Stories of The Golden Age of Northumbria

By Berwick Writers Workshop

Written in conjunction with the Golden Age of Northumbria Project of 2007-08 in Berwick-upon-Tweed and the surrounding area, this anthology contains new stories on old themes and some completely original ones set at the time.
Some are suitable for young children, some for older children and adults.
Contains 10 stories and 10 line illustrations.
(The ebook edition contains 2 extra illustrations to the print version.)

Contributors:
Mary Rawnsley
Anne Hogben
Wendy B. Scott
Gary Neal
Helen Minto
Hilary Graham

• Language: English
• Publisher: Berwick Writers Workshop
• Release date: Mar 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476406091

Berwick Writers Workshop

Berwick Writers Workshop was founded in 1985 to help writers from North-Northumberland and the Eastern Scottish Borders to develop and promote their writing. Since 2005 they have produced an anthology almost every year on a chosen theme, and hope to continue this aim in the future. Some of the authors have long experience of published stories, articles or poetry, etc. Some are beginners. Each anthology is a reflection of the work being produced at that point. Some contributory authors also publish books individually through Blue Button Publications,so watch out for those too!

Book preview

Stories of

The

Golden Age

of

Northumbria

for children of all ages

by The Members of

Berwick Writers Workshop

A Border Bridges Publication

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Border Bridges Publications and the Authors as named.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person,please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

Publishing History

First published in Great Britain in 2008.

Published by Border Bridges Publications,

Berwick upon Tweed TD15 2RH.

Print version ISBN 978-0-09552066-1-0

Cover photograph by Derek Sharman

of re-enactment society Regia Anglorum

at Bamburgh Castle August 2007

Cover design by Bluebell.

Line illustrations by Jean Curtis.

Editing and Layout by Bluebell.

Contents

The Wild Sea and the King by Mary Rawnsley

Ebba, Northumbrian Princess and Saint by Anne Hogben

The Strangers by Mary Rawnsley

The Goatherd of Ad Gefrin by Wendy B. Scott

Flight from Lindisfarne by Gary Neal

The First Step by Mary Rawnsley

The End of the Golden Age by Helen Minto

Lindisfarne Triptych by Hilary Graham

692 AD

798 AD

1069 AD

About the Authors

More Books by Berwick Writers Workshop

The Wild Sea and the King

by Mary Rawnsley

Cedric and Osred looked at the little coracle lying on the beach. It had been pulled up above the high-water mark.

They’ve left the oars in it, the twits, said Osred, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

I bet it’s the monks from Lindisfarne, said Cedric. They’ll be up at the fort cooking and getting ready for the new monarch. King Aldfrith is in Northumbria now and will arrive in Bamburgh today.

The boys looked longingly at the small boat.

C’mon. Let’s have an adventure, Osred urged.

Yes. Let’s. Cedric laughed.

They were cousins and tall for ten years old. But they looked more like brothers for they both had fair hair and blue eyes. The lads pushed the coracle over the lovely Bamburgh sands down to the water’s edge. They jumped in and took an oar each. The tide, which was going out, helped them on their way.

Everyone, said Osred, (by which he meant their mothers,) will be too busy to notice we’ve gone.

Yes. All that cooking and fussing just for the new King.

My mum says he’ll be a dead loss.

Mine thinks so too, said Cedric. What use will a soppy poet be when our enemies attack us. The Picts will laugh themselves silly. Imagine! A little wimp of a poet for a King.

Yes. My mum says what we need is a warrior who knows how to use a sword – not a poet with a quill.

And my mum says that too. But…yet…just think, Osred. We did have a great warrior for our last King. Our dads went away with him and the army, to fight the Picts. And neither of us has a father now. They were both killed with the King and most of the army. Cedric was sad thinking about his dad. His throat was tight and sore.

Let’s have a rest, he said.

Aye. Let’s. The boys shipped their oars and gazed over the sea to Bamburgh. The fort on the rock was in a frenzy of excitement. A babble of sound carried out over the water – frantic voices shouted orders. The boys could see billows of smoke from the cooking fires rise above the roof tops.

Let’s get going, Osred said and they started pulling on the oars again. The sun still shone but a breeze had blown up – a stiff breeze. The sea grew choppy yet the boys carried on rowing away from the shore. But now the waves were growing wilder. Each one lifted the little craft up, then plunged it down again into a trough of the sea. The boys were thrown about in the vessel but still they rowed on.

The wind blew even more strongly and the sun went behind driving clouds. Cedric was scared. It wasn’t fun any more. Let’s row back to shore, he shouted over the noise of the wind. This was easier said than done.

They were big strapping lads and skilled at working the oars. But the wind was strong and the waves leaping into the air. The wind drove the spray over the coracle, soaking the boys. The water ran down Cedric’s face and trickled into his eyes. For a moment he couldn’t see anything, not even Osred in the craft beside him. He brushed the water away from his face and could see again. They had managed to turn the coracle round, now with their backs to the shore and looking out to sea. What they saw frightened them even more.

"Look!