Windsor Castle

by William Harrison Ainsworth

  Produced by Grant Macandrew

  WINDSOR CASTLE

  By William H. Ainsworth

  "About, about! Search Windsor Castle, elves, within and out."

  SHAKESPEARE, Merry Wives of Windsor

  "There is an old tale goes, that Herne the hunter, Sometime a keeper here in Windsor forest, Doth all the winter time, at still midnight, Walk round about an oak, with great ragg'd horns; And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle, And makes milch-kine yield blood, and shakes a chain In a most hideous and dreadful manner: You have heard of such a spirit; and well you know, The superstitious idle-headed eld Receiv'd, and did deliver to our age, This tale of Herne the hunter for a truth."--ibid

  WINDSOR CASTLE

  BOOK I. ANNE BOLEYN

  I.

  Of the Earl of Surrey's solitary Ramble in the Home Park--Of the Vision beheld by him in the Haunted Dell--And of his Meeting with Morgan Fenwolf, the Keeper, beneath Herne's Oak.

  In the twentieth year of the reign of the right high and puissant KingHenry the Eighth, namely, in 1529, on the 21st of April, and on oneof the loveliest evenings that ever fell on the loveliest district inEngland, a fair youth, having somewhat the appearance of a page, wasleaning over the terrace wall on the north side of Windsor Castle, andgazing at the magnificent scene before him. On his right stretched thebroad green expanse forming the Home Park, studded with noble trees,chiefly consisting of ancient oaks, of which England had already learntto be proud, thorns as old or older than the oaks, wide-spreadingbeeches, tall elms, and hollies. The disposition of these trees waspicturesque and beautiful in the extreme. Here, at the end of a sweepingvista, and in the midst of an open space covered with the greenestsward, stood a mighty broad-armed oak, beneath whose ample boughs,though as yet almost destitute of foliage, while the sod beneath themcould scarcely boast a head of fern, couched a herd of deer. There laya thicket of thorns skirting a sand-bank, burrowed by rabbits, on thishand grew a dense and Druid-like grove, into whose intricacies theslanting sunbeams pierced; on that extended a long glade, formed by anatural avenue of oaks, across which, at intervals, deer were passing.Nor were human figures wanting to give life and interest to the scene.Adown the glade came two keepers of the forest, having each a couple ofbuckhounds with them in leash, whose baying sounded cheerily amid thewoods. Nearer the castle, and bending their way towards it, marched aparty of falconers with their well-trained birds, whose skill they hadbeen approving upon their fists, their jesses ringing as they movedalong, while nearer still, and almost at the foot of the terrace wall,was a minstrel playing on a rebec, to which a keeper, in a dress ofLincoln green, with a bow over his shoulder, a quiver of arrows at hisback, and a comely damsel under his arm, was listening.

  On the left, a view altogether different in character, though scarcelyless beautiful, was offered to the gaze. It was formed by the town ofWindsor, then not a third of its present size, but incomparablymore picturesque in appearance, consisting almost entirely of a longstraggling row of houses, chequered black and white, with tall gables,and projecting storeys skirting the west and south sides of the castle,by the silver windings of the river, traceable for miles, and reflectingthe glowing hues of the sky, by the venerable College of Eton,embowered in a grove of trees, and by a vast tract of well-wooded andwell-cultivated country beyond it, interspersed with villages, churches,old halls, monasteries, and abbeys.

  Taking out his tablets, the youth, after some reflection, traced a fewlines upon them, and then, quitting the parapet, proceeded slowly, andwith a musing air, towards the north west angle of the terrace. Hecould not be more than fifteen, perhaps not so much, but he was tall andwell-grown, with slight though remarkably well-proportioned limbs;and it might have been safely predicted that, when arrived at years ofmaturity, he would possess great personal vigour. His countenance wasfull of thought and intelligence, and he had a broad lofty brow,shaded by a profusion of light brown ringlets, a long, straight, andfinely-formed nose, a full, sensitive, and well-chiselled mouth, anda pointed chin. His eyes were large, dark, and somewhat melancholy inexpression, and his complexion possessed that rich clear brown tintconstantly met with in Italy or Spain, though but seldom seen ina native of our own colder clime. His dress was rich, but sombre,consisting of a doublet of black satin, worked with threads of Venetiangold; hose of the same material, and similarly embroidered; a shirtcuriously wrought with black silk, and fastened at the collar with blackenamelled clasps; a cloak of black velvet, passmented with gold, andlined with crimson satin; a flat black velvet cap, set with pearls andgoldsmith's work, and adorned with a short white plume; and black velvetbuskins. His arms were rapier and dagger, both having gilt and gravenhandles, and sheaths of black velvet.

