CHAPTER III
DEATH OF ALCA
It was in the autumn of the year 603 that the battle was fought which finally settled the question of supremacy between Scots and English. Sivel had already introduced the system of counting time Anno Domini among the associates of the Coelred–Gemót, which was a valuable help to them, both in discussing the past and forecasting the future. This year was a great epoch in their lives. Lilla and Bassus were comparatively veterans. All the rest were about to fight in their first battle.
Ethelfrith's army was in the upper part of the Eden valley. It was known that a mighty host was being led by Ædan and by Hering the son of Hussa up the course of the river. Bassus had arranged with his friends that strong parties of scouts should be thrown out to watch the movements of the enemy. They were led by Forthere, Godric, and Sivel. After a few days Forthere came back with the news that a large body of the enemy, apparently nearly half their army, had been detached, and was marching up the hills to the west. "Our plan works," said Bassus to Lilla, "just as the plan of Narses worked, our great master in the art of war." "But," said Lilla, "the King's brother is not another John the Prefect. The reckless Theobald will never avoid an action." An hour afterwards Ethelfrith sent a message to his brother with reiterated commands to retreat before the advancing foe. Then the English host, by rapid marches, hurried down the valley and attacked the weakened army of Ædan with overwhelming force. The result was never doubtful. The Scots were nearly exterminated, and Ædan fled almost alone from the field. After two days to rest and recruit their strength, the English warriors were fresh and ready to complete their work. Then a messenger arrived with the news that Theobald had refused to obey his brother's orders. He would retreat before no man, he declared. He attacked the superior force of the enemy when weather and ground and everything was against him. He gave himself no chance. There was a desperate fight, followed by the death of Theobald and a prodigious slaughter of the Bernicians. But the Scots were reported to be much weakened and worn out with long marches.
"Now for the final blow," said Bassus. The scouts, under the direction of Forthere, kept him well informed of the movements of the enemy and the nature of the ground. The Scots were marching so as to expose their flank. At the right moment the English army was set in motion and came upon the enemy at a place which was long famous, called Degsastan. The remnant of the army of the Scots was here literally annihilated.
The news of this great victory spread over the island. It was thought that no leader so skilful and prudent, so wise and valorous, had ever been known in England as Ethelfrith the Wild. The fame of his generalship continued long. A hundred years afterwards the Venerable Bede declared that Ethelfrith "ravaged the Britons more than all the great men of the English, insomuch that he might be compared to Saul. To him might justly be applied the saying of the Patriarch, 'Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.' He was a most worthy king, and ambitious of glory." Lilla and Bassus, the real generals, had far more precious fame in the praise of the Queen, and the full and ample reward of all the friends was in the approval and smiles of Alca. Bede says that "from that time no King of the Scots dared to come into Britain to make war on the English to this day."
For the next few years all the leaders in the service of Ethelfrith had much harassing work in repelling incursions from the direction of Strathclyde, and it became known that the King of Gwynedd was assembling a great army to stake his fortune where the Scots had failed. His standard was raised at Chester. Bassus was deeply impressed with the maxim that knowledge was power. He acquired a minute personal acquaintance with the routes across the moors to Chester. Forthere again commanded the bands of scouts, and kept Lilla and Bassus well informed of the numbers and movements of the enemy. There was no difficulty in marching through Elmet, as old Certicus was neutral, indeed he had only too good an understanding with Ethelfrith. The English army was assembled at York. The Deiran chiefs were at the head of their people, who were more numerous than the Bernicians, the latter having suffered severely in the war with the Scots.
