Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Bertilak de hautdesert
(Bertilak of High Forest)
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'A forest ful dep'
From Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – modern translation: But one thing I would ask of you, do not be offended: since you are lord of the land yonder in which I have stayed with you with honour – may the Being who holds up the heavens and sits on high reward you for it – what is your true name? – and that is all.’ ‘That I shall tell you truly,’ said the other then: ‘I am called Bertilak de Hautdesert in this land’.
It is assumed that Hautdesert was the name of the castle in ‘ȝonder londe’, where Bertilak was lord. It is more likely in the middle ages that Bertilak would take the name of the area he was originally from. Bertilak has a topographical name, he is Bertilak de Hautdesert or Bertilak of High-forest, “a forest ful dep“. Haut: French, meaning high, and desert: Cistercian/biblical term for forest. Bertilak takes his name from the rough uplands of Leek Frith. Hautdesert, as Flosche, Knot and The Knar, is one of the poets topographical references to places in the high moorlands of Cheshire and Staffordshire, High forest near Ludchurch.
HIGH FOREST – (a) A method of growing timber without coppicing; dense areas of mature woodland referred to by foresters as high forest. High forest is ‘over-vert’ by some called ‘haut-bois’, from the French, which signifies high trees/wood. High forest was also grown as shelter for beasts of the forest, such as deer and wild boar, as: Viride, Vert or Green. Whatever grows in the forest, and bears boughs and leaves for the covering and shelter of the deer. Either Over-vert, Haut-bois, high-wood, Timber trees: or Nether-vert, Sou-bois, Under-wood.
HIGH FOREST – (b) Woodland of ancient closed canopy trees preserved within demesne land, mainly in the form of deer park and chase.
Between Swythamley and Ludchurch there is still an area called ‘High forest’, once part of the “Abbott’s forrest”, the private hunting grounds of the Abbot of Dieulacres. The Abbot used his forest for hunting “Hart, Hind, Buck and Doe”, just as in that forest of Hautdesert. Ludchurch, perhaps the poet’s inspiration for the Green Chapel, lies only a few hundred yards from High Forest farm. It is hardly surprising therefore, that the name ‘Hautdesert’ may have been considered another designation of the Green Chapel.
Modern English translation of Gawain’s arrival at Bertilak’s castle:
The knight had not crossed himself but thrice before he was aware in the wood of a dwelling within a moat, above a glade, on a mound, framed under the boughs of many huge trunks round about the ditches, the finest castle that a knight ever owned, set in a meadow, a park all about, fenced in by a close palisade of spikes, which enclosed many trees for more than two miles around.
The above description of Gawain approaching the castle, confirms that Bertilak’s castle is within a high forest, as the poet describes the ‘many huge trunks’ of mature timber trees. Also, ‘many trees for more than two miles around’ again, perfectly describes a high forest where trees grew close together, unlike a coppiced wood or more open wood pasture. We are also told that there is ‘a park all about’ confirming that this area is parked with deer. The high forest was dominated by browsing ungulates such as red, fallow and roe deer and also wild boar. The more open wood pasture was dominated by grazers such as domestic cattle or horses. The deer browsed in open canopy areas of the high forest, and helped to keep these areas/glades open.
Modern examples of oaks in grazed woodland (1) and browsed high forest (2) and the animals which would congregate in these areas:
(1) example of a woodland grazed by livestock (horses and cattle), the Borkener Paradies in Germany, with typical large Oak trees with low branches and wide crowns;
(2) example of a browsed high forest with wild ungulates only (red deer, roe deer, wild boar, moose and European bison) in Bialowieza Primeval Forest in Poland; typical are the tall oak trees with long stem, high branches and narrow crowns – from Trees, Forested landscapes and Grazing Animals: A European Perspective on Grazed Woodlands and Grazed Treescapes – edited by Ian D. Rotherham.
Example (1) describes coppiced woodland/ low forest.
Example (2) describes a high forest where deer and wild boar would be found, as hautdesert.
