[42] Mr. Charles Stothard in the Archæologia, vol. xix, p. 189. [43] Taylor’s Wace, p. 11. [44] Introduction to Domesday, vol. ii. p. 404. [45] The Song of Roland, London, 1854. [46] William of Malmesbury, (Bohn’s edition) p. 279. [47] Thierry’s Norman Conquest (London, 1841), p. 41. [48] The following passages from the _Chronicle of Florence of Worcester_ furnish distinct evidence as to the marriage of Harold with Algitha:--“Regnavit autem Haraldus mensibus IX. et diebus totidem. Cujus morte audita, comites Eadwinus et Morcarus, qui se cum suis certamini subtraxere, Lundoniam venere, et sororem suam _Algitham reginam_ sumptam ad civitatem Legionum misere.” “Anno regni XXIII. rex Anglorum Eadwardus decessit. Cui ex ipsius concessione comes Haroldus, filius Godwini West-Saxonum ducis ... successit; qui de _regina Aldgitha_, comitis Alfgari filia, habuit filium Haroldum; eodemque anno a Normanorum comite Willelmo peremptus est in bello.”--_Monumenta Historica_, pp. 614, 642. [49] Planche’s Strutt, vol. i., p. 14. [50] Pict. Eng., vol. i., p. 637. [51] Thierry’s History of the Normans, p. 36. [52] It is often asserted that the house of Percy derived its name from one of the family having slain Malcolm, King of Scotland, by thrusting the spear into his eye when he came forward to demand the keys of Alnwick Castle. That historic name occurs in the Battle Abbey Roll, and is derived from the cradle of the family, the hamlet of Perci, in Normandy. [53] The walls of Tintagel Castle “were evidently constructed in a framework of wood; the square holes which pierce the walls at regular intervals, from the foundations upwards, show the places once occupied by bond pieces, by which the wooden frames were held together.”--_Notes by Rev. W. Haslam, in Report of Royal Inst. Cornwall_, 1850. [54] Ingulph’s Chronicle (Bohn), p. 14. [55] Taylor’s Wace, p. 83. [56] The Normans seem to have been particularly addicted to the worship of relics. They carried them about their persons, and had them enclosed in the handles of their swords. In the _Song of Roland_ that hero is represented, when dying, as addressing his sword thus:--“Ah, Saint Durandal! in thy golden pommel what precious relics lie hid! A tooth of Saint Peter!--Blood of Saint Basil!--Hair of Monseigneur Saint Denis!--Vesture of the Virgin Mary! And shall a pagan possess thee?” Being thus at all times provided with relics, they were never at a loss as to the administration of an oath. In the Song already referred to we have a case in point:--‘Be it as thou wilt,’ answered Ganelon, and upon the relics of his sword he swore to the treason and consummated his crime. [57] Wace, p. 138. [58] Wace, p. 20, 21. [59] William of Malmesbury, p. 249. [60] Malmesbury, p. 252. [61] Vol. i. p. 322.