CHAPTER II. THE SAXONS. SECTION I. "But hark! what foreign drum on Thanet's isle 1. Impu'nity, s. freedom from punish ment. 2. Gods, s. imaginary deities which the Heathens used to worship. 4. Ambi'tious (am-bish-us,) a. desirous of honours. DIBDIN. 9. Frontiers, s. borders, limits. 11. An'nals, s. histories. 13. Extir'pated, part. destroyed. Desultory, a. roving about, inconstant, unsettled. 1. (A.D. 447.) THE Britons, being now left to themselves, considered their new liberties as their greatest calamity. The Picts and Scots, uniting together, began to look upon Britain as their own, and attacked the northern wall, which the Romans had built to keep off their incursions, with success. Having thus opened to themselves a passage, they ravaged the whole country with impunity, while the Britons sought precarious shelter in the woods and mountains1. 2. It was in this deplorable and enfeebled state that the Britons had recourse to the Saxons, a brave people; who, for their strength and valour, were formidable to all the German nations around them, and supposed to be more than a match for the gods themselves. They were a people restless and bold, who considered war as their trade; and were, in consequence, taught to consider victory as a doubtful advantage, but courage as a certain good. 3. A nation, however, entirely addicted to war, has seldom wanted the imputation of cruelty, as those terrors which are opposed, without fear are often inflicted without regret. The Saxons are represented as a very In this extremity, they made application for succour to Etius, Prefect of Gaul, in the following remarkable words :-"The groans of the wretched Britons, to the thrice-appointed Consul Etius.-The barbarians drive us into the sea, and the sea forces us back on the swords of the barbarians, so that we have nothing left us but the wretched choice of being either drowned or murdered." Ætius was, however, too closely engaged in opposing Attila, the renowned king of the Huns, (who, from the havoc he made wherever his sword was drawn, was denominated "The Scourge of God,") to bestow on the Britons any attention. cruel nation: but we must remember that their enemies have drawn the picture 2. 3 4. It was no disagreeable circumstance to these ambitious people to be invited into a country upon which they had for ages before been forming designs. In consequence, therefore, of Vor'tigern's solemn invitation, who was then king of Britain, they arrived with fifteen hundred men, under the command of Hen'gist and Hor'sa, who were brothers, and landed on the Isle of Than'et *. 5. There they did not long remain inactive; but being joined by the British forces, they boldly marched against the Picts and Scots, who had advanced as far as Lincolnshire, and soon gained a complete victory over them. A.D. 450. The Saxons, however, being sensible of the fertility of the country to which they came, and the barrenness of that which they had left behind, invited over great numbers of their countrymen to become sharers in their new expedition. 6. Accordingly, they received a fresh supply of five thousand men, who passed over in seventeen vessels, and soon made a permanent establishment in the island. 2 It will be seen, in our previous explanation of the Mythological plate, that the names of the days of the week owe their origin to the names given by the Saxons to their chief idols. We shall here observe, that the names which they gave to the months were singularly descriptive of the seasons, and, therefore, we subjoin them; remarking, by the way, that the names of the months adopted by the French during the Revolution, though more elegant, were not more appropriate than those of the Saxons, whose ideas they appear to have borrowed.-Their first month was styled Midwinter Monath,.. Aefter Yula...... (Or after Christmas). Sol Monath. ..... (From the returning sun) Rethe Monath .(Rugged month)....... Easter Monath. .... Mad Monath.. .DECEMBER. .JANUARY. {(From a Saxon goddess, whose name APRIL. we still preserve)..... (From cows being milked thrice a day). MAY. ..JUNE. (The meads being then in bloom)....JULY. Weod Monath.... (From the luxuriance of weeds)... Hæfest Monath...(Harvest month)...... Winter Fyllish. Blot Monath.... { .AUGUST. ..SEPTEMBER. (From winter approaching with the OCTOBER. 3 Hen'gist was the first Saxon king of Kent. ...... NOVEMBER. 4 Than'et is an island in Kent. Margate and Ramsgate are its prin cipal towns. The British historians, in order to account for the easy conquest of their country by the Saxons, assign their treachery, not less than their valour, as a principal cause. 7. They allege, that Vor'tigern was artfully inveigled into a passion for Rowena, the daughter of Hengist; and, in order to marry her, was induced to settle the fertile province of Kent upon her father, from whence the Saxons could never after be removed. It is alleged, also, that upon the death of Vor'timer, which happened shortly after the victory he obtained at Egglesford, Vor'tigern, his father, was reinstated upon the throne. 8. It is added, that this weak monarch, accepting of a festival from Hengist, three hundred of his nobility were treacherously slaughtered, and himself detained as a captive. After the death of Hengist, several other German tribes, allured by the success of their countrymen, went over in great numbers. 