BY THE NEW FOREST gg 



• 



The slightly shorter way to Poole is through 

 Cadnam, by way of Stoney Cross and Picked Post to 

 Eingwood, and on by Ashley Cross. 



Stoney Cross was rather an important point when 

 coaches ran, because it was the changing-place between 

 Southampton and Eingwood, 19| miles. I can re- 

 member nothing but a low-roofed, straggling inn, not 

 very far from Cadnam, with abundant out-buildings, 

 almost in the Forest, and close to the Eufus Stone. 

 Here Field-Marshal H.E.H. the Duke of Cambridge 

 held his last review of a large body of troops. 



The memorial, put up by the Lord Delawar of 

 about a century ago, to commemorate the death of 

 the Eed King (William II.), from the arrow of Sir 

 Walter Tyrrell, is supposed to occupy the site of 

 the historical tree. But when I was last in the 

 Forest, not alone the tree, but even the stone had 

 vanished. It had been encased in an iron covering 

 calculated to resist the knives and chisels of those 

 intelligent wayfarers who, with a fine taste, generally 

 leave to posterity, when they have the chance, their 

 interesting initials cut into objects of historical im- 

 portance. 



By a singular coincidence the decline of mail- 

 coaching was the signal for a rapid increase in the 

 trade and population of Southampton. Coaches apart, 

 two epochs, as essentially connected with the mail- 

 service as with the prosperity of the town, occur in 

 its history, and seem to stand out with distinction 

 from other local events. The opening of the London 



