The Romans kept possession of the country about 500 years; but as they held it rather as a conquered province-that is by means of various fortified places, and not by an amalgamation of the two races their language was never very widely diffused.

In the Welch language there seem to be several traces of the Roman, as may be seen in the following words, viz :—

The words of Danish origin are not very numerous, but such as do exist, are, as might be reasonably expected, found in the Eastern and Northern parts of the kingdom, those counties having been more contiguous to that part of the continent, whence the

Danes made their incursions into Britain. Thus we find the following in the East-Anglian Vocabulary:-

Balker, s. [Bielke, Dan. a beam.] A great beam.

Bing, s. [Bing, Dan. a heap.]

A bin for corn, wine, &c.

Bund-Weed, s.

[Bund, Dan.]

To Clead, v. a.

[Clede, Dan.]

[Kronkelen, Dan. to twist.] To wrinkle.

Darnocks, s.

Dome, Dum.

To Flit, v. n.

[Dorneck, Dan.] Hedger's gloves.

[Dun, Dan. a feather.] Rabbits' down.
[Flytter. Dan. to migrate.]

To remove from one house to another.
Kedge, adj. Active. [Kaud, Dan.]
Mork-Shriek, s. [Mork, Dan. darkness.]
Slub, s. [Slubra, Dan.] Thick mire.
And these below, in the North.
Cleg, s. A gad-fly. [Klaeg, Dan.]
Eldin, s. Fuel. [Ild, Dan.]

To Gar, v. a. To compel. [Gior, Dan.]

A mockery; a bugbear.

Scratt, Oud Scratt, s. The Devil. [Skratta, Dan.]
Sliven, s. A sloven. [Slaver, Dan.]

Stank, s. A boggy place. [Staen, Dan.]

Toomed, part. pass. Emptied. [Tommer, Dan.]
Yewl-Clog, s. A Christmas log. [Jule-dag, Dan.]

The next class of words are those which have a Saxon origin; but to attempt to enumerate these would be only an idle waste of time, as they are spread so generally through all the counties of England, with the exception, perhaps, of Cornwall, as to form the vernacular tongue of the great mass of the people, and more particularly of those in the rural districts. As we have before observed, that, on the arrival of the Romans, some of the Britons

bl

fled to the mountainous fastnesses of Wales, and there, to this day, have retained among them the ancient language of the country, so, on the arrival of the Normans, many of the Saxons retired to the North; or, at all events, from the greater contiguity of the southern counties to the French coast, the Norman language was introduced to a much greater extent among the inhabitants of the South than those of the North. In short, the language has spread but little in the North to this day, and I do not know that I shall be venturing too far, if I assert that even at the present time the Saxon tongue is the one spoken by the mass of the people who reside north of the river Humber. There is one peculiarity in those counties which it may be well to mention here, as helping to prove the assertion I have made. I allude to the use of the following words, in which the vowel A is retained which is the original Saxon, whereas in the south the O is substituted, as may be seen below, viz. :—

I shall now proceed to the consideration of words of Norman or French etymon. As the Normans were the last race of foreigners who conquered this country, there has been no new language since introduced to destroy whatever influence that has been capable of producing; the struggle has been between the Norman and the Saxon, and the latter has prevailed, most decidedly, in all the Provincial Dialects. The Normans adopted the plan which has been considered by conquerors, in general, as one of the most effectual means of subduing a people, viz., that of compelling them, as far as possible, to use their own language; but as respects the mass of the people--and it is with them we have to deal the attempt has most signally failed. The Normans compelled all the learned professions to make use of NormanFrench. To the disgrace of the nation, the king, to this day,

when he gives the royal assent to an act of parliament does not say in good English, "The King consents," but in Norman French, "Le Roi le veut." Many of our statutes are still designated by the barbarous words which stand at their beginning in this language.

A court of assize is called a court of "Oyer et terminer." Our town criers did, until very lately, commence their notices with "Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!" But all these are relics of official usages-usages of the educated, and not of the uneducated, classes. Among the latter we find comparatively few words of Norman origin; in East Anglia are the following, viz. :

Bail, s. The handle of a pail. Bailler, Fr.
Broaches, s. Spars. Broche, Fr. a spit.
Chick, s. A flaw in earthen ware. Chiche, Fr.

Choo, interj. A word used to drive away pigs, &c.

Chou. O. F.

Chuffy, adj. Fat and fleshy about the cheeks, Jouffu, Fr.

Clicket, adj. Voluble. Cliqueter, Fr.

Cosh, s. The glume of corn. Cacher, F.

Crible, s. A fine sort of bran. Cribler, F.

Culp, s. A hard blow. [Coulp, O. F.]

To Daunt, v. a. To knock down. Dompter, F.

Dibles, s. pl. Scrapes. D ableries, F.

Fraylings, s. Threads of cloth unravelled. Fraisle, O. F. brittle.
To Gavel, v. a. To collect mown corn into heaps, in order to its
being loaded. Gavelle, F.

Gimmers, s. Small hinges.

Harriage, s. Confusion.

Hobby, s. A small horse.

Gemeau, F.

Harier, F.

Hobin, F.

Journey, s. The time a man is at plough. Journee, Fr.

To Ladle, v. n.

To dawdle. Lasdaller, F.

Lanyer, s. The lash of a whip. Lanière, F.

Lucarn, s.

Mavis, s.

A window in the roof of a house. Lucarne, F.
A thrush. Mauvis, F.

To Moise, v. n. To improve. Moison, O. F.

Mure-hearted, adj. Meek-spirited. Mur, F.

To Plenny, v. n. To complain fretfully. Plaindre, F.
Prest, adj. Ready. Prest, O. F.

To Ranter, v.a. To pour liquor from a large, into smaller casks.
Rentraire, Fr.

Say, s. A taste or trial of anything, sufficient to give a wish for

more.

Sayer, O. F.

Soe, s. A large tub, Seau, Fr.

xii.

Soller, s. A loft.

Stank, s. A dam.

Tass of Tea,

INTRODUCTION.

Solive, F.

Estanche, N. F.

Cup of tea. Tasse, Fr. a cup.

To Tiffle, v. n. To be very busy about trifles. Tiffer, F.

In the North are these under, viz. :—

Aigre, adj. Sour. Aigre, F. sour.

Alley, s. The conclusion of a game at foot-ball, when the ball has

passed the bounds. Aller, F. to go.

Aumry, s. A cup-board. Armoire.

Average, s. Winter provender. Hiver, F.

Cammarel, s. The hock of a horse. Cambre, F. crooked.

Eshlar-wall, s. A wall built of stones laid in course or by scale.

Gray-stones, s. Mill-stones for grinding coarse grain. Grès, F. rough.

Sturdy, s. Water on the brain in sheep, which renders them dull and stupid. Estourdi, F.

Taumed-owr, part. pass.
Swooned away.
Tomber, F.
Tom-noddy, s. A tom-fool. Naudin, N. F.

In the west there are but very few words of Norman extraction, so far, at least, as my knowledge of them extends. But in East Sussex, Kent, and Hants, they are, as might be expected, much more abundant, as the following list will show:

Apple-Terre, s. An orchard. Terre, F. Land.