Part 8

┌────────────────┬─────┬─────────┬────────┬─────┬─────┬─────┬─────┐ │Names ending in │ by │ thorpe │thwaite │with │toft │beck │ næs │ ├────────────────┼─────┼─────────┼────────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤ │In Kent, │ 1 │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 4 │ │ north-east of │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Watling Street│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │In Essex │ 2 │ 3 │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 3 │ │-Bedfordshire │ . │ 3 │ . │ . │ 1 │ . │ . │ │-Buckinghamshire│ 1 │ 2 │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ │-Suffolk │ 3 │ 5 │ 1 │ . │ . │ . │ 1 │ │-Norfolk │ 17 │ 24 │ 2 │ . │ . │ 1 │ . │ │-Huntingdonshire│ 1 │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ │-Northamptonshire│ 26 │ 23 │ . │ . │ 3 │ . │ . │ │-Warwickshire │ 2 │ 1 │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ │-Leicestershire │ 66 │ 19 │ . │ . │ 1 │ . │ . │ │-Rutland │ . │ 7 │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ │-Lincolnshire │ 212 │ 63 │ . │ 1 │ 4 │ 8 │ 1 │ │-Nottinghamshire│ 15 │ 20 │ . │ . │ . │ 1 │ . │ │-Derbyshire │ 6 │ 4 │ . │ . │ 1 │ . │ . │ │-Cheshire │ 6 │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ │-Yorkshire: │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │--East Riding │ 35 │ 48 │ 1 │ 6 │ 3 │ 1 │ 1 │ │--West Riding │ 32 │ 29 │ 6 │ 8 │ 2 │ 4 │ . │ │--North Riding │ 100 │ 18 │ 2 │ 6 │ 1 │ 7 │ . │ │-Lancashire │ 9 │ . │ 14 │ 2 │ . │ . │ 2 │ │-Westmorland │ 20 │ 6 │ 14 │ 1 │ . │ 17 │ 1 │ │-Cumberland │ 43 │ 1 │ 43 │ . │ . │ 12 │ 2 │ │-Durham │ 7 │ 7 │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ │-Northumberland │ . │ 1 │ . │ . │ . │ 1 │ . │ ├────────────────┼─────┼─────────┼────────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤ │In all │ 604 │ 284 │ 83 │ 24 │ 16 │ 52 │ 15 │ └────────────────┴─────┴─────────┴────────┴─────┴─────┴─────┴─────┘

Part B

┌────────────────┬─────┬─────┬───────┬─────┬─────┬─────┬─────┐ │Names ending in │ ey. │dale │ force │fell │tarn │haugh│Total│ ├────────────────┼─────┼─────┼───────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤ │In Kent, │ 1 │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 6│ │ north-east of │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Watling Street│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │In Essex │ 3 │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 11│ │-Bedfordshire │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 4│ │-Buckinghamshire│ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 3│ │-Suffolk │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 10│ │-Norfolk │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 44│ │-Huntingdonshire│ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 1│ │-Northamptonshire│ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 52│ │-Warwickshire │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 3│ │-Leicestershire │ . │ 1 │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 87│ │-Rutland │ . │ 1 │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 8│ │-Lincolnshire │ . │ 3 │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 292│ │-Nottinghamshire│ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 36│ │-Derbyshire │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ 11│ │-Cheshire │ . │ . │ . │ . │ . │ │ 6│ │-Yorkshire: │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │--East Riding │ . │ 12 │ 2 │ . │ . │ . │ 109│ │--West Riding │ . │ 12 │ . │ 15 │ 2 │ . │ 110│ │--North Riding │ . │ 40 │ 4 │ 7 │ 1 │ . │ 186│ │Lancashire │ 2 │ 13 │ . │ 7 │ . │ . │ 49│ │Westmorland │ . │ 36 │ 6 │ 42 │ 15 │ . │ 158│ │Cumberland │ . │ 16 │ 1 │ 15 │ 9 │ . │ 142│ │Durham │ . │ 5 │ 2 │ 2 │ . │ . │ 23│ │Northumberland │ . │ 3 │ . │ 7 │ . │ 10 │ 22│ ├────────────────┼─────┼─────┼───────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤ │In all │ 6 │ 142 │ 15 │ 95 │ 27 │ 10 │ 1373│ └────────────────┴─────┴─────┴───────┴─────┴─────┴─────┴─────┘

Besides many other names ending in -holm, -garth, -land, -end, -vig, -ho (how), -rigg, &c., c.

