The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-10-04

From the St. James Gazette.
 The workmen now engaged upon im- movements at Windsor Castle need to tread warily, for the scene of their la bors Is replete with historic associations. Nor are these confined to the castle buildings Of no place may it be truly said that while there are sermons In the stones there are tongues in trees to speak a chapter from history. In the garden adjoining St. Georges chapel Is a tree with one of the strangest or stories Bighted and stunted by lighting, 1t stands to recall one of the tragedies Of history It Is a willow, and grew from a cutting taken from the parent tree witch grew above the grave of Ma poleon at St. Helena For long 1t four ished in it's new position. But on the day of the battle of Sedan, in which the power of Napoleon III was crushed flash of lightning carried away It's chief branch Still, In it's mutilated state 1t continued to grow lustily enough until years later, 1t was smitten by another lightning stroke. Careful comparison showed that the second disaster sym chronized exactly with the death of the Prince Imperial at he hands of the Zulus in Africa.
 Windsor Castle, in some form or an- other. has existed as a royal domain from Norman times. Hardly a reign has pass ed without additions or alterations. Ed ward III built the famous round tower or keep for a fraternity of knights who should meet and carry on the traditions of King Arthurs Round Table knights la4 pfa af fhQ fyyo counties may be viewed, and even in these smoky days the king may see the dome and lantern of St. Paufs by talk ing his stand on the summit of the tower. Edward III found the labor prob lem as acute in his day as do some less distinguished employers of modern times and his works proceeded slowly. But the victor of Poictiers took a short cut to what he wanted. Writs were issued to the sherffs, mayors, and bailiffs of the counties. authorizing them to Impress laborers for the work with Imprisonment as the alternative. William of Wykeham was the architect, and his duties could have been little else than a labor of love, for his wage was but a shilling a day. Plague carried off the bulk of the three hundred and sixty men engaged on the work in 1360 so more writs were issued Edward did not live to see his undertaking completed but Richard II continued 1t, and had Godfrey Chaucer as his clerk of works. and Zealous master of the labor press gang. the fa- ther of our national poetry appears to have made.
 The ordinary visitor does not see the oldest part of Windsor. the remains of the fortress In which John rested while the negotiations for Magma Charta were in progress. There is a small domain un- derground. In the older portions of the great wards arched passages thread their way below the basement, through the chalk. and penetrate far beneath the site of the castle ditch at the base of the walls. Their existence may have had something to do with the origin of the eerie stories which attach to the older part of the residence. For, of course Windsor has it's ghosts. Only couple of years ago an officer seated in the library saw what is described "the ghost of Queen Elizabeth" Shakespeare adopted his legend of Herne the Hunter from Windsor forest for his Merry Wives of