THE HAPPY END.
There chanced to be one very hard winter, and the rivers and streams
were frozen over, as well as the bogs and swamps. It was such a winter
as one of those in which King Canute went to visit the monks of
Ely.[257] Then the nobles of Canute’s court said, “We cannot pass; the
king must not pass on the slippery, unsafe ice, which may break and
cause us all to be drowned in the fen-waters.” But Canute, like the
pious and stout king that he was, up and said, “Hold ice or break ice,
I will keep the feast of the Purification with the good monks of Ely!
An there be but one bold fenner that will go before over the ice by
Soham mere and show the way, I will be the next to follow!” Now there
chanced to be standing amidst the crowd one Brithmer, a fenner of the
Isle of Ely, that was called, from his exceeding fatness, Budde, or
Pudding; and this heavy man stood forward and said that he would go
before the king and show him a way on the ice across Soham mere. Quoth
Canute, who, albeit so great a king, was but a small, light man: “If
the ice can bear thy weight, it can well bear mine! So go on, and I
follow!” So Brithmer went his way across the bending and cracking ice,
and the king followed him at a convenient distance; and one by one the
courtiers followed the king, and after a few falls on the ice they all
got safe to Ely. And, for the good deed which he had done, King Canute
made fat Brithmer, who was but a serf before, a free man, and gave unto
him some free lands, which Brithmer’s posterity hold and enjoy unto
this day by virtue of the grant made by King Canute. But there was not
a fenner of Lord Hereward’s party, fat or lean, that would show the
Norman a way across the ice; and the Duke was in no case to undertake
any such adventurous journey, and hardly one of his chiefs would have
exposed himself and his people to such a march, and to the risks of a
sudden thaw; and the Saxons passed the season of frosts without any
alarm, albeit every part of the fens was passable for divers weeks.
Duke William was now waxing old and growing exceedingly fat, in sort
that he could not bestir himself as he had been used to do. At the same
time his sons, who had grown into man’s estate, had become very
undutiful, and even rebellious. Robert, his first-born, who was short
in his legs, but very lofty in spirit, claimed as his own the duchy of
Normandie and the county of Maine, alleging that the dominion of those
countries had been promised to him by his father, and that his father
ought to rest satisfied with the great kingdom of England. And although
William had told Robert that he would not throw off his clothes until
he went to bed—meaning thereby to say that he would give up none of
his principalities and powers until he went to his grave—that
impatient, furious young man showed that he would not wait and be
patient. The family of the Conqueror was a brotherhood of Cains.
Robert, less favoured by nature than they, thought that his father
always gave preference to his younger brothers William and Henry: and
being in France, in the little town of Aigle, William and Henry, after
playing at dice, as was the fashion with milites, made a great noise
and uproar, to the great disturbance of their elder brother; and when
Robert remonstrated with them from a courtyard beneath, they called him
Shorthose, and emptied a pitcher of water upon his head. Thereupon
Robert drew his sword and would have slain both his brothers; but being
prevented in that, he raised the standard of revolt against his own
father, and endeavoured to surprise the city and strong castle at
Rouen. Here, too, Robert failed of success, but he fled into Brittanie;
and he was now visibly supported not only by many Breton chiefs and by
the great Count of Anjou, but also by Philip the French king, who never
could stomach the power and greatness to which the son of the harlot of
Falaise had attained. Now, while all this mischief was brewing, Duke
William felt that there were many of the barons in Normandie in whom he
could put no manner of trust, and he well knew that too many of the
great Normans settled in England were unsteady in their allegiance to
him. In this state of things it behoved him more than ever to insure
tranquillity in England before he should again cross the seas, and to
endeavour to secure the goodwill of the Saxon people, who were
gradually becoming accustomed to his rule, and who had but so recently
shown how valorously they could fight for him when he put his trust in
them. And therefore had he somewhat relaxed the rigour of his
government towards the English people, and had made promise to many
native nobles that he would govern the country according to the good
laws of Edward the Confessor. Now some of these English nobles were
closely allied by blood with the Ladie Lucia, and consequently with the
Ladie Alftrude; and was not the Ladie Lucia the wife of Duke William’s
own nephew, Ivo Taille-Bois? And was not the Ladie Alftrude wife unto
Hereward the Lord of Brunn, who held that nephew in duresse, and who
had for so many years prevented Ivo from enjoying the wide domains of
his spouse? Perhaps Ivo had not been an altogether unkind husband, or
it may be that the two children which she had borne unto him carried a
great weight in his favour in the mind and heart of Lucia, who, certes,
had long been very anxious for the liberation and return of her French
husband. Some good Saxons at the time thought that this was
un-Saxonlike and mean and wicked in the fair heiress of Spalding; but
there were many young dames, and not a few Saxon dames that could
hardly be called young, who felt much as the Ladie Lucia felt about
their Norman husbands. But go and read the story of old Rome and the
Sabine women! Nay, go read the Evangil, which tells us how the wife
will give up everything for her husband. And, _crede mihi_, these
womanly affections and instincts helped more than anything else to make
disappear the distinction between the conquering and the conquered race.
Now after that many of her kindred and friends had supplicated Duke
William to offer to the Lord of Brunn such terms as might procure the
release of her husband and the pacification of the fen country, the
Ladie Lucia herself found her way to the court, and at the most
opportune moment she knelt before the Conqueror with her two fair
children. The hard heart of the Norman ruler was touched; but politic
princes are governed by the head and not by the heart, and it was only
upon calculation that William determined to set at nought the opinions
and the opposition of many of his advisers, and grant unto Hereward the
most liberal terms of composition. In the presence of Lanfranc and
other learned priests he caused to be written upon parchment, that he
would give and grant friendship and the protection of the good old laws
not only unto Hereward, but also unto all his friends, partisans, and
followers whatsoever, of whatsoever degree; that the life, eyes, limbs,
and goods of the poorest fenner should be as sacred as those of Lord
Hereward himself; that Lord Hereward should have and hold all the
titles of honour and all the lands which he had inherited from his
ancestors or obtained by his marriage with the Ladie Alftrude; that he
should be allowed to administer the Saxon laws among his people, as
well at Ey as at Brunn; and that, in return for all these and sundry
other advantages, nothing would be required from him further than that
he should liberate, together with all other his Norman prisoners, Ivo
Taille-Bois, viscomte of Spalding, and give the hand of friendship to
Ivo, and restore to him the house and all the lands at Spalding, which
were his by right of his marriage with the Ladie Lucia, and live in
good cousinship with Ivo as became men so nearly connected through
their wives, living at the same time in peace and friendship with all
Normans, and pledging himself by his honour as a knight and by his vow
pronounced with his right hand laid upon the relics of the Saxon saints
he most esteemed, to be henceforward and alway true liegeman to King
William and to his lawful successors.
When a Saxon monk, known for his good English heart, and for the pious
life he had led in Waltham Abbey,[258] got into the fen country, and
into the presence of the Lord of Brunn with this scroll, the gentle
Ladie Alftrude, who had borne many toils and troubles without a murmur,
was lying sick of a marsh fever, which she had caught in Hoiland. This
afflicting event was calculated to have some influence over her lord’s
decision; but many other events and circumstances, too numerous to
name, all led to the same conclusion. No hope of the return of King
Harold could be maintained any longer; the good old Saxon monk from
Waltham vowed that his body was really buried in Waltham Abbey, that
the river Lea, flowing fast by that Abbey gate, ever murmured his
requiem, by night as by day, and that he himself, for years past, had
said a daily mass for the peace of his soul. All the great Saxon chiefs
had submitted long ago; Earl Waltheof, the last that had made a stir in
arms, had been captured and beheaded outside Winchester town, and was
now lying (though not without a strong odour of sanctity) in a deep
grave at Crowland Abbey; Edgar Etheling, the last representative of the
line of King Alfred, was living contentedly, and growing fat in a
Norman palace at Rouen, with a pound of silver a day for his
maintenance; for he had long since given himself up, and sworn himself
liege-man to William. Every rising had been put down in England, and
all conditions of men seemed determined to rise no more, but to live in
peace and good fellowship with the Normans; there was nothing but
marrying and giving in marriage between the two races, and Saxon lords
and other men of note were taking unto themselves Norman or French
wives; and the great father of the whole Christian church, the Pope at
Rome, Gregory, the seventh of that name, had given plenary powers to
Archbishop Lanfranc to reorganize the Saxon church, and to
excommunicate all such Saxons as submitted not to his primacy and to
the government established. William, on the other hand, promised to
take vengeance on none of Lord Hereward’s followers, and to injure no
fen-man for that which was past.
“Elfric,” said the Lord of Brunn, “I think we must accept these terms,
and cease this roving life among woods and meres. We have done what
brave men can do: we have shown the Normans that England was not
conquered in one fatal battle. We might yet hold out here, but for the
rest of England we can do nothing; and our being here costs some
Englishmen in the vicinage very dearly! What sayest thou, my
ever-trusty sword-bearer? Wilt follow thy old master to London city,
and make peace with Duke William and his Normans, who have never been
able to overcome us?”
Quoth Elfric, “Where my lord goes there go I, be it to London city or
to London tower. I think we have shown the Normans that England was not
won by the battle of Hastings. An the Duke keep but his faith, we may
live freely and happily in the good old house at Brunn, and among our
honest fen folk.”
Of the monks who had fled from Ely with Elfric some were dead, but the
gentle and good Father Elsin and the fiery and old Father Kenulph, and
several of the lay-brothers were yet alive; and therefore Hereward told
the Duke’s emissary, the good monk from Waltham, that their must be an
especial agreement to relieve these monks of Ely from the rules of
their order, and allow them to abide at Brunn or at Ey. The emissary
was further told that, before Lord Hereward would submit, Duke William
must swear upon the relics of his saints to observe the paction, to be
true to every article of the agreement: and to give an earnest of his
own sincerity and truth, the Lord of Brunn swore in the solemnest
manner that he was ready to accept the conditions offered to him; and
that, having once accepted them, nothing but treachery and violence on
the other side would ever make him swerve from them so much as the
breadth of a hair.
The monk of Waltham went his way unto London; and in as short a time as
might be he came back again as far as the succursal cell at Spalding,
attended by a goodly company of Norman and Saxon nobles, who came to
bear witness that Lanfranc and the chancellor of the kingdom had put
their signatures to the scroll as well as the king, and that William
had sworn in their presence to be faithful to the deed. Now the Lord of
Brunn went to Spalding with a goodly retinue of armed men, but not more
numerous than the party which had come thither with the monk of
Waltham; and having heard all that the monk and the lords had to tell
him, and having carefully perused the deed (for Hereward had tasted
books, and could read well in Latin), he wrote his name to the deed,
and some of the principal men with him wrote their names; and then he
swore upon the relics to be liege-man to _King_ William. And now
William the Norman might in truth be called a king, and king of all
England. It was in the Kalends of October, in the year of grace one
thousand and seventy-six, and ten years after the great assize of God’s
judgment at Hastings, that this thing was done and an end put to the
resistance of the Saxons.
He had sworn upon the relics of saints before now, and had broken his
oath; but this time King William was true to the vow he made, for great
and manifold were the advantages he reaped from the submission of the
Lord of Brunn. It needs not to say that the great Saxon warrior who had
ever been true to his saints and a scrupulous observer of his word, was
more than faithful to every part of his engagement. After he had been
to London city to pay homage to the king which it was the will of
Heaven to place over the country, he returned to his good house at
Brunn, and hung his sword and battle-axe upon the wall, never to take
them down again unless England should be invaded by the Scots or Danes.
King William, who went over into France to force his undutiful son
Robert to forego his plots and rebellions, and to take vengeance on the
French king (in both of which things he in the end succeeded), would
with a glad heart have carried Hereward, the cunning captain, the great
soldier, with him; and to tempt him into that service he made offer of
lofty titles and commands, and of many hides of land in the upland
country; but Hereward loved not to fight except for his own country and
countrymen, and against those who had wronged him and oppressed them;
and instead of clutching greedily at the king’s offers, as many English
lords had done, he preferred keeping his own in his own native parts,
and ever remained plain Lord of Brunn.
Ivo Taille-Bois returned to the manor-house at Spalding with his wife
and children; and albeit his brow was sometimes darkened by the
recollections of the wedding at Ey, and the defeat and surrender in the
marsh, and the hard life he had led as a prisoner in the fens, he lived
on the whole, in very good fellowship with his neighbour and cousin of
Brunn. Ivo never more harrowed the good Saxon monks of Spalding, who
were left for a long time to their own peaceful and happy government.
As for the traitorous monks of Crowland Abbey, who had brought back the
Normans, they fared after the same manner as the false monks at Ely and
the ungrateful monks at Peterborough; they were condemned by the
Saxons, harassed and plundered by the Normans they had served, and
fustigated by a sharp iracund abbat from France; and thus they did
penance for many years, and until most of them were dead, when their
cells were occupied by truer men, and the abbey of Crowland began again
to be the revered place it had been in former times.
As Lord Hereward had ever been averse to cruelty, and constant in his
endeavours to prevent his people being cruel to the prisoners they took
in battle, the Normans had no scores of vengeance against him; and when
they found that they were not to be gratified by dividing his broad
lands among them, as they had long expected to do, they lived in a
neighbourly manner with him, and even sought his friendship. Not one of
them but allowed that he had been a great warrior; and when the monks
of their nation, who had seen much of the war in England with their own
eyes, began to chronicle the war and to relate the high emprises of
William the Conqueror, maugre their Norman prejudices they paid a
tribute of praise and admiration to the military skill, and the
indomitable courage, and perseverance of Hereward, the son of Leofric,
Lord of Brunn.
There were troubles in the land after the year of grace one thousand
and seventy-six, but they came not near to Brunn. Twenty-four years
after the submission of Hereward, when the Conqueror was in his grave,
and his son Rufus had been slain by the arrow of a Norman knight, his
other son, Henry the Clerk, ascended the throne, and in so doing he
passed the good Charter called the Charter of Liberties, whereby he
restored the laws of King Edward the Confessor, and engaged to redress
all the grievances of the two preceding reigns. And shortly after his
accession to the throne, King Henry still further conciliated his
Anglo-Saxon subjects by espousing a Saxon wife, the fair Maud, daughter
of Malcolm, King of Scots, and of Margaret the good queen, the relation
of King Edward the Confessor, and of the right kingly kin of England.
Maud had been sent from Scotland at a very early age and committed to
the care of her English aunt Christina, the pious Abbess of Wilton.
