PHILIPS' HISTORICAL READER NO. 2 Early England TO Year 1154 BOSTON SCHOOL SUPPLY CO. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Shelf .W.^..?.^ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. yijUips' !f isloritnl H,isnit0r$, i/ EARLY ENGLAND THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE ACCESSION OF HENRY IL 3 ,\-r■> The Coming op the Celts .. .. lo II. The Briton and the Roman. The Coming of the Romans .. 23 The Druids 28 Caradoc, the British Kino .. 32 BoADicEA, the British (Jueen .. 36 BiiA niCRA 39 The Completion of the Roman CoNQi'EST 41 A Pirate Wears THE PiiRPLF, .. 47 Last Century of Roman Rule .. 49 III. How Britain became England. The Coming of the English .. 53 The Jutes 55 The Saxons 59 The Story of King Arthur .. 6j The Angles of the East and XORTH 66 The Gods OF the Early English 71 How the Early English became Christians 74 The Story of Edwin of Nor- th umbria 78 The Mercian Heathens .. .. 84 How Wessex became Supreme .. 86 The Danes 90 IV. Alfred the Great and his Family. Alfred as Etheling or Prince 05 King Alfred's Boyhood .. .. 07 Kino Alfred Brave in Trouble 100 A PliiyCE LiriSU AS A PKASA.Sr.. 104 King Alfred Conquers the Danes, and Founds .4. Great Kingdom 105 I rAOF. i The Story of Orphet's .. ..109 ' Stories ap.out Alfred the Great hi King Alfred and the New Danes 113 The SiccEssoRs of Alfred— Ed- ward the Elder and Athel- STAN 117 ^ The Successors op Alfred— Ed- I MUND, EdRED, EdWY, AND Edgar .. 120 V. The Danish Conquest. 1 The Overthrow of the Saxons ■ The Danish Kings of England— Cnut, Harold, and Hardi- CNUT VI. The English Restoration. An English King again on the Throne 131 The Last op the Old English Kings 134 Senlac AND ITS Sequel .. ..138 How the English People lived IN the Olden Time .. ..142 VII. England under the Normans. The Conqueror Crowned . . . - 147 Conquest AND Cruelty .. ..150 HeREWARD THE W.-iTCHFUL. . .. 154 Changes made r.v the Conquest 157 Close of the Conqueror's Reign 160 The BvniAL OF TiiH C nf Roman Britain The Roman Eagle Julius Ciesar, from a Bust in the British Museum l\Iai> Hill. tratitKi Ciesarx tivo Campaigns An Elephant Crossing the Thames . . A Druidical Sacrifice Stonehenge Caradoc, from a Bust in the British Museum Claudius in Britain Coin of Cunobelin Iloman Soldiers on the March . . Boadicea A Britisli Bard Ancient British Weapons Agrioola Caledonians Watching the Romans . . Roman Soldiers Map of Roman, ffalls Roman Galleys Carausius. from one of his Coins Coin of ( 'arausius .. .. Constantnie, from a Gold Coin M tji xli orinii the Routes of the Germanic Ini'oders The Standard of the White Horse— the .lutish Ensign Vortigern and Rowena Walls of Pevensey Castle Ruins of Arthur's Castle at Tintagel . . King Arthur Sir Bedivere and the Sword Bamborough Castle Map showinij the Saxon Kiiiydoms Rome St. Augustine St. Martin's Church. Canterbury Eilwin of Northmnbria Edinburgh Castle Uoiti Destroying the Temple of Wode^ P.\GK 6 9 9 9 10 12 S^ 95 Ionic Cross Silver Penny of Off a Egbert 86 Silver Penny of Egbert 88 Danish Flag and Arms 90 Danish Ships 91 Map of Sajcon Enoland g^ Alfred, from a Silver Coin found at Oxford Alfred and the Queen Alfred and the Cakes 102 Alfred's Jewel 105 Alfred Writing the Story of Orpheus log Hastings and his Danes 115 Athelstan 117 Athelstan on the Field of Brunanburgh 1 18 The Danes on the March . . . . 119 Edgar . . 120 Edgar on the Dee 122 Sa.xon Soldiers 123 The Death of Edward the Martyr . . 124 Edward the Martyr 124 Ethelred the Unready 125 Cnut, from his Coinage 127 Cnut at the Seashore 128 Harold Hare-foot 130 Hardicnut 130 Edward the Confessor, from the Bayeaux Tapestry 131 Arms of Edward the Confessor Harold, from the Bayeaux Tapestry . . The Landing of the Normans . . Edith Searching for the Body of Harold A Saxon Teaching his Boy to use the Cross-Bow Anglo-Saxon Costumes i , _ William the Con(iueror, from the Bayeaux Tapestry 147 The Normans on the March . . . . 151 The Tower of London 153 William and his Son Robert . . . . 162 The Burial of the Conqueror . . . . 161; William Rufus, from his Coinage . . 166 The Messenger Warning Rufus .. 171 Henry I., from Coin in British Museum 173 The Wreck of the White Ship . . . . 177 Stephen, from a Silver Coin of his Reign 179 The Battle of the Standard— the Arch- bishop of York blessing the Troops 180 Escape of Matilda 185 The Ceremony of Knighting .. .. 188 A Lady Hawking 191 A Tournament 192 132 134 138 140 142 ^ Roman Galleys ^ AT JONDI NIUM •^KlTISH COIN; BEFORE THE DA WN. LONG, LONG AGO. LONG, long ago, the name 'EnglcmcV^ ' was quite unknown, and sucli words as ^English ' and ' Welsh "" w^ere never heard of. But the country ^RCH -Druid itself was there, though it was not called England : and it is a most interestino- study to hnd out something about its earliest inhabitants — the people who lived here before a single town or road or bridge could anywhere be seen. We know of three names which have been given lo EARLY ENOLAND. .^ to the country ; — (i) Albion,^ or Alban ; (2) Britain,'^ the name used by the Romans ; and (3) England, the present name, which it has borne for about a thousand years. But long before the words England, Britain, or Albion were used, in the dark ages before the dawn of history,^ when all the countries of Europe were still in a savaofe state, the island was the liome of a rude and barbarous people. ESKIMOS WATCHING FOR BKALS. The Men of the Caves. — Have you read about the patient Laplanders,^ wlio live with their reindeer in the far north, or the Eskimos,' who hunt the seal and walrus in the icy regions of Arctic America ? Strange as it may appear, in England there once dwelt a ^ace of men probably less civilised than these simple people. There are abundant proofs that the earliest inhabitants of the island lived, not in houses or even huts, but iu a LONG, LONG AGO. il caves. Such cave-dwellings liave been found in Devon, Somerset, Denbigh, Yorkshire, and elsewhere. In the time of these cave-men, the land was one of the wildest imaginable. Inland, where now we see fertile farms and beautiful parks, there were only far-ex- tending trackless forests, dreary moors, wide marshes, morasses, and reedy lakes. The simple cave-men never dared to explore the immense forests, because of the savage animals which then infested them. Amongst these were not only the wolf,^ the elk,^ the brown and the grisly bear, but there also were the tiger (larger than those now shot in India), the hya?na, and, in the very earliest times, the rhinoceros and elephant. At Salisbury alone, the bones of elephant, rhinoceros, hytena, lion, and reindeer have been found. That the climate was extremely cold when the deposit was made, is proved by the fact that along with those were the remains of the marmot, the lemming, and some egg- shells of the wild goose. The height of the drift, more- over, being from ninety to one hundred feet above the existing Avon, shows what an enormous time has elapsed since the period in question. ''' On the rivers, again, thousands of otters could be seen diving for fish, and beavers building their curious houses, while seals and occasionally whales swam on every coast. Being no match for the wild animals of the forest, the cave-man was content to live near the sea — his food being chiefly the flesh of the reindeer, such fish as he could kill with the rudest of harpoons and hooks, and oysters and other shell-fish gathered on the shore. It is remarkable that in some of the caves we find * See Reports of Brit. Assoc, for August 1S82, 12 EARLY ENGLAND. drawings of leaves and animals scratched on bone,"'" some really showing considerable taste ; and this is another point of resemblance between these early cave-men and the Eskimos. For shelter in winter, besides the caves, they probably dug holes in the ground, roofing them with turf. In summer, it seems likely that they lived in tents of skins, as some of the Eskimos still do. Their clothes also were made of skins ; and doubtless they had canoes covered with the same material. 1. England, i.e., ' land of the Angles, or Engles.' See page 66. 2. Welsh, the name given by the Saxons to the Britons. Tlie word wealias signifies ' for- eigner' or 'stranger.' The same term is applied by the modern Germans to tlie people of Italy and France. The Welsh call themselves I'tnnry. 3. Albion, the oldest name of onr country. It is a Celtic word, meaning 'white island.' It is akin to the Latin word albus and to Alp, cf. tlie Alps. The tvhite cliffs of Kent are clearly seen from the opposite coast of France. 4. Britain. The old British name Prydain was Latinised into Britannia. It is probably derived from the word ' brith,' i.e., spotted or painted (see page '21). Other derivations are given. 5. Dawn of history. The first mention of Britiin is made by Herodotus, the father of Greek history, who wrote about 450 B.C. He admits that he knew nothing more than that it was an island, and that It pro- duced tin. 6. The Laplanders, a Mongolian race. Inhabit the most northern portion of Europe. 7. The Eskimos are also Mongolians, and are akin to the Samoiedes of Siberia. 8. The wild boar, bear, and wolf were at this period, and for ages after, common in this country. Macaulay says tnat wolf-lmnting was enumerated among the common sports of Kerry as late as 1719. The s.avage brood had been finally expelled from the forests of Great Britain during the preceding cen- tury. See also page 1'21.' 9. Many remains prove that formerly the elka were very much larger than any species now existing. One skull in the British Museum measures a yard in length, and the span of the horns is 42 inches. 10. Beautifully-coloured drawings of animals are said to be frequently seen on the walls of the caves of the Bushmen— the cave-men of South Africa. PRIMITIVE BRITAIN. THE STONE- HATCHET MEN. 13 SAVAGES OF THE STONE AGE. THE STONE -HATCHET MEN. AFTER many thousands of seals had been killed and millions of shell-fish had been eaten, we find that the cave-men entirely disappeared from the country. The new-comers were small men, but they were superior to the seal-hunters, for they were skilful in making and using stone weapons,^ especially axes or hatchets and adzes. Their axes were made of a very hard stone, neatly sharpened and sometimes polished, and firmly fastened to a handle of wood. We find also that they made stone hammers, bone and flint knives, flint chisels and gouges, flint heads for arrows and spears ; but the stone-hatchd was their prin- cipal weapon. With it, they cut down trees — using 14 EARLY ENGLAND. the timber for canoes and oars, spades and other imple- ments, handles to spears and harpoons, as well as for building houses. With so many new weapons, the stone-hatchet man could kill ani- mals that the cave-man had no courage to STONE ARBOW-HEADS. SION'K-HATCHET. face. But what was of more importance, he began to be a farmer as well as a hunter, and grew wheat, barley, and millet to make his bread. Many rude hand-mills, Avith which the women ground the corn, have been discovered in various localities. Some of the more ingenious among them were able even to weave and knit ; and, in our museums,^ we may see pieces of linen cloth belonging to that early age, as well as distaffs ^ and whorls '^ used by the women in spinning the thread for making the cloth. In their hurying-places and houses we also find rude earthen- ware cups, generally of a black or brown colour. Several of their canoes have been found, some con- taining stone axes and harpoons. One was dug up near the Firth of Forth, with the skeleton of a whale close beside it. The stranorest things about the stone-hatchet men is that the tombs which they made for their chiefs and great men were built of such huge heavy stones that everybody wonders how they were raised up and con- veyed to the spot. Imagine an immense block, forty feet long, split from some rock, moved for miles across a rough country ; and then raised on end to be fixed in a deep hole in the ground, where, for thousands of years, THE STONE-HATCHET MEN. IS it has remained iipriglit as you now see it. It is even believed that they erected part, at least, of Stonehenge^ itself, one of the grandest " rude stone monuments " in the world. Many of their tombs have been found, some consisting of three large stones placed on edge beside each other, with a flat one on the top covering the whole. ^ When the dead chief or father of a tribe was laid within, his stone-hatchet, several spears, and sometimes a favourite dog or horse, were buried with him. His family and the rest of the tribe heaped earth and stones over the whole so as to form a large mound. Another curious point about the stone-age men is that, though so much stronger than the cave-men and superior in various ways, they had nothing of the taste or skill in drawing which we find in sketches of the reindeer and elephant left by the seal-hunters. 1. stone-weapons and implements have been fiiinrl in almost all parts of the world. 2. Museum. The first institution of this kind is said to have been founded about B.C. 280. in Al(>.Nandria. in Egypt. 3. Distaff, that is, tow-sfaJT—fhe staff to which the lium.h of flax or tmc is tied, and from which the thread is drawn in spinning. i. Whorl, the reel on which the thread is wound. 5. Stonehenge, ,\. S., 'hnnging-stones 'on S.alis- bury Plain, iiiWilts. consisted of two circles of vast stones. Of the outer ring seventeen are still upright. Within the inner circle, there is a large flat stone, which is often called the altar. It is usually believed to bo the remains of a Druidic.al temple. Some recent writers a.ssert that it was intended for astronomical purposes. Geoffrey of Monmouth s.ays tliat Aurelian Amhrosius erected it in memory of the 300 Britons who were m.assacred here by the Saxons in 4.S0. See page 31. 6. Called cromlechs. These are found in diffe- rent parts of Europe. In our country they are most numerous in Anglesey and other parts of Wales. FLINT ARROW-HEADS. i6 EARLY ENGLAND. THE BRONZE AGE. YOU have seen what changes were made by the use of stone-hatchets and other flint implements, but a still greater improvement took place when bronze ^ be- came common. Look at a penny-piece ! That is made of bronze — an alloy ^ or mixture of copper and tin ^ — which was most useful to man before he knew how to work iron. It is a curious fact that when the stone-age men were using their hatchets, there was plenty of tin and copper in this country untouched, because no one had yet shown them liow to make bronze. How did the men of those early times become acquainted with this valuable and useful substance ? Those who have read about King Solomon may re- member that, when he wished to build a great temple in Jerusalem, he was glad to be assisted by the people of Tyre^ who were more skilful than the Jews. Tyre was a large and wealthy city of Phoenicia^ a country bordering on Solomon's kingdom, and the Tyrians Avere then the best craftsmen and most enterprising mer- chants in the world. They founded a great colony at Carthage,^ in Africa, and another at Cadiz,' in Spain ; so that almost all the commerce of Europe was in their hands. Hearing that there was tin in some islands beyond Spain, the merchants of Tyre and Carthage sailed west, past the Pillars of Hercules,^ and then turning north along the coast, reached the ' Tin Islands.' ^ Thus the tin from our country went to make bronze for the Phoenicians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the early THE BRONZE AGE. 17 Italians, and others ; while at the same time it became known to the men of this land. The people of Tyre used much bronze to decorate their temples and public buildings. In the British Museum ^^ there are two handsome gates of bronze which were brought to this country from the ruins of Tyre. These gates are covered with groups of figures, which show how busy and important the city of Tyre was in those early days when Phoenicia was one of the fore- most of nations. Throughout England, innumerable tools, weapons, and ornaments of the bronze age have been found, and good specimens rs^-'v may be seen in S^^X-- "ri^r rrr -*^ ^ almost every t^ i^^'^ jLtv:.^^^^^ ^ -TJ^-^^^ .*'-'' museum. Most ^^mif^-i^^^^V^''''^ of the bronze li'^ 1 BRONZE KNIFK-BLADE. swords are so small that they seem intended for boys, which is a proof that the men of that time were small in size. Besides those found in gi'aves and houses, large numbers of bronze articles have sometimes been found together in one spot, evidently belonging to some mer- chant who had brought them for exchange, perhaps from Carthage or Cadiz. Thus, in a peat-bog near Parsonstown in Ireland, there was found in 1848 a collection of nearly a hundred bronze articles, including thirteen trumpets, twenty-nine spear-heads, thirty-one bells, three gouges, and several large vessels. "We cannot say exactly when bronze was first known in Britain, but men of science now conclude that it was used for not less than ten centuries before the introduc- tion of iron. a. 2) B 1 8 EARLY ENGLAND. Some workmen of tlie bronze age liave left us beauti- ful ornaments in amber, jet, and gold. In a Wiltshire grave was found a bronze dagger, the wooden handle of which is inlaid with thousands of minute gold pins. An amber dagger-pommel from Devon is also beautifully inlaid with gold. On the preceding page, you see a picture of one of their ornamented bronze knife-blades. It would take long to tell all the changes and im- provements which resulted from tlie use of bronze implements instead of stone ones. The people of the southern parts of the island were no longer mere savages. The arts of spinning and weaving were known ; and the dog, ox, sheep, goat, pig and the horse had been domes- ticated. Corn was grown, and was reaped with bronze sickles. Though unacquainted with the potter's wheel, they could make earthenware vessels of various kinds. Their huts were probably made of interlaced boughs smeared over with mud. Before the end of the bronze period, the small dark race of whom yon have read as stone-hatchet men (some- times called Iberians ^^) was replaced by quite a different people, more civilised than any that had yet settled in the land. Who were these new-comers ? 1. Bronze is fdrmotl of tin and copper in the liroportion of about 1 to 10. 'J. Alloy, a mixture of two or more metals. 'I'lie word is derived from the Latin ligo, to liiml. 3. In tliis country, copper and tin belong <;hiefly (tlic latter entirely) to Devon and Corn- wall. 4. Tyre was also famous for its beautiful clotli, Tyiiau piu'ple being a colour which could be V orn only by kings and emperors. 6. Phoenicia is the Greek name of tlie country, and means tlie M.and of the date palm.' The jieople themselves called it Clina, that is, ' Canaan,' the ' low land,' incontradis- tinction to Aram, the 'high land.' 6. Carthage was founded by a Tyrian colony, and soon rose to be tlio greatest commer- cial city of ancient times. The three great ' I'unie, wars ' with the Romans ended in its total destruction by order of the Koiiiau Sinati'. The ruins of the once great rival of Home are 10 miles north-east of Tunis. 7. Cadiz, now an important post on the south- west coast of Sjiain, near the moutli of the Gu.idnlquivir. A Phfenician colony settled there ivbout 1100 D.c. 8. Pillars of Hercules. The two great pro- montories on eitlier side of the Str.iits of Cibrallar, Mounts Calpe and Abyla (now (iibr.alt,ar and Spartel), were so called by the Greeks. Their story was that Hercules in his journey westward found his way barred by a huge rock, and that he rent it in twain, .allowing thu ocean to rush in. 9. Tin Islands, first mentioned by Herodotus THE COMlNa OF THE CELTS. »9 Under the name Cas^iterides, — now gene- rally believed to be the Scilly Isles, off I^mds End. 10. British Museum, the grand national col- lection of antiquities, Ac, in London, founded in IToC. ll. Iberians. The Latin historian. Tacitus, speaks of a tribe in Wales with swarthy skin and black curly hair, -whom he sup- posed to be a colony from a similar peopla in Spain called Iberi. CELTIC CORACLE OR CANOE. THE COMING OF THE CELTS. H E new warriors who camo pouring over to settle on the island, were the first of the Celtio invaders. There were four great conquests of the country : first, by the Celts, who called it Albion ; second, by the liomans, who called it Britain ; third, by our forefathers, who sailed over from North Germany and called the land England ; and fourth, by the A^rmans,^ who came over from France and de- feated the English, but allowed the country to be still called England. To be quite exhaustive, we should add the invasion by the Danes' — making in all Jive great conquests. The first conquest was a double invasion, because there were two Celtic races who came over from the Continent — the second more powerful than the first. The first Celts were taller than the ' Iberians ' of the bronze age, and had fair complexions and blue eyes. They seem to have called themselves Alhanach, the men of Albion ; and when driven before the stronger race of Celts who came next, many of them sailed westward to 20 EARLY ENGLAND. Ireland, and others took refuge in the northern moun- tains of Scotland. The second Celts were probably darker in complexion than those whom they supplanted. They belonged to a much larger section of the race, then spread over all the countries in the west of Europe. They called them- selves Cymry'^ but those who held this country were generally called Britons — a name by which they were known to the Komans. AN EARLY CELTIC STROXGHOLP. Now how did those British Celts become masters of the whole country, excepting the great forests that still covered some inland districts ? Their knowledge of iron and the working of metals gave them great power over the other islanders. They were not only better warriors, but excelled them in farming, hunting, and fishing ; built better houses, ships, and canoes ; and began to have so much trade with merchants from the THE COMING OF THE CELTS. Continent, that we find money of theirs which was coined by themselves, and used for buying and selling, before the Roman conquest. If you ask when bronze was first replaced by iron, the only answer is, that iron is thought to have been known in South Britain about four hundred years before the Romans came. During the time of the Celtic Britons, therefore, we find so great an advance made in industry and com- merce that it is quite a mistake to call them ' savages.' Tliey wore trousers, a tunic fastened with a belt, and occasionally a plaid "^ thrown over their shoulders. Some tribes, in the more rugged and woody parts, wore skins of animals — a dress better suited for tracking" the wild boar or red deer through the dense forests and pathless moors. In the northern districts, however, there still remained some barbarous tribes, whose warriors, like the South-Sea islanders ^ of the present day, prided them- selves on the blue tattoo-marks ^ which had been traced all over their arms, breasts, and faces. 1. Normans, the peopli> of Xui mandy— Morseinen from tli coast of Noiw ay, w lii> ii South Sea la- lands, the A'ast m>il- tituiles of islands SI ittered through- 1 ut the Pacific 1 1( ean. iI. Tattoo-marks, fig- urts made on tho skin by st.ains or punctures. The Bri- ns stiuied their bodies «ith the juice of a plant called wuad. 4 BRITISH SHIELD, ROMLO" BBITAIIS' OCEANUS .:- G A^L L I A THE COMING OF THE ROMANS. 23 THE Human eaule. //. THE BRITON AND THE ROMAN. THE COMING OF THE ROMANS. ^E have seen how the Celts had introduced many im- provements into the country, and also how they were strong enough to be- come masters of the land wherever they went. But a much stronger race of war- riors was now about to land — a race which the British Celts could not hope to resist successfully. The new-comers, now rowino- over in their galleys towards the white cliffs of Kent, are Bomans, the best soldiers in the world ; and the man at their head is Julim Cccsar,^ the conqueror of JULIUS CfiSAK. 24 EARLY ENGLAND. Gaul — a general so famous that many consider him supe- rior to Alexander the Great ' or Napoleon Bonaparte.^ Compared with the huge ' transports ' * of the present da}", the galleys ^ of those days were but poor affairs, for it took more than eighty to carry over the two Roman legions — a small army of about nine or ten thousand men. When, in ready response to the stirring appeal of the standard-bearer of the tenth legion, they leapt into the Avater, clad in sflisteninsf helmet and shininsj breastplate, one could see, as they formed in companies and drew their sharp and heavy swords, that they had been well drilled for the work of slaughter. Now why did the British Celts not defeat this little army ? They cer- tainly offered a desperate and well- nigh successful re- sistance to the land- ing of the Romans, and stoutly opposed their advance in- land ; but they were broken up into so many tribes, and their chiefs and kings had so many quarrels amongst themselves, that they scarcely ever remained long united. Still the Romans fovmd much more difficulty than they had expected in subduing the ' barbarians,' *" as they called them. One day, Caesar ordered a detachment " of his soldiers to go to a field which had been discovered at some dis- tance from the camp, and mow the corn which was growing there. When busy cutting the corn, the soldiers were surprised by a large number of British warriors ; and all would have been killed had not Ceesar come to their reseue with the rest of the legionaries.® THE COMING OF THE ROMANS. 25 The Komans were greatly dismayed by the strange war-chariots which some of the bravest Celts used. These terrible chariots had long sharp blades project- ing from the axle ; and, like the rush of a torrent, ELEPHANT CROSSING THE THAMES. they swept through the enemy's ranks — their paths marked by lines of dead and wounded. Caesar himself tells us of the wonderful skill shown by the British charioteers, dashing swiftly to and fro, 26 EARLY ENGLAND. quickly wlieeling in any direction, or urging* their horses at full speed down a hill or along a precipice. When a chariot had broken through the Roman ranks, one warrior would quickly leap down, sword in hand, and attack the enemy, while the driver turned the horses round and waited a little distance oft' to assist his com- panion to escape. Having lost some of his p-alleys, and findinQ^ it ab- solutely necessary to employ a larger army, Ca3sar only stayed a few days in Britain on his first visit. The following year he returned with five legions, including two thousand horse-soldiers ; and as they filled no less than eight hundred ofallevs, von can imagine the wonder of the Britons in Kent when they saw such a vast fleet sailing towards their coast. Caesar fought several battles in Kent, but continued his march inland till he came to the river Thames. The Celtic Britons united their forces under a chief called Cas- wallon, who was determined to hinder the Roman army from crossing the Thames. Before Caesar I'eached the river, the Britons had cut a large number of sharp-pointed oak stakes, and had fixed them in the bed of the river. That, however, did not stop the Romans. One account of their crossing is, that they had brought an elephant with them from the Continent. When it marched in front of the legions and stepped into the water, the simple Britons were struck with terror ; and, as the huge animal, with a tower on his back full of armed men, swam towards them, they took to flight, Caesar then marched towai;ds the place where St. Albans now is, for there the Britons had a town — that is, a cluster of round huts in the midst of a wood, defended by a deep ditch and a high bank of earth with a strong wooden fence on the top. These defences were soon THE COMING OF THE ROMANS. 27 forced, and Caswallon was taken prisoner and compelled to accept Caesar's terms. Caesar has given us a description of Britain as it was two thousand years ago — the first written account we have of our country. The people had skill as smiths and carpenters; they wore cloth of their own weaving ; they grew corn to sell to merchants from the Continent, and used to store their grain in dry caves and pits. They had herds of cattle, and their active little horses astonished the Romans as they dashed furiously amongst them with the dreaded wai'-chariot. The inland parts of Britain and many northern dis- tricts were very thinly peopled ; but Caesar himself tells us that in the south " the buildings were exceedingly numerous and tlie number of people countless." When Ciesar returned to Rome, he was honoured with a ' triumph ' — that is, a grand procession with his army through the principal streets ; and, in memory of Ins two visits to our country, he hung up in one of the great temples at Rome a shield studded with British pearls. But he " did not conquer Britain, he only showed it to the Romans." 