Chapter XXX: Appendix: NOTE A.—(Page 5.) (1)

FOUNDATION OF ELY ABBEY.

Ely Abbey was founded by Ætheldreda in A.D. 673. She was the first Abbess. Her right of rule over the Isle of Ely itself was derived from her husband, Tonbert, a prince of the Gyrvii or Fen people. This monastery rose to great importance—passed through various vicissitudes—incident to the times of invasion and conflict—was heroically defended at various periods—submitted to the power of Duke William, was converted into a Bishopric in 1109—Hervey being its first prelate—and shared the fate of other monastic houses in the reign of Henry VIII., when its revenue amounted to about £13,000 per year, at the present value of money.[259]

NOTE B.—(_Page 5._)

THE LEGEND OF S. LUCY.

Saint Lucia was a native of Syracuse; her hand was sought in marriage by a young nobleman whose suit she refused, whereupon her lover complained that her beautiful eyes haunted him day and night; she cut them out and sent them to him, begging to be allowed to persue her religious aspirations unmolested, hence she is often represented with the balls of her eyes laid on a dish; perhaps her eyes were defaced or plucked out—though her present “Acts” make no mention of any such circumstance. In many places her intercession was particularly implored for distemper of the eyes, (for, as a recompense for this self abnegation, Heaven restored her eyes making them more beautiful than before).

Her chief offence may have been that she bestowed the whole of her large wealth on the poor instead of sharing it with her suitor who accused her to the governor of professing Christianity and in consequence she suffered in the Diocletian persecution. She appears to have died in prison, of wounds, on 13th December, 304, A.D. In the 6th century she was honoured at Rome among the most illustrious virgins whose triumphs the church celebrates, as appears from the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, Bede, and others. Her festival was kept in England, till the change of religion, as a holiday of the second rank on which no work but tillage or the like was allowed. Her body remained at Syracuse for many years. She is often represented with a palm branch in one hand and a burning lamp in the other, expressive of her name which means Light, in Greek, λύκη. _“Notes Ecclesiological and Historical on the Holy Days,” London, 1864, also “Lives of the Saints,” by Rev. Alban Butler._

(_From the “Monasticon.”_)

A—Situs Abbatæ (the Site of the Abbey).

B—Clavicularium (the Gate House).

C—Horreum (the Store-house or Barn).

D—Turris (the Tower).

E—Forum Mercatorium (the Market).

F—Pons Altus (the High Bridge).

G—Welland Flumen (the River Welland).

H—Fossa (a Trench).

I—Pons Irinus (the Lily Bridge).

K—Aqua vocata Westload (the Stream called the Westlode).

L—Strata S. Thomæ (S. Thomas’s Causey).]

NOTE C.—(_Pages 5, 45, 57._)

OVIN’S CROSS AT ELY.

When the British Archæological Association met in Congress at Wisbech (Aug., 1878,) the subject of the _Inscription_ of this cross became a matter of discussion. Mr. W. de Gray Birch, Hon. Sec., has since produced a paper on this inscription. Mr. Birch supposed the inscription to have been originally metrical, and that the form given at page 57 of this book suffered by a blunder of the stonecutter, and perhaps from some manipulation of recent times. Mr. Birch inclines to read—

“Trine! tuam lucem da, Deus, et requiem.”

The reader will find this subject elaborately discussed in Vol. 35 of Journal of British Archæological Association, pages 388-396.

NOTE D.—(_Page 7._)

SPALDING PRIORY.

The Priory of Spalding was commenced in 1052 by Thorold, brother of Godiva. It was dedicated to SS. Mary and Nicholas and consisted at first of a prior and five monks, drawn from Crowland.

This cell was endowed with the manor of Spalding. Lucia, countess of Chester, the heiress to the property of Thorold the founder, married Ivo Taille-Bois the nephew of William the Conqueror.

Of his dealings with the priory we have already learnt in the text. The privileges of Spalding were granted to the convent of Angiers. Lucia appears to have outlived Ivo—in fact, had three husbands and after the death of Ralph the third one, gave a fresh confirmation of the liberties of Spalding to the monks of Angiers in 1129.

Gough says, “Here were buried Ivo Taille-Bois in 1104 and his wife Lucia in 1141.” See plan facing page 481.

NOTE E.—(_Pages 16, 17._)

ARCHBISHOP PARKER’S SALT-VAT.

This “Salt-vat” is of silver gilt and elaborately ornate; but it is not known whether it was of English or foreign manufacture. A copy has been made for South Kensington Museum. The authorities of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, permitted the editor of this book to see the original and to make a copy of the inscription which is as follows:—

MATTHÆVS: ARCHIEP[=V]S:
CANTVARIENSIS: DEDIT
COLLEGIO: CORPORIS
CHRISTI: CANTABRIGIÆ:
PRIMO: SEPTEMBRIS:
ANNO: D[=N]I: 1570

NOTE F.—(_Page 20._)

ABBEY OF S. ALBAN.

Saint Alban, the proto-martyr, suffered death in the Diocletian persecution in 303 A.D.

King Offa is said to have exhumed the body, placed it in a magnificent shrine, and established monks to watch over it in 793; but Bede says that a church was established where the martyrdom took place in 731 A.D.; and Offa is believed to have designed a nobler church which perhaps was not completed by him, but by Eadmer, the 9th Saxon Abbat, and this church existed at the time of the Norman conquest.

Paul of Caen, appointed by Lancfranc in 1077 “pulled down the Saxon building and constructed the church entirely anew of stones and tiles taken from the ancient Roman city of Verulam, a great portion of which had been collected by the two last Saxon Abbots.” (Frithric, mentioned in note on page 20, being one of them.)

This, then, was substantially the same church which has been restored in these modern times and which became the Cathedral of the new diocese of S. Albans in 1877, when Dr. Claughton was enthroned as Bishop.

The reader will find valuable information in

1. _A History of the Abbey of S. Alban_, by DR. NICHOLSON.

2. _Report on the Lady Chapel of S. Alban_, by SIR GILBERT SCOTT.

3. _The Restoration of the Abbey of S. Alban_, by J. CHAPPLE, 1874.

4. _The Restoration of the Abbey Church of S. Alban_, 1876.

5. _A short History of the Abbey Church of S. Alban_, by J. CHAPPLE, 1882.

NOTE G.—(_Page 59_).

CROWLAND ABBEY.

Crowland Abbey was founded by Æthelbald in 716, according to a promise made to the hermit Guthlac who lived there in seclusion for 15 years.

The reader will find an account of this recluse in Ordericus who followed what was written by bishop Felix. Ordericus says that the name of Guthlac signified “the gift of war,” and that he belonged to a tribe called Guthlacingas. Gudlacus is the spelling in William of Malmesbury.

Ordericus gives his own account of the building of Crowland Abbey as he learnt it on the spot.