Many great Norman lords, as Alain the Lord of Richmond, and William de
Garenne, Earl of Surrey, had asked her in marriage, but she had refused
them all; and even when Henry Beauclerc, a crowned and anointed king,
made suit for her hand, and offered to place her by his side on the
throne which her ancestors had sat upon for ages, she testified a
preference for the quiet religious life she was leading; and it
required the representations and entreaties of many noble Saxon friends
to make her forego her purpose of entering into religion. “Oh most
noble and fair among women,” said these Saxons, “if thou wilt, thou
canst restore the ancient honour of England, and be a pledge of
reconciliation and friendship; but if thou art obstinate in thy
refusal, the enmity between the two races will endure, and the shedding
of human blood know no end!” To these representations she yielded; and
those Saxons who had advised her lived to see much good to England
proceed from the marriage, which was a great step towards that
intermixture of the Saxon and Norman races which had been begun many
years before, and which we have since seen proceed so rapidly. The
elevation of the fair Maud to the throne filled the hearts of the
English with joy, for not only was she their countrywoman and a
descendant from the royal stock of Alfred the Great, but she was also
at the time of her marriage beautiful in person, charitable unto the
poor, and distinguished above all the ladies of her time by a love for
learning and learned men. Elfric the sword-bearer, who was yet in the
prime vigour of life, brought to mind the dying prediction of Frithric
the Abbat of St. Albans, and said joyously to his lord, that “England
would be England still, and that the Saxon tongue and laws were things
that could not be rooted out!”
“Elfric,” said Lord Hereward, “the great stream of our old Saxon blood
is fast absorbing the less stream of Norman blood, and so will it
continue to do. The children of Normans, being born in England and
suckled by Saxon nurses, will cease to be Normans. All men love to keep
that which they have gotten; and as our old Saxon laws are far more
free than those of France, and give more security for life and goods,
and oppose a stronger barrier to the tyranny of princes, the Normans
that now live among us, or their sons that shall succeed them, will,
for their own sakes, cling to our old laws, and help the chiefs and the
great body of the English people to make the spirit of them to be
enduring in the land.”
Thus talked the Lord of Brunn and his faithful sword-bearer; and thus
they lived to teach their children’s children.
Hereward continued to live comfortably and peaceably with his
neighbours and with all men, and he died in peace after he had lived
many more years. Both he and the Ladie Alftrude reached a patriarchal
age, and they left a patriarchal stock behind them. They were buried
with all honour in Crowland Abbey, which, by this time, had become a
holier and a better governed house than ever it had been before. A
learned monk of Crowland wrote good verses in Latin upon the tombstone
of the Lord of Brunn; but we find in our own home tongue lines which
might have been a still better epitaph:—
Him loved young, him loved old,
Earl and baron, dreng and kayn,
Knight, bondeman, and swain,
Widows, maidens, priests, and clerks,
And all for his good werkes.
He loved God with all his might,
And holy kirk and soothe and right.
And that there might be a lasting record of his prowess in battle and
skill in war, his good and learned mass-priest Alefricus Diaconus, had
written before he died, and in the same old English tongue, a goodly
book of the deeds of Hereward, the great soldier; and albeit this
goodly book, by some evil chance, hath disappeared, Hugo Candidus and
Robert of Swaffham, two right learned monks of the abbey of
Peterborough, have put the substance of it, and such portions as could
be found, into their treatise intituled, DE GESTIS HEREWARDI INCLYTI
MILITIS.
APPENDIX.
NOTE A.—(_Page 5._)
FOUNDATION OF ELY ABBEY.
Ely Abbey was founded by Ætheldreda in A.D. 673. She was the first
Abbess. Her right of rule over the Isle of Ely itself was derived from
her husband, Tonbert, a prince of the Gyrvii or Fen people. This
monastery rose to great importance—passed through various
vicissitudes—incident to the times of invasion and conflict—was
heroically defended at various periods—submitted to the power of Duke
William, was converted into a Bishopric in 1109—Hervey being its first
prelate—and shared the fate of other monastic houses in the reign of
Henry VIII., when its revenue amounted to about £13,000 per year, at
the present value of money.[259]
NOTE B.—(_Page 5._)
THE LEGEND OF S. LUCY.
Saint Lucia was a native of Syracuse; her hand was sought in marriage
by a young nobleman whose suit she refused, whereupon her lover
complained that her beautiful eyes haunted him day and night; she cut
them out and sent them to him, begging to be allowed to persue her
religious aspirations unmolested, hence she is often represented with
the balls of her eyes laid on a dish; perhaps her eyes were defaced or
plucked out—though her present “Acts” make no mention of any such
circumstance. In many places her intercession was particularly implored
for distemper of the eyes, (for, as a recompense for this self
abnegation, Heaven restored her eyes making them more beautiful than
before).
Her chief offence may have been that she bestowed the whole of her
large wealth on the poor instead of sharing it with her suitor who
accused her to the governor of professing Christianity and in
consequence she suffered in the Diocletian persecution. She appears to
have died in prison, of wounds, on 13th December, 304, A.D. In the 6th
century she was honoured at Rome among the most illustrious virgins
whose triumphs the church celebrates, as appears from the Sacramentary
of St. Gregory, Bede, and others. Her festival was kept in England,
till the change of religion, as a holiday of the second rank on which
no work but tillage or the like was allowed. Her body remained at
Syracuse for many years. She is often represented with a palm branch in
one hand and a burning lamp in the other, expressive of her name which
means Light, in Greek, λύκη. _“Notes Ecclesiological and Historical
on the Holy Days,” London, 1864, also “Lives of the Saints,” by Rev.
Alban Butler._
[Illustration: THE GROUND PLAN OF THE AREA OF SPALDING MONASTERY.
(_From the “Monasticon.”_)
A—Situs Abbatæ (the Site of the Abbey).
B—Clavicularium (the Gate House).
C—Horreum (the Store-house or Barn).
D—Turris (the Tower).
E—Forum Mercatorium (the Market).
F—Pons Altus (the High Bridge).
G—Welland Flumen (the River Welland).
H—Fossa (a Trench).
I—Pons Irinus (the Lily Bridge).
K—Aqua vocata Westload (the Stream called the Westlode).
L—Strata S. Thomæ (S. Thomas’s Causey).]
NOTE C.—(_Pages 5, 45, 57._)
OVIN’S CROSS AT ELY.
When the British Archæological Association met in Congress at Wisbech
(Aug., 1878,) the subject of the _Inscription_ of this cross became a
matter of discussion. Mr. W. de Gray Birch, Hon. Sec., has since
produced a paper on this inscription. Mr. Birch supposed the
inscription to have been originally metrical, and that the form given
at page 57 of this book suffered by a blunder of the stonecutter, and
perhaps from some manipulation of recent times. Mr. Birch inclines to
read—
“Trine! tuam lucem da, Deus, et requiem.”
The reader will find this subject elaborately discussed in Vol. 35 of
Journal of British Archæological Association, pages 388-396.
NOTE D.—(_Page 7._)
SPALDING PRIORY.
The Priory of Spalding was commenced in 1052 by Thorold, brother of
Godiva. It was dedicated to SS. Mary and Nicholas and consisted at
first of a prior and five monks, drawn from Crowland.
This cell was endowed with the manor of Spalding. Lucia, countess of
Chester, the heiress to the property of Thorold the founder, married
Ivo Taille-Bois the nephew of William the Conqueror.
Of his dealings with the priory we have already learnt in the text. The
privileges of Spalding were granted to the convent of Angiers. Lucia
appears to have outlived Ivo—in fact, had three husbands and after the
death of Ralph the third one, gave a fresh confirmation of the
liberties of Spalding to the monks of Angiers in 1129.
Gough says, “Here were buried Ivo Taille-Bois in 1104 and his wife
Lucia in 1141.” See plan facing page 481.
NOTE E.—(_Pages 16, 17._)
ARCHBISHOP PARKER’S SALT-VAT.
This “Salt-vat” is of silver gilt and elaborately ornate; but it is not
known whether it was of English or foreign manufacture. A copy has been
made for South Kensington Museum. The authorities of Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge, permitted the editor of this book to see the
original and to make a copy of the inscription which is as follows:—
MATTHÆVS: ARCHIEP[=V]S:
CANTVARIENSIS: DEDIT
COLLEGIO: CORPORIS
CHRISTI: CANTABRIGIÆ:
PRIMO: SEPTEMBRIS:
ANNO: D[=N]I: 1570
NOTE F.—(_Page 20._)
ABBEY OF S. ALBAN.
Saint Alban, the proto-martyr, suffered death in the Diocletian
persecution in 303 A.D.
King Offa is said to have exhumed the body, placed it in a magnificent
shrine, and established monks to watch over it in 793; but Bede says
that a church was established where the martyrdom took place in 731
A.D.; and Offa is believed to have designed a nobler church which
perhaps was not completed by him, but by Eadmer, the 9th Saxon Abbat,
and this church existed at the time of the Norman conquest.
Paul of Caen, appointed by Lancfranc in 1077 “pulled down the Saxon
building and constructed the church entirely anew of stones and tiles
taken from the ancient Roman city of Verulam, a great portion of which
had been collected by the two last Saxon Abbots.” (Frithric, mentioned
in note on page 20, being one of them.)
This, then, was substantially the same church which has been restored
in these modern times and which became the Cathedral of the new diocese
of S. Albans in 1877, when Dr. Claughton was enthroned as Bishop.
The reader will find valuable information in
1. _A History of the Abbey of S. Alban_, by DR. NICHOLSON.
2. _Report on the Lady Chapel of S. Alban_, by SIR GILBERT SCOTT.
3. _The Restoration of the Abbey of S. Alban_, by J. CHAPPLE, 1874.
4. _The Restoration of the Abbey Church of S. Alban_, 1876.
5. _A short History of the Abbey Church of S. Alban_, by J. CHAPPLE,
1882.
NOTE G.—(_Page 59_).
CROWLAND ABBEY.
Crowland Abbey was founded by Æthelbald in 716, according to a promise
made to the hermit Guthlac who lived there in seclusion for 15 years.
The reader will find an account of this recluse in Ordericus who
followed what was written by bishop Felix. Ordericus says that the name
of Guthlac signified “the gift of war,” and that he belonged to a tribe
called Guthlacingas. Gudlacus is the spelling in William of Malmesbury.
Ordericus gives his own account of the building of Crowland Abbey as he
learnt it on the spot.
Æthelbald sent for Kenulph, a monk of Evesham, and granted to him the
whole island of Crowland, for the purpose of congregating and
supporting a society of monks exempting it for ever from all secular
payments and services. _Dugdale’s Monasticon._
NOTE H.—(_Page 61._)
RAMSEY ABBEY.
Ramsey Abbey was founded by St. Oswald and Æthelwine of East-Anglia, in
969.[260] The Abbey was dedicated to SS. Mary and Benedict and was
occupied by the order of “Black Monks.” It became richly endowed to the
annual value of about £18000 of present money.
NOTE I.—(_Page 61._)
THORNEY ABBEY.
Thorney.—This spot appears to have been selected for the establishing
of a religious house at the time that Wulphere and his kin went to the
consecration of the church at Peterborough.[261] Abbot Saxulf requested
of that Mercian king a grant of Thorney, saying—“There is an island
here which is called ANCARIG, and my desire is that we build a minster
there to the glory of S. Mary, so that those may dwell therein who wish
to lead a life of peace and rest.”
Thus it would seem that in 662 A.D. this fen island (Thorney now) was
“Ancarig,” or “Hermit’s isle,”[262] and how long before we know not.
Hermits—we suppose—developed into monks. Keltic Christians may have
chosen a life of seclusion, and to some of them Thorney may have been a
hermitage.
_Ancarig_ seems allied to the Saxon words, “ANCER,” a hermit or
recluse; and “_ig_,” an island.
But there are similar elements in the Welsh language, as “ANCR,” a
hermit; and “UNIG,” lonely, out of the way;—(also “_ing_,” narrow or
confined.)
Therefore, “Ancarig” may have been so named—may have been a
hermitage—in what are called old British times, _i.e._ prior either to
the Roman conquest or the Saxon supremacy. The derivation was probably
quite independent of the Greek forms, _ana_ and _choreo_, from which
our modern word, Anchorite, is supposed to come.
Thorney, in common with other monasteries, suffered during the Danish
invasions, but revived in the peaceful reign of Ædgar.
Athelwold, bishop of Winchester, established himself at Thorney about
964, and according to William of Malmesbury he gained possession of
land sufficient to maintain himself and 12 monks (Iccircoque nontantum
terrarum illuc, quantum alibi congessit; sed quantum sibi et. XII.
monachis sat esset.)
To effect this he is said to have cleared the land of the thorns and
brambles.
The following lines are from _Novæ Arundines or New Marsh-Melodies_, by
H. HAILSTONE, M.A. Palmer, Cambridge. 1885.
THORNEY ABBEY.
Ah! mute is Thorney’s matin bell,
And hushed the holy singing
That rose from out the hermits’ cell,
In tuneful numbers ringing!
Delightsome was that isle of yore,
Where apples without measure
Did bloom, and Phœbus panted o’er
The vineyard’s purple treasure!
Beneath the bosom of the eyot
In pleasing holts embower’d,
The tippet-grebes did congregate,
The snow-white heron tower’d.
Now all their water-ways are dry;
Then sit we ’twixt the setting
Of yon bright orb that gilds the sky,
And Cynthia’s crystal fretting.
Behold how Ceres’ lap is full:
O may no fortune fickle
The bounteous goddess’ gifts annul,
Or stint the golden sickle!
NOTE J.—(_Page 67._)
KING’S LYNN IN THE 18TH CENTURY.
“This beautiful and large Town standeth towards the Mouth of the Great
Ouse.”
“The Goodness of its Situation affords a great Advantage to Traffick
and Commerce, having a commodious large Harbour, capable of containing
two hundred Sail of Ships, and several navigable Rivers falling into it
from Eight several Counties by which means divers Capital Cities and
Towns therein, viz.: _Peterborough, Ely, Stamford, Bedford, St. Ives,
Huntingdon, St. Neots, Northampton, Cambridge, St. Edmund’s Bury,
Thetford_, etc., are served with all sorts of heavy Commodities, as
Coal from Newcastle, Salt from Lymington, Deals, Firr-timber, all sorts
of Iron, Wines, etc., Imported hither from beyond the Sea; and from
these parts great Quantities of Wheat, Rye, Oats, Cole-seed, Barley,
etc., are brought down these Rivers, whereby a great foreign and inland
Trade is maintained, the Breed of Sea-men increased, and the Customs
and Revenues of the Town very much advanced.”
