The story of King Alfred . kingdom of all Britain, and he ruled well andwisely over the just and the unjust for the rest of hisdays. In the midst of the great marsh of Sedge-more, now intersected by drains and ditches, thererises, as one drives from Bridgwater to Langport,a low but well-defined hill out of the flat. Thishill is Athelney; and here, amidst the swamps,impenetrable save to the country folk who knewthe way, and protected from the enemy by itsagues and fevers, Alfred found a place of refugefor himself, his queen, his children, and a smallfollowing. The Chronicle says that he con-str
The story of King Alfred . kingdom of all Britain, and he ruled well andwisely over the just and the unjust for the rest of hisdays. In the midst of the great marsh of Sedge-more, now intersected by drains and ditches, thererises, as one drives from Bridgwater to Langport,a low but well-defined hill out of the flat. Thishill is Athelney; and here, amidst the swamps,impenetrable save to the country folk who knewthe way, and protected from the enemy by itsagues and fevers, Alfred found a place of refugefor himself, his queen, his children, and a smallfollowing. The Chronicle says that he con-structed a fortress there. It may very well bethat he had learned the importance of a stockadefrom the Danes. He could depend upon noother help than that of the men of Somerset, afolk of the forest and the moor, a fisher folk, arough wild people, who were not daunted by thesuperior numbers of the enemy, nor by the terrorof their name, nor by their victorious invasion ofthe whole county. Jiilf 1; t:l ii, :|li ???!, q6 THE STORY OF KING ALFRED. Alfred, however, remained in Athelney untilsix weeks after Easter, which brings us to themonth of May or June. He was not wholly in-active; he was continually leading sallies againstthe enemy, surprising bodies of them, cuttingthem off, and coming upon them is also reasonable to suppose that he was send-ing out messengers to call only the fyrd, whereverthere was a chance of finding men still living andready to obey the summons. The renewal ofhostilities was not altogether the work of theking; had he not been backed by the tenacity,the obstinacy of a people who knew not whenthey were beaten, he would have effected leader of men, even if he be a Napoleon or aHannibal, is dependent on the courage of hismen. Then there came good news to Danish fleet of twenty-three ships had comefrom South Wales, where they had wintered, tothe coast of Devonshire, and on landing theenemy had been met and totally defeat
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbesantwa, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1902
