Their trunks, too, were hollow, and full of crows and jackdaws, who
made them their nestling places. He occasionally rode over to the
forest in the long summer evenings, and pleased himself with loitering
in the twilight about the green alleys and under the venerable trees.
The description given by the chaplain made me anxious to visit this
remnant of old Sherwood, and he kindly offered to be my guide and
companion. We accordingly sallied forth one morning on horseback on
this sylvan expedition. Our ride took us through a part of the country
where King John had once held a hunting seat; the ruins of which are
still to be seen. At that time the whole neighbor hood was an open
royal forest, or Frank chase, as it was termed; for King John was an
enemy to parks and warrens, and other inclosures, by which game was
fenced in for the private benefit and recreation of the nobles and the
clergy.
Here, on the brow of a gentle hill, commanding an extensive prospect of
what had once been forest, stood another of those monumental trees,
which, to my mind, gave a peculiar interest to this neighborhood. It
was the Parliament Oak, so called in memory of an assemblage of the
kind held by King John beneath its shade.
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