He had in him the spirit
of a wanderer and outlaw, but was one fitted to make his mark wherever
his feet should fall. In Scotland, while still a boy, he killed,
single-handed, a great bear,--a feat highly considered in those days
when all battles with man and beast were hand to hand. Next we hear of
him in Cornwall, one of whose race of giants Hereward found reserved for
his prowess. This was a fellow of mighty limb and boastful tongue, vast
in strength and terrible in war, as his own tale ran. Hereward fought
him, and the giant ceased to boast. Cornwall had a giant the less. Next
he sought Ireland, and did yeoman service in the wars of that unquiet
island. Taking ship thence, he made his way to Flanders, where legend
credits him with wonderful deeds. Battle and bread were the nutriment of
his existence, the one as necessary to him as the other, and a journey
of a few hundreds of miles, with the hope of a hard fight at the end,
was to him but a holiday.
Such is the Hereward to whom tradition introduces us, an idol of popular
song and story, and doubtless a warrior of unwonted courage and skill,
agile and strong, ready for every toil and danger, and so keenly alert
and watchful that men called him the Wake.
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