On Some Ancient Battle-Fields in Lancashire

of Senlac or Hastings)-Our guardsm

* * They a

that old song

gland co

on's H

ow included in the present principality of Wales, but they remained dominant in Strathclyde and Cumberland, which comprised the lands on the western side of the island between the Clyde estuary and Morecambe Bay. Christianity had become the recognised religious faith of both the Britons and the Teutons, but the newly arrived kinsmen of the latter were still worshippers of Odin, and marched to battle with his sacred "totem" or cognizance, the "swart raven" emblazoned on their banners. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, under the date 787, says-"This year king Bertric took to wife Ead

remorseless atrocity as well as of indomitable valour. Truly, every now relatively civilized nation has had to pass through what may not be inaptly

glish People,") sums up the more prominent chara

tacked Britain. Christian priests were again slain at the altar by worshippers of Woden, for the Danes were still heathen. Letters, arts, religion, governments disappeared before these Northmen as before the Northmen of old. But when the wild burst of the storm was over, land, people, government reappeared unchanged. England still remained England; the Danes sank quietly into the mass of those around them; and Woden yielded without a struggle to Christ. The secret of this difference between the two invasions was that the battle was no longer betwe

e mouth of the Humber to York, in North-humbria. And there was much dissention among that people, and they had cast out their king Osbert, and had taken to themselves a king, ?lla, not of royal blood; but late in the year they resolved that they would fight against the army, and therefore

has brought it down to the latest possible epoch, in 794, and by other writers at a much earlier period." Some of the deeds attributed to this hero are unquestionably mythical. From the "Death Song," said to have been written by him, but which Mr. Blackwell regards as more probably the composition of a Skald of the ninth century, we learn that Ragnar succeeded, like Indra, Perseus, St. George, and other solar heroes, in conquering a monster serpent that held in captivity Thora, the daughter of a chieftain of Gothland, and received the lady in marriage, as the reward of his prowess. In order to protect himself against the serpent's venom, it is said that Ragnar "put on shaggy trousers, from which circumstance he was afterwards called Lodbrok (Shaggy-brogues)." Be this as it may, Ingwar, his presumed son, on the defeat of ?lla

rsey, with the exception of Cornwall and East Anglia, and the "overlordship" of the whole of the Anglo-Saxon and Danish rulers, as well as those of the Welsh and Scots, whose kings rendered him homage and acknowledged him the legitimate successor to his

ereignty of his dominion from him. He, however, on the submission of the other Welsh princes, and their performance of homage to him at his court held at Hereford, generously restored it to him. Afterwards the country between the Severn and the Wye were added to Mercia, and a heavy tribute was imposed on all the rev

afterwards subdued, and thus all Britain south of the Humber and th

wever, intervened between the repudiation of Queen Editha, who afterwards became Abbess of Tamworth, and the vengeance of Athelstan, which fell upon Anlaf and Godefrid, sons of Sihtric by a former marriage. Anlaf fled to Ireland, on the east coast of which the Danes held the supreme authority, and his brother sought refuge with Constantine, king of the Scots. Referring to these events the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says-"A. 926. This year fiery lights appeared in the north part of the heavens.

h followed was, four years afterwards, broken by a powerful combination of Athelstan's enemies, which shook the "overlordship" of the English monarch to its foundation, and threatened the safety of his inherited kingdoms. The Scots, the Cumbrian Britons, the North and West Welsh, entered into a league with Anlaf of Dublin and the Danish chiefs of Northumbria and their Scandinav

wegians in England," says 937. Ethelwerd's Chronicle says 939. Sharon-Turner refers to the fact that one MS. of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives th

est and most destructive ever fought on British soil. The great struggle did not take place immediately on the arrival of Anlaf and his allies. Athelstan's two governors, Gudrekir and Alfgeirr first confronted the invaders. The former was slain and the latter fled to

oem in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a notice in Ethelwerd's Chronicle, and some Scandinavian accounts, notably Egil's Saga. Sharon-Turner, however, regards the northern authorities as not entitled to implicit reliance, a

ocality vacated by his royal master, which circumstance cost him his life during the night surprise which followed. We have Alfred's harper story on the authority of Ingulf and William of Malmesbury, the former of whom was born in 1030, and the latter in 1095 or 1096, so that they were recording events which had transpired between one and two centuries before their own adult experience. The Anlaf tale is too exact a counterpart of the one related about Alfred, not to suggest doubt as to its veracity; or, if it be a veritable incident in the life of the Scandinavian warrior, the doubt will have to be transferred to the story related of his Saxon predecessor. It is not very probable so transparent an artifice would succeed a second time, especially when played upon such a clear-headed chieftain as Alfred's grandson.[35] But, however Anlaf gained his information, the night the attack took place, Adils, a Welsh prince, detected the strategy of Athelstan. After the death of the Bishop of Sherborne, he and Hyngr (a chieftain described in Egil's Saga as a Welshman, but whose name, Sharon-Turner thinks, sounds very like a Danish one), led the attack on the main body of the English army. But Athelstan was prepared, and Thorolf and Alfgeirr's detachments were instantly opposed to them. Alfgeirr was soon overpowered and fled, on perceiving which Thorolf threw his shield behind him, and hewed his way with his heavy two-hand sword through the opposing mass until he reached the standard of Hyngr. A few moments decided the fate of that chieftain. Thorolf ordered Egil, though weakened by the defeat and flight of Alfgeirr, to resist Adils, but to be prepared to retreat to the cover of a neighbouring wood, if necessary. Adils, mourning the death of his colleague, at length gave way, and the preliminary nocturnal combat ended. After a day's rest,[36] Egil led the van of the Anglo-Saxon army, and Thorolf opposed the "irregular Irish," which formed part of Anlaf's own division, and extended to the wood previously mentioned. Turketal, th

