A Child's History of England

by Dickens, Charles

  and of mounds that are the burial-places of heaps of Britons, are

  to be seen in almost all parts of the country. Across the bleak

  moors of Northumberland, the wall of SEVERUS, overrun with moss and

  weeds, still stretches, a strong ruin; and the shepherds and their

  dogs lie sleeping on it in the summer weather. On Salisbury Plain,

  Stonehenge yet stands: a monument of the earlier time when the

  Roman name was unknown in Britain, and when the Druids, with their

  best magic wands, could not have written it in the sands of the

  wild sea-shore.

  CHAPTER II - ANCIENT ENGLAND UNDER THE EARLY SAXONS

  THE Romans had scarcely gone away from Britain, when the Britons

  began to wish they had never left it. For, the Romans being gone,

  and the Britons being much reduced in numbers by their long wars,

  the Picts and Scots came pouring in, over the broken and unguarded

  wall of SEVERUS, in swarms. They plundered the richest towns, and

  killed the people; and came back so often for more booty and more

  slaughter, that the unfortunate Britons lived a life of terror. As

  if the Picts and Scots were not bad enough on land, the Saxons

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  attacked the islanders by sea; and, as if something more were still

  wanting to make them miserable, they quarrelled bitterly among

  themselves as to what prayers they ought to say, and how they ought

  to say them. The priests, being very angry with one another on

  these questions, cursed one another in the heartiest manner; and

  (uncommonly like the old Druids) cursed all the people whom they

  could not persuade. So, altogether, the Britons were very badly

  off, you may believe.

  They were in such distress, in short, that they sent a letter to

  Rome entreating help - which they called the Groans of the Britons;

  and in which they said, 'The barbarians chase us into the sea, the

  sea throws us back upon the barbarians, and we have only the hard

  choice left us of perishing by the sword, or perishing by the

  waves.' But, the Romans could not help them, even if they were so

  inclined; for they had enough to do to defend themselves against

  their own enemies, who were then very fierce and strong. At last,

  the Britons, unable to bear their hard condition any longer,

  resolved to make peace with the Saxons, and to invite the Saxons to

  come into their country, and help them to keep out the Picts and

  Scots.

  It was a British Prince named VORTIGERN who took this resolution,

  and who made a treaty of friendship with HENGIST and HORSA, two

  Saxon chiefs. Both of these names, in the old Saxon language,

  signify Horse; for the Saxons, like many other nations in a rough

  state, were fond of giving men the names of animals, as Horse,

  Wolf, Bear, Hound. The Indians of North America, - a very inferior

  people to the Saxons, though - do the same to this day.

  HENGIST and HORSA drove out the Picts and Scots; and VORTIGERN,

  being grateful to them for that service, made no opposition to

  their settling themselves in that part of England which is called

  the Isle of Thanet, or to their inviting over more of their

  countrymen to join them. But HENGIST had a beautiful daughter

  named ROWENA; and when, at a feast, she filled a golden goblet to

  the brim with wine, and gave it to VORTIGERN, saying in a sweet

  voice, 'Dear King, thy health!' the King fell in love with her. My

  opinion is, that the cunning HENGIST meant him to do so, in order

  that the Saxons might have greater influence with him; and that the

  fair ROWENA came to that feast, golden goblet and all, on purpose.

  At any rate, they were married; and, long afterwards, whenever the

  King was angry with the Saxons, or jealous of their encroachments,

  ROWENA would put her beautiful arms round his neck, and softly say,

  'Dear King, they are my people! Be favourable to them, as you

  loved that Saxon girl who gave you the golden goblet of wine at the

  feast!' And, really, I don't see how the King could help himself.

  Ah! We must all die! In the course of years, VORTIGERN died - he

  was dethroned, and put in prison, first, I am afraid; and ROWENA

  died; and generations of Saxons and Britons died; and events that

  happened during a long, long time, would have been quite forgotten

  but for the tales and songs of the old Bards, who used to go about

  from feast to feast, with their white beards, recounting the deeds

  of their forefathers. Among the histories of which they sang and

  talked, there was a famous one, concerning the bravery and virtues

  of KING ARTHUR, supposed to have been a British Prince in those old

  times. But, whether such a person really lived, or whether there

  were several persons whose histories came to be confused together

  under that one name, or whether all about him was invention, no one

  knows.

  I will tell you, shortly, what is most interesting in the early

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  Saxon times, as they are described in these songs and stories of

  the Bards.

  In, and long after, the days of VORTIGERN, fresh bodies of Saxons,

  under various chiefs, came pouring into Britain. One body,

  conquering the Britons in the East, and settling there, called

  their kingdom Essex; another body settled in the West, and called

  their kingdom Wessex; the Northfolk, or Norfolk people, established

  themselves in one place; the Southfolk, or Suffolk people,

  established themselves in another; and gradually seven kingdoms or

  states arose in England, which were called the Saxon Heptarchy.