But Lynn, as a port, seems then to have been declining, in comparative
importance, for Mackerell says on p. 188:—
“The Port is reckon’d Commodious, but the Trade of the Northern Coast
is almost ruin’d by the Southern and Western having ingrossed it to
their own great Advantage.”—_History and Antiquities of King’s Lynn_,
by B. MACKERELL, Gent., London, 1738.
NOTE K.—(_Pages 74, 409._)[*]
THE CAMP OF REFUGE SURRENDERED.
(_From Historia Eliensis, lib. sec._)
109. “_Quod monachi Elyensis clementiam regis adierunt et de atrocitate
itineris exercitus et equorum ejus._
“Monachi igitur de Ely cognoscentes mala quæ in regno fiebant et in
ecclesiarum rebus pervasionem fieri et diminutionem ab extermina
(externa; _E_) gente graviter doluerunt, magnificentiam templi Domini
reminiscentes, et loci sancti sibi tale discrimen imminere veriti sunt,
flentes unanimiter auxilium de cœlo et suæ in æternum patrocinantis
Christi sponsæ dilectæ Ætheldredæ præsidium adesse poscebant. Et divina
inspirante clementia salubre demum ineuntes consilium ad regem mittere
constituunt, illius flagitare misericordiam et pacem. Invaluerat enim
fames ut supra retulimus, per totam regionem atque istic innumeris
milibus hostilis collegii etiam horrea servata Egypti tantam inopiam
non supplerent. Nam (deest) reliquiæ ciborum in loco jam fuerant
exaustæ, eo quod septimus erat annus ex quo seditionem adversus novum
regem commoverunt, frumenti copia sufficere nulla diu poterat, furto
enim vel rapto vesci monachorum ordini minime licuit. Et convocatis ad
se primoribus qui urbem et aquarum exitus muniunt, ipsos inde abigere
atque Normannorum catervis fore tradendos si consiliis eorum abnuant.
His territi mox verbis, piguit eos gravissimi incepti ejus felicem
exitum tum nequaquam sperant, prælia existimantes levia si his malis
conferatur. Urgebat eos fames valida, intus pavor angebat nimius, nec
ad comportandum rapinas egredi nisi in manu valida audebant, enses
Normanorum plus omni periculo metuentes. Et arepto itinere in Warewich
vico famoso reverenter regem cum debita supplicatione monachi
requirunt, se suaque omnia ejus clementiæ commendantes. Stetit itaque
abbas Elyensis Thurstanus cum suis monachis coram rege magno Willelmo,
orans et deprecans per misericordiam Dei ut averteret iram furoris sui
ab eis et a civitate sua, spondens per omnia deinceps fidele obsequium,
et consistente satraparum caterva, optimum reputavit dicens,
‘majestatem illius tolerare supra se, cum jus regni a Deo sit illi
concessum. Verum et si dignanter (dignatur) eis attendat, finem laborum
suorum haud dubitanter assequi posse, et ingressum insulæ citius
optinere proponit; si tantum pro Deo et suæ animæ salute praedia et
bona per suos de loco abstracta restitui faceret.’ Et spopondit rex.”
NOTE L.—(_Page 216._)
PETERBOROUGH ABBEY.
Peterborough Abbey takes precedence of all Fen monasteries. It was
founded in 660, and Æthelred obtained for it, special and important
privileges, from Pope Agatho, in 680—and these were enjoyed for nearly
a thousand years.[263] Peterborough was not erected into a Bishopric
till after the dissolution; Henry the 8th conferred this
privilege—perhaps _in honour_ of his wife Katherine, whose remains
still lie in the north aisle of the cathedral, under a large slab
bearing a very shabby inscription, which no one, up to the present,
seems to have thought of improving to the memory of an injured Queen.
The inscription is as follows:—
+-------------------------+
| |
| Queen Catherine. |
| [MDXX]XVI. |
| |
+-------------------------+
The letters in brackets are worn off, but the date was evidently 1536,
as the Queen died in January of that year.
This inscription is engraved on a thin brass plate, about 7 inches long
and 3 inches broad;—now (March, 1880,) much worn.
This is not the original plate, which was rather larger than the
present one.
Since the above note was penned the central tower of the cathedral has
been rebuilt from the foundation,—the transepts have been thoroughly
renovated, and the choir is to undergo considerable alteration. (April,
1887.)
When the latter part of the work of restoration has been sufficiently
advanced, attention will be given to the tomb of Katherine. Dean
Perowne intends to have this tomb opened, and then to decide what
memorial of that Queen may be most appropriate. The Katherines of
England have been invited to subscribe to this desirable object, and
many have already responded.
NOTE M.—(_Page 217._)
THE GIFT OF BRAND.
“Whilst he was a monk he gave to the monastery many lands as in
Muscham, Schotter, Scalthorp, Yolthorp, Messingham, Malmston, Cletham,
Hibaldstow, Rachevildthorp, Holme, Riseby, Walcot, Normanby, Althorp,
these joyning with him, Askylus, Syricus, and Sivortus, who procured
from king Edward a confirmation of these lands to the Church.
Brand enjoyed not long his government, but in November, Anno 1069,
which was the third of king William, he died.”—GUNTON’S _History of
the Church of Peterborough_.
NOTE N.—(_Page 466._)
KNUT’S VISIT TO ELY.
The fen waters being frozen over, Knut travels to Ely in a sledge,
under the guidance of Brithmer. The king there celebrates the feast of
the Purification.—“Ad hanc igitur solempnitatem ipsum regem
aliquotiens præ nimio gelu et glacie inibi contigit non posse
pervenire, usquequaque paludibus et aquis gelatis, sed sic a bonitatis
suæ studio rex non mutatur, licet nimium gemens et anxius fuisset; in
Domino Deo confisus, super mare de Saham, cum non cessaret vehemens
pruina, usque in Ely trahere se in vehiculo desuper glaciem cogitavit,
sed, siquis eum præcederet, securius et minus pavide asperum iter
perficere, nec differre asseruit. Casu enim astitit ibi vir magnus et
incompositus ex insula quidam Brihtmerus Budde, pro densitate sic
cognominatus, in multitudine, et ante regem se progredi spopondit. Nec
mora, rex festinus in vehiculo secutus est, admirantibus cunctis illum
tantam audatiam præsumpsisse. Quo perveniens cum gaudio solempnitatem
ex more illic celebravit.”—(_Liber Eliensis_, lib. 2, p. 203.)
FENLAND BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The following Works relate to the History and Geography of the
Fen-district, (Those marked thus † apply entirely to the district.)
Anon. †The Visitor’s Guide to and History of
Crowland Abbey with an appendix on
the Triangular Bridge, and a Plan of
the Abbey. Crowland, 1839.
Anon. †History of Stamford. Published by J.
Drakard. 4to. Stamford, 1822.
Armstrong, Col. J. †History of the Ancient and Present
state of the Navigation of the Port of
King’s Lynn, &c. 1725.
Babington, C. C. †Ancient Cambridgeshire; an account of
Roman and other ancient roads, &c.
Babington, C. C. Cambridge Antiquarian Society’s
Publications, No. 3.
Benedict of Peterboro’ †Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi (1162-92)
edited by William Stubbs, M.A., &c.
London, 1867.
Bentham, J. †The History and Antiquities of the
Conventual and Cathedral Church at Ely,
from the foundation of the monastery
A.D. 673 to the year 1771. 4to
Cambridge, 1771.
Birch, W. de Gray Memorials of St. Guthlac. 8vo. Wisbech,
1881.
Birch, W. de Gray The Chronicles of Croyland Abbey, by
Ingulph. 8vo. Wisbech, 1883.
Boyne, William Tokens of the 17th century. London,
1858.
Brittan, J. The Beauties of England and Wales.
1801.
Britton, John †History of Peterborough Cathedral.
Brogden, J. E. Lincolnshire Provincial Words.
[Calver, Capt. E. K., R.N. †Chart of the Wash from Skegness to
Blakeney. Published at the Admiralty,
January, 1873.]
Camden, William Britannia (1607 A.D.) Translation by
Richard Gough, F.A. and R.G.S. 3
vols., fol. London, 1789.
Cammack, T. †On the Antiquities of Spalding. Proc.
Lincolnsh. Arch. Soc. London, 1851.
Clarke, J. A. †Fen Sketches. Sm. 8vo. Wisbech,
1851.
Creasey History of New and Old Sleaford. 8vo.
Sleaford, 1825.
Dugdale, Sir W. History of Imbanking and Draining of
Rivers, Fens, and Marshes. Fol. London,
1722.
Dugdale, Sir W. The Monasticon.
Elstobb, W. †An Historical Account of the Great
Level of the Fens. 8vo. Lynn, 1793.
English, H. S. Crowland and Burgh. 1871.
Evans, John Ancient Stone Implements of Great
Britain. 8vo. London, 1872.
Evans, John Ancient British Coins.
Forby, Robert Vocabulary of East-Anglia. London,
1839.
Freeman, E. A. History of the Norman Conquest. 6 vols.
8vo. Oxford, 1870.
Freeman, E. A. “Lindum Colonia,” a paper in Macmillan’s
Magazine, for 1875.
Gunton, Rev. Prebendary. †The History of the Church of
Peterborough. Set forth by Symon
Patrick, D.D., Dean of Peterboro’.
Printed for Richard Chiswell at the
Rose and Crown in St. Paul’s Churchyard,
1686.
Heathcote, J. M. †Reminiscences of Fen and Mere. 8vo.
London, 1876.
Henry of Huntingdon. History of the English. Translation in
Bohn’s series.
Ingulphus †Chronicle of the Abbey of Croyland.
Translated by H. T. Riley, B.A. London,
1854.
Jenyns, Rev. L. †Observation in Meteorology in Cambs.
8vo. Van Voorst, 1858.
Kemble, J. M. The Saxons in England. London, 1849.
Kingsley, Canon †Hereward the Wake. Macmillan, London.
Leland Collectanea ex libro Hugonis Monachi
Petroburgensis.
Lubbock Pre-historic Times.
Mackerell, B. †History and Antiquities of the
flourishing Corporation of King’s
Lynn. London, 1738.
Marshall, W. †On some ancient Court Rolls of the
Manor of Littleport. Cambridge
Antiquarian Society’s Communications,
vol. IV.
Marshall, W. On an ancient Canoe found imbedded in
the Fen Peat near Magdalen Bend on
the river Ouse. Ditto, vol. IV., 1878.
Marrat, W. The History of Lincolnshire. 3 vols.
4to. Boston, 1814-16.
Michel, Francisque Chroniques Anglo-Normandes. 3 vols.
Rouen, 1836.
Miller, S. H., and †The Fenland, Past and Present. 8vo.
Skertchly, S. B. J. Wisbech, 1878.
Miller, S. H. Fenland Meteorological Circular, 1874 to
(_Editor._) 1877. 2 vols. Wisbech.
Miller, S. H. “The Great Fen.” English Illustrated
Magazine. Macmillan, 1885.
Miller, S. H. “Alleged Idolatry in the Fens.” Cambridge
Antiquarian Society, 1886-7.
Nall, J. G. Glossary of the Dialect and
Provincialisms of East-Anglia.
Longmans, 1866.
Nevinson, Rev C., M.A. History of Stamford. Demy 8vo. Johnson,
Stamford, 1879.
Oldfield †History of Wainfleet.
Oliphant, T. L. K. The Sources of Standard English. London,
1873.
Oliver, Dr. G. †Religious Houses on the Witham. 1846.
Ordericus Vitalis The Original Text (published in 1838 by
the French Historical Society, and
edited by August le Provost.
Translation of above by T. Forester,
M.A. Bohn’s series, 1853.)
Richards, W. †The History of Lynn, civil,
ecclesiastical, &c. 2 vols. 8vo.
London, 1812.
Stewart, Rev. D. J. †Liber Eliensis, ad fidem codicam
(_Editor._) variorum. London, 1848.
Skertchly, S. B. J. †The Geology of the Fenland. (Memoir
of the Geological Survey.) London,
1877.
Stukely, William Itinerarium Curiosum. 2 vols, fol.,
1724.
Stukely, William Palæographica Britannica. 3 numbers,
4to., Stamford, 1746 and 1752.
Thierry, J. N. A. History of the Norman Conquest. English
Edition, Bohn, 1856.
Thompson, P. †History and Antiquities of Boston.
4to. London, 1856.
Trollope, Rev. E. †Hereward the Saxon Patriot. Paper
read before the Associated
Architectural Societies at Bourne
in June, 1861.
Turner, Sharon History of the Anglo-Saxons. London,
1799.
Vermuyden, Sir C. †Discourse touching the drainage of the
great Fennes. An Appendix in Wells’
History of the Bedford Level.
Walker, N., and †The History of Wisbech and the Fens.
Craddock, T. 8vo. Wisbech, 1849.
Warner, Rev. R. H. Legends of St. Chad. 8vo. Wisbech, 1870.
Warner, Rev. R. H. History of Thorney Abbey. 8vo. Wisbech,
1879.
Watson, H. †Historical Account of Wisbech. 1827.
Wells, S. †History of the Drainage of the Bedford
Level. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1830.
Wheeler, W. H. †History of the Fens of South
Lincolnshire. 8vo. Boston, 1868.
William of Malmesbury De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum. Edited
by N. E. S. A. Hamilton. London,
1870.
Wise, John Ramsey Abbey, its rise and fall.
Huntingdon, 1881.
Wright, Thomas †Gesta Herewardi Saxonis. Appendix in
Geoffrey Gaimar’s Anglo-Norman Metrical
Chronicle. Caxton Society’s
Publications. London, 1850.
(Various Authors) Fen and Marshland Churches. 3 vols.
4to., Wisbech, 1873-6.
Report of British Archæological Society’s
visit in 1878. Vol. 35.
-----
Footnote 1:
For Notes on Crowland Abbey, Spalding cell, and other religious
houses, see Appendix.
Footnote 2:
Fen-poles like that described in the text are not in use now, in this
fourth quarter of the 19th century. Sportsmen use poles, as they do
in most meadowy districts intersected by ditches; but the fen ditches
are often dry in summer and early autumn and the boggy grounds are
rare in these days. From Crowland to Spalding is eight miles in a
straight line, but on such a route the Welland must be twice crossed.
Now-a-days the traveller finds a good road from Crowland by Cowbit to
Spalding,—the Saxon novice however had a devious course through
Deeping Fen.