Deer and wild boar could be hunted in the high forest because they naturally congregated there to browse. Bertilak hunts deer in Hautdesert, ‘Hautdesert’ = ‘High forest’. The Boar hunt too, starts at Hautdesert. The nocturnal Wild boar sleeps most of the day in a day nest in thorn thickets. The trail out of Hautdesert led the hounds to a thorn covered hillside between the knar and the knot, this is where the wild boar, who may have browsed the acorns of the high forest at night, had its nest during the day.
The above describes a fenced in deer park within an area of high forest, the (deer) park ‘enclosed many trees for more than two miles around’.
A high forest is also mentioned as Gawain was directed by Bertilak to the green chapel. He was to ride through the frith and go most directly beside the grove. A ‘grove’ in forest terms, was a collection of trees grown for timber only.
From ‘A History of the ancient parish of Leek, in Staffordshire by John Sleigh’, we also have information on the purchase and possession of the Keeper of the forest’s house at High Forest, by William Trafford – On the 10th June, the 32nd year of King Henry’s reign, 1540 – “And possession was taken in the hee-foreste at the howse of the keeper of the seid forreste”. One of the witnesses to the possession document was Thomas Whytney, late Abbot of Dieulacres.
High-forest was also mentioned earlier in 1537: 29 Henry VIII, 16th July. Lease now penes Guy Trafford, esq., for ninety years, at £7. per annun, of seven pastures, called “the Hey (High) and Middle-forests, Hassylwood, and pool, Whettleymore, Hey-rudge (High-ridge), the park-laund, and the Sprynge, all near Swythumley-graunge, to Edward Lodge of Haughmond, Salop, gentylman; subject to an unexpired term of one year on the Hie-forreste to Widow Elyn Fytton, and certain reservations to John Hyggynbotham, Robert Broughe, and William Habline.”
Also from Sleigh’, William Damport in 1538, confirms that the Abbott’s forest was a purlieu, a part of which was a High-forest. The word “ye” was printed in the description below to represent the word “the”, y was substituted by early printers for the thorn (þ), the Old and Middle English character.
“in times past ye late Abbots of Dieulencresse had certain purlewes within ye said manor of Leeke, & had in ye same Hart, Hind, Buck, & Doe, & their freeholders of ye said hamlets of Heyton & Rushton where their foresters; by occasion whereoff certain lands lying within ye said hamlet of ye frith do keep ye name until this day, & be called ye Abbott’s forrest, of ye which also part is called ye hie forrest (high forest), & part is called ye middle forrest.”
High-forest was described as being within a ‘purlieu’ a private forest of the Abbot of Dieulacres, who, by law, could only hunt in his own woods, with his servants, for three days a week but not at night. Bertilak of Hautdesert hunted for three days, with his own men, part of his castle garrison, always returning home before nightfall. The second days hunt left from Hautdesert and entered an adjacent frith/forest.
For further on why Bertilak was only allowed to hunt for three days and only with his own men/servants, see: Bertilak, the Purlieu-man:-
FOREST ECOLOGY
From Sir Gawain and the Green Knight:
Bi a mounte on þe morne meryly he rydes
Into a forest ful dep, þat ferly watz wylde,
Hiȝe hillez on vche a halue, and holtwodez vnder
Of hore okez ful hoge a hundreth togeder;
Þe hasel and þe haȝþorne were harled al samen,
With roȝe raged mosse rayled aywhere,
With mony bryddez vnblyþe vpon bare twyges,
Þat pitosly þer piped for pyne of þe colde.
Modern English translation:
By a hill in the morning merrily he rides
into a deep forest, that was exceedingly wild,
High hills on each side, and holt woods below
Of huge hoar oaks, a hundred together;
The hazel and the hawthorn were all entwined together,
With rough ragged moss spread everywhere,
With many unhappy birds on bare twigs,
that piteously there piped for pain of the cold.
The Gawain poet understands that thick wooded forest consisted of hazel and hawthorn intermingling on its edges, with only the mature ‘huge’ oak of the highwood/high forest at its centre, ‘a hundred together’. The poet knew the composition of the ‘wild’ uncultivated forest.
