He was seen by the
farmers, who could tell by his heavy breathing that the giant was fast
asleep, so they got together all their ropes and quietly tied his limbs
and fastened him to the earth; then, attacking him with their knives and
axes, they managed to kill him. This was a great event, and to celebrate
their victory they cut his figure in the chalk cliff to the exact
life-size, so that future generations could see what a monster they had
slain. This was the legend; and perhaps, like the White Horses, of which
there were several, the Giant might have been cut out in prehistoric
times, or was it possible he could have grown larger during the
centuries that had intervened, for he was 180 feet in height, and the
club that he carried in his hand was 120 feet long! Cerne Abbas was a
very old place, as an early Benedictine Abbey was founded there in 987,
the first Abbot being Aelfric, who afterwards became Archbishop of
Canterbury. It was at Cerne that Queen Margaret sought refuge after
landing at Weymouth in 1471. Her army had been defeated at Barnet on the
very day she landed; but, accompanied by a small force of French
soldiers, she marched on until she reached Tewkesbury, only to meet
there with a final defeat, and to lose her son Edward, who was murdered
in cold blood, as well as her husband Henry VI.
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