The Camp of Refuge: A Tale of the Conquest of the Isle of Ely

by Charles MacFarlane

  CHAPTER XVII.

  HEREWARD GOES TO BRUNN, AND IS DISTURBED THERE.

  From Peterborough the Lord of Brunn made one good march across the fencountry to Crowland, where he saluted the good Abbat and brotherhood,who had put their house into excellent order. And having tarried for ashort season with the trusty monks of Crowland, he went down the riverWelland unto Spalding, where he embarked the treasure which he hadtaken, and sent Girolamo of Salerno to have charge of it and see itsafely delivered to the Lord Abbat of Ely.[179] Having done all this,and having seen that the river Welland and the country about Crowlandand Spalding were well guarded, Hereward went across the country toBrunn to visit his fair wife, whom he had not seen since the quinquaineof Pasche. Elfric went with him, and in this manner there were twohappy meetings. The old manor-house at Brunn had been beautified aswell as strengthened under the eye of the Ladie Alftrude; and the oldtownship, being ridded of the Normans, was beginning to look peacefuland prosperous as it used to do in the happy times of the good LordLeofric of blessed memory. The unthinking people were alreadyforgetting their past troubles, and beginning to imagine that therewould be no troubles for the future, or that, come what might theNormans would never get footing again in the fen country. Elfric wasnot an unthinking young man, but his love for Maid Mildred caused himto take up the notion of the townfolk. He thought he might soon turnhis sword into a reaping-hook, and that it was already time for keepingthe promise which his master had made to him. Mildred said nay, nay,but in a manner which sounded very like yea, yea. Lord Hereward said,"Wait awhile; ye are both young, and this war is not over. Beyond thefens the Normans are still triumphant, and the Saxons confounded andsubmissive. Elfric, there is work to do, and short is the time that Ican abide here."

  The ex-novice quietly submitted himself to the will of his lord; andfor a short season he lead a very easy, happy life, hawking or fishingin the morning, with Hereward and the ladie, and rambling in the evewith Mildred in the wood which lay near the house. One fine summer eve,about fifteen days after their coming to Brunn, Elfric and Mildred wentrather farther into the wood than it had been usual for them to go; andreaching the bank of a clear little stream, they sat down among thetall rushes, and after talking and laughing for awhile they becamereflective and silent, and gazed at the stream as it glided by, allgilded and enamelled by the setting sun. They had not sate thus longwhen Elfric was startled by some distant sound, which did not reach theear of Mildred, for when he said, "What noise is that?" she said sheheard none. But Elfric was quite certain he had heard a noise afar off,and a sound of a rustling among the willows and fen-trees. "Well," saidMildred, "it will be the evening breeze, or the fen-sparrows, or mayhapthe marsh-tits tapping the old willow-trees to hollow out their nests."

  "There breathes not a breath of air, and this is not the season inwhich the marsh-tit makes its nest in the old willows," said Elfric."But hark! I hear the sound again, and ... ah! what is that?... By St.Ovin's cross! I see afar off a something shining in the red sunbeamsthat looks like the head of a Norman lance! See! look there, behindthose trees at the foot of yon hillock!"

  The maiden looked, and although at first she saw nothing, she soonturned pale, and said, "In truth, Elfric, I see a spear, and another,and now another. But now they move not! they disappear."

  "Mildred," said the young man, "run back to the manor-house with thybest speed, and tell Lord Hereward what thou hast seen!"

  "But wilt thou not go with me? I almost fear to go alone through thewood."

  "The path is straight and dry," said Elfric; "there is no danger: but Imust go forward and discover what be these new comers, who are comingso stealthily towards the wood and the manor-house, and who bringlances with them and sound no horn."

  "But there will be peril for thee, oh Elfric, unarmed and all alone asthou art."

  "Fear not for that, my Mildred; I will crawl through the rushes andkeep this winding stream between me and these strangers. But fly to thehouse, and if thou chancest to meet any of Lord Hereward's people, bidthem hasten home and look to their arms."