9. A body of Saxons, under the conduct of Ella and his three sons, had some time before laid the foundation of the kingdom of the South Saxons, though not without great opposition and bloodshed. This new kingdom included Surrey, Sussex, and the New Forest; and extended to the frontiers of Kent. 10. Another tribe of the Saxons, under the command of Cerdic, and his son Kenric, landed in the West, and from thence took the name of West Saxons. These met with a very vigorous opposition from the natives, but being reinforced from Germany, and assisted by their countrymen on the island, they routed the Britons; and although retarded in their progress by the celebrated king Arthur, they had strength enough to keep possession of the conquest they had already made. Cerdic, therefore, with his son Kenric, established the third Saxon kingdom in the island, namely, that of the West Saxons, 5 Our old English historians say, that when the beautiful Rowe'na was first introduced to Vor'tigern, "she presented him, on her knee, with a cup of wine, saying, 'Waes heal, hlaford cyning,' or 'Be of health, Lord King!' to which Vor'tigern, being instructed in the custom, answered, Drinc heal,' or, I drink your health.'"-It is proper to observe, however, that some able historians have declared, that no authentic documents exist concerning these stories of Vor'tigern and Rowe'na, or of the slaughter of the British nobles: and that they are inclined to believe the whole a fiction, or, at least, very much exaggerated. A large country of Europe, comprising many kingdoms and states. 7 A British Prince, who established Christianity at York, in the room of Paganisın, or worshipping of idols. including the counties of Hants, Dorset, Wilts, Berks, and the Isle of Wight. 11. It was in opposing this Saxon invader that the celebrated prince Arthur acquired his fame. However unsuccessful all his valour might have been in the end, yet his name made so great a figure in the fabulous annals of the times, that some notice must be taken of him. 12. This prince is of such obscure origin, that some authors suppose him to be the son of King Ambro'sius, and others only his nephew; others again affirm that he was a Cornish prince, and son of Gurlois, king of that province. However this be, it is certain he was a commander of great valour; and, could courage alone repair the miserable state of the Britons, his might have been effectual. 13. According to the most authentic historians, he is said to have worsted the Saxons in twelve successive battles. In one of these, namely, that fought at Caerbadon, in Berks, it is asserted that he killed no less than four hundred and forty of the enemy with his own hand. But the Saxons were too numerous and powerful to be extirpated by the desultory efforts of single valour; so that a peace, and not a conquest, was the immediate fruits of his victories. 14. The enemy, therefore, still gained ground; and this prince, in the decline. of life, had the mortification, from some domestic troubles of his own, to be a patient spectator of their encroachments. His first wife had been carried off by Melnas, king of Somersetshire, who detained her a whole year at Glas'tonbury, until Arthur, discovering the place of her retreat, advanced with an army against the seducer, and obliged him to give her back. 15. In his second wife, perhaps he might have been more fortunate, as we have no mention made of her; but it was otherwise with his third consort, who was debauched by his own nephew, Mordred. This produced a rebellion, in which the king and his traitorous kinsman, meeting in battle, slew each other. Questions for Examination 1. Who ravaged England with impunity? 2. To whom did the Britons have recourse for assistance in their distress? 8 King of the Britons. 9 Glastonbury is a town in Somersetshire, noted for a famous abbey.. 3. What character is given of the Saxons? 4. Where did the Saxons land? 5. Whom did the Saxons defeat? 6. By what means can the easy conquest of the Britons be accounted for? 7. How did the Saxons obtain possession of the province of Kent? 8. Were not many of the British nobility treacherously slaughtered? 9. Who laid the foundation of the South Saxon kingdom? 10. Who gave rise to the name of the West Saxons? 11, 12. What celebrated British prince opposed the Saxons with success? 13. What extraordinary feat of valour is related of him? 14. What domestic troubles afflicted Arthur in the decline of life? SECTION II. "While undecided yet which part should fall, Which nation rise, the glorious Lord of all."-CREECH. 3. Bish'oprick, 8. a part of the kingdom, under the power of a bishop. 4. Expul'sion, s. the act of being driven out. Hep'tarchy, s. the united government of seven kingdoms. 7. Mis'sionaries, s. persons sent to pro pagate religion. 8. Pa'gans, s. Heathens. 9. Frater'nity, s. society, association, brotherhood. 11. Coer'cive, a. forcible. 1. (A.D. 575.) In the mean time, while the Saxons were thus gaining ground in the West, their countrymen were not less active in other parts of the island. Adventurers still continuing to pour over from Germany, one body of them, under the command of Uffa, seized upon the counties of Cambridge, Suffolk, and Norfolk, and gave their commander the title of King of the East Angles', which was the fourth Saxon kingdom founded in Britain. 2. Another body of these adventurers formed a kingdom under the title of East Saxony, or Essex, comprehending Essex, Middlesex, and part of Hertfordshire. This kingdom, which was dismembered from that of Kent, formed the fifth Saxon principality founded in Britain. 3. The kingdom of Mercia was the sixth which was established by these fierce invaders, comprehending all the middle counties, from the banks of the Severn to the frontiers of the two last-named kingdoms. The seventh and last kingdom which they obtained was that of Northumberland, one of the most powerful and extensive of them all. This was formed from the union of two smaller Saxon kingdoms, the one called Berni'cia,, 1 Comprehending Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and the Isle of Ely. 2 Northumberland contained six counties in England, and as far as the Frith of Edinburgh in Scotland.-(See Map.) |