which led to the exile of Ecgbert, and to his long stay at the
court of Carl the Great, the authority is William of Malmesbury.
The close correspondence between the Mercian and Frankish courts
is, of course, historic--Offa seeming most anxious to ally himself
with the great Continental monarch, if only in name. The position
of the hero as an honoured and independent guest at the hall of
Offa would certainly be that assigned to an emissary from Carl.

With regard to the proper names involved, I have preferred to use
modern forms rather than the cumbrous if more correct spelling of
the period. The name of the terrible queen, for example, appears on
her coins as "Cynethryth," and varies in the pages of the
chroniclers from "Quendred" to the form chosen as most simple for
use today. And it has not seemed worth while to substitute the
ancient names of places for those in present use which sufficiently
retain their earlier form or meaning.

The whole story of King Ethelbert's wooing and its disastrous
ending is a perfect romance in all truth, without much need for
enhancement by fiction, and perhaps has its forgotten influence on
many a modern romance, by the postponement of a wedding day until
the month of May--so disastrous for him and his bride--has passed.

C. W. WHISTLER.

STOCKLAND, 1904.



INTRODUCTORY.