D., and it was here that Athelstan
defeated the united forces of Scotland, Cumberland, and the British
and Danish Chiefs, which is recorded in the Saxon Chronicle in a
great war song. The name given in the Chronicle is Brunesburgh, but
at the time of the Conquest it was called Brunburgh.
The fleet set sail from Dublin under the command of the Danish King
Anlaf or Olaf to invade England. He had as his father-in-law,
Constantine, King of the Scots, and many Welsh Chieftains supported
him. They made good their landing but were completely routed by King
Athelstan, Grandson of Alfred, as stated above.
It is more than probable that Anlaf sailing from Dublin would come over
to England by the usual route to the havens opposite, near the great
roadstead of the Dee estuary.
One must not forget that the sea has made great ravages upon this coast,
destroying much ground between Wallasey and West Kirby, though
compensating for it in some measure by depositing the material in the
estuary itself in the shape of banks of mud and sand. Nor must one
overlook the existence of the old forest of Wirral, which stretched, as
the old saying ran--
From Blacon Point to Hilbre
Squirrels in search of food
Might then jump straight from tree to tree.
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