Forest information below (not Gawain poem refs) from, Grazing Ecology and Forest History By F. W. M. Vera, unless stated otherwise:-
‘Forest’
An area which was covered by Forest Law was known as ‘Forest’.
‘Wylde’, wild
The term wild referred to all animals and plants which existed without being cared for by man, and which had no clear owner. A ‘wild’ thing was anything which was not obtained by cultivation from seed and tending. For example this included wild oats, wild grass (‘Wildheu’) and wild animals. Because wild animals and wild plants did not have a clear owner, they were the property of the local lord and subject to Forest Law. To emphasize that these were areas where no one else had any rights, the words ‘eremus, ‘solitudo’ or ‘deserto’ were often added to the ‘forestis nostra’.
‘holtwodez’ holt woods
‘High hills on each side, and holt woods below of huge hoar oaks, a hundred together;‘
Holts – Woodlands were managed in four traditional ways: as ‘holts’, as ‘holly hags’, as ‘wood pastures’ and as ‘coppices’. Holts were what today would be called high forests. They are managed for their timber, for game preservation and for their contribution to estate landscapes. – from Ancient Woodlands: Their Archaeology and Ecology: a Coincidence of interest, Julien Parsons, Pauline Beswick, Ian D. Rotherham.
Holt, ‘single species wood’ (largest category of examples refers to tree species), not found north of Cheshire and West Yorkshire (Gelling and Cole, p. 233).( the Holt of ‘single species wood’ were hoar oaks, in the Gawain poem) .
The term holtwood in the Gawain poem refers to the ‘highwood’, ‘grote holt’, not the ‘underholt’, ‘underwood’. All derive from the place where the wood is found, as in the term ‘Wald’.
‘Highwood’ was replaced by the term ‘timber’ in the 16th century.
‘Of huge hoar oaks, a hundred together;’ – the Gawain poet describes haut desert, a High Forest of oak, in this line.
An example of a high forest is at Blean, Cantebury and Swale’s ancient woodland – This is a managed forest with coppice replacing the natural underwood of the hazel and thorn of the wild uncultivated forest, described by the Gawain poet.
‘Extensive areas of the forest are managed as coppice, the stems being cut down every 10-25 years, keeping the woodland in a permanently juvenile state. However, there are also large blocks which are managed far less intensively, if at all, where the trees (mainly oak, but also some beech, birch and hornbeam) are allowed to mature. These areas of older woodland are referred to by foresters as high forest, and are extremely important to a wide range of wildlife that cannot thrive in the more artificial coppice habitat.’ see non-intervention high forest at Blean Woods RSPB Reserve, Kent
The following information tells us that mature timber trees that are evolved from managed coppicing, consists of only a few trees in a ‘compartment’ or 12 trees per acre, much less than in high forest where 66-100 trees per acre (90-140 per hectare) are common (‘a hundred together’).
COPPICE – A method of growing timber by which trees are cut to ground level so that the shoots grow, and which are harvested some years later.
All the trees in a coppice will be cut to ground level with the exception of those stems selected to grow on as ‘standards’; these are young trees of good quality which will be left through successive coppice cuts to produce mature timber trees. There are only a few left in each compartment as they are grown at a density of about 12 per acre (17 per hectare), much less than in high forest where 66-100 trees per acre (90-140 per hectare) are common.
So un-managed High forests are traditionally denser than managed forest, so could be described as ‘a hundred together’. Coppiced with standards, described above, is a coppice with large trees scattered throughout the wood. These need to be well spaced out (not together) so that they don’t shade the underwood.
HIGH FOREST – A method of growing timber without coppicing. Barely managed.
The two native species in Britain are the Common or Pedunculate Oak and the Sessile Oak. They can be difficult to distinguish,
especially as hybrids (a cross between two types) occur frequently. The growth rate is very slow, with trees taking over 100 years to mature. They can continue to grow for over 400 years, and to heights of over 100 feet. In growing Oak ‘high forest’ the aim is to produce tall straight quality timber of good diameter which can command high prices.
