Bourne Archive: FNQ: Hereward XXIV

http://boar.org.uk/ariwxo3FNQsupXXIV.htm Latest edit 25 Apr 2010.

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De Gestis Herwardi Saxonis.

XXIV.

Quomodo Herwardus figulum se finxit ad regis curiam pergens, ut ibi exploraret quid circa illos agere vellent, et quosque delusit et nonnullos in curia regis occidit, incolumis reversus.

His itigur ita a rege ordinatis, sic insula de foris munita est, unde eis penitus omnis denegata est ingressionis facultas et egressionis libertas, quod eis inopinabile detrimentum doloris et timoris pene erat, nescientes quid contra illos actituri essent, vel modum expugnationis, quoniam novum debellandi genus regem didicisse circa eos audierunt. Qua de re inierunt consilium, aliquem ullo modo foras ad explorandum mittere debere. Nec ullum penitus idoneum invenientes, Herwardo tandem bonum visum est per se ad explorandum aut peregre proficisci, vel mutato habitu ire, licet multum renitentes omnes huic voluntati ejus resisterent. Ac denique profectus est, assumpta tamen secum sua equa Anglece Hyrundo vocata, quæ semper marcida erat et deformis aspectu, de qua superius et quantæ velocitatis ipsa fuerit retulimus, et quantum ad sustinendum laborem agilis. Egressus autem habitum mutavit, tonso crine et barba, lubricaque veste indutus, et obvio facto figulo, ollas illius accepit ¹ et figulum se finxit, ad regis curiam apud Brandune tendens. Quo perveniens nocte eadem, forte illo ad domum cujusdam viduæ pernoctatus, ubi illa venefica mulier de qua superius mentionem fecimus hospitata est, quæ ad internecionem illorum qui in insula sunt fuit adducta. Illuc vero nocte eadem Herwardus etiam illas colloquentes sibi invicem Romana linqua ² audivit, quomodo ad debellandum insulam artem vacare deberent, rusticum illum æstimantes, et inscium loquutionis. Porro in medio noctis silentio illas ad fontes aquarum in orientem affluentes juxta portum ³ domus etiam egressas Herwardus percepit, quas statim sequutus est, ubi eas eminus colloquentes audivit, nescio a quo custode fontium responsa et interrogantes et sui expectantes in reversione denique pertinere illas satagebat, sed ejus conaminis diuturna prævenit mora ut majora semper et plus auderet. Summo autem mane exinde, assumptis ollis, Herwardus discessit, circumquaque penes curiam regis vagando clamabat more figulorum Anglica lingua, Ollæ! Bonæ ollæ et urnæ! omnia hæc fictilia vasa peroptima! Interea quippe a ministris in coquinam regis adductus est, ut ollas emerent. At quidam de præpositis villæ⁴ forte superveniens, viso illo statim intulit, nunquam se vidisse virum sic facie Herwardo consimilem nec instar staturam illius, sicut egens assimilari potest ingenuo et rusticus militi. Quod quidam audientes venerunt videre virum consimilem Herwardo, unde in aulam regis inter milites et tyrones adductus est ut eum viderent. Et diligenter intuitus, alii dicebant hominem tam mediocris staturæ non esse tantæ virtutis et fortitudinis sicut fama de eo vulgata aliique inquirebant ab ipso si illum nefandum virum Herwardum agnovisset vel vidisset. Quibus respondit: Utinam ille vir Belial nunc hic inter nos adesset, mihi præ cunctis mortalibus