marched up promptly with his men to give them battle; for King Ethelred remained a long time in his tent in prayer, hearing the mass, and said that he would not leave it till the priest had done, or abandon the divine protection for that of men. And he did so too, which afterwards availed him much with the Almighty, as we shall declare more fully in the sequel.

"Now the Christians had determined that King Ethelred, with his men, should attack the two Pagan kings, but that his brother Alfred, with his troops, should take the chance of war against the two earls. Things being so arranged, the king remained a long time in prayer, and the Pagans came up rapidly to fight. Then Alfred, though possessing a subordinate authority, could no longer support the troops of the enemy, unless he retreated, or charged upon them without waiting for his brother. At length he bravely led his troops against the hostile army, as they had before arranged, but without awaiting his brother's arrival; for he relied in the divine counsels, and forming his men into a dense phalanx, marched on at once to meet the foe.

“But here I must inform those who are ignorant of the fact, that the field of battle was not equally advantageous to both parties. The Pagans occupied the higher ground, and the Christians came up from below. There was also a single thorn-tree, of stunted growth, but we have ourselves never seen it. Around this tree the opposing armies came together with loud shouts from all sides, the one party to pursue their wicked course, the other to fight for their lives, their dearest ties, and their country. And when both armies had fought long and bravely, at last the Pagans, by the divine judgment, were no longer able to bear the attacks of the Christians, and having lost great part of their army, took to a disgraceful flight. One of their two kings and five earls were there slain, together with many thousand Pagans, who fell on all sides, covering with their bodies the whole plain of Ashdune.

"There fell in that battle King Bagsac, Earl Sidrac the elder, and Earl Sidrac the younger, Earl Osbern, Earl Frene, and Earl Harold; and the whole Pagan army pursued its flight, not only until night but until the next day, even until they reached the stronghold from which they had sallied. The Christians followed, slaying all they could reach, until it became dark.

"After fourteen days had elapsed, King Ethelred, with his brother Alfred, again joined their forces and marched to

Basing to fight with the Pagans. The enemy came together from all quarters, and after a long contest gained the victory. After this battle, another army came from beyond the sea, and joined them." To this we only have to add, that “il faut se defier de ceux qui particularisent toute l'histoire, qui vous donnent audacieusement la relation exacte de toutes les batailles dont les generaux eux memes auraient eu peutêtre bien de la peine a rendre compte à l'époque on les batailles out eu lieu."

6. Alfred's Brethren.

Ethelwerd, author of the "Saxon Chronicles," (a descendant of King Alfred,) dedicated his work to Matilda, daughter of Otho, the great emperor of Germany. The said "Chronicles," which we shall have occasion sometimes to cite, vary a year or two from other authors. With respect to Alfred's brothers, he relates as follows:-"I will now leave obscurity, and begin to speak concerning the sons of Ethelwulf. They were five in number: the first was Ethelstan, who also shared the kingdom with his father; the second was Ethelbald, who also was king of the Western English; the third was Ethelbert, King of Kent; the fourth was Ethelred, who after the death of Ethelbert, succeeded to the kingdom, and was also my grandfather's grandfather: the fifth was Alfred, who succeeded after all the others to the whole sovereignty, and was your (Matilda's) grandfather's grandfather."

7. Vide Note 5.

8. Battle of Wilton.

The following is the description given by Asser, of that memorable battle: "In the same year, (871,) when he had reigned one month, almost against his will, for he did not think he could alone sustain the multitude and ferocity of the Pagans, though even during his brothers' lives he had borne the woes of many, he fought a battle with a few men, and on very unequal terms, against all the army of the Pagans, at a hill called Wilton, on the south bank of the river Wily, from which river the whole of that district is named, and after a long and fierce engagement the Pagans, seeing the danger they were in, and no longer able to bear the attack of their enemies, turned their backs and fled. But, oh! shame to say, they deceived their too audacious pursuers, and again rallying, gained the victory. Let no one be surprised that the Christians had but a small number

K

of men, for the Saxons had been worn out by eight battles in one year against the Pagans, of whom they had slain one king, nine dukes, and innumerable troops of soldiers, besides endless skirmishes, both by night and by day, in which the oft-named Alfred, and all his chieftains, with their men, and several of his ministers, were engaged without rest or cessation against the Pagans. How many thousand Pagans fell in these numberless skirmishes God alone knows, over and above those who were slain in the eight battles abovementioned. In the same year the Saxons made peace with the Pagans, on condition that they should take their departure, and they did so."

9. Alfred's Vessels.

"Alfred the Great, who turned the energies of his powerful mind to the task of creating a naval force, which should be more than a match for that of his untiring persecutors, the Danes, himself superintended the formation of his fleet, and the vessels he designed were much superior to those of the Danes. These vessels were galleys, generally rowed with forty oars, some even with sixty, on each side; and were twice as long, deeper, swifter, and less "wavy," or rolling, than the ships of the Danes. These vessels were not so well adapted for commercial purposes as for warfare, they having accommodation for a large force, and affording room for fighting; and this build of ship was mostly used for war, until the introduction of cannon rendered other arrangements necessary.”—The Ship: its Origin and Progress.

