been little less primitive than the osier building at Glastonbury, for it was built, in the rude Scottish fashion, of split wood, and covered with reeds; but the dangerous thatch was afterwards removed, and a leaded roof substituted. WOODEN CHURCH, GREENSTED, A.D. 1013 (AS IT WAS IN 1748). To Essex belongs one of those ancient timber churches-built of split wood, and probably closely resembling the structure at Lindisfarnethe shrine of St. Edmund, at Greensted, situate west of Ongar about one mile. It is built of the cleft trunks of oak or chestnut trees, the lower ends of which rest upon a cill, the rudely bevelled tops being inserted into a groove. The split logs, placed side by side, form the rude walls, level in the interior, but presenting the half-rounded outside of the logs to winter storm and summer sun, as in the old times when the trees matured their strength in the primeval woods of Essex. As the years rolled on, the first rude erection was improved by the addition of chancel and spire; and when, in our own time, it was entrusted to the tender mercies of the restorer, the original timbers were retained in their proper position. The church of Greensted, or, more properly speaking, the nave, is not only interesting on account of its primitive construction, but also for its historical associations. It appears to have been hastily constructed as a resting place for the body of St. Edmund, King of East Anglia, who fell by the hands of the Danes, during the ravages of Hinguar and Hubba, A.D. 870. St. Edmund's martyrdom is thus related, in true monastic style, in Wendover's "Flowers of History"-" The most merciful King Edmund :-"The was then forcibly bound by the ministers of. iniquity, and led forth from the church before their wicked chief, as was Christ before the governor Pilate; at whose command he was tied to a neighbouring tree; after which he was scourged for a long time, and insulted with every species of mockery. But the undaunted champion of Christ, by continuing to call on him between every lash, provoked to fury his tormentors, who then in their mockery, using his body as a mark, shot at him with their bows till he was entirely covered with arrows, so that there was not a place in the martyr's body in which a fresh wound could be inflicted, but it was as completely covered with darts and arrows as is the hedgehog's skin with spines. And so the fierce executioner Hinguar, not being able to make the holy martyr Edmund relinquish his faith in Christ and the confession of the Trinity, so as at all to yield to his wicked persuasions, ordered one of his attendants to cut off the martyr's head with his bloody sword, whereupon the executioner, with one fierce stroke, severed his holy head from its trunk on the 20th day of November, as he was praying and confessing the name of Christ." Head and body were cast among the thick briars of Haeilesdune Wood, by "these servants of the devil." In the following spring, the Danes retired, and the relics of the King were collected. While searching for the head, the King's friends frequently called to each other, "Where are you?" when the martyr's head made answer in the same tongue, "Here, here, here," and did not cease repeating the same till it brought them all to the spot, where they found a huge and horrible looking wolf embracing the head with its paws, and keeping watch over the blessed martyr. A wooden chapel at Hagilsdun received the royal relics, which were afterwards removed to Bury, thenceforward known as Bury St. Edmunds. The Danes overran the country A.D. 1010, and the relics of St. Edmund were carried to London for security, and there remained for about three years. The Bishop of London made a vain attempt to retain the saintly relics, but they were removed to Bury by Ailwin. During the return journey, "his body was lodged at Aungre, where a wooden chapel remains as a memorial." The village tradition that the body of a king once rested in Greensted Church supports the general belief that the nave of Greensted Church is the "wooden chapel" referred to. The Burial of harold at Waltham. THE BY WILLIAM WINTERS, F.R.H.S. HE place of interment of the last of the Saxon monarchs is a subject much controverted in the present day. Many historians appear to be entirely opposed to the most authentic version of the story, i.e., that Harold was buried at Waltham Holy Cross (or Abbey).* They reject the authority of Malmesbury, Wendover, Matthew of Westminster, Wace, Higden, and a number of later authors for the fabulous tale current in the twelfth century, that Harold escaped from the field of Senlac pierced with many wounds, and with the loss of his left eye; and that he ended his days piously and virtuously as an anchorite at Chester.t Both Knighton and Brompton quote the same legend. William Pictaviensis, chaplain of the Conqueror, asserts that William refused to grant the body of Harold to his mother, who offered for it its weight in gold,‡ * See Select Passages in the Life of Harold, by W. Winters, 1876. + Giraldus Cambrensis. Eleven thousand pounds. See Masers, in his Gesta Guillelmi. |