infestus, nunc ulciscerer ex eo. Nam mihi quandam vaccam abstulit et quatuor oves, omnia quæ mihi erant præter ollas et jumentum, unde huc usque mihi et duobus filiis sustentamentum vitæ fuit. Interea quippe prandium regis jussum est præparari, et Herwardus in coquinam recessit. Post prandium nempe ministri coci et garcones coquinæ cum eis, vinum et siceram ei dabant bibere ut eum inebriarent, illudentes eum in multis. Tandem madefacti vino, voluerunt ei coronam radere et barbam ejus eradicare, et ut ollas suas undique circumpositas ipsemet velata facie confringeret. Qui eorum illusionibus non obedire volens, unus accersivit et graviter cum percussit. Cui reconsignato ictu sub aure vicem illi reddidit, unde sicut exanimis cecidit. Quod videntes socii, in eum omnes cum tridentibus et furcis insurrexerunt, et arrepto de foco hastile,⁵ contra omnes sese protexit, uno eorum interfecto, plurimisque vulneratis. Quo facto, statim in palatio patefactum est, unde apprehensus custodiendum traditur. Dum ergo in custodia esset, rege cum suis ad venabula egresso, quidam e custodibus adveniens, in una manu compedes detulit, de quibus illum onerari minitatus est, et in alia deferens gladium ex vagina. Quem statim Herwardus arripuit, et de proprio ense in eum irruit , unde mortem gustavit, atque aliis ex eo usque ad interitum propinavit. A quibus siquidem per hoc liber effectus, per sepes et foveas⁶ extra clam ad superiorem curiam domus descendit, ubi jumentum suum reperit. Quo ascensus, quidam de pueris regis viso illo vocibus maledicis eum aggressus est, monens sociis ut eum ministris regis sequi repente facerent, elapsum eum a vinculis asserens. Cujus objurgantis verba Herwardus non ferens, quum ante illum contra seipsum offenderet, gladio eum transverberavit. Quo facto multi sequuti sunt eum, sed omnibus una erat persequutio tardior Herwardo vero fuga efficacior, insulam de Someresham⁷ pertransiens et sic vespertino tempore et in noctu lucescente luna et matutinali hora in insulam clam destino progressu perveniens. Ex illis quidem omnibus qui sequuti sunt eum, nullus verbum de eo audierat, nec signum aliquod viderat, præter unum qui forte ultra ad prædictam silvam⁶progressus, ubi repente equus suus fessus succubuit, et ipse vix pedibus subsistere valuit, super quem fortuitu adveniens Herwardus in terram recumbentem peue ⁷ sine anhelitu invenit. Quem statim Herwardus interrogat quisnam ipse est, et ille, unus ex ministris satellitum regis qui quendam fugitantem rusticum sequuti sumus a quo hodie unus e pueris regis dolo et custodes hominis illius perempti sunt. Nam si aliquid audieris et videris, pro Deo et gratia generositatis tuæ indica mihi. Nunc, inquit ille, quia pro Deo et gratia generositatis conjurando requiris, scito me ipsum esse quem interrogas. Et nunc, ut verius me ipsum agnoscas, et verissime te mecum esse loquutum domino tuo regi asseras, gladium tuum pro signo et lanceam amittes, fidemque dabis, ut hæc ita illi recenses, si ex vita gaudere peroptas. Ille autem prædictus servus tandem reversus sicut ex fide promiserat regi peroravit, admirantibus cunctis de Herwardo et rege etiam eum magnanimum contestante et præclarissimum militem.

