HUNTING SONGS 



cause to rejoice ; and the rather for that the diligence and service of Sir 

 John Done had so prosperously prepared his Majesty's sports, which 

 he also as graciously accepted." 



Note 27, p. 20. 



Behold I in the soil of our forest once more. 



By the Act of Parliament for the enclosure of Delamere Forest, 

 passed in 1812, one moiety of the whole is allotted to the share of the 

 King, to be kept under the direction of the Surveyor-General of Woods 

 and Forests, as a nursery for timber only. 



Note 28, p. 20. 



Where, 'twixt the whalebones, the widow sat down. 



Maria Hollingsworth, a German by birth, the widow of an English 

 soldier. Near two ribs of a whale which stood in Delamere Forest, 

 she constructed for herself a hut, and resided there several years. 



Note 29, p. 22. 

 The Spectre Stag, 



The subject of this ballad is taken from a collection of German 

 traditions in French, there entitled " La Chapelle de la Foret." 



The tale of a forest phantom, we are told by Sir W. Scott, in the 

 Preface to his translation of the "Wild Jager," is universally believed in 

 Germany. This phantom has often been the subject of poetry, but 

 the final catastrophe to the Baron's hunting career, thus described in 

 the legend, I do not recollect to have seen mentioned elsewhere : — 



" Voyant le chasseur noir s'avancer droit a lui, il sonna du cor pour 

 appeler ses gens ; mais il le fit avec une telle force que les veines se 

 creverent ; il tomba mort de son cheval. Ses descendans firent batir 

 en cet endroit une chapelle ou ils fonderent un benefice." 



219 



