The Scouring of the White Horse; Or, The Long Vacation Ramble of a London ClerkHughes, Thomas
General
The Scouring of the White Horse; Or, The Long Vacation Ramble of a London Clerk
Hughes, Thomas
White Horse, Vale of (England)
“There was a man of royal birth in the kingdom of Denmark, named
Lodbroc, who had two sons, Hinguar and Hubba. This man embarked one
day with his hawk in a small boat to catch ducks, and other wild-fowl
on the adjoining sea-coasts and islands. A terrible storm arose, by
which Lodbroc was carried away and tossed for several days on every
part of the ocean. After numberless perils, he was cast ashore on the
coast of Norfolk, near the village of Redham,” (at least that must be
the name, as I read it in Brompton, though I have not been able to
hear of a village of that name on the coast of Norfolk,) “where he was
found having his hawk alone for his companion, and presented to King
Edmund. That king, struck with the manliness of his form, kept him at
his court, and heard from his own mouth the history of his adventures.
He was then associated with Berne, the king’s huntsman, and indulged
in all the pleasures of the chase, for in the exercise of both hunting
and hawking he was remarkably skilful, and succeeded in capturing both
birds and beasts according as he had a mind.” In fact, Lodbroc was the
sort of man to please King Edmund, for the art of capturing birds and
beasts was, next to the art of fighting for one’s home and country,
the art most esteemed amongst the Anglo-Saxons; who acknowledged “that
skill and good fortune in this art, as in all others, are among the
gifts of God, as we also have often witnessed.” But to go on with our
story. “The skill of Lodbroc bred jealousy in the heart of Berne the
huntsman, who one day, as they went out together hunting, unawares
set upon Lodbroc, and having foully slain him, buried his body in the
thickets of the forest. But Lodbroc had a small harrier dog, which he
had bred up from its birth, and which loved him much. While Berne the
huntsman went home with the other hounds, this little dog remained
alone with his master’s body. In the morning, the king asked what had
become of Lodbroc, to which Berne answered that he had parted from him
yesterday in the woods, and had not seen him since. At that moment the
harrier came into the hall and went round wagging its tail, and fawning
on the whole company, but especially on the king; when he had eaten
his fill, he again left the hall. This happened often; until some one
at last followed the dog to see where he went, and having found the
body of the murdered Lodbroc, came and told the story to the king. The
affair was now carefully inquired into, and when the truth was at last
found out, the huntsman was exposed on the sea, without oars, in the
boat which had belonged to Lodbroc. In some days, he was cast ashore
in Denmark, and brought before the sons of Lodbroc; who, putting him
to the torture, inquired of him what had become of their father, to
whom they knew the boat belonged. To this Berne answered,” as one might
have guessed he would answer, he being a liar and cowardly murderer,
“that their father Lodbroc had fallen into the hands of Edmund, King
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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