Lilla and Bassus explained their plans to the Queen, and a few days afterwards Ethelfrith announced them in council as his own. That wild King was managed with consummate tact. The march was made direct over the moors to Chester. The men of Gwynedd were found drawn up outside the old Roman camp of the 20th Legion. It was their colony of Deva. As battle was about to be joined, Ethelfrith observed a crowd of priests, who had come from the adjacent monastery of Bangor–Iscoed to offer up prayers for the soldiers, standing apart in a place of more safety. The King asked who they were, and Forthere told him that they were monks praying for his defeat, and that there was a guard to protect them, commanded by a British chief named Brochvael. "If, then," said Ethelfrith, "they cry to their God against us, though they do not bear arms, yet they fight against us because they oppose us by their prayers." He ordered them to be attacked first, and then the chiefs of Deira charged the host of Gwynedd, and, after a long and desperate fight, the English gained a complete victory. About two hundred priests were slaughtered, and only fifty escaped, their defender Brochvael having decamped at the first appearance of danger. Their great monastery of Bangor–Iscoed was destroyed. The holy monks of Canterbury taught that the massacre of British priests at Chester was a sign of Divine vengeance on them for presuming to differ in opinion from Augustine on the subject of the time of keeping Easter. That charitable prelate, who died in 604, had already cursed them on the same account.
The victory of Chester was gained in 607, and from that time there was peace in Northumbria for many years. The Deiran thegns returned to their homes. Coelred and Porlor were at Stillingfleet, and Hereric was generally with them. Lilla and Bassus abode at Hemingborough, Forthere and Sivel at Ulfskelf, and Godric was now at Markham, near the banks of the Idle, his father, Ulchel, having died. Queen Alca, in these latter years, passed most of her time at her old home at Aldby. She had her little child Oswald, and the charge of Osric the Atheling, both future kings. There were also several sons of Ethelfrid, fine little fellows, to whom she was very kind—Eanfrid, Oslac, Oswudu, Oslaf, and Offa, who adored her, and a little child named Oswy, recently born to Ethelfrith, but who was not her son. The King was almost always near the northern frontier of his dominions, making raids into the country of the Picts.
The friends often met at their respective homes, and discussed schemes for the benefit of their countrymen, who under their auspices were making considerable advances in many ways. But they always remembered the broad lines of conduct laid down by Porlor at Canterbury, and the friends frequently met to hold consultations. Coelred and Porlor having ascertained from Alca that, after investigation, she was convinced that Coifi was not guilty in the matter of her father's death, received their old friend, who was now too great a man to act as gleeman at their feasts. His was not an estimable character. He asked innumerable questions, but the friends were not inclined to be communicative. He had to go on praying to his own gods, who never gave him inspirations, nor even made his spells work with effect.
Lilla's fondness for Bergliot had ripened into love. The fearless warrior was married to the Princess in the hall of Aldby in the presence of the Queen. They lived at Hemingborough, where the buildings had been enlarged and improved, and they were soon blessed with two sons, who were named Trondhere and Trumhere. At the same time Osric the Atheling married Elfleda, the daughter of Ingeld, chief of the Hemingas. They had a son named Oswin, destined like his father to be king in troublous times. From childhood a devoted friendship sprang up, and became stronger with years, between the Atheling Oswin and the two sons of Lilla. A year passed away, and there were two more marriages. Godric's prophecy came true. Hereric had really cherished his love for Braga all through his long exile. He was diffident, but when he saw Lilla boldly seek the hand of Bergliot, he also told the story of his love. The Atheling Hereric was married in the hall at Aldby to Braga, the sister of Coelred and Porlor. He tried to persuade her to become a Christian, but she clung to the worship of Nehalennia, her mother's deity, and when the noble–minded Prince saw that the subject distressed her he desisted. They had two fair daughters, Hereswith and Hilda. Lastly, young Godric succeeded in winning the heart of little Nanna, and they also were married, going to live at Markham, near the Idle, in the country of the Gainas. Hereric and Braga lived at Stillingfleet with their brothers.
