683 
sight, such cold-blooded, wholesale vengeance. It was at 
York that "the English and Danes, with Edwin, Morcar 
and Waltheof," hatched rebellion; it was after a severe 
battle, in which he lost " many of his people," that " he then 
ordered both the towns and fields of the whole district to 
be laid waste ; the fruits and grain to be destroyed by fire 
and water, more especially on the coast, as well on account 
of his recent displeasure, as because a rumour had gone 
abroad that Cnut, King of Denmark, the son of Sweyn, was 
approaching with his forces;" and here local nomenclature 
bears witness to the truthfulness of the historian. The 
numerous names of towns and parishes with the ending of 
" by," a sure sign of Danish location, show how thoroughly 
these Danes had colonised and settled down in this North 
Humber Land. Denaby, Cadeby, Barnby, Keadby, Selby, 
Firsby, Ravenfield (the raven, the national ensign of the 
Danes), in our neighbourhood, and many more everyivliere 
in Yorkshire, at once occur. It was stern policy which neces- 
sitated this course to William ; and, it may be, in no other 
way could the strong hold of the Danish interest in the 
North be stamped out. The hard lines which were meted 
out to them, were the same they had meted out to others ; 
and the tenure of their lands was the same as that of 
William's followers, viz., the might of the strong arm and 
the right of conquest. It was better for us the Norman, 
with his higher type of civilisation, should replace the 
descendants of the Danish Vikings, and the rule of a 
more refined nature succeed to the lawlessness and wild 
habits of Godwin's sons. It was best for us in South York- 
shire that this Danish supremacy was cut short, and that 
other lords inherited their lands. But I must conclude. I 
have brought together, into this hours reading, a work of no 
little magnitude. I think few are aware of the amount of 
labour incurred in the preparation of, and putting into 
