THOUGHTS FROM THE FIELD

A popular folk tale associated with 22 September and the start of autumn is that of Herne the Hunter. The legend goes that Herne was Richard II’S head forester and huntsman at Windsor. A favourite of the King, Herne was said to be handsome, tall, the finest bowman in the land and able to think like a deer.

The King’s favour made Herne unpopular with his fellow foresters, who made a pact with the devil to take away Herne’s powers of venery, leading to his dismissal from service. Devastated, Herne hanged himself from a mighty oak in Windsor Forest on the first day of autumn. After his death a spectral huntsman of huge strength, sporting stag antlers atop his head, appeared to the foresters. Each night, Herne the Hunter led the guilty men on a wild hunt, so rigorous that each died of exhaustion before Christmas. Herne’s mighty oak blew down in 1863. A replacement was planted by Queen Victoria.