Ancient peculiarities

of Kent.

Surrey.

alliance with the Danish kings, so much so that a treasure belonging to the Scandinavian monarch was permanently deposited thereeither concealed from the Norman, or so well guarded that the Norman dared not attack the hoard.

11. At the other extremity of Wessex, Kent retained its ancient boundaries since the first foundation of the kingdom; and even the division of the country into East and West Kent, or rather into the countries of the East Kentish men and West Kentish men, has existed from immemorial antiquity, though probably not exactly according to the modern boundary. A species of peculiar dignity seems to have been attached to this first seat of Anglo-Saxon power. From the reign of Egbert, the kingdom of Kent became an integral portion of the empire of Wessex, forming, nevertheless, an apanage held by the heir apparent to the crown; a separate, though subordinate kingdom, accepting the laws of Wessex upon such terms as appeared expedient to its own legislature, and, without doubt, retaining also all those traditional customs which formed the great basis of its common law. Surrey, or the Suthriga, which may be obscurely but distinctly traced as a separate kingdom, (though the foundation charter of Chertsey Abbey alone testifies the existence of Frithewald, its first known Subregulus,) and the adjoining kingdom

Of the other Hampshire.

of the South Saxons, seem to have become, in
some degree, annexed to Kent; the traditions
of history, if not its more authentic memorials,
seem to point out that the Earldom of Kent
was the earliest, and, as it were, the favourite
dignity which Godwin possessed.
portions of Wessex Proper, Hampshire, peopled
by the Jutes and Goths, Berks, and Wilts, and
Somerset, we can, anterior to the Danish Con-
quests, ascertain that they were subject to
subordinate chieftains; but these had all dis-
appeared, and Godwin ruled with immediate
authority over this, the centre of the Earldom.

term

Northum

§ 12. When we speak of Northumbria, we Meaning of must, in the first instance, entirely divest ourselves brin of the idea of the modern county bearing that name, and consider the country so designated, as extending from the Trent and Humber up to the Firth of Forth on the north, and to the boundaries of Mercia and the kingdom of Strath-Clyde on the west. Upon the first settlement of the Angles, it became divided into Deira, which included modern Yorkshire, and possibly the bishoprick of Durham, and Bernicia, all to the north of the Tees. Both became subjected to Ethelfrith, but they never seem to have been united into one sovereignty. The indiscriminate employment by the early historians of the term Northumbria, to designate both portions of the country, throws great obscurity upon a history, of which, after the

ment of Earldoms in

bright era of Bede, so few memorials are preserved. A line of Danish Kings became firmly established in no portion of England did their race become more predominant, and it always continued more distinctly separated than any other from the rest of the empire. As an Establish earldom, the succession began after the death the North. of Eric, and Oswulf appears as the first Earl of Bernicia, or Northumbria, north of the Tyne. Upon the death of Oswulf, Edgar, with the assent of the great council, divided his earldom into two: from the Humber to the Tees was bestowed upon Oslac, who was girt with the sword of the earldom: from the Tees, northward, as it should seem, perhaps to the Firth of Forth, was bestowed upon Eadulf Evilchild; whilst Lothian was granted to Kenneth, King of the Scots, to be held by homage, -a transaction of which more hereafter.

Northum

bria.

Uchtred, married to Elfgiva, the daughter of King Ethelred, received the investiture of the whole of his father's earldom from the king, who added thereto the Earldom of York; but Division of upon his death they became divided. Northumbria proper ultimately vested in Oswulf, whilst Deira became the Earldom of Siward, in right of Elfleda, the daughter of Aldred, Uchtred's eldest son. The fabulous genealogies of the north describe Siward as the son of a bear, a myth which at least describes his prowess and his ferocity. A Dane he certainly was, but, as we shall afterwards see, he showed great

dence of this

fidelity to the Confessor. The remoteness of Indepenthese carldoms from the seat of government, region. and the rugged character of the country itself, encouraged the national spirit of independence. The obedience rendered to the king was perhaps little more than nominal, and if the Conquest had not soon transferred the supremacy into more vigorous hands, it is probable that Northumbria, like Scotland, would again have become a realm claiming independence, and rivalling the supreme monarch of the empire.

Danes at

Grimsby.

York, the birthplace of Constantine, evi- York. dences now, even by the one mult-angular tower, its Roman dignity; but we believe that in case of all the burghs, the Danish influence was very overwhelming. They became nationalized as Danes, and of this also we find a singular proof in the privileges enjoyed by the Danish Burgh of Grimsby. However difficult Relics of the it may be to discover amidst the traditions of romance the real history of its founder, Grime, and the protection given by him to Havelok, the child of the Danish King, this now deserted port, which, in the twelfth century, was still the great emporium of the Baltic trade, enjoys, even at this moment, an exemption from toll at the port of Elsinore, in proof and testimony of its antient Danish consanguinity.

13. Legends and poems are almost the East Anglia. only memorials we possess of East Anglia. The Danes, under Guthrun, effecting a complete conquest, divided the land, and settled

Made an
Earldom.

Divided state of Scotland.

the country; and concurrently with the memorable treaty which fixed the boundaries of the Danelagh, Guthrun, or Gorp, was confirmed in the possession of East Anglia, to be held as a laen of the crown of Wessex. After the cessation of the line of Danish Kings, we find it held by Athelstan, distinguished either by the Anglo-Saxon title of Ealdorman, or the designation of Semi-rex, descriptive, no doubt, of his great authority. Under Cnut it was erected into an earldom; Thurkell, upon whom he bestowed it, appears as the most successful and the most ferocious of the Danish chieftains. The pirates of Jomsburg were celebrated for their stern and unsparing valour, and Thurkell did not belie the reputation of his compeers.

14. In speaking of Scotland, it is very important, in the first place, to recollect that at this period no such country properly existed. The Anglo-Saxon or English kingdom of Bernicia included the whole of the Lothians; and the royal seat of Kenneth M'Alpine, over whatever dominions he may have ruled, was beyond the Tweed. Colonies of Scandinavians were established in Caithness and Sutherland, and, as before mentioned, the British kingdom of Strath-Clyde extended, as its name indeed imports, to the river from which it is denominated, far into the heart of the modern Scotland. From the reign of Athelstan, we find the Kings of Scotland as the liegemen of the monarchs of