Various
Bygone Berkshire
Alfred the Great
By W.H. Thompson
"You are a writer and I am a fighter, but here is a fellow
Who could both write and fight, and in both was equally skilful!"
– Longfellow.
This terse, but sincere and enthusiastic eulogium, on the memory of Julius Cæsar by that stout Puritan, Captain Miles Standish, comes instinctively to the mind, as one contemplates the life of good King Alfred. It is not given to many to be alike famous as sovereign, warrior, lawgiver, and author; but such was Alfred, the first of England's great monarchs. If it is the "cunning," the knowing, or able man, as Carlyle tells us, who is the "king" by Divine right; here was the Saxon king par excellence. His lineage was of the most ancient and illustrious; his father Ethelwulf traced his descent from the most renowned of the Saxon heroes, and his mother Osburga was descended from famous Gothic progenitors. Born at the royal manor of Vanathing (Wantage) in the year 849, the youngest of Ethelwulf's four legitimate sons, he was his father's darling, the fairest and most promising of all his boys. This is doubtless the explanation of the fact that, whilst yet a mere child, he accompanied his sire on a pilgrim journey to Rome. How far this pilgrimage and the impressions which he received from his sojourn in what was still the greatest and most civilized city in Europe, may have influenced his after-life and character it is impossible to say; but the earliest story related of Alfred treats of his aptitude for learning and his love for poetry and books. He learned to read before his elder brothers, and even before he could read he had learned by heart many Anglo-Saxon poems, by hearing the minstrels and gleemen recite them in his father's hall. And his passionate love for letters never forsook him.
Much, however, as he might have preferred it, there was another life than that of the mere student and scholar laid up in store for this noble Saxon. One after another his three elder brothers, Ethelbald, Ethelbert, and Ethelred, occupied the throne, and it was on the death of the last named, in 871, in the twenty-second year of his age, that reluctantly Alfred had to shut up his books, and take up the sceptre and the sword. He now comes before us as
(1). The warrior king.
Never did English monarch ascend the throne in darker days. Recently, it is true, the Saxons had come off victors against the Norsemen in one bloody field – the battle of Ashdune, near Reading, – but this dearly bought victory had in turn been succeeded by a series of discomfitures and defeats, the pagan armies having received fresh and continued re-inforcements. It was in one of these sanguinary conflicts that Ethelred received the wound which, though not immediately fatal, was yet the cause of his death. It was a period of prolonged devastation, misery, and rapine. Nine pitched battles were fought in the course of one short year, and the minor skirmishes were innumerable; the internecine conflict being conducted with the most savage ferocity. Prisoners were never spared, unless it was to extort a heavy ransom; and the countryside was everywhere given up to fire and sword. It is not surprising that Alfred, although already distinguished for his military valour, had not sought the crown. Kingship in those times was no sinecure.
Dark, however, as were the clouds when Alfred came to the throne, still gloomier days were in store. The Norsemen, already masters of all Northumbria, had also practically reduced the kingdom of Mercia; and they were now especially directing their attention to Wessex, the country of the West Saxons. With varying success Alfred confronted the enemy during the opening years of his reign; but he soon discovered that, though he might make treaties with his perfidious foes, they never dreamed of permanently abiding by them; and if he succeeded in withstanding them one year, like fresh clouds of locusts, new re-inforcements appeared on the scene, every spring and summer, from Scandinavia. In the depth of winter (A.D. 878), when it was not anticipated that they would pursue their military operations, the Danes made a sudden irruption into Wiltshire and the adjoining shires, and so utterly discomforted the Saxons, that Alfred, almost wholly deprived of his authority, was driven with a small but trusty band of followers, and his old mother Osburga, into Athelney, a secluded spot at the confluence of the Thone and the Parrett, surrounded by moors and marshes, which served at once for his concealment and his defence. Great were the hardships which Alfred here endured; his life was that of an outlaw. For daily sustenance he largely depended upon chance and accident, hunting the wild-deer, and even seizing by force the stores of the enemy. It is of this period of terrible privation that the oft-told tale of the good-wife's cakes is related. Yet all his misfortunes neither damped his courage, nor subdued his energy.
