2 
;8 A X. F 
ALEYN (Charles), an Englifh poet in the reign of. 
Charles I. hi 1631, he published two poems on the fa¬ 
mous victories of Crefly and Poidtiers. He fucceeded his 
father as clerk of the ordnance, and was commiflary-gc- 
neral of the artillery to the king at the battle of Edge- 
hill. The next piece he wrote was a poem in honour of 
Henry VII. and the victory that gained him the crown of 
England. 1111639, the year before he died, he tranflated 
the hiftory of Eurialius and Lucretia from the Latin 
epiftles of .Eneas Sylvius. 
ALFANDIGA, the name of the cuftom-houfe at the 
city of Lilbon. 
ALFAQUES, f. among the Moors, the name general¬ 
ly ufed for their, clergy, or thofe who teach the Mahome¬ 
tan religion; in oppoiition to the Morabites, who anl'wer 
to monks among Chriftians. 
ALFATERNA, the laft town of Campania, beyond 
Vefuvius; the fame with Nocera, which fee. 
ALFDOUCH,/! a name given by the Moors to a fort of 
vermicelli, which they make of flour and water, and are 
very fond of it in their entertainments. 
ALEET, f. in our old cuftoms, denotes a cauldron full 
pf boiling water, wherein an accufed perfon, by way of 
trial or purgation, plunged his arm up to the elbow. 
ALFORD, a town in Lincolnfliire, with a market on 
Tnefdays for provilions and corn ; and two fairs, 011 Whit- 
Tuefday and November 8, for cattle and flieep. It is 
feated on a fmall brook that runs through the town, and 
is a compact place. A falt-fpring was difcovered here in 
1.670, from the pigeons which flew thither in great num¬ 
bers to drink the water; thofe birds being known to be 
fond of fait. It contains a purging-falt, together with a 
portion of fea-falt. It is ftrongly purgative. It is re¬ 
commended as cooling, cleanfing, and attenuating. As a 
good remedy in the fcurvy, jaundice, and other glandular 
obftrudlions. It alfo promotes urine and fweat, and there¬ 
fore is good in gravelly and other diforders of the kidneys 
and bladder; and in complaints arifing from obftrudted 
perfpiration. Alford is fix miles from the fea, twenty- 
five north of Bofton, and 142 from London. Lat.53.30. 
N. Ion. o. 15. E. 
ALFRAGAN, Alfergani, or Fargani, a celebra¬ 
ted Arabic aflronomer, who flouriflied about the year 800. 
He was fo called from the place of his nativity, Fergan, 
in Sogdiana, now called Maracanda, or Samarcand, anci¬ 
ently a part of Baftria. He is alfo called Ahmed (or 
Muhammed) ben-Cothair, or Katir. He wrote the Ele¬ 
ments of Aftronomy, in thirty chapters or fetlions. In 
jthis work the author chiefly follows Ptolemy, tiling the 
fame hypothefes, and the fame terms, and frequently ci¬ 
ting him. There are three Latin tranflations of Alfra- 
gan’s work; the belt of which was made by Golius, pro- 
felfor of mathematics and Oriental languages at Leyden : 
this work, which came out in 1669, after the death ol 
Golius, is accompanied with the Arabic text, and many 
learned notes. 
ALFRED, or Elfred, the Great, king of England, 
was the fifth and youngeft fon of Ethelwolf king of the 
Weft Saxons, and was born at Wantage in Berkihire, in 
849. He diftinguiffied himfelf, during the reign of his 
brother Ethelred, in feveral engagements againft the 
Danes ; and upon his death fucceeded to the crown, in the 
year 871, and the twenty-fecond of his age. At his af- 
cending the throne he found himfelf involved in a dan- 
gerous°war with the Danes, and placed in fuch circum- 
ftances of diftrefs as called for the greateft valour, refo- 
bition, and all the other virtues with which he was adorn¬ 
ed. The Danes had already penetrated into the heart of 
his kingdom ; and, before he had been a month upon the 
throneThe was obliged to take the field againft thofe for¬ 
midable enemies. " After many battles gained on both 
fides, he was at length reduced to the greateft difficulties, 
and was entirely abandoned by his fubjeds. 
