The first attempts he made to urge them to
follow Harold's counsel were dismissed so curtly that he felt it useless to
persevere.
A fortnight passed by, and then a messenger rode into York with the news
that a vast fleet had entered the Tyne, and that the Norsemen were harrying
and burning the country. Harold Hardrada had first sailed to the Isles of
Shetland and Orkney, which, with the northern districts of the mainland,
formed a powerful Scandinavian province. Paul and Erning, the two young
earls of the state, and a large number of their subjects, joined the fleet,
as did a Scotch contingent sent by Malcolm and commanded by Tostig, who
also had with him the force he had brought from Flanders. Iceland, then a
great Norwegian colony, sent ships and men, as did an Irish sovereign of
Danish descent.
Roused to action at last the northern earls sent out summonses in all
directions for the levies to assemble. The invaders were next heard of at
Scarborough, which made a brave resistance, but the Norsemen took post on
the steep hill overhanging the town, and gathering there a vast pile of
wood set it on fire, and hurled blazing timbers down on the place. Many of
the houses caught fire, and this spread rapidly. The inhabitants
surrendered, but the greater portion was slaughtered and the town given up
to plunder. Holderness, like Scarborough, bravely but unsuccessfully
resisted the attack, and the great fleet sailing south entered the Humber.
Pages:
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390