Æthelbald sent for Kenulph, a monk of Evesham, and granted to him the whole island of Crowland, for the purpose of congregating and supporting a society of monks exempting it for ever from all secular payments and services. _Dugdale’s Monasticon._

NOTE H.—(_Page 61._)

RAMSEY ABBEY.

Ramsey Abbey was founded by St. Oswald and Æthelwine of East-Anglia, in 969.[260] The Abbey was dedicated to SS. Mary and Benedict and was occupied by the order of “Black Monks.” It became richly endowed to the annual value of about £18000 of present money.

NOTE I.—(_Page 61._)

THORNEY ABBEY.

Thorney.—This spot appears to have been selected for the establishing of a religious house at the time that Wulphere and his kin went to the consecration of the church at Peterborough.[261] Abbot Saxulf requested of that Mercian king a grant of Thorney, saying—“There is an island here which is called ANCARIG, and my desire is that we build a minster there to the glory of S. Mary, so that those may dwell therein who wish to lead a life of peace and rest.”

Thus it would seem that in 662 A.D. this fen island (Thorney now) was “Ancarig,” or “Hermit’s isle,”[262] and how long before we know not. Hermits—we suppose—developed into monks. Keltic Christians may have chosen a life of seclusion, and to some of them Thorney may have been a hermitage.

_Ancarig_ seems allied to the Saxon words, “ANCER,” a hermit or recluse; and “_ig_,” an island.

But there are similar elements in the Welsh language, as “ANCR,” a hermit; and “UNIG,” lonely, out of the way;—(also “_ing_,” narrow or confined.)

Therefore, “Ancarig” may have been so named—may have been a hermitage—in what are called old British times, _i.e._ prior either to the Roman conquest or the Saxon supremacy. The derivation was probably quite independent of the Greek forms, _ana_ and _choreo_, from which our modern word, Anchorite, is supposed to come.

Thorney, in common with other monasteries, suffered during the Danish invasions, but revived in the peaceful reign of Ædgar.

Athelwold, bishop of Winchester, established himself at Thorney about 964, and according to William of Malmesbury he gained possession of land sufficient to maintain himself and 12 monks (Iccircoque nontantum terrarum illuc, quantum alibi congessit; sed quantum sibi et. XII. monachis sat esset.)

To effect this he is said to have cleared the land of the thorns and brambles.

The following lines are from _Novæ Arundines or New Marsh-Melodies_, by H. HAILSTONE, M.A. Palmer, Cambridge. 1885.

THORNEY ABBEY.

Ah! mute is Thorney’s matin bell,
And hushed the holy singing
That rose from out the hermits’ cell,
In tuneful numbers ringing!

Delightsome was that isle of yore,
Where apples without measure
Did bloom, and Phœbus panted o’er
The vineyard’s purple treasure!

Beneath the bosom of the eyot
In pleasing holts embower’d,
The tippet-grebes did congregate,
The snow-white heron tower’d.

Now all their water-ways are dry;
Then sit we ’twixt the setting
Of yon bright orb that gilds the sky,
And Cynthia’s crystal fretting.

Behold how Ceres’ lap is full:
O may no fortune fickle
The bounteous goddess’ gifts annul,
Or stint the golden sickle!

NOTE J.—(_Page 67._)

KING’S LYNN IN THE 18TH CENTURY.

“This beautiful and large Town standeth towards the Mouth of the Great Ouse.”

“The Goodness of its Situation affords a great Advantage to Traffick and Commerce, having a commodious large Harbour, capable of containing two hundred Sail of Ships, and several navigable Rivers falling into it from Eight several Counties by which means divers Capital Cities and Towns therein, viz.: _Peterborough, Ely, Stamford, Bedford, St. Ives, Huntingdon, St. Neots, Northampton, Cambridge, St. Edmund’s Bury, Thetford_, etc., are served with all sorts of heavy Commodities, as Coal from Newcastle, Salt from Lymington, Deals, Firr-timber, all sorts of Iron, Wines, etc., Imported hither from beyond the Sea; and from these parts great Quantities of Wheat, Rye, Oats, Cole-seed, Barley, etc., are brought down these Rivers, whereby a great foreign and inland Trade is maintained, the Breed of Sea-men increased, and the Customs and Revenues of the Town very much advanced.”

But Lynn, as a port, seems then to have been declining, in comparative importance, for Mackerell says on p. 188:—

“The Port is reckon’d Commodious, but the Trade of the Northern Coast is almost ruin’d by the Southern and Western having ingrossed it to their own great Advantage.”—_History and Antiquities of King’s Lynn_, by B. MACKERELL, Gent., London, 1738.

NOTE K.—(_Pages 74, 409._)[*]

THE CAMP OF REFUGE SURRENDERED.
(_From Historia Eliensis, lib. sec._)

109. “_Quod monachi Elyensis clementiam regis adierunt et de atrocitate itineris exercitus et equorum ejus._

“Monachi igitur de Ely cognoscentes mala quæ in regno fiebant et in ecclesiarum rebus pervasionem fieri et diminutionem ab extermina (externa; _E_) gente graviter doluerunt, magnificentiam templi Domini reminiscentes, et loci sancti sibi tale discrimen imminere veriti sunt, flentes unanimiter auxilium de cœlo et suæ in æternum patrocinantis Christi sponsæ dilectæ Ætheldredæ præsidium adesse poscebant. Et divina inspirante clementia salubre demum ineuntes consilium ad regem mittere constituunt, illius flagitare misericordiam et pacem. Invaluerat enim fames ut supra retulimus, per totam regionem atque istic innumeris milibus hostilis collegii etiam horrea servata Egypti tantam inopiam non supplerent. Nam (deest) reliquiæ ciborum in loco jam fuerant exaustæ, eo quod septimus erat annus ex quo seditionem adversus novum regem commoverunt, frumenti copia sufficere nulla diu poterat, furto enim vel rapto vesci monachorum ordini minime licuit. Et convocatis ad se primoribus qui urbem et aquarum exitus muniunt, ipsos inde abigere atque Normannorum catervis fore tradendos si consiliis eorum abnuant. His territi mox verbis, piguit eos gravissimi incepti ejus felicem exitum tum nequaquam sperant, prælia existimantes levia si his malis conferatur. Urgebat eos fames valida, intus pavor angebat nimius, nec ad comportandum rapinas egredi nisi in manu valida audebant, enses Normanorum plus omni periculo metuentes. Et arepto itinere in Warewich vico famoso reverenter regem cum debita supplicatione monachi requirunt, se suaque omnia ejus clementiæ commendantes. Stetit itaque abbas Elyensis Thurstanus cum suis monachis coram rege magno Willelmo, orans et deprecans per misericordiam Dei ut averteret iram furoris sui ab eis et a civitate sua, spondens per omnia deinceps fidele obsequium, et consistente satraparum caterva, optimum reputavit dicens, ‘majestatem illius tolerare supra se, cum jus regni a Deo sit illi concessum. Verum et si dignanter (dignatur) eis attendat, finem laborum suorum haud dubitanter assequi posse, et ingressum insulæ citius optinere proponit; si tantum pro Deo et suæ animæ salute praedia et bona per suos de loco abstracta restitui faceret.’ Et spopondit rex.”

