Then (sad relief!) from the bleak coast that hears
The German Ocean roar, deep-blooming, strong,
And yellow hair'd, the blue-eyed Saxon came.
-Thomson's Liberty-.
In a hall, the height of which was greatly disproportioned
to its extreme length and width, a
long oaken table, formed of planks rough-hewn
from the forest, and which had scarcely received
any polish, stood ready prepared for the evening
meal of Cedric the Saxon. The roof, composed of
beams and rafters, had nothing to divide the apartment
from the sky excepting the planking and
thatch; there was a huge fireplace at either end of
the hall, but as the chimneys were constructed in
a very clumsy manner, at least as much of the
smoke found its way into the apartment as escaped
by the proper vent. The constant vapour which
this occasioned, had polished the rafters and beams
of the low-browed hall, by encrusting them with a
black varnish of soot. On the sides of the apartment
hung implements of war and of the chase,
and there were at each corner folding doors, which
gave access to other parts of the extensive building.
The other appointments of the mansion partook
of the rude simplicity of the Saxon period, which
Cedric piqued himself upon maintaining. The
floor was composed of earth mixed with lime, trodden
into a hard substance, such as is often employed
in flooring our modern barns. For about one
quarter of the length of the apartment, the floor
was raised by a step, and this space, which was called
the dais, was occupied only by the principal members
of the family, and visitors of distinction. For
this purpose, a table richly covered with scarlet cloth
was placed transversely across the platform, from
the middle of which ran the longer and lower board,
at which the domestics and inferior persons fed,
down towards the bottom of the hall. The whole
resembled the form of the letter T, or some of those
ancient dinner-tables, which, arranged on the same
principles, may be still seen in the antique Colleges
of Oxford or Cambridge. Massive chairs and settles
of carved oak were placed upon the dais, and
over these seats and the more elevated table was
fastened a canopy of cloth, which served in some
degree to protect the dignitaries who occupied that
distinguished station from the weather, and especially
from the rain, which in some places found its
way through the ill-constructed roof.
The walls of this upper end of the hall, as far as
the dais extended, were covered with hangings or
curtains, and upon the floor there was a carpet, both
of which were adorned with some attempts at tapestry,
or embroidery, executed with brilliant or
rather gaudy colouring. Over the lower range of
table, the roof, as we have noticed, had no covering;
the rough plastered walls were left bare, and
the rude earthen floor was uncarpeted; the board
was uncovered by a cloth, and rude massive benches
supplied the place of chairs.
In the centre of the upper table, were placed two
chairs more elevated than the rest, for the master
and mistress of the family, who presided over the
scene of hospitality, and from doing so derived their
Saxon title of honour, which signifies "the Dividers
of Bread."
To each of these chairs was added a footstool,
curiously carved and inlaid with ivory, which mark
of distinction was peculiar to them. One of these
seats was at present occupied by Cedric the Saxon,
who, though but in rank a thane, or, as the Normans
called him, a Franklin, felt, at the delay of
his evening meal, an irritable impatience, which
might have become an alderman, whether of ancient
or of modern times.
It appeared, indeed, from the countenance of this
proprietor, that he was of a frank, but hasty and
choleric temper. He was not above the middle
stature, but broad-shouldered, long-armed, and
powerfully made, like one accustomed to endure
the fatigue of war or of the chase; his face was
broad, with large blue eyes, open and frank features,
fine teeth, and a well formed head, altogether expressive
of that sort of good-humour which often
lodges with a sudden and hasty temper. Pride and
jealousy there was in his eye, for his life had been
spent in asserting rights which were constantly
liable to invasion; and the prompt, fiery, and resolute
disposition of the man, had been kept constantly
upon the alert by the circumstances of his situation.
His long yellow hair was equally divided on
the top of his head and upon his brow, and combed
down on each side to the length of his shoulders;
it had but little tendency to grey, although Cedric
was approaching to his sixtieth year.
His dress was a tunic of forest green, furred at
the throat and cuffs with what was called minever;
a kind of fur inferior in quality to ermine, and
formed, it is believed, of the skin of the grey squirrel.
