WHERE A NORMAN FELL. 145 
just setting, and shone in the eyes of Rufus; and 
it was during the act of shading them with his 
hand that he met his death from an arrow, shot, it 
was stated, by Sir Walter Tyrrel at another stag 
that at this moment passed near the King. One 
account says that the arrow, by mischance, lodged 
itself direct in the body of the King; another, that 
it glanced against the Oak by which Rufus stood 
and thence sped against him. Tyrrel’s flight 
served to cast suspicion upon him; yet, although 
according to one statement he positively denied 
any knowledge of the facts, according to another 
he admitted having shot William, giving the 
doubtful explanation regarding the glancing arrow. 
Looking at all the circumstances connected with 
this curious event, it seems difficult to avoid the 
conclusion that the death of William Rufus was 
not due to the accident to which it has been as- 
cribed. The oppressive exactions of father and 
son might well have roused the ire of the con- 
quered nation and set conspiracy in motion with 
the object of revenge. The New Forest had been 
an especial scene of the tyrannous cruelty of the 
Norman Conqueror’s family; and although the 
