diff options
Diffstat (limited to '43910-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 43910-8.txt | 6929 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 6929 deletions
diff --git a/43910-8.txt b/43910-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 58bb910..0000000 --- a/43910-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6929 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Danes in Lancashire and Yorkshire, by -S. W. Partington - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: The Danes in Lancashire and Yorkshire - -Author: S. W. Partington - -Release Date: October 8, 2013 [EBook #43910] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DANES IN LANCASHIRE *** - - - - -Produced by sp1nd, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - -The Danes in Lancashire - - -[Illustration: Canute.] - - - - - The Danes in Lancashire - and Yorkshire - - BY - - S. W. PARTINGTON - - _ILLUSTRATED_ - - SHERRATT & HUGHES - London: 33 Soho Square, W. - Manchester: 34 Cross Street - 1909 - - - - -PREFACE. - - -The story of the 'childhood of our race' who inhabited the counties -of Lancashire and Yorkshire before the Norman Conquest, is an almost -blank page to the popular reader of to-day. The last invaders of our -shores, whom we designate as the Danes and Norsemen, were not the least -important of our ancestors. The History of their daring adventures, -crafts and customs, beliefs and character, with the surviving traces in -our language and laws, form the subject of this book. - -From the evidence of relics, and of existing customs and traditions, -we trace their thought and actions, their first steps in speech and -handicraft, and the development of their religious conceptions. Our -education authorities have realized the fact that "Local Names" contain -a fund of history and meaning which appeals to the young as well as -to the adults; and the county committees have been well advised to -recommend the teaching of History and Geography from local features and -events. - -Some articles written by the late Mr. John Just, M.A., of Bury, on -our early races, and elements of our language and dialect, formed the -incentive to the writer to continue the story of our Danish ancestors. - -To the following writers we are indebted for many facts and quotations: -H. Colley March, Esq., M.D.; W. G. Collingwood, "Scandinavian Britain"; -W. S. Calverley, "Stone Crosses and Monuments of Westmorland and -Cumberland"; Dr. W. Wagner's "Tales and Traditions of our Northern -Ancestors"; Mr. Boyle, "Danes in the East Riding of Yorkshire"; Mr. -J. W. Bradley, B.A., of the Salt Museum, Stafford, "Runic Calendars -and Clog-Almanacs"; Rev. J. Hay Colligan, Liverpool; Professor W. A. -Herdman, Liverpool; Mr. Jas. T. Marquis, of the Battle of "Brunanburh"; -Dr. Worsäac, "Danes in England." - -Messrs. Titus Wilson & Son, Kendal, Plates, "Map of Races," etc.; Swan, -Sonnenschein & Co., London; Williams, Norgate & Co., London. - -To Charles W. Sutton, Esq., Free Reference Library, Manchester, for -valuable advice and assistance grateful thanks are now tendered. - - S. W. PARTINGTON. - - BURY, _October 4, 1909_. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - Invasion and Conquest 1 - Settlements 11 - Place-Names 45 - Patronymics 59 - Physical Types still existing 77 - Political Freemen 87 - Husbandry 109 - Stone Crosses 117 - Runes 135 - Memorials 161 - Literature 167 - Mythology 187 - Superstitions 203 - Agriculture 213 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - Canute _Frontispiece_ - PAGE - Viking Settlements 13 - Extwistle Hall 34 - Brunanburh Map 36 - Old Dane's House 40 - Ancient Danish Loom 80 - Heysham Hogback 120 - Danish Ornaments, Claughton-on-brock 124 - Halton Cross 125 - Ormside Cup 131 - Clog Almanac Symbols 144 - Runic Calendar 155 - Carved Wood, with Runes 170 - Bractaetes 174 - Halton Cup 176 - Calderstones, No. I. 184 - Calderstones, No. II. 185 - - - - -Invasion and Conquest - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -INVASION AND CONQUEST. - - -A victorious people have always a wide-spreading influence over the -people subdued by them. An inferior race never withstood a superior -one. The very fact that the Danes gained not only an ascendancy in -many parts of England during the Anglo-Saxon dynasties, but even the -government of them all, is a proof that they were at that period a race -of individuals superior to the natives of the land. The indigenous -Britons felt the ameliorating influence of the Roman superiority and -the civilisation which formed an element of the Roman sway. The Danes -exercised and maintained an influence equal to the extent of their -amalgamation for the general good of the country. The Romans were as -much superior to the aboriginal Britons as the English of the present -day are to the Africans and Sikhs. The Saxons were an advance on the -Romanised Celt, while on the Saxons again, the Danes or Northmen -were an advance in superiority and a great element of improvement. -Leaving the Danes to tell their own tale and write their own histories -in favour of their own fatherland, we undertake to sketch out their -connection with our own county of Lancaster, with the permanent, -and still existing, effects of that connection. Hitherto history -has unfolded nothing as to the date when the "Vikings" first visited -the Lancashire coast, plundering the county, and slaughtering the -inhabitants. The Danes first visited the eastern coasts about the year -A.D. 787, as narrated in the Saxon Chronicle. In the year 894 the city -of Chester fell into their hands, under the redoubtable Hastings. This -celebrated place the Danes fortified, and henceforward, along with -the other cities of Derby, across the island, held at intervals until -their power waned by the amalgamation which eventually constituted -one people. Local names are the beacon lights of primeval history. -The names of places, even at this remote period of time, suffice -to prove that the Danes left an impression of superiority by their -invasion. At this time the Danes invaded the coast of Lancashire, and -formed settlements therein. Cumberland and Westmorland were under the -dominion of Cumbrian Britons. At this early period the Danes have -so intermingled with the Anglo-Saxons, as to influence the names of -the hundreds into which the shire was sub-divided. No chronicle may -register this fact, but the words do, and will do, so long as they -constitute the signs and symbols of ideas and things. The northern -hundred of the shire was named Lonsdale, and extended not only over -the district of Lunesdale, but also included the territory north of -the sands. The second hundred into which the shire was divided was -Amounderness. If we allow "ness" to be of strictly Scandinavian origin, -then this hundred has a strictly Danish or Norse name, "Amounder" -being the first Viking who settled in the Fylde country. Blackburn, -pronounced "Blakeburn," is the third name of a hundred which lies more -inland, but having little or no coast line within the shire. Inland -the Scandinavian influence diminished. Hence the genuine Anglo-Saxon -name of this division; in the early times "Blagburnshire." The fourth -hundred is that of Salford, also inland, hence under no Danish -influence. The name is genuine Anglo-Saxon and perhaps this hundred -includes natives less mixed with Scandinavian population than any -other in the north of England. The broad Anglo-Saxon frame is seen to -perfection in the country districts, and the light, ruddy complexion. -The men were made for endurance and slow in movements. It would be a -difficult task to get them to move if they felt disinclined to do so. -The last hundred has much sea coast, and came therefore much under -Danish influence. Hence the name, West Derby Hundred. No one who knows -anything of our early history will hesitate to pronounce this name -altogether Danish, so that three out of the five hundreds into which -the county was apportioned were under Danish domination. "Bi," Danish, -in modern English "by," was the common term given by Danish settlers to -their residence. Derby or Deorby means not the residence or home of the -deer, but a locality where the animals abounded. The Danes had, more -than any other people, a reverence for the dead. Wherever a hero fell, -even if but a short time sufficed to cover his remains, this was done; -and if nothing better to mark the spot, a boat which brought him hither -was placed over him, keel uppermost. Failing a boat, a "Haugr" or mound -was raised over his grave. When Christianity upset these "Hofs," or -sacred enclosures of Odin and Thor, then crosses were erected over the -Christian graves. This accounts for the universal number of "Crosbys" -in the Danish district of the kingdom. Conquered Rome converted and -conquered its barbarian and heathen masters to the Cross. Anglo-Saxon -converted his Danish neighbour, and subdued him to the Cross. The -higher the superstitions of the Pagan the greater the devotee when he -is converted. - -When the Danes were converted to Christianity by their intercourse -with the Anglo-Saxons they transferred all their superstitious -feeling to the emblems of Christianity. Churches were also built by -the naturalised Danes in all places where they settled; and just as -easy as it is to recognise their dwellings by their "bys," so it is -to know the places where they reared their churches. Their name for -a church was "kirkja." Hence in whatever compound name this word -enters as a component, there it indicates a Danish origin. Hence -Kirkby, Formby, Ormskirk, and Kirkdale are places appertaining to the -early Anglo-Danish history. Dale is likewise a genuine appellative, -as in Kirkdale as already noticed. Besides, in this hundred we find: -Skelmersdale, Ainsdale, Cuerdale, and Birkdale. The only two places -which the Danes seem to have noticed in their navigation of the Ribble -were Walton-le-dale and the more important Cuerdale, now renowned in -archæology for the richest find of ancient coins recorded in history. -The Danes brought a treasure of 7,000 pieces to Cuerdale. Mingled with -the coins were bars of silver, amulets, broken rings, and ornaments -of various kinds, such as are recorded by Scandinavian Sagas. Many -countries had been rifled for this treasure. Kufic, Italian, Byzantine, -French, and Anglo-Saxon coins were in the booty; besides 3,000 genuine -Danish pieces, minted by kings and jarls on the Continent. Another -discovery of Danish treasure was made at Harkirke, near Crosby. The -coins here found were of a more recent deposit, and contained but one -of Canute the Great. From the Mersey to the Ribble was a long, swampy, -boggy plain, and was not worth the Romans' while to make roads or to -fix stations or tenements. From the Conquest until the beginning of -the 18th century this district was almost stagnant, and its surface -undisturbed. The Dane kept to the shore, the sea was his farm. He -dredged the coast and the estuary, with his innate love of danger, -till Liverpool sprang up with the magic of Eastern fable, and turned -out many a rover to visit every region of the world. The race of -the Viking are, many of them, the richest merchants of the earth's -surface.[A] - -About half of England--the so-called "Danelag," or community of -Danes, was for centuries subject to Danish laws. These laws existed -for 200 years after the Norman Conquest. The Normans long retained a -predilection for old Danish institutions and forms of judicature, and -their new laws bear the impress and colour of the older time. This -is established beyond doubt, in spite of the boast of the famous Sir -Robert Peel in Parliament, that he was proud "The Danes tried in vain -to overcome the institutions of England instead of securing them." - -The English word "by-law" is still used to denote municipal or -corporate law, which is derived from the Danish "By-Lov." This shows -they must have had some share in developing the system of judicature -in English cities. The "Hustings" were well known in the seven cities -under Danish rule. - -The earliest positive traces of a "jury" in England appear in the -"Danelag," among the Danes established there; and that long before the -time of William the Conqueror. The present village of Thingwall, in -Cheshire, was a place of meeting for the "Thing" or "Trithing," a court -held in the open air to settle laws and disputes in the same manner as -that existing at Tynwald, Isle of Man. The division of "Ridings" in -Yorkshire is also derived from this Danish custom. - -The "Trithing" was a Danish institution, so also was the wapentake. -What are called "hundreds" in some counties, are called "wapentakes" in -others, thus from the Norse "taka," which means a "weapon grasping." -Tacitus says the ancients used to "express assent by waving or -brandishing their weapons." If the sentence pleased they struck -their spears together, "since the most honourable kind of assent is -to applaud with arms." From this practice the word came to mean the -sentence or decree had been thus authenticated. "Vapantak" in the -grafas of Icelandic parliament means the breaking up of the session, -when the men resumed their weapons which had been laid aside during the -assembly. (Cleasby.) - - -LOCAL NAMES. - -As a maritime race the Danes brought to our county not only a knowledge -of the sea, how to navigate its perils, and the secret of successful -trading, but also possessed the art and craft of shipbuilding to a -higher degree than any then known. We still have the old Danish name -in Liverpool of David Rollo and Sons, shipbuilders and engineers. The -following Danish maritime terms have become part of our language: Vrag, -a wreck; flaade, fleet; vinde, windlass; skibsborde, shipboard; mast, -mast; seile, sails; styrmand, steersman. - -From the fact that "Thingwall" in Cheshire and "Tynwald" in the Isle -of Man afford the memorial of the assizes, and that "wald" or "vold" -signifies a "bank" or "rampart," where these courts were held in order -to be safe from surprise, may we not presume the local name "The -Wylde," in Bury, to be derived from the same source, as the "bank" or -"rampart" would be used previous to the building of the old castle? The -Danish "byr," or "by," means a settlement, town, or village, and as the -word "berg" means a hill, and "borough," "bury," "brow," and "burgh" -are similar terms for a fortified hill, we may suppose "Bury" to be -taken from this source, instead of from the Saxon "byrig," a bridge, -when no bridge existed. - - - - -Settlements - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -SETTLEMENTS. - - -From the year 876 the Danes became colonists and settlers. Raid and -plunder gave place to peaceful pursuits. The English Chronicle says -that in "this year Halfdene apportioned the lands of Northumbria; -and they henceforth continued ploughing and tilling them." This -colonisation of Deira by the Danes was soon followed in other -districts. The greater part of central Britain with the whole of the -north and east came entirely under Scandinavian rule. - -[Illustration: THE VIKING SETTLEMENTS] - -In 877 trading is recorded by the Sagas from Norway, in a shipload of -furs, hides, tallow and dried fish, which were exchanged for wheat, -honey, wine and cloth. Thus early was established the increase in -comfort and wealth, as evidenced by the erection of Christian monuments -early in the tenth century. - -The origin of "long-weight" and "long-hundred" count is traceable to -the Danish settlements. This peculiar reckoning survives in the selling -of cheese 120 lbs. to the cwt., and in the counting of eggs, 120 to the -hundred. The timber trade counts 120 deals to the hundred. On the East -Coast fish are counted 132 to the hundred. Six score to the hundred is -still popular in Westmorland measure of crops and timber. This Danish -method of count was derived from the Icelandic term "hundred" which -meant 120. - -Professor Maitland, in his "Domesday Book and Beyond," says that the -number of sokemen or free men, owing certain dues to the Hundred -Court, or to a lord, who were masters of their own land, like the -customary tenants of Cumberland, was greater in Norfolk and Suffolk -than in Essex, and that in Lincolnshire they formed nearly half the -rural population. At the time of Domesday the number of serfs was -greatest in the West of England, but none are recorded in Yorkshire and -Lincolnshire. In the manors bearing English names the sokemen numbered -two-fifths of the population, while in those manors with Danish names -they formed three-fifths of the population. (Boyle.) - -In the Danelaw they represent the original freeholders of the -settlement and owed obedience to the local "Thing" or "Trithing Court." -In those districts which were not conquered by Edward the Elder the -freeholders settled and prospered, and with the spread of Christianity -they became independent proprietors and traders. - -The presence of Danish place-names marks the district which they -conquered, including the counties of Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, -Leicester, Rutland, and Northampton. In the rest of Mercia few of these -names are to be found, viz., in Cheshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, -Worcester, Gloucester, Hereford and Oxfordshire. The eastern part -of the Danish district came to be known as the Five Burghs, namely, -Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Stamford and Nottingham. From the year -880 when Halfdene divided the lands of Deira among his followers the -conditions of life became those of colonists, and the Danes settled -down to cultivate their own lands, learning the language of the earlier -Angles, teaching them many words, and ways of northern handicraft, and -gradually intermarrying and forming the vigorous character of body and -mind which denotes the modern Englishman. - -From the middle of the tenth century men bearing Anglo-Danish names -held high positions in the Church; Odo was Archbishop of Canterbury, -his nephew Oswald was Bishop of Worcester and afterwards Archbishop of -York in succession to Oskytel, and many Norse names appear as witnesses -to Royal Charters. - -The hatred still existed against these barbarous Danes, and it is -recorded in the Saxon Chronicle that the Saxons learned drunkenness -from the Danes, a vice from which before they were free. This character -is strangely contrasted by the story of John of Wallingford, that "they -were wont, after the fashion of their country, to comb their hair -every day, to bathe every Saturday, Laugardag, 'bath day,'--and to -change their garments often, and to set off their persons by many such -frivolous devices. And in this manner laid siege to the virtue of the -women." - -If we are to accept the evidence of Lord Coke, we are indebted to the -Danish invasion for our propensity to make Ale the national beverage. -This eminent authority says that King Edgar, in 'permitting' the Danes -to inhabit England, first brought excessive drinking among us. - -The word Ale came into the English language through the Danish öl. -At any rate after the advent of the Norsemen, the English left off -drinking water and began to drink ale as the regular everyday beverage -of the people. - -The term 'beer' was used by the Anglo-Saxons, but seems to have fallen -into desuetude until the name was revived to distinguish 'ale' from -hopped ale.'--_From "Inns, Ales, and Drinking Customs of Old England," -by Frederick W. Hackwood_. - -Green the historian in his "Conquest of England" says the names of the -towns and villages of Deira show us in how systematic a way southern -Northumbria was parted among its conquerors.... "The English population -was not displaced, but the lordship of the soil was transferred to -the conqueror. The settlers formed a new aristocracy, while the older -nobles sank to a lower position, for throughout Deira the life of an -English thane was priced at but half the value of a 'northern hold.'" -The inference to be drawn from this passage is that the English lords -of the soil were replaced by Danish ones, the English settlers remained -in possession of their ancient holdings. In the course of time the -two races amalgamated, but at the Norman Conquest this amalgamation -had only been partially effected. In the districts where the Danes -settled they formed new villages, in which they lived apart from the -general Anglian population. Had they not done so the memory of their -settlement could never have been perpetuated by the Danish names given -to their homes. Every group of isolated Danish place-names teaches the -same fact, and there are many such groups. This is the case in the -Wirral district of Cheshire, the peninsula between the Mersey and the -Dee, where we find such names as Raby, Greasby, Frankby, Irby, Pansby, -Whitby and Shotwick, and in the centre of the district the village -called Thingwall. While throughout the rest of the county scarcely a -Danish name can be found, and as these names were conferred by the -Danish settlers it is impossible not to believe that under analogous -conditions the names in other districts were conferred in the same way. -Where a new village was planted midway between two older villages, its -territory would be carved in varying proportions out of the lands of -the earlier settlements. Sometimes certain rights of the older villages -were maintained in the territory of which they had been deprived. Thus -in a Danish village of Anlaby, the lands whereof were carved out of the -adjoining townships of Kirk Ella and Hessle, the respective rectors -of these parishes had curiously divided rights to both the great and -the small tithes; whilst in the neighbouring instance of the Danish -Willerby, carved out of Kirk Ella and Cottingham, the rector of Kirk -Ella took all the great tithes, and the rector of Cottingham took all -the small tithes. This method of Danish _village formation_ explains -a curious point. The foundation of the earlier Anglian settlements -preceded the development of the great road system of England. Leaving -out of consideration the Roman roads and the comparatively few British -roads, the former of which have relation to nothing but the military -needs of that all conquering people, our existing road system is due -to the Anglo-Saxon. Our old roads lead from one village to another and -each village is a centre from which roads radiate. The Danish villages -were, on the contrary, usually roadside settlements. New settlements -were formed on the vast fringes of wood and waste which surrounded -the cultivated lands of the older English villages. The road existed -and the one village street was formed along the line. Such wayside -settlements are Carnaby and Bessingby, on the road from Bridlington -to Driffield. When, as was sometimes the case, the new settlement was -planted at a little distance from the existing road a new road running -at right angles from the old one and leading directly to the settlement -was formed. Skidby, Towthorp, Kirby, Grindalbythe and many others -are cases in point. One consequence of such conditions of formation -would be that where the English settlements were most numerous the -Danish settlements would be few and small, because there was less land -available in such districts for their formation. While, on the other -hand, where English settlements were more sparsely scattered the Danish -settlements would be more numerous, and comparatively large. Taking a -large district like the East Riding, the average area of the Danish -townships may be expected to fall below that of the Anglo-Saxon. The -facts comply with all these tests. - -Thus to take the townships with Danish names, and compare with similar -districts of Anglo-Saxon names, we arrive at the conclusion as to -whether the district was thickly populated before the coming of the -Danes. Many Anglo-Saxon villages are to be found along the course of -the Roman road, which coincides with the modern one of to-day. The two -classes of population found only in Danish districts, the Sochmanni and -the "liber tenentes," are wholly absent in purely English districts. -Both held land exempt from villain services, which was a condition of -tenure introduced by the Danes. This fact shatters the theory of Green -that English settlers were communities of freemen. They were in fact -communities of bondmen, villains, bordars, cottars, and serfs, the last -holding no lands, but being bound to the soil as chattels, and the -rest holding their lands, "at the will of the lord," and in return -for actual services. What then was the Sochman? The lawyer of to-day -will answer, "He is one who held land by 'socage,' tenure." Although in -Domesday this "sochman" is confined to Danish districts, a fact which -is recognised in the laws of Edward the Confessor. After the Conquest a -type of tenure more or less closely corresponding to that by which the -earlier sochman held his land, was gradually established over the whole -kingdom. - -Tenants who owned such tenures were called "sochmen," and the tenure -itself was called "socage." A distinction was drawn between "free -socage" and "villain socage." The fuller development of the feudal -system which followed the Conquest greatly complicated all questions -of land tenure. New conditions of holding superior to that of "socage" -were introduced. Thus in the pages of Britton, who always speaks in -the person of the King, we read: "Sochmanries are lands and tenements -which are not held by knights' fee, nor by grand serjeantries, but by -simple services, as lands enfranchised by us, or our predecessors, -out of ancient demesnes." Bracton is more explicit. He defines free -socage as the tenure of a tenement, whereof the service is rendered in -money to the chief lords, and nothing whatever is paid, "ad scutum et -servitium regis." "Socage," he proceeds, "is named from soke, and hence -the tenants who held in socage are called sochmanni, since they are -entirely occupied in agriculture, and of whom wardship and marriage -pertain to the nearest parents in the right of blood. And if in any -manner homage is taken thereof, as many times is the case, yet the -chief lord has not on this account, wardship and marriage, which do not -always follow homage." He then goes on to define "villain socage." The -essential principle of socage tenure is rent in lieu of services. It -is to this fact no doubt that the vast impetus which was given to the -coinage of England soon after the coming of the Danes is largely due. - -As Mr. Worsaäe says, the Danish coiners increased to fifty in number -from the reign of Aethelred to Edward the Confessor, and the greater -number exercised this vocation at York and Lincoln. Thus the sochmanni -were found only in the settlements of the people who had created in -England a tenure of land free from servile obligations. - -The manner of fixing these early settlements of land was the same in -Ireland, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and in Lincolnshire. The same -custom is still observed by our modern colonists who launch out into -the Australian bush. The land was staked out by the settler from the -highest ridge downwards to the creek of the river or shore. By this -means the settler obtained on outlet to the open sea. The homestead -was built by the bondr or husbandman, on the sheltered ground between -the marsh and hill. These settlements became byes, and were encircled -by a garth, or farmyard. The names of some Norse farms and settlements -became composed of a Norse prefix and Saxon ending. Thus we find Oxton -"the farm of the yoke," in the hollow of a long ridge. Storeton, from -stortun or "big field." - -Many of these names are repetitions of places which exist in -Cumberland, Denmark, and the Isle of Man. Raby and Irby were smaller -farms on the boundary of large byes, and were derived from the Danish -chief Ivar. Each homestead had its pastures and woods, which are -denoted by the terminals "well," "wall," and "birket," found in such -names as Crabwall, Thelwall, Thingwall. - -"Thwaites" or "Hlither" were sloping pastures, cleared of wood, -between the hill and marsh, used for grazing cattle and sheep. This -system of agriculture is of Norse origin, and many such "thwaites" -are to be found in Wallasey, Lancashire, and the Lake district. -Calday and Calder, recorded in Domesday, "Calders," derived from -kalf-gard, are names existing in Calderstones, at Wavertree, and -Calday near Windermere, as well as at Eastham and in Scotland. Each -large settler had summer pastures for cattle on the highland or moor, -called "soeters" or "saetter," a shelter seat for the dairymaids. From -this custom we derive the names Seacombe, Satterthwaite, Seathwaite, -Seascale, and Sellafield. As the population increased the large estates -were divided among the families of the early settlers, and these upland -pastures became separate farms. Evidence that these early Norsemen -were Christians is found in the name Preston, in Domesday. Prestune, -the farm of the priest: who in these early days farmed his own land. -From its position this farm became known as West Kirby. - -The stone crosses of Nelson and Bromborough prove that these churches -were founded early in the eleventh century. - -The Danish character of Chester at this date is shown by the fact that -it was ruled by "lawmen," in the same manner as the Five Boroughs -(vide Round's "Feudal England," p. 465), and its growing wealth and -importance was due to the trading intercourse through the Danish ships -with Dublin. - -Coming from the north-east another Norse and Danish settlement sprang -up round Liverpool. Though we have no distinct historical record, -the place names indicate the centre was at Thelwall (Tingwall). Such -names are Roby, West Derby, Kirkby, Crosby, Formby, Kirkdale, Toxteth, -found in Domesday as "Stockestede," Croxteth, Childwall, Harbreck, -Ravensmeols, Ormskirk, Altcar, Burscough, Skelmersdale. - -Out of forty-five names of places recorded in Domesday in West Derby -Hundred, ten are Scandinavian, the rest might be interpreted in either -dialect. - -All other names in Domesday in South Lancashire are Anglo-Saxon, which -only amount to twelve: the reason for the small number of names being -that the land was for the most part lying waste, and was thus free from -assessment. Thus we find on the present map that Norse names form a -large number which are not recorded in Domesday. Many of these would be -later settlements. In West Derby the names of three landowners appear -in this survey with Norse names, while three others are probably Norse, -and seven Saxon. - -Following the fall of the Danish dynasty the districts of South -Lancashire formed part of Cheshire and we find the names of six -"Drengs" around Warrington, possessing Norman names, while only one -bears a Norse name. The word "Dreng" being Norse, would infer that the -tenure was of "danelaw" origin and not of Anglo-Saxon. - -The founder of the Abbey of Burton-on-Trent, Wulfric Spot, held great -tracts of land in Wirral and West Lancashire, which are named in his -Will dated 1002. Thus the "Bondr" here held his land under Mercian -rules, from which the hides and hundreds were similar to those of the -previous "danelaw." - -Lancashire was the southern portion of Deira, which was one of the -two kingdoms, Bernicia being the other, into which the conquests of -Ida, king of Northumbria, were on his death divided. In 559 A.D. Ida -died, and Aella became King of Deira, and afterwards sole King of -Northumbria, until 587 or 589. In 617, Edwin son of Ella was King -of Northumbria, the greatest Prince, says Hume the historian, of the -Heptarchy in that age. He was slain in battle with Penda of Mercia. In -634 the kingdom was again divided, Eanfrid reigning in Bernicia, and -Osric in Deira. Then Oswald, saint as well as king, appears to have -reunited the two provinces again under his kingship of Northumberland. -Authorities, in more than one instance, vary as to the exact dates, -within a year or two. - -The Saxon kingdom of Northumbria reached from the Humber to the Forth, -and from the North Sea to the Irish Sea. For two centuries after the -death of Ecgfrith the Saxon king and the battle of Nectansmere, history -only records a succession of plunder and pestilence. - -Green the historian says "King after king was swept away by treason and -revolt, the country fell into the hands of its turbulent nobles, its -very fields lay waste, and the land was scourged by famine and plague." - -The pirate Northmen or Vikings as they were called first, began to raid -the coast of England with their fleets with the object of plunder. The -English Chronicle records their first attacks in the year 787. "Three -of their ships landed on the western shores, these were the first ships -of Danish men that sought the land of Engle-folk." - -The Monastery of Lindisfarne was plundered six years later by their -pirate ships, and the coast of Northumbria was ravaged, Jan., 793. - -The following year they returned and destroyed the monasteries of -Wearmouth and Jarrow. This was the beginning of the Norse raids on our -Eastern shores. - -In 875 Halfdan returned from his campaign against Alfred and the year -after he divided the lands of Northumbria amongst his followers. In -many parts we find groups of Scandinavian place-names so close and -thick, says Mr. W. G. Collingwood in his "Scandinavian Britain," that -we must assume either depopulation by war, or the nearly complete -absence of previous population. - -There is no reason to suppose that the earlier Vikings depopulated the -country they ravaged. Spoil was their object and slaughter an incident. - -As Canon Atkinson has shown in his "Analysis of the Area of Cleveland -under Cultivation at Domesday Period," very little of the country in -that district was other than moor or forest at the end of the eleventh -century, and that most of the villages then existing had Scandinavian -names. His conclusion is that these districts were a wilderness -since Roman and prehistoric days, and first penetrated by the Danes -and Norse: except for some clearings such as Crathorne, Stokesley, -Stainton, and Easington, and the old monastery at Whitby. - -This conclusion receives support, says Mr. Collingwood, from an -analysis of the sculptured stones now to be seen in the old Churches -and sites of Cleveland. It is only at Yarm, Crathorne, Stainton, -Easington, and Whitby, that we find monuments of the pre-Viking age, -and these are the products of the latest Anglian period. - -At Osmotherley, Ingleby, Arncliffe, Welbury, Kirklevington, Thornaby, -Ormesby, Skelton, Great Ayton, Kirkdale, and Kirkby-in-Cleveland are -tombstones of the tenth and eleventh centuries. It is thus evident -that the Angles were only beginning to penetrate these northern parts -of Yorkshire when the Vikings invaded and carried on the work of land -settlement much further. Further extension was made by the Norse from -the West Coast, as the place-names show. Monuments of pre-Viking art -work exist at places with Scandinavian names, such as Kirkby-Moorside, -Kirkby-Misperton, and Kirkdale; while in other cases only Viking age -Crosses are found at places with names of Anglian origin, such as -Ellerburn, Levisham, Sinnington, Nunnington. - -This would indicate that some Anglian sites were depopulated and -refounded with Danish names, while others had no importance in Anglian -times but soon became flourishing sites under the Danes. - -In the west of Yorkshire the great dales were already tenanted by -the Angles, but the moors between them, and the sites higher up the -valleys, were not the sites of Churches until the Danish period. (See -"Anglian and Anglo-Danish Sculpture in the North Riding," by W. G. -Collingwood. _Yorks. Arch. Journal_, 1907.) - -Yorkshire at the time of the Domesday survey was carucated and divided -into Ridings and Wapentakes. Thingwall, near Whitby. (Canon Atkinson, -site lost.) Thinghow, near Ginsborough (now lost), and Thinghow, now -Finney Hill, near Northallerton. (Mr. William Brown, F.S.A.) Tingley, -near Wakefield; Thingwall, near Liverpool; Thingwall in Wirral, may -have been Thingsteads. (W. G. Collingwood.) - -Names of places ending in -ergh, and -ark are dairy-farms from setr and -saetr. Names with ulls- as prefix, such as Ulpha, Ullscarth, Ullswater, -record the fact that wolves inhabited the hills. - -Beacons were kept up in olden days on hills which bear the -names of Warton, Warcop, Warwick and Warthole. Tanshelf, near -Pontefract, is derived from Taddenesscylfe, Blawith and Blowick from -Blakogr--blackwood. Axle, Acle, arcle from öxl, the shoulder. - - -THE BATTLE OF BRUNANBURH. - -WAS IT FOUGHT IN LANCASHIRE? - -"There is one entry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which must be -mentioned here as it throws light upon an archæological discovery of -considerable importance. In 911 the Chronicle records that the Danish -army among the Northumbrians broke the peace and overran the land of -Mercia. When the King learned that they were gone out to plunder, he -sent his forces after them, both of the West Saxons and the Mercians; -and they fought against them and put them to flight, and slew many -thousands of them...." - -"There is good reason to believe," as Mr. Andrew shows (Brit. Numis. -Jour. i, 9), "that the famous Cuerdale hoard of Silver coins, which -was found in 1840 in a leaden chest buried near a difficult ford of -the Ribble on the river bank about two miles above Preston, represents -the treasure chest of this Danish army, overtaken in its retreat to -Northumbria at this ford and destroyed." - - * * * * * - -Then follows a process of reasoning in support of the above conclusion, -based upon the place of minting and the dating of the coins. - -"The bulk of the coins, however, were Danish, issued by Danish Kings of -Northumbria, many of them from York." - -Besides the Cuerdale find of 10,000 silver coins and 1,000 ounces -of silver there are records given of other Danish finds.