‘Þe hasel and þe haȝþorne’, the hazel and the hawthorn
In 1537, High forest between Ludchurch and Swythamley was described as pasture, this would have been wood-pasture, comprising of grassland/launde and grove. The high forest of mature oak grown for timber, would have been the ‘grove’. In 1537 the high forest is described as (wood) pasture, this infers that the high forest by that time was diminishing in size. Wood pasture was more usually open woodland where grazers such as cattle and sheep would congregate, it would be on the edge of the high forest.
Hazel and hawthorn thrived on the fringes of wood pasture and mature wooded forest, as did the oak saplings which were protected by the thorns from grazing herbivores. Old English proverb – ‘the thorn is mother to the oak’.
‘High hills on each side, and holt woods below of huge hoar oaks, a hundred together; the hazel and the hawthorn were all entwined together.’
Gawain is on the edge of the wooded forest, this is confirmed as the poet describes the ‘nether vert’, or ‘underwood’. Hazel and hawthorn were found in transitional areas between grassland and woodland, they survived on the edge of the mature wooded forest along with young oak. Lack of light in the partially closed or closed canopy eventually suppressed the hazel and thorn, they would not regenerate in poor light. The scrubland along with the oak would then advance into the grasslands.
The hazel and the oak grew together on the edge of mature wooded forest as both trees had facilitators. The oak had the Jay which planted acorns on the fringes of the thorny scrub, competing species do not have a comparible facilitator.
The analogy between the oak and hazel also seems to apply as regards their establishment. Like oak, hazel seems to have its own facilitator in Central and Western Europe in the form of the nuthatch. Given the ecology of the nuthatch, this also seems to explain why hazel becomes established mainly on the fringes, and much less at great distances in the open field.
Holly – Ilex aquifolium: As the holly is very shade-tolerant it is able to live as an understory species in woodlands where other trees cannot survive; it is especially associated with beech and oak woodlands.
The holly, as brought to court by the Green knight/Bertilak of hautdesert, was the third essential shrub of the underwood along with hazel and thorn. It was essential to the growth and development of the high forest and wood pasture. Vera says in Grazing ecology….., that the earliest regulations in cutting down underwood or brushwood refer most to thornbushes, hazel and holly. Also that hawthorn and holly are a natural and essential phenomenon in wood pastures, and that new oak trees grew in the middle of these, protected from being eaten by livestock. Holly was essential for the regeneration of oak trees.
Holly can be found in very shady areas of mature oak. Holly does not like severe cold despite its connections to winter and Christmas, but survives under the cover of the mature wooded forest where it had nursed the development of the ‘huge hoar oaks’ of the high forest.
Bertilak, the Purlieu-man
Every aspect of the medieval forest was commodified, since forests were a major source of income for their owners. According to its use, the forest itself was divided into demesnes (owners’ residences), chases (open areas for hunting), parks (enclosed areas for hunting), agistments (land cleared for grazing), assarts (land cleared for farming), and, by the fourteenth century, purlieus (disafforested land on which hunting is still permitted under the supervision of rangers). Extract from – How Green was the Green Knight? Forest Ecology at Hautdesert – Michael W. Twomey
Bertilak appears to be a Purlieu-man. The following describes what a Purlieu is and how a hunt should be conducted in the woods within a Purlieu. The abbot of Dieulacres was entrusted with the supervision of his forest and was also a Purlieu-man, see J. Sleigh – A History of the Ancient Parish of Leek.
Purlewes/purlieu – areas added to a forest then later disafforested although still subject to some of the forest laws, especially regarding hunting. Also, Purlieus – “a certain territory of ground adjoining unto the forest [which] was once forest-land and afterwards disafforested by the perambulations made for the severing of the new forests from the old.” Treatise of the Lawes of the Forest (1598, 4th ed. 1717). Bertilak as custodian of a medieval castle, would be entrusted with the supervision of nearby forests. The laws concerning hunting by a Purlieu-man in his Purlieus, perfectly match Bertilak’s manner of hunting.
