of Corfe, 



By J. G. NEILSON CLIFT. 



FDWARD THE MARTYR was murdered. 



I *oi 



one fact there is no reasonable doubt. 



Of that 

 From 



the outset it has always been alleged that 

 he did not die a natural death, and his end 

 is generally asserted to have been a sudden 

 and violent one. Edward the Martyr was 

 murdered. When, where, how, by whom, and 

 why the crime was committed, are, however, 

 problems, and the evidence relating thereto clearly requires 

 a somewhat more critical examination than it has hitherto 

 received. 



Edgar the Peaceful had been gathered to his fathers at a 

 comparatively early age, leaving behind him a somewhat 

 doubtful reputation ; an orphan son, Edward, by his first 

 wife ; Elfrida, his second spouse, and her only boy, Ethelred, 

 little better than an infant in years. Strong, fearless, hardy, 

 and dissolute was Edgar, utterly lacking in self-restraint, and, 

 moreover, given to outbursts of violent passion. Not without 

 some primitive virtues, not wholly without some good 

 qualities, neither better nor worse perhaps than the men of his 