The Exploits of Hereward the Saxon.

XXIV.

How Hereward dressed up as a potter and went to the King’s court to spy out what they meant to do ; and how he cheated them, and slew some in the King’s court, and returned unharmed.

These things being arranged by the King, the Isle was so guarded from the outside that almost all power of going in or coming out was stopped ; and this was an unlooked for source of grief and alarm, since they did not know what the King’s men were going to do against them, nor what plan of attack was being formed, since they heard that the King had learnt some new fashion of making war. And so they decided that they ought somehow or other to send a man outside the Isle to explore. But finding no one quite fit for the purpose, at last it seemed good to Hereward to go himself in disguise, although all objected strongly and opposed his decision. And at last he set out, taking with him his mare called in English Swallow, a creature always lean and ugly in appearance, whose speed we have described before, and how ready she was to undergo fatigue. As he went out he changed his dress, cut his hair and beard, and put on a dirty coat : and, meeting a potter, he took¹ his pots, and assuming the character of a potter made his way to the King’s court at Brandon. Arriving there the same night, as it happened he spent the night at the house of a widow, where that witch, of whom we have made mention above, dwelt, the witch who was fetched to destroy the men of the Isle. There, at night, Hereward heard the women talking to each other in the Roman language², how they were to contrive to vanquish the Isle, regarding him as a rustic unacquainted with the language. In the middle of the night Hereward saw them go out in silence to a spring of water that flowed towards the east near the garden³ of the house, so he followed them immediately, and heard them at a distance conversing, questioning, and getting replies from some unknown guardian of the spring ; and he was designing to cut them off as they returned, but their lengthy stay prevented the design, but left him to undertake more and more magnificent deeds of daring. Next morning Hereward took up his pots and departed, and roaming all about the King’s court kept crying out in potter’s fashion, in English, “Pots! pots! good pots and jars! first class earthenware!” Meanwhile he was taken by some servants into the King’s kitchen, so that they might buy some pots. But one of the overseers of the town⁴ coming by chance, on seeing him, cried out at once, that he had never seen a man so like Hereward in face, nor so like him in bearing, as far as a poor man could resemble a gentleman, or a country labourer a soldier. Some men hearing this came to look at the man so like Hereward, and so he was taken into the King’s hall among the soldiers and recruits, for them to see. Looking intently upon him some said that a man of such moderate height could not be possessed of so much valour and courage as common report assigned to Hereward ; while others asked him if he knew or had ever met that scoundrel? To whom he made answer, “I wish that man of Belial were now here among us, a man hated by me more than anybody, for now I would wreak my vengeance on him. For he carried off a cow of mine, and four sheep, and everything I had except my pots and beast, whereby hitherto I have supported myself and my two sons.” But now the King’s dinner was to be got ready, and Hereward went back to the kitchen. After dinner the servants and cooks, and the kitchen-boys with them, offered him wine and strong drink to make him drunk, and made great fun of him. At last mellowed with wine, they wanted to shave his head and pull out the hairs of his beard, and to blindfold him and so make him break his own pots which they put all about the ground for the purpose. As he was disinclined to submit to their jests, one man drew near and gave him a severe blow. But he returned the blow under the ear to such effect that he fell to the ground as it were dead. His companions seeing this, rose against Hereward with three-pronged forks and pitchforks, so he seized a brand⁵ from the hearth and defended himself against them all, killing one man and wounding many more. This was forthwith made known in the palace so that he was apprehended and delivered into custody. While then he was in custody, the King having just gone out with a hunting party, one of the keepers came up, bringing fetters in one hand, with which he threatened him to be loaded, and in the other hand holding an unsheathed sword. At once Hereward seized him, and fell upon him with his own sword, so that he tasted death ; and after him Hereward killed several others. And being thus set free from these people, over hedges and ditches⁶ he went down to the upper court of the house, where he found his beast. As he was mounting, one of the King’s boys saw him and upbraided him in bad language, giving warning to his companions to pursue him at once with the servants of the King, declaring that he had escaped out of chains. Hereward could not put up with his scolding words, and when he put himself in his way struck him through with his sword. Whereupon many pursued him, but the pursuit of all was too slow, and the flight of Hereward too fast ; and passing through the island of Somersham⁷, all through the evening and night by moonlight, at early dawn Hereward arrived in due course at the Isle. And of all those who pursued him, no one had heard a single word of him, or seen any traces, except one who by chance had proceeded further up the aforesaid wood ⁶, where of a sudden his horse broke down from fatigue, and the man himself could scarcely stand up on his feet ; and Hereward coming upon him accidentally found him lying on the ground nearly⁷ breathless. Hereward immediately asked him who he was, and he said, “One of the attendants of the King’s courtiers, who have been following a country fellow that has escaped, by whom this day one of the King’s boys and the custodians of the fellow, have guilefully been slain. And if you have heard or seen anything, for God’s sake, and of your own great kindness, tell me.” “Now,” said Hereward, “since you ask for God’s sake, and of my great kindness, know that I am myself the man you are seeking. And that you may know me better, and may be able to declare most truthfully to your lord the King that you have spoken with me, you shall leave behind your sword and lance as a token, and shall give me your promise that you will render him a true account, if you wish to save your life.” And so the servant aforesaid at length got back, and as he had promised told the King, while all men listened with amazement, about Hereward : and the King protested that he was a man of noble soul and a most distinguished warrior.

Commentary.

The only person to have witnessed the events of this chapter in their near entirety was Hereward, himself. The report can therefore best be accounted for as having been told by him to Leofric the Deacon, who then put it into the third person. Details like King William’s admiration may have come from this source – modesty is not mentioned as one of Hereward’s virtues but in the likely event that the story was compiled significantly later; sources from the king’s court could have added that information.