--From the -Victoria County History of Lancashire, Vol. I., see Coins. - -Each historian of this important event has claimed a different site, in -as many parts of England. In Grose's "Antiquities" we find the allied -Scotch, Welsh, Irish, and Danes, the Northumbrian army, under Anlaf -were totally defeated, in 938 at Brunanburgh (Bromridge, Brinkburn), -in Northumberland, when Constantine, King of the Scots, and six petty -Princes of Ireland and Wales, with twelve Earls were slain. This -description is given in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The honour of -claiming the Lancashire site on the river Brun near Burnley, belongs -to the late Mr. Thomas Turner Wilkinson, a master of Burnley Grammar -School, who claimed it for Saxifield in 1856. - -We are indebted to Mr. Jas. T. Marquis, a member of the Lancashire and -Cheshire Antiquarian Society, for the following summary of evidence -which he placed before the above Society during the winter session of -1908-9, and which will be found recorded in the Transactions of the -Society. He says, "There is overwhelming testimony in favour of the -site on the Lancashire Brun." - -The reasons for claiming this site are simply two. An old writer spells -Brinkburn--Brincaburh, and there is an artificial mound proving a fight. - -Camden gives Brunford, near Brumbridge in Northumberland, as the place -where "King Athelstane fought a pitched battle against the Danes." This -might easily be, but not the battle we refer to. There is no reason -given except the word "ford." - -Gibson suggests that it must have been "somewhere near the Humber," -although he finds a difficulty in carrying Constantine and the little -King of Cumberland so high into Yorkshire. The other places suggested -are Brumborough in Cheshire, Banbury in Oxfordshire, Burnham and Bourne -in Lincolnshire, Brunton in Northumberland, but no good reason beyond -a name, and an embankment in some cases, but not all. Brownedge in -Lancashire has been suggested, with excellent reasons. - -Dr. Giles and others suggest that the name should be Brumby instead -of Brunanburh. Ingram in his map of Saxon England places the -site in Lincolnshire, near the Trent, but without assigning good -reasons. Turner observes that the "Villare" mentions a Brunton in -Northumberland, and Gibson states what may still be seen in maps of a -century old, "that in Cheshire there is a place called Brunburh near -the shores of the Mersey." This last would be a serious competitor if -there was a river Brun, or tumuli, or ford, or battlefield: but nothing -is claimed, only the name suggested. - -Brunsford or Brunford. Let us first establish the site of the "burh," -which is a hill that shields or protects a camp, town, or hamlet. -The question is, where was the "tun" or village on the Brun? It was -in Saxon times usual for the folk to settle near a "burh" for the -protection afforded by an overlord who occupied it. - -It was also the custom of the early missionaries to establish a -feldekirk by setting up a Cross near to the hamlet, where they used to -preach Christianity and bury their dead. - -Tradition says it was intended to build the Church on the site of the -Cross, but that God willed it otherwise. God-ley Lane would be the lane -which led from the village in Saxon times to God's Lea or God-ley, on -which was the new church and burial ground. Thus the new town would -take its modern name from the ground on which the Church stood, namely -Brun-ley, Bron-ley, and Burn-ley. - -The cross, built in Saxon times to mark the spot where Christianity was -first preached, stood at the foot of the "burh" near the Brun, and thus -the early name would be Brunford. - -The records of Domesday Book contain no mention of Burnley. To the -east and west would be the vast forest of Boulsworth and Pendle, while -the valleys would be marshes and swamps. The ancient roads went along -the hill sides, and there is an ancient road from Clitheroe by Pendle -passing along the east side of the hill, now almost obliterated, -leading to Barrowford. The ancient road on this east side of the -valley, was on the Boulsworth slope from Brunford, via Haggate and -Shelfield, to Castercliffe, Colne, and Trawden which gave its name to -the forest, and Emmott. - -Dr. Whitaker tells us that in his day, "in the fields about Red Lees -are many strange inequalities in the ground, something like obscure -appearances of foundations, or perhaps entrenchments, which the -levelling operations of agriculture have not been able to efface. -Below Walshaw is a dyke stretching across from 'Scrogg Wood' to 'Dark -Wood.'" - -The ninth century annalist says, "The Northmen protected themselves -according to custom, 'with wood and a heap of earth,'" A Walshaw -would therefore be a wall of wood. Nothing was safer, when attacked -by bowmen, than a wood. Such was the Brun-burh. This burh at Red Lees -with mounds and ditches, in a half circle on each side of the Causeway, -would have the same appearance on being approached from the east and -south-east as the eleventh century "burh" at Laughton-en-le-Morthen in -Yorkshire. - -The ancient way referred to in Dr. Whitaker, from Burnley to Townley, -would be from the Market Cross, along Godley Lane to the Brunford -Cross, up over the ridge to the top of Brunshaw, along the Causeway to -Lodge Farm, through the Deer Park, through the Watch Gate at the foot -of the hill, and up to Castle Hill at Tunlay. - -Although Egbert was called the first King of England, his son Alfred -the Great at the height of his power only signed himself "Alfred of the -West Saxons, King." - -England was still governed under the three provinces at the time of -Henry I., namely Wessex, Mercia, and Danelagh. The latter province -comprised the whole tract of country north and east of Watling Street. -Mercia included the lands north of the Mersey. Danish Northumbria or -Deira comprised the lands to the west of the Pennines. - -Amongst the hills north of the Ribble the hostile nations could meet -in security. Saxon-Mercia north of the Mersey, surrounded by alien -nations, and having been itself conquered from that claimed as the -Danelaw, would be the most likely where those nations could meet in -time of peace, and was the debatable land in time of war. - -After the death of Alfred, when Edward the Elder claimed overlordship, -the Danes rose in revolt in the north. It is recorded that he and his -warrior sister "the Lady of the Mercians" abandoned the older strategy -of rapine and raid, for that of siege and fortress building, or the -making and strengthening of burhs. - -Edward seems to have recovered the land between the Mersey and the -Ribble, for soon after leaving Manchester, the Britons of Strathclyde, -the King of Scots, Regnold of Bamborough who had taken York at this -period, and the Danish Northumbrians take him to be father and lord. -The place is not mentioned, but must be somewhere between Boulsworth -and Pendle. - -[Illustration: Extwistle Hall, near Eamott, marks an ancient boundary.] - -The same thing happened when Athelstan claimed his overlordship. -Profiting by following his father's example, he would travel from -burh to burh, and his route would not be difficult to trace, namely, -Thelwall, Manchester, Bacup, Broad Dyke, Long Dyke, Easden Fort, Copy -Nook, Castle Hill, Watch Gate, Brunburh, Broadbank, Castercliffe, -Shelfield, Winewall, Eamot. - -The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that "A.D. 926, Sihtric perished, and -King Athelstan ruled all the Kings in the Island, the Northumbrians, -Constantine King of Scots, Ealdred of Bamborough, and others, which -they confirmed by pledges and oaths at a place Eamot on the 4th of the -ides of July and they renounced idolatry." - -Everything points to the fact that Brunanburgh gave its name to this -battle. This part of the Saxon king's dominions being the one place -where all the hostile nations could meet before the attack. - -There is no other river Brun in northern Mercia, and the Saxon -Chronicle says the battle was fought near Brunanburh. - -Ethelward says Brunandune (river and dale). Simeon gives Wendune -(Swindon). Malmesbury and Tugulf names Brunanburh or Bruford. Florence -of Worcester "near Brunanburh." Henry of Huntingdon gives Brunesburh, -and Gaimar has Brunswerc, which we have in Worsthorne, which is -known to be derived from Wrthston, the town of Wrth. In the _Annales -Cambriae_ it is styled the "Bellum Brun" (the Battles of the Brun). -This would explain the many names. - -William of Malmesbury says that the field was "far into England." We -have Brownedge and Brownside. In addition to all this we have "Bishops -Leap," S'Winless Lane, Saxifield, Saxifield Dyke. We have also a -Ruh-ley, a Red Lees, directly opposite to which we have a traditional -battlefield and battlestone, also a High Law Hill, and Horelaw -Pastures, a number of cairns of stones, a small tumuli; all of which -may be said to be near the hillfort Brunburh. - - -DESCRIPTIONS OF BATTLES FROM THE MAP. - -From the two Ordnance maps, "six inch to the mile," one of Briercliffe, -and the other of Worsthorne, it may be seen that the roads from Slack, -near Huddersfield, pass through the Pennine range, one by the long -Causeway, on the south of the position and on the southern side, near -Stipernden, is "Warcock Hill. From here running north, are a series -of ridges, Shedden Edge, Hazel Edge, Hamilton Hill, to the other road -from Slack, passing through the hills at Widdop, and immediately on the -north side at Thursden is another Warcock Hill. From Warcock Hill to -Warcock Hill would stretch the army of Anlaf in their first position. -From the north end of the position a road north to Shelfield and -Castercliffe, by means of which he would be joined by his Welsh allies, -from the Ribble, via Portfield, and his Strathclyde and Cumbrian allies -from the north. From this end of the position there is a road due west -to the Broadbank, where there is the site of a small camp at Haggate. - -[Illustration] - -From here Anlaf would send his Welsh allies under Adalis, and his -shipmen under Hryngri, for the night attack on the advancing Saxons -as they crossed the Brunford. They fell on them somewhere on the site -of Bishop's House Estate, but were afterwards beaten back across the -estates known as Saxifield. Two days afterwards both sides prepared -for the great struggle near the burh, and Anlaf, taking his cue from -his opponent, advanced his left and took possession of the hill near -Mereclough, afterwards called High Law (Round Hill), and the pastures -behind still known as Battlefield, with a stone called Battlestone in -the centre of it. - -Constantine and the Scots were in charge of the hill, and the Pict, and -Orkney men behind. His centre he pushed forward at Brown Edge, to the -"Tun of Wrst." While his right touched S'Winden Water under Adalis with -the Welsh and shipmen. - -Two days before the great battle Athelstan marched out of Brunburh at -the north end, and encamped somewhere on the plain called Bishop's -House Estate, his route by the Brunford, and probably S'Winless Lane. - -We are told that Anlaf entered the camp as a spy, and ascertaining the -position of Athelstan's tent, formed the night attack for the purpose -of destroying him. Athelstan, however, leaving for another part of his -position on the Brun, gave Wersthan, Bishop of Sherborne, the command. - -The Bishop met his death somewhere on the estate, the Pasture being -known as Bishop's Leap, which undoubtedly gave its name to the estate. - -Adalis, the Welsh Prince, had done this in the night attack, probably -coming by way of Walshaw, and Darkwood. Alfgier took up the command, -with Thorolf on his right and Eglis in support in front of the wood. -Alfgier was first assaulted by Adalis with the Welsh and driven off -the field, afterwards fleeing the country. Thorolf was assaulted by -Hryngr the Dane, and soon afterwards by Adalis also, flushed with -victory. Thorolf directed his colleague Eglis to assist him, exhorted -by his troops to stand close, and if overpowered to retreat to the -wood. Thorolf or Thorold the Viking was the hero of this day, near the -Netherwood on Thursden Water. He fought his way to Hryngr's standard -and slew him. His success animated his followers, and Adalis, mourning -the death of Hryngr, gave way and retreated, with his followers back -over Saxifield to the Causeway camp at Broadbank. - -Whatever took place at Saxifield the enemy left it entirely, and the -decisive battle took place at the other end of Brunburh. In walking -up S'Windene, by S'Winden Water, the district on the right between -that river and the Brun is called in old maps Roo-ley and in older -manuscripts Ruhlie, marked in Thomas Turner Wilkinson's time, with a -cairn and tumulus. Some distance further on we find Heckenhurst. The -roads down from the burh are at Rooley and at Brownside and at Red Lees -by the Long Causeway leading to Mereclough. - -Athelstan placed Thorolf on the left of his army, at Roo-ley, to oppose -the Welsh and irregular Irish under Adalis. In front of Brownside -(Burnside) was Eglis with the picked troops, and on Eglis' right -opposite Worsthorne, Athelstane and his Anglo-Saxons. - -Across the original Long Causeway on the Red Lees, with the burh -entrenchments immediately at his back, was the valiant Turketul, the -Chancellor, with the warriors of Mercia and London opposite Round Hill -and Mereclough. - -Thorolf began by trying to turn the enemy's right flank, but Adalis -darted out from behind the wood, now Hackenhurst, and destroyed -Thorolf, and his foremost friends on Roo-ley or Ruhlie. Eglis came up -to assist his brother Viking, and encouraging the retreating troops by -an effort destroyed the Welsh Prince Adalis, and drove his troops out -of the wood. The memorial of this flight was a cairn and tumulus on -Roo-ley. - -Athelstan and Anlaf were fighting in the centre for the possession -of (Bruns) Weston, neither making much progress, when the Chancellor -Turketul, with picked men, including the Worcester men under the -magnanimous Sinfin, made a flank attack at Mereclough, and breaking -through the defence of the Pict and Orkney men, got to the "Back o' -th' Hill." He penetrated to the Cumbrians and Scots, under Constantine, -King of the Grampians. The fight was all round Constantine's son, who -was unhorsed. The Chancellor was nearly lost, and the Prince released, -when Sinfin, with a mighty effort, terminated the fight by slaying the -Prince. - -On Round Hill, down to one hundred years ago, stood a cairn called High -Law. When the stones were made use of to mend the roads, a skeleton was -found underneath. That would, I believe, be a memorial of the fight. - -At "Back o' th' Hill," a blind road leads through what in an old map, -and in tradition is called "Battlefield," and the first memorial stone -is called "Battlestone." Another similar stone is further on. Following -the blind road through Hurstwood, the Chancellor would find himself at -Brown End, near Brown Edge. At the other end of the position, Eglis -having won the wood, would be in the neighbourhood of Hell Clough, -ready to charge at the same time as Turketul, on the rear of Anlaf's -army. - -[Illustration: Old Daneshouse] - -At this point of the battle, Athelstan, seeing this, made a successful -effort and pushed back the centre. Then began the carnage, the -memorials of which are still to be seen on Brown Edge, Hamilton -Pasture, Swindene, Twist Hill, Bonfire Hill, and even beyond. Those -who could get through the hills at Widdop would do so: others however -would take their "hoards" from the camps at Warcock Hill and other -places, and burying their "treasures" as they went along, pass in front -of Boulsworth, and over the moor through Trawden Forest, between Emmott -and Wycollar. - -If the Saxon description of the battle, in Turner's "History of the -Anglo-Saxons" be read and compared with the Ordnance maps before named, -the reader will see that there is no other place in England which -can show the same circumstantial evidence nor any place, having that -evidence, be other than the place sought for. - -Danes House, Burnley, is thus referred to by the late Mr. T. T. -Wilkinson, F.R.A.S.:--"Danes House is now a deserted mansion situated -about half-a-mile to the north of Burnley, on the Colne Road. It has -been conjectured there was a residence on the same site A.D. 937, when -Athelstan, King of the South Saxons, overthrew with great slaughter, -at the famous battle of Brunanburgh, Anlaf, the Dane, and Constantine, -King of the Scots. Tradition states that it was here that Anlaf rested -on his way to the battlefield from Dublin and the Isles, hence the name -Danes House. The present deserted mansion has undergone little change -since it was re-erected about the year 1500." This house has now been -pulled down. - - -THE DYKE OR DYKES, BROADCLOUGH, BACUP. - -This mighty entrenchment is over 600 yards in length and for over 400 -yards of the line is 18 yards broad at the bottom. No satisfactory -solution has yet been offered of the cause of this gigantic work or -of the use to which it was put originally. Speaking of it Newbigging -("History of Rossendale") says:-- - - "The careful investigations of Mr. Wilkinson have invested - this singular work with more of interest than had before been - associated with it, by his having with marked ability and - perseverance, collected together a mass of exhaustive evidence, - enforced by a chain of argument the most conclusive, with - regard to the much debated locality of the great struggle - between the Saxons and the Danes, which he endeavours, and - most successfully, to show is to be found in the immediate - neighbourhood of Burnley, and in connection with which the - earthwork in question constituted, probably, a not unimportant - adjunct." - -Again, he says:-- - - "If Saxonfield (Saxifield) near Burnley, was the scene of the - engagement between the troops of Athelstan and Anlaf, then it - is in the highest degree probable that one or other of the - rival armies, most likely that of the Saxon King, forced, or - attempted to force a passage through the valley of the Irwell - and that there they were encountered by the confederated hosts - intrenched behind the vast earthwork at Broadclough that - commanded the line of their march. Whether this was taken - in flank or rear by the Saxon warriors, or whether it was - successful in arresting their progress, or delaying a portion - of their army, it is impossible to determine; but that it - was constructed for weighty strategical purposes, under the - belief that its position was of the last importance, so much - of the remains of the extraordinary which still exists affords - sufficient evidence." - - - - -Place-Names - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -PLACE-NAMES. - - -An eloquent modern writer has declared, with a good reason, that even -if all other records had perished, "anyone with skill to analyse -the language, might re-create for himself the history of the people -speaking that language, and might come to appreciate the divers -elements out of which that people was composed, in what proportion they -were mingled, and in what succession they followed one upon the other." -From a careful analysis of the names of the more prominent features -of the land; of its divisions, its towns and villages, and even its -streets, as well as the nomenclature of its legal, civil, and political -institutions, its implements of agriculture, its weapons of war, and -its articles of food and clothing,--all these will yield a vast fund of -history. - -The place-name Liverpool has been the greatest puzzle to local -etymologists. From the earliest known spelling--recorded in a deed -of the time of Richard I. 1189-99, where the form is Leverpool--to -the present, it has gone through more changes than any other local -name. As the Norse element in the vicinity of Liverpool has been very -great, we may assume the original derivation to come from "hlith," -the old Norse for a "slope." The north dialect also contains the word -"lither" meaning sluggish. It is an adjective bearing the same meaning -as the modern English "lithe," pliant, or gentle. The names Lithgoe, -Lethbridge, Clitheroe, and Litherland may be derived from it. - -From the peaceful reign of Canute, or Knut, we derive the nautical -term, some place-names--Knuts-ford, Knott End, Knot Mill, Knottingley. -Knot, from old Norse "Knutr," and "Knotta," a ball, was the name given -to the measurement of speed of a ship. Fifty feet was the distance -allowed between the knots on the cord, and as many as ran out in half a -minute by the sand-glass indicated the speed of the ship. And thus we -speak of a 10 knot breeze blowing.[B] - -Hope, as a place-name, is common from the Orkneys to the Midlands, and -is derived from an old Norse word "hoop," for a small land-locked bay, -inlet or a small enclosed valley, or branch from the main dale. Hope is -a common place-name, as well as a surname. In compounds we find it in -Hopekirk, Hopeton, Hapton, Hopehead, Dryhope. - -From "Trow," a trough, we derive Trowbridge, Troughton, Trawden, and -probably Rawtenstall. - -The battle of Brunanburg, which took place in the year 937, is supposed -to have been fought on the site of the modern Burnley, on the river -Brun. King Olaf brought his men over in 600 ships, many containing -over 100 men each. He was defeated by Athelstane and his brother -Edmund. There was until recently pulled down in Burnley a house called -Danes-house. Though the Danes lost this battle, the northern bards -recorded its bravery in their war songs, of which their Sagas or -legends still preserve some remains. - -Among the chief followers of King Athelstane in 931, who subdued the -Danish kingdom in England, we find the names of the following Jarls: -Urm, Gudrum, Ingrard, Hadder, Haward, Healden, Rengwald, Scule, -and Gunner. It is not difficult to recognise modern surnames from -this list, such as Urmston, Guthrie, Hodder, Howard, Holden, Heald, -Reynolds, Scholes, and Gunning. - -"Northumbria was the literary centre of the Christian world in Western -Europe," says John Richard Green; and the learning of the age was -directed by the Northumbrian scholar Baeda, the venerable Bede. - - -YORKSHIRE. - -The population of Yorkshire, after the retreat of the Romans, was -composed of Angles. - -When the Vikings invaded the county, the wide dales only had been -occupied by these early settlers. The higher valleys were densely -wooded, the broad moors and mosslands had not been penetrated until the -coming of the Norse in 900 A.D. - -Some Anglian districts were refounded under Danish names, and became -flourishing settlements. Canon Atkinson has shown by his analysis of -Cleveland, that at Domesday, very little of that district was under -cultivation. To the end of the eleventh century it consisted of moor -and forest, and that many of the villages had then Danish names. The -name Ingleby shows the passing of the Angles, by the addition of the -Danish 'by.' - -At Domesday Yorkshire was divided into Ridings (thrithings), and -Wapentakes. - -Such names as Thingwall near Whitby, Thinghow near Gainsborough, -Thinghow near Northallerton, and Tingley near Wakefield, though some -of the sites have disappeared, remain to show the centres of Danish -government. The presence of many Scandinavian places and names suggests -that the country before then was a wilderness. The condition of the -country may be gathered from the records and traditions of Reginald -and Symeon of Durham. In 875 Halfdan the Dane began his raid into -Bernicia, and the Abbot of Lindisfarne, Eardwulf fled before him, -taking the relics of St. Cuthbert. These wanderings, says Symeon, -covered a period of nine years. The leader of this band was Eadred, the -Abbot of Carlisle (Caer-Luel), whose monastery had been destroyed, and -with the city, lay in ruins for two hundred years. At the places where -these relics rested during their wanderings, Churches were afterwards -erected, and dedicated to this Saint. The direction taken by the -fugitives has been traced by Monsignor Eyre and the late Rev. T. Lees, -first inland to Elsdon, then by the Reed and Tyne to Haydon Bridge, -and up the Tyne valley; south by the Maiden way, and then through the -fells by Lorton and Embleton to the Cumberland coast. At Derwentmouth, -Workington, they determined to embark for Ireland, but were driven back -by a storm and thrown ashore on the coast of Galloway, where they found -a refuge at Whithorn. - -Mr. W. G. Collingwood says in his "Scandinavian Britain," that in this -storm the MS. Gospels of Bishop Eadfirth (now in the British Museum) -were washed overboard, but recovered. At Whithorn the bishop heard of -Halfdan's death, and turned homewards by way of Kirkcudbright. - -The fact that the relics of St. Cuthbert found refuge in Cumberland and -Galloway shows that the Danish invasion, from which they were saved, -took very little hold of these parts. The Vikings of the Irish Sea were -already under the influence of Christians, if not christianised, and -were not hostile to the fugitive monks, while the natives welcomed them. - -The early historians relate the curious story of the election of -Guthred, Halfdan's successor. Eadred, Abbot of Carlisle, who was with -St. Cuthbert's relics at Craik, in central Yorkshire, on the way home, -dreamt that St. Cuthbert told him to go to the Danish army on the -Tyne, and to ransom from slavery, a boy named Guthred, son of Hardecnut -(John of Wallingford says, "the sons of Hardecnut had sold him into -slavery"), and to present him to the army as their king. He was also -to ask the army to give him the land between the Tyne and the Wear, as -a gift to St. Cuthbert and a sanctuary for criminals. Confident in his -mission, he carried out its directions; found the boy, ransomed him, -gained the army's consent, and the gift of the land, and proclaimed -Guthred King at "Oswigedune." Eardwulf then brought to the same place -the relics of St. Cuthbert, on which every one swore good faith. The -relics remained until 999 at Chester-le-Street, and there Eardwulf -re-established the bishopric. - -In these records of the Saxon historian Symeon, we have the curious -illustration of the Viking raiders becoming rapidly transformed from -enemies into allies and rulers chosen from among them. The history -of Guthred's reign was peaceful, and he became a Christian King. His -election took place about the year 880. During the reign of Guthred, -his kingdom became christianised, the sees of Lindisfarne and York -survived the changes. Guthred died in 894 and was buried in the high -church at York. - -In 919 Ragnvald, called by Symeon "Inguald," became King of York. He -was one of the most romantic figures of the whole Viking history. His -name bore many forms of spelling: Ragnvald, Reignold, Ronald, Ranald, -and Reginald. - -Coming from the family of Ivar in Ireland, Ragnvald mac Bicloch ravaged -Scotland in 912, fought and killed Bard Ottarsson in 914 off the Isle -of Man. Joined his brother at Waterford in 915 and set out for his -adventure in North Britain. Landing in Cumberland, he passed along -the Roman wall, and becoming King of York, was the first of the Irish -Vikings who ruled until 954. - -The attacks of Vikings who were still Pagans continued, and many -curious lights are shed by the chronicles of Pictish writers. The -power of St. Cuthbert over the lands given for a sanctuary to Eadred -the Abbot, is recorded in the legend of Olaf Ball (from 'ballr,' the -stubborn), a Pagan who refused rent and service to St. Cuthbert, -for lands granted to him by Ragnvald, between Castle Eden and the -Wear. This Pagan came one day to the Church of St. Cuthbert at -Chester-le-Street. He shouted to Bishop Cutheard and his congregation, -"What can your dead man, Cuthbert, do to me? What is the use of -threatening me with his anger? I swear by my strong gods, Thor and -Uthan, that I will be the enemy of you all from this time forth." Then, -when he tried to leave the Church, he could not lift his foot over the -threshold, but fell down dead. "And St. Cuthbert, as was just, thus got -his lands." - -The succession of races which gave many of our place-names, and the -order in which they came, has been pointed out in the following names -by the late Canon Hume, of Liverpool: Maeshir, now called Mackerfield, -was called Maeshir by the Britons, meaning longfield; to which the -Saxons added field, which now becomes Longfield-field, Wansbeckwater -is Danish, Saxon, and English, three words meaning water. Then we have -Torpenhowhill, a hill in Cumberland, composed of four words, each -meaning hill. - -In addition to maritime terms, and terms of government, we derive from -Danish sources titles of honour and dignity, such as king, queen, earl, -knight, and sheriff. - -The Danes have left us traces of their occupation in the word gate, -which is of frequent occurrence, and used instead of street in many of -our older towns. The Saxons, who were less civilised, left many terms, -such as ton, ham, stead, and stock. But they had no word to denote a -line of houses. "Gata" was therefore not the English word used for -gate, but a street of houses. From the Norman we have row, from rue, a -street. - -The names of many of our streets and buildings are full of historical -associations and information. In Bolton, Wigan, and Preston we find -some streets bearing the name of gate, such as Bradshawgate, Wallgate, -Standishgate, and Fishergate. In the towns of York, Ripon, Newcastle, -and Carlisle many more of these gates are to be found. York has no -less than twenty gates. - -To the roads of the Romans, the Danes gave the name of "a braut," -_i.e._, the broken course, or cleared way. (From this "a braut" -comes the modern English word abroad, and the adjective broad.) The -Anglo-Saxon took the name of street from the Roman strata. Thus we get -the name of Broad Street, being two words of similar meaning. - -Lone, lonely, and alone come from "i laun," which means banishment, and -those thus outlawed formed the brigands of the hill districts. We thus -get Lunesdale, Lune, and Lancaster, from which John of Gaunt took his -English title. - -Skipper was the Danish term for the master of a small vessel. In the -game of bowls and curling the skipper is the leader or director. - -"Hay," the Norse for headland, pronounced hoy, furnishes us with -several local place-names, such as Huyton, Hoylake, Howick. - - -A NORSE FESTIVAL. - -Trafalgar Day is celebrated by the usual custom on October 21st--by -the hoisting of the British flag on the public buildings and by the -decoration of the Nelson Monuments in Liverpool and London. This -battle was fought in 1805, and decided the supremacy of Britain as a -sea power. Long may the deathless signal of our greatest hero continue -to be the lode star of the man and the nation: "England expects that -every man will do his duty." - -Let us trace the connection between Lord Nelson and the Danes in our -own county. Admiral Nelson bore a genuine Scandinavian name, from -"Nielsen," and was a native of one of the districts which were early -colonised by the Danes, namely, Burnhamthorpe, in Norfolk. His family -were connected with the village of Mawdesley, near Rufford, which still -has for its chief industry basket-making. Fairhurst Hall, at Parbold, -in the same district of Lancashire, was the home of a Nelson family for -many centuries. - -This recalls the fact that we have still in existence a curious -survival. "A strange festival" is celebrated each year on January 31st -at Lerwick, or Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkney Isles. The festival -called "Up-helly-a" seems to be growing in favour. Lerwick becomes -the Mecca of the North for many days, and young people travel long -distances to witness the revels that go to make up the celebration of -the ancient festival. All former occasions were eclipsed by the last -display. At half-past eight o'clock a crowd of about 3,000 people -assembled in the square at the Market Cross. In the centre stood a -Norse war galley or Viking ship, with its huge dragon head towering -upwards with graceful bend. Along the bulwarks were hung the warriors' -shields in glowing colours, the Norse flag, with the raven, floating -overhead. On board the galley fiddlers were seated. Then a light -flared below Fort Charlotte, which announced that the good ship Victory -would soon be on the scene. And a stately ship she was, as she came -majestically along, hauled by a squad in sailor costume, while a troop -of instructors from the Fort walked alongside as a guard of honour to -the good vessel. The Victory immediately took up her position, and the -guizers began to gather. Torches were served out, the bugle sounded -the call to light up, and then the procession started on its way round -the town. The guizers who took part numbered over three hundred, and -seen under the glare of the torches the procession was one of the -prettiest. The Norse galley led the way, and the Victory occupied a -place near the centre of the procession. The dresses were very tasteful -and represented every age and clime. There were gay Cavaliers, Red -Indians, Knight Templars, and squires of the Georgian period. The -procession being over, the Victory and the Norse galley were drawn -up alongside each other, near the market cross, while the guizers -formed a circle round them. Toasts were proposed, songs were sung, -and thereafter the proceedings were brought to a close by the guizers -throwing their flaming torches on board the ships. As soon as the -bonfire was thoroughly ablaze, the guizers formed themselves in their -various squads, each headed by a fiddler, and began their house to -house visitation. The guizer was costumed as an old Norse jarl, with -a sparkling coat of mail, and carried a prettily emblazoned shield -and sword. The squad of which he was chief were got up as Vikings. -Curiously enough, these were followed by Dutch vrows. - -The Orkneys and Shetland Isles were ceded to James III. of Scotland, -as the dowry of his wife, Margaret, in 1469, and became part of Great -Britain on the union of Scotland with England. James I. married Ann -of Denmark, and passed through Lancashire in August, 1617, when he -visited Hoghton Tower. The effusiveness of the Prestonians was outdone -at Hoghton Tower, where His Majesty received a private address in which -he was apostrophised as "Dread Lord." He is reported to have exclaimed -"Cot's splutters! What a set of liegemen Jamie has!" - - - - -Patronymics - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -PATRONYMICS. - - -We are sprung from the sea; a county of seaports is our dwelling-place, -and the sea itself our ample dominion, covered throughout its vast -extent with our fellow subjects in their "floating cities." These are -filled with our wealth, which we commit to the winds and waves to -distribute to the extremities of the four quarters of the world. We are -therefore no common people, nor are they common events which form eras -in our history; nor common revolutions which have combined and modified -the elements of our speech. - -Though we have kept no genealogies to record to us from what particular -horde of settlers we are sprung--no family chronicles to tell us -whether Saxon, Dane, Norse, or Norman owns us as progeny--still our -names serve partly to distinguish us, and "words" themselves thus still -remind us of what otherwise would be totally forgotten. It has been -claimed that two-thirds of us are sprung from the Anglo-Saxons and -Danes, and had our language kept pace with our blood we should have had -about two-thirds of our modern English of the same origin. But we have -more. Our tongue is, hence, less mixed than our blood. It is therefore -easier to trace out the histories of words than of families. - -It is difficult at first sight to determine whether family names have -been derived from family residences or the residences have obtained -their names from