44 HERNE'S OAK. 



Fourthly : The fact that King George III. 

 frequently asserted that he had cut down an oak 

 tree, at the edge of the pit, close to the present 

 tree, because many persons confounded it with 

 the tree growing in the avenue, and called it 

 Herne's Oak, which he said it was not. I have 

 this anecdote from Mr. Davis, the present very 

 popular and intelligent huntsman of Her Ma- 

 jesty's Stag hounds, and who, it is well known, was 

 in the habit, when a very young man, of being 

 constantly in attendance upon His late Majesty, 

 George III. That the tree thus cut down, was, 

 by many persons, considered to be Herne's Oak, 

 there can be no doubt, and under this impression, 

 it was drawn by Mr. Delamotte in 1800, and by 

 Mr. Nicholson, in the same year. It is evident, 

 however, that the King did not so consider it, 

 and that he was anxious to preserve the identity 

 of the present tree. This fact is quite sufficient 

 to disprove a statement in Mr. Knight's beautiful 

 pictorial edition of Shakspeare, that Lady Ely was 

 asked by Mr. Nicholson to ascertain from George 

 III. whether or not he had cut down Herne's 

 Oak. The King replied, that " when he was a 

 young man, there were a number of old oaks in 

 the Park, which had become unsightly objects, 

 and that he gave directions that they should be 

 removed. He was afterwards sorry that he had 

 given such an order inadvertently, because he 