e continent sought his friendship, and England began to assume a majestic port amid the other nations of the west. Amongst the Anglo-Saxons it excited such rejoicings th

iteral rendering of this remar

ere Athel

ls the

the brac

s brot

d eth

long

attl

dges o

Bruna

-walls th

d the war

ra l

ing of

their nob

eir anc

ey in b

st ev

nd def

s and

they c

ottish

he sh

ed

eld 'd

rriors'

the

rning

ty p

o'er

candle

ernal

e noble

o her

y many a

elins

hern

shiel

Scots

, war

axons

hout t

ban

the fo

loathed

ed the f

nd,

ords mi

ns ref

rd han

ny h

with

the o

ship'

land

to the

ve

battl

ful k

s in slu

even

laf's

army co

n and

was ma

h-men's

d cons

ship'

littl

k drove

ng dep

fallo

fe pre

e, eke,

by

country

tant

y wa

o cause

mmunion o

his kin

nds o'e

folk-

ttle

s son

slaught

d with

in the

o cause

rizzly

bill-cl

ld de

laf th

mnant of th

no caus

y in war

tter m

battl

nflict of

g of s

urse

c of w

on the sla

Edw

ring

th-men

r naile

relic o

aring

he dee

n to

n Ir

d in

, the b

tog

nd eth

ountry

axons'

war e

ft behi

rse to

allow

swarth

horne

dusky

hite-t

rse to

y war

e grey

of th

reater ha

his

er

ople

re t

es of

e boo

writ

om the e

s and

to

he bro

in so

y war

lsh o'

most

arth o

icle have the following addit

e to Brunanburh, and there fought against Anlaf; and Christ helping

was "Eligenius, an under-king of Deira," or the e

dmund received king Anlaf at baptism." In 942, it says-"This year King Anlaf died." Th

rried with it very little governing influence, and, such as it was, it was held on a very precarious tenure. Others contend that the distinction belongs to Alfred the Great. Yet Alfred, though beloved by all the English-speaking people in the land, was compelled to share the territory with his Danish rival, Gothrun. Sharon-Turner says-"

t the true locality has been demonstrated with sufficient clearness to entirely remove all doubt. Many places have been suggested on the most frivolous grounds. The question where is, or was, Brunanburh is still sounding in the ear of the historical student, and ec

e lost both to the history and tradition of the English victors. At first sight there appears something singularly exceptionable in the fact. But a closer inspection of the details of what may be termed the Anglo-Saxon period of conflict with their Scandinavian

ition would still, with its tenacious grasp, retain some recollection of the great exploits of their forefathers, and, in secret, the people would cherish their memory with a more intense love, on account of the persecution to which its open expression would be subjected. But in those days there were no printing presses, nor journalism, local or metropolitan. The people could not read, and even the nobles, in the main, like old King Cole, in the song, because he could afford to salary a secretary, "scorned the fetters of the four and twenty letters, and it saved them a vast deal of trouble." Now, these secretaries were almost, if not entirely, ecclesiastics; and they were likewise the only literary, or learned men, existing during the period to which I refer. These ecclesiastics, in different monasteries, kept records of the general events of the period in which they lived, of a very meagre character, and devoted more time and space to matters ecclesiastical, as might reasonably be anticipated. Again, when the Danish and Norman warriors obtained the supreme power, it is easy to understa

f their sites in the following characteristic fashion-"These battles and battle-fields are described by Gildas," [Nennius,] "the historian, but in our times the

erstood the motives of his predecessors in the dest

he absence of Runic inscriptions in the south of England, and their partial pre

to us would be invaluable, perished in the general destruction. In the first instance S. Gregory had commanded that everything connected with paganism should be destroyed; but afterwards, in a letter to S. Milletus, he recommended that the symbols only of paganism should be done away with, but that the sanctuaries should be consecrated and used as churches. These instructions were in force when S. Paulinus evangelized Northumbria; and we cannot doubt that the work of destruction would be effectively done under the auspices of a prince whose police was so vigorous as we are informed that Eadwine's was. But after his death, and the flight of S. Paulinus, the restoration

over sea to the book-binders, not in small numbers, but at times whole ships full, to the wondering of foreign nations." Religious and political rancour has too often consigned to destruction the archives and monuments of hated rivals. Cardinal Ximines, somewhat earlier, committed to the flames an immense mass of valuable Arabic MSS. and, not long afterwards, Archbishop Zumarraga committed a similar act o

ished histories in the vernacular, heaps of pieces teeming with sprightly humour, with vivid portraiture, with precious touches of nature, may or may not have been destroyed by the Danes, by the Normans, in their contempt for everything Anglo

ngle manuscript of Beowulf extant, which I take to be of the first half of the eleventh century (MS. Cott. Vitellius A. 15). All manuscripts of Anglo-Saxon poetry are deplorably inaccurate, evincing, in almost every page, the ignorance of an illiterate scribe, frequently (as was the monastic custom) copying from dictation; but of all Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, that of Beowulf may, I believe, be conscientiously pronounced the worst, independently of its present lamentable condition, in consequence of the fire at Cotton House, in 1731, whereby it

n ingots, ornaments, etc., besides about 7,000 coins of various descriptions." From my own knowledge many of the coins and some of the ornaments were never seen by Mr. Hawkins. Referring to this subject, in the "History of Preston," I say-"Many of the coins unquestionably found their way surreptitiously into the hands of collectors;