The same table still further shows that the names ending in by, thorpe, toft, beck, næs, and ey, appear chiefly in the flat midland counties of England; whereas, farther towards the north, in the more mountainous districts, these terminations mostly give place to those in thwaite, and more particularly to those in dale, force, tarn, fell, and haugh. This difference, however, is scarcely founded on the natural character of the country alone; it may also have arisen from the different descent of the inhabitants. For although in ancient times Danish and Norwegian were one language, with unimportant variations, so that it would scarcely be possible to decide with certainty in every single case whether the name of a place be derived from the Danes or from the Norwegians; yet it may reasonably be supposed that part at least of the last-mentioned names are Norwegian; namely, those ending in ——dale (as Kirk-dale, Lang-dale, Wast-dale, Bishops-dale); in ——force (as Aysgarth-force in Yorkshire, High-force, and Low-force, in the river Tees, and in the stream called “Seamer Water”); in ——fell (old Norwegian, fjall; Mickle-fell, Cam-fell, Kirk-fell, Middle-fell, Cross-fell); in ——tarn (_Old Nor._, tjörn, or tjarn, a small lake); and in ——haugh (as in Northumberland, Red-haugh, Kirk-haugh, Green-haugh, Windy-haugh). Exactly similar names are met with to this day in the mountains of Norway; whilst they are less common, or altogether wanting, in the flat country of Denmark. That Norwegians also immigrated into England, even in considerable numbers, both history and the frequently occurring name of Normanby in the north of England, clearly show; but they appear to have betaken themselves chiefly to the most northern and mountainous districts, which not only lay nearest to them, but which in character most resembled their own country. In this respect it deserves to be noticed, that places whose names end in _tarn_, and are consequently pure Norwegian, are found only in the most northern counties; and that those in _haugh_—although there are names of places in Denmark ending in _höi_ (hill)—must also, from the form, be Norwegian. They are found exclusively in the present Northumberland, and within the Scotch border.

We may, however, venture to set down the greater part of Scandinavian names of places in England as Danish. The terminations in _thwaite_ and _thorpe_, indeed, are to be met with in Sweden, Norway, and Iceland, as well as in the Saxon and Frisian districts of North Germany; yet as the corresponding English names are for the most part composed of pure Scandinavian or Danish words, and as they seldom appear either in the tracts conquered by the Norwegians in Scotland and Ireland, or in the southern and south-western, originally Anglo-Saxon, districts of England, but keep strictly within the same boundaries as the rest of the Danish names of places, and particularly of those in _by_ (Danish for town or village), these are valid reasons for regarding them in general as Danish.

The names of places in England ending in _by_ are only to be found in the districts selected by the Danes for conquest or colonization. With the exception of a single Kirby, or Kirkby, in Kent, not far from London, they are nowhere to be found to the south of Watlinga-stræt (for Tenby, formerly Tenbigh, in Pembrokeshire, is from a different derivation); whilst towards the north, they cease in the most north-eastern county of England, the present Northumberland; in the south-westernmost part of Scotland (Locherby in Dumfries, Sorby in Wigtonshire); and in the Isle of Man (Sulby, Jurby, Dalby). If we except Duncansby in Caithness, and Oreby in the Isle of Lewis, as well as some few villages in Orkney and the Shetland Isles, they do not appear among the many pure Norwegian names of places in the north and west of Scotland, and in Ireland; which, as will be explained in its proper place, have generally quite a different character from the Scandinavian (chiefly Danish) names of places in England. It can hardly be said that this was solely owing to the natural character of the country in England being more favourable for the building of villages than in those districts in Scotland and Ireland which were occupied by the Northmen: first, because the Norwegians seem to have dwelt closely together in many places there, doubtless in order to resist the attacks of the natives; secondly, because the land there, though often separated by nature into many districts, as for instance in Caithness and the Orkneys, by no means prevented them from assembling together in villages; and lastly, because _by_ originally denoted only a single estate or farm. In Norway, the Faroe Isles, and Iceland, many names of places are to be found, which indicate the existence both of single farm-houses and collections of them, or villages; but they have this peculiarity, that they generally end in _bœr_ or _bö_, far more rarely in _býr_ or _by_; whilst, on the contrary, this last form is essentially Danish. Names of places ending in _by_ are spread over the peninsula of Jutland quite down to Danevirke and the Eyder; are found in great numbers in the southern boundary of South Jutland, or Sleswick; as well as in the islands and old Danish countries of Skaane, or Scania, Halland, and Bleking; whence they extend themselves over a great part of Sweden, and far into Finland. From the most ancient times down to the present, this difference between the Norwegian form _bœr_, and the Danish _býr_ or _by_, seems on the whole to have clearly prevailed; and thus that, as early as the eleventh century, the English towns and villages are written in William the Conqueror’s “Domesday-book,” with the Danish ending _by_ or _bi_, and not with the Norwegian form _bœr_ or _bö_, is certainly no slight corroboration of their assumed Danish origin. Besides, as _by_ is not found in the names of places south of the Eyder, in Holstein or North Germany, and as it is wholly unknown in the Saxon or German languages, there is consequently so much the greater probability that in England it was derived from the Danes.

