Tm VOYAGES in the BALTIC 
 
 in the Ninth Century.' 
 
 I 
 
AN 
 
 INAUGURAL LECTURE 
 
 ON 
 
 THE UTILITY 
 
 OF 
 
 ^ttglo^ajcon i^tte^attt^e ; 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED 
 
 THE GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE 
 
 BY 
 
 KING ALFRED, 
 
 INCI.UDING 
 
 HIS ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH CAPE 
 
 IN THE NINTH CENTURY. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE REV. JAMES INGRAM, M. A. 
 
 FELLOW AND TUTOR OF TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD, 
 AND ANGLO-SAXON PROFESSOR. 
 
 OXFORD, 
 
 AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS FOR THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Sold by J. Cooke and J. Parker, Oxford ; PAy^fE and Mackinlay, Strand, 
 and J. White, Fleet Street, London. 
 
 I8O7. 
 
v ^ 3 ^ 
 
TO THE 
 
 RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 LORD VISCOUNT SIDMOUTH. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 XJ.AVING obtained permiffion to dedicate to your Lordlhip the 
 following Eflay on the Utility of Anglo-Saxon Literature, I have 
 endeavoured to render it more worthy of your acceptance, by 
 adding thereto a fmall fpecimen of King Alfred's Saxon labours; 
 hoping that a Monarch, who was the glory of his own and of 
 all fucceeding ages, may henceforward be admitted into the lift 
 
 A 2 of 
 
IV 
 
 of the royal and noble authors of England ; an honour, of which 
 the late Lord Orford probably would not have deprived him, had 
 he been able to read and underftand the language in which he 
 wrote. For perhaps no author can be found, either noble or 
 royal, whofe name is calculated to add fo much luftre and dignity 
 to the catalogue, as that of ALFRED ! 
 
 In addition to the private motives of gratitude and regard, 
 which will always enfure my attachment to every part of your 
 Lordfhip's family, I feel a peculiar pleafure, as I think there is a 
 peculiar propriety, in fubmitting the firll fruits of my Saxon llu- 
 dies to, your patronage and protection. The moll valuable part 
 of the laws, the conflitution, and the religion of England, is un- 
 doubtedly built on a Saxon foundation. Thofe laws, that con- 
 llitution, and that religion, have always been uniformly fupported 
 by your Lordfliip with the prudence of a Statefman, the integrity 
 of a Patriot, and the feelings of a Man. As a diftinguiflied mem- 
 ber alfo of the Univerlity of Oxford, and a lincere lover of litera- 
 ture, you will naturally be dilpofed to give a favourable reception 
 to a work, prepared within thofe walls where your Lordfhip's 
 father pafled the claffical hours of his academical life. 
 
 The prefent age, my Lord, from a faftidious apprehenfion of 
 flattery, has aboliflied the cuftom of long dedications ; I fliould 
 otherwife be difpofed to imitate the example of the learned author 
 of the Epiilolary Diflertation on the Utility of Northern Litera- 
 ture, 
 
ture, in order that thofe, who might not find leifure or inclina- 
 tion to proceed any farther in the work, might at lead be induced 
 to read the dedication from a refpe(3: for your Lordfhip. But 
 perhaps it is unneceflary to trefpafs on your time and attention, 
 by accumulating tedious and elaborate proofs of the importance 
 of Saxon literature, which is now fo generally felt and acknow- 
 ledged. There is one circumftance, however, in its favour, which 
 ought to be mentioned in juftice to your Lordftiip and other dif- 
 tinguilhed perfons. This department of literature is intimately 
 connected with the general objedts of that grand defign, fo worthy 
 of a great nation, for the execution of which your Lordlliip was 
 appointed one of the earlieft and ableft Commiflioners ; I allude 
 to that magnificent meafure adopted by the Britifli Parliament 
 for the arrangement, prefervation, and publication, of fome of 
 the principal Records of the Kingdom ; and it is with fatisfadtion 
 I read, " that the fame motives which encouraged your prede- 
 " ceflbrs to intreat his Majelly's diredions for printing the ancient 
 " Records of Domefday, and the Rolls of Parliament, have alfo 
 " induced you to fubmit to His Majefty's wifdom your defire of 
 " extending the fame meafure to other ancient and valuable mo- 
 " numents of our Hifl:ory, Laws, and Government." 
 
 As I can only prefume to admire fo noble a defign, my pur- 
 pofe will be fufficiently anfwered, and my labours abundantly 
 rewarded, if I contribute in the fmallefl: degree to excite attention 
 to thofe valuable monuments of our national hifl;ory, hitherto too 
 
 much 
 
VI 
 
 much neglected or mifunderllood, which may not only be fubjefts 
 of curiolity to an antiquary, but may alfo afford intereft and 
 amufement to the llatefman, the patriot, and the fcholar. 
 
 I have the honour to be. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 Your moll obliged 
 
 And moft obedient faithful fervant, 
 
 JAMES INGRAM. 
 
 Trinity College, Oxford. 
 
 November i6, 1807. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 ?^> on- THE -^^ 
 
 It was my intention to difmifs this work without the formality 
 of a preface ; but, lince the whole was printed off, I have had an 
 opportunity of examining the original MS, of ^Ifred's Orofius, 
 preferred in the Britilh Mufeum, from which the Bodleian MS. 
 was tranfcribed by Junius. Mr. Ellis, of the JMufeum, has alfo 
 informed me, that a very fine MS. of the fame work has been 
 lately purchafed from the Lanfdowne Colledtion. There is very 
 little doubt, that both thefe MSS. were written about the time, 
 or in the reign, of King Alfred, by one of thofe wr'iteras, writers, 
 or fcribes, whom he is known to have employed to tranfcribe and 
 multiply copies of all thofe ufeful works, which he fuppofed 
 would contribute to the improvement of his people. The tranfla- 
 tion of Orofius is one of the mofi: extraordinary productions of this 
 kind ; and, as an epitome of ancient hifi:ory, it well deferves to be 
 more generally known ; but for that purpofe it ought firft to be 
 correctly printed, ivliich has not yet been done : if, however, the 
 public flioukl think it important enough, I can only fay, that, as 
 far as it depends on me, itjhall be done. It is time, that the fame 
 of Alfred, and the unvarniflied language of our Saxon ancefliors 
 Ihould no longer be fullied by the errors of later ages, and the ig- 
 norance of fuperficial pretenders to refinement. 
 
 In the prefent ftate of Anglo-Saxon literature, I have deemed 
 it neceflary to add an Englifli tranflation, with notes, to this fliort 
 
 fpeci- 
 
vm 
 
 fpecimen of our ancient language ; for, as Bifliop Nicolfon ob- 
 ferved more than a century ago, " the world is not yet so 
 
 " WELL stocked WITH MEN SKILLED IN OUR SaXON LANGUAGE AND 
 " ANTIQUITIES, AS WE MAY HOPE TO SEE IT*." 
 
 I have lately feen in the Britifh Mufeum a copy of the work of 
 Buflkus, mentioned p, 91. from which it is evident, that the 
 Saxon language was not underftood at Copenhagen in the year 
 1733, and that the editor undertook to print what he could not 
 even read. His geographical notes are chiefly extracted from the 
 Oxford edition of the voyages of Ohthere and Wulfftan. ' 
 
 Some apology, perhaps, may here be expedled for the incon- 
 iiftent orthography, which the reader will fometimes find in the 
 following work. In conformity to general cuftom, I have facri- 
 ficed to the fliade of Dr. Johnfon, in allowing fuch anomalies as 
 honourable, favourable, &c. which are neither Latin, nor French, 
 nor Englifh, to pafs uncorre<5ted ; while, on the other hand, I beg 
 the printer may not be blamed, if I have fometimes introduced 
 innovations, as in Hand, rime, Rine, Rone, &c, if that can be 
 called an innovation, which was the regular orthography of our 
 language a thoufand years ago. The minutenefs of verbal criti- 
 cifm is tedious, even when apparently neceflary ; I will therefore 
 only obferve with refpe6l to our prefent orthography, that a few 
 hours attentively dedicated to Saxon literature, will be fuffi- 
 cient to overthrow the authority of every didlionary and grammar 
 of the Englifh language, that has been hitherto publiflied. 
 
 * From an unpublijhed l^iiex to Mr. Thwaites, dated Dec. 16, 1697. MS. BodL 
 
 INAUGURAL 
 
# 
 
 m 
 
 ^^ OF THR 
 
 INAUGURAL LECTURE, &c. 
 
 As the eftablifhment of an " Anglo-Saxon Ledlure or Profeflbr- 
 " Ihip" is of very late origin in this Univerfity, and as there is no 
 inflitution of a fimilar kind elfewhere *, it may probably be ima- 
 
 • At Cambridge, Indeed, Archbifliop Ufher, in confequence of a donation from 
 Sir Henry Spelman, propofed to Profeflbr Wheloc, in the year 1640, a plan by 
 which Saxon literature might be promoted in that Univerfity ; which was, to 
 read and explain the Saxon Gofpels. But Wheloc preferred the more ufeful la- 
 bour of a Saxon editor. On the death of Profeflbr Wheloc, the learned Mr. Som- 
 ner fucceeded him in the Saxon department, and, after the example of his prede- 
 ceflbr, he endeavoured to make his labours generally ufeful through the medium of 
 the prcfs : " quo multo magis" (fays he, in the dedication of his Saxon Di6tion- 
 *ry to Roger Spelman, Efq.) " quam ylcademka pnshaione, ut verifimile fuit, 
 " linguam eflem promoturus." What is become of this Saxon Profeflbrftiip at 
 Cambridge, and of the " perenne prsemium et ftipendium," mentioned by Som- 
 ner, I know not ; but I fliould be glad to find, that my obfervation above is in- 
 correft, and that the endowment of Sir Henry Spelman is ftill in exiftence. The 
 Saxon MSS. in Bene't College Library are extremely valuable, and great afliftance 
 might be derived, in the cultivation of this kind of literature, from the corre- 
 fpondence of a Saxon Profeflfor in the fifter Univerfity. That the nature of the 
 Oxford endowment may be better known, as there are fome peculiar claufes and 
 reftriaions belonging to it, I have given a few extrafts from the Will of Dr. 
 RawUnfon, in an Appendix to this Lefture, No. I. Some additional obfervatioos 
 alfo, refpeding the well-intended donation of Sir Henry Spelman at Cambridge, 
 will be found in the Appendix, No. II. 
 
 B gined 
 
gined by many, not only that this department of literature is of a 
 barren and uninterefting nature in itfelf, but that it has been de- 
 fervedly neglected by the good fenfe of mankind, as obfolete and 
 antiquated, and no longer applicable to any ufeful purpofe in the 
 purfuit of general knowledge. To thofe, however, who have di- 
 ligently and attentively examined the fubje6t, the contrary ap- 
 pears manifeffly to be the cafe in both refpecls ; and it fliall 
 therefore be my endeavour, in the Lecture which I have now the 
 honour of fubmitting with all due deference to this refpedlable 
 audience, to prove feveral material points in favour and recom- 
 mendation of Anglo-Saxon literature. 
 
 I. In the firft place, I will endeavour to Ihew, that the fludy of 
 Anglo-Saxon hterature has never been negle6led or vilified by 
 men of learning, but, on the contrary, has been uniformly culti- 
 vated and promoted ; and that the importance of it has been al- 
 ways maintained to the prefent time by men of the firft rank in 
 the republic of letters, for their accurate tafte, found judgment, 
 and profound erudition. 
 
