Ethelred natural lord, if he would rule them rightlier than he had done before. Then sent the King his son Edward hither with his messengers, and ordered them Normandy. to greet all his people; and said that he would be to called back from them a loving lord, and amend all those things which they all abhorred, and each of those things should be forgiven which had been done or said to him, on condition that they all, with one consent, would be obedient to him without deceit. And then they established free friendship, by word and by pledge, on either half, and declared every Danish king an outlaw from England for ever. Then, during Lent, King Ethelred came home to his own people, and he was gladly received by them all." On his arrival he attacked the Danes, and compelled Canute, the son of Sweyn, to retire to his ships. But Canute soon subdued Wessex, and then passed into Mercia. Ethelred gathered together a force to oppose them; but fearing treachery he retired to London, and his troops dispersed. Canute next made himself master of Northumbria, and then returned to Wessex, and prepared to attack London. But at this time Ethelred died, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Edmund Ironside. After many fierce contests with Canute, Edmund found himself obliged to divide his kingdom with him, after which he soon died. Canute now became King of England, and secured his throne by marrying Emma, the widow of Ethelred. There were only four Danish kings of England, viz: Sweyn, Canute, and his two sons, Harold, called Harefoot from his swiftness, and his brother Hardicanute. Canute seems to have governed England well. He improved the laws, he restored order and tranquillity to the kingdom, and he endeavoured to put an end to the ancient enmities between the Danes and AngloSaxons. His successors, Harold Harefoot and Hardicanute, greatly oppressed the Anglo-Saxons. The English People and Language spring mainly from the Anglo-Saxon Race. English mainly Anglo The downfall of the Anglo-Saxon race, as Kings The of England, began with the crowning of Sweyn. people But, though the Anglo-Saxons did not henceforth spring reign over England, except for a short period, yet from the we know, from the number of Anglo-Saxon words Saxons. in our language, as well as from other reasons, that the Saxons had so completely settled themselves over all the country, and mixed so completely with the ancient inhabitants that, as I have before said, the Anglo-Saxons must be considered as the race from which we, mainly, have sprung. We English are a mixed race. There were first, as I have told you, the Celts, then the Belgians or Gauls, then the Romans, then the Saxons, then the Danes, and last of all, as you will soon hear, the Normans. But although we are thus a mixed race, we know, as I have before said, from our language, that the Saxons mixed with us more than any other races. They were, as an eloquent writer says, "The founders of our laws and liberties, whose language we speak, in whose homes we dwell, and in whose establishments and institutions we justly glory." * In illustration of the derivation of our language Many English from the Anglo-Saxon, I may mention, that out of the words sixty-nine words which make up the Lord's Prayer, the Anglo * Sir James Mackintosh. come from Saxons. The Anglo- sentences. Saxon language has all are Anglo-Saxon but five. The greater force of the Anglo-Saxon is also manifest, if we compare two If we use English words derived from Norman-French or Latin, we say, "Felicity attends great force. virtue;" but if we use good old Anglo-Saxon, we say, "Well being comes from well doing." The difference between the Anglo-Saxon and the Norman or French is in some instances curious. The Anglo-Saxons were a little rough and homely; the Normans polished, civilised, and acquainted with the arts of life. Ox is an Anglo-Saxon word, but when the ox is cooked he becomes beef, from bœuf, an ox, a French word used by the Normans. Sheep is Anglo-Saxon, but the roasted sheep is mutton, from the French word mouton, a sheep. The calf is an Anglo-Saxon beast, but the Norman turns him into veal, from the French word veau, a calf. The pig and his snout are Anglo-Saxon, but, if you make him into pork (from the French word porc), he at once becomes fit for the table of a Norman baron. It would be easy to multiply these instances, but I have said enough to show you that you are every day talking Anglo-Saxon when you fancy you are talking English. Division of England into Shires, Parishes, Hundreds, &c. The division of England into shires (or as we now call them, counties), into hides, tithings, hundreds, parishes, and manors, has been attributed to King Alfred, but it probably existed at an earlier period. The country was certainly so divided in the time of the Anglo-Saxons. In the Life of King Alfred, by Asser, many of the present counties are mentioned by name, and in the laws of King Edgar, Alfred's TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS: PARISHES. 29 great-grandson, parishes are mentioned; and, indeed, as the word Parish is derived from a Latin word Division of England parochia, which originally came from the Greek, it is likely that the word, and the division of the land &c. expressed by the word, were introduced with Christianity during the time of the Romans. The word County was not used in Anglo-Saxon times, as it is a French word introduced by the Normans, which they applied to the divisions formerly called shires. It is difficult to trace the origin of these divisions, or of their boundaries, with minute accuracy; but still, much has been found out, and I can tell you enough to give you some ideas on the subject, and to arouse your curiosity. of the ownership property. When the country was first peopled by settlers Origin from other lands, a family took possession of and cultivated a tract of land, the boundaries of which of landed must originally have been very uncertain. As the family increased, the tract most likely was increased too. But in those early times there was constant fighting going on, and the successful leader of a band of armed men naturally took possession of the lands occupied by those he conquered. Thus certain portions of land became, and remained, the property of certain men and of their descendants, who were named thanes or lords. Parishes. Now from this we will first try to trace the origin Origin of of Parishes. When Christianity began to spread itself, the lords built churches on their lands. Every man was obliged to pay tithes for the support of a church, and the lords, in order to secure Divine Service being performed in these churches, obliged their tenants to pay their tithes to the church on their land, and the tract of land thus apportioned became a parish. It sometimes happened that the lord had Origin of Divisions of Lands called Marks. outlying portions of land, separate from the rest of his property, which he charged with like payments. This accounts for parts of parishes lying sometimes, even now, within the boundary of another parish.* The origin of Counties or shires is supposed to have been something of this kind. The earliest divisions of land of which we have any mention were called Marks. Land, in the earliest times, was held sometimes by many men in common, or by several householders, and land thus held was called a Mark or March. Trees of peculiar size and beauty, and carved with figures of birds and beasts, sometimes served as boundaries. Thus we read of a spot called "the Five Oaks," of an oak called "the Marked Oak," and at Addlestone, near Chertsey, is an ancient and most venerable oak, called the "Crouch or Cross Oak," which is believed to have been a boundary of Windsor Forest. Sometimes the boundaries were striking natural features; a hill, a brook, a marsh, a rock, or the artificial mound or burial place of an ancient warrior, warned the intruder to keep off dangerous ground, or taught the herdsman how far he might lead his flocks. In water or marshy land poles were set up, which it was as impious to remove as it would have been to cut down or burn a mark-tree in a forest.† The men or families living within these Marks were called Markmen, and were united together for mutual defence, and for their own government. In some cases several of these Marks probably united together and formed a Shire. It is of course difficult, at this distance of time, and with so little authentic history, to find out with certainty whether this was † Kemble. Blackstone. |