Paper knife made from Herne’s Oak
This paper knife or letter opener is associated with the Schroder family, (https://eghammuseum.org/the-schroder-family-of-englefield-green/) who resided at the Manor House at Dell Park, Englefield Green. They were a prominent family in the area and several family members are buried at St Jude’s Churchyard , Englefield Green.
The paper knife itself, mounted in silver, and is apparently made from the wood of ‘Herne’s Oak’, a tree that was once located in Windsor Great Park and was famous for its mention in Shakespeare’s ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’. The mythic figure of ‘Herne the Hunter’ is an ancient legend particular to the area of Windsor and is also mentioned in the play.
There is an old tale goes that Herne the hunter,
Sometime a keeper here in Windsor forest,
Doth all the winter-time, at still midnight,
Walk round about an oak, with great ragg’d horns;
And there he blasts the tree and takes the cattle
And makes milch-kine yield blood and shakes a chain
In a most hideous and dreadful manner:
You have heard of such a spirit, and well you know
The superstitious idle-headed eld
Received and did deliver to our age
This tale of Herne the hunter for a truth.
William Shakespeare, ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’, Act IV, Scene 4
However, there does seem to have been some serious debate regarding the identification of the tree itself. There were two favoured candidates: one was cut down accidentally in 1796 on orders of King George III and the other blew down on 31st August 1863.
Even Queen Victoria waded into the debate and allowed the publication of ‘A Treatise On The Identity of Herne’s Oak’, which supported the claim that the tree of 1863 was in fact the real Herne’s Oak. A copy of this work forms part of the Royal Collections.
The ‘treatise’ was written by William Perry, who was the official ‘Wood Carver’ for Queen Victoria. Perry was also given pieces of tree to carve into souvenirs as it was the property of the crown. A photograph of this tree, taken before it was blown down, is seen on the front cover of the publication.
The Illustrated News of the 24th of September 1863 stated that ‘the desire to possess portions of this relic, made famous in Shakespeare’s “Merry Wives of Windsor” was so great that a guard had to placed over it night and day in order to prevent it being carried off in fragments’. Our paper knife states that the tree was blown down on 31st August 1864.which may undermine its authenticity.
How the paper knife came to be left in the possession of the Schröders is unknown but it belonged to Baron John Henry William Schröder’s wife, Dorothea Eveline Schröder nee Schlisser.
Close-up of Paper Knife, Egham Museum
The tip of the knife is engraved with a 7-pointed crown and “ES 1887”. ES is thought to represent Baroness Schröder. It is stored in a box marked “H.W. Bedford, Watchmaker & Jeweller, 67 Regent Street.”
The knife was donated to the Museum by Baroness, Schröder’s great-niece, Helene Dorothee Eveline Emma Schröder who lived in the Egham locality all her life. She was involved in many local societies, including the Egham-by Runnymede historical society.