Footnote 3:
For a description and list of Birds of the Fens, see “The Fenland,
Past and Present.”
Footnote 4:
This manor house was then held by a Norman, Ivo Taille-Bois, a nephew
of William the Conqueror, one who figures greatly in this tale and in
“Hereward the Wake;” the manor had belonged to Earl Leofric.
According to Domesday book (350-351 B.) Ivo had large estates in
Holland (South Lincolnshire.)
Footnote 5:
Trust me! truly! surely! may we praise the Lord! are mild
asseverations, but it is implied that in those days restraints on
profanity were necessary. It has been asserted that profane swearing
is coeval with Christianity, rather, perhaps with canonization—men
called upon their patron saints to witness, and went beyond them. In
Demosthenes’ oath—
“By earth, by all her fountains, streams and floods!”
there was no profanity.
Footnote 6:
St. Etheldreda (or Æthelthryth) was the foundress and first abbess of
Ely monastery (A.D. 673). See Appendix, Note A.
Footnote 7:
This is not the Lucia of Mercian fame; but St. Lucia, whose day in
the old calendars was 13th December. See Appendix, Note B.
Footnote 8:
St. Ovin was steward to St. Etheldreda. His cross, erected by himself
or to his memory, is still seen in Ely Cathedral. See pp. 45 and 57,
and Note C.
Footnote 9:
This reference to standing upon piles appears indefinite—the idea
seems to have been suggested by Ingulph’s assertion that the first
abbey of Crowland was built on piles, which is not at all probable
seeing that all traces of the abbey buildings are found on
gravel—and the probabilities are that the site for the ancient
monastery was there selected for that very reason. The gravel ridge
runs south-west towards Peakirk. (See map.)
Footnote 10:
In Dugdale’s Monasticon a plan shewing the site of the Priory is
given; it was south of the market place, west of the Welland, and not
half-way between that river and Westlode. The refectory still exists:
it is divided into seven dwellings, called “Abbey Buildings.” See
Appendix, Note D.
Footnote 11:
There was an abbot of Malmsbury, named Elfric, in 974. (_Gesta. Pont.
Ang._)
Footnote 12:
St. Chad was first bishop of Lichfield (669-672). “Here perished,
according to the tradition, in the fiery persecution of Diocletian, a
thousand British Christians with Amphibalus at their head.” (_Life
and Legends of St. Chad._) But this Saint was more than Bishop of
Lichfield—he was bishop of the Mercians; (this diocese included
about seventeen counties) hence the force of Elfric’s appeal. St.
Ovin had made a pilgrimage from the Fens into Yorkshire and joined
St. Chad, at that time abbot of Lastingham.
Footnote 13:
Thurstan was then abbot of Ely, but more of him hereafter.
Footnote 14:
The writer of the text does not profess to be strictly historical,
and as there does not appear to be any record of the names of the
early priors of Spalding, he borrows one in vogue at the time about
which he writes. One Aldhelm or Aldelm was abbot of Malmsbury or
bishop of Sherborne (715-719). Spalding cell was founded in 1052, and
the first recorded name of a prior was Herbertus, 1149.
Footnote 15:
This was really Ulfcytel, not Ingulphus.
Footnote 16:
For “Old Fisheries,” see “Fenland, Past and Present.”
Footnote 17:
According to Ingulph, the king confirmed to the monastery the charter
of Ædred.
Footnote 18:
We may assume there were no spectacles in those days.
Footnote 19:
The Pike has been a noted fish in the Fen-waters.
Footnote 20:
It is noteable that the old monks experienced that mental worry
retarded digestion.
Footnote 21:
Archbishop Stigand suffered deprivation in April, 1070, through the
influence of the Conqueror, and Lanfranc, Abbot of Caen, became
Metropolitan in August of the same year. “Lanfranc yielded to the
combined prayers and commands of all Normandy. With a heavy heart, as
he himself tells us, he forsook the monastic life which he loved
above all other lives.” (Norm. Conq., vol. iv., p. 346.) We wonder
which of the two felt the greater “deprivation?”
Footnote 22:
William had conquered the north of England before the elevation of
Lanfranc, but the news may not have reached the Fen country for some
months. Chester had fallen—the counties south of that stronghold
were devastated, and many thousands of refugees found their way as
far south as Evesham Abbey, where they received succour at the hands
of Abbot Æthelwig. There, too, was one bearing the name of the novice
(Elfric, in the text)—Prior Ælfric who cared for the dying fugitives.
Footnote 23:
See note on Lady Lucia, chapter II., p. 22.
Footnote 24:
The Fen people of old often eluded their enemies by taking to the
reeds and rushes which grew luxuriantly in the fens, towering above a
man’s head: and willows grew abundantly by the water-courses as they
do now in some parts of the Fens.
Footnote 25:
It was customary, in olden times, to place a “Salt Vat” in the centre
of the dinner table. This vessel was often highly ornamented like
Archbishop’s Parker’s Salt Vat, still preserved in Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge. Appendix, Note E.
Persons of rank sat between the Salt Vat and the head of the
table—while dependents or inferior persons sat below it.
An old English Ballad says—
“Thou art a carle of mean degree,
The salt it doth stand between me and thee.”
And in Bishop Hall’s Satires—
... “That he do, on no default,
Even presume to sit above the salt.”
Footnote 26:
Venerable brothers.
Footnote 27:
There was a general ejection of the Saxon Abbots and Priors—save
some few like the Abbot of Evesham who made submission.
Footnote 28:
Aldred had placed the crown on the head of William (as he had done on
that of Harold) and was faithful to William’s cause. The tales of
Aldred rebuking the conqueror for wrong doing are well told in
Freeman’s Norm. Conquest, vol. IV., p. 260. Aldred succumbed to the
stress of sorrow and died 11th Sept., 1069.
Footnote 29:
The accounts of Stigand fleeing to the Camp of Refuge rest upon no
good authority. Mr. Freeman thinks that from authentic narratives it
is conclusive that Stigand was imprisoned at Winchester from the time
of his deposition till his death.
Footnote 30:
Morcar (or Morkere) appears to have gone to the camp after the death
of his brother Edwin, who on making his way to Scotland was slain by
traitors. The idea of Edwin’s having taken refuge there probably
arose from the fact that the boss of a shield bearing a name similar
to his was found in the Isle. (See the figure of this in “The Fenland
Past and Present;” also a reference to it in the note on St. Godric,
p. 436.)
Footnote 31:
The people were terrified.
Footnote 32:
The history of Abbot Frithric (Fredericus) appears to be largely
mythical. He became Abbot of St. Albans in 1064 and was a favorite
with Edward the Confessor. The tale of blocking the road with trees
is told by Thierry. Frithric may have sought refuge at Ely—but Mr.
Freeman remarks “all that certain history has to say about Frithric
is that he was Abbot of St. Albans, and that he died or was deposed
some time between 1075 and 1077.”
Paul, a Norman monk, then became Abbot. Paul, aided by Lanfranc
reared the great church of St. Albans, and the ruins of Verulam, the
Roman city, were used in the construction of this wondrous pile—548
feet long—in the transept of which may still be seen Roman bricks in
the arches. The restoration of this Abbey church is now complete; but
the reader must visit it in order to realize the solemn grandeur of
the pile. He will see that there was artistic beauty in the work but
will regret that “Goths” as well as time made ravages upon it. (See
Appendix, Note F.)
Footnote 33:
Lady Lucia was daughter of Algar; Leofric, Earl of Mercia (who died
in 1057), and Lady Godiva were the parents of Algar, and Hereward is
thought to have been the second son of the same parents, and,
therefore, uncle of Lucia. Kingsley (Hereward the Wake, p. 426)
assumes that Ivo Taille-Bois wedded this Lucia, and says he “rode
forth through Spalding and Bourne having announced to Lucia, his
bride, that he was going to slay her remaining relative; and when she
wept, cursed and kicked her, as he did once a week.” That Ivo married
the sister of Edwin and Morcar is not veritable history—but “he
really had a wife, who on Norman lips was spoken of as Lucy.”
Footnote 34:
The Priory was dedicated to St. Mary.
Footnote 35:
“In these islands, at the time of the Norman conquest, the average
of man was doubtless superior, both in body and mind, to the average
of man now, simply because the weaklings could not have lived at
all; and the rich and delicate beauty, in which the women of the
Eastern Counties still surpass all other races in these isles, was
doubtless far more common in proportion to the numbers of the
population.”—_Kingsley._
Is it a fact that the English of eight centuries ago were both
_mentally_ superior and more robust than ourselves? If the Spartans
gained in physique by the destruction of _their_ weaklings, many a
genius in embryo may have perished on Mount Taygetus. “The survival
of the fittest” is a physical principle only. Of old—as even
now—the weak died of indigence. Sir D. Brewster says of Newton,
“That frail tenement which seemed scarcely able to imprison its
immortal mind, was destined to enjoy a vigorous maturity, and to
survive even the average term of human existence.”
Footnote 36:
Lay-brothers and underlings.
Footnote 37:
Fainéant—idling.
Footnote 38:
And without permission.
Footnote 39:
The Gregorian Music is coming into more general favour at the present
day. The Gregorian Chants are Choral Music arranged according to the
celebrated Church modes by Pope Gregory I.
Footnote 40:
Pieces of armour that protect the throat, (Fr. _gorge_, the gullet.)
Footnote 41:
Properly weasand, from Saxon _wæsend_, the windpipe.
Footnote 42:
Ingulphus was introduced to court at the time of the interview of
Edward the Confessor and William Duke of Normandy, 1051, and went
with the latter to Normandy. He is said to have been consecrated by
Lanfranc, and installed at Crowland in 1076. This is the general
reading of the Monasticon, but we shall be more accurate by regarding
Wulketul (or Ulfcytel) as Abbot of Crowland at the time of the
expulsion of the monks of Spalding.
Footnote 43:
The crown formed on the head of the Roman Catholic clergy by clipping
the hair (from Fr. _tonsurer_.)
Footnote 44:
The most effectual drainage belongs to a very recent period. At the
present day a stranger could not realize, while passing through the
Fen district, that it once was what is described in the text.
Footnote 45:
The abandoned cell was given by Ivo to the abbey of St. Nicholas of
Angiers in Normandy. “The charter of licence for this purpose will be
found in the Appendix of instruments, together with the substance of
a charter from Ivo Taille-Bois, dated in 1085.” This last date was
really the time of the deposition of Ulfcytel of Crowland. A second
charter of Ivo’s, granted to the Abbot of Angiers the tithes of toll,
salt, sea-fish and the fishery of Westlode for the monks’ support.
Footnote 46:
The writer seems to have held the sentiment—that human attachment,
even among devout men, has a vein of selfishness in it. Love devoid
of selfishness is pure indeed!
Footnote 47:
Names ending in _ea_ as Manea, and some modified into _ey_ as Thorney.
Footnote 48:
This appears to be a reference to “Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi”—the
chronicle of the reigns of Henry II. and Richard I. (1169-92), by
Benedict of Peterborough.
The student will find this in the series of chronicles published
under the authority of the Master of the Rolls. (Longmans.)
Footnote 49:
The only piece of real old Fen, at the present day, is found near
Burwell, south of Ely and east of the Cam. A stranger riding through
the Fen district would merely consider himself a traveller in a
fertile plain—he would not realize that it was once Fen.
Footnote 50:
This etymology is not correct. Ely means _eel-island_; _æl_, Saxon
for eel; _ig_, Saxon for island; and Elig became modified into Ely.
See “The book of Ely” (_Liber Eliensis_), also “The Fenland.”
Footnote 51:
This refers to Akeman Street, which ran from Cambridge to Ely,
Littleport, across the Little Ouse near Brandon and on to Lynn—most
likely a British road originally. (See map.)
Footnote 52:
Etheldreda was first married to Tonbert, a prince of the South
Gyrwians, in 652, and it was through him she gained her title to the
Isle of Ely, which retained the privilege of a principality after a
bishopric was erected there.
Footnote 53:
Ecgfrith was son of Oswin (Oswy) king of Northumbria; at his death
the supremacy of Northumbria declined.
Footnote 54:
In Liber Eliensis he is thus spoken of—“Venerant cum ea nonnulli
nobiles (? fideles) viri ac feminæ de provincia Orientalium
Anglorium, inter quos præcipuæ auctoritatis vir magnificus erat
Oswinus nomine.”
Footnote 55:
Stukely writing to Bentham says, “Ovin is a Welsh name ... the Isle
of Ely was possessed by the Britons long after the Saxons had taken
hold of England.”
Footnote 56:
Withburga founded a nunnery at East Dereham. On the west side of East
Dereham Church may still be seen the ruins of a tomb (there is a well
near)—the whole being inclosed. A stone bears this inscription—
“The Ruins of a tomb which contained the remains of
WITHBURGA,
Youngest daughter of Annas,
King of the East-Angles,
Who died A.D. 654.
The Abbot and Monks of Ely stole this precious Relique and translated
it to Ely Cathedral where it was interred near her three Royal
sisters, A.D. 974.”
Footnote 57:
This Thurstan was a Saxon Abbot but it may be well to note there were
two other “superiors” of religious houses, bearing that name—one
Thurstan a Norman of Glastonbury appointed in 1082; this Abbot got
into conflict with his monks as he wished to abandon the Gregorian
duets—foul deeds followed. Another Norman Thurstan (or Toustain) was
Abbot of Pershore in 1085.
Footnote 58:
Harold was Earl of East-Anglia from 1045 till his temporary
banishment 1051-52. Ælfgar ruled during that time.
Footnote 59:
Stigand appears rather to have continued a prisoner at
Winchester—Note p. 19.
Footnote 60:
This may refer to Thurstan named in note on page 48.
Footnote 61:
See note page 20.
Footnote 62:
The Shrine of Albanus has recently been disentombed at St. Alban’s
Cathedral—and reconstructed as far as the materials allowed on the
spot where it stood originally. The martyrdom of St. Alban is figured
on it.
Footnote 63:
“Sweetly sang the monks in Ely,”
As king Canute was rowed hard by.
Footnote 64:
The novice must have travelled some 40 to 50 miles, and by a
difficult route.
Footnote 65:
Haddenham is 5 miles south-west of Ely, as the crow flies, Grunty fen
lies between the two. The distance by rail is about 6 miles. St.
Ovin’s Cross was removed from Haddenham to Ely, by Bentham, in 1770.
