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Few portions of our island have been more amply illustrated, by antiquarians, than OXFORD; and from one of these we learn that a Keep Tower, or Castle, existed here a considerable time before the conquest; for Alfred lived here; and Harold Harefoot was crowned and resided here; and one of Alfred's sons struck money here.
At all events, however, the estate is not far from hence, and it is a magnificent place, I promise you, More's the pity, that those who have owned it for some hundreds of years, should be compelled to part with it." Other matters were then introduced, and Shanty endeavoured to wind about Harefoot, but with little success; for, deep as he thought himself, he had one deeper to deal with.
Again, they turned to form many conjectures, and put many things together: "Was Mr. Salmon connected with the gipsies who had brought Tamar to the moor? Was it this gang that proposed robbing him? Was the young blacksmith called Harefoot connected with the gipsy? Had he persuaded Salmon to bring his treasures there, in order that he might pilfer them? And lastly, wherefore was Mr.
Egbert. Ethelwolf. Ethelbald and Ethelbert. Ethered. Alfred the Great. Edward the Elder. Athelstan. Edmund.-Edred. Edwy. Edgar. Edward the Martyr Ethelred. Settlement of the Normans. Edmund Ironside. Canute. Harold Harefoot. Hardicanute. Edward the Confessor. Harold First Saxon Government. Succession of the Kings. The Wittenagemot. The Aristocracy. The several Orders of Men. Courts of Justice.
Harthaknut, whom the will of his father had called to the succession, was absent in Denmark, and Godwin caused his brother, Harold Harefoot, to be crowned in haste, though the Archbishop would not sanction the usurpation, placed the crown and sceptre on the altar, and forbade the bishops to give him their blessing.
He had bequeathed both England and Denmark to his son Harthacnut; but the boy's absence enabled his brother, Harald Harefoot, to acquire all England save Godwine's earldom of Wessex, and in the end even Godwine was forced to submit to him. Harald's death in 1040 averted a conflict between the brothers, and placed Harthacnut quietly on the throne.
This is the only memorable action performed during a reign of four years, by this prince, who gave so bad a specimen of his character, and whose bodily accomplishments alone are known to us by his appellation of HAREFOOT, which he acquired from his agility in running and walking.
He gained Godwin to his side, and together they lured the sons of Emma by Ethelred viz., Alfred and Edward to town, and, as a sort of royal practical joke, put out Alfred's eyes, causing his death. Harold was a swift sprinter, and was called "Harefoot" by those who were intimate enough to exchange calls and coarse anecdotes with him.
I was afterwards known by the name of earl Goodwin, and began to make a considerable figure in the world in the time of Harold Harefoot, whom I procured to be made king of Wessex, or the West Saxons, in prejudice of Hardicanute, whose mother Emma endeavored afterwards to set another of her sons on the throne; but I circumvented her, and, communicating her design to the king, at the same time acquainted him with a project which I had formed for the murder of these two young princes.
Edward married a daughter of the German Emperor, and during the commotions in England, and the successive reigns of Harold Harefoot, Hardicanute, and the Confessor, had remained forgotten in his exile, until now suddenly recalled to England as the heir presumptive of his childless namesake. He arrived with Agatha his wife, one infant son, Edgar, and two daughters, Margaret and Christina.