This is the chapter in which his Zeeland mare, Swallow comes into her own. The story is not left with unsupported details. It is not simply stated or implied that Hereward rode hard for hours on end without accepting that he needed a partner in such an enterprise and that if his behaviour were to be exceptional, hers had to be too. The ground had been prepared for telling this part of the story in Chapter XIII, which tells of his acquisition of the mare. This does not guarantee that the story is true but it shows the writer as a practical man and it is in keeping with a will to express the truth clearly.

Brandon is at Grid reference TL7886, on the border between Suffolk and Norfolk; about 25km from Ely. Most of the intervening ground was fen. Its bearing from Ely is 075° grid. Somersham is at grid reference TL3678, north-west of Earith and about 18 km from Ely. Its bearing from Ely is 262° grid. The two places are thus about 43 km apart but this journey represents a long skirting of the fens, around the south-eastern edge, behind the line of William’s blockade, until the Isle of Ely had been passed, a minimum distance approaching 55km (35 miles), followed by the journey from the vicinity of Somersham into the Isle. Such a journey might be possible in twelve hours. Over that period, it would be a mean speed of under 5 km/hour (3 miles/hour), a moderately brisk walking pace. We might think that, sustained over twelve hours, an outstanding feat of endurance on the part of horse and rider and the writer of the text would agree with us. That is the point he is making but it is certainly not an impossible feat, on a mare bred for endurance and one suitably in training (Horse&Hound).

The present chapter and Chapter II make it clear that though sturdy, Hereward was not a large man, neither was he equipped on this occasion, with a soldier’s arms or mail, except to the extent that he may have carried his opponent’s weapons with him. His pots were left behind. The mare was therefore, not especially burdened. The only question lies in how or whether he got mare and saddle together. A poor potter will not have had grooms rushing to attend to his mount, so she was probably left saddled. She had been left from fairly early morning to early afternoon. Presumably, she had found some forage.

It seems that Hereward knew or thought, that the blockade would prevent his entry by a more direct and obvious route so he went past the Isle and doubled back hoping that, early in the morning, William’s guard on this unexpected route would be less alert and beyond the timely reach of messengers warning of his escape. A route into the Isle directly from Somersham is not one of which we would think today, as it is blocked by the Bedford Rivers but these are a feature from the seventeenth century. On the western extremity of the Isle, the road through Sutton is certainly, still directed toward Somersham until redirected by the New Bedford River at TL420782. But note 6, below, concludes that his route into the Isle was from between Somersham and Earith and towards Haddenham rather than Sutton.

Chapters XXIII and XXIV are paralleled in Liber Eliensis Book 2, chapter 106 (Fairweather), though the night ride is there, glossed over. Hereward’s indirect route back into the Isle from Brandon via Somersham evidently troubles Fairweather and she suggests that the ‘Brandune’ at which the King held his court was not Brandon but Brampton, west of Huntingdon (footnote 484). However, William seems to have been seeking to prevent a linkage between the forces in the Isle and Ralph Gwader’s potential support in East Anglia. Though Ralph’s revolt came a little later, it is hard to date most of the events of the siege, which clearly extended longer than William’s propaganda, upon which the conventional chronology appears to have been based, would have us believe. While, in principle, the blockade will have been imposed all round the Isle, William seems from named sites of reported incidents, to have been most active in the south and east. His operational control centre is likely to have been in that quarter too.

1. ↑ The translation of accepit as ‘he took’ gives an impression of possible robbery. In Classical Latin, the word could equally well, perhaps better, be translated as ‘he received’, ‘he got’ or ‘he accepted’. But accipio also means ‘I treat or deal with’. In other words, we could be considering the negotiation of a purchase rather than a theft. This would leave a less harsh impression on the reader’s mind. (Langenscheidt) The word used by the Liber Eliensis at this point is suscipio: ‘quas suscipiens ab eo, tulit eas in umeris suis’. (Fairweather footnote 513) In this case, the meanings given by Langenscheidt include ‘I take’ but their tone is of a gentle nature. Had Hugh been thinking of robbery, he had the verbs capio and rapio available for use but he selected neither. Further, he was using Medieval Latin, which had had time to develop towards the modern English version of accipio as ‘I accept’.