A most curious and interesting momento of this time has come down to us. The king wore an ornament, probably fastened to a necklace, made of gold and enamel, which being lost by him at Athelney, was found there entire and undefaced in the seventeenth century. It is now preserved at Oxford in the Ashmolean Museum. The inscription which surrounds the ornament: "ALFRED HET MEH GEWIRCAN" (Alfred caused me to be worked) affords the most authentic testimony of its origin.
But meanwhile the men of Wessex had gained a signal victory. Bjorn-Ironside and Hubba, who attempted to land in Devonshire, were killed with many of their followers; and the news reaching Alfred in his seclusion at Athelney, he forthwith determined upon bolder operations. Disguising himself as a glee-man or minstrel, he stole into the camp of the Danes, and was gladly received by the rude viking chiefs as one who increased their mirth and jollity. And so skillfully did Alfred maintain his disguise, that none suspected that he was merely playing a part. He was enabled to learn what he desired, the strength and position of the Norsemen; and having ascertained this, he returned to Athelney, unscathed and unharmed.
He now began to gather an army around him, and it was not long before he felt himself strong enough to confront the foe. Sallying forth, he met the Danes at a spot called Ethandune (probably Eddindon, near Westbury), and, after a murderous conflict, the English were left masters of the field. Though victorious, however, Alfred could not altogether expel the Danes. He was obliged to cede an extensive territory to the invaders and to Guthrun, their leader; viz., from the mouth of the Lea to its source, thence to Bedford, and along the Ouse to Watling Street, or the ancient Roman road; and this territory, together with Northumbria, became henceforth known by the name of the Danelagh, or Danelaw.
In East Anglia, and in the portions of Essex and Mercia thus ceded, the Danes settled and established themselves, not as enemies, but as vassals to Alfred. They appear to have become tired of their life of barbarism. Guthrun also embraced Christianity, and the treaty which he made with the English he maintained with integrity. In Northumbria, whilst the English had been induced to accept the Danish Guthred as their sovereign, Guthred, in turn, acknowledged the suzerainty of Alfred as his superior lord. He also continued true and faithful.
Thus Alfred, although he did not succeed in totally subjugating the Danes, by following up the signal advantage he gained at the battle of Ethandune, accomplished great things. In the course of seven years after his restoration, he was acknowledged as paramount monarch of Britain south of the Humber; Mercia was virtually under his dominion, and Wessex, the wealthiest and best favoured portion of the island, entirely, as well as in name, was under his royal sway.
Yet, whilst he had made peace with the Norse who had settled in England, Alfred had by no means come to the end of his troubles. The Saxon Chronicle records a series of constantly recurring attacks from the sea-roving Danes, who continued to harass the coasts. Into the details of these it is unnecessary to enter. But having once become the master of England, Alfred never relaxed his vigilance; he had London strongly fortified, and constructed a navy. One of the greatest feats of his later life was his victory over the famous Hasting, ablest of all the sea-kings; whose rout was so complete that he was pleased to escape from England with his life. The campaign against Hasting was the last great military achievement of our Saxon hero.
(2). The poet and scholar.
Not only was Alfred the first warrior, but he was also the foremost scholar in his dominions. This may be easily gathered from Asser's interesting memoirs. The King was an elegant poet, and wrote numbers of Saxon ballads, which were sung or recited in all parts of the country. In his original poems, the extent of his knowledge is not more surprising than the purity of his taste, and the simple yet classical beauty of his style. It is highly probable that Alfred diligently studied the Latin tongue between his twelfth and eighteenth years, and that he had a few Latin books with him during his Athelney seclusion. He was accustomed to say that he regretted the imperfect education of his youth, and the want of proper teachers, which barred his intellectual progress. But whatever the difficulties he may have had to surmount (and it is almost impossible to exaggerate them), the fact remains that his literary works shew a proficiency in the classic tongue, which appears almost miraculous in a prince in that dark age. It was probably shortly after making peace with Guthrun, that he invited Asser, the learned monk of St. David's, to his court, to assist him in his studies. Asser was a scholar after Alfred's own heart. The monk tells us that the King's first attempt at translation was made upon the Bible, a book which no man ever held in greater reverence than did the princely student. Asser and the King were engaged in pleasant conversation, and it so chanced that the monk quoted a passage from the Bible with which Alfred was much struck. At Asser's request the King called for a clean skin of parchment, and this being folded into fours, in the shape of a little book, the passage from the Scriptures was written upon it in Latin, together with other good texts. The monarch, setting to work upon these passages, translated them into the Saxon speech. This was the beginning of his translation of the Bible.
