'Alfred in the neatherd's cottage', 1864. King Alfred the Great was King of Wessex from 871 to 899. Here, sitting in a cottage he is interrupted by the neatherd's wife, who scolds the king for allowing cakes to burn on the hearth. From A Chronicle of England B.C. 55 - A.D. 1485 by James E. Doyle. [Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green, London, 1864]