te within a very few years of that event. Dr. Worsaae, the celebrated Danish antiquary, speaking of this "find," says-"To judge from the coins, which, with few exceptions, wer

probably on the retreat of the confederated Irish, Scotch, Welsh, Scandinavian, and Anglo-Danish armies, after their disastrous defeat by the English under Athelsta

on. But the founding of a monastery, or other expression of thanksgiving for a victory, does not necessarily indicate the locality of the conflict. William the Conqueror did certainly found Battle Abbey on the site of his great victory; but such a practice is by no means of ordinary occurrence, and without corroborative evidence is valueless. Camden thought the battle was fought at Ford, near Bromeridge, in Northumberland. Skene, in his "Celtic Scotland," prefers Aldborough, on the Ouse, and regards the huge monoliths, known as "the devil's arrows," as memorials of the victory

names of so many places, in various parts of the country, admit of such derivation. There are several even in Lancashire, to which I shall afterwards call attention. Localities on the east, the south, and the west coasts of England have each found advocates, some, certainly, on very slight grounds. Mr. Weddle, of Wargrove, near Warrington, in his essay on the site, in 1857, per

nct heads. In the first place I will endeavour to show why I maintain that the discovery of the long b

k by Scandinavian kings or jarls, all lead to the conjecture that the treasure had not originally belonged to some private individual or inferior chieftain. It must not be forg

orial, in hope of finding the treasure. At the time I came upon the Roman remains, near the great central ford, 1855, I was surprised to learn a rumour was abroad that we had "come on't goud" at last. This resulted from the fact that the Anglo-Danish hoard consisted entirely of silver, and the belief of the workmen that the Roman brass coins, found at the time, from their colour, when polished, were golden ones. I therefore contend that these facts (taken in conjunction with the more important one, that the date of the deposit, as demonstrated by the coins themselves, coincides with that of Athelstan's great victory), indicate, in a very high degree, the probable connection of the two events. The burial of treasure, in times of great disaster, was a very ordinary occurrence during the Roman dominion in Britain, and was not unusual with their successors, the Anglo-Saxons and Danes. Two hoards, one found at Walmersley, to the north of Bury, and the other at Whittle, near

here, but this, though not unimportant in most cases, is of little value as evidence in favour of my hypothesis, inasmuch as, from its geographica

of the Great Alfred immediately assembled his army and marched northward to confront in person his successful rival and his powerful allies. It appears, therefore, nearly absolutely certain that the struggle took place in Northumbria, or on its border, and, consequently other localities outside this region may almost be said to be "not in the hunt." Anlaf was the ruling chief of Dublin, and the virtual organizer and head of the confederacy. One wing of his army, according to Egil's saga, "was very numerous, and consisted of the disorderly Irish." The coast of Lancashire being part of the then Danish kingdom of Northumbria, was, in every respect, adapted for the landing of this portion of the invading army. Hoveden, Mailros, and Simeon of Durham certainly say that Anlaf commenced the warfare by "entering the Humber with a fleet of 615 ships." This, however, may refer merely to the "f

rce, and Brunewest. Ethelwerd, a contemporary chronicler, calls the place Brunandune. The author of Egil's saga calls the site Vinheid. Simeon of Durham says the battle was fought near Weondune or Ethrunnanwerch, or Brunnan byrge. William of Malmesbury gives the name Brunsford, and Ingulph says Brunford in Northumbria. Notwithstanding the very important fact that the southern portion of the county of Lancaster suffered so much in the raids of Gilbert de Lacy and his soldiery after the Norman conquest, and the consequent non-productive character of much of the territory at the time of the Domesday survey, wh

er, Prüssien, etc. Hence the interchangeability of brin for brun, of which the following are examples: The Icelandic Brynhildr, of the Eddaic poems, is the Brunhild of the Nibelungenlied; Brinsley, in Nottinghamshire, is sometimes written Brunsley; Burnside, near Kendal, was once Brynshead; Brynn, the seat of Lord Gerrard, between Wigan and Newton-in-Mackerfield, was, as I have shown in a previous chapter, anciently written Brun; and, in addition, I have recently seen, in Herman Moll's atlas, published in 1723, this same Brindle, south of Ribble, written Brunall, and, what is still further corroborative, in Christopher Saxton's much earlier map, published in Camden's "Britannia," it is written Brundell, while Bryne and Burnley are spelled as at present. Bryn or bron signifies a little

ey, in Kent, is Brunlei, in the Domboc, and Bromborough, in Cheshire, is written Brunburgh, in Herman Moll's map. Hence if bam be likewise a corruption of brun, we have Brunberg, with Brunhull and Brunedge in immediate contiguity. The Rev. Jno. Whitaker and the Rev. E. Sibson say bam signifies war. This is a very significant corruption, if a great battle were fought in its neighbourhood. Other auth

e of ancient Marks," has two references, from the "Codex Diplomaticus," to "Bruni

ims of Brunton, in Northumberland, after summing up the various names mentioned

s to me the most important name, if Brunanburh be excepted, and EVEN THIS IS NOT MORE SO. As to Wendune it is evident

portance in the time of the Roman occupation. Many coins, and a heavy gold[37] signet ring, bearing the letters S P Q R, have been found there. The place is situated near the great Roman highway, and, if Anlaf's troops covered the "pass of the Ribble" near Brunhull, Brunburh and Brunedge, Wearden is precisely the neighbourhood where Athelstan's forces, coming from the south, would encamp in front of them. Dr. Kuerden, upwards of two centuries ago, describes the northern boundary of the township of Euxton-burgh as the "Werden broke." Mr. Baines states that there is in Leyland churchyard "a stone of the 14th century, covering all that remains of the Weardens of Golden Hill." It is highly probable that the present Cuerden is itself a corruption of Wearden. The prefix Cuer is found in Cuerden, Cuerdale (where the great hoard was found), and Cuerdley near Prescot, and in no