10. Defeat of the Danish Fleet.

"In the year 877, the Pagans, on the approach of autumn, partly settled in Exeter, and partly marched for plunder into Mercia. The number of that disorderly crew increased every day, so that, if thirty thousand of them were slain in one battle, others took their places to double the number. Then King Alfred ordered boats and galleys, i. e. long ships, to be built throughout the kingdom, in order to offer battle by sea to the enemy as they were coming. On board of these he placed seamen, and appointed them to watch the seas. Meanwhile he went himself to Exeter, where the Pagans were wintering, and having shut them up within the walls, laid siege to the town. He also gave orders to his sailors to prevent them from obtaining any supplies by sea; and his sailors were encountered by a fleet of a hundred and twenty ships full of armed soldiers, who were come to help

their countrymen. As soon as the king's men knew that they were fitted with Pagan soldiers, they leaped to their arms, and bravely attacked those barbaric tribes: but the Pagans, who had now for nearly a month been tossed and almost wrecked among the waves of the sea, fought vainly against them; their bands were discomfited in a moment, and all were sunk and drowned in the sea, at a place called Suanewic.*

"In the same year the army of Pagans, leaving Wareham, partly on horseback, and partly by water, arrived at Suanewic, where one hundred and twenty of their ships were lost; and King Alfred pursued their land army as far as Exeter; there he made a covenant with them, and took hostages that they would depart.

"The same year, in the month of August, that army went into Mercia, and gave part of that country to one Ceolwulf, a weak-minded man, and one of the king's ministers; the other part they divided among themselves."-Asser's Life of Alfred.

11. Chippenham surprised by the Danes.

"In the year of our Lord's incarnation 878, which was the thirtieth of King Alfred's life, the army above-mentioned left Exeter and went to Chippenham, a royal villa, situated in the west of Wiltshire, and on the eastern bank of the river, which is called in British, the Avon. There they wintered, and drove many of the inhabitants of that country beyond the sea, by the force of their arms, and by want of the necessaries of life. They reduced almost entirely to subjection all the people of that country.”—Ibid.

12. Adventure of the Cakes.

"At the same time the above-named Alfred, king of the West-Saxons, with a few of his nobles, and certain soldiers and vassals, used to lead an unquiet life among the woodlands of the county of Somerset, in great tribulation; for he had none of the necessaries of life, except what he could, by frequent sallies, forage openly or stealthily from the Pagans, or even from the Christians who had submitted to the rule of the Pagans, and as we read in the Life of St. Neot, at the house of one of his cowherds.

"But it happened on a certain day, that the countrywoman, wife of the cowherd, was preparing some loaves to bake, and the king, sitting at the hearth, made ready his bow and arrows and other warlike instruments. The unlucky woman * Swanwich, in Dorsetshire.

espying the cakes burning at the fire, ran up to remove them, and rebuking the brave king, exclaimed :

'Ca'sn thee mind the ke-aks, man, an' doossen zee 'em burn?
'I'm boun thee's eat 'em vast enough, az zoon az 'tiz the turn.'*

The blundering woman little thought that it was King Alfred, who had fought so many battles against the Pagans, and gained so many victories over them."-Ibid.

The adventure of the cakes is related differently by various authors. According to one she exclaimed, "Why don't you turn the cakes when you see them burning? You will be glad enough to eat them when they are hot." According to another the excited woman said angrily to the king, "Turn thou those loaves, that they burn not, for I see daily that thou art a great eater." In a Latin Life of St. Neot, she says, 66 Why, man, do you sit thinking there, and are too proud to turn the bread? Whatever be your family, with such manners and sloth, what trust can be put in you hereafter? If you were even a nobleman, you will be glad to eat the bread which you neglect to attend to."

We will leave it to serious historians and antiquarians to search deeply into this very important matter of history, (which has already been partly done,) as our work is not profound enough to enter into more details regarding such serious facts, but its record by three different authors proves at least somewhat of it to be founded on truth-a fact we cannot assert of many historical traditions.

Florence, of Worcester, takes no note of the anecdote of the cakes, but the peasant, into whose rustic life fortune interwove this golden episode, was called, according to the above author, Denulf.

The humble life which Alfred led with the inhabitants of the rustic farm-house in Somersetshire, and with his companions in the woods, who subsisted by hunting and fishing, was an admirable school for a prince, who was liable, as is said of Alfred in the first part of his reign, to carry his head on high, and to despise the petitions of his people. A king, moreover, who had gained from books a more extensive knowledge of men and things than was usually acquired by others in that age, must have felt much and reflected deeply upon the degradation to which he was reduced. The prince who had led the West-Saxons so often to battle, was at last brought to so low a condition, that he was beholden to a humble farmer, once his own servant, for his daily bread.

* The original here is in Latin verse, and may therefore be rendered into English verse, but such as every house wife in Somersetshire would understand.