  The poor Britons, falling back before these crowds of fighting men

  whom they had innocently invited over as friends, retired into

  Wales and the adjacent country; into Devonshire, and into Cornwall.

  Those parts of England long remained unconquered. And in Cornwall

  now - where the sea-coast is very gloomy, steep, and rugged -

  where, in the dark winter-time, ships have often been wrecked close

  to the land, and every soul on board has perished - where the winds

  and waves howl drearily and split the solid rocks into arches and

  caverns - there are very ancient ruins, which the people call the

  ruins of KING ARTHUR'S Castle.

  Kent is the most famous of the seven Saxon kingdoms, because the

  Christian religion was preached to the Saxons there (who domineered

  over the Britons too much, to care for what THEY said about their

  religion, or anything else) by AUGUSTINE, a monk from Rome. KING

  ETHELBERT, of Kent, was soon converted; and the moment he said he

  was a Christian, his courtiers all said THEY were Christians; after

  which, ten thousand of his subjects said they were Christians too.

  AUGUSTINE built a little church, close to this King's palace, on

  the ground now occupied by the beautiful cathedral of Canterbury.

  SEBERT, the King's nephew, built on a muddy marshy place near

  London, where there had been a temple to Apollo, a church dedicated

  to Saint Peter, which is now Westminster Abbey. And, in London

>   itself, on the foundation of a temple to Diana, he built another

  little church which has risen up, since that old time, to be Saint

  Paul's.

  After the death of ETHELBERT, EDWIN, King of Northumbria, who was

  such a good king that it was said a woman or child might openly

  carry a purse of gold, in his reign, without fear, allowed his

  child to be baptised, and held a great council to consider whether

  he and his people should all be Christians or not. It was decided

  that they should be. COIFI, the chief priest of the old religion,

  made a great speech on the occasion. In this discourse, he told

  the people that he had found out the old gods to be impostors. 'I

  am quite satisfied of it,' he said. 'Look at me! I have been

  serving them all my life, and they have done nothing for me;

  whereas, if they had been really powerful, they could not have

  decently done less, in return for all I have done for them, than

  make my fortune. As they have never made my fortune, I am quite

  convinced they are impostors!' When this singular priest had

  finished speaking, he hastily armed himself with sword and lance,

  mounted a war-horse, rode at a furious gallop in sight of all the

  people to the temple, and flung his lance against it as an insult.

  From that time, the Christian religion spread itself among the

  Saxons, and became their faith.

  The next very famous prince was EGBERT. He lived about a hundred

  and fifty years afterwards, and claimed to have a better right to

  the throne of Wessex than BEORTRIC, another Saxon prince who was at

  the head of that kingdom, and who married EDBURGA, the daughter of

  OFFA, king of another of the seven kingdoms. This QUEEN EDBURGA

  was a handsome murderess, who poisoned people when they offended

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  her. One day, she mixed a cup of poison for a certain noble

  belonging to the court; but her husband drank of it too, by

  mistake, and died. Upon this, the people revolted, in great

  crowds; and running to the palace, and thundering at the gates,

  cried, 'Down with the wicked queen, who poisons men!' They drove

  her out of the country, and abolished the title she had disgraced.

  When years had passed away, some travellers came home from Italy,

  and said that in the town of Pavia they had seen a ragged beggarwoman,

  who had once been handsome, but was then shrivelled, bent,

  and yellow, wandering about the streets, crying for bread; and that

  this beggar-woman was the poisoning English queen. It was, indeed,

  EDBURGA; and so she died, without a shelter for her wretched head.

  EGBERT, not considering himself safe in England, in consequence of

  his having claimed the crown of Wessex (for he thought his rival

  might take him prisoner and put him to death), sought refuge at the

  court of CHARLEMAGNE, King of France. On the death of BEORTRIC, so

  unhappily poisoned by mistake, EGBERT came back to Britain;

  succeeded to the throne of Wessex; conquered some of the other

  monarchs of the seven kingdoms; added their territories to his own;

  and, for the first time, called the country over which he ruled,

  ENGLAND.

  And now, new enemies arose, who, for a long time, troubled England

  sorely. These were the Northmen, the people of Denmark and Norway,

  whom the English called the Danes. They were a warlike people,

  quite at home upon the sea; not Christians; very daring and cruel.

  They came over in ships, and plundered and burned wheresoever they

  landed. Once, they beat EGBERT in battle. Once, EGBERT beat them.

  But, they cared no more for being beaten than the English

  themselves. In the four following short reigns, of ETHELWULF, and

  his sons, ETHELBALD, ETHELBERT, and ETHELRED, they came back, over

  and over again, burning and plundering, and laying England waste.

