from whence,
protected by the situation of the place, he had for some time carried on
an irregular war against the Normans. The sons of Godwin landed with a
strong body in the West; the fire of rebellion ran through the kingdom;
Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, at once threw off the yoke. Daily skirmishes
were fought in every part of the kingdom, with various success and with
great bloodshed. The Normans retreated to their castles, which the
English had rarely skill or patience to master; out of these they
sallied from time to time, and asserted their dominion. The conquered
English for a moment resumed their spirit; the forests and morasses,
with which this island then, abounded, served them for fortifications,
and their hatred to the Normans stood in the place of discipline; each
man, exasperated by his own wrongs, avenged them in his own manner.
Everything was full of blood and violence: murders, burnings, rapine,
and confusion overspread the whole kingdom. During these distractions,
several of the Normans quitted the country, and gave up their
possessions, which they thought not worth holding in continual horror
and danger.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1070.]

In the midst of this scene of disorder, the king alone was present to
himself and to his affairs. He first collected all the forces on whom he
could depend within the kingdom, and called powerful succors from
Normandy. Then he sent a strong body to repress the commotions in the
West; but he reserved the greatest force and his own presence against
the greatest danger, which menaced from the North. The Scots had
penetrated as far as Durham; they had taken the castle, and put the
garrison to the sword. A like fate attended York from the Danes, who had
entered the Humber with a formidable fleet. They put this city into the
hands of the English malcontents, and thereby influenced all the
northern counties in their favor. William, when he first perceived the
gathering of the storm, endeavored, and with some success, to break the
force of the principal blow by a correspondence at the court of
Denmark; and now he entirely blunted the weapon by corrupting, with a
considerable sum, the Danish general. It was agreed, to gratify that
piratical nation, that they should plunder some part of the coast, and
depart without further disturbance. By this negotiation the king was
enabled to march with an undissipated force against the Scots and the
principal body of the English. Everything yielded