The Monthly Newsletter of the St. Mary's County Historical Society JUNE 2024
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The French Connection
Tudor Hall is about 3,000 miles distant from where I sit, typing this missive to you.
Yup--I'm on vacation and writing this issue of the Times requires extraordinary concentration as I am faced with numerous and compelling distractions. To my left is Lake Geneva, looking lovely and inviting in the sun. To the right, and with a slight tipping of my chair, lie the French Alps also looking lovely and inviting in the sun. The house in which we are staying by the way, an AirBnB in the tiny 13th century village of Nernier France, was built in 1760 - about the same time that Tudor Hall was constructed.
In front of me is a buttery croissant, a cup of coffee, and a lovely jeune fille (my wife). I must concentrate until this is done.
The Fox of Tudor Hall
The Moll Dyer Rock is surely the most visited attraction in Leonardtown. The Moll Cam captures people milling about the famous stone at all hours of day and night. Most just visit and leave. Others are seen performing strange rituals, perhaps as homage to Moll or out of some misguided fantasy about her witchy legacy.
No visitor has been as interesting, however, as the Fox of Tudor Hall. It has been seen frequently snooping about the Rock and grounds - once sneaking up and pursuing a cat who appears to have escaped in the nick of time.
An image taken by the Moll-Cam was sent my way the other day. Recorded at 2:00am, you can see the little creature is definitely a fox. Questions have been raised as to whether this just might be an incarnation of Moll Dyer checking on her rock from time to time -- speculation about which we have no comment.
It's All About Yew. . .
Every ten years through their various districts, the Maryland Association of Forest Conservancy conducts a survey for their Big Tree Program and once again, the English Yew which stands outside Tudor Hall has been recorded in the program. Not only recorded, mind you, but a "co-champion" beating out a similar English Yew in Dorchester County by three points (you have to win by five to be the lone champ). There are three large English Yews in Leonardtown, by the way.
The biggest tree in each County is entered into a State Championship and, if the winner, then it's on to Nationals. Unfortunately, we know of no training or conditioning routines to prepare our guy for the next round.
According to the Conservancy, the Yew stands 33 feet tall, has a trunk circumference of 13 feet, 6 inches, with a crown tapering from 43 feet to 39 feet.
The Tudor Hall tree is 220 years old -- almost as old as Tudor Hall itself. It was planted in 1803 by Richard Barnes. In that year, Thomas Jefferson was President and the Louisiana Purchase doubling the size of the US was completed with France (aha - there's the link I was hoping for!).
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