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cup-bearer whose foot slips into no less a person than the Earl of the East-Angles. One wonders that the legend of the quarrel between Harold and Tostig was not dragged in here also.

After all this, it is with some relief that one turns to honest Wace (10595), who at least had the manliness to confess that there were things which he did not know;

"Gwine poiz remist issi,

Li Reiz en paiz le cunsenti.

Jo ne sai cumbien i dura,

Maiz jo sai bien k'il s'estrangla

D'un morsel ke li Roiz chigna
Al' aünie ù il mainga."

Such is the rise and progress of this famous legend. I venture to think that a better instance of the gradual growth of fiction is hardly to be found in the whole range of mythology.

NOTE EE. p. 242.

THE WAR WITH MACBETH.

SEVERAL points of dispute are opened by Siward's expedition against Macbeth. In the popular story Macbeth is killed in the battle fought by Siward, and the immediate result is that Malcolm is put into full possession of the Kingdom of Scotland. On the other hand, authentic history makes Malcolm wage a much longer struggle, as I have mentioned in the text. The point which is left obscure is what share the English allies of Malcolm took in the war after the defeat of Macbeth by Siward.

On the other hand, a question has been raised by Mr. E. W. Robertson, whether the expedition of Siward had anything at all to do with the restoration of Malcolm. I cannot look on this question as much more than a cavil; still it may be as well to state the objection and the answer to it, as coming first in chronological order, before examining the other points.

1. The objection brought by Mr. Robertson (Scotland under her Early Kings, i. 122, 123) against the commonly received view as to the objects of Siward's expedition seems to rest on no ground except that, as he says, "neither the contemporary Irish annalist, nor the two MSS. of the Chronicle which describe the expedition of Siward, allude to any cause for it, or note any result beyond the immense booty acquired." "They never," he adds, "mention the name of Malcolm or of the Confessor." Elsewhere (ii. 400) Mr. Robertson calls it an "expedition which appears to have been directed against Macbeth on account of the protection he has afforded to the Norman favourites of the Confessor." Now this last explanation is a mere conjecture of Mr. Robertson's own. There is not a scrap of evidence in support of it, while on the other side we have the distinct statement of Florence. Florence tells us directly that one object at least of Siward's expedition was the restoration of Malcolm ("Malcolmum, Regis Cumbrorum filium, ut Rex jusserat, Regem constituit "). He is followed, in nearly the same words, by the Manx Chronicler (1035, Munch, p. 3). He is confirmed also by the Durham Annals, 1054; "Siwardus fugato Macbeth posuit Malcolmen regem." Mr. Robertson's conjecture seems to me to be not only unsupported, but utterly improbable. There is nothing to show that Macbeth had given any further offence by receiving the Norman exiles. They had been allowed to go peaceably into Scotland (see above, p. 230), and some of them had actually been recalled to England. That, being

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in Scotland, they fought on the Scottish side, does not prove that the war was in any way waged against them. To fight on behalf of the side on which they found themselves for the moment was only the natural conduct of Normans anywhere. And besides all this, the whole story of these Norman exiles rests on the authority of Florence. It is from him alone that we learn that they took any part in the battle, or indeed that there were any Norman exiles in Scotland at all. If the authority of Florence is good to prove these points, it is surely equally good to prove the objects of the expedition. And it is not merely the authority of Florence; it is Florence confirmed by Simeon of Durham, our best authority for all Northern matters (see X Scriptt. 187). That the Chronicles are silent on some points, that the Peterborough Chronicle is silent altogether, will amaze no one who remembers how capriciously Scottish and Northumbrian affairs are entered or not entered in our national annals. The Abingdon and Worcester Chroniclers were struck with the general greatness of Siward's exploit, but the cause of Malcolm had no interest for them. The Peterborough Chronicler, the sworn partizan of the house of Godwine, did not trouble himself to take any notice of an event which neither enhanced the glory of Harold nor touched the interests of his own abbey. But the fact that Simeon held Florence's narrative to be worth copying without addition or alteration at once stamps its authenticity. Simeon's approval at once sets aside all negative arguments, all talk about the "misrepresentations of Anglo-Norman writers," whoever may be meant by that name. Mr. Burton (i. 373) seems to have no doubt about the matter.

