The Danes did not come again into Wessex till 876.  But though the West-Saxons had no fighting by land during these years, things were not quite quiet, for in 875 King Alfred had a fight at sea against some of the Danish pirates.  This sea-fight is worth remembering as being, I suppose, the first victory won by the Englishmen at sea, where Englishmen have since won so many victories.  King Alfred then fought against seven Danish ships, of which he took one and put the rest to flight.  It is somewhat strange that we do not hear more than we do of warfare by sea in these times, especially when we remember how in earlier times the Angles and Saxons had roved about in their ships, very much as the Danes and other Northmen were doing now.  It would seem that the English, after they settled in Britain, almost left off being a seafaring people.  We find Alfred and other Kings doing what they could to keep up a fleet and to stir up a naval spirit among their people.  And in some degree they did so; still we do not find the English, for a long while after this time, doing nearly so much by sea as they did by land.  This was a pity; for ships might then, as in later times, have been wooden walls.  It is much better to meet an enemy at sea, and to keep him from landing in your country, than to let him land, even if you can beat him when he has landed.

But in 876 the Danes came again into Wessex; and we thus come to the part of Alfred’s life which is at once the saddest and the brightest.  It is the time when his luck was lowest and when his spirit was highest.  The army under Guthorm or Guthrum, the Danish King of East-Anglia, came suddenly to Wareham in Dorsetshire.  The Chronicle says that they “bestole”—­that is, came secretly or escaped—­from the West-Saxon army, which seems to have been waiting for them.  This time Alfred made peace with the Danes, and they gave him some of their chief men for hostages, and they swore to go out of the land.  They swore this on the holy bracelet, which was the most solemn oath in use among the heathen Northmen, and on which they had never before sworn at any of the times when they had made peace with the English.  But they did not keep their oath any better for taking it in this more solemn way.  The part of the host which had horses “bestole away.”  King Alfred rode after the Danish horse as far as Exeter, but he did not overtake them till they had got there, and were safe in the stronghold.  Then they made peace, swearing oaths, and giving as many hostages as the King asked for.

And now we come to the terrible year 878, the greatest and saddest and most glorious in all Alfred’s life.  In the very beginning of the year, just after Twelfth-night, the Danish host again came suddenly--"bestole” as the Chronicle says—­to Chippenham.  Then “they rode through the West-Saxons’ land, and there sat down, and mickle of the folk over the sea they drove, and of the others the most deal they rode over; all but the King Alfred; he with a little band hardly fared [went] after the woods and on the moor-fastnesses.”  This time of utter distress lasted only a very little while, for in a few months Alfred was again at the head of an army and able to fight against the Danes.