1. Julius Caesar, the fn"e!itest of tlie Roman fri'iifiiils, born 100 B.C., first invaded I'.ritaiii 55 B.C. He had conquered Gaul and also subdued Spain. He was assas- sinated in the Senate House at Rome, n.c. 44. Tlie portrait at the head of the lesson is from a bust iu tlie British Museum. 2. Alexander the Great, the greatest con- queror the wurld has ever seen. Born B.C. 35 i. He founded the jireat Macedonian empire, which exteud.-d to Egypt on the south and to India on the east. Though nations," and third at Waterloo, when all Knrope was rising indignantly against hiui. He ended his days in exile at .si. Helena. 4. Transports, large vessels used for carryhig tro„ps. 5. Galleys, low flat-built vessels having sails and oars. G. Barbarians. The Greeks called any people whose language they could not luidi-r- staTid, ' barbaroi,' which was .simply an imitation (ba-ba, &c.) of the unintelligible lie had conquered so many countries, he i sounds which foreigners seemed to make was only 33 years of age at his death. j in speaking. ;. Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France, i 7. Detachment, a body of troops detached or the most famous conqueror of modern I separated from the main army for some times. He was born A. P. 1769 in Corsica. I special service. After many brilliant victories, he became I 8. Legionaries, the men of a Roman 'legion.' master of all Europe ; but at Last suffered A legion consisted of infantry, cavalry. three great defeats — first in Kussi.i, and engineers, and numbered from 3000 to second at Leipsic, the gie t 'battle of 6000 men. 2S EARLY ENGLAND. A DRUIDICAL SACRIFICE. THE DRUIDS. THE religion of the Britons, called Druidi. after liira. The Germans call their emperor A'niser, and the Russians call theirs Tsar or dar, both titles being modifications of the word ' Cx'sar.' 2. Christian era, the period dating from the birth of Christ. It was not generally adopted in England until the eighth century. 3. A.D., i.e., Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord. 4. Claudius reigned from A.D. 41 to 54. On his return from Britain he assumed the sur- nunu- of Britcmnicus. 5. Camulodunum (now Colchester), the capital of the Triiiobantes. 6. Caradoc (Latinised form, Caraclacus) was the son of Cnnobelin or Cymbeline, king of file Trinobantes. Tlie name Cunobelin or Cymbeline can still be seen on some coins wiiich were struck in his time- King Cymbeline is also to be remembered because Shakespeare wrote a drama upon him and his beautiful daughter Imogene. Car.actacu3 succeeded his father, but after COIN OF CUNOBELIN. the capture of his capital, Camulodunum, he retreated to Wales, and became king of the Silures. 7. Wallace, the national hero of Scotland, as Tell was of Switzerland. Wallace was 'the first to assert freedom as a national birth- right. His discovery of the military value of the stout peasant footman gave a death- blow to feudalism, and changed in the end the face of Europe.'— /. R. Green. 8. Brigantes, a British tribe who occupied the country north of the Humber. 9. The poetical extractsare taken from Bernard Biirtons poem, ' Caractaciis.' KOMA.V .SOLDIERS ON THE M.\ROH. 36 EARLY ENGLAND. BOADICEA, THE BRITISH QUEEN. FTER Caradoc was taken to Rome, other warlike tribes stoutly opposed the legions wherever they went. The emperor who succeeded Clau- dius was the wicked Nero/ the most cruel and tyranni- cal of all the emperors. In his time, Britain was gov- erned by Suetonius Pauliiins, who, after two years' severe fighting, was convinced that the Romans could never rule the country unless the Druids were exterminated. The headquarters of Druidism were in the island now called Anglesey. As it took several weeks for the Roman legions to march thither from Colchester and London, some of the more daring of the Britons re- solved to attack the Roman towns and kill all who were left behind. Several bands soon gathered on both sides of the Thames, eager to take revenge upon their harsh task- masters ; and who was at their head ? Was it some stern warrior like Caswallon who fought against Caesar, or Caradoc who was carried to Rome in chains ? No, it was a woman — the brave Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni.^ She had been cruelly treated by the Romans, and no one can wonder that she wished to see every legion cut to pieces or hurled back into the sea. Marching to Colchester^ the Britons not only laid it BOADICEA, THE BRITISH (21TEEN. t,7 waste with fire and sword, but slaughtered a whole legion which came to relieve the garrison. They then took and destroyed Londinium^ and soon after the important Roman town of Vcrulamium,^ killing all the inhabitants. So dreadful was their revenge, that wherever they went they made no prisoners and gave no quarter. By this time Suetonius had returned from the slaughter of the Druids in Wales, and was only waiting for fresh troops. When he had gathered about ten thousand men, he at once attacked the large British army. Boadicea rode along the British ranks and fiercely urged her warriors to crush their cruel rulers and to regain their liberty. One writer says she was of com- manding stature and appearance, and wore her long yellow hair streaming down over her shoulders ; another describes her dress as a many-coloured tunic fastened round the waist by a chain of gold, with a long mantle over it. But all the eloquence of Boadicea and her soldiers' bravery were in vain. Such an army was no match for the drilled legions of Rome. So terrible was the defeat of the Britons that, in despair, Boadicea took poison to avoid being made captive. It is possible that she may have done so from fear of being carried to Rome to be led through the streets as a captive queen. Queen Cleopatra ^ of Egypt had already poisoned herself to avoid that fate ; and long afterwards we know that Zenobia,^ a queen of Syria, was brought to Rome to be shown in triumph. After this great rising of the Britons, the Romans placed Druidism under a ban. Although trodden down, its influence worked in the hearts of the people. Much of the old power of the priests was now given to the bards and prophets, who were so long honoured by the Welsh. 38 EARLY ENGLAND. We can picture to ourselves a group of Britons in some dim forest glade, gathered round an aged singer, and listening to thrilling legend, solemn hymn, and heart-stirring ballad. Such meetings would no doubt terminate with, a trembling repetition of the old Druidical A BRITISH BAKU, proceedings at the oak or round the sacred fire. Traces of the old British worship even yet remain in the festivi- ties of May-day,' the fires of Midsummer Eve,^ the sports at Halloween,^ and the use of the mistletoe at Christmas. 1. Kero nigned from a.d. M to 09. He set fire to Konic, for whiih he blamed and per- secuted the Chriatiaiis. Paul was executed by his orders. 1!. Icenl, a British tribe who occupied Norfolk and the Fen district. Yenta Tcenorum was their capital. See map, p, 22 .". Londinium, London. 4. Verulamlum, St. Albans. fi. Cleopatra was made queen of F.fO'lit '>>' .Tulius I'.Tsar, when he took Alexandria. She paiMoned herself, so the story runs, by holding an asp to her breast. G. Zenobla, the noble qiieen of Palmyra or Baalbec. After the capture of their queen, the citizens slaughtered the Roman gar- rison ; upon which the emperor ordered the destruction of the city. Its splendid ruins, mostly of white marble, cover an area Larger than Rome. 7. May-day. The Druids used to light large linidircs before the dawn of the 1st of May to ii'lebrate the return of summer. 8 Midsummer-eve, the 25th of Jime. !i. Halloween, the 30th of October. BOADICEA. 39 BOADICEA. "XXTHEX tlie British warrior queeii. ^ ' Bleeding from the Roman rods,^ Sought, with an indignant niien,- Counsel of her country's Gods, Sage 2 beneath the spreading oak, Sat the Druid, huary chief ; Every burning word he spoke, Full of rage, and full of grief. " Princess ! if our aged eyes ^^'eep upon thy matcldess wrongs, 'Tis because resentment ties All the terrors of our tongues. " Rome shall perish ! write that word In the blood that she has spilt ; Perish, hopeless and abhorred, Deep in ruin as in guilt. " Rome, for empire far renowned, Tramples on a thousand states ; ^ Soon her pride shall kiss the ground — Hark ! the Goth ^ is at her gates ! " Other Romans shall arise, Heedless of a soldier's name ; Sounds, not arms, shall win the prize, Harmony ^ the path to fame. " Then the progeny that springs From the forests of our land, Armed with thunder, clad with wings. Shall a wider world command.'' 40 EARLY ENGLAND. " Eegions Caesar never knew Thy posterity shall sway,* Where his eagles never flew, None invincible as they." Such the bard's prophetic words, Pregnant with celestial fire. Bending as he swept the chords Of his sweet but awful lyre. She, with all a monarch's pride, Felt them in her bosom glow ; Rushed to battle, fought^ and died ; Dying, hurled them at the foe. " Ruffians, pitiless as proud. Heaven awards the vengeance due ; Empire is on us bestowed, Shame and ruin wait for you.'""* COWPER. 1. The husband of Boadicea, king of the Iceni, had lefthalf of his territory totheKomaus, and the other half to his two daughters. Tlie insatiable conquerors, however, seized the whole. WTien Boadicea bravely claimed justice for hei- daugliters, she was publicly scourged. ?. Mien, aspect or countenance. 3. Sage, wise. 4. The Roman Empire now included four great divisions or prefectures, (1) Italy, (2) Mace- donia and ailjoining countries, (3) the western part of Asia and northern part of Africa, and (41 Gaul, which also included Britain and Sp.nin. 5. Goth. In 395 Alaric, the great chief of the Visi-Goth.-i, overran Greece. In 403 he in- vaded Italy, and a few years later, took and sacked Rome itself. 6. Some of the greatest singers and composers were Italians. 7. Cowper puts in the mouth of the Druid a reference to the future greatness of the English navy. 8. A poetic allusion to Britain's vast colonial possessions. 9. By the year 475 the whole of the Western Empire h.ad been overrun by countles-s hordes of Goths and Vand.als. In thiit year a Gothic chief became king of Italy. Nearly a thousand years afterwanls (in 14531, the capture of Constantinople by the Turks swept away the last vestige of the once invincible Roman Empire. THE COMPLETION OF THE ROMAN CONQUEST. 41 THE COMPLETION OF THE ROMAN CONQUEST. HE Roman general who really made a durable con- quest in Britain was Julius Agricola, governor of the island from 78 to 84. He was great both as a leader in war and as a ruler in peace. He thoroughly sub- dued the southern part of the island, and drove to the northward the fiercer spirits who would never submit to a foreign yoke. AGKICOLA. T T • 1 • • i. Leading his army into the forests and mountains of Caledonia,^ he was victorious in eveiy encounter. The decisive battle was fought at a place which the historian calls Mons Grampius, and which is supposed to have been on the southern slope of the Grampians," in the south of Perthshire. Here Agricola gained a complete victory over thirty thousand Caledonians. Their leader, Gcdgacus, was slain on the field. In that battle, the North Britons used Avar-chariots like those of the South Britons ; and their broadswords and small round shields seem to have been like those used so long afterwards by the Scottish Highlanders. Agricola proved that Great Britain is an island, for his ships sailed as far north as the Orknej^s,^ and then southwards alonsf the west coast till thev turned Land's 42 EARLY ENGLAND. Eucl. The Romans, however, did not know much about geography. When some of Agricola's sailors reached Rome, they reported that at the Orkneys they had seen Tliulo ■* hid in eternal snow, and that the sea there was a sluggish stagnant mass, which would scarcely yield to the stroke of the oar, and was never agitated by winds or storms ! To keep back the defeated but unsubdued Caledonians, who, from their mountain fastnesses, made frequent in- roads into the Roman territory, Agricola built two strong earthen ramparts — one between the Tyne and the Solway Firth, the other from the Firth of I'orth to the Firth of Clyde. These walls were ten feet high, and had in front of them a ditch ten feet deep and fifteen feet broad. At regular intervals were strong camps and forts, connected by excellent roads. During seven years of almost constant warfare, Agricola did not neglect the more peaceful duties of the statesman. By his mildness and courtesy, he won the hearts of the Britons. He set up courts of law, governed with justice, and put an end to the tyranny of the Roman tax-gatherers. He also provided for the education of the sons of the chiefs, and encouraged the Britons to plead their cases before him. Those who, before he came, had despised the Roman language, were now ambitious to become eloquent ; Roman books were eagerly read, and the Roman toga was worn by many. This wise ruler also introduced the comforts of civi- lised life. Roman dwellings, luxurious baths, beautiful theatres, spacious amphitheatres^ and splendid temples made even servitude pleasant. In this way, the Britons of the South became contented with their chains and patient in slavery. THE COMPLETION OF THE ROMAN CONQUEST. 43 The noble Agricola was recalled to Eonie by the Emperor, who was jealous of his victories as a general and his fame as a governor. A triumph was decreed by the Roman senate, but Agricola never received the honour, and spent the rest of his life in retirement and tranquillity. 1. Caledonia, the Latinised form of tlie Celtic name for Britain north of the Forth and Clyde. The native name was Albyn, by which name it is still called by the High- landers. '.'. Grampians, a range of lofty mountains streteUing across Scotland from Aberdeen to .\rgyle. 0. Orkneys, the ' islands of whales," from orca, a whale, and innis, and ty — the former of which is the Celtic, and the latter the Norse term for 'island.' They lie to the north of Scotland, and are divided from it by the boisterous Pentland Firth. 4. Thnle. The Romans used the phrase 'Ultima 7'hule' to denote the most northerly land they knew. Some think that the tenu referred to Iceland, others to the Faroe Islands. In our text it denotes the Ork- neys. 0. Amphitheatre, a theatre of circular form, with rows of .seats all round. In them were performed the sports in which the Romans delighted, combats between gla- diators and wild beasts. &c. The most famous amphitheatre was that known as the Coliseum in Rome ; it was built by Vespasian and his son Titus. THE COMPLETION OF THE ROMAN CONQUEST!— cojitiimed. AFTER the departure of Agricola, the work he had begun -^ was for some time steadily carried on. Numerous towns'^ were built in various parts of the province. All of these had a certain degree of self-government, and the chief of them were models of Rome itself — the citizens had all the rights of Romans, and were free to make their own laws. Among these free towns were Jjondon, St. Albans, Coldicster, Ccmibridge, Lincoln, and York in the east ; Bath, Gloucester, and Chester in the west. Splendid roads, aqueducts,^ and public works of all kinds were constructed throughout the country. Gradually, however, the incursions of the Caledonians became more and more frequent. The walls of Agricola foi'med an insufficient protection against these fiery foes. 44 EARLY ENGLAND. CALKDOXIAXd WATCHING THK ROMANS. THE COMPLETION OF THE ROMAN CONQUEST. 45 ^^ Accordingly, the Emperor Hadrian ^ visited Britain, and threw up a wall from the Tyne to the Solway. This was parallel to Agricola's earthwork, and exactly like it. The two together formed a strong double rampart. Nineteen years later, in the reign of Antonine, the Roman general, LolUus Urhicus, built a similar earth- work to strengthen Agricola's second line from the Forth to the Clyde. Still the fierce mountaineers of the north broke over these defences again and again. Sometimes the Romans drove them back ; at other times indolent governors were glad to purchase peace from the hardy "^ liill-men. At last the Emperor Severus, who had formerly been a governor of Britain, resolved to subdue them completely. He made great preparations ; but the moment he crossed the wall of Hadrian he was confronted with terrible dangers and difficulties. So great was the labour of mak- mg roads and building bridges, cutting down forests, draining marshes and throwing causeways aci'oss them, that fifty thousand Romans are said to have perished. On his return from Caledonia, the old Emperor built a very strong wall of stone across the island from New- castle to Carlisle. It was twelve feet high and sixty miles long, and so solid and well built that much of it remains to this day. Along the wall were military stations or camps, connected by a line of over eighty forts and three hundred and thirtv watch-towers, f^OMAN SQLpi£.BS 46 EARLY ENGLAND. Before this great rampart and its forts were quite finished, the stern Severus heard that the Caledonians had again risen up against the Romans. He hurried north, with a terrible vow that he would clear every tribe and man of them from off the face of the earth ; ^ but on reaching the " "^ "^'' Roman town of Kho- racivm^ which was then the capital of the north, old age and illness overcame the iron-willed Roman, and he died there."' Severus' son and successor, anxious to return to Rome, made peace with the Caledonians, and formally gave up to tliem the whole country north of his father's wall. After this, no attempt was made to penetrate North Britain, and thus the career of Roman conquest was brought to a close. 1. The Roman towns in Britain were of four classrs, U) ilunicipia. -Hiiich were native towns received into tlie empire, witli tlie full privileges of Romnn cities ; |2) Colonice.. or towns si;ttled by retired veterans and otlier Roman colonists. The other two classes were of less importance, and the inhabitants liad not the full rights of Roman citizens. 2 Aqueducts, channels for roinviiing itnler fiom one iiluce to another. We now use jiipes, but the Romans erected splendid strui!tiires bridging the valli'ys. ". Hadrian, emperor from a.d. 117 to 138. 4. Eboracum, now York, one of the two 'mnni- lijii.^' in Britain. Tlie other was Veruln- 7niinn, now St. Albans. 5. Severus di.d in the year 'JU. A PIRATE WEARS THE PURPLE. 47 A PIRATE WEARS THE PURPLE. HEN the Romans ruled Britain, tliey had much trouble with hordes of sav- age pirates, generally known as Saxons.^ These hardy sea- I'overs came across the Ger- man Ocean, and Avere, in fact, 1 he forerunners of the Saxons, Angles, and Danes, who aftei'- wards became masters of the whole country, as we shall read presently. cARArsius. To put down those early pirates, the Romans equipped a great fleet, giving the chief command to an officer styled the ' Count of the Saxon Shore.' Some think that the name ' Saxon Shore ' meant not only a coast attacked by the Saxons, but a region already peopled by them. If this be true, the Saxon invasion and occupation began long before the Romans left the island. The first ' Count of the Saxon Shore ' was a daring and skilful sailor called Carausius. It is said he had been a pirate himself; but however that may be, he not only defeated all the German freebooters and enriched himself and his seamen with much plunder, but became so powerful that orders were sent from Rome to put him to death. But so popular had Carausius become by his daring and success, that the legions in Britain flocked round him and hailed him as emperor. Thus it was that a man of unknown l)ii-th came to 48 EARLY ENGLAND. wear in Britain the imperial diadem ^ and purple robe ! ^ He compelled the Roman emperors to grant him the sole government of Britain with the adjacent coast of Gaul, and to acknowledge his title of emperor. His reign ought to be remembered were it only for the navy that he built. Under him, for the first time, this country was mistress of all the North Sea and the Channel, as she was afterwards to become under Alfred the Great ^ in early English times, under Blake ^ in Puritan times, and under Nelson " in modern times. The ships of Carausius were manned by pirates, with whom he had formerly fought. In our museums, we have many coins of gold, silver, and bronze, which were struck by Carausius,' the pirate- emperor, and some of them show that he was a man of commanding presence. He reigned for seven years, and was then assassinated at York by Allectus, who himself then became emperor of Britain. But three years later he was defeated and slain by Constantius, the father of Constantine the Great. Thus Britain once more became a province of Rome. 1. Saxon, said to be derived from seaxe, a short sword. It denoted a league of kindred tribes livlnji between tlie moutli of the Khine and Jutland. 2. Diadem, a head-band or fillet worn by the oniiieriirs. The word is often loosely used for a frown. S. Purple robe. The use of the purpls dye for the loga, or Roman mantle, was restricted to the empen'r and his household. 4. Alfred the Great, see page 95. 5. Blake. In the time of Cromwell. Klake, one of the greatest of English admirals, re- peatedly defeated the Dutch, and thus gained for England the mastery of the sea. fi. Nelson, the greatest of English admirals. V.y his splendid victories he finally established England's supremacy at se.a. He was mortally wounded in the victorious battls of Trafalgar in 1805. 7. Carausius was emperor of Britain from A.D. 289 to 297. LAST CENTURY OF ROMAN RULE. 49 LAST CENTURY OF ROMAN RULE. CONSTANTINE THE CRKAT. ARAUSIUS was emperor in Britain only, but we now turn to a much greater man wlio ruled the mighty Roman Empire, and through whom mostof Europe became Chris- tian. So many countries did Constantine govern, that he thouorht Rome was too far west to be the capital of his empire ; he therefore built a splendid town near the Black Sea, and called it Constan- tinople,^ after his own name. Constantine " ought to be named in every history of England, because it was at York, where his father died, that he was first hailed as Roman emperor ; and also because wo are told that he was born in Britain, and that his mother, Helen, was of British blood. After the great Constantine became a Christian, all the emperors who followed him, except one. were also Christians. But Christianity liad been introduced into Britain before the time of Constantine. A distinguished father of the Church," writing in the time of the Emperor Severus, says that even those places in Britain which had defied the Roman arms had yielded to the frentle gospel of Christ. As early as the year 304, Celtic Christians had to suffer cruel persecution, and the first British martyr * died rather than deny the faith of Jesus. (H. 2.) D 50 EARLY ENGLAND. Afterwards we shall find that Christianity was brought over from Rome to the Saxons ; but it is very interesting to know that, long before that time, the gospel had been received not only by the civilised Britons in the south, but by the ruder tribes of the north. After the death of Constantine the Great, the Roman Empire became weak, especially in the west of Europe ; and the Britons began to be much troubled both by the Caledonians from the north and by Saxon pirates from the south and east. The Caledonians were now called Picts and Attacots,^ and generally brought with them some of the Scots, an Irish race as savage and terrible as themselves. The great Roman wall was of little use when so many of the legions had been withdrawn; and, in the year 367, the Picts and Scots not only came as far south as London, but pillaged and burnt it, carrying off the citizens as slaves. Although this invasion was driven back and the wall of Severus repaired, the unhappy Britons were never allowed to enjoy any rest. At last, in 382, the Roman general, Maximus (said to be of British descent), assumed the title of emperor, and seized the western provinces of the empire. So many thousands of the Celtic youth were enrolled in his legions that the country was left ((uite undefended, and the Picts and Scots ruthlessly plundered the miserable and effeminate people of the south. The Roman Empire decayed still more and more, and the legions were recalled from Britain and other pro- vinces to defend Italy against the fierce Goths ^ and other barbarians now pouring in from the north. At last Rome itself was sacked, and the Emperor LAST CENTURY OF ROMAN RULE. 51 Honorius recalled all tlie Roman soldiers then left in Britain. In the year 4 1 1 , he formally released the Britons from their allegiance ; but, seven years later, he sent over a legion to aid the Britons once more against their cruel northern foes. Finally, in the year 426, the Emperor Valcntinian III. withdrew all the troops, and the Britons were then left to fight for themselves. The struggle was hopeless. The Picts had been for some time in close alliance with kindred tribes from Ireland who were called Scots ; to these were now added the pirates of the German Ocean known as " Saxons." The civilised Britons were quite unable to struggle against enemies so warlike and so strong. A most pathetic picture of the nation's suffering is presented in a sorrowful letter, called the " Groans of the Britons," ' which was sent to Rome twenty years after the legions had departed for ever. This removal of the Roman legion- aries was an important step towards the greatest event in our history — the change of Britain into England.** 1. Constantinople, the city of Constantine, now the capital of the Turkish Empire. It stands at the southern entrance of a nar- row channel leading from the Sea of Mar- mora to the Black Sea. It was made tlie capital of the Roman Empire by Con- stantine in 330, and fell into the hands of the Turks in 1453. 2. Constantino was sole emperor, 324 to 337. 3. Tertullian. 4. First British martyr, Alban, who was put to death in 304 by the Romans, durini; the jicrsecution of the Christians by Diocle- tian. The Roman tovra of Verulamium w us renamed St. Albans after him. 5. Picts and Attacots. The Picts were the native Gaelic race of North Britain. The Scots were a kindred tribe from Ireland who seltlfd in the valley of the Clyde. It is a moot point who the Attacots were; the word seems to have the same meaning as ' Briton,' that is, spotted, stained, or painted. Some think it was applied to tlie mixed race living near the Roman wall* G. Goths. At this time the Goths occupied the centre and north-east of Euroiie. They were divided into two great branches — the eastern branch called the Austro-Goths and the western the Visi-Goths. See note 5, I..-ige JU. 7. ' The Groans of the Britons.' The follow- ing is a translation of part of the letter as given by Gildas— ' To .Etius, Thrice Consul. The Groans of the Britons:— The Biirbarians drive us to the sea, and the sea drives ui back to the Barbarians ; so that between the two we must be either slaughtered or drowned.' He tells us that the British nation was ctit np by the Picts and Scots like sheep by butchers, and that the coim- try became the residence of wild animals. His account seems to be exaggerated : the Britons really armed themselves, and m.ade as brave a defence as they could. 8. Macaulay says that of the western provinces tli.at obeyed the Ca?sars, Britain w.as the last that was conquered, and the first th.at was thrown away. KOUTES OF GERMAfillC IT^VADERS Jutes > „ Sazons Angles . THE COMING OF THE ENGLISH. 53 ///. HO IV BRITAIN BECAME ENGLAND. THE COMING OF THE ENGLISH. AFTER four centuries of Roman rule, the inhabi- tants of Britain still remained Celtic, both in race and in language. The nation was thus the same, but its spirit was changed. The valour of the early Celts had declined under the imperious rule of 1 he Romans ; and the Britons, accustomed to look to their conquerors for protection, had no thought of self- defence. Thousands of British youth were indeed trained to arms, but only to be "drafted off to fight the enemies of the empire in distant lands. While the veterans of Rome remained in camp and garrison from the Thames to the Tyne, the Britons dwelt secure, unconscious of their helplessness — the moment the legionaries were withdrawn, the country was defence- less, and seemed to invite invasion. We have. already spoken of the coming of the Celts, and tlieii- subjection by the Romans. The time had now come when a Gothic or Germanic^ race was to seize the greater part of the country. These new-comers were the true forefathers of the English people, their language was the parent of our present tongue, and their home gave its name to the country. Who were these " English " invaders ? Where was the true " Old England ? " These early English were the bold and hardy pirates of the German Ocean. Tall, strong-limbed, fair-haired 54 EARLY ENGLAND. and blue-eyed, they vied with each other in fierceness, cruelty, and daring. Three tribes dwelling between the North Sea and the Baltic — the Jutes, Saxons, and Angles — sent forth these savage sea-rovers. The Jutes occupied the peninsula of Jutland ; "~ the Angles lived farther south, in a district still called Angeln^ or Engeln ; the Saxons came from the coast between the Elbe*^ and the Weser.