This doublet hung unbuttoned over a close
dress of scarlet which sate tight to his body; he
had breeches of the same, but they did not reach
below the lower part of the thigh, leaving the knee
exposed. His feet had sandals of the same fashion
with the peasants, but of finer materials, and secured
in the front with golden clasps. He had
bracelets of gold upon his arms, and a broad collar
of the same precious metal around his neck. About
his waist he wore a richly-studded belt, in which
was stuck a short straight two-edged sword, with a
sharp point, so disposed as to hang almost perpendicularly
by his side. Behind his seat was hung a
scarlet cloth cloak lined with fur, and a cap of the
same materials richly embroidered, which completed
the dress of the opulent landholder when he chose
to go forth. A short boar-spear, with a broad and
bright steel head, also reclined against the back of
his chair, which served him, when he walked abroad,
for the purposes of a staff or of a weapon, as chance
might require.
Several domestics, whose dress held various proportions
betwixt the richness of their master's, and
the coarse and simple attire of Gurth the swine-herd,
watched the looks and waited the commands of the
Saxon dignitary. Two or three servants of a superior
order stood behind their master upon the
dais; the rest occupied the lower part of the hall.
Other attendants there were of a different description;
two or three large and shaggy greyhounds,
such as were then employed in hunting the stag
and wolf; as many slow-hounds of a large bony
breed, with thick necks, large beads, and long ears;
and one or two of the smaller dogs, now called terriers,
which waited with impatience the arrival of
the supper; but, with the sagacious knowledge of
physiognomy peculiar to their race, forbore to intrude
upon the moody silence of their master, apprehensive
probably of a small white truncheon
which lay by Cedric's trencher, for the purpose of
repelling the advances of his four-legged dependants.
One grisly old wolf-dog alone, with the liberty
of an indulged favourite, had planted himself
close by the chair of state, and occasionally ventured
to solicit notice by putting his large hairy
head upon his master's knee, or pushing his nose
into his hand. Even he was repelled by the stem
command, "Down, Balder, down! I am not in the
humour for foolery."
In fact, Cedric, as we have observed, was in no
very placid state of mind. The Lady Rowena,
who had been absent to attend an evening mass at
a distant church, had but just returned, and was
changing her garments, which had been wetted by
the storm. There were as yet no tidings of Gurth
and his charge, which should long since have been
driven home from the forest and such was the insecurity
of the period, as to render it probable that
the delay might be explained by some depreciation
of the outlaws, with whom the adjacent forest
abounded, or by the violence of some neighbouring
baron, whose consciousness of strength made him
equally negligent of the laws of property. The
matter was of consequence, for great part of the domestic
wealth of the Saxon proprietors consisted in
numerous herds of swine, especially in forest-land,
where those animals easily found their food.
Besides these subjects of anxiety, the Saxon
thane was impatient for the presence of his favourite
clown Wamba, whose jests, such as they were,
served for a sort of seasoning to his evening meal,
and to the deep draughts of ale and wine with which
he was in the habit of accompanying it. Add to all
this, Cedric had fasted since noon, and his usual
supper hour was long past, a cause of irritation
common to country squires, both in ancient and
modern times. His displeasure was expressed in
broken sentences, partly muttered to himself, partly
addressed to the domestics who stood around; and
particularly to his cupbearer, who offered him from
time to time, as a sedative, a silver goblet filled with
wine---"Why tarries the Lady Rowena?"
"She is but changing her head-gear," replied a
female attendant, with as much confidence as the
favourite lady's-maid usually answers the master of
a modern family; "you would not wish her to sit
down to the banquet in her hood and kirtle? and
no lady within the shire can be quicker in arraying
herself than my mistress."
