ABSTRACT
Sir Walter Scott put these words in the mouth of the brave jester, Wamba, as he confronted a group of unpleasant Norman barons. To us, the stark contrast drawn by Scott between oppressed English and overbearing Normans may seem anachronistic in its late-twelfth-century setting. But how long did this contrast, or at least the perception of it by the English, continue after 1066? One man at least was still tortured by it as late as the 1130s.
