46 



SYLVA BRITANNICA. 



from that side of the ruins of Framlingham Castle, 

 which undoubtedly was part of the original building 

 in the time of Alfred the Great, if not much earlier ; 

 which, notwithstanding it had been exposed to the 

 sun and rains for a century at least before I cut it 

 out, yet it still smells woody, and appears to be as 

 sound as when the tree was first felled. 



" The Queen's Oak at Hiintingfield was situated 

 in a park of the Lord Hunsdon, about two bow-shots 

 from the old mansion-house, where Queen Elizabeth 

 is said to have been entertained by this nobleman, 

 and to have enjoyed the pleasures of the chase in a 

 kind of rural majesty. The approach to it was by a 

 bridge, over an arm of the river Blythe, and, if 

 I remember right, through three square courts. A 

 gallery was continued the whole length of the 

 building, which, opening upon a balcony over the 

 porch, gave an air of grandeur, with some variety to 

 the front. The great hall was built round six straight 

 massy oaks, which originally supported the roof as 

 they grew : upon these the foresters and yeomen of 

 the guard used to hang their nets, cross-bows, 

 hunting-poles, great saddles, calivers, bills, &c. 

 The root of them had been long decayed when I 

 visited this romantic dwelling ; and the shafts sawn 

 off at bottom were supported either by irregular 

 logs of wood driven under them, or by masonry. 

 Part of the long gallery, where the Queen and her 

 fair attendants used to divert themselves, was con- 



