kingdom, whose manners and whose language the people whom thou dost govern knoweth not ; nor shall thy sin be expiated but by a prolonged vengeance, the sin of thyself, and the sin of thy mother, and the sin of the men who have shared in her unrighteous counsels.' " Therefore, after this, a cloud appeared at midnight throughout all England, at one time of a bloody, at another of a fiery, appearance, which afterwards changed to various hues and colours ; it disappeared towards dawn. In the year 979, Elpher, duke of the Mercians, came to "Werham89 with a multitude of people, and ordered the holy body of Edward, the precious king and martyr, to be taken up from the tomb, where many miracles had taken place. "When it was stripped, it was found to be whole and entirely free from all corruption and contagion ; it was then washed and arrayed in new vestments, and conveyed to Scaftesbirig,90 and honorably buried there. In the year 980, Southampton was ravaged by the Danish pirates, and almost all of its citizens either killed or carried • away captives. Shortly after this, the same army devastated the isle of Tenedland.91 In this year, also, the province of the city of the Legions92 was laid waste by the Norwegian pirates. Ln the year 981, the monastery of Saint Petroc53 the confessor, in Cornwall, was ravaged by the pirates, who, the year before, had laid waste Southampton, and were then committing frequent ravages in Devonshire, and in Cornwall near the sea-shore. Lu the year 982, three ships touched on the coast of the province of Dorset, and laid waste Portland. In this year the city of London was burned with fire. Ln the year 983, Alpher, duke of the Mercians, a kinsman of Edgar, king of the English, departed this life, on which his son Alfric succeeded to the dukedom In the year 984, Saint Ethelwold, bishop of "Winchester, departed from this world to the Lord, in the second year of the indiction, on the calends of August ; and was succeeded by Elphege,94 abbat of Bath. He had assumed the religious habit at the monastery which is called Dehorhirst.91* * Wareham. 90 Shaftesbury. 91 The isle of Thanet. 95 Chester. 93 Padstow. 94 The second bishop of that name. M* Deerhurst, near Gloucester. 78 ANNALS OF EOGEB DE HOVEDEN. A.D. 984.