ANTIQUITIES OF SELBORNE. 203 



What probably first drew the attention of the Saxons to this spot 

 was the beautiful spring or fountain called Well Head,* which induced 

 them to build by the banks of that perennial current; for ancient 

 settlers loved to reside by brooks and rivulets, where they could dip for 

 their water without the trouble and expense of digging wells and of 

 drawing. 



It remains still unsettled among the antiquaries at what time tracts 

 of land were first appropriated to the chase alone for the amusement 

 of the sovereign. Whether our Saxon monarchs had any royal forests, 

 does not, I believe, appear on record ; but the " Constitutiones de 

 Foresta," of Canute, the Dane, are come down to us. We shall not, 

 therefore, pretend to say whether Woolmer Forest existed as a royal 

 domain before the conquest. If it did not, we may suppose it was laid 

 out by some of our earliest Norman kings, who were exceedingly 

 attached to the pleasures of the chase, and resided much at Winchester, 

 which lies at a moderate distance from this district. The Plantagenet 

 princes seem to have been pleased with Woolmer, for tradition says 

 that King John resided just upon the verge, at Ward-le-ham, on a 

 regular and remarkable mount, still called King John's Hill, and 

 Lodge Hill ; and Edward III. had a chapel in his park, or enclosure, at 

 Kingsley.f Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and Eichard, Duke of 

 York, say my evidences, were both, in their turns, wardens of Woolmer 

 Forest, which seems to have served for an appointment for the younger 

 princes of the royal family, as it may again. 



I have intentionally mentioned Edward III. and the dukes Hum- 

 phrey and Richard, before King Edward II., because I have reserved, 

 for the entertainment of my readers, a pleasant anecdote respecting 

 that prince, with which I shall close this letter. 



As Edward II. was hunting on Woolmer Forest, Morris Ken, of the 

 kitchen, fell from his horse several times, at which accidents the king 

 laughed immoderately; and, when the chase was over, ordered him 

 twenty shillings,! an enormous sum for those days ! Proper allowances 

 ought to be made for the youth of this monarch, whose spirits also, we 

 may suppose, were much exhilarated by the sport of the day ; but, at 

 the same time, it is reasonable to remark, that, whatever might be the 

 occasions of Ken's first fall, the subsequent ones seem to have been 

 designed. The scullion appears to have been an artful fellow, and to 

 have seen the king's foible, which furnishes an early specimen of that 

 his easy softness and facility of temper, of which the infamous 

 Gaveston took such advantages, as brought innumerable calamities 

 on the nation, and involved the prince at last in misfortunes and 

 sufferings too deplorable to be mentioned, without horror and 

 amazement. 



* Well-head signifies spring-head, and not a deep pit from whence we draw 

 water. For particulars about which see Letter I. to Mr. Pennant. 



t The parish of Kingsley lies between, and divides Wolmer Forest from Ayles 

 Holt Forest. See Letter IX. to Mr. Pennant. 



t "Item, paid at the lodge at Woolmer, when the king was stag-hunting there, 

 to Morris Ken, of the kitchen, because he rode before the king and often fell from 

 his horse, at which the king laughed exceedingly a gift, by command, of twenty 

 shillings." A MS. in possession of Thomas Astle, Esq., containing the private 

 expenses of Edward II. 



