Then I went down past Castle Malwood to where stands Rufus'
Stone. There I read:
"Here stood the oak-tree on which an arrow shot by Sir
Walter Tyrrell at a stag glanced and struck King William II.,
surnamed Rufus, on the breast, of which stroke he instantly
died on the 2nd August 1100.
"King William II., surnamed Rufus, being slain as before related,
was laid in a cart belonging to one Purkess and drawn
from hence to Winchester and buried in the cathedral church
of that city.
"That where an event so memorable had happened might
not hereafter be unknown this stone was set up by John Lord
Delaware who had seen the tree growing in this place anno
1745.
"This stone having been much mutilated and the inscriptions
on the three sides defaced, this more durable memorial
with the original inscription was erected in the year 1841 by
him. Sturges Bourne, warden."
The memorial and inscription are of iron.
The most famous thing that ever befell in the New Forest was this
strange murder or misfortune which cost the Red King his life.
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