e difficult to deal with, and I should perhaps not have attempted its solution, if I had not seen on a map the name Rother applied to one of the head waters which, uniting near Stockport, form the Mersey. This stream is generally called the Etherow.[38] This is the nearest approach to Ethrunan that I have been able to meet with. If rother, by a kind of metathesis, is an equivalent to ether, perhaps I can detect two distinct remains of the word Ethrunanwerch, in the neighbourhood of Wearden. On the ordnance map we have, about a mile from Werden Hall, Rotherham Top, and a stream, recently diverted for the purpose of the Liverpool water supply, named the Roddlesworth. This word implies a place on the bank of a stream, and as the d and th are phoneti

the seashore. The fine old poem, describing the battle, says emphatically-"There were made flee the Northman's chieftain, By need constrained, To the ship's prow, With a little band. The bark drove afloat-The king departed-On the fallow flood his life he preserved." And, again, the poem says-"The Northmen departed In their nailed barks; Bloody relic of darts; On roaring ocean, O'er the deep water, Dublin to seek; Again Ireland shamed in mind." And further-"West Saxons onwards Throughout the day, In numerous bands, Pursued the footsteps of the loathed nations." I therefore contend that, in this particular, as well as those already disposed of, the "pass of the Ribble" answers to the locality of the struggle, as described by contemporary authority. Where this topographical feature is wanting, I hold it to be fatal. The ships of Anlaf might be attending the army in the estuaries of the Ribble or Wyre, and to them the defeated and routed forces would, of course, repair with headlong speed, after crossing the fords, the defence of which they had so gallantly, if unsuccessfully, attempted. During this hasty retreat, I contend it is highly probable the

hole of the hundred of Amounderness to the cathedral church at York. He is said to have "purchased" the territory with his own money, a somewhat remarkable financial oper

lowing interesting particulars relative to this monarch-"It was once told me by Mr. Alexander Elston, who was uncle to my father and sonne to Ralph Elston, my great grandfather, that the said Ralph Elston had a deede

merly written Ethelstan, is situated on the north ban

rence by any writer of such a name ever holding property in the neighbourhood, and Mr. Kemble places the Pickering, in Yorkshire, only among the probable instances, as he had never met with any account of a Saxon family or mark answering to it. As the letters P and V are interchangeable sounds, "vikingring" has been suggested as the original form of the word. Dr. Smith, in his annotations to Marsh's "Lectures on the English Languages," speaks of the "Danes being led by the vikings, the younger sons of their royal houses." As the old poem says-"Five kings lay on the battle-stead. Youthful kings By swords in slumber laid. So seven eke Of Anlaf's earls, Of the army countless." This interpretation seems not improbable; yet it may be no more than an accidental coincidence rather than a legitimate derivation. As P and B are equally interchangeable consonants, I am inclined to think that "Bickering Castle" may have been the original name of the tumulus. Bicra, in the modern Welsh, means to fight, from whence our word bickering. In this case, ing meaning field, the interpretation would be the "Castle of the Battle-Field." There is some good analogy in support of this view. Mr. Thos. Baines, in his "Lancashire and Cheshire: Past and Present," says-"The Peckfort

lar hollow for the head of the corpse. Nothing further is known respecting it, beyond that it was dug up s

fought in the olden time somewhere in the neighbourhood of Tockholes in the Roddlesworth valley, and stories that remains, including those of horses, have been found, which are believed to confirm it. Respecting this I may have something to say in a future paper." What I have to say is this: that if a severe struggle took place near the tumulus to which I have referred, the routed army, following the Roman vicinal way to Ribchester, would p

ire site, I concluded with the following words-"These reasons, in conjunction with those advanced in the second chapter of this work,

d, I am justified in maintaining that the site I name is the most probable which has yet been suggested; indeed, there is very little reliable evidence in favour of any other. But, in conclusion, I again reiterate what I wrote twenty-five years ag

ene of many known conflicts. Robert Bruce, in 1323, burned the town, but ventured no further southward. Holinshed says he "entered into England, by Carlisle, kept on his way through Cumberland, Westm

ild Books, that yet remain extant and in being, though some I conceive to be omitted, as one Gild in Henry 6th dayes occasion'd, as I conceive, in those distractions and civil wars betwixt the Houses of Lancaster and York; another Gild Merchant omitted to be kept in K. H. 8th dayes, occasioned, as may be thought, by the Revolutions a

chroniclers or topographers. True, the Saxon village may have shared the fate of Preston, in the celebrated foray of our northern neighbours, and hence the tradition! An earthquake in England, of sufficient magnitude to bury a Roman 'city,' (to use the elder Whitaker's emphatic style,) 'must' have found some one to record it. Other facts, however, demonstrate that this tradition can have no better foundation than the vague conjecture of ignorant peasants; who

vestige of which now remains, although it was recently not very difficult to trace their site. The command was entrusted to General Sir John Seaton. Captain Booth led the attack, and scaled the outer wall. The garrison defended the inner wall with great valour, "with push of pike,"

lieve Lancaster, then besieged by the Earl of Derby. The earl drew off his troops on their approach, and falling suddenly on Preston, in its then defenceless state, stormed the works in thr

nemie lay, I met eleven of their colours at Ribble Bridge, within a mile of Preston, whereupon, after a sharp fight, we took the Lord Ogleby, a Scotch Lord, Colonel Ennis, one other colonel slaine, one major wounded, and divers officers and sol

h forces were widely scattered. Some of his advanced horse lay at Wigan; his main army occupied Preston, while his rear, under Monro, were in the neighbourhood of Garstang. Short work was made, notwithstanding the great numerical superiority, with such discipline and divided councils, by a soldier of Cromwell's calibre. In the words of Thomas Carlyle, he "dashed in upon him, cut him in two, drove him north and south, into as miserable ruin as his worst enemy could wish." "The bridge of Ribble" was fiercely contested. When the P