their first proprietors. The Romans imposed their -military names upon the towns of the early Britons. The Danes added -their own descrip-names, and previous to becoming converted to -Christianity gave the names of their heathen deities to the mountains -and landmarks. To these were added the names of Norse and Danish -kings and jarls. After the Norman Conquest, when the land had been -divided by William the Conqueror among his followers, comes the period -when surnames were taken from the chief lands and residences. Pagan -deities supply us with many surnames. From "Balder" comes Balderstone, -Osbaldistone. "Thor" gives us Tursdale, Turton, Thursby, Thorley, -Thurston, and Thurstaston, in the Wirral, near West Kirby. "Frëyer" -supplies Frisby, Frankby, Fry, Fryer, Fraisthorpe, and Fraser. "Uller" -or "Oller" gives Elswick, Ullersthorpe, Elston, Ulverston. From "Vé," -a sacred place, like "Viborg," the old Jutland assize town, we derive -Wydale, Wigthorpe, Wythorpe, Willoughby, Wilbeforce, Wigton, and -Wyre. Some of our earliest Lancashire names are derived from "Gorm," -"Billingr," "Rollo," who were Norse and Danish kings. Their names -and their compounds show us that the Danes were Christianised, as -"Ormskirk," which provides very many surnames, such as Orme, Oram, -Ormsby, Ormerod, Ormeshaw; and another form of Gorm, "Grim" as Grimshaw -and Grimsargh. Formby and Hornby may also be traced to this origin. -From "Billingr" we get Billinge, the village near Wigan, standing on -a high hill and having a beacon, Billington and other names of this -construction. From "Rollo" we derive Roby, Raby, Rollo, Rollinson, -Ribby. From "Arving," an heir, we get Irving, Irvin, and Irton. From -"Oter" we have Otter, Ottley, Uttley. The Danes sailed up the river -Douglas, and gave the name Tarleton, from "Jarlstown." Many Christian -names come from the Danish--Eric, Elsie, Karl, Harold, Hugo, Magnus, -Olave, Ralph, Ronald, Reginald. Surnames formed by the addition of -"son" or "sen" are common to both Danes and English, but never appear -in Saxon names. Thus we have Anderson, Adamson, Howson, Haldan, -Matheson, Nelson, Jackson, Johnson, Thomson, and Stevenson. - -The different names we find given to the same trees arise from -different settlers giving and using their own form of name: "Birch," -"Bracken," "Crabtree," and "Cawthorn." "Wil-ding" is also known in -Westmorland and Yorkshire. "Whasset," which gives its name to a small -hamlet near Beetham, in Westmorland, is Danish; "Wil-ding" is probably -Flemish, and also Wild, Wilde, as this name dates from about the year -A.D. 1338, when Edward III. encouraged numbers of Flemings to come -over from the Netherlands to introduce and improve the manufacture of -woollens. He located them in different parts of the country, and we -find them settled in Kendal and in the vicinity of Bury and Rochdale. -This will account for this surname being so frequently found in -Lancashire. - -From Copenhagen "the harbour of merchants," we derive many important -place-names and surnames. A Copeman was a Chapman, a merchant or -dealer; and thus we derive Cheap, Cheapside, Chepstow, and Chipping. -In surnames we get Copeland, Copley, Copethorne, and Capenhurst. The -common expression "to chop or change," comes from this source. In the -London Lyckpeny of 1430 we find: "Flemings began on me for to cry -'Master, what will you copen or buy.'" In 1579, Calvin in a sermon -said: "They play the copemaisters, and make merchandise of the doctrine -of this Gospel." These early copmen remind us of the Lancashire -merchant who had visited the States after the American Civil War. He -said to the late John Bright: "How I should like to return here, fifty -years after my death, to see what wonderful progress these people have -made." John Bright replied: "I have no doubt, sir, you will be glad of -any excuse to come back." - -To the abundance of surnames derived from Danish origin the following -are important:--Lund, Lindsey, Lyster, Galt or Geld, and Kell. Lund was -a grove where pagan rites were conducted. Lindsey is a grove by the -sea. Lyster is Danish for a fishing fork composed of barbed iron spikes -on a pole for spearing fish. Galt or Geld, an offering of the expiatory -barrow pig to the god "Frëyer." From Kell, in Danish a "spring," we get -Kellet and Okell. - -Surnames of a distinct Danish character, and customs derived from -Viking days are to be met with in our local Fairs and Wakes. Writing -on this subject, the Rev. W. T. Bulpit of Southport says that, "Robert -de Cowdray, who died in 1222, was an enterprising Lord of Manor of -Meols, and obtained a Charter from the King, with whom he was a -_Persona-Grata_, for a weekly Wednesday market, and a yearly Fair, -to be held on the Eve and Day of St Cuthbert, to whom the church is -dedicated. - -The Charter probably did but legalise what already existed; Cowdray -was a man of the world, and knew that it would be an advantage to his -estate to have a fair. - -Soon after his death the Charter lapsed. Enemies said it interfered -with pre-existing fairs. - -Though legally it had no existence the fair continued for centuries -in connection with St. Cuthbert's wake in March. It was also the end -of the civil year, when payments had to be made, and thus farm stock -was sold. This caused the market and wake to be useful adjuncts, and a -preparation for welcoming the New Year on March 25th, St. Cuthbert's -Day, the anniversary of his death was held on March 23rd, and a Viking -custom demanded a feast. The old name of the death feast was called -Darval, and the name was transferred to the cakes eaten at the wake, -and they were called Darvel Cakes.[C] - -Long after the event commemorated was forgotten Darvel Cakes were -supplied in Lent to guests at Churchtown wakes. - -Connected with these fairs there was a ceremony of electing officials, -and at these social gatherings of all the local celebrities a Mayor -was elected who generally distinguished himself by being hospitable. -Similar ceremonies still exist, where charters no longer survive, at -such places as Poulton near Blackpool, and Norden near Rochdale. - -Traces of the Norman are found in Dunham Massey and Darcy Lever and a -few others, but along the whole of the east and north of the county the -Saxon and Danish landholder seems to have held in peace the ancestral -manor house in which he had dwelt before the Conquest, and the haughty -insolence of the Norman was comparatively unknown. Speke, the oldest -manor house in South Lancashire, near Liverpool, is derived from -"Spika," Norse for mast, which was used for fattening swine. "Parr" -is a wooded hill, and this word enters into many compound names. -"Bold," near St. Helens, signifies a stone house, and is the surname -of one of the oldest Lancashire families. The Norse "Brecka," a gentle -declivity, is much in evidence in West Lancashire, as in Norbreck, -Warbrick, Swarbrick, Torbrick, Killbrick in the Fylde district, and -also Scarisbrick, in the vicinity of Ormskirk. This name used to be -spelt Scaursbreck, and is a compound of "Scaur," a bird of the seagull -type, and "breck" from the natural formation of the land. Birkdale, -Ainsdale, Skelmersdale, Kirkdale, Ansdell, Kirby, Kirkby, Crosby, are -all place-names of Danish origin which provide many surnames in the -county. Where Danish names abound the dialect still partakes of a -Danish character. - - -ENGLISH SURNAMES. - -A great majority are derived from trades and callings. Some may be -traced from ancient words which have dropped out. "Chaucer"[D] and -"Sutor" are now meaningless, but long ago both signified a shoemaker. -A "pilcher" formerly made greatcoats; a "Reader," thatched buildings -with reeds or straw; a "Latimer" was a writer in Latin for legal and -such like purposes. An "Arkwright" was the maker of the great meal -chests or "arks," which were formerly essential pieces of household -furniture; "Tucker" was a fuller; "Lorimer" was a sadler; "Launder" -or "Lavender," a washerman; "Tupper" made tubs; "Jenner" was a joiner; -"Barker" a tanner; "Dexter," a charwoman; "Bannister" kept a bath; -"Sanger" is a corruption of singer or minstrel; "Bowcher," a butcher; -"Milner" a miller; "Forster," a forester; a "Chapman" was a merchant. -The ancestors of the Colemans and Woodyers sold those commodities -in former generations; "Wagners" were waggoners; and "Naylors" made -nails. A "Kemp" was once a term for a soldier; a "Vavasour" held rank -between a knight and a baron. Certain old-fashioned Christian names -or quaint corruptions of them have given rise to patronymics which -at first sight appear hard to interpret. Everyone is not aware that -Austin is identical with Augustin; and the name Anstice is but the -shortening of Anastasius. Ellis was originally derived from Elias. Hood -in like manner is but a modern corruption of the ancient Odo, or Odin. -Everett is not far removed from the once not uncommon Christian name -Everard, while even Stiggins can be safely referred to the northern -hero "Stigand." The termination "ing," signified son or "offspring." -Thus Browning and Whiting in this way would mean the dark or fair -children. A number of ancient words for rural objects have long ago -become obsolete. "Cowdray" in olden days signified a grove of hazel; -"Garnett," a granary. The suffix "Bec" in Ashbec and Holmbec is a -survival of the Danish "by," a habitation. "Dean" signifies a hollow -or dell, and the word "bottom" meant the same thing. Thus Higginbottom -meant a dell where the "hicken" or mountain ash flourished. "Beckett" -is a little brook, from the Norse "beck." "Boys" is a corruption of -"bois," the French for wood. "Donne" means a down; "Holt," a grove, -and "Hurst," a copse. "Brock" was the old term for a badger, hence -Broxbourne; while "Gos" in Gosford signified a goose. - - -ON DIALECT IN LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE. - -The district of England which during the Heptarchy was, and since has -been known by the name of Northumbria, which consists of the territory -lying to the north of the rivers Humber (whence the name North-humbria) -and Mersey, which form the southern boundaries, and extending north -as far as the rivers Tweed and Forth, is generally known to vary -considerably in the speech of its inhabitants from the rest of -England. Considering the great extent and importance of this district, -comprising as it does more than one-fourth of the area and population -of England, it seems surprising that the attention of philologists -should not have been more drawn to the fact of this difference and -its causes. From an essay on some of the leading characteristics of -the dialects spoken in the six northern counties of England (ancient -Northumbria) by the late Robert Backhouse Peacock, edited by the Rev. -T. C. Atkinson, 1869, we learn that, when addressing themselves to -the subject of dialect, investigators have essayed to examine it -through the medium of its written rather than its spoken language. -The characteristics to be found in the language now spoken have been -preserved in a degree of purity which does not appertain to the English -of the present day. It is therefore from the dialect rather than from -any literary monuments that we must obtain the evidence necessary for -ascertaining the extent to which this Northumbrian differs from English -in its grammatical forms,--not to speak of its general vocabulary. - -The most remarkable characteristic is the definite article, or the -demonstrative pronoun--"t," which is an abbreviation of the old Norse -neuter demonstrative pronoun "hit"--Swedish and Danish "et." That this -abbreviation is not simply an elision of the letters "he" from the -English article "_the_," which is of old Frisian origin, is apparent -from the fact that all the versions of the second chapter, verse 1, for -instance, of Solomon's Song, "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of -the valleys," the uniform abbreviation for all parts of England is the -elision of the final letter "e," making _the_ into "th"; on the other -hand, out of fourteen specimens of the same verse in Northumbria, eight -give the "t" occurring three times in the verse, thus, "I's t' rooaz o' -Sharon, an' t' lily o' t' valleys." - -The districts where the Scandinavian article so abbreviated prevails -are found in the versions to be the county of Durham, Central and South -Cumberland, Westmorland; all Lancashire, except the South-eastern -district, and all Yorkshire; an area which comprehends on the map about -three-fourths of all Northumbria. - -The next leading feature is the proposition--i, which is used for in. -This is also a pure Scandinavianism, being not only old Norse, but used -in Icelandic, Swedish and Danish of the present day. Two instances -occur in the 14th verse of the same chapter, where for "O my dove, thou -art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, -etc.," we have idiomatic version: "O my cushat, 'at 's i' t' grikes o' -t' crags, i' t' darkin' whols o' t' stairs." - -Another word which occurs in six of the Northumbrian versions is -also Scandinavian, viz., the relative pronoun _at_ for _that_. From -this illustration of a short verse and a half of Scripture, we have -established the Norse character of the dialect as distinguished from -common English, of five of the most ordinary words in the English -language, namely, the representatives of the words _the_, _in_, _that_, -_art_ and _am_. These instances from the Etymology of the Dialects -help to establish the following canon: That when a provincial word is -common to more than one dialect district (that is, districts where in -other respects the dialects differ from each other), it may, as a rule, -be relied upon, that the word is not a corruption but a legitimate -inheritance. Those referred to, we have seen, are the inheritance of a -whole province, that province being formerly an entire kingdom. - -Proceeding in the usual order of grammars, having disposed of the -article, we come next to the _substantives_. These differ from the -ordinary English in that they recognise only one "case" where English -has two. The Northumbrian dialect dispenses with the possessive or -genitive case almost entirely, and for "my father's hat," or "my -uncle's wife's mother's house," say, "my faddher hat," and "my uncle -wife muddher house." Upon which, all that need be remarked is that they -have gone further in simplifying this part of speech than the rest of -their countrymen, who have only abolished the dative and accusative -cases from the parent languages of their speech. Extreme brevity and -simplicity are eminently Norse and Northumbrian characteristics. -We have already seen some remarkable instances in the versions of -Solomon's Song, where we saw that the first three words, "I am the," -are expressed in as many letters, namely, "I's t'"; and again in verse -14, "thou art in the," by "at 's i t'." We have here another instance -in the abolition of the genitive case-ending, out of many more that -might be added. - -In pronouncing the days of the week we find: Sunnda for Sunday, Thorsda -for Thursday, and Setterda for Saturday, always with the short da. The -remaining days as in ordinary English. - -In pronouns we find "wer" for "our," in the possessive case, from old -Norse vârr. - - Relative--_At_ for who, which, that. - - Demonstrative--T' The. - That theyar--that one. - Thoer--these or those. - - Indefinites--Summat=something, somewhat. From old Norse sum-hvat, - somewhat. - -The two following are common at Preston and adjacent districts: - - Sooawhaasse=whosoever. - Sooawheddersa=whethersoever. - -Correlative adjectival pronoun: - - Sa mich=so much. - Swedish, Sâ mycket. - -Adverbs from Scandinavian: - - Backerds--backwards. - Connily--prettily, nicely. - eigh--yes; forrùt, forrud--forwards; - helder--preferably; i mornin--to-morrow; - i now--presently; lang sen--long since; - lowsley--loosely; neddher--lower nether; - neya--no; noo--now; - reetly--rightly; sa--so; sen--since; - Shamfully--Shamefully. - Shaply--shapely; sooa--so. - tull--to; weel--well; whaar--where. - -_Interjections._ - - Ech!--exclamation of delight. - - Hoity-toity!--what's the matter: from old Norse "hutututu." - - Woe-werth!--woe betide. - - -AN ILLUSTRATION. - -A good illustration of Danish terms may be gathered from the following -conversation heard by a minister in this county between a poor man -on his death-bed and a farmer's wife, who had come to visit him: -"Well, John," she said, "when yo' getten theer yo'll may happen see -eaur Tummus; and yo'll tell 'im we'n had th' shandry mended, un a new -pig-stoye built, un 'at we dun pretty well beawt him." "Beli' me, -Meary!" he answered, "dost think at aw's nowt for t' do bo go clumpin' -up un deawn t' skoies a seechin' yo're Tummus!" The word "mun" also is -in frequent use, and comes from the Danish verb "monne;" the Danish -"swiga," to drink in, as "to tak a good swig," and "Heaw he swigged -at it!" Many Danish words become purely English, as foul, fowl; kow, -cow; fued, food; stued, stood; drown, drown; "forenoun" and "atternoun" -became "forenoon" and "afternoon;" stalker, stalker; kok, cock; want, -to want. - -In popular superstition the races had much in common. The Danish river -sprite "Nok," imagined by some to be "Nick," or "Owd Nick," the devil; -but properly "Nix," a "brownie." He wore a red cap and teased the -peasants who tried to "flit" (Danish "flytter") in order to escape him. - -Though we have "Gretan," to weep, it also means to salute or bid -farewell, from the Danish "grata." "Give o'er greeting," we hear it -said to a crying child. While "greeting" is a popular word of Danish -origin, so is "Yuletide" for Christmas, and "Yule Candles," "Yule -Cakes," "Yule Log." The word "Tandle" means fire or light, and is given -to a hill near Oldham. From this we derive our "Candle." "Lake," to -play, is still used in our district, but never heard where Danish words -are not prevalent. In the Danish, "Slat" means to slop, and it is said, -"He slat the water up and down." A very common participle in Lancashire -is "beawn." The Danish "buinn" is "prepared," or "addressed to," or -"bound for," as "Weere ar't beawn furt' goo?" In Danish and Lancashire -"ling" means heath; but it does not occur in Anglo-Saxon. From the -Danish "Snig," to creep, we get "snig," eels. - -Locally we also have the name "Rossendale," which covers a large extent -of our county. May we not suppose this to be from "rost," a torrent or -whirlpool, and "dale," the Danish for valley? - -The names of places beginning or ending with "Garth," or "Gaard," shows -that the people were settling in "Gaarde" or farms belonging to the -chief, earl, or Udaller. With the Danish "Steen," for stone, we have -Garston, Garstang, Garton, as well as Garswood and garden. - -The Danish having no such sound or dipthong as our "th," must account -for the relic of the pronunciation "at" for "that," which is much used -in our local dialect, as "It's toime at he were here,"--"at" being the -Danish conjunction for "that." The word we use for sprinkling water, to -"deg," does not come from the Anglo-Saxon "deagan," which means to dye -or tinge with colour, but from "deog" or "deigr." Shakespeare uses the -word in the "Tempest," where Prospero says: "When I have deck'd the sea -with drops full salt." From "Klumbr," a mass or clod, we get "clump," -as clump of wood, and "clumpin' clogs." Stowe says, "He brought his -wooden shoes or clumpers with him." - - - - -Physical Types Still Existing - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -PHYSICAL TYPES STILL EXISTING. - - -As early as the eleventh century the names of English towns and -villages are written in the Domesday Book with the Danish ending "by" -or "bi," and not with the Norwegian form of "böer" or "bö." This -preponderance of Danish endings proves the widely extended influence -of the Danes in the North. That they should have been preserved -in such numbers for more than eight centuries after the fall of -the Danish dominion in England, disproves the opinion that the old -Danish inhabitants of the country were supplanted or expelled after -the cessation of the Danish rule (1042), first by the Anglo-Saxons, -and afterwards by the Normans. Mr. Wörsæ says: "The Danes must have -continued to reside in great numbers in these districts, previously -conquered by them, and consequently it follows that a considerable -part of the present population may with certainty trace their origin -to the Northmen, and especially to the Danes. The general appearance -of the inhabitants is a weighty corroboration of the assertions of -history. The black hair, dark eye, the prominent nose, and the long -oval face to be found in the Southerners remind us of the relationship -with the Romans, or a strong mixture of the British Anglo-Saxon and -Norman races. The difference in physiognomy and stature of the Northern -races are also easily be recognised. The form of face is broader, the -cheekbones stand out prominently, the nose is flatter, and at times -turned somewhat upwards. The eyes and hair are of a lighter colour, and -even deep red hair is far from uncommon. The people are not very tall -in stature, but usually more compact and strongly built than those of -the South." - -[Illustration: Example of Ancient Danish Loom; from the Färoes, now in -Bergen Museum.] - -The still existing popular dialect is an excellent proof that the -resemblance of the inhabitants is not confined to an accidental or -personal likeness. Many words and phrases are preserved in the local -dialect which are neither found nor understood in other parts of the -country. These terms are not only given to waterfalls, mountains, -rivulets, fords, and islands, but are also in common use in daily life. -The housewife has her spool and spinning wheel from "spole"; her reel -and yarn-winder from "rock" and "granwindle"; her baking-board from -"bagebord." She is about to knead dough, from "deig"; and in order -to make oaten bread, or thin cakes beaten out by the hand, we have -clap-bread or clap-cake, form "klapperbröd" and "klapper-kake." She -spreads the tablecloth, "bordclaith," for dinner, "onden"; while the -fire smokes, "reeks," as it makes its way through the thatch, "thack," -where in olden times the loft, "loft," was the upper room or bower, -"buir." Out in the yard or "gaard," is the barn, "lade," where is -stored the corn in "threaves." In the river are troughs, "trows," used -to cross over. These were two small boats, cut out of the trunks of -trees, and held together by a crosspole. By placing a foot in each -trough the shepherd rowed himself across with the help of an oar. He -goes up the valley, "updaal," to clip, "klippe," the sheep. It is said -that Canute the Great crossed over the river Severn in this manner, -when he concluded an agreement with Edmund Ironsides to divide England -between them. Blether, from "Bladdra," is also a common expression, -meaning to "blubber or cry," to gabble or talk without purpose. Another -form of the word is "bleat," as applied to sheep. - -Other words now in use from the Norse are "twinter," a two-year-old -sheep, and "trinter," a three-year-old. A "gimmer lamb" is a female -lamb. The lug-mark, _i.e._, a bit cut out of a sheep's ear that it may -be recognised by the owner, is from lögg mark." Lög is law, and thus -it is the legal mark. The "smit" or smear of colour, generally red, -by which the sheep are marked occurs in the Bible of Ulphilas in the -same sense as smear. Another proof may be found on the carving in the -knitting sticks made and used by the Northern peasantry of the present -day. The patterns are decidedly Scandinavian. - -Of the people of this district, it may be said that in their physical -attributes they are the finest race in the British dominions. Their -Scandinavian descent, their constant exposure to a highly oxygenised -atmosphere, their hereditary passion for athletic sports and exercises, -their happy temperament, their exemption from privation, and many -other causes, have contributed to develop and maintain their physical -pre-eminence, and to enable them to enjoy as pastime an amount of -exposure and fatigue that few but they would willingly encounter. -Thomas de Quincey, who lived thirty years among them, observed them -very closely, and knew them, well, after remarking that "it is the -lower classes that in every nation form the 'fundus' in which lies -the national face, as well as the national character," says: "Each -exists here in racy purity and integrity, not disturbed by alien -inter-marriages, nor in the other by novelties of opinion, or other -casual effects derived from education and reading." The same author -says: "There you saw old men whose heads would have been studies for -Guido; there you saw the most colossal and stately figures among the -young men that England has to show; there the most beautiful young -women. There it was that sometimes I saw a lovelier face than ever I -shall see again." The eloquent opium-eater gave the strongest possible -proof that his admiration was real by taking one of these "beautiful -young women" to wife. - -The men of our northern dales do not pay much respect to anyone who -addresses them in language they are not accustomed to, nor do they -make much allowance for ignorance of their own dialect. In a northern -village we once stopped to speak to an old lady at her door, and -began by remarking that the river was much swollen. "We call it a -beck," said the old lady, turning her back upon us, and telling her -granddaughter to bring out the scrapple. "Whatever may a scrapple be?" -we asked, deferentially. "Why, that's what a scrapple may be," she -said, indicating a coal-rake in the girl's hand. As we moved away, -we overheard her say to a neighbour, "I don't know where he has been -brought up. He calls th' beck a river, and doesn't know what a scrapple -is!" They have a very quick sense of humour, and often practice a -little mystification on inquisitive strangers. To a tourist who made -the somewhat stupid inquiry, "Does it ever rain here?" the countrymen -replied: "Why it donks, and it dozzles, and sometimes gives a bit of a -snifter, but it ne'er comes in any girt pell," leaving the querist's -stock of information very much as he found it. - -The first invasion of the Danes took place in the year 787, and to -Scotland they gave the name of "Sutherland," and the Hebrides were the -southern islands, or "Sudreygar," a name which survives in the title of -the Bishop of Sodor and Man. - -The Forest of Rossendale contains eleven "vaccaries," or cow-pastures -(we are told by Mr. H. C. March, M.D.), which were called "booths," -from the huts of the shepherds and cowherds. From this we trace -Cowpebooth, Bacopbooth, and Crawshawbooth. Booth is derived from the -old Norse "bûd," a dwelling, while from "byr" and "boer" we get the -surnames Byrom, Burton, Buerton, Bamber, Thornber. "Forseti" was the -judge of one of the Norse deities, and the word supplies us with -Fawcett, Facit, or Facid as it was spelt in 1781, and Foster. Unal -was a Danish chief, whose name survives as a surname Neal, Niel, and -O'Neil. From the old Norse "yarborg," an earthwork, we get Yarborough, -Yerburgh, Sedburg, and Sedberg. Boundaries have always been matters of -great importance, and "twistle" is a boundary betwixt farms. Endrod -was King of Norway in 784, and his name furnishes Endr, whose boundary -becomes Entwistle, and also Enderby. Rochdale is derived from "rockr," -old Norse for rock, and dale from the Norse "daal," a wide valley; -thus the Norsename Rochdale supplanted Celtic-Saxon name of "Rachdam." -"Gamul," meaning old, was a common personal name among Norsemen. In a -grant of land dated 1051, fifteen years before the Conquest, appears -the name of Gouse Gamelson, which is a distinct Norse patronymic. -Gambleside was one of the vaccaries or cow-pastures of Rossendale -Forest, and was spelt Gambulside. In Anglo-Saxon and Teutonic dialects -"ing" is a patronymic, as in Bruning, son of Brun, says Mr. Robert -Ferguson, M.P., in his "Surnames as a Science." But it has also a wider -sense. Thus, in Leamington it signifies the people of the Leam, on -which river the place is situated. From a like origin comes the name -of the Scandinavian Vikings, Vik-ing; the people from Vik, a bay. Sir -J. Picton, in his "Ethnology of Wiltshire," says: "When the Saxons -first invaded England they came in tribes, and families headed by their -patriarchal leaders. Each tribe was called by its leader's name, with -the termination 'ing,' signifying family. Where they settled they gave -their patriarchal name to the mark, or central point round which they -clustered." - -Considering the great number of these names, amounting to over a -thousand in England, and the manner in which they are dispersed, it -is impossible to consider them as anything else than the everyday -names of men. This large number will serve to give an idea of the very -great extent to which place-names are formed from the names of men -who founded the settlements. It must be remembered that the earlier -date now generally assigned for the Teutonic settlements tends to give -greater latitude to the inquiry as to the races by whom the settlements -were made, as well as the fact that all our settlements were made in -heathen times. From the neighbouring tribe of Picts we retain one form -"pecthun," from which we derive the surnames of Picton, Peyton, and -Paton. This may suggest that we owe the name peat to the same origin. -We have also the word pictures, probably formed from "pict," and -"heri," a warrior. - - - - -Political Freemen - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -POLITICAL FREEMEN - - -Under the reign of Ethelred II. the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxons had -already passed away. As a people they sank, and left only a part of -their civilisation and institutions to their successors, the Danes -and Normans. The development of a maritime skill unknown before, of a -bold manly spirit of enterprise, and of a political liberty which, by -preserving a balance between the freedom of the nobles and of the rest -of the people, ensured to England a powerful and peaceful existence. - -Danish settlers in England conferred a great benefit on the country, -from a political point of view, by the introduction of a numerous class -of independent peasantry. These people formed a striking contrast to -the oppressed race of Anglo-Saxons. Turner says: "The Danes seem to -have planted in the colonies they occupied a numerous race of freemen, -and their counties seem to have been well peopled." The number of these -independent landowners was consequently greatest in the districts which -were earliest occupied by the Danes, where they naturally sprung up -from the Danish chiefs parcelling out the soil to their victorious -warriors. Twenty years after the Norman Conquest there was a greater -number of independent landed proprietors, if not, in the strictest -sense of the word, freeholders, in the districts occupied by the Danes, -and under "Danelag," than in any other of the Anglo-Saxon parts of -England. The smaller Anglo-Saxon agriculturists were frequently serfs, -while the Danish settlers, being conquerors, were mostly freemen, and -in general proprietors of the soil. - -Domesday Book mentions, under the name of "Sochmanni," a numerous class -of landowners or peasants in the Danish districts of the north, while -in the south they are rarely to be found. They were not freeholders in -the present sense of the term. They stood in a feudal relation to a -superior lord, but in such a manner that the "Sochmanni" may best be -compared with our present "hereditary lessees." Their farm passed by -inheritance to their sons, they paying certain rents and performing -certain feudal duties; but the feudal lord had no power to dispose of -the property as he pleased. - -The following is an abstract of a paper on Tithe and Tenure in the -North, by the Rev. J. H. Colligan:-- - - DANISH INFLUENCE ON LAND TENURE - - was originally a military one. In Westmorland the manors were - granted round several great baronies or Fees. The barons held - their estates "in capite" from the king, upon conditions that - were mainly military, while the lords of the manors held of - the barons, their chief duty being, to keep a muster-roll of - their tenants for the discharge of the military claims of the - barons. The tenants held of the lord by fines and services, - the latter being, until the close of the XVIth century, of a - military character. This baronial system, perfected by William - the Conqueror, gave enormous power into the hands of the barons. - - The Hudlestons, of Millum Castle, Lancashire, exercised the - prerogative of "jura regalia" for twenty-two generations. They - also had the privileges of "wreck of the sea." Some of the - barons had the power of capital punishment, others, again, had - the right to nominate sheriffs. They held their own courts and - could be either friends or rivals of the king, to whom alone - they owed homage, with service at home or abroad. The authority - thus obtained by the barons was distributed to the knights and - lords of the manors, who, in their turn, levied conditions upon - their dependants. - - This system of devolution of power received from the king was - enjoyed also by the church, and kept the counties always ready - for war. When the martial spirit began to forsake the land, - and peaceful and sporting pleasures arose, we find a new form - of tenure. Lands and tenements are given for the apparently - trifling conditions of keeping up eyries of hawks for the - baron, or of providing a gilt spur, or of producing a rose, - sometimes out of season but generally in the time of roses, or - of making presents of pepper, ginger, cloves, or some other - tasty trifle. A number of these rents require no explanation, - as they are only the reflex of the passion of the age. Horses, - dogs and hawks for the knight, pepper, ginger and cloves for - the monks, are easily understood. The reasons for the rose and - stirrup, the spur and the glove are not so apparent. It is - possible that originally they were symbolical of real rent or - service. The transition from the actual to the symbolical must - have taken place in the XIVth and XVth centuries. - - We have hitherto been speaking of the relationship between - the barons and the monks, the knights and the lords of the - manor. There is no reference to tenants, because there was no - such thing as a free individual tenure before the middle of - the XVIth century. The soldier-tenants clung round the barony - of the manor, and their position was defined as "tenantes ad - voluntatem." It was only in Elizabeth's reign that the demands - of the tenants began to be formulated, and the unique form of - tenure called "tenant right" appeared on the border. It is - difficult to discover when and how the movement for freedom on - the part of the tenants began, but it certainly is associated - with the Reformation, and is seen plainly in those places where - protestantism was vigorous. - - We shall examine the growth of this form of tenure as it - appeared in a Cumberland manor. In the neighbourhood under - consideration we find three kinds of tenants. At the one - extreme were the Drenges, who were probably Saxon slaves; at - the other were tenants by right, who were probably equal in - dignity and privilege in the early days to the lord of the - manor himself. In Cumberland and Westmoreland traces of the - Drengage tenements may be found, and the Bondgate, Appleby, is - an illustration of Drengage dwellings. The tenants by right are - found in Cumberland, where they are now called yeomen, and in - Westmorland, where they are known as statesmen (steadsmen), and - in North Lancashire, where, to the regret of the writer in the - Victoria County History, the yeomen are gradually disappearing. - Mr. J. Brownbill says that tenant right was frequently urged - all over Furness and Cartmel and in Warton and the northern - border of Lancashire. He refers to the particulars in West's - "Antiquities of Furness." - - We have not been able to ascertain the origin of the tenure as - it applies to North Lancashire, but on the borders it is the - outcome of an interesting and unique form of service called - Cornage. It is still a disputed point as to the origin of the - word. Some holding it to from the fact that the lord gave - notice of the enemies' approach by winding a horn; others that - it was much earlier in its origin, and arises from the horn or - cattle tax, still known in Westmorland as neat- or nowt-geld. - Whichever origin be taken, it is clear that, from the time of - Queen Elizabeth, the keeping of the borders was an important - service, and is seen from the fact that the tenant could not - hire another to take his place. - - In regard to this border service, known as Cornage, the lord - had several privileges which included wardship or control - over the heir, until