  "Alas!" quoth Mildred, "when will this fighting be over?" and having sosaid, she flew like a lapwing towards the house, while Elfricdisappeared among the sedges and bulrushes.

  "Lances so near the wood!" said Hereward, "and no notice given! Ourguard at Edenham[180] must have fallen asleep!"

  "Or mayhap they be gone to Corby," said Mildred, "for to-day is Corbywake."

  "Or it may be," said Hereward, "that thou and Elfric are bothmistaken--albeit his good eyes are not apt to deceive him."

  Before the Lord of Brunn had time to assemble his people, Elfric wasback to speak for himself, and to give more certain and full notice ofwhat was toward. He had gone near enough not only to see, but also tohear. The force was a great Norman force led on by Ivo Taille-Bois andTorauld of Fescamp, who hoped to take Hereward by surprise, and torecover from him the treasure which he had seized at Peterborough; for,being robbers themselves, they made sure that he meant to keep thetreasure for himself.

  "What be their numbers?" said the Lord of Brunn.

  "Two hundred men-at-arms," responded Elfric.

  "Bring they any of their great siege-tools?" asked Hereward.

  "None, my Lord. They carry nothing but their arms, and even with thatburthen they seem sorely fatigued. They are covered with our fen mud,and are all swearing that they should have been forced to travelwithout their horses."

  "Then," said Hereward, "although Girolamo be away, we can hold goodthis house and laugh at their attempt to take it. Call in all the goodfolk of the township, and then up drawbridge, and make fast gates!"

  "Under subjection, my Lord," quoth Elfric, "I will say that I thinkthat we can do better than shut ourselves up in the house to wait fortheir coming. I heard their plan of approach, and it is this: They areall to remain concealed where they are until it be dark. Then IvoTaille-Bois is to march through the wood, and surround the house withone hundred men, while that bull-headed Torauld, who seemeth not torelish the fighting with soldiers so much as he doth the fighting withunarmed monks, is to lodge himself with the other hundred men on theskirts of the wood, so as to prevent the people of the township fromcoming to the manor-house."

  "Art thou sure," said Hereward, "that thou knowest Norman French enoughto make out all this sense from their words?"

  "Quite certain, my Lord. I was close to them, and they talked loud, asis their wont. Nay, they talked even louder than common, being angered,and Ivo-Taille saying that as it was church business the churchmanought to go foremost; and Torauld saying that Ivo did not enoughrespect the lives and limbs of Norman prelates. Set me down thisTorauld for a rank coward! They told me at Peterborough that he was asbig as a bull, and for that much so he is; but from my hiding-place inthe rushes I could see that he quaked and turned pale at the thought ofleading the attack."

  "Thou wast ever a good scout," said the Lord of Brunn, "but a warycommander never trusts to one report. We have lads here that know thepaths and the bye-paths. We will have these Normans watched as it growsdark."

  In the mean time all the good people of the township were forewarned,and called to the manor-house. The aged, with the women and children,were to stay within those strong walls; but all the rest were armed,and kept in readiness to sally forth. Of the sixty merry men that hadstolen the march upon Torauld and got to Peterborough before him, somehad been left at Crowland and some at Spalding, and some had taken uptheir long stilts and had walked across the bogs to see their kindredand friends in Hoilandia. Only one score and ten of these triedsoldiers remained; the good men of the township of Brunn that put onharness and were ready to fight, made more than another score; andbesides these there was about half a score of hardy hinds who hadfollowed the Ladie Alftrude from her home.

