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from the same quarter:–793, Lindisfarne; 794,
Jarrow; 795, Rechru; 796, East-coast of Scotland;
797, Alcuin’s notice of continued ravages; 798, Peel,
Isle of Man; 799, France; 800, Frisia; 802, Iona.
These were no chance landfalls of semi-savage rovers,
but a definite scheme to exploit the most available
material. Where good resistance was offered, no
further attempts were made: after the disaster at
Jarrow there is no record of a descent on English
ground for nearly 40 years; it was not worth while.
The finding of English coins of the early "eight-twenties"
in county Wicklow has been thought to
indicate that in those years Vikings from Ireland made
unrecorded raids on south-eastern England: but it is
possible that these English coins were brought to
Ireland by way of trade, for at the time there was no
Irish coinage, whereas trade always went on. And in
spite of Viking attacks life went on; the burnt thatch
was renewed, the desecrated altar reconsecrated, and
in the case of so famous a centre as Iona the offerings
of the faithful soon replaced the loss. How well this
was known to the managers of the Viking enterprise
we can see from the fact that in four years the abbey
was worth robbing again, and in 806 a second attack
was made. This time the monks tried to defend
their treasures, and sixty-eight were slain in the
fight.
Next year the pirates, doubtless the same party
and under the same auspices, sailed round the north
coast of Ireland into Donegal Bay, and plundered
Inishmurry, yet another rich island monastery, whose
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