he was 21 years of age; marriage, which - gave him the right of arranging a marriage if the inheritance - had devolved upon a female; and relief, which was the payment - of a certain sum by the heir upon taking possession of the - inheritance. The chief privilege which the "tenant-by-right" - possessed for his border service was that of devising his - tenement by _will_, a privilege which is much prized until - this day. At the Restoration the "Drengage tenure" was raised - into a Socage tenure, and it was under this tenure, with that - of Cornage, and sometimes with a combination of these forms, - that most of the tenements of the manors of Cumberland and - Westmorland were held. These holders came to be described - as customary tenants. The customary tenant is distinguished - from the freeholder, and the copyholder, in that he is not - seised of his land in fee simple, as is the freeholder, and - is not subject to the disabilities of the copyholder, nor - are his customary dues considered derogatory to the nobility - of his tenure. The customary tenant is therefore between the - freeholder and the copyholder, with a number of well defined - privileges. The two most important duties of the average tenant - in Cumberland and Westmorland were those of warfare and the - watching of the forests. The former depended entirely upon the - attitude of the other kingdoms, especially Scotland; the latter - was a long and laborious service laid upon the tenant until - the middle of the XVIth century. The counties of Cumberland - and Westmorland were dense forests until long after the Norman - Conquest, and the timber for the royal shipyards was grown in - these highlands of England. The forests were full of game, and - the regulations in connection with the preservation of game and - the upkeep of the forests were most exacting upon the people. - - From the middle of the XVIth century, however, these ancient - laws and services began to lose their force, and a new set - of regulations arose to meet the new environment. Slowly but - surely the feudal system had passed away. Here and there a - relic remained, but it was impossible to ignore the rights of - men who could no longer be bought and sold with a tenement. - From the first year of the reign of Elizabeth the border - service is well defined and the claims of the tenants became - fixed. Several years before, Lord Wharton, as Deputy-General - of the West Marches, drew up a series of regulations for the - protection of that part of the border. In an interesting - article by Mr. Graham, we find how the men of Hayton, near - Carlisle, turned out every night with their spears, and - remained crouched on the river bank in the black darkness or - the pouring rain. It is a typical example of borderers engaged - upon their regular service. This system had superseded the - feudal system. The feudal tenure survived in many instances - where a power. Like one of their own tumultuous forces, when - once directed into the right stream, they went to form that new - product which we call an Englishman. The documents, which were - discovered at Penruddock in the township of Hutton Soil--the - "kist" is in the possession of Mr. Wm. Kitchen, Town Head, - Penruddock--relate to a struggle between the lord and the - tenants of Hutton John, Cumberland, on the subject of tenant - right. So far as we are aware these documents are unique. The - various authorities on Cumberland history give reference to a - number of these disputes but no mention is made of the Hutton - John case, so that we have here for the first time a full - knowledge of what was probably the most important of all these - trials. In addition, while there are no documents relating to - the other cases, we have here every paper of the Hutton John - case preserved. The story of the discovery is that the writer - (the Rev. J. Hay Colligan) was searching for material for a - history of the Penruddock Presbyterian Meeting House when he - came across a kist, or chest, containing these documents. (A - calendar of these documents may be found in the Cumberland - and Westmorland Transactions for 1908.) The manor of Hutton - John had long been in the possession of the Hutton family when - it passed in 1564 to a son of Sir John Hudleston of Millum - Castle by his marriage with Mary Hutton. Her brother Thomas - had burdened the estate on account of his imprisonment lasting - about fifty years. It was the son of this marriage, Joseph by - name, who became the first lord of the manor, and most of the - manorial rights still remain with the Hudleston family. After - Joseph Hudleston came three Andrews--first, 1603-1672; second, - 1637-1706; third, 1669-1724--and it was with these four lords - that the tenants carried on their historical dispute. The death - of Thomas Hutton took place some time after 1620 and was the - occasion for raising a number of questions that agitated the - manor for almost a century afterwards. It flung the combustible - topic of tenure into an atmosphere that was already charged - with religious animosity, and the fire in the manor soon was as - fierce as the beacon-flare on their own Skiddaw. - - The position of the parties in the manor may be summed up by - saying that Joseph Hudleston insisted that the tenants were - tenants-at-will, and the tenants on the other hand claimed - tenant right. Whatever may have been the origin of cornage, - it is clear that by the XVIIth century it was synonymous - with tenant right. The details in the dispute cannot here be - treated, but the central point was the subject of a general - fine. This fine, frequently called gressome, was the entrance - fine which the tenant paid to the lord upon admittance. In - some manors it was a two years' rent, in others three. An - unusual form in the manor of Hutton John was a seven years' - gressome, called also a running fine or a town-term. This was - the amount of two years' rent at the end of every seven years. - The contention of the tenants was, that as this was a running - fine, no general fine was due to the lord of the manor on the - death of the previous lord. From this position the tenants - never wavered, and for over seventy years they fought the - claim of the lord. Upon the death of Thomas Hutton the tenants - claiming tenant right refused to pay the general fine to Joseph - Hudleston. After wrangling with the tenants for a few years, - Joseph brought a Bill against them in 1632. He succeeded in - obtaining a report from the law lord, Baron Trevor, which - plays an important part in the case unto the end. He apparently - disregarded the portion which applied to himself, and pressed - the remainder upon the tenants. The tenants thereupon decided - to send three of their number with a petition to Charles I. - and it was delivered to the king at Newmarket. He ordered - his judges to look into the matter. The civil war, however, - had begun, and the whole country was about to be filled with - smoke and flame. Needless to say the tenants took the side of - Parliament, while the lord of the manor, the first Andrew, was - described in the records as a Papist in arms. During the civil - war the whole county of Cumberland was in action. The manor of - Hutton John was mainly for the Parliament. Greystoke Castle, - only two miles from the manor, surrendered to the Parliamentary - troops. The termination of the civil war in 1651 was the date - for the beginning of litigation between the Hudleston family - and the Parliament on the subject of the manor. After this was - over the struggle between the lord and the tenants began again. - In their distress the tenants sent a letter to Lord Howard - of Naworth Castle, whose Puritan sympathies were well known. - This is a feature of the case that need not be dwelt upon, - but without which there can be no complete explanation of the - story. The struggle was in fact a religious one. The occasion - of it was the entrance into a Cumberland manor of a Lancashire - family, and the consequent resentment on the part of the - adherents of the manor, who boasted that they had been there - "afore the Hudlestons." The motives which prompted each party - were those expressed in the words Puritan _v._ Papist. The - year 1668 was a memorable one in the history of the dispute. - In that year the tenants brought a Bill of complaint against - the lord at Carlisle Assizes. The judge, at the opening of - the court, declared that the differences could be compounded - by some gentlemen of the county. All the parties agreed, and - the court made an order whereby Sir Philip Musgrave, Kt. and - Bart., and Sir John Lowther, Bart., were to settle the case - before September 21st. If they could not determine within that - time they were to select an umpire within one week, who must - make his award before Lady-day. Sir Philip Musgrave and Sir - John Lowther accepted the responsibility placed upon them by - the court and took great pains to accommodate the differences, - but finding themselves unable to furnish the award within the - time specified they elected Sir George Fletcher, Bart., to be - umpire. Sir George Fletcher made his award on March 3rd, 1668. - The original document, written, signed and sealed with his own - hand, is here before us. Its tattered edges prove that it has - been frequently referred to. Sir George Fletcher's award was - on the whole in favour of the tenants, and especially on the - subject of the general fine, which he declared was not payable - on the death of the lord. Other important matters were dealt - with, including heriots, widows' estates, the use of quarries - on the tenements, the use of timber, the mill rent, together - with the subject of boons and services. All the tenants - acquiesced in the award, and the lord paid the damages for - false imprisonment to several of the tenants. - - In the year 1672 Andrew Hudleston the first died, and - Andrew the second, 1637-1706, succeeded to the lordship. He - immediately began to encroach. He demanded the general fine - in addition to rents and services, contrary to the award. - The struggle therefore broke out afresh as fiercely as ever, - and both parties returned to the old subject of tenure. The - matter became a religious one owing to the Restoration and the - rigid acts which followed between 1662-1689. An extraordinary - incident occurred at this time in the conversion of the lord - to the protestant cause, but this did not affect the dispute - between him and the tenants. In 1699 the tenants moved again. - They requested the court to put into operation the award of - Sir George Fletcher. From that year until 1704 the strife - was bitterer than ever, and the kist contains more documents - relating to this period than to any other. In the year 1704, - after several judgments had previously been made against the - third Andrew Hudleston and his late father, the former appealed - to the House of Lords, and the case was dismissed in favour of - the tenants. - - Although the struggle lasted until the year 1716, the climax - was reached in 1704. The historical value of the case is the - way in which it illustrates the conditions of tenure in the - North-West of England, and at the same time pourtrays the - pertinacity in spite of serious obstacles of the yeoman class - in asserting its rights. - - _Tithe._ The subject of Tithe is one that can only be dealt - with in a restricted way and from one point of view. It - is well known that, through the influence of George Fox - in North Lancashire, Quakerism spread with frenzied force - through Westmorland and Cumberland. Many of those who had - been previously content with Puritan doctrines seceded to - the Quakers. The practice of declining to pay the tithe, in - the case which the documents before us illustrate, was of a - different character. It occurs in the parish of Greystoke, - in which the manor of Hutton John was situated. Five years - after the award of Sir George Fletcher on the tenure case, the - nonconforming section of the tenants of Hutton John raised - another question of a tithe called "Bushel Corn." This had - been regularly paid to the Rector of Greystoke from time - immemorial. Even the Puritan rectors had received this tithe - down to that great Puritan, Richard Gilpin, who was ejected - from the Rectory of Greystoke in 1661. The point in dispute was - not a deliberate refusal of the tithe, it was a declaration - of the parishioners that the _measure_ was an unjust one. The - contest was carried on by John Noble, of Penruddock, and Thos. - Parsons, the steward of the Countess of Arundel and Surrey, - Lady of the Barony of Greystoke. Associated with Parsons was - John Robson, a servant and proctor of the rector. Parsons and - Robson were farmers of the tithe, but the case had the full - consent of the rector, the Rev. Allan Smallwood, D.D. - - The immediate cause of the dispute was the question of the - customary measure. It resulted in the settlement of a vexatious - subject which was as to the size of a _bushel_. The matter was - one of contention throughout the country until standard weights - and measures were recognised and adopted. In Cumberland the - most acute form was upon the subject of the corn bushel. The - deviations in quantity were difficult to suppress, and several - law cases upon this matter are on record. In the Parish of - Greystoke the case was first begun in 1672. The bushel measure - had been gradually increased from sixteen gallons, which amount - the parishioners acknowledged and were prepared to pay, until - it reached twenty-two gallons. The case passed through the - assizes of three counties, being held at Carlisle, Lancaster - and Appleby, and a verdict for the parishioners was eventually - given. - - The documents, apart from their intrinsic worth, have thus - an inestimable value, in that they shed light upon and give - information in regard to the doings in a Cumberland manor - where hitherto there has been but darkness and silence, as far - as the records of the people were concerned. We are able now - to follow with interest and satisfaction a story that is equal - in courage and persistence with the best traditions of English - love of justice and fair play. - -The documents in this case were numerous but small, and were in many -cases letters and scraps of paper. As a piece of local history it is -not to be compared with the tenure case, but it contains valuable items -of parish life in the XVIIth century. Perhaps the best of the letters -are those from Sir John Otway, the well-known lawyer. John Noble the -yeoman has several letters full of fine touches. The depositions of the -witnesses at Cockermouth in 1672 are picturesque. The lawyers' bills, -of which there are many, are not so illuminating. There are several -letters of Henry Johnes of Lancaster, who was Mayor of that town on two -occasions. - -Public men regard it as a great honour to represent the northern -districts of England in Parliament, merely from the intelligent -political character of the voters; and it was certainly through the -adherence of the love of freedom in the north that Cobden and Bright -were able to struggle so successfully for the promotion of Free Trade -and for financial reform. Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, the great English -writer, says: "Those portions of the kingdom originally peopled by the -Danes are noted for their intolerance of all oppression, and their -resolute independence of character, to wit, Yorkshire, Lancashire, -Norfolk, and Cumberland, and large districts in the Scottish lowlands." - -Memorials of the Danes are mixed up with England's freest and most -liberal institutions; and to the present day the place where the -candidate for a seat in Parliament addressed the electors bears -throughout England the pure Danish name of the "Husting." When William -I. began to conquer England, and to parcel it out among his warriors, -it was the old Danish inhabitants who opposed him; who would have -joined him, their kinsman the Norman, especially as he gave it out -that one of their objects in coming to England was to avenge the Danes -and Norwegians who were massacred by Ethelred, but the Normans aimed -at nothing less than the abolition of the free tenure of estates and -the complete establishment of a feudal constitution. This mode of -proceeding was resented, which would rob the previously independent -man of his right to house and land, and by transferring it to the -powerful nobles shook the foundation of freedom. The Danes turned from -them in disgust, and no longer hesitated to join the equally oppressed -Anglo-Saxons. The Normans were obliged to build strong fortifications, -for fear of the people of Scandinavian descent, who abounded both in -the towns and rural districts. What the Normans chiefly apprehended was -attacks from the Danes who, there was good reason to suppose, might -come over with their fleets, to the assistance of their countrymen in -the North of England. - -The Norman kings who succeeded William the Conqueror dwelt in perfect -safety in the southern districts, but did not venture north without -some fear, and a chronicler who lived at the close of the twelfth -century assures us that they never visited this part of the kingdom -without being accompanied by a strong army. - - -ABOLITION OF SLAVERY. - -In those districts where the Danes exercised complete dominion the -custom of slavery was abolished. This fact is established by a -comparison of the population of those districts colonised by the Danes -with that of the older English districts. The population returns given -in Domesday Book prove that no "servi" existed in the counties where -Danish influence was greatest. Both in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire at -this time there is no record of slavery. In the counties where this -influence was less, such as Nottingham, the returns show that one serf -existed to every 200 of the population. In Derbyshire 1 per cent., -in Norfolk and Suffolk 4 per cent., in Leicestershire 6 per cent., -in Northamptonshire 10 per cent., in Cambridge, Hertford and Essex -11 per cent. Outside the influence of the Danelagh the proportion is -much greater. In Oxfordshire 14 per cent. were slaves, in Worcester, -Bucks, Somerset and Wiltshire 15 per cent., in Dorset and Hampshire -16 per cent., in Shropshire 17 per cent., in Devonshire 18 per cent., -in Cornwall 21 per cent., and in Gloucestershire 24 per cent., or -almost one-fourth of the whole population. These records were not made -by Danish surveyors, but Norman officials, and explode the theory -of historians like Green who assert that the English settlers were -Communities of free men. These conditions of tenure were introduced by -the Danes, and became so firmly established that the names given to -such freeholders as "statesmen" in Cumberland, "freemen" and "yeomen" -in Yorkshire, Westmorland and North Lancashire still exist at the -present day. - -As we have seen, records of struggles for tenant rights have come to -light in recent years which prove that feudal conditions were imposed -by successive landlords, and were resisted both before and after the -Commonwealth. - - -INVASION AND SETTLEMENT. - -The Norse settlement at the mouth of the Dee dated from the year 900 -when Ingimund, who had been expelled from Dublin, was given certain -waste lands near Chester, by Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians. This -colony extended from the shore of Flint, over the Wirral peninsula -to the Mersey, and it is recorded in Domesday by the name of their -Thingwall or Tingvella. Along with the group of Norse names in the -Wirral is Thurstaston, or Thors-Stone, or Thorstun-tun. This natural -formation of red sandstone has been sometimes mistaken for a Tingmount -or Norse monument. Several monuments of the tenth century Norse colony -are to be found in the district, such as the Hogback Stone in West -Kirby Museum, and the gravestone bearing the wheel-shaped head. A -similar monument was found on Hilbre Island, and other remains of cross -slabs occur at Neston and Bromborough. - -The Norse place-names of Wirral prove that these lands were waste and -unoccupied, when names of Danish origin were given, such as Helsby, -Frankby, Whitby, Raby, Irby, Greasby and Pensby. Some Wirral names are -composed of Celtic and Norse, as the settlers brought both Gælic and -Norse names from Ireland. These are found in the Norse Runes in the -Isle of Man and north of Lancaster. - -Socmen were manorial tenants who were free in status, though their land -was not held by charter, like that of a freeholder, but was secured to -them by custom. They paid a fixed rent for the virgate, or part of a -virgate, which they generally held; and, taking the Peterborough Socmen -as examples, they were bound to render farm produce, such as fowls and -eggs, at stated seasons; to lend their plough teams thrice in winter -and spring; to mow and carry hay; to thresh and harrow, and do other -farm work for one day ... and to help at the harvest for one or two -days. Their services contrasted with the _week-work_ of a villein, were -little more than nominal and are comparable to those of the Radmanni. -The Peterborough socmen reappear under the "Descriptio Militum" of the -abbey, where it is said they were served "cum militibus," but this -appears to be exceptional. Socmen were like "liber tenentes" frequently -liable to "merchet, heriot and tallage." Their tenure was the origin of -free socage, common in the thirteenth century, and now the prevailing -tenure of land in England. Socmen held land by a fixed money payment, -and by a fixed though trivial amount of base service which would seem -to ultimately disappear by commutation." All socmen as customary -tenants required the intervention of the steward of the manor in the -transfer or sale of their rights. ("Palgrave's Dictionary of Political -Economy," p. 439.) - -_Merchet._ Of all the manorial exactions the most odious was the -"Merchetum," a fine paid by the villain on giving his daughter in -marriage. It was considered as a mark of servile descent, and the man -free by blood was supposed to be always exempted from it, however -debased his position was in every other respect. - -In the status of socmen, developed from the law of Saxon freemen there -was usually nothing of the kind. "Heriot" was the fine or tax payable -to the lord or abbot on the death of the socman. The true Heriot -is akin in name and in character to the Saxon "here-great"--to the -surrender of the military outfit supplied by the chief to his follower. -In feudal time and among peasants it is not the war-horse and armour -that is meant, but the ox and harness take their place. (Vinogradoff, -"Mediæval Manors": Political Exactions, Chap. V., 153.) - -_Mol-men._ Etymologically, there is reason to believe that this term -is of Danish origin, and the meaning has been kept in practice by the -Scotch dialect (_vide_ "Ashley, Economic History," i, pp. 56-87.) - -_Tallage._ The payment of arbitrary tallage is held during the -thirteenth century to imply a servile status. Such tallage at will is -not very often found in documents, although the lord sometimes retained -his prerogative in this respect even when sanctioning the customary -form of renders and services. Now and then it is mentioned that tallage -is to be levied once a year although the amount remains uncertain. -("Villianage in England," Chap. v, 163, Vinogradoff.) - - - - -Husbandry - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -HUSBANDRY. - - -The influence of the Norse has been felt in terms connected with land. -"God speed the plough" has been the toast of many a cup at many a -merry meeting for many a century past in this realm. Yet we seem not -generally to know by whom the name of the plough was introduced amongst -us. The Anglo-Saxon knew nothing of such an implement and its uses ere -they settled in the land. This is apparent from their not having a term -for it in their own tongue. Even when they were accustomed to the use -of the so-called plough of the Romans, which they found in the hands -of the British at their settlement in the country, they so confounded -the terms of husbandry that they gave the name of "syl" or "suhl" to -the Roman-British implement, from the furrow "sulcus," which it drew, -without attending in the least to the Roman-British name. The work -of one such plough during a season they have called a "sulling" or -furrowing. - -This so-called plough, from the figures left of it in the Anglo-Saxon -MSS., seems to have been but a sorry kind of an article, not fit to -be brought into comparison with the worst form of our plough in the -neglected districts of England. We owe both the framework and the -origin of the modern plough to the Northerners. We meet with the word -in the old Norse "plogr." In Swedish it is "plog"; while in Danish it -occurs both as "plov" and "ploug," as in English, and it was in all -probability introduced by that people during the eleventh century, -at the latter part of their dynasty within the island. There is no -root either in the Teutonic or Scandinavian tongues from which it is -deducible. The British name for their plough was "aradr," their mode of -pronouncing the Latin "aratum," the word for the Roman plough. The sort -of agriculture which was known in the very early times must have been -extremely simple, if we are to judge it by the terms which have reached -our times. - -Ulphilas, in his translation of the Greek Testament construes the word -for plough with the Gothic word "hôha," the origin of our modern term -"hoe." We may therefore surmise that in these primitive times natives -hoed the ground for their crops for want of better implements to turn -up the soil. - -While we owe to the Norse the name for plough, we are also indebted to -them for the term "husbandry." Among the Scandinavians, the common name -for the peasantry was "bondi," the abstract form of "buondi," dwelling -in, or inhabiting a country. As intercourse with more civilised nations -began to civilise the inhabitants of these northern climes, certain -favoured "bondi" had houses assigned to them, with plots of ground -adjoining for the use of their families. As the culture of such private -plots was distinct from the common culture of other land, the person -so favoured, separated from the general herd, obtained the name of -"husbondi," and the culture of their grounds "husbondri." When such -families obtained settlements in England, they brought over with -them the habits and names of the North; and from mingling with the -Anglo-Saxon natives, with whom adjuncts to introduced terms and titles -were common, the suffix of "man" was applied to the name of "husbondi," -who thus became "husbandmen," a term still kept up in the northern -counties for labourers on farms, who are styled husbandmen to this day. - -Names from trades and handicrafts were given to persons employed -therein both by Danes and Anglo-Saxons. Such names keep up their -distinction to the present day. The general name of artizans of every -kind was Smith. Simple "Smiths" are Anglo-Saxon, "Smithies" are Norse. -"Millars," from the trade of millers, are Anglo-Saxon. "Milners" for -the same reason are Norse. "Ulls," "Woolley" is Anglo-Saxon, "Woolner" -is Norse; "Fullers" and "Towers" are Anglo-Saxon; "Kilners" and -"Gardners," Norse. Some names derived from offices as "Gotts" from -"Gopr," a priest, or one who had charge of a "hof," or heathen temple -in the north. "Goods" comes from "Gopa," and "barge" from "bargr." - -As further instances we may notice the names of buildings. "Bigging," -applied to a building, shows it to be Norse, as in "Newbiggin" and -"Dearsbiggin." Such buildings were built of timber, and had an opening -for the door and an eyelet for a window. In the Norse this opening -was called "vindanga," or windeye, which term we have adopted, and -modernised it into our word "window." We have also chosen several -Norse names for our domesticated animals. "Bull" we have formed from -the Norse "bole." "Gommer," or "Gimmer" we retain in the northern -dialect for ewe lamb, from the Norse "Gimber." "Stegg," the name for -a gander, is in Norse "Stegger." In the north nicknames were general, -and every man had his nickname, particularly if there was aught -remarkable in his appearance or character. Some obtained such names -from their complexions, as the "Greys," "Whites," "Blacks," "Browns," -"Blakes." Short and dwarfish persons took the nicknames of "Stutts," -nowadays called "Stotts." Before Christianity found its way among the -natives, some bore fanciful names, as may be instanced in "Bjorn," a -bear, now "Burns." Prefixes to such fanciful names were also common, -as in "Ashbjorn," the bear of the Osir or gods, in modern times spelt -"Ashburns"; and "Thorbjorn," the bear of Thor, whence came "Thornber" -and "Thorburn." The name of "Mather" is Norse for Man, and as Norse -names are general, we may produce the following: "Agur" from "Ager"; -"Rigg" from "Rig"; "Grime" from "Grimr"; "Foster" from "Fostr"; -"Harland" from "Arlant"; "Grundy" from "Grunrd"; "Hawkes" from "Hawkr"; -and "Frost" from "Frosti," which are of frequent occurrence in the old -Norse Sagas. - -In the Vale of the Lune the Danes have left numerous traces. North of -Lancaster is Halton, properly "Haughton," named from the tumulus or -Danish "haugh," within the village. These are the names of the "bojais" -or farms belonging to "byes," or residences of their greatmen. Near -Hornby we find such places at "Whaitber," "Stainderber," "Threaber," -"Scalaber." Within the manor of Hornby are "Santerfell," "Romsfell," -"Litherell," or fell of the hillside. The name of fell for mountain -bespeaks Norse or Danish influence. - -The Raven was the national symbol of the Danes. We have Ravenstonedale -and Ravenshore, and we also find the name in Rivington Pike, from -Raven-dun-pike. Pike is a common name for a hill or spur standing away -from the mountain range, and is derived from the Picts. The derivation -of our common pronoun "same" is to be traced through the old Norse -"samt," "sama," and "som," and has been selected into our tongue from -the definite form "sama," the same. While we might expect to meet -with this word, in the Lowland Scotch, where the Norse influence was -greater, the people use the Anglo-Saxon "ilia" or "ylea," while in -the general English, where the influence of the Northmen was less, we -have adopted the Norse word "same," to the exclusion of the word we -might expect to consider as our own. Many a good word do we owe to the -Norsmen, whatever we may think about their deeds. - - - - -Stone Crosses - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -STONE CROSSES. - - -The Parish Church of St. Peter, Bolton, was rebuilt entirely by Mr. -Peter Ormrod, whose surname is Danish, and was consecrated on St. -Peter's Day, 1871. Among the pre-Norman stones discovered during the -re-building were the broken head of a supposed Irish cross, of circular -type, probably of the tenth century; part of the shaft of a cross -bearing a representation of Adam and Eve, with the apple between their -lips, and an upturned hand; and a stone with carving of a nondescript -monster. At this period the Danes were the rulers of Ireland and the -Isle of Man, whose Bishops were men bearing Danish names, and therefore -we may assume that this memorial was erected under their influence and -direction. - -Some crosses, says Fosbrooke, in his Dictionary of Antiquities, owe -their origin to the early Christians marking the Druid stones with -crosses, in order to change the worship without breaking the prejudice. -Some of the crosses presumed to be Runic rather belong to the civilised -Britons, were erected by many of the Christian kings before a battle or -a great enterprise, with prayers and supplication for the assistance -of Almighty God. At a later period, not probably earlier than the -tenth century, a Scandinavian influence shows itself, and to a very -appreciable extent modifies the ornamentation of these monuments. It -went even further, and produced a representation of subjects, which, -however strange it may appear, are only explained by a reference to -the mythology of that part of Europe. The grave covers, to which, on -account of their shape, the name of hog-backed stones has been applied, -appear to have occurred very rarely beyond the counties of Cumberland, -Durham, York, and Lancaster, though some not quite of the ordinary type -have been found in Scotland, as, for instance, at Govan, on the Clyde, -near Glasgow. They developed ultimately, through a transitional form, -into the coped stone with a representation of a covering of tiles, the -roof of man's last home, and were a common grave cover of the twelfth -century. - - -STONE CROSSES. - -In pre-Reformation times there was scarcely a village or hamlet in -England which had not its cross; many parishes, indeed, had more than -one. We know that at Liverpool there were the High Cross, the White -Cross, and St. Patrick's Cross. While many of these crosses are of -undoubted Saxon origin, others bear distinct traces of Scandinavian -mythology. - -[Illustration: Heysham Hogback.] - -[Illustration] - - -NORTH LANCASHIRE RELICS. - -In the churchyard of Halton, near Lancaster, is the shaft of an -ancient cross. In 1635 the upper part was removed by the rector, in -order that the portion remaining might be converted into a sundial. -On the east side are two panels, one showing two human figures, in a -sitting posture, engaged in washing the feet of a seated figure; the -other showing two figures on either side of a tall cross. This is the -Christian side of a cross erected at a time of transition. On the west -side is a smith at work with a pair of bellows. He is forging a large -pair of pincers, as he sits on a chair. Below the chair is the bust -of a man, or a coat of mail. Above him is a sword of heavy type, also -a second hammer, a second pair of pincers, and a human body, with a -"figure of eight" knot, intertwined in a circle, in place of a head, -and an object at his feet representing the head. The half-panel above -has reference to some event in the Sagas. - -At Heysham, near Lancaster, also in the churchyard, is an example of a -hog-backed stone, a solid mass six feet long and two feet thick, laid -over some ancient grave. On the stone is a stag, with broad horns, -and as it is not a reindeer it is said to be a rude representation of -an elk. The scene on this side of the stone depicts an animal hunt. -The termination at each end is a rude quadruped on its hind quarters. -A fragment of a beautifully-sculptured cross is still remaining, -evidently part of a cross which fitted into the socket of the stone. - -In the churchyard of St. Mary's, Lancaster, was a fine cross with a -Runic inscription, meaning "Pray for Cynebald, son of Cuthbert." This -cross has been removed to the British Museum. - - -OTHER ANCIENT REMAINS. - -At Whalley are three fine specimens of reputed Saxon crosses. Tradition -says they commemorate the preaching of Paulinus in 625. Although they -have no remaining inscriptions, their obelisk form and ornaments of -fretwork were used in common by the Norwegians, Saxons, and Danes. - -In Winwick Churchyard is a great fragment of a crosshead, consisting of -the boss and two arms. On the arms are a man with two buckets and a man -being held head downwards by two ferocious-looking men, who have a saw -beneath them, and are either sawing him asunder or are preparing to saw -off his arms. This evidently relates to Oswald, for he was dismembered -by order of Pemba, and the buckets might refer to the miracle-working -well which sprang up where his body fell. - -At Upton, Birkenhead, is a sculptured stone bearing a Runic -inscription. Dr. Browne takes the inscription to mean: "The people -raised a memorial: Pray for Aethelmund." - -At West Kirby is a nearly complete example of a hog-backed stone. The -lower part is covered on both sides by rough interlacing bands, and -the middle and upper part with scales, the top being ornamented with a -row of oblong rings on each side, with a band running through each row -of rings. The work at the top, which looks like a row of buckles, is -very unusual. The stone, which is of harder material than any stone in -the neighbourhood, must have been brought from a distance, and in the -memorial of some important person, probably Thurstan, as we find the -name Thurstaston in the locality. There is also at West Kirby a flat -slab on the face of which a cross is sculptured. This is very unusual -in England, though not rare in Scotland and Ireland. - -At Hilbree, the island off West Kirby, there is a cross of like -character. - -Principal Rhys says that in the eleventh and twelfth centuries the -Norsemen were in the habit of largely recruiting their fleet in -Shetland and the Orkneys, not merely with thrales, but with men of a -higher position. They infused thus a certain amount of Pictish blood -into the island. The "Shetland bind"--Oghams distributed