[94] It is not at all probable that Hereward was ever devout enough to make such a pilgrimage to Canterbury, but the hero of a tale must come to the front in all the great valourous acts of his time. The man who first resisted the outrage of Eustace and his followers, was a burgher of Dover—whose name is unknown—a general conflict ensued, twenty of the people of Dover were killed, and nineteen of the Normans, (others wounded no doubt), but Eustace appears to have found it necessary to retire,—he returned to Eadward, then at Gloucester, and told the tale to his own advantage; this affair caused a rupture between the king and Earl Godwine and led to the fall of the latter.
[95] Harold was Earl of East Anglia in about 1045, and was translated to the Earldom of Wessex, in 1053, when Ælfgar son of Leofric, became Earl of East-Anglia. Leofric died in 1057, then Ælfgar took the Earldom of Mercia, and Gurth the fourth son of Godwine, was made Earl of East-Anglia. Now Harold’s final campaign against the Welsh took place in 1063, when Harold’s brother—not himself—was ruler of East-Anglia. The Griffith mentioned in the text was King of North Wales. (This Gruffydd was a son of Llywelyn—he had slain, in 1055, another Gruffydd, King of S. Wales.) There was terrible slaughter before the Welsh were subdued, but it is thought that Griffith was slain by his own people. It was the beak of Griffith’s ship, and also Griffith’s head that were brought as trophies to Eadward.
[96] The Northumbrians deposed Tostig in Oct., 1065, and elected Morkere, the younger son of Ælfgar as their Earl. (Eadwine was Earl of Mercia.) Tostig took refuge in Flanders late in the same year, and he became one of the first of William of Normandy’s allies. Before the middle of 1066, he was in possession of such forces as enabled him to make a raid; he landed on the Isle of Wight, ravaged part of Sussex, he then attacked the N. of Lincolnshire, but was repulsed by Eadwine and Morkere and found refuge with Malcolm in Scotland. Tostig obtained the help of Harold Hardrada, the King of Norway named in the text, with him invaded Yorkshire and encamped at Stamford-bridge, some 8 miles east of York—the battle in which they both fell, was fought 25th Sept., 1066. History knows nothing of Hereward’s being either at the battle of Stamford-bridge nor at Hastings.
[97] The march to London occupied little more than a week—it was early in October, and Harold collected forces on his way.
[98] If Hereward’s father was then living, he was not Leofric of Mercia,—(he died in 1057). There may have been a Leofric lord of Brunn, father of Hereward, at whose instigation he was outlawed by Eadward the Confessor; in that case Hereward was in Flanders at the beginning of the conquest. Hereward was no doubt banished but the evidence as to its cause is as doubtful as that respecting his parentage. (See [note] p. [22]).
[99] The reader may find in Kingsley’s Hereward the Wake, a glowing account of Hereward’s deeds in Flanders—deeds worthy of a Hero, but yet mythical.
[100] There is not even a hint here that Hereward was married in the Netherlands, nor is anything said on this point when, further on in the council, the name of Alftrude is introduced—so the writer of the text looks upon her as Hereward’s first and only love.
[101] This evidently refers to Æthelwine, Bishop of Durham—A bishopric originated on the Isle of Lindisfarne by the action of Scotch Missionaries, early in the 7th century,—it was rendered famous by St. Cuthbert and was permanently fixed at Durham by Ealdhun in 995; hence the writer of the text adopted the original name.
[102] Ey or Eye (the name for island—being modified from Sax. ea) is situated about 3 miles N.E. of Peterborough. It is now “Eye Green” in railway tables, to distinguish it from Eye in Suffolk.
[103] Defamed.