2. ↑ An apparent printer’s error which should read lingua (tongue or language).

3. ↑ An apparent printer’s error which should read hortum (garden).

4. ↑ Præpositus appears several times in Hugh’s account. For example, see the note - ? [Sweeting’s query], under Chapter XVI.

5. ↑ The Classical Latin meaning of hastile is ‘spear shaft’. In Hugh’s Medieval Latin, its meaning seems to have drifted to the extent of including a medieval culinary spit. This would much more closely resemble a spear than would a brand; though either might be to hand at the kitchen fire [FWP]. Langenscheidt gives hastile as spear-shaft, spear, shaft, stick. Collins proposes shaft, spear, javelin and vine prop.

6. ↑ This makes it fairly clear that in Hugh’s mind, fovea meant ditch rather than a pitfall trap. Though, the Devil’s Ditch lay across his route and this is an old defensive demarcation of an early Dark Age boundary. See also Chapter XXIII, note 1.

7. ↑ The ‘island of Somersham’ probably refers to the fact that the village (TL360779) stands on a low eminence, rising to seven metres in the village, which is surrounded to the north, east and south by former fens, though that to the south was a minor one. The use of this expression would imply that Hereward did not enter the village itself.

8. ↑ The ‘aforesaid wood’ adequately translates prædictam silvam but no wood had been mentioned earlier. It may be that Hugh had the forest, the hunting ground to which King William had gone, tacitly in his mind when he made the reference [FWP]. However, this is not a convincing explanation as the king set out for his hunting from Brandon and Hereward reached the wood after passing by Somersham and beginning his entry into the Isle. Brandon and Somersham are widely separated (see note 1) and the more so because of the skirting route necessary for either king or fugitive. Possibly, Leofric Deacon’s original text had mentioned it earlier, in a part of the document which had been lost in the damage, while his later reference to it had not. That the wood should already have been mentioned, when the story had only just reached it, is questionable. More likely, the praedictus slipped in by inadvertent habit, during Hugh’s rewriting or Robert’s transcription. (The parts played by these two men are covered by Miller’s preface.)

By the time Hereward had reached the wood, his passage by Somersham has been mentioned so he appears to have just entered the fen adjacent to the Isle of Ely. Blaeu’s 1665 map of Cambridgeshire (Atlas Maior pp.110-111) shows two woods in this vicinity, one between Cottenham and Willingham, to the Cambridge side of the River Great Ouse and one between Earith and the general direction of Audrey (Aldreth) and Haddenham, on the Isle side. Christopher Saxton’s atlas (pp.64-65) shows the Earith Causeway woodland as aligned more on Haddenham. The former wood, it associates with ‘Audrey Causey’ and the latter with ‘Erith Causey’. Of the wood on the Isle side of the Great Ouse, its position as shown by Blaeu, is not ideal for compliance with a passage directly from Somersham itself but it is not far out in relation to skirting Earith. Also, Blaeu’s geography is a little distorted when compared with that of the Ordnance Survey. The O.S.’s distribution of the features would comfortably imply Hereward’s having skirted Earith, or the townships of Earith, Bluntisham and Colne to approach the river crossing which is shown clearly by Blaeu and Saxton. This river is now broadly represented by the Huntingdon shire boundary northwards towards Chatteris. Its course is discernible on Google Earth. (detail). The modern A1123 road, now called Hill Row Causeway, represents the causeway. Taking this course, Hereward would have approached the crossing (just north of Hermitage farm, at TL404752) from the direction of Somersham without having passed through the Earith village.

Though dated 1665, Blaeu’s map does not show the seventeenth century modifications to the fen drainage and appears to owe much to Saxton’s atlas, of which the relevant plate is dated 1576. That too, shows the two woods and their causeway associations. Both maps clearly show river crossings at Erith and Aldreth. Though Saxton’s map is 500 years later than the events of our story, the important points are that it was made before the modern drainage pattern was imposed and that the modern settlement pattern was established well before Hereward was born. Unlike Lincolnshire, there is little place-name evidence of Danish settlement here. The principal features of the geography remained fundamentally, the natural ones with an overlay of English settlements.

9. ↑ Peue should be pene, which in turn would be pæne in Classical Latin.

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