Alca became the guardian and inspiring influence of the Coelred–Gemót, which now included three wives among its members. At first, and indeed for some years, she had conversed little respecting the mass of information brought to her by her friends. But after the marriages she began to talk more on the subject, and asked many searching questions of Porlor and the others. One summer day they were all in attendance upon the Queen, under that spreading ash tree at the foot of Garraby Hill where she had talked to the boys so impressively long, long ago. She then began to speak freely about the manifold wonders she had heard, and on the impressions they had made on her mind. "The Son of God has indeed risen to save sinners," she said with conviction, "as I have believed so long, and as the good man told you all outside the gate of Amiens. Balder has risen, for I see much goodness and true bravery coming back into the world," and she looked round at her warriors with an ineffably winning smile. "But I cannot think that Balder and Krishna were Christ, as the learned Guru told you, though I believe there was some truth in what he said. All that leads to good actions, from belief in the beautiful story of Balder, in the traditions about Krishna, or in the worship of Nehalennia, my sweet Braga, is of Christ, but it is not Christ. It is of Christ, because our Hereric tells us that Christ is all love and truth. By these sacred stories, in all languages, the peoples of the world, when they follow what is good and true in them, are led to the Son of God, and are prepared to receive him. I think that all this is working, but very slowly, and that some day, when God wills it, all people will worship Christ. We cannot hasten this event, at least not much; but we can follow resolutely and humbly all that is good and true and beautiful in our own religious tales, which is following Christ, and some day we or our children will be called to enter into the full light." They all listened breathlessly, but did not speak.
Alca next turned to other subjects, and spoke, among many things that she touched upon, of the journey of the Pandus to reach Heaven. She reverted to this legend some days afterwards, and told them to keep the names of Draupadi and Suparaka always sacred in their Gemót. "The one is an emblem of the experience of all of us. We strive for higher things, but are borne down by our besetting sin. The other is a lesson how the humblest may find grace." Porlor asked her what the Guru intended to convey when he said that Suparaka was Yama. "Yama, or Adam," she said, "was the first man, and represents humanity. I think he intended you to understand that the faithful dog, like human beings, had a soul to be saved." That day she ended the conversation by expressing thanks to the Guru. "He told you many beautiful tales," she said. "Always remember his kindly gift to me, and let 'Bdellium' be the watchword of your Gemót."
On another day she pleased Lilla by telling him how fond she was of the story of the Simùrg. "We yearn for knowledge beyond our own experience, yet we can know little of what happened before our birth, and nothing of what will befall after our death. That there should be a being, coeval with the world, who has seen and knows all that ever happened, and who imparts her wisdom for the good of man, is a beautiful conception. This too is a seeking for the Son of God, and must work for good." Many other conversations of the same kind were held at Aldby, sometimes in the hall, at others under the shade of trees; and though at first absorbed in listening to the Queen, the friends gradually began to take more part, making suggestions and asking questions. All remembered these meetings to the last day of their lives. The happiness seemed too great to continue. On one of the last evenings Coelred and Porlor asked the Queen whether she received their cloud message. "Yes," she said simply. "I heard the words in my sleep, and I think it must have been on the same day. They were—'We are well. We have never forgotten. We will return.'" They started with astonishment and awe, for they had not told her. "There are many things that we can never understand here," she went on; "but we shall know hereafter." Then came the far–away look they knew so well. She rose to retire, saying, "For me it will not be long."
They went home with some forebodings. Not long afterwards, towards the end of the year 612 A.D., the Queen gave birth to a daughter, who was named Ebba. In the following spring she was taken ill, and soon her attendants began to despair of her life. She said that she was dying, and sent for her friends. All her warriors were called into the presence. "When I die," she said to them, "Ethelfrith will be false to his promise. He will be under no restraint. All his evil passions will break loose. He will try to exterminate the house of Deira. Swear to serve Edwin and to make him King." They all swore. "That is good," she said. "When I die, go to him with the Athelings. I think you will find him in Mercia; perhaps at Repton. Tell him I loved him to the end. Tell him that you are my dearest friends, and that you will be his servants until death. Farewell, my more than brothers." They bowed their heads in grief, and left the room silently.