NOTE L.—(_Page 216._)

PETERBOROUGH ABBEY.

Peterborough Abbey takes precedence of all Fen monasteries. It was founded in 660, and Æthelred obtained for it, special and important privileges, from Pope Agatho, in 680—and these were enjoyed for nearly a thousand years.[263] Peterborough was not erected into a Bishopric till after the dissolution; Henry the 8th conferred this privilege—perhaps _in honour_ of his wife Katherine, whose remains still lie in the north aisle of the cathedral, under a large slab bearing a very shabby inscription, which no one, up to the present, seems to have thought of improving to the memory of an injured Queen. The inscription is as follows:—

+-------------------------+
| |
| Queen Catherine. |
| [MDXX]XVI. |
| |
+-------------------------+

The letters in brackets are worn off, but the date was evidently 1536, as the Queen died in January of that year.

This inscription is engraved on a thin brass plate, about 7 inches long and 3 inches broad;—now (March, 1880,) much worn.

This is not the original plate, which was rather larger than the present one.

Since the above note was penned the central tower of the cathedral has been rebuilt from the foundation,—the transepts have been thoroughly renovated, and the choir is to undergo considerable alteration. (April, 1887.)

When the latter part of the work of restoration has been sufficiently advanced, attention will be given to the tomb of Katherine. Dean Perowne intends to have this tomb opened, and then to decide what memorial of that Queen may be most appropriate. The Katherines of England have been invited to subscribe to this desirable object, and many have already responded.

NOTE M.—(_Page 217._)

THE GIFT OF BRAND.

“Whilst he was a monk he gave to the monastery many lands as in Muscham, Schotter, Scalthorp, Yolthorp, Messingham, Malmston, Cletham, Hibaldstow, Rachevildthorp, Holme, Riseby, Walcot, Normanby, Althorp, these joyning with him, Askylus, Syricus, and Sivortus, who procured from king Edward a confirmation of these lands to the Church.

Brand enjoyed not long his government, but in November, Anno 1069, which was the third of king William, he died.”—GUNTON’S _History of the Church of Peterborough_.

NOTE N.—(_Page 466._)

KNUT’S VISIT TO ELY.

The fen waters being frozen over, Knut travels to Ely in a sledge, under the guidance of Brithmer. The king there celebrates the feast of the Purification.—“Ad hanc igitur solempnitatem ipsum regem aliquotiens præ nimio gelu et glacie inibi contigit non posse pervenire, usquequaque paludibus et aquis gelatis, sed sic a bonitatis suæ studio rex non mutatur, licet nimium gemens et anxius fuisset; in Domino Deo confisus, super mare de Saham, cum non cessaret vehemens pruina, usque in Ely trahere se in vehiculo desuper glaciem cogitavit, sed, siquis eum præcederet, securius et minus pavide asperum iter perficere, nec differre asseruit. Casu enim astitit ibi vir magnus et incompositus ex insula quidam Brihtmerus Budde, pro densitate sic cognominatus, in multitudine, et ante regem se progredi spopondit. Nec mora, rex festinus in vehiculo secutus est, admirantibus cunctis illum tantam audatiam præsumpsisse. Quo perveniens cum gaudio solempnitatem ex more illic celebravit.”—(_Liber Eliensis_, lib. 2, p. 203.)

FENLAND BIBLIOGRAPHY.

The following Works relate to the History and Geography of the Fen-district, (Those marked thus † apply entirely to the district.)

Anon. †The Visitor’s Guide to and History of
Crowland Abbey with an appendix on
the Triangular Bridge, and a Plan of
the Abbey. Crowland, 1839.

Anon. †History of Stamford. Published by J.
Drakard. 4to. Stamford, 1822.

Armstrong, Col. J. †History of the Ancient and Present
state of the Navigation of the Port of
King’s Lynn, &c. 1725.

Babington, C. C. †Ancient Cambridgeshire; an account of
Roman and other ancient roads, &c.

Babington, C. C. Cambridge Antiquarian Society’s
Publications, No. 3.

Benedict of Peterboro’ †Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi (1162-92)
edited by William Stubbs, M.A., &c.
London, 1867.

Bentham, J. †The History and Antiquities of the
Conventual and Cathedral Church at Ely,
from the foundation of the monastery
A.D. 673 to the year 1771. 4to
Cambridge, 1771.

Birch, W. de Gray Memorials of St. Guthlac. 8vo. Wisbech,
1881.

Birch, W. de Gray The Chronicles of Croyland Abbey, by
Ingulph. 8vo. Wisbech, 1883.

Boyne, William Tokens of the 17th century. London,
1858.

Brittan, J. The Beauties of England and Wales.
1801.

Britton, John †History of Peterborough Cathedral.

Brogden, J. E. Lincolnshire Provincial Words.

[Calver, Capt. E. K., R.N. †Chart of the Wash from Skegness to
Blakeney. Published at the Admiralty,
January, 1873.]

Camden, William Britannia (1607 A.D.) Translation by
Richard Gough, F.A. and R.G.S. 3
vols., fol. London, 1789.

Cammack, T. †On the Antiquities of Spalding. Proc.
Lincolnsh. Arch. Soc. London, 1851.

Clarke, J. A. †Fen Sketches. Sm. 8vo. Wisbech,
1851.

Creasey History of New and Old Sleaford. 8vo.
Sleaford, 1825.

Dugdale, Sir W. History of Imbanking and Draining of
Rivers, Fens, and Marshes. Fol. London,
1722.

Dugdale, Sir W. The Monasticon.

Elstobb, W. †An Historical Account of the Great
Level of the Fens. 8vo. Lynn, 1793.

English, H. S. Crowland and Burgh. 1871.

Evans, John Ancient Stone Implements of Great
Britain. 8vo. London, 1872.

Evans, John Ancient British Coins.

Forby, Robert Vocabulary of East-Anglia. London,
1839.

Freeman, E. A. History of the Norman Conquest. 6 vols.
8vo. Oxford, 1870.

Freeman, E. A. “Lindum Colonia,” a paper in Macmillan’s
Magazine, for 1875.

Gunton, Rev. Prebendary. †The History of the Church of
Peterborough. Set forth by Symon
Patrick, D.D., Dean of Peterboro’.
Printed for Richard Chiswell at the
Rose and Crown in St. Paul’s Churchyard,
1686.

Heathcote, J. M. †Reminiscences of Fen and Mere. 8vo.
London, 1876.

Henry of Huntingdon. History of the English. Translation in
Bohn’s series.