^ Our old English forefathers came, therefore, from the land between the Elbe and the Skager-rack ; ** and it is there that we must look for the birthplace of our language, the cradle of our liberties, and the early home of our race. To the Britons and Romans all these marauders were known as Saxu7is. Savage and ignorant as they were, they had always been freemen, they had never yielded to the Roman yoke. On land, each man tilled his own plot, and had a voice in the government of his tribe. They obeyed chosen chiefs, but had no king. Roman writers dwell especially on their respect for -women and love for their families and kindred. At sea, they were fierce rovers, intent on slaughter and plunder, regardless of storm or tempest. At first they had small flat-bottomed boats, fit only for creeping from point to point along the coast. Before the Romans left, they scoured the sea in large galleys and swept along the shores of Britain and Gaul, spreading terror and destruction wherever they appeared. They used steel swords, spears, and battle-axes ; but their favourite weapon was a heavy iron club or mace. No wonder they w-ere the dread of every coast. A Roman poet says, " Fierce and cunning, the sea is their school of war and the storm their friend ; they are sea-wolves that live by plunder." THE JUTES. 55 Such were the people who began to pour into the country after the Romans left. 1. Gothic nr Germanic, also called Teutonic : the Teutonic race is now spread over the middle, north-western, and some of the western countries of Europe, and forms the predominant people in Germany, Nor- way. Sweden, Denmark, Holland. Belgium, and Great ISrifciin. 2 Jutland, the only European peninsula that extends northwards. 3. Angeln, in the province of Sclileswig-Hol- stein. between Flensburg and the Schlei Fiord. The Continental language which most resembles our own is the Frisian : ' Good butter and good cheese Is good English and good Friese.' 4. The Elbe rises in Bohemia and flows tlirough the middle of Germany into tlie North .Sea. Si.xty miles above its mouth is the famous port of Hamburg, the great em- porium of the foreign trade of Germany. 5. The Weser drains the district between the Elbe and the Rhine, and enters the North Sea forty miles above Bremen. 6. Skager-Rack, between Jutland and Norway. THE JUTES. WE shall first tell of the coming of the Jutes. The Britons, you will remember, were unable to cope with their enemies — Picts, Scots, and "Saxon" pirates. The British king, Vortigern, thought it would be a wise plan to employ the sea-warriors against his other foes. He therefore asked two Jutish leaders, Hcngist ^ and Horsaf to help him in driving back his northern enemies. They agreed, and came over with three ships, carrying (it is said) l6oo men. The first landing-place was in the IsU of Thanct, which was at that time separated from the rest of Britain by a wide channel. Guarding the passage, was the great Roman castle of Ricliborouyh^^ the ruins of which still form one of the grandest monuments in Britain. The Britons and their new auxiliaries at once marched ao-ainst the Picts and Scots, who were unable to resist the valour of the Jutes and were driven back to the north. Vortigern and his people congratulated them- selves on having secured the help of so warlike a race, 56 EARLY ENGLAND, and rewarded tlie service of their allies with a gift of the Isle of Thanet.* So easy had been the victory, and so pleasant was the new home of the Jutes, that their bretln'en on the THE STANDAUD OF THE WHITE HORSE, THE JUTISH ENSIGN. Continent hurried over to join them. One writer says that five thousand men came in seventeen ships. Thanet was too small to hold so many warriors ; and, having no fear of the Britons, they determined to seek a quarrel. THE JUTES. 57 They soon found an excuse ; and, declaring war, they crossed the Medway/ and invaded Kent. One battle was fought at Aylesfurd, on the Medway, where Horsa was killed. The Britons were, however, defeated and driven from the coast region. In a few years the in- vaders had possession of the " castles of the shore " — Dover, ^ Zymne, and Bicliborough. The decisive struggle took place at the village of Crayford ; ^ the Britons were routed and compelled "to leave Kentland and flee to Lundenhurg ." '^ Every victory was followed by the most cruel acts. Neither rank, age, nor sex was spared. The clergy were slain at the very altars, and the people were slaughtered in thousands. Some of the Britons were allowed to live, that they might become the slaves of the conquerors. Others fled to their kinsmen in the north-west of Gaul, and gave that region the name of Brittany.^ British writers ffive a different account of the con- quest of Kent, and thoy explain the success of the Jutes by two incidents — the love of Vortigern for the daughter of Hengist, and a treacherous massacre of the Britisli leaders. " After the defeat of the Picts," they say, " Hengist Iniilt for liimself a castle in Lincolnshire, and invited Vortigern to a grand banquet there. At the feast, there appeared before the dazzled eyes of the king a vision of beauty, fair as the angels in Paradise. Rowcna, the golden-haired daughter of Hengist, stood before him. Filling a golden goblet with wine, she touched it with her lips, and wished him health. Then, kneel- ing at his feet, she presented the cup to the royal guest. At once he loved her, and desired to make her his 58 EARLY ENGLAND. VORTIGEHN AND KOWENA. THE SAXONS. 59 queen. Hengist consented, and received from the dot- ing Vortigern the Isle of Thanet." The same Avriter says that Vortigern, with three hundred of his chiefs, Avent, in a friendly spirit, to a feast given by Hengist at Stonehenge.^*' That all at once, Hengist called out, " Take your daggers ! " and that, upon this signal the whole of the unsuspecting British nobles were cruelly slaughtered. Vortigern's life was spared, but he was detained in close captivity. Whetlier these stories be true or not, it is certain the Britons were completely driven out of Kent. The conquerors brought over their families, and settled in their new land with all their old customs and laws. What had been a Celtic province became, in people, language, and government, an English state. 1. Hengist means a horse. The fijriire of a White Horse was the stantlani of the Jutes. 2. Horsa means a mare. ^^. Richborough. See Map, page 22. 4. Isle of Thanet, i.e., the ' Islam! of Nobles.' 5. Medway, that is, 'miildle water,' the river rnnniiig through the middle of (the old kiugdom of) Kent. 6. Dover, the nearest town in England to the Continent ; only twenty-one miles from Calais. 7. Crayford, in the north-west of Kent, on the road from London to Chatham. 8. Lundenburg, i.e., London. 9. Brittany, thenorth-west province of France. 10. Stonehenge, see note 5, page 15. THE SAXONS. THE next part in this great English invasion was the landing on the south coast of numerous wild crews of the Saxon ^ race. The word " Saxon'' had long been known to the Britons, who gave that name to all the Germanic invaders. To this day, those who speak the Welsh and Gaelic " languages call the English people S((cson and Sassenach, i.e., Saxon. Four settlements of this tribe established themselves in England. One colony '^ was formed in ihe south, and was called South Saxonv or Sussex ; a second 6o EARLY ENGLAND. family conquered tlie country further west, and founded West Saxony or Wessex ; similarly, a third group settled in East Saxony or Essex ; while a subdivision of this last band fovmd a home in Middle Saxony or Middlesex. The South Saxons. — The South Saxons had their headquarters at a strong fort which they called, after one of their leaders, ^' Cissa-ceaster" "^ i.e., " Cissas camp or castle,'' now Chichester. The struggle with the Jutes of Kent had roused the Britons from the long lethargy^ of the Roman rule. They fought with determined courage. WALLS OF PEVENSKY CASTLE. Although the Saxons were reinforced again and again, it took them eighteen j^ears to drive back the brave defenders. At last but one castle remained to the Britons — a strong place near Pevensey,*' with huge Boman walls so thick and massive that they can be seen there to this very day. This the Saxons took, after a long and desperate struggle. Their chief, Ella, then became king of Sussex ; and his followers extended themselves over the whole of that county, and the greater part of Surrey. THE SAXONS. 6i The West Saxons. — The West Saxons were led by Ccrdic, and they were so jDowerful that they founded a very large kingdom. They first conquered Hampshire, but afterwards they occupied the country as far north as the Thames, and as far west as Cornwall. No other body of invaders met with so desperate a resistance. From the very day of their landing, they had to fight for every inch of the land. Cerdic called in the aid of his kinsmen in Sussex and Kent, as well as of those in Germany. Battle after battle was fought, and the Bri- tons slowly but surely were compelled to re- treat to the north and west. Finally, a deter- mined band was sur- rounded and besieged at Mount Had on, now Badbury, near Bath. A brave British prince, Arthur, came to the rescue, gained a great victory over the Saxons, and stopped their further progress in that direction. About three hundred years after the great battle of Mount Badon, a descendant of the leader of the West KUIN.S OK ARTHUK's CASTLE AT TINTAGEL, ON THK WEST COAST OK CORNWALL. 62 EARLY ENGLAND. Saxons became king of all England. Hence we should remember Cerdic's name ; because all the English sove- reigns since, even to the time of Queen Victoria, have been his descendants. Thus the royal house of Eng- land is the oldest in Europe. The Bast and the Middle Saxons. — The East Saxons had for their stronghold the town of Colchester,' which had been founded by the Romans ; and the i\Iiddle Saxons had a still larger city for their capital, a town which after- wards grew to be the largest in the whole world. ^ These two bands had not nearly so hard a contest as the others. The east coast had long been exposed to attack from the sea, and the powerful kingdom of Kent was so close at hand that these invaders met with little resist- ance. Their rulers were usually under-kiugs, paying tribute to their more powerful neighbours. Thus, after more than seventy years of constant war- fare, and in spite of the heroic resistance of the Britons, the Saxons had not merely conquered the south-eastern portion of the island, but had re-peopled the land with a race Enoflish in blood and in lanfjuaore. classifies tlie family Gaeli 1. Sazons, soc note 1. pasp 48. 5. Letliargy, inactivity ; eoimecteil with Lethe, 2. Welsh and Gaelic, tlu; two branches of tlie the Greek woril fur furgetfulness. The Celtic race in Britain. Max Muller thus , ancients applied the name Lethe to ' the river of oblivion '— • Whereof who drinks, Forthwith his former state and being forjiets— Forgets both Joy and grief, pleasure and pain.' C. Pevensey, called Andcridii. At this time a vast forest covered this part of the country in which iW Britons sought refuge after the capture of Anderida. The Old Saxon Cliro- nicle says, • Ella and Cissa beset Anderida and slew all the people therein, so tliat afterwards there was not a Briton left Pevensey is on the coast of Sussex, a few f Scotland. < Ircl.ind. 1 Isle of Mf Cymric C W:,le ) Briltiiiv. I Co 3. Colony. The Roman ' colonia was simply a town inhabited by Roman citizens, gene- rally veteran soldiers. The Saxon colonies, like those of later timns, were settlements ' miles north-west of Beachy Head. spread over entire districts. The termination ceaster Is fV'om the Latin cnstra. a camp. (.'f. CirencMfc)-, Man- chestir. Umcaster, &c. 7. Colchester, on the river C'olne W Essex. Tlie name combines the two Roman words, colonia, a colony, and contra, a camp. 8. London. THE STORY OF KING ARTHUR. 63 KING ARTHl THE STORY OF. KING ARTHUR. WHO has not heard some of the ballads and tales of King Arthur and the ' Knights of the Round Table ? ' He and his knights were patterns of honour, truth, and loyalty ; and in many a battle under his flag, the ' Red Dragon,' they beat down their savage foes. His chief victory Avas at Mount Badon ; and after the fatal fight of Camlan,^ he was buried in the famous Abbey of Glastonbury " in Somerset. The Welsh poets, however, say that King Arthur 64 EARLY ENGLAND. never died, but ' passed away ' in a weird boat con- ducted by three dark- robed queens. But perhaps you would like to know the story as the poets tell it/' King Arthur was the noblest of the kinofs of Britain, and he had twelve knights who fought with him against his enemies, the savage Saxons. So true and brave were these knights, that no man could say which was be- fore another in honour. Therefore in his fair palace at Camelot * King Arthur had a round table, at which the twelve knights sat as equals — none being above an- other. At the close of the disastrous day of battle, when all his knights had fallen about their lord,the king called his nephew. Sir Bedivere, when they were alone, and gave him his magical sword, Ex- calibur, saying — " I am so deeply smitten through tlie liehii, That without help I cannot Last till morn. THE STORY OF KING ARTHUR. 65 Thou therefore take my brand Excalibur, Which was my pride : for thou rememberest how In those old days, one summer noon, an arm Eose up from out the bosom of the lake. Holding the sword — and how I rowed across And took it, and have worn it like a king. And, wheresoever I am sung or told In aftertime, this also shall be known. But now delay not ; take Excalibur And fling him far into tlie middle mere : Watch what thou seest, and lightly bring me word." ^ So much did the knight admire the wonderful sword, with its beautiful hilt set in jewels, that he at first wished to hide it ; but, when Arthur repeated his com- mand, he closed his eyes lest its beauty should tempt him, and with both hands swung the mighty sword and flung it far into the lake. When he looked after it, he saw an arm rise from the water, catch the wondrous hilt, and after waving the sword three times, draw it down out of sight under the lake. Sir Bedivere returned to Arthur and told what he had seen. " Sir King, I closed mine eyelids, lest the gems Should blind my purpose, for I never saw, Nor shall see, here or elsewhere, till I die, Not though I live three lives of mortal men, So great a miracle as yonder hilt. Then with both hands I flung him, wheeling him; But when I looked again behold an arm, That caught him by the liilt and brandished him Three times, and drew him under in the mere." " Then my end is near," said the king ; "■ carry me down to the water's edge." So the knight with many tears bore Arthur to the lake ; and lo ! in the moonlight he now saw, like a dream, (11 2.) E 66 EARLY ENGLAND. a dusky barge waiting on the shore, with three queens and their attendants standing on the deck, all dressed in black robes and hoods. The knight placed the king in the mysterious boat, and stood in awe and silence while it slowly left the shore, ' till the hull looked one black dot against the verge of dawn.' So King Arthur passed away. 1. Camlan, in Cornwall. 'J. Glastonbury, live miles soutli-west of Wells. 3. Spenser and Tennyson have both ninde Ai'tluir the hero of great poems. Even Milton at one time proposed to make liis great poem on Arthur. The Liter poets all drew from Sir Thomas Mallory's ' Morte iVArthur.' among the earliest of tlie books printed by Ca.xton. i. Camelot or Cadbury, about twenty-si-vcn miles south of Bath. 5. Tlie poetical e.xtracts are from Tennyson's ' Passing of Arthur,' in the ' Idylls of the King.' THE ANGLES OF THE EAST AND NORTH. w E have seen how the Jutes formed an English king- dom in Kent, and how the Saxons had other kingdoms in the south ; but the third race, the Angles (or Engles), was more numerous than all the others together. They occupied so much of South Britain that the whole land was called ' Angle-land ' or ' England,' and the common speech of the various tribes came to be known as ' English.' The terrible struggle of the Britons with the West Saxons had not yet terminated when these new-comers burst like a torrent on the east coast of the island. The wearied but determined Britons fought with stubborn valour, and encountered the invaders in many battles. Their bravery was of no avail ; the struggle was hopeless. Band after band of fresh foemen poured in from the sea, and the defenders were driven to the west. The con- querors, settling in the new laud, founded the Kingdom THE ANGLES OF THE EAST AND NORTH. 67 of East Angl'ia, witli its two great divisions of Northfolk and Southfolk} While this conquest was going on, another swarm of Angles, under Ida the ' Flame-bearer,' landed at Flam- boroughHead in Yorkshire, with fifty 'keels, '^ one hundred years after Hengist settled in Kent with only three. He built a large stronghold, which he made his capital, and named, after his wife Bebba, Bebbansburgh. It is ■^k\> „„> BAMBOROUGH CASTLE. now called Bamborough Castle," and is still standing on that rocky coast, a grand and beautiful object : — " King Ida's turrets, huge and square, From their tall rocks look firmly down, And on the swelling ocean frown." The conquered Britons felt so deeply this sign of their humiliation that they called it " the shame of Bernicia." Ida's conquest was called Bemicia, and ex- tended from the Tees'* to the Firth of Forth. 68 EARLY ENGLAND. About tliirteen years after the coining of the ' Fhime- bearer,' another horde of Angles (under Mia, of whom we read in the story of the coming of Christianity to the Saxons) landed in the region further south, and formed the kingdom of Dcira, in the district now called Yorkshire. These two northern settlements w^ere united in the beginning of the seventh century by Etltclfrltlh. This king was Ida's grandson. He married the daughter of Ella ; and, having driven into exile her infant brother Edwin, the rightful heir, he seized Deira and joined it to Bernicia. The strong kingdom thus formed was calh^d Northumbria. Ethelfrith also extended his domi- nions in all directions. He took Chester from the Britons, and destroyed a great monastery at Bangor!' Do not forget the exiled prince Edwin,^ of whom you shall soon read as becoming one of the greatest of our early kings. The defeated race were now altogether confined to the western part of the island. They no longer formed one kingdom. Both at the Severn and in the south of Lancashire, their enemies had pushed in between them like a wedge, so that the territory still left to the Britons was broken up into three separate states. Away in the south-west was the district of West Wales, which we call Cornwall.'' Separated from this by Wessex was a central kingdom named North Wales, now simply termed Wales. Finally, there remained the northern region of Cumbria or Strathclyde,^ which included West- moreland, Cumberland, and the basin of the river Clyde. As many as eleven kingdoms of Jutes, Angles, and Saxons, have been named. Only seven remained dis- tinct for any length of time ; and, accordingly, this is THE ANGLES OF THE EAST AND NORTH. 69 usually known as the period of the Hcptarcliy^ or seven kingdoms. If you look at the map you will see that the Angles had by far the largest part of the whole country ; and that is why this land came to be called England, and its people English. Now, the different tribes of invaders had been neigh- bours and kinsmen in their old homes in the north of Germany ; and they were almost the same in their THE SAXON KINGDOMS. 1. Kent. (1) 2. Sussex. (2) 3. Essex. '\ ^ Essex. (3) 4. Middlesex. ) 5. Wessex. (4) 6. Beniicia. \ - Northumbria. (5] 7. Deira. ) S. East Anglia. (6) 9. Middle Anglia. N 10. Southumbria. VMcrcia. (7) 11. Mercia. ) manners, habits, language, and religion. It was quite natural, then, that they should soon tend to become one nation in their new country. Wessex, indeed, was for a long time too busy in fighting with the Britons in the west to have much intercourse with the other kingdoms of the Heptarchy. Kent, however, soon established a kind of superiority over Middlesex, Essex, and East 70 EARLY ENGLAND. Anglia. In tlie north, too, Nortliumbria claimed supre- macy over the whole of Mercia. We may mention that Nortliumbria soon became the most powerful of the kingdoms, and they all acknow- ledged its king as their head. The northern district was not, however, allowed to keep the chief place, for it was humiliated by Mercia, which was for a time the leading kingdom. Finally, Wessex came to the front, and established a superiority over all the others. Its ruler became " king of all England."' We should never forget this national consolidation. The great nations of the Continent remained for long after this broken up into separate parts, and each of them had to suffer many hardships before its different sections became united. Much of Britain's greatness and prosperity resulted from the eai'ly union of its various tribes into one strong nation, speaking the same language and subject to the same law. Thus the country's history clearly teaches the old lesson that '' unity is strength." 1. Northfolk and Southfolk, umv Norfolk aiiJ Suffolk. 'J. Keels, or bouts. Cf. the old Scottish song— ' 'Woi'l may the keel row.' 3. Bamborough Castle, fifteen miles south of Kerwick. 4. Tees. The river Tees forms the boundary between the counties of Durham and York. 5. Bangor, in Flintshire. There is another r.aiigor in Carnai-vonshire, on the shores of the Menai Strait. 6. The story of Edwin is given in pp. 7SS;!. 7. Cornwall, from the Bi itish corn, a horn, and Saxon tcealh, strange or foreiJ,^l ; the name thus means the ' Cornish Welsh.' 8. Strathclyde, the valley of the Clyde. Cf. Strathearn, &c. 9. Heptarchy, from the GreekAe;):(-\')3 conquered much of the \^::^}^:^^y '^'\ysi"''h^ Welsh country to the west 'Vr^^fc--*^" '''•^kk^£>' of the Severn, and, to keep sh-vkr penny of offa, kino of mercia. the Welsh back, he made a huge dyke, which can yet l;e partly seen. This earthen rampart was a hundred miles long, and stretched from the Dee to the mouth of the Severn. Portions may still be traced, and to this day it is called by the Welsh ' Clawdd Offa.' This brilliant king was respected by Charles the Great, the famous Emperor of the Franks, who sent him a Hungarian sword, a baldric,^ and two silken cloaks. 86 EARLY ENGLAND. Offa made some good laws, and encom-aged learning ; but towards the end of liis long reign he was guilty of a base crime. Ethelbert, the young king of the East Angles, had agreed with Offa that he should marry Offa's daughter, and when he came to Mercia to fetch away his bride, he was murdered in the court of the palace at Tamworth.^" The cruel Mercian instantly took possession of Ethelbert's kingdom. Four years later (796), the terrible Offa died and was buried at Bedford. 1. Heathfleld, now Hatfield, in the West Riding of York, near tlie river Don. 2. Edwin was killed in G13. 3. lona, or.Icolmkill, one of the Inner Hebrides, famous for the ruins of the Cathedral, &i;., founded by St. Columba in SilS. M.any of the old Pictish, Irish, Norwegian, and even Freni-h kings were buried here. 4. St. Columba (520 to 597). He w;is an Iiiili njissioiiary, who, having founded aniimas- tery at loua, devoted himself to the eun- version of the Picts. His successors carried the gospel even to Iceland. 5. Lindisfame, hence called Holy Island, off the coast of Northumberland, fi. Maserfield, now Oswestry, in Shropshire. 7. Leeds, on the Aire in the West Hiding of York : now the great centre of the woollen manufacture. S. Lichfield, near the Tame, a tributary of the Trent, in Staffordshire. !l. Baldric, a sword-belt. II). Tamworth, on the Tame in Staffordshire. HOW WESSEX BECAME SUPREME. OU have seen how powerful Northumbria became under Edwin, and then how Mer- cia became still more so under tlie heathen Penda and Ofi'a the Terrible ; but soon a third kingdom was to prove itself stronger than them both. The Angles of the north and middle country were soon to be ruled by the Saxon kings of Wessex ; till at last, when those three joined together under one principal kingdoms were HOW WESSEX BECAME SUPREME. 87 Over-lord, the whole English people became one nation. We must therefore find out how Wessex rose to be the first kingdom in all the land, and then see what came of it. The settlers in Wessex had a much longer contest with the Britons than any of the other tribes of Angles or Saxons had. Although often victorious, they were again and again defeated, and it was only after years of con- stant struggle that their kingdom was firmly established. In this way, the West Saxons became the most martial of the Saxon tribes, and this prepared them to take the first place among the English states. The good King" Ina. — Amidst many warlike and successful kings, the West Saxons had two who may be called 'Great.' The first of these was Ini^ or Ina, who was not only a skilful warrior but a wise and prudent ruler. He took Somerset from the Britons, and founded the town of Taunton? It is remarkable that he was the first of the Saxon conquerors who treated the vanquished people with justice and humanity. He allowed all of them to retain their property, encouraged marriages between them and the Saxons, and ruled all his subjects alike with strict impartiality. The laws of his countrv, before his time roug-h and unwritten, he gathered into a ' Code,' long known as the ' Laws of the good King Ina.' Indeed, his long reign of thirty-seven years was a glorious one, and Wessex became very prosperous. Like his great descendant Alfred, he was anxious to encourage learning and learned men. He took one curious way of doing this. He asked every head of a household who could afford it to send him a penny.^ These pennies he sent to Rome to build a school for the English. Many of the 88 EARLY ENGLAND. people went there to study, and tliis did much to elevate the Saxons. The wise government of this great king still further prepared Wessex for its grand position as the sovereign state of all England — the very heart of what is now so great an empire. Wessex continued to be strong ; for, twenty- seven years after the death of Ina, the West Saxons gained a splendid victory over the king of Mercia on the banks of the Windrush.^ This battle marks the actual beginning of the ascendency of Wessex. Ina built a famous monastery at Glastonbury, on the site of the old British abbey where King Arthur was said to have been buried. Egbert, the Bright-eyed. — But the greatest king of the blood of Cerdic the founder of the West Saxons, was Eijhcrt^ who attained to such power that he was called Bretwalda, or powerful king. Like Edwin of Northumbria, he had been driven into exile by a usurper, and the hardships of his youth well fitted him to become a strong prince. For fifteen years he lived in France, where he won the regard of the illustrious Charlemagne. In the service of this great prince, he was trained not only in the art of war, but in the principles of enliglitened government. He was taught also that a people to be strong must be educated, and that the smaller states of a country should all be joined under one ruler. These lessons he sought to carry out, when, upon the death of the usurper, he was called to the throne of Wessex. He first established his supremacy over the Britons' SILVER PENNY OF" EGBERT. HOW WESSEX BECAME SUPREME. 89 both of Cornwall and of Wales. The king of Mercia, who had subdued East Anglia, Essex, and Kent, now invaded Wessex, but was completely defeated in the gfreat battle of Ellanchin^ The tributary kingdoms were then easily conquered, and in 827 Mercia acknowledged Egbert as Over-lord, Northumbria, which was in a state of anarchy, at once yielded without a struggle. Both of these great states were allowed to choose their own kings, but they had to pay a regular tribute to Wessex. Finally, Egbert defeated the Britons of Cornwall (along with the terrible Danes, of whom you will read in the next lesson) in the great battle of Hcngestcsdun or Heng- sfon;'' and two years later he captured Chester, the capital of Gwynedd, the British kingdom of North Wales. Eg- bert was thus lord of all the English race ; not only the Saxons of the south, but the Angles of the east and the north also acknowledged his supremacy. Every state admitted his power as Over-lord, fi-om the German Ocean on the east to the Irish Sea on the west, and from the Roman walls of Pevensey on the south coast to the Castle of Edinburgh in the far north. The ' Golden Dragon ' of the West Saxons was now everv- where triumphant. Although Egbert kept his old title ' King of the West Saxons,' yet he should be regarded as ' King of the Eng- lish; '^ and in many histories he is called the '.Fivst King of all Enofland.' 1. Ina ruled from 6S8 to 725. 