82 The New Forest : its History and its Scenery. 



in mind of his native moors, without seeing which once a year, 

 he so pathetically said, he felt as if he should die. Its wild 

 beauty, however, is in a great measure spoilt by the railroad, 

 and the large trees which grew in Scott's time have all been 

 felled. 



Burley itself, which now lies just before us, is one of the 

 most primitive of Forest hamlets, the village suddenly losing 

 itself amongst the holms and hollies, and then reforming itself 

 again in some open space. So thoroughly a Forest village, 

 it is proverbially said to be dependent upon the yearly crop 

 of acorns and mast, or " akermast," as they are collectively 

 called. To the south-west stands Burley Beacon, where some 

 entrenchments are still visible, and the fields lying round it 

 are still called " Greater " and " Lesser Castle Fields," and 

 " Barrows," and " Coffins," showing that the whole district has 

 once been one vast battle-field. 



Close to the village are the Burley quarries, where the 

 so-called Burley rock, a mere conglomerate of gravel, the 

 ** ferrels," or " verrels," of North Hampshire, is dug, formerly 

 used for the foundations of the old Forest churches, as at 

 Brockenhurst, and Minestead, and Sopley in the Vale of the 

 Avon. The gi-eat woods round Burley have all been cut, 

 except a few beech- woods, but here and there " merry orchards" 

 mingle themselves with the holms and hollies, wandering, 

 half-wild, amongst the Forest.* 



Turning away from the village, and going north-east, before 

 us rise great woods — Old Burley, with its yews and oaks, 

 where the raven used to build ; Vinney Ridge, with its heronry 



* The word is from the French merke. At Wood Green, in the northern 

 part of the Forest, a "merry fair" of these half- wild cherries is held once 

 a week during the season, probably similar to that of which Gower sung. 



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