Nothing is more astonishing in the story of the the great Englishman than that he could find time for literary occupations; but he was steady and persevering, and rigidly systematic. When not in the field against the Norsemen, his rule was, eight hours for sleep, eight for the affairs of state, eight for study and devotion. His mind was ever open to receive fresh information. He took a continued delight in obtaining the details and particulars of strange and foreign lands. Before Alfred, nothing was practically known of the greater outside world by the Anglo-Saxons. But the King drew around him a number of bold and adventurous spirits, men, who had travelled far, and he revelled in the stories which they recited of their own experiences, and the information which they had gleaned of still more remote lands, which they themselves had not seen. One of these was Othere, who had been far north into the Arctic circle, another was Wulfstan, who took a voyage round the Baltic, and gathered many strange and interesting facts concerning those climes. All the information which he collected, the King committed to writing in the plain mother tongue, and in enlarging the text of the Spanish chronicler, Orosius, whose work he translated, he introduced the voyages of Othere and Wulfstan.
Having heard stories of the east, possibly from Johannes Scotus, who came to his court, and who had been in the far and distant Orient; and learning that there were colonies of Christians settled on the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel, Alfred decided to send out his trusted friend, Swithelm, Bishop of Sherburn, to India. Probably his motives were mixed feelings of devotion for Christianity, and a desire for increased geographical knowledge. Anyhow the stout-hearted churchman set out on this, what in those days must have been a tremendous journey; one which then had probably never been made by any other Englishman before. What is more, he succeeded in reaching India and returning safely back again, bringing with him presents of spices and gems. Thus was Alfred's fame increased, and the existence of England made known, probably for the first time, in that empire where to-day the Saxon holds sovereign sway.
No Englishman of the Saxon period, except the venerable Bede, can be compared with Alfred for the extent and excellence of his writings. His works may be classified into two divisions; translations from the Latin, and original works in the mother tongue. Of the first the chief were, (1) Orosius' History; (2) St. Gregory's Pastorals; (3) St. Gregory's Dialogues; (4) Bede's History; (5) Boethiv's Consolations of Philosophy; (6) Laws of the Mercians; (7) Asser's Sentences; (8) The Psalms of David. Of the second, (1) An Abridgement of Laws of the Trojans, the Greek, the Britons, the Saxons, and the Danes; (2) Laws of the West Saxons; (3) Institutes; (4) A book against unjust Judges; (5) Sayings of the Wise; (6) A book on the fortunes of Kings; (7) Parables and Jokes; (8) Acts of Magistrates; (9) Collection of Chronicles; (10) Manual of Meditations.
(3). The Law-giver.
Great as he truly was as a warrior, it was in the arts of peace that Alfred pre-eminently excelled. In every interval of repose allowed by his Norsemen foes, he occupied his mind in devising means for the improvement of the moral and physical condition of the people. He introduced the use of stone for building purposes and taught them how to erect houses such as he had seen in Rome and Milan. He never rebuilt a town without giving it a good capacious school, and he was also a great founder and restorer of churches and monasteries. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that he occupied himself largely with matters pertaining to legislation. Whenever he re-edified a town, he gave the people rules for re-modelling their municipal institutions, thus training them for self-government. As will be perceived from the list given above, his original writings were largely made up of abridgements of laws and the like. Of course there had been legal codes in existence in England before the days of Alfred. Ethelbert, King of Kent; Ina, King of Wessex; Offa, King of Mercia; besides other, had promulgated codes of law, or dooms; but all law and order had been destroyed during the dark times of the Danish inroads. Alfred collected the codes of his predecessors, and without apparently adding much of his own, compiled a very intelligible and consistent system of laws, which he submitted to the Witenagemot for sanction. Alfred was not a great advocate of innovation; as he states, he thought it better to allow an old law to stand in force, even if it were somewhat defective, rather than endanger the respect for constituted authority. His ideal was simplicity of construction, combined with impartiality of administration. According to Asser, he exercised vigilant supervision over the judges; the courts were improved, and a general legal reform took place all round. With that religiousness characteristic of the man, and recognising that if all the divine laws were duly observed, there would be but little necessity for those of human origin, he opened his code with the ten commandments, a selection from the Mosaic precepts, and clauses of the first apostolic councils. "Do these," he said, "and no other doom-book will be needed."