Ingulphus †Chronicle of the Abbey of Croyland.
Translated by H. T. Riley, B.A. London,
1854.

Jenyns, Rev. L. †Observation in Meteorology in Cambs.
8vo. Van Voorst, 1858.

Kemble, J. M. The Saxons in England. London, 1849.

Kingsley, Canon †Hereward the Wake. Macmillan, London.

Leland Collectanea ex libro Hugonis Monachi
Petroburgensis.

Lubbock Pre-historic Times.

Mackerell, B. †History and Antiquities of the
flourishing Corporation of King’s
Lynn. London, 1738.

Marshall, W. †On some ancient Court Rolls of the
Manor of Littleport. Cambridge
Antiquarian Society’s Communications,
vol. IV.

Marshall, W. On an ancient Canoe found imbedded in
the Fen Peat near Magdalen Bend on
the river Ouse. Ditto, vol. IV., 1878.

Marrat, W. The History of Lincolnshire. 3 vols.
4to. Boston, 1814-16.

Michel, Francisque Chroniques Anglo-Normandes. 3 vols.
Rouen, 1836.

Miller, S. H., and †The Fenland, Past and Present. 8vo.
Skertchly, S. B. J. Wisbech, 1878.

Miller, S. H. Fenland Meteorological Circular, 1874 to
(_Editor._) 1877. 2 vols. Wisbech.

Miller, S. H. “The Great Fen.” English Illustrated
Magazine. Macmillan, 1885.

Miller, S. H. “Alleged Idolatry in the Fens.” Cambridge
Antiquarian Society, 1886-7.

Nall, J. G. Glossary of the Dialect and
Provincialisms of East-Anglia.
Longmans, 1866.

Nevinson, Rev C., M.A. History of Stamford. Demy 8vo. Johnson,
Stamford, 1879.

Oldfield †History of Wainfleet.

Oliphant, T. L. K. The Sources of Standard English. London,
1873.

Oliver, Dr. G. †Religious Houses on the Witham. 1846.

Ordericus Vitalis The Original Text (published in 1838 by
the French Historical Society, and
edited by August le Provost.
Translation of above by T. Forester,
M.A. Bohn’s series, 1853.)

Richards, W. †The History of Lynn, civil,
ecclesiastical, &c. 2 vols. 8vo.
London, 1812.

Stewart, Rev. D. J. †Liber Eliensis, ad fidem codicam
(_Editor._) variorum. London, 1848.

Skertchly, S. B. J. †The Geology of the Fenland. (Memoir
of the Geological Survey.) London,
1877.

Stukely, William Itinerarium Curiosum. 2 vols, fol.,
1724.

Stukely, William Palæographica Britannica. 3 numbers,
4to., Stamford, 1746 and 1752.

Thierry, J. N. A. History of the Norman Conquest. English
Edition, Bohn, 1856.

Thompson, P. †History and Antiquities of Boston.
4to. London, 1856.

Trollope, Rev. E. †Hereward the Saxon Patriot. Paper
read before the Associated
Architectural Societies at Bourne
in June, 1861.

Turner, Sharon History of the Anglo-Saxons. London,
1799.

Vermuyden, Sir C. †Discourse touching the drainage of the
great Fennes. An Appendix in Wells’
History of the Bedford Level.

Walker, N., and †The History of Wisbech and the Fens.
Craddock, T. 8vo. Wisbech, 1849.

Warner, Rev. R. H. Legends of St. Chad. 8vo. Wisbech, 1870.

Warner, Rev. R. H. History of Thorney Abbey. 8vo. Wisbech,
1879.

Watson, H. †Historical Account of Wisbech. 1827.

Wells, S. †History of the Drainage of the Bedford
Level. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1830.

Wheeler, W. H. †History of the Fens of South
Lincolnshire. 8vo. Boston, 1868.

William of Malmesbury De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum. Edited
by N. E. S. A. Hamilton. London,
1870.

Wise, John Ramsey Abbey, its rise and fall.
Huntingdon, 1881.

Wright, Thomas †Gesta Herewardi Saxonis. Appendix in
Geoffrey Gaimar’s Anglo-Norman Metrical
Chronicle. Caxton Society’s
Publications. London, 1850.

(Various Authors) Fen and Marshland Churches. 3 vols.
4to., Wisbech, 1873-6.

Report of British Archæological Society’s
visit in 1878. Vol. 35.

-----

Footnote 1:

For Notes on Crowland Abbey, Spalding cell, and other religious
houses, see Appendix.

Footnote 2:

Fen-poles like that described in the text are not in use now, in this
fourth quarter of the 19th century. Sportsmen use poles, as they do
in most meadowy districts intersected by ditches; but the fen ditches
are often dry in summer and early autumn and the boggy grounds are
rare in these days. From Crowland to Spalding is eight miles in a
straight line, but on such a route the Welland must be twice crossed.
Now-a-days the traveller finds a good road from Crowland by Cowbit to
Spalding,—the Saxon novice however had a devious course through
Deeping Fen.

Footnote 3:

For a description and list of Birds of the Fens, see “The Fenland,
Past and Present.”

Footnote 4:

This manor house was then held by a Norman, Ivo Taille-Bois, a nephew
of William the Conqueror, one who figures greatly in this tale and in
“Hereward the Wake;” the manor had belonged to Earl Leofric.
According to Domesday book (350-351 B.) Ivo had large estates in
Holland (South Lincolnshire.)

Footnote 5:

Trust me! truly! surely! may we praise the Lord! are mild
asseverations, but it is implied that in those days restraints on
profanity were necessary. It has been asserted that profane swearing
is coeval with Christianity, rather, perhaps with canonization—men
called upon their patron saints to witness, and went beyond them. In
Demosthenes’ oath—

“By earth, by all her fountains, streams and floods!”

there was no profanity.

Footnote 6:

St. Etheldreda (or Æthelthryth) was the foundress and first abbess of
Ely monastery (A.D. 673). See Appendix, Note A.

Footnote 7:

This is not the Lucia of Mercian fame; but St. Lucia, whose day in
the old calendars was 13th December. See Appendix, Note B.

Footnote 8:

St. Ovin was steward to St. Etheldreda. His cross, erected by himself
or to his memory, is still seen in Ely Cathedral. See pp. 45 and 57,
and Note C.

Footnote 9:

This reference to standing upon piles appears indefinite—the idea
seems to have been suggested by Ingulph’s assertion that the first
abbey of Crowland was built on piles, which is not at all probable
seeing that all traces of the abbey buildings are found on
gravel—and the probabilities are that the site for the ancient
monastery was there selected for that very reason. The gravel ridge
runs south-west towards Peakirk. (See map.)

Footnote 10:

In Dugdale’s Monasticon a plan shewing the site of the Priory is
given; it was south of the market place, west of the Welland, and not
half-way between that river and Westlode. The refectory still exists:
it is divided into seven dwellings, called “Abbey Buildings.” See
Appendix, Note D.

