Rry her. It is also said that he broke into a convent and carried off
a nun;
but doubtless if these stories were traced to their very foundations,
politics would account for them both. He did not
favor the secular clergy, and
they, of course, disliked him accordingly. He suffered also at the
hands of those who sought to operate the reigning apparatus whilst
his attention was turned towards other matters. He was the author of
the scheme whereby he utilized his enemies, the Welsh
princes, by demanding
three hundred wolf heads per annum as tribute instead of money. This
wiped out the wolves and used up the surplus animosity of the Welsh.
As the Welsh princes had no money, the scheme was a good
one. Edgar died at the age of thirty-two, and was succeeded
by Edward, his son, in 975. The death of the king at this early age
has given to many historians the idea that he was a sad dog, and that
he sat up late of nights and cut up like everything, but this may not
be true. Death often
takes the good, the true, and the
beautiful whilst young. However, Edgar's reign was a brilliant one
for an Anglo-Saxon, and his coon-skin cap is said to have cost over a
pound sterling. [Illustration: EDGAR THE PACIFIC.] CHAPTER VI. THE
DANISH OLIGARCHY: DISAFFECTIONS ATTENDING CHRONIC USURPATION
PROCLIVITIES.
Edgar was succeeded by his son Edward, called "the Martyr," who
ascended the thron