66

2. The nature of Siward's troops is well marked in the language of the different accounts. The here and fyrd are clearly distinguished. The Worcester Chronicle (1054) says, "Her ferde Siward Eorl mid miclum here on Scotland, ægter ge mid sciphere and mid landfyrde." This Florence translates, Strenuus Dux Northhymbrorum Siwardus, jussu Regis, cum equestri exercitu et classe validâ Scottiam adiit." Then, in describing the slaughter of the English, Abingdon says, "Eac feol mycel on his [Siwardes] healfe agter ge Densce ge Englisce." So Florence, "Multi Anglorum et Danorum ceciderunt." The Worcester Chronicle says, 66 And of his [Siwardes] buscarla and of þæs cynges wurdon þær ofslægene." I take the here, the housecarls, and the equestris exercitus, all to be the same thing, and I take the "Danish and English" of one account to answer to the "Housecarls of the Earl and of the King" in the other. The Housecarls were doubtless an 66 equestris exercitus" in the sense of which I spoke in vol. i. P. 339. They did not fight on horseback, but they, or many of them, rode to battle (see also vol. i. p. 183), while the levies of the shires, no doubt, for the most part walked. The King's Housecarls, we see, were wholly or mainly Englishmen, chiefly no doubt West-Saxons; those of the Earl would doubtless be Danes in the sense of being inhabitants of the Denalagu, some perhaps in the sense of being actually adventurers from Denmark. Housecarls now clearly take the place of the old comitatus; the stress of the battle now falls mainly on them, just as of old it fell on the noble youths who fought around Brihtnoth (see vol. i. pp. 58, 185, 297). So, on the Scottish side, we read in the Worcester Chronicle that Siward “feaht wið Scottas... and ofsloh eall þæt þer betst was on pam lande." The special mention of the Normans comes from Florence; "Multis millibus Scottorum, et Nortmannis omnibus, quorum supra fecimus mentionem, occisis." The Ff

VOL. II.

The

Ulster Annalist (Johnstone, 69; O'Conor, Rer. Hib. Scriptt. iv. 334) speaks of this battle as "proelium inter viros Albaniæ et Saxones." He even undertakes to give us the numbers of the slain, three thousand on the Scottish side, and fifteen hundred "Saxons."

3. That Siward lost a son in the battle is asserted by the Abingdon Chronicler and by Florence; but they do not give his name. The Worcester writer is more express. Among the slain were "his sunu Osbarn and his sweoster sunu Sihward." The story of Siward asking about his son's wounds is told, and well told, by Henry of Huntingdon (M. H. B. 760 A) and Bromton (X Scriptt. 946). But Henry carries back the story to the year 1052, and both he and Bromton conceive Osbeorn Bulax, as Bromton calls him, to have died in an earlier expedition in which his father had no share. Siward, hearing a satisfactory report of the manner of his son's death, goes in person and avenges him ("Siwardus igitur in Scotiam proficiscens, Regem bello vicit, regnum totum destruxit, destructum sibi subjugavit "). If there is any meaning in this wild exaggeration, the subjection of Scotland to Siward must mean the establishment of Siward's kinsman Malcolm as King. But it is hard to make the story of Osbeorn's death and Siward's inquiries fit in with the fact that Osbeorn died in a battle in which Siward himself was present. According to the analogies of Maldon and Senlac, the Earl, his son, and his nephew would stand near together in the fight, and there would be no need of messengers to announce the manner of Osbeorn's death.

Bromton has also preserved another tradition about the death of Osbeorn, which is palpably mythical as it stands, but which seems, in common with several other hints, to point to a strong feeling of disaffection towards Siward as rife in Northumberland. Siward goes into Scotland, leaving Osbeorn as his representative in his Earldom. After his victory he hears that the Northumbrians have revolted and killed his son. He then, in his wrath, performs an exploit like that of Roland in the Pyrenees ("Siwardus inde iratus in scopulo adhuc patente cum securi percussit "); he gives Scotland to Donald (inaccurately for Malcolm), and returns to Northumberland to take a stern vengeance on his enemies ("patriam rediit et inimicos suos in ore gladii percussit ").