Footnote 11:

There was an abbot of Malmsbury, named Elfric, in 974. (_Gesta. Pont.
Ang._)

Footnote 12:

St. Chad was first bishop of Lichfield (669-672). “Here perished,
according to the tradition, in the fiery persecution of Diocletian, a
thousand British Christians with Amphibalus at their head.” (_Life
and Legends of St. Chad._) But this Saint was more than Bishop of
Lichfield—he was bishop of the Mercians; (this diocese included
about seventeen counties) hence the force of Elfric’s appeal. St.
Ovin had made a pilgrimage from the Fens into Yorkshire and joined
St. Chad, at that time abbot of Lastingham.

Footnote 13:

Thurstan was then abbot of Ely, but more of him hereafter.

Footnote 14:

The writer of the text does not profess to be strictly historical,
and as there does not appear to be any record of the names of the
early priors of Spalding, he borrows one in vogue at the time about
which he writes. One Aldhelm or Aldelm was abbot of Malmsbury or
bishop of Sherborne (715-719). Spalding cell was founded in 1052, and
the first recorded name of a prior was Herbertus, 1149.

Footnote 15:

This was really Ulfcytel, not Ingulphus.

Footnote 16:

For “Old Fisheries,” see “Fenland, Past and Present.”

Footnote 17:

According to Ingulph, the king confirmed to the monastery the charter
of Ædred.

Footnote 18:

We may assume there were no spectacles in those days.

Footnote 19:

The Pike has been a noted fish in the Fen-waters.

Footnote 20:

It is noteable that the old monks experienced that mental worry
retarded digestion.

Footnote 21:

Archbishop Stigand suffered deprivation in April, 1070, through the
influence of the Conqueror, and Lanfranc, Abbot of Caen, became
Metropolitan in August of the same year. “Lanfranc yielded to the
combined prayers and commands of all Normandy. With a heavy heart, as
he himself tells us, he forsook the monastic life which he loved
above all other lives.” (Norm. Conq., vol. iv., p. 346.) We wonder
which of the two felt the greater “deprivation?”

Footnote 22:

William had conquered the north of England before the elevation of
Lanfranc, but the news may not have reached the Fen country for some
months. Chester had fallen—the counties south of that stronghold
were devastated, and many thousands of refugees found their way as
far south as Evesham Abbey, where they received succour at the hands
of Abbot Æthelwig. There, too, was one bearing the name of the novice
(Elfric, in the text)—Prior Ælfric who cared for the dying fugitives.

Footnote 23:

See note on Lady Lucia, chapter II., p. 22.

Footnote 24:

The Fen people of old often eluded their enemies by taking to the
reeds and rushes which grew luxuriantly in the fens, towering above a
man’s head: and willows grew abundantly by the water-courses as they
do now in some parts of the Fens.

Footnote 25:

It was customary, in olden times, to place a “Salt Vat” in the centre
of the dinner table. This vessel was often highly ornamented like
Archbishop’s Parker’s Salt Vat, still preserved in Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge. Appendix, Note E.

Persons of rank sat between the Salt Vat and the head of the
table—while dependents or inferior persons sat below it.

An old English Ballad says—

“Thou art a carle of mean degree,
The salt it doth stand between me and thee.”

And in Bishop Hall’s Satires—

... “That he do, on no default,
Even presume to sit above the salt.”

Footnote 26:

Venerable brothers.

Footnote 27:

There was a general ejection of the Saxon Abbots and Priors—save
some few like the Abbot of Evesham who made submission.

Footnote 28:

Aldred had placed the crown on the head of William (as he had done on
that of Harold) and was faithful to William’s cause. The tales of
Aldred rebuking the conqueror for wrong doing are well told in
Freeman’s Norm. Conquest, vol. IV., p. 260. Aldred succumbed to the
stress of sorrow and died 11th Sept., 1069.

Footnote 29:

The accounts of Stigand fleeing to the Camp of Refuge rest upon no
good authority. Mr. Freeman thinks that from authentic narratives it
is conclusive that Stigand was imprisoned at Winchester from the time
of his deposition till his death.

Footnote 30:

Morcar (or Morkere) appears to have gone to the camp after the death
of his brother Edwin, who on making his way to Scotland was slain by
traitors. The idea of Edwin’s having taken refuge there probably
arose from the fact that the boss of a shield bearing a name similar
to his was found in the Isle. (See the figure of this in “The Fenland
Past and Present;” also a reference to it in the note on St. Godric,
p. 436.)

Footnote 31:

The people were terrified.

Footnote 32:

The history of Abbot Frithric (Fredericus) appears to be largely
mythical. He became Abbot of St. Albans in 1064 and was a favorite
with Edward the Confessor. The tale of blocking the road with trees
is told by Thierry. Frithric may have sought refuge at Ely—but Mr.
Freeman remarks “all that certain history has to say about Frithric
is that he was Abbot of St. Albans, and that he died or was deposed
some time between 1075 and 1077.”

Paul, a Norman monk, then became Abbot. Paul, aided by Lanfranc
reared the great church of St. Albans, and the ruins of Verulam, the
Roman city, were used in the construction of this wondrous pile—548
feet long—in the transept of which may still be seen Roman bricks in
the arches. The restoration of this Abbey church is now complete; but
the reader must visit it in order to realize the solemn grandeur of
the pile. He will see that there was artistic beauty in the work but
will regret that “Goths” as well as time made ravages upon it. (See
Appendix, Note F.)

Footnote 33:

Lady Lucia was daughter of Algar; Leofric, Earl of Mercia (who died
in 1057), and Lady Godiva were the parents of Algar, and Hereward is
thought to have been the second son of the same parents, and,
therefore, uncle of Lucia. Kingsley (Hereward the Wake, p. 426)
assumes that Ivo Taille-Bois wedded this Lucia, and says he “rode
forth through Spalding and Bourne having announced to Lucia, his
bride, that he was going to slay her remaining relative; and when she
wept, cursed and kicked her, as he did once a week.” That Ivo married
the sister of Edwin and Morcar is not veritable history—but “he
really had a wife, who on Norman lips was spoken of as Lucy.”

Footnote 34:

The Priory was dedicated to St. Mary.

Footnote 35:

“In these islands, at the time of the Norman conquest, the average
of man was doubtless superior, both in body and mind, to the average
of man now, simply because the weaklings could not have lived at
all; and the rich and delicate beauty, in which the women of the
Eastern Counties still surpass all other races in these isles, was
doubtless far more common in proportion to the numbers of the
population.”—_Kingsley._

Is it a fact that the English of eight centuries ago were both
_mentally_ superior and more robust than ourselves? If the Spartans
gained in physique by the destruction of _their_ weaklings, many a
genius in embryo may have perished on Mount Taygetus. “The survival
of the fittest” is a physical principle only. Of old—as even
now—the weak died of indigence. Sir D. Brewster says of Newton,
“That frail tenement which seemed scarcely able to imprison its
immortal mind, was destined to enjoy a vigorous maturity, and to
survive even the average term of human existence.”

