Historic%20Yorkshire

HISTORIC YORKSHIRE.
CHAPTER I.
ALFRED, KING OF NORTHUMBRIA.
FTER the invasion of England by the Jutes,
Angles, and Saxons, in 450, and their subsequent
subjugation of it, occupyinga period
of about one hundred and fifty years, the
northern part of the country was as yet
maintaining a feeble independence. Effeminated
by a long period of protection by the
Romans, and constantly harassed by the Picts and Scots,
who, crossing the wallof defence, which(now the legions
of the Cæsars had gone) proved of little or no service,
the Britons of the north offered an easy prey to any
enterprisingwarriorwho should desireto make that part
of the country his own. Such a one was Ida, a Viking,
or sea warrior,of a bold, adventurous spirit. He was an
Angle, and claimed descent from the Scandinavian God
Woden himself. In the year 547, when the Heptarchy
was well advanced in formation, Ida left his possessions
on the shores of the Baltic, and sailed for England with
a fleet of forty war galleys. Landing at Flamborough,
he quickly had the satisfaction of seeing the whole