Note 322 — Chapter VII · FROM THE ELECTION OF EADWARD TO THE BANISHMENT OF GODWINE.[1] 1042–1051. (continued 2)

So I understand the words of the Worcester Chronicle. The men of Hastings go after Swegen and take “his twa scypa”—the only ships he then had. To explain his having only two ships the writer adds, “ehta scypa he hæfde ær he Beorn beswice; syððan hine forleton ealle buton twam.” The only meaning of these words seems to be that which I have given, though it involves the difficulty as to the personal escape of Swegen. But it is clear that Florence took them differently; “Dimiserunt illum sex naves, quarum duas paullò post cœperunt Hastingenses ... Swanus verò ad Flandriam duabus fugiens navibus ibi mansit.” This accounts for his escape, but I cannot see how “his twa scypa” can mean two of the ships which had left him. The Abingdon Chronicle also mentions the desertion of the six ships, but not the exploit of the Hastings men.

For other examples of the vigorous action of the men of the “Cinque Ports” in 1293 and 1297, see Walter of Hemingburgh, vol. ii. pp. 41, 158 (Hist. Soc. Ed.).