Great Britain -- History -- Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066; Middle Ages -- Sources
forward with great fury into the thickest of the enemy's ranks; of whom
(such was the merit of his prayers) not one escaped alive that felt the
fury of his sword; neither did he give over the fury of his assault
until he had, with his Caliburn alone, killed four hundred and seventy
men. The Britons, seeing this, followed their leader in great
multitudes, and made slaughter on all sides; so that Colgrin, and
Baldulph his brother, and many thousands more, fell before them. But
Cheldric, in this imminent danger of his men, betook himself to flight.
CHAP. V.--_The Saxons, after their leader Cheldric was killed, are all
compelled by Cador to surrender._
The victory being thus gained, the king commanded Cador, duke of
Cornwall, to pursue them, while he himself should hasten his march into
Albania: from whence he had advice that the Scots and Picts were
besieging Alclud, in which, as we said before, Hoel lay sick. Therefore
he hastened to his assistance, for fear he might fall into the hands of
the barbarians. In the meantime the duke of Cornwall, who had the
command of ten thousand men, would not as yet pursue the Saxons in their
flight, but speedily made himself master of their ships, to hinder their
getting on board, and manned them with his best soldiers, who were to
beat back the pagans in case they should flee thither: after this he
hastily pursued the enemy, according to Arthur's command, and allowed no
quarter to those he could overtake. So that they whose behaviour before
was so cruel and insolent, now with timorous hearts fled for shelter,
sometimes to the coverts of the woods, sometimes to mountains and caves,
to prolong a wretched life. At last, when none of these places could
afford them a safe retreat, they entered the Isle of Thanet with their
broken forces; but neither did they there get free from the duke of
Cornwall's pursuit, for he still continued slaughtering them, and gave
them no respite till he had killed Cheldric, and taken hostages for the
surrender of the rest.
CHAP. VI.--_Arthur grants a pardon to the Scots and Picts, besieged at
the Lake Lumond._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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