Cromwell's greatest military achievem

RD GENERA

ief of men, who,

nly, but det

th and matchl

th thy glorious

ck of crowned

s trophies and h

ream with blood

ld resound thy

laureat wreath.

ll; Peace hath

n'd than War;

ind our souls wi

e free conscie

ves, whose gosp

ith an army of about 10,000 at the most, (whereof 1500 were Lancashire men, under the command of Colonel Ralph Assheton, of Middleton), fought a battail in and about Preston aforesaid, and over-threw Duke Hamilton, general of the Scots, consisting of about 26,000, and of English, Sir Marmaduke Langdale and his forces, joined with the Scots, about 4,000; took all their ammunition, about 3,000 prisoners, kill

the army of the Parliament is somewhat less than that in the Corporation record. He says-"The Scots marched towards Kendal, we towards Rippon; where Oliver met us with horse and foot. We were then betwixt eight and nine thousand; a fine smart army, an

, I could hardly tell how to say less, there being so much of God in it; and I am not willing to say more, lest there should seem to be any of man. Only give me leave to add one word, showing the disparity of forces on both sides, that you may see, and all the world acknowledge, the great hand of God in this business. The Scots army could not be less than twelve thousand effective foot, well armed, and five thousand horse; Langdale not less than two thousand five hundred foot, and fifteen hundred horse; in all Twenty-one-Thousand: and truly very few of their foot but were a

on, the amount of legendary story which it has left behind is singularly limited. I have heard of several localities in Lancashire, and some neighbouring counties, where tradition records that Oliver Cromwell once visited the district and slept in some specified house or mansion, although there exists not the slightest reliable evidence tha

with the figure of a Scotchman in the place of Britannia, on the reverse. I found it to be a Roman second brass coin, the military costume of a soldier suggesting to the labourer a kilted Highlander. Although at various times relics of the fight have been picked up, they are now extremely rare. The flood waters of the Ribble have occasionally dislodged human bones, including skulls, from the banks, and these are almost universally, if somewhat vaguely, associated with "Scotch warriors," but without any definite notion as to the period or cause of their presen

oad passed to the north. He adds-"This is that famous lane at the end of which Oliver Cromwell met with a stout resistance from the King's forces, who from the height rolled down upon him and his men (when they had entered the lane) huge large millstones; and if Oliver himself had not forced his horse to jump into a quicksand, he had luckily ended his days there." Commenting on this passage in the "History of Preston," I say-"Notwithstan

ct at the present time. He says-"I am informed from good hands, that a poor godly man died in Preston, the day before the fight; and being sick, near the hour of his death, he desired the woman that cooked to him, to fetch him a handful of grass. She did so;

r look with any intelligence into that poor old prophetic, symbolic, Death-bed scene at Preston? Any intelligence of Prophecy and Symbol, in general; of the symbolic Man-child Mahershalal-hashbaz at Jerusalem, or the handful of Cut Grass at Preston-of the op

his letter to Cromwell, Lilburne says-"The next day, in the afternoone, I having not foot with me, a party of the Enemies Horse fell smartly amongst us where our Horses were grazing, and for some space put us pretty hard to it; but at last it pleased the Lord to strengthen us so as that w

aithful followers of the dethroned Stuarts, the "royalists" of the last century, have been transformed into the "rebels" of this. The partizans of Princ

d been destroyed, it was determined instead to barricade the entrance to the principal streets. The town was besieged for two days by Generals Wills and Carpe

s styled, marched from Scotland on his way to Derby, through Prest

el the illusion, Lord George Murray crossed the Ribble, and quartered a number of men on the other side." A single repulse could scarcely justify such foreboding. The name of the Ribble h

went" is not much better. In May, 1847, a story appeared in "New Tales of the Borders and the British Isles." It is introduced by the first stanza of the ballad. The scene is laid at Walton-le-dale and Preston, 1815. It is a sad jumble of fact and fiction. It confounds with one another events in the campaigns of 1715 and 1745, and illustrates, to some extent, the c

g

g

END

OF ST. OSWA

king's, was discovered by the victorious Moors, and forwarded by the Emperor of Morocco as a present to his ally, Philip the Second of Spain. In 1583, this monarch restored it to the Portuguese, by whom

THE BADGE OF

dun bull, which is the badge of the Norman Nevilles, was in reality derived from the Saxon Bulmers, though it has been thought by some antiquarian searchers t

