28 



Trent, formed a barrier between the Endisli and Brit-Welsh 

 peoples. Tlie Brit- Welsh still held their ground as far to 

 the east as the district round Leeds, which constituted the 

 kingdom of Elmet, while the kingdom of Strathclj^de ex- 

 tended from Chester as for north as the valley of the Clyde * 

 The point which immediately concerns us is the time when 

 that portion of the latter kingdom which comprises southern 

 Lancashire fell under the sway of the English. 



The two kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia had united to 

 form the powerful state of Northumbria at the beginning of 

 the 7th century, under the gi^eatest of her warriors, iEthel- 

 frith. In the year 607 ^thelfrith advanced along the line 

 of the Trent through Staffordshire, avoiding by that route 

 the difficult country of Derbyshire and east Lancashire, and 

 struck at Chester, which was the principal seat of the Brit- 

 Welsh power in this district.-f* There he fought the famous 

 battle by which the power of Strathclyde was broken, and 

 that is celebrated in song for the death of the monks of 

 Bangor who fought against him with their prayers. By this 

 decisive blow the English first set foot on the coast of the 

 Irish Channel, and Strathclyde and Elmet on the one hand 

 were cut asunder from Wales on the other. Chester was so 

 thoroughly destroyed that it remained desolate for two cen- 

 turies, until it was restored by iEthelred and ^Ethelflsed, the 

 Lady of the Mercians, and the plains of Lancashire lay open 

 to the invader. In all probability south Lancashire was 

 occupied by the English at this time, and the nature of the 

 occupation may be gathered from the treatment of the city 

 of Chester. A fire, to use the metaphor of Gildas, went 

 through the land, and the Brit- Welsh inhabitants were 

 either put to the sword or compelled to become the bonds- 

 men of the conquerors. It is impossible to believe that the 



* See Freeman, Norman Conquest, vol. i., p. 35 — map of Britain in 597- 

 In this map Elmet is placed in Deira, altliough it did not pass away from the 

 Brit- Welsh till 616 according to Nennius and the Annales Cambrine. 



t Bceda Eccles. Hist. Lib. II. c. ii. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a.d. 605-fO7. 



