THE MIRROR
OF
LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
| Vol. XII. No. 327. | SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 1828 | [PRICE 2d. |
ROSAMOND'S WELL AND LABYRINTH
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Rosamond's Well and Labyrinth at Woodstock.For the originals of the annexed engravings we are indebted tothe sketchbooks of two esteemed correspondents.1 Thesites are so consecrated, or we should rather say perpetuated, inhistory, and the fates and fortunes of Rosamond Clifford are sofamiliar to our readers, that we shall add but few words on thelocality of the Well and Bower. Their existence is thus attested byDrayton, the poet, in the reign of QueenElizabeth:—"Rosamond's Labyrinth, whose ruins, together withher Well, being paved with square stones in the bottom, and alsoher Tower, from which the Labyrinth did run, are yet remaining,being vaults arched and walled with stone and brick, almostinextricably wound within one another, by which, if at any time herlodging were laid about by the queen, she might easily avoid perilimminent, and, if need be, by secret issues, take the air abroad,many furlongs about Woodstock, in Oxfordfordshire."
Sir Walter Scott (of whom, as of Goldsmith, it may hereafter besaid, he "left no species of writing untouched or unadorned by hispen") has resuscitated the interest attached to this spot, in hismasterly novel of Woodstock.2 It is herethat the beautiful Alice meets the facetious Charles in hisdisguise of an old woman; and on the bank over the Well is the spotwhere tradition relates fair Rosamond yielded to the menaces ofEleanor. Our correspondent, T.W., jocosely observes, that hesends us the Labyrinth "without the silken cord which guided thecruel Eleanor to her rival, in the hope that the ingenuity of thereader will be sufficient to serve him in its stead. Observe,"continues he, "the maze is entered at one of the side gates, andthe bower must be reached without any of the barriers (—)being passed over—that is, by an uninterruptedpathway."3
The bower consists of fine tall trees, whose branches hangentwined over the front of the well. The spring is contained in alarge basin, formed by a plain stone wall, which serves as a facingand support to the bank; the water flows from hence through a holeof about five inches in diameter, and is conveyed by a channelunder the pavement into another basin of considerable dimensions,fenced with an iron railing. Hence it again escapes by means of agrating into the beautiful lake of Woodstock Park, or, as it ismore modernly termed, Blenheim.
In these days of "hobgoblin lore," it may not be incurious toadd, that Woodstock is distinguished in Dr. Plot's History ofOxfordshire (the title of which is well known to allreaders of the marvellous) as the scene of a series of hoax anddisturbance played off upon the commissioners of the LongParliament, who were sent down to