A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE which springs from the hilly ground of Sulgrave), and on by Weston Bushes, Wappenham, Slapton and Braddcn. Near the old Roman town of Towcester, where there are large alluvial meadows, another feeder, which drains some portion of Whittlebury Forest, adds its store of water ; shortly afterwards near Alderton another brook comes in which has drained the country about Tifficld and Hulcote, while from the south still another brings in the water collected from an area in many places covered with blue clay drift about Paulers Pury. There are other small brooks which drain the parishes of Roade, Hartwell and Ashton, which enter the Tove before it reaches Bozenham Mill, from which place it serves to divide the county from that of Buckingham as far as to its junction with the Ouse. The Ouse itself rises from the high ground near Greatworth and Farthingho at Ouse-well Close,' and passes by Steane Park to Brackley, where a small stream comes in which has drained the parish of Evenley. From Radston and Whistlcy Wood another stream forms the county boundary of Buckingham, from near Biddlesden by Whitfield to Brackley. The Ouse then leaves our county for some time, but again touches it near Wicken, and from that place separates it from Bucks all the way to Old Stratford and Cosgrove, when it finally leaves our district on its easterly journey to the German Ocean. This Ouse district has its counterpart, although on a smaller scale, in the District 2 of my Flora of Oxfordshire and in the District I of my unpublished Flora of Bucking- hamshire. On the Ordnance Map of the Geological Survey the greater portion of the district is coloured to show that the Great Oolite is the prevailing surface rock, but in fact a very con- siderable part is covered with a deposit of drift, which is sufficiently thick to mask the calcareous character of the Oolite. In some places the drift consists of gravel, in others of clay, so that in many places calcareous-loving plants (gypsophiles or calcipetes) are absent, and plants which like an impermeable soil predominate (pelophilcs). Within the area drained by the Ouse and Tove we have some interesting ground. There is much more woodland than in either of the two preceding districts, and although the once great forest of Whittlebury, or Whittlewood, which once extended from Old Stratford to Norton,^ has been much enclosed and despoiled, there are still some considerable tracts of sylvan scenery, which however now contain but few trees of conspicuous size. Formerly it possessed two celebrated oaks, one which gave the name to the seat of the Duke of Grafton at Wakefield,^ ' Wake's huge oak,' as the poet Bloomfield called it, which dated back to Saxon times and was a magnificent tree within my recollection, but it was unfortunately burned by a number of mischieous schoolboys about thirty years ago ; * the second fortunately survives, and although hollow is still flourishing. It is known as the Queen's Oak,* from the tradition that Elizabeth Woodville met Edward the Fourth under its branches to beg of him the restitution of her children's estates, which their father, Sir John Grey, had forfeited by fighting on the Lancas- trian side. This interview resulted in the king himself becoming a suitor for the hand of the lady, and they were married at Grafton Regis on May 1st, 1464. The tree stands at the back of Potter's Pury Lodge between Wakefield and Grafton Regis. Whittlebury Forest is remarkable from the rarity or absence of the common bracken {Pteris aquilina), but this is partly accounted for by the character of the soil, which varies from stiff glacial clay to nearly bare limestone, with arenaceous soil practically absent. Therefore lime-loving plants (calcipetes) are frequent, such as the woolly-headed thistle {Cnicus eriophorus), the rock-rose [Helianthemum Chamacistiis), the clustered bell-flower {Campanula glomerata), the traveller's joy [Clematis Fitalba), the gromwell {Lithospermum officinale), the spindle tree [Euony- mus europaus), the columbine [Aquilegia vulgaris), the hairy violet [Fiola hirta), the dove's-foot cranesbill [Geranium Columhinum), the spurge laurel [Daphne Laureola), and the upright brome grass [Bromus erectus). Curiously the marjoram [Origanum vulgare) and the lady's fingers [Anthyllis Fulneraria) are or appear to be absent, and the fellwort [Gentiana Amarella) scarce. Clay-loving species (pelophiles) are represented by the pendulous sedge [Carex pendula), the ram-
- ' From Brackley breaking forth, through soiles most heavenly sweet.
By Buckingham makes on, and crossing Watling Street Shee with her lesser Ouse at Newport next doth twin, Which proud Chilterne neare, comes eas'ly ambling in.' — Drayton, Polyolbion. 8 See Baker's History and Antiquities of the County of Northampton, part ii. pp. 74-86. s The Dukes of Grafton were formerly Hereditary Rangers or Lord Wardens of Whittlebury Forest.
- Figured in Baker's History, I.e. p. 230.
5 See Baker's Hist. I.e. pp. 179-182. A recent photograph is in the vol. i. p. 131, 1880-81, of the Journal of the Northamptonshire Natural History Society. 62