On the next day Alca was sinking fast. At the last there were present with her Lilla, Coelred, Porlor, Hereric, Bergliot, Braga, and Nanna. They watched her pale but beautiful face while she slept. At noon she awoke and smiled. She looked at them all, and then her gaze rested on the Atheling. She said in a scarcely audible voice, but quite clearly—"My sweet cousin Hereric, let me be received into the fold of Christ." He quickly performed the rite of baptism. Soon after he finished she passed away. Her face was indescribably lovely in death. A veil must be passed over the intense grief of the mourners. If immediate action had not been necessary, they could not have borne it. Alca slept the last sleep at Aldby by the side of her father, Ella the King.
Ethelfrith arrived two days afterwards, like a wild man as he was, all restraint cast aside. He roughly snatched little Oswald out of the arms of Bergliot, and sent all his sons to Bambrough. But he did not ask for Ebba, and Bergliot took the Princess with her to Hemingborough. Ethelfrith then swore that he would exterminate the royal house of Deira. "If Edwin is King," he shouted, "a dead man shall soon be King." Osric and his little son Oswin were concealed by Saebald near the crags above Nehalennia's ford. Hereric was in greater danger. As the eldest scion of the house of Deira, the usurper thirsted for his blood. He was at York. Coelred and Porlor, with Godric, who was their guest, remained for some days on their guard at Stillingfleet; Lilla and Bassus were in the same attitude at Hemingborough; Forthere and Sivel at Ulfskelf. One evening Hereric galloped into the court at Stillingfleet, accompanied by a single servant, his faithful Ingebrand. He said that an attempt had been made to seize him, and that he and Ingebrand had fought their way through his assailants. But he believed he was followed. He was bleeding from a slight flesh–wound. He had determined to take refuge for a time in Elmet. His friends tried in vain to dissuade him. Taking a tender farewell of Braga and his two little daughters, he continued his flight with a strong escort of Stillingas led by Tanwin. But he dismissed it at the Roman road. Coelred had the rest of his men under arms. Next day a large body of Bernicians rode up to the gate, and demanded, in the name of King Ethelfrith, that Hereric should be surrendered. On receiving a defiant refusal, they assaulted the hedge. A fierce combat ensued, and the superior number of the Bernicians was beginning to tell, when they were suddenly attacked in rear. They broke and fled, closely followed by the Stillingas, who did execution upon them as far as Moreby. This diversion was caused by the return of the escort under Tanwin.
Next day there was a consultation with Lilla and Bassus. It was decided that the wishes of Alca should be carried out to the letter. They must seek for Edwin at Repton. There was no reason to fear for their loved ones. The Angles, even Ethelfrith, did not make war upon women. The brothers opened the "uvaru" by Shuprak's grave and provided themselves with treasure. Bidding farewell to sisters and wives, full of high hopes and noble aspirations, Coelred, Porlor, Lilla, Bassus, and Godric crossed the Ouse and fared southwards into Mercia, well armed and mounted. They sent a messenger to Forthere and Sivel, arranging to wait for them at Godric's home near the river Idle, in the country of the Gainas.