  As it grew dark the scouts reported that the Normans were in motion,and that they were moving in two separate bodies, even as Elfricreported they would do. Then the Lord
of Brunn went himself to watchtheir movements. He made out, more by his ears than by his eyes, thatone body was coming straight on for the wood and the house, and thatthe other body was turning round the wood by a path which would bringthem to a little bridge near the edge of the wood, this bridge beingbetween the township and the manor-house. By his own prudent orderlights had been left burning in one or two of the better sort ofhouses, and the whole town thus looked as it usually did at that hour;while bright lights beamed from every window of the manor-house, tomake Ivo Taille-Bois believe that the Lord of Brunn was feasting andcarousing and wholly off his guard.

  "Thus far, well!" thought Hereward, as he ran back to the house. "Itwill take these heavy Normans a good length of time to cross the streamand get into the wood; and while Ivo is coming into the wood on the oneside, I will go out of it on the other side, and catch this bully monkand his people as in a trap. And Taille-Bois shall rue the day that heturned his face towards Brunn."

  Leaving half a score of his best men in the house, and commanding allthat were in the house to be silent and without fear, the Lord of Brunnsallied forth with all the rest of his merry men: and as soon as he andthey were beyond the moat, the little garrison drew up the draw-bridgeand made fast the gate. When he counted his troop, he found it to benot more than fifty strong; but every man of them was vigorous and wellequipped; and there was truth in the Saxon song which said that everytrue Saxon in arms was equal to three Frenchmen, and that the Lord ofBrunn never turned his back even upon six Frenchmen. Warned by Elfric,that best of all scouts, when Ivo was crossing the stream, andcalculating his only time to a nicety, Hereward marched through acorner of the wood and took post on some broken ground near the end ofthe little bridge. His people were all as silent as the grave, and sothey continued; nor could they be seen any more than they could beheard, for they lay in the hollows of the ground with their faces proneto the earth, and their bows and weapons under them: and the night wasnow rather dark, and the trees which grew close behind the brokenground cast a deep shadow over it. The Saxons had not been long in thistheir ambuscade when they heard a loud shouting of "A Taille-Bois! ATaille-Bois!" which came from the side of the manor-house; and the nextinstant they heard another loud shouting in their front of "Torauld!Torauld!"

  "So so!" said Hereward, "the twain have timed their marches well! Themonk will be here anon; but let every Saxon among us remain on his faceuntil he cross the narrow bridge, and then up and fall on!"

  And as the Lord of Brunn said, so was it done. Eager to get possessionof the bridge, the monk from Fescamp avoided the little township, andcame straight to the stream[181] which flowed between it and themanor-house, and crossed over the bridge with all his people: and nosooner were they all over than the Saxons started up like armed menspringing from the bowels of the earth, and shouting "Hereward forEngland!" they fell upon their amazed and confounded enemy, who couldneither discover their strength nor form themselves into any order ofbattle. Instanter some of the Normans screamed that these were thedevils of Crowland risen again; and so, screaming, they made a rushback to the bridge. Now the bridge was very narrow, and walled oneither side with a parapet wall of brickwork; and when the whole ofTorauld's force began to follow the first fuyards,[182] with a madrushing and confusion, they got jammed together upon that narrowbridge, or falling one over the other they obstructed the passage.Torauld, that big monk, could not get upon the bridge at all, or nearto it. And as he stood crowded and squeezed by his disordered men, andheard the Saxon battle-axe ringing upon their mailed armour and platedshields, he set up his big voice and cried "Quarter! Quarter! Mercy, OLord of Brunn!"

  "Dost thou surrender, Torauld of Fescamp?" shouted Hereward.

  "Aye, and at thy discretion," said the terrible abbat, no longerterrible.

  "Normans, do ye all surrender upon quarter?" shouted Hereward, who hadalready slain three of them with his own hand.

  The Normans, not even excepting those on the bridge, or even those fiveor six that had gotten beyond the bridge, all declared that theysurrendered at discretion.

  "Then," quoth the Lord of Brunn, "hand me your swords, and come hitherand lay down all your arms!"

