The Second Book 71 



Park, of about four miles' compass ; for my Lord's brother, 

 Sir Charles Cavendish, who bought out the life of my Lord in 

 that lordship, saved most part of it from being cut down ; 

 and in Blore Park there were some few deer left. The rest 

 of the parks were totally defaced and destroyed, both wood, 

 pales, and deer : ; amongst which was also Clipston Park, 

 of seven miles' compass, wherein my Lord had taken much 

 delight formerly, it being rich of wood, and containing the 

 greatest and tallest timber-trees of all the woods he had ; 

 insomuch, that only the pale-row was valued at ^2000. It 

 was watered by a pleasant river that runs through it, full of 

 fish and otters ; was well-stocked with deer, full of hares, 

 and had great store of partridges, poots 2 , pheasants, &c, 

 besides all sorts of water-fowl ; so that this park afforded all 

 manner of sports, for hunting, hawking, coursing, fishing, 

 etc., for which my Lord esteemed it very much. And although 

 his patience and wisdom is such, that I never perceived him 

 sad or discontented for his own losses and misfortunes, yet 

 when he beheld the ruins of that park, I observed him troubled, 

 though he did little express it, only saying, he had been in 

 hopes it would not have been so much defaced as he found 

 it, there being not one timber- tree in it left for shelter. How- 

 ever, he patiently bore what could not be helped, and gave 

 present order for the cutting down of some wood that was left 

 him in a place near adjoining, to repale it, and got from several 

 friends deer to stock it. 



Thus, though his lawsuits and other unavoidable expenses 

 were very chargeable to him, yet he ordered his affairs so 

 prudently, that by degrees he stocked and manured those 

 lands he keeps for his own use, and in part repaired his manor- 

 houses, Welbeck 3 and Bolsover, to which latter he made 

 some additional building ; and though he has not yet built 



1 On the destruction of these woods see the Calendar of Domestic State Papers for 1655, 

 p. 137. The verderers of Sherwood Forest complained to Lord Clare, who had been 

 made Warden in Newcastle's place : ' The forest is ruined, especially Clipston Woods, 

 where the inhabitants have right of estovers, bv Mr. Clark, on pretence of a grant from 

 the Committee for Sale of Traitors' Estates. He has felled rooo trees, and daily fells 

 more. He fells in the heart of the forest, where the deer have their greatest relief. There 

 is much good ship-timber in the forest.' 



2 According to Mr. Lower's note on this passage in the edition of 1872, poot means 

 either blackcock or red grouse, probably the former. Poot or pout means a young 

 bird of any kind. — Halliwell. 



3 See the paper entitled A Note . . . about my Building at Welbeck, printed in Mr. 

 Strong's Catalogue of Letters, etc., preserved in the Library at Welbeck, p. 56. 



