Saxon Middenshire - Part 1

After the Dark Ages, Britain was subjected to a number of invasions; the history books are full of descriptions of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, who ultimately settled in this country and, after intermarrying with its existing inhabitants, contributed to the rich diversity of peoples we have today. We are mainly concerned with the Saxons, the names of whose kingdoms are still familiar to us; Wessex, Mercia, Northumbria, and so on. However, until now, the Kingdom of Middenshire has remained unknown, and it is time to redress the balance.

The Saxons began to arrive on our shores in the middle of the 5th century. It is likely that Middenshire was one of their first points of entry, but there is no firm evidence of this. What does seem evident, however, is that the native population did not welcome these new arrivals with open arms. The chronicler Ninnius, writing in the 7th century, records that in about the year 500:

The Leader Arsor or Arsorius, son of Mumbus the Usurper, did battle at the place known as Bedum, and killed many of the invaders that had come ashore, and he was victorious. And the chieftain of the invaders and his thanes went to Arsor, and reviled him for his attack. For, they said, Arsor was superior in numbers, and he had gone forth to do battle before the invaders were prepared. And Arsor slew them and made a great pile of their heads.

The likelihood is that Arsor was a Briton, probably, of mixed British and Roman blood. It is interesting to note the similarity between 'Arsor' and 'Arthur,' the supposed King of the Britons, and the closeness of 'Bedum' to 'Badon,' the scene of one of Arthur's battles which has not as yet been identified. Little is known about Arsor, other than what is recorded by Ninnius. He claims that 'Arsor used magic to defeat the Saxons at the battle of Goidoc, Making himself and his men like unto trees, he returned to human form as the foemen approached and slew them.' It is more likely that he and his men just hid behind a few trees and then leapt out from behind them as the Saxons approached. Ninnius also claimed that Arsor had a magic club, called Froc the Brow-Beater, from one blow of which a man would be killed. This was probably just an extremely heavy club which, if wielded with sufficient force, was bound to kill its owner's adversary. Like most of his contemporaries, Ninnius seemed to have problems coping with apparently simple concepts. For example, his manuscript describes elsewhere the 'Wonders of the country' (i.e. Middenshire), and mentions 'A miraculous tree, hung with leaves of the deepest green which are as sharp as needles and fall not, even when the season of the snows is upon the land.' He was talking about a pine tree.

Whoever Arsor was, and however stern his resistance, he was doomed to fail in his bid to keep Britain British. In 530, so the Anglo Saxon Chronicles tells us, the Saxon Cerdic and his son Cynric, who had first reached Britain some 35 years before, seized the Isle of Wight. Four years later, Cerdic died, and the island was given to his kinsmen Stuf and Wihtgar (after whom, presumably, Wight is named.) Hereafter, the Anglo Saxon Chronicles are silent regarding Stuf, but this omission is rectified by the Annals of Saint Peter's, the Abbey in Middenbury (albeit they were written many years later), which state:

In this year (543), Stuf and a number of his kinsmen arrived in Middenshire and set up an Earldom with the leave of the King. (i.e. Cynric of Wessex).

At the time Stuf was given the Shire, it had already acquired the name 'Mede Scire,' 'Meduscire' or 'Meod Scire,' which may translate as 'The Mead Shire' or 'The Shire of Honey.' (Albeit 'hunig' was the more usual word for 'honey'.) It may well be that in the time between the arrival of the first Saxons and the creation of Stuf's Earldom, someone named 'Meoda' or 'Medda' gave his name to the county. If the 'Mead Shire' idea is correct, it could well be that we are privy to a 1,400 year old joke, since William Thuck makes specific mention of Middenshire honey and its unpleasant taste.

From 543 until about 580, little is known about the Shire. Then, in the year 580, the pagan Saxons, used to worshipping Woden and their other gods, came face to face with Christianity in the shape of Saint Borroc.

St.Borroc the Indomitable

St. Borroc the Indomitable, born in Ireland in the middle of the sixth century, is credited with having reintroduced Christianity to Middenshire after its disappearance during the Roman occupation. Thrown out of Ireland for being too voluble about his beliefs, he allegedly sailed to Middenshire in a stone coffin with nothing but a small bag of shamrock for sustenance. A violently devout Christian who took every opportunity to proclaim his faith, on reaching the shire he waded ashore and fell to his knees in gratitude for his safe deliverance. He immediately built himself a small cell in a secluded spot and, relying only on the bounty of the hedgerows and seashore, set out to convert the local warlike Saxons. He would hide behind a roadside bush and leap out in front of groups of armed men, yelling, 'Hear me, oh you heathens! There is only one true God!' and then rush madly away, only barely managing to dodge the spears hurled after him. He was a great believer in the positive power of prayer, and often inscribed blessings on small spherical rocks, which he then threw at passing Saxons. More often than not, the recipient knew nothing of the purpose behind the stone which struck him on the head and rendered him unconscious. (N.B. It is interesting to note that the word 'Borroc' passed into the Middenshire dialect as the name for any small round stone or other spherical object.)

Eventually, Saxon spies ascertained Borroc's name and purpose, and organised themselves to combat his attacks. Any Saxons travelling through wooded ways would post a lookout. On seeing any unusual movement or hearing anything from the undergrowth, he would shout, 'Hwaet! Borroc! Borroc!' The men would then form a circle facing outwards, and fire their bows in all directions. It was on one of these occasions that the holy man lost his life. Slowed down by his diet of nuts and limpets, he failed to avoid the lethal volley. Thus, with arrows feathering his saintly bottom, he died.

So it was that Christianity once more disappeared from the Shire, but on this occasion, the disappearance was for a much shorter period. In 597, St. Augustine began his mission to Britain, and St. Wenticus, one of his disciples, ultimately found his way to Middenshire. The holy man appeared before Earl Dybba, dressed all in white, chanting, and holding a wooden fish, as a tangible representation of the traditional Christian symbol. Dybba immediately ordered that Wenticus be strangled with a great eel, and then seized and ate the fish. When, a few days later, Dybba died in agony, his men took it as a sign that they should renounce their pagan beliefs. They destroyed all totems and idols and set up altars to their new God. However, the pendulum swung this way and that over the next hundred or so years, most Earls wishing to "hedge their bets" and worshipping before both pagan and Christian altars.

Here ends the first part of Saxon Middenshire.