Herne the Hunter

  There is an old tale goes that Herne the Hunter,
Sometime a keeper here in Windsor Forest,
Doth all the winter-time, at still midnight,
Walk round about an oak, with great ragg'd horns;
And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle,
And makes milch-kine yield blood, and shakes a chain
In a most hideous and dreadful manner.
You have heard of such a spirit, and well you know
The superstitious idle-headed eld
Receiv'd, and did deliver to our age,
This tale of Herne the Hunter for a truth.    The Merry Wives of Windsor Act 4 Scene 4
  William Shakespeare 

The play dates to 1597 and the above reference is to what must have been a well known local legend. No earlier reference to Herne is known to exist, but many versions appeared later variously embellished. 

The most detailed (not necessarily the most authentic) was in W Harrison Ainsworth's novel Windsor Castle, written in 1843, which went roughly as follows...

In the reign of King Richard II (1377-1399) there worked in the King's estate of Windsor Forest a particularly competent young keeper called Herne. Human nature being what it is, the other less competent keepers resented him somewhat. One day whilst out hunting the King was thrown from his horse and was about to be gored by a stag when Herne stabbed it in the throat, getting fatally gored himself. As he lay dying a mysterious stranger appeared calling himself Philip Urswick and offered to cure him, and the king agreed. Philip also secretly agreed with the other keepers that he would see to it that Herne lost all of his skill if they would agree to his next request.

Philip then cut off the stag's antlers and skull and tied them to the dying man's head, prescribing plenty of rest. The king rewarded him with silver and gold, and mysterious Phil returned home to Bagshot Heath.

Sure enough Herne recovered his health, although the antlers became permanent, but he also lost all of his marvellous skill. So the king sacked him. Bloody typical. Poor Herne rode off demented into Home park, and was last seen by a pedlar later that same day hanging from an oak tree, but by the time he returned with the other keepers the body had mysteriously vanished. That night Herne's Oak was struck by lightning.

Now a curse seemed to fall upon the other keepers, rendering them even more incompetent than before. They consulted Urswick who told them to go to Herne's Oak at midnight, and when they did so Herne's ghost, complete with antlers, appeared to them, and ordered them to return the next night with horses and hounds, ready for the hunt.

The next night the keepers returned as ordered, but when Herne reappeared he promptly rode off through the forest, forcing the keepers to follow in pursuit. After a wild ride they suddenly stopped to find Urswick before them, and they owed him a favour. He commanded the (still living) keepers to ride with Herne's Wild Hunt forever.

And so they did, meeting every night at Herne's Oak before riding forth with the horned ghost, causing no end of trouble every night, killing deer, vandalising park benches, and generally being unpleasant. Finally the king had had enough, and went with them to confront the shade of his ex-employee. When challenged Herne said that he rode for vengeance, and promised to haunt no more during the king's reign on condition that he hung the other keepers from the very oak where he died. Needless to say, Dicky wasted little time on that executive decision, and they were all hanged the following day.

And so after King Richard II's abdication in 1399 Herne and his Wild Hunt rode forth down all the centuries, even down to our own, collecting the souls of the dead.

After "The Merry Wives of Windsor" became a smash hit Herne's Oak became a local tourist attraction, until in 1796 it was chopped down due to an administrative error. Its remains were turned into souvenirs (see right). Herne, however, continued to haunt the park as ever, and there were even stories of how, on a dark and stormy night, the ghost of the actual tree itself could be seen, haunting the spot where it was felled.

Other oaks were planted on various nearby sites, all suspected to be the original, and in 1906 King Edward VII planted the current one. Unfortunately it is difficult to visit because it is now inside the royal enclosure in The Home Park, just North of Frogmore.

I mention this because I chose an image of Herne the Hunter as my avatar for this blog. I like the fact that he appears in a Tarot deck as the Hanged Man, too, because that is a card that means a lot to me.