2. Taunton on the Tone in Somerset. 3. Tlie money collected in this way was called Rom-feoh or Rome-scot, aftenvards imposed npon all England under the name of Peter's Fence ; finally abolished in the reign of Henry VIII. in 1534. 4. Windrush, a tributary of the Thames. 5. Egbert came to the throne of Wesse-x in SOO. fi. EUandnn, near Wilton in Wiltshire. 7. Hengston, in Cornwall, near the Tamar. 8. Egbert, in a few of his charti'rs, did style him- self 'l!ex Anglorum,' that is, King of the Angles, or English. 90 EARLY ENGLAND. THE DANES. DURING King Egbert's time, and for several reigns afterwards, the English people were terribly plagued by hosts of sea-rovers who sailed over from Norway and Denmark. These Danes were quite as savage as the early forefathers of the English themselves had ever been, and wherever they landed they killed and plun- dered without mercy. The figure-heads of their ships were generally monsters with open mouths, and the sterns were carved like a dragon's tail. They seemed to delight in tempests, as if the ocean was their home, and to have no other pursuit or object than bloodshed, robbery, and destruction. Such was the ferocity of their mad daring, that the very sight of their standard, tlie ' Black Raven,' caused horror on every coast. So numerous were those savage pirates, that when one crew was defeated in one place, another larger one was certain to land at another place. East Anglia, Yorkshire, all Northumbria, were soon at their mercy. THE DANES. 91 DANISH SHIPS. 92 EARLY ENGLAND In Norfolk their daring leaders/ the two sons of Lodbrog (whose story you will find in the next section), ordered Edmund, the king of that country, to worship Odin, and abandon Christ. When he refused to do so, they tied him to a tree and shot him to death with arrows. That is why the last king of the East Angles is called a martyr, and the beautiful abbey of St. Edmunds^ took its name from him. There are many churches in Norfolk and Suffolk where they show pictures of the good king pierced by the arrows. Those fierce Northmen delighted to plunder, burn, and destroy every church and abbey they came to, one ]'eason being that they found more gold, silver, and other valuable booty, in them than anywhere else. They thought nothing of murdering priests at the altar, or tossing little children on the points of their spears ; but they sometimes spared the men and women, in order to sell them as slaves. Regnar Lodbrog-. — One of the most daring of the pirate Danes was King Lodbrog, and his name is better known because he was also a poet, and wrote a famous death-song, which he is said to have sung with terrible glee when undergoing torments. Lodbrog sailed the German Ocean with his pirate crew till one day a storm scattered his fleet, and his ship was wrecked on the rocky shores of Northumbria. His enemies were delighted to have the wild pirate at their mercy ; and Ella,^ the English king, ordered him to be thrown, bound hand and foot, into a pit full of snakes, so that he might be stung to death. It is said that Lodbrog never quailed for an instant, but met his cruel fate with disdainful laughter as he loudly sang his death- son2 : — THE DANES. . 93 " We fought with our swords ! " In my boyhood we fought towards the east ; we made torrents of blood flow to gorge the beasts of prey and the yellow-footed binl. There the liard steel sounded on the lofty helmets. The whole sea was blood. The crow waded in the gore of the slain ! "We fought with our swords ! " In my twentieth year we lifted our spears on high, and every- where we spread our renown. Eight barons we overcame in the east, and plentifully we feasted the eagle by that slaughter. Tlie hot stream of wounds ran into the ocean. The army fell before us. " We fought with our swords ! " In more than fifty battles have I raised my flag. When a youth I learned to make my sword red, and my hope was that no king would be more renowned. The goddesses of death will soon, call to me ! Death is no sorrow ! " We fought with our swords ! " Now I end my song ! The goddesses call me away, they whom Odin has sent from his hall to meet me. Seated aloft, I shall joyfully drink ale with the goddesses of death ! The hours of my life are run out. With a smile shall I die ! " Such are some of tlie twenty-nine verses of Lodbrog's (leatli-song, which was often sung by the Danes ; and many of those who hinded in the North said they had come to take revenge on the English for his death. However that may be, we know that they terribly liarassed France, Scotland, and Ireland, and became masters of all the north, middle, and east of England. In fact, it was not till the reign of Egbert's grandson, Alfred, that our country really had peace with those Northmen, and it is of that famous reign that we must now tell the story. I. Bury St. Edmunds, in Suffolk, on the Lark, I 2. Ella was the under-king of Northumbria. 11 ti ibutiiry of the Great Ouse. > SAXO:^ ET^GLAITD ALFRED AS ATHELING OR PRINCE. 95 IV. ALFRED THE GREAT AND HIS FAMILY. ALFRED AS ATHELING ^ OR PRINCE. LFRED THE GREAT is not only the best of all the kings who have reigned in England, but he is also one of the best men that have ever appeared in any country. His whole life was spent for the good of his people ; and so wisely and successfully did he rule, that the English race will for ever be proud of him. " Tlie Great by right divine thou only art ! Fair star, that crowns tlie front of England's morn, Royal with Nature's royalty inborn, And English to the very heart of heart ! " * It was in the face of many difficulties and dangers that King Alfred had to work and strive. Without great strength of mind, without long-continued patience, without unwearied energy, he could never have done so much for his country and his people. Alfred had three brothers older than himself, who one after another wore the crown ; and during their reigns, as well as in that of his father, Ethelwulf, " the Francis T. Palgrave, ' Visions ef England.' 96 EARLY ENGLAND. English people were terribly afflicted by tlie Danes. You remember liow these Norsemen plagued King Egbert, Alfred's grandfather ; since that time, the wild sea-rovers had crossed the German Ocean in such num- bers that the English had been forced to give up a great part of the land to them. The mild and indolent disposition of Alfred's father unfitted him for the duties of a king in such troublous times. In his reign, the Danes for the first time ven- tured to %ointer in England. He thought more of Alfred than of any of his other sons, and wished him to be his successor. But the Witan decided that Ethelbald,'^ the eldest son, should succeed. His reign is destitute of any great event. The short reign of Ethelbert^ was marked by an inroad of Danes, who destroyed Winchester, but were finally driven off by the men of Hampshire and Berk- shire. When Ethelred,^ the third son of Ethelwulf, came to the throne, the chief leaders of the invaders were the sons of Regnar Lodbrog. By the year 871, the ' heathens ' (as the Danes were then called) had become masters of East Anglia, of Northumbria, and nearly all Mercia, so that not much had been left for the English. In the beginning of that year, the Danes made a fierce attempt to seize Wessex also. In no less than nine battles the two royal brothers, Ethelred and Alfred, led the English against the invaders. One battle was fought at Reading^ on the Thames, where the English had the worst of it ; but, four days afterwards, they had their revenge upon the Danes in the famous battle of Ashdmvn^ in the same county. The Danes had two armies, one commanded by two KING ALFRED'S BOYHOOD. 97 kings, and the other by five earls. King Ethelred pre- pared to meet the first ; while his brother, Alfred the Atheling, went to attack the second. The Danish earls ^ had drawn up their army on a height, but Alfred ad- vanced against the invaders with such courage that they were totally defeated and their five leaders slain. Alfred's brother was also successful, and killed one of the Norse kings with his own hand. The brave Ethelred did not long survive this battle ; he died at Easter^ in that same year (some say from a wound received in fighting the Danes), and left his troubled kingdom to Alfred, then only twenty-two years of age. 1. Atheling, or Etheliiig. was a title of the king's son, especially if burn during his father's reign. The word Athel, ' noble,' is also seen in Athelney, yEthelstan, i&c, and the (patronymic) ending -ing ia seen in the word ' king ' or kyning. 2. EthelwTilf, «36-8o7. 3. Ethelbald, 857-860. 4. Ethelbert, 8(i0-86ti. 5 Ethelred, 8r)0-871. 6. Reading, in Berkshire, at the Junction of the Keniict and the Thames. Alfred was born at Wantage, in the same county, A.D. 849. 7. Ashdown ('the hill of the ash"), near Itead- ing, in Berks. The success of the English in this battle is said to have been due to tlie impetuous valuur of Alfred, who with half of the army defeated the Danes while his brother Ethelred was praying for victory. 8. Earls. The title 'eiirl,' given to the great rulers of the country, was derived from the Danish jarl. About the year 1020 it was applied to the Sa.xon eaUlormen, or chief magistrates. The Saxons seem to have confused the Danish jarl with their own term eorl, which simply means 'noble.' 9. Easter, the first Sunday after Good Friday" commemorates the resurrection of Christ. The word is derived from Eostre, the Saxon goddess of spring. KING ALFRED'S BOYHOOD. THOUGH Alfreds youth had been spent in constant war with the savage Danes, yet he had enjoyed many pleasant days in his boyhood. When he was only four or five years of age, his father. King Ethelwulf, sent him on a journey to Rome. Two years afterwards, they went there together to pay their respects to the Pope, and pray at the great altar of St. Peter. Now, on such a journey, the young prince must have (H. 2.) Q 9& EARLY ENGLAND. learned much ; and, as they went through France and Italy, crossing mountains and rivers, his father no doubt pointed out to him many marvels that he would never forget. Not only did he see Rome, with its beautiful buildings, but he also visited the court of the king of the Franks,^ which was then much more splendid than anything to be seen in England. Alfred and his father stayed about a year in Rome. ALFKED AND THE QUEEN. On their way home, they were for some time entertained by Charles the Bald,^ king of France, who gave his daughter Judith to be King Ethelwulfs second wife. Thus the little Prince Alfred came to take part in a grand marriage ceremony, which took place in the Cathedral ^ of Rheims,'* one of the most beautiful build- ing's in France. KING ALFRED'S BOYHOOD. 99 Queen Judith was afterwards married to the Count of Flanders,^ and so became an ancestor of Matilda of Flanders, the wife of William the Conqueror. Bishop Asser,^ who was a dear friend of Alfred the Great, tells us many stories about him. When Alfred was a little boy, he learned to read sooner than his big brothers ; and this is how the good bishop accounts for it. They were all fond of hearing the old ballads and English songs, as boys still are ; and one day the queen showed the boys a book full of such poems, all beauti- fully illuminated ^ with pictures and borders in red, and blue, and gold. The three princes were full of admira- tion for the book, and the queen said, " Whoever shall first be able to read me one of those pretty songs will have the book for a prize ! " No doubt the queen knew very well who would gain the prize. It was Alfred, the youngest of the brothers, who afterwards became a very good scholar, as you shall see presently. The other brothers knew a great deal more about horses, hawks, and hounds, about crossbows, spears, and swords, than they did of reading and writing, poems and histories. Alfred, however, though so fond of books, thoroughly enjoyed all outdoor sports. We are told by Bishop Asser that he was very expert in feats of strength and activity, and was " excellent cunning ^ in all hunting." " He was often seen among the foremost in the chase, tracking the wild boar or wild bull, shooting the red- deer on the moors of Devon, or the eagle as he flew over the woods of Berkshire, or spearing the salmon which then abounded in the Thames. That Alfred was a brave and skilful soldier was abundantly proved in the nine battles which were EARLY ENGLAND. fought ill tlie last year of the reign of his brother Ethelred. 1. Franks. The Franks were a Oermaii tribe who first invaded Gaul in 256, and esta- blished the kingdom in 418. From them the modern name ' France ' is derived, and perhaps also the English adjective •frank," meaning 'free.' Cf. the word ' slave ' from ' Sclav.' 2. Charles the Bald, one of the three grandsons of Charlemagne. His brother Louis be- came Emperor of Germany, and his eldest brother Lothaire received Italy. .". Cathedral, liter.ally a bishop's seat; applied to the principal church in every diocese. 4. Rheims was formerly the ecclesiastical metro- polis of France ; in its cathedral the French monarchs .were crowned. The city stands on a plain between the Rlarne and the Aisne, two tributaries of the Seine, about ninety miles to the east of Paris. 5. Flanders, at that time an independent state ruled by its Count, is now included in Belgium and France. C. Asser, a Welshman, educated at St. David's, a man of great genius ; chief work, ' The Life and Acts of Alfred.' 7. Illuminated. Before the introduction of printing, manuscripts were often orn.a- inented with beautifully-painted borders and pictures ; such an MS. is said to be ' illuminated.' 8. 'Excellent cunning.' That is, 'exceeding clever." The word 'cunning' formerly meant ' knowing ' or ' skilful." 9. Alfred afterwards wrote a book upon hawking ; and, at one time, himself in- structed his hawkers, falconers, and hound- trainers. KING ALFRED BRAVE IN TROUBLE. FROM liis boyhood till he became a man, Alfred had almost constantly fought against the Danes ; and when his brother died, and he was made king, the English in Wessex were still in the thick of the struggle. That same year there was a great battle at Wilton^ near the cathedral town of Salisbury in Wiltshire. Here Alfred defeated the Danes, and forced them to make peace with him. After this, for three or four years, the young king and his people were left undisturbed by the terrible invaders. The Danes, however, were not idle elsewhere ; many more of them settled in Northumbria and Scotland, as well as in Mercia and East Anglia. During that time of peace. King Alfred accomplished a great work — he built the first Enfilish fi.cet. He said, ' Long ago the English were as good sailors as these hateful Danes ; why should we not build some ships and fight them on sea ? ' This was a splendid thought ; and KING ALFRED BRAVE IN TROUBLE. loi to the present day its fleet has been the safeguard of England. So the English built and equipped some ships ; and when the Danes sailed to the coast of Dorset, thinking to land there just as they had landed and plundered in a hundred other places, they were attacked by Alfred's little fleet and driven back with the loss of one of their ships. Therefore, when you hear of battles gained at sea by Englishmen, remember that the first naval victory was won by Alfred the Great. So was the second. Next time, the Danes, in much greater force, marched southward under their king, Guthrum. After taking oaths upon the ' holy golden bracelet ' ^ that they would leave Alfred's kingdom, they made a cowardly attack upon him as he was riding with a small force to Winchester.^ Alfred, however, escaped, and speedily pursued the false Danes to Exeter,* where they had gone expecting to be joined by another army of invaders sailing round from the Thames. Now was the moment for the new English fleet ; helped by a storm which arose, Alfred's ships bravely met the Danish vessels at the mouth of the river Exe, and in a short time the second English victory at sea was gallantly won. Peace was made, and the Danes gave King Alfred the pledges that he asked for, and then withdrew as far as Gloucester.^ The King in the Swineherd's Hut. — King Alfred's troubles were not yet over. His false enemies were as cunning as they were cruel. Having been joined by some new Danes who had sailed up the Severn to Glou- cester, the perfidious Guthrum suddenly fell upon King Alfred in mid-winter. The English were surprised, so that they had no time to prepare for battle ; and the EARLY ENGLAND. fierce Danes were soon masters of the wliole of Wessex. Some of the English took refuge in Wales, others in the Isle of Wight,'' and a few sailed to the Continent. What did their kinu: do ? ALFRED AND THE CAKES. King Alfred did not lose heart. In Somerset, there were then many woods and mai'shes ; and ho resolved to KING ALFRED BRAVE IN TROUBLE. 103 hide tliere with a few of his chief friends, so as to be safe from the Danes. There, in the midst of an extensive moorland, they chose an island, on which they hastily built a fort. And the place to this day, although it no longer has any marshes about it, is called Atlielncy^ which means ' Princes' Island.' Bishop Asser tells us that King Alfred at one time was in such danger from the ' heathens,' ^ that he dis- guised himself as a poor countryman, and went to live with a swineherd. This man had formerly fought in the king's army against the Danes, and Alfred and his friends knew that he could be trusted, but they warned him not to tell his wife. So one day, when Alfred had come into the hut, the swineherd's wife told him to watch some cakes of bread which she had placed on the hearth. She then went to attend to some of her other duties ; and Alfred, being busy with some of his hunting gear,^ or perhaps thinking of something more important than cakes, forgot all about the honest woman's orders. When she came back, she found her bread smoking and burning, while her guest sat quietly by as if nothing were the matter ! No need to tell you how she scolded him. She said he was an idle, stupid fellow ; reminding him that he would be glad enough to eat the cakes, although he hadn't sense enough to turn them. " This unlucky woman," says the good Bishop (who may often have heard the story told by his royal master himself), " little thought she was talking to the King Alfred." Wilton was at one time the chief town of Wesscx, and gave it3 name to the tounty of Wilts. This was said by the Danes to be the most solemn and binding of all oaUia. Alfred, however, made the ' truce-breakers ' swear also upon some Christian relics. Winchester, in Hampsliiro, the ' Venta Eel- garum ' of the Romans, was the capital of England up to the year 1156. It stands I04 EARLY ENGLAND. in the fertile valley of the Itohen, about eleven miles north of Southampton. 4. Exeter, a cathedral city on the river Exe in Devonshire. 5. Gloucester, the 'Glevum'of the Romans, on the left hank of the Severn. 6. Isle of Wight, the • Garden of England," is extremely beautiful and fertile. It is separated from the mainland by the Solent and Spitbead. Osborne, near Cowes, is a favourite residence of the Queen. 7. Athelney, in Somersetshire, at the Junction of the Tone and the Parret. The affix aj means island, and is also used in many other names of islands, such as Sheppey (Sheep's Island), Orkney (Whales' IslaiKl), Ac. 8. Heathen, literally 'dwellers in the heath.' The synonymous VFord, Pagan, literally jneans ' dwellers in the villages: The out- lying villages and districts were the last to embrace Christianity. 9. Gear, literally that which has been pre})arcU for any purjjosc, here means weapons. A PRINCE LIVING AS A PEASANT. TWTETHINKS it were a happy life, ■^ To be no better than a homely swain, i To sit upon a hill as I do noAV, To carve out dials ^ quaintly, point by point, Thereby to see the minutes how they run. How many make the hour full complete. How many hours bring about the day. How many days will finish up the year, How many years a mortal man may live. So minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years, Passed over to the end they are created. Would bring white hairs to a quiet grave. Ah, what a life were this ; how sweet, how lovely ! Gives not the hawthorn-bush a sweeter shade To shepherds looking on their silly^ sheep, Than doth a rich-embroidered canopy* To kings, that fear their subjects' treachery ! 1. Swain, literally a servant, hibourcr. 'J. Dials, sun-dials were used for marking the time (if the day before the invention of watches. 3. Silly, innocent, happy, harmless. 4. Canopy, literally a curtain for keeping off gnats or mosciuitoes ; here means a cover- ing. KING ALFRED CONQUERS THE DANES. loS KING ALFRED CONQUERS THE DANES, AND FOUNDS A GREAT KINGDOM. KING ALFRED, when in his fort at Athelney, was quietly preparing to make another attempt to drive the Danes from Wessex; and in a few months, he ordered all his thanes to gather their men rotund his standard. At that moment, the glad news was brought to Athel- ney that the English in Devon had risen against an army of Danes who had just landed there, and had killed eight hundred and forty of them, including their chief, HuHba. The messenger from Devon also told Alfred that the Danish 'Raven' had been taken, and this also was good news to many of the English. This ' Raven ' was a famous banner, said to have magical ^ powers, -,-■■,. -1 , T • Alfrkd's Jewel, found in the Isle of Atliel- ancl believea to brmg ney. The inscription means, 'Alfred had victory to the Danes, mewrougi.. because it had been worked by the hands of the famous King Lodbrog's daughters. Lodbrog,^ as you may re- member, was the fierce Danish chief who was put to death by the English of Northumbria ; and whose cruel io6 EARLY ENGLAND. fate the Danes often said they were avenging, when they plundered and slaughtered the English. So King Alfred and his thanes, and all the brave Englishmen they could find, gathered together at 'Eg- bert's Stone ' near the forest of Selwood.^ Many who met there did not know it was the king who had summoned them ; and it is said there was great joy in the army at the sight of Alfred, whom some had thought to be dead. They were eager to fight again under their king, and marched with such readiness and quickness, that Gutli- rum and his people were taken by surprise and completely beaten. Thus the English gained the famous battle of Ethamlunc} It was fought only a short distance from the place of Alfred's defeat five months before. Whoever goes to see the field where this great victoiy of Alfred's was won will also see a figure of a huge white horse on the side of a hill near the spot, which some say was cut in remembrance of this battle. After this defeat. King Guthrum agreed to lead all the Danes out of Wessex, and also to become a Christian. This agreement between Alfred and Guthrum is called the treaty of Wedmo7'e,^ because Alfred had a palace there, and his Witan^ (or Wise Men) met him there to settle what part of England the Danes should keep to themselves. Alfred was now to rule over all Wessex, London, and the south of Mercia. The river Lea,^ on the east of London, was to be the boundary between Guthrum's kingdom and the English. Another boundary was a line going from the Lea north-west towards Chester by the old Koman way called Watling Street^ King- Alfred Founds a Great King-dom.— Now that the Danes no lonsrer dared to molest the Engflish of Wessex, King Alfred began to improve his kingdom. KING ALFRED CONQUERS THE DANES. 107 with sucli wisdom and energy that he may well be called one of the founders of the nation's greatness. He now built a much stronger fleet. We are told that his ships were twice the size of those of the Danes, and sailed more swiftly and steadily. One writer boasts that they had sixty oars or more ; from which you can see that the war-ships at that time were still somewhat like the galleys in which Cassar's soldiers had rowed over from Gaul more than nine hundred years earlier. Having secured peace, as the principal condition for the happiness of a free people, Alfred resolved to have good government everywhere. There had been a code of laws in Wessex drawn up by Ina^ and another by Offa^^ of Mercia ; but Alfred made a new code, choosing what was best from those two and adding new laws of his own. But what was more important, King Alfred saw that the law was kept and respected ; and, for that pur- pose, he chose the best men he could find to assist him in the work of government and in administering justice. Another proof of the wisdom of this great king was his strong desire that every youth "abide at his book^^ till he can well understand English writing." That this desire was earnest, we know from his efforts to secure for his people the great boon of education, so that all might read and think for themselves. He not only founded several schools (one of which he constantly visited to see how the work of teaching progressed), but he wrote many books for his people in their own lan- guage. King Alfred may thus be called the great founder of our English literature, which is thus older than that of the French or Germans. This great king was untiring in his efforts to acquire knowledge and convey it to his people. He sent an io8 EARLY ENGLAND. intelligent wliale-fislier to visit the north of Russia, and an English sailor to the Baltic, so that he might know and write about the geography of northern Europe. He sent an embassy ^'^ to Jerusalem, and received from the Patriarch ^^ several presents of great value ; and another mission even to Hindustan, whence some splendid jewels and other costly things were brought him. He invited many scholars from France and other countries to help him in writing books and teaching his people. But since we have called him the founder of our written language, perhaps you will ask what books he wrote. One was a history and geography of the world ; another was a history of England ; ^^ a third was a book on philosophy, which was such a favourite with King Alfred that we are told he always carried it about with him. The following lesson is taken from that book, and may serve as a speci- men of the English written by Alfred the Great."^^ Some of the old-fashioned words have been changed. 1. Magical, i.e., supernatural; derived from the Magi, the wise men of Persia. 2. Lodbrog, see page 91. 3. Selwood Forest is in Wilts. 4. Ethandune, supposed to be Edington in Devon. 6. Wedmore, in Somerset. 6. The Witan were the ' wise men whom all the early English kings consulted. They always had great power, and sometimes took the crown from their king to put another in his place. The Witena-gemote, or Wise Mens Meeting, as their council or assembly was called, was therefore a sort of Parliament. At first all freemen might attend, but afterwards the Witan were mainly the nobles, and, by and by, the bishops and abbots. 7. Lea, one of the northern tributaries of the Thames : enters the Thames at Blackwall ; divides Middlesex from Essex. 8. Watling Street, see map, page 22. Robert of Gloucester thus gives the chief Roman roads— 'Fram the South into the North takith Enn-inge-strete. ' Fram the East into the West goeth Ikeneld-strete. ' Fram Dover into Chestre goeth Wat- lyng-strete. 'Fram the South-west to North-est into Englondes ende. ' Fosse, men callith thilke wey that by mony town doth wend." 9. Ina of Wessex, see page 87. 111. Offa of Mercia, see page 85. 11. Book. The word book is derived from the Saxon boc, Danish bog, the beech-tree; the Sa.\ons first wrote on beecheu boards. Cf. paper flora pajyyncs, an Egyptian reed. 12. Embassy, a mission from one court to an- other. 13. Patriarch. One of the five great bishops of the early Christian Church was the Patri- ,arch of Jerus,alem. 14. Alfred's History and Geography of the World was mostly a translation of the ' History of the World on Christian Principles,' by Orosius. His History of England wa3 translated from Bede's ' History of the Anglo-Saxon Church. His f.avourite book of philosophy he translated from ' Consola- tions of Philosophy,' by Boethius. 15. The vigour of Alfred's style and the freshness of his thoughts prove him to have been the greatest of Saxon writers. THE STORY OF ORPHEUS. 109 KINO ALFRED WRITING THK STORY OF ORPHEUS. THE STORY OF ORPHEUS.