 II. I Ihall then proceed to examine, what inducements there 
 are to the cultivation of Anglo-Saxon literature ; and thefe, I 
 truft, will be allowed to be fufficiently ftrong and powerful, if it 
 Ihall appear, that the knowledge of it is of the greatefi: importance 
 to Englifhmen, and that it is intimately connected with the ori- 
 ginal introduction and eftablifhment of their prefent language and 
 laws, their liberty, and their religion. 
 
 III. In the laft place, I will venture to fugged, that it is not 
 only of this particular importance to Englifhmen, but that it is 
 alfo capable of being made a fubjeCl of general intereft in the 
 purfuit of univerfal knowledge, and may ferve as a medium of 
 illuftration to thofe, who are difpofed to ftudy and inveftigate the 
 
 philo- 
 
pliilofophical principles of grammar ^, and the true theory of lan- 
 guage. 
 
 I. In the firft place then, if we diligently examine the whole 
 hiftory and progrefs of Saxon literatiire in this country, we fliall 
 find that, fo far from having been totally negleded at any time, 
 it has been vininterruptedly cultivated and continued to this day 
 amongft us by the public-fpirited exertions of illullrious and 
 learned men, who fufFered no obftacles to overcome their fenfe of 
 its utility. And fuch conduct, furely, mull be allowed to be not 
 only laudable on their parts, but natural, when we confider, that 
 
 THE GREAT MASS OF THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY ARE STILL OF 
 
 Saxon origin ; a facft, which will be more fully confirmed here- 
 after c. That veneration, therefore, is not only laudable, but na- 
 tural, which, notwithftanding the overwhelming torrent of the 
 Norman vifurpation, has been uniformly cheriflied, from a very 
 remote period to the prefent time, for the language, the liberty, 
 and the laws of our Saxon progenitors. 
 
 Indeed, no fooner did the Saxon inhabitants of this country 
 begin gradually to emerge from that ftate of abjed; vaflalage, into 
 which they had been plunged by their Norman conquerors, no 
 fooner did the commonalty of this realm fill a third department 
 in the ftate, holding the balance even between baronial ariftocracy 
 on the one hand, and regal defpotifm on the other, no fooner did 
 this glorious a?ra commence in our pohtical conftitution, than a 
 
 *> The word grammar is here ufed in that enlarged, comprehenfive, and pro- 
 per fenfe, in which it was originally underftood, when it was a fubjed of fcien- 
 tific inveftigation to philofophers, and not yet made the terror of children j when 
 it was analyzed and finiplified by an Ariftotle and a Theodedes, not perplexed 
 by the fophiftries of an Ariftarchus and a Palsemon. (Vide Quint. I. 4. et Ju- 
 venal. Sat. VI. 451.) A Grammaire Raifonnee is ftill a defideratum. 
 
 "^ Vide p. 13. 
 
 B 2 manifeft 
 
manifeft change took place in the general complexion of our lan- 
 guage and literature. Amidft the factions of the nobiUty, and 
 the diftrefles of the crown, the people "^ at length rofe into confe- 
 quence. The increafing wants of fociety eftabliflied a chain of 
 political and commercial intercourfe ; the common interefts of all 
 ranks were united ; the conned:ion between town and country 
 became more clofe and permanent ; and the language of the pea- 
 fantry was infenlibly blended with the language of the court. At 
 length, in the reign of Edward the Third, Chaucer undertook to 
 delineate in native colours the variegated manners of his country- 
 men, and confidered no flation in life beneath the notice of a 
 poet. With the refinements of the polite world he mingled the 
 rude fpeech of the rullic, and taught the French and Italian he- 
 roes of chivalry and romance to appear in an Englifli drefs. In- 
 deed, the pen of this elegant writer appears to have atchieved as 
 great a conqueft over the other languages of Europe, as the fword 
 of his royal mailer obtained over the monarch of France <=. 
 
 ^ By PEOPLE I mean populus, not plcbs ; S))/aoj, not wXtj^of. " Hoc quo perti- 
 " neat, dicet qui nie noverit." 
 
 ' My veneration for Chaucer will not allow me to aflent to the heretical opi- 
 nion of Verftcgan in the following paflage : " Some few ages after came the 
 " Poet Gejfeiy Chaucer, who writing his poefies in Engli/h, is of fome called the 
 " firft illuminator of the Engli/h tongue : of their opinion I am not, (though I 
 " reverence Chaucer, as an excellent Poet for his lime.) He was indeed a great 
 " mingler of Engl'i/h with French, unto which language, by like for that he was 
 '* defcended of French or rather IVallon race, he carried a great affecftion." (Refti- 
 tution of decayed Intelligence, &c. c. 7.) How far Chaucer merits this cenfure, 
 I intend to examine more minutely in an Eflay or Lefture which I am preparing, 
 the lubjeft of which is. The formation of the EngViJl} language on the foundation of 
 the Anglo-Saxon. Mr. Ellis, the editor of " Specimens of Early Engllfh Poets," 
 has advanced a new opinion on this fubjeft, which differs materially from that of 
 moft other writers, particularly Dr. Johnfon, (or whoever wrote the " Hiftory of 
 " the Englifli Language" prefixed to his Diftionary,) and Mr. Tyrwhitt. 
 
 The 
 
The long train of poets who fucceeded Chaucer imitated his 
 example with a kind of filial veneration ; and Spenfer himfelf, a 
 poet of no vulgar call, was proud to draw large fupplies, in a pe- 
 dantic age, from what he confidcred as the pure " well of Englilh 
 " undefiled !" In fliort, the moll illullrious examples of learning, 
 talle, and genius, have at all times feen the neceffity of under- 
 Handing and venerating that parent language, which conllitutes 
 the predominant feature in the works of our early poets, and 
 forms the genuine ground-work of our vernacular idiom. It is 
 thus indeed, and thus only, that the veil mull be removed, which 
 conceals the moll impreffive and linking charaderillics of our na- 
 tive language in impenetrable obfcurity. Tet, as the cultivation 
 of Anglo-Saxon literature forms no part of a regular education, 
 but is left to the fortuitous partiality of a few individuals, it is not 
 at all furprizing, however it may excite our regret, that fome 
 have no inclination, and others have no opportunity, to pay that 
 attention to it, which its manifell importance appears to de- 
 mand. 
 
 It is a fa6l not a little curious in the hillory of Anglo-Saxon li- 
 terature, that the monks of Tavillock-Abbey, many centuries 
 ago, inllituted in their monaftery a regular fchool for the better 
 pi'efervation of that language, which they fuppofed to be in no 
 fmall danger of becoming totally unintelligible, in conlequence of 
 the changes introduced by the Normans. This, I believe, is the car- 
 liell inllance on record, after the conquell, of any profelTed atten- 
 tion being paid to Anglo-Saxon literature, and to this attention 
 may be afcribed the prefervation of many Saxon manufcripts f. 
 
 ' In the public library at Canibridge there is an Anglo-Saxon homily extant in 
 manufcript, which contains a memorandum to the following cffeft : " This ma- 
 " nufcript, with another of the fame kind, was found by R. Farrar, a fervant of 
 " the Earl of Bedford, in the year 1566, in a houfe which was formerly a cell 
 
 " be- 
 
After the Reformation, amidft the general havoc, plunder, and 
 demolition, which accompanied the diflblution of monafteries, it 
 could not be expelled, that the caufe of antiquity and literature 
 fliould receive any fignal or immediate advantage. Yet it ap- 
 pears, that after a very fliort interval, when the ftorm of innova- 
 tion had fublided, and the human mind, releafed from the dull 
 monotony of monallic life, began to expatiate with freedom in 
 the various walks of ufeful learning, men of the firft eminence and 
 refpedability for their rank in fociety, as well as for their attain- 
 ments in literature, became the ardent patrons and admirers of 
 the Anglo-Saxon language. Among the foremoft Hands the ve- 
 nerable Dr. Matthew Parker, the second Protestant Archbi- 
 shop OF Canterbury. He was for fome time Maftcr of Bene't 
 College in Cambridge ; and to the public library of that Univer- 
 iity, as well as to the private library of his own College, he be- 
 queathed fome very valuable manufcripts, particularly of the 
 Saxon language, the greater part of which had been colledled and 
 refcued from the ruins of the plundered monafleries g. With this 
 moft reverend Primate of all England may be joined, as fecond in 
 rank, though confiderably later in point of time, the learned Pri- 
 mate of Ireland, Archbifliop Uiher, whofe Annals of the Old and 
 
 " belonging to the monks of Taviftock- Abbey." The MS. is thus charafterized 
 by Wheloc and Wanley : " Unas e codd. MSS. nomine Homiliarum 34 notus." 
 s A Catalogue of the Parkerian MSS. of C. C. C. C. firft appeared in the Ec- 
 loga Jamefii, and was thence tranfcribed into the Catalogue of MSS. in England 
 and Ireland; which being found imperfect and inaccurate. Dr. Stanley, who was 
 Mafter of the College in the reign of William the Third, publiflied another. 
 This alfo being incomplete, Mr. Nafmith, one of the Fellows, publiflied a more 
 full and accurate Catalogue in 4to, Cant. 1777. Yet the following confeffion in 
 the Preface to this work is curious : " Ad Codices Saxonicos quod attinet, lingua 
 " in qua exarantur prorfus ignarus, Wanleium ubique fecutus fum !" Wanley's 
 Catalogue is publiflied at the end of Hickes's Thefaurus. 
 
 New 
 
7 
 
 New Teftament, and whofe hillorical refearches into the anti- 
 quities of the Britifh Churches, afford abundant proofs of his pro- 
 found erudition. 
 
 In the courfe of the (ixteenth and feventeenth centuries flou- 
 riflied many other learned and indefatigable fcholars, who confi- 
 dered a knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon language as indifpenfably 
 neceffary in the ftudy of Englilh antiquities. The firft in order, 
 if not the firft in fame, is one to whom his countrymen will al- 
 ways feel themfelves highly indebted, for his ardent induliry and 
 laborious perfeverance in the execution of his office, as librarian 
 and antiquary to King Henry the Eighth. Every one will here 
 anticipate the name of Leland, the father of Englifli antiquaries, 
 and the great prjecurfor of topographical writers. In the fame 
 track follows Lambard, whofe learned publication of the Archaio- 
 nom'ia, or collection of the ancient laws of England, firft printed 
 in the year 1568, will be found to be equally valuable to the 
 lawyer, the antiquary, and the hiftorian ^. To thefe writers may 
 be added the great antiquary and biographer Bale, the unfortu- 
 nate and perfecuted Bifliop of OlTory ; together with Dr. Lau- 
 rence Nowell, the learned Dean of Lichfield ; Dr. Caius, or Kayes, 
 the founder of the College which retains his name at Cambridge ; 
 and Foxe the Marty rologift '. 
 
 •' An improved edition of thefe ancient laws, with conflderable additions, ufe- 
 ful notes, and a learned preface by Bifliop Nicolfon, was afterwards publiflied by 
 Dr. Wilkins, Prebendary of Canterbury; folio, London, 1731. The edition by 
 Wheloc was merely a republication of Lombard's in 1568. 
 
 ' Saxon fcholars are much indebted to this extraordinary man. Perhaps they 
 will think his publication of the Saxon Gofpels, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth in 
 the year 157 1, more valuable than his famous Book of Martyrs. But it Is not 
 improbable, that Archbifliop Parker fuperintended this publication of the Saxon 
 Gofpels. Vid. T. Marefchalli Obferv. in Evang. A. Saxon. See more on this 
 fubjeft in the Appendix, No. III. 
 
