piece of
folly, as they were to learn. The marshmen fought like their fathers of
old for their much-valued liberty, and the knights found they had no
cravens to deal with.

It is true that the royal troops took and sacked Meldorf, the chief town
of the Ditmarshers, cruelly killing its inhabitants, but it was their
only victory. It proved a lighter thing to get to Meldorf than to get
away from it, and of the Danes and Germans who had taken part in the
assault few escaped with their lives.

It was the depth of winter, cold, bitter weather, and as the army was on
its march from Meldorf to Hejde the advance guard suddenly found itself
in face of a line of earthworks which the marshmen had thrown up in front
of a dike. This was defended by five hundred Ditmarshers under their
leader, Wolf Isebrand.

The German guards rushed to the attack, shouting:

"Back, churls, the guards are coming!"

Three times they forced the marshmen to retreat, but as often these bold
fellows rallied and came back to their works. In the midst of the
struggle the wind changed, bringing a thaw with it, and as the troops
struggled on, blinded with the sleet and snow that now fell heavily, and
benumbed with the cold, the men of the marshes opened the sluices in the
dike. Through the openings poured the waters of the rising tide, quickly
flooding the marshes and sweeping everything before them.

The soldiers soon found themselves wading in mud and water, and at this
critical juncture the Ditmarshers, accustomed to make their way through
their watery habitat by the aid of poles and stilts, fell upon the
dismayed invaders, cutting them down in their helpless dilemma or
piercing them through with their long lances.

The victory of the peasants was utter and complete. Six thousand of the
invaders, nobles and men-at-arms alike, perished on that fatal day, and
the victors fell heir to an immense booty, including seven banners. Among
these was the great Danish standard, the famous Danneborg, which was
carried in triumph to Oldenwoerden and hung up in the church as the
proudest trophy of the victory.

As for King Hans and his brother Duke Frederick, they barely escaped
falling into the hands of the marshmen, while the estimate of the losses
in money, stores, and ammunition in that dread afternoon's work was
200,000 florins.

King Hans lost more than money by it, for he lost the kingship of Sweden.
The nobles of that country, when the news of the disas