of me
Largely I will thee pay;
Therefore ask now and asay." (_Sir Orpheo._)

[Illustration: BLIND MINSTREL AT A FEAST.]

After the Conquest the first entertainments given by William the
Conqueror were those to his victorious warriors:--

"Every warrior's manly neck
Chains of regal honour deck,
Wreathed in many a golden link:
From the golden cup they drink
Nectar that the bees produce,
Or the grape's extatic juice.
Flush'd with mirth and hope they burn."

_The Gododin._

In 1067 the Conqueror kept a grand Christmas in London. He had spent
eight months of that year rewarding his warriors and gratifying his
subjects in Normandy, where he had held a round of feasts and made a
grand display of the valuable booty which he had won by his sword. A
part of his plunder he sent to the Pope along with the banner of
Harold. Another portion, consisting of gold, golden vases, and richly
embroidered stuffs, was distributed among the abbeys, monasteries, and
churches of his native duchy, "neither monks nor priests remaining
without a guerdon." After spending the greater part of the year in
splendid entertainments in Normandy, apparently undisturbed by the
reports which had reached him of discontent and insurrection among his
new subjects in England, William at length embarked at Dieppe on the
6th of December, 1067, and returned to London to celebrate the
approaching festival of Christmas. With the object of quieting the
discontent which prevailed, he invited a considerable number of the
Saxon chiefs to take part in the Christmas festival, which was kept
with unusual splendour; and he also caused a proclamation to be read
in all the churches of the capital declaring it to be his will that
"all the citizens of London should enjoy their national laws as in the
days of King Edward." But his policy of friendship and conciliation
was soon changed into one of cruelty and oppression.

At the instigation of Swein, the King of Denmark, who appeared in the
Humber with a fleet, the people in the north of England and in some
other parts rose in revolt against the rule of the Conqueror in 1068.
So skilfully had the revolt been planned that even William was taken
by surprise. While he was hunting in the Forest of Dean he heard of
the loss of York and the slaughter of his garrison of 3,000 Normans,
and resolved to avenge the disaster. Proceeding to the Humber with his
horsemen, by a heavy bribe he got the King of Denmark