Alfgar the Dane or the Second Chronicle of Aescendune: A Tale of the Days of Edmund IronsideCrake, A. D. (Augustine David)
HistoryChristian
Alfgar the Dane or the Second Chronicle of Aescendune: A Tale of the Days of Edmund Ironside
Crake, A. D. (Augustine David)
Great Britain -- History -- Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066 -- Juvenile fiction
On the other hand, some learned antiquarians have maintained the
opposite opinion, that the name Abingdon existed even prior to the
foundation of the monastery; thus the Rev. Joseph Stevenson, in his
edition of the "Chronicle of the Abbey of Abingdon," says--"Abingdon
derives its name, not, as might at first sight be supposed, from the
abbey there founded--Abbey dune or Abbots dune: philology forbids it.
The place was so called from Abba, one of the early colonists of
Berkshire."
xi Bishops of Dorchester.
There appears to have been much uncertainty concerning the succession
of the bishops of this important see, owing, perhaps, to the confusion
caused by its having been the seat of two totally distinct
jurisdictions--the one over Wessex, the other over great part of
Mercia.
The names of the bishops in the narrative are taken from a list kindly
furnished by the Rev. W. Macfarlane, the present vicar of the Abbey
Church, whose indefatigable efforts have restored to the ancient fane
much of the glory of its ancient days.
According to this list, Ednoth was bishop from 1006 to 1016, when he
was slain by the Danes as recorded in the text; and Ethelm succeeding,
ruled the see till A.D. 1034, through the comparatively happy days of
Canute.
xii End of the Campaign of 1006.
The following extract from the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" gives the
further history of the campaign very concisely:
"Then went the Danes to Wallingford, and that all burned, and were
then one day in Cholsey: and they went then along Ashdown to
Cuckamsley hill, and there abode, as a daring boast; for it had been
often said, if they should reach Cuckamsley hill, that they would
never again get to the sea: then they went homewards another way. Then
were forces assembled at Kennet, and they there joined battle: and
they soon put that band to flight, and afterwards brought their booty
to the sea. But there might the Winchester men see an army daring and
fearless, as they went by their gates towards the sea, and fetched
themselves food and treasures over fifty miles from thence. Then had
the king gone over Thames into Shropshire, and there took up his abode
during the midwinter's tide. Then became the dread of the army so
great, that no man could think or discover how they could be driven
out of the land, or this land maintained against them; for they had
every shire in Wessex sadly marked by burning and by plundering. Then
the king began earnestly with the witan to consider what might seem
most advisable to them all, so that this land might be saved, before
it was utterly destroyed. Then the king and his witan decreed, for the
behoof of the whole nation, though it was hateful to them all, that
they needs must pay tribute to the Danish army. Then the king sent to
the army, and directed it to be made known to them that he would that
there should be a truce between them, and that tribute should be paid,
and food given them. And then all that they accepted, and then were
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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