Sir Oswald

“ No, sir; he never did suffer from anything of the kind. There never was a stronger gentleman than Sir Oswald. In all the years that I have known him, I don't recollect his having a day's serious illness. ”

“ Then said Ina: "What more could be done by Oswald?--Will men help a Saxon?"
"This must be between ourselves, King Ina," Jago said plainly. "It is in my mind that if Oswald and I or some known lord of the British will go to that place and sit there quietly with rewards in our hands, we may learn much; for men fear Gerent the king in his wrath, and they fled from his coming."
"So be it," said Ina. "Oswald shall go, and it seems to me that every day is precious, so that he shall go at once. Is there thought that Owen may be taken out of the country, as Oswald was taken?" ”

“ The will was executed in the presence of these men, who affixed their signatures to it as witnesses.
"I have no wish to keep the nature of this will a secret from my household," said Sir Oswald. "It restores my nephew, Mr. Reginald Eversleigh, to his position as heir to this estate. You will henceforth respect him as my successor."
The two men bowed and retired. Sir Oswald walked towards the window: and Victor Carrington drew back into the shadow cast by a massive abutment of stone-work.
It was not very easy for a man to conceal himself on the terrace in that broad moonlight. ”

“ The second baronet, Sir Oswald Oswald, lost five children in succession. Two daughters and a son alone lived to grow up: and perhaps it had been as well for the peace of Sir Oswald and his wife had those three likewise died in infancy; for pain they all brought home in one shape or other. They were self-willed and disobedient; preferring their own ways. The son wished to go into the army: his father had the greatest possible aversion to it; but he persisted, and went, in spite of remonstrance. The younger daughter, Frances, married an old man for his rank: Sir Oswald objected to it ”

“ Oswald, with many thousands of his men, being killed, his brother Oswy succeeded him in the kingdom of Northumberland, [4] and by making large presents of gold and silver to Cadwalla, who was now possessed of the government of all Britain, made his peace and submission to him. Upon this Alfrid, his brother, and Ethelwald, [5] his brother's son, began an insurrection; but, not being able to hold out against him, they fled to Penda, king of the Mercians, desiring him to assemble his army and pass the Humber with them, that he might deprive Oswy of his kingdom. ”

“ Here, chancing to catch sight of me in the doorway, he flourished off his hat, a miserably sorry-looking object, and bowed profoundly. "Aha, Sir Oswald," quoth he, "you arrive most aptly—in the very nick, the moment, the absolute tick! If you have a mind to see a little delicate fibbing, some scientific bruising as taught by the famous Natty Bell, foot and fist-work as exhibited by Glorious John, Jem Belcher and—"
"'E swallowed all my beer, 'e did, sir!" exclaimed a red-faced man in gaiters and smock-frock, "in one gullup—so quick no 'and could stay the deed! ”

“ This youngest was named Oswald; though he always accompanied his brothers to war, and was the very bravest of all the knights, he thought it was useless to fight about everything. Life would be much happier if people were kind and peace-loving; and unless there were a serious question to fight about, he did not believe in fighting at all. He much preferred to roam the forest, studying the sky and the trees, or the lovely waters of the clear blue lakes. ”

“ Oswald will best serve his countrymen by frankly accepting what was inevitable in any case."
"Nothing was inevitable, if he had but had the mind to stand by his country. We would have followed him anywhere, for there was none of us with a head to command like he had; and he wielded a powerful sword. No other man ever got the better of me in single combat, and I could have worshipped him had he stood by us. 'Twas the Norman woman bewitched him, and I hate him for saving his coward's skin and betraying his country, because a dark-eyed siren and temptress beckoned him." ”

“ Although stricken down and faint from loss of blood, Oswald still lived, and witnessed with [112] anguish of mind the cowardly and ignominious flight of his army. The Mercians came over the field, killing those of the fallen who were merely wounded; but when they came to Oswald they spared him, whom they had recognised, and brought him, with staggering steps and downcast heart, into the presence of their chief.
"Thou art he, then," said Penda, addressing him, "who darest to invade my dominions—the dominions of a descendant of Woden—thou, a worshipper of false gods!" ”