 In 
 
5 
 
 In the feventeenth century, among the cultivators and pro- 
 moters of Anglo-Saxon literature, we find the diftinguiihed and 
 illuftrious names of Sir Edward Coke, Dr. Cowell, Dr. Brady the 
 hiftorian, Tate, Camden, Selden, Sir Robert Cotton, Sir Chrifto- 
 pher Hatton, Sir Symonds D'Ewes, Sir Roger Twyfden, Sir Henry 
 and Sir John Spelman ^ ; the latter of whom edited, among other 
 things, the Anglo-Saxon verfion of the Pfalms, and of whom 
 Wheloc gives an excellent character for accuracy of tafte, ele- 
 gance of genius, and the moft amiable fweetnefs of manners '. 
 
 In the fame century alfo we find that Anglo-Saxon literature 
 was cultivated by fome of the moft eminent fcholars on the con- 
 tinent ; among others, by John Gerard Vofiius, the learned Pro- 
 fellbr of Chronology and Eloquence at Leyden, and of Hiftory at 
 Amfterdam ; by John de Laet of Leyden, the intimate friend of 
 Sir Heniy Spelman ; by Olaus "VVormius, Profeffor at Copen- 
 hagen, the great inveftigator of Danifli antiquities, who appears 
 to have joined the ftudy of the Saxon language with a profound 
 knowledge of Runic and Scandinavian literature ; and, laftly, by 
 Francis Junius "\ whofe indefatigable labours in Anglo-Saxon and 
 
 ■^ It would be eafy to increafe this nomenclature of Saxon fcholars and their 
 patrons ; but my intention was to prove, by a feledlion of the moft illuftrious 
 names, that the Saxon language has been ardently cultivated, not only by learned 
 antiquaries and lawyers, but by men of the higheft refpeftability, and of the moft 
 elegant tafte. We ftiall fee alfo, hereafter, from the example of Mrs. Elizabeth 
 
 Elftob, (THE FIRST PRECEPTRESS TO HIS GrACE THE PRESENT CHANCEL- 
 LOR OF Oxford !) that an attention to the Saxon language and Englifti anti- 
 quities may be blended with the higheft order of female accompliftiments ! — If 
 health and leifure permit, it is my intention to publifti a kind of Biographia An- 
 glo-Saxonica, or Seleft Lives of Anglo-Saxon Scholars. 
 
 ' " Vir acerrimi judicii, comptiflimi ingenii, probatiflimse morum fuavitatis." 
 Wheloc, Praef. ad Bedae Hift. This great fcholar died at Oxford in the year 
 1644.. " Oxonii inter ferenas Mufas animam efflavit." Id. ibid. 
 
 ■" His real name was Francois du John, or du Jon, transformed by the latinizing 
 
 faftiion 
 
Moefo-Gothic literature were continued with irtcreafing ardour to 
 his NINETIETH jcar, and who bequeathed feme of the valuable 
 fruits of thofe labours to this Univeriity. 
 
 But — to return to our own country — we muft not forget, that 
 the moft illuftrious and zealous promoter of Anglo-Saxon litera- 
 ture in the feventeenth century was the great Sir Henry Spel- 
 man above-mentioned ; who, in addition to his own ardent culti- 
 vation of it, extended his bounty and munificence to thofe who 
 were willing to follow him in this track of ftudy ", having, almoft 
 at the age of eighty years, appropriated a part of his owiii an- 
 nual income °, as well as the Vicarage of Middleton in the dio- 
 cefe of Norwich, augmented by himfelf, to the purpofe of pro- 
 viding an annual llipend, either for a Saxon Ledure to be read in 
 
 fafliion of the times into Francifcus Junius ! He was born at Heidelberg 1589 — 
 died 1678. His father was ProfeflTor of Divinity at Leyden, and published, in 
 conjunftion with Tremellius, a Latin verfion of the Bible from the Hebrew. 
 The principal works of the fon, who was profoundly (killed in Northern litera- 
 ture, are the following :— Etymologicum Anglicanum, (publiflied by Lye in folio, 
 Oxon. 1743.) — ^Tatiani Harmonia Evangelica Francice.— Lexicon Saxonicum, 
 Gothicum, Runicum, Illandicum, Francicum, &c. — (Vide Hickes's Thefaur.) His 
 life has been written in Latin both by Graevius and Lye. That he was a man of 
 elegant tafte, as well as deep erudition, appears from all his compofitions, but par- 
 ticularly from his work on the Painting of the Ancients, which he publiflied 
 both in Latin and Englifli, together with a Catalogue of Architeds, Mechanics, 
 Painters, Statuaries, Sculptors, and other artifls, with an account of their works. 
 He publiflied the Gothic and Saxon Gofpels in conjunftion with Dr. Marfliall • 
 for which he collated /oar MSS. befides the Cotton and Ruflmorth Glofles. (See 
 the Appendix, No. HI.) 
 
 " " Corypbaus nojier" is the exprefl!ion by which Wheloc charaaerizes him, and 
 he every where teftifies his gratitude and admiration, calling him " heros eximius 
 " nobilis, integerrimus, pius, inclytus ; antiquifllmae, dum vixerat, literature et 
 " fidei." (Vid. Bed. et Praef. in Bedae Edit. Latino- Saxonicam.) 
 
 ° " De cenfu fuo annuo — minerval annuum" is the expreffion of Wheloc. 
 (Vide Praef. ad Leaorem Hift. Ecclef. Ven. Bed. Cant. 1(544.) 
 
 c the 
 
10 
 
 the Univerfitj of Cambridge, or for the publication of fome of 
 the curious manufcripts extant in that language P. To this de- 
 partment Abraham Wheloc, at that time Arabic Profeflbr, was 
 appointed by the defire of Sir Henry Spelman himfelf 1 ; and 
 though it does not appear that he delivered any public ledures in 
 the Univerfity, yet he gave the world the firft edition of Venera- 
 ble Bede's Ecclefiaftical Hiftory with the Anglo-Saxon tranflation 
 of King Alfred, the firft edition of the Saxon Chronicle, a new 
 edition of Lambard's Archaionomia, with many other valuable 
 fpecimens of his Anglo-Saxon labours. On the death of Profeflbr 
 Wheloc, the learned Mr, Somner of Canterbury was appointed 
 to fucceed him ■■, being llrongly recommended by the Archbifhop 
 of Armagh ^ to the patronage of Roger Spelman, Efq. the grand- 
 s' Or perhaps for any other mode of promotuig the ftudy of EngUJh antiquities, 
 according to the dlfcretion of the Profeflbr. Vide Wheloc. Prcef. in Bed. uti 
 fupra, & Somner. Dedicat. Diction. Sax. Lat. Angl. cum Prsef. 
 
 "« See the Appendix, No. II. The defign of Sir Henry Spelman, which every 
 Englifliman muft refpecl and admire, will be befl; explained in the words of Pro- 
 felTor Somner, (Dedication of his Saxon Didtionary, p. i.) " Hinc autem expe- 
 " rientia propria hoc tandem comperto, linguam fcilicet Saxon icam rei antiquae 
 " apud Anglos (quid fi Germanos addiderim ?) ftudiofo adeo neceflkriam efle, 
 " ut nifi admoto prius et adhibito ipfius lumine, antiquitates Anglic^ aut 
 " omnino manerent incognitoe, aut (ut in multis Germanic partibus) plena fal- 
 <' tern et perfedta carerent illuftratione, magna admodum et fingularis optimi viri 
 *' in hujufmodi manuduftionis et direftionis lumine accendendo proponendoque 
 " cura fuit ftudiumque : ferii et feduli, &c." (Vid. et Prtef. ad Ledorcm.) 
 
 ' In imitation of his predecelfor, and in conformity to the defign of the great 
 founder of the endowment, Mr. Somner dedicated his time to the private ftudy of 
 Saxon literature and Englifh antiquities, inftead of reading public lectures, and at 
 length gave the world the fruits of his labours and refearches ; the moft valuable 
 ■fpecimen of which is his Saxon Diftionary ; which we fliall have occafion to 
 mention hereafter. (See the next page.) 
 
 ' James Uftier, D. D. who has been already mentioned, though rather out of 
 the exaft chronological order, — For a more circumftantial account of this Anglo- 
 Saxon 
 
11 
 
 (UNIVEKSIT 
 
 fon of Sir Henry, in wliofe prefentation the vicarage of Middleton 
 then was. 
 
 It is well known, that the lamentable confufion and unhappy 
 difturbances, which at that time prevailed in this country, diverted 
 the minds of men from the purfuit of general literature to the 
 confined channel of polemical divinity and politico-religious con- 
 troverfy ; nor could it well be expeded, that, amidll the par- 
 oxyfms of puritanical madnefs, a field apparently fo uninviting 
 as that of Anglo-Saxon literature fliould open any profpedls to 
 encourage the exertions of the learned. Yet a Saxon Grammar 
 is faid to have been printed, even during the rage of the civil 
 wars, at the Abbey-fchool of Taviftock before mentioned, the 
 ancient repofitory of the language ; and foon afterwards appeared 
 the Didlionary of the celebrated Mr. Somner ', who may be faid 
 to have revived the ftudy of Anglo-Saxon literature by the publi- 
 cation of that moft excellent work ". But above all Dr. Hickes, 
 
 Saxon Le6lure or Profeflbrfliip in the Univerfity of Cambridge, and of the caufes 
 which led to its extimSlion, fee the Appendix, No. II. 
 
 ' Folio, Oxon. 1659. The work was fent from Canterbury to be printed at 
 Oxford. It was the firfl; attempt of the kind, if we except an iniperfefl: voca- 
 bulary by Dr. Nowel, and a fmall colleaion of Saxon words, compiled and left 
 unfiniflied by Jocelin, Secretary to Archbifliop Parker. 
 
 " Dr. Hickes exprefsly calls him the father of Saxon literature. " Literaturae 
 " SaxonicsE pater" is his high encomium, though perhaps the word rejlltutor 
 would have been more appropriately juft ; fince the great fcholars, whom we have 
 already mentioned as the prsecurfors of Mr. Somner in the fame path, abundantly 
 prove the attention that was paid to Saxon literature long before his time. Yet 
 his Diclionarium Saxonicum is in the higheft degree learned, laborious, and ufe- 
 ful ; and it is to be regretted, that Lye and Manning did not follow him more 
 clofely ; particularly in adding the Englifh terms more frequently to the Saxon 
 words. To explain Anglo-Saxon by Latin, and that too, medii avi, is to explain 
 ohfcurum per ohfcurius ! This pra6tice appears to be the principal caufe of the 
 iieglcft of Anglo-Saxon literature. The age is too indolent and luxurious to fub- 
 
 c a ' mit 
 
13 
 
 the great malter of the Northern' languages in general, and of the 
 Anglo-Saxon in particular, accomplilhed the moll arduous talk 
 in compiling and publilhing, amidtl the hardlliips of depriva- 
 tion and poverty, his learned " Thefaurus Linguarum veterum 
 " Septentrionalium." The names of Wanley, Bilhop Gibfon, Dr. 
 INIill, Sir Andrew^ Fountaine, Dr. Wilkins, Bilhop Nicolfon, Lye, 
 Tyrwhitt, Warton, Tooke, and others, form a relpedlable and 
 numerous lift of fcholars and antiquaries, by whofe progreffive 
 labours and exertions the knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon language 
 has been rendered of eafy accefs to all, and having continued to 
 be cultivated to our own times, it has become an obje<3; of re- 
 lative importance even in this age of faftidious refinement ='. 
 
