shores, the Romans, pressed by enemies from without, and torn by intestine divisions, found themselves obliged to retire from the island. The Britons, thus left to enjoy their liberty, found themselves unfitted, by their long subjugation to the Romans, to defend themselves against the Picts and the Scots, who poured in upon them from the northern part of the island. Being thus hard pressed, Vortigern, the most powerful of the British kings, in A.D. 449 invited the Saxons Hengist and Horsa, with their followers, to fight his battles. "Then, sad relief, from the bleak coast that hears The German Ocean roar, deep-blooming, strong, Saxon, a term derived from a short, crooked sword, called seax, carried under their loose garments by the warriors of the nation, was a general term given to the adventurers led by those chieftains, though they belonged to three tribes, namely, the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. These belonged to the Gothic race, which composed the second great stream issuing from Asia, and spreading itself over the northern and western part of Europe. The branch to which they belonged was the Teutonic or Germanic, which occupied the part of Europe now occupied by the Germans, and by the southern part of the Danish nation. NAMES OF THE IMMIGRATING TRIBES. § 39. The Jutes, in A.D. 449, came from Jutland, in Denmark, and occupied small possessions in Kent and the Isle of Wight. The Saxons came from a wide-spread territory south of Denmark. The South Saxons established themselves in Sussex A.D. 491; the West Saxons, in Hampshire, 519; the East Saxons, in Essex, 527. The Angles came from Anglen, in Sleswick, in the south part of Denmark, and established themselves in East Anglia, in Norfolk, in 527; in Bernicia in Northumberland, in Deira in Yorkshire, 559. There were one Jute, three Saxon, and four Angle; in all, eight kingdoms, though they went by the name of the Saxon Heptarchy. The Angles very naturally denominated that part of the country they inhabited Angleland, or the land of the Angles, which was afterward contracted to England. It is a remarkable fact, that the English of the present day are called by the Britons in Wales, and by the Highlanders in Scotland, in Cambrian and Gaelic, not Angles or English, but Saxons. After the entire subjugation of the Britons, the West Saxons grew in influence and territory until A.D. 827, when Egbert, king of Wessex, defeated and made tributary all the other Saxon kings. The most distinguished of the West Saxon kings was Alfred, who, to remarkable prowess in war, united a taste for letters. He not only drew learned Mention the names of the three tribes that came into England, and into what part, and at what time they severally came. From what is the term England derived? Who was a distinguished king of the West Saxons, and what is said of him? men from other parts of Europe into England, but by his own literary efforts, especially in translating Bede's History, and Boethius on the Consolations of Philosophy, and Orosius's History of the World, he gave so much prominence to the West Saxon language as to constitute it the cultivated language of the Anglo-Saxons. Thus we can understand how it is that the Anglo-Saxon enters so largely into the English; that it is less an element than it is the mother tongue, upon which a few words have been ingrafted from other languages. To this point we shall return. It is remarkable that the Jutes, the Angles, the Saxons, and a fourth emigrating tribe, namely, the Frisians, lay between the two great branches of the Gothic, the Scandinavian on the north, and the Teutonic on the south. The Jutes were the most Danish, and the Frisians were the most Dutch. That they understood each other's language there can be no doubt. Probably, however, they differed so much that the provincial differences now existing in England may be owing to original difference of dialect in these tribes. The Frisians, now residing in Friesland, speak a language strongly resembling the Anglo-Saxon. Probably but a few of their tribe came to England with the other tribes, while so many of the Angles came as to leave their country unpeopled. INTRODUCTION OF THE DANISH ELEMENT. § 40. As early as A.D. 787, the Northmen, including Norwegians, Danes, and Swedes, commenced their aggressions upon England, and for at least three centuries were the terror of the Anglo-Saxons. Having taken possession of the country, they placed on the throne successively three Danish kings, which they occupied for the space of twenty-six years. They afterward yielded to the line of Saxon kings in the person of Edward the Confessor. The language of the three nations was the same, the differences being those of dialect. Many traces of this language are to be found in England, especially in the northern parts. 1. Thus, Grimsby (the town of Grim): Whitby (the white town); Deorby, contracted to Derby (town of deer); Dalby (village in the dale); (Millthorpe), Dan. Möldrup (mill village); Codale (cow dale). It appears that there are 1373 names of places of Danish origin. 2. The Danish element enters largely into provincial dialects of the north of England, namely, Northumberland, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire.— WORSAE'S Danes and Norwegians, p. 85. INTRODUCTION OF THE ANGLO-NORMAN ELEMENT. § 41. The Norman French was spoken in the north What was the geographical position of the Jutes, the Angles, the Saxons, and the Frisians in their own country? At what period did the Northmen commence their aggressions in England? How long did the Danes occupy the throne of England, and in what part of the country was this language especially introduced? Give some account of the Anglo-Norman element. ern parts of France, from the Loire to the confines of Flanders. It is composed of three elements, the Celtic, the Latin, and the Scandinavian. The latter element was introduced by Rollo, a Norwegian chieftain, and the Northmen who settled in Normandy, and gave it its name. Norman French was called Langue d'oil. Its position can be understood from the following statement: The Latin language of the classical stock, at first confined to Central Italy, was afterward spoken more or less through the Roman Empire. Out of the union of the Latin with the several other languages spoken in that empire grew six principal dialects which deserve to be called languages; two eastern, the Italian and Wallachian; two southern, the Spanish and Portuguese; and two northwestern, the Norman French and the Provençal. This last was spoken in the south part of France.