264 



THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 



"In the years succeeding the date of his coronation, East AngUa could 

 boast ot peace and prosperity beyond that of the other Saxon kingdoms, but 

 the shadow of the terrible Northmen's raven soon caused gloom through- 

 out the land, and in 865 the shores of England were invaded by 20,000 

 pagan Danes. I may not occupy your time with the story of the next five or 

 six years but pass to th? sad year A.D. 870, when East Anglia's dauntless 

 Christian king vainly fought the pagan host. Chronicles of the mediaeval 

 monks tell how boldly the king, then 29 years old, bore himself before his 

 conquerors and persecutors. 



" The final scene was enacted on a gloomy November dav in the Forest 

 of Eglesdune (now represented by Hoxne, near Eye in Suffolk). Here the 

 pagan savages bound the king to an oak tree, scourged his body and made him 

 a target for their iron-tipped arrows, finally cutting off his head. 



Greensted Church, near Ongar. 

 (From a Piint dated 1S09. Block lent by Mr. A^ Lockycr. 



" The story goes on to tell that when the Danish host had gone thundering 

 on to further pillage, the body was sought for by Christian Saxons, that they 

 found it in an open clearing, but discovered not the head till in the depths of 

 the forest they heard a voice as of the king cry "here! here! here! " And 

 there they saw a strange sight - - a great grey wolf crouching down with its 

 paws expanded and between them the head of the monarch ! Peacefully 

 giving up possession, the wolf retired and the mourning Saxons gave the 

 remains burial near the forest. 



" There the body rested for ^^ years, till in A.D. 903 it was translated to 

 Beodricsworth, the place afterwards known as St. Edmund's Burh, now 

 Bury St. Edmund's, where it remained peacefully for over 100 years. 



