Literary cadet, and Saturday evening bulletin. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1826-1827, 1826-07-15
WOODSTOCK.


The London Lit. Gazette contains the follow
ing article, illustrative of some of the passages in
Woodstock, performance by Walter Scott, which,
in our opinion, far inferior to most OF the novels
from his pen, many of which have been disin
guhed from all others, by their felcitous and ap-
pose delineations.
Clarendon's details of the evasion Of Charles,
though derived from his mouth after the resto-
ration, not ample particular as they
in other statements perfectly entitled to credit.
From this author, however, and from the curious
volume, "Prnted for Henry Bell, 1900, THE Royal
Martyr, or King Charles the First, no Man Of
Blood" as we'll as from BoScObel and other publi-
cations, may not be useless to observe, that his
Majesty never went Woodstock, and indeed,
after his Suffering and solitudes' with the PEN
drels and about Bristol, spent only few days near
Salisbury and on the coast OF Sussex, previous to
his embarkation. This mention because popu-
lar plays and novels tend much to conlound his
toricai truths, or rather those matters which the
world consents to receive such and therefore TO
prevent any of our readers from being carried away
with the fancy that Woodstock succeeded the
Royal Oak kingly hiding place,we beg TO men-
ton that his sacied Majesty approached that
part of the country. But ifthe author had no au-
thority for carrying the King to Woodstock, he has
II very minute authority for the demon gambols
which he dwclls upon us having been practised
there the commissioners appointed by para-
n,ent to dispark and sequesterate that park and
mansion. Plot, i'll his sossping and amusing His
tory Of Orfontsiire, in the chapter OF "Men aud
Women," falls into ghost stories, AMI thus say
eth
"Amongst such unaccountable things as these, we
may reckon the strange passage that happened at
Woodstock in ammo l649, in the Manor-house there,
when the commissioners for sury eying the Manor
house park, deer, woods and other the demesnes
belonging to that manor, sat and lodged there;
whereof having severDl relations put into my
hands, and one of them written by learned and
faithful person then living upon the place, which
being confirmed 10 me by several eyewitness Of
many of the particulars, and all of them by of
the commissioners themselves, who inseniously
contest to me, that he could not deny but what
written by that person aforementioned was all
true; was prevailed upon at last to make this
lution public (though, lmust confess have no es-
TEEN for such kind OF stores many ofthen ques.
ton, being performed by combnaton,) which |
have taken care to do as fully, yet as briefly may
be.
'sOctober the 18th, 1649, the commissioners,
with their servants, being come to the Manor
House, they took up their lodgings in the kng's
own rooms, the bed-chamber and Withdrawing
room; the former whereof they made their kitchen;
the council hall, their brew house, the chamber of
presence, their place of sitting to despatch bust
ness; and wood-house ofthc dining room, where
they laid the wood of that ancient standard 10 the
Hgh-Pa,k, known Of all by the name of the Kings
Oak ,whch( THAT nothing might remain that had the
name OF king affixed TO iO they diggcd up by the
roots.
sOctober the 18th and 18th, they had little dis
| turbance; but ON the 10th, there came, as they
| thought somewhat iuto the bed-chambcr, where
two of the commissioners and their servants lay,
in the shape of dog, which.going under their beds
did, as it were, gnaw the bed cords but on the
| morrow finding them whole, and quarter of bee
which lay on the ground untouched, they began to
| entertain other thoughts.
.October 18th, something to their thinking, re-
moved all the wood Of the Kings Oak out Of the
dining room into the presence chamber, and hurled
| the chairs and stools up and down the room from
whence il came into the two chambers where the
| commissioners and their servants lay, and hosted
Up their beds feet so much higher than their heads
| that they thought they should have been turned
over and over, and then let them down with sucl
force, that their bodies rebounded from the bed u
good distance, and then shook the bedseads so vio
ently, that themselves contest their bodies were
| sore with il.
"October 10, something came into the bed-cham-
ber and walkt up and down, and fetching the warm
| ing pan out of the Withdrawing Dom, made SC
much noise that they thought five bells could moi
have made more
"October 19,trenchers were thrown up and down
| the dining room, and at them that lodged there
whereof one of them, being shaken by the shoulder
and awakened. put forth his head to see what was
the matter but had tenchers thrownat 1t,