  And, in that grim darkness, Torauld, and the several leaders of theband, stretched out their hands and delivered up their swords toHereward; and Hereward, as he got them, handed them to hissword-bearer, and Elfric made a bundle of them all under his left arm,singing, as he had wont to do in the choir at Spalding, but with alouder note, "_Infixae sunt gentes!_--The heathen are sunk down in thepit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken!"And all the Norman men-at-arms, seeing but dimly what they were doing,and taking the trees on the skirts of the wood for Saxon warriors,piled their arms in a trice, and allowed themselves to be bound withtheir own girdles and baldrics. When Hereward's people proceeded tobind Torauld, that tamed monster made a miserable lamentation, for hethought that the Saxons would bind him first, and then slay him; andnone knew better than himself the intolerable wrongs he had done sincehis first coming to the kingdom, and the outrages he had been guilty ofin the monasteries and churches of England. But Elfric bade him bellownot so miserably, and told him how that it was the custom of the Lordof Brunn not to slay his prisoners, but only to send them to a place ofsafe keeping, such as the Camp of Refuge, or the strong vault under ElyAbbey. And when the Normans were all bound, Hereward made hissword-bearer count them all; and Elfric, groping among them as theshepherd does among his sheep when the night is dark, found andreported that there were four score and ten of them. The rest had beenslain, or had rushed into the stream to get drowned.

  All this work by the bridge had not been done without much noise. Inmaking their sudden onslaught, and in raising their shout for Hereward,the Saxons had made the welkin ring; and the cries and screams of thediscomfited Normans were distinctly heard across the wood and at themanor-house. The Saxons within that house heard both cries, and wellunderstood what they meant: Ivo Taille-Bois and his men also heard themand understood them; and so, cursing Torauld the monk for a fool, Ivohalted his men under cover of the trees; and then, after listening fora brief space of time, and after hearing plainer than before the Normancry of _misericorde_ instead of attempting to surround the house, Ivobegan to retrace his steps through the wood. And although the night wasbrightening up elsewhere, it continued so dark in that wood, and hispeople ran in so great hurry, that at almost every step some of themmissed the narrow path, or fell over the roots of the trees. And as Ivothus retreated, his ear was assailed by the taunting shouts of theSaxons in the manor-house, and by the triumphant shouts of those whohad sallied forth with Hereward to smite Torauld in the dark.

  But louder and louder still were the shouts in the good house of Brunnwhen its young Lord returned unhurt (and not a man of his was hurt)with the captives he had made, and notably with the once terribleTorauld.

  "Thou seest," said Hereward, "that thy friend Ivo hath not stayed tokeep his appointed meeting with thee at my humble house! but stay thouhere awhile, oh monk of Fescamp! and I will even go try whether I canovertake Ivo, and bring him back to meet thee! He hath the start, butis not so good a fenner as I am. So, come, my merry men all, one hornof wine apiece, and then for a chase through the wood and across thestream! An we catch not the great wood-cutter, we may perchance cut offpart of his tail. But first lock me up these prisoners in the turret.Our women and old men will suffice to take care of them while we followthe chase."