From, Manwood’s Treatise of the Forest Laws:
Purlieus 113. Therefore, that a Purlieu-Man may the better remember in what manner he may hunt in his Purlieu, he must observe, 1. That he begin the Chase in his own Purlieu. 2. That he do not forestall, &c. (prevent Deer re-entering the forest (royal forest) from which they came). 3. That before his Dogs enter the Forest, he call them back. (‘Rechate’ (Gawain) ‘Rechase’ (Manwood)). 4. That he do not follow his dogs into the Forest, except they fasten on the Deer first, and are then drawn into the Forest, and the Deer killed there. 5. That he do not hunt with any more in Company, than with his own servants. 6. That he do not kill a Deer out of season.
When and how often a Purlieu-Man may hunt, &c. 114. But a Purlieu-Man must not hunt at all times and seasons, nor in what manner he will; for then the Purlieus would soon destroy the Forests; for which Reason the ancient Usage and Policy of the Forest-Laws have always prohibited these Men to hunt contrary to any of the following Rules.
115. 1. A Purlieu-Man must not hunt in his own Purlieu in the Night-time; this is prohibited by the 13th Article of Assisa de Woodstock; that is, He must not hunt there after the setting of the Sun, nor until the rising of the same; and the reason is, because the King’s Wild Beasts may not be disturbed in their feeding in the Forest; 2. He must not hunt on the Sunday, for that is a Day appointed for the Rest both of Man and Beast, and for the Service of God, and not for Sports; 3. He must not hunt in Fence-Month, because of disquieting the Deer which are then ready to fawn, or for fear of killing the young fawns which are not able to run.
4. He must not hunt oftener than three Days in a Week, lest, by often hunting, he disquiet the Beasts in the Forest, or fright them from their pasture or Places where they usually frequent;
5. He must not hunt in the Purlieu with any other Company but his own Servants, because his Interest in hunting is only a Conditional Licence of Profit, which goes strictly to him to whom ’tis given, and not to any other; may justify for himself and his Servants; but he who hath a Licence or Interest for Pleasure, cannot justify for his Servants, though he may for himself; but he who must justify for his Servants, cannot justify for any other Person. Besides, the Laws of the Forest do not allow a multitude of People to assemble themselves together to hunt in the Purlieus, because that is likewise Ad terrorem of the Beasts in the Forest. 6, 7, 8, 9, various other laws concerning forestalling, not hunting in a Purlieu within 40 days of the King’s hunt in an adjacent forest in case the King’s deer have taken to hiding within the Purlieu, Foresters serving a Warrant in the Forest, etc.
10. He may not hunt a Deer out of Season, though ’tis found in his own Purlieu, because they are not able then to run, and are worth nothing when caught; and therefore he must not hunt a Deer of Antler in the Winter, nor Does in the Summer.
How far a Purlieu-Man may pursue his Chase in Hunting 50. But if the Owner of Lands beginneth the Hunting in his own Lands, where he hath a lawful Interest and Property in the Beasts so long as they are there; then by reason of that Property, he may pursue his Hunting through any Man’s Woods or Lands, so far as he doth not enter into any Forest, Chase, Park or Warren, which are Places priviliged by the Law, that no Man may enter but the Owner. 51. And if he kill the Beast in another Man’s Land, and out of such priviliged Place, he may take and carry away the same by reason of the first Property, in respect of the Soil where it was when he first began hunting.
Bertilak’s Hunt compared to the Purlieu Hunt: A Purlieu-Man must not hunt in his own Purlieu at Night-time. Bertilak and his men were always up and dressed and ready for the hunt at, or just before, daybreak as though the rising of the sun was the signal to begin the chase. They always returned home to the castle before nightfall.
