in which it concedes the importance of the battle as a reason for its inclusion in any British chronicle. You will, of course, note the footnote on that page, with its cross- reference to page 13. I can no doubt obtain for you the paper by T. Jones in the Nottingham Mediaeval Studies and K. Jackson's 'Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages'; L. Alcock's 'Arthur's Britain', mentioned in the same note, you already possess.
'I have so far been unable to obtain the relevant issues of The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodrian, but these are notoriously difficult to track down.
As to the —
Finsterwald stopped abruptly, as though his pickup arm had been lifted off the record.
'Go on,' commanded Merriwether. 'Don't stop when you've gotten me hog-tied, man.'
Finsterwald cleared his throat.
'As to the Leningrad Bede, I can confirm that this is in the Leningrad Public Library (CLA XI, No. 1621), and that it is a handsome manuscript with fine ornamentation, probably copied from the author's original by four scribes at Wearmouth or J'arrow not later than A.
D. 747. A complete facsimile of this was published by Arngart of Copenhagen in 1952. I have written to a colleague of mine in Copenhagen with reference to this, but I do not believe that it contains more of interest than the Cambridge MS which you have already examined. I must advise you that the cost of obtaining this would be considerable, but I will await your instructions in this regard.
'No information is forthcoming from the Russian Embassy about the Novgorod Bede. The official on the cultural attache's staff to whom I spoke had never even heard of it, and I frankly do not place much reliance on his promise to enquire further into the matter. (For the record, incidentally, the splendid euphony of 'Nizhni Novgorod', where the MS came finally to rest, was replaced after the Revolution by the name 'Gorky', after the celebrated revolutionary of that name, So that we should properly refer to the 'Gorky Bede'. But I cannot bring myself to do this).
'The origins of the Novgorod Bede are certainly mysterious, not to say romantic. Legend has it that the MS travelled eastwards to 'New' Novgorod with the great spread of Russian monasticism after A.D. 1200. Although not as fine as the Leningrad MS it is without doubt very ancient indeed. There is a story, though an unsubstantiated one, that it was damaged by fire, possibly during the Revolution but alternatively during a German air raid in 1941
or 2. Gorky was certainly bombed by the Germans, and it was the objective of a great sweeping drive up the Volga from the South—the drive which took them to Stalingrad (formerly Tsaritsyn and now Volgograd—the Communists have no poetry in their souls).
'But I digress
—I'll say he digresses—'
'Go on.'
'Okay.
Anthony Price - Our man in camelot
But I digress. A friend of mine in Cambridge tells me that there is a particularly acute essay on Badon by the late Professor Bullitt in the 1935 volume of the Transactions of the Cambrian Archaeological Society. TCAS volumes rarely if ever come on the market, but there are complete sets in the Bodleian Library at Oxford and the Public Library at Cardiff.
'As per your instructions, I enclose a full account of your purchases, rendered to the above date.
'Wishing you all success in your continuing researches, Yours very sincerely,
James Barkham'
Merriwether was silent for five seconds. 'That's the lot?'
'The lot?' Finsterwald stared at him. 'What more d'you want for God's sake? He was in communication with the Russian Embassy—a serving officer on active duty. That's not just breaking the rules, boy.
That's the rule book down the toilet.'
'Hell, man—he asked some bookseller about a book, he didn't ask them himself. And an old book too.
So let's not go into orbit till we know what this Bede-thing is. One in Leningrad and the other in Gorky—
you know what it is?'
'Never heard of it. Leningrad and Gorky are both non-strategic targets. They're industrial/population primaries—iron and steel, oil refineries, major generating centres. They'd maybe figure in a second strike.'
Merriwether started to giggle, then checked himself quickly. 'Harry, Harry—he's talking about history books, not nuclear warfare. Old books and old history.'
Finsterwald examined the letter again. 'Well, he sure isn't talking about birds, and that's the truth,' he admitted grudgingly.
'Now there you've got a point,' Merriwether agreed. 'It looks like his bird watching was strictly for the birds. Seems he was doing one thing for our benefit and another for his own, and that is kind of suspicious. Let me have a look for myself.'
