Edgar  was  "at  length"  solemnly  crowned,  in  his
twenty-ninth  year.  The  ceremony  took  place  in  the
Abbey  Church,  Bath,  on  Whitsunday,  nth  May  973,
by  the  Archbishops  Dunstan  and  Oswald,  in  the  pre-
sence of  a  vast  assembly  of  the  "  witan."  Why  this
ceremony  had  not  taken  place  earlier  is  a  matter  of
uncertainty.  The  king  entered  the  church  wearing
his  crown,  and  laid  it  aside  as  he  knelt  before  the
altar.  Dunstan  then  began  the  "  Te  Deum."  At  the
conclusion  of  the  hymn  the  bishop  raised  the  king  from
his  knees,  and  at  Dunstan's  dictation  he  took  a  three-
fold oath — that  the  Church  of  God  and  all  Christian
people  should  enjoy  true  peace  for  ever,  that  he  would
forbid  all  wrong  and  all  robbery  to  all  degrees,  and
that  he  would  command  justice  and  mercy  in  all  judg-
ments. Then  the  consecration  prayers  were  said,  the
archbishops  anointed  him,  the  antiphon,  "  Zadok  the
priest,"  was  sung,  and  all  joined  in  the  shout,  "  Let
the  king  live  for  ever."

Dunstan  next  invested  him  with  the  ring  and  sword,
placed  the  crown  on  his  head,  and  the  sceptre  and
rod  in  his  hands,  and  both  the  archbishops  enthroned
him.
4       MORE    FAMOUS    HOUSES    OF    BATH

The  splendour  and  solemnity  of  the  ceremony
evidently  took  strong  hold  on  the  imagination  of  the
people.
"  There  was  bliss  mickle
On  that  happy  day
Caused  to  all," —

says  a  poem  in  commemoration  of  the  event,  preserved
in  the  Saxon  chronicle.
