[32] This is an error, excusable under the circumstances. Stonyhurst is about twelve miles from Preston.
[33] So savage a critic as Joseph Ritson seems to have entertained a much higher opinion of Captain Hodgson's literary qualities than the "seer of Chelsea." In his preface to the memoir he says—"Without meaning to dispute the merit of Defoe, in his peculiarly happy manner of telling a story, or, in other words, in the art of book-making, it will probably be found, that, truth or falsehood being out of the question, in point of importance, interest, and even pleasantry, Captain Hodgson's narrative is infinitely superior to the 'Memoirs of a Cavalier.'"
[34] He had overcome a cavalry officer, and "appropriated" his horse.
[35] Mr. F. Metcalfe, in his "Englishman and Scandinavian," says,—"It is this same historian (William of Malmesbury), and not Asser, who relates the story of Alfred masquerading as a minstrel, and so gaining free access to the Danish camp, meanwhile learning their plans. It is not mentioned in the most ancient Saxon accounts. Indeed, it sounds more like a Scandinavian than a Saxon story, an echo of which has reached us in the tale of King Estmere, who adopted a similar disguise. A story was current of Olaf Cuaran entering Athelstan's camp disguised as a harper two days before the battle of Brunanburh."
[36] Some writers say two days intervened, and Sir Francis Palgrave says the main battle was but a continuation of the night attack, and was therefore fought on the following day.
[37] Mr. Thompson Watkins, His. Soc. Trans., says the metal is bronze.
[38] In Herman Moll's map, the Etherow, before its junction with the Goyt and Tame, is written Mersey.
[39] For details of this battle see "History of Preston and its Environs."
[40] For details respecting this siege, see His. Preston, c. v.
[41] Mr. J. P. Morris, in Notes and Queries, says—"Many collectors have endeavoured, but in vain, to find more of this old Lancashire ballad than the two verses given by Dr. Dixon, in his 'Songs and Ballads of the English Peasantry,' and by Mr. Harland, in his 'Ballads and Songs of Lancashire.' I have much pleasure in forwarding to Notes and Queries the following version, which is much more complete than any yet given: