By the Rev. J. J. Reynolds. 



255 



arrive at Ethandun till " after the third day" " two days " of which 

 were occupied in marching ; where then did he go during this 

 time ? I have what appears to me a most probable suggestion to 

 offer. On a high and commanding table land little more than 

 a mile from this town, which has always borne the name of 

 " King's Settle," tradition asserts that Alfred reviewed his army 

 previous to the battle which restored him to his throne, and that 

 from a remarkable elevation on this spot the heroic king addressed 

 his troops. There is great historical probability in favour of this 

 tradition. Alfred had been in retreat, and indeed coneealment at 

 Athelney with a very scanty following. The news of the unlooked 

 for victory, gained by Oddune the Earl of Devon at Kenwith, 

 encouraged him to emerge from his hiding place, and at once 

 advance against the Danes with such a force as he might be able to 

 gather around him on the march from Somerset, Wilts, Dorset and 

 Hants. On reaching Egbertstone, he perhaps unexpectedly found 

 himself within a few miles of the enemy, without as yet sufficient 

 force for an immediate attack. What so likely as to make a retro- 

 grade movement to a strong position in the neighbourhood of the 

 even then doubtless important town of Shaftesbury, where he might 

 both hope, and conveniently wait further succours ? The march 

 from Egbertstone, Brixton, or Kingston Deverill, would be some- 

 where about eleven or twelve miles, that is, a short day's march. 

 The next or second day would be spent in resting and recruiting 

 his army, and probably in receiving the Hants contingents, instead 

 of running the risk of their being cut off in detail by attempting 

 to concentrate nearer the enemy. On the third day he finds him- 

 self strong enough at once to seek the foe, and marches either to 

 Clay Hill near Warminster, which seems most probable, or to 

 Leigh near Westbury ; here he encamps " one night," and at noon 

 "post tertium diem," that is, after "two day's march," and one 

 day's rest at King's Settle, falls in with the Danes at Ethandun, 

 i.e. Edington near Westbury in Wiltshire. 



The white horse on Bratton Hill is said to have been cut to 

 commemorate the victory there obtained. The suggestions which 

 I have now offered contradict, I submit, no one historian, while 