ESIS OF

ssay entitled "Myth and Science," by Signor Tito Vignoli, in which the gradual development of m

n of things were presented by an effort of memory to the mind as if they were actual and living things, yet such conditions are not hypothetical, but really exist

k aloud, and reply to internal questions which he imagines to be put to him by absent persons, against whom he is at the moment infuriated; the images of these persons and things are, as it were, present

nd lastly of the specific types of these objects and images. There was within him a vast and continuous drama, of which we are no longer conscious, or only retain a faint and distant echo, but which is partly revealed by a consideration of the primitive value of words and their roots in al

uts. Uku in the Marquesas Isles means to lower the head, and is now used for to enter a house. Kùku, which had the same original name in New Zealand, now expresses the act of diving. The Polynesian word toro at first indicated anything in the position of a hand with extended fingers, whence comes the Tahitian term for ox, puaátoro, stretching pig, in allusion to the way in which an ox carries his head. Toó (Marquesas), to put forward the hand, is now used for to take. Tongo (Marquesas), to grope with extended arms, leads to

ernal fact. We see how everything assumed a concrete, living form, and can better understand the conditions we have established as necessary in the early days of the development of human life. This attitude of the intelligence had been often stated before, but

specific types, were the great source whence issued superstitions, mythologies, and religions, and, als

f animals. And since this is a condition of animal perception, it is also the foundation of all human life, and of the spontaneous and innate exercise of the intelligence. In fact, man, by a two-fold process, raises above his animal nature a world of images, ideas, and conceptions from the types he ha

adoration, the guardianship of, or abhorrence for, some given species of stones, plants, animals, some strange forms or unusual natural object. The subsequent adoration of idols and images, all sorts of talismans, th

SAXON

ollection of relics than has ever been discovered in the country, and which are not surpassed in interest by any remains hitherto recovered from any Anglo-Saxon burial place in the kingdom." Amongst these remains was the head-piece referred to. After

DE

, 138

us, 39,

itan

s Pea

175,

emno

la, Ju

ensor

-Chape

us, S

nder,

, 175 et

ctus

44, 63, 77, 81,

Monume

, 32, 35, 61, 130, 131, 134,

in, 1

170,

s Camb

elm

ny, S

ury

s or He

Brittany),

mis,

35, 37, 42, 44, 46, 50

ulchre at Gl

(Welsh w

Myth

, 51, 52, 53,

l.-Gen., 1

King, 41, 1

, St., 32

, 73, 74, 77, 90, 92,

Thomas

John

orou

Bridg

scoed, 3

and Civili

Lincolnsh

m-Dow

Gould,

ett,

e Abb

., 64, 66,

15, 18, 19, 56, 61, 6

8, 101, 10

erto

hoh, 130

rod,

shire, De

ll, J.

ild, 61, 99, 10

, W. St.

nd Ruthwell

ce,

rix,

all, Bol

h, Rev.

ium

mha

a, Figh

tes, 3

, 196,

r or Bru

sh, 34,

sh Ur

ll, 137

mail

Robert,

rh, 164,

1, 25, 27,

Tywysog

and Burne,

hild

da,

ford, 138

reasure,

ppyngstones

d, Ancient

Adam d

ditionary Siege

, Lor

wallon, 26, 27,

Heliop

n, 93

wen

n, 12

on on

elo

n-bal

e, 18

e, Carl

usiu

smand

eld, Manc

iff, near

l, 70, 77,

ead, near

omas, 51, 1

h, Figh

twi

s, Robe

ne, 39, 4

, King, 15

ard Stuart,

r, 32,

-Chas

old's Pilg

val

and Paganism,

r, St., Le

the Princes

ion, Orig

Castle, 14

, Traditional Si

rd, Lo

boy

oy,

, Oak T

one, at Br

Roman,

n, 24,

bear

King of the S

, H.

ir G. W., 4

, 80, 82,

r Totems,

ades

99, 151 et seq

l Legen

land

d, The Great

den,

' "Pa

sions, 133,

Sir G. W.,

, Over

rof. Boyd,

ra,

sbur

of, 150, 1

, Provin

s, Cha

rich

ruction of, 182

y Book,

, 14, 21, 24, 26,

, 105, 107,

lin

Simeon

ing, 130, e

ker,

ter

28,

helstan's

d, 146,

he Athel

, King of G

he Confe

e Elder,

Northumbria, 26

rith

t, Ki

173, e

King,

, Mr.

et,

n, St

, Will

n, C

aking of,

, Kin

ald, K

th, King

, King,

anwerc

ical, 62

sis Cod

-moor, Re

nir

x, Gen

Mythol

f, Sir

, J. A

n, J.

, Dr. J.,

, The

, Fight of

, 6, 18, 3

of Worc

-lor

r, Gen

E. A., 39

r Friga,

Howe, U

ad, S

Skirmish

n, Si

wort

5, 6, 7, 13, 18, 19,

al Pheno

ain

s of B

Dr., 55, 5

Stor

t de L

18, 19, 20,

Dr.,

s Cambr

one, W

r, Owe

in, T

run

ne, 66

, the D

26, 33, 65, 73, 97,

ry, S

del,

J., 22,

ir, 19

t, D

, Pres

a, Que

rwick, Si

ned

ng Ha

15, 20, 24, 27, 60, 88,

of, 99, 153, et

let

ton, P

atand, et

Hilde

n, Sir J.

d, Ki

epool

orne,

Blasters

Knol

ns, M

lit

ield, 6

ield,

-men" (D

ts, 1

Anglo-Sa

and Hors

., King,

Hunting

clid

y, 109,

tus, 1

nd, Herr

a Brito

cuments, Dest

ls, 47, 48, 50,

cal Pic

ol., 161,

el

orth, 15

, 35,

rius

Curiatii,

es, Ancie

Mr. H.

, Dean

hgar

T., 137, 1

Henry of,

or Gewi

lac,

175,

nd, 2

en

a,

of the

rna

ad,

of Ancien

39, 4

lph,

r, Gia

Giant-K

rior of Hag

n, Rev

of Arim

uardian S

yls

ckson, C

nian H

Sir

htle

, W.

