U Urns found in Bratley barrow, [201], [202]; in Hilly Accombs barrow, [206] (foot-note); in various other barrows, [211] (foot-note); pieces of, in different barrows, [200], [204], [205], [207], [208]. Usnea barbata, its abundance in the Forest, [91] (foot-note).
V Valley of the Avon, its character, [116]. Van-winged hawk, the, of the Forest, [261]. “Vineyards, the,” at Beaulieu Abbey, [67]. Vinney, meaning of the word, [190]. Vinney Ridge, [82], [83]; heronry at, [273]. Vitalis on the afforestation of the New Forest, [24]; on William II.’s death, [94], [95].
W Wages, average, of labourers in the New Forest, [47] (foot-note). Walking, advantages of, over driving, [6]. Warbeck, Perkin, takes refuge at Beaulieu Abbey, [64]. Warwick, Countess of, takes refuge at Beaulieu Abbey, [64]. Wendover, Roger, on the afforestation of the New Forest, [25] (foot-note). West-Saxons, superstitious character of, still observable, [160], [161]; love of sport, [162]; peculiarity of dress, [162]; verbal characteristics of, [167]. Westminster, Matthew of, on the death of William II., [95] (foot-note). Whitebeams at Sloden, [114]; at Castle Malwood, [254]. Whiteshoot, square barrow near, [207]. Wight, Isle of, atmospheric effects on the, [15]; the Ictis of the ancients, [57], [58]; Pliny on, [57] (foot-note), [236]. William I., his character, [21], [22]; his right to make a forest, [23]; possessions in the Forest, [23] (foot-note); his love for the chase, [34]; his cruelty and oppression, [22], [38]. William II., his dream, as recorded, on the night before his death, [92], [93]; his speech to the monk from Gloucester, [94]; his death, [94]; his body brought to Winchester Cathedral, [95]; his brother and nephew killed in the Forest, [98]; his character, [99] (foot-note); the events of his reign, [100] (foot-note); the cause of his death, [101], [102], [103]; hated by his clergy, [104]; plots against his life, [104], [105]; his death read by his life, [108]. William III., his legislation for the Forest, [44]; not attended to, [45]. Wilverley Plantations, [81]. Wood, how sold for fuel in the Forest, [46]. Woodcocks, their breeding in the Forest, [269]. Woodmote, Court of, [87]. Woodpecker, great black, breeding of the, [272]. Woods, their beauty, [8]; as dwelt upon by our English poets, [9] (foot-note); how valued in Domesday, [11], [12] (foot-note); round Lyndhurst, [89], [90]. Woollen, affidavits of burials in, [232], [233]. Wootton plantations, [81]; woodcocks breed in, [269], [270]. Worcester, Florence of. See [Florence].
Y Yaffingale, local name for the green woodpecker, [272]. Yarranton, his report upon making the Avon navigable, [134]; on the ironstone of the coast, [151]. “Yellow as a kite’s claw, as,” a Forest proverb, [179]. Yews, measurements of various, [78] (foot-note), at Sloden, [114]. Ytene, the district of, [33], [163]. Yvery, Roger de, leads the Midland barons, [105]; possessed land at Lymington, [155].
FOOTNOTES
[1]Political Pieces and Songs relating to English History. Edited by Thomas Wright. Vol. ii., p. 199.
[2]It is worth noticing how, according to their natures, our English poets have dwelt upon the meaning of the woods, from Spenser, with his allegories, to the ballad-singer, who saw them only as a preserve for deer. Shakspeare touches upon them with both that joyful gladness, peculiar to him, and the deep melancholiness, which they also inspire. Shelley and Keats, though in very different ways, both revel in the woods. To Wordsworth they are “a map of the whole world.” Of course, under the names of woods, and any lessons from them, I speak only of such lowland woods as are known chiefly in England; not dense forests shutting out light and air, without flowers or song of birds, whose effect on national poetry and character is quite the reverse to that of the groves and woodlands of our own England. See what Mr. Ruskin has so well said on the subject. Modern Painters, vol. v., part vi., ch. ix., § 15, pp. 89, 90; and, also in the same volume, part vii., chap. iv., § 2, 3, pp. 137-39; and compare vol. iii., part iv., ch. xiv., § 33, pp. 217-19.
[3]In the lower part of the Forest, near the Channel, the effect is quite painful, all the trees being strained away from the sea like Tennyson’s thorn. It is the Usnea barbata which covers them, especially the oaks, with its hoary fringe, and gives such a character to the whole Forest.
[4]The reader must bear in mind that the word “forest” is here used, as it is always throughout the district, in its primitive sense of a wild, open space. And the moors and plains are still so called, though there may not be a single tree growing upon them. (See chap. iii., [p. 35], foot-note.)
[5]The woods, in Domesday, are, as we shall see, generally valued by the number of swine they maintain.