Here is the inscription—
+-----------------------------------+
| [cross] LVCEM · TVAM · OVINO |
| DA · DEVS · ET · REQVI[=E] |
| · AMEN · |
+-----------------------------------+
The translation is—Thy light to Ovin give, O Lord, and rest. Amen.
See, also, Appendix, Note C.
Footnote 66:
The frequent reference to “eels,” strengthens the view taken as to
the origin of the word Ely. In these parts, rent was often taken in a
supply of eels. Abbot Brithnoth endowed Ely with two fisheries. It
had a grant of 10,000 eels annually from Well. No wonder that the
monks grew fat in Lent. Generally, the monks of Ely were “good living
folks,” as will be seen presently.
Footnote 67:
Elfric is represented as a valiant youth, although he was in training
for a sacred vow, and a saintly life,—and not for “carnal warfare.”
The conflict in which he was engaged, was not even one where
Christian resisted Pagan: it was the struggle of “a house divided
against itself”—among Saxons and Normans, men professing a common
faith. The novice however was of a spirit fitted for those boisterous
times; and in the sequel we shall find that he may never have
intended to pass beyond the novitiate. Ælfric was a favourite name.
In the tenth century an Archbishop of Canterbury (Ælfric) wrote
homilies still in use by learners of the Anglo-Saxon language. (See
quotation on p. 278.)
Footnote 68:
See note on page 37.
Footnote 69:
This seems to refer to the generally received opinion that Ingulphus
was Abbot; he is supposed to have gone to London, and carried with
him the charters granted to Crowland by the Saxon kings. “They were
read, he states, before the king and council; and although the
earlier grants, which were written in the Saxon hand, down to the
last Mercian king, were treated with contempt, yet the charters of
Edred, Edgar and the succeeding kings, being written wholly or in
part in the Gallican hand, they were allowed: the king confirming to
the monastery the charter of Edred. The same success, however, did
not attend his solicitation to have Spalding restored; the interest
of Ivo Taille-Bois prevailed against him.”—_Monasticon._
See Appendix Note G.
Footnote 70:
Edgelwin, alias Æthelwine, bishop of Durham, fell under the
displeasure of William I. Some Norman Soldiers had committed
sacrilege at Durham. William commanded the Bishop and Chapter to
excommunicate them. Æthelwine failed to do so; the Conqueror outlawed
him, and he fled. He set sail for the Continent, but was driven back
to Scotland; thence he fled to Ely; after the surrender of the Isle,
1071, Æthelwine was imprisoned at Abingdon and died there in 1072.
Footnote 71:
Ramsey mere is 16 miles N.W. of Ely, and Thorney is 9 miles N. of
that mere. Ramsey Abbey, Appendix Note H. Thorney Abbey, Appendix
Note I.
Footnote 72:
Eadmund, the last king of East-Anglia, was tied to an oak tree, and
shot by the arrows of the Northmen, on 20th Nov., 870. Ely appears to
have been included in that kingdom; but Crowland and Spalding in
Mercia.
Footnote 73:
Withburga or Werburga was the fourth abbess of Ely. She was the last
whose name was recorded, though the monastery was under abbesses for
nearly 200 years, that is, till the Danish havoc in 870. The “holy
well” is in East Dereham Church Yard—see note p. 45.
Footnote 74:
From what has been said already, the reader will be led to regard the
story of Frithric as largely mythical, but he will view the words
here put into the saint’s dying utterance, as prophetic of the
ultimate supremacy of the Saxon race. The narrative is finely solemn,
for as this “swan-song,” was being sung, the Crowland fugitives were
wading through the deep fens on a November night, just near enough to
hear the distant passing knell.
We are still ruled by the laws of King Eadward the Confessor—laws
which owe something to Godwine and Harold. The Norman Conquest,
however, had the effect, when the scathing had passed over, of
developing the old principles of the Saxons—and thus “England was a
gainer by the conquest.” This subject is ably discussed in Vol. V. of
Freeman’s Norman Conquest.
Footnote 75:
The Abbey of St. Edmund’s-bury too had the right of a fishery in a
fen mere, just west of Upwell, granted by King Canute.
Footnote 76:
As to abundance of water-fowl in the Fens, and the method of taking
them, see “Decoy” in “Fenland, Past and Present.”
Footnote 77:
The same source of information may be consulted respecting the fish
in the Fen rivers and in the Wash.
Footnote 78:
In the neighbourhood of the Fen rivers there are “Wash-lands,” (the
word must not be confounded with THE WASH which is a bay), that is,
lands liable to be overflowed in winter or in wet seasons. They
relieve the river banks from undue pressure of the water which must
necessarily pass slowly to sea. The largest “Wash-land” in the fens
is between the Old and New Bedford rivers, some 20 miles long and 3/4
wide in some parts, containing nearly 6000 acres; this “Wash” is
generally overflowed in winter; the water does not overflow the
banks, but is let into the Wash through a sluice near Earith. This
shallow water is frozen over during hard winters, like that of
1878-9, and forms a firm skating ground for the “Welney skaters,”
unsurpassed in speed. If the spring is dry the waters retire, and in
early summer the grass is abundant, and upon it may be seen vast
numbers of cattle grazing.
Footnote 79:
On the wash-lands of the rivers great numbers of wild birds have been
taken. For two centuries previous to the thorough drainage of the
Fens, decoying was a means of capturing many thousands of birds
annually, and in the “Washes” netting was practised.
Footnote 80:
King’s Lynn had a considerable trade in wine, a century ago, and in
the first year of the 19th century, 1280 tuns were imported, but
since that time its wine trade has declined. See Appendix, Note J.
Footnote 81:
Porpoises are still common in the Wash.
Footnote 82:
It must not be supposed that flowers did not grow in the Fens—the
Flora was abundant and beautiful, but at the season of which the
writer speaks, wild flowers would be scarce. (For ancient Flora, see
“Fenland” p. 295.)
Eight hundred years ago the monks may not have taken to floriculture.
Footnote 83:
Seasonably.
Footnote 84:
Harold was Earl of Eastangle and Essex about 1045, and was deservedly
popular.
Footnote 85:
The Monks of Ely still clung to the idea that Harold was alive and
that the report of his death was merely a ruse.
Footnote 86:
Here lies Harold the unhappy.
Footnote 87:
The first prior of Ely was Vincentius; his successors were mitred
priors, they held the title _Dominus_, and in some reigns were
summoned to parliament.
Footnote 88:
The Abbot and some of his monks are said eventually to have made
submission to the Conqueror, and to have actually betrayed the
defenders of the Camp. The Book of Ely (_Liber Eliensis_) is quoted,
on this point, in the Appendix. Note K.
Footnote 89:
The successor of Thurstan was Theodwin, a Norman monk of Jumièges.
Footnote 90:
The religious, (like the Roman vestals) who broke their vows, were
immured in a niche,—hence we have in _Marmion_ (Canto II, “The
Convent”) this verse—
“And now that blind old Abbot rose,
To speak the Chapter’s doom,
On those the wall was to inclose,
Alive, within the tomb.”
Footnote 91:
This Lord of Brunn (Bourn) was Morcard who, with Tolli and Algar,
Earl of Holland, (S. Lincolnshire) fought against the Danes; these
invaders, under Hubba, had entered Kesteven (the central division of
Lincolnshire) in the Autumn of 870. There is a Hubba’s or Hubbard
Bridge 4 miles south of Boston.
Footnote 92:
We have no record of a Lord of Brunn fighting at Ely; in the repulse
of the Danes at Ely _several_ English noblemen were engaged.
(For account of the invasion under Hubba, the Danish attack of the
Isle and the burning of Ely monastery, see _Lib. Elien._, lib. I.,
pp. 78-82.)
Footnote 93:
Ralph, the Timid, (a son of Drogo, Count of Mantes and of Eadward’s
sister), was Earl of Worcestershire and also of Herefordshire in
about 1050-1055. Ralph’s mother (Goda) after the death of her first
husband, was married to Count Eustace; he visited the English Court
in Sept., 1051. Eustace came to enrich himself out of English wealth
and he was not disappointed—neither were his followers.
Footnote 94:
It is not at all probable that Hereward was ever devout enough to
make such a pilgrimage to Canterbury, but the hero of a tale must
come to the front in all the great valourous acts of his time.
The man who first resisted the outrage of Eustace and his followers,
was a burgher of Dover—whose name is unknown—a general conflict
ensued, twenty of the people of Dover were killed, and nineteen of
the Normans, (others wounded no doubt), but Eustace appears to have
found it necessary to retire,—he returned to Eadward, then at
Gloucester, and told the tale to his own advantage; this affair
caused a rupture between the king and Earl Godwine and led to the
fall of the latter.
Footnote 95:
Harold was Earl of East Anglia in about 1045, and was translated to
the Earldom of Wessex, in 1053, when Ælfgar son of Leofric, became
Earl of East-Anglia.
Leofric died in 1057, then Ælfgar took the Earldom of Mercia, and
Gurth the fourth son of Godwine, was made Earl of East-Anglia.
Now Harold’s final campaign against the Welsh took place in 1063,
when Harold’s brother—not himself—was ruler of East-Anglia.
The Griffith mentioned in the text was King of North Wales. (This
Gruffydd was a son of Llywelyn—he had slain, in 1055, another
Gruffydd, King of S. Wales.)
There was terrible slaughter before the Welsh were subdued, but it is
thought that Griffith was slain by his own people. It was the beak of
Griffith’s ship, and also Griffith’s head that were brought as
trophies to Eadward.
Footnote 96:
The Northumbrians deposed Tostig in Oct., 1065, and elected Morkere,
the younger son of Ælfgar as their Earl. (Eadwine was Earl of
Mercia.) Tostig took refuge in Flanders late in the same year, and he
became one of the first of William of Normandy’s allies. Before the
middle of 1066, he was in possession of such forces as enabled him to
make a raid; he landed on the Isle of Wight, ravaged part of Sussex,
he then attacked the N. of Lincolnshire, but was repulsed by Eadwine
and Morkere and found refuge with Malcolm in Scotland.
Tostig obtained the help of Harold Hardrada, the King of Norway named
in the text, with him invaded Yorkshire and encamped at
Stamford-bridge, some 8 miles east of York—the battle in which they
both fell, was fought 25th Sept., 1066.
History knows nothing of Hereward’s being either at the battle of
Stamford-bridge nor at Hastings.
Footnote 97:
The march to London occupied little more than a week—it was early in
October, and Harold collected forces on his way.
Footnote 98:
If Hereward’s father was then living, he was not Leofric of
Mercia,—(he died in 1057). There may have been a Leofric lord of
Brunn, father of Hereward, at whose instigation he was outlawed by
Eadward the Confessor; in that case Hereward was in Flanders at the
beginning of the conquest. Hereward was no doubt banished but the
evidence as to its cause is as doubtful as that respecting his
parentage. (See note p. 22).
Footnote 99:
The reader may find in Kingsley’s Hereward the Wake, a glowing
account of Hereward’s deeds in Flanders—deeds worthy of a Hero, but
yet mythical.
Footnote 100:
There is not even a hint here that Hereward was married in the
Netherlands, nor is anything said on this point when, further on in
the council, the name of Alftrude is introduced—so the writer of the
text looks upon her as Hereward’s first and only love.
Footnote 101:
This evidently refers to Æthelwine, Bishop of Durham—A bishopric
originated on the Isle of Lindisfarne by the action of Scotch
Missionaries, early in the 7th century,—it was rendered famous by
St. Cuthbert and was permanently fixed at Durham by Ealdhun in 995;
hence the writer of the text adopted the original name.
Footnote 102:
Ey or Eye (the name for island—being modified from Sax. _ea_) is
situated about 3 miles N.E. of Peterborough. It is now “Eye Green” in
railway tables, to distinguish it from Eye in Suffolk.
Footnote 103:
Defamed.
Footnote 104:
The Sisters of Ætheldreda.
Footnote 105:
The delights of heaven.
Footnote 106:
The writer brings the noted characters of the time into his own tale,
and here we find interwoven several names of persons who had no
direct connexion with the fen district or its heroes.
The Guiscard of the text was the Robert Guiscard (or Wiscard) who
acquired the Dukedom of Apulia—crossed over into Epeiros (1081),
threatening the Eastern Empire; a great battle was fought at Durazzo,
in which banished or adventurous English distinguished themselves. It
is notable that Englishmen, then as now, defended Constantinople.
Footnote 107:
Stephen.
Footnote 108:
We know of no other Drogo than the one already named (note page
82)—he had gone on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with Duke Robert, the
Conqueror’s father, and both died on their journey homeward in 1035.
Footnote 109:
If the reader will consult a Chart of the Wash—such as Capt. E. K.
Calver’s, published by the Admiralty in 1873,—he will see how
strictly accurate is the description in the text. The channels are
tortuous, intricate, and variable.
Footnote 110:
The waters of the Wash spread for miles over the flat shores and
leave a deposit thereon; this accretion is assisted by “jetties” made
of stakes, thrown out from the permanent shore; the flats are thus
raised above ordinary tides and on them a coarse herbage grows; sheep
are fed on this and as the tide-time approaches these animals may be
seen retiring to ground beyond the reach of the waters—numerous are
the streamlets or runlets which intersect these flats of the Wash.
Footnote 111:
The sand bank here called “Dreadful” is we presume the “Dudgeon” (a
name allied to Welsh _Dygen_, malice, ill-will), some 15 miles east
of the “Inner Dousing”; the latter lies 10 miles to the east of
Sutton-le-Marsh, and runs parallel to the Lincolnshire coast.
From the Inner Dousing to Boston Deeps is a south-westerly course.
(See Map showing distances and direction of these sands from
Gibraltar Point.)
Footnote 112:
Probably means Chapel on Lincolnshire coast. (See Map.)
Footnote 113:
Perhaps Heacham in Norfolk is intended (see Map); there is no place
called Stone’s end between Heacham and Castle Rising—perhaps the
name is borrowed from “Stone-ends” the name given to the embankments
at the outfall of the river Nene. In other respects the paragraph is
geographically correct.
Footnote 114:
On 23rd December, 1069.
Footnote 115:
In the Saxon fashion.
Footnote 116:
The Stoke or Wissey enters the Ouse near Hilgay, or about a mile
above Denver Sluice. (See map.)
Footnote 117:
They still fondly clung to the idea that Harold was not slain, but
only hidden from his enemies.
Footnote 118:
Hight, called—(a perfect form of Sax. _Hatan_, to call).
Footnote 119:
The Guiscards had conquered (1059) Calabria and conciliated the Holy
See by granting to it Benevento.
