

 give that cooUng leafy shade which the pedestrian is so grateful 

 for in the hot days of summer. Passing on, the entrance to the 

 ' real ' forest is gained, and when the traveller espies an old 

 weather-beaten mill, with sails idly flapping in the wind, he had 

 better ascertain his moorings ; and the courteous vendor of 

 lemonade close by will speedily put him on the right track. 

 Leaving the highway, and passing through the gate on the left side 