Footnote 36:

Lay-brothers and underlings.

Footnote 37:

Fainéant—idling.

Footnote 38:

And without permission.

Footnote 39:

The Gregorian Music is coming into more general favour at the present
day. The Gregorian Chants are Choral Music arranged according to the
celebrated Church modes by Pope Gregory I.

Footnote 40:

Pieces of armour that protect the throat, (Fr. _gorge_, the gullet.)

Footnote 41:

Properly weasand, from Saxon _wæsend_, the windpipe.

Footnote 42:

Ingulphus was introduced to court at the time of the interview of
Edward the Confessor and William Duke of Normandy, 1051, and went
with the latter to Normandy. He is said to have been consecrated by
Lanfranc, and installed at Crowland in 1076. This is the general
reading of the Monasticon, but we shall be more accurate by regarding
Wulketul (or Ulfcytel) as Abbot of Crowland at the time of the
expulsion of the monks of Spalding.

Footnote 43:

The crown formed on the head of the Roman Catholic clergy by clipping
the hair (from Fr. _tonsurer_.)

Footnote 44:

The most effectual drainage belongs to a very recent period. At the
present day a stranger could not realize, while passing through the
Fen district, that it once was what is described in the text.

Footnote 45:

The abandoned cell was given by Ivo to the abbey of St. Nicholas of
Angiers in Normandy. “The charter of licence for this purpose will be
found in the Appendix of instruments, together with the substance of
a charter from Ivo Taille-Bois, dated in 1085.” This last date was
really the time of the deposition of Ulfcytel of Crowland. A second
charter of Ivo’s, granted to the Abbot of Angiers the tithes of toll,
salt, sea-fish and the fishery of Westlode for the monks’ support.

Footnote 46:

The writer seems to have held the sentiment—that human attachment,
even among devout men, has a vein of selfishness in it. Love devoid
of selfishness is pure indeed!

Footnote 47:

Names ending in _ea_ as Manea, and some modified into _ey_ as Thorney.

Footnote 48:

This appears to be a reference to “Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi”—the
chronicle of the reigns of Henry II. and Richard I. (1169-92), by
Benedict of Peterborough.

The student will find this in the series of chronicles published
under the authority of the Master of the Rolls. (Longmans.)

Footnote 49:

The only piece of real old Fen, at the present day, is found near
Burwell, south of Ely and east of the Cam. A stranger riding through
the Fen district would merely consider himself a traveller in a
fertile plain—he would not realize that it was once Fen.

Footnote 50:

This etymology is not correct. Ely means _eel-island_; _æl_, Saxon
for eel; _ig_, Saxon for island; and Elig became modified into Ely.
See “The book of Ely” (_Liber Eliensis_), also “The Fenland.”

Footnote 51:

This refers to Akeman Street, which ran from Cambridge to Ely,
Littleport, across the Little Ouse near Brandon and on to Lynn—most
likely a British road originally. (See map.)

Footnote 52:

Etheldreda was first married to Tonbert, a prince of the South
Gyrwians, in 652, and it was through him she gained her title to the
Isle of Ely, which retained the privilege of a principality after a
bishopric was erected there.

Footnote 53:

Ecgfrith was son of Oswin (Oswy) king of Northumbria; at his death
the supremacy of Northumbria declined.

Footnote 54:

In Liber Eliensis he is thus spoken of—“Venerant cum ea nonnulli
nobiles (? fideles) viri ac feminæ de provincia Orientalium
Anglorium, inter quos præcipuæ auctoritatis vir magnificus erat
Oswinus nomine.”

Footnote 55:

Stukely writing to Bentham says, “Ovin is a Welsh name ... the Isle
of Ely was possessed by the Britons long after the Saxons had taken
hold of England.”

Footnote 56:

Withburga founded a nunnery at East Dereham. On the west side of East
Dereham Church may still be seen the ruins of a tomb (there is a well
near)—the whole being inclosed. A stone bears this inscription—

“The Ruins of a tomb which contained the remains of
WITHBURGA,
Youngest daughter of Annas,
King of the East-Angles,
Who died A.D. 654.

The Abbot and Monks of Ely stole this precious Relique and translated
it to Ely Cathedral where it was interred near her three Royal
sisters, A.D. 974.”

Footnote 57:

This Thurstan was a Saxon Abbot but it may be well to note there were
two other “superiors” of religious houses, bearing that name—one
Thurstan a Norman of Glastonbury appointed in 1082; this Abbot got
into conflict with his monks as he wished to abandon the Gregorian
duets—foul deeds followed. Another Norman Thurstan (or Toustain) was
Abbot of Pershore in 1085.

Footnote 58:

Harold was Earl of East-Anglia from 1045 till his temporary
banishment 1051-52. Ælfgar ruled during that time.

Footnote 59:

Stigand appears rather to have continued a prisoner at
Winchester—Note p. 19.

Footnote 60:

This may refer to Thurstan named in note on page 48.

Footnote 61:

See note page 20.

Footnote 62:

The Shrine of Albanus has recently been disentombed at St. Alban’s
Cathedral—and reconstructed as far as the materials allowed on the
spot where it stood originally. The martyrdom of St. Alban is figured
on it.

Footnote 63:

“Sweetly sang the monks in Ely,”
As king Canute was rowed hard by.

Footnote 64:

The novice must have travelled some 40 to 50 miles, and by a
difficult route.

Footnote 65:

Haddenham is 5 miles south-west of Ely, as the crow flies, Grunty fen
lies between the two. The distance by rail is about 6 miles. St.
Ovin’s Cross was removed from Haddenham to Ely, by Bentham, in 1770.
Here is the inscription—

+-----------------------------------+
| [cross] LVCEM · TVAM · OVINO |
| DA · DEVS · ET · REQVI[=E] |
| · AMEN · |
+-----------------------------------+

The translation is—Thy light to Ovin give, O Lord, and rest. Amen.
See, also, Appendix, Note C.

Footnote 66:

The frequent reference to “eels,” strengthens the view taken as to
the origin of the word Ely. In these parts, rent was often taken in a
supply of eels. Abbot Brithnoth endowed Ely with two fisheries. It
had a grant of 10,000 eels annually from Well. No wonder that the
monks grew fat in Lent. Generally, the monks of Ely were “good living
folks,” as will be seen presently.

Footnote 67:

Elfric is represented as a valiant youth, although he was in training
for a sacred vow, and a saintly life,—and not for “carnal warfare.”
The conflict in which he was engaged, was not even one where
Christian resisted Pagan: it was the struggle of “a house divided
against itself”—among Saxons and Normans, men professing a common
faith. The novice however was of a spirit fitted for those boisterous
times; and in the sequel we shall find that he may never have
intended to pass beyond the novitiate. Ælfric was a favourite name.
In the tenth century an Archbishop of Canterbury (Ælfric) wrote
homilies still in use by learners of the Anglo-Saxon language. (See
quotation on p. 278.)