“ Oswald posted his men in a strong position on the north side of the great Wall; and, setting up a huge cross of wood, called upon all his followers to bow before the God of whom he had learnt during his exile in Iona, and to pray to Him for victory. His army obeyed, and, in the battle which followed, Oswald’s forces were completely victorious. The Mercians, and their allies, the western Britons, were routed, and driven out of Bernicia, and Cadwallon was pursued as far as the Denise Burn, and there slain. ”

“ If an emperor had been introduced to Max Schurz he might have felt a little abashed one minute at the old Socialist’s royal disdain, but he could not have failed to say to himself as he looked at him from head to foot, ‘Here, at least, is a true man.’ So Harry Oswald felt, as the spare grey thinker took his hand in his, and grasped it firmly with a kindly pressure, but less friendly than that with which he had greeted his known admirer, Ernest Le Breton. ”

“ Gladly, and yet right early in the morning, did the venerable man take leave of the queen; and, having restored to King Oswald his ring, frankly acknowledged that his whole entire life was not so holy as one of the King’s days and nights. I must observe, however, that, with this rigid observance of sobriety and virtue, King Oswald is the first prince of our Saxon rulers who is recorded to have been served in silver dishes. We can easily understand a hermit’s repugnance to bathing of any kind. ”

“ There was a terrible fear at his heart—an inward conviction that his uncle was in earnest.
"My solicitors will furnish you with all particulars of the deed I spoke of," said Sir Oswald, without noticing his nephew's appealing tones. "That deed will secure to you two hundred a year. You have a soldier's career before you, and you are young enough to redeem the past—at any rate, in the eyes of the world, if not before the sight of heaven. If you find your regiment too expensive for your altered means, I would recommend you to exchange into the line. ”

“ And Oswald's knights?
Vig. Sleep in Avesta's dungeons.
Bion. Banissat,
Avesta's golden prince, speak you the doom
Of Bertrand——
Ard. Doom? O——
Ber. Do not waste the breath
A kiss may save. A thousand times, your lips!
Ard. [To Biondel] Let him not die!
Vig. You'll pray soon that he may!
Speak, noble prince.
Ban. I, lord of conquered Suli,
Condemn the son of Oswald unto death
By crucifixion. Be his body nailed
Upon the cross now raised on Kidmir peak,
That Oswald may behold his groaning son,
And every Christian dog look up and see
How dies the Prophet's enemy. ”

“ I'll take it," she said, in answer to the chair he offered. "And I will take off my fur," she added, unwinding a boa from her neck, and untying her bonnet-strings. "Your room feels very warm to one coming in from the keen air outside."
There was something in her frank manners that struck most pleasingly on the mind of Oswald. She sat there as confidingly in his room as though he had been her brother: a good, modest, single-minded woman, whom even a bad man could not do otherwise than respect. ”

“ Reassured upon the score of Lady Oswald, Oswald quitted Mark, and went amidst the wounded. Proud man though he was accused of being, though he was, never was there a tenderer heart, a softer hand, a gentler voice for the sick and suffering, than his. All the patients appeared to have been attended to in some degree; and they were in good hands now. Oswald halted by the side of the poor stoker, a swarthy honest-faced man, who was moaning out his pain.
"What, is it you, Bigg?" he said, recognising the man. ”

“ The Adjutant was for having Oswald moved on; we should be missing things presently, he warned—saddle-blankets, rifles, horses, perhaps the portcullis. However, the O.C. would have none of it; he maintained that this constant menace at our gates kept the sentries on the qui vive and accustomed them to practically Active Service conditions.
So all the summer the wigwam remained on the turf-patch and the sentries on the qui vive.
How Oswald existed is a mystery—probably on manna, for he toiled not neither span, and if he stole for a living it was not from us. ”

“ Oswald never hesitated. He crammed the cricket ball into his pocket and climbed up the shelves and unbolted the trap-door, and shoved it up, and pulled himself up through it. Though above all was dark and smelt of spiders, Oswald fearlessly shut the trap-door down again before he struck a match. He always carries matches. He is a boy fertile in every subtle expedient. ”

