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Etheifrith, the Chieftain or King of Northumbria, in the course of his march upon Chester, where he slew the Welsh priests, would pass through South Lancashire, which was probably occupied by the English at this date, "and the nature of the occupation," observes Professor Boyd Dawkins, "maybe gathered from the treatment of the city of Chester. A fire (to use the metaphor of Gildas) went through the land, and the Brit-Welsh were either put to the sword or compelled to become the bondsmen or conquerors." The conquest of North Lancashire was still later. (7)