When Bevis is thus made acquainted with the events which had followed his banishment from England, he resigns the crown of Armenie to his son; and, with his wife Josiana, returns to his own country, where he is crowned with great ceremony and splendid festivities. Five years after his accession to the throne of England, Josiana dies; overcome with chagrin for the loss of his queen, and tired with the pomp of the world, Bevis leaves his own court, and retires secretly to a hermitage, where he remains seven years before the place of his retreat is known. At the end of that period, an angel discovers it to the King of France, at the moment when Bevis is dying. Such is the outline of the legend of Bevis of Hampton, than which the writer of the romance assures us a better was never sung,-- “Plaist-vous oïr, bonne gent honnorée, Bonne chanson de bien enluminée? Meilleur de li ne puet estre chantée Par jongleour, dite, ne devisée, Comme ceste est qui çi vous est contée.” At a short distance from the town of Southampton is a large tumulus, or sepulchral mound, which is known by the name of <g>Bevis’s Mount</g>. Some antiquaries, probably with little reason, have supposed it to be the remains of an ancient Danish fort. There is another <g>Bevis’s Mound</g> in the park of Arundel Castle,[236] which is said to be the hero’s grave. His sword, six feet long, is still preserved at Arundel. Bevis’s Mount, near Southampton, is now enclosed in the gardens of a gentleman’s seat. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Southampton and its neighbourhood was a common landing-place for pirates and French marauders, who infested the southern coast of England. In 1337 a considerable part of the town was burnt by the French. We have no information as to the effect which these hostile incursions had upon the monks of Netley. In recent times, Netley Heath has been more than once the rendezvous of troops destined for the invasion of France. Independent of its historical recollections, the <g>neighbourhood</g> of Netley Abbey is interesting to the visitor for the beauty of its scenery. The walk from Southampton is extremely agreeable, lying chiefly along the beach. [Illustration] Itchen Ferry, which we must first pass, is now crossed by means of a moving bridge, worked by a steam-engine. A pleasant winding lane leads to the shore of the Southampton Water. The path then lies along the edge of the water, skirted on the left by wooded eminences. After proceeding a short distance, we arrive at <g>Weston Beach</g>, whence, by a little lane to the left, we reach the beautiful hamlet of Weston, thickly embedded in trees. A modern poetess, Miss Mitford, has celebrated the charms of this rural spot:-- “Hills which the purple heath-bell shield, Forest and village, lawn and field, Ocean and earth, with all they yield Of glorious or of fair.”