^ BY KING ALFRED. ONCE there was a harper in the country hight^ Thrace,^ which was in Greece. His name was Orpheus. He had a very excellent wife who was called Eurydice. Then began men to say of this harper that he could harp so that the wood moved and that the stones stirred themselves at the sound, and wild beasts would run no EARLY ENGLAND, tliereto and stand as if tliey were tame ; so still that, though men or hounds pursued them, they shunned them not. Then men said that the harper's wife died, and her soul was led to Hades "^ (the unseen world). Then the harper became so sorrowful that he stayed in the woods and the mountains, both day and night, weeping and harping. Then it seemed to the harper that he desired nothing in this world, and he thought he would seek the gods of Hades, and begin to soften them with his harp, and pray that they would give him back his wife. When he came thither, there was first the dog of Hades ^ with three heads, who began to waof his tail and play with him for his harping; and then a very dreadful gate-keeper, called Caron ; *" and then the grim goddesses, called the Fates,'^ who punish every man according to his deserts. Then Orpheus went farther, and all the people of Hades went towards him, and led him to their king, and began all to speak with him, and to pray that whicli he prayed. And all the punishments of the people of Hades were stayed while Orpheus harped before the king ; and, when he long and long had harped, then spoke the king to the people, " Let us give the man his wife, for he has eai'ned her by harping." He then told Orpheus to beware of looking back when leaving Hades, and said that if he looked backwards he should lose his wife. Well, away! who can restrain love ? Orpheus led his wife with him till he came to the boundary of light and darkness, and then his wife went after him. When he came forth into the light, he looked backwards towards his wife. Then was she at once lost to him for ever. This story teaches every man who wishes to fly the STORIES ABOUT ALFRED THE GREAT. Ill darkness and to come to the liglit of the true good that he look not to his old vices to practise them again. 1. The book begins with these words :—" Alfred, King, was translator of this book, and turned it from book Latin into English, as it now is done. ' 2. Hight, called or named. 3. Thrace, the modern Roumelia in Turkey. 4. Hades, literally means 'the unseen.' The name was given by the Greeks to the god of the unseen world. It subsequently came to be used for the place of the dead. 5. Dog of Hades, called Cerberus. It allowed the ' shades ' of the dead to enter Hades, but never let them out again. 6. Caron, or Charon, usuiiUy described as the boatman who ' ferried ' the dead over the river Styx to Hades. 7. The Fates, the old Greeks said, were tliree sisters, one of whom spim the thread of each man's life, the second drew it out, and the third cut it. STORIES ABOUT ALFRED THE GREAT. THIS good king was so much admired, that many stories were told long after his death to show how unselfish he was, how industrious (more than almost any man we know), and how brave in resisting the enemies of his country and securing his people's freedom and peace. One day in the Isle^ of Athelney, when all Kiug Alfred's people were gone out to fish in the marshes except himself and his wife and one servant, there came a pilgrim " to beg for something to eat. And when the servant said there was only one loaf of bread in the house and a little wine, the king said, " Give the poor pilgrim half of the loaf and half of the wine." The pilgrim thanked the king very humbly, and prayed God to bless him and his house. But afterwards the ser- vant found the loaf whole and the wine bottle just as it had been before he gave some to the pilgrim ; and when he told this strange thing to the king, they began also to wonder how the pilgrim could have come to the island without a boat. When night had come and all were gone to bed, the 112 EARLY ENGLATs'D. king lay awake, and presently a wonderful light filled all the place, and he saw a venerable old man like a priest holding a most beautiful book of the Gospels. The old man blessed the king and said, " I am called Cuthbert, the soldier of Christ, and it was to me that thou showedst such charity this morning. There- fore be strong and of good courage and of a joyful heart, for thou shalt soon fight against thine enemies, and doubt not that thou shalt overcome them. God hath given thee this land and the kingdom of thy fathers, to thee and to thy sons, and to thy sons' sons, and to thy seed for ever." Seven days after this wonderful vision, a large host of the English people gathered round King Alfred near Selwood, and they fought again under the ' Dragon ' of Wessex at Ethandune. As a proof of the courage of Alfred, men said that, when he stayed with his queen and their children in Athelney, he one day disguised himself as a poor stroll- ing harper, and went among the Danes. He pretended to amuse them by his music and songs, but all the time learning much about them and about Guthrum's plans. Thus when the moment for action came, he was the better able to surprise and utterly defeat them. All who know ami^hing about Alfred the Great must wonder how he found time for so much work. He must really have toiled from year's end to year's end, morn- ing, noon, and night. Bishop Asser tells us that the king measured the time by candles, so as not to neglect ariy of his duties. He had wax candles made all of one size, so that six of them, burning one after another, would just last from sunrise to sunrise. Thus, instead of saying " two hours' KING ALFRED AND THE NEW DANES. "3 time," as we do, King Alfred would say, " half a candle's time ; " and one hour with him over his books was " a (|uarter of a candle." But English houses a thousand years ago were very queerly built, and the word " comfortable " was not yet known ; so that even the king's palace had so many chinks and holes in the walls that Alfred found that his candles burnt too fast in windy weather. He therefore bethought him of putting his time-candle in a box or case made of four pieces of thin horn. The horn showed the light, while it saved the candle from flaring and wasting. Thus, according to the good Bishop, our royal o-enius was the inventor of horn-lanterns ! ^ 1. Isle, derived from the Latin insula. Tlie word island comes from the Saxon ey- hitul, that is, 'eye of land.' '2. Pilgrim (from the Latin ;)f)-f3nHiis), literally, one who wanders through thsjields. 3. Hom-lantems were made by the Greeks and the Romans, hut Alfred was probably the first to use them in England. KING ALFRED AND THE NEW DANES. THOUGH Alfred had secured freedom and peace for the English, he had frequently to send his navy against new hordes of plundering Danes. One year his fleet took four Danish ships; and, in the year 885, no less than sixteen were captured in one sea-fight. In that same year, he gained another victory over some Danes, who had sailed up the Medway^ and were trying to take the strong town of Rochester, Alfred bravely stormed the tower they had built, and quickly drove them in terror to their ships, in which they were glad to return to France. During the next two years, while the Northmen or (H. 2.) H 114 EARLY ENGLAND. Normans were trying to take Paris," Alfred rebuilt London, and made it strong with walls and forts. At last, a very large Danish fleet sailed over to re-attack Alfred and the English. Two hundred and fifty ships, full of armed men and horses, came to the south of Kent, while another strong fleet of eighty vessels sailed up the Thames. The latter Avas commanded by a daring chief called Hastings. This leader was a man of such vigour and military skill, that, but for precautions taken by King Alfred and the generalship he now displayed, all England must speedily have become Danish. Near Rochester, Hastings built a very large strong- hold overlooking the mouth of the Medway. When Alfred had collected the English, he divided his army into two parts — one half to stay at home, while the rest were on service. So that, in any campaign,^ there was always a large reserve ready to assist those in the field. The Danes had never seen such well-drilled and well- officered soldiers, and soon confessed that the English were more than a match for them. Alfi'ed completely defeated both armies in Kent; afterwards the English had a third victory in Surrey, and then a fourth in Essex over those who had crossed the Thames, hoping to be joined by their kinsmen there. Hurrying next as far west as Devon, Alfred drove another Danish army from Exeter to their ships with great loss. Some time after, Hast- ings suffered another terrible defeat on the Severn. The last attempt of this daring chief was to sail up the river Lea, and build a strong camp about twenty miles north of London. The English king went to see the Danish camp ; and, as he looked at the enemy's ships covering the river, he devised a means of completely foiling Hastings. Bringing forward his men, he ordered KING ALFRED AND THE NEW DANES. ii: HAbTINUb A>D HIb DA^ES. ii6 EARLY ENGLAND. them to dig three deep channels from tlie Lea to the Thames ; and very soon the Danes, tx) their woful dis- gust, saw all the ships on which they depended left aground and perfectly useless. In dismay, Hastings' army escaped from their strong camp by night. Soon after, the citizens of London took the grounded Danish ships ; and, after destroying some of them, brought the rest down the Lea to London with great joy and rejoic- ing. Thus King Alfred saved England, and the daring Dane sailed back to France without either gain or glory. Close of King- Alfred's Reig-n. — When Hastings left England, Alfred and his people were at rest, and the last four years of the reign were passed in peace. You can easily imagine with what delight the royal scholar went back to his beloved books. With the help of his Witan or Wise Men, he still did much to prepare the way for his people to become a free and thoughtful and industrious nation. His own noble words are — "/i^ is Just that the English should for ever rcviaioi as free as their oum thoughts" King Alfred, though he did so much work with such great energy, was frequently ill in health. He died in his fifty-third year, and was buried in the new Minster'^ which he had himself founded in Winchester, his capital. In recent years, strange to say, English hands have dis- turbed the I'esting-place of the Great Alfred, the best of English kings ; but such men as Alfred need no monu- ment. On how very few of all whose names are written in the history of mankind can we so justly bestow the triple crown of Virtue, Heroism, and Culture ! 1. Medway, tlifi last of the southern tributaries of the Thames, which it enters at Sheer- 2. Paris, the capital of France, standing on the river Seine. 3. Campaign, a year's war : literally, the time during which an army fights in the open plain (Latin, campus), i. Minster, contraction of monasterium, tiia cliurch belonging to a monastery. THE SUCCESSORS OF ALFRED. 117 ATHELSTAN. THE SUCCESSORS OF ALFRED. EDWARD THE ELDER AND ATHELSTAX. HE successors of Alfred the Great for about a hundred years were nearly all brave and wise rulers. Alfred's son Edward, his grandson Athelstan, and his great- grandson Edgar the Peace- ful, all brought great honour to the English name. Edward the Elder, 901- 925.— Edward the Elder had been with his father in Athel- ney, and fought by his side in many battles against the Danes. When he came to the throne of Wessex, he was greatly assisted by his heroic sister, the Lady of Mercia, who commenced the great work of taking back from the Danes the '' Five Boroughs " — Dcrhy} Lincoln^ Leicester^ Stamford,^ and Nottingham.^ Ethelfled, this brave daughter of the great king, at her death left Mercia to King Edward, who, soon after, made himself master of East Anglia and of Essex. Thus at his death, in the year 925, Alfred's son Avas " King of the English " as far north as the Humber ; he was called " Lord of all Britain," because the princes of Wales, Northumbria, and Scotland owned him as their " Over-lord." In his reign, a number of wild Danes or Northmen settled in France, on the banks of the Seine. Their ii8 EARLY ENGLAND. leader was a tall warrior, Rolf or Hollo, nicknamed the ' Ganger.' The horses of Norway (like the ponies of Shetland) were not high enough for Rollo's long legs, and so he liad to ' gang ' or walk, whilst others rode. The king of the Franks had been so much troubled witli the Northmen, that he was glad to cede one of his northern provinces to them, and even to give Rolf his daughter in marriage. The territory thus obtained by ATHELSTAN ON THE FIELD OF BHUXANBURGH. the Normans was called Normandy ; and Rolfs town, Bouen,^ is still the capital of that large province. Rolf and his Normans ought to be mentioned here, because, one hundred and fifty years afterwards, their descendants invaded and conquered England. Athelstan, called 'Emperor,' 925-941.— After Ed- ward's death, Athelstan^ Alfred's favourite grandson, THE SUCCESSORS OF ALFRED. 119 became kin^. When tlie little prince was a liandsonie fair-haired boy, Alfred one day clad him in a cloak of purple, and buckled round his waist a jewelled belt with a sword in a golden sheath. Afterwards, we are told, he was sent to his aunt Ethelfled, the brave Lady of Mercia. When Athelstan was king, he increased more and more the power of the English. He not only became master of Northumbria, but he subdued Wales and also the wild tribes of Devon and Cornwall. His most famous victory was on the bloody field of Brunaixburcjh^ where he defeated a large army of Danes, Scots, Welsh, and Irish. An old ballad tells how five Danish kings, seven earls, and the son of the king of Scots, were there slain by the English ; and never afterwards was Athelstan obliged to draw the sword. So great had Alfred's kingdom now become that Athelstan was much respected in foreign countries, and his sisters Avere married to the greatest princes in Europe. 1. Derby, stands on the river Dem-ent, a tribu- tary of tlie Trent. 2. Lincoln, a cathedral city on the 'With.ani. :;. Leicester, on the river Soar, an affluent of tlif Trent. 4. Stamford, on the Welland, on the boundary between Lincoln and Northampton. 5. Nottingham, on the Trent. The 'Five Boroughs ' fonned a Danish league for mutnal protection. C. Bouen, on the Seine, capital of Normandy. 7. Athelstan, i.e., the noble or precious stone. S. The battle was probably fought south of the Humber, in Lincolnshire. Z20 EARLY ENGLAND. THE SUCCESSORS OF ALFREB-Continued. EDMUND, EDRED, EDWY, AND EDGAR. THELSTAN was succeeded by his two younger brothers Edmund and Edred; after whom his two grandsons, Edwij and Edgar, filled the throne. Edmund, 941-946.— Athelstan's brother Edviund, like all his race, had much fighting to test his manhood. He won back the " Five Boroughs " from the Danes ; EHGAR. and had also to fight for the mastership of Northumbria. His reign, however, came to a very sudden end ; for one night, when feasting in a hall at Puckle-chui*ch,i his eye fell upon a man among the company whom, at the beginning of his reign, he had banished for robber3\ When the man refused to leave, the king, in his passion, caught him by the hair and threw him to the ground. Next moment he himself fell, stabbed to the heart by the outlaw's dagger. Edred, 946-955 —Edrcd, the next brother of Athel- stan, was crowned in the year 946. Though weak in body, he had much of the strong and active will of his family. He went to Northumbria to punish the rebel Danes, and regained that province. The most important man at this time was not a king THE SUCCESSORS OF ALFRED. 121 or warrior, but a priest called Dunstan. Born and taaght at Glastonbury^ where he afterwards was made abbot, he in due time rose to be Archbishop of Canter- bury and the chief statesman of that age. When a boy he was extremely quick at his lessons, and soon became proficient in all the learning of the time. He also gave himself to the study of music, drawing, and other accomplishments; and, at last, showed a knowledge and skill so much beyond what was then common that many said the little abbot must be a sorcerer.^ Dunstan had great power in England, not only under Edmund and Edred but also under the three followingr kinsfs. Edwy, 9bd-959.—Edivy, the son of Edmund, had not a happy reign, partly from quarrels between the English of the south and the Danes of the north, but mainly from the keen disputes between the regular monks and the ordinary clergy. Abbot Dunstan said that the clergy ought not to marry ; and King Edwy, who hated the monks, took the part of the clergymen against Dunstan. Then, when the king married his cousin Elgiva, both Dunstan and Archbishop Odo took great offence ; and at last the young king banished Dunstan from England. Edgar, 959-975.— Edwy was succeeded by his brother Edgar, a much greater king. He is called the ' Peace- ful,' because there was no fighting in his reign, not even with the Danes. One year, it is true, he went to Wales to compel the chief or prince to yield him the tribute which had been paid since the reign of Athelstan. According to one account, King Edgar ordered the Welsh prince to bring three hundred wolves' ^ heads every year^ instead of 122 EARLY ENGLAND. paying money ; and that, in the fourth year, the prince told Edgar there were no more to kill. Edgar, being a worthy great-grandson of King Alfred, had a large fleet to guard the English coasts, and often sailed with it himself. He also visited the chief towns in his kingdom to see that the laws were ob- served and that justice was done. On these journeys, he was usually accompanied by his chief minister,^ Dunstan, whom he had already made Archbishop of Canterbury. So great in power did Edgar become that he was EDG \.l UN IHh I Vi called " King of the English and all the nations round about," and also " Ruler of the whole Isle of Albion.'" It is said that when he visited Chester,'' eight kings came to do him homage ; and, as if they were his ser- vants, they rowed him in his royal barge on the river Dee. One of the eight kings was Kenneth' of Scotland. Now the king of England was but a small man, though nimble and active. One night, at a feast, Kenneth said, " How is it that all of us, so many kings as we are, THE SUCCESSORS OF ALFRED. 123 should serve this oue man who is smaller than any of us?" When this came to Edgar's ears, he said nothing; but soon afterwards he asked King Kenneth to come apart to a certain wood. Then, taking out two swords, he said to Kenneth, " Now choose one of these swords, and let us see at once which is the better man : jfight me and beat me if you can." But the king of the Scots would not draw his sword ao^ainst his lord the kinof of all Britain ; and said that he liad only spoken in jest, because his heart was merry with feasting. So King Edgar and King Kenneth remained friends. Though Edgar was so famous in his time, he was only thirty-two years of age when he died. He was interred at Glastonbury, where also the abbot Dunstan had buried King Edmund, his father. 1. Puckle-church, iu Gloucestershire, about six 4. Wolves, see note 8, page 1 mili^s east of Bristol. 2. Glastonbury, in Somerset, five miles south of Wells. 3. Sorcerer, literally one who draws lots; a magician. Minister, literally one who is less, therefore a serv.ant. Here it means the adviser of the king. C. Chester, a cathedral city on the river Dee, 7. Kenneth reigned from 973 to 987. SAXON SOLDIERS. 124 EARLY ENGLAND. THE DEATH OF EDWARD THE MARTYR. V. THE DANISH CONQUEST. THE OVERTHROW OF THE SAXONS. HE Two Sons of Edgar.- By his first wife tlie great Edgar had a son called Ed- icard, and by his second wife a son called Ethelrcd. Both ||f sons came to wear the crown, but neither of them proved liimself worthy of being counted in the royal line of Alfred, Athelstan, and Edgar. Edward was king for only EDWARD THE MARTYR. four years ; and his death was so sad and cruel, that he was ever afterwards called Edward the Martyr. THE OVERTHROW OF THE SAXONS. 125 His stepmother, Elfrida, was very anxious that her son Etheh-ed should be king. She was staying iji Corfe Castle,^ near the south coast of Dorset. One day, when Edward was hunting in a wood near the castle, he rode to the gate and asked to see his brother Ethelred. The wicked Elfrida, according to the story, gave a secret order to one of her servants. As the young king sat in the saddle and was about to drink a cup of wine which she brought him, he was stabbed in the back with a dagger. He at once galloped away, but soon sank from loss of blood ; his foot caught in the stirrup, and he was dragged along the ground till he died. His dis- figured body Avas buried in a town close by. Thus it was that Ethdred became king. His whole reign was a time of wretchedness and strife, thirty-seven years of crime and blunder. Ethelred, the brother of Alfred, had been brave and noble ; but this Ethel- red, called the Unready, was not only false and cruel like his mother, but he was cowardly and weak-minded. The Danes soon began to- re- attack the English, and within a tew months they sacked the three cities of Southampton,^ Chester, and London. To get rid of these invaders, Ethelred paid them ten thou- sand pounds of silver ; and, in order to raise the money, he forced his people to pay a heavy tax called Dancgeld.^ The Danish pirates came again and again ; till at last the foolish king gave orders that, on a particular night,* all the Danes throughout England were to be murdered. Thus, in the year I002, on the 13th of November, 126 EARLY ENGLAND. thousands of people, many of them peaceable citizens, were suddenly put to death. Amongst those who were so ruthlessly murdered was the sister of Sweyn, the king of Denmark. Sweyn the Pork-Beard.— King Sweyn took a terrible oath that he would be revenged upon the murderers of his sister. With the largest invading fleet that had yet been seen, he landed on the coast of Devon. For four years the Danes plundered and slaughtered the English, and burnt every town and homestead ^ they came to. Even after Sweyn withdrew, on receiving a heavy bribe, fresh bands of his vengeful countrymen came. Some went to Canterbury ; and, among a large number of other captives, they carried off the old archbishop. The old man was too poor to give them the gold they wanted for his ransom ; and, when he refused to raise the money from his people, some of the drunken Danes pelted him with stones and ox-bones till he fell down. One pirate, more merciful than the rest, struck him on the head with a battle-axe. To this day the oldest parisli church of Greenwich '' is named St. Alphege, after this old archbishop whom the Danes murdered. Some years after Sweyn landed again, and was soon master of all the country which had been held by the Danes in the time of Alfred the Great. He crossed Mercia, burning and slaughtering everywhere. The Eng- lish people had now no leader as they had in former days, and the only determined stand made against Sweyn was by the men of London. Tlius it was that a Dane came to be crowned king of England, even London at last receiving him. The weak Ethelred fled to Normandy, because his second wife was the Duke's sister. Three weeks after his coronation, Sweyn was dead. THE DANISH KINGS OF ENGLAND. 127 Edmund Ironside, 1017. — Etlielred's eldest son, Ed- 7nund, was a much braver man than his father. He fought six battles with Cnut or Canute, the son of the fierce Sweyn. Finall}', they agreed to divide England between them — Edmund's share being all the country- south of the Thames, with London and East Anglia. The English gave Edmund the name 'Ironside,'' on account of his great strength and courage. He reigned only seven months ; and his people said that, if he had lived longer, lie would have regained the kingdom of his grandfather, Edgar. 1. Corfe Castle, in the Isle of Purbeck in the south-east of Dorset. 2. Southampton, on the coast of Hampsliire, now one of the most important of tlic Channel ports. ;;. Danegeld, i.e., • Dane-money ' or 'Dane-^'olil.' i. The Festival of St. Brice, a Danish saint. 5. Homestead, the place of a home or house. Cf. instead, i.e., in the place of. G. Greenwich, in Kent, on the south banlv of the Tlianies. 7. Edmund Ironside met Cnut at Olney, an island in tlie Severn. Some say they fouglit a duel. THE DANISH KINGS OF ENGLAND. NUT, 1017-1035.— Cnut (or Canute) the Dane, being now king of the English, ruled them firmly but not unjustly. He was also king of Denmark, Norway, and part of Sweden, and governed his territories so wisely that he is rightly called Cnut the Great. One cruel action at the beginning of his reign was ^^^^- to send the two infant boys of i-:dmund Ironside to Sweden to be murdered there. They, however, escaped to Hungary ; and one of them, 128 EARLY ENGLAND. Edward, who married the German emperor's daughter was father of Edgar Athding ' and Margaret ^-both im- portant names in our early history. CNUT AT THE SEA-SHORE. Cnut loved England more than Denmark or Norway, and in order to govern it better he divided it into four THE DANISH KINGS OF ENGLAND. 129 great provinces or earldoms — Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, and Wessex. The most famous of his earls was Godwin,^ who was made earl of the West Saxons in 1020. He rose to be the greatest man in England, and became the father of an English king. Stories of Cnut.— Once, so the story runs, Cnut was sailing with his queen to the church of Ely. He listened to the chanting of the monks as they sang in the Abbey, and was so pleased, it is said, that he made a poem on it, which ran thus — "Merry sung the monks within Ely When Cnut the king rowed thereby, Row, my knights, row near the land, And hear we these monks' song." Who has not heard the story of King Cnut and the courtiers ? One day he was walking on the shore with some of them ; and when they spoke about his power and greatness, he told one to place a chair on the beach near the advancing waves. Then ordering the sea not to dare to approach, since he was its lord and master, Cnut sat on the chair till the water dashed all round him. Thus he showed his companions the folly of their words of flattery : " Ye see how powerless my word is ; a king, like any other man, is but weak before nature and before God. Therefore honour God only, since it is He alone that all things obey." After this, Cnut never wore his crown, but placed it in the cathedral of Winchester over an image of our Lord. The Two Sons of Cnut.— Two sons of Cnut succeeded him as kings of England. His eldest son, Siveyn, (H. 2.) 1 EARLY ENGLAND. became king of Norway, By his father's will Hardi- ciiut was to be king of England, while the second son Harold was to get Den- mark. But Harold seized England. The Witan decreed that he should govern London and the country north of the Thames, while Wessex was re- \'^'^^%M_J^^^^^^^B:// served for Hardicnut. The latter lingered in Denmark, leaving his English territory to be ruled by Earl Godwin. Harold was very fond of HAROLD. 1 , • -, (. 1 . T . hunting, and irom his speed m running he got the name of " Hare-foot." After a short reign of four years, he died at Oxford in 1 040. The last of the Danish kings was Hardicnut; and like his brother, Harold Hare-foot, he was not worthy to wear the crown of Cnut. He caused his brother's body to be dug up and beheaded, and then ordered the headless corpse to be thrown into a marsh. To this day there is a church in Lon- don, near Temple Bar, called St. Clement Danes ; and its name may help you to remember that it was in the churchyard there that Harold's body was buried by some of his Danish friends. Hardicnuts end was very ignoble and unkingly. There was a Danish thane called Clapa, whose daughter was going to be married. At the marriage feast the HARDICNUT. AN ENGLISH KING AGAIN ON THE THRONE. »3i king ate and drank too much ; and at last, as he rose to pledge the bride, suddenly fell speechless with the wine- cup in his hand. He had been king but two years. The place where he died is still called Claphani, that is, the house of Clapa. 1. Edgax Athellng, that is, Edgar ' the Prince,' as he was fondly called by the Saxons, who regarded him as the rightful heir to the English throne. 