A Thane of Wessex | Page 3

conscious of no wrongdoing, I looked forward to speedy release with
full proof of innocence.
Then I began to look about me and to note the crowds of people whom
the Moot had gathered. So many and various were these that I and my
guards passed with little notice among those who toiled up the hill with
us, the crowd growing thicker as we neared the edge of the first great
square platform on the hilltop. And when we reached this, my guards
reined up to breathe their horses, for Brent has from this first platform a
yet steeper rise to the ancient circle on the very summit. Men say that
both platform and circle are the work of the Welsh, whom our Saxon
forefathers drove out and enslaved, but however this may be, they were

no idle workmen who raised the great earthworks that are there.
All the many acres of that great platform were covered with wagons
and carts, and everywhere were set booths and tents, and in them men
and women were eating and drinking, having come from far. There
were, too, shows of every kind to beguile the hours of waiting or to
tempt the curious, for many of the people, thralls and unfree men, had
taken holiday with their masters, and had come to see the Moot, though
they had no part in the business thereof.
So there were many gaily-dressed tumblers and dancers, jugglers and
gleemen, each with a crowd round them. But among these crowds were
few freemen, so that I judged that the Moot was set, and that they were
gathered on the higher circle that was yet before us to be climbed.
I had been on Brent once or twice before, but then it had been deserted,
and my eyes had had time and inclination to look out over the wide
view of hill and plain and sea and distant Welsh mountains beyond that.
Now I thought nothing of these things, but looked up to where it
seemed that I must be judged. I could make out one or two banners
pitched and floating idly in the sunshine, and one seemed to have a
golden cross at its stave head; but I could make out none of the devices
on them, and so I looked idly back on the crowd again. And then men
brought us food and ale, and at last, after some gruff talk among
themselves, the guards untied my hands, though they left my feet
bound under the saddle girths, and bade me help myself.
Nor was I loth to eat heartily, with the freshness of the ride on me, and
with the hope of freedom strong in my heart.
Then we waited for an hour or more, and the sun began to slope
westward, and my guards seemed to grow impatient. Still the crowds
did not thin, and if one group of performers ceased another set began
their antics.
At last a richly-clad messenger came towards us, the throng making
hasty way for him, and spoke to the leader of our party. Then,
following him, we rode to the foot of the great mound, and there

dismounted. And now they bound my hands again, and if I asked them
to forbear I cannot well remember, but I think I did so in vain. For my
mind was in a great tumult as we climbed the hill, wondering and
fearing and hoping all at once, and longing to see who were my judges,
and to have this matter ended once for all.
We passed, I think, two groups coming down from some judgment
given, and of these I know one contained a guarded and ironed man
with a white, set face; and the other was made up of people who smiled
and talked rapidly, leading one who had either gained a cause or had
been acquitted. There were perhaps other people who met us or whom
we passed, but these are the two I remember of them all. Then we
gained the summit and stood there waiting for orders, as it seemed, and
I could look round on all the ring.
And at first I seemed to be blinded by the brilliance of that assembly,
for our Saxon folk love bright array and fair jewellery on arm and neck.
Men sat four and six deep all round the great circle, leaving only the
gap where we should enter; and right opposite that gap seemed the
place of honour, for there were a score or more of chairs set, each with
a thane thereon, and in the midst of them sat those behind whom the
banners were raised. Near us at this end of the circle were the lesser
freemen, and so round each bend of the ring to right and