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his trust in God, being then upon Sohani Mere, he contrived to be 
drawn upon a slead over the ice ; and for his better security (con- 
sidering the danger of the passage) that one should go before him, 
to try the way. But it so fell out, that as he stood thus consulting, 
a lusty and big man, and an inhabitant of the isle, who for his 
corpulency was called Brithmer Budde, came before him, and 
offered to lead the way ; whereupon the King followed on the slead, 
all that beheld him admiring his boldness ; and coming safe thither, 
celebrated that solemnity according as he had wont, with great joy: 
and in gratitude to the said Brithmer, made him, with all his 
posterity, free men for ever.” 
A halo of romance is shed over the last days of English inde- 
pendence 4p the Isle of Ely, by the knightly deeds of one Hereward, 
of whom tradition tells much more than history. This much, 
however, is certain : Hereward held the isle against King William 
till he was at length betrayed by those for whom he fought so 
nobly ; he escaped with his life, and probably, eventually, became 
reconciled to the King. The legends which record his deeds 
invariably represent him as a man of restless energy, fearless in 
battle, and generous to his vanquished foe. His end was as violent 
as his life had been. Surprised and attacked by a band of his 
Norman foes, he fell at last wounded in the back, sixteen Erenchmen 
lying dead at his feet ; the miscreant who hacked off his head 
swearing that so valiant a man he had never seen, and that, had 
there but been three more in the land like him, the Frenchmen 
would have been slain, or driven out of England. 
Interesting as this episode in the history of the Fens is, from a 
purely historic point of view, — for, although the records of Hereward’s 
exploits are mainly legendary, of the correctness of the main features 
of his defence of the isle against King William there can be no 
doubt, — it possesses still greater interest to us from the light which 
it sheds upon the condition of the Fen country and its inhabitants 
eight hundred years ago. These facts and legends have been’ 
skilfully wrought by Mr. C. MacFarlaue into a charming little 
“ Old English Novelet,” entitled ‘ The Camp of Kefuge whilst, to 
the late Charles Kingsley, the same subject supplied the material 
for his equally charming ‘Hereward the Wake.’ In these two 
delightful books, so graphic a picture is presented of what must 
have been the mode of life, and, perhaps, even the lino of thought. 
