That night both he and Hardrada occupied a double grave on the right-hand side of the road leading to York.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE NORMAN CONQUEST:  COMPLEX COMMINGLING OF FACETIOUS ACCORD AND IMPLACABLE DISCORD.

[Illustration:  William the conqueror.]

The Norman invasion was one of the most unpleasant features of this period.  Harold had violated his oath to William, and many of his superstitious followers feared to assist him on that account.  His brother advised him to wait a few years and permit the invader to die of exposure.  Thus, excommunicated by the Pope and not feeling very well anyway, Harold went into the battle of Hastings, October 14, 1066.  For nine hours they fought, the English using their celebrated squirt-guns filled with hot water and other fixed ammunition.  Finally Harold, while straightening his sword across his knee, got an arrow in the eye, and abandoned the fight in order to investigate the surprises of a future state.

In this battle the contusions alone amounted to over ninety-seven, to say nothing of fractures, concussions, and abrasions.

Among other casualties, the nobility of the South of England was killed.

Harold’s body was buried by the sea-shore, but many years afterwards disinterred, and, all signs of vitality having disappeared, he was buried again in the church he had founded at Waltham.

The Anglo-Saxons thus yielded to the Normans the government of England.

In these days the common people were called churls, or anything else that happened to occur to the irritable and quick-witted nobility.  The rich lived in great magnificence, with rushes on the floor, which were changed every few weeks.  Beautiful tapestry—­similar to the rag-carpet of America—­adorned the walls and prevented ventilation.

Glass had been successfully made in France and introduced into England.  A pane of glass indicated the abode of wealth, and a churl cleaning the window with alcohol by breathing heavily upon it, was a sign that Sir Reginald de Pamp, the pampered child of fortune, dwelt there.

To twang the lyre from time to time, or knock a few mellow plunks out of the harp, was regarded with much favor by the Anglo-Saxons, who were much given to feasting and merriment.  In those pioneer times the “small and early” had not yet been introduced, but “the drunk and disorderly” was regarded with much favor.

Free coinage was now discussed, and mints established.  Wool was the principal export, and fine cloths were taken in exchange from the Continent.  Women spun for their own households, and the term spinster was introduced.

The monasteries carefully concealed everything in the way of education, and even the nobility could not have stood a civil service examination.

The clergy were skilled in music, painting, and sculpture, and loved to paint on china, or do sign-work and carriage painting for the nobility.  St. Dunstan was quite an artist, and painted portraits which even now remind one strangely of human beings.