M., 65, 1

, Dr., 6

ngland, F

, Dr.,

lop

Distr

ajor-Gener

ivil War Tro

ire Dia

ire Mil

sfarn

, Sir, 3

s of, 153, et se

Life and G

, 134,

cather of t

enbe

d, 74, 7

c, Ear

, Bishopr

ne, Co

hn, Abbot of

istic

11, 21

er, T

Howel

ards

d Rebellio

, Sir J

cture of th

ch Hen

Lord, 35

ay, T.

Cudg

, M.,

Sir Thom

illiam of, 9,

eastr

ter, 12

alter,

lde,

n Mer

, Marcelde, Mackerfi

, Sir J

nt, Gu

, 17,

ry, 6

ed, 44, 101,

sychos

l Roman

, Dean

n, Jo

ies, the

red

Herm

Mythical

Rev. R. W.

, Prof

ris

, Ada

D'Arthu

l, Warri

r, Ma

7, 37, 38,

Genesis

0, 21, 23, 50, 51, 65, 67, 68, 7

, Willi

as, St

s, J.

rod

outhern Bounda

ry Ta

8, 44,

Howe, U

y, 35,

a,

English H

ous Sc

6, 33, 61, et

ell, St.,

, 62, 65

68,

Sir Franci

is,

zi, S

, 89, 94

bols dest

Archbi

, Mr., 14

The Rev.

, 67, 72, 73, 74,

, Bis

Cereali

, Dr.

tic L

h Cust

ton, Si

r Fathers

, on the Battle o

's For

c Battlefi

at Battle of

r, the E

ve Cult

phetic supe

Canon,

odbrock,

n and Lo

, near W

r, 12, 15

idge, Bat

Moor, Fi

rd II

r de Lion,

f Cirence

d, Earl

Smith,

, Askew

ood, 44

, Dr.,

ains at W

Wall

ble, The

m, Col

es,

ians

102, 1

eorge

l, Clith

son

raal

ens,

aticus, 28

n, C.

navia,

Genesis

leeman's T

iors, Grave

Walter, 35,

Sir Jo

ts, 10

tuntii, or Se

13, 38, 47,

34, 67, 73, 175

e, Bisho

worth,

Preston i

Preston i

, 39,

or Sig

rham, 130, 1

E., 21, 62, 7

., 15, 19

hs, 39, 4

from the Stuart

ads, Anc

, Herbe

Ancient

, Lesli

son, M

Hamm

st, 152,

Sir Edward

don (Councils

lanations of Natu

ames

, Kin

s, Ma

tus,

. and J.,

in, 17

eyra

in, S

, Rev.

ir John, 1

son,

kera

dori

us, Stor

or

, 175,

, B.,

y, Sir T

Crests, 1

s Tale, Po

lsh pre

, Buried

an, S

oy

3, 85, 86, 87, 137

English Chance

oman

, J. M

., 5, 36, 5

Annals

Rheged, 1

cient, 8

ala

ndragon,

rminius, 4

Polydo

uti

ays, Roma

ng Ta

tra

130, e

land and

s Boa

alla

, Macke

he Roses,

, Earl

n, W.

street,

den,

. A., 190

. Oswald

ibute, H

lves,

t, kingd

's Smit

Professor

Jno., 7, 11, 15, 21

Dr., 136,

Dr. A

e Spri

, 12,

ne, batt

Hunts

Norman Conque

n, T. T.

k, 61,

dfiel

um,

ae, D

Wynky

Huge, 1

, T.,

, Cardi

rk

nzi

Sir,

a, Archb

ND SON, PRINTE

TNO

. Prest

esis, however, is not accepted b

from his name, for it is clearly Saxon), and Beorward may be the Abbot Beornwald who attested a charter of Ine in A.D. 704. The larger pyramid, twenty-eight feet high, which stood at the head of the grave, is said to have been in a very ruinous condition, and the only intelligible words in the inscription upon it (as given by William of Malmsbury), are the names of Wulfr

nd near the Scholes is called King Arthur's camp."

ent vernacular of the county, is syno

ays the Old High German wig, pugna, seems oc

, is derived from the Anglo-Saxon wigian, wiggan, which are cognate to the Got

to is variously written

tgublaun, king of Guenedo

Saxon Chro

e West Riding of Yorkshire, about seven miles to the north

iation,

was a well there that bore his name, and an inscription that recorded his attachment to the locality. Oswestry was said to mean Oswald's tree. There was no reason why they should not believe that he was killed at Winwick, and that his head and arms were taken away and put on a stump of w

hat consonant under such conditions. The Anglo-Saxon "Cymen's ora" is now represented by Keynor. Kemble says the homes of the Elsingas and Elcinghas, are now represented by Elsing and Elkington, in Northam

in honour of St. Oswald, called Album Monasterium, Candida Ecclesia Y Fonachlog Wen (by the Welsh according to Davies), and Blancmonster and Blancminster by the Normans, all meaning the same thing, viz.:-White Monastery, applied latterly also to the town, which grew up around the monastery. 3. Mesbury, corrupted into Maesbury, when the town in Trefesen, to which a Fitzalan granted a charter, grew into a borough; and 4, Oswaldestree or Oswestry, from the 'tre' or district, or else possibly from the traditional tree, on which the king's arm was recorded to have been hung. A further basis is supplied for reconciling the statement of Nennius, that the battle was fought at Codoy, with that of the Saxon historian that it was fought at Maserfield. For just as Winwick is in Mackerfield, so may

s father, Cadvan, who fell at Heavenfield, and not himself. If Cadwalla fought at Maserfeld, Dean Howson's conjecture is rendered more probable. See Ante, p. 62. Revenge for hi

aesbrook, a place in a direct line between Maesbury and Coedway, and about five miles

