Series 1 > History of Greater Britain, as well England as Scotland

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CHAP. XIV.] OF GREATER BRITAIN
Aremoricans (that is, of Little Britain), by name Aldrey, be- Aldrey.
seeching him to come to their help. He sends his own brother
Constantins into Britain, who kills Go van, and puts all the
infidels to the sword. This done, Constantins became king of
the Britons, that is, of that tract of land in the island which
the Britons were the first to take possession of. Here once
more the Britons began openly to worship Christ. The Scots,
too, in the seventh year of the emperor Severus, in the time of
Victor, first received the Catholic faith. Some verses well
known among the Scots declare this date, and thus they run:—
Two hundred years and three after Christ had finished His Work
Scotland began to follow the Catholic Faith.
This Victor was the successor of Eleutherius.
CHAP. XV.—Concerning the Strife between the Piets and Scots.
In the two hundred and eighty-eighth year of the redemp- a war that had
tion of the world there arose a quarrel between the Scots and count o'? a dog!
Piets by reason of a certain Molossian hound of wonderful swift¬
ness, which certain Piets had taken secretly from the Scots, and
which they refused to restore. It was at first a war of words,
but grew too soon to a strife of arms among those neighbouring
peoples. Behold from how small a spark a great pile may be
kindled!1 Meanwhile a certain Carausius is set over the Britons Carausius.
by the Romans,—a man who troubled the whole country by his
insatiable greed. The Roman emperor therefore sent an order
to the Britons, to the effect that this Carausius should secretly
be put out of the way. But when Carausius got wind of this,
he went forthwith to the Scots and the Piets, brought these to a
peaceable mind by large gifts, and the promise of still greater
things if they would but stand by him in driving the Romans
from the land. To this they give their assent willingly. Trust¬
ing then to such help as this, he drives the Romans out of the
country, and claims the crown of the Britons for himself. But
when the Romans heard how matters went in Britain, they
sent a certain Bassianus, one of their generals, with a great army Bassianus.
1 ‘ Ecce quomodo ex scintilla ignis ingens rogus coaluit.’ In the Vulgate (St.
James iii. 5) ‘Ecce quantus ignis quam magnam sylvam [Gr. ifXiji', Eng. matter]
incendit! ’