by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER VIII.
TROUBLE WITH WALES.
Harold took his place on the poop as the vessel started, and remainedlooking fixedly at the duke, until the latter with the group of baronsturned and entered the town.
"Farewell, William of Normandy," he said; "false friend and dishonouredhost. How shall we meet next time, I wonder, and where?"
Hitherto the presence of the Norman attendants had prevented any privateconverse between Harold and his followers, but having the poop tothemselves they now broke out into angry exclamations against the duke.
"It was an unworthy and unknightly trick," Harold said calmly; "but let usnot talk of it now; it will be for the English people to decide thequestion some day, and for English bishops to determine whether I am boundby a vow thus extorted. Better at all events that I should be held for alltime to have been false and perjured, than that the English people shouldfall under the Norman yoke. But maybe there will be no occasion for theoath ever to come in question, William of Normandy or I may die before theking, and then there will be an end of it. Let us talk of other things.Thank God we are free men again, and our faces are set towards England,where, from what I hear, we may have to meet open foes instead of falsefriends, and may have to teach the Welsh, once and for all, that they andtheir king cannot with impunity continually rise in rebellion againstEngland.
"Well, Wulf, you are the only one among us who has brought back aught fromNormandy, at least you and Beorn, for you have your horses and chains, andthe promise of the duke to grant you a boon. But these are small things.You have gained great credit, and have shown yourself a gallant fighter,and have further promises from the duke."
"I care not for his promises," Wulf said hotly. "I hold him to be adishonoured noble, and I would take naught from his hands."
"You are young yet, Wulf," Harold smiled, "and the duke's promise, madebefore his nobles, will be held binding by him if ever the time should comefor you to claim it. Do not refuse benefits, lad, because you do not likethe hands that grant them. You rendered him a service, and need feel noshame at receiving the reward for it. As soon as we return I shall takesteps to raise you and Beorn to the full dignity of thanes, with all rightsand privileges. My brother and my friends here can all testify to theservice you rendered to us, for much as I may have to complain of theending of my visit, it has at least been vastly better than our lot wouldhave been had we remained in the hands of Conrad of Ponthieu. You are bothvery young to be placed in the position of rulers of your people, and inordinary cases you would not have been sworn to thane's services for someyears to come; but, as Earl of Wessex, I see good reason for departing fromthe rule on this occasion, and I think that my thanes here will all be ofthat opinion." There was a warm expression of approval from the Saxons."Then as soon as we set foot on English soil we will hold a court, andinvest you with your full rank."
They started from the mouth of the Seine, and as there was no nearer portthan that from which they had sailed, Harold directed the masters of theships to make for Bosham.
"It is like to be a fairer voyage than the last," he said, as with a lightbreeze blowing behind them they sailed out from the mouth of the Seine. "Itwill be longer, but assuredly more pleasant."
No incident whatever marked the voyage. The Saxons gave a shout of joy whenthey first made out the outline of the hills of the Isle of Wight, sometwelve hours after leaving the mouth of the river; but it was not untileight hours afterwards that they entered the harbour of Bosham. As soon asthe two Norman vessels were seen sailing up the quiet sheet of water,everywhere fringed with forest, boats put out to meet them, to ascertainthe reason of their coming and to inquire for news of Harold and hiscompanions. As soon as his figure was made out standing on the poop, one ofthe boats rowed off with the news, and by the time the vessels droppedanchor off Bosham the whole of the inhabitants had gathered on the shore,with loud shouts of joy and welcome.
As soon as they landed Harold and his companions proceeded at once to thechurch, where a solemn service of thanksgiving was held for theirpreservation from the dangers of the sea and for their safe return toEngland. As soon as the service was over Harold sent off two horsemen tobear to the king the news of his return, and to state that he himself wouldride to London on the following day. Then the earl bestowed handsomepresents upon the masters and crews of the ships that had brought themover, and gave into their charge hawks and hounds, rich armour, and otherpresents for the Duke of Normandy, and jewelled cups and other gifts to theprincipal barons of his court.
