Oswy, king of Northumberland, being engaged in war with Penda, the Pagan king of Mercia, he vowed that, should he come off victorious, his daughter should dedicate herself to the service of God by a life of celibacy, and that he would give twelve of his mansions for the erection of monasteries. Being successful, Oswy, in order to fulfil his vow, placed his daughter Ethelfleda, then scarcely a year old, as a nun in the monastery called Hertesie (Stag Island), of which Lady Hilda, niece of Edwin, first Christian king of Northumberland, was abbess; and having procured ten hides of land, in the place called Streanshalle (Whitby), built there in 657, a monastery for men and women of the Benedictine order, which was dedicated to St. Peter, and Lady Hilda appointed the first abbess. This lady was so famous for her sanctity that she attained the name of St. Hilda, and the monastery, though dedicated to St. Peter, is generally called after her. This abbey continued to flourish till about the year 867, when a party of Danes, under Hinguar and Hubba, landed at Dunsley Bay, the _Dunus Sinus_ of Ptolemy, plundered the country around, and amongst other depredations entirely destroyed the monastery. About this period the tale is supposed to commence; the succeeding incidents are all fictitious, and were dictated to the author, in some measure, by the romantic situation of the abbey, (magnificent in ruin,) which is exceedingly proper for such events. This monastery lay in ruins till after the conquest, when king William assigned Whitby to Hugh de Abrincis, who disposed of the place to William de Percy, by whom the monastery was refounded about 1074, and dedicated to St. Peter and St. Hilda. In the reign of Henry VIII. this house shared the fate of the other monastic establishments; and its yearly revenues, according to Dugdale, were £437 2_s_. 9_d_; and £505 9_s_. 1_d_., according to Speed. "Here mayst thou rest, my sister dear, Securely here abide; Here royal Edelfleda lived, Here pious Hilda died. "Here peace and quiet ever dwell: Here fear no rude alarms; Nor here is heard the trumpet's sound, Nor here the din of arms!" With voice compos'd and look serene, (Whilst her soft hand he press'd,) The maid, who trembled on his arm, Young Edwy thus address'd. Blue gleam'd the steel in Edwy's hand, The warrior's vest he bore: For now the Danes, by Hubba led, Had ravaged half the shore. His summons at the abbey gate The ready porter hears; And soon, in veil and holy garb, The abbess kind appears. "O take this virgin to thy care, Good angels be your guard; And may the saints in heaven above That pious care reward. "For we by fierce barbarian hands Are driven from our home; And three long days and nights forlorn, The dreary waste we roam.