1804.] 
reality, no more than I expefted, my only 
animadverfion was—never to call again. 
Such, Mr. &ditor, are the few and un. 
fatisfactory particulars I am able to com- 
municate refpecting this unhappy cafe. 
Unfatisfactory, however, as they are, they 
add one more to the fmal! number of facts 
that feem to furnifh land-marks for an in- 
quiry into the caufes that facilitate, and 
thofe which preclude, the developement 
of the faculty of fpeech: an inquiry 
which, perhaps, may be interefting to 
fome of your readers; and which, you 
will naturally conclude, has become of 
primary importance in the eftimation of, 
Kendal, Your's, refpectfully, 
May 13, 1804. Joun THELWALL. 
ae 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
N purfuance of my promife, I fend you 
fome hiftorical extraéts, tranflated from 
the Danifh, Iam, &c. 
C. H. WILson. 
The BATTLE of LONCART,* iz the YEAR 
985. 
‘¢ In this year (985) the Danith fleet 
put to fea, with an intention either to land 
in England or Scotland, according as the 
wind fhould prove favourable for the one 
or the other. ‘They caft anchor in Scot- 
land, near the promontory called Red- 
head, in the fhire of Angus or Forfar, 
for it is known by thefe two names. 
Many of the Danes preferred a war with 
the Englith, as the Scotch were known to 
be a warlike people, and, befides, there 
was no plunder even in cafe of fuccefs. 
On the contrary, England was rich. They 
at length agreed, however, to try their 
luck in Scotland. They took the town 
of Montrofe, levelled it to the ground, 
fo that not a veftige of it remained ; they 
alfo put all the inhabitants to the fword. 
Having committed feveral wanton acts of 
cruelty, they marched through Angus to 
the Firth of Tay. Every ftep was mark- 
ed with blood and rapine. The inha- 
bitants fled in every direction. Kineth, 
vifit) an imitative effort, which exprefled it- 
felf in an indiftinct How do? which it ap- 
peared to me that the applied asa fort of 
Name or term aflociated in her mind with the 
impreffions fhe had received of my diftinct 
and perfonal identity. On my fecond vifit 
the fame ejaculation again was uttered; yet 
Tcould not learn that any fuch exclamation 
had been obferved in my abfence. A circum- 
ftance from which I drew a very different 
conclufion from thofe which were inferred 
by the perfons who are ufually around her. 
fT See Suhm’s Hiftory of Denmark, vol. 3, 
P. 17H, 8 Ts 
The Battle of Loncart, from the Danijh. 
519 
the king, fat at the time in Stirling, di 
penfing juftice to his fubje&s. The mo- 
ment thele difa‘trous accounts reached his 
ears, he ordered a large body of men to 
be affembled under arms, in that part 
where the river Erne falls into the Tay 5° 
when they came to that place, they learned 
that the Danes had croffed the Tay, clofe- 
ly invefted Perth, and had flain all that 
fell in their way, without diftinction of 
fex, age, or rank, As foonas Kineth re- 
ceived this afflicting intelligence, he haften. 
ed to Loncart, or Longcartili, which lies 
at a fhort diftance from the Tay. Night 
came on {oon after his arrival. As foon 
as the dawn appeared, the battle began. 
The king led the van; Malcolm, King of 
Cumbria, commanded the right wing; and 
Duncan, chieftain of Athol, headed the 
left. Kineth promifed a certain fum of 
money, or an equivalent in land, to every 
man that would bring in the head of a 
Dane. The Danes were pofted at the foot 
of a mountain, from whence the Scots rol- 
led down large ftones, intermingled with 
fhowers of arrows, which killed a great 
number of the enemy. The contelt was 
maintained with. great bravery on both 
fides for a confiderable time. The right 
and left wings of the Scots at length 
gave way; but the van, encomaged by 
the voice and example of their prince, 
kept their ground, and refifted every thock 
with unexampled valour. In this fitua- 
tion it happened, that a Scottifh peasant, 
of the name of Hay, and his two fons, 
ploughing in a field at fome diftance, wit- 
nefled the battle: kindled with patriotic 
fire, the old man and his fons feized the 
implements of their plough—ftood in a 
gap—and flew every man, friend and foe, 
that came within the reach of their arms; 
calling with all their might on their Aying 
countrymen to return to the action, as 
help was now at hand. Their countrymen 
obeyed their call—returned—fell on the 
foe with fuch fury that, in a fhort time, 
the field was covered with the dead bodies 
of the Danes. The camp of the enemy, 
filled with provifions, ‘fell into the hands 
of the Scots the next day. The Danes 
fuffered fo feverely in th's engagement, 
that they did not attempt to make head a 
fecond time. Hay, the patriotic peafant, 
was called into the prefence of the king, 
and was royaily rewarded with a large 
portion of the booty which the foe had 
left behind, as well as lands: he was alfo 
ennobled. The houfe of Arrol is defcend. 
ed from him. Heétor Boethius, a Scot- 
tifh hiltorian, fays, that Kineth granted 
him armorial bearings, but this muf be 
a miltake, as armorial bearings were not 
known in thofe days,” 
VISIT 