over the -island, in such places as Braddan, Turby, Michael, Onchan, and Bride. -The Norwegian language, says Mr. C. Roeder, was spoken practically from -890-1270; it was introduced by the Shetland and Orkney men, and from -Norway, with which connection was kept, as shown by the grammatical -structure of the Runic stones in the island, which falls between 1170 -and 1230. It was the only language of the rulers, and used at "Thing" -and Hall, resembling in this old Norman barons and their counts in King -William the Conqueror's time. - -The spirit of the Norsemen lives in the legal constitution of the -Government, an inheritance that produced a free Parliament, and -particularly in its place-names. The sea fringe, with its hundreds of -Norse rocks, creeks, and forelands, and caves, have left imperishable -evidence of the mighty old seafarers, the track they took, and the -commingling and fusion they underwent in blood and speech, and their -voyages from the Shetlands and Western Isles. - -[Illustration: Hammer.] - -[Illustration: Brooch.] - -[Illustration: Fibula of White Metal from Claughton.] - - -SOME HUMAN REMAINS. - -Claughton-on-Brock, near Preston, is named Clactune in Domesday Book. -The Danes have also left relics of their presence and influence as they -have done all over the Fylde district. The late Monsignor Gradwell, -a great student of local nomenclature and a Lancashire historian of -considerable repute, wrote: "In Claughton the Roman road crosses the -Fleet, a small brook in the Sixacre. About seventy years ago a barrow -was found on the west of the New Lane, about half a mile south of -the street. In it were found an earthenware urn containing the burnt -remains of a human body, with some delicately wrought silver brooches, -some beads and arms, a dagger and a sword. The brooch of fretwork was -precisely similar to many ancient Danish brooches still preserved -in the Copenhagen Museum, and this proves that the Claughton deposit -was also Danish. That the Danes were strong in Claughton and in the -neighbourhood is proved by the many Danish names. Thus, we have Dandy -Birk, or Danes Hill; Stirzacre, and Barnacre, respectively Stirs -land and Biorn's land. The Danish relics were carefully deposited at -Claughton Hall by the finder, Mr. Thomas Fitzherbert Brockholes." - - -THE HALTON CROSS. - -Now what is to be said about the subjects carved on these crosses and -about the date of the work? One of the subjects is most remarkable, -and gives a special interest to this cross; for here on the west face -and north we have the story of Sigurd Fafnir's bane; here is his sword -and the forging of it, his horse Grani, which bore away the treasure; -the roasting of the dragon's heart; the listening to the voice of the -birds, and the killing of Regin the smith. - -[Illustration: Halton Cross.] - -The story so far as it relates to our subject is this: We all know -that the love of money is the root of all evil. Now there were two -brothers, Fafnir and Regin. Fafnir held all the wealth, and became a -huge monster dragon, keeping watch over his underground treasure-house. -Regin, his brother, had all skill in smith's work, but no courage. He -it was who forged the sword wherewith the hero Sigurd went forth to -kill the dragon and take the treasure. This he did with the help of -his wonderful horse Grani, who, when the heavy boxes of treasure were -placed on his back, would not move until his master had mounted, but -then went off merrily enough. This story, Anglicised and Christianised, -is the story of our English patron saint St. George, the horse rider -and the dragon slayer. Here is the story written in stone. - -We know the ancient belief that the strength of every enemy slain -passes into the body of the conqueror. - - -ILLUSTRATION OF HOG-BACK STONE. - -The stone is perhaps more than a thousand years old, and has been a -good deal knocked about. It was once the tomb of a great Christian -Briton or Englishman, before the Norman Conquest; and you may still -see four other "hog-backed Saxon" uncarved tombstones in Lowther -Churchyard, marking the graves of the noble of that day. When a stone -church was built, our sculptured shrine was built into the walls of -the church, and some of the mortar still sticks to the red sandstone. -When this old church was pulled down to give place to a new one this -same stone, covered with lime and unsightly, was left lying about. -You will see something twisted and coiled along the bottom of each -drawing beneath the figures, and you will see some strange designs -(they are sacred symbols used long ago) on either side of one of the -heads in the lower picture; but what will strike you most will be the -long curls of hair, and the hands pressed to the breast or folded and -pressed together as if in prayer; and, above all, you will notice that -all these people seem to be asleep; their eyes are closed and their -hands folded or pressed to their breast, and they all look as if they -were either asleep or praying, or very peaceful and at perfect rest. -These people are not dead; look at their faces and mark generally the -attitudes of repose. - -Now let us find something worth remembering about all this. - -The tombstone is made like a little house to represent the home of -the dead. But at the time I am speaking of the people believed that -only those who died bravely fighting would have a life of happiness -afterwards; other people who were not wicked people at all--but all -who died of sickness or old age--went to the cold, dark world ruled -over by a goddess called "Hel," who was the daughter of the Evil one. -"Such is the origin of our word Hell, the name of a goddess applied -to a locality. Her domains were very great and her yard walls very -high. Hunger is her dish, starvation her knife, care is her bed, a -beetling cliff is the threshold of her hall, which is hung with grief." -All, except the warriors who died fighting, however good, went to her -domain. It might be thought that to be with such a goddess after death -was bad enough, but there was a worse place. For the wicked another -place was prepared, a great hall and a bad one; its doors looked -northward. It was altogether wrought of adders' backs wattled together, -and the heads of the adder all turned inwards, and spit venom, so that -rivers of venom ran along the hall, and in those rivers the wicked -people must wade for ever. - -The Christian wished to show that this terrible idea of man's future -state was to fire away to something better through the Lord of -Life, our Lord Jesus Christ, and so they set up crosses and carried -triquetra, the sign of the ever blessed Trinity, on their sculptured -tombs to teach the people to believe no longer in gods and goddesses of -darkness, but to look to one God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to -drive away all evil spirits from their hearts, and to give them a quiet -time and a perfect end. Was there any wonder that years afterwards, -when the bright light shone forth from the Cross to disperse the dark -clouds of paganism, that men said that holy men, such as Patrick, -Kentigern and Cuthbert had driven all poisonous snakes out of the land? -The twisted and coiling thing beneath the figures is no doubt the old -serpent. The Cross of Christ and the ash tree Yggdrasil of the northern -tribes bore a like meaning at a certain time to the mixed peoples on -this coast. (W. S. Collingwood.) - - -ANGLO-DANISH MONUMENTS. - -The great variety of ornament found in the North Riding Monuments shows -that in four centuries many influences were brought to bear upon the -sculptors' art, and much curious development went on, of which we may -in the future understand the cause. - -Our early sculptors, like the early painters, were men trying hard -to express their ideals, which we have to understand before we can -appreciate their work. The Anglian people included writers and thinkers -like Bede and Alcuin, and that their two centuries of independence -in the country of which the North Riding was the centre and heart, -were two centuries of a civilization which ranked high in the world -of that age. The Danish invasion, so lamentable in its earlier years, -brought fresh blood and new energies in its train, and up to the Norman -Conquest this part of England was rich and flourishing. - -In writing the history of its art, part of the material will be found -in these monuments. - -The material of which these sculptures are made is usually of local -stone. They were carved on the spot and not imported ready made. - -In the progress of Anglian art we have the development which began with -an impulse coming from the north, and ending with influence coming from -the south. - -The monuments were possibly executed by Anglian sculptors under the -control of Danish Conquerors. Even under the early heathen rule of the -Danes, Christians worked and lived, and as each succeeding colony of -Danes became Christianised, they required gravestones, and Churches to -be carved for them. - -Following a generation of transition, at the end of the ninth century, -monuments are found displaying Danish taste. The close connection -of the York kingdom with Dublin, provides a reason for the Irish -influence. Abundant evidence is found in the chain pattern, and ring -patterns, the dragons, and wheelheads, which are hacked and not -finished into a rounded surface by chiselling. - -The Brompton hogbacks are among the finest works of this period. - -The Stainton bear, and the Wycliffe bear, are also of this period. - -The Pickhill hogback has an Irish-Scandavian dragon, and other dragons -are to be seen at Gilling, Crathorne, Easington, Levisham, Sinnington, -and Pickering. - -New influences came from the Midlands into Yorkshire, after the fall -of the Dublin-York kingdom, about the year 950. One instance of this -advance in the sculptor's art is to be seen in the round shaft, trimmed -square above, at Gilling, Stanwick, and Middleton, which came from -Mercia, and passed on into Cumberland, where it is to be found at -Penrith and Gosforth. These latter have Edda subjects and appear to be -late tenth century. - -Gilling has a curious device, which may possibly be the völund wing -wheel, and völund appears on the Leeds cross, and also at Neston in -Cheshire. - -The Scandinavian chain pattern, frequent on the _stones_ of the North -Riding, and in Cumberland, is entirely absent in manuscripts. There -must have been books at Lastingham, Hackness, Gilling, and other great -monasteries, but the stone-carvers did not copy them. - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: Base and Side of the Ormside Cup.] - -The Ormside cup, on the other hand, has close analogies with the two -important monuments at Croft and Northallerton, which seem to be the -leading examples of the finest style, from which all the rest evolve, -not without influence from abroad at successive periods. It is to -relief work rather than to manuscripts that we must look for the -inspiration of the sculptors. - -In these monuments linked together we can trace the continuation of -the Viking age style during the later half of the tenth century and -the early part of the eleventh centuries. The stone carver's art was -reviving, stones were becoming more massive, which means that they were -more skilfully quarried, the cutting is more close and varied, and on -its terms the design is more decorative and artistic, though still -preserving its northern character among impulses and influences from -the south. But there is no room here for the Bewcastle cross or the -Hovingham stone. We have an example of this period's attempt to imitate. - -It is probable that the stone carving was a traditional business, -began by St. Wilfrid's, and Benedict Bishop's imported masons, and -carried on in a more or less independent development as it is to-day. - -With the Danish invasion began a period of new influences which were -not shaken off until after the Norman Conquest. - -The interlaced work was abandoned in the tenth century by southern -sculptors, remained the national art of the north. The Manx, Irish, -and Scotch kept it long after the eleventh century, and so did the -Scandinavians. - -The Bewcastle cross in the Gigurd shaft of the cross at Halton in -Lancashire, and if this development has been rightly described the -Halton shaft is easily understood. - -In the period covered by the eleventh century dials inscribed with -Anglo-Danish names date themselves. Interlacing undergoes new -development, becoming more open and angular, until we get right lined -plaits like Wensley, it is better cut, as the later part of the century -introduces the masons who rebuilt the churches and began the abbeys. No -longer was the work hacked but clean chiselled, and intermingled with -new grotesques; we find it at Hackness, in the impost, and in the fonts -at Alne and Bowes, where we are already past the era of the Norman -Conquest. - - Anglian work of the simpler forms and earlier types date 700 A.D. - - Full development of Anglian art, middle of eighth century to its - close. - - Anglian work in decline, or in ruder hands, but not yet showing - Danish influence, early ninth century. - - Transitional, such as Anglian carvers might have made for Danish - conquerors, late ninth century. - - Anglo-Danish work showing Irish influence, early half of the - tenth century. - - Anglo-Danish work with Midland influence, later part of tenth and - beginning of eleventh century. - - Eleventh century, Pre-Norman. - - Post-Conquest, developed out of pre Norman art. - -Recumbent monuments were grave-slabs, which may have been coffin lids, -such as must have fitted the Saxon rock graves at Heysham, Lancashire, -while other forms may have simply marked the place under which a burial -was made. They are found with Anglian lettering at Wensley, another has -been removed from Yarm, and those of the Durham district are well known. - -The two stones at Wensley may have been recumbent, like the Melsonby -stones. The Spennithorne slab bears crosses of the earlier Northumbrian -type, seen again in the West Wilton slab. At Crathorne are two slabs, -with "Maltese" crosses apparently late, all the preceding being of the -fine style. - -Levisham slab has an Irish Scandinavian dragon. - -Grave slabs are found of all periods and styles. Shrine-shaped tombs -are known in various parts of England, with pre-Viking ornament. (W. S. -Collingwood). - - - - -Runes - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -Runes. - - -Before dealing with the Norse and Danish antiquities of Lancashire, -of which we have some remains in the form of sculptured stones, and -ancient crosses, it would be profitable to inquire into the origin -and development of that mysterious form of letters known as Runes or -Runic. How many of the thousands who annually visit the Isle of Man are -aware that the island contains a veritable museum of Runic historical -remains? A brief survey of these inscriptions, which have yielded -definite results, having been deciphered for us by eminent scholars, -will help us to understand the nature of those to be found in our own -county. - -We are told by Dr. Wägner that Runes were mysterious signs. The word -Rune is derived from rûna, a secret. The form of the writing would -appear to be copied from the alphabet of the Phoenicians. The Runes -were looked upon, for many reasons, as full of mystery and supernatural -power. In the fourth century Ulphilas made a new alphabet for the -Goths by uniting the form of the Greek letters to the Runic alphabet, -consisting of twenty-five letters, which was nearly related to that of -the Anglo-Saxons. The Runes gradually died out as Christianity spread, -and the Roman alphabet was introduced in the place of the old Germanic -letters. The Runes appear to have served less as a mode of writing than -as a help to memory, and were principally used to note down a train of -thought, to preserve wise sayings and prophecies, and the remembrance -of particular deeds and memorable occurrences. - -Tacitus informs us that it was the custom to cut beech twigs into small -pieces, and then throw them on a cloth, which had been previously -spread out for the purpose, and afterwards to read future events by -means of the signs accidentally formed by the bits of wood as they lay -in the cloth. - -In his catalogue of Runic inscriptions found on Manx crosses, Kermode -says that "of the sculptors' names which appear all are Norse. Out -of a total of forty-four names, to whom these crosses were erected, -thirty-two are those of men, eight of women, and four are nicknames. -Of men, nineteen names are Norse, nine Celtic, three doubtful, and one -Pictish." This proves the predominance of Norse and Danish chiefs to -whom these monuments were erected. Runes are simply the characters in -which these inscriptions are carved, and have nothing to do with the -language, which in the Manx inscriptions is Scandinavian of the 12th -Century. - -To speak of a stone which bears an inscription in Runes as a Runic -stone is as though we should call a modern tombstone a Roman stone -because the inscription is carved in Roman capitals. Canon Taylor -traces the origin of Runes to a Greek source, namely, the Thracian or -second Ionian alphabet, which, through the intercourse of the Greek -colonists at the mouth of the Danube with the Goths south of the -Baltic, was introduced in a modified form into Northern Europe, and had -become established as a Runic "Futhork" as early as the Christian era. -The main stages of development are classified by Canon Taylor as the -Gothic, the Anglican, and the Scandinavian. - -The Rune consists of a stem with the twigs or letters falling from -left or right. This is the most common form to be found, allowing for -difference of workmanship, of material, and space. The progress in the -development of the Rune may be observed from the most simple plait -or twist, to the most complex and beautiful geometric, and to the -zoomorphic. The latter has the striking features of birds and beasts of -the chase, and also of men, many being realistic; and except the latter -are well drawn. The forms of the men are sometimes found with heads of -birds or wings. In addition to decorative work we find on three of the -cross slabs illustrations from the old Norse sagas. On a large cross -at Braddan is a representation of Daniel in the lion's den; and at -Bride, on a slab, is a mediæval carving of the fall of Adam, in which -the serpent is absent. Both Pagan and Christian emblems derive their -ornamentation from the same source, "basket work." - -Long after the introduction of Christianity we find the Pagan symbols -mixed up in strange devices on the same stones, which were erected as -Christian monuments. In the "Lady of the Lake," Sir Walter Scott gives -an account of the famous fiery cross formed of twigs. - - "The grisly priest, with murmuring prayer, - A slender crosslet framed with care, - A cubit's length in measure due; - The shaft and limbs were rods of yew." - - "The cross, thus formed, he held on high, - With wasted hand and haggard eye." - -Basketmaking is the parent of all modern textile art, and no other -industry is so independent of tools. It is the humble parent of the -modern production of the loom, and the most elaborate cloth is but the -development of the simple wattle work of rude savages. Plaiting rushes -is still the earliest amusement of children, the patterns of which are -sometimes identical with the designs engraved by our earliest ancestors -on their sculptured stones. Interlaced ornament is to be met with on -ancient stones and crosses all over our islands. Ancient pottery also -shows that the earliest form of ornament was taken from basket designs. - -The Lough Derg pilgrim sought a cross made of interwoven twigs, -standing upon a heap of stones, at the east end of an old church. This -was known as St. Patrick's Altar. This is recorded by a certain Lord -Dillon in 1630, who visited the island known as St. Patrick's Purgatory -on the Lough Derg, in Ireland. The wicker cross retained its grasp upon -the superstitious feelings of the people after the suppression at the -Reformation. He says of this miserable little islet that the tenant -paid a yearly rent of £300, derived from a small toll of sixpence -charged at the ferry. This was probably the last of the innumerable -crosses of the same wicker and twigs. (Lieut.-Col. French, Bolton.) - - -RUNIC ALMANACS. - -When the northern nations were converted to Christianity the old -Pagan Festivals were changed to Christian holidays, and the old Pagan -divinities were replaced by Christian Saints. The faith placed in the -early deities was transferred to the latter. As certain deities had -formerly been supposed to exercise influence over the weather and the -crops; so the days dedicated to them, were now dedicated to certain -Saints. - -The days thus dedicated were called Mark-days, and as it may be -supposed it became the office of the Clergy to keep account of the time -and to calculate when the various holidays would occur. - -Owing to the fact that many Christian feasts are what are called -movable, that is, are not fixed to a certain date but depend on Easter, -the reckoning was more difficult for the laity than it had been in -Pagan times. - -In those days the fixed holidays could be easily remembered. An -ordinary man without knowing how to read or write could keep a list of -them by cutting marks or notches on strips of wood. - -The successors of these are called Messe, and Prim Staves. The Messe -staves are the more simple--_Messe-daeg_ means Mass day, and the stave -only denoted such days. The Prim stave contained besides the marks -for Sundays and the moon's changes. Hence their name from Prima-Luna, -or first full moon after the equinox. The Messe-daeg staves are -frequently met with. They consist generally of flat pieces of wood -about a yard or an ell long, two inches wide, and half an inch thick, -and have frequently a handle, giving them the appearance of a wooden -sword. The flat side is divided into two unequal portions by a line -running lengthways. In the narrow part, the days are notched at equal -distances, half the year on each side, or 182 marks on one side and 183 -on the other. In the wider space and connected with the days are the -signs for those which are to be particularly observed: on the edges the -weeks are indicated. The marks for the days do not run from January -to July and from July to December, but on the winter side (Vetr-leid) -from October 14 to April 13, and in the summer side (Somar-leid) from -April 14 to October 13. The signs partly refer to the weather, partly -to husbandry, and partly the legends of the Saints. Seldom are two -staves formed exactly alike. Not only do the signs vary but the days -themselves. Nor are they always flat, but sometimes square, _i.e._, -with four equal sides: when of the latter shape they are called clogs, -or clog almanacs. - -They are called Cloggs, _i.e._, Logg, Almanacks = Al-mon-aght, viz., -the regard or observation of all the Moons, because by means of these -squared sticks, says Verstegan, they could certainly tell when the new -Moons, full Moons, or other changes should happen, and consequently -Easter and the other movable feasts. They are called by the Danes -Rim-stocks, not only because the Dominical letters were anciently -expressed on them in Runic characters, but also because the word Rimur -anciently signified a Calendar. By the Norwegians with whom they are -still in use, they are called Prim-staves, and for this reason, the -principal and most useful thing inscribed on them being the prime or -golden number, whence the changes of the moon are understood, and also -as they were used as walking sticks, they were most properly called -Prim-staves. - -The origin of these Runic or Clog-calendars was Danish (vide Mr. J. W. -Bradley, M.A., Salt Library, Stafford). They were unknown in the South, -and only known by certain gentry in the North. They are quite unknown -in Ireland and Scotland, and are only known from the few examples -preserved in the Museums. - -Owing to the changes of custom in modern times these wooden perpetual -almanacs have become quite superseded by the printed annuals. - -The inscriptions read proceeding from the right hand side of the -notches, are marks or symbols of the festivals expressed in a kind of -hieroglyphic manner, pointing out the characteristics of the Saints, -against whose festivals they are placed, others the manner of their -Martyrdom; others some remarkable fact in their lives; or to the work -or sport of the time when the feasts were kept. - -Thus on January 13 the Feast of St. Hiliary is denoted by a Cross or -Crozier, the badge of a Bishop. - - -EXPLANATION OF THE CLOG ALMANAC. - -The edges of the staff are notched chiefly with simple angular -indentations but occasionally with other marks to denote the date of -certain special Festivals. - -[Illustration] - - Jan. 1.--The Feast of the Circumcision. Sometimes a circle. - - Jan. 2, 3, 4, 5.--Ordinary days. - - Jan. 6.--The Feast of the Epiphany. Twelfth day. In some examples - the symbol is a star. - - Jan. 7.--Ordinary day. - - Jan. 8-12.--The first day of the second week is shown by a larger - notch. - - Jan. 13.--Feast of St. Hilary. Bishop of Poictiers, with double - cross. - - Jan. 14.--Ordinary day. - - Jan. 15, 16.--First day of third week. - - Jan. 17.--Feast of St. Anthony. Patron Saint of Feeders of Swine. - This is the Rune for M. - - Jan. 18.--F. of St. Prisca, A.D. 278. Not noticed. - - Jan. 20.--F. of S. Fabian. Not noticed. F. of S. Sebastian. Not - noticed. - - Jan. 21.--F. of S. Agnes. - - Jan. 22.--F. of S. Vincent. Not noticed. - - Jan. 25.--Conversion of St. Paul. Symbol of decapitation. - - No other Saints days are noticed in Jan. - - Feb. 2.--Candlemas. Purification of Virgin Mary. - - Feb. 3.--St. Blaise, bishop and martyr. The Patron Saint of - Woolcombers. Bp. Sebasti. Armenia. A.D. 316. - - Feb. 4.--St. Gilbert. Not noticed. - - Feb. 5.--St. Agatha. Palermo. Patroness of Chaste Virgins. - - Feb. 6.--St. Dorothea. Not noticed. - - Feb. 9.--St. Apolmia. A.D. 249. Alexandria. - - Feb. 14.--St. Valentine (historian). M. A.D. 271. Plot gives - - Feb. 16.--St. Gregory. Pope X. A.D. 1276. - - Feb. 20, 22, 23.--St. Mildred, St. Millburgh, sisters. - - Feb. 24.--St. Matthias, Apostle. - - Mar. 1.--St. David, Bishop. Symbol a harp. Patron Saint of Wales, - A.D. 544. - - Mar. 2.--St. Chad. A.D. 672. - - Mar. 12.--St. Gregory the Great, A.D. 604. - - Mar. 17.--S. Patrick, Patron of Ireland. - - Mar. 20.--S. Cuthbert. Not noticed. - - Mar. 21.--S. Benedict. Not noticed, A.D. 543. - - Mar. 25.--Feast of Annunciation. Blessed Virgin Mary. Usual - symbol heart. - -These complete one edge of the staff. - -Thus each edge contains three months or one quarter of the year. - -Turning the staff over towards the reader who holds the loop or ring in -the right hand. - - April 1.--All Fools Day. Custom. Not noticed. S. Hugh. A.D. 1132. - - April 2, 3.--S. Francis of Paula, A.D. 1508. S. Richard, Bishop - of Chichester, A.D. 1262. - - April 4.--St. Isidore, Bishop of Seville. - - April 5.--St. Vincent. Terrer Valentia. 1419. - - April 9.--S. Mary of Egypt. Not noticed. - - April 11.--St. Gultitae, Abbot of Croyland. - - April 19.--St. Ælphege, Archbishop of Canterbury. 1012. - - April 23.--St. George, Patron Saint of England. Of Garter legend. - - April 25.--St. Mark. Alexandria. Apostle and Evangelist. - - April 30.--St. Catherine of Siena. - - May 1.--May Day. St. Philip and St. James the Less. - - May 3.--Invention or discovery of the Holy Cross. - - May 5.--St. Hilary of Arles. A.D. 449. - - May 7.--St. John Beverlev. A.D. 721. - - May 8.--St. Michael Archangel. - - May 19.--St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. A.D. 988. - - June 8.--St. William, Archbishop of York. 1144. Note the W. on - the line. - - June 11.--St. Barnabas, Apostle. Commencement of the Hay harvest, - hence the rake. - - June 24.--Nativity of John Baptist. - -Turnover staff for rest of June. - - June 29.--St. Peter, symbol of key. - - July 2.--Visitation of S. Elizabeth. - - July 7.--S. Ethelburgh. - - July 15.--S. Swithin, symbol as A.D. 862. Bishop of Winchester. - Shower of rain. - - July 20.--St. Margaret. - - July 22.--St. Mary Magdalene. - - July 25.--St. James, Apostle the Great. - - July 26.--St. Anne. - - August 1.--Lammas Day. - - August 5.--St. Oswald. - - August 10.--St. Lawrence. - - August 15.--Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. - - August 24.--St. Bartholomew. - - August 29.--St. John Baptist. - - Sept. 1.--St. Giles. Patron of Hospitals. - - Sept. 6.-- - - Sept. 8.--Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. - - Sept. 14.--Exaltation of the Cross. - - Sept. 21.--St. Matthew, Apostle. - - Sept. 29.--Feast of S. Michael the Archangel. - - Oct. 9.--St. Denis. - - Oct. 13.--St. Edward the Confessor. - - Oct. 18.--St. Luke the Evangelist. - - Oct. 25.--St. Crispin, Patron of Shoemakers. - - Oct. 28.--St. Simon and St. Jude. - - Nov. 1.--All Saints. - - Nov. 2.--All Souls. - - Nov. 6.--St. Leonard. - - Nov. 11.--St. Martin. Bishop of Tours, A.D. 397. - - Nov. 17.--S. Hugh. Bishop of Lincoln, A.D. 1200. - - Nov. 20.--St. Edmund, King of East Anglia. - - Nov. 23.--St. Clement. - - Nov. 25.--St. Catherine of Alexandria. - - Nov. 30.--St. Andrew, Apostle. - - Dec. 6.--St. Nicholas. - - Dec. 8.--Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. - - Dec. 13.--St. Lucia. Patroness Saint of diseases of the eye. - - Dec. 21.--St. Thomas, Apostle. Shortest day. - - Plot 25.--Christmas Day. - - Plot 26.--St. Stephen, First Martyr. - - Plot 27.--St. John the Evangelist. - - Plot 28.--Innocents. - - Plot 29.--St. Thomas of Canterbury, 1171. - - Plot 31.--St. Sylvester, Pope 335. Made a general Festival 1227. - -The more ancient almanac called Runic Primitare, so named from the -Prima-luna or new moon which gave the appellation of Prime to the Lunar -or Golden Number, so called because the Number was marked in gold on -the stave. The Rim Stocks of Denmark so called from Rim, a calendar and -stock a staff. The marks called Runic characters were supposed to have -magical powers and so were regarded with dread by the Christians and -were often destroyed by the priests and converts to Christianity. - -They were derived from rude imitations of the Greek letters. Two of -these staves now in the Museum at Copenhagen are 4 feet 8-1/2 inches -and 3 feet 8 inches long respectively. They are hand carved and not -in any sense made by machinery. This accounts from them being rarely -alike, and often very different from one another. - -The Sun in his annual career returns to the same point in the Zodiac in -365 days, 6 hours, nearly. The Moon who is really the month maker, as -the Sun is the year maker, does 12 of her monthly revolutions in 354 -days. So that a lunar year is 11 days shorter than the solar, supposing -both to start from the same date. The actual lunar month contains about -29-1/2 days. Therefore in order to balance the two reckonings, it was -agreed at a convention of Scientist Christians of Alexandria in the -year A.D. 323, two years previous to the Council of Nice, to make the -distances between the new moon alternately 29 and 30 days, and to place -the golden number accordingly. Now these Egyptian scholars observed -that the new moon nearest the vernal Equinox in 323 was on the 27th day -of the Egyptian month Phauranoth, corresponding with our 23rd of March, -so the cycle was commenced on this day. This is the reason why the -golden number 1 is placed against it, 29 days from this brought them -to the 21st April, and 30 days from this to the 21st May, and so on -through the year. - - -RUNIC CALENDAR. - -The explanatory engraving of the Calendar shows the year begins on the -23rd December. That this date is correctly given for the first day of -the year is proved by the agreement between the Saints days and the -days of the month on which they fall and the Christian Sunday Letters. - -In thus beginning the year this Calendar exhibits a rare peculiarity. -No other Runic Calendar begins the year in the same manner, while -numbers could be shown which begin the year at Yuletide, commencing on -the 25th December. - -Of the two modes of beginning it there is no question that the one here -exhibited is the genuine heathen while the other is genuine Christian. -It is worth noticing that as Winter takes precedence of Summer in the -sense of a year: so night takes precedence of day generally in the -sense of a civil day of 24 hours in old Icelandic writers, a manner of -speech which to this day is far from having gone out of use. - -Considering the heathen tradition preserved in this Calendar in -the number of days given to the year and in the date given to the -commencement of the year, in which it stands unique, in the fact that -the interval between 1230 and 1300, _i.e._, out of 160 years rich in -famous local and famous general Saints, not one should be recorded -here: that Saints of universal adoration in the Catholic Church, such -as St. Thomas of Canterbury, St. Benedict, and others, should not have -a place here: we cannot escape referring it to an age when it may be -fairly supposed that these heathen traditions were still believed in by -at least a considerable number of the community. - -Anterior to 1230 it cannot be, long posterior to that date it can -scarcely be. That it must be a layman's Calendar, is shown because -it exhibits no golden numbers, and gives consequently no clue to -the Paschal cycle or movable feasts. It is a very valuable piece of -antiquity and ought to be well taken care of. - -On 2nd February were anciently observed all over the Pagan north -certain rites connected with the worship of fire. In some places the -toast or bumper of the fire was drunk by the whole family kneeling -round the fire, who at the same time offered grain or beer to the -flames on the hearth. This was the so-called Eldborgs-skäl, the toast -of fire salvage, a toast which was meant to avert disaster by fire for -the coming year. - -Fire and Sun worship mingled together, no doubt in observance of this -feast: for where it was most religiously observed amongst the Swedes -it was called Freysblôt and was a great event. In early Christian -times only wax candles which had received the blessing of the -priest, were burnt in the houses of the people, in the evening. Hence -Candlemas,--see illustration in Stephens' Scandinavian Monuments. From -a remarkable treatise by Eirikr Magnusson, M.A., on a Runic Calendar -found in Lapland in 1866, bearing English Runes. (Cambridge Antiq. Soc. -Communications, Vol. X., No. 1, 1877.) - -[Illustration] - - -THIS ENGLISH (?) OR NORWEGIAN RUNIC CALENDAR IS DATED ABOUT A.D. -1000-1100. - -What distinguishes this piece is that seemingly from its great age -and its having been _made in England_, it has preserved in the outer -or lower lines several of _the olden Runes_. These are the "Notae -Distortae" spoken of by Worm. Some of these as we can plainly see are -provincial _English_ varieties of the old northern Runes. - -The Calendar before us is of bone, made from the jaw-bone of the -porpoise. We know nothing of its history. Worm says, "Probably to this -class must be assigned the peculiar Calendar carved on a concave bone, -part of the jaw-bone of some large fish." Although it shows three rows -of marks the signs of Festivals, the Solar Cycle and the Lunar Cycle, -this last is here very imperfect and has even some distorted marks as -we see in the engraving. - -Each side, the concave as well as the convex, bears near the edge -its girdling three rows of marks, so that every series comprehends a -quarter of a year, beginning with the day of Saint Calixtus. As Worm -has only given one side of this curious Rune-blade, we cannot know the -peculiarities of the other half, which contained the Solar Cycle, and -the three sign lines for two quarters. - -On the side given, the Runes on the right hand are reversed and read -from top to bottom; those on the left hand are not retrograde. It may -often have been carried on the person, being only 18 inches long. The -clog calendars range in length from 3 to 4 feet, to as many inches. - -Whenever we light upon any kind of _Runic_ pieces, we are at once -confined _to the north_, Scandinavia and England. Though so numerous in -the Northern lands, no Runic Calendar has ever yet been found in any -Saxon or German province, except a couple bought or brought by modern -travellers, as curiosities from Scandinavia. - -Stephens says this whole class of Antiquities has never yet been -properly treated. It offers work for one man's labours during a long -time and many journeys. It would produce a rich harvest as to the signs -and symbols, and Runes as modified by local use and clannish custom. -All the symbol marks should be treated in parallel groups. The various -and often peculiar Runes should be carefully collected and elucidated. -All this is well