Part 40 (2/2)

Gregory;” and his ”Dialogue,” form portions of the works of this greatest of kings, and true father of his people. His ”Apologues,”

imitated from Aesop, are unfortunately lost.

ix The Court of Edred.

All the early chroniclers appear to take a similar view of the character and court of Edred. William of Malmesbury says--”The king devoted his life to G.o.d, and to St. Dunstan, by whose admonition he bore with patience his frequent bodily pains, prolonged his prayers, and made his palace altogether the school of virtue.” But although pious, he was by no means wanting in manly energy, as was shown by his vigorous and successful campaign in Northumbria, on the occasion of the attempt to set Eric, son of Harold, on the throne of Northumbria. The angelic apparition to St. Dunstan, mentioned in chapter VII, is told by nearly all the early historians, but with varying details. According to many, it occurred while Dunstan was hastening to the aid of Edred. The exigencies of the tale required a slightly different treatment of the legend.

x Confession in the Anglo-Saxon Church.

”On the week next before holy night shall every one go to his shrift (i.e. confessor), and his shrift shall shrive him in such a manner as his deeds which he hath done require and he shall charge all that belong to his district that if any of them have discord with any, he make peace with him; if any one will not be brought to this, then he shall not shrive him; [but] then he shall inform the bishop, that he may convert him to what is right, if he he willing to belong to G.o.d: then all contentions and disputes shall cease, and if there be any one of them that hath taken offence at another, then shall they be reconciled, that they may the more freely say in the Lord's Prayer, 'Forgive us our trespa.s.ses, as we forgive them that trespa.s.s against us,' etc. And having thus purified their minds, let them enter upon the holy fast-tide, and cleanse themselves by satisfaction against holy Easter, for this satisfaction is as it were a second baptism. As in Baptism the sins before committed are forgiven, so, by satisfaction, are the sins committed after Baptism.” Theodulf's Canons, A.D. 994 (Canon 36).

It is evident, says Johnson, that ”holy night” means ”lenten night,” as the context shows.

xi Incense in the Anglo-Saxon Church.

Dr. Rock, in his ”Hierurgia Anglicans,” states that incense was used at the Gospel. In vol. i., quoting from Ven. Bede, he writes--”Conveniunt omnes in ecclesium B. Petri ipse (Ceolfridas Abbas) thure incenso, et dicto oratione, ad altare pacem dat omnibus, stans in gradibus, thuribulum habens in menu.” In Leofric's Missal is a form for the blessing of incense. Theodore's Penitential also affixes a penance to its wilful or careless destruction. Ven. Bede on his deathbed gave away incense amongst his little parting presents, as his disciple, Cuthbert, relates. Amongst the furniture of the larger Anglo-Saxon churches was a huge censer hanging from the roof, which emitted fumes throughout the ma.s.s.

”Hic quoque thuribulum, capitellis undique cinctum, Pendet de summo, fumosa foramina pandens: De quibus ambrosia spirabunt thura Sabaea, Quando sacerdotes missas offerre jubentur.”

Alcuini _Opera_, B. ii,, p. 550.

xii Psalm xxi. 3.

xiii ”All were indignant at the shameless deed, and murmured amongst themselves,”--William of Malmesbury.

xiv The Welsh were driven from Exeter by King Athelstane; before that time, Englishmen and Welsh had inhabited it with equal rights.

xv The earliest inhabitants of Ireland were called Scots.

xvi Legends about St. Dunstan.

”It is a great pity,” says Mr. Freeman, in his valuable ”Old English History,” ”that so many strange stories are told about him [Dunstan], because people are apt to think of those stories and not of his real actions.” This has indeed been the case to such an extent that his talents, as a statesman and as an ecclesiastical legislator, are almost unknown to many who are very familiar with the story of his seizing the devil by the nose with a pair of tongs. Sir Francis Palgrave supposes that St. Dunstan's seclusion at the time had led him to believe, like so many solitaries, that he was attacked in person by the fiend, and that he related his visions, which were accepted as absolute facts by his credulous hearers. Hence the author has a.s.sumed the currency of some of these marvellous legends in his tale, and has introduced a later one into the text of the present chapter. But the whole life of the saint, as related by his monkish biographers, is literally full of such legends, some terrible, some ludicrous. One of the most remarkable deserves mention, bearing, as it does, upon our tale. It is said that he learned that Edwy was dead, and that the devils were about to carry off his soul in triumph, when, falling to fervent prayer, he obtained his release. A most curious colloquy between the abbot and the devils on this subject may be found in Osberne's ”Life of Dunstan.”

xvii The Benedictine Rule.

