nce,' said he, 'thou hast aspired to the kingdom by the
death of thy brother, hear the word of God. Thus saith the Lord God:
The sin of thy abandoned mother, and of the accomplices of her base
design, shall not be washed out but by much blood of the wretched
inhabitants; and such evils shall come upon the English nation as they
have never suffered from the time they came to England until then.'
Nor was it long after, that is in his third year, that seven piratical
vessels came to Southampton, a port near Winchester, and having
ravaged the coast fled back to the sea. This I think right to mention,
because many reports are circulated among the English concerning these
vessels."--William of Malmesbury, English Chronicle, Bohn's Edition,
pp.

165-166.

iii See "First Chronicle of Aescendune."

iv Chronology of Father Cuthbert.

The Christian era did not come in use until about the year 532, when
it was first introduced in the code of canon law compiled by Dionysius
Exiguus, and, even then, the year of the world was still frequently
used, as in some cases in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. When at length
the Christian computation became universal, some began the year with
the Incarnation (Christmas), others with the Annunciation; a custom
not wholly abolished in England till 1752, when the "New Style," or
Gregorian Calendar, was introduced.

But in the latter part of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the portion
upon which our tale is based, the year invariably opens with the
Nativity--hence this reckoning has been used in the text, and the
Christmas day in chapter 3 begins a new year.

v Now Banbury.

vi Death of St. Edmund.

There are two stories (or more) concerning the Danish invasion in
which the saintly Edmund met his death; the first, alluded to in the
song of the Etheling (chapter 11), tells how Ragnar Lodbrog, a great
sea king, invaded England, but his fleet being shattered by a storm,
fell into the hands of Ella, King of Northumbria, who threw him into a
pit full of toads and serpents, where he perished, singing his death
song to the last, and calling upon his sons to avenge his fate. Those
sons were Hinguar and Hubba. They invaded East Anglia after they had
avenged their father upon Ella, and King Edmund fought against them,
but was taken prisoner. They offered him his life and throne if he
would forsake Christianity, and reign under them. But he steadfastly
refused, whereupon they put him to death after the ma