Footnote 68:

See note on page 37.

Footnote 69:

This seems to refer to the generally received opinion that Ingulphus
was Abbot; he is supposed to have gone to London, and carried with
him the charters granted to Crowland by the Saxon kings. “They were
read, he states, before the king and council; and although the
earlier grants, which were written in the Saxon hand, down to the
last Mercian king, were treated with contempt, yet the charters of
Edred, Edgar and the succeeding kings, being written wholly or in
part in the Gallican hand, they were allowed: the king confirming to
the monastery the charter of Edred. The same success, however, did
not attend his solicitation to have Spalding restored; the interest
of Ivo Taille-Bois prevailed against him.”—_Monasticon._

See Appendix Note G.

Footnote 70:

Edgelwin, alias Æthelwine, bishop of Durham, fell under the
displeasure of William I. Some Norman Soldiers had committed
sacrilege at Durham. William commanded the Bishop and Chapter to
excommunicate them. Æthelwine failed to do so; the Conqueror outlawed
him, and he fled. He set sail for the Continent, but was driven back
to Scotland; thence he fled to Ely; after the surrender of the Isle,
1071, Æthelwine was imprisoned at Abingdon and died there in 1072.

Footnote 71:

Ramsey mere is 16 miles N.W. of Ely, and Thorney is 9 miles N. of
that mere. Ramsey Abbey, Appendix Note H. Thorney Abbey, Appendix
Note I.

Footnote 72:

Eadmund, the last king of East-Anglia, was tied to an oak tree, and
shot by the arrows of the Northmen, on 20th Nov., 870. Ely appears to
have been included in that kingdom; but Crowland and Spalding in
Mercia.

Footnote 73:

Withburga or Werburga was the fourth abbess of Ely. She was the last
whose name was recorded, though the monastery was under abbesses for
nearly 200 years, that is, till the Danish havoc in 870. The “holy
well” is in East Dereham Church Yard—see note p. 45.

Footnote 74:

From what has been said already, the reader will be led to regard the
story of Frithric as largely mythical, but he will view the words
here put into the saint’s dying utterance, as prophetic of the
ultimate supremacy of the Saxon race. The narrative is finely solemn,
for as this “swan-song,” was being sung, the Crowland fugitives were
wading through the deep fens on a November night, just near enough to
hear the distant passing knell.

We are still ruled by the laws of King Eadward the Confessor—laws
which owe something to Godwine and Harold. The Norman Conquest,
however, had the effect, when the scathing had passed over, of
developing the old principles of the Saxons—and thus “England was a
gainer by the conquest.” This subject is ably discussed in Vol. V. of
Freeman’s Norman Conquest.

Footnote 75:

The Abbey of St. Edmund’s-bury too had the right of a fishery in a
fen mere, just west of Upwell, granted by King Canute.

Footnote 76:

As to abundance of water-fowl in the Fens, and the method of taking
them, see “Decoy” in “Fenland, Past and Present.”

Footnote 77:

The same source of information may be consulted respecting the fish
in the Fen rivers and in the Wash.

Footnote 78:

In the neighbourhood of the Fen rivers there are “Wash-lands,” (the
word must not be confounded with THE WASH which is a bay), that is,
lands liable to be overflowed in winter or in wet seasons. They
relieve the river banks from undue pressure of the water which must
necessarily pass slowly to sea. The largest “Wash-land” in the fens
is between the Old and New Bedford rivers, some 20 miles long and 3/4
wide in some parts, containing nearly 6000 acres; this “Wash” is
generally overflowed in winter; the water does not overflow the
banks, but is let into the Wash through a sluice near Earith. This
shallow water is frozen over during hard winters, like that of
1878-9, and forms a firm skating ground for the “Welney skaters,”
unsurpassed in speed. If the spring is dry the waters retire, and in
early summer the grass is abundant, and upon it may be seen vast
numbers of cattle grazing.

Footnote 79:

On the wash-lands of the rivers great numbers of wild birds have been
taken. For two centuries previous to the thorough drainage of the
Fens, decoying was a means of capturing many thousands of birds
annually, and in the “Washes” netting was practised.

Footnote 80:

King’s Lynn had a considerable trade in wine, a century ago, and in
the first year of the 19th century, 1280 tuns were imported, but
since that time its wine trade has declined. See Appendix, Note J.

Footnote 81:

Porpoises are still common in the Wash.

Footnote 82:

It must not be supposed that flowers did not grow in the Fens—the
Flora was abundant and beautiful, but at the season of which the
writer speaks, wild flowers would be scarce. (For ancient Flora, see
“Fenland” p. 295.)

Eight hundred years ago the monks may not have taken to floriculture.

Footnote 83:

Seasonably.

Footnote 84:

Harold was Earl of Eastangle and Essex about 1045, and was deservedly
popular.

Footnote 85:

The Monks of Ely still clung to the idea that Harold was alive and
that the report of his death was merely a ruse.

Footnote 86:

Here lies Harold the unhappy.

Footnote 87:

The first prior of Ely was Vincentius; his successors were mitred
priors, they held the title _Dominus_, and in some reigns were
summoned to parliament.

Footnote 88:

The Abbot and some of his monks are said eventually to have made
submission to the Conqueror, and to have actually betrayed the
defenders of the Camp. The Book of Ely (_Liber Eliensis_) is quoted,
on this point, in the Appendix. Note K.

Footnote 89:

The successor of Thurstan was Theodwin, a Norman monk of Jumièges.

Footnote 90:

The religious, (like the Roman vestals) who broke their vows, were
immured in a niche,—hence we have in _Marmion_ (Canto II, “The
Convent”) this verse—

“And now that blind old Abbot rose,
To speak the Chapter’s doom,
On those the wall was to inclose,
Alive, within the tomb.”

Footnote 91:

This Lord of Brunn (Bourn) was Morcard who, with Tolli and Algar,
Earl of Holland, (S. Lincolnshire) fought against the Danes; these
invaders, under Hubba, had entered Kesteven (the central division of
Lincolnshire) in the Autumn of 870. There is a Hubba’s or Hubbard
Bridge 4 miles south of Boston.

Footnote 92:

We have no record of a Lord of Brunn fighting at Ely; in the repulse
of the Danes at Ely _several_ English noblemen were engaged.

(For account of the invasion under Hubba, the Danish attack of the
Isle and the burning of Ely monastery, see _Lib. Elien._, lib. I.,
pp. 78-82.)

Footnote 93:

Ralph, the Timid, (a son of Drogo, Count of Mantes and of Eadward’s
sister), was Earl of Worcestershire and also of Herefordshire in
about 1050-1055. Ralph’s mother (Goda) after the death of her first
husband, was married to Count Eustace; he visited the English Court
in Sept., 1051. Eustace came to enrich himself out of English wealth
and he was not disappointed—neither were his followers.