 H. Indeed, that the Anglo-Saxon language lliould have been 
 fo carefully and diligently preferved among us, and that the rude 
 elements of which it is compofed Ihould have fome attraftions for 
 the learned in a later age of refinement, will not appear at all fur- 
 prizing, when we confider, in the next place, that the great mafs 
 of the people of this country, notwithftanding the predatory in- 
 curfions of the Danes, the fuccefsful invafion of the Normans, 
 and the occafional introduction of foreign families into the king- 
 dom at different times, continue at this day to be of Saxon ori- 
 gin ; whence it follows, as a natural confequence, that the pre- 
 
 mit to the drudgery of learning every thing through the medium of a dead lan- 
 guage. Befidesj who wants to know, for inftance, that utlagatus is the Latin for 
 an outlaw ? Yet this is the word which Bilhop Gibfon conftantly ufes. 
 
 " If the " Diverfions of Purley" had been written without any ftudious inter- 
 mixture of political fentiments, which are totally unexpe£led in fuch a work, it 
 might have produced the defirable effeft of making us better acquainted and fa- 
 ti^fied with our own language, and at the fame time have extended the bounds of 
 philological fcience. 
 
 fent 
 
13 
 
 fent language of Englillimen is not that heterogeneous compound 
 which fome imagine V, compiled from the jarring and corrupted 
 elements of Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, Spanifli, and Italian, 
 but completely Anglo-Saxon in its whole idiom and conftruclion. 
 It may be fuppofed, perhaps, that the Danes, by their repeated 
 ravages for fo many years, which terminated at length in a tem- 
 porary or partial fubjugation of the country, muft have confidera- 
 bly altered the national language. To this it may be anfwered, 
 that the very nature of the Danifli incurfions and depredations 
 prevented them from forming any numerous or permanent fettle- 
 ments among the inhabitants of this country ; that the govern- 
 ment continued in the Danilh line of kings little more than 
 twenty-five years ; and that, even admitting that the language of 
 thefe invaders was incorporated with that of the natives, it muft 
 be remembered, that it was only the addition of a kindred dialedl, 
 derived from the fame Northern fource, which from its mixture 
 with the Saxon has very properly acquired the appellation of 
 Dano-Saxon. This is the dialect which ftill prevails in moft of 
 the Northern counties of England, where the Danes made the 
 moft lafting impreffion. But, that the reception which both they 
 and their language obtained in this country was of the moft re- 
 luctant and unwelcome kind, is evident from the Spirited refolution 
 formed by the nobles and principal men in the kingdom imme- 
 diately on the death of Hardyknute, the laft of their three kings : 
 " That no Dane fliould from that time be permitted to reign over 
 " England ; — that all Danilli foldiers in any city, town, or caftle, 
 " ftiould be either killed, or banilhed from the kingdom ; and that 
 
 '' " Tell me not" (fays Lifle) " it is a mingle-mangle ; for fo are all : but the 
 " punifhment of confufion we marke not fo much in other tongues, becavfe we 
 " know not them and their borrowing fo well as our owne," Prcf, to Saxon Monu- 
 ments, &c. Lond. 4to. 1638. 
 
 " who- 
 
14 
 
 " whoever lliould from that time dare to propofe to the people a 
 " Daniih fovereign, fliould be deemed a traitor to the govern- 
 " ment, and an enemy to his country ^." 
 
 Since then this temporary or partial ufurpation of the Danes 
 occafioned lb httle alteration in the ancient language and inhabit- 
 ants of our illand, let us examine, how far the more exorbitant 
 and oppreflive fway of the Normans tended to produce a more 
 fenfible impreffion. 
 
 The peculiar circumftances attending the ufurpation of William 
 the Firft undoubtedly afforded him an opportunity of completely 
 eftablifliing the feudal fyftem in this country, with the utmoft 
 rigour and feverity which that degrading ftate of vaflalage was 
 capable of admitting. In order to gratify and reward his follow- 
 ers and friends, he diflributed amongft them the lands, the lord- 
 fhips, the biflioprics, the monafteries, and the churches, of the 
 vanquiflied inhabitants, whom he difpoiTelled by the right of con- 
 queft, that is, the will of the conqueror, of all their ancient do- 
 mains, as w^ell as of all civil offices and places of trull ; fo that, 
 for a century or two, a few Norman bifhops and barons, enjoying 
 the exclufive favour of the reigning monarch, or fometimes even 
 teaching him to tremble on his throne, ruled the whole nation 
 with a rod of iron, and prelided over the lives and liberties of 
 
 ^ So eager were the people of England to reftore the Saxon line of kings, that 
 they appointed Edward, afterwards called the Confeffor, to fucceed Hardacnute 
 even before he was buried ! " And ear than the he bebyrged ware, call folc ge- 
 " ceas Eadward to cynge on Lundene." (Chron. Saxon, ad ann. 1041.) The 
 words in Italics, in conformity with many other paflages, prove that the monar- 
 chy was eledive, till the Norman ufurpers and their minions introduced the doc- 
 trine of hereditary and indefeafible right fupported jure divino. It required the 
 genius of a Locke to bring us back to thofe principles of common fenfe, by 
 -which our Saxon anceflors were direfted amidft the darknefs and the defpotifm of 
 the eleventh century ,! 
 
 mil- 
 
15 
 
 millions. Some are alfo of opinion ^ that an inefFedual attempt 
 was made to eftablilh throughout the whole ifland that new-fan- 
 gled language, which the Normans had acquired during their re- 
 lidence in that part of France to which they gave their name b. 
 It is certain, indeed, that the greater part of the laws and public 
 inftruments of the kingdom, which were not written in Latin, 
 were written in Norman French. But this was, perhaps, the na- 
 tural effed: of circumftances, rather than the refult of any political 
 determination. For it is well known, that there were alfo fome 
 charters written in the Saxoji language, from the reign of Wil- 
 liam the Firft, even to that of Henry the Third <=. We may like- 
 wife fafely conclude, that the Saxon language, mixed indeed firft 
 with the Danifh, and afterwards with the. Norman French, ftill 
 continued to be almoft univerfally fpoken, if not written, by the 
 vulgar, till at length our prefent language was formed by a gra- 
 dual combination of the different dialedls fpoken by the Norman 
 barons and the native peafants of the country. In fad, the an- 
 cellors of thofe very Normans who fettled in Neuflria, like the 
 Danes and Norwegians ^, who were continually iffuing from the 
 fame Northern hive, fpoke a language not very different from the 
 old Saxon ; but being afterwards blended with the language of the 
 natives, which was a corrupt fpecies of Latin, built on the foun- 
 
 ^ Hume, and others whofe authority he follows. Hift. Eng. Vol. I. 8vo. 
 
 •* Neujlrta, fince called Normandy from tliem. 
 
 ' There is one, frequently mentioned, of fo late a date as 1258, 43 Hen. HF. 
 which has been printed by Lord Lyttelton and Dr. Henry in their hiftories of this 
 period, as well as by many other writers, and is really curious. 
 
 ■' Norway is an abbreviation of North-iviiy, as the word Norman fignifies a 
 Northern man. The word barbarian, by which the Greeks and Romans fligma- 
 tized all thofe who did not partake of their elegant luxuries and refinements, fig- 
 nifies nothing more than a fon of the North, a North-born man, bor-bairn ! 
 Hence Boreas for the North wind. 
 
 dation 
 
16 
 
 dation of the ancient Gaelic ^ or Celtic, it appeared quite in a new 
 form when brought by the Normans into England. But the 
 Norman, as well as the Danilli families, were fo few in compari- 
 fon with the ancient inhabitants of the country, and their domi- 
 neering condu(5l was fo little calculated to recommend their vo- 
 cabulary, that a preponderating portion of the Anglo-Saxon dia- 
 led: continued for feveral centuries to be incorporated into our 
 written as well as oral language, till by a natural procefs it began 
 at length to predominate entirely over the other ingredients. 
 
 It is a juft remark, that the mixture of two languages naturally 
 and gradually forms a third, which is diftind from both. Thus 
 our prefent language has been principally produced by an union 
 of the Anglo-Saxon with the Norman French, but there are cer- 
 tainly fome inftances in which it materially differs from both. If 
 however we examine the moft fimple fpeeimens of our written 
 language, or that which is ufed in our colloquial intercourfe with 
 each other on ordinary occalions, we fliall find the average of 
 Saxon words to be not lefs than eight out of ten, or, on the moft 
 moderate computation, ^^^fee?^ out of twenty^! Indeed, the learned 
 
 • I fay Gaelic, becaufe I find Gaelic, Gaulic, Gaulifli, Gewallifh, Wallifii, 
 Wal(h, Welfli, to be the regular gradation of oral and literal corruption. The 
 Saxons, when they firft came into England, called the Britons Weallas, or Welfli, 
 and their brethren on the continent of Gaul, for the fake of diftinftion, Gaul- 
 Weallas, or Gal-Weallas ; which was as much as to fay, " The Welflimen in 
 " Gaul." If we were better acquainted with the early migrations of mankind, we 
 fliould find all nations and kindreds and tongues lefs feparate and diftinft from 
 each other, than they are commonly fuppofed to be. But, unfortunately, we are 
 too much occupied in puzzling ourfelves about the migrations ofjivalhivs ! Every 
 department of natural hiftory is interefting; but ftill let us remember, 
 
 " The proper ftudy of Mankind is Man." 
 
 ' That is/our Jifibs, or at the leaft three fourths ! (See App. No. IV.) 
 
 Dr. 
 
17 
 
 Dr. Hickes has already obferved, tliat of fifty-eight words, of 
 which the Lord's Prayer is compofed, not more than three words 
 only are of Gallo-Norman introduction ; and thofe too are cor- 
 ruptions from the Latin, which cannot be faid of the Saxons. 
 The remaining Jifty-five are immediately and originally derivable 
 from the Anglo-Saxon '> ! 
 
 But, not to infill on fuch favourable proofs as thefe, where the 
 langviage of our forefathers has been confecrated by religious ufe, 
 and has thereby acquired a greater degree of flability, let us in- 
 difcriminately take as an example any palTage from any of our 
 beft writers either in verfe or profe, and we fliall find on experi- 
 ment, that the proportion of Saxon words is in general not lefs 
 than what I have fpecified above ; for infl:ance, let us analyze the 
 following exordium of Milton's Paradife Lofl: ; — an exordium, 
 which has been always admired for its majefi:ic fimplicity and un- 
 afFe6led grandeur of didlion ; — 
 
 Of man's firft difobedience, and the fruif 
 Of that forbidden tree, whofe mortal'^ tafte 
 
 « It is obvious, that in this computation the doxology is omitted ; though it is 
 remarkable, that if it be included, there will be found not more than ^*' words 
 out oi J'eventy-three which are not radically Saxon ! 
 
 ^ Some perfons may fufpeft, that the Saxon prepofition on is derived from the 
 Latin in, fy from Jit, nama from noOT-en ; though this will not be allowed by 
 others ; whereas all muft agree, that trefpafs, temptation, and deliver, are words 
 imported from Italy via France. For the fatisfa£lion of the curious, I have added 
 the Lord's Prayer and the two Creeds, ftill ufed in our Church, in the original 
 Saxon. See the Appendix, No. IV. 
 
 ' The etymology of the word mortal itfelf, notwithftanding its claflical appear- 
 ance, cannot be cafily found in the Greek or Latin language ; for what have we 
 gained by knowing that mortalis is derived from mors P and how is the infertion 
 of t in mortis to be accounted for ? The Saxon word is morth ; i. e. that deJiruSiive 
 and unrelenting power which marreth (morreth, mor'th) all things under the fun ! 
 So the old Greek word liopro;, explained by dniro; in Hefychius, is the paffive par- 
 
 D ticiple 
 
18 
 
 Brought death into the world, and all our woe, 
 With lofs of Eden, till one greater man 
 Rejtore us, and regain the blifsfulj'^'^^. 
 Sing, heavenly Mufe, — Sec. &c. &c. 
 
