BORDER FROM THE ARUNDEL PSALTER, A.D. 1329.
EPPING FOREST.
ITS HISTORY.
"This is the forest primeval."—Evangeline.
"I 'a stubbed Thornaby Waaste."—Northern Farmer.
A very brief account of the history of the Forest,
showing how the primeval woodland was set aside
for the pleasure of the King, and so was preserved
with little change from century to century, until
it came to be dedicated as an open space for the
enjoyment of King Demos, will not be out of
place here. The Forest, as we know it, is prob-
ably but little altered in character from what it
was in the time of the Druids, but its boundaries
are sadly curtailed, and that which is now devoted
to the recreation of the people and the pasture of
the commoner's cattle is but a fraction of the
ancient Royal Forest.
As regards its ancient limits, it appears that in
Saxon times, and for some centuries later, a large
proportion of the county of Essex,—according to
Gibson "as far as the sea,"—was "waste," i.e.
natural woods, open heathery spaces, and grassy
commons. When the whole of London was no