Alfgar the Dane or the Second Chronicle of Aescendune<br />A Tale of the Days of Edmund Ironside, A. D. Crake [best romance books of all time TXT] 📗

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ALFGAR THE DANE OR THE SECOND CHRONICLE OF AESCENDUNE:

A Tale of the Days of Edmund Ironside

by the Rev. A. D. Crake.

PREFACE. CHAPTER I. THE DIARY OF FATHER CUTHBERT. CHAPTER II. "ALFGAR, SON OF ANLAF." CHAPTER III. THE NIGHT OF ST. BRICE. CHAPTER IV. THE DANES IN WESSEX. CHAPTER V. THE TRACKS IN THE FOREST. CHAPTER VI. THROUGH SUFFERING TO GLORY. CHAPTER VII. FATHER AND SON. CHAPTER VIII. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY. CHAPTER IX. THE CAMP OF THE DANES. CHAPTER X. CARISBROOKE IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. CHAPTER XI. THE GLEEMAN. CHAPTER XII. THE MONASTERY OF ABINGDON. CHAPTER XIII. THE CITY OF DORCHESTER. CHAPTER XIV. THE SON AND THE FAVOURITE. CHAPTER XV. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY AT CLIFFTON. CHAPTER XVI. THE FEAST OF CHRISTMAS. CHAPTER XVII. FOR HEARTH AND HOME. CHAPTER XVIII. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY. CHAPTER XIX. THE ROYAL DEATHBED. CHAPTER XX. THE MIDNIGHT FLIGHT. CHAPTER XXI. EDMUND AND CANUTE. CHAPTER XXII. SMOOTHER THAN OIL. CHAPTER XXIII. WHO HATH DONE THIS DEED? CHAPTER XXIV. THE ORDEAL. CHAPTER XXV. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY. PREFACE.

The tale now presented to the indulgence of the public is the second of a series of tales, each complete in itself, which, as stated in the preface to the first of the series, have been told to the senior boys of a large school, in order to secure their interest in historical characters, and to illustrate great epochs in human affairs by the aid of fiction.

Yet the Author has distinctly felt that fiction must always, in such cases, be subordinate to truth, and that it is only legitimately used as a vehicle of instruction when it fills up the gaps in the outline, without contradicting them in any respect, or interfering with their due order and sequence.

Therefore he has attempted in every instance to consult such original authorities as lay within his reach, and has done his best to present an honest picture of the times.

The period selected on the present occasion is full of the deepest interest. The English and the Danish invaders of their soil were struggling desperately for the possession of England--a struggle aggravated by religious bitterness, and by the sanguinary nature of the Danish creed.

The reign of Ethelred the Unready, from his accession, after the murder of his innocent brother, until the scene depicted in the nineteenth chapter of the tale, was a tragedy ever deepening. Its details will seem dark enough as read herein, but how utterly dark they were can only be appreciated by those who study the contemporary annals. Many facts therein given have been rejected by the Author as too harrowing in their nature; and he has preferred to render the contemplation of woe and suffering less painful, by a display of those virtues of patience, resignation, and brave submission to the Divine will, which affliction never fails to bring out in the fold of Christ, whose promise stands ever fast, that the strength of His people shall be equal to their needs.

With the death of the unhappy king, and the accession of his brave but unfortunate son, the whole character of the history changes. Englishmen are henceforth at least a match for their oppressors, and the result of the long contest is the conversion of their foes to Christianity, their king setting the example, and the union of the two races--not the submission of one to the other. The Danish element had been received into the English nation to join in moulding the future national character--to add its own special virtues to the typical Englishman of the future.

One more rude shock had yet to be sustained before the alloy of foreign blood was complete--the Norman Conquest. This is the subject of the Third Story of Aescendune, which has yet to be written.

One character in the tale has always puzzled historians--a character, so far as the author knows, absolutely without redeeming trait--Edric Streorn. It is well said that no man is utterly bad, and perhaps he possessed domestic virtues which were thought unworthy of the attention of the chroniclers; but as they picture him--now prompting Ethelred to deeds of treachery against the Danes, now joining those Danes themselves, and surpassing them in cruelty--now seeking pretended reconciliation, only to betray his foe more surely, and in all this aided and supported by the weak, unprincipled king--as thus pictured there is scarcely a blacker character in history.

But more incomprehensible than the existence of so bad a man in such a dark age is the renewed confidence ever accorded him, when, after more than once betraying the armies of his country into the hands of their foes, and fighting openly in the hostile cause, he is again forgiven, nay, received into favour, and sent once more to command the men he has already deceived, until he repeats the experiment, and when it fails is again admitted into confidence.

To some extent the Author has endeavoured to find possible solutions of the mystery, but mystery it will remain until the day when all secrets are known.

The death of this unhappy man is taken, in all its main details, from a comparison of the chroniclers, as are also all the chief historical events herein noted.

An objection has been raised to the modern English in which the Author has made his characters speak. He can only say in reply that the Anglo-Saxon in which they really expressed themselves would be unintelligible to all but the few who have made the study of our ancient tongue their pursuit--far more unintelligible to those of ordinary education than Latin or French. Therefore it would be mere affectation to copy the later orthography of Chaucer, or to interlard one's sentences with obsolete words. The only course seems to be a fair translation of the vernacular of the period of the tale into our own everyday English. The Author anticipated this objection in the preface to his earlier volume. He repeats his answer for those who may not have seen the former book. A similar rule has guided him in the orthography of proper names; he has used the customary Latinised forms.

