ROYAL CHASE OF SHIRLOT. 49 



on tlie opposite side of tlie ridge, rarely fail to 

 furnisli a fox ; and it is difficult to imagine a finer 

 spot than Smallman's Leap,* or Ipikin's Rock, on the 

 "Hill Top,^' presents for viewing a run over Hughley 

 and Kenley, or between there and Hope Bowdler. 

 Near Lutwyche is a thick entangled wood, called 

 Mog Forest ; and in the old door of the Church of 

 Easthope,t near, is a large iron ring, which is con- 

 jectured to have been placed there for outlaws of the 

 forest who sought sanctuary or freedom from arrest 

 to take hold of. l^ow and then, in wandering over 

 the sites of these former forests, we come upon tradi- 

 tions of great trees, sometimes upon an aged tree 

 itself, " bald with antiquity, '* telling of parent 

 forest tracts, like the Lady Oak at Cressage, which 

 formerly stood in the public highway, and suffered 

 much from gipsies and other vagabonds lighting 



* There is a legend that Major Smallman, a staunch royalist, sur- 

 prised by some of Cromwell's troopers, hotly pursued over Prest- 

 hope, turned from the road, spurred his horse at full gallop to the 

 edge of the precipice, and went over. The horse is said to have 

 been killed on the trees, whilst the Major escaped, and secreted 

 himself in the woods. Facts and local circumstances concur in 

 giving a colouring to the tradition, and deeds extant show that the 

 family resided here from the reign of Henry III. to the time 

 mentioned. See Appendix C. 



t See Appendix. 



E 



