1884.] A FOREST WONDER. 411 



A FOREST WONDER. 



ITTLE imaginative penetration is required to discover the reason 

 why the traditions of the grand old forests of England are 

 immemorially mingled with the associations of lioyalty. In 

 the days when England was supposed to be exceptionally ' merrie ' — 

 from what cause the historic philosopher has vainly tried to explain 

 — possibly the most enjoyable pastime of Royalty was the sport 

 afforded in the fine woodland tracts which then existed, and a pro- 

 portion of which still exists to this day. Then the regal diversion, 

 inseparably connected with deer-hunting, was ample and extensive, 

 and the representatives of noble houses did not fail to emulate the 

 bold freebooter Robin Hood in the chase of the fleet-limbed dweller of 

 the forest. Consequently the forest of Sherwood, the New Forest, and 

 all the great stretches of woodland beauty attracted to their picturesque 

 bowers the preicx chevaliers of the period, so that the kingly sportsmen 

 were entertained and provided with as much pastime as their ardent 

 souls might desire. The • forests were then the ' happy hunting 

 grounds ' of kings and their courts, and it would be difficult to dis- 

 cover the woodland region of any magnitude where Royalty has not 

 assisted in the development and perpetuation of those memories which 

 make up the interesting history of some of our famous woods and 

 forests. While Sherwood boasts of its Robin Hood, it can also lay 

 claim to the patronage of King John, whose hunting palace in the 

 woods partly exists to this day ; and while the New Forest clings to 

 its traditions of Rufus, Epping Forest remembers the royal lady who, 

 above all preceding kings and queens, has so wisely and lovingly 

 guided the destinies of this great nation. Around these arenas of 

 sport we find the 'stately homes of England' about which Mrs. 

 Hemans sings so delightfully; and in Sherwood Forest especially is 

 this the case. Its glorious leafy domain comprises the seats of the 

 Dukes of Newcastle and Portland and the Earl of Manvers ; while 

 on the loncj line of contiguous forest which stretches from Mansfield 

 to Nottingham is the beautiful ivy-adorned abbey where Lord Byron 

 sighed and sung of his adorable Mary ; and Bestwood Lodge, one of 

 the seats of the Duke of St. Albans ; with Hard wick Hall, ' more 

 glass than wall ' (the seat of the Marquis of Hartington); and Bolsover 

 Castle, the fantastic erections of the 'ever-building' Elizabeth 

 Countess of Shrewsbury, skirting the forest as it merges into the 

 corn-growing vales of picturesque Derbyshire. Few of the forests in 

 this kingdom can claim to find room for palaces of such noble 

 heritage ; and in each case the ducal mansions, environed by gigantic 

 Oaks and undulating parks, are to the forefront for magnitude and 