The gifts were indeed of royal magnificence; but Harold's wealth was vast,and, as he said to his brother, "We will at least show these Normans, thatin point of generosity an English earl is not to be outdone by a Normanduke." As soon as these matters were attended to Harold held a court in thegreat hall of Bosham, and there received the oaths of fealty from Wulf andBeorn, and confirmed to them the possessions held by their fathers, andinvested them with the gold chains worn by thanes as the sign of theirrank. He afterwards bestowed a purse of gold upon Osgod, equal in value tothe one he had received from the Duke of Normandy.
"Should aught ever happen to your master," he said, "come you to me and youshall be one of my own men, and shall not lack advancement in my service."
"In faith, Master Wulf," Osgod said after the ceremony, "my father warnedme that the trade of a soldier was but a poor one, and that a goodhandicraftsman could gain far more money. He will open his eyes when Ijingle these purses before him, for I might have hammered armour for yearsbefore I gained as much as I have done in the three months since I leftEngland. I have enough to buy a farm and settle down did it so please me,and I have clothes enough to last me well-nigh a lifetime, and rings enoughto set up a goldsmith's shop. For scarce one of the duke's barons andknights but followed his example, and gave me a present for my share inthat little fight with the Bretons."
"As for the clothes, they will always be useful, Osgod; but were I you Iwould get a stout leathern bag and put the purses and rings into it, andbury them in some place known only to yourself, and where none are everlikely to light upon them. You have no occasion for money now, and we mayhope that ere long all occasion for fighting will be over, and then, as yousay, you can buy a farm and marry."
"I am going always to remain your man," Osgod said in an aggrieved tone.
"Certainly, Osgod, I should wish for nothing else. You will always be myfriend, and shall have any post on the estates or in the house that you mayprefer. There will be no occasion for you to farm your land yourself, youcan let it, receiving the value of half the produce, and so taking rank asa landowner, for which you yourself may care nothing, but which will enableyour wife to hold her head higher."
"I am not thinking of wives, my lord."
"Nonsense, Osgod, I want not to be called my lord."
"But you are a thane now and must be called so," Osgod said sternly; "andit would be ill-becoming indeed if I your man did not so address you. But Iwill take your advice about the gold, and when I get down to Steyning willbury it deeply under the roots of a tree. It will be safer there than if Iburied it in my father's forge, for London is ever the centre of troubles,and might be sacked and burnt down should there ever be war between Merciaor Northumbria and Wessex."
"Heaven forbid that we should have more civil wars, Osgod."
"Amen to that, but there is never any saying. Assuredly Edwin and Morcarlove not our earl, and as to Tostig, though he is his brother, he ishot-headed and passionate enough to play any part. And then there are theNormans, and there is no doubt the duke will have to be reckoned with.Altogether methinks my money will be safer under an oak-tree down atSteyning than at Westminster."
"You are right enough there, Osgod; by all means carry out your ideas. Butthere is the bell for supper, and I must go."
The next morning the party started at daybreak, and late that night arrivedat Westminster. There were great rejoicings in London and throughout thesouth of England when it was known that th
e great earl had returned fromNormandy. Much uneasiness had been felt at his long absence, and althoughaccounts had come from time to time of the honour with which he had beentreated by Duke William, many felt that his prolonged stay was an enforcedone, and that he was a prisoner rather than a guest of the duke.
The king himself was as rejoiced as his subjects at Harold's return.Although in the early years of his reign he had been bitterly opposed tothe powerful family of Earl Godwin, to whom he owed his throne, he had oflate years learnt to appreciate the wisdom of Harold; and although stillNorman in his tastes as in his language, he had become much more English atheart, and bitterly regretted the promise that he had years before rashlygiven to the Duke of Normandy.