  The Ladie Alftrude, and sundry other persons, thought and said thatLord Hereward had done enough for this one night; but the Lord of Brunnthought he had never done enough when there was more to do, and beforeIvo Taille-Bois could get clear out of the wood, Hereward was upon histrack, with fifty of his merry men. Some of the Normans, missing theford across the stream, were captured on the bank; but the rest gotsafely over, and ran for their lives across the plain, whereon theynever could have run at all if the summer had been less hot and dry.They were closely followed by the Saxons
, who took a good many more ofthem, and killed others: but Ivo was too far ahead to be caught; and itwas all in vain that Hereward shouted and called upon him to stop andmeasure swords with him on dry ground, and on a fair field. So the Lordof Brunn gave up the pursuit, and returned to his manor-house, takingwith him a good score more prisoners. And if the louts who had beensent to keep guard at Edenham had not gone to Corby wake, and had notdrunk themselves drunk there, Ivo Taille-Bois would have been capturedor killed, with every man that followed him, before he could have gotout upon the road which leads from the fen country to Stamford. Therest of that night was given to festivity and joy. On the morrowmorning Hereward brought his Norman captives forth from the turret intothe great hall, and made inquest into their names and qualities. Therewere several knights of name among them; several that had high rank andgood lands in Normandie before ever they came to plunder England. Nowthese proud foreign knights condescended to address the Lord of Brunnas one of the military confraternity, and they spoke with him aboutransom as knight speaks to knight. Hereward, knowing well how the Abbatof Ely had been constrained to lay hands on that which had been offeredon the shrine of the saints, and to deal with unbelieving and usuriousJews, and how sorely money was needed throughout the Camp of Refuge,did not gainsay these overtures about ransoms; but he fixed the totalransom at so high a price, that Torauld and the Norman knights allvowed that they could never pay or get their friends to pay it. TheLord of Brunn, who believed them not, told them that they must pay thethree thousand marks he had named, or live and die in the fastnesses ofthe fen country. Torauld who loved money more than he loved his ownsoul, and who never doubted but that Hereward had all the treasures hehad taken from Peterborough, and meant to keep them for his own use andprofit, offered, as lawful superior of that house, and abbat appointedby King William, to give the Lord of Brunn a title to all those thingsas the price of the ransom for himself and the Norman nobles. Buthereat the Lord of Brunn was greatly incensed, and said, "Robber thatthou art, dost thou take me for a sacrilegious robber? The treasure ofPeterborough is not here, but at Ely,[183] in the safe keeping of thegood Lord Abbat Thurstan, to be kept or even used for the good ofEngland, and to be restored to Peterborough with bot, and with othertreasure, at the proper season. But thou, oh Torauld of Fescamp, thouhast no right to it, or control over it; and if thou hadst it, it isnot my father's son that would barter with thee for the goods of thechurch and the spoils of the altar! Torauld of Fescamp, and thou Pironof Montpinchon, and thou Olivier Nonant, and thou Pierre of Pommereuil,and the rest of ye, I tell ye one and all, and I swear it by theblessed rood, that I will never liberate ye, or any of ye, until thethree thousand marks, as ransom, be paid into my hands, or into thehands of the Lord Abbat of Ely! So, look well to it. Three thousandmarks, or a lifelong home and a grave in the safest and dreariest partof the fens."

  One and all, they again protested, and even vowed that so large a sumcould never be raised for their liberation; and that they would not somuch as name the sum to their friends and families.

  "Well," said the Lord of Brunn, "then to-morrow we will clap ye all onship-board and send ye across the salt sea Wash for Ely and the Camp ofRefuge."

  And on the morrow, by times, all the Norman captives, gentle or simple,knights or men-at-arms, were marched off to the Welland and put onboard ship and under hatches: nor ever did they get free from theirSaxon prison in the fens until twelve good months after their capture,when they got the money, and paid down the three thousand marks,together with some small pecunia for their meat and drink, and thetrouble they had given during their captivity. And long did Torauldbemoan the day when he accepted the office of abbat of Peterborough,and went to take vengeance on that house on account of Lord Hereward'sknighthood. He came forth from the fens an altered and subdued man; andalthough he tyrannically ruled a religious house for many years afterthese his misadventures, he was never more known to tweak his monks bythe nose with his steel gloves on, or to beat them with the flat of hissword, or to call out "Come hither, my men-at-arms." In truth, althoughhe plucked up spirit enough to rob and revile monks, he never put onarmour or carried a sword again.

  Thus had the good Lord of Brunn triumphed on the land which heinherited from his father and recovered with his own sword; thus withinthe good manor of Brunn had he foiled the stratagems of his enemies,and beaten them and humbled them, and made them the captives of hissword: but he could not long remain to enjoy his triumph there; hissword and his counsel were wanted in other parts; and deeming that theunwonted dryness of the season might perchance enable Ivo Taille-Boisor some other Norman lord to make another attempt upon Brunn, he tookhis ladie with him whither he went. A small but trusty garrison wasleft in the old manor-house, together with sundry matrons and maids,but Mildred went with her ladie, as did Elfric with his lord.

