HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

uS

c. ii a r. and though the greater number fell in the action,ii. a considerable body made their escape Theseroved about for some time in England , still pur-sued by the vigilance of Alfred; they attackedLeicester with success, defended themselves inHartford, and then fled to Quatford, where theywere finally broken and subdued. The small re-mains of them either dispersed themselves amongtheir countrymen m Northumberland and -East-Anglia 65 , or had recourse again to the sea, wherethey exercised piracy, under the command ofSigefert, a Northumbrian. This freebooter, wellacquainted with Alfred’s naval preparations, hadframed vessels of a new construction , higher, andlonger, and swifter, than those of the English:But the king soon discovered his superior skill,by building vessels still higher, and longer, andswifter, than those of the Northumbrians; andfalling upon them , while they were exercisingtheir ravages in the west, he took twenty of theirships ; and having tried all the prisoners at Win-chester, he hanged them as pirates, the commoner mies of mankind.

The well-timed severity of this execution,together with the excellent posture of defenceestablished every where , restored full tranquillityin England , and provided for the future securityof the government. The East-Anglian and Nor-thumbrian Danes, on the first appearance of Alfred

** Chron. Sax. p. 95.

Ibid. p. 97.

<5