Little Arthur's history of England

by Lady Maria Callcott

Alfred learning to read.

For some years after he was made king he had not one town where the people dared to obey him, for fear of the Danes; and he was obliged to disguise himself in poor clothes, and to live with one of his own neatherds, whose wife did not know the king.

This neatherd lived in a part of Somersetshire, called the Isle of Athelney. While Alfred was there, some of his best friends used to go and tell him how the country was going on, and take messages to him from other friends; and they all begged him to stay where he was till they could collect English soldiers enough to fight the Danes in that neighbourhood.

While he was staying at the neatherd’s house, I have heard that the man’s wife scolded him one day very heartily. I will tell you how it happened.

She had just made some very nice cakes for supper, and laid them on the hearth to toast, and seeing Alfred sitting in the house doing something to his bow and arrows, she desired him to look after her cakes, and to turn them when they were toasted enough on one side, that they might not be burnt. But Alfred could think of nothing but making ready his bow and arrows to fight against the Danes; he forgot all about the cakes, and they became very much burnt. When the neatherd’s wife came into the house again, she soon saw the cakes on the hearth, quite black and burnt, and began scolding Alfred very severely.

Just then her husband came in with some of Alfred’s friends, who told him that they had beaten the Danes, and driven them out of that part of the country, and the people were asking for him, and it was time to appear as their king. You may think how surprised the neatherd’s wife was, and how she asked the king’s pardon for scolding him.

He only smiled, and said, if she forgave him for burning her cakes, he would forgive her for the scolding. Then he thanked her and the neatherd heartily for letting him live so quietly with them, and went with his friends to find the Danes, with whom he had a great deal of trouble before he could drive them away. Their king Guthorm agreed to be a Christian; and Alfred divided England with him.

At last, when Alfred had overcome the Danes, and when England was at peace, he thought of the great pleasure he had in reading, and he determined to encourage all the young people in England to love learning. So he inquired for what learned men there were in England, and sent for more to come from other countries, and paid them for teaching the young men; and he built several schools.

That he might encourage all his subjects to read, he took the trouble to translate several books for them out of Latin into English; and, besides that, he wrote several himself for their instruction.