  As they came to the Welland, on their way to Ely, there came unto LordHereward some brave men from the world beyond the fens, to tell himthat a great body of Saxon serfs had gathered together at the edge ofSherwood forest and on the banks of the Trent, and that all these menwere ready to join him and become his servants and soldiers. Herewardgave the messengers the encouragement they seemed to merit, and senthis sword-bearer back with them to see what manner of men the band wasmade of, and to bring them across the fens if he should find them worththeir bread and meat.

  Now the men that had collected were hardy and fit for war, and many ofthem, being natives to the forests and trained to hunting, were keenbowmen. The Lord of Brunn, who knew the worth of the English bow, muchwanted good bowmen; and thus Elfric would gladly have brought away allthese foresters with him. But when the marching time came, sundry ofthese churls said that they were well where they were in Sherwood:--andfor that matter so they were, for the Normans could not easily get atthem, and they were lords of the forest and of all the game in it, andthey robbed all that came near to the forest. But all the churls werenot so churlish, nor so fond of living without law and order, nor socareless as to what became of their countrymen; and many were the goodbowmen that said they would go to the Saxon camp. Some of these uplandchurls, however, who had not led so free a life as the fenners, and hadnot had such good Lords as the Abbat of Ely and the Lord of Brunn,began to say to the men of the hills that were following Elfric, thatthey thought they were engaging in an idle chase and a very uselessstruggle, inasmuch as they would still be all serfs and bondmen whetherthe Normans or the Saxons ruled the land. But Elfric, hearing this,bade them all remember that it was one thing to obey a Lord that spoketheir own tongue, and another to obey a stranger Lord who spoke it notand despised it; that the good Saxon Lords were ever merciful and kind,not putting more labour on the serf than the serf could bear, andfeeding and entertaining him well when sickness or when old age allowedhim not to work at all; and that the good old Saxon laws and customsdid not leave the eyes, limbs, life, and conscience of the serfs in thehands of their lords and masters, nor allow Christian bondmen to betreated as though they were beasts of the field; in which fashion theNormans were now treating them. Quoth a grey-beard in the crowd, "Thereis some truth in what the young man saith. That was not a bad law whichsaid, 'Let the churl keep the fasts of the church as well as the Lord,and let the master that feeds his serfs on fast-days with meat, denyingthem bread, be put in the pillory.'"

  "Aye," said another elder, smothing his beard, "but that was a stillbetter law which said, 'Let not the serf be made to work on thefeast-days of the church, nor to do any manner of work on the Sabbath:Let all have rest on the seventh day, which is the day of the LordGod!'"

