f a royal family--that is, of one supposed to be descended
from the god Woden. As it was necessary that he should be capable of
leading an army, it was impossible that a child could be king, and
therefore no law of hereditary succession prevailed. On the death of a
king the folk-moot chose his successor out of the kingly family. If
his eldest son was a grown man of repute, the choice would almost
certainly fall upon him. If he was a child or an invalid, some other
kinsman of the late king would be selected.

18. =The Legend of Arthur.=--Thirty-two years passed away after the
defeat of the West Saxons at Mount Badon in =520= (see p. 28) before
they made any further conquests. Welsh legends represent this period
as that of the reign of Arthur. Some modern inquirers have argued that
Arthur's kingdom was in the north, whilst others have argued that it
was in the south. It is quite possible that the name was given by
legend to more than one champion; at all events, there was a time when
an Ambrosius, probably a descendant of Ambrosius Aurelianus (see p.
27), protected the southern Britons. This stronghold was at
Sorbiodunum, the hill fort now a grassy space known as Old Sarum, and
his great church and monastery, where Christian priests encouraged the
Christian Britons in their struggle against the heathen Saxons, was at
the neighbouring Ambresbyrig (_the fortress of Ambrosius_), now
modernised into Amesbury. Thirty-two years after the battle of Mount
Badon the kingdom of Ambrosius had been divided amongst his
successors, who were plunged in vice and were quarrelling with one
another.

[Illustration: _Walker & Boutallse._

Plan of the city of Old Sarum, the ancient _Sorbiodunum_. The
Cathedral is of later date.]

19. =The West Saxon Advance.=--In =552= Cynric, the West Saxon king,
attacked the divided Britons, captured Sorbiodunum, and made himself
master of Salisbury Plain. Step by step he fought his way to the
valley of the Thames, and when he had reached it, he turned eastwards
to descend the river to its mouth. Here, however, he found himself
anticipated by the East Saxons, who had captured London, and had
settled a branch of their people under the name of the Middle Saxons
in Middlesex. The Jutes of Kent had pushed westwards through the
Surrey hills, but in =568= the West Saxons defeated them and drove
them back. After this battle, the first in which the conquerors strove
with one another, the West Saxons turned nor