  As he moved along, the sound of voices chanting vespers arose from SaintGeorge's Chapel; and while he paused to listen to the solemn strains,a door, in that part of the castle used as the king's privy lodgings,opened, and a person advanced towards him. The new-comer had broad,brown, martial-looking features, darkened still more by a thickcoal-black beard, clipped short in the fashion of the time, and a pairof enormous moustachios. He was accoutred in a habergeon, which gleamedfrom beneath the folds of a russet-coloured mantle, and wore a steel capin lieu of a bonnet on his head, while a long sword dangled from beneathhis cloak. When within a few paces of the youth, whose back was towardshim, and who did not hear his approach, he announced himself by a loudcough, that proved the excellence of his lungs, and made the old wallsring again, startling the jackdaws roosting in the battlements.

  "What! composing a vesper hymn, my lord of Surrey?" he cried with alaugh, as the other hastily thrust the tablets, which he had hithertoheld in his hand, into his bosom. "You will rival Master Skelton, thepoet laureate, and your friend Sir Thomas Wyat, too, ere long. Butwill it please your lord-ship to quit for a moment the society of thecelestial Nine, and descend to earth, while I inform you that, actingas your representative, I have given all needful directions for hismajesty's reception to-morrow?"

  "You have not failed, I trust, to give orders to the groom of thechambers for the lodging of my fair cousin, Mistress Anne Boleyn,Captain Bouchier?" inquired the Earl of Surrey, with a significantsmile.

  "Assuredly not, my lord!" replied the other, smiling in his turn. "Shewill be lodged as royally as if she were Queen of England. Indeed, thequeen's own apartments are assigned her."

  "It is well," rejoined Surrey. "And you have also provided for thereception of the Pope's legate, Cardinal Campeggio?"

  Bouchier bowed.

  "And for Cardinal Wolsey?" pursued the other.

  The captain bowed again.

  "To save your lordship the necessity of asking any further questions,"he said, "I may state briefly that I have done all as if you had done ityourself."

  "Be a little more particular, captain, I pray you," said Surrey.

  "Willingly, my lord," replied Bouchier. "In your lord ship's name, then,as vice-chamberlain, in which character I presented myself, I summonedtogether the dean and canons of the College of St. George, the usher ofthe black rod, the governor of the alms-knights, and the whole of theofficers of the household, and acquainted them, in a set speech-which, Iflatter myself, was quite equal to any that your lordship, with all yourpoetical talents, could have delivered--that the king's highness, beingat Hampton Court with the two cardinals, Wolsey and Campeggio, debatingthe matter of divorce from his queen, Catherine of Arragon, proposes tohold the grand feast of the most noble order of the Garter at this hiscastle of Windsor, on Saint George's Day--that is to say, the day afterto-morrow--and that it is therefore his majesty's sovereign pleasurethat the Chapel of St. George, in the said castle, be set forth andadorned wit
h its richest furniture; that the high altar be hung witharras representing the patron saint of the order on horseback, andgarnished with the costliest images and ornaments in gold and silver;that the pulpit be covered with crimson damask, inwrought withflowers-de-luces of gold, portcullises, and roses; that the royal stallbe canopied with a rich cloth of state, with a haut-pas beneath it ofa foot high; that the stalls of the knights companions be decked withcloth of tissue, with their scutcheons set at the back; and that all beready at the hour of tierce-hora tertia vespertina, as appointed by hismajesty's own statute--at which time the eve of the feast shall be heldto commence."

  "Take breath, captain," laughed the earl.

  "I have no need," replied Bouchier. "Furthermore, I delivered yourlordship's warrant from the lord chamberlain to the usher of the blackrod, to make ready and furnish Saint George's Hall, both for the supperto-morrow and the grand feast on the following day; and I enjoined thedean and canons of the college, the alms-knights, and all the otherofficers of the order, to be in readiness for the occasion. And now,having fulfilled my devoir, or rather your lordship's, I am content toresign my post as vice-chamberlain, to resume my ordinary one, that ofyour simple gentleman, and to attend you back to Hampton Court wheneverit shall please you to set forth."

  "And that will not be for an hour, at the least," replied the earl; "forI intend to take a solitary ramble in the Home Park."

  "What I to seek inspiration for a song--or to meditate upon the charmsof the fair Geraldine, eh, my lord?" rejoined Bouchier. "But I will notquestion you too shrewdly. Only let me caution you against going nearHerne's Oak. It is said that the demon hunter walks at nightfall, andscares, if he does not injure, all those who cross his path. At curfewtoll I must quit the castle, and will then, with your attendants proceedto the Garter, in Thames Street, where I will await your arrival. If wereach Hampton Court by midnight, it will be time enough, and as the moonwill rise in an hour, we shall have a pleasant ride."