Shakespere, it must not be forgotten, confounds Siward's son Osbeorn with his nephew the younger Siward, unless indeed he thought that Siward was a surname, and that "young Siward" was the proper description of the son of old Siward. The description of Macbeth's wife as "Lady Macbeth" looks like it.

4. As to the result of the battle, there can be no doubt. Macbeth was defeated, but not killed. But the false account followed by Shakespere is as old as William of Malmesbury. He speaks (ii. 196) of "Siwardus Northimbrensium [Comes], qui jussu ejus [Edwardi] cum Scotorum Rege Macbethâ congressus, vitá regnoque spoliavit, ibidemque Malcolmum, filium Regis Cumbrorum, Regem instituit." It is singular that William should have fallen into an error which not only contradicts the earlier authorities, but which has been avoided by many writers much later and more careless than himself. The agreement on this head is complete. The escape of Macbeth is implied in the words of the Worcester Chronicle ("Siward... feaht wie Scottas and aflymde pone kyng Macbeoxen ") and of Florence ("illum fugavit "); and it is still plainer in the Abingdon version

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("Siward... mycel wal of Scottum gesloh, and hig aflymde, and se cing ætbærst") and in the Biographer ("Rex Scottorum nomine barbarus... a Siwardo Duce usque ad internecionem pene suorum devictus et in obscænam fugam est versus." p. 416). The story in Henry of Huntingdon and Bromton, as we have seen, speaks only of a victory over Macbeth, not of his death. Fordun (v. 7) is equally clear. He quotes and rejects William of Malmesbury's account, and tells us that Macbeth "partibus subito relictis australibus boreales petiit, ubi terrarum angustis anfractibus et silvarum abditis tutius sperabat se tueri." He adds that the Scots, unwilling to fight against Malcolm, fled at the first sound of the trumpet, quite another picture from the hard fought fight spoken of by the English and Irish writers.

5. The distinct statement of Florence that Siward made Malcolm King ("Regem constituit") does not seem to me to be at all contradicted by the facts that the war lingered on several years, and that Malcolm was not solemnly crowned at Scone till after the death of the competitor who succeeded Macbeth. The result of the battle doubtless was that Malcolm was acknowledged King of Scots by the English King, by his own English subjects in Lothian, and probably by the southern parts of Scotland proper ("partes australes" in Fordun just above). But the war still went on in the North. It is worth notice that Florence is satisfied with the practical expression of Eadward's supremacy—“ ut Rex jusserat, Regem constituit." But Roger of Wendover (i. 493), in whose time the homage of Scotland was becoming a matter of debate, is more special and more feudal in his language. He improves the statement of Florence into "Rex regnum Scotiæ dedit Malcolmo, Cumbrorum Regis filio, de se tenendum."

6. The remaining events of the war I have described in the text. Our accounts are very meagre, but there can be little doubt that Malcolm continued to be powerfully supported by English help under Tostig, the successor of Siward. That such was the case is distinctly affirmed by Eadward's Biographer (416), though, as usual, he wraps his story in such a cloud of words that we cannot make out much as to time, place, or circumstance. Macbeth, the King whose barbarous name he cannot write or remember, was first ("primum") defeated by Siward, then by Tostig. "Secundo, ducatum agente Duce Tostino, quum eum Scotti intentatum haberent, et ob hoc in minori pretio habitum, latrocinio potius quam bello sæpius lacesserent; incertum genus hominum, silvisque potius quam campo, fugæ quoque magis fidens quam audaciæ virili in prælio, tam prudenti astutiâ quam virtute bellicâ et hostili expeditione, cum salute suorum prædictus Dux attrivit, ut cum Rege eorum delegerint ei Regique Ædwardo magis servire quam rebellare, id quoque per datos obsides ratum facere." He then formally declines to go further into the matter. The meaning of the passage is by no means clear. Indeed I do not feel certain whether the Biographer has not confounded Macbeth and Malcolm. It is hard to conceive any time when Macbeth can have given hostages; Macbeth may have done. so on his first appointment, or it is possible, though we have no other account of it, that Malcolm's raid in 1061 may have been avenged by a Scottish expedition on the part of Tostig (see p. 306). The Biographer's authority on these matters, which he seems purposely to slight, is far from being so great as it is when he is dealing with those affairs of the Court which went on under his own eye. Still his account shows that a Scottish war of some sort or other, whether against Macbeth or against Malcolm, went on under Tostig as well as under Siward.

