FAMOUS NURSERY TALE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20951, 14 February 1930, Page 2

FAMOUS NURSERY TALE.

“BABES IN THE WOOD” REAL OLD-WORLD TRAGEDY. “CRUEL UNCLE’S” DARK DEED. John de Grey, Baron Walsingham, recently died, large estates in the County of Norfolk, His family was an ancient one. But-of all his possessions and claims to distinction there was none which he valued more highly than the fact that he owned the wood whete the “Babes in the Wood” of the famous nursery and pantomime tale were left to die by tlfeir wicked uncle. One of Lord Walsinghamfs ancestors was, it is asserted,' the father of the unfortunate babes, and another ancestor the unspeakable uncle, That his family were involved in the crime did not embarrass Lord Walsingham in the least, for the legend has become hallowed by the centuries. Few old stories are more familiar than “ The Babes in the Wood,” but it will probably come as a surprise to many, says a writer in TitBits, to hear that these children and their heartless uncle were real people, related to some of the great families in the peerage. Lord Walsingham’s principal country seat vlas Merton Hall, Thetford. Upon the estate is a place called Wayland Wood, and near the wood is a very ancient house called Griston Hall, reputed to be “the cruel uncle’s house.” It was here, according to tradition, that the babes were left by their uncle before they were taken out by his hired ruffians into the wood to die. The locality .is wild and lonely, and one feels that an atmosphere of sorrow and mystery still haunts the place. RATE OF THE OAK TREE. The great oak under which the dead babes were said to have been found covered with leaves was destroyed by lightning in 1879. Many people came to gather chips from the tree. To-day visitors _ frequently ask permission to cut a stick of the wood as a souvenir, , The tragedy is believed to have occurred about 1562, soon after the reign of Henry VIII, who had close relations with the de Grey family. The story_ was first published in 1595 under the title “ Babes in the Wood,” with the sub-title, “The Norfolk Gent, His Will and Testamerd - " Howe he Cummytted the Keeping of His Children to His Owne Brother, Who Delte Most Wickedly with Them and howe God Plagued Him for It.” In the original version the name of the father was given, as Arthur Truelove, obviously an invention. According to tradition he was a member. of the de Grey family. The author dared not venture to make dangerous statements about the powerful de Grey family, under their right name. The boy was called Ctissander and the girl Jane, a name that was beginning to be fashionable in Henry VIII’s reign. 1 It was unknown in early English history, when the form used was Joan. The popularity of Jane was perhaps due to Jane Seymour, who bore the only son of Henry VIIL A few years later the name gained more favour through sympathy felt for the unhappy Lady Jane Grey. . The first Jane mentioned in the de Grey pedigree was Jane Bennett, who lived about 1560, and was the wife of William de Grey, who owned Griston Hall, Merton, “ the Wicked Uncle’s house.” She was presumably the mother of the babes. ’ The story is that the Norfolk gentleman died as a young man, leaving a son, aged three, and a daughter, aged two. Their mother died at nearly the same time, and the two children wejre placed in dangerous position In that turbulent age. To each child the father left a handsome fortune, but he provided that if they died during their minority, the money was to go to their uncle. The dying father entrusted the two children to the care of his brother with solemn and earnest prayers to protect therm Soon after his brother’s death the uncle hired two ruffians to murder the children, , THE- ROBINS AND THE LEAVES. One of the men relented and quarrelled with the other, whom he killed. The survivor, instead of murdering the chil dren, left them in Wayland Wood, a gloomy place, where little children might easily be lost. They wandered about, trying to satisfy their hunger with blackberries, the juice of which they mistook for blo-,d. Finally they died at night of cold and terror. The story was put in ballad form soon after its first publication. According to a passage in the ballad, the robin redbreasts covered the children with leaves. After describe the tragedy, the narrative goes on to tell how everything went wrong with the uncle after his wicked deed:— His barns were fired, his goods consumed, His cattle died within the field, - And nothing with him staid. The uncle’s two sons deserted him and went privateering in the Spanish Main. In the end — He pawned and ‘mortgaged all his land, Ere seven years came about. The bad man was thrown in prison for debt, and there died in misery. Before he died the ruffian ,- e had employed and who left the children in the wood confessed. The ballad concludes with a warning to those who ar made guardians of fatherless children to be faithful to their trust. LEGEND OF WAYLAND WOOD, It has now been proved that there was at about this time a Robert de Grey who was much hated and . got into many mysterious difficulties. There is little doubt that he, was the model for “ the Wicked Uncle.” The records show that Edmund de Grey bought Griston Hall in 1541. The little boy’s uncle was Robert de Grey, to whom the estate would descend in case the life owner died without children. There had been a rfnarrel be tween Robert and his older brother. William, who nevertheless entrusted his children to him and left him a legacy on condition, as his will of 1562 says, “that he confesseth he hath offended me.” An old document states that the little boy was lost unaccountably while on a visit to a relative. This fact was perhaps embellished with romantic and tragic details to make up the popular story and ballad. The facts prove that Robert de Grey was much disliked among the country people, both because he was suspected of doing away with this nephew and for other reasons. He was several times imprisoned in Norwich and in London, and was heavily fined. He died a bankrupt. From the time of his death the tragic legend became fixed on Wayland Wood. Robert de Grey, “the Wicked Uncle,” abandoned Griston Hall as his residence and set about rebuilding Merton Hall, which is still the chief seat of the de Greys. “ The fact remains that the legend has been passed down from generation to generation, and in the summer time this wood is visited by many anxious to see the spot where the Wicked Uncle lost the ‘ Babes in the Wood ’ and to view the old house in which he lived,” said the present Lord Walsingham. “1 has a great fascination for children, and older persons are nearly as much interested in it.” Merton Hall has also many strange legends connected with it. An ancient , castle stood on the spot long before | “the Wicked Uncle” began the present building with his presumably ill-gotten 1 wealth. j Merton Park is a place alleged to he I haunted by ghosts and goblins, witches and fairies. Recently there was found

here a human skeleton without a head buried with ancient coins and weapons. It is supposed that this was some unfortunate member of the family whosf hear had been removed on the block and whose body alone could be recovered. Some people declare that the headless gho3t haunts the park at night calling for its lost head. The lives of two children seem but a trifle in all the bloodshed and tragedies that have happened in this historic region, but the art of an old country ballad writer has made their story immortal.