This undeniable argument produced a sort of acquiescent
umph! on the part of the Saxon, with
the addition, "I wish her devotion may choose fair
weather for the next visit to St John's Kirk;---
but what, in the name of ten devils," continued he,
turning to the cupbearer, and raising his voice as
if happy to have found a channel into which he
might divert his indignation without fear or control---
"what, in the name of ten devils, keeps
Gurth so long afield? I suppose we shall have an
evil account of the herd; he was wont to be a faithful
and cautious drudge, and I had destined him
for something better; perchance I might even have
made him one of my warders."*
* The original has _Cnichts_, by which the Saxons seem to
* have designated a class of military attendants, sometimes free,
* sometimes bondsmen, but always ranking above an ordinary
* domestic, whether in the royal household or in those of the
* aldermen and thanes. But the term cnicht, now spelt knight,
* having been received into the English language as equivalent
* to the Norman word chevalier, I have avoided using it in its
* more ancient sense, to prevent confusion. L. T.
Oswald the cupbearer modestly suggested, "that
it was scarce an hour since the tolling of the curfew;"
an ill-chosen apology, since it turned upon
a topic so harsh to Saxon ears.
"The foul fiend," exclaimed Cedric, "take the
curfew-bell, and the tyrannical bastard by whom it
was devised, and the heartless slave who names it
with a Saxon tongue to a Saxon ear! The curfew!"
he added, pausing, "ay, the curfew; which compels
true men to extinguish their lights, that thieves
and robbers may work their deeds in darkness!---
Ay, the curfew;---Reginald Front-de-Buf and
Philip de Malvoisin know the use of the curfew as
well as William the Bastard himself, or e'er a Norman
adventurer that fought at Hastings. I shall
hear, I guess, that my property has been swept off
to save from starving the hungry banditti, whom
they cannot support but by theft and robbery. My
faithful slave is murdered, and my goods are taken
for a prey---and Wamba---where is Wamba? Said
not some one he had gone forth with Gurth?"
Oswald replied in the affirmative.
" Ay? why this is better and better! he is carried
off too, the Saxon fool, to serve the Norman
lord. Fools are we all indeed that serve them, and
fitter subjects for their scorn and laughter, than if
we were born with but half our wits. But I will
be avenged," he added, starting from his char in
impatience at the supposed injury, and catching
hold of his boar-spear; "I will go with my complaint
to the great council; I have friends, I have
followers---man to man will I appeal the Norman
to the lists; let him come in his plate and his mail,
and all that can render cowardice bold; I have sent
such a javelin as this through a stronger fence than
three of their war shields!---Haply they think me
old; but they shall find, alone and childless as I
am, the blood of Hereward is in the veins of Cedric.
---Ah, Wilfred, Wilfred!" he exclaimed in a lower
tone, "couldst thou have ruled thine unreasonable
passion, thy father had not been left in his age like
the solitary oak that throws out its shattered and
unprotected branches against the full sweep of the
tempest!" The reflection seemed to conjure into
sadness his irritated feelings. Replacing his javelin,
he resumed his seat, bent his looks downward,
and appeared to be absorbed in melancholy reflection.
From his musing, Cedric was suddenly awakened
by the blast of a born, which was replied to by
the clamorous yells and barking of all the dogs in
the hall, and some twenty or thirty which were
quartered in other parts of the building. It cost
some exercise of the white truncheon, well seconded
by the exertions of the domestics, to silence this
canine clamour.
"To the gate, knaves!" said the Saxon, hastily,
as soon as the tumult was so much appeased that
the dependants could hear his voice. "See what
tidings that horn tells us of---to announce, I ween,
some hership* and robbery which has been done
* Pillage.
upon my lands."
Returning in less than three minutes, a warder
announced "that the Prior Aymer of Jorvaulx,
and the good knight Brian de Bois-Guilbert, commander
of the valiant and venerable order of Knights
Templars, with a small retinue, requested hospitality
and lodging for the night, being on their way
to a tournament which was to be held not far from
Ashby-de-la-Zouche, on the second day from the
present."
"Aymer, the Prior Aymer? Brian de Bois-Guilbert?"