Harold too had relieved him of all the cares of government, which he hated,and had enabled him to give his whole time and thought to religiousexercises, and to the rearing of the splendid abbey which was his chiefpleasure and pride. In his absence Edward had been obliged to attend tostate business. He was worried with the jealousies and demands of the Earlof Mercia, with the constant complaints of the Northumbrians against theirharsh and imperious master Tostig, and by the fact that the Welsh weretaking advantage of the absence of Harold to cause fresh troubles. It wasjust Christmas when Harold returned, and the snow fell heavily on the nightof his arrival at Westminster.
"It was lucky it did not come a few hours earlier, Beorn," Wulf said, as helooked out of the casement. "We had a long and heavy ride yesterday, and wecould not have done it in one day had the snow been on the ground. Isuppose there will be a number of court festivities over Harold's return.We have had enough of that sort of thing in Normandy, and I hope thatHarold will let us return at once to our estates."
"Speak for yourself, Wulf; for myself I love the court, and now that I am athane I shall enjoy it all the more."
"And I all the less," Wulf said. "Fifteen months ago we were but pages andcould at least have some fun, now we shall have to bear ourselves as men,and the ladies of the court will be laughing at us and calling us thelittle thanes, and there will be no getting away and going round to thesmithy to watch Osgod's father and men forging weapons. It will be all verystupid."
In a short time an attendant summoned them to breakfast, and here they satdown with the other thanes, Harold's wing of the palace being distinct fromthat of the king. The earl sat at the head of the table, and talked inundertones to his brother Gurth and two or three of his principal thanes.The personal retainers of the nobles stood behind their seats and servedthem with food, while Harold's pages waited on him and those sitting nextto him.
"We were a merrier party in the pages' room," Beorn whispered to Wulf, forbut few words were spoken as the meal went on.
"I think there is something in the air," Wulf said, "the earl looks moreserious than usual. Generally the meals are cheerful enough."
As soon as it was finished Harold said, "The king will receive you all inhalf an hour, he desires to express to you his pleasure at your returnhome. After that I beg that you will again gather here, as I have occasionto speak to you."
The court was a more formal one than usual, the king's Norman functionarieswere all present as were several ecclesiastics. Among them the Bishop ofLondon, behind whom stood Wulf's old adversary, Walter Fitz-Urse. EarlHarold introduced his companions in captivity, the king receiving them verygraciously.
"I am glad to see that you have all returned safely," he said. "The earltells me that you have all borne yourselves well in the battles you havefought under the banner of my friend and ally Duke William of Normandy, andthat you have proved to his countrymen that the English are in no whitinferior to themselves in courage. The earl specially recommended to me hisnewly-made thanes, Wulf of Steyning and Beorn of Fareham, who did him thegreatest service by effecting their escape from the castle of Beaurain, andat great risk bearing the news of his imprisonment to Duke William. Wulfof Steyning, he tells me, gained the highest approval of the duke and hisknights by a deed of bravery when their camp was surprised by the Bretons.The earl has informed me that in consideration of these services he hasadvanced them to the rank of thanes, and confirmed them in their father'spossessions, and as service rendered to him is service rendered to me, Ithus bestow upon them a token of my approval;" and beckoning to the youngthanes to advance, he took two heavy gold bracelets from his arm, andhimself fastened them on those of the kneeling lads.
When the ceremony was over, Harold's party returned to the room where theyhad breakfasted. It was an hour before the earl joined them.
"I have been in council with the king," he said, "and have thus been forcedto keep you waiting. We heard when abroad that the Welsh were againbecoming troublesome, but I find that matters are much worse than I hadsupposed. Griffith has broken out into open rebellion; he has ravaged allthe borders, has entered the diocese of Wulfstan, the new Bishop ofWorcester, and carried his arms beyond the Severn, laying waste part of myown earldom of Hereford. Edwin, who has just succeeded his father in theearldom of Worcester, is young and new to his government, and, moreover,his father was an ally of Griffith's. In any case, he needs far largerforces than those at his command to undertake a war with the Welsh. Thistime we must finish with them; treaties are of no avail they are everbroken on the first opportunity, and a blow must be dealt that will renderthem powerless for harm for generations to come.