It may be noted that the influence of this invasion of the Norman
adventurers was felt till a very recent period in Italy—as the
contention between the Papal and Neapolitan governments about the
possession of Benevento lasted till the present century—the dispute,
in fact, gave Napoleon I. a pretext for seizing the duchy, which he
did in 1806, and conferred it upon Talleyrand.
Footnote 120:
This refers to Ætna, which is called Monte Gibello by the Sicilians.
Footnote 121:
Latin, a hood.
Footnote 122:
Italian, _cámice_, properly, a priest’s garment of _white linen_, but
_camicia_ was the shirt.
Footnote 123:
See Note page 33.
Footnote 124:
Bourn is 10 miles west of Spalding; the river Glen runs mid-way,
(this is a tributary of the Welland which it enters 5 miles below
Spalding)—Bourn Fen lies to the West of this river.
Footnote 125:
The site of this manor house of Bourn is shown in an engraving in the
“Fenland Past and Present.”
Footnote 126:
Elsey Wood is one mile south of Bourn and just west of the Car-dyke.
It is marked on the Ordnance Map.
Footnote 127:
This may refer to the Car-dyke which is nearly filled up and
consequently “dry” at the present day. (See Map.)
Footnote 128:
This town, 9 or 10 miles south-south-west of Bourn, is situate near
the Fen boundary, on the river Welland.
Footnote 129:
The writer says “isle of Crowland,” and so it is marked in our map,
and called “a gravel ridge,” from this it is evident there was no
necessity to drive piles for building the Abbey upon, for the
religious house was established before the town was built.
Footnote 130:
The legend of the Crowland devils had its origin, no doubt, in the
“cramps and rheums and shivering agues and burning fevers” or in the
hallucination caused by these ailments. The impure vapours from the
swamps, where fresh and salt waters met and deposited animal and
vegetable remains—not from the peat bogs—produced those terrible
diseases which are almost unknown to the present fen-dwellers. Was it
not St. Guthlac and other fen hermits who conjured up those
marvellous tales about satanic legions? Those hermits were not the
eradicators of malaria nor did St. Guthlac enter upon any great
scheme of fen drainage. The “horrible blue lights,” the
“Will-o’-the-wisps,” were not banished by the pious action of “the
saints,” but by effectual drainage and culture—it is true those
lights have “ceased to be seen of men;” for a peep at Jack-o’-lantern
would be a rare treat to the young fenners of these days.
Footnote 131:
The writer of the text has given a Latin termination to the name
Guthlac, which word is purely Saxon. This name is derived from two
Saxon words, _i.e._ Guth (Guð), _war_, and lac, _an offering_, or
_sacrifice_. Guthlac means simply _warfare_, but as applied to this
anchorite it must be regarded as a compound expressive of the
character or deeds of the man. He was the son of a Mercian noble and
a soldier, but he may have acquired the name after becoming a monk,
if so, Guthlac signifies “an offering in (Christian?) warfare,”
_i.e._, in the conflict of Christianity against Paganism.
Footnote 132:
The ground of Ely Cathedral is 51-1/2 feet above sea level (Ordnance
datum.) Crowland is perhaps 12 or 15 feet (the lowest part of the
fens being between Peterboro’ and Wisbech, about 5 feet.) Crowland
Abbey was not built upon piles but on solid gravel which runs some
way north-east of the structure—the peaty soil lies north-east and
south of this. (See “The Fenland past and present,” p. 141.)
Footnote 133:
The gravel ridge runs south-west of Crowland, and that would afford
the best means of access to the monastery; we imagine that the bogs
lay in old times to the _north-west_ and _south-east_ of the
ridge,—warp or silt is found to the north-east—a roadway was
constructed on the peat to the northward towards the Welland and then
followed the bend of the river.
Footnote 134:
A fine Decoy near Crowland is still worked in the season. (See “The
Fenland”).
Footnote 135:
This stone still stands and bears an inscription signifying “Guthlac
has placed this stone for a boundary mark.” It is represented by an
engraving in “The Fenland.”
Footnote 136:
Three streams flowed under the “triangular bridge” which still
stands, the streams however are tunnelled, and persons may walk or
drive under the arches of this antique and curious structure.
Footnote 137:
Shaggy or rough and hairy.
Footnote 138:
Incubuses and succubuses, imaginary beings who are supposed to be the
cause of nightmare or the sense of suffocation and other painful
sensations during sleep. The demon is really indigestion, which, in
its effects, is hideous enough no doubt.
Footnote 139:
Witlaf was King of Mercia, 826-839 A.D.
Footnote 140:
Lism, contracted from _lissom_, supple, nimble, or lithesome.
Footnote 141:
Alfric probably refers to Æthelric who, once bishop of Durham,
retired to Peterborough—he was imprisoned at Westminster by William.
Siward Beorn, called also Barn (Siwardus cognomento Barn, _Lib.
Elien._) a Northumbrian Thegn and a son of Æthelgar, was undoubtedly
with Hereward at the Camp of Refuge.
Footnote 142:
From Bourn to Eye is about 14 miles in a straight line; but from
Stamford to Eye, 12-1/2 miles. By road, however, the difference is
much greater.
Footnote 143:
The writer of “The Camp of Refuge” knows of no other bride than
Alftrude. The reader of Kingsley’s “Hereward the Wake” will however
be a little puzzled, when he remembers the tale of Torfrida who
became “an Englishwoman of the English, as she proved by strange
deeds and sufferings for many a year.” The stories of Hereward’s
wives are simply legendary. Hereward may have received overtures from
Turfrida in Flanders and married her—she may have accompanied him to
England. Alftrude also may have made advances in a similar manner and
been married to Hereward, and if any probability deserves acceptance
it is that Turfrida died before Hereward’s marriage to Ælfthryth.
(This is the correct Saxon form for Alftrude and is derived from
_Ælf_, a fairy, Þryð, strength; hence Ælfthryth means
_Fairy-strength_, just as _Ælf-scieno_ means Elfin beauty.)
Footnote 144:
That is, with a linen garment or kirtle (Sax. _cyrtel_), fitted with
tight sleeves down to the wrists, and over that a wide loose robe or
gown (gown is a Keltic word retained from ancient times—Welsh,
_gŵn_,) long enough to reach to the feet—this robe was kept
close to the body by a girdle at the waist. The upper class of women
wore a mantle over the above dress—this was somewhat like a chasuble
or priest’s habit,—they had also gold ornaments and bracelets. The
head-covering (Sax. _wæfels_), was a long veil of linen or silk
wrapped round the head and neck. The feet were covered with a woollen
wrapper or sock (Sax. _socc_); shoes (_sceós_) tied with thongs.
(Saxons never went bare-footed except as an act of penance.)
Footnote 145:
There are no such foul quagmires or pools near Crowland in these
days. The old Abbey is surrounded by fine arable and pasture ground.
Footnote 146:
This river, so called, may have been the car-dyke, seeing Ivo came
from Stamford. The Catts-water, the old water-course between
Peterborough, Spalding, and S. Holland, lay a mile or more to the
east of Eye. (See Map.)
Footnote 147:
_An_ is frequently used in the text as the equivalent of _if_ or _and
if_ (in sentences expressing condition or purpose), so in this
passage from Shakespeare:—
“He can’t flatter, he!
An honest mind and plain he must speak truth,
_An_ they will take it so; if not, he’s plain.”
The two lines show a nice distinction in the use of the article and
of the conjunction by the older writers.
Footnote 148:
Æthelstan and Eadmund gained a great victory over the Danes and Scots
(in all five _kings_ and seven earls leagued) at Brunanburh (supposed
to be in the north of Lincolnshire), in 937.
Footnote 149:
Here are the first few lines of “Æthelstan’s Song of Victory.”
Æthelstan cyning Æthelstan king
eorla drihten of earls the lord
beorna beah-gyfa rewarder of heroes,
and his brothor eac and his brother eke,
Eadmund Ætheling Eadmund Ætheling
ealdor langyne tyr, elder of ancient race,
geslogon æt secce slew in the fight
sweorda ecgum with the edge of their swords
ymbe Brunan-burh the foe at Brunanburh.
Footnote 150:
Afterwards, in 941, Eadmund recovered “the five boroughs” from Danish
rule, _i.e._, Lincoln, Stamford, Leicester, Nottingham, and Derby.
Footnote 151:
Will what remains of the un-Saxon laws yet be repealed or modified in
the interest of declining agriculture?
Footnote 152:
In note, page 62, the laws of Eadward are referred to, but as the
assemblage of the Witan is here specially named in the text, we may
remark that the Norman Conquest checked the growing power of the
eorldermen and prevented them from forming such a distinct and
powerful order as might have crippled the rights and liberties of the
people. The Norman invasion threw the nobles back upon the aid of the
people, which could not have been obtained without the promise of
political and social concessions.
Footnote 153:
Dooms, see note p. 214.
Footnote 154:
According to the Anglo-Saxon chronicle, Knut went to Rome in 1031,
returned the same year and wrote a letter to the clergy and magnates
of the land; Egelnoth (or Æthelnoth) was Abp. of Canterbury from 1020
to 1038; (Ælfric was Abp. from 995 to 1006, the same as referred to
in Note p. 58).
The Ælfric coupled with Egelnoth, above, was Abp. of York from 1023
to 1052.
Knut’s letter is in Chron. _Florence of Worcester_, I, p. 185, ed.
Eng. His. Soc.
Footnote 155:
Over-worked, from Sax. _swincan_, to toil.
Footnote 156:
Dooms (from Sax. _dom_, trial, sentence, &c.; verb, _doeman_, to
judge,) used in the sense of decrees, laws, or precedents in law.
Knut’s Laws (found in _Thorpe’s Laws and Institutes_, vol. i.) were
enacted by the Witan.
“A.D. 1016-1020.—Probably between these years was the great gemót at
Winchester, in which Cnut promulgated his laws.”—_Kemble’s Saxons in
England_, ii. 259. See also p. 209 above.
Footnote 157:
If Abbat Brand of Peterborough knighted Hereward there is some
discrepancy of dates, for Brand died 27th Nov., 1069, and Hereward
must then have landed earlier than Dec., 1069, (page 109). It was not
Dec., 1068, as this was the year of William’s first campaign in the
north—the Conqueror spent Christmas, 1069, at York, and the revolt
of the fen country took place in May, 1070,—that is, after Brand’s
successor, Torold, was appointed. Ingulph asserts that Hereward came
over to be knighted by Brand, and then returned to Flanders to fetch
his wife Torfrida. The matter is so far important that knighthood was
essential to Hereward’s being a leader of men, and to conceive the
ceremony done by Brand was more grateful than if it had been at the
hand of the Abbat of Crowland. Further on the reader will find the
24th April, 1071, as the date assigned to Hereward’s arrival with his
forces at Ely.
Peterborough Abbey, Appendix, Note L.
Footnote 158:
Leofric fought at the battle of Hastings (Oct. 14th, 1066,) and died
at Peterborough in November. The monks choose their Provost Brand,
and he was confirmed in the Abbacy by Eadgar Ætheling.
Footnote 159:
The Gift of Brand, Appendix, Note M.
Footnote 160:
“The story of the sunbeam belongs of course to the realm of pure
fable. But myths have an origin as well as a meaning, and it would
not be surprising if this same story should hereafter be traced, as
many others have been, to the cradle of Aryan mythology, and the
miracle of Saint Chad prove to have been performed by some far more
ancient seer at the foot of the Himalayas, or on the banks of the
Ganges.”—See p. 108, _Legends of St. Chad_, by Rev. R. H. Warner.
Wisbech: Leach and Son.
Footnote 161:
South Lincolnshire. The spelling Hoiland often occurs in the text.
Dugdale sometimes wrote Holand and Hoyland. The word Holland means
hollow land—the _Hol_ is allied to German _hohl_. Was not the _Hoi_
or _Hoy_ in Hoiland derived from the low German _holig_? See “The
Fenland,” note, page 27.
Footnote 162:
Boys mounted on stilts may occasionally be seen at the present day.
This stilt-walking, however, is merely boyish amusement.
Footnote 163:
The Cross or Crucifix. The _holy rood_ was generally a life size
figure of the Saviour on the Cross.
Footnote 164:
The Danish and Saxon languages came from the same branch—that is,
from the Teutonic branch of the Indo-European family of languages.
Indic, Hellenic, Italic, Teutonic, Celtic, are all members of this
family. But this again came from a parent speech, called the Aryan,
which originated in central Asia. There are no literary monuments of
this parent left.
Footnote 165:
The editor has elsewhere maintained that our country was not ruled in
Saxon times by a precise Heptarchy nor even by an Octarchy; but the
reader may find in Sharon Turner’s Hist. of the Anglo-Saxons, first
edition published in 1799, page 253, a chapter devoted to “_The
History of the Anglo-Saxon Octarchy to the Victory of Oswald over
Cadwallon, A.D. 634_.”
Footnote 166:
Sigebert was the _fifth_ King of the East-Angles. Edward the Elder is
said to have erected halls for students—a regular system of
academical education may not, however, have been introduced till the
12th century. The university received special privileges from Edward
III., 1333, and it renounced the supremacy of the Pope in 1534.
Footnote 167:
“Cambridge is the _Caer Graunt_ of Nennius.... The position of this
fortified town was well chosen, for it is situated on one of the most
commanding spots to be found in the district. Its site is the
projecting extremity of a low range of hills, backed by a slight
depression or broad and shallow valley. On at least two of its sides
the ground fell away rather rapidly from the foot of the ramparts,
and the river defended the fourth.
“It is highly probable that the Saxon town of _Grantabrigge_ stood
upon the same site as the Roman CAMBORITUM.”
Babington’s Ancient Cambridgeshire, 1853.
Footnote 168:
“It must however be added that the Castle Hill at Cambridge, which is
situated within the walls of Camboritum, is manifestly one of the
Ancient British tumuli, so often found to occupy commanding posts and
to have been fortified in after times. The lower part of the hill is
natural, but the upper half in all probability artificial.”
_Ibid._
Footnote 169:
Not Ermine Street, but Akeman Street. See Map. Also Babington’s Map
in “Ancient Cambridgeshire.”
Footnote 170:
“The quinquaine of Pasche” is intended for the fifth day of Easter.
Pascha, the Jewish Passover, is here put as the equivalent of Easter.
Footnote 171:
On the approach of Sulla (87 B.C.) Marius fled from Rome to Ostia,
thence by the sea coast to Minturnæ and hid himself in the marshes in
the south of Latium.
Footnote 172:
See note, page 218.