For the same reasons, towns whose names end in _by_ are most numerous in the counties situated on the coast opposite Jutland; viz., in Leicestershire, 66; Lincolnshire, 212; and the North Riding of Yorkshire, 100. In the two other Ridings, there are altogether about 70 names of places ending in _by_; in Cumberland, 43; and in Westmoreland, 20. For the rest, this termination occurs so frequently throughout the old Danish part of England, that, of 1370 Scandinavian names of places, above 600 (as the tabular view given at page 71 shows) end in _by_, whilst no other names exceed 280; and even this number is reached only by the ending _thorpe_, which also is certainly pure Danish; whilst the most numerous after thorpe fall down to 140. This remarkable preponderance of Danish endings in _by_, will of itself sufficiently prove the important and wide-extended influence of the Danes in the midland and northern counties of England.

The not inconsiderable number (1370) of Scandinavian names of places collected together in the preceding tabular view, could be much increased if we were to include all the Scandinavian appellations used by the common people in many parts of the north of England. A hill, or small mountain, is there called _hoe_ or _how_ (Höi in Jutland: Höw or Hyv); a mountain ridge, _rigg_; a ford, _wath_; a spring, _kell_; a holm or small island, _holm_; a farm (_Dan._, Gaard), _garth_, &c., &c. We might thus, on a very low calculation, compute in round numbers the clearly recognisable Scandinavian names of places in England at one thousand five hundred.

That they should have been preserved in such numbers for more than eight centuries after the fall of the Danish dominion in England, and that they should have retained, as it has been shown, the original Scandinavian forms, and that often in a highly-striking degree, completely disproves the opinion that the old Danish-Norwegian inhabitants of the country north of Watlinga-Stræt were supplanted or expelled after the cessation of the Danish dominion (1042), first by the Anglo-Saxons, and afterwards by the Normans from Normandy; for if such had been the case, the names of places would naturally have become altogether changed and impossible to recognise. As the matter stands it is sufficiently proved that Danes as well as Norwegians must have continued to reside in great numbers in the districts previously conquered by them, and particularly in the north; and consequently that a very considerable part of the present population in the midland and northern counties of England may with certainty trace their origin to the Northmen, and especially to the Danes.

SECTION VIII.

Resemblance of the People to the Danes and Norwegians.—Proper Names.—Popular Language.—Songs and Legends.