Hereric and his escort had crossed the Ouse, by swimming at slack tide below the junction with the Wharfe. At the Roman road he dismissed the Stillingas, telling Tanwin that he would be wanted soon to defend his master's home. The Atheling and his servant then rode westward to the banks of the little river Cock, a tributary of the Wharfe, which they crossed by a bridge, consisting of a semicircular arch, a little above Tadcaster. Beyond, at a short distance from its left bank, there was a range of wooded heights where the territory of Certicus of Elmet commenced. The range was a high bank rather than a line of hills, and the two fugitives made their way up it, and rode over some level country until they came to another bank covered with ferns and a great variety of wild flowers. The winding little Cock beck was again at their feet. Here the Atheling resolved to pass the night, and his servant made a hut of boughs for him. The place was afterwards called Beck–heigh (Becca)—"the hill by the stream." Next morning Hereric sent Ingebrand, who knew the language of the Britons, with a message to the King of Elmet at Barwick, which was about a mile distant. The Atheling announced his arrival, requesting protection and hospitality. The answer was a cordial welcome, and when Hereric reached Barwick, he found Certicus waiting to receive him with a crowd of natives. His palace was a large circular hut raised on a platform of earth, and the town consisted of a number of smaller huts scattered over the valley. One of these near the King's residence was assigned to Hereric. Certicus was a little man with a scanty white beard, brown complexion, and small black eyes, which generally had a cunning, and sometimes a malignant, expression, in spite of his efforts to appear frank and affable to his guest. Hereric regretted that he had not remained at Stillingfleet. He had insisted on the course he had taken, lest his presence should bring trouble on his friends, and their efforts to dissuade him had been in vain. He now determined, on the first excuse, to take leave of Certicus and fare southwards in fulfilment of the wish of Alca.
Certicus sent meals and horns of mead to the Atheling from his own hut. A few days were passed in hunting. One morning Ingebrand reported that he had seen Coifi riding away before dawn. He had noticed a muffled stranger near the King's residence on the previous evening. This seemed very strange, almost unaccountable. Hereric remembered the suspicions of the gleeman after the death of King Ella. He had melancholy forebodings, without being able to assign any tangible cause for entertaining them. So he tried to shake them off, and went out hunting with Ingebrand and a few natives of Elmet to attend him. Returning tired and thirsty to his hut late in the evening, some servants soon brought the usual meal and the cup of mead. The mead had a curious taste, and soon the Prince was seized with violent pains. "Ingebrand," he said, "my faithful friend, the treacherous Briton has poisoned me at the instigation of Ethelfrith. The Priest of Woden, the plausible Coifi, was not here for nothing." Ingebrand was devoted to his master, but, surrounded by enemies, he knew not what to do. There was a period of insensibility, followed by convulsions. Hereric spoke with difficulty. "Tell Braga," he said, "that I entreat her to be baptized with my children. Take my message of love to my dear friends. Tell them to remember the words of Alca, and to be loyal warriors of King Edwin." These were his last words. He died in the night. Next day the body was hastily buried, and Ingebrand was kept a close prisoner in the hut. But he effected his escape during the night, and reached Ulfskelf.
Hereric had been foully murdered, and in two days Ethelfrith was openly glorying over the crime. Forthere was nearly mad with rage. He vowed that his avenging hand should rid the earth of both Certicus and Ethelfrith. But he could not bring himself to believe in the guilt of Coifi. Forthere and Sivel assembled all their followers and plunged into the wilds of Elmet, killing and destroying. They fought their way to Barwick, whence old Certicus had fled. Here they raised a small tumulus over the remains of the beloved Prince, and pressed onwards in pursuit of the murderer. At last Forthere overtook him, resting after a long journey, with a small escort. The old wretch then received his deserts. His skull was cleft by the avenger. The two loyal subjects of Edwin then led back their followers to Ulfskelf, bade them farewell, and fared southwards to join their friends at the home of Godric, taking Ingebrand with them. The peerless Atheling was partly avenged. Next it would be the turn of Ethelfrith to meet the avenger of blood.
Coelred and his friends had scarcely crossed the Ouse when the wild King arrived at Stillingfleet with an overwhelming force, and searched both the court and the various buildings for the Deiran Athelings. Edwin was beyond his reach, but he thirsted for the blood of the other three—Hereric, Osric, and Oswin. He then proceeded to Hemingborough and made a similar search in person, returning to York to receive news from Certicus, with whom he had long had a secret understanding, that Hereric was in his power. None of the ladies were ill treated, and though Ethelfrith saw his own daughter Ebba in the arms of Bergliot, he took no notice of her.