18 MORFE FOEEST. 



Ordericus Yitalis. In some instances they were the 

 growtli of wide areas offering favourable conditions of 

 soil for the production of timber, as in the case of that 

 of Morfe. In others they were the result probably of 

 the existence of hilly districts so sterile as to offer 

 few inducements to cultivate them, as in the case of 

 Shirlot, the Stiperstones, the Wrekin, and of the 

 Clee Hills. Some of these have histories running 

 side by side with that of the nation, and associations 

 closely linked with the names of heroic men and 

 famous sportsmen. Morfe Forest, wjiich was sepa- 

 rated from that of Shirlot by the Severn, along 

 which it ran a considerable distance in the direction 

 of its tributary the Worf, is rich in traditions of the 

 rarest kind, the Briton, the Roman, Saxon, Dane, 

 and Norman, having in succession left mementoes of 

 their presence. Here, as Mr. Eyton in his inva- 

 luable work on the " Antiquities of Shropshire " 

 says, — '^Patriotism, civilisation, military science, 

 patient industry, adventurous barbarism, supersti- 

 tion, chivalry, and religion have each played a part.'' 

 The ancient British tumuli examined and described 

 more than one hundred and thirty years ago by the 

 Rev. Mr. Stackhouse have been levelled by the 

 plough, but " the Walls " at Chesterton, and the 



