Orion and his two dogs canis major and minor. Various theories have been proposed to account for the origin of the character, none of which has been proved conclusive, and the source for many of the tales told of Herne remains unknown. It was also during the 20th century that incidents of personal encounters with the ghost, or of people hearing his hounds and horn in Windsor Forest, were first reported. In the 20th century, further details were added to Herne's legend, including the idea that his ghost appears shortly before national disasters and the deaths of kings. Jacob Grimm was the first to suggest, very influentially, that Herne had once been thought of as the leader of the Wild Hunt, based on his title. Ainsworth's version of the tale added a number of new details, including having Herne being gored by a stag, only to have the Devil save him on the condition that he wear the stag's antlers. William Harrison Ainsworth's 1843 novel Windsor Castle featured Herne and popularised his legend. Later additions įurther details have entered the folklore from even later sources and reported sightings, such as those in the 1920s. One of the new oaks planted in 1906 is currently given the title of Herne's Oak. The Queen's tree was removed in 1906 when the avenue was replanted. This tree was blown down on 31 August 1863, and Queen Victoria had another tree planted on the same site. In 1838, Edward Jesse claimed that a different tree in the avenue was the real Herne's Oak, and this gained in popularity especially with Queen Victoria. Some Ordnance Survey maps show Herne's Oak a little to the north of Frogmore House in the Home Park (adjoining Windsor Great Park). Herne became widely popularised after his appearance in Shakespeare's play, and the supposed location of Herne's Oak was, for many years, a matter of local speculation and controversy. Herne is described bewitching ("taking") cattle, bloodying their milk, and causing trees to wither. It was also unusual for ghosts of this period to produce such damaging effects. It is possible that Shakespeare invented this detail to better fit the forest setting, or to lead into the humorous image of a character wearing antlers, which would have resembled cuckold's horns to an Elizabethan audience. Ghostly cattle or dogs were common, but there are few contemporary examples of a ghostly stag. However, other elements of the tale are unusual for other ghost stories of Shakespeare's era. Shakespeare's reference to rattling chains also fits a very common ghostly motif. It has been noted that the reference to Herne's death as a suicide fits a traditional belief that this sort of death is more likely to produce a haunting. There is little written evidence for Herne the Hunter before the 1840s, and the details of his original folk tale have been filtered through the various versions of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. The story of this Herne, who was keeper in the forest in the time of Elizabeth, runs thus: – That having committed some great offence, for which he feared to lose his situation and fall into disgrace, he was induced to hang himself on this tree. Nearly two hundred years later, in 1792, Samuel Ireland slightly expanded on Shakespeare as follows: Because it is a common surname, it is not possible to further identify Shakespeare's Herne, and no earlier references to his legend exist. William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 4, scene 4Īn early, pirated version of the play from 1602 includes a different version of this text, which states that the ghost (spelled "Horne" in this version) was invented to scare children into obedience, and that mothers tell their children the tale of a ghost who walks the forest in the form of a great stag.
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