---muttered Cedric; "Normans both;---
but Norman or Saxon, the hospitality of Rotherwood
must not be impeached; they are welcome,
since they have chosen to halt---more welcome
would they have been to have ridden further on
their way---But it were unworthy to murmur for
a night's lodging and a night's food; in the quality
of guests, at least, even Normans must suppress
their insolence.---Go, Hundebert," he added, to a
sort of major-domo who stood behind him with a
white wand; "take six of the attendants, and introduce
the strangers to the guests' lodging. Look
after their horses and mules, and see their train lack
nothing. Let them have change of vestments if
they require it, and fire, and water to wash, and
wine and ale; and bid the cooks add what they
hastily can to our evening meal; and let it be put
on the board when those strangers are ready to
share it. Say to them, Hundebert, that Cedric
would himself bid them welcome, but he is under a
vow never to step more than three steps from the
dais of his own hall to meet any who shares not the
blood of Saxon royalty. Begone! see them carefully
tended; let them not say in their pride, the
Saxon churl has shown at once his poverty and his
avarice."
The major-domo departed with several attendants,
to execute his master's commands. "The
Prior Aymer!" repeated Cedric, looking to Oswald,
"the brother, if I mistake not, of Giles de
Mauleverer, now lord of Middleham?"
Oswald made a respectful sign of assent. "His
brother sits in the seat, and usurps the patrimony,
of a better race, the race of Ulfgar of Middleham;
but what Norman lord doth not the same? This
Prior is, they say, a free and jovial priest, who
loves the wine-cup and the bugle-horn better than
bell and book: Good; let him come, he shall be
welcome. How named ye the Templar?"
"Brian de Bois-Guilbert."
"Bois-Guilbert," said Cedric, still in the musing,
half-arguing tone, which the habit of living among
dependants had accustomed him to employ, and
which resembled a man who talks to himself rather
than to those around him---"Bois-Guilbert? that
name has been spread wide both for good and evil.
They say he is valiant as the bravest of his order;
but stained with their usual vices, pride, arrogance,
cruelty, and voluptuousness; a hard-hearted
man, who knows neither fear of earth, nor awe
of heaven. So say the few warriors who have returned
from Palestine.---Well; it is but for one
night; he shall be welcome too.---Oswald, broach
the oldest wine-cask; place the best mead, the
mightiest ale, the richest morat, the most sparkling
cider, the most odoriferous pigments, upon the
board; fill the largest horns*---Templars and Abbots
* These were drinks used by the Saxons, as we are informed
* by Mr Turner: Morat was made of honey flavoured with the
* juice of mulberries; Pigment was a sweet and rich liquor, composed
* of wine highly spiced, and sweetened also with honey;
* the other liquors need no explanation. L. T.
love good wines and good measure.---Elgitha,
let thy Lady Rowena, know we shall not this night
expect her in the hall, unless such be her especial
pleasure."
"But it will be her especial pleasure," answered
Elgitha, with great readiness, "for she is ever desirous
to hear the latest news from Palestine."
Cedric darted at the forward damsel a glance of
hasty resentment; but Rowena, and whatever belonged
to her, were privileged and secure from his
anger. He only replied, "Silence, maiden; thy
tongue outruns thy discretion. Say my message
to thy mistress, and let her do her pleasure. Here,
at least, the descendant of Alfred still reigns a
princess." Elgitha left the apartment.
"Palestine!" repeated the Saxon; "Palestine!
how many ears are turned to the tales which dissolute
crusaders, or hypocritical pilgrims, bring from
that fatal land! I too might ask---I too might enquire---
I too might listen with a beating heart to
fables which the wily strollers devise to cheat us
into hospitality---but no---The son who has disobeyed
me is no longer mine; nor will I concern
myself more for his fate than for that of the most
worthless among the millions that ever shaped the
cross on their shoulder, rushed into excess and
blood-guiltiness, and called it an accomplishment
of the will of God."
He knit his brows, and fixed his eyes for an instant
on the ground; as he raised them, the folding
doors at the bottom of the hall were cast wide,
and, preceded by the major-domo with his wand,
and four domestics bearing blazing torches, the
guests of the evening entered the apartment.