82 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
[No. 6. 
MONMOUTH’S ASH. 
Letter from the Earl of Shaftesbury accompanying 
a short “History of Monmouth Close,” for- 
merly printed by his Lordship for the information 
of persons visiting that spot. 
The whole of Woodlands now belongs to me. 
The greater part of it was bought by my late 
brother soon after he came of age. 
I knew nothing of Monmouth Close till the year 
1787, when I was shooting on Horton Heath ; the 
gamekeeper advised me to try for game in the 
inclosures called Shag’s Heath, and took me to 
see Monmouth Close and the famous ash tree there. 
I then anxiously inquired of the inhabitants of 
the neighbouring houses respecting the traditions 
concerning Monmouth Close and the celebrated 
ash tree, and what I then learnt I have printed for 
the information of any person who may visit that 
spot. 
What I have since learnt convinces me that the 
Duke was not going to Christchurch, He was on 
his way to Bournemouth, where he expected to find 
a vessel. Monmouth Close is in the direct line 
from Woodyates to Bournemouth. 
About sixty years ago there was hardly a house 
there. It was the leading place of all the smugglers 
of this neighbourhood. SHAFTESBURY. 
St. Giles’s House, Nov. 27. 1849. 
HISTORY OF MONMOUTH CLOSE. 
« The small inclosure which has been known by 
the name of Moxmourtu Cross ever since the cap- 
ture of the Duke of Monmouth there, in July, 
1685, is one of a cluster of small inclosures, five 
in number, which stood in the middle of Shag’s 
Weath, and were called ‘The Island.’ They are 
in the parish of Woodlands. 
“The tradition of the neighbourhood is this: 
viz. That after the defeat of the Duke of Mon- 
mouth at Sedgemoor, near Bridgewater, he rode, 
accompanied by Lord Grey, to Woodyates, where 
they quitted their horses; and the Duke having 
changed clothes with a peasant, endeavoured to 
make his way across the country to Christchurch. 
Being closely pursued, he made for the Island, 
and concealed himself in a ditch which was over- 
grown with fern and underwood. When his pur- 
suers came up, an old woman gave information of 
his being in the Island, and of her having seen him 
filling his pocket with peas. The Island was im- 
mediately surrounded by soldiers, who passed the 
night there, and threatened to fire the neighbour- 
ing cotts. As they were going away, one of them 
espied the skirt of the Duke’s coat, and seized 
him. The soldier no sooner knew him, than he 
burst into tears, and reproached himself for the 
unhappy discovery. The Duke when taken was 
quite exhausted with fatigue and hunger, having 
had no food since the battle but the peas which he 
had gathered in the field. The ash tree is still 
standing under which the Duke was apprehended, 
and is marked with the initials of many of his 
friends who afterwards visited the spot. 
“The family of the woman who betrayed him 
were ever after holden in the greatest detestation, 
and are said to have fallen into decay, and to have 
never thriven afterwards. The house where she 
lived, which overlooked the spot, has since fallen 
down. It was with the greatest difficulty that any 
one could be made to inhabit it. 
“ The Duke was carried before Anthony Ette- 
rick, Ksq., of Holt, a justice of the peace, who 
ordered him to London. 
“His gold snuff box was afterwards found in 
the pea-field, full of gold pieces, and brought to 
Mrs. Uvedaile, of Horton. One of the finders had 
fifteen pounds for half the contents or value of it. 
“ Being asked what he would do if set at liberty, 
—the Duke answered, that if his horse and arms 
were restored, he only desired to ride through the 
army, and he defied them all to take him again.” 
DRAYTON’S POEMS. 
In addition to the notes on Drayton by Dr. 
Farmer, communicated in your 2nd number, the 
following occur in a copy of Drayton’s Poems, 
printed for Smithwicke, in 1610, 12mo. :— 
“ See the Return from Parnassus for a good character 
of Drayton. 
“ See an Epigrum by Drayton, I suppose, prefixed 
to Morley’s first Booke of Bulletes. 
“ A Sonnet to John Davies, before his Holy Reode, 
or Christ's Crosse, 4to. (1610). A Poem in 6 line 
stanzas, 
“ Another to the old edit. of Wit’s Commonwealth. 
“ Commendatory Verses before Chapman’s Hesiod. 
“ Sonnet to Ant. Mundy’s 2nd Book of Primation 
of Greece, 1619. 
“ His Heroical Epistles were newly enlarged and re- 
published in 8vo. 1598; which is the most antient edi- 
tion we have seen or read of, —[ Bodl, Cat. ]— Biogra- 
phia his Art. 
“Another edition, as we have heard, in 1610,— 
Ibid. 
“ See Mere’s Wit's Treasury, p. 281. A modern 
edition was published by Oldmixon. — Cibber’s Lives, 
4. 204. 
“ See Warton’s Essay on Pope, 296. 
“ Drayton’s last Copy of Verses was prefixed to Sir 
John Beaumont’s Poems, 1629.” 
So far Dr. Farmer, whose books are often valu- 
able for the notes on the fly-leaves. Should any 
one act upon the suggestion of your correspondent, 
and think of a selection from Drayton, it would 
be necessary to collate the various editions of his 
poems, which, as they are numerous, evince his 
popularity with his contemporaries. 
Malone asserted that the Barons’ Wars was not 