-WOOLSEY on the Romanic Languages, New Englander, vol. v., p. 13. See § 327. In the year A.D. 1066, William, duke of Normandy, having landed an army of sixty thousand men in England, at the battle of Hastings killed Harold the king, defeated his army, and thus put an end to the Anglo-Saxon dynasty. After he had ascended the throne, his followers were rewarded by the principal offices of trust in the kingdom, and by the estates of the nobility. NORMAN FRENCH SPOKEN BY THE HIGHER CLASSES. § 42. The Norman French, as a consequence, was spoken by the superior classes of society in England, from the Conquest to the time of Edward the Third, 1327-between two and three hundred years. The laws of the realm, the proceedings in Parliament and in the courts of justice, were in the French language. Grammar-school-boys were made to construe their Latin into French. In the statutes of Oriel College, Oxford, there is a regulation, so late as 1328, that the students shall converse together, if not in Latin, at least in French. WHY ONE LANGUAGE IS USED RATHER THAN THE OTHER. § 43. But the question arises, Why is any given object or idea expressed in English by a word derived from one of these languages in preference to a word derived from the other? The general fact seems to be, that words were adopted into the common language from the Anglo-Norman or the Anglo-Saxon according as the objects or the ideas expressed by those words belonged more exclusively to the one race or the other. In this fact we have the answer. "Thus we may wonder why, while the Saxon titles of king and queen remained, the principal signs of royalty, the throne, the crown, and sceptre, should be designated by words of Anglo-Norman origin. The difficulty, however, is cleared up when we consider that, for several ages, the king in his state was so far cut off, that, although the title was con By whom and when was the Anglo-Norman element introduced? By what classes was Norman French spoken, and how long? What causes operated to promote the currency of the Norman French? To what classes of objects were Anglo-Norman words applied? tinually in their mouths, they had almost forgotten these distinguishing marks of his office until they were made acquainted with them through the language of their Norman rulers. The Anglo-Saxon titles earl, lord, lady, and knight, superseded their Norman equivalents, being most popular titles in Anglo-Saxon society. Most other words of this class, such as prince, duke, baron, peer, dame, damsel, esquire, &c., are taken from the Anglo-Norman tongue, and originated in the manners of the Anglo-Norman aristocracy." Common articles of dress are Anglo-Saxon, as shirt, breeches, hose, shoes, hat, and cloak. But other articles, subject to the changes of fashion, are Anglo-Norman, as gown, coat, boots, mantle, cap, bonnet, &c. The word house, a common residence, was Anglo-Saxon. But palaces, and castles, and manors, and mansions, and hostels, are Anglo-Norman. The words room and kitchen are Saxon; the words chambers, and parlors, and galleries, and pantries, and laundries, and larders, are Anglo-Norman. Hearth, and threshold, and wall, and roof, and window, are Anglo-Saxon; chimney is Anglo-Norman, perhaps because the Sax.on portion of the population had no chimney. Stool, bench, bed, board, bolster, pillow, sheet, are Anglo-Saxon; but table, chair, couch, carpet, curtain, are Anglo-Norman. The names ox, calf, sheep, pig, boar, deer, are Anglo-Saxon, because that part of the population were engaged in tending these animals while they were living; but beef, veal, mutton, pork, brawn, venison, are AngloNorman names, because that part of the population were accustomed to eat their flesh when they were killed. The same is the case with fowls, which is an Anglo-Saxon name given to the birds while living, while poultry is an Anglo-Norman name given to them when killed for eating. CHAPTER IV. STAGES AND PERIODS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. THE LORD'S PRAYER IN ANGLO-SAXON. § 44. Fæder ure, thu the eart on heofenum, si thin nama gehalgod; to-becume thin rice; geweordhe thin willa on eorthan swa swa on heofenum. Urne ge dæghwamlican hlaf syle us to-dæg, and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgifadh urum gyltendum, and ne gelæde thu us on costnunge, ac alys us of yfle. See English Grammar, § 78. SPECIMEN OF SEMI-SAXON. § 45. The term Semi-Saxon is applied to the language while it was going through the transition state To what classes of objects were Anglo-Saxon words applied? To what is the term Semi-Saxon applied? from Saxon to English. It is characterized by its retaining the Saxon phraseology and the grammatical construction, while the words are rapidly changing their forms and softening down their terminations. THE GRAVE. [A Fragment, supposed to have been written about the year 1150.] Semi-Saxon. De wes bold gebyld hu long hit pe were: per Su beon scealt nu me sceal pe meten and a mold'seoða, &c. Literal English. For thee was a house built For thee was a mold appointed How long for thee it were: Now I shall thee measure, And then earth afterward. SPECIMEN OF OLD ENGLISH. § 46. In the Anglo-Saxon, number, case, and person are distinguished by a change in the vowel of the final syllable; in the Old English these vowels are all confounded; and in our modern English they are lost. Prepositions did the work of the lost inflections. "The only sure test by which we can distinguish an Old English from an Anglo-Saxon MS. is a confounding of the vowels of the final syllable, which is not done in AngloSaxon."-EDWIN GUEST, London Philological Society. The following is from Robert of Gloucester, who lived in the times of Henry III. and Edward I., in the latter part of the thirteenth century: Thus come lo! Englond into Normannes honde; And the Normans ne couthe speke tho bote her owe speche, And speke French as dude atom ond here chyldren dude al so teche; So that heyman of thys lond that of her blod come, Holdeth alle thulke speche that hii of hem nome; Vor bote a mon couthe French, me tolth of hym well lute; Ac low men holdeth to Englyss ond to her kund speche zute. Ich wene ther ne be mon in world contreyes none, That ne holdeth to her kund speche, bote Engelond one; Ac wel me wol vorto conne bothe well yt ys, Vor the more that a man con, the more he ys. What is the grammatical distinction between the Anglo-Saxon, the Old English, and the Modern English? |