The sworn brotherhood again between Tostig and Malcolm (see pp. 256, 306) can hardly have any other reference than to a joint war against Macbeth. There is also a statement in Fordun (v. 8), which, though utterly confused as it stands, may probably help us to an important fact. Fordun clearly conceived Siward as continuing to wage war in Scotland after the battle of 1054, for he describes him as being summoned back by Eadward to help in the war against Gruffydd, after the destruction of Hereford in 1055 ("Hoc statim Siwardus, postquam a suo Rege per certum audierat nuncium, confestim jussus domi rediit, nequaquam ulterius Malcolmo ferre præsidium rediturus"). Now Siward died in 1055, before the war in Herefordshire began ; but, if we read Tostig instead of Siward, a summons to the . Welsh war is in every way probable.

Fordun, though he preserves the fact of Macbeth's escape from the battle of 1054, confounds that battle with the battle of Lumfanan in 1058, and places them together in 1056, on December 5th (v. 7). Nevertheless he makes (v. 8) the battle to have happened at the same time as Gruffydd's destruction of Hereford in 1055. But Siward's battle is fixed by the English Chronicles to 1054, and the battle in which Macbeth died is equally fixed by the Irish Chronicles to 1058. So the Ulster Annals; "Macbeath filius Finnliachi, supremus Rex Albaniæ, occisus est a Malcolmo filio Donnchadi in prœlio.' (See also Robertson, i. 123.; Burton, i. 373.) The successor of Macbeth is called by Fordun (v. 8) 66 suus [Machabei] consobrinus, nomine Lulach, cognomine Fatuus." Tigernach calls him "Lulacus Rex Albaniæ," and fixes his death, which was 66 per dolum," to 1058. The Ulster Annals call him "Mac Gil Comgen" (see Robertson, i. 120). Mr. Burton (i. 374) calls him a son of Gruach. The coronation of Malcolm comes from Fordun (v. 9). Cf. O'Conor's note on the Ulster Annals, Rer. Hib. Scriptt. iv. 338.

NOTE FF. pp. 245, 273.

THE MISSION OF EALDRED AND THE RETURN OF THE
ETHELING EADWARD.

THE Sources of our information with regard to Bishop Ealdred's mission to the Imperial Court curiously illustrate the occasionally deficient nature of our authorities, and the way in which one writer fills up gaps in another. The mission of Ealdred in 1054 and the return of the Ætheling in 1057 are both of them distinctly recorded in our national Chronicles. They are indeed much more than recorded; each event finds at least one Chronicler to dwell upon it with special interest. But from the Chronicles alone we should never find out that there was any connexion between the two events. The coming of the Etheling is recorded by the Peterborough writer, and it attracts the special attention of his Worcester brother, who bursts into song on the occasion. But there is not a word in either to connect his coming with the German mission of Ealdred. About that mission the Peterborough writer is silent, just as he is silent about the Scottish war of Siward. Abingdon (1054) records Ealdred's journey, but says only, "On þam ylcan geare ferde Ealdred biscop suð ofer sæ into Sexlande, and wearð þær mid mycelre arwardnesse underfangen.' From this account we might guess, but we could do no more than guess, that Ealdred went in some public character. The Worcester writer is naturally fuller on the doings of his own Bishop; still what chiefly occupies his

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