58 EPPING FOREST
wandered there for many centuries, but are believed not
to be indigenous, but to have been introduced by the
Danes. No fossil remains are found, although those
of roe and red-deer are frequently dug up. The deer,
both red and fallow, as I have explained elsewhere, were
formerly rigidly preserved for the use of the king, but
some favoured individuals were allowed to hunt. For
instance, Henry III. enacted, " Whatever archbishop,
bishop, earl, or baron shall be passing through our
forests, it shall be lawful for them to take one or two
deer, by view of the forester, if he shall be present; if
not, he shall cause a horn to be sounded lest it should
seem a theft." Presents of venison were also frequently
made in the following form:—"On sight hereof you
are to kill and deliver to the bearer for the use of----------
one fat doe of this season, for which this shall be your
sufficient warrant, and herein you are not to fail.'' At the
beginning of the last century so many demands had been
made upon the herd in this way, and by marauders
locally known as "Waltham Blacks," that we find in
the Court Rolls an order that "the stock of red and
fallow being so low that they are likely to be extirpated,
no more are to be taken for three years." After this they
again increased, and our grandfathers describe them as
being visible in large herds between Woodford and
Epping by the passengers in the numerous coaches
which passed that way, bound for the eastern counties.
An old inhabitant writes : "When a boy my father took
me for a treat to London. It was a fine summer morn-
ing. We started at four o'clock. I well remember the
open plains bordering the Forest swarmed with deer.
I am sure there must have been hundreds in sight at one
time. This was in the year 1829." Another old in-
habitant tells me that he remembers seeing them oppo-
site Assembly Row, near Leytonstone. From encroach-
ments on the area of the Forest, the depredations of
poachers, and from the sporting rights of the Crown
having been allowed to fall into disuse, the number of
the deer diminished greatly from the beginning of the
century ; until, about the year 1860, there were said to
be under ten left alive. Fortunately, before it was too
late, attention was called to the subject, and owing to
the fostering care of the Rev. J. W. Maitland, and sub-
sequently of the Conservators, this unique herd was pre-
served, and has steadily increased, until there are, it is
believed, about a hundred and seventy in the present
year, 1897.
I call them "unique," as, though the same breed are
found in some parts of Scotland, I believe these to
be the only representatives in England of the ancient
deer. The herds of tame fallow-deer, which are pre-
served in so many parks throughout England, differ
completely from the Forest breed. The former are
chiefly descended from ancestors imported from various
parts of Europe, and, for the reason that peculiarities
are preserved and transmitted, we find in these herds
every shade of colour from white and dun to black.