'J. Margaret, married Malcolm Canmore King of Scotland. Her daughter Maud married nenry I of England. Thus Henry II. was her great-grandson K. Godwin was at first a cowherd, living witli hie old father M'ulfnoth in a small hut in a forest. A Danish noble, having lost his way, begged Godwin's aid, which was readily given ; and the Dane in return obtained for Godwin a post In Cnut's army. During a war in Sweden, Godwin, at the head of the Saxon troops, routed the enemy. After this, his advance was rapid. He married Cnut's sister Githa, and re- ceived the earldoms of Kent and Wessex. His son Harold eventuallv became king. VI. THE ENGLISH RESTORATION. AN ENGLISH KING AGAIN ON THE THRONE. (^P~^j^^^FTEK having four Danish kings, the English people ^ were glad to be ruled once more by a prince of the house of Alfred. You may remember how Ethelred the Unready married the sister of the Duke of Normandy, and how he went with her there to escape the Danes. Their son Edward, the new king, was unhappily much more of a Frenchman than an Englishman. Not only was his mother a French- woman ; but, having since his boyhood lived in Nor- mandy, he talked nothing but French. Thus he had KDWAKO THE CONKE.SSOH. 132 EARLY ENGLAND. come to like tlie French people better than the English, and therefore brought many of them to England. He was very friendly with his cousin, Duke William of Normandy ; and that subsequently led to one of the greatest events in the whole history of England. Edward was more like a gentle priest than a power- ful king ; and, after his death, he was called ' the Con- fessor.' Godwin, the great Englishman whom King Cnut had made an earl, had much power over Edward, and his daughter Edith became queen. But the French " favourites of the king, and the other earls, became jealous of Godvyin, and at last forced him to leave England. A haughty French count had been on a visit to Edward ; and, when pass- ing through Dover ^ on his way back to Normandy, his followers were so in- solent that the citizens drove them out ARMS OF EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. of the town. When the count told the king, putting all the blame on the men of Dover, Edward ordered Godwin to punish the people, but the earl stoutly refused. He even gathered an army to force the king to expel his French favourites ; but when the other earls joined Edward and his Frenchmen, Godwin was compelled to sail over to Flanders and leave his large estates in England. When the great earl was away, the kingdom was entirely ruled by Frenchmen. This was the time, too, when Edward's cousin, the famous Duke William of Normandy, came over to see him. The weak king is said to have promised William that he should succeed to the English crown. The Duke was very ambitious ^ and daring ; and, seeing so many Normans at his cousin's court, he AN ENGLISH KING AGAIN ON THE THRONE. 133 thouglit that it would be easy to become king of Eng- land. Earl Godwin and his Son.— In the following year, Godwin came back to England and checked the in- fluence of the French courtiers. The earl and his son Harold, having again become friends with the king, got back their estates and honours, and were now the real rulers of the country. In the year 1053, when dining with King Edward at Winchester, Earl Godwin died sud- denly. A few days afterwards he was buried in the cathe- dral there, near the royal tombs of Alfred and Cnut. Harold, the earl of Wessex, was now all-powerful in the country. The king occasionally went out hunting, but he spent nearly all his time in prayer, reading pious books, collecting relics,^ and building churches. No doubt he was glad to have a great ruler like Harold to manao'e his kins^dom for him. Harold won much honour from his victories over the Welsh, and their king and princes were glad to pay tribute to him. But, during this time, England itself was at peace and became more wealthy and prosperous. A curious adventure is said to have happened to the great earl. When he was cruising in the English Channel, a storm arose and his boat was wrecked on the French coast. Count Guy,* the lord of the country, put him in prison and demanded a heavy ransom. William, Duke of Normandy, having heard of this, soon made Count Guy give up his prisoner. He then took the English earl to his court, and treated him with the greatest honour and kindness. It is said that Harold assisted Duke William in fighting against the Bretons ; and that once, when a number of Normans were being swept away in a rapid river, the strong-armed English 134 EARLY ENGLAND. earl pulled them out two at a time ! Hai-old, it is also said, promised to marry tlie duke's daughter, and took an oath to support William's claim to the English throne on the death of Edward. In the year 1066 the Confessor died, and was buried in his own newly-built church, now the famous Abbey of Westminster. 1. Dover was under Godwins jurisdiction as Earl of Kent. 2. Ambitious, literally, going about to canvass for office : the word came to be applied to one desirous of power. 3. Relics, the bones or other remains of saints. Even clothing and other articles worn or used by saints were considered sacred. 4. Guy was Coinit of Ponthieu and a vassal of the Diiko of Normandy. THE LAST OF THE OLD ENGLISH KINGS. AKOLD, the son of Godwin, jj^ had already for twelve *f5^-ii' years ruled England well ; and it was no wonder he was chosen king on the death of Edward the Confessor. His father being an Englishman, and his mother the daughter of a Danish earl. King Harold was a type of the union of the English and the Dane — a proof that both HAROLD. peoples were now finally blended into one strong race and nation. This united people chose Harold to be their king, not because he had royal blood in his veins, but because he was the most worthy to wield the sceptre^ and wear the crown. Great trouble, however, was brewing for the English people and their new king. Harold had two strong and terrible enemies, who were both preparing to attack him. THE LAST OF THE OLD ENGLISH KINGS. 135 One was his own brother, Earl Tostig, who had been expelled from his earldom of Northumbria for mis- government. The other was the ambitious Duke William of Nor- mandy, who had lately pretended such friendship for Harold. William and his knights were famous war- riors, but Harold and the English were more than a match for them in bravery ; and had there been nothing else, there is little doubt that the Frenchmen, for all their fine armour, would soon have been glad to get back to Normandy. Duke William was very cunning, and led nearly every- body to believe that Harold liad no right to be king of England. Then he made great preparations to assert his claim ; while King Harold, in the meantime, posted troops in different parts along the south coast. Months were spent in this way, but William was not yet ready ; and, at last, Harold sent his great army back again to their farms and towns. Then came the news to King Harold that an army from Denmark and Norway had landed in the north, and was laying waste the country as far as the city of York. The English forces were again brought together, and Harold led them from London to York as fast as they could march ; and though the Northmen under Earl Tostig and the king of Norway fought fiercely, they were completely beaten and both their leaders slain. Such was Harold's victory at Stamford Bridge!^ It was a famous fight, and in one of the old ballads the story is told as follows : — The Battle at the Bridge. — Once there came across the sea, with a great army, Hardrada^ the tall king of Norway, and Earl Tostig the brother of King Harold of 136 EARLY ENGLAND. England. They sailed up the river Ouse * towards the city of York,^ and afterwards went to take the castle at Stamford Bridge. At night, Hardrada and his army slept in their ships on the river ; and, in the morning, they went on shore to march to the city of York. As they came near they saw a great dust rising, and soon after they beheld the flash of arms and helmets and shields, shining in the sun ; and were aware that Harold, king of the English, was already come against them. Earl Tostig thought the Northmen should go to their ships and fight from thence ; but Hardrada said, " No, let us stay here and send to the ships for the rest of our men to come to our help — we can fight as manfully as those English." So Hardrada set up his standard, the ' Land- Waster," and placed his men in a circle with their shields firmly set together. But as he rode round his army his black horse stumbled, and King Hardrada fell to the ground. Now Harold, the English king, saw him fall ; and when some Danes who were with liim told him that it was Hardrada himself who had fallen, Harold replied, " He is indeed a tall man and handsome, but his fall will bring him ill-luck." Then rode twenty soldiers on horseback from King Harold's army, clad all over in armour, with a message to Earl Tostig, saying that, rather than fight with his own brother. King Harold would give him one-third of liis kingdom if he would become again loyal. Then said Ear] Tostig, " If my brother had spoken so fairly a year ago, there are many men now dead who would be still alive ; but if T make peace with him, what will he give to my friend Hardrada, king of Norway, for all his trouble in comin^ so far ? " THE LAST OF THE OLD ENGLISH KINGS. 137 "King Harold will give him seven feet of English ground, or more perhaps, since he is taller than other men." " Nay," said Tostig, " tell Harold your king to buckle him for battle ; for we shall either die here as men, or win England for our own." When the English horsemen'' rode off. King Hardrada put on his armour, and prepared his men for the battle. And when the English came upon them, the Northmen kept them off with their spears and their wall of shields. At last the English seemed to give way, and some of the Northmen broke their shield-wall^ to follow. Then the English turned fiercely upon the Northmen, and soon made a large breach in their shield-wall, and slew many of them. And their king, Hardrada, left his flag, the ' Land- Waster,' to fight with the foremost of his men, and slew many Englishmen with his two-handed sword, till he was shot in the throat by an arrow. After him. Earl Tostig led the Northmen ; and then, when the rest of their men came from the ships to help them, the fight became fiercer than ever. The North- men refused to take quarter from the English, and were nearly all killed ; and at last, when Tostig was slain, they fled, and left the victory to King Harold the son of Godwin. 1. Sceptre, originally a mere walking-staff jised by old men ; and as the father of the family was the ruler, the staff became the symbol of authority. 2. Stamford Bridge, on the river Derwent, a tributary of the Ouse, a few miles east of York. There is another ' Stamford ' in Lincolnshire. 3. Hardrada, or Hard-rede [stem in council), was famous as a warrior, not only in the north of Europe, but also at Constanti- nople, and in Africa and Sicily. He fought against the Saracens in Syria and Egypt, and was thus the pioneer of the Crusa- ders. 4. Ouse, in Yorkshire, falls into the Humber. It must not be mistaken for the Great Ouse of the Fen district, the Oiise of Sussex, nor the Little Ouse of Norfolk. The word ' Ouse ' conies from the Old British uisge, which meiins 'water.' From the same root the names Exe. Axe, Esk, Usk, &c., are de- rived. 5. York, the 'metropolis of the north, stands on the river Ouse, in the middle of a fertile plain. It is a very ancient city, and during the Roman period bore the name of ICbor- acum. 6. At that time the English never fought on horseback, but many had horses to ride to and from the fight. 7. Sbield-wall formed by the shields overlap- ping each other in front, somewhat like slates in a roof. Cr. the Roman 'tortoise- 138 EARLY ENGLAND. THE LANDING OF THE NORMANS. SENLAC AND ITS SEQUEL. KING HAROLD and his army were resting near York after the battle at Stamford Bridge, when a horse- man arrived in hot haste from the south to say that he had seen the Normans land on the coast of Sussex, and had therefore ridden day and night to tell the tidings. This was indeed ill news to the king, but he was not at all dismayed. He only wished he had been in Sus- sex to prevent Duke William ^ from landing. He in- stantly sent to collect more men from all England, so that even before he reached London he had a very large army. In a few days, his force was still more increased by the men from London, Kent, and other parts. The SENLAC AND ITS SEQUEL. 139 • English everywhere hated the Normans, and even church- men wished to assist. The king's uncle, the abbot of Winchester, brother of Earl Godwin, came with twelve of his monks, wearing helmets and coats of mail. On reaching Senlac, about seven miles from Hastings, Harold posted his army on a little hill and fenced it all round with wood as a barricade"' or defence. The next morning, when the enemy was seen advancing to the attack. King Harold rode round his army, and told his men that if they kept their ranks and cut down their enemies as they came near the barricade, the day was won ; but if they left their position, that they ran deadly risk from the mail-clad horsemen. The Normans who came up from Hastings^ to attack Harold were in three large divisions — each having archers and horse, besides heavy-armed foot- soldiers. Duke William commanded the centre ; and with him rode his two brothers — one of them Bishop Odo, who, although a priest, had fought famously in many a fight. Both William and Odo bore lieavy iron maces instead of swords. Duke William's army attacked fiercely ; but neither the foot-soldiers nor the liorse could force the barricade, and many Frenchmen were cut down with sword or battle-axe. When the Norman duke saw that his soldiers were losing heart, he ordered some of them to pretend to run away. Thus the English were tempted to disobey Harold's order and left their strong position to chase the enemy ; and that was one of the chief reasons why they lost the battle. The Norman horsemen were now able to come closer ; and, by and by, when the duke told his archers to shoot upwards so that their deadly arrows would fall on tho 140 EARLY ENGLAND. English from above, some of Harold's men began to lose ground. The English king himself still stood by his EDITH SEARCHING KOR THE BODY OF HAROLD. royal standard, the ' Golden Dragon ' * of Wessex, till at last a deadly Norman arrow pierced his right eye. His SENLAC AND ITS SEQUEL. 141 enemies saw him fall; and, with a loud shout of triumph, a group of William's knights rushed forward and succeeded in carrying off the ' Golden Dragon.' Mean- while Harold's life had come to an end by " the most glorious of deaths, fighting for the land and the people he had loved so well." The Sequel of Senlac, — Harold, the last of the old English kings, the hero who died on Senlac Hill, had formerly built a beautiful church at Waltham,^ in Epping Forest ; and, to this day, Waltham Holy Cross is ad- mired by many people who never think of King Harold. Two canons from Waltham followed their patron king to the battle, and when all was over asked leave from Duke William to carry Harold's body to Waltham Abbey. The Norman, however, refused ; and it is said that he also denied the body to Harold's mother, though she offered to ransom it by paying its weight in gold. What, then, became of the body of this great English king ? The victorious duke, it is said, told a knight in his army, who had known Harold, to carry his body to the sea-coast and raise a heap of stones over it : " For," said William, " he guarded the shore well when living, let him guard it now that he is dead." But it was difficult to find the body of the king. The priests of Waltham looked long amongst the slain, till at last Edith, "the swan-necked," who had known Harold well and loved him before he became king, found it beneath a heap of his slain friends. Then the body was carried by the two canons and the Norman knight to the sea-shore near Hastings, and many came to place a stone on the king's cairn. At last, however, when the Norman duke was safelv 142 EARLY ENGLAND. seated on the throne, he allowed the body of Harold to be removed to Waltham ; and there, in his own Church of the Holy Cross, the hero-king was finally laid to rest. 1. Williaiu laiiJeil on the shore of Pevensey Bay, about seven miles north-west of Beachy Head. 'I'lie Normans sailed from St. Valen/, a small port on the P'rencli coast, thirty-five miles north of Rouen ; there is another port of the same name further north, at the mouth of the Somme. '.'. Barricade, akin to 'barrier' and 'bar,' that which krcjis back or protects. 3. Hastings, on the south coast of En^'land, in Sussex. A few miles nurtli-west of Hast- inf;a is the small town of Battle, whose .abbey marks tlie scene of the struggle. Golden Dragon. The standard of the okJ Britons was the 'Red IJragon.' The West Saxons adopted the 'Golden Dragon' as their national standard. Waltham, in Essex, on the Lea, about thir- teen miles frnrn London. Tlie abbey was originally founded by Cnut, and was restored by Harold. HOW THE ENGLISH PEOPLE LIVED IN THE OLDEN TIME. THE English who lived in those early days, from Alfred the Great down to Harold, had very different houses, dress, and occupa- tions, from what we ha\e in England now. In those early times the towns were small. Most of the people lived on farms — tilling the fields, sowing, reaping, or gather- ing the corn ; attending to the cows and oxen, the goats, geese, and poultry ; watching sheep ; or following the A SAXON TEACni.Sc: 111.^ EOV Tu I SK THE CROSS-BOW. HOW THE ENGLISH LIVED IN THE OLDEN TIME. 143 large herds of swine that were then fed in the forests. The sheep were reared mainly for their wool ; so that, had you lived then, you could have bought a sheep in February for a shilling, which in June would be sold for perhaps five shillings ! The swine, again, w^ere kept in large numbers to serve as food for all classes. In the county of Essex alone, which then was nearly all forest, we read that ninety-three thousand were counted in one year. One nobleman left two thousand swine to his two daughters ; and another man gave land to the Church on condition that two hundred swine be fed for the use of his wife ! The early English had excellent gardens and orchards, though many of the fruits and vegetables now common were then unknown. There were hundreds of bee- hives in almost every village, and honey was nearly as common as bread; and many ages had yet to elapse before sugar was brought from abroad. From the honey they made 7nead, a drink used at all their feasts. Women of all ranks could spin thread, and weave or embroider cloth ; and we read that the ladies in King Alfred's family and the wife of Duke William of Nor- mandy were expert with the needle and at the distaft*. The houses of that period were mostly of wood ; and we are told of such large places as the Abbey of Croy- land,^ with its infirmary, chapel, baths, hall, brewery ," bakehouse, granary, and stables, all built of beams and boards. The common houses were poor enough, but the wealthier classes had their walls covered with rich hangings. Their chairs (often resembling camp-stools), benches, and tables were sometimes richly carved and ornamented with gold and silver. The ordinarv house 144 EARLY ENGLAND. had no bed-rooms. In one poem we read how, after the guests had supped, tlie tables were removed, and the men lay down to. sleep on beds which were brought in by the servants, and covered themselves with their cloaks. Everybody knows that King Alfred could play the harp. Other instruments of music used by the English were the horn, trumpet, flute, drum, cymbal, viol, lyre, and a sort of organ. Some of the gleemen"" who travelled from town to town not only played the harp or flute, but sang or even composed ballads ; and others could dance and perform clever tricks as jugglers,* or feats of strength as tumblers.^ The men of those days wore a tunic,'' linen or woollen (according to the season), reaching to the knee, with a short cloak over it, which was fastened at the throat or shoulder by a brooch. In the pictures of the poorer people, we generally see them bare-legged, but scarcely ever bare-footed. In our time many poor people seldom taste flesh-meat, but ANGLO-SAXON COSTUMES. ^^^^1^ tho early Englisli it was used largely by all classes. You must remem- ber, however, that it was not so good as what we can now buy ; and that it was not only salted during a great part of the year, but that they had scarcely any vege- table but colewort^ to eat with it, and often not even that. Though these early forefathers of ours had curious HOW THE ENGLISH LIVED IN THE OLDEN TIME. 145 laouses and many curious habits, yet in some things we must admire them. They seem all to have used warm baths ; and when any stranger came to a friend's house, they always brought him water to wash his hands, and a hot foot-bath. Women were highly respected, and laws were made to compel men to treat them justly and honourably. We sometimes read of a queen sitting with the Witan (that is, the wise men who met together to advise the king) ; and you may remember how King Alfred's daughter, the Lady of Mercia, had great power in her time. When a man was thought to be guilty of a great crime, the judges of that rude period sometimes tried him in a very strange way. They ordered him to plunge his arm into scalding hot water, or carry a hot iron for three paces. Then after three days, if his wound had healed, he was declared innocent ; but if not, he was punished as guilty. This was called the ordeal. All the princes and nobles were fond of hunting and hawking; and even kings, as for example Alfred, Harold "Hare-foot," and Edward the Confessor, delighted in these sports. Perhaps you will be shocked to know that, up till the time of Hare-foot's father, it was very common to see the huntsmen start on a Sunday to chase the wild boar or the deer — some on horseback, some with hawks on their wrists, some shouting to the yelping dogs, and some in the distance already blowing their noisy horns. A thousand vassals mustered round, With liorse, and hawk, and horn, and hound ; And through the brake the rangers stalk, And falconers hold the ready hawk ; (H. 2.) K 146 EARLY ENGLAND. And foresters, in greenwood trim, Lead in the leash the gaze-hounds grim, Attentive as the slow-hounds' bay From the dark covert drove the prey, To slip them as he broke away. The startled quarry bounds amain, As fast the gallant greyhounds strain, While all the rocks and hills reply To hoof-clang, hound, and hunters' cry, And bugles ringing lightsomely. — Sir Walter Scott. I^ei'liaps the worst vices of our forefathers were their gluttony and drunkenness. The Frenchman, Italian, or Spaniard, did not eat and drink one quarter of what he saw consumed by an Englishman at one of his boisterous feasts, where huge joints Avere hacked and mangled by knives of every degree, and then washed down by deep and numberless draughts of coarse ale and mead. To every man of English blood (whether Angle or Saxon or Dane) it was a matter of course to drink till he was drunk at every feast ; and this rule was as faithfully ob- served by thanes,^ earls, and abbots,' as by the meanest labourers and serfs ! ^"^ 1. Croyland monastery, in Lincolnshire, of which the ruins are still to be seen, w.is founded by Ethelbald, king of Mercia, in 716. 2. Brewery. The affix 1/ shows the 2'toce wherf, and is usually joined to the name of the doer. Cf. baker-y. smith-y, &c. a. Gleemen really me.ant 'singers.' The A.S. word glee meant ' music.' It afterwards came to mean mirth, joy, .'^jorf. The Saxons nsu.allysang to the music of a harp which they called glee-wood. 4. Juggler, from a French word applied to one who performs tricks by 'sleiglit-of-hand.' 5. Tumbler, one who performs tricks like a mountebank. 1;. Tunic, a tight-fitting imder-garment worn l>y both sexes. 7. Colewort or k.alc-plant, a species of cabbage. Shakespeare refers to it when he s.ays — ■ While greasy Joan doth kele the pot." S. Thanes were the lowest r.ank of eorls or Hollies. They held at least five hides or CUO acres of land. The word means ner- rants of the king. They were also called Gesitha or C07nrades of the king. 9. Abbot, literally 'father,' the head of an .abbey or monastery. 10. Serfs, A.S. TIteoxcs or slaves. These were slaves by birth, or those who had lost their liberty through crime or for debt, or who were prisoners of war. '€^^t^^'^ THE CONQUEROR CROWJS'ED. 147 VIL ENGLAND UNDER THE NORMANS. THE CONQUEROR CROWNED. HO were the Normans ? — The Northmen were those wild tribes from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, who came south to other parts of Em'ope and caused very great trouble, bloodshed and destruction. You have al- ready read of their landing in England, Scotland, and I'^rance, under the name of Danes.^ Though they wei-e so much hated and dreaded by the English, yet those savage Northmen were of the same race as the Jutes, Angles, and Saxons, who had sailed over to settle in this island a few centuries earlier.^ Many groups of the wild Northmen settled in France ; the chief band was that which sailed up the river Seine under i?o// the Ganger in the time of our king Alfred. Rolf, the tall Norseman, was also called Rou, and his capital was therefore called Rouen. As the power of the Northmen became greater, the country was called Normandy after them, and the people themselves were named Normands or Normans. Rolf the Ganger was thus the first Duke of Nor- mandy. He ruled it so well (Frenchmen afterwards WILLIAM THE CONQUEUOH. 148 EARLY ENGLAND. said) that, when he hung up his golden bracelets on a tree, they remained there for more than three years and no man dared to touch them.^ The second Duke was Rolf's son, William of the Long Sword ; in his time the Normans ceased to speak their own northern tongue, but imitated their French neighbours in lan- guage, dress, manners and religion. Another Norman Duke was Richard the Fearless ; and in his reign and those of his successors, the descendants of tlie old Norse pirates rode about as Christian knights, feudal nobles, and ' gentlemen,' — for this is the very time when that famous word began first to be used. The sixth Duke was called Robert the Devil — a terrible nickname which the poor serfs ^ and peasantry gave him. This Duke had poisoned his own brother in order to be ruler of Nor- mandy ; and his son, William, was the rival of King Harold and the Conqueror of England. By this time the Normans had no trace left of their northern origin, except their large limbs and fair com- plexions, and perhaps their cruelty and love of fighting. To this very day, the people of Normandy differ in some respects from the rest of the people of France. Christmas Day in Westminster Abbey. — When King Harold and his brothers were killed by the Nor- mans at the battle of Senlac, the English had no leaders, and Duke William was very soon master of all the south of England. There were two powerful Earls in the north, Edwin and Morcar, who, as their armies were intact, might have done something ; but, on the news of Duke William's success, they at once hurried off, aud left the men of the south to meet the Conqueror as they best might. When the Normans had over-run all the country THE CONQUEROR CROWNED. 149 round about Loudon, the citizens thouglit it wise to send a friendly deputation to Duke William. He, at first, would not enter their city ; but had a strong castle built outside the walls whence he might overawe the capital. On the completion of his new tower, he an- nounced that he would be crowned on the approaching Christmas-day in the Abbey of Westminster. There was very great stir and excitement that day in London. All the streets along which Duke William rode were lined with double rows of horsemen and foot- soldiers. As he entered the new Abbey, which was decked in grandest state, the Conqueror was at- tended by two hundred and sixty knights in splendid armour ; around the altar there thronged monks, priests, and bishops, in full canonicals.^ In one part of the building there stood a lai'ge number of Englishmen, and opposite them an equal number of Normans ; while at the doors and all round the Abbey outside the soldiers waited in eager sus- pense. One of William's bishops then asked the Nor- mans if they wished the Duke to become king of England. They assented with loud cheers. The Arch- bishop of York then put the same question to the English, and they shouted " Yea ! yea ! " with still louder cheers. So loud and confused, indeed, were the shouting, cheering and uproar, that the French soldiers outside the Abbey took alarm and thought their duke was being murdered. In a few minutes, they all rushed to attack some houses near the Abbey, killing many of the English whom they found ; and, presently, the little town of Westminster was all smoking and blaz- ing. Meanwhile the panic inside the Abbey equalled ISO EARLY ENGLAND. tlie mad tumult without — the Normans believing that the men of London had I'isen against them, and the English suspecting that they liad been brought there unarmed to be butchered by the crafty invaders. In frightful confusion, both English and foreigners hurried from the Abbey; and William was left, almost alone, beside the throne where he had been wait- ing for the Archbishop to anoint him. One Latin writer tells us that, brave soldier as he was, the Duke shook from head to foot. He refused, however, to put off the coronation; and thus it was that, with "so bad a grace, the Norman Duke was crowned king of England on Christmas-day, 1066. 1. Danes, see p. 90. 2. See p. 53. 3. A legend which has appeared under many forms in different countries— «(/.. to show the good rule of Edwin over the Korth Angles, or that of Alfred over England, &c. 4. Serfs, slaves. 5. CaBonicals, i.e., tlie dress prescribed by the canons of the church for the clergy when ofliciating. CONQUEST AND CRUELTY. THOUGH crowned hj an English Archbishop in Westminster Abbey, the new king was not yet really master of the country. There was not only much fighting yet to do, but there were many difficulties of ruling and governing to overcome, which required great energy and resolution. The people of Exeter hated the invaders ; and, as that town was well fortified, they defied the new king and endured a siege which lasted eighteen days.