Rosamond took the poison, "and soe shee dyed," and the well
ever since has been known as Fair Rosamond's Well; we afterwards found
another well of the same name in Shropshire. She had two sons, one of
whom became the Earl of Salisbury and the other Archbishop of York; an
old ballad runs:--
But nothing could this furious queen
Therewith appeased bee:
The cup of deadlye poyson strong.
As she knelt on her knee,
She gave this comlye dame to drink,
Who took it in her hand;
And from her bended knee arose
And on her feet did stand.
And casting up her eyes to heaven,
She did for mercy calle;
And drinking up the poyson strong.
Her life she lost with-alle.
Edward III and his Queen Phillipa resided at Woodstock in the fourteenth
century, and it was here that the Black Prince, who figured so largely
in English history, was born. A nice little love story was connected
with their court. The king had a page and the queen had a damsel, who
fell deeply in love with each other, and whenever they got a chance
walked out in the beautiful park and woods which surrounded the castle,
where the young man made some poetry about the "Cuckoo and Nightingale,"
whose notes they so often heard amongst the sylvan beauties of
Woodstock.
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