te in the
south-west, in Devonshire and Cornwall, where, under the name of
_Castelton Danis_, they are particularly found on the sea-coast. In
the chalk-cliffs, near Uffington, in Berkshire, is carved an enormous
figure of a horse, more than 300 feet in length; which, the common
people say, was executed in commemoration of a victory that King
Alfred gained over the Danes in that neighbourhood. On the heights,
near Eddington, were shewn not long since the intrenchments, which, it
was asserted, the Danes had thrown up in the battle with Alfred. On
the plain near Ashdon, in Essex, where it was formerly thought that
the battle of Ashingdon had taken place, are to be seen some large
Danish barrows which were long, but erroneously, said to contain the
bones of the Danes who had fallen in it. The so-called dwarf-alder
(_Sambucus ebulus_), which has red buds, and bears red berries, is
said in England to have germinated from the blood of the fallen Danes,
and is therefore also called _Daneblood_ and _Danewort_. It flourishes
principally in the neighbourhood of Warwick; where it is said to have
sprung from, and been dyed by, the blood shed there, when Canute the
Great took and destroyed the town.

'Monuments, the origin of which is in reality unknown, are, in the
popular traditions, almost constantly attributed to the Danes. If the
spade or the plough brings ancient arms and pieces of armour to light,
it is rare that the labourer does not suppose them to have belonged to
that people. But particularly if bones or joints of unusual size are
found, they are at once concluded to be the remains of the gigantic
Danes, whose immense bodily strength and never-failing courage had so
often inspired their forefathers with terror. For though the
Englishman has stories about the cruelties of the ancient Danes, their
barbarousness, their love of drinking, and other vices, he has still
preserved no slight degree of respect for Danish bravery and Danish
achievements. "As brave as a Dane," is said to have been an old phrase
in England; just as "to strike like a Dane" was, not long since, a
proverb at Rome. Even in our days, Englishmen readily acknowledge that
the Danes are the "best sailors on the continent;" nay, even that,
themselves of course excepted, they are "the best and bravest sailors
in all the world." It is, therefore, doubly natural that English
legends should dwell with singular partiality on the memorials of the
Danes' overthrow. E