ropshire remained British, or as Professor Boyd Dawkins approp

e this word "Codoy." The Rev. W

nather and nother, at the present day, while some clergymen pronounce it nigh-ther. The Lancashire contraction for James is Jim not Jem, as in the South of England. I have often heard China pronounced "Chaney" by Lancashire people. The number of ancien

at this barrow are the Dene and the Sankey." Mr. Beamo

r plaster (gypsum).... The writer of a later treatise, or rather compilation, attributed to Bo?thius, speaking upon the same subject, enumerates as the objects to be so place

es. Mr. Thorpe regards the only copy now extant as a

ndary of the Welsh and Mercian territories, than at Winwick, in Lancashire, and does not the above line prove that 'Oswald from Marchelldy [Marcelde the House or Monastery of Marchell] did to Heaven remove.'-Bonion, writing in Bygones, August 6, 1873." This would have more value had the inscription been on Oswestry Church. It is not very probable the Cleric of Winwick would be a Welsh scholar, or that he would translate the Welsh word into Latin in preference to the English one by which the locality was wel

rtion, and is by no means confi

numbered by the Mythists among their shadowy heroes; for among the superhuman feats performed by that pious crusader, we read, in the above mentioned authority, that having torn out t

a Sarezyne

en full

er and wi

ffron of go

s on a Saracen's head each, every head having the name of its late owner attached to it on a slip of parchment.

ut the Richard and Arthur of romance, nevertheless, are not historical charact

f the places having these strange traditions, as Linton or serpent town, Wormiston or worm's (ormr's) town, Lindisfarne, the Farne serpent island, now Holy Island, &c., and also the various worm hills, or serpent mounds of those localities. It was curious that the contests to which the traditions referred (like that of St. George) were sometimes with two dragons, as shown on a sculptured stone in Linton Church, and on a similar stone at Lyngby, in Denmark, in the churchyard, where there was a tradition that two dragons had their haunt near the church. From these and other facts, the author concluded that the contests were international, and in the case of two dragons, an allied foe, either national, religious, or both, was overcome. He showed from the Scottish seals that Scotland used the dragon as an emblem, apparently deriving it from the Picts; that the Scandinavians also used it, and that these nationalities were antagonistic to the Saxon. In the time of David the First of Scotland, the first great centralisation of Saxon power took place, and the powerful family of the Cumyns took, apparently by conquest, at least two of the localities having these strange traditions. And as the political object was to suppress the Celtic and Scandinavian, or other local national feeling, there could be little doubt that however they obtained them, the persons dispossessed were of one or other of the Northern tribes. Hence probably the middle-age tradition of the slaying of the serpent or dragon, or the serpent or dragon bearer, on the Anglo-Scottish border. But he considered such tradition

nger: Upper

what is termed 'respectable society,' and no one present audibly dissented. One or two individuals, indeed, remarked that they had often heard such was the case, and seemed to regard the phenomenon as related to the strong scent an

translation of "The Gododin," says:-"Beli, s

Chapter I

ksworth

sive campaign, have been found in the neighbourhood of Ribbleton, Ashton, and Walton-le-dale.

nder the circumstances. Stonyhurst

he says-"Without meaning to dispute the merit of Defoe, in his peculiarly happy manner of telling a story, or, in other words, in the art of book-making, it will probably be found, tha

cavalry officer, and "a

ning free access to the Danish camp, meanwhile learning their plans. It is not mentioned in the most ancient Saxon accounts. Indeed, it sounds more like a Scandinavian than a Saxon story, an echo of whic

Palgrave says the main battle was but a continuation of the

ns, His. Soc. Trans., s

erow, before its junction with the

battle see "History of

ecting this siege, se

than the two verses given by Dr. Dixon, in his 'Songs and Ballads of the English Peasantry,' and by Mr. Harland, in his 'Ballads and Songs

Peggy to Proud

otch Rebels it

ch lord, as

re damsel did s

s servant, who

maiden who sta

a voice so sof

me do her lo

his master aw

bidding, and b

is beauteous

onnet, not kno

ess Madame, your

erson than by

is wishes you

chamber with hi

ssin's Langue

riber'

o the original. The first line is the ori

inius Vámbêry, a

inius Vámbéry, a

k, Arminius Vám

k, Arminius Vám

still retained, wi

still retained, wi

l and Salebury. C

l and Salesbury.

ter Danish and Norm

le after Danish and N

nham IN Y

nham IN

aklieds," says "it

akleids," says "it

at Gristhorpe, Bev

at Gristhorpe, Bev

e latter is said to

he latter is said t

usband of Igerna's

usband of Igerna's

ity, it was the t

ity, it was the t

, do gain valuab

, do gain valuab

s in Sanscrit agra,

s in Sanscrit agra,

th etymologically

oth etymologically

l nomenclature some

al nomenclature som

-"That Oswiu st

-"That Oswiu st

ongly supports th

ongly supports the

d after the battle

ed after the battl

these was held

these was held

but there is a beli

but there is a beli

ion which Leyland

ion which Leyland

the paroche chu

the paroche chu

ite of the Heavenfe

ite of the Heavenfi

(Deutsche Myhol

(Deutsche Mytho

e notion of casua

notion of causali

ear, from Edward

ear, from Edward

cent combat, of so

cent combat, of so

te in the hundred

te in the hundred

neigbourhood Wear

neighbourhood Wea

its neighbonrhoo

its neighbourhoo

tle of t

tle of t

In Leland's day,

In Leland's day,

he celebrated Parl

he celebrated Parl

nks, and these are

nks, and these are

er, the partisans

er, the partizans

nded together;" [See a

nded together;" [See a

of myth, which is in

of myth, which is in