point there faithfully carrying out the policy of their master in
the building of castles; a work, which specially when the work of
Ode and William Fitz-Osbern, is always spoken of by the native
writers with marked horror. The castles were the badges and the
instruments of the Conquest, the special means of holding the land
in bondage. Meanwhile tumults broke forth in various parts. The
slaughter of Copsige, William's earl in Northumberland, took place
about the time of the King's sailing for Normandy. In independent
Herefordshire the leading Englishman in those parts, Eadric, whom
the Normans called the Wild, allied himself with the Welsh, harried
the obedient lands, and threatened the castle of Hereford. Nothing
was done on either side beyond harrying and skirmishes; but
Eadric's corner of the land remained unsubdued. The men of Kent
made a strange foreign alliance with Eustace of Boulogne, the
brother-in-law of Edward, the man whose deeds had led to the great
movement of Edward's reign, to the banishment and the return of
Godwine. He had fought against England on Senlac, and was one of
four who had dealt the last blow to the wounded Harold. But the
oppression of Ode made the Kentishmen glad to seek any help against
him. Eustace, now William's enemy, came over, and gave help in an
unsuccessful attack on Dover castle. Meanwhile in the obedient
shires men were making ready for revolt; in the unsubdued lands
they were making ready for more active defence. Many went beyond
sea to ask for foreign help, specially in the kindred lands of
Denmark and Northern Germany. Against this threatening movement
William's strength lay in the incapacity of his enemies for
combined action. The whole land never rose at once, and Danish
help did not come at the times or in the shape when it could have
done most good.