In this univerfal defection, Alfred vainly attempted to 
A L F 
remind them of the duty they oweththeir country and their 
king; but, finding his remonftrances ineffedhial, he was 
obliged to fubmit to the wretched neceffity of the times. 
Accordingly he affirmed a difguife moft likely to conceal 
him, and, after having properly difpofed of his family, 
and fettled a method of communication with fome trufty 
friends, he engaged himfelf in the fervice of his own 
cow-herd. The wife of the herdfman was ignorant of 
the rank of her royal gueft, and feeing him one day bufied 
by the fire-fide, in trimming his bow and arrows, fhe de- 
fired him to take care of fome cakes that w ere baking at 
the fire, while Are was employed in other domeftie affairs; 
but Allred, whofe thoughts were othervvife engaged, for¬ 
got the cakes, and the woman, on her return, finding them 
burnt, chid the king very feverely, telling him, that he 
was always willing enough to eat her hot cakes, though 
he was fo negligent in turning them. 
Allred foon after this retired to the ifle of Ethelingey 
in Somerfetlhire, where he built a fort for the fecuritjTof 
himfelf, his family, and the few faithful fervants whore- 
paired thither to him. When he had been about a year 
in this retreat, having been informed that fome of his 
fubjedts had routed a great army of the Danes, killed 
their chiefs, and taken their magical ftandard, he iflued 
his letters, giving notice where he was, and inviting his 
nobility to come and eonfult with him. Before they came 
to a final determination, Alfred, putting on the habit of a 
harper, went into the enemy’s camp, where, without fuf- 
picion, he was every where admitted, and had the honour 
to play before their princes. Having thereby acquired an 
exadt: knowledge of their litnation, he returned in great 
fecrecy to his nobility, whom he ordered to their refpeft- 
ive homes, there to draw together each man as great a 
force as he could; and upon a day appointed there was to 
be a general rendezvous at the great wood, called Selwood, 
in Wiltlhire. This affair was tranfafted fo fecretly and 
expeditioufly, that, in a little time, the king, at the head 
of an army, approached the Danes, before they had the 
leaf! intelligence of his delign. Alfred, taking advantage 
of the furprife and terror they were in, fell upon them-, 
and totally defeated them, at Ethendune, now Eddington. 
Thofe who efeaped fled tp a neighbouring caftle, where 
they were loon befieged, and obliged to furrender at dif- 
cretion. Alfred granted them better terms than they 
could expedl. He agreed to give up the whole kingdom 
of the Eaft-Angles to fuch as would embrace the Chrif- 
tian religion, on condition they would oblige the reft of 
their countrymen to quit the ifland, and, as much as it was 
in their power, prevent the landing of any more foreign¬ 
ers. For the performance tiiereof he took lvoftages ; and 
when, in purfuance of the treaty, Guthrum the Daniffi 
captain came, with thirty of his chief officers, to be bap¬ 
tized, Alfred anfwered for him at the font, and gave him 
the name of Ethelftane; and certain laws were drawn up 
betwixt the king and Guthrum for the regulation and go¬ 
vernment of the Danes fettled in England. In 884, a frefh 
number of Danes landed in Kent, and laid fiege to Ro- 
chefter; but, the king coming to the relief of that city, 
they were obliged to abandon their delign. Alfred had 
now great fuccefs; which was chiefly owing to his fleet, 
an advantage of his own creating. Having fecured the 
fca-coafts, he fortified the reft of the kingdom with caf- 
tles and walled towns; and he befieged and recovered 
from the Danes the city of London, which he refolved to 
repair, and to keep as a frontier. 
The Danes had poflefled themfelves of London in tire 
time of his father; and had held it till now as a conveni¬ 
ent place for them to land at, and fortify themfelves in ; 
neither was it taken from them but by a clofe fiege. How¬ 
ever, when it came into the king’s hands, it was in a mi- 
ferable condition, fcarcely habitable, and all its fortifi¬ 
cations ruined. The king, moved by the importance of 
the place, and the defire of ftrengthening his frontier 
againft the Danes, reftored it to its ancient fplendour. 
And 