The present English people is certainly composed, as we have seen, of the most heterogeneous elements. The Englishman reckons among his ancestors Britons, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and Northmen, especially Danes and Normans. All these people, who successively reigned over England for centuries, must naturally have left numerous descendants behind them. But as in ancient times it was a combat of life and death for dominion, the conquered and their posterity could not immediately amalgamate with the conquerors. Long after the Norman conquest (1066) the Britons, Saxons, Danes, and Normans, were still hostilely opposed to each other. These disputes were brought to a close during the middle ages; prejudices vanished; mixed marriages became more frequent; the different races acquired common interests; and at last, with the exception of those Britons who kept themselves aloof in Wales, passed into one great nation. From this time it was no longer usual in marriages to regard family descent; it was only some of the richer sort, and higher lineage, who considered it an honour to preserve the original blood as pure as possible. There are families still to be found in England who pretend that they descend in a direct line from Saxon or Norman ancestors, and who assert that Saxon or Norman features have been transmitted to them. But even these families have in the course of time been considerably mixed with races of an entirely different extraction; nay, even the Britons in Wales have not been able to prevent some of the hated English blood from gradually supplying and deteriorating that which runs in their own veins. Moreover, if we consider what an immense number of Irishmen, Frenchmen, Germans, Jews, and others, have, particularly during later centuries, immigrated into England, where they have settled, and by degrees married natives; and, lastly, if we remember that most foreigners have settled on the east coast, or in the midland and north-eastern districts; we might almost deem it impossible to point out from the features and bodily frame of the inhabitants of these districts, any preponderating degree of descent from Saxons, Danes, or any one race of people that colonized England in times so long past. In this respect we can of course scarcely think of comparing districts of small extent, such as two neighbouring parishes, or two adjoining counties on the east coast of England. Nevertheless, if by taking a survey of such extensive districts as north and south England, we were able to discover a tolerably decided difference in the general appearance of the inhabitants, this would be a weighty corroboration of the assertions of history, and of the proof derived from names, that these districts were originally peopled by inhabitants of entirely different descent.

The Englishman of London, and the rest of southern England, does not in general betray in his exterior any perceptible resemblance to the Danes and Norwegians. On the contrary, he decidedly differs from them. The black hair, the dark eye, the fine hooked nose, and the long oval countenance, remind one either of relationship with the Romans, whose chief seat in England was in the south, or rather, perhaps, of a strong compound between the ancient Britons and the Anglo-Saxon and Norman races, which afterwards immigrated into England. Many of the Britons seem to have been dark-haired; for among their descendants in Wales, as well as among their near kinsmen, the Highland Scots and the Irish, there are still frequently found—and particularly in remote districts, as, for instance, in the Hebrides—dark-haired and generally small people, having on the whole dark complexions. It was, too, in the south and south-west of England that the greatest mixture took place between the original British tribes and those that afterwards came over.

But as we proceed from the southern towards the middle and northern parts of England, we find that by degrees an entirely different physiognomy, which before we only got a glimpse of now and then, and which could scarcely be remarked in the confusion of people in London, becomes more and more the prevailing one. The farther one proceeds towards Northumberland, the more distinct does it become. The form of the face is broader, the cheek bones project a little, the nose is somewhat flatter, and at times turned a little upwards, the eyes and hair are of a lighter colour, and even deep red hair is far from being uncommon. The people are not very tall in stature, but usually more compact and strongly built than their countrymen towards the south. The Englishman himself seems to acknowledge that a difference is to be found in the appearance of the inhabitants of the northern and southern counties; at least one constantly hears in England, when red-haired compact-built men with broad faces are spoken of; “They must certainly be from Yorkshire:” a sort of admission that light hair, and the broad peculiar form of the face, belong mostly to the north-of-England people. On the other hand, little importance must be attached to the circumstance that Englishmen generally attribute the red hair to the immigration of the Danes; for though it is true that many Danes, and particularly many Norwegians, were red haired, yet some tribes of the original Celtic inhabitants of the British Isles also had red hair; and the same feature may likewise be partly ascribed to the Saxons.

In the midland, and especially in the northern part of England, I saw every moment, and particularly in the rural districts, faces exactly resembling those at home. Had I met the same persons in Denmark or Norway, it would never have entered my mind that they were foreigners. Now and then I also met with some whose taller growth and sharper features reminded me of the inhabitants of South Jutland, or Sleswick, and particularly of Angeln; districts of Denmark which first sent colonists to England. It is not easy to describe peculiarities which can be appreciated in all their details only by the eye; nor dare I implicitly conclude that in the above-named cases I have really met with persons descended in a direct line from the old Northmen. I adduce it only as a striking fact, which will not escape the attention of at least any observant Scandinavian traveller, that the inhabitants of the north of England bear, on the whole, more than those of any other part of that country, an unmistakeable personal resemblance to the Danes and Norwegians.