worthy of a competent Rune-Smith, Computist, and -Ecclesiologist. On many of the _old_ Runic Calendars, especially in -Sweden, we find a "_lake_" or game long famous all over Europe, but -now mostly known to children, called "the Lake" or game of Saint Peter. -This is an ingenious way of so placing 30 persons, that we may save -one half from death or imprisonment, by taking out each ninth man as a -victim, till only one half the original number is left. These 15 are -thus all rescued. Of course the man thus taken must not be counted a -second time. - -Formerly the favoured 15 were called Christians and the other Jews. -Carving this in one line, we get the marks so often found on Rune-clogs: - - xxxx|||||xx|xxx|x||xx|||x||xx| - -The story about it is this: Saint Peter is said to have been at sea -in a ship in which were 30 persons, the one half Christians and the -other half Jews. But a storm arose so furious that the vessel had to be -lightened, and it was resolved to throw overboard half the crew. Saint -Peter then ranged them in the order we see, every ninth man was taken -out. The crosses betoken the Christians and the strokes the Jews. In -this way all the Jews were cast into the deep while all the Christians -remained. Herewith the old were wont to amuse themselves. - -_Folk-lore of children in rhyme and ritual._ The child is surrounded by -an ancient circle of ritualism and custom. Visitors to see the infant -must take it a threefold gift. In some districts in Yorkshire the -conditions are a little tea, sugar, and oven-cake. Another Yorkshire -practice is to take an egg, some salt, and a piece of silver. The child -must not be brought downstairs to see the visitor, for to bring it -downstairs would be to give it a start in life in the wrong direction. -The form of this idea is to be found in certain (Japanese) customs. The -child's finger-nails must not be cut with scissors, for iron had such -close association with witchcraft. The nails must be bitten off with -the teeth. This practice survives in some adults, much to the disgust -of their friends. - -Of children's games, that known as "Hopscotch" was originally a -religious rite practised at funerals. It was symbolical of the passage -of the soul from the body to heaven or the other place to which the -ancients gave various names. The pattern which is drawn for the purpose -of this game has been found on the floor of the Roman Forum. - -Another game called "Cat's Cradle" was played by the North American -Indians, and has recently found on an island north of Australia. When -children could not play on account of the rain they recited a little -rhyme which is still known to-day by the people of Austria and in the -wilds of Asia. The game of "Ring o' Roses" is the survival of an old -incantation addressed to the Corn Spirit. When the wind rippled across -the cornfield the ancient harvesters thought the corn god was passing -by, and would recite the old rhyme, closing with the words, "Hark the -cry! hark the cry! all fall down!" Sometimes the corn spirit was -supposed to become incarnated in the form of a cow, hence the line in -the nursery jingle, "Boy Blue! the cow's in the corn." When the boy -donned his first pair of breeches he must pass through a ritual. He -must be nipped. The significance of the nip was a test to see whether -the boy in the new breeches was the same boy, or whether he had been -changed by the fairies or evil spirits. This idea of a change by evil -spirits might seem far-fetched, but so recently as 1898, in the records -of the Irish courts there was a case in which an Irishman was tried -for accusing his wife of not being the same person as when he married -her, and of the woman being branded in consequence. Superstitions as -to the cure of certain childish complaints survive in the cure for -whooping cough, to take the sufferer "over t' watter." That is the only -medicinal use of the river Aire, near Leeds. - - - - -Memorials - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -MEMORIALS. - - -At the time of the Conquest the population in some of the largest -and most important cities is said to have been almost exclusively of -Scandinavian extraction. - -In the north the Norwegian saint, "St. Olave," has been zealously -commemorated in both towns and country. This proves that churches were -built and Christian worship performed during the Danish dominion, and -that these Northmen continued to reside here in great numbers after the -Danish ascendancy ended. - -In the city of Chester there is a church and parish which still bears -the name of St. Olave, and by the church runs a street called St. -Olave's Lane. This is opposite the old castle and close to the river -Dee. In the north-west part of York there is a St. Olave's Church, said -to be the remains of a monastery founded by the powerful Danish Earl -Sieward, who was himself buried there in the year 1058. Long before the -Norman Conquest, the Danes and Northmen preponderated in many of the -towns of the North of England, which they fortified, and there erected -churches dedicated to their own sainted kings and warriors. Olave -is derived from "Olaf the White," who was a famous Norse Viking. He -subdued Dublin about the middle of the ninth century, and made himself -king of the city and district. From this time Ireland and the Isle of -Man were ruled by Norwegian kings for over three centuries. - -It may therefore be inferred, by a natural process of deductive -reasoning, that during this period the Danes were founding their -settlements in Lancashire. Although we have no distinct traces of -buildings erected by them, the names given by them to many places -still survive. In these compound names the word "kirk" is often met -with. This must establish the fact that the Danes erected many other -churches besides St. Olave's at Chester and York. From Chester and -West Kirby, in the Wirral district, to Furness, in the North, we -have abundant evidence in the name of Kirk, and its compound forms, -that many Christian churches were erected. At Kirkdale, Ormskirk, -Kirkham, Kirkby Lonsdale, Kirby Moorside, and Kirkby Stephen Norman -churches have superseded Danish buildings. Kendal was known formerly -as Kirkby-in-Kendal, or the "Church-town in the valley of Kent." -And further memorials here survive in the names of streets, such as -Stramongate, Gillingate, Highgate, and Strickland-gate. - -The name Furness is distinctly Scandinavian, from "Fur" and "Ness," -or Far promontory. The abbot of Furness was intimate with the Danish -rulers of Manxland, for he got a portion of land there in 1134 to -build himself a palace. He was followed by the Prior of Whithorn and -St. Bede. In 1246 the monks of Furness obtained all kinds of mines in -Man, and some land near St. Trinian's. By the industry and ability of -these monks Furness became one of the wealthiest abbeys in England, and -thus were laid the foundations of one of the greatest industries in -Lancashire, viz., the smelting of iron ore. - - - - -Literature - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -LITERATURE. - - -During that period when the Danes were making their conquests and -settlements in the North of England, art and literature did not hold -any high position in Europe. The fall of the Roman Empire gave a shock -to the pursuits of learning which had not recovered when Christian art -was in its infancy. The Northmen early distinguished themselves in the -art of shipbuilding, and also in the manufacture of ornaments, domestic -utensils, and weapons. This taste had arisen from the imitation of the -Roman and Arabesque articles of commerce which they brought up into the -North. Some Scandinavian antiquities have been discovered belonging -to the period called "the age of bronze," and also the later heathen -times, known as "the iron age." The Sagas record that the carving of -images was skilfully practised in the north, and the English Chronicles -provide records of richly carved figures on the bows of Danish and -Norse vessels. The Normans from Denmark who settled in Normandy were -first converted to Christianity, and early displayed the desire to -erect splendid buildings, especially churches and monasteries. - -Long before the Norman Conquest, the Danes devoted themselves to -peaceful occupations. Several of the many churches and convents -were erected by Danish princes and chiefs, in the northern parts of -England, which have now been re-built, or disappeared; but their names -survive to distinguish their origin. It has been said that these -early buildings were composed of wood. This is proved from the work -recently issued by Mr. J. Francis Bumpus, in his "Cathedrals of Norway, -Sweden, and Denmark." The touching life story of the martyred Saint -Olaf is there told. A wooden chapel was built over his grave about the -year 1047. This became the centre of the national religion, and the -sanctuary of the national freedom and independence. Trondhjem, says Mr. -Bumpus, is the eloquent expression in stone of Norway's devotion to the -beloved St. Olaf. Despoiled of much of its ornamentation by Protestant -zeal, it retains in the octagon of its noble choir a true architectural -gem, equal in delicate beauty to the Angel Choir of Lincoln. - -[Illustration: Example of Danish Carved Wood-work, with Runes, from -Thorpe Church, Hallingdal, Denmark.] - -The phrase "skryke of day" is common to South Lancashire, and is the -same as the old English "at day pype," or "peep of day." "There is a -great intimacy," says Dr. Grimm, "between our ideas of light and sound, -of colour and music, and hence we are able to comprehend that rustling, -and that noise, which is ascribed to the rising and setting Sun." -Thomas Kingo, a Danish poet of the seventeenth century, and probably -others of his countrymen, make the rising of the Sun to pipe -(pfeifen), that is to utter a piercing sound. - -Tacitus had long before recorded the Swedish superstition, that the -rising Sun made a noise. The form in which our skryke of day has come -down to us is Scandinavian. Grimm says, "Still more express are the -passages which connect the break of day, and blush of the morning, with -ideas of commotion and rustling." Goethe has in "Faust" borrowed from -the Pythagorean and Platonic doctrine of the harmony of the spheres, -and illustrated Grimm's proposition of the union of our ideas of light -and sound by describing the course of the Sun in its effulgence as a -march of thunder. Jonson regarded noise as an essential quality of the -heavenly bodies-- - - "Come, with our voices let us war, - And challenge all the spheres, - Till each of us be made a star, - And all the world turned ears." - -The noise of daybreak may be gathered from the fracture of metal, and -applied to the severance of darkness and light, may well have sound -attributed to it. The old meaning of "peep (or pype) of day" was the -joyful cry which accompanied the birth of light. "Peep," as sound is -most ancient, and a "nest of peepers," that is, of young birds, is now -almost obsolete English. Milton, in "Paradise Lost," shows the setting -Sun to make a noise from its heated chariot axles being quenched in -the Atlantic. Once, at Creation, the morning stars sang for joy; but -afterwards moved in expressive silence. - - -BALLADS AND WAR SONGS. - -As a consequence of the Danish and Norman conquests, a peculiar -composition arose called Anglo-Danish and Anglo-Norman. These -legends and war songs were produced by the Danish wars, and were -the expressions of an adventurous and knightly spirit, which became -prevalent in England. The most celebrated of them were the romances -of "Beowulf," "Havelock, the Dane," and "Guy, Earl of Warwick." In -the older romances of Scandinavian songs and sages, combats against -dragons, serpents, and plagues are celebrated; in later romances of -the age of chivalry, warriors are sung who had fallen in love with -beautiful damsels far above them in birth or rank, and whose hand -they could only acquire by some brilliant adventure or exploit. The -heathen poems of the Scandinavian North are all conceived in the same -spirit, and it is not unreasonable to recognise traces of Scandinavian -influence in English compositions. In later times, even to the middle -ages, this influence is still more apparent in the ballads and popular -songs, which are only to be found in the northern or old Danish parts -of England. - -Many parts of the Edda or Sagas have been founded on songs in honour -of the gods and heroes worshipped in Scandinavia. - -In Shakespeare's "Hamlet" the young prince is sent to Britain with a -letter carried by his two comrades. But he re-writes the letter and -saves his life. - -In the original Amleth legend of Saxo Grammaticus the two companions of -Amleth, carry a wooden rune-carvel. But he cuts away some of the staves -and adds others, so that the letter now tells the British king to slay -the messengers, and to give his daughter in marriage to Amleth. - -In the "Historie of Hamlet," London, 1608, we read, "Now to bear him -company were assigned two of Fengons' ministers, bearing letters -engraved on wood, that contained Hamlet's death, in such sort as he -had advertised to the King of England. But the subtle Danish prince, -being at sea, whilst his companions slept, raced out the letters that -concerned his death, and instead thereof graved others." - - -LAY OF THE NORSE GODS AND HEROES. - - Step out of the misty veil - Which darkly winds round thee; - Step out of the olden days, - Thou great Divinity! - Across thy mental vision - Passes the godly host, - That Brugi's melodies - Made Asgard's proudest boast. - There rise the sounds of music - From harp strings sweet and clear, - Wonderfully enchanting - To the receiving ear. - Thou wast it, thou hast carried - Sagas of Northern fame, - Didst boldly strike the harp strings - Of old Skalds; just the same - Thou span'st the bridge of Birfrost, - The pathway of the Gods: - O name the mighty heroes, - Draw pictures of the Gods! - -These fairy tales of the giants, dwarfs, and heroes, are not senseless -stories written for the amusement of the idle; but they contain the -deep faith or religion of our forefathers, which roused them to brave -actions, and inspired them with strength and courage. These Sagas -existed for over four hundred years, until they exchanged their -hero-god for St. Martin, and their Thumar, for St. Peter or St. Oswald, -when their glory in Scandinavia fell before the preaching of the Cross. - - -ART. - -[Illustration: Bractaetes.] - -Previous to their conquest of England, the Danes are said to have been -unacquainted with the art of coining money. They are said to have -imitated the Byzantine coins, by making the so-called "Bractaetes," -which were stamped only on the one side, and were mostly used as -ornaments. The art of coinage was very ancient in England. It -was the custom of the Anglo-Saxon coiners to put their names on the -coins which they struck. In the eighth and ninth centuries the names -of the coiners are purely Anglo-Saxon. But in the tenth century, and -especially after the year 950, pure Danish or Scandinavian names begin -to appear; for instance, Thurmo, Grim, under King Edgar (959-975), and -Rafn, Thurstan, under King Edward (975-978); also Ingolf, Hargrim, and -others. - -These Scandinavian names are mostly found in the coins minted in the -North of England, or in districts which were early occupied by the -Danes. Under King Ethelred II., who contended so long with Canute the -Great before the Danish conquest of England was completed, the number -of Scandinavian coiners arose rapidly, with the Danish power, and the -names of forty or fifty may be found on the coins of Ethelred alone. -Even after the fall of the Danish power, they are to be met with in -almost the same number as before on the coins of the Anglo-Saxon -King, Edward the Confessor. These coins prove much and justify us in -inferring a long continued coinage. - - * * * * * - -The great hoard of silver coins found at Cuerdale in 1840, some two -miles above Preston, were buried in a leaden chest, near an ancient -ford of the river Ribble. This treasure composed the war chest of -the Danish army, which was defeated at this ford early in the tenth -century, on its retreat into Northumbria. It contained nearly one -thousand English coins of Alfred the Great, and some forty-five of -Edward the Elder. The latest date of any of these coins being of the -latter reign, the date of the hoard being buried may be fixed between -the years 900 and 925. Many of the coins were continental, belonging -to the coast of Western France, and from the district round the mouth -of the river Seine. The appearance of this money agrees with the early -records of the Saxon Chronicle, that of the year 897, which tells us -that "the Danish army divided, one part went into the Eastern Counties, -and the other into Northumbria, and those who were without money, -procured ships and went southwards over the sea to the Seine." - -The other Chronicle of 910 states that, "a great fleet came hither -from the south, from Brittany, and greatly ravaged the Severn, but -there they afterwards nearly all perished." It may be supposed that the -remnant of this band became united with the main Danish army, and would -account for the large proportion of foreign money. The bulk of the -coins were Danish, minted by Danish kings of Northumbria. - -[Illustration: Halton Cup.] - -[Illustration] - -From these circumstances, we may believe, this hoard to have been the -treasure or war chest of this retreating army. This Cuerdale hoard is -by far the largest found in Lancashire; it contained 10,000 silver -coins, and nearly 1,000 ounces of silver ingots. A smaller find, -made at an early date, was the hoard of 300 silver pennies, discovered -in 1611 at Harkirke, which lies on the sea coast between Crosby and -Formby. Of this collection, some 35 coins were engraved at the latter -part of the tenth century. - -This engraving shows that these coins were minted by Alfred, Edward the -Elder, and the Danish king Canute, and the ecclesiastical coinages of -York and East Anglia. These coins were buried within a few years of the -deposit at Cuerdale. We have numerous records of other Danish finds. - -At Halton Moor, five miles above Lancaster, the discovery was made in -1815 of a silver cup of graceful design, containing 860 silver coins -of Canute, with ornaments, which included a torque of silver wire. Mr. -J. Coombe, of the British Museum, describes the coins as 21 Danish, -and 379 of Canute. The latter being nearly all of one type, having on -the obverse side the Head of the King with Helmet and Sceptre, and on -the reverse a cross, within the inner circle, with amulets in the four -angles. - -The silver cup found on Halton Moor contained, in addition to the -coins of Canute, a silver torque, which had been squeezed into the -vessel. Both these silver articles are highly decorated and of great -interest. The cup weighed over ten ounces, and was composed of metal -containing three parts silver with one part copper. It appeared to -have been gilt originally, some of the gold still remaining, which -was of very pale colour. The ornamentation consisted of four circular -compartments, divided by branches which terminated in the heads of -animals, in Arabesque style. In these compartments are a panther and -a butting bull alternately. This ornament is included inside two -beautiful borders, which encircle the cup in parallel lines. The torque -is of equal interest, and is a peculiar example of Danish wire-work -metal rings, twisted and plated, with the ends beaten together for a -double fastening. The face of this portion of the necklace, which is -flattened, was decorated with small triangular pieces fixed by curious -rivets. It was of pure silver and weighed six ounces six penny-weights. - -Along with these deposits were some gold pieces, struck on one side -only, with a rough outline of a human head. Similar pieces have been -found in Denmark, and the Danish element is predominant in the whole -decoration. - - -THE VIKING AGE. - -Before the Normans came our district was Scandinavian. From the year -876 they began to settle and behaved not as raiders but as colonists. -They wanted homes and settled quietly down. - -In the course of 200 years their descendants became leading landowners, -as we see from the Norse names of the 12th century records. - -Naturally the art of the district must have been influenced by such -people: especially by the Scandinavians who had lived in Ireland, till -then a very artistic country. Whether Irish taught Norse or _vice -versa_, we see that there was a quantity of artistic work produced -especially along the seaboard, and we are lucky in having analogies not -far to seek. - -In the Isle of Man the earliest series of Crosses have 11th century -runes and figure subjects from the Edda and the Sigurd story which were -late 11th century. Mr. Kermode, F.S.A., Scot., dates them 1050-1150 -(Saga book of Viking Club, Vol. I., p. 369). We have them in the -remains in Man a kindred race to ours in the age before the Normans -came: and we find resemblances between these Manx Crosses and some of -ours both in subject and in style. In subjects the 11th century Crosses -of Kirk Andreas, Jurby, and Malew find a parallel at Halton, which Mr. -Calverley places late in 11th century and attributes to people under -strong Scandinavian influence: but Danish as it happens rather than -Norse. - -The Halton Crosses are not Norse in style. They are like the late -pre-Norman work in Yorkshire where the Danes lived. - -Then the Hogback stones have to be placed. We have fixed the Gosforth -and Plumland examples by their dragonesque work as of the Viking -settlement. - -All these have the chain pattern, which Mr. Calverley called the Tree -Yggdrasil or Tree of Existence, which shows that these monuments are of -Viking origin. - -From what models or pattern did these early sculptors copy their -designs? It is sometimes said that they imitated MSS.: assuming that -MSS. were fairly common and placed in the stone carver's hands. This is -far less likely than that sculptors, at a distance from good models in -stone, copied patterns from metal work which were the most portable, -and most accessible of all forms of art, in the days before printing -was invented. - -Suppose, to make it plainer, the sorrowing survivor bids the British -workman carve a Cross for the dead. "What like shall I work it?" says -the mason. "Like the fair Crosses of England or Ireland, a knot above, -and a knot below, and so forth." "But," says the mason, and he might -say it in the 10th century, "I have never been in England or Ireland -or seen your Crosses." Then answers the patron, "Make it like this -swordhilt." (Calverley.) - -The earlier Irish Christians were highly intellectual and literary, but -not at first artistic. Literature in all races precedes art; it would -be contrary to all historical analogy if Patrick and Columba had lived -in the artistic atmosphere of the eighth and ninth century in Ireland. -Patrick's bell is no great credit to Assicus his coppersmith: his -crosier was a plain stick. There is no indication in our remains that -Irish missionaries of the seventh century brought a single art idea -into the country. It was the Irish Viking Christians of the twelfth -century who did. - -Mr. George Stephens, in his "Old Northern Runic Monuments of -Scandinavia and England," vol. iii., under the heading "Runic Remains -and Runic Writings," says:-- - -"I believe these stones, however altered and conventionalised, were -all originally made for worship as gods or fetishes, elfstones, or -what not, but in fact, at first as phallic symbols, the Zinga and the -Zoni, creation and preservation, placed on the tumulus as triumphant -emblems of Light out of Darkness, Life after Death. And the _priapus_ -and _cups_ sometimes seen on burial-urns, must have the same meaning. -Several of the grave minnes bearing old Norse runes were worship -stones, carved with regular cups, etc., _ages before_ they were used a -second time for funereal purposes." - -Prof. J. F. Simpson, M.D., Edinburgh, has a paper "On the Cup Cuttings -and Ring Cuttings on the Calder Stones near Liverpool," in the -Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. -xvii., 1865, in which he states that-- - -"The Calder Stones near Liverpool afford an interesting and remarkable -example of these cup and ring carvings upon this variety of -stones--or, in words, upon the stones of a small megalithic circle. -Some of the Calder Stones afford ample evidence of modern chiselling -as marked by the sharpness and outray figurings. But in addition to -these there are cut upon them, though in some parts greatly faded -away, sculpturings of cups and concentric rings similar to those found -in various parts of England and Scotland, remarkable for not only -their archaic carvings, perfect and entire similarity to those found -elsewhere, but still more from the fact that we have here presented -upon a single circle almost every known and recognised type of these -cuttings. - -The Calder circle is about six yards in diameter, consists of five -stones which are still upright and one that is fallen. The stones -consists of slabs and blocks of red sandstone, all different in size -and shape. The fallen stone is small, and shows nothing on its exposed -side, but possibly if turned over some markings might be discovered on -its other surface. Of the five standing stones the largest of the set, -No. 1, is a sandstone slab between 576 feet in height and in breadth. -On its outer surface, or the surface turned to the exterior of the -circle, there is a flaw above from disintegration and splintering of -the stone: but the remaining portion of the surface presents between -30 and 40 cup depressions varying from 2 to 3 and a half inches in -diameter, and at its lowest and left-hand corner is a concentric -circle about a foot in diameter, consisting of four enlarging rings, -but apparently without any central depression. The opposite surface of -this stone (No. 1) is that directed to the interior of the circle, has -near its centre a cup cut upon it, with the remains of one surrounding -ring. On the right side of this single-ringed cup are the faded remains -of a concentric circle of three rings. To the left of it there is -another three-ringed circle with a central depression, but the upper -portions of the ring are broken off. Above it is a double-ringed cup, -with this peculiarity, that the external ring is a volute leading from -the central cup, and between the outer and inner ring is a fragmentary -line of apparently another volute making a double-ringed spiral which -is common on some Irish stones, as on those of the great archaic -mausoleum at New Grange, but extremely rare in Great Britain. At the -very base of this stone towards the left are two small volutes, one -with a central depression or cup, and the other seemingly without it. -One of these small volutes consists of three turns, the other of two. - -The cup and ring cuttings have been discovered in a variety of -relations and positions. Some are sculptured on the surface of rocks -_in situ_--on large stones placed inside and outside the walls of old -British cities and camps, on blocks used in the construction of the -olden dwellings and strongholds of archaic living man, in the interior -of the chambered sepulchres and kistvaens of the archaic dead, on -monoliths and on cromlechs, and repeatedly in Scotland on megalithic or -so-called "Druidical" circles. - -The name Calder Stones is derived from Norse Calder or Caldag, the -calf-garth or yard enclosed to protect young cattle from straying. - - -NORSE AND DANISH GRAVE MOUNDS. - -Amongst the ancient monuments of Britain the well-known remains called -Druidical Circles hold a foremost place, though their use, and the -people by whom they were erected, are questions which still remain -matters of dispute. The Stone enclosures of Denmark, which resemble the -Circles of Cumbria in many respects, mainly differ from them, in that -they are found in connection with burial chambers, whilst the latter -are generally situated on the flat surface of moors, with nothing -to indicate that they have ever been used for sepulchural purposes. -Therefore wherever no urns or other remains have been found, we have -negative evidence that the place was not intended for a place of -sepulture. - -[Illustration: CALDER STONE No 1 - -OUTER SURFACE.] - -[Illustration: INNER SURFACE.] - -Cairns which are the most undisputed form of a Celtic burial place -were once very numerous in the northern districts: but a great many -have long since been removed. The graves of Norway bear an outward -resemblance to the Celtic Cairn, but the main cause appears to be -that in mountainous countries stones are more easily procurable than -earth. Where a doubt exists as to the proprietorship of these mounds, -the only means of deciding is by an examination of the interior. The -Norse Cairn should enclose a stone chest or wooden chamber and iron -weapons. The Norwegians burned the body until about their conversion to -Christianity. - -[Illustration: CALDER STONE No 2. - -OUTER ASPECT, TWO SIDES.] - -[Illustration: INNER SIDE.] - -[Illustration: CALDER STONE No 3. - -OUTER ASPECT TWO SIDES.] - -[Illustration: INNER SIDE] - -Tumuli or barrows still remain in great numbers. As far as records -have been kept of those removed, nearly all must be claimed for the -Bronze age, and the main part of those yet standing are essentially of -a Danish character. In the description of this class of graves, we have -no actual mention of iron antiquities. - -The Cairn called Mill Hill, Westmoreland, appears to have been a Celtic -burial place, whilst Loden How was more probably Danish than Norse. -Four different names are found in connection with sepulchres of this -kind, viz., "how, raise, barrow, and hill," but the distinction is -principally that of age, and the order of the words as here placed -indicates the period to which each belongs. - -Few traces of the Iron age can be regarded as exclusively Norwegian -wherever the body has been burned. Ormstead, near Penrith, was possibly -a Norse burial place; while Thulbarrow, in the same neighbourhood, was -in all probability Danish. - -Memorial stones still remain in considerable numbers, the most -remarkable of which is the Nine Standards in Westmoreland. Several -villages called Unthank take their names from Monuments no longer in -existence, the word being in English "onthink," and the phrase "to -think on" is still current in the dialect. - - - - -Mythology - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -MYTHOLOGY. - - -The religious conceptions of the most famous nations of antiquity -are connected with the beginnings of civilisation. We are told by -Dr. Wägner, in his work "Asgard and the Gods," of the traditions of -our northern ancestors, the story of the myths and legends of Norse -antiquity. The first of their heroes was Odin, the god of battles, -armed with his war spear, followed by the Walkyries, who consecrate the -fallen heroes with a kiss, and bear them away to the halls of the gods, -where they enjoy the feasts of the blessed. Later, Odin invents the -Runes, through which he gains the power of understanding and ruling all -things. He thus becomes the spirit of nature, the all-father. Then the -ash tree, "Yggdrasil," grew up; the tree of the universe, of time, and -life. The boughs stretched out to heaven, and over-shadowed Walhalla, -the hall of the heroes. This world-tree was evergreen, watered daily by -the fateful Norns, and could not wither until the last battle should be -fought, where life, time, and the world were all to pass away. This was -related by a skald, the northern bard, to the warriors while resting -from the fatigue of fighting, by tables of mead. - -The myths were founded on the belief of the Norse people, regarding the -creation of the world, gods, and men, and thus we find them preserved -in the songs of the "Edda. The vague notion of a Deity who created and -ruled over all things had its rise in the impression made upon the -human mind by the unity of nature. The sun, moon, and stars, clouds -and mists, storms and tempests, appeared to be higher powers, and took -distinct forms in the mind of man. The sun was first regarded as a -fiery bird which flew across the sky, then as a horse, and afterwards -as a chariot and horses; the clouds were cows, from whose udders the -fruitful rain poured down. The storm-wind appeared as a great eagle -that stirred the air by the flapping of his enormous wings. These -signs of nature seemed to resemble animals. On further consideration -it was found that man was gifted with the higher mental powers. It -was then acknowledged that the figure of an animal was an improper -representation of a divine being. They thus inverted the words of Holy -writ, that "God created man in his own image," and men now made the -gods in their own likeness, but still regarded them as greater, more -beautiful, and more ideal than themselves. - -From the titles of these pagan gods we derive the names of our days -of the week, and thus we continue to perpetuate in our daily life the -story of Norse mythology. The first day of the week was dedicated to -the worship of the sun. The second day to that of the moon. The third -day was sacred to Tyr, the god of war. The fourth day was sacred to -Wodin, or Odin, the chief deity. The fifth day was sacred to Thor, -the god of thunder. The sixth day of the week, Friday, was sacred to -Frigga, the wife of the great Odin. The seventh or last day of the week -was dedicated by the Romans to Saturn, one of the planets, their god of -agriculture, whose annual festival was a time of unrestrained enjoyment. - -The "Eddas" were two Scandinavian books, the earlier a collection -of mythological and heroic songs, and the other a prose composition -of old and venerable traditions. These books were meant for the -instruction of the Norse skalds and bards. It is believed that the -learned Icelander, Saemund, the Wise, compiled the older Edda in 1056 -from oral traditions, and partly from runic writings. The younger Edda -is supposed to have been compiled by Bishop Snorri Sturlason in 1178, -and this collection goes by the name of Snorra-Edda. The language was -developed by means of the sagas and songs which had been handed down -among the people from generation to generation. - -The Norns were the three fatal sisters, who used to watch over the -springs of water, and appeared by the cradle of many a royal infant -to give it presents. On such occasions two of them were generally -friendly to the child, while the third prophesied evil concerning it. -In the pretty story of the "Sleeping Beauty" these Norns appear as the -fairies. - - -MYTHICAL GODS. - -Bragi was the son of the wave maidens and the god of poetry. He was -married to the blooming Induna, who accompanied him to Asgard, where -she gave the gods every morning the apples of eternal youth. - -Tyr, the god of war, was tall, slender as a pine, and bravely defended -the gods from the terrible Fenris-Wolf. In doing so he lost his hand, -and was held in high honour by the people. Baldur, the holy one, and -the giver of all good, was the son of Odin. His mother Frigga entreated -all creatures to spare the well-beloved, but she overlooked the weak -mistletoe bough. The gods in boisterous play threw their weapons at -Baldur, and the dart made of the fatal bough was thrown by the blind -Hödur with deadly effect. - -Forseti, the son of Baldur, resembled his father in holiness and -righteousness, was the upholder of eternal law. The myth shows him -seated on a throne teaching the Norsemen the benefits of the law, -surrounded by his twelve judges. - -Loki, the crafty god, was the father of the Fenris-Wolf, and the snake. -He was the god of warmth and household fire, and was held to be the -corrupter of gods, and the spirit of evil. It was Loki who formed the -fatal dart, which he placed in the hands of the blind Hödur, which -caused the death of Baldur. After the murder of Baldur, Loki conceals -himself on a distant mountain, and hides himself under a waterfall. -Here the avengers catch him in a peculiar net which he had invented -for the destruction of others. They bind him to a rock, where a snake -drops poison upon his face, which makes him yell with pain. His -faithful wife, Sigyn, catches the poison in a cup; but still it drops -upon him whenever the vessel is full. From this myth it is supposed -that Shakspere derived the story of his greatest drama and tragedy, -"Hamlet," of the Prince of Denmark. Our forefathers notion of the last -battle, the single combats of the strong, the burning of the world, -are all to be read in ancient traditions, and we find them described -in the poems of the Skalds. The Norse mythology makes amends for the -tragic end of the divine drama by concluding with a description of the -renewal of the world. The earth