  Here one who had been a mass-priest in the upland country, but who hadfled from the intolerable persecutions of the Normans and was now armedagainst that people, spoke as one that had tasted books, and said,"Many were our good old Saxon laws for keeping holy the Sabbath-day,and making the seventh day a day of rest for all that live in the land,whether rich or poor, master or slave. The fourth commandment, whichthe Normans set at nought in as far as the poor En
glish serf isconcerned in it, was a most binding law with all good Saxons, and wasenforced by many royal laws and civil enactments, and with the imposingof penalties upon all such as broke the commandment. The laws andordinances of King Edward the Elder said--'If any one engage in Sundaymarketing, let him forfeit the goods and pay a fine of thirtyshillings. If a freeman work, let him forfeit his freedom, or redeem itby paying wite[184]; if a Lord oblige his churl to work, let him paywite.' And, after this, King Athelstane said in his dooms 'that thereshould be no marketing and no labour on Sundays, and that if any onedid market on Sundays he should forfeit the goods and pay thirtyshillings.' And, after this, King Ethelred said in his dooms, 'LetSunday's festival be rightly kept by _all_, as is becoming, and letmarketings and folkmotes be carefully abstained from on that holy day;let huntings and worldly works be strictly abstained from on that day.'And by the laws of King Edgar no man was to work from noontide of theSaturday till the dawn of Monday; and soulscot[185] was to be paid forevery Christian man to the priest, in order that the priest might prayfor him and instruct him. And the canons[186] of AElfric, inhibiting thebreach of the sanctity of the Lord's day, say, 'The mass-priests shallon Sundays explain to the people the sense of the Gospels in English,and explain to them in English the pater-noster and the creed, to theend that all the people may know the faith and cultivate theirChristianity.' And in this very canon the pious AElfric saith, 'Let thepriest and teacher beware of that which the prophet said; _Canes mutinon possunt latrare_, Dumb dogs cannot bark!' But what are these Normanteachers and priests from beyond the sea but dumb dogs to the Saxonpeople, seeing they know no English and will not learn it?"

  "Yes," said the ancient who had first spoken, "until these Normans cameamong us the bondman had one day in seven to himself, and on everyother festival of the church he was allowed to forget his bonds, and totake rest and enjoyment, and to think of his soul; but now we betreated as if we had no souls."

  "And," said another of the serfs, "in former days the laws protectedthe money and goods of a bondman, if so be he could obtain any, for theSaxon law said that the master must not take from his slave that whichthe slave had gained by his industry. But now the serf cannot so muchas call his life his property."

  "Nor can any other true Saxon call anything his own, unless he stand upand fight for it, and prove strong enough to keep it," said Elfric, whowas well pleased to see and hear that his discourse on the differencebetween the old bondage and the present was not thrown away upon theupland serfs.

  Quoth the priest who had before spoken, "Our old Saxon laws were charyof blood, and held in tender respect the life of all men, whether theybelonged to the nobility or were in a state of villainage. Few crimeswere punished with death or even with mutilation. The commandment thatman shall do no murder was not only read in churches, but wasrecommended and enforced in the laws and dooms of many Saxon kings. 'Ifany one be slain,' said the old law, 'let him be paid for according tohis birth.' If a thane slew a churl, he had to pay for it...."

  "Aye," said one of the serfs, "but the value of the life of a churl wasnot more than the price of a few bullocks; whereas hides of land or theworth of hundreds of bullocks was to be paid by him that slew a thane."

  "Tush!" quoth Elfric, "thou canst not expect that the life of a churlcan ever be priced so high as that of a noble, or that the same doomshall await the man that kills a Lord and the man that kills a peasant!"

  The priest and all the bystanders said that such an expectation wouldbe too unreasonable, and that such a thing could never come to pass inthis world: and so the discontented churl merely muttered that hethought, since it was allowed the churl had an immortal soul, even asthe thane, that the life of a churl was worth more than a few bullocks;and then said no more about it, bethinking himself that even that pricewas better than no price at all, and that no Normans that he knew ofhad ever yet been made to make bot for maiming or killing a Saxon serf.

  Some few of these men returned into Sherwood forest, to live at largethere, but the major part of them tied on their buskins, fastened theirsheep-skin jackets, put their bows and quivers to their backs, andmarched off merrily with the sword-bearer to join Lord Hereward at Elyor in the Camp. And after this, and at various times, many uplandchurls, discontented with their lot, came from the northern side of theTrent and from other parts of the country to join the Saxon army in thefens. It must not be thought that the Lord of Brunn was unmindful ofthe old laws, which ordained that no Lord or free man should harbour orentertain the churl that had fled from his rightful owner; but Herewardfelt that no Norman could have the right of property over Saxon serfs;and therefore he harboured and entertained such as came freely to him.If the case had been otherwise, he would, like the just Lord that hewas, have put collars and chains upon the serfs and have sent them backto their masters.