The first, and for long the only version of the Bible known in England was the Latin Vulgate, and consequently knowledge of the Scriptures made little or no headway among the common folk. Yet as early as the close of the seventh century, A.D., some portions of the Bible began to appear in the vernacular. One of the earliest of those who contributed to this development was Caedmon, a cowherd who lived near the famed abbey of Whitby Despite his humble birth and seeming lack of culture, he longed to express himself in verse, and the story goes that in a vision he heard a divine voice which bade him sing "the beginning of created things."
Obedient to this inspiration, he sang the story of creation, following this with songs recounting many of the chief narratives of the Old and the New Testament. While Caedmon's rendering was a free paraphrase rather than a translation, it nonetheless prepared the way for the Bible in the common tongue. Then one Ealdhelm, a contemporary of Caedmon, is credited with a translation of the Psalms; but the most outstanding translator in this early period was the Venerable Bede. Unlike Caedmon, Bede was a famous scholar, and his "Ecclesiastical History" is still a classic, while Bible commentaries, books on astronomy, rhetoric, and other subjects, came from the pen of this prolific writer. But to the student of the English Bible, his last work forms his most memorable accomplishment, for shortly before his passing he decided to leave the Gospel of John in early English as a legacy to his students. It seemed for a time as though he would not be able to complete the final chapter, but eventually the young scribe to whom he was dictating it was able to report, "It is finished."
About a century later, another outstanding champion of the Bible in the language of the people appeared in the person of King Alfred the Great, who is said to have decreed that "all the freeborn youth of his kingdom should employ themselves en nothing till they could first read well the English Scripture" (cf. Smyth: "How we got our Bible," p. 56). It is typical of Alfred's interest in the Bible that he prefaces the laws of his kingdom with the Ten Commandments, which he himself rendered into Anglo-Saxon, while it is said that at the time of his passing he was engaged on a translation of the Psalms.