St. Benedict, the founder of the great Benedictine Order, was born in the neighbourhood of Nursia, a city of Italy, about A.D. 480. Sent to study at Rome, he was shocked at the vices of his fellow students, ran away from the city, and shut himself up in a hermitage, where he resigned himself to a life of the strictest austerity. Three years he spent in a cave near Subiaco, about forty miles from Rome, where he was so removed from society that he lost all account of time. He did not, however, lead an idle life of self contemplation; he instructed the shepherds of he neighbourhood, and such were the results of his instruction that his fame spread widely, until, the abbot of a neighbouring monastery dying, the brethren almost compelled him to become their superior, but, not liking the reforms he introduced, subsequently endeavoured to poison him, whereupon he returned to his cave, where, as St. Gregory says, ”he dwelt with himself” and became more celebrated than ever. After this the number of his disciples increased so greatly, that, emerging from his solitude, he built twelve monasteries, in each of which he placed twelve monks under a superior, finally laying the foundation of the great monastery of Monte Ca.s.sino, which has ever since been regarded as the central inst.i.tution of the order.

Here was drawn up the famous Benedictine rule, which was far more adapted than any other code to prevent the cloister from becoming the abode of idleness or lascivious ease. To the three vows of poverty, chast.i.ty, and obedience, was added the obligation of manual labour, the brethren being required to work with their hands at least seven hours daily. The profession for life was preceded by a novitiate of one year, during which the rule was deeply studied by the novice, that the life vow might not be taken without due consideration. The colour of the habit was usually dark, hence the brethren were called the Black Monks.

St. Benedict died of a fever, which he caught in ministering to the poor, on the eve of Pa.s.sion Sunday, A.D. 543. Before his death, the houses of the order were to be found in all parts of Europe, and by the ninth century it had become general throughout the Church, almost superseding all other orders.

xviii The Roman Roads.

Roman roads were thus constructed: Two shallow trenches were dug parallel to each other, marking the breadth of the proposed road; the loose earth was removed till a solid foundation was reached, and above this were laid four distinct strata--the first of small broken stones, the second of rubble, the third of fragments of bricks or pottery, and the fourth the pavement, composed of large blocks of solid stone, so joined as to present a perfectly even surface. Regular footpaths were raised on each side, and covered with gravel. Milestones divided them accurately. Mountains were pierced by cuttings or tunnels, and arches thrown over valleys or streams. Upon these roads, posting houses existed at intervals of six miles, each provided with forty horses, so that journeys of more than 150 miles were sometimes accomplished in one day.

From the arrival of our uncivilised anceators, these magnificent roads were left to ruin and decay, and sometimes became the quarry whence the thane or baron drew stones for his castle; but they still formed the channels of communication for centuries. Henry of Huntingdon (circa 1154) mentions the Icknield Street, from east to west; the Eringe, or Ermine Street, from south to north; the Watling Street, from southeast to northwest; and the Foss Way, from northeast to southwest, as the four princ.i.p.al highways of Britain in his day. Once ruined, no communications so perfect existed until these days of railroads.

xix The Rollright Stones.

These stones are still to be seen in the parish of Great Rollright near Chipping Norton, Oxon, anciently Rollrich or Rholdrwygg. They lie on the edge of an old Roman trackway, well defined, which extends along the watershed between Thames and Avon. The writer has himself heard from the rustics of the neighbourhood the explanation given by Oswy, while that put in the mouth of Father Cuthbert is the opinion of the learned.

xx For this new translation of Urbs beata the author is indebted to his friend the Rev. Gerald Moultrie.

xxi The reader will remember the strong feeling of animosity then existing between seculars and regulars.

xxii This demoniacal laughter is one of the many legends about St. Dunstan.

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