Contrast between the bleached and skeleton-looking Tree, and the lawns and thickets by which it is surrounded—History of Howel Sele—His Fight with his cousin Owen Glendour—His Death, and the inhuming of him within an hollow Oak—Search made for the Chieftain by his Vassals—Weary watchings of his Widow—Arrival of Madoc, after many years, at the Castle of the murdered Chieftain—Telling of Glendour’s Death, and how he had charged him to make known where the body of Howel Sele was concealed—Working of the Vassals by torch-light, and the discovery of his Bones.—[Page 51.]
Queen Mary’s Tower.
Winfield Castle—Peverel’s Tower—Apartment and Tower of Mary, Queen of Scots—Ruins, when best seen—Heavy Storm during the Night—Aspect of Nature in the Morning—Old Tree within sight of Apartments occupied by Queen Mary—Beautiful Ash growing before her window.—[Page 57.]
Chesnut of Tortworth.
Celebrated as a large Tree in the days of King John—Chesnut-tree preferred among all others by Salvator Rosa—Notice of Penda, of his son, Wolfere, and Eva—Wolfere, Governor of Mercia—Benefactor of the City of Gloucester—Caer Glou, or the Bright City—Persecutions of the Christians by Penda—Piety of Eva, who became, on the death of her husband, Abbess of the Nunnery of St. Peter’s—Baptism of Penda.—[Page 61.]
Oak of Ellerslie. Wallace’s Oak.
Observations on the aged Tree—Place of its Growth—Sports and sorrows of Childhood—Assembling of the Village Children, with young Wallace, under the shade of the Oak of Ellerslie—Claim of Edward to the fealty of Scotland on the Death of the young Queen—Advance of his Armies—Contemporary Events—Wallace, when grown to manhood, takes up arms against the English—Joined by his young Companions—Concealed with many of his Officers, in an hollow of the Oak of Ellerslie, beneath which they had played in Childhood—Escape to the old Oak of Torwood, which becomes his head-quarters—Scenery on the banks of the Carron—Conversation with Bruce—Captivity and Death of Wallace—Veneration in which his Memory is held by the young People of Ellerslie—Memorial Spots associated with his Name.—[Page 69.]
The Nut-Tree of Rosamond’s Grave.
Rebuke of St. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, to the Sisters of Godstow Nunnery—Removal of Rosamond’s Hearse from before the Altar—Her Burial in the Churchyard—Belief of the Nuns respecting her private Marriage with the King—Sketch of her Life—Interview with the Queen, and retirement from her bower at Woodstock to Godstow Nunnery—Her Death—Visit to her Tomb.
Castle near old Sarum, the Residence of the Earl of Salisbury surrounded with Downs—Place of Tournament—Funeral of the Earl, and the mysterious Disappearance of his Daughter, Ela—Riding forth of Knights in search—Conjecture respecting her Disappearance—Ela’s three Uncles—Monastry of Bradenstoke—Adventures of an English Knight, William Talbot, in quest of the young Heiress—His Wanderings in Normandy for the space of two years—Discovery of the Lady Ela, when gathering Shells on the Sea-coast—Poetry—Her Return to England, and Marriage with William Longespé—Attachment of William Longespé to his Brother, King John, the Companion of his Wanderings, a Friend who never Deserted him—Wretched Condition of the Country—Founding by William Longespé of the beautiful Cathedral of Salisbury—Going abroad of the Earl, with his Royal Nephew, Richard—Disasters by Land and Sea—Narrow Escape from an Abbey in the Isle of Rhé—Proposals of Marriage to the Lady Ela by Reimund de Burgh, during the absence of her Husband—Her scornful Reply—Complaint to King Henry by the Earl on his Return—Apology—Illness and Death of the Earl—His Funeral—Lady Ela permitted to remain in free Widowhood—Her Seal and Exercise of the Office of Sheriff of Wiltshire—Founding of Lacock Nunnery, and the Priory of Hinton—Ela’s Retirement from the stately Castle, in which her young Days had passed to the Society of the Nuns of Lacock—Visit to the plain Marble Stone that covers the Remains of Lady Ela—Closing Observations.—[Page 91.]