Gawain Poem – the Deer Hunt By þat any daylyȝt lemed vpon erþe He with his haþeles on hyȝe horsses weren. translation – (Poems of the Pearl Manuscript) – By the time that any daylight shone upon the earth, he and his men were on great horses. (Tolkein) – When daylight was opened yet dimly on earth, he and his huntsmen were up on their high horses. Such a sowme he þer slowe bi þat þe sunne heldet, Of dos and of oþer dere, to deme were wonder. translation: He had killed there such a quantity of does and other deer by the time the sun went down, it would be wonderful to assess.
Gawain Poem – the Boar Hunt Þe douthe dressed to þe wod, er any day sprenged, to chace; translation: The company went on their way to the wood, before any daylight dawned, to the chase; (Bertilak and his men wanted to be ready to hunt as soon as any daylight broke). He rechated, and rode þurȝ ronez ful þyk, Suande þis wylde swyn til þe sunne schafted. translation: He sounded the recheat, and rode through thick bushes, pursuing this wild boar until the sun was setting.
Gawain Poem – the Fox Hunt In rede rudede vpon rak rises þe sunne, And ful clere costez þe clowdes of þe welkyn. Hunteres vnhardeled bi a holt syde, Rocheres roungen bi rys for rurde of her hornes; translation: The sun rises red, its redness reflected upon a bank of cloud, and in its full brightness drives the clouds from the sky. Huntsmen unleashed [their hounds] by the side of a wood; rocky banks rang in the wood with the noise of their horns. And þenne þay helden to home, for hit watz nieȝ nyȝt, Strakande ful stoutly in hor store hornez. translation: Then they make for home, for it was nearly night, sounding loudly on their powerful horns. That a Purlieu-Man do not hunt with any more in Company, than with his own servants
Gawain Poem – The day of the first hunt Ful erly bifore þe day þe folk vprysen, Gestes þat go wolde hor gromez þay calden, And þay busken vp bilyue blonkkez to sadel, translation: Very early before the day dawned the people got up. Guests that would go called their servants, and they hasten up immediately to saddle horses, The guests were leaving so would play no part in the hunt, only Gawain was asked to stay longer but was not invited to join Bertilak in the chase . By þat any daylyȝt lemed vpon erþe He with his haxþeles on hyȝe horsses weren. translation: By the time that any daylight shone upon the earth, he and his men were on great horses. Bertilak is only hunting with his own men/servants. A Purlieu-Man must not hunt oftener than three Days in a Week, lest, by often hunting, he disquiet the Beasts in the Forest, or fright them from their pasture or Places where they usually frequent; In the Gawain poem there are only three days hunting, first day for Deer, second day for Wild Boar and the third day for the Fox. A Purlieu-Man must begin the Chase in his own Purlieu A Purlieu-Man could only initiate a hunt from his own land but was allowed to enter an adjacent frith (another man’s land) to follow his quarry. The poem suggests that the scent of the boar was picked up in Bertilak’s land, Hautdesert, but the animal was not tracked down until the chase had entered into an adjacent frith, at a carr side, where we are told, there was a ‘flosche/flash in that frith’. The term, ‘that frith’, implies that it was not Bertilak’s frith but that one belonging to someone else. A Purlieu-Man may not hunt a Deer out of Season, though ’tis found in his own Purlieu, because they are not able then to run, and are worth nothing when caught; and therefore he must not hunt a Deer of Antler in the Winter, nor Does in the Summer. (A Purlieu-Man’s interest in hunting is only a Conditional Licence of Profit). Gawain Poem – the Deer Hunt Þay let þe herttez haf þe gate, with þe hyȝe hedes, Þe breme bukkez also with hor brode paumez; For þe fre lorde hade defende in fermysoun tyme Þat þer schulde no mon meue to þe male dere. translation: Then they allowed the stags (Red Deer) with the high heads to pass, also the wild bucks (Fallow Deer) with their broad antlers; for the noble lord had forbidden that any man should rouse any male deer in the close-season. Hunting seasons for Bertilak’s quarry: Hind and Doe – Holy Rood day, Sept 14th to Candlemass, Feb 2nd. Boar – Christmas to Candlemass, Feb 2nd. Fox – Christmas day to Lady day, March 25th.