In his descriptions of Dorchester and Abingdon he has been aided by the kind information received from the present vicar of the magnificent Abbey Church, still existing in the former ancient town, and by the extensive information contained in the Chronicle of the Abbey of Abingdon, edited by the Rev. Joseph Stevenson, M.A. He has also to express his obligations to his friend Mr. Charles Walker, editor of the "Liturgy of the Church of Sarum," for valuable assistance in monastic lore.

The moral aim of the tale has been to depict the mental difficulties which our heathen forefathers had severally to encounter ere they could embrace Christianity--difficulties chiefly arising from the inconsistencies of Christians--and to set forth the example of one who, having found the "pearl of great price," sold all he had and bought it, forsaking all that could appeal to the imagination of a warlike youth--"choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season."

Yet his Christianity, like that of all other characters in the tale, is that of their age, not of ours, and men will differ as to its comparative merits. "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required."

The author dedicates this tale to his brother, engaged, like himself, in that most responsible task, the education of youth, in memory of those happy days when they pored together in rapturous delight over old legend or romantic lore in their father's home at that very Clifton (now Clifton Hampden) familiar to hearers or readers of the tale as the home of Herstan, and the scene of the heroic defence of the English dwelling against the Danes. It will be a great reward for the Author's toil should this little volume similarly gladden many firesides during the approaching Christmas, and perhaps cause some to thank God for the contrast between the Christmas of 1007 and that of 1874.

A.D.C.

All Saints' School, Bloxham.

Advent, 1874.

CHAPTER I. THE DIARY OF FATHER CUTHBERT.

All Saints' Day, 1002.

Inasmuch as I, Cuthbert, by the long-suffering of the Divine goodness, am prior of the Benedictine house of St. Wilfrid at Aescendune, it seems in some sort my duty, following the example of many worthy brethren, to write some account of the origin and history of the priory over which it has pleased God to make me overseer, and to note, as occasion serves from time to time, such passing events as seem worthy of remembrance; which record, deposited in the archives of the house, may preserve our memory when our bodies are but dust, and other brethren fill our places in the choir. Perhaps each generation thinks the events which happen in its own day more remarkable than any which have preceded, and that its own period is the crisis of the fate of Church or State. Yet surely no records of the past, extant, tell us of such dark threatening clouds as hang over the realm of England at this time; when the thousandth year since our blessed Lord's nativity having passed, we seem to be entering on those awful plagues which the Apocalypse tells us must precede the consummation of all things.

But we who trust in the Lord have a strong tower wherein to hide, and we know of a land where there is no darkness or shadow of death; therefore we will not fear though the earth be moved, and the hills be carried into the midst of the sea.

This house of St. Wilfrid was founded by Offa, Thane of Aescendune, in the year of the Lord 938, and completed by his son and successor Ella, who was treacherously murdered by his nephew Ragnar, and lies buried within these sacred walls. The first prior was Father Cuthbert, my godfather, after whom I was named. He was appointed by Dunstan, just then on the point of leaving England to escape the rage of the wicked and unhappy Edwy, and continued to exercise the authority until the year 975, the year in which our lamented king, Edgar the Magnanimous, departed to his heavenly rest, with whose decease peace and prosperity seemed likewise to depart.

Father Godric succeeded him, under whose paternal rule we enjoyed peace for ten years. Truly the memory of the just is blessed. He died in 985, and then was I chosen by the votes of the chapter to be their prior, and my election was confirmed by the holy Dunstan, who himself admitted me to mine office.

And truly the lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places, dark although--as I have said--the times are. The priory lies on the banks of the glorious Avon, where the forests come nearly down to its banks. Above us rises a noble hill, crowned with the oak and the beech, beneath whose shade many a deer and boar repose, and their flesh, when brought thither to gladden our festivals, is indeed toothsome and savoury.

Our buildings are chiefly of wood, although the foundations are of stone. The great hall is floored and lined with oak, while the chapel--the Priory Church the people call it--excels for limning and gilding, as well as for the beauty of its tapestry, any church in this part of Mercia. Our richest altar cloth is made of the purple robe which King Edgar wore at his consecration, and which he sent to the thane Alfred of Aescendune for the Priory Church as a token of the respect and favour he bore him. And also he gave a veil of gold embroidery which representeth the destruction of Troy. It is hung upon great days over the dais at the high table of the hall.

The monastery is well endowed with lands by the liberality of its first founder, as appears in the deeds preserved in our great muniment chest. We have ten hides of woodland, wherein none may cut wood save for our use in the winter; five hides of arable land, and the same extent of pasturage for cattle. Now for the care of the culture thereof we have a hundred serfs attached to the glebe, who, we trust, do not find us unkind lords.

There are twenty brethren who have taken the final vows according to the rule of St. Benedict, and ten novices, besides six lay brethren, and other our chief servitors. We keep the monastic hours, duly rising at daybreak to sing our lauds, and lying down after compline, with the peace and blessing of Him who alone maketh us dwell in safety.

Our daily work is not light. We preach on Sundays and festivals in the priory church. We visit the sick. We instruct the youth in the elements of Christian doctrine. We superintend the labours of those who till the soil. We copy the sacred writings. In short, we have a great deal to do, and I fear do it very imperfectly sometimes.

I will add a few words only about myself. I am the third son of Alfred {i}, thane of Aescendune, and his wife the