afe 223 



devoted to the education of her sons ; for whom, as well 

 as for herself, she was dependent on the bounty of her 

 father. 



Edward came at length to hunt in the forest of Whit- 

 tlebury, for this great forest was a royal chase, abound- 

 ing with shady coverts and open spaces, where the 

 fern grew wild and high, and dancing lights and sha- 

 dows seemed to sport over a wilderness of broken 

 ground and coppice-wood. Elizabeth heard that he 

 would pass at a short distance from her mother's dower 

 castle, and she resolved to wait for him under the 

 shade of the tall tree, which bears her name. The 

 mingled sound of hounds and horns, with the trampling 

 of horses on the green turf, soon reached her ear, and 

 presently the monarch passed that way with his gal- 

 lant train of hunters. She was then, for such is the 

 tradition of the neighbourhood,* with her fatherless 

 boys, on this very spot, for she had thrown herself on 

 the ground, and besought him, with many tears, to have 

 pity on her impoverished and bereaved children. The 

 sight of beauty in affliction softened the stern heart of 

 the monarch, while the anxiety of a mother for her chil- 

 dren seemed to awaken in his heart feelings of kindliness 

 and compassion, to which he had been long a stranger, 

 and he raised her from the ground, with assurances of 

 favour and consideration. 



Legends tell, that they met again under the same old 

 * Baker's Northamptonshire. 



