The Works of Thomas Love Peacock :: :: University of Virginia Library

The Saxons came first, the pre-eminence claiming,
With scarce one among them but Alfred worth naming.
Full slily they looked upon Canute the bold,

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And remembered the drubbing he gave them of old:
Sad Harold came last; and the crown which he wore
Had been broken, and trampled in dust and in gore.

The Saxons invaded England, and dispossessed the Britons. The most famous of the Saxon kings was Alfred.

The Danes, under Canute, conquered the Saxons. The sons of Canute died without children, and the government returned to the Saxon kings.

The last of the Saxon kings was Harold II., who was killed in the battle of Hastings, when William, Duke of Normandy, gained a decisive victory.