“Lo the Oke! that hath so long a norishing
Fro the time that it ginneth first to spring,
And hath so long a life, as we may see,
Yet, at the last, wasted is the tree.”
The Greendale Oak, the “Methuselah of trees,” still stands, and is preserved with religious care. Long may this “brave old oak” remain one of the landmarks of past ages at lordly Welbeck!
Long, too, may the “Parliament Oak,” where Edward I. summoned his Parliament to meet him; the “Shamble Oak,” where Robin Hood and his “merry, merry men, all under the greenwood tree,” hung their deer, but which has lately been nearly destroyed by fire; the “Major Oak,” the “Simon Forester Oak,” and their brethren, be spared to us, and remain as landmarks of history and of tradition!
The neighbourhood of Welbeck is rich in historical associations, in objects of interest, and in places of note. Sherwood Forest, with its hero-lore of Robin Hood; Clipstone, with its grand old Park; Clumber, with its noble mansion; Worksop, with its Manor House, its Abbey Church, its grand old gateway, and its other attractive features; Thoresby, with its palatial Hall; Bolsover, with its grand old Castle; and Steetley, with its Saxon Church: these are but a few, a very few, of the places that lie around and invite a visit; but these we must pass over, and, for a time, bid adieu to Welbeck and its charms.
INDEX.
Abbey of Welbeck, [1326].
Adam, Robert, [1101].
Agincourt, Battle of, [1188].