In summing up Alfred's character it would not be fair to seek to hide his faults. His was not that ideal perfection which some of his panegyrists would have us believe. He had his faults and failings, some of which adhered to him during the whole of his life. He continued, for instance, more fond of warfare than was consistent with the duty of a Christian monarch. Still, he possessed within him the only germs of real improvement, a consciousness of his own imperfections and insufficiency. And when we compare him with his contemporaries, after making all allowance for his shortcomings, still the true greatness of his character remains untouched. His achievements stand out all the more markedly, when it is considered that all his bodily and mental activities were carried on under the depressing influences of constant ill-health and physical pain. About the age of twenty, he was affected with an inward malady, the nature of which was beyond the knowledge of the physicians of the times. This disease never quitted him, it haunted him life long.
Whatever his minor faults may have been, no monarch who has had the title of "Great" attached to his name, has ever been more worthy of it. All historians combine in representing him as one of the noblest sovereigns that ever wore a crown. The shepherd of his people, "the darling of the English;" whose praises the Laureate has lately sung, the industrious prince, expired in the month of November, 901, on the festival of S.S. Simon and Jude, in the fifty-third year of his age, and was buried at Winchester, in a monastery he himself had founded. His memory is still preserved at his native place, Wantage. The site of the royal palace of the Wessex kings is pointed out in the High Garden, and a magnificent statue of "England's darling," executed by Count Gleichen in Sicilian marble has been presented to the town by Lord Wantage, and erected in the Market Place. Alfred's laurels will not fail while England lasts.
The Guilds of Berkshire
By the Rev. P.H. Ditchfield. m.a., f.s.a
In studying the history of our progress and civilization, we find no subject more interesting than the nature and constitution of certain associations which have played no small part in the making of England – the ancient guilds. At one time they exercised almost universal sway, and in small country villages, as well as in the towns and cities, there were few who did not belong to some guild. We find in them the origin of many of the privileges and institutions which we now enjoy; from them arose the municipal corporations of our towns; and by them were our trade and commerce protected in times of lawlessness and oppression.
The whole subject of the early history of guilds is shrouded in obscurity. What was the origin of the early religious guilds; how the frith guilds came into existence; the relation of the merchant guilds to the craft guilds; how far the government of the town was placed in the hands of the former; and when the merchant guild became the sole governing body, the forerunner of the municipal corporation – all these are questions, the answers to which can only be conjectured.
The word guild is probably derived from the Saxon word geldan or gildan, which means "to pay," and signifies that the members of the association were required to contribute something towards the support of the brotherhood to which they belonged. The early guilds were of the nature of clubs, and consisted of bodies of men united together under oath for their mutual benefit, and for a common purpose. The character and nature of these clubs differed widely, and I will state as briefly as possible the various kinds of guilds which have existed in our country. In Roman times there were the collegia opificum which were firmly established in this country during the period of the Roman occupation. These colleges were corporations which could hold property, had regular constitutions, presidents and senators, treasurers and sub-treasurers, priests and temples. Each had its curia, or senate house, its common arca, or chest, its archives and banners. It constituted a kind of "Sick and Burial Club" for its members, and on two special days —dies violarum and dies rosæ– the sodales met at the sepulchre of departed brethren to commemorate their loss, and to deck their tombs with violets and roses, an offering pleasing to the spirit of the manes, at Silchester, when it was a large and flourishing city, there would certainly be such a college or corporation.
During the Anglo Saxon period guilds certainly flourished in this country, and since Reading was, as Asser states, a royal city, and an important centre of the West Saxon kingdom, there was, doubtless, an Anglo Saxon guild here;3 but few traces of Saxon Reading remain, as the place was completely destroyed by the Danes. When we examine the rules and regulations of the Saxon guilds, we are astonished at the high state of civilisation which they disclose. They resembled in some respects our modern friendly societies, and provided a scheme of mutual assurance for the members. I will take the Exeter guild for an example, which, as in the case of all these early guilds, was of a religious type. At a meeting held in the city of Exeter "for the sake of God and our souls, that we may make such ordinances as tend to our welfare and security, as well in this life as in that future state which we wish to enjoy in the presence of God, our Judge, therefore, here assembled, we have decreed: —
"That three stated meetings shall be held every year. 1st, on Festival of St. Michael the Archangel; 2nd, on Feast of St. Mary, next following winter solstice; and 3rd, on Feast of All Saints', which is celebrated after Easter.
"That at every meeting every member shall contribute two sextaria of barley meal, and every knight, one, together with his quota of honey.
"That at each meeting a priest shall sing two masses; one for living, the other for the dead. Every lay brother shall sing two psalms: one for living, and other for departed members. Everyone shall moreover in his turn procure six masses and six psalms, to be sung at his own proper expense.
"That when any member is about to go abroad, each of his fellow members shall contribute 5d.: and if any member's house shall have been burned, one penny."
Fines were inflicted for non-attendance, for abusive conduct, and "finally we beseech every member, for God's sake, to observe these things which are ordained in this society, in everything, as we have ordained them, and may God help us to observe them."
Mr. Toulmin Smith writes thus concerning these old Saxon guilds: – "The early English guild was an institution of local self-help, which, before Poor-laws were invented, took the place, in old times, of the modern friendly societies, but with a higher aim; while it joined all classes together in a care for the needy, and for objects of common welfare, it did not neglect the form and practice of religion, justice, and morality."
One of the objects of the London guild (tenth century) was the recovery of stolen stock and slaves, and if these could not be recovered the brethren subscribed to make up the loss to the owner. A horse was valued at ½ pound, a cow at 20d., a hog at 10d., a sheep at 1s., a slave at ½ pound. If the slave has stolen himself he shall be stoned, and every brother shall subscribe 1d. or 1/2d. to make good the loss. Whether there was ever a Danish guild in Reading it is impossible to determine. There was a noted one at Abbotsbury (Dorset), founded by Orcy, a friend of King Canute, 1030 A.D. The guild ordinance is quoted in Kemble's "Saxons in England," p. 511.
The brethren were required to contribute wax, bread, wheat, and wood. The wax was for the maintainance of lights in the Minster. Members were required to contribute to the comforts of the dying, and to attend the burial and pray for the souls of departed members.
We have a picture of later Saxon Reading recorded in the pages of Doomsday Book. It contained only thirty homesteads, with two better class of houses, two mills, and two fisheries. The Danes had attacked it a second time in 1006, and it had not recovered from that disaster; so in such a small community, although a guild at this period existed, it must have been a very small company indeed.
But after the Conquest guilds began to multiply, and were established for the purpose of promoting religion, charity, and trade. There were the frith guilds, formed for the promotion of peace, and the establishment of law and order: the religious guilds, which used to hold a festival on the day of the patron saint of the guild, attend church, and perform a miracle play. In the Liber Niger, or Black Book, of the Corporation of London, there is a description of the anniversary feast of the guild of the Holy Cross at Abingdon. "The fraternity hold their feast on May 3rd, the invention of the Holy Cross; and then they used to have 12 priests to sing a Dirge, for which they paid 4d. apiece; thay had also 12 minstrels, who had 2s. 3d. besides their dyet and horse meat. In 1445 they had 6 calves at 2s. 2d. each, 16 lambs at 12d., 80 capons at 3d., 80 geese at 2d., 800 eggs which cost 5d. the hundred, and many marrow bones, cream, and flour; and pageants, plays, and May games to captivate the senses of the beholders." This was a strong and powerful guild, formed in 1389, and incorporated in 1442, being endowed with lands for the purpose of keeping in order the roads between Abingdon and Dorchester, and building an almshouse. In 1539 they erected an aisle in St. Helen's Church, Abingdon, and also a market cross of freestone, pronounced by Leland "to be not inferior in workmanship to many in England." The hospital of the brotherhood of the Holy Cross still remains. It was founded in the middle of the fourteenth century, a very interesting low brick and timber house, containing several good paintings.
