116 A CITY OF MANY WATERS 



ample, from the annals which he caused the monks of St. 

 Swithun's to compile. Of these, the original manuscript, 

 now in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 

 was chained to a desk in Wolvesey Castle : tradition 

 affirms that the great king himself used to write in it 

 down to the year 891 ; and the book ever lay open, so 

 that all men who could read might trace therein the annual 

 register as it grew. This warrior king had a great rever- 

 ence for letters, and the fame of Winchester as a seat of 

 learning was heard afar. The Christian communities of 

 Ireland had got a long start in literature over those in 

 Britain ; they were not slow to take notice cf the favour 

 shown to scholars by Alfred. The voyage across St. 

 George's Channel was hazardous, by reason of the northern 

 pirates who swarmed there; nevertheless, in 891 came 

 three Scots i.e. Irish in a boat 'made of two skins and 

 a half,' with provisions for a week, who. landing in Corn- 

 wall, made their way to Alfred's Court at Winchester. 

 Their good Gaelic names stand in the chronicle to this 

 day Dubslane, Maccbetha, and Maelinnum. 



Doubts have been thrown on the story of King Alfred 

 and the burnt cakes, but it is as well authenticated as 

 anything in his reign, and Asser, the king's intimate 

 friend, is the chief authority for it. He adds (and both 

 Florence of Worcester and William of Malmesbury confirm 

 the strange story) that the swineherd Denulf, in whose 

 house the incident happened, was remembered by the 

 king after his restoration. Alfred having been struck by 

 the fellow's intelligence, directed that he should be edu- 

 cated for the priesthood, and in the end appointed him 

 Bishop of Winchester. But none of the deponents men- 

 tion how it fared with Denulf s wife, the chief personage 