"Therefore the king has commissioned me forthwith to act in the matter, notonly as Lord of Hereford but as Earl of the West Saxons. Winter is upon us,and it will be impossible to undertake a regular campaign. Still a blowmust be struck, and that quickly and heavily in order to stop thedepredation and ruin they are spreading in the west counties. Thepreparations must be secret and the blow sudden. There is no time forcalling out levies, that must be done in the spring. I must act only withmounted men. I have already sent off a messenger to Bosham to bid myhousecarls mount and ride to Salisbury. They will number two hundred. Ipray you all to leave at once for your estates, or to send an order by aswift messenger for your housecarls to ride to Salisbury, whither I myselfshall proceed in three days. Will each of you give me the tale of thenumber of armed men who can take horse at an hour's notice."
Each of those present gave the number of housecarls in his service, andthey all expressed their willingness to ride themselves, in order to getthem ready the more speedily. The total mounted to three hundred and fiftymen.
"That with my own two hundred will be well-nigh sufficient," Harold said;"but I will send off messengers at once to some of the thanes of Dorset andSomerset to join us at Gloucester with their men, so that we shall be fullya thousand strong, which will be ample for my purpose. I need not impressupon you all to preserve an absolute silence as to the object for which youare calling out your men. News spreads fast, and an incautious word mightruin our enterprise. There is no occasion for you all to accompany yourmen. Those of you who have been with me in Normandy will doubtless desireto stay for a while with your wives and families, and you may do equallygood service by making preparations there for a more serious campaign inthe spring. I beg these to send with their housecarls a trusted officer,and bid him place himself and his men under my orders."
The meeting at once broke up.
"I suppose you young warriors will bring your own men to Salisbury?" Haroldsaid, as Wulf and Beorn came up to take their leave of him.
"Certainly, my lord," Beorn said. "We have neither family nor relations tokeep us at home, and even if we had it would not suffice to keep us fromfollowing your banner."
"It will be a warfare like that in which you have been engaged across thesea," Harold said. "The Bretons you there fought with are kinsfolk of theWelsh, speaking the same language, and being alike in customs and infighting. They trust to surprises, and to their speed of foot andknowledge of their wild country, rather than to hard fighting in the openplain. They have few towns to capture, and it is therefore hard to executereprisals upon them. Like the Bretons they are brave, and fight savagelyuntil the last, neithe
r giving nor asking for quarter. They believe thattheir country, which is so wild and hilly as to be a great naturalfortress, is unconquerable, and certainly neither Saxon nor Dane has eversucceeded in getting any foothold there. But when the spring comes I hopeto teach them that even their wild hills are no defence, and that theirhabits of savage plundering must be abandoned or we will exterminate themaltogether. But I have no thought of undertaking such a campaign now. Ofcourse you will take that tall follower of yours with you, Wulf."
"I fear that he would not stay behind even if I ordered him to do so," Wulflaughed. "He will be overjoyed when I tell him there is a prospect offighting again, and all the more if it is against kinsmen of the Bretons,against whom he feels a special grudge."
"The feeling would be more natural the other way," Harold said smiling,"seeing that he inflicted upon them far greater damage than he received.You will find fresh horses awaiting you. None of those that carried us fromBosham yesterday are fit for another such journey to-day."
Wulf had told Osgod the first thing in the morning that he could return tohis family for a few days, only coming to the palace to serve his meals,and he now hurried away to the armourer's shop, where he found that butlittle work was going on, the men being absorbed in listening to Osgod'saccount of his adventures. Ulred and the men rose and saluted respectfullyas Wulf entered.