 Here we fhall find the proportion of Saxon words to be not lefs 
 than four to one ! It would be eafy to multiply examples of this 
 kind, particularly from our familiar converfation, to prove the in- 
 timate connedlion and the ftrong features of refemblance between 
 our prefent language and that of our Saxon anceftors : but as 
 there can be no doubt of the fa<ft in the minds of thofe who have 
 inveftigated the fubje6t, and as it would require a volume to ana- 
 lyze minutely the various ingredients, and trace diftin^lly the gra- 
 dual '' formation of the Englilh language, let us proceed to conli- 
 
 tlciple of the fame verb, with the termination oj added, as wor'd, mort-os. The 
 word regain is of a hybrid fpecies ; for, though it comes immediately from the 
 French regagner, yet re is a Latin prefix, and g'agner is the fame with the Saxon 
 gs-ag7iian, or ge-ahn'ian, to gain, to pofTefs, to make one's oivii ; arte, Sax. The 
 fa£t is, thofe words which have made a tour from the North of Europe through 
 Greece, Italy, or France, have returned to us fo altered, that we fcarcely know 
 them again ! (See the Appendix, No. IV.) 
 
 '' I fay gradual, becaule I cannot agree with Mr. Ellis, (Specimens of Early 
 Englifh Poets, Vol. III. p. 424.) that " our vulgar Englifli appears to have very 
 *' fudderdy fuperfeded the pure and legitimate Saxon, from which its elements 
 " were principally derived, inftead of becoming its fuccefibr, as generally has 
 " been liippofed, by ajloiu and imperceptible procefs." — The procefs, indeed, how- 
 ever Jlow, has been by no means imperceptible to thofe who have compared the 
 language of the Saxon Chronicle, and other ancient fpecimens, with that of Ro- 
 bert of Gloucefter, Chaucer, Spenfer, Milton, &c. and have thus traced the gra- 
 dual changes which have taken place according to the natural courfe of events. 
 It is remarkable, that Mr. Ellis himfelf, in a former part of his work, (Vol. I. p. 6.) 
 has commended Dr. Johnfon for having fo accurately defcribed the gradations 
 by which the Saxon was injcnfibly melted into the Englifli language ; and in other 
 places he appears to think, as every perfon muft on due rcfledion, that no mate- 
 rial changes in language are, generally fpeaking,/wiWf«/)' eflabhflied. 
 
 der 
 
19 
 
 der at prefent, how far the ftudy of Anglo-Saxon literature is 
 connedled with the original eftabliihment of our laivs, our liberty, 
 and our religion. 
 
 That no man can fhine ' at the bar, in the fenate, or in the pul- 
 pit, without a knowledge of Anglo-Saxon literature, it would be 
 ridiculous to aflert. But that a ftrong and fteady light may be 
 refleAed from this quarter on many points of the municipal and 
 common law, the theory of our political conftitution, and the in- 
 ternal hiftory of our religion, I truft no Englifliman of the prefent 
 day will venture to deny. Where is the lawyer, who will not 
 derive an accefRon of folid information from a perufal of the An- 
 glo-Saxon laws, publiflied by Lambard, Wheloc, and Wilkins > 
 not to mention the various charters and legal inftruments that are 
 ftill extant, together with the ancient records of our County- 
 courts ; on the foundation of which is eredled the whole fuper- 
 fti-uclure of our forenfic pradice *". What patriot is there, whofe 
 heart does not burn within him, whilfi; he is reading the language 
 in which the immortal Alfred and other Saxon kings " compofed 
 
 ' Tf any department of literature may be neglefted, becaufe men may Jbine 
 without it, the argument may be extended to every branch of profound learning ; 
 for perhaps, in general, thofe ^txknsjhine mojl who poflTefs the IfnJ}. 
 
 " Even Mr. Hume, with all his predileftion in favour of France and the Nor- 
 man Conqueror, readily admits, " that none of the feudal governments in Europe 
 " had fuch inftiiutions as the County-courts, which the great authority of the Con- 
 " queror Jlill retained from the Saxon cvfloms !" Whether we owe the prefervation 
 of thefe courts to the authority or indulgence of the Conqueror, or to certain cir- 
 cumftances of policy and neceffity, may admit of a doubt. " Perhaps this infiitu- 
 '* tion of County-courts in England" (continues Mr. Hume) " has had greater 
 " efieiSts on the government, than has yet been didinftly pointed out by hifto- 
 " rians, or ti-aced by antiquaries." Hid. of England, Vol. W. p. 122. note n, 8vo. 
 ed. 1786. 
 
 " 1 have taken the liberty of joining other Saxon monarchs with the incom- 
 parable Alfred j becaufe, much as I venerate the memory of that genuine hero of 
 
 n a ^ our 
 
20 
 
 the elements of our envied code of laws, and portrayed the grand 
 outlines of our free conftitution ? And when the Divine contem- 
 plates a work fo extraordinary as the tranflation of Venerable 
 Bede's Ecclefiaflical Hillory, as M^ell as the various other works 
 of piety tranllated by King Alfred into his native language, will 
 he not be filled with additional admiration of that Providence, by 
 which a wife and benevolent monarch was led, amidft the horrors 
 and difficulties of continual warfare, to inform the manners, re- 
 gulate the condud, and enlighten the minds, of his rade and il- 
 literate fubjedts ? — The whole fabric of our laws, indeed, eccle- 
 Callical as well as civil", is built on a Saxon foundation. The 
 criminal law of every country undergoes confiderable and fre- 
 quent changes in the progrefs of national refinement ; but the 
 ilrud-ure of the civil code and of municipal regulations, as well as 
 
 our country, I cannot ffnd that we owe quite fo much to him as fonie have fup- 
 pofed. In the fervency of our love, our admiration, and our gratitude, we have 
 afcribed to him an imaginary doom-hook, or code of laws, of his own invention, 
 which Sir William Blackftone, mifled by former writers of great authority, fup- 
 pofes to be, unfortunately, lost ! I hope at fome future time more fully to in- 
 veftigate this curious fubje6l, relating to the Anglo-Saxon laws. At prefent I 
 muft reft fatisfied with affuring thofe, who reverence the name of Alfred as much 
 
 as I do, THAT NO DOOM-BOOK, OR CODE OF LAWS, OF HIS PROMULGA- 
 TION, AS FAR AS I CAN DISCOVER, IS LOST J but the Only digeft of laws 
 which he appears to have compiled is still in existence, and is no other 
 than fuch as many other Saxon monarchs compofed for the better government of 
 their fubje6ts ; a doom-booi (Saxonice dom-boc) being nothing more nor lefs than 
 a digeft or colle£lion of dooms, decrees, or written laws. King Ethelbcrt's doom- 
 book is ftill extant, and fiands the firft in the colleflion publiflied by Dr. Wil- 
 kins. 
 
 " I do not here, or in any other part of this Eflay, wifli to be underftood as 
 ufing the word civil in the ftri£tly legal fenfe; becaufe I am well aware, that 
 what is- properly called the civil, in contradiftinftion to the covimon law, is chiefly 
 cxtradled from the Theodofian code and the Pandefts of Juftinian. 
 
 the 
 
21 
 
 the general complexion of the common law, continues, like the 
 forms of government, to be maintained and fupported in the fame 
 ftate for many ages. Accordingly we find, that, though many 
 barbarous modes of punifliment P, adopted by our Saxon ancef- 
 tors, have been long fince abolilhed, yet the remains of their civil 
 and municipal cuftoms and regulations are ftill vifible in our ci- 
 ties, towns, and villages. We have an obvious and ftriking proof 
 of this e^ en in our modern names of offices, terms of police, and 
 titles of honour ; as there is at this moment fcarcely a civil ma- 
 giftrate or a parochial officer, from the highell denomination to 
 the loweft, whofe duty, rank, and qualifications are not emphati- 
 cally comprized in a Saxon appellation 1. 
 
 Nor ought we to omit to mention, that to our Saxon anceftors 
 has been generally attributed that envied Palladium of Englifli 
 liberty, the trial by Jury ! And, though the learned Dr. Hickes is 
 of opinion, that this celebrated form of juridical decifion was not 
 introduced into our courts of juftice till the reign of Henry the 
 Second, being brought, as he thinks, immediately from Norman- 
 
 f Such as the ordeal, by fire and water, deprivation of the eyes, mutilation^ 
 pecuniary compenfations for the moft atrocious crimes, fafting (tliat is, abftaining 
 from anhnal food) for a number oi years, living on bread and water every day, ex- 
 cept Sundays, &c, &c ! The Normans appear to have been more fond of hanging 
 their culprits, or of ufing ftill more barbarous puniflunents. Alfred, indeed, or- 
 dered fome Dan'ijh pirates to be hanged at Winchefter in the year 897 ; but it 
 does not appear to have been a common punifhment for criminals of our own 
 eountrjr till the coming of the Normans. (Vide Chron. Saxon.) 
 
 1 Conyng or Cyning, the man of fuperior cunning, capacity, and talent, is con- 
 trafted into King ; Conyng-ftapel is become by corruption Conflable, the Jlaple or 
 fupport of the King ; Sheriff is the rapid pronunciation of Shire-reve, the reef of 
 the (hire, the prote£tor and guardian of the county. Mayor, (i. e. May-er, the 
 man of fuperior power ; not from major, Lat.) Alderman, (elder-man,) tything- 
 man, &c, &c, are obvious. See more in Verftegan's " Reftitution of decaved In- 
 telligence in Antiquities," Sec. 
 
22 
 
 dy, and originally from Scandinavia ; yet his elaborate examina- 
 tion of the fubject feems only to prove, that the jurors or arbi- 
 trators were then firll limited to the myllerious number twelve""! 
 For, that this fundamental principle of juftice regulated the public 
 proceedings of our Saxon anceftors, is evident even from thofe 
 very records and legal intlruments that are quoted by Dr. Hickes*, 
 as well as from many others, in which all the freeholders and 
 principal men of a county, forming, as it were, a grand jury, not 
 rejirided in number, are reprefented as meeting together, to hear 
 and determine * all caufes whatever, whether of a public or per- 
 fonal nature. The fame pure principle of pra6lical equity has 
 from time immemorial pervaded not only our great courts of juf- 
 tice, but alfo the inferior courts of our manerial lords, where all 
 local matters are, or ought to be, according to ancient cuftom, 
 regularly prefented and adjulled by a jury of the principal land- 
 holders or copyholders, not rejlri&;ed to the number twelve, form- 
 ing what is called the homage ". 
 
 ' " Perinde ac in ipfo hoc vumero fecreta quaedam efTct rdigio !" fays Sir Henry 
 Spelman on the fame fubjedt. Dr. Hickes fays exprefsly in a note, (p. 40. Dif- 
 fert. Epiftol.) " Juratores vel jurata Domini regis Affifa dicuntur, quod eorum 
 '' Humerus tunc primum ajfifvs, i. e. definilus fuit." A different explanation is ge- 
 nerally given of affi/a by mod of our lawyers. From affis, the participle of the 
 French verb ajfeoir, to fit, is formed ajjize. (Vide Spelman's Gloffary, in voc. 
 jijfifa, et Jurata.) 
 
