1 6 History of (he 



the Mersey, the Ribble, the Wyre, and the Lune, on the banks of 

 which their human freight was landed, we may in imagination 

 try to picture to ourselves the march of the grand confederate 

 army that came to wrest the kingdom of Northumbria from the 

 sway of the great Saxon ruler. The bowmen, the spearmen, the 

 gaily-caparisoned horses ; the hosts with their battle-axes and bur- 

 nished shields ; the flaunting banners, bearing the Norwegian and 

 Danish insignia, and all the miscellaneous paraphernalia of ancient 

 warfare, would compose a picture worthy of the canvas of a Falcone 

 or a Salvator Rosa ; and having safely trod the plain of Lancashire, 

 and drawn near to the mountain fastnesses where the conflict was 

 to be waged which should decide the fate of Northumbria : (e) — as 

 night closed with its dark mantle upon the embattled hosts, how 

 the beacon fires would flare forth their red signals from hill to hill ! 

 — Cribden, Hameldon, Pendle, Thieveley Pike, Blackstonedge, 

 and the rest. The grandeur of the scene would stir the indifferent, 

 and inflame the patriotic to those deeds of valour which the Saxon 

 bard has endeavoured to depict in that ode, (/) which time has 

 spared from the oblivion that has fallen upon the writings of more 

 prosaic chroniclers. 



If Saxonfield (Saxifield), near Burnley, was the scene of the 

 engagement between the troops of Athelstan and Anlaf, then it is 

 in the highest degree probable that one or other of the rival armies, 

 most likely that of the Saxon king, forced, or attempted to force, 

 a passage through the valley of the Irwell ; and that here they were 

 encountered by the confederated hosts intrenched behind the vast 

 earthwork at Broadclough that commanded the line of their march. 

 Whether this was taken in flank or rear by the Saxon warriors, or 

 whether it was successful in arresting their progress, or delaying the 

 advance of a portion of their army, it is impossible to determine ; 

 but that it was constructed for weighty strategical purposes, under 



(f) Northumbria, one of the most important and powerful of the Saxon 

 kingdoms under the Heptarchy, comprehended Durham, Northumberland, 

 Cumberland, Westmoreland, Yorkshire, and the chief portion of Lancashire. 



(/) Saxon Ode on the Battle of Brunanburh. 