^ William then marched as far as York to suppress a great insurrection " under the Eai'ls Edwin and Morcar. He defeated them and left a strong garrison in the northern capital. A Danish fleet, however, entered the CONQUEST AND CRUELTY. 151 Humber to join the English army. The Normans held the castle ; and, as they wished to have the ground clear all round, they set fire to the houses close by ; but the wind causing the flames to spread, the city and cathedral of York were speedily also on fire. It was during the confusion which followed that the English and Danes fell upon the Normans and slew them almost to a man. In Gloucestershire, there is a beautiful district called THE NORMANS ON THE MARCH. the Forest of Dean.'"' In the Norman king's time, this forest swarmed with red deer and wild boar ; and here King William was hunting when the news came that three thousand Normans had been slain by the English at Yoi'k. Mad with rage, he made a terrible vow that not a single Northumbrian should escape his vengeance. He at once summoned an army and marched to York. The Saxon leader, Waltheof,'* fought bravelv, but it was 152 . EARLY ENGLAND. in vain. The city was taken, and the gallant defenders were put to the sword. After spending Christmas in York, the Norman king proceeded to carry out his cruel revenge on Northum- bria. He resolved to place a wilderness of more than sixty miles between his Normans and the Scottish border, by killing or driving away every living creature, by burning every house, and by destroying all that could support human life. To do this infamous work, the Norman army was divided into separate columns so as to spread widely over the doomed district. They began at the Ouse and slowly crossed Yorkshire, like a fatal and cursed blight, wasting, burning, and murdering ; till at last they reached the Tees,^ the Wear,*' and even the Tpie.^ Both English and French writers mention this bar- barity of King William in terms of horror and wonder ; some even saying that by the devastation and the famine that followed, as many as a hundred thousand persons perished. Returning from his barbarous revenge, the Norman king, though it was midwinter, led his men by a way so rough, that his army was broken up — the soldiers having to cross the rivers and mountains in detached parties. William himself once lost his way and spent a whole night without knowing where he was or where- abouts his soldiers were ; and, on reaching York, he found that nearly all their horses had perished in the snow ! Was the anger of the Norman king appeased ? Not for a moment. In a few weeks, in spite of storms of snow, sleet and hail, he ordered his knights to set out for Chester. When at last some of the French merce- naries began to grumble, William said, " Let them go ; COxYQUEST AND CRUELTY. 153 I don't want tliem ! " But they would not go back for very shame, since they saw their iron-willed leader sharing the same hardships and dangers. After taking the city of Chester, King William laid the foundations of a strong castle there, and left that district under the command of a Fleming, who became the first Earl of Chester. THK TUWEK OF LONiJoX. Marching south by Salisbury, William stopped at Winchester ; and in his castle there he no doubt enjoyed some rest after that toilsome winter campaio-n. William built many strongholds to overawe the Eug- 154 EARLY ENGLAND. lisli. Besides that at Winchester where he often lived, there were those of Hereford, Rochester and others ; and you may remember that he did not visit London till a tower was built for him just outside the city walls. He afterwards erected a stronger fortress there, and in some respects the Tower of London is the most interesting of all the buildings left by the Normans in England. When you visit the Tower you will see the square " Keep " in the centre much as it was in the time of the great Norman king, with the very council- chamber in which he and many kings after him sat and the Banqueting Hall where they dined. For the Tower of London was a palace as well as a citadel ; indeed, an old historian shows that it was used for seven ■ distinct and important purposes. It now serves for at least an eighth, since that same Banqueting Hall, where so many royal families have ate and drank, talked and laughed, is filled with many thousand stands of rifles. 1. In 1068. ■J. Insurrection, a rising against, a rebellion. IS. Forest of Dean, between the Severn and the Lower Wye. 4. Waltheof, Earl of Nottinghnm, the last of llie Old English Earls. 5. Tees. This river forms the boundary be- tween Yorkshire and Durham. 6. Wear rises in the Pennine Chain : enters the sea at .Sunderland. 7. Tyne. The lower Tyne flows between Dur- ham and XortluimberlanU. HEREWARD THE WATCHFUL. WHILE William the Norman and his knights were lording it over the English everywhere, the con- quered people often regretted the death of Harold and his brothers, and wished for another Alfred or Athelstan or an Edmund Ironside. At last a hei'o appeared, who was able for a long time to defy the Normans. Hereward was a man of Lincolnshire and had been HEREWARD THE WATCHFUL. 155 deprived by the foreigners of his lands. Having formed a small army of Englishmen as brave and high-spirited as himself, he soon drove off the Normans from liis estate. Hearing that a French monk had been sent with a guard of Norman soldiers to take possession of the rich abbey of Peterborough/ Hereward marched thither ; and very soon the foreigners were dispersed, the concealed treasures of the monks plundered, and the abbey and the town set on fire. Much of the money was used to pay some Danes who had assisted the English in making tlie attack. The French monk resolved to punish Hereward for the loss of the rich abbey ; so he returned with a large force of Norman knights. It was not easy to find the English, because their fortress of wood Avas in the Isle of Ely, a district in the north of Cambridgeshire, then sur- rounded bv broad streams and marshes with dangferous pools. The monk, however, was certain of success, and urged the horsemen to advance. As their commander, Tailbois, witli the main body of the knights, entered a thick wood, the watchful Hereward suddenly pounced upon the astonished monk and his party, took them prisoners, and carried them and their horses away unobserved by Tailbois. The soldier-monk was then shut up in a damp dungeon till the sum of two thousand pounds was ])aid to ransom him and his fellow-captives. There are many stories told of the wary and watch- ful Hereward. His fame as a bold leader was so great that Earl Morcar went to the Isle of Ely and lived with him in his " Camp of Refuge," as the fortress sometimes was called. At last, the Norman King himself determined to crush this daring enemy. 156 EARLY ENGLAND. He raised a great army, and ordered a fleet of ships to keep watch on the adjoining coast. William had resolved to take the fortress, but how was it possible to reach it ? The waters all round the Isle were at no point less than two miles across ; and he spent much time in making bridges and constructing a causeway ^ of wood through the marsh. Hereward the Watchful made frequent attacks on William's men ; these assaults were so sudden and suc- cessful, that the Normans believed he was assisted by some evil spirit. Even Tailbois thought it must be so, perhaps remembering how suddenly his friend the Abbot had been snatched away in the wood ; and King William at length agreed that a witch should be brought in order that her spells and charms might act against and undo those of the English ! A high tower was erected, whence William could see his men laying the road through the marsh, and watch the movements of the English. It was decided to place the witch on the top of this tower to work her spells. Hereward, however, seemed little daunted or damaged by her magical influence ; for his sallies ^ were as daring and deadly as ever. One day, after some dry weather, he set fire to the reeds and brush- wood by the edge of the marsh, so that the flames spread to the wood-work ; and before William's knights could come to their assistance, the tower with the workmen and soldiers around and the witch on the top were all burnt. King William, however, would not withdraw. After a close siege of three months, the English were short of provisions ; and some of the monks urged Hereward to send a message to the Norman king proposing a sur- CHANGES MADE BY THE CONQUEST. 157 render. On his refusal, it is said that they secretly promised to show the Normans a safe passage through the fens, on condition that the houses and lands be- longing to their monastery should not be touched. Another account is that Morcar and some of the other leaders lost heart ; but, whatever the true reason was, King William at last gained the famous Isle. All in the English camp, except Hereward, submitted to the Normans. He, watchful and brave as ever, suddenly cut his way through the enemy, and reached his native county of Lincoln in safety. The last we hear of Hereward the Watchful, is that after some years King William made him offers of friendship and received him into favour. The bold bearing and manliness of Hereward were admired by all his enemies ; and it became a saying among them that " if there had been three more men in the land like him, the Normans would never have taken it." 1. Peterborough, a cathedral city on I 2. Causeway, a raised way or path, the Nen. I 3. Sallies, sudden attacks. CHANGES MADE BY THE CONQUEST. WE have already read of William the Norman's barbarity in turning a very large district in York- shire and Durham into a wilderness. In Hampshire also the people were driven from their homes in order to provide him with a hunting-ground, which was certainly no sufficient reason for causing misery to so many families. You remember how King William was hunting in the Forest of Dean when the news came to him that all the Normans in York had been killed bv the 158 EARLY ENGLAND. English. Strangely enough, he had been also hunting in a forest near Rouen and in the very act of bending his famous bow/ when the messenger arrived to say that Edward the Confessor was dead and that Harold had been crowned King of England. In fact, hunting was a passion with William, and though there were already many royal parks and forests in England he formed the new hunting-ground ^ near his palace of Winchester. That large district, ninety- miles round, was thus laid waste for one man's pleasure ; and fertile farms and manors, villages and towns (in- cluding, it is said, thirty-six parish churches) were all destroyed to make room for " His Majesty's wild beasts." An English writer of that time says of the royal forests, that " King William made laws for thetn, that whoever should slay hart or hind, him man should blind ; as ho forbade the slaying of harts, so also did he of boars. So much he loved the high deer as if ho had been their father. His rich men moaned and the poor men murmured, but he was so hard that he recked not^ the hatred of them all. Alas ! that any man should be so moody, and should so puff up himself, and think himself above all others ! " Those Norman Forcst-Lcncs were a source of great misery throughout England, because in many parts there were thousands who had depended upon the chase for a living. The old English kings, such as Alfred and Edgar, and even the Confessoi-, had also been fond of hunting ; but in their times, as we have already said, every man was allowed to kill all the game on his own land. The Normans also introduced the Curfno^ Brll into CHANGES MADE BY THE CONQUEST. 159 England ; and very hateful was its sound to every man and woman of tlie subject race, who felt it to be a badge and daily reminder of servitude. On the other hand, it appears that the Norman invaders had already been accustomed to it as a precaution against lire, for at that time houses were mostly built of wood. It was probably also intended to prevent certain " clubs " or meetings at night of the discontented Saxons, wlio no doubt took every opportunity of plotting against the Normans. Even English WTiters say that William the Norman enforced law and justice. He renewed the old laws, and pi'omised to govern as an English King ; and though Normans became lords of the land, still they were compelled to live as English lords and to respect the English laws and customs. William even forbade any criminal to be punislied with death. He also prohil)ited th(> sale, of men into slavery ; and we read of St. Wulfstan urging the people of Bristol to observe this good law — that seaport having then much trade in slaves. You have already seen that the Normans did mucli to improve the art of building. To this day their chui'ches and castles are greatly admired. But they did more than that for our country ; they brought over many learned men, such as Archbisliop Lantranc and after him Archbishop Anselm, who by their teaching and their books led men to read and think as Alfred the Great had done in former days. There is another act of William which is too im- portant to be passed over. This was a survey of his kingdom, copied into two large volumes called the Domesday Bool-/' Men went throughout the counties i6o EARLY ENGLAND. and registered every estate, giving its size, what portions were arable, pasture, meadow, or wood, the name of the owner and the feudal service due by him, and also who had held it in King Edward's reign, with its previous and its present value. From this record, we know that all the people then in the land were under two million in number; and also that, while the largest estates were held by Normans, in many parts there still were English landholders. 1. Famous because, according to Norman tra- dition, no man but he could bend it. 2. Still called the New Forest. 3. Becked not, cared not. Cf. reckless. 4. Curfew, from the French cnuvrc-feu, meaning the 'fire-cover.' 5. Domesday Book was compiled in 1085-6 ; now kept in the Chapter House at Westminster. CLOSE OF THE CONQUEROR'S REIGN. THOUGH so successful as the ruler of a great country, King William had much unhappiness. He had pro- mised that, if, he gained England, he should give Nor- mandy to his eldest son. But when Robert claimed the duchy, King William said, " My son, I never throw off my clothes till I go to bed." This breach of faith raised a bitter feeling between William and Eobert. The two vounofer sons, William and Henrv, whom the king treated with great favour, did their utmost to aggravate the quarrel ; and King William even forbade Queen Ma- tilda to send any message or assistance to her eldest son. After various adventures in Flanders, Gascony,^ and other lands, Robert settled for some time at the French court ; and soon after King Philip gave him a castle near Normandy, called Gcrhcroi.''^ There he was joined by many knights, attracted by promises of pay and plun- der. King William heard that a number of Normans, and even some of his own household, were serving under CLOSE OF THE CONQUEROR'S REIGN. i6i his rebellious son. Full of rage, he at once left England with a large army to punish Robert. The castle of Gerberoi, however, was very strong, and all efforts to take it were in vain. At last, a strange combat between two knights suddenly brought the siege to a close. One knight was from the castle, the other belonged to the besiegers ; both were well mounted and in full armour, with their visors down ; and as they spurred their horses to deadly encounter, you might see that both were men of vigour and daring. The besieging knight was unhorsed, and as he shouted to his companions for help, the victor recognised the voice as that of King William himself. Quickly dis- mounting, he fell on his knees and entreated pardon with many tears. For it was the son Robert who had fought with and wounded his father. The humbled king gave up the siege in disgust, and returned to Rouen. King William met with another, and this time fatal, misfortune in Normandy. He had become very fat and unwieldy; and in the year 1087, as he lay at Rouen, he was much annoyed by reports that King Philip's knights harried and plundered the lands of the Normans. William already hated King Philip for having assisted Robert and for other acts against Nor- mandy, so he sent an angry message to the French court. The only reply given by Philip was to make a jest to his courtiers about William's corpulence. When the messengers told this to the hot-tempered Norman king, he got into a furious rage and swore that, as soon as he recovered, he would make the King of France pay dearly for the jest. In the liarvest-time tliat vear, King William, as (...) " • ■ ^ 1 62 EARLY ENGLAND. WILLIAM AND ROBERT. CLOSE OF THE CONQUEROR'S REIGN. 16.1 soon as lie could mount his war-horse, hastened to revenge himself upon the King of France. On his way to Mantes,^ as soon as he had crossed the boundary of Normandy, he ordered his knights to lay waste the surrounding country. Mantes itself, which is built on a hill by the beauti- ful Seine, was speedily taken ; and after putting the citizens to the sword, William ordered his Normans to set fire to every house and building, whether cottage or castle, church or hostelry. When the town was thus in flames, he rode amongst the smoking ruins ; and it was there that he met his fate. His war-horse, happening to tread on a hot ember which had fallen from one of the burning houses, suddenly reared and plunged so violently that King William was dashed heavily against the pommel of the saddle and seriously bruised and hurt. He dismounted in great pain ; and had to be carried slowly in a litter all the way to Rouen. The Nonnan King was never again to see England ; never again to spend Easter ^ at Winchester, Pentecost * at Westminster, or Christmas ■* at Gloucester. During the three weeks that he lay at Rouen on his deathbed, he showed repentance for the evil that he had done. He sent money to rebuild Mantes, and ordered large sums to be given to the churches and religious houses in England. He left Normandy to his eldest son Robert ; as for his kingdom of England, he said he should leave God to decide who should rule it, but that he wished his son William to succeed him as King. To his third son, Henry, King William gave no land ; presenting him instead with five thousand pounds of silver. 164 EARLY ENGLAND. Some clays afterwards the body of tlae great Con- queror was brought down to the broad river Seine, and taken by boat from Rouen to the church at Cacn^ which he had himself founded. 1. Gascony, iu the south-west of France, be- tween the Garonne and the Pyrenees. 'J. Gerberol, on the borders of Normandy, near Beauvais. 3. Mantes, about thirty-four miles north-west (if Paris. 4. Those were the three occasions, according to tlio SaxoB Chronicle, wlien William wore his crown every year when he was iu England. 5. Caen, on the small river Orno, ten miles from its mouth. THE BURIAL OF THE CONQUEROR, LOWLY upon his bier The royal Conqueror lay ; Earon and chief stood near, Silent in war array. They lowered him Avith the sound Of requiems ^ to repose ; When from the throngs around A solemn voice arose : " Forbear ! forbear ! " it cried, " In the holiest name forbear ! He hath conquered regions wide, But he shall not slumber tliere ! " By the violated hearth Which made way lor yon proud shrine : By the harvests which this earth Hath borne for me and mine ; " By the home e'en here o'erthrown, On my brethren's native spot; — Hence with his dark renown, Cumber our birthplace not ! " Each pillar's massy bed Hath been wet by weeping ej'es ; Away ! bestow your dead Where no voice against him cries." THE BURIAL OF THK CONQUEROR, THE BUKIAL Ob THE CO^QUEROR. Shame glowed on each dark face Of these proud and steel-girt men, And they bought with gold a place For their leader's dust e'en then — • A little earth for him Whose banner flew so far ! And a peasant's tale could dim The name — a nation's star ! — Mrs. Hemans. 1. Requiems, masses for the dead ; solemn songs. i66 EARLY ENGLAND. WILLIAM RUFUS. WILLIAM RUFUS AND HIS BROTHERS. VEN before the breath had left tlie body of his father, William the Red had started for England ; and he at once seized the strong castles of Dover, Pevensey and Hastings. He then hurried to Winchester to claim the royal treasures which were kept there. The keys being delivered to him by his father's treasm^er, he found himself master of sixty thousand pounds of pure silver, with much gold and many precious stones. The leading man then in England was Lanfranc, a learned priest whom the Conqueror had made Arch- l)ishop of Canterbur}". Lanfranc was devoted to the Normans, although himself an Italian. He not only assisted the Red King to secure the crown, but, when some of the Norman nobles rebelled in favour of Duke Robert, kept all the bishops and many others faithful to William. William the Red had much of the high spirit and courage of his father, but he lived a more vicious and reckless life ; and after the death of Lanfranc, he was guilty of' great cruelty and tyranny. His chief minister was a low-born Norman churchman, Ralph, nicknamed Flambard (the Firebrand). He made the King laugh with his coarse jests and boisterous mirth ; while, as WILLIAM RUFUS AND HIS BROTHERS. 167 royal treasurer, lie extorted money by every cunning and impudent de\dce to pay for William's extravagance and riot. William and some of his friends resolved to punish Duke Robert of Normandy, because he had attemjited to gain the crown of England. Many of the Norman castles were captured before Robert took any part in the lio-htino- ; and Rouen his chief town would have been lost by the treachery of Conan a wealthy citizen, had not Robert got his youngest brother Henry to assist him. He had previously quarrelled with Henry, and according to one account even put him in prison ; but now they both agreed in fighting together against their brother the king of England. On entering Rouen, Henry wished to punish Conan with death ; but Duke Robert (like his father the Con- queror) was very averse to hanging or beheading any criminal, and ordered him to be imprisoned for life. Henry thought his brother was too soft-hearted ; and it is said that, some days after, he went to the tower where Conan was confined, and took the prisoner to the top of a high turret, and that while speaking with him, he suddenly caught the doomed man by the waist and hurled him over the battlements ! " ^ When one of his friends showed horror at this fearful act, Henry merely replied that it was very unfitting that a traitor should ever escape punishment. Not long after, Rufus went to Normandy and made an agreement with Robert — that if William died first, Robert should become king of England ; and, if the duke died first, that William should obtain Normandy. Both brothers now united against Henry, William being very jealous of his youngest brother's ability and energy. i68 ■ EARLY ENGLAND. '^riiey overran liis t+^rritory and soon took all his .strong- holds except one, a famous castle on a lofty rock on the coast of Normandy. This castle of Mont St. Michael^ was so strong that it was impossible to take it by storm, therefore King AVilliam resolved to starve the garrison out, and was glad to hear that the besieged had neglected to provide themselves with water. The kind-hearted Robert, on the other hand, allowed some of his followers to cai'ry some water secretly into the castle, with a present of Avine for Henry himself This came to the knowledge of the Red King, and in a great passion he asked his elder brother what he meant by such madness, " Oh!" said Duke Robert, with great simplicity, " how can I let my brother die of thirst ? Where shall we find another brother when he is gone ? " There is another story about the siege of this castle on the rock. One day King William was riding on the coast without any companions, when two of Henry "s soldiers met him and attacked him. In a moment he was unhorsed, and as one of the men raised a dag-crer to kill him, AVilliam ci'ied " Hold, knave ! I am the king of England ! " The astonished soldier not only spared his life, but assisted him again to his saddle with such respect that the Red King took a great fancy for the man, and afterwards made a great favourite of him. Henry was obliged to surrender his strong castle ; and, deprived of all that he had, for some time after wandered al^out in poverty, an " errant knight." Who would then have suspected that he should one day wear the crown of England with power and honour ? The Knig-hts of the Cross.— It was in the reign of WILLIAM RUFUS AND HIS BROTHERS. 169 AYilliam the lied King that those strange wars called, the Crusades^ first began. What were the Ci'usades? There was a monk called Peter the Hermit, who had travelled all the way from Amiens* in France to Jeru- salem ; and, on his return, he told terrible tales of how the Christians in the Holy Land were treated by the IMoharamedans. The Hermit spoke with such enthusiasm that nearly all who heard him believed he had been sent by God for the delivery of Jerusalem from the followers of the False Prophet. Wherever he went, excited crowds flocked to hear him ; and many followed him for miles as he passed from one province or city to another, bare- headed and barefooted, clad in a hermit's coarse cloak, with a cord round his waist, and holding a crucifix in his hand. Never perhaps did eloquence work such wonders as did the preaching of this remarkable man. The Pope had to put himself at the head of the movement ; and when he urged every man to offer himself as a soldier to deliver the Holy City from the Saracens, an army was immediately formed to march to Palestine. That march of Christians against the Mohammedans in the Holy Land was called a ' Crusade,' or war of the cross. Many thousands of the Crusaders perished long before they reached the Holy Land. Of a huge army of more than half a million fighting men who set out in the year 1097, it is said that only forty thousand reached Jerusalem two years later. After a siege of six weeks, they took the Holy City, put many thousand Moham- medans to the sword, and burnt the Jews in their synagogues.^ Among the hundreds of Norman knights who joined the first crusade, one of the most conspicuous was I70 EARLY ENGLAND. Duke Robert. In order to have money enough for so great an expedition, he gave up Normandy for five years to his brother William for ten thousand merks. 1. Battlements, the parapi'ts behind wiiich tlic defenders of a castle discharged their missiles at the enemy. 2. Mont St. Michael, in the Bay of St. Malo, on the extreme west of Xormandy. 3. Crusades, that is, 'Wars of the Cross,' so called from the Latin crux, a cross. 4. Amiens, on the Somme, 70 miles north of Paris. 5. Synagogues, Jewish places of worship. THE RED KING IN THE FOREST. THE great forest made in Hampshire by William the Conqueror was called the New Forest, as it still is ; and the favourite amusement of William the Red was to hunt there. One day a messenger came to him, when thus engaged, to say that some of his newly- acquired subjects in France had revolted. In an instant, he hurried from the forest to the nearest sea-port ; and, in spite of a threatening storm, he went on board the first sailing vessel he found there. The sailors urged the danger of putting out to sea in such a gale ; but the Red King ordered them to weigh anchor and hoist their sails. " Did you ever hear of a king being drowned ? " he asked ; though, as one old histo- rian remarks, they might have reminded their fiery king of Pharaoh and the Red Sea. Landing next day on the French coast, William speedily asserted his authority at Mans ^ where the insurrection had taken place. On another day in the same year, his sport in the New Forest was again suddenly interrupted, but this time in a very different fashion. The common people had many superstitious" tales about the place, which was connected in their minds with the Conqueror's cruel THE RED KING IN THE FOREST. 