 ' When I wrote this, I was not aware, that Bifliop Nicolfon had previonfly 
 difcuffed this queftion at large agatnjl Dr. Hickes. See his learned Preface to the 
 Anglo-Saxon I^aws edited by Dr. Wilkins, fol. Lond. 1721, 
 
 ' The feffions of oyer <5^ terminer are merely different forms of the fame pro- 
 ceedings, with a Norman appellation. I hope therefore to be forgiven for antici- 
 pating the phrafe. 
 
 " Though tliis word is of Norman introduction, the praftice perhaps is not. 
 To do homage, however, [fa'ire homage) appears to be Norman both in expreflRon 
 and praftice ; derived probably from the fervile purpofes for which homage-juries 
 
 were 
 
23 
 
 It is remarkable, that when Earl Godwin and his fon Harold 
 were cited to appear before Edward the Confeilbr at London, 
 they were allowed the privilege of being attended by tivelve men ; 
 whilft their caufe was tried and determined by an aflembly of all 
 the nobles ! What eflential difference is there in the trial of a 
 nobleman of the prefent day, who is allowed every privilege con- 
 fiftent with the fplendour of his rank, and is finally acquitted or 
 condemned by a majority of the whole house of which he is a 
 member ? — It appears then, that among our Saxon ancellors the 
 affairs of individuals, particularly thofe of fuperior rank and dig- 
 nity, were examined with as much attention and folemnity as the 
 affairs of the nation ; and as the reigning monarch held his court 
 at different places, or convened his elders and thanes for local as 
 well as general purpofes, the caufe of an individual was often 
 tried before the fame JJfemhly of the Wife^, which regulated the 
 concerns of the (late. And fo attentive were our Saxon kings to 
 the liberties of the people, that they feem never to have tranf- 
 a6led any bufinefs of importance, without having previoufly con- 
 fulted this great AJfemhly of the If^ife, confilling of the elders and 
 nobles who formed the grand council of the nation y. Who does 
 
 were fometimes affenibled by the Norman barons. (Vide Spclnian's Gloffary in 
 voc. Homagium, &c.) 
 
 * Witena-gemot, Sax. from luiicna, the genitive cafe plural of the fubflantive 
 •wita, a wife man, a counfellor, a cunning unght, and gemot, a meeting, an aflem- 
 bly, a moot. Qu. Might not the legal phrafe, a moot -point, be derived from gemot, 
 a moot, or meeting; i. e. a doubtful point, to be determined at a general meeting, 
 a ivitenagemot ? — ge in Saxon is merely a guttural prefix, and the fame word is in- 
 differently ufed with or without it. 
 
 1' And therefore fometimes called the micel-gcmot, micllc-meeting, or great af- 
 fembly. It was compofed of the ealdormen, aldermen, or elders, men of age and 
 experience ; eorlas, or earls ; and thegnas, theynes, or thanes. Thefe laft were 
 either king's thanes, or earl's thanes. (Vid. Spelm. Gloff.) 
 
 not 
 
24 
 
 not perceive here the germ of the Enghfli conftitution, the fpirit 
 which guides the wifeft and the bed of our kings, and the prin- 
 ciple of our national pre-eminence ? What arc our prefent Par- 
 liaments, but the revival of the free and limple witena-gemotcs of 
 our Saxon anceftors ? It is remarkable indeed, that the eftablilli- 
 ment of this bulwark of our conftitution is coeval with the de- 
 ftru6lion of Norman tyranny, and the recovery of Saxon free- 
 dom ; for, however hiftorians may differ with refpe(5l to the pre- 
 cife aera of the firft aflembling of a ParliameJit ^, we may well 
 reft aflurcd, that there is nothing French or Norman in it but the 
 name ^. 
 
 That the pure and holy religion which we profefs can derive 
 any aftiftance from the cultivation of Anglo-Saxon literature, 
 thofe perhaps will be difpofed to deny, whofe enthufiaftic imagi- 
 nations have led them to believe, that no human ftudy, no human 
 learning, can promote the extenfion or invigoration of that divine 
 principle, which muft be caught by fome immediate communica- 
 tion with the Deity. Yet the fame perfons on this ground muft 
 allow, that the Anglo-Saxon language is of as much fervice to the 
 caufe of religion as any other; and, confidered with a view to that 
 fyftem of religious difcipline which was eftabliflied at the Reform- 
 ation, as well as to the general hiftory of the Chriftian Church, 
 its utility will be confelled by many to be unqueftionably great. 
 
 * The only queftion feems to be, " At what time were the reprefentatives of 
 " counties, cities, and boroughs, admitted to form a conftituent and diftindt part 
 " of the King's ParHament, under the denomination of the Houfe of Commons r" 
 V^jde Spelm. GloflT. in voc. Parliamenlum, and the hiflorical Treatife written by 
 Dr. Brady on this fubjefl; ; London, fol. 1690, 1711, &c. 
 
 ' Some etyniologifts and lawyers derive the word parliament from farlare la 
 menle, Ital. becaufe a member of Parliament ought " to fpeak his mind judi- 
 " cioufly," fays Sir E. Coke. But parlement, Fr. from parlcr, is more obvious 
 and probable. Colloquium is the word ufed in the old writs to the Sheriffs. 
 
 The 
 
25 
 
 The Romanifts, however, will tell us, that we owe no part of 
 our ecclefiaftical fytiem to our Saxon anceltors, becaute they re- 
 ceived it from the Church of Rome. It is vrell known, indeed, 
 that there is no religious eftablifliment in Europe, which has not 
 derived fome inherent llains from this polluted foiwce. But as 
 the Church of Rome was lefs corrupt at that early period, when 
 the Golpel was introduced amongll our Saxon ancellors, fo the 
 fyftem of religious difcipline eftabliflaed in this ifland at that time 
 was by no means fo degrading as it afterwards became, when the 
 encroachments of that oppreffive hierarchy began to threaten the 
 total fubjugation of Europe. 
 
 It is pleating to obferve the ftriking contrail which is exhibited 
 between this domineering fpirit of the Romifli priefthood, and 
 the alFedlionate concern of King Alfred for the religious welfare 
 of his fubje<9:s. We behold this excellent monarch leaving the 
 cares of empire and the tumults of war, to tranflate from Latin 
 into Saxon ^, for the benefit of his rude and illiterate people, Gre- 
 gory's Paftoral, or fome other work of moral or religious inftruc- 
 tion, at a time when many of his bifliops, as he himfelf informs 
 us, were totally ignorant of the Latin language. In fhort, the 
 various works of piety and devotion, which are ftill extant in the 
 Saxon language, not to mention the curious tranflations of the 
 moft material parts of the Old and New Teftament, may be con- 
 fulted with advantage by the theological fludent of the prefent 
 day, as they fatisfadlorily prove the purity of our primitive 
 Church, and its agreement with the eftablifhed form of religious 
 do6trine and ecclefiaftical difcipline, as it was fettled at the Re- 
 formation '^. I cannot therefore better conclude this part of the 
 
 •" Not from Saxon into Latin, which is the modern practice ! 
 * The very feftivals and ceremonies which were then retained were nearly the 
 fame that were obferved by our Saxon anceftors. See the Menologium Poeticum, 
 
 ^ or 
 
26 
 
 fubjedl, than in the words of a female writer '^j of very learned 
 and various accomplifliments, who, to the honour both of herfelf 
 and of her fex, at the defire and recommendation of Dr. Hickes, 
 tranflated into Enghfli, with copious notes, an Anglo-Saxon Ho- 
 mily on the birthday of St. Gregory, the Roman Pontiff, who firfl 
 caufed the Gofpel to be preached amongft our Pagan ancellors of 
 the Jixth century ! " This is fome, no fmall fatisfadlion that we 
 *' reap from Saxon learning ; that we fee the agreement of the 
 " reformed and the ancient Saxon Church ; that it is no new 
 " Church, but the fame it was before the Roman Church was 
 *' corrupted ; before the Roman Church, as now corrupted, not- 
 " withftanding her boalls of infallibility, of antiquity, and univer- 
 " fality, was known, or had a being in the world <= !" 
 
 III. I might here extend the fubje^l of this Lefture to a con- 
 fiderable length, by enumerating a variety of collateral advan- 
 tages, which not only Englilhmen, but many other nations alfo 
 in common with ourfelves, may derive from the cultivation of the 
 
 or Dano-Saxon Calendar, with the notes of Dr. Hickes in his Thefaurus, p. 303. 
 Vol. I. foL Oxon. 1705. 
 
 «• Elizabeth Elstob, fifter to Mr. William Elftob, Fellow of Univerfity 
 College, Oxford, who alfo cultivated Anglo-Saxon literature. This ingenious 
 lady was patronized by Queen Caroline ; flie was well known to all the literary 
 charaflers of her time, and was the firft perfon, if I miflake not, appointed to fu- 
 perintend the education of the prefent Duke of Portland. Her letters are in the 
 Bodleian Library. 
 
 « Preface to her " Englifli-Saxon Homily, &c." p. xiv. To this work, which 
 was printed at London, 1709, and is a good fpecimen of the elegant typography 
 of Mr. Bowyer, adorijed with beautiful engravings by Gribelin, we may apply 
 the concife but well-turned compliment which Quintilian has paid to the oration 
 compofed by the daughter of Hortenfius : *' legitur non tantum in fexus hono- 
 *' rem." 
 
 Saxon 
 
27 
 
 Saxon language. I might remark, not only its intimate connedion 
 with nearly all the prefent languages of Europe ; — of England, 
 Scotland ^, and Ii'eland, — of Lapland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, 
 Denmark, and Holland, — of France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and 
 Swiflerland, — but alfo its high claim to antiquity from its near 
 refemblance in many inftances to the earlieft fyrabols of organic 
 founds, whether in Hebrew, Arabic, Chaldee, Perlian, Celtic, 
 Gaelic, or Cimmerian s / But as the philofophy of language is a 
 fcience yet in its infancy, and it may be long before we can ex- 
 pe6t that great dejideratum in literature to be produced, a fynop- 
 tical view of univerfal Grammar •>, at prefent it will be more pru- 
 
 ' The language fpoken in the Low-lands, efpecially the Eaft coaft, of that 
 country, is allowed by Mr. Hume to be purely Saxon ; but on this fa6l he builds 
 another not quite fo correft, that King Ida, and his grandfon Ethelfrid, pene- 
 trated into this part of Scotland, and joined it to the vafl; kingdom of Northum- 
 berland ; and he concludes, that the whole diftrift was therefore peopled in a 
 great meafure from Germany ! It is furprizing, that Mr. Hume (hould have over- 
 looked a more probable folution of this fad ; the flight of Edgar Atheling, and 
 the eftablifliment of a great number of Saxon families in Scotland after the con- 
 queft ! 
 
 8 I call the IVelJJj language by this name ; for the Cjmru, Cimmerii, Cimhr'il, 
 Cimbri, Cambri, (or Cambrians,) are allowed by moll antiquaries to be the fame 
 with the Cimmerians of Homer. The Welfli and the Saxon are not fo widely 
 afunder as may be imagined. 
 
 ■" The fcience of Grammar has been much debafed by the ignorance of fome, 
 and the negligence of others, who 
 
 " Quae pueri didicere, fenes perdenda fatentur j"* 
 
 but let us remember the fine encomium which Quintllian has left us of this noble 
 fcience when properly cultivated : " Neceffaria pueris, jucunda fenibus, dulcis fe- 
 " cretorum comes, et quae vel fola omni ftudiorum genere plus habet operis quam 
 " oftentationis. Nc quis igitur tanquam parva faftidiat Grammatices elementa: 
 " non quia magnre fit operoe, confonantes a vocalibus difcernere, ipfafque eas in 
 " femivocalium numerum mutarumque partiri ; fed quia interiora velut facri hujus 
 " adeuntibus apparebit multa return fublililas, ques non modo acuere ingenia pueriliay 
 
 E z i'-Jed 
 
28 
 
 dent to confine our attention to a few leading points of lefs diffi- 
 culty and inferior importance. 
 