“ Oswald was a tall bony grizzled child of the Open.
Years ago he would have been dismissed briefly as a tramp, but we know better now; we have read our Georgian poets and we know that such folk do not perambulate the country stealing fowls and firing ricks from any dislike of settled labour, but because they have heard the call of far horizons, belles étoiles and great spaces. ”

“ Oswald was an able and industrious public servant, and a man of literary and philosophical tastes. He was a close friend and an amiable critic of Adam Smith, David Hume, Henry Home, Lord Kames, and John Home, the author of ‘Douglas.’ He married at London, in February 1747, a sister of Joseph Townsend, M.P. for Westbury, Wiltshire, by whom he had issue James Townsend Oswald, father of General Sir John Oswald [q. v.] ”

“ In person Oswald was a tall, handsome, powerful man, over six feet in height, who used his weapons well in hand-to-hand fight, notably in the attack on Scylla Castle. A miniature, painted when he first joined the army, and a full-length as a young general officer, by Smellie Watson, now at Dunnikier, show the fine presence which, with his military bearing and youthful figure, he retained to the last year of his life. ”

“ The beneficient reign of Oswald is in many of its features a striking parallel to that of Edwin. Both kings became the nucleus of popular legend. Oswald reigned as Bretwalda, and finally fell in battle against Penda at Maserfield, on the 5th of August, 642.
Ælfric's chief source for the Life of King Oswald was Bede's Ecclesiastical History (Lib. III.) . The text is obtained from Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Reader, where it was published for the first time; it has since been published, with readings from other MSS., by Skeat in Ælfric's Lives of Saints, Part III. (Early English Text Society, 1890) . ”

“ After that Ina bade me go to Dyfed, while he was yet in the west, and would set all things in train for me, choosing my house-carles, and setting such men as I could work well with in places of trust in the land. There was much for the king to do yet.
"Therefore take what time you will, Oswald," he said kindly. "You will be busy enough when you come back, and I can trust you not to overstay your time. If Owen can come to speak with me bring him, but that is doubtful yet." ”

“ Oswald always took a joke as if you'd made it beside the casket holding all that was mortal of his dear mother. In the presence of lightsome talk poor Oswald was just a chill. He was an eater of spoon-meat, and finicking. He could talk like Half Hours With the World's Best Authors, and yet had nothing to say but words.
Still, I enjoyed them evenings. I learned to be interested in vital questions and to keep up with the world's best thought, in company with these gents that was a few laps ahead of it. But not so with the motherless chit. ”

“ Oswald was humble, gracious, and charitable to the poor. One Easter when Aidan was dining with him, and a silver dish laden with royal dainties had been set before him, just as the king and bishop had raised their hands to say grace, the thegn, whose special duty it was to relieve the distressed, came in and told the king that the streets were thronged with a multitude of poor crying out for alms. Oswald ordered that the food prepared for him should be given to them, and that the silver dish should be broken into small pieces and distributed among them. ”

“ Afterwards he sent Penda, king of the Mercians, and the greatest part of his army, to the same place, to give him battle. But Oswald, as he was besieged one night by Penda, the place called Heavenfield, that is, the Heavenly Field, set up there our Lord's cross, and commanded his men to speak with a very loud voice these words: "Let us all kneel down, and pray the Almighty, living and true God, to defend us from the proud army of the king of Britain, and his wicked leader Penda. For he knows how justly we wage this war for the safety of our people." ”

“ Rooted life is best.
I am not one to make my bed on winds,
Or stroll the earth for fortune's grudgèd scraps
Snatched from a rapier's point.
Ard. Know this. My hand
Shall never lie in Banissat's. Give up
A hope so barren. There's better pasturage
For wits so bold as yours. Now Oswald holds
The breadth of Suli plain, the heights of Tor,
Winged by the sea from Ilon to Ramoor—
A principality whose circuit leaves
Avesta as a fly pinned to a wall.
Vig. What's Oswald's fief to us? We are no sons of his.
Ard. Lord Bertrand holds the princedom here
While Oswald goes to wars in Palestine. ”