Condition of the ruined Palace--Hiding-place for solitary birds--The owl, jackdaw, and crow--Once a place of great note--Its style of building--How guarded--By whom inhabited--Withdrawing of King John from Clipstone Palace to London--Its lonely appearance when thus deserted--Rumours respecting an Interdict--Miserable state of the Country--No Burials allowed in Churches, nor Marriages within the walls--Bells and Images taken down and laid upon the ground--A Wedding Party--Appearance of Clipstone Palace when King Edward I. succeeds to the Throne--Improved condition of the Country--Notice of the lesser Barons and Burgesses--Style of Building much improved--Wise Policy of Edward--Notice of a fine young Oak growing in Clipstone Park--Parties made beneath its shade in the days of John--Again in those of Edward--Grave Company sitting there--Why convened.--_Page 135._ Ruined Villages in the New Forest. Desolating of the New Forest--Distress of the Inhabitants--War declared with France--Departure of the King for Normandy--Wretched condition of Maine--Burning of Nantes--Illness of William--Bequests to his two Sons--Their unnatural Conduct--His Death--Poetry--Neglect of his Remains--Interruption to his Funeral--Hunting Party, convened by William Rufus, in Malwood-Keep--Arrival of a Monk with ill tidings from Gloucester--Accidental Death of the King--His remains found by a Charcoal-burner, and carried to Winchester--Interment.--_Page 151._ Old Trees in Hyde Park. Ancient condition of the Country--First emerging of one of the old Trees from its Acorn cradle--Conjectures as to the People who inhabited Britain at the time--Stages of vegetation in all Trees alike--Contrast between the small beginning, and the grandeur of a full-grown Tree--Notice of the Forest that covered the greatest part of Middlesex--Settlement of Llyn-Din, or the Town on the Lake, called Londinium by the Romans--Draining of the Marshes, and cutting down of the Forest, embanking of the River and surrounding the City with a Wall--Gradual progress of Civilization--Increase of the City--Falling to decay of the old Roman Road that passed through a portion of Hyde-Park--Contrast between the Past and Present.--_Page 173._ Hatfield Oak. Poetry.--_Page 187._ Beech of the Frith Common. No sad associations with the young Beech of the Frith Common--Its dignity and proportions--Majesty and luxuriance of Forest-trees--Aggregate effect produced by Woodland Scenery--The Tree which stands alone can best be understood--Poetry.--_Page 195._ Oak of Salcey. The Roots of aged Trees--Sketch of the Oak of Salcey, at different hours of the day and night--Solemn Aspect of the old Oak when seen dimly in the clear nights of the summer solstice--Loneliness of its place of growth--Songs of early Birds--Silent at Noon-day--Sounds heard at Eventide--Conjectures respecting the old Tree.--_Page 207._ Old Trees in Welbeck Park.