  "Commend me to Bryan Bowntance, the worthy host of the Garter," said theearl; "and bid him provide you with a bottle of his best sack in whichto drink my health."

  "Fear me not," replied the other. "And I pray your lordship not toneglect my caution respecting Herne the Hunter. In sober sooth, I haveheard strange stories of his appearance of late, and should not care togo near the tree after dark."

  The earl laughed somewhat sceptically, and the captain reiterating hiscaution, they separated--Bouchier returning the way he came, and Surreyproceeding towards a small drawbridge crossing the ditch on the easternside of the castle, and forming a means of communication with the LittlePark. He was challenged by a sentinel at the drawbridge, but on givingthe password he was allowed to cross it, and to pass through a gate onthe farther side opening upon the park.

  Brushing the soft and dewy turf with a footstep almost as light andbounding as that of a fawn, he speeded on for more than a quarter of amile, when he reached a noble beech-tree standing at the end of a clumpof timber. A number of rabbits were feeding beneath it, but at hisapproach they instantly plunged into their burrows.

  Here he halted to look at the castle. The sun had sunk behind it,dilating its massive keep to almost its present height and tinging thesummits of the whole line of ramparts and towers, since rebuilt andknown as the Brunswick Tower, the Chester Tower, the Clarence Tower, andthe Victoria Tower, with rosy lustre.

  Flinging himself at the foot of the beech-tree, the youthful earlindulged his poetical reveries for a short time, and then, rising,retraced his steps, and in a few minutes the whole of the south side ofthe castle lay before him. The view comprehended the two fortificationsrecently removed to make way for the York and Lancaster Towers, betweenwhich stood a gate approached by a drawbridge; the Earl Marshal's Tower,now styled from the monarch in whose reign it was erected, Edward theThird's Tower; the black rod's lodgings; the Lieutenant's--now Henry theThird's Tower; the line of embattled walls, constituting the lodgings ofthe alms-knights; the tower tenanted by the governor of that body, andstill allotted to the same officer; Henry the Eight's Gateway, and theChancellor of the Garter's Tower--the latter terminating the lineof building. A few rosy beams tipped the pinnacles of Saint George'sChapel, seen behind the towers above-mentioned, with fire; but, withthis exception, the whole of the mighty fabric looked cold and grey.

  At this juncture the upper gate was opened, and Captain Bouchier and hisattendants issued from it, and passed over the drawbridge. The curfewbell then tolled, the drawbridge was raised, the horsemen disappeared,and no sound reached the listener's ear except the measured tread of thesentinels on the ramparts, audible in the profound stillness.

  The youthful earl made no attempt to join his followers, but havinggazed on the ancient pile before him till its battlements and towersgrew dim in the twilight, he struck into a footpath leading across thepark towards Datchet, and pursued it until it brought him near a dellfilled with thorns, hollies, and underwood, and overhung by mighty oaks,into which he unhesitatingly plunged, and soon gained the deepest partof it. Here, owing to the thickness of the hollies and the projectingarms of other large overhanging timber, added to the uncertain lightabove, the gloom was almost impervious, and he could scarcely see ayard before him. Still, he pressed on unhesitatingly, and with a sort ofpleasurable sensation at the difficulties he was encountering. Suddenly,however, he was startled by a blue phosphoric light streaming throughthe bushes on the left, and, looking up, he beheld at the foot of anenormous oak, whose giant roots protruded like twisted snakes from thebank, a wild spectral-looking object, possessing some slight resemblanceto humanity, and habited, so far as it could be determined, in the skinsof deer, strangely disposed about its gaunt and tawny-coloured limbs. Onits head was seen a sort of helmet, formed of the skull of a stag, fromwhich branched a large pair of antlers; from its left arm hung a heavyand rusty-looking chain, in the links of which burnt the phosphoric firebefore mentioned; while on its right wrist was perched a large hornedowl, with feathers erected, and red staring eyes.

  Impressed with the superstitious feelings common to the age, the youngearl, fully believing he was in the presence of a supernatural being,could scarcely, despite his courageous nature, which no ordinary matterwould have shaken, repress a cry. Crossing himself, he repeated, withgreat fervency, a prayer, against evil spirits, and as he uttered it thelight was extinguished, and the spectral figure vanished. The clankingof the chain was heard, succeeded by the hooting of the owl; then came ahorrible burst of laughter, then a fearful wail, and all was silent.