"I am sorry to disturb you, Ulred," he said, "but I have come to fetchOsgod away again. That is if he would prefer riding with me to remainingquiet with you at home."
"If you are going, master, assuredly I am going with you," Osgod said. "Iam dry with talking already, and father must wait for the rest of my storyuntil I come back again. Are we going down to Steyning, my lord?"
"There first and afterwards elsewhere, but that is all I can tell you now.The horses are ready, and there is not a moment to lose. We must get as faron our way as possible before nightfall, for the matter is an urgent one."
"I am ready," Osgod said, girding on his sword and putting his cap on hishead. "Good-bye, father. Tell mother I shall be back when I am back, andthat is all I can say about it."
They reached Steyning at two o'clock on the following afternoon, andmessengers were instantly sent round to the farms, bidding the men who werebound as housecarls to appear on horseback and armed, with two days' foodin their wallets, an hour before daybreak next morning. Then a messengerwas despatched with a letter to the prior of Bramber, telling him of Wulf'ssafe return, and begging him to excuse his coming over to see him, as hehad ridden nigh a hundred and fifty miles in three days, and was forced toset out again at daybreak the next morning. As Wulf had hoped, the letterwas answered by the prior in person, and to him Wulf related that eveningthe incidents of their stay in Normandy.
The prior shook his head.
"I have feared ever since I heard that Harold had fallen into the clutchesof the duke, that he would never get off scot free, but would either haveto pay a heavy ransom or make some concessions that would be even worse forEngland. It is a bad business, Wulf, a bad business. The church has everbeen ready to grant absolution from oaths extracted by violence, but thisaffair of the relics makes it more serious, and you may be sure thatWilliam will make the most of the advantage he has gained. Harold isabsolutely powerless to fulfil his oath. Neither he nor the king, nor anyother man, can force a foreign monarch upon free England. And did Harolddeclare for the Duke of Normandy, powerful and beloved as he is, he wouldbe driven into exile instantly. If he himself is elected king by thepeople, as there is no doubt whatever will be the case, he must needs obeytheir voice, and will have no choice between being King of England or anexile. Still it is unfortunate. He will be branded as a perjurer. William'sinfluence may even induce the pope to excommunicate him, and although theban would go for but little here, it would serve as an excuse for the othergreat earls to refuse to submit to his authority. Now tell me, how is itthat you have to ride again so suddenly when but just arrived?"
"I can tell you, father, though I can tell no one else. Harold has orderedus to bring out our housecarls, and with them he means to deal a blowagainst the Welsh, who have been devastating our western counties. Theexpedition is to be secret and sudden, although against what point and inwhat manner the blow is to be struck Harold has kept his own counsel."
"The Welsh are ever a thorn in our side," the prior said, "and treatieswith them are useless. I trust that Harold will succeed in thoroughlyreducing them to obedience, for whenever there is trouble in the kingdomthey take advantage of it, and are ready to form alliances with anyambitious earl who hoists the standard of revolt. And so you say Harold hasalready made you full thane? I am well pleased to hear it, if for no otherreason than that it is good for people when they are ruled over by theirown lord and not by a stranger; though I say nothing against Egbert,Harold's steward. Still no man can rule like the master himself."
At the first dawn of day Wulf mounted, and rode away from the palacefollowed by Osgod. He was clad now in the ringed armour, a suit of which hehad had made of lighter material than usual. Only on the shoulders and overthe chest was the leather of the usual thickness, elsewhere it was thin andextremely soft, and the rings did not overlap each other as much as usual.The weight, therefore, was much less than that ordinarily worn by thanes,although it differed but little from it in appearance. The helmet, also,was of stout leather, thickly covered with metal rings, and the flap felldown over the neck and ears, having a bar coming down in front to protectthe nose.
Osgod's suit was thicker and heavier, and was similar to that of the fortymen who were drawn up in two lines under the soldier whom Harold had sentdown to train them. They were a stout set of young fellows, well mountedand armed, and as they broke into a cry of "Welcome to our thane," Wulffelt proud to command such a body.