rises fresh and green out of its ruin, -as soon as it has been cleansed from sin, refined and restored by fire. -The gods assemble on the plains of Ida, and the sons of Thor bring with -them their father's storm-hammer, a weapon no longer used for fighting, -but only for consecrating what is right and holy. They are joined by -Baldur and Hödur, reconciled and united in brotherly love. - -Uller is recorded in the Edda as the cheery and sturdy god of winter, -who cared nothing for wind and snowstorm, who used to go about on long -journeys on his skates or snow-shoes. These shoes were compared to a -shield, and thus the shield is called Uller's Ship in many places. When -the god Uller skated over the ice he carried with him his shield, and -deadly arrows and bow made from the yew-tree. He lived in the Palace -Ydalir, the yew vale. As he protected plants and seeds from the severe -frosts of the north, by covering the ground with a coating of snow, -he was regarded as the benefactor of mortal men, and was called the -friend of Baldur, the giver of every blessing and joy. Uller meant -divine glory, as Vulder, the Anglo-Saxon god, was also characterised. -This was probably because the glory of the northern winter night, -which is often brilliantly lighted by the snow, the dazzling ice, and -the Aurora-borealis, the great northern light. The myths exist in the -present like the stately ruins of a past time, which are no longer -suitable for the use of man. Generations come and go, their views, -actions, and modes of thought change: - - "All things change; they come and go; - The pure unsullied soul alone remains in peace." - -Thousands of years ago our ancestors prayed to Waruna, the father in -heaven; thousands of years later the Romans entered their temple and -worshipped Jupiter, the father in heaven, while the Teutonic races -worshipped the All-father. After the lapse of centuries now we turn in -all our sorrow and adversities to our Father which is in heaven. In the -thousands of years which may pass we shall not have grown beyond this -central point of religion. - - "Our little systems have their day; - They have their day and cease to be; - They are but broken lights of Thee, - And Thou, O Lord, art more than they. - - We have but faith; we cannot know; - For knowledge is of things we see; - And yet we trust it comes from Thee, - A beam in darkness, let it grow!" - -In his masterly work on "Hero-Worship," Carlyle traces the growth of -the "Hero as Divinity" from the Norse Mythology in the following words: -"How the man Odin came to be considered a god, the chief god? His -people knew no limits to their admiration of him; they had as yet no -scale to measure admiration by. Fancy your own generous heart's love -of some greatest man expanding till it transcended all bounds, till it -filled and overflowed the whole field of your thought. - -Then consider what mere Time will do in such cases; how if a man was -great while living, he becomes tenfold greater when dead. - -What an enormous 'camera-obscura' magnifier is Tradition! How a -thing grows in the human memory, in the human imagination, when love, -worship, and all that lies in the human heart, is there to encourage -it. And in the darkness, in the entire ignorance; without date or -document, no book, no Arundel marble: only here and there some dumb -monumental cairn. Why! in thirty or forty years, were there no books, -any great man would grow 'mythic,' the contemporaries who had seen him, -being once all dead: enough for us to discern far in the uttermost -distance some gleam as of a small real light shining in the centre of -that enormous camera-obscura image: to discern that the centre of it -all was not a madness and nothing, but a sanity and something. - -This light kindled in the great dark vortex of the Norse mind, dark -but living, waiting only for the light, this is to me the centre of -the whole. How such light will then shine out, and with wondrous -thousand-fold expansion spread itself in forms and colours, depends not -on _it_, so much as in the National Mind recipient of it. Who knows -to what unnameable subtleties of spiritual law all these Pagan fables -owe their shape! The number twelve, divisiblest of all, which could be -halved, quartered, parted into three, into six, the most remarkable -number, this was enough to determine the Signs of the Zodiac, the -number of Odin's sons, and innumerable other twelves. - -Odin's Runes are a significant feature of him. Runes, and the miracles -of "magic" he worked by them, make a great feature in tradition. Runes -are the Scandinavian alphabet; suppose Odin to have been the inventor -of letters as well as "magic" among that people. It is the greatest -invention man has ever made, this of marking down the unseen thought -that is in him by written characters. It is a kind of second speech, -almost as miraculous as the first. - -You remember the astonishment and incredulity of Atahaulpa the Peruvian -king; how he made the Spanish soldier, who was guarding him, scratch -Dios on his thumb nail, that he might try the next soldier with it, to -ascertain whether such a miracle was possible. If Odin brought letters -among his people, he might work magic enough! Writing by Runes has some -air of being original among the Norsemen; not a Phoenician alphabet, -but a Scandinavian one. - -Snorro tells us farther that Odin invented poetry; the music of human -speech, as well as that miraculous runic marking of it. - -Transport yourself into the early childhood of nations; the first -beautiful morning light of our Europe, when all yet lay in fresh young -radiance, as of a great sunrise, and our Europe was first beginning to -think,--to be! - -This Odin, in his rude semi-articulate way, had a word to speak. A -great heart laid open to take in this great universe, and man's life -here, and utter a great word about it. And now, if we still admire -such a man beyond all others, what must these wild Norse souls, -first awakened with thinking, have made of him! The rough words he -articulated, are they not the rudimental roots of those English words -we still use? He worked so, in that obscure element. But he was as a -light kindled in it, a light of intellect, rude nobleness of heart, the -only kind of lights we have yet: he had to shine there, and make his -obscure element a little lighter, as is still the task of us all. - -We will fancy him to be the type Norseman; the finest Teuton whom that -race had yet produced. He is as a root of many great things; the fruit -of him is found growing, from deep thousands of years, over the whole -field of Teutonic life. Our own Wednesday, is it not still Odin's day? -Wednesbury, Wansborough, Wanstead, Wandsworth: Odin grew into England -too, these are still the leaves from that root. He was the chief god to -all the Teutonic peoples; their pattern Norsemen. - -The essence of the Scandinavian, as indeed of all Pagan mythologies, we -found to be recognition of the divineness of nature; sincere communion -of man with the mysterious invisible powers, visibly seen at work in -the world around him. - -Sincerity is the great characteristic of it. Amid all that fantastic -congeries of associations and traditions in their musical mythologies, -the main practical belief a man could have was of an inflexible -destiny, of the valkyrs and the hall of Odin, and that the one thing -needful for a man was to be brave. The Valkyrs are choosers of the -slain, who lead the brave to a heavenly hall of Odin: only the base -and slavish being thrust elsewhere, into the realms of Hela, the Death -goddess. This was the soul of the whole Norse Belief. Valour is still -valour. The first duty of a man is still that of subduing Fear. Snorro -tells us they thought it a shame and misery not to die in battle; and -if a natural death seemed to be coming on, they would cut wounds in -their flesh that Odin might receive them as warriors slain. Old kings -about to die had their body laid into a ship, the ship sent forth with -sail set and slow fire burning in it; that once out at sea, it might -blaze up into flame, and in such a manner bury worthily the old hero, -at once in the sky and in the ocean." - - -THE DESCENT OF ODIN. - -(From the Norse Tongue.) - -By THOMAS GRAY. - - Up rose the king of men with speed, - And saddled straight his coal black steed. - Down the yawning steep he rode - That leads to Hela's drear abode. - Him the Dog of Darkness spied; - His shaggy throat he opened wide, - While from his jaws with carnage fill'd, - Foam and human gore distill'd; - Hoarse he bays with hideous din, - Eyes that glow and fangs that grin, - And long pursues with fruitless yell - The father of the powerful spell. - Onward still his way he takes, - (The groaning earth beneath him shakes) - Till full before his fearless eyes - The portals nine of Hell arise. - Right against the eastern gate - By the moss grown pile he sate, - Where long of yore to sleep was laid - The dust of the prophetic maid, - Facing to the northern clime, - Thrice he traced the Runic rhyme, - Thrice pronounced in accents dread, - The thrilling verse that wakes the dead. - Till from out the hollow ground - Slowly breathed a sullen sound. - What call unknown, what charms presume - To break the quiet of the tomb? - Who thus afflicts my troubled sprite - And drags me from the realms of night? - Long on these mouldering bones have beat - The winter's snow, the summer's heat. - The drenching dews, and driving rain, - Let me, let me sleep again. - Who is he with voice unbless'd - That calls me from the bed of rest? - Odin: A traveller to the unknown - Is he that calls; a warrior's son, - Thou the deeds of light shall know; - Tell me what is done below. - For whom yon glittering board is spread, - Dress'd for whom yon golden bed? - Proph: Mantling in the goblet see - The pure beverage of the bee, - O'er it hangs the shield of gold: - 'Tis the drink of Balder bold: - Balder's head to death is given: - Pain can reach the sons of heaven! - Unwilling I my lips unclose: - Leave me, leave me to repose. - Odin: Once again my call obey; - Prophetess! arise and say - What dangers Odin's child await, - Who the author of his fate? - Proph: In Hoder's hand the hero's doom; - His brother sends him to the tomb, - Now my weary lips I close, - Leave me, leave me to repose. - Odin: Prophetess! my spell obey; - Once again arise and say - Who th' avenger of his guilt, - By whom shall Hoder's blood be spilt? - Proph: In the caverns of the west, - By Odin's fierce embrace compress'd, - A wondrous boy shall rind a bear, - Who ne'er shall comb his raven hair, - Nor wash his visage in the stream, - Nor see the sun's departing beam, - Till he on Hoder's corpse shall smile, - Flaming on the funeral pile. - Now my weary lips I close, - Leave me, leave me to repose. - Odin: Yet awhile my call obey; - Prophetess awake and say - What virgins these in speechless wo, - That bent to earth their solemn brow, - That their flaxen tresses tear, - And snowy veils that float in air? - Tell me whence their sorrows rose, - Then I leave thee to repose. - Proph: Ha! no traveller art thou: - King of Men I know thee now: - Mightiest of a mighty line. - Odin: No boding maid of skill divine, - Art thou, no prophetess of good, - But mother of a giant brood! - Proph: Hie thee hence, and boast at home, - That never shall enquirer come - To break my iron sleep again, - Till Lok his horse his tenfold chain, - Never till substantial Night, - Has re-assumed her ancient right, - Till wrapped in fumes, in ruin hurl'd, - Sinks the fabric of the world. - - - - -Superstitions - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -SUPERSTITIONS. - - -The most remarkable instance of the tenacity of superstitions is the -survival of the practice of "bringing in the New Year." Not only does -it exist among the poor and uneducated, but even amongst educated -people at this festive season. It is considered an omen of misfortune -if the first person who enters your house on New Year's morning has a -fair complexion or light hair. This popular prejudice has never been -satisfactorily accounted for, says the late Mr. Charles Hardwick, in -his "Traditions and Superstitions." He says: "I can only suggest that -it most probably arose from the fact that amongst the Keltic tribes, -who were the earliest immigrants, dark hair prevailed. This dark -characteristic still prevails amongst the Welsh, Cornish, and Irish -of the present day. When these earlier races came in contact with the -Danes and Norse as enemies, they found their mortal foes to possess -fair skins and light hair. They consequently regarded the intrusion -into their houses, at the commencement of the year, of one of the hated -race, as a sinister omen. The true Kelt does not only resent, on New -Year's Day, the red hair of the Dane, but the brown and flaxen locks -of the German as well." An old writer, Oliver Matthew, of Shrewsbury, -writing in the year 1616, at the age of 90 years, says it was the -custom of the Danes to place one of their men to live in each homestead -of the conquered race, and this was more resented than the tribute -they had to pay. This affords another proof that these fair-haired men -were the cause of this present superstition. It is also considered -unlucky to allow anything to be taken out of the house on New Year's -Day, before something had been brought in. The importation of the most -insignificant article, even a piece of coal, or something in the nature -of food, is sufficient to prevent this misfortune, which the contrary -action would render inevitable. This sentiment is well expressed in the -following rhyme:-- - - Take out, and then take in, - Bad luck will begin. - Take in, then take out, - Good luck comes about. - -It would be rash to speculate how long superstitions of this kind will -continue to walk hand in hand with religion; how long traditions from -far-off heathen times will exercise this spell not only in our remote -country places but in enlightened towns. In the realms of folk-lore, -many were firm believers in witchcraft, in signs and omens, which -things were dreaded with ignorant awe, while the romantic race of -gipsies look upon occult influences from the inside, as a means of -personal gain. - -The prophetic character of the weather during this period is a -superstition common to all the Aryan tribes. So strongly is this -characteristic of the season felt in Lancashire at the present day, -that many country people may be met with who habitually found their -"forecast" on the appearances of the heavens on Old Christmas Day. -The late Mr. T. T. Wilkinson relates a singular instance of this -superstition, which shows the stubbornness of traditional lore, even -when subjected to the power and influence of legislative enactments. -He says: "The use of the old style in effect is not yet extinct in -Lancashire. The writer knows an old man of Habergham, near Burnley, -about 77 years of age, who always reckons the changes of the seasons in -this manner. He alleges the practice of his father and grandfather in -support of his method, and states with much confidence that 'Perliment -didn't change t' seasons wen they chang'd day o't' month.'" A work -named "The Shepherd's Kalender," published in 1709, soberly informs us -that "if New Year's Day in the morning opens with dusky red clouds, -it denotes strife and debates among great ones, and many robberies to -happen that year." - - -THE HELM WIND. - -In the neighbourhood of Kirkoswald, on the Eden in Cumberland, a -district prolific in Arthurian legends, it is said that a "peculiar -wind called the 'Helm Wind,' sometimes blows with great fury in that -part of the country. It is believed by some persons to be an electrical -phenomenon." This fact may have some remote connection with the -superstition under consideration. Sir Walter Scott's version of the -legend is as follows: "A daring horse jockey sold a black horse to a -man of venerable and antique appearance, who appointed the remarkable -hillock upon the Eildon Hills, called the Lucken Hare, as the place -where at twelve o'clock at night he should receive the price. He came -and his money was paid in ancient coin, and he was invited by his -customer to view his residence. The trader in horses followed his guide -in the deepest astonishment through several long ranges of stalls, in -each of which a horse stood motionless, while an armed warrior lay -equally still at the charger's feet. 'All these men,' said the Wizard -in a whisper, 'will awaken at the battle of Sheriffmoor.' At the -extremity of this extraordinary depôt hung a sword and a horn, which -the Prophet pointed out to the horse dealer, as containing the means of -dissolving the spell. The man in confusion, took the horn and attempted -to wind it. The horses instantly started in their stalls, stamped and -shook their bridles; the men arose, and clashed their armour; and the -mortal terrified at the tumult he had excited, dropped the horn from -his hand. A voice like that of a giant, louder even than the tumult -around, pronounced these words: - - "Woe to the coward that ever he was born - That did not draw the sword before he blew the horn!" - -The mistletoe was supposed to protect the homestead from fire and -other disaster, and, like other mysterious things, was believed to -be potent in matters relating to courtship and matrimony. It is to -this sentiment we owe the practice of kissing under the bush formed -of holly and mistletoe during Christmas festivities. This matrimonial -element in the mistletoe is artistically presented in the Scandinavian -mythology. Freigga, the mother of Baldr, had rendered him invulnerable -against all things formed out of the then presumed four elements, fire, -air, earth, and water. The mistletoe was believed to grow from none of -these elements. But she overlooked the one insignificant branch of the -mistletoe, and it was by an arrow fashioned from it that the bright -day-god Baldr, the Scandinavian counterpart of Apollo and Bel, was -killed by the blind Hodr or Heldr. The gods, however, restored him to -life, and dedicated the mistletoe to his mother, who is regarded as the -counterpart of the classical Venus. Hence its importance in affairs -of love and courtship. It is not improbable that the far-famed dart -of Cupid may have some relation to the mistletoe arrow, to which the -beautiful Baldr succumbed. - -The medicinal qualities of the mistletoe tree were also in high repute. -Its healing power was shared by the ash tree, which was the "Cloud -tree" of the Norsemen. The ash (Norse "askr,") was the tree out of -which the gods formed the first man, who was thence called Askr. The -ash was among the Greeks, an image of the clouds, and the mother of men. - -Other Christmas customs and superstitions are peculiar to Lancashire. -The white thorn is supposed to possess supernatural power, and -certain trees of this class, in Lancashire called Christmas thorns, -are believed to blossom only on Old Christmas Day. Mr. Wilkinson -says that in the neighbourhood of Burnley many people will yet -travel a considerable distance "at midnight, in order to witness the -blossoming." The Boar's Head yet forms a chief object amongst the -dishes of Christmas festivities. Among the impersonations of natural -phenomena, the wild boar represented the "ravages of the whirlwind that -tore up the earth." In all mythologies the boar is the animal connected -with storm and lightning. There yet exists a superstition prevalent in -Lancashire to the effect that pigs can "see the wind." Dr. Kuhm says -that in Westphalia this superstition is a prevalent one. The tradition -is at least three or four thousand years old. Lancashire has many -stories of the pranks played by the wild boar or demon pig, removing -the stones in the night on the occasion of the building of churches. -Stories of this nature are to be found respecting Winwick, where a rude -carving resembling a hog fastened to a block of stone, by a collar, -is to be seen built into the tower of the present Church. Burnley and -Rochdale Churches, and Samlesbury Church, near Preston, possess similar -traditions. - -All Celtic nations have been accustomed to the worship of the Sun. It -was a custom that everywhere prevailed in ancient times to celebrate -a feast at the Winter Solstice, by which men testified their joy at -seeing this great luminary return again to this part of the heavens. -This was the greatest solemnity of the year. They called it in many -places "Yole," or "Yuul," from the word "Hiaul" and "Houl," which even -at this day signifies sun in the language of Cornwall. "Heulo" in -modern Welsh means to "shine as the Sun." And thus we may derive our -word halo. Some writers, including the Venerable Bede, derive Yule from -"hvoel," a wheel, meaning the return of the Sun's annual course after -the Winter Solstice. - - - - -Agriculture - -A COMPARISON OF PROGRESS BETWEEN DANISH AND BRITISH - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -AGRICULTURE. - - -While the Scandinavian element is regarded by modern writers as the -predominating feature in the composition of Englishmen, the Danish -has been the pre-eminent force in forming the character of the race -which dominates the Lancashire people of to-day. In our survey of -the progress of the race, from the earliest settlement of the Danes, -we find the impression of their footprints in the place-names of the -county, which are our oldest and most enduring monuments. Following -their character of daring and venture, we have established a maritime -power which is the envy of the world. The same spirit which formed our -early settlements in Lancashire has founded colonies in every quarter -of the globe. The enterprise of the early "copemen" has developed into -our mercantile fleet, which controls the carrying trade of the seas. -The voice of their language still resounds in the names of our laws, -the "hundreds" of the county, and in our system of administration, and -also in the political freedom which has established the saying that -"What Lancashire says to-day, England will say to-morrow." - -In the earliest record of agricultural progress we find the Danes have -given us the name of "husbandry," and the modern implement called the -"plough." Therefore, in forming an estimate of the benefits which have -resulted from our intercourse with the Danes, the primary industry -of agriculture and dairy produce must not be omitted. In all other -branches of commercial activity, by the application of scientific -methods, unbounded progress has been achieved. Has the oldest industry -of the county had a share in this attainment of wealth, or its rural -population derived advancement? For a period of half-a-century our -agricultural leaders have held competitions known as agricultural -shows, where valuable prizes have been given for live stock of all -descriptions, and rewards for every design of mechanical appliance for -agriculture. To a stranger visiting these shows, it would appear that -we brooked no rival in the production of dairy produce. What are the -facts disclosed by the figures for the past 25 or 50 years? In the -"Year Book of the Lancashire Past Agricultural Students' Association" -we are told that Parliament handed over, in the year 1890, to local -authorities, large sums of money for purposes of technical instruction, -and that "this marks the really substantial beginning of agricultural -education in Lancashire." - -With this statement, made at the opening of the twentieth century, it -may be interesting to notice the increase of our imports of Danish -dairy produce for a period of eleven years:-- - - Year. Imports. Exports. - 1897 £10,968,397 £3,476,663 - 1898 £11,703,384 £3,919,326 - 1899 £12,432,977 £4,399,025 - 1900 £13,187,667 £4,724,181 - 1901 £14,234,102 £4,163,478 - 1902 £15,556,780 £4,033,897 - 1903 £16,594,565 £4,398,088 - 1904 £15,911,615 £3,925,836 - 1905 £15,416,456 £4,476,624 - 1906 £16,433,648 £5,162,428 - 1907 £18,262,542 £6,124,039 - - -DANISH AGRICULTURE. - -During the past ten years, says Mr. Consul L. C. Liddell in his report -for 1908, Denmark has witnessed a considerable increase. - -The exports of agricultural produce, which in 1904 were worth -£18,400,000, reached £22,400,000 in 1908. The amount of butter exported -to the United Kingdom reaches 96.1 per cent. of the total; of bacon, -97.5 per cent.; and of eggs, 98.8 per cent. The remainder of the butter -and bacon goes principally to Germany. Nearly the entire export of -horses and cattle is absorbed by the German market, whilst three-fifths -of the beef also finds its way thither, the remainder going to Norway. - -The labour question has, as in other years, attracted much attention. -The number of Swedish and Finnish labourers is decreasing, and it is -from Galicia that Denmark would now appear to recruit her farm hands. -The number of Galician "season" labourers in 1908 reached 8,000, -or about 1,000 more than in 1907. The co-operative organisations -approached the Prime Minister with the proposal that free passes should -be granted on the State railway system to any unemployed at Copenhagen -having a knowledge of field work to help in farming. This attempt to -organise a "back to the land" movement is not expected to be attended -with success. - -These figures show an increase of nearly double in eleven years, or an -increase of eight millions, and an increase of two millions from 1906 -to 1907. - -It must be remembered that the bulk of Danish produce comes to the -Manchester market, and is distributed from that centre. An analysis -of the 1907 imports from Denmark gives the following details:--Butter -£10,192,587, eggs £1,774,319, fish £91,031, lard £17,723, bacon -£5,385,275, pork £200,000. The item of bacon for 1907 shows an increase -of one million pounds over the year 1906. - -The import of Danish produce began in the early sixties of last -century, and the quality was so indifferent that we are told it -was fortunate if two casks of butter were good out of every five. -Even then the quality was superior to Irish butter in its taste and -appearance. The population of Denmark is two and a half millions, and -the cultivated area of land is seven million acres. The yield of crops -to the acre is 28 bushels of wheat, while in England it is 33 bushels. -In barley the yield is 30 bushels to our 35 bushels, and in oats it is -33 bushels to our 42. These figures show the comparative fruitfulness -of the land to be in favour of England. The live stock per 1,000 -population in Denmark is 711 cattle to our 267, and pigs 563 to our 82. -The total imports for twenty years show that our dairy produce from -abroad has doubled, and is increasing at a rapid rate. - -Comparisons of Danish methods of farming to-day cannot be made with -the present conditions existing in Lancashire or Yorkshire, but can -only be made by the modern conditions now obtaining in Essex under Lord -Rayleigh. - - -CROPS DIMINISHING. - -What has been the course of our agriculture for the past sixty -years? Mr. Cobden maintained that Free Trade would do no injury to -agriculture. The following is a comparison of prices in the years 1845 -and 1907:-- - - 1845. 1907. - [E]4lbs. loaf of Bread 6d. 5-1/2d. - [F]1lb. Butter 7d. 1/1. - [F]1lb. Cheese 2d. 9d. - [F]1lb. Bacon 3d. 9d. - [F]1lb. Beef 4d. 8d. - -Sixty years ago home-grown wheat produced flour for twenty-four -millions of our population.[G] To-day it produces flour for four and -a half millions. The acreage under wheat has been reduced in the -last thirty years to one-half in England, to one-third in Scotland, -and to one-fifth in Ireland. The same is true of green crops. Nine -hundred thousand acres less are under crops than were thirty years -ago. The same may be said of the area under hop cultivation, which has -been reduced every year. The only bright spot in the review of our -agricultural position, extending over many years, is to be found in the -growth of fruit, although this has not increased as rapidly as foreign -importations. - -The result of these changes during the last thirty years has been an -increase of imports of agricultural produce of eighty millions. Our -imports of wheat have increased by thirty-two millions, our imports -of dairy produce have increased by twenty-one millions, and eggs -alone have increased by four millions sterling a year; while fruit -and vegetables have increased by ten and a half millions. The effect -of this must be the increased dependence of our population on foreign -supplies. Agriculture finds employment for a million less than it did -sixty years ago. These are facts and not opinions, and we are compelled -to use the figures of the general national imports, as the details of -the counties are not available. - - -NATIONAL SAVINGS. - -Statesmen tell us that the Post Office Savings Bank deposits are a fair -indication of the industrial prosperity. In the report of these Post -Office Savings Banks we find that Denmark heads the list with £15 11s. -per head of the population, while the United Kingdom comes ninth in the -list with a sum of £4 11s. per head of the population. - -The economy of waste has been the keynote of wealth to many industries, -and the adaptability of labour to changed conditions has marked the -survival of more than one centre of commercial activity. Individual -cases are not wanting to prove that men who have been found unfit to -follow their work in mills and town employments through weak health or -the effect of accidents, have succeeded, by the aid of a small capital, -in becoming model farmers, and have demonstrated the variety of crops -and stock which can be raised on a single farm. The bye-products of the -manufacturers are often the source of success, and these are the most -neglected in the itinerary of the farmer. - -The greatest problem which confronts our municipal authorities is the -profitable disposal of sewage. Where sewage farms are maintained they -are invariably conducted at a heavy loss to the ratepayers, while the -adjoining farm tenants often succeed in making profits. To reclaim -the land which has gone out of cultivation, by the application of -unemployed labour and the disposal of waste and sewage, provides the -solution of a difficulty which may become a source of wealth, and -restore the prosperity of a lost industry. - - -COST OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. - -A White paper just issued by the Board of Education gives particulars -as to the amount spent by County Councils in England and Wales on -agricultural education. - -The amounts vary considerably in the different counties for the year -ending March, 1908. In England, Lancashire takes the lead with £7,485, -and in Wales the county of Carmarthen is prominent with £597. - -The gross total amounted to £79,915, of which £21,662 was in grants to -schools and colleges, £9,876 for scholarships, and £12,433 for dairy -instruction. - -The figures are approximate owing to the difficulty of analysing -education accounts. - -There are not wanting those who say that farming cannot be made to pay -in England. Essex has quite a different experience. For here farms, -varying in size from 250 acres to 5,000 and over, have been made to -return very good profits. The whole secret lies in the work being -conducted on scientific principles, and the careful watching of every -penny expended, as well as giving the labourers a direct interest -in getting good results. On Lord Rayleigh's estate, Terling, which -comprises about 5,000 acres, striking results have been obtained during -the past twenty years, his successes being attributed to the use of -business and scientific methods. For many years past his lordship's -brother, the Hon. E. G. Strutt--probably one of the most experienced -practical farmers in England--has had the management of the property, -and has shown that farming can be carried on with a profit in this -country. - -Essex is described as flat, but in the neighbourhood of Terling, which -abuts on the Great Eastern Railway line at Witham, there are numerous -gently undulating plains, and even at this time of the year a stroll -along the lanes in the neighbourhood reveals many pleasant surprises. -Here and there the hedgerows are already bursting into delicate green -buds, and in some places the crops sown during the early winter for -spring are showing above the rich dark brow soil. And many are the -birds which are already, as it were, getting into voice for the spring. -The county hereabouts is heavily wooded, the chief trees being oak, -ash, and elm. Many of these are veritable giants and monarchs of the -forest, now standing out alone on the sky-line in all their nakedness -of winter outline, then in small groups, again in such numbers as to -become forests. On every hand are signs of activity. Ploughing for the -moment is all over, though there are still fields of stubble which have -to be turned over and prepared for crops in the near future. Fields -which have already been ploughed are being heavily manured in readiness -for sowing. And herein lies one of the secrets of the successful -farming prevailing in this favoured neighbourhood. Everyone knows, but -not everyone acts upon the knowledge, that as the fertility of the soil -is exhausted fresh nutriment must be given. The observance of this rule -brings its own reward, as many have learned to their advantage. Hedging -and ditching are in progress, and by the time that all hands will be -required on the land for ploughing, scarifying, harrowing, and sowing, -hedges will have been trimmed and ditches cleaned. - -Some eighteen or twenty years ago Lord Rayleigh decided to offer all -his farm labourers, who number about 250, bonuses on the profits of -their industry. This scheme proved eminently successful; so much so, -indeed, that Lord Rayleigh has now gone a step further and offered -to give every man who cares to invest his savings in his farms 4 per -cent. interest on such money, and a share in any profits which may -accrue after that dividend has been paid. A very large proportion of -the men employed have taken advantage of this offer, which gives them -close upon 2 per cent. more than they were getting from the Post Office -Savings Bank, where they had been in the habit of putting their money, -for they are a thoroughly respectable, self-respecting, and frugal -community. It is now just a year since this offer was first made, and -the employees put up over £1,000, in sums ranging from £1 to £100, the -latter sum coming from a man who had banked all the bonuses he earned, -along with savings from twenty-five years' earnings. - -Lord Rayleigh's idea was to get the men not only to study thrift, -but to take a keener interest in their daily work. It has been said -that that man is a public benefactor who gets two blades of grass to -flourish where but one grew before. His lordship has a far higher -satisfaction in advancing the position of the men in his employment. -In effect this is what he said to them: "My farms represent so much -money to me; now for every £1 which you put in I will guarantee you 4 -per cent. After we have all had our 4 per cent., such surplus profit -as may be left, if any, will be divided between us _pro rata_." The -result of the first year's farming under this form of co-partnership -has been very satisfactory. Everyone has not only been paid the -guaranteed 4 per cent., which was distributed recently, but each -labourer has also received a share in the sum which was over after -paying out that amount. While Mr. Strutt declined to disclose the exact -amount of the remaining profit, he hinted that the extra interest -might quite possibly be as much as a further 4 per cent. Whatever it -is, every labourer who put his savings into Lord Rayleigh's hands is -congratulating himself upon his good fortune, and, as saving begets -saving, there is a prospect that none of these beneficiaries will ever -need the old age pension. - -Lord Rayleigh has made only two stipulations with his men, both aimed -at unity of administration. One is that they cannot have any voice in -the management of the estate, which Mr. Strutt naturally works to the -best advantage, and the other is that only the savings of the labourer -himself and his wife may be offered for investment in the farms. - -Probably there is no farm where such intricate or such useful books are -kept as on the Terling estates. Practically every field is treated as a -separate farm in itself. Say, for instance, a field is to be sown with -wheat. It has to be ploughed, the cost of which is charged in the book -against that field, as also the value of the manure used, the price of -the seeds sown, and all the time occupied in preparing the land, and, -later on, in cutting the wheat, threshing, and sending it to market. -On the opposite page of the ledger is put the amount obtained for the -grain, and the value of the straw, whether sold or used on the farms. A -balance can then be struck, and the profit or loss shown at a glance. -On the profit shown, those who did