 No perfon can doubt of the indifpenfable utility of Saxon lite- 
 rature in elucidating the topography and antiquities of our own 
 illand, in explaining our proper names and the origin of families, 
 in illuftrating our provincial dialedls and local cuftoms ; all which 
 are the memorials of the ancient manners and character of our 
 anceflors, and without a knowledge of which every Englilliman 
 mull be imperfectly acquainted with the hiftory of his own coun- 
 try. 
 
 It would be an invidious and an endlefs tafk to comment on 
 the many imperfe6lions, omiffions, and errors, which are con- 
 llantly to be obferved in all thofe grammars, glolfaries, lexicons, 
 and diftionaries, that have been compiled by learned men, who, 
 unfortunately, were not furniflied with an adequate knowledge of 
 the radical languages of ancient Europe, with refpedl to ^\ hich, 
 indeed, the more polifhed languages of Greece and Rome, with all 
 their varieties of inflexions and terminations, are comparatively 
 MODERN ' ! Dr. Hickes has already remarked the numerous defi- 
 ciencies and millakes, to which fome of the moft learned writers 
 before his time were unavoidably fubjeft, in confequence of the 
 imperfect fi;ate of Saxon literature in this country ; which arofe 
 from the fcarcity of printed books, and the difficulty of confulting 
 manufcripts ''. Dr. Hickes himfelf is not always an infallible 
 
 *' Jei exercere altljftmam quoque eruditionem ac fclent'mm pojfu !" Quint, de Inft. 
 Orat. I. 4, 5, 6. 
 
 ' See a hint of this kind in the fecond volume of Ewea tsTepoevroi. 
 
 '' This cannot now be urged in excufe for Mr. Hume, who in one page of hie 
 Hiftory has been guilty of three egregious mifreprefentations of a paflage in Bede, 
 which a reference to King Alfred's Saxon tranflation would have corredled. See 
 the account of St. Auguftine's miffion to England^ where Pope Gregory anfwers 
 
 fomc 
 
29 \\ /y , orw 
 
 fUHIVERSIT' 
 
 guide ; but he was the firfl: of Septentrional fcholars, whd;^ 
 pubUcation of a laborious Thesaurus, paved the way for a more 
 accurate and copious knowledge of all the Northern languages, 
 which, lince the deftruftion of the Roman empire, have been in- 
 corporated, more or lefs, into all the languages of modern Eu- 
 rope, and have even penetrated into Afia, whence perhaps they 
 
 ORIGINALLY SPRUNG ! 
 
 Some acquaintance therefore with thefe languages is abfolutely 
 neceflary to thofe European fcholars, who are defirous of acquir- 
 ing a J'cientijic fynopjis of univerfal Grammar, as well as an accu- 
 rate perception of their own vernacular idiom '. 
 
 And that the Anglo-Saxon language has a peculiar fliare of im- 
 portance and intereft ; that it is capable of elucidating the princi- 
 ples of grammatical fcience, and of leading us to a philofophical 
 theory of language, has been fufficiently fliewn by the ingenious 
 author of the " Diverfions of Purley "'." Indeed, an exclufive 
 
 fome curious queftions of the Miffionary, and compare it with the original paf- 
 j'ages in the 37th chapter, B. I. of Bede's Ecclefiaftical Hidory, to which Mr. 
 Hume refers. 
 
 ' It has been faid, that language is the mere vehicle of ideas — but how could 
 we communicate the ideas to each other lu'ithout the vehicle ? And perhaps it 
 may be faid, that the more languages we learn, the more vehicles we poflel's, the 
 more comprehenfive and philofophical will be our flock of ideas, and the more in- 
 timately (liall we become acquainted with the manners, the fentiments, and the 
 charafters, of all the nations of the earth ! The Emperor Charles V. faid finely, 
 " Autant de langues qu'on fjait, autant de fois on eft homme !" A fentiment 
 truly royal, and praftically recommended by the example of the great Mithrida- 
 tes of Pontus, who fpoke the languages of two and twenty nations, or, as fome 
 iay, Jive and tivenly, who were fubje£t to his dominion. Vide Valer. Max. et 
 Aul, Cell. 
 
 " Since this was written, the fecond volume of this extraordinary work has 
 been publiftied, which is equally acute with the former, and equally unpalatable 
 from the introdudion of political matter. 
 
 atten- 
 
30 
 
 attention to the more learned and refined languages has too fre- 
 quently beguiled men of the greateft talents and erudition into 
 very erroneous conclulions on philological fubjedls ". 
 
 If we confult merely our own pleafure in reading, perhaps 
 there cannot be a doubt, that eveiy perfon of a claffical tafte, and 
 elegant turn of mind, will be difpofed to dedicate the greateft 
 portion of his time to the immortal volumes of ancient Greece 
 and Rome, and to the works of the beft hiflorians, ftatefmen, 
 poets, and philofophers, of modern Europe. But, if we would 
 acquire an enlarged and comprehenfive view of the hiiiory of 
 Man ; if we would trace his progrefs from ignorance to know- 
 ledge, from rudenefs to refinement ; if we would obferve, how his 
 complicated improvements in fpeech have maintained an uniform 
 correfpondence with the gradual expanfion of his mind ; if we 
 would remark, how regularly his dillindive variety of words has 
 increafed in the fame proportion as he has enlarged the circle of 
 his ideas ; if from the inveftigation of thefe circum fiances we 
 would endeavour to add to the public fi;ock of information on a 
 very abftrufe but highly interefting fubje<ft ; we mufi; examine the 
 written fymbols of organic founds adopted in the mofl; remote 
 ages and nations, and in the moll rude as well as in the mofi; re- 
 fined periods of fociety ; we mufi; ftudy, if I may ufe the ex- 
 preffion, the comparative anatomy of human language ; we mufi 
 
 " To this caufe miift be attributed the reveries of Plato, Varro, and Cicero, 
 with refpeft to the etymology of the Greek and Latin languages ; the miflakes 
 even of the great Founders of the Hemsterhusian School of Greek 
 and Latin literature ; and the more pardonable and innocent errors of Mr. Harris, 
 the philofopher of Salifbury, who appears to have trufted too implicitly to the 
 guidance of his Grecian Hermes ! With regard to the ancients, the following 
 are the words of L. C. Valcknaei" : " Veritatis eft exploratiffimae, veteres tarn 
 " Grsecos quam Latinos, in linguae vernaculse natura et indole coecutivifle uni- 
 " VERSOS !" Obfervationes ad Origines Graecas, p. 2. 
 
 difiba. 
 
'St 
 
 dilTed, we mud analyze, we muft difunite, and compare ; we 
 mufl defcend from the gratifying fpedacle of fymmetry and pro- 
 portion, to the moft minute combination of two or more compo- 
 nent parts ; we muft not only trace the operations of the human 
 mind in the fublime flights of poetry, the copious ftreams of elo- 
 quence, and the abftrufe paths of abftradl fcience and philofophy ; 
 we muft alfo conllder man in the infancy of fociety, and in the 
 infancy of life ° ; we muft diveft him of his eight? parts of fpeech, 
 and hear him deliver his thoughts with little more affiftance than 
 that of a noun and a verb only i ; we muft tear from him, how- 
 ever reludlantly, that gaudy plumage, thofe borrowed wings, (s^f* 
 ■usTt^oiVTA,) compofed of foft and beautiful feathers hennetically ad- 
 
 o The language of moft nations in an early period of fociety or civilization 
 refembles the language of children; but varies according to the chara6ler and 
 fituation of the people ; rough among warlike tribes, and foft among thofe of a 
 more voluptuous turn, as among the natives of a warm and luxurious climate. 
 The iflanders of the Pacific Ocean, in the unaffe6led enunciation of infantile im-. 
 becillity, metamorphofed the rugged names of Captain Cco}:e and Doftor Sparman 
 into Toolie and Pamanee. 
 
 1" Modern Grammarians have almoft uniformly agreed in dividing human 
 fpeech into eight parts ; Arlftotle indeed has comprehended the conftltuent parts 
 of it under the fame oBanary divifion ; (Poet. c. 34. ed. Tyrwhitt.) but his ana- 
 lyfis is far more rational and fatisfa£tory ; though it has been mifunderftood and 
 neglefted. He philofophically examines the complicated ftrudlure of all lan- 
 guage, (X5^;u)f aTracrrj;,) and traces the formation of all diciion, (metrical or profaic,) 
 from a fimple element or letter (roip^eiov) to a complete fentence, or a finiflied com- 
 pofition, (Xoyoj.) 
 
 "i Left the dodlfine of refolving all language, etjmologically, into nouijs and verbs 
 fliould be confidered as neiu and heretical, I beg leave to tranfcribc the following 
 words of J. D. a Lennep : " Quae, praeter verba et Nomina, numerantjur /)fl>7« 
 " orationis, ea vel ad verba, vel ad nomina, proprie referenda funt ; nifi fint quae- 
 " dam INTERJECTIONES." Prolcgom. ad Etyniol. Ling. Grsec. Traj. ad Rhen. 
 1790. Lennep began his etymological work in the year 176a ! (V. Ariftot. et Hor.) 
 
 jufted 
 
32 
 
 jufted, bj which he has been enabled to foar with triumphant 
 glory to the highell regions of human fancy ! We muft behold 
 him a poor defencelefs creature, furrounded with wants which he 
 ftruggles to exprefs, and agitated by fenfations which he labours 
 to communicate ! We fliall then fee, how various caufes of a lo- 
 cal, temporary, and arbitrary nature, have influenced his ideas, 
 and the language in which he has embodied them. In this point 
 of view, therefore, the language of our Saxon anceftors, of which 
 fome fpecimcns remain of confiderable antiquity, will appear 
 highly interelling and important to the philofophical enquirer ; 
 and perhaps it would be difficult to find any work of any age or 
 nation, which is calculated to throw greater light on the theory 
 of language in general, than the Saxon Chronicle, which is the 
 moll valuable original compolition extant in that language. This 
 ancient and curious document, having been compiled at different 
 intervals of time, according to the regular fucceffion of events, 
 may be confidered, independently of its merits as a faithful re- 
 gifter of hiftorical faSiS, as a kind of chronological memorial of 
 the progrefs of our national language ; comprehending no lefs 
 than tJwee diftindl and important aeras, in the courle of about 
 fix hundred years, which may be denominated AtigloSaxon, 
 DanoSaxon, (or Anglo-Danith,) and iVbrw^a7^-Saxon, (or Anglo- 
 Norman '^.) But as my limits will not allow me to enter fully at 
 prefent into the inveftigation of this curious fubjedl, and as there 
 are many others connedled with it which feem to require a fepa- 
 
 ' Thefe are the three grand dialeBs of the Saxon tung, which are as diffe- 
 rent and diftinft as the Doric, the Ionic, and the Attic dialefts of the Greek 
 Bnguage. Thefe points I intend more fully to inveftigate in an Effay which I 
 am preparing on the gradual formation of the Englifh language, and the hiftory 
 of its progrefs through all its important changes, 
 
 rate 
 
33 
 
 rate difcuflion, I beg leave to defer the furtlier conTideration of 
 thefe objedls of enquiry to fome future opportunity *. 
 
