house along the great ceremonial drive, acts as consort
to the house: nature's sentinel.
Occasionally, the fictitious Crawleys gather under or
near the tree: it is the away place from the house. In one
scene at a garden party held between house and tree,
the beginning of World War I hostilities is announced,
a conflagration brought about as much by the world of
the great houses of Europe as by fundamental flaws in
nature. Intimate discussions on love, aspirations, hate,
death, social change, social comeuppance and hope are
conducted under this tree. It is very clear that the bench
under the tree and its antecedents have provided place
under nature's embracing branches for the aspirations
of the Carnarvons' and their friends' unfolding story.
HYLAND
