BEFORH THE CONQUEST 



the Frisian and the Danish types. The King is reported to have 

 seasoned the materials of his ships, whereas before his time green timber 

 was used on account of the difficulty of bending seasoned wood before 

 the use of steam was thought of. He gave strict orders that the Norse- 

 men were to be regarded as pirates and that no quarter was to be given 

 them, which was only giving them a dose of their own medicine. 

 Towards the end of his reign a handful of Danish Esks attempted to 

 ravage the South Coast, but were soundly beaten by Alfred's long ships 

 and the lesson was a salutary one. It did not, however, prevent 

 Hastings attempting his invasion, which kept Alfred's forces busy for 

 something like four years. 

 Kin^ Edgar. 



Although Alfred's immediate successors are apt to be regarded by 

 comparison as somewhat weak kings, they could not have been so as 

 far as the naval side is concerned, for when King Edgar came to the 

 throne in 959 he found the fleet in very good order, and immediately 

 set about making it greatly superior to Alfred's. There is considerable 

 doubt as to the authenticity of the Winchester Charter in which he 

 describes himself as " King of England and of all the Kings of the 

 Islands and of the Ocean lying around Britain," but within the limits of 

 the times that title would not have been a very serious exaggeration. 

 His famous action of having his barge rowed on the Dee by eight 

 tributary princes is not the thing that could have been done in those 

 days by a man who was unable to back his pretensions with force. 

 Unfortunately his reign was all too short, and when he died at the age 

 of thirty-two, in 975, things began to look black. So well had he and his 

 predecessors builded, however, that the Danes had not the assurance to 

 attack for thirteen years after his death, although they might easily have 

 had their way with such a weak monarch as Aethelred. 

 Danegeld. 



The first invasion was in the year 991 when, after several minor 

 reconnaissances, the Danish Fleet appeared oflF the Essex coast, and 

 apparently meeting with not the least opposition at sea. routed the 

 defenders and ravaged the north side of the Thames. Had he been 

 vigorous and understood sea power as Edgar had done, Aethelred 

 might have defeated them without much difficulty, for these Danes were 

 pure sea-rovers with not the least intention of settling down and were 

 therefore very nervous of being cut of? from home. Instead, he levied 

 the famous Danegeld tax to buy them oflE with ten thousand pounds of 

 silver. This suited the Danes exactly, and they came again and 

 again until no payment was sufficient to ensure more than a 

 few months' peace, and finally after a long series of raids, the Danes 

 conquered the whole country and the King fled to Normandy. Yet he 

 had a large fleet at his disposal ; had he chosen to use it he could have 

 saved his crown. 

 Canute. 



King Sweyn of Denmark only survived his triumph by a matter of 



13 