Footnote 94:

It is not at all probable that Hereward was ever devout enough to
make such a pilgrimage to Canterbury, but the hero of a tale must
come to the front in all the great valourous acts of his time.

The man who first resisted the outrage of Eustace and his followers,
was a burgher of Dover—whose name is unknown—a general conflict
ensued, twenty of the people of Dover were killed, and nineteen of
the Normans, (others wounded no doubt), but Eustace appears to have
found it necessary to retire,—he returned to Eadward, then at
Gloucester, and told the tale to his own advantage; this affair
caused a rupture between the king and Earl Godwine and led to the
fall of the latter.

Footnote 95:

Harold was Earl of East Anglia in about 1045, and was translated to
the Earldom of Wessex, in 1053, when Ælfgar son of Leofric, became
Earl of East-Anglia.

Leofric died in 1057, then Ælfgar took the Earldom of Mercia, and
Gurth the fourth son of Godwine, was made Earl of East-Anglia.

Now Harold’s final campaign against the Welsh took place in 1063,
when Harold’s brother—not himself—was ruler of East-Anglia.

The Griffith mentioned in the text was King of North Wales. (This
Gruffydd was a son of Llywelyn—he had slain, in 1055, another
Gruffydd, King of S. Wales.)

There was terrible slaughter before the Welsh were subdued, but it is
thought that Griffith was slain by his own people. It was the beak of
Griffith’s ship, and also Griffith’s head that were brought as
trophies to Eadward.

Footnote 96:

The Northumbrians deposed Tostig in Oct., 1065, and elected Morkere,
the younger son of Ælfgar as their Earl. (Eadwine was Earl of
Mercia.) Tostig took refuge in Flanders late in the same year, and he
became one of the first of William of Normandy’s allies. Before the
middle of 1066, he was in possession of such forces as enabled him to
make a raid; he landed on the Isle of Wight, ravaged part of Sussex,
he then attacked the N. of Lincolnshire, but was repulsed by Eadwine
and Morkere and found refuge with Malcolm in Scotland.

Tostig obtained the help of Harold Hardrada, the King of Norway named
in the text, with him invaded Yorkshire and encamped at
Stamford-bridge, some 8 miles east of York—the battle in which they
both fell, was fought 25th Sept., 1066.

History knows nothing of Hereward’s being either at the battle of
Stamford-bridge nor at Hastings.

Footnote 97:

The march to London occupied little more than a week—it was early in
October, and Harold collected forces on his way.

Footnote 98:

If Hereward’s father was then living, he was not Leofric of
Mercia,—(he died in 1057). There may have been a Leofric lord of
Brunn, father of Hereward, at whose instigation he was outlawed by
Eadward the Confessor; in that case Hereward was in Flanders at the
beginning of the conquest. Hereward was no doubt banished but the
evidence as to its cause is as doubtful as that respecting his
parentage. (See note p. 22).

Footnote 99:

The reader may find in Kingsley’s Hereward the Wake, a glowing
account of Hereward’s deeds in Flanders—deeds worthy of a Hero, but
yet mythical.

Footnote 100:

There is not even a hint here that Hereward was married in the
Netherlands, nor is anything said on this point when, further on in
the council, the name of Alftrude is introduced—so the writer of the
text looks upon her as Hereward’s first and only love.

Footnote 101:

This evidently refers to Æthelwine, Bishop of Durham—A bishopric
originated on the Isle of Lindisfarne by the action of Scotch
Missionaries, early in the 7th century,—it was rendered famous by
St. Cuthbert and was permanently fixed at Durham by Ealdhun in 995;
hence the writer of the text adopted the original name.

Footnote 102:

Ey or Eye (the name for island—being modified from Sax. _ea_) is
situated about 3 miles N.E. of Peterborough. It is now “Eye Green” in
railway tables, to distinguish it from Eye in Suffolk.

Footnote 103:

Defamed.

Footnote 104:

The Sisters of Ætheldreda.

Footnote 105:

The delights of heaven.

Footnote 106:

The writer brings the noted characters of the time into his own tale,
and here we find interwoven several names of persons who had no
direct connexion with the fen district or its heroes.

The Guiscard of the text was the Robert Guiscard (or Wiscard) who
acquired the Dukedom of Apulia—crossed over into Epeiros (1081),
threatening the Eastern Empire; a great battle was fought at Durazzo,
in which banished or adventurous English distinguished themselves. It
is notable that Englishmen, then as now, defended Constantinople.

Footnote 107:

Stephen.

Footnote 108:

We know of no other Drogo than the one already named (note page
82)—he had gone on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with Duke Robert, the
Conqueror’s father, and both died on their journey homeward in 1035.

Footnote 109:

If the reader will consult a Chart of the Wash—such as Capt. E. K.
Calver’s, published by the Admiralty in 1873,—he will see how
strictly accurate is the description in the text. The channels are
tortuous, intricate, and variable.

Footnote 110:

The waters of the Wash spread for miles over the flat shores and
leave a deposit thereon; this accretion is assisted by “jetties” made
of stakes, thrown out from the permanent shore; the flats are thus
raised above ordinary tides and on them a coarse herbage grows; sheep
are fed on this and as the tide-time approaches these animals may be
seen retiring to ground beyond the reach of the waters—numerous are
the streamlets or runlets which intersect these flats of the Wash.

Footnote 111:

The sand bank here called “Dreadful” is we presume the “Dudgeon” (a
name allied to Welsh _Dygen_, malice, ill-will), some 15 miles east
of the “Inner Dousing”; the latter lies 10 miles to the east of
Sutton-le-Marsh, and runs parallel to the Lincolnshire coast.

From the Inner Dousing to Boston Deeps is a south-westerly course.
(See Map showing distances and direction of these sands from
Gibraltar Point.)

Footnote 112:

Probably means Chapel on Lincolnshire coast. (See Map.)

Footnote 113:

Perhaps Heacham in Norfolk is intended (see Map); there is no place
called Stone’s end between Heacham and Castle Rising—perhaps the
name is borrowed from “Stone-ends” the name given to the embankments
at the outfall of the river Nene. In other respects the paragraph is
geographically correct.

Footnote 114:

On 23rd December, 1069.

Footnote 115:

In the Saxon fashion.

Footnote 116:

The Stoke or Wissey enters the Ouse near Hilgay, or about a mile
above Denver Sluice. (See map.)

Footnote 117:

They still fondly clung to the idea that Harold was not slain, but
only hidden from his enemies.

Footnote 118:

Hight, called—(a perfect form of Sax. _Hatan_, to call).

Footnote 119:

The Guiscards had conquered (1059) Calabria and conciliated the Holy
See by granting to it Benevento.