"Thanks, my friends," he said heartily. "I am glad to see that not one ismissing from your number, and feel sure that you will do credit to mybanner."
They rode that day to Fareham, where they received a hearty welcome fromBeorn, and starting in the morning with his troop of thirty men, reachedSalisbury late that evening. They were met at the entrance to the town byone of Harold's officers, who conducted them to a large barn, where strawhad been thickly strewn for the men to sleep on. The horses were fastenedoutside.
"Earl Harold arrived an hour since," the officer said, "and bade me tellyou that he is lodged at the reeve's, where he expects you."
They found on arriving at the house that many of the thanes had alreadycome in, and that some six hundred horsemen were bestowed in the town. On agreat sideboard were pies, cold joints of meat, wine and ale, and eachthane as he arrived helped himself to such food as he desired, and thenjoined the party gathered round Harold.
"We shall pick up another hundred or two as we march along to-morrow,"Harold was saying when the two young thanes joined the group, "and shallhave a good nine hundred men by the time we reach Gloucester, where Iexpect to find four or five hundred more awaiting us. I hear that ourcoming has made a great stir here in Salisbury, the citizens do not knowwhat to make of so large a body of housecarls arriving in their midst. Thereeve tells me that they were in some fear of being eaten out of house andhome until they heard that we were to march on in the morning; after thatthey did their best for us, and have arranged that every man shall have hisfill of meat and ale to-night, and again before starting."
Travelling as fast and as far as the horses could carry them, the forcereached Gloucester. Here they received an even warmer welcome than hadgreeted them elsewhere, for the citizens had been greatly alarmed at theWelsh forays, and as soon as they knew that the great earl himself was withthe troops they had no doubt that he had come to give them protection andto punish their enemies. The contingents from Somerset and Dorset hadalready arrived, and without the delay of a single day the troops againstarted.
The housecarls, although mounted, were not trained to fight on horseback.Their steeds were valuable only as enabling them to move with greatercelerity across th
e country than they could do on foot, and to bring themfresh and in fighting condition to the scene of action. Once there theydismounted, and a portion being told off to look after the horses, the mainbody advanced on foot against the enemy.
There was yet a long ride before them. Following the Severn on its westernside so as to avoid the passage of the Avon, they rode to Worcester, andthen up through Dudley and Shrewsbury.
It would have been shorter to have passed through Hereford and Ludlow, butHarold feared that they might there come upon some marauding party of theWelsh, and any of these who escaped might carry the news across the border,when the fleet-footed mountaineers would quickly have conveyed it to theWelsh king at his castle at Rhuddlaw. Rhuddlaw, now a small village, issituated in Denbighshire, and was an important military position, situatedas it was at no great distance from the sea, and commanding the Vale ofClwyd, the most important avenue into Wales from the north. From Shrewsburythey pushed forward as rapidly as possible to Rhuddlaw; but quickly as theyhad journeyed, the news of their coming was borne more rapidly. Griffithreceived the news an hour before their arrival, and mounting, rode down tothe Avon and embarked on board ship.
Great was the disappointment of the earl and his followers when they foundthat the object of their long march across England had failed, and that thecapture of the Welsh king, which would have put an end to the trouble, hadbeen missed so narrowly. The castle was at once set on fire, the Welshships on the Avon were also given to the flames, and the very same dayHarold led his troops away and by easy marches took them back toGloucester. Here they halted. The housecarls from the south, who had neverbeen in contact with the Welsh, were inclined to murmur among themselves athaving been led back without striking a blow, but the contingents from thewestern counties, who had had experience of this wild warfare, told themthat they might consider themselves fortunate.