  In the last-mentioned reign, they seized EDMUND, King of East

  England, and bound him to a tree. Then, they proposed to him that

  he should change his religion; but he, being a good Christian,

  steadily refused. Upon that, they beat him, made cowardly jests

  upon him, all defenceless as he was, shot arrows at him, and,

  finally, struck off his head. It is impossible to say whose head

  they might have struck off next, but for the death of KING ETHELRED

  from a wound he had received in fighting against them, and the

  succession to his throne of the best and wisest king that ever

  lived in England.

  CHAPTER III - ENGLAND UNDER THE GOOD SAXON, ALFRED

  ALFRED THE GREAT was a young man, three-and-twenty years of age,

  when he became king. Twice in his childhood, he had been taken to

  Rome, where the Saxon nobles were in the habit of going on journeys

  which they supposed to be religious; and, once, he had stayed for

  some time in Paris. Learning, however, was so little cared for,

  then, that at twelve years old he had not been taught to read;

  although, of the sons of KING ETHELWULF, he, the youngest, was the

  favourite. But he had - as most men who grow up to be great and

  good are generally found to have had - an excellent mother; and,

  one day, this lady, whose name was OSBURGA, happened, as she was

  sitting among her sons, to read a book of Saxon poetry. The art of

  printing was not known until long and long after that period, and

  the book, which was written, was what is called 'illuminated,' with

  beautiful bright letters, richly painted. The brothers admiring it

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  very much, their mother said, 'I will give it to that one of you

  four princes who first learns to read.' ALFRED sought out a tutor

  that very day, applied himself to learn with great diligence, and

  soon won the book. He was proud of it, all his life.

  This great king, in the first year of his reign, fought nine

  battles with the Danes. He made some treaties with them too, by

  which the false Danes swore they would quit the country. They

  pretended to consider that they had taken a very solemn oath, in

  swearing this upon the holy bracelets that they wore, and which

  were always buried with them when they died; but they cared little

  for it, for they thought nothing of breaking oaths and treaties

  too, as soon as it suited their purpose, and coming back again to

  fight, plunder, and burn, as usual. One fatal winter, in the

  fourth year of KING ALFRED'S reign, they spread themselves in great

  numbers over the whole of England; and so dispersed and routed the

  King's soldiers that the King was left alone, and was obliged to

  disguise himself as a common peasant, and to take refuge in the

  cottage of one of his cowherds who did not know his face.

  Here, KING ALFRED, while the Danes sought him far and near, was

  left alone one day, by the cowherd's wife, to watch some cakes

  which she put to bake upon the hearth. But, being at work upon his

  bow and arrows, with which he hoped to punish the false Danes when

  a brighter time should come, and thinking deeply of his poor

  unhappy subjects whom the Danes chased through the
land, his noble

  mind forgot the cakes, and they were burnt. 'What!' said the

  cowherd's wife, who scolded him well when she came back, and little

  thought she was scolding the King, 'you will be ready enough to eat

  them by-and-by, and yet you cannot watch them, idle dog?'

  At length, the Devonshire men made head against a new host of Danes

  who landed on their coast; killed their chief, and captured their

  flag; on which was represented the likeness of a Raven - a very fit

  bird for a thievish army like that, I think. The loss of their

  standard troubled the Danes greatly, for they believed it to be

  enchanted - woven by the three daughters of one father in a single

  afternoon - and they had a story among themselves that when they

  were victorious in battle, the Raven stretched his wings and seemed

  to fly; and that when they were defeated, he would droop. He had

  good reason to droop, now, if he could have done anything half so

  sensible; for, KING ALFRED joined the Devonshire men; made a camp

  with them on a piece of firm ground in the midst of a bog in

  Somersetshire; and prepared for a great attempt for vengeance on

  the Danes, and the deliverance of his oppressed people.

  But, first, as it was important to know how numerous those

  pestilent Danes were, and how they were fortified, KING ALFRED,

  being a good musician, disguised himself as a glee-man or minstrel,

  and went, with his harp, to the Danish camp. He played and sang in

  the very tent of GUTHRUM the Danish leader, and entertained the

  Danes as they caroused. While he seemed to think of nothing but

  his music, he was watchful of their tents, their arms, their

  discipline, everything that he desired to know. And right soon did

  this great king entertain them to a different tune; for, summoning

  all his true followers to meet him at an appointed place, where

  they received him with joyful shouts and tears, as the monarch whom

  many of them had given up for lost or dead, he put himself at their

  head, marched on the Danish camp, defeated the Danes with great

  slaughter, and besieged them for fourteen days to prevent their

  escape. But, being as merciful as he was good and brave, he then,

  instead of killing them, proposed peace: on condition that they

  should altogether depart from that Western part of England, and

  settle in the East; and that GUTHRUM should become a Christian, in