Old Scandinavian national names, such as Thorkil, Erik, Haldan, Harald, Else, and several others, were formerly, at least, not unfrequently used in these districts. Surnames, such as Adamson, Jackson, Johnson, Nelson (Nielson), Thomson, Stevenson, Swainson, and others, all of which have endings in _son_ or _sen_, which never appear in Saxon names, still frequently occur. The ending _sön_ or _sen_ (a son) is quite peculiar to the countries of Scandinavia, whence it was brought over to England by the Scandinavian colonists. It is not, however, confined to the north of England, but is spread over all the British Islands where the Northmen settled; for instance, in Scotland we find Anderson, Matheson, &c. It is very remarkable that the name of Johnson, which, as is well known, is one of the commonest in England, is also, perhaps, in the selfsame form, that which most frequently occurs in Iceland.

The still-existing popular dialect affords an excellent proof that the resemblance of the inhabitants of the northern counties of England to the Danes and Norwegians is not confined to a, perhaps accidental, personal likeness. The pure English language itself includes, both with regard to its vocabulary and inflexions, many Scandinavian elements, the result of the Danish immigration. But, in the north of England, many words and phrases are preserved in the popular language, which are neither found nor understood in other parts, although they sound quite familiar to every Northman. These original Scandinavian terms are not only applied, as I have before said, to waterfalls, mountains, rivulets, fords, and islands, but are also in common use in daily life; as, for instance, _late_ (_Dan._, lede; _Eng._, to seek), _lite_ (_Dan._, lide; _Eng._, to rely), _helle_ (_Dan._, helde; _Eng._, to pour out), _hit_ (_Dan._, hitte; _Eng._, to find), _clip_ (_Dan._, klippe; _Eng._, to cut), _forelders_ (_Dan._, Forældre, or Forfædre; _Eng._, ancestors, forefathers), _updaals_ (_Dan._, opdals; _Eng._, up the valley), _kirk-folk_ (_Dan._, Kirkefolk; _Eng._, people going to church), _kirk-garth_ (_Dan._, Kirke-gaard; _Eng._, churchyard), with many others.

These originally Scandinavian words are now chiefly found in the north-west of England, among the remote mountains of Yorkshire, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Lancashire, where they have withstood the changes of time. On entering a house there one will find the housewife sitting with her _rock_ (_Dan._, Rok; _Eng._, a distaff) and _spoele_ (_Dan._, Spole; _Eng._, spool, a small wheel on the spindle); or else she has set both her _rock_ and her _garnwindle_ (_Dan._, Garnvinde; _Eng._, reel or yarn-winder) aside, whilst standing by her _back-bword_ (_Dan._, Bagebord; _Eng._, baking-board) she is about to knead dough (_Dan._, Deig), in order to make the oaten bread commonly used in these parts, at times, also, barley-bread; for _clap-bread_ (_Dan._ Klappebröd, or thin cakes beaten out with the hand) she lays the dough on the _clap-board_ (_Dan._, Klappebord). One will also find the _bord-claith_ spread (_Dan._, Bordklæde; _Eng._, table-cloth); the people of the house then sit on the _bank_ or _bink_ (_Dan._, Bænk; _Eng._, bench), and eat _Aandorn_ (_Eng._, afternoon’s repast), or, as it is called in Jutland and Fünen, _Onden_ (dinner). The chimney, _lovver_, stands in the room; which name may perhaps be connected with the Scandinavian _lyre_ (Icelandic, ljóri); _viz._, the smoke-hole in the roof or thatch (_thack_), out of which in olden times, before houses had regular chimneys and “_lofts_” (_Dan._, Loft; _Eng._, roof, an upper room), the smoke (_reek_ or _reik_, _Dan._, Rög) left the dark (_mirk_ or _murk_, _Dan._, mörk) room. Within is the _bower_ or _boor_ (_Eng._, bed-chamber), in Danish, _Buur_; as, for instance, in the old Danish word Jomfrubuur (the maiden’s chamber), and in the modern word Fadebuur (the pantry).