"You know not what a war with these savages is," an old housecarl who hadfought them again and again said to a listening group of Wulf's men. "Youmight as well fight with the evil spirits of the air as with them. Fight!there is no fighting in it, save when they have with them Danes from theNorth, or Norwegians. With these to bear the brunt of the battle the Welshwill fight valiantly in their fashion, but alone they know that they cannotwithstand us for a moment. I have been after them a score of times, and itis a night-mare. You go up hills and through forests, you plunge intomorasses, you scramble up precipices; you are wet, you are hungry, you areworn out, but never do you catch sight of one of them.
"Now and then, as you wind along the face of a hill, rocks will comethundering down; in the woods and swamps you hear their mocking yells andlaughter. At the end of the day you drop down where you halt, and then justas you fall off to sleep there is a wild yell, and in a moment they areswarming among you, slashing and ripping with their long knives, crawlingon the ground and springing upon you, getting among the horses andhamstringing or cutting them open. By the time those of you that are alivehave got together they have gone, and all is so quiet that were it not forthe scattered bodies you might believe that it was all a dream. Two orthree times before morning the attack will be repeated, until you areforced to keep under arms in military array. As soon as it is light yourecommence your march, and so it goes on day after day, until at last,worn-out and spent, and less in strength by half than when you started, yougather under the shelter of the walls of one of the border towns.
"I should have been glad indeed if we had caught their king, for if he hadbeen held hostage in London we might have had peace; but well content am Ithat Harold has abstained from entering upon a campaign which, terrible asit is even in summer, would be beyond endurance of the strongest inwinter."
"Well, for my part," Osgod, who was one of the listeners, remarked, "Iwould rather go on by myself and take the chance of getting a good blow atsome of these wild men than ride all the way back to Steyning to be laughedat by the women there, as brave soldiers who have marched across Englandand back and never unsheathed their swords. Nor will I believe that EarlHarold can intend so to make a laughing-stock of us. The Bretons were justas active as are these Welshmen, but he brought them to reason there, and Iwarrant me he will do the same here. At any rate, he seems in no hurry tomove. We have been here nigh a week already, and why should he keep us hereif we are not to be employed?"
It was not very long before it became known that Harold had no intention ofmarching away and leaving the Welsh unpunished, and that in the spring acampaign on a great scale was to be undertaken against them. The thanes ofall the western counties were ordered to hold themselves in readiness tojoin with their levies in the spring. The Somerset and Devon men were togather at Bristol, and thence to be conveyed by ships to the southern coastof Wales; the troops at Gloucester were to march west, and Tostig was tobring down a body of Northumbrian horse, and to enter Wales from Chester.The housecarls, to their surprise, were ordered to lay aside their ringedarmour and heavy helmets, in place of which leather jerkins and caps wereserved out to them; their heavy axes were to be left behind, and they wereto trust to the sword alone. They were to abandon the tactics in whichthey had been trained of fighting shoulder to shoulder, with shieldoverlapping shield, and were to exercise themselves in running andclimbing, in skirmishing with an imaginary foe, and rapidly gathering inclose formation to resist anticipated attack. Harold himself gave themthese instructions.
"You will have no foe to meet breast to breast," he said; "if we are toconquer and to root out these hornets it must be by showing ourselves evenmore active than they are. Speed and activity go for everything in a warlike this, while our own methods of fighting are absolutely useless. Unlesswe make an end of this matter you may be called away from your homes once ayear to repel these attacks, while if you conquer now there will be noWelsh foray again during your lifetime. Therefore it is worth while to makea great effort, and for once to lay aside our own method of fighting. Yourcommanders will see that all the exercises are well carried out, and willreport to me regarding those who show most zeal and energy. Extra pay willbe given to all, and I shall know how to reward those who are reported tome as most deserving of it."
The troops set to work with great energy, and soon recognized the advantagethey gained by laying aside their heavy arms and armour. Swimming, running,and climbing were practised incessantly, and when May arrived, and with itthe time for the commencement of the campaign, all felt confident of theirability to cope with the Welsh in their own methods of warfare.
