154
THE SAXONS IN ENGLAND.
[book I.
the ceremonies of his recognition by the people, and
the outward marks of distinction which he bore :
immediately upon his election he was raised upon
a shield and exhibited to the multitude, who greeted
him with acclamations1. Even in heathen times it
is probable that some religious ceremony accom-
panied the solemn rite of election and installation :
the Christian priesthood soon caused the ceremony
of anointing the new king, perhaps as head of the
church, to be looked upon as a necessary part of
his inauguration. To him were appropriated the
waggon and oxen2 ; in this he visited the several
portions of his kingdom, traversed the roads, and
proclaimed his peace upon them ; and I am inclined
to think, solemnly ascertained and defined the na-
tional boundaries 3, — a duty symbolical in some
degree, of his guardianship of the private bounda-
ries. Among all the tribes there appear to have
been some outward marks of royalty, occasionally
or constantly borne : the Merwingian kings were
distinguished by their long and flowing hair4, the
Goths by a fillet or cap; among the Saxons the
1 “ Levatus in regem : to cyninge ahafen,” continued to be the words
in use, long after the custom of really chairing the king had in all pro-
bability ceased to be observed.
2 The Merwingian kings continued to use this : perhaps not the
Carolings. Among the Anglosaxons I find no trace of it.
3 This duty of riding through the land, called by Grimm the “landes
bereisung” (Deutsche Rechtsalterthiimer1 p. 237), is probably alluded
to by Beda in his account of Eadwine. Hist. Eccl. ii. 16.
4 0eμιτov yàp τoιs βaσιλtvσι τωv φpayγωv ovπωπoτe Kflptσθaι, <lλλ,
aκeιpeκ6μaι те clσιv е’к πalSωv del, κaιπaprjωpηnτaι aυτoιs aπavτes fv μaKa
e*πi τωv ωμωv oi πλoκrtpoι. . . .τovτo δe ωστrep τι yvωpισμa Kaï yépas
eξaιpfτov τω βaσiλelω yévei aveiσθaι veμ6μιστaι. Agathias. bk. 1. 4.
CS. VI.]
THE KING.
lδδ
cynehelm, or cynebeah, a circle of gold, was in use,
and worn round the head. In the Ding or popular
council he bore a wand or staff : in wartime he was
preceded by a banner or flag. The most precious
however of all the royal rights, and a very jewel
in the crown, was the power to entertain a comita-
tus or collection of household retainers, a subject
to be discussed in a subsequent chapter.
The king, like all other freemen, was a landed
possessor, and depended for much of his subsistence
upon the cultivation of his estates 1. In various
parts of the country he held lands in absolute pro-
perty, furnished with dwellings and storehouses, in
which the produce of his farms might be laid up,
and from one to another of which he proceeded,
as political exigencies, caprice, or the consumption
of his hoarded stock rendered expedient. In each
villa or wic was placed a bailiff, villicus, wîcgeréfa,
whose business it was to watch over the king’s in-
terests, to superintend the processes .of husbandry,
and govern the labourers employed in production ;
above all to represent the king as regarded the
freemen and the officers of the county court.
‘ “De victu ex régis praediis.” “Disis ‰nne seo Iihtingc ‰ ic
wylle eallon folce gebeorgan ®e hig ⅛r ISyson Inidgedrehte w⅛ron ealles
to swy δe. Dæt is "Sonne alrost. ⅜et ic bebeode eallum mman geréfan
hæt hi on minan agenan rihtlice tilian ɜ me mid Xam feormian. ∙j ‰t
him nan man ne J>earf to feormfultume nan J>ingc syllan bιitan he sylf
wille. And gif hwa æfter Sam wite crafige bed he his weres scyldig
wiδ Sone cyningc.” Cnut, § lxx. Thorpe, i. 412, 413. “ I command
all my reeves that they justly provide [for me] out of my own pro-
perty, and maintain me therewith ; and that no man need give me
anything as farm-aid (feormfultum) unless he himself be willing.”
We here witness the natural progress of oppression.