171 evictions^ and liis tyrannical Forest laws. A brother of William had met his death in this very forest, and this same year his nephew, the son of Dnke Robert, had been killed by an arrow. Some hinted darkly that these were judg-ments on the family, and that others would yet follow. The king, however, went on the first THE MESSENGER WARNING RCFUS. of August to his hunting-seat in the forest with a number of knights, among whom was his brother Henry. The chase was to begin next day ; but, in the dead of night, the Red King was disturbed by horrible dreams and would not remain alone till morning. At breakfast he was more boisterous than usual, 172 EARLY ENGLAND. laughing and talking loudly. A messenger from a certain abbot warned the king, on account of a dream, not to go hunting that day. With a loud laugh the king said, '' Give him a hundred pence, and tell him next time to dream better fortune to our person." AVhether afraid or not, William delayed the hunt ; and in the afternoon, when about to start, his mirth still seemed as forced as it was noisy. Just then a man brought him six new arrows, which he praised for their make ; and two of them he gave to Sir Walter Tyrrel who stood by, saying, " A good sportsman should have good weapons." They all started for the hunt — William in one direction with Sir Walter TyiTel as his only companion ; Prince Henry, and the other knights and hunters, in other directions. No man knows what then happened ; except that soon after two knights found the King lying on the ground, pierced in the breast with an arrow. Who shot that fatal shaft we cannot tell. Tyrrel, who was accused of the deed, fled to France. Some think there had been a conspiracy* to murder the Red King, and that perhaps his brother Prince Henry had a share in it. The New Forest was near Winchester. To that town, in the evening of the following day, there came a country cart followed by some peasants and woodmen In it lay the dead body of the Red King, all covered with blood and mire. All his knights and gay com- ]ianions had left him on the ground ; and even the two Norman gentlemen who had found the dying king had hurried away. William was called the Red on account of the colour of his skin. His hair was flaxen in youth, and after- HENRY SEIZES THE CROWN. 173 wards yellow. In his later years, like his father, he became very fat ; and from his sudden bursts of anger, his fierce and scowling looks, and loud voice, he came to be both hated and feared by all around him. 1. Mans, capital of llaine, about 120 miles snuth-we3t of Paris. 2. Superstitious, literally, being exeessive in anything ; having exaggerated belief in mysterious or supernatural powers. 3. Eviction. «.\pulsion of people from tlieir liomeg. 4. Conspiracy, secret plot. HENRY SEIZES THE CROWN. F all the knights and hunts- men who abandoned the TRed King in the forest, there was none more selfish than his brother. Prince Henry. Long before Wil- liams body was brought to Winchester, Henry had rid- den into that town and de- ^manded the royal treasures 'l> there, somewhat as the Red King himself had done thir- teen years previously. Had the death of William happened a week later, Henry might never have been king of England, for his elder brother Duke Robert was about to arrive in Nor- mandy on his return from the Holy Land. It seemed as if everything had been arranged; for, after being proclaimed king at Winchester on Friday (the day after his brother's death), we find him on the Sunday following sixty miles off in Westminster Abbey, near London. As he stood before the altar there, ^ Henry promisecl to anniiP all the unrighteous acts of hin HENRT I. 174 EARLY ENGLAND. brotlier's reign, and was then anointed king by the Bishop of London. The new monarch was very careful to remind the people that, having been born at Selby^ in Yorkshire, he was an Englishman. He also pleased the Saxons by marrying Matilda of Scotland, the daughter of Margaret the sister of Edgar Atheling. You may remember that Edgar and Margaret went to the Scottish court when England was conquered by William the First, and there she married Malcolm Canmore. The marriage of Henry with Matilda, " of the right kingly kin of England," was approved of by Archbishop Anselm, who had left the country during the Red King's reign but was now restored to his see of Canterbury and held in great honour. Henry made many promises to his subjects. He signed a charter in which he undertook not to seize the property and revenues^ of the church ; not to treat the barons and other vassals* of the crown so harshly as the Red King had done ; and to restore the laws of King Edward the Confessor, which were especially dear to the Saxons. Queen Matilda was fond of learning ; and, like her mother, Margaret of Scotland, was ever kind and charit- able to the poor. Henry himself was called Beau- clerc, or the Good Scholar, because he could read and write well — an accomplishment which few knights of those days ever thought worth while to acquire. King Henry not only recalled the learned Archbishop Anselm, but he speedily dismissed all the friends of the Red King from court. The chief of these was Flam- bard the Firebrand, who had so greedily forced money from the people ; and the new king was very willing to HEXRY SEIZES THE CROWN. 17;; punish liim, as the great wealth he had amassed would then be forfeited to the crown. Flarabard was thrown into the Tower ; and, it is said, he so amused his jailors by his coarse jokes and bribed them with presents, that they allowed him to receive messages from his friends without. One day, a large vessel of wine was brought to him ; in it a rope was hidden. Flambard, after mak- ing his keepers drunk with the wine, fastened the rope to the top of one of the turrets and so escaped. He then fled to Normandy and incited Duke Kobert to make war upon his brother. Robert knew there were many Normans in England favourable to him, and soon landed at Portsmouth,^ where he was joined by a number of barons with their followers. Henry, however, had gained the good-will of the English, and was supported by the Church. The two armies of the rival brothers remained inactive for several days ; ultimately Robert agreed to withdraw his army, upon Henry's promising to pay him three thousand marks yearly. Duke Robert was soon in greater difficulties than ever. Through his careless management of Normandy, he could scarcely raise any money ; and though already burdened with heavy debts, he made a present to Queen Matilda of the sum which her husband had undertaken to pay. King Henry, however, shared no such gene- rous weakness ; for when he saw a chance of taking- Normandy, he sailed over with a large army, and de- feated his brother at the battle of Tenchcbrai.^ Duke Robert himself was taken prisoner, brought to England, and shut up in Cardiff^ Castle in Wales. There is one more story of Robert which, if true, proves how hard-hearted his brother Henry was, and 176 EARLY ENGLAND. may remind you of his treatment of the citizen of Rouen at the beginning of the Red King's reign. One day, when walking out with his keepers, Robert suddenly leapt on horseback and galloped off; but being ignorant of the country, he was soon captured in a morass into which his horse had brought him. When this news reached King Henry, he cruelly ordered his brother's jailor to inflict a horrible punishment — to hold a red-hot iron basin over Robert's eyes till sight was destroyed. Whether this terrible story be true or not, it is certain that the eldest son of the conqueror died in Cardiff Castle only a few months before the death of his cruel and selfish brother. 1. Annul, to cancel, withdraw. 1 .". Portsmouth, in Ilainpshirc, now the chiel '_'. Selby, on the Ouse, about 12 miles south of i iiiival port on the south coast of England York. ' fi. Tenchebrai, in Normandy, about 140 milei ;t. Eevenue, the annual Income. i west of Paris. 4. Vassals, those who hi feudal times held laud , 7. Cardiff, In .South Wales, at the mouth of the under a superior were called his vassals. | .Severn. THE WRECK OF THE WHITE SHIP. THOUGH King Henry had little pity for tlie woes of others, there was one misfortune which made liim suffer keenly and filled him Avith unceasing sorrow. His only son was Willicnn, who, in his seventeenth year, accompanied his father to Normandy, and was acknowledged by the Norman nobles as their lord. Prince William was then presented to King Louis of France as lord of Normandy, and was betrothed to the daughter of the Count of Anjou. His father, Henry, pre- pared to return to England full of pride and satisfaction. When the royal party reached the sea-shore, a ship- captain came to the English king and said, " Sire, my father, Stephen, served your royal father for many years THE WRECK OF THE WHITE SHIP. 177 as a seaman, and steered his ship when he sailed to conquer England ; and I now beg to do the same office for your Majesty. I have a vessel, the * White Ship,' Avell-built and well-equipped, and manned by fifty of the best seamen in Normandy." The king had already chosen a ship for himself; but he said he should entrust the prince to the care of the mariner Fitz-Stephen. Soon after, tlie king's party set sail for England. WRECK OF THK WHITE bHIi. Meanwhile, Prince William, with a large company of ladies and gentlemen, spent their time in feasting; and when at last the sails were set, it was evident that the crew had drunk too much wine. Fitz-Stephen, however, was confident that they could yet overtake the king's ship, and was urging the sturdy rowers whilst he himself steered, when all at once the ' White Ship ' struck on a rock and began rapidly to fill with (H. 2.) M 178 EARLY ENGLAND. water. Amidst the terror and confusion, Fitz-Stephen lowered a small boat, and hurrying the prince and a few of his companions into it, pushed them off in safety, telling them to row back to land. But among the shrieks which rose from the sinking ship, the prince heard the voice of his sister entreating him not to leave her. He ordered the rowers to return ; and, as soon as they came near the ill-fated vessel, their boat was at once filled by so many desperate men that in another moment it went down, and the ' White Ship ' also disappeared beneath the waves. ^ Two men escaped immediate death by clinging to a floating spar — one a butcher of Rouen, the other a young nobleman. In a few hours, the latter was so benumbed and exhausted that he could hold on no longer ; and, with a prayer for his companion's safety, he sank, and the waves closed over him. The next morning the poor butcher, the sole survivor of that merry company, was rescued by some fishermen. No one dared to tell King Henry the news of the ship- Avreck. When he heard of it, he fell to the ground in a swoon ; and it is said that he was never afterwards seen to smile. The English people, however, did not share his sorrow ; because, though the drowned prince was the son of the good queen Matilda,^ he had always shown a spite against her race. He had frequently said to the Norman lords that, when he became king, the English would " draw the plough ; " and that they were only fit to be " beasts of burden." Heartless and selfish as Henry was, he deserved his title of ' the Scholar ; ' for there is no doubt that, con- sidering how little learning there then was in Europe, he had studied to some advantage and was fond of men THE CONQUEROR'S GRANDSON. 179 of letters. He used to say that a king without learning was nothing better than a crowned fool ! He was also fond of wild animals, and one writer tells us that, in his park at Woodstock, he kept " all kinds of strange beasts, as lions, leopards, lynxes, camels, porcupines, and the like." Henry married his daughter Matilda to the sou ^ of the Count of Anjou ; and although her son afterwards became king of England, he was guilty of many cruel acts. Henry enforced the laws very strictly. He curbed the power of the barons, and restrained them from oppressing the common people. He preserved order, though he did not extend the liberties of his people. 1. This happened in 1120. ;. Note 2. pajre 131. 3. Geoffrey Plantagenet. He got tlie name of Plante-grnH or 'Broom-plant,' because he used to wear a sprig of that pretty shrub In his cap when hunting. Gciitt is the French word for broom (Lat. gtnista). THE CONQUEROR'S GRANDSON. S soon as Henry was dead there was great confusion in England. The barons, now that their stern master was gone, acted in the most op- ^ pressive way ; the common people, to show their hatred ^(1 of the Norman Forest Laws, now ravaged the royal parks A and forests, so that in a short time there was scarcely a single hart or red-deer to be STEPHEN. (5gg^ Q^ ^]jQ Crown -lands.^ Robberv and other crimes again became common. i8o EARLY ENGLAND. THK IJISHOP OF DURHAM ]iLESSlNG THE TIiOOP«. THE CONQUEROR'S GRANDSON. iSi The late king had done everything to secure the crown for his daughter Matilda, but nobody in England loved her ; perhaps she resembled her father too much. ' Neither Englishmen nor Normans ever had had a queen to reign over them, and both races therefore refused to acknowledge the haughty daughter of Henry as their sovereign. This was a good opportunity for Stephen, the Con- queror's grandson. Stephen was the son of Adela the sister of King Henry, and had married Maud, the niece of King David of Scotland and of Henry's queen Matilda. Stephen was already well known in England, and much liked by the people ; and when he ap- peared in London after Henry's death he was welcomed with great joy, at once proclaimed king by the citizens, and crowned at Westminster. Like the two preceding kings, Stephen hurried to Winchester in order to seize the royal treasui'es ; ^ and, as his brother was bishop of this See, ^he had no difficulty in obtaining the keys. The royal coffers contained a hundred thousand pounds, besides valuable plate and jewels. This money he used partly to pro- cure him friends and supporters, and partly to hire foreign soldiers. Other powerful men he made friendly by giving them large estates belonging to the crown. The people generally, as well as the barons and clergy, were pleased by the promises which he liberally made to govern justly and to respect their liberties. The Scots in Yorkshire. — Matilda, the daughter of King Henry, was meanwhile preparing to claim the crown of England. Her uncle. King David of Scotland, took up her cause, and led an army into the north of England; but many of his soldiers were lialf-savage 1 82 EARLY ENGLAND. Islesmen^ and Galloway-men*, who killed and pillaged with almost as great ferocity as the Danes did in olden times. The men of Yorkshire were so enraged that they gathered a large army, and completely defeated the Scots in the battle of Northallerton!' This victory is often called the Battle of the Standard, because the English rallied round the banners of the three northern saints wliich were borne aloft upon a high mast and surmounted by the silver pyx. As the aged iiishop of Durham was praying for victory and blessing the kneeling warriors, the sun's rays burst from behind a cloud. All hailed this as a good omen, and eagerly prepared for the figlit. The centre of the Scottish army consisted of Low- landers, svho in race and language were akin to the men of Yorkshire themselves ; but the half-naked Picts from Galloway and the Western Isles fought so wildly that King David soon lost all command of them. The mixed array was completely broken by the well-disci- plined and mail-clad soldiers of the south. The English archers also did great service, and gave promise of the wonderful skill which afterwards won the most important victories of the Middle Ages. Eleven thousand of the invaders are said to have fallen in the field. In spite of this decisive battle, Stephen was glad to consent to a treaty by which Matilda's son was to receive Northumbria, and the Scottish king to retain Cumberland and West- moreland. 1. Crown-lands, lands directly retained by the king, and not held by vassals in flef. 2. See pivgea IGG and 173. 8. Islesmen. frgiu the Hebrides or M'osterr Islands. 4. Galloway, the soutli-westernpart of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Solway Firth. .5. Northallerton, in the north of Yorkshire, 27 miles north of York. THE CIVIL WAR. 183 THE CIVIL WAR. WHEN Matilda, the daughter of King Henry, landed, England was already in terrible disorder. Not only the barons but many bishops and abbots had built strong castles, and in most cases the soldiers and fol- lowers of the feudal nobles were thieves and ruffians. The country was now also involved in civil war — the western counties supporting Matilda, while the eastern districts were in favour of Stephen. One battle was fought before Lincoln; but, as Stephen's army was inferior in numbers, and some of his supporters had gone over to the enemy, he was defeated. In one old history we read that, when his army was dispersed, " he ground his teeth with anger, foamed like a wild boar, and roared like a lion, so that none durst approach him, and with double- edged axe rushed alone on the enemy ; but his axe being broken and after that his sword, h^ was taken prisoner," Wiien Matilda at first landed, Stephen had allowed her to pass unmolested through his lines to join her half- brother, Robert of Gloucester, whose forces lay at Bristol.^ Now, however, that he was her prisoner, she sent him to a dungeon in Bristol Castle. She herself took posses- sion of the palace of Winchester, and of such royal treasure as still remained there. After entering Loudon, ^Matilda became worse liked than ever. She imposed a tax on the citizens as a punish- ment for having supported Stephen ; and, if there were any of the Londoners who had called themselves her friends, her haughty and vindictive " temper now changed them into bitter foes. She even insulted Queen Maud, the wife of Stephen, who waited on her to ask for her husband's release from prison. 1 84 EARLY ENGLAND. She had not even time to be crowned. For, one day, there was seen on the south side of the Thames a body of horse displaying the colours of Stephen's queen ; •immediately all the bells of London began to ring and every citizen ran to arms, " gathering in the streets like bees rushing from their hives." The unpopular Matilda had to escape imprisonment by galloping at once out of London with very few attendants. Owing to Stephen's misrule and the civil war, the English people were brought to a state of misery such as you cannot read of in any other period of our nation's history. An eye-witness says that " multitudes left this country to wander in foreign lands, others built wretched huts in the churchyards ; " and that the barons and other petty tyrants " hanged men up by the feet, and smoked them with foul smoke ; they put strings about their heads, and twisted them till they went into the brain. Many thousands they afflicted with hunger. One might go a day's journey and never find a man sitting in a town ; the earth bare no corn. Men said openly that Christ and His saints slept." King Stephen being released from prison in exchange for the Earl of Gloucester, who had also been taken captive, his enemy Matilda was soon after shut up in Oxford. She had now no hope of obtaining the English crown, and knew well that, if she again fell into Stephen's power, he would not let her off so easily as he had done before. Therefore, one dark night just before Christmas, she stole out from the besieged town with only three atten- dants, all of them wearing white sheets or cloaks over their clothes, so that they miglit not be seen easily as they walked over the snow. In this way, they passed without being observed by the sentries on guard ; and following each other silently and quickly, they walked THE CIVIL WAR. 185 across the snow-covered fields and over the frozen Thames. That night Queen Matilda walked more than six miles, with a wintry storm blowing in her face all the way. At length they reached Abingdon,^ and the same night rode on to Wallingford,^ which is about ten miles farther down the Thames. In the year 1 147, weary and hopeless, she finally left England. ESCAPE OF MATILDA. It was not till the year i i 5 3 that the misery of this reign came to an end. Henr}', the son of Matilda, had landed in England ; and an agreement was then made that Stephen should continue to reign, and that Henry should be king after him. 1. Bristol, on the Lower Avon, in Gloucester. I 3. Abingdon, 6 miles south of Oxford. 2. Vindictive, revensjeful. I *■ Wallingford, 12 miles soutli of Oxford. ,S6 EARLY EXGLAXT). LIFE IN NORMAN ENGLAND. HOW the Normans became English. — Having read how William Duke of Normandy conquered Eng- land, and how he and his two sons and then his grand- son^ became kings of the country, we must now see how the change afiected the English people. Did the English, for example, learn to speak French as the Normans had done ? Not at all. When an Englishman went to the king's palace or to the great courts of law, he heard nothing but French spoken ; but that was not enough to make him unlearn his mother- tongue. It was the Normans who had to change their lansfuasre and to learn English." Englishmen of course O D Do used many Norman words, but the real language of everyday life was very little changed by the Conquest. When the Normans came to this country there were three languages spoken in it, and at the present day we find the same three still spoken. In Wales they speak Welsh, as they did when the Conqueror landed in Sus- sex ; in the Highlands of Scotland they still use Gaelic ; but over all the rest of England and Scotland the people speak English, and no use is anywhere made of Nor- man-French. So it was also with the names of the towns and villages, as well as those of the divisions of the country. The names of the shires in England and Scotland were all given to them before the Normans came, and the governor of a shire was a shire-reeve ^ — a word still pre- served in the form " sheriff." The Normans have gfiven the word " county " for shire ; but though they called a sheriff a viscount,'^ we never do so. a LIFE IN NORMAN ENGLAND. 1S7 There were, however, many changes that were un- pleasant to the English at the time ; and thousands had good reason to grumble about the treatment they re- ceived at the hands of some of the great Norman lords. From the Domesday Book we know that many of the English landholders wei-e not deprived of their lands, and that the Normans held the estates given them by King William as English lords. Still, the new Nor- man masters for a long time had the best of it, and tlie English yeomen and others long felt the Norman rule very heavily. The people complained that the French lords had all the best land, cut down all the best forests, killed all the finest deer ; and said that England would never be England till she was rid of the Normans. The Norman Knights. — The Norman kings did many things which no other kings of England were allowed to do. William the Conqueror held that all the land in England belonged to him alone, and that he only divided it out among his great lords in order that they should lielp him with their men in any battle which he might have to fight. Each of those nobles again, the " tenants-in-chief" as they were called, similarly divided his estate among sub-vassals and knights in order to receive their help ; and thus the whole of Eng- land was obliged to furnish an army to fight for the king. This method of holding land, on condition that the holder must serve his superior lord, formed the basis of the Feudal ^ System . Under the Normans and their Feudal System, although the lords and barons were very unequal in power and importance, yet all were perfectly equal as knights. Any gentleman, however poor, had only to attain knight- hood, and receive his golden spurs, to be the peer of any 1 88 EARLY ENGLAND. duke or king in Cliristendom. Every candidate had to undergo the same training ; serving first as a page and then as an esquire to prove his manhood and courage, before attainino- to the honour of knio-hthood. THE c'i:i;i;.\iuNY of KMl;hti.\(J. A knight generally served as esquire for about seven years before he gained his spurs. When at last the day came there was a grand procession to a church where LIFE IN NORMAN ENGLAND. he had prayed and fasted ; and there he took a solemn oath to be loyal to his king, to defend the Church, and to be the champion of every lady in danger or distress. Some great warrior or high-born dame buckled on his spurs, put on his steel armour and helmet, and girded his sword to his side. Then, as he knelt, a nobleman, sometimes even the king or a prince, touched him on the shoulder with the flat of a sword and dubbed*^ him knight. In full armour as he was, the new knight had then to vault into his saddle, and gallop to and fro in sisfht of his friends and the assembled crowd. 1. Two sons and grandson, 'WilUam II., Heiirj' I., .Steplien. 2. Tlie original langiiase of the Normans was Scandinavian ; they had adopted the dia- lect of Northern France, called Langiie d'Oil. See page 148. 3. While most of these classes of words are Saxon or ICnglish in origin, m:iny are Celtic or Danish. 4. Visconut, i.e., vice-count. The count was the companion of the king, the uicc-coiuit oiio who took the place of count. Cf. vice-presi- dent, \iceroy. 5 Feudal, relating to fiefs, feus, or portions cf land. 6. Dabbed, atfirst meant tapped with the sword ; then it came to mean 'named' or 'called, because there was then given to the kneel- ing applicant the name of knight. LIFE IN NORMAN ENGLAND— continued. IN the reigns of William the Red King and his brother Henry, there were some curious customs. We see pictures of ladies who had sleeves so long that they must have touched the ground, unless the hands were held up. The men wore shoes with sharp points — some turning up like a serpent's tail, and others curling round like a ram's horn. It became such a fashion with tlie Norman noblemen and others to wear long hair tliat Archbishop Anselm preached against it ; and we are told that a French bishop one day went about the church after ser- mon to clip off the long locks of King Henry and his courtiers ! The early English, as you have already read, were I go EARLY ENGLAND. given to excess in eating and drinking. The Normans were more moderate, and in fact appear to have gene- rally had only two meals a day — dinner in the forenoon at nine o'clock, and supper in the afternoon at five o'clock. One proof of this is a common proverb which they had : — " To rise at five, to dine at nine, To sup at five, to bed at nine, Makes a man live to ninetj^-nine." Much improvement was made in farming during this period ; and for that we must praise the monks, who in- troduced new modes of drainage and husbandry from France. We read also of gardens and vineyards ; and one historian assures us that the wine grown in the Vale of Gloucester ^ " hath no disagreeable tartness in the mouth, and is very little inferior to the wines of France." So much armour was made during the Norman period that it led to great improvement in the working of metals. Hence we have specimens which show a great advance on the workmanship of previous times. One of the popes, at the close of the Norman period, was an Englishman ^ who had been bom near St. Albans ; ^ and we read that when the abbot there sent him two candlesticks made of gold and silver. Pope Adrian ^ de- clared in his letter of thaidvs that he had never seen workmanship so beautiful. The histoi-ian also fells us that the same abbot of St. Albans had a golden cup made, " which was adorned with flowers and foliage most delicately worked, and most elegantly set round with precious stones." Nobody can read the history of William the Con- queror and his successors without seeing that the Nor- mans were ea«"erlv fond of huntinar-. This fondness was LIFE IN NORMAN ENGLAND. 191 such a passion (as we have seen), that it led to cruel laws against the liberties of the people. And any man, whether English or Norman, found hunting the king's deer, was condemned to lose life or limb ; and if any dog A LADY HAWKING. was taken in the royal forests, it had one or more claws cut off, unless it were redeemed by the owner. Hunting witli hawks and falcons was still a favourite pastime in England, as it had long been before the land- ing of the Norman Duke. So fond had King Harold been of this pursuit, that some say his last journey to 192 EARLY ENGLAND. Normandy was to recover a favourite falcon which had flown in that direction from the south coast. On the famous Bayeux Tapestry,^ moreover, one can see that Harold carries a falcon on his wrist when visiting his Norman rival's court. The cliief amusement of military men in feudal times was the tournament; but neither William the Conqueror nor his immediate successors allowed this famous spectacle. Indeed, it was not till the end of the twelfth century that tournaments became really important in England. 1. Gloucester, a ealliedral fity on the left bank (if tlie Severn. 2. Nicholas Itreakspear, pope in 1154. lie was a Saxon, and his election imlicated that tlie En^j'lish race were recovering from tlie effects of the Conquest. 3. St. Alban'i, in Hertforil, near the Colne, about \i miles west of tlie county town. It etauils on the sltort river Vcr. Cf. the old n^ime Verulamium. , Adrian, it is usual for the newly-elected piipo to clianfe'e his name ; thus Nichohis break- spear became Pope Adrian IV. Bayeux Tapestry, a representation in em- briiiiliry nf the Norman CoiKjuest. It, i.< supposed t(i liave been worked liy Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror, and was by herpresented to the cathedral ofBayeiix. Bayeux is ill Normandy. al)0ut '20 miles west of l':ii'n.