by the ships should fail them. And the English were to be seen fleeing
before them, driving off their cattle, and quitting their houses. Many
took shelter in burying-places, and even there they were in grievous
alarm.

Besides the marauders from the Norman camp, strong bodies of cavalry
were detached by William into the country, and these, when Harold and
his army made their rapid march from London southward, fell back in good
order upon the main body of the Normans, and reported that the Saxon
King was rushing on like a madman. But Harold, when he found that his
hopes of surprising his adversary were vain, changed his tactics, and
halted about seven miles from the Norman lines. He sent some spies, who
spoke the French language, to examine the number and preparations of the
enemy, who, on their return, related with astonishment that there were
more priests in William's camp than there were fighting men in the
English army. They had mistaken for priests all the Norman soldiers who
had short hair and shaven chins, for the English laymen were then
accustomed to wear long hair and mustaches. Harold, who knew the Norman
usages, smiled at their words, and said, "Those whom you have seen in
such numbers are not priests, but stout soldiers, as they will soon make
us feel."

Harold's army was far inferior in number to that of the Normans, and
some of his captains advised him to retreat upon London and lay waste
the country, so as to starve down the strength of the invaders. The
policy thus recommended was unquestionably the wisest, for the Saxon
fleet had now reassembled, and intercepted all William's communications
with Normandy; and as soon as his stores of provisions were exhausted,
he must have moved forward upon London, where Harold, at the head of the
full military strength of the kingdom, could have defied his assault,
and probably might have witnessed his rival's destruction by famine and
disease, without having to strike a single blow. But Harold's bold blood
was up, and his kindly heart could not endure to inflict on the South
Saxon subjects even the temporary misery of wasting the country. "He
would not burn houses and villages, neither would he take away the
substance, of his people."

Harold's brothers, Gurth and Leofwine, were with him in the camp, and
Gurth endeavored to persuade him to absent himself from the battle. The
incident shows how well devised had been William's scheme of binding
Harold by the oath