the various necessary labours -receive their bonus. So with every field. But the system does not end -here. A most careful record is kept, for example, of every cow--the -original cost, if bought, the amount of milk she yields per year, of -her calves, and what they fetch when sold, or their value if retained -on the estate. Every Friday, the morning and evening milkings are -accurately measured, and at the end of the year these figures are added -up and multiplied by seven for the seven days of the week. In this way -it is known exactly how much milk each cow gives. The annual average -should be about 800 gallons, which is regarded as a very fair amount. -There is, however, one cow, Lilac by name, which seems to despise that -average. Last year her yield of milk was no less than 1,457 gallons, -which is a big record, even on the Terling estates. - -Mr. Strutt reckons that a cow should give on an average 650 gallons of -milk per year, and the cowmen get a bonus when the yield of the cows -in their charge average that amount. The advantage of such records are -enormous. If a cow does not give 650 gallons of milk per annum, she is -at once sold, as she does not pay for her keep. As there are no less -than 800 cows on the estate, the keeping of such records involves an -enormous amount of work, but it is work which has a profitable result, -facilitating, as it does, the weeding out of poor dairy stock. - -The same attention is paid to other departments. Records are kept of -the sheep, of which there are considerable flocks scattered over the -fifteen farms comprised in the estate. It is the same with poultry, -of which there are thousands roaming about the farms, grubbing much -of their food, but, of course, some is thrown down for them in the -various poultry yards. No hens are penned up on the estate. While that -course is necessary where prize-show birds are reared, in the case of -table poultry and poultry kept for eggs pens are neither essential -nor profitable. With freedom the birds lay more regularly, and are -generally in better condition for the table. - -Asked as to whether eggs were not lost owing to the hens laying in the -hedges, Mr. Isted, who is in charge of the office where all the various -books of record are kept, said that few, indeed, if any, are overlooked -by those responsible, because of the system of bonuses given by Lord -Rayleigh, to which reference has already been made. Those in charge of -the hens receive a reward on every score of eggs brought in. Every head -of poultry reared also means a monetary benefit to the workers. - -Daily between 60 and 80 17-gallon churns of milk are despatched to -London. It is said that from no station along the Great Eastern -Railway line is more milk sent to the Metropolis than from Witham. At -present about 100 of these churns leave the station every day, all -the milk coming from the immediate neighbourhood. Eggs are also sent -to the Rayleigh Dairies in vast quantities. Every egg is carefully -tested before it leaves the estate. The poultry is disposed of through -middlemen. Other produce is sold in the Essex markets--at Chelmsford, -Colchester, Witham, and Braintree. This would include all the cereals -not used on the farm, and such hay as was not required for the stock -during winter. - -Down in Essex wages are regarded as generally good by the farm -labourers. At least there is a distinct tendency on the part of the -men to remain on the soil. Horsemen receive 14s. a week, cowmen 14s. -and 15s., the head cowmen getting generally 18s. and 20s., while other -farm hands earn from 13s. to 15s. Living is very cheap, and rents are -low. A good, comfortable cottage, with a decent bit of garden, where -vegetables can be grown, can be had for £4 or £5 a year. Should a man -require more ground he can get it at a nominal annual rent of 3d. per -rod--that is, a piece of ground measuring 5-1/2 yards each way. Quite -a number of men avail themselves of this offer, and as they knock off -work at five p.m., they put in their evenings on their own "estate." - -It is true that Lord Rayleigh has only tried his new system of -investment, as well as interest in the farms, for a year, but the -results amply justify the experiment. So satisfied are the men -themselves that many have asked to be allowed to invest their share -of the interest earned and their new bonuses in the estate. It would -seem that here, at least, is a possible project for checking the -ever-increasing rush of young men to the towns, where, while wages -may be higher, the conditions are not conducive to either personal or -patriotic well-being. The great feature of Lord Rayleigh's plan is -that it is a distinctly profit-sharing one, for no reform, however -attractive, can be economically good unless it is financially sound. - -With wheat in a rising market at 50s. a quarter, the granaries of the -world holding back supplies a considerable proportion of which are -already cornered in America--and bread dearer than it has been for many -years, the question of the moment is, Can England become her own wheat -grower? - -Fourteen weeks after harvest the home supplies are exhausted. Britain -needs altogether, both home and foreign, 30,000,000 quarters of wheat -per annum to provide her people with bread. Out of the total area of -32,000,000 acres under crops of all sorts in the country only 1,625,000 -acres are devoted to the growth of wheat. English climatic conditions -can be relied upon to allow an average production of three and a half -quarters per acre. - -The solution of the problem, therefore, is simplicity itself. A matter -of 8,000,000 acres taken from those devoted meantime to other crops, to -pasturage (to say nothing of deer forests, grouse moors, golf links), -or even lying waste, and developed for wheat growing would produce, -roughly speaking, the extra 28,000,000 necessary to our annual national -food supply. - -Millions of acres of the land at present in other crops has grown -wheat at a profit in the past. In the sixties and seventies the staple -commodity was at its most remunerative price. In 1867 it touched the -enormous average of 64s. 5d. per quarter, while later, in 1871 and -1873, it stood at 56s. 8d. and 58s. 8d. per quarter. - -With the countries of the East--India, China, Japan--awakening to the -potentialities of wheat as a food in place of rice, with America's -prairies becoming used up and her teeming millions multiplying, and -with Canada, Australia, and Argentina remaining at a standstill as -regards wheat production, it is clear that England ought to become -self-sufficing. - -To attain the desired end the vast possibilities of the agricultural -science of to-day must be appreciated and developed by every possible -means. - -What can be done within England's own borders is the chief point to be -considered, and some experiments and experiences may point the way. - -The first question is, would home produced wheat pay? Farmers tell -us that at 30s. a quarter wheat is just worth growing, but that each -shilling over 30s. means about 5s. clear profit. Would not wheat at -40s. an acre be worth cultivating? - -As to the practical ways and means of obtaining this sum out of the -soil, I must detail some of the more modern scientific methods in -agriculture. - -I have said that 8,000,000 acres of the present area under crops could -make us independent of foreign supplies. By applying certain simple -rules of selection regarding seeds, a much smaller area of land would -give the same result. - -Instead of 3-1/2 quarters per acre--the present average--the yield -could be doubled, or even trebled. Thirty years ago, in France, three -quarters an acre was considered a good crop, but the same soil with -improved methods of cultivation nowadays yields at least four quarters -per acre; while in the best soils the crop is only considered good when -it yields five quarters to six quarters an acre. - -The work of the Garton brothers and of Professor Biffen, of Cambridge -University, has clearly shown that by careful selection and crossing of -the best breeds of wheat the yield can be actually quadrupled. - -Hallet's famous experiments in selection demonstrate that the length of -the wheat ear can be doubled, and the number of ears per stalk nearly -trebled. The finest ear he developed produced 123 grains, as against 47 -in the original ear, and 52 ears to one plant, as against ten in the -original. - -In agriculture, as in other matters in which England claims to take a -leading part, we have something to learn from the Continent. France, -Belgium, and Germany have adopted a system of co-operation which has -reduced the cost of farming to the smallest possible limit. From a fund -supplied partly by the Governments of these countries and partly by the -farmers themselves, small farms, manures, seeds, machinery, etc., are -provided on a co-operative basis. Would not a system on similar lines -have far-reaching results in this country? - -Perhaps the most interesting suggestion, the newest in the fields of -scientific agriculture research, is the inoculation of the soil with -bacteria. Through these wonder-working germs which live in the nodules -of plant roots multiplication of the free nitrogen in the air goes -on with great rapidity, and this, united with other elements, forms -valuable plant food. - -Recent experiments, the results of which have not yet been made public, -show that good crops of wheat may be grown in the poorest soil; indeed, -the Scriptural injunction about sowing seeds in waste places no longer -bears scientific examination. On an area which was little more than -common sand crops inoculated with bacteria gave an increased yield of -18 per cent. - -Wheat grown on the lines I have touched upon within the United Kingdom, -and paying the grower 40s. per quarter, would go far to solve every -social and economic problem known. There would be work for all in -the country districts, and consequently less poverty in the towns, -and to the nation's resources would be conserved the enormous annual -expenditure on foreign wheat of £67,000,000. - - -OCCUPYING OWNERSHIP. - - "A time there was, ere England's griefs began, - When every rood of ground maintained its man," - Behold a change; where'er her flag unfurled, - It presaged forth--goods-maker to the world. - Then wealth from trade, pure farming handicapped - While glittering towns the youthful swain entrapped. - In trade, no longer, England stands alone, - Indeed, too oft, John Bull gets "beaten on his own." - Dependent on the world for nearly every crumb, - Is this a time when patriots should be dumb? - For England needs to guard 'gainst future strife - That backing up which comes from rural life. - Though all indeed may use both book and pen, - The nation's weal depends on robust men - Inured to toil--a hardy, virile band. - And these are bred where owners till the land. - - -SUPPLY OF WHEAT. - -STRIDES IN THE SCALE OF LIVING. - -Earl Carrington, President of the Board of Agriculture, presided at -a meeting of the Society of Arts, when a paper upon the production -of wheat was read by Mr. A. E. Humphries. His lordship gave some -very interesting jottings from family history, showing the great -advance that had taken place in the scale of living. The subject -of the lecture, he said, reminded him that over 100 years ago his -grandfather, who was President of the Board of Agriculture, made a -speech in which he said that one of the most important subjects with -which the Board had to deal was the scarcity of wheat. It was curious -that they were discussing the same subject to-day. His father, who -was born 103 years ago, had often told him that in the early part of -last century they did not have white bread at every meal, as it was so -scarce. If that happened at the table of old Robert Smith, the banker, -at Whitehall, what must the bread of the working classes have been like! - -In the five years from 1878 to 1882, said Mr. Humphries in his lecture, -we produced 117 lb. of wheat per head per annum, and imported 238 -lb., while in the years from 1903 to 1907 we produced only 68 lb. -per head, and imported 284 lb. For many years British wheat had been -sold at substantially lower prices than the best foreign, and in the -capacity of making large, shapely, well-aerated and digestible loaves -the home-grown grain was notably deficient. It was commonly attributed -to our climate, and people said that Great Britain was not a wheat -producing country. The real reason was that farmer did not grow the -right kind of wheat. It was not a matter of climate or of soil, but -of catering for the particular kind of soil in which the grain was to -be grown. The crux of the whole question was to obtain a variety of -seed that would suit the environment. Farmers, instead of aiming at -quality, had striven to get as large a yield per acre as possible. - -The Hon. J. W. Taverner, Agent-General for Victoria, said that he had -heard a lot of talk about the efficiency of the Territorial Army and -the safety of the country. If only the men were fed on bread baked from -Australian wheat England had nothing to fear, for the men would be -equal to anything. - - - - -FOOTNOTES - - -[A] From an article by the late John Just, M.A., of Bury. - -[B] Knott is also used for the name of a mountain or hill, as in -Arnside Knott, in Westmoreland, but near the Lancashire border. - -[C] From Darvel--death and öl--feast. - -[D] The ancestors of the poet were, however, more likely "Chaussiers," -makers of long hose. - -[E] From "Free Trader," issued by the Liberal Free Traders, Dec., 1904. - -[F] From "The Hungry Forties," written by Mr. Cobden's daughter. - -[G] From Report of Agricultural Committee of the Tariff Commission. - - - - -INDEX - - - Acle, 28. - - Adamson, 63. - - Adalis, 32, 38, 39. - - Aella, King, 24. - - Agriculture, 215. - - Ainsdale, 7. - - Aire, 159. - - Ale, 16. - - Alexandria, 152. - - Alfgier, 38-39. - - Alfred the Great (illust.), 26, 33. - - Altcar, 23. - - Amleth, 173. - - Amounderness, 5. - - Anastasius, 68. - - Anderson, 63. - - Angel choir of Lincoln, 170. - - Anglian population, 17. - - Anlaby, 13. - - Anlaf, 25, 32, 35, 36, 37, 41. - - Anstice, 68. - - Aradr, 112. - - Aratum, 112. - - Arcle, 28. - - Arnside Knott, 48. - - Arncliffe, 27. - - Art, 174. - - Athelfloed, Lady of the Mercians, 104. - - Athelstan, 26, 30, 33, 34, 35, 37, 49. - - Asia, 158. - - Augustin, 68. - - Austin, 68. - - Australia, 158. - - Austria, 158. - - Axle, 28. - - Ayton (great), 27. - - - Back o'th' hill, 40. - - Bacup, 34. - - Balder, 62. - - Ball (Olaf), 53. - - Ballads and War Songs, 172. - - Ballr, 53. - - Balderstone, 62. - - Bamber, 84. - - Banbury, 31. - - Bannister, 68. - - Barker, 68. - - Barrowford, 32. - - Basket making, 140. - - Bath-day, 15. - - Battlefield, 37. - - Battlestone, 37. - - Beck, 69. - - Beckett, 69. - - Bede, 49. - - Beer, 16. - - Bellum Brun, 35. - - Bernicia, 24, 25, 50. - - Bessingby, 18. - - Billingr, 62. - - Birkdale, 7. - - Birket, 22. - - Bishop's House Estate, 37. - - Bishop's leap, 31, 35. - - Blagburnshire hundred, 5. - - 'Blakogr,' 28. - - Blawith, 28. - - Blowick, 28. - - 'Boer,' 84. - - 'Bois,' 69. - - 'Bondr,' 24. - - Bonfire hill, 40. - - Booth, 84. - - Boulsworth, 32. - - Boys, 69. - - Bractaetes, 174. - - 'Breck,' 67. - - Bridlington, 18. - - Britons, 1. - - ---- of Strathclyde, 34. - - Broadclough Dykes, 41. - - Broad Dyke, 34. - - Broadbank, 35. - - Brock, 69. - - Brincaburh, 30. - - Brinkburn, 30. - - Bromborough, 31. - - Brownedge, 35, 40. - - Brownend, 40. - - Brownside, 35. - - Brun, 28, 29. - - Brunanburh, 28, 31. - - Brunford, 30. - - Brunton, 31. - - Brumbridge, 30. - - Brumby, 31. - - 'Bud,' 84. - - Buerton, 84. - - 'Burh,' 31. - - Burnley, 29, 48. - - Burscough, 23. - - Burton, 84. - - Burton-on-Trent, 24. - - Bushel-corn, 99. - - 'By-law,' 8. - - 'Byr,' 84. - - Byrom, 84. - - Byzantine Coins, 174. - - - Cairns, 185. - - Calday, 22. - - Calders, 22. - - Calderstones, 22, 182. - - Canute, 5, 177. - - Candlemas, 155. - - Capenhurst, 64. - - Castle hill--Tunlay, 33-34. - - Cat's cradle, 158. - - Causeway, 33. - - Carnaby, 18. - - Castercliffe, 32, 35. - - Celtic burial, 185. - - Chapman, 64. - - Cheap, 64. - - Cheapside, 64. - - Chepstow, 64. - - Chester, 4, 23, 163-164. - - Chester-le-street, 53. - - Children's games, 158. - - Childwall, 23. - - Christian 'Sunday Letters,' 153. - - Churches, 163-164. - - Churchtown, 164. - - Claughton-on-brock, 124. - - Clitheroe, 32, 48. - - Clog almanacs, 143. - - ---- ---- symbols, 144. - - Coinage, 175. - - Colne, 32. - - Constantine, King of Scots, 30. - - Copeland, 64. - - Copeman, 64. - - Copenhagen, 64. - - Copethorn, 64. - - Copley, 64. - - Copynook, 34. - - Corn spirit, 158. - - Cottingham, 13. - - Craik, Yorkshire, 51. - - Crathorne, 26. - - Crosby, 6, 23. - - Crosses, 195. - - Croxteth, 19. - - Cuerdale, 7, 28, 175. - - Cumberland, 53. - - Cuthbert, Saint, 50, 53. - - Cutherd, Bishop, 53. - - Cup-cuttings, 182. - - - 'Dale,' 7. - - Danelag, 8. - - Danes house, 41. - - Darvel cakes, 66. - - Darvel deathfeast, 66. - - Dean, 69. - - Deira, 9, 11, 12, 24. - - Dell, 69. - - Derby, 5. - - Dialect, 69. - - Drengs, 24. - - - Eadred, Abbot of Carlisle, 50. - - Eanfrid, 25. - - Easden Fort, 34. - - Easington, 26. - - Ecclesiologist, 156. - - Ecfrith, 25. - - Edward the Elder, 34. - - Edwin, King, 24. - - Egbert (illust.), 33. - - Eglis, 39. - - Egyptian scholars, 152. - - Ellerburn, 27. - - Elston, 62. - - Elswick, 62. - - Emmott, 41. - - Enderby, 84. - - 'Endr,' 84. - - Endrod, 84. - - Entwistle, 84. - - Equinox, vernal, 152. - - Ernot, 35. - - Everett, 68. - - Everard, 68. - - Extwistle Hall, 35. - - - Facid, 84. - - Facit, 84. - - Fairs and Wakes, 65. - - Fawcett, 84. - - 'Feldkirk,' 31. - - Fire and sun worship, 154. - - Folklore for children, 157. - - Formby, 6, 23. - - Forseti, 84. - - Foster, 84. - - Fraisthorpe, 62. - - Frankby, 62. - - Fraser, 62. - - Freyer, 62. - - Frisby, 62. - - Fry, 62. - - Fryer, 62. - - Furness, 164. - - Fylde, 5. - - - 'Gaard,' 75. - - Galt, 65. - - Gamelson, 84. - - Gambleside, 84. - - Gamul, 84. - - 'Gata,' 54. - - Garnett, 68. - - Garstang, 75. - - Garswood, 75. - - Garth, 75. - - Garton, 75. - - Geld, 65. - - Godley, 32, 33. - - Golden numbers, 144. - - 'Gos,' 69. - - Gosford, 69. - - Grave mounds, 184. - - Grindalbythe, 18. - - Guthred, King, 51, 52. - - - Hackenhurst, 39. - - Haggate, 36. - - Halfdan's death, 51. - - Halfdene, 13, 15, 26. - - Halton, 121, 125, 177-179. - - ---- Crosses, 179. - - ---- Torque, 177. - - Hamilton Hill, 36, 40. - - Hamlet, 173. - - Hapton, 48. - - Harbreck, 19. - - Harkirke, 7, 177. - - 'Haugr,' 6. - - Hay, 55. - - Haydon Bridge, 51. - - Hazel Edge, 36. - - Hell Clough, 40. - - Helm Wind, 208. - - Heptarchy, 25. - - Heriot, 107. - - Hessle, 18. - - Heysham, 121. - - Highlawhill, 36. - - 'Hofs,' 6. - - Horelaw pastures, 36. - - 'Hlith,' 48. - - Hoe, 112. - - Hogback stone, 105, 121, 179. - - Hoop, 48. - - Hope, 48. - - Hopehead, 48. - - Hopekirk, 48. - - Hopeton, 48. - - Howick, 55. - - Hoylake, 55. - - Hudleston, 96. - - Hundred Court, 14. - - Hutton John, 96. - - Hurstwood, 35. - - Husbandry, 111, 112. - - Hustings, 8. - - Huyton, 55. - - Hyngr, the Dane, 37, 38. - - - Ida, King, 24. - - Ingleby, 50. - - Invasion and Conquest, 1, 2, 3. - - Irby, 22. - - Ireland, 180. - - Irish Christians, 180. - - Ivar, 22. - - - Jarls, 49. - - Jarrow, 26. - - - Kell, 65. - - Kellet, 65. - - Kendal, 164. - - Kingo, poet, 170. - - Kirk Ella, 17, 18. - - Kirk Levington, 27. - - Kirkby, 6, 18. - - Kirkby in Cleveland, 27. - - Kirkby Lonsdale, 164. - - Kirkby Misperton, 27. - - Kirkby Moorside, 27, 164. - - Kirkby Stephen, 164. - - Kirkdale, 5, 6, 19, 27. - - 'Kirkja' Church, 6. - - Knott End Mill, 48. - - 'Knotta,' 48. - - Knottingley, 48. - - Knut, 48. - - 'Knutr,' 48. - - Knutsford, 48. - - - 'Lake,' game, 157. - - Land Tenure, 90. - - Laugardag, bath day, 15. - - Lawmen, 23. - - Lay of Norse gods, 173. - - Leamington, 84. - - Lethbridge, 48. - - Levishan, 27. - - Lindsey, 65. - - Lindisfarne, 25. - - Litherland, 48. - - Literature, 168. - - ---- 'skryke of day,' 170. - - ---- sunrise, 170. - - Lithe, 48. - - Lithgoe, 48. - - Liverpool, 23, 47. - - Log-law, 81. - - Long hundred, 13. - - Long weight, 13. - - Lonsdale, 4. - - Loom, Danish, 80. - - Lorton, 51. - - Lorton-en-le-Morthen, Yorks., 33. - - 'Lug-mark,' 81. - - Lunar cycle, 155. - - Lund, 65. - - Lyster, 65. - - - Mackerfield, 54. - - Maeshir, 54. - - Maiden Way, 51. - - Manchester, 34. - - Manorial exaction, 106. - - Manx Inscriptions, 138. - - Memorials, 161. - - 'Merchet,' 106. - - Mercia, 25. - - Mercians, Lady of, 34. - - ---- rule, 24. - - Mereclough, 39. - - Mersey, 34. - - 'Messe staves,' 142. - - Moons, changes, 143. - - Mythology, 189. - - - Names, Norse and Anglo-Saxon, 113. - - Neilson, 56. - - Nelson, Admiral, 56. - - Norns, 189. - - Norse Festival, 55. - - Northumberland, --. - - Northumbria, 25, 27, 70. - - Nunnington, 23, 27. - - - 'Occupying ownership,' 234. - - Odin, 6, 197. - - ---- 'The descent of,' 199. - - 'Ol,' 16. - - 'Oller,' 62. - - Olave, Saint, 63. - - Oram, 63. - - 'Orm,' 63. - - Orme, 63. - - Ormerod, 63. - - Ormesby, 27. - - Ormeshaw, 63. - - Ormside cup, 131. - - Ormskirk, 23, 63. - - Ormstead, 185. - - Osmotherley, 27. - - 'Osric,' 25. - - 'Oswald,' 25. - - 'Oter,' 63. - - Otter, 63. - - Ottley, 63. - - 'Oxl,' 28. - - Oxton, 22. - - - Paton, 85. - - Patronymics, 60. - - 'Pecthun,' 85. - - Penda, 25. - - Peyton, 85. - - Phauranoth, 152. - - Physical types, 79. - - Picton, 85. - - Picts, 85, 115. - - Picture, 85. - - Piko, 115. - - Place names, 14-47. - - 'Plogr. plov.,' 112. - - Plough, 112. - - Political Freemen, 89. - - Preston, 23. - - Prestune, 23. - - Prim-staves, 142. - - Prima-luna, 142. - - - Quakers, 99. - - - Raby, 22. - - Rachdam, 84. - - Ragnvald, 52. - - Raven, 115. - - Ravenshore, 115. - - Ravensmeols, 23. - - Rawtenstall, 48. - - Red-Lees, 33-36. - - Regnold of Bamborough, 34. - - Ribble, 29-34. - - 'Ridings,' Yorkshire, 9. - - Rimstock, 143-144. - - 'Rimur,' 143. - - Rivington Pike, 115. - - Roby, 23. - - Rochdale, 84. - - Roman days, 26. - - Rooley, 39. - - Rossendale, 84. - - Round Hill, 40. - - Royal Charters, Norse witnesses, 15. - - Rûnâ, 137. - - Runes, 137. - - Runic Almanacs, 141. - - ---- Calender, 155. - - ---- Characters, 143, 153. - - ---- 'Futhork,' 139. - - ---- Inscriptions, 138. - - ---- Monuments, 181. - - 'Ruthlie,' 39. - - - 'Saetter,' 22. - - Sagas, 169, 174. - - Salford hundred, 5. - - Satterthwaite, 22. - - Saxifield, 30, 35, 42. - - Scarisbrick, 67. - - Seacombe, 22. - - Seascale, 22. - - Seathwaithe, 22. - - Sellafield, 22. - - 'Servi,' 103. - - Settlements, 12. - - Shakespere, 193. - - Sherborne, 37. - - Sheffield, 35. - - Shotwick, 17. - - Sieward, Earl, 163. - - Sigurd-Story, 179. - - Sinnington, 23. - - 'Sinfin,' 39, 40. - - 'Sithric,' King, 35. - - Skelmersdale, 78. - - Skelton, 27. - - Skidby, 18. - - Skipper, 55. - - Slavery abolition, 103. - - 'Socage,' 16, 20, 21. - - Sochman, 14, 20. - - Sochmanni, 19, 91. - - Sochmanries, 20. - - Socmen of Peterboro', 105. - - Sodor and Man, 83. - - Solar cycle, 155. - - Speke, 66. - - 'Spika,' 65. - - Statesmen, 104. - - Stainton, 26-7. - - Steadsmen, 104. - - Stigand, 68. - - Stiggins, 68. - - 'Stockstede,' Croxteth, 23. - - Stokesley, 26. - - Stone Crosses, 119. - - Storeton, 22. - - Sudreyjar, 83. - - Sun, 152. - - Superstitions, 159, 205. - - Sutherland, 83. - - Swarbrick, 67. - - Sweden 'lake' game, 156. - - Swindene, 40. - - S'winden water, 37. - - S'winless lane, 35, 37. - - - Tacitus, historian, 138. - - 'Tallage,' 107. - - Tanshelf, Taddnesscylfe, 28. - - Thane, 16. - - Thelwall, 23, 34. - - 'Thing,' trithing, 8. - - Thinghow, 28, 50. - - Thingstead, 28. - - Thingwall, 8, 13, 28, 50. - - 'Thor,' 62. - - Thorley, 62. - - Thornaby, 27. - - Thorold, 38. - - Thorolf, 38. - - Thursby, 62. - - Thurstaston, 62. - - Thurston water, 38. - - Tingley, 28, 50. - - Torque, 177. - - Towneley, 33. - - Towthorp, 18. - - Toxteth, 23. - - Trawden, 48. - - Tree-yggdrasil, 180. - - 'Trithing,' 7, 10. - - Trithing Court, 14. - - Troughton, 48. - - Trowbridge, 48. - - 'Trow'-trough, 48. - - Turketul, Chancellor, 39. - - Turton, 62. - - Tursdale, 62. - - Twist hill, 40. - - Tynwald, 8. - - - Ullersthorpe, 62. - - Ullscarth, 28. - - Ullswater, 28. - - Ulpha, 23. - - Ulverston, 62. - - Unthank, 22. - - - Valkyrs, 199. - - Valour, 199. - - 'Vë,' 62. - - Verstigan, 143. - - 'Viborg,' 62. - - Viking age, 178. - - - Wallhalla, 189. - - Walkyries, 189. - - Wallasey, 22. - - Walshaw, 33. - - Walton le dale, 5. - - Wandsworth, 198. - - Wansborough, 198. - - Wanstead, 198. - - Wapentake, 8-9. - - Warcock, 28. - - Warcock-hill, 36. - - Warthole, 28. - - Warton, 28. - - Warwick, 28. - - Warrington, 24. - - Watling street, 33. - - Wavertree, 22. - - Wearmouth, 26. - - Wednesbury, 198. - - Wednesday, 198. - - Wellborough, 27. - - West Derby, 23. - - ---- ---- hundred, 5. - - West Kirby, 23. - - Whasset, 63. - - Whitby, 17, 26, 27. - - Whithorn, 51. - - ---- prior of, 165. - - Wigton, 62. - - Wigthorpe, 62. - - Wilbeforce, 62. - - Wild, 64. - - Wilde, 64. - - Wilding, 63. - - Willerby, 13. - - Willoughby, 62. - - Windermere, 22. - - Winewall, 35. - - Winter Solstice, 211. - - Widdop, 36. - - Wirral, 12, 24. - - Woollen manufacture, 64. - - Worsthorne, 37. - - Worsthorne, 36. - - Wulfric Spot, 24. - - Wycollar, 41. - - Wydale, 62. - - Wylde, 10. - - Wyre, 62. - - - Yarborg, 84. - - Yarborough, 84. - - Yarm, 27. - - Yerburgh, 84. - - Yggdrasil, 189. - - Yorkshire children's folklore, 114. - - Yule, origin, 211. - - - Zinga, 181. - - Zodiac, 152. - - Zoni, 181. - - - - -Transcriber's Notes - - -Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant -preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. - -Simple typographical errors were corrected; frequent unbalanced -quotation marks not remedied except as noted below. - -Page 16: "hopped ale.'" either is missing an opening quotation mark or -has a superfluous ending one. - -Page 36: 'is "Warcock Hill.' either is missing a closing quotation mark -or has a superfluous opening one. - -Page 62: "descrip-names" was printed that way; may be misprint for -"descriptive names". - -Page 65: Text beginning with '"Robert de Cowdray, who died in 1222' has -no closing quotation mark. - -Page 71: "proposition" probably should be "preposition". - -Page 72: Ending quotation mark added to "I's t'". - -Page 73: "helder--preferably;" the semi-colon was printed as a colon, -but changed here for consistency with the rest of the list. - -Page 80: "are also easily be recognised" was printed that way. - -Page 80: "or clap-cake, form" probably should be "from". - -Page 81: 'lögg mark."' either is missing an opening quotation mark or -has a superfluous closing one. - -Page 106: Likely superfluous quotation mark after 'by commutation."' - -Page 114: Missing quotation mark added after 'is in Norse "Stegger."' - -Page 117: There is no "CHAPTER VIII" in this book, but the chapter -names match the Table of Contents. - -Page 132: Paragraph beginning "The Bewcastle cross in the Gigurd shaft" -was printed as shown here. - -Pages 144-151: Runic symbols appeared to the left of each entry in -the Clog Almanac on these pages, and between some of them. To avoid -clutter, this eBook does not indicate where those symbols appeared. - -Page 147: "St. John Beverlev" may be alternate spelling for "Beverley". - -Page 149: No entry for Sept. 6. - -Page 158: "and has recently found" was printed that way. - -Page 172: "songs and sages" may be misprint for "sagas". - -Page 181: '"The Calder Stones near Liverpool' has no closing quotation -mark. - -Page 182: "between 576 feet" is a misprint, possibly for "5&6". - -Page 190: 'songs of the "Edda.' either is missing a closing quotation -mark or has a superfluous opening one. - -Page 195: '"How the man Odin' is missing a closing quotation mark, or -its mate is on page 199. - -Page 199: 'the sky and in the ocean."' is missing an opening quotation -mark, or its mate is on page 195. - -Page 220: "last thirty years" was misprinted as "vast"; changed here. - -Page 223: "rich dark brow soil" probably should be "brown". - -Page 234: Unclear whether "Occupying Ownership" is a Section heading or -just the title of the poem. - -Page 235: "but of catering" contained a duplicate "of"; changed here. - -Some alphabetizing errors in the Index corrected here. Index references -were not checked for accuracy. - -Page 243: No page reference given in the Index for "Northumberland, --". - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Danes in Lancashire and Yorkshire, by -S. W. Partington - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DANES IN LANCASHIRE *** - -***** This file should be named 43910-8.txt or 43910-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/3/9/1/43910/ - -Produced by sp1nd, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project -Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you -charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you -do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the -rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose -such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and -research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do -practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is -subject to the trademark license, especially commercial -redistribution. - - - -*** START: FULL LICENSE *** - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project -Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at -http://gutenberg.org/license). - - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy -all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. -If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the -terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or -entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement -and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" -or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the -collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an -individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are -located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from -copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative -works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg -are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project -Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by -freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of -this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with -the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by -keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project -Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in -a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check -the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement -before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or -creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project -Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning -the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United -States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate -access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently -whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, -copied or distributed: - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived -from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is -posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied -and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees -or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work -with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the -work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 -through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the -Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or -1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional -terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked -to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the -permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any -word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or -distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than -"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version -posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), -you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a -copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon -request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other -form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided -that - -- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is - owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he - has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the - Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments - must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you - prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax - returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and - sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the - address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to - the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." - -- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or - destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium - and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of - Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any - money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days - of receipt of the work. - -- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set -forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from -both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael -Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the -Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm -collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain -"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or -corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual -property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a -computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by -your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with -your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with -the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a -refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity -providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to -receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy -is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further -opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER -WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO -WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. -If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the -law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be -interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by -the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any -provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance -with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, -promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, -harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, -that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do -or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm -work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any -Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. - - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers -including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists -because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from -people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. -To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 -and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive -Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at -http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent -permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. -Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered -throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at -809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email -business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact -information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official -page at http://pglaf.org - -For additional contact information: - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To -SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any -particular state visit http://pglaf.org - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. -To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate - - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm -concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared -with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project -Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. - - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. -unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - http://www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |