Nor by Stourmere but me shall weapons meet and to God they prayed one while a warrior teased, any steadfast hero and wend from the fight; he bade that warriors each Nought then feared he and he poured forth one while he on board shot, ever and anon he sold the while he weapons Then yet in rank stood ready and yearnful; that he would not flee overback to bow, He broke the board-wall and with the warriors fought, till he his gift-giver on the seamen ere he in slaughter lay. noble comrade, fought he earnestly, and so many other keen they were, and the hauberk sang There in the fight slew worthily wreaked, So did Etheric, eager forth to go, Sibriht's brother, clave the keeled board. burst they the boards, a grisly lay. Offa the seamen, till he on earth fell, the ground sought; Offa down hewn, that he his lord had pledged, with his ring-giver to the borough ride or in the host cringe of their wounds die. his lord hard by. seamen waded on, The spear oft waded through Forth then went Wistan with the warmen fought he, banesman of three of them, in slaughter low laid. stood they fast fighting they cringed, slaughter fell on earth all the while, the warriors trimmed; with words they bade, them should bear up, their weapons use. his board heaving; his ash he made quake; the warriors learned; heart shall the keener be, as our main lessens. all down hewn, and Gadda's kinsman as he ere agreed on the slaughter-place, Then were boards broken, he was in the throng, with their wounds weary; their fellow-kinsmen "Mind shall the harder be, mood shall the more be, Here lies our Elder, a good man in the dust; who now from this war-play I am old of life; and I by the half by such a loved man So Æthelgar's bairn Godric to battle: the death spear wound he COUNTRY LIFE AT THE END OF THE TENTH CENTURY. A MASTER IN A MONASTERY SCHOOL QUESTIONS HIS PUPIL'S COMPANIONS AND HIS PUPIL. Source.-Elfric's Colloquy. Thorpe's Analecta Anglo-Saxonica. Translated by W. THE PLOUGHMAN. Master.-Well, ploughman, how do you do your work? Ploughman.-O sir, I work very hard. I go out in the dawning, driving the oxen to the field, and I yoke them to the plough. Be the winter never so stark, I dare not stay at home, for fear of my lord; but, every day I must plough a full acre or more, after having yoked the oxen, and fastened the share and the coulter to the plough. Master. Have you any mate? Ploughman.—I have a boy, who drives the oxen with a goad, who is now however hoarse from cold and shouting. Master. What more do you do in the day? Ploughman.-Truly I do more. I must fill the mangers of the oxen with hay, and water them, and carry out the dung. Master.-Well, well, it is very hard work! Ploughman.-Yes, indeed, it is very hard work, because I am not free. THE SHEPHERD. Master. How say you, shepherd? Have you any work to do? Shepherd. Yes, indeed I have. Very early in the morning I drive my sheep to the lea, and stand over them in heat and in cold with my dogs, lest the wolves eat them up. And I drive them back to their folds, and milk them twice a day. And besides this, I move their folds, and I make cheese and butter, and I am true to my lord. THE OXHERD. Master. And what is your work, oxherd? Oxherd.-O, my lord, I work hard. When the ploughman unyokes the oxen, I lead them to the lea, and all the night I stand over them watching for thieves, and again, very early in the morning, I hand them over to the ploughman, weli fed and watered. THE HUNTSMAN. Master. How do you set about your craft? Huntsman.-I make me nets, and set them in a likely place, and drive on my hounds to chase the wild beasts until they come to the nets unawares, and so they are ensnared and I slay them in the nets. . . . Yes, I can hunt without nets. I follow the wild beasts with swift hounds. . . . I take hart, and boars, and does, and roes, and sometimes hares.. Master. What do you do with the spoils of your hunting? Huntsman. What I take I give to the king, because I am his huntsman. Master. What does he give you? Huntsman. He clothes me well and feeds me, and some times gives me a horse or a bracelet, that I may the more joyfully set about my craft. THE FISHERMAN. Master. What do you get by your craft? Master. How do you catch fish? Fisherman.-I get into my boat, and place my nets in the river, and I cast a hook and baskets, and I take whatever they hold. Master. What if they are unclean fishes? Fisherman.-The unclean I cast out, and take the clean for food. Master.-Where do you sell your fish? Fisherman. In the town. ... The townsmen buy them. I cannot catch as many as I can sell. Master. What sorts of fish do you catch? Fisherman.-Eels, and pike, minnows, eelpout, trout, and lamprey, and such sprats as swim in a river. Master. Why don't you fish in the sea? Fisherman.-Sometimes I do, but seldom, for it is a long row for me to the sea. Master. What do you catch in the sea? Fisherman.-Herrings, and salmon, porpoises, and sturgeon, oysters and crabs, mussels, periwinkles, cockles, plaice, and soles, and lobsters, and many such things. Master. Do you wish to catch a whale ? Fisherman.-No. Fisherman.-Because it is a dangerous thing to catch a whale. It is safer for me to go to the river with my boat than with many boats on a whale-hunt. to go Master.-Why so? Fisherman.-Because I would sooner catch a fish that I can slay than one who can sink or kill not me only but also my mates with one blow. Master. But, still, many catch whales, and escape the dangers, and obtain a great price therefor. Fisherman.-That's true, but I dare not, on account of the cowardliness of my mind. THE FOWLER. Master. What do you say, fowler? How do you snare birds? Fowler. I snare them in many ways: sometimes with nets, sometimes with nooses, sometimes with lime, sometimes by whistling, sometimes with a hawk, sometimes with traps. . . . Master.-How do you feed your hawks ? ... Fowler.-In winter they feed themselves and me; in Lent I let them fly away to the wood; and in autumn I catch young birds and tame them. Master. And why do you let those that you have tamed fly away from you? 449-1066 7 |