  Up to this moment the young earl had stood still, as if spell-bound; butbeing now convinced that the spirit had fled, he pressed forward, and,ere many seconds, emerged from the brake. The full moon was rising as heissued forth, and illuminating the glades and vistas, and the calmnessand beauty of all around seemed at total variance with the fearfulvision he had just witnessed. Throwing a shuddering glance at thehaunted dell, he was about to hurry towards the castle, when a large,lightning-scathed, and solitary oak, standing a little distance fromhim, attracted his attention.

  This was the very tree connected with the wild legend of Herne theHunter, which Captain Bouchier had warned him not to approach, and henow forcibly recalled the caution. Beneath it he perceived a figure,which he at first took for that of the spectral hunter; but his fearswere relieved by a shout from the person, who at the same momentappeared to catch sight of him.

  Satisfied that, in the present instance, he had to do with a being ofthis world, Surrey ran towards the tree, and on approaching itperceived that the object of his alarm was a young man of very athleticproportions, and evidently, from his garb, a keeper of the forest.

  He was habited in a jerkin of Lincoln green cloth, with the royal badgewoven in silver on the breast, and his head was protected by a flatgreen cloth cap, ornamented with a pheasant's tail. Under his rightarm he carried a crossbow; a long silver-tipped horn was slung inhis baldric; and he was armed with a short hanger, or wood-knife. Hisfeatures were hars
h and prominent; and he had black beetling brows, alarge coarse mouth, and dark eyes, lighted up with a very sinister andmalignant expression.

  He was attended by a large savage-looking staghound, whom he addressedas Bawsey, and whose fierceness had to be restrained as Surreyapproached.

  "Have you seen anything?" he demanded of the earl.

  "I have seen Herne the Hunter himself, or the fiend in his likeness,"replied Surrey.

  And he briefly related the vision he had beheld.

  "Ay, ay, you have seen the demon hunter, no doubt," replied the keeperat the close of the recital. "I neither saw the light, nor heard thelaughter, nor the wailing cry you speak of; but Bawsey crouched at myfeet and whined, and I knew some evil thing was at hand. Heaven shieldus!" he exclaimed, as the hound crouched at his feet, and directed hergaze towards the oak, uttering a low ominous whine, "she is at the sametrick again."

  The earl glanced in the same direction, and half expected to see theknotted trunk of the tree burst open and disclose the figure of thespectral hunter. But nothing was visible--at least, to him, though itwould seem from the shaking limbs, fixed eyes, and ghastly visage of thekeeper, that some appalling object was presented to his gaze.

  "Do you not see him?" cried the latter at length, in thrilling accents;"he is circling the tree, and blasting it. There! he passes us now--doyou not see him?"

  "No," replied Surrey; "but do not let us tarry here longer."

  So saying he laid his hand upon the keeper's arm. The touch seemed torouse him to exertion: He uttered a fearful cry, and set off at a quickpace along the park, followed by Bawsey, with her tail between her legs.The earl kept up with him, and neither halted till they had left thewizard oak at a considerable distance behind them.

  "And so you did not see him?" said the keeper, in a tone of exhaustion,as he wiped the thick drops from his brow.

  "I did not," replied Surrey.

  "That is passing strange," rejoined the other. "I myself have seen himbefore, but never as he appeared to-night."

  "You are a keeper of the forest, I presume, friend?" said Surrey. "Howare you named?"

  "I am called Morgan Fenwolf," replied the keeper; "and you?"

  "I am the Earl of Surrey;' returned the young noble.

  "What!" exclaimed Fenwolf, making a reverence, "the son to his grace ofNorfolk?"

  The earl replied in the affirmative.

  "Why, then, you must be the young nobleman whom I used to see so oftenwith the king's son, the Duke of Richmond, three or four years ago,at the castle?" rejoined Fenwolf "You are altogether grown out of myrecollection."

  "Not unlikely," returned the earl. "I have been at Oxford, and have onlyjust completed my studies. This is the first time I have been at Windsorsince the period you mention."

  "I have heard that the Duke of Richmond was at Oxford likewise,"observed Fenwolf.

  "We were at Cardinal College together," replied Surrey. "But the duke'sterm was completed before mine. He is my senior by three years."

  "I suppose your lordship is returning to the castle?" said Fenwolf.

  "No," replied Surrey. "My attendants are waiting for me at the Garter,and if you will accompany me thither, I will bestow a cup of good aleupon you to recruit you after the fright you have undergone."

  Fenwolf signified his graceful acquiescence, and they walked on insilence, for the earl could not help dwelling upon the vision he hadwitnessed, and his companion appeared equally abstracted. In this sortthey descended the hill near Henry the Eighth's Gate, and entered ThamesStreet.