Footnote 173:
“His rule at Malmesbury was tyrannical, and the story runs that
William picked him out, as being more of a soldier than a monk, as
the fittest man to rule the great house of Peterborough, now that it
was threatened by Hereward and his fellow outlaws in the fens.”
Freeman’s Norm. Conq., Vol. IV., page 458.
Footnote 174:
A twelfth part of a sous.
Footnote 175:
June 1st, 1070 is the date assigned by history, and the “Peterborough
Chronicle” says that Danes took part in the plunder when Hereward
entered the monastery on the 2nd June.
Footnote 176:
Probably this building was near the west entrance to the minster
yard; that which bears the name of “King’s Lodgings.” It has been
used by Judges of Assize, but is now a place of business.
Footnote 177:
Grith is a special privilege or security; frith, a general peace.
Footnote 178:
It had been called the Golden Borough, but was now bereft of its gold.
Footnote 179:
Some Danes are said to have taken part in plundering
Peterborough—some who belonged to a fleet under Osbeorn—a Danish
earl that had approached Ely just before. The fleet soon left with
some of the plunder—a storm shattered this fleet and many of the
golden treasures of Peterborough were never to be returned.
Footnote 180:
About 1-1/2 mile N.E. of Bourn. (See Map.)
Footnote 181:
A tributary of the Glen.
Footnote 182:
French, “runaways.”
Footnote 183:
See note, page 260.
Footnote 184:
_Wite_ was a fine to the King or state for the violation of law. In
case of murder another fine also was imposed, called the _wér_. The
_wite_ was satisfaction rendered to the state, and _wér_ to the
family of the deceased.
Footnote 185:
_Sáwl-sceat_, soul tribute, formerly paid at the open grave for
repose of the departed soul.
Footnote 186:
See Note, page 58 above.
Footnote 187:
It is remarkable that the writer says nothing about the loss of the
Peterborough booty.
Footnote 188:
Perhaps Osbeorn was banished more because he had taken a bribe of
William than for his misfortunes at sea. The bribe had bought off the
Danish aid to the English. Swend had hoped that his fleet in
conjunction with the defenders of the Camp of Refuge would gain him
the crown of England.
Footnote 189:
Svend, sometimes written Sweyn or Swegen, retained his mother’s name.
He is called Estrithson. His mother Estrith was the sister of
Canute—his father was Ulf a Danish Earl, and this Ulf was brother of
Gytha the wife of the great Earl Godwine; hence the ground of Svend’s
asserted claim.
Footnote 190:
This remark applies to the former expedition in 1070, under Osbeorn.
The resources of the country could not meet such a demand upon them
as would now be made for a hasty outfit, and when we read further on
that thousands “flocked from all parts,” we take it that this
extraordinary effort belonged to the same preparation of 1070. There
were plenty of plunderous adventurers around the Baltic shores—men
who would give their services in the hope of rich booty, but we have
to consider how long it would take to make known the proposed
invasion and to collect recruits.
Footnote 191:
It is stated in the Peterborough Chronicle that king Svend did come
to the Humber with the expedition in 1070; but if he did he returned
very quickly.
Footnote 192:
Gyda was the daughter of Harold, Godwine’s son; she took refuge at
Svend’s court and was married to king Waldemar.
Footnote 193:
His son Cnut accompanied the fleet under Osbeorn—so did his son
Harold. The latter became king of Denmark in 1076, the former in
1081. The two princes gained some experience with their uncle
Osbeorn. Our author has separated the events from one expedition and
added them to another. This fleet of 200 Danish ships under Cnut (and
also earl Hakon) was not prepared till the year before Svend’s death,
that is, in 1075. The Camp of Refuge had been assailed by William and
the defenders dispersed; therefore no envoy could have gone from Lynn
to the Danish court. The reader must put the two tales into one, and
remember that the Danes under Cnut’s command came to our shores in
1075, went up the Humber, robbed or damaged York Minster, and retired.
Footnote 194:
This is evidently placed too early for veritable history.
Footnote 195:
Ralph, earl of Norfolk, revolted against William in 1075, and sought
the aid of the Danes. He could not hold his own at Norwich, and went
to Denmark to urge the coming of the fleet. So it was at Ralph’s
instance that the fleet came; but, as before stated, it went to
Humber not to Yare. Emma, Ralph’s wife, and her forces capitulated
and were banished before Knut could arrive.
But Norwich stands on the Wensum—not on the Yare. The former rises
near Fakenham—the latter some miles S. of East Dereham. The Wensum
runs into the Yare two miles below Norwich. The Waveney rises near
the little Ouse—flows past Diss, Bungay, and Beccles, and has a
sinuous course till it enters the Yare near Burgh Castle in Suffolk.
Footnote 196:
The reader will understand that this fictitious narrative is intended
to be a forcible illustration of impositions which the Danes did
actually make upon the Saxons, and to meet which the Danegeld was
from time to time augmented.
Footnote 197:
This was too late for the disposal of the Peterborough treasure.
Footnote 198:
This account of the gifts to Ely, by Canute and Emma, is related in
the _Liber Eliensis_, lib. II., p. 196.
Footnote 199:
It was the fleet under Osbeorn that had appeared in the Thames.
Footnote 200:
See note, page 260.
Footnote 201:
This is true of what happened at Osbeorn’s return.
Footnote 202:
See the position of this marked on the Map.
Footnote 203:
The legend of the witch finds place in Lib. Elien., book ii., pp.
234-7.
Footnote 204:
Iceland.
Footnote 205:
The Orkneys.
Footnote 206:
Ivo himself suggested that the witch should be employed (Lib. Elien.,
p. 234) and if the king’s consent could be obtained, that the project
should be carried out promptly; thus, “si rex adquiesceret, citius
eam accessiri faceret.” Others besides Ivo would have rejoiced to see
the Isle submit under the influence of sorcery—“Laudant hoc
astantes”—it was an easy stratagem for valiant men, and however
mythical the tale may appear, there is no doubt it originated in
fact. William was not superior to the promptings of superstition for
he had a soothsayer and conjurer with his first invading army.
It is curious the writer of the text says nothing about Hereward’s
going in disguise—_the Gesta Herewardi_, says as a potter; _the Lib.
Elien._, “tonso crine et barba, ad Brandunam ... devenit.” William
was at Brandon forming his plans for investing the Isle of Ely.
Hereward discovered the project of Ivo—he went to the king’s camp
and was nearly found out but he escaped and took refuge in Somersham
wood. Then followed a most heroic defence of the Isle.
Footnote 207:
Situated just north of Grunty Fen. Witcham, also, lies about 3 miles
to the N.W. (See Map.)
Footnote 208:
See note, Chapter 26.
Footnote 209:
There was no castle at Wisbech during the conquest of the Isle, but
there was no doubt an entrenched station, a “turf” castle—which the
Normans constructed to command the river. The stone castle, which
subsequently took the place of the entrenchment, was begun in the
last year of William’s reign and was dismantled by Henry II. A
private dwelling now occupies the site—and the run of the moat may
be traced around it, by the Wisbech Museum, the “Castle Lodge,” and
“Love Lane.” “Castle Hereward” is of the writer’s own building.
Footnote 210:
See the route of William’s approach sketched on a Map in “The
Fenland,” p. 106.
Footnote 211:
See note, Chapter 26.
Footnote 212:
Chemistry.
Footnote 213:
Mahomet.
Footnote 214:
The earnest workers in the world have often been, in like manner,
requited by the ignorant.
Footnote 215:
See note 3, on page 40; also note, page 148.
Footnote 216:
Many parts of the Fen country are now well stocked with elm, ash,
birch, poplar, oak, lime, and other forest trees, but where the peat
is near the surface the trees are not abundant.
Footnote 217:
And so in “Marmion”—(The Court)—
“The Lady Abbess loud exclaimed——
. . . . . . . . .
To martyr, saint and prophet prayed,
Against Lord Marmion inveighed
And called the Prioress to aid,
To curse with candle, bell, and book.”
Footnote 218:
Distracted.
Footnote 219:
This is a fine exposition of cowardly, narrow-minded bigotry—it has
many real counterparts.
Footnote 220:
Girolamo was not magnanimous enough to be above the vulgar prejudice
against the Jews, a people who have never escaped their avenging
Nemesis.
Footnote 221:
See p. 45.
Footnote 222:
Eadgar bestowed the manor of Hatfield consisting of 2260 acres, as
well as Dereham, upon the restored Abbey of Ely.
Footnote 223:
De Dyrham, vide Liber Eliensis ii. p. 156.
“Dyrham cum omnibus quæ ad
eandem villam pertinebant....”
Footnote 224:
This would be some 25 miles.
Footnote 225:
From Brandon to Brandon Creek Bridge by the Little Ouse is about 13
or 14 miles, and thence up the Great Ouse by Littleport about 8 miles.
Footnote 226:
There is a place called Turbetsea House, to the east of Ely and near
Sandy’s cut.
Footnote 227:
See note on page 45. This _well_ has never been known to be frozen
over. Enquiries on the spot would warrant the assertion that this is
correct as to its condition during a century past.
Footnote 228:
French, check (chess-board.)
Footnote 229:
The Little Ouse.
Footnote 230:
Borh, security. The _Borhman_ may mean the principal man, who took
suretyship in the Hundred. Every free Saxon had to be in surety
(borh.) See _Kemble’s Saxons in England_, under “Tithing and
Hundred;” also _Turner’s History of Anglo Saxons_, “Let every lord
have his household in his own _borh_.” _Law of Edgar._
Footnote 231:
Amalfi is an ancient city and seaport on the gulf of Salerno. It was
one of the great Republics of Italy, and the rival of Venice and
Genoa. The Amalfians traded to every known part of the world—among
them were princely merchants. Of Amalfi it is said—
“her coins,
Silver and gold, circled from clime to clime;
From Alexandria southward to Sennaar,
And eastward, through Damascus and Cabul,
And Samarcand, to thy great wall Cathay.”
Footnote 232:
? atrabilarious (melancholic.)
Footnote 233:
See page 48.
Footnote 234:
Mereham probably means Ramsey, for which see account in Dugdale’s
Imbanking, 2nd ed., p. 364.
Livermere was west of Outwell, near the Old Nene river. The abbot of
St. Edmundsbury had a right of fishery in that mere. There is a
Livermere in Suffolk to the north of Bury St. Edmund’s—perhaps this
formerly belonged to the same monastery and derived its name from the
mere in the Fens.
Footnote 235:
Wilfric conveys these estates to his brother. See Lib. Elien. II, p.
218.
See Sharon Turner’s History of Anglo-Saxons, Vol. II., p. 22.
Footnote 236:
“The treachery of the monks of Ely soon received its reward; forty
men-at-arms occupied their convent as a military post, and lived
there in free quarter. Every morning the cellarist was obliged to
distribute among them their pay and provisions in the great hall of
the chapter.”—Thierry’s Norm. Conq.
Footnote 237:
See page 77.
Footnote 238:
The monks may not have completed their treasonable designs at this
juncture; however, Thierry says—“The offer of the monks was
accepted; and two Norman barons, Gilbert de Clare and William de
Warrenne, pledged their word for the execution of the treaty.”
Footnote 239:
It does not appear from the History of Ely that the monks approached
William till they went in company with Thurstan to make submission at
Warwick. See Appendix K.
Footnote 240:
See this spot marked on the Map.
Footnote 241:
This is properly _unaneled_ (Sax. _æl_, oil); so it is intended to
mean that he had not received extreme unction—as in Shakespeare—
“Cut off, ev’n in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhousel’d, unanointed, unanel’d.”
Footnote 242:
Hereward is said (in _Vita Herewardi_) to have made his way to the
sea shore. Wells in Norfolk is supposed to be the spot where he
embarked, and the supposition rests upon the phrase “_Mare wide
vocatum juxta Welle_.” But Hereward could much more easily have
reached Welle in the Fens—(there are now Upwell and Outwell in
Norfolk); Welle in the Fens was not so far from the sea then as it is
now, and if vessels were ready, Hereward could have entered the
Wellestream which at that time ran past Lynn. The Ouse flowed past
Wisbech then, and the Normans appear to have been in force at the
“Turf Castle” in that town.
If it were necessary to evade the Normans, supposing they were in
force, off the mouth of the Ouse, in the Wash, he could take to the
open sea—and if the course were open he could enter the Welland and
approach Spalding or Bourn.
Whatever may have been the course pursued, the fugitives could not
have arrived at either place in so short a time as is represented at
the commencement of Chap. XXVI.
From Ely to Spalding by railway is some 36 miles.
Footnote 243:
It is said to have been on 27th Oct., 1071, that William went to Ely.
Footnote 244:
This act is recorded in Liber Eliensis (lib. secundus, p. 245) “Ad
monasterium denique veniens longe a sancto corpore virginis stans
_marcam auri_ super altare projecit, propius accedere non ausus,
verebatur sibi a Deo judicium inferri pro malis quæ sui in loco
patraverant.” The reader will form his own judgment on this religious
(?) act of a man who demanded 1000 marks from an almost destitute
monastery and offered _one_ at the shrine of the saint.
But the writer oddly charges William with offering a _clipped_ coin
whereas it appears that it was because the 700 marks, which the
conqueror at first demanded, were of light weight [“dolo
nummulariorum (money-lenders) dragma fraudata minus recti ponderis
examinata invenitur habuisse,”—Lib. Elien., 246] that he claimed 300
more as a punishment to the monks.
Footnote 245:
See note, p. 445.
Footnote 246:
See Note page 404.
Footnote 247:
Thurstan died in 1076 (Lib. Elien. p. 243.) The king thereupon seized
the valuables that remained in the monastery.
Footnote 248:
Theodwin, a monk of Jumièges, was then appointed, and he insisted
upon the restoration of all the gold and silver jewels.
“Hic abbas industria sua priusquam abbatiam intraret ad eam revocavit
totum quod in auro et argento et lapidibus ante illius promotionem
rex inde abstulerat, nolens eam ullo modo suscipere, nisi rex
jusserat auferri juberet referri.” (Lib. Elien., II. 113.)
Footnote 249:
See Note page 439.
Footnote 250:
It is remarkable that in _Geoffrey Gaimar’s Metrical Chronicle_ we
have mention of only one wife, Alftrude, who is there represented as
having sent to Hereward on several occasions inviting him to visit
her (we suppose at Eye). She inherited her father’s domain which she
promised to bestow upon Hereward if he would marry her. He would then
be able to continue his contest against the French. But this marriage
seems to have led to a peace with the king and to Hereward’s joining
William in subduing the revolted province of Maine. Here is the
passage from Gaimar:—
“Co fu Alftrued ki co mandout
A Hereward, ke mult amout;
Par plusurs faiz tant le manda
Ke Hereward s’en apresta.