Then there were the guilds of the Kalendars, which were principally composed of the clergy, and one of their duties was to keep a public record of events, to superintend and regulate a library open to all citizens, and to explain to those who required such assistance, any difficulties that may arise in these matters. They, too, did not forget the periodical feasts. Then there were social guilds, composed chiefly of laymen, for objects of good fellowship, benevolence, and thrift.
And now we come to a very important class, the Merchant guilds. These existed in Saxon times, and were formed for promoting the interests of particular trades, for the regulation of industry, for buying and selling; and very strict were the laws which they enforced, and merciless the restrictions which they placed upon all strangers who presumed to sell goods, and who did not belong to the guild. We shall notice some particular instances of these harsh rules which were in force in the town of Reading.
I find in the Report of the Historical Manuscripts Commission that there were five companies of the guild Mercatory at Reading. Originally these companies were separate institutions, which managed their own concerns, and were not concerned with the Municipal Government of the town. There were five wards, each ward having a trade guild attached to it. In course of time the guilds united for common purposes and formed the guild Mercatory, which asked and received charters from various kings, gradually acquired powers, privileges, lands, and property, and ultimately managed the whole municipal business, as well as their own trade concerns.
In regard to these guilds the first was the mercers' and drapers' company, which included the mercers, drapers, haberdashers, potuaries (or dealers in earthenware), chapmen, tailors, and cloth-drawers.
Of course no one was allowed to engage in any of these trades until he became a member of the guild; and to become a member he had to pay. The fines for admission varied from £4 for a mercer or draper, to £2 for a tailor. Very minute were the regulations of each guild. For example in this case, no "foreigner," not a member of the guild, was allowed to retail cloth in the town; for each offence he was required to pay 10s. One tradesman might not trespass on the privileges of another tradesman, for no mercer or tailor might retail cloth or woven hose, under penalty of 3s. 4d. each time, for that would interfere with the cloth-makers and haberdashers. No tailor might employ a journeyman to work except he gave him meat, drink, wages, and lodgings in his own house. Here is a curious regulation – no haberdasher, not being a freeman, was allowed to sell caps or hats (except straw hats) on forfeiture of 12d.
The second company was the cutlers and bell-founders company, which included seventeen other trades; besides cutlers and bell-founders, there were braziers, pewterers, smiths, pinners, barbers, carpenters, joiners, fletchers (arrow-makers), wheelers, basket-makers, coopers, sawyers, bricklayers, card-makers (i. e., wool combers' cards), turners, plumbers, painters, and glaziers. The barbers were subject to special regulations. No barber who was a stranger was allowed to draw teeth in any part of the town except in a barber's shop; and any barber shaving, trimming, dressing, or cutting any person on Sunday, except on the four fair days, should forfeit for each time, 12d.
The following curious bye-law was made by the Corporation in 1443, at the commencement of the dispute between the rival Houses of York and Lancaster, and was probably intended to prevent unlawful meetings taking place under the mask of a barber's shop. "The Mayor and burgesses of Reading, grant and ordain that from this time forward, no barber of Reading open any shop nor shave any man after ten of the clock at night, between Easter and Michaelmas, nor after nine of the clock at night, from Michaelmas to Easter, but if (i. e., except) it be any stranger or worthy man (i. e., gentleman) of this town, he shall pay 300 tiles to the Guildhall of Reading, as often times he is found faulty, to be received by the cofferers for the time being."
Perhaps some of my readers may be astonished at the peculiar form of this fine. It is not usual to pay fines in this form of tiles! But it may be accounted for by the fact that thatch was beginning to be superseded by tile roofs. The public buildings were roofed with lead, but almost all private houses were thatched. Hence there was much danger from fire, and the Corporation wisely determined to encourage the employment of a safer material for the roofing of Reading houses. The poor barbers had to pay their fines in tiles, and very soon we find that one John Bristol was fined 2,100 tiles for shaving seven persons contrary to the order, but the number of tiles was reduced to 1,200 on account of his poverty.