Marguerite, second wife of Edward I., was so keen a huntress that she was eagerly following the chase, when symptoms occurred which forced her to seek in haste the first roof she could reach. It was in a house at Brotherton, a village in Yorkshire, traditionally pointed out for centuries, that her firstborn son, Thomas, afterwards Duke of Norfolk and Grand Marshal of England, first saw the light.
Edward III., at the time he was engaged at war with France, and resident in that country, had with him in his army sixty couples of stag-hounds, and
EDWARD III.
as many hare-hounds, rarely allowing a day to pass without gratifying his favourite taste for hunting.
Tradition, too, long identified “the Queen’s oak” at Grafton as where Elizabeth Woodville waylaid Edward IV. in the forest of Whittlebury, with a fatherless boy in either hand. She threw herself at his feet, and pleaded for the restoration of Bradgate, the inheritance of her children. Her downcast looks and mournful beauty not only gained her suit, but reached the heart of Edward, who on making certain proposals received the memorable answer, “I know I am not good enough to be your queen, but I am too good to become your mistress.”
But what shall be said of Henry VIII., who on that eventful morning—the 19th of May 1536—attired for the chase, with his huntsmen and hounds around him, stood under the spreading oak in Richmond Park, breathlessly awaiting the signal-gun from the Tower which was to announce the execution of his once “entirely beloved Anne Boleyn.” At last, when the sullen sound of the death-gun was heard, he joyously cried, “Ha, ha! the deed is done, uncouple the hounds and away!”
How different were Henry’s feelings on this day to what they had been in 1532, when Cardinal du Bellai, ambassador from Francis I., gave this pleasant picture of another hunting scene in which the ill-fated Anne Boleyn took part: “I am alone every day with the King when we are hunting; he chats familiarly with me, and sometimes Madame Anne joins our party. Each of them is equipped with bow and arrows, which is, as you know, their mode of following the chase. Sometimes he places us in a station to see him shoot the deer; and whenever he arrives near any house belonging to his courtiers, he alights to tell them of the feats he has accomplished. Madame Anne has presented me a complete set of hunting-gear, consisting of a cap, a bow and arrows, and a greyhound. I do not tell you this as a boast of the lady’s favour, but to show how much King Henry prizes me as the representative of our monarch, for whatever that lady does is directed by him.”