Vers li alat od mult grant gent,
Triwes aveit tut veirement,
Al rei se deveit acorder;
Dedenz cel mais deveit passer
La mer pur guerreier Mansels,
Ki ont al rei toleit chastels.”
Although the genealogists say that Alftrude had a daughter whose name
was Turfrida, the date does not agree with Gaimar’s account.
Footnote 251:
The genealogists say a daughter, not a son, who was named Turfrida,
born 1063.
The reader should consult a paper, entitled “Hereward the Saxon
Patriot,” by the Rev. E. Trollope, M.A., in Associated Architectural
Societies’ Reports and Papers, Vol. VI. 1871, which contains the
Genealogy of the Wake family. The living representative is Sir
Herewald Wake, Bart., Northamptonshire.
Footnote 252:
In the year that the Isle of Ely was reduced, Malcolm III. of
Scotland married Margaret the Saxon, that is in 1071. Malcolm had
committed ravages in Northumbria and given shelter to Eadgar
Ætheling, his wife’s brother. Here was sufficient cause for William
to reduce Scotland to submission. It was not immediately after the
conquest of the Isle, but in Aug., 1072, that the conqueror went to
Scotland, for his presence was required in Normandy early in 1072;
therefore, the soldiers and ships were not drawn immediately from the
Fen district to the Scotch invasion.
Footnote 253:
Supposed to have been missing from the _Gesta Herewardi_, before
mentioned in note p. 439 as _Vita Herewardi_, in which MS. our hero
is styled _Inclytus Miles_, as also on page 459 following.
Footnote 254:
See Note, page 410; and Appendix, Note K.
Footnote 255:
He went in Aug., 1072.
Footnote 256:
This, as has been shown, occurred before the invasion of Scotland.
Footnote 257:
See Appendix for account of Cnut’s crossing the ice under the
guidance of Brithmer (as given in Lib. Elien.) Note N.
Footnote 258:
The writer very ingeniously brings a _religieux_ from the minster
founded by Harold to reconcile Hereward to a submission to the
Conqueror; he was not a monk however. Waltham was not then an Abbey.
Harold rebuilt a church there, established a College of secular
Canons, with a Dean at their head, and brought over from the
continent a learned man, named Adelhard, as a lecturer in this
college. (Here is an indication that Harold was a man of progress.)
Now of course an appeal from one attached to Harold’s minster at
Waltham would be as forcible as any that could be conceived, and
especially when it was attended by the assurance that Harold’s dead
body lay within the precincts of the church.
Waltham was erected into an Abbey in the reign of Henry II. and it
is notable that the body of Edward the First was buried by the side
of that of Harold, in 1307—(though it was afterwards translated to
Westminster Abbey); “the king with whom England fell might greet
his first true successor in the king with whom she rose
again.”—(Freeman.)
The devastations of other centuries have swept away all traces of the
tomb of Harold from Waltham—as they have also every vestige of the
tomb of Waltheof or of Hereward at Crowland—or even the shrine of
Ætheldreda at Ely.
Footnote 259:
We learn from William of Malmesbury that it very early acquired
considerable riches:—“Quantitatem possessionum antiquarum ex hoc
conice, quod licet plura dempta, plura usurpata, is, qui modo rem
regit, mille et. cccctas. libras marsupio suo quotannis
annumeret.”—_Gesta Pont. Ang._, lib. IV., § 184.
Footnote 260:
“Ramesiensis abbatiæ fuit edificator Sanctus Oswaldus, Eboracensis
Archiepiscopus, cooperate Egelwine quodam Orientalium Anglorum
comite.”—_Gesta Pont. Ang._ lib. IV. § 181.
Footnote 261:
See Warner’s History of Thorney Abbey, p. 17.
Footnote 262:
We can hardly agree with Mr. Warner when he says (on p. 12), “That
any human being lived on so dreary a spot, at least till the 7th
century, is highly improbable,” for we believe that the Kelts
occupied the fen islands, and perhaps the hunting folks who peopled
our land before the Kelts came did the same.
Thorney may have been “a paradise” at other periods than in William
of Malmesbury’s time.
Footnote 263:
It may really have been begun by Paeda, king of Mercia, in 650, was
called Medehamstede and was dedicated to St. Peter on its completion
by Wolfhere in 656.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Royal 8vo., 650 pp., cloth, published at 31/6; the remaining
stock offered at 20/-, nett._
THE FENLAND:
PAST AND PRESENT:
ITS
_HISTORY—GEOGRAPHY—GEOLOGY—NATURAL
HISTORY—SCENERY—ANTIQUITIES—CLIMATOLOGY—DRAINAGE—AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCE & SANITARY CONDITION,_
BY
SAMUEL H. MILLER, F.R.A.S., F.M.S.,
_Gold Medalist and Foreign Member of the Society of Arts
and Sciences of Utrecht;_
AND
SYDNEY B. J. SKERTCHLY, F.G.S.,
_Her Majesty’s Geological Survey._
--------------
THE ILLUSTRATIONS include a beautiful COLOURED CHROMO-LITHOGRAPH from a
picture kindly painted for this work, by E. ELLIS, Esq.; Two FAC-SIMILE
SKETCHES OF CROWLAND ABBEY AND BRIDGE, from the pencil of E. W. COOKE,
Esq., R.A.; COPPER-PLATE ENGRAVINGS; several fine VIEWS ENGRAVED ON
WOOD by WHYMPER and others; besides a MAP OF THE FENLAND, GEOLOGICAL
SECTIONS, and other DIAGRAMS.
--------------
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
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Fenland.”—_Daily News._
“An exhaustive account of the great English Fen District.”—_Graphic._
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“An interesting study for the antiquary, geographer, and
economist.”—_Saturday Review._
“The stories of the Saxon and Danish Conquests are well
told.”—_Nature._
“A thorough scientific description of the entire region.”—_Illustrated
London News._
--------------
MEMORIALS of SAINT GUTHLAC of CROWLAND.
Collected from the Original Manuscripts, and Edited by WALTER DE GRAY
BIRCH, F.S.A.L., of British Museum.
_100 copies only printed and each numbered. (Very scarce.)_
--------------
THE CHRONICLES OF CROWLAND ABBEY.
By INGULPH, Edited from the Unique Manuscript in the British Museum, by
WALTER DE GRAY BIRCH, F.S.A.
_100 copies only printed and each numbered. Price 12/-._
-------
WISBECH: LEACH AND SON.
_In Three Volumes. Uniformly bound in cloth, £3/16._
_Each Volume complete and sold separately._
_Also the Three Volumes in one, half-roan, £3/3._
THE
FEN & MARSHLAND CHURCHES,
With Historical and Architectural Descriptive Notes.
_The First Series, price 21/-, dedicated (by permission) to the Hon.
and Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Norwich and the late Right Rev. the
Lord Bishop of Ely, contains 15 Photographs, including the Churches of_
WALSOKEN, WALTON, EMNETH, WISBECH, WALPOLE, TERRINGTON,
TILNEY AND LEVERINGTON;
With Descriptions by the Rev. John Davies, M.A., the Rev. E. E.
Blencowe, B.A., the late Rev. J. W. Berryman, B.A., the late very Rev.
the Dean of Chester, the Rev. C. R. Manning, M.A., and the Rev. A. W.
Roper, B.A.
--------------
_The Second Series, price 25/-, dedicated (by permission) to the Hon.
and Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Norwich and the late Right Rev. the
Lord Bishop of Ely, contains 17 Photographs, including the Churches of_
ELM, ELY CATHEDRAL, (6 views), ST. MARGARET, LYNN; ST. NICHOLAS, LYNN;
UPWELL, OUTWELL, TERRINGTON ST. JOHN, THORNEY and WHITTLESEY;
With Descriptions by E. M. Beloe, Esq., the Rev. W. E. Dickson, M.A.,
the Rev. C. R. Manning, M.A., the late Rev. E. Swann, M.A., the Rev. W.
D. Sweeting, M.A., the late Rev. W. G. Townley, M.A., the Rev. R. H.
Warner, M.A., and the late Rev. Henry Wright, M.A.
-------
_The Third Series, price 30/-, dedicated (by permission) to the Right
Rev. the Lord Bishop of London (late Bishop of Lincoln), and the late
Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Lincoln, contains 15 Photographs,
including the Churches of_
BOSTON, CROWLAND, GEDNEY, HOLBEACH, MOULTON, SPALDING,
SUTTON ST. MARY, WESTON, and WHAPLODE;
With Descriptions by the late Rev. H. L. Bennett, M.A., the Rev. G. B.
Blenkin, M.A., the Rev. J. R. Jackson, M.A., the Rev. E. Moore, M.A.,
and the Rev. R. Rogers, M.A.
_In addition to the Photographic Illustrations, this Volume contains
Ground Plans of each of the Churches in this series._
--------------
_Demy 8vo., cloth 7/6._
THE
HISTORY OF THORNEY ABBEY,
_CAMBRIDGESHIRE_,
FROM ITS FOUNDATION TO ITS DISSOLUTION,
TOGETHER WITH
_SOME NOTICE OF THE MODERN PARISH_,
AND
BAPTISMAL REGISTER OF THE FRENCH COLONY 1658-1724,
COMPILED FROM PRINTED RECORDS AND UNEDITED MANUSCRIPTS,
-------
BY REV. R. HYETT WARNER, M.A.,
_Vicar of Almeley, Herefordshire, sometime Curate of Thorney_.
LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO.
WISBECH: LEACH & SON.
Transcriber's Notes
When italics were used in the original book, the corresponding text
has been surrounded by _underscores_. The oe ligature is
represented by the letters oe. Macrons above letters have been
depicted as [=x], where x is the letter with macron. A symbol of a
cross has been represented as [cross]. Fractions following a whole
number have been separated from the whole number with a dash, such
that 1-1/2 represents one and a half.
Ditto marks and dashes used to represent duplicated text have been
replaced by the text they represent.
Some presumed printer's errors have been corrected, including
normalizing punctuation. Further corrections are listed below with
the printed text (top) and corrected text (bottom):
carry of
carry off p. 36
Quaragesima
Quadragesima p. 64
appetities
appetites p. 68
prilgrimage
pilgrimage p. 82
this; With
this; with p. 111
Navitity p. 120
Nativity
that their was no access
that there was no access p. 143
all manor
all manner p. 147
De profundis
_De profundis_ p, 159
as the moon shown out
as the moon shone out p. 163
must soon he united
must soon be united p. 182
knigbt
knight p. 194
with the Romans had dug
which the Romans had p. 235
fen-men-swim
fen-men swim p. 240
made hast
made haste p. 246
Normam
Norman p. 272
seige
siege p. 297
that I my speak to them
that I may speak to them p. 342
prisioners
prisoners p. 380
have it there own way
have it their own way p. 418
inconvience
inconvenience p. 419
Forbes, Robest
Forby, Robert p. 488
Venerant cum ex nonnulli
Venerant cum ea nonnulli Footnote 54
auctortatis
auctoritatis Footnote 54
East-anglia
East-Anglia Footnote 72
forth
fourth Footnote 73
Theoawin
Theodwin Footnote 89
Camp of Reguge
Camp of Refuge Footnote 141
Rrunan-burh
Brunan-burh Footnote 149
conntry
country Footnote 157
. 106.
p. 106. Footnote 210
pag 40
page 40 Footnote 215
Jumiège
Jumièges Footnote 248
possessionem
possessionum Footnote 259
Her Majesty’s Geological Snrvey.
Her Majesty’s Geological Survey. (Advertisements)
* Transcriber's Note: Several corrections to Note K have been made
based on reference to the original source (_Historia Eliensis, lib.
sec._). These corrections include a stretch of missing words,
without which the passage does not make sense. For those
interested, the uncorrected Note K as originally printed in this
book is reproduced below:
109. “_Quod monachi Elyensis clementiam regis adierunt et de
atrocitate itineris exercitus et equorum ejus._
“Monachi igitur de Ely cognoscentes mala quæ in regno fiebant et in
ecclesiarum rebus pervasionem fieri et diminutionem ab extermina
(externa; _E_) gente graviter doluerunt, magnificentiam templi
Domini reminiscentes, et loci sancti sibi tale discrimen imminere
veriti sunt, fientes unanimiter auxilium de cœlo et suæ in æternum
patrocinantis Christi sponsæ dilectæ Ætheldredæ præsidium adesse
poscebant. Et divina inspirante clementia salubre demum ineuntes
consilium ad regem mittere constituunt, illius flagitare
misericordiam et pacem. Invaluerat enim fames ut supra retulimus,
per totam regionem atque istic innumeris milibus hostilis collegii
etiam horrea servata Egypti tautam inopiam non supplerent. Nam
(deest) reliquiæ ciborum in loco jam fuerant exaustæ, eo quod
septimus erat annus ex quo seditionem adversus novum regem
commoverunt, frumenti copia sufficere nulla diu poterat, furto enim
vel rapto vesci monachorum ordini minime licuit. Et convocatis ad
se primoribus qui urbem et aquarum exitus muniunt, ipsos inde eorum
abnuant. His territi mox verbis, piguit eos gravissimi incepti ejus
felicem exitum tum nequaquam sperant, prælia existimantes levia si
his malis conferatur. Urgebat eos fames valida, intus pavor angebat
nimius, nec ad comportandum rapinas egredi nisi in manu valida
audebant, enses Normanorum plus omni periculo metuentes. Et arepto
itinere in Warewich vico famoso reverenter regem cum debita
supplicatione monachi requirunt, se suaque omnia ejus clementiæ
commendantes. Stetit itaque abbas Elyensis Thurstanus cum suis
monachis coram rege magno Willelmo, orans et deprecans per
misericordiam Dei ut averteret iram furoris sui ab eis et a
civitate sua, spondens per omnia deinceps fidele obsequium, et
consistente satraparum caterva, optimum reputavit dicens,
‘majestatem illius tolerare supra se, cum jus regni a Deo sit illi
concessum. Verum et is dignanter (dignatur) eis attendat, finem
laborum suorum haud dubitanter assequi posse, et ingressum insulæ
citius optinere proponit; si tantum pro Deo et suæ animæ salute
praedia et bona per suo de loco abstraca restitui faceret.’ Et
spopondit rex.”
End of Project Gutenberg's The Camp of Refuge, by Charles MacFarlane