 ' Thefe objefls of enquiry It was my intention to have purfued' with imcealing 
 perfeverance, in fuch a manner as to arrange them for a regular feries of,Le6tures; 
 hat the muItipHcity of my avocations and engagements, and that variety of ctr- 
 cumftances and events, which happens to every man more or lefs in his progrefs 
 through life, have occafionally fo diverted my attention from antiquarian refearch, 
 that I have been often obliged to tread the fame ground over again, without 
 making any fatisfaftory progrefs. I have found it neccflary alfo, to cultivate an 
 acquaintance with other Northern languages in addition to the Saxon ; and when 
 it is confidered, that Profeflbr Wheloc at Cambridge confumed a confiderable 
 part of feven years, as he himfelf affures us, in acquiring a competent knowledge 
 of the Saxon only, no apology, I truft, will be expefted on my part for an unwil- 
 lingiiefs to prefent any crude or fuperficial produ<Slions before the Univerfity or 
 the public In addition, however, to many grammatical and philological en- 
 quiries, I am now preparing a few eflays on the following fubjedls : 
 
 I. On the Saxon Chronicle ; with fpecimens of an Englifli tranflation of that 
 original document. 
 
 II. On the gradual formation of the Englifli language upon the foundation of 
 the Anglo-Saxon. 
 
 III. On Saxon Poetry ; comprehending the Dano-Saxon and Normau-Saxon. 
 
 IV. On the laws, government, religion, manners, &c. of the Saxons, 
 y. On what is called Saxon architedlure, &c. &c. 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
APPENDIX I. 
 
 Page I. 
 
 jc\.S the printed copies of Dr. Rawlinfon's Will and Endowment (Lon- 
 don, 1755.) are now become very fcarce, it is hoped that the following ex- 
 tracts may be found ufeful, as authentic documents, to thofe who fhall be 
 at any time concerned in the inftitution, and not unacceptable to others. 
 
 Dr. Richard Rawlinfon, or, as he ftyles himfelf in various places, " the 
 " worfhipful Richard Rawlinfon, of London-houfe in the parifh of St. 
 " Botolph, Alderfgate, London, Dodlor of Laws of the Univerfity of Ox- 
 " ford, and Fellow of the Royal Society %" did, by his Endowment, dated 
 Auguft II, 1750, and confirmed by his laft Will and Teftament, dated 
 
 » He was alfo a member of the Society of Antiquaries, who at that time held their 
 meetings at the Mitre Tavern in Fleet-Street ; to whom in his Will he bequeaths all his 
 dyes and matrices of Englifli feals and for medals, all his copper-plates, whether etched or en- 
 graved, of feals, charters, and other curiofities, together with a freehold and copyhold edate 
 at Fulham, " upon condition that they do not upon any terms, or by any flratagem, arts, 
 " means, or contrivance howfoever, increafe or add to their prefent number of one hundred 
 " and fifty members," &c ! The Society, not willing to be thus reftrifted by an individual, 
 forfeited their claim to thefe bequefts by adding to their number, and in the fecond and third 
 Codicils annexed to his Will he revoked and made void all his former legacies made, devifed, 
 or given to the Society, in and by his faid Will and in the firft Codicil annexed thereto, tranf- 
 ferring the greater part to the Univerfity of Oxford ; and the eftates at Fulham " to the 
 " Principal and Fellows of Hertford College, and to their fucceffbrs for ever, in order to aug- 
 " ment and increafe the falary of the Principal thereof for the time being." 
 
 V 2 June 
 
36 
 
 June 2, 175a, give and bequeath unto the Chancellor, Mafters, and Scho- 
 lars of the Univerlity of Oxford, and their fucceffors for ever, certain an- 
 nual or fee-farm rents, referred, ifluing, or payable out of or for certain 
 lands, tenements, and hereditaments in Lancafhire, (mentioned and de- 
 fcribed in the Endowment,) " to the end, intent, ajid purpofe, by and out of 
 " the faid annual or fee-farm rents, to found, conftitute, and eftablifli, and 
 " from time to time to fupport, uphold, and maintain, one u4nglo-Saxon Lec- 
 " ture or Profejforjhip in the faid Univerfity, to have continuance for ever, 
 " and to be ruled, governed, diredled, and regulated by and under fuch rules, 
 " orders, and conftitutions as the faid Richard Rawlinfon fhall at any time 
 " hereafter in writing direft, limit, and appoint ; and, for want of fuch di- 
 " regions, limitations, and appointment, to be ruled, governed, diredled, 
 <' and regulated by and under fuch ruleSj ftatutes, orders, and conftitutions,. 
 " as the faid Chancellor, Mafters, and Scholars of the faid Univerfity and 
 " their fucceffors fhall from time to time by any public adt or otherwife 
 " in their difcretion diredl, limit, and appoint." 
 
 The firft Truftees appointed by Dr. Rawlinfon in his laft Will and Tef- 
 tament, dated June 1, 1752, exclufiv^e of thofe to whom the grant of the 
 rents in Lancafhire was confirmed, were the following : " The Vice-Chan- 
 " cellor and two ProdVors of the Univerfity of Oxford for the time being, 
 " together with the Prefident for the time being of St. John's College in 
 " the fame Univerfity ; Thomas Bowdler, of Afhley in the county of 
 " Wilts, Efquire ; Mr. Robert Gordoun of Theobald, otherwife Tibald's- 
 " court, in Theobald, or Tibald's-row, near Red-Lyon Square, Holborn ; 
 " and Mr. John Pierce of Took's-court in the parifti of St. Andrew, Hol- 
 " born, London, Gentlemen ;" — to whom afterwards in his firft Codicil, 
 dated June 17, 1752, he fuperadded — " the Regius Profeffors for the time 
 " being of Divinity, Law, Phyfic, and of the Hebrew and Greek languages. 
 " And my will is," (he continues,) " that when any two of the Truftees 
 " ihall die, the remaining furvivers, together with the Vice- Chancellor, 
 " Prefident, (of St. John's,) and Prodlors, fhall within three calendar 
 " months choofe two other perfons to fupply the vacancy : in which elec- 
 " tions, if the numbers be equal, the Vice-Chancellor fhall have the cafting 
 " vote." 
 
 Ex. 
 
s; 
 
 ExtracH: from the fame Codicil. — " I do appoint the Convocation of the 
 *' Univerfity of Oxford, if they kindly accept of my fettlement made in 
 *' Auguft one thoufand feven hundred and fifty, to be the eledlors of the 
 *' Profeflbr therein named. Which place I diredl to become vacant every 
 " TEN '^ years ; and that the fever al Colleges of the fame Utihefity do enjoy 
 *' it one after another upon every vacancy ; and that my own College of St. 
 " John Baptift, where I had the happinefs to be educated, fhall have the 
 " frjl and every fifth turn. And I do further dire(51:, that fuch Profeffot 
 " or Lefturer, fo from time to time to be &\q&.&A, fhall continue a bachelor 
 " andfingle man,fo lotig as he fhall hold the faid Profeffoifhip, and enjoy the 
 "profits of the faid endowments. And I do require, that the perfons fb 
 " eledled he regular not created graduates, and fuch as have performed the 
 " ufual exercifes for their degree, and paid the fees, but without impeach- 
 " ment to our honoured Chancellor's common letters." 
 
 Extradl from the fecond Codicil, dated July 25, 1754. — " I do declare, 
 ." and it is my true intent and meaning, that no native of Scotland or of 
 " Ireland, or of any of the plantations abroad, or any of their or either of 
 " their fans, or any prefent or future member of the Royal or Antiquary So- 
 " cieties, fhall have, take, receive, or enjoy any profit, benefit, or advantage 
 " from, by, or out of any part of my eftate, real or perfonal, which I have 
 " heretofore given, devifed, or bequeathed for the foundation of any Lec- 
 " ture, or to any charitable or public ufe, or be capable of being elected into 
 " any Profefforfiiip of my foundation^'' 
 
 Extradl from the fourth Codicil, dated February 14, 1755. — " Whereas 
 " by my Will <= I have limited the time for the enjoyment of the Ledlurer's 
 " place under my fettlement (now in the hands of Dr. Derham, Prefident 
 " of St. John's,) to the term of ten years ; I do hereby reduce the fame to 
 "■^ five years, and that St. John's College fhall have every fifth turn. And 
 *' I do diretfl, that before every ele(5lion fo much of my Will and Codicils 
 " as relate to the qualifications for the office of Ledlurer, [and alfo for the 
 " oflSce of Keeper of the Mufeum at Oxford,] be firfl publicly read," 
 
 »• Afterwards in the foiirtb Codicil limited to Jive years. 
 * See the firfl Codicil, dated June 17, A. D. 1752. 
 
 That 
 
38 
 
 That it was the intention of Dr. Rawlinfon to make known the nature 
 of his endowment, and to give it every kind of publicity, appears not only 
 from the above extra<ft, but from the following diredlion in his Will : " I 
 " do require, that a copy of this my Will, and of every future Codicil or 
 " Codicils, be given by my Executors to Mr. James Fletcher the younger 
 " of Oxford, bookfeller, to whom I do hereby give leave and power to 
 " print and publifh the fame at his expence and for his own benefit, in or- 
 " der to perpetuate the fame, and be a check upon all concerned, as well as 
 " to be a diredlion to them." 
 
 With refpedl to the reftri^live claufes in this Endowment, however much 
 to be regretted, we muft recolledl, that they arofe from a certain train of 
 political and religious fentiments, which at the time were by no means pe- 
 culiar to Dr. Rawlinfon. 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
APPENDIX n. 
 
 Pages I and lo. 
 
 Bishop Gibfon, in his Life of Sir Henry Spelman % and Dr. White 
 Kennet, Bifhop of Peterborough, in his Life of Mr. Somner ^, have both 
 endeavoured to account for the lofs which the Univerlity of Cambridge and 
 the pubhc have fuftained by the faihire of Sir Henry Spelman's endow- 
 ment of a Saxon Profeflbrfhip. But there is fome difference in their ftate- 
 ments of the caufes which led to its extinftion. Bifhop Gibfon, without 
 referring to any authority, tells us in few^ words, " that Sir Henry and his 
 " eldefl fon (Sir John Spelman) both dying in the compafs of two years, 
 " and the civil wars breaking forth, and their eflate being alfo fequeflered, 
 " the family became uncapable of accomplifhing the defign." This ac- 
 count, though partly true, appears incorredl in fome degree ; for Mr. Som- 
 ner, who pubhfhed his Saxon Dictionary in the year 1659, ow/v one y eat- 
 before the rejloration of' King Charles the Second, in the Dedication of that 
 work to Roger Spelman, Efq. the grand/on of Sir Henry, exprefsly men- 
 tions his having fucceeded to the annual Jiipend, which ProfefTor Wheloc 
 enjoyed till his death ; and, that he had no doubt he fhould continue to re- 
 ceive it without interruption, is evident from the gratitude which he ex- 
 prefTes to his benefadlor : " tanquam meo iron in praefens folum, fed et 
 " perpetiio fl:udiorum meorum Patrono et Maecenati." The circumflanccs 
 which led to the feparation of the Vicarage of Middleton from the annual 
 
 » Prefixed to his edition of his Englifti Works, firft publiflied in the yearidpj, and, more 
 correftly, fol. Lend. 1723, the year of his tranflation from Lincoln to London. 
 
 '■ Prefixed to Somners " Treatife of the Roman Ports, &c. publiflied by James Brome, 
 " M. A. &c. Oxford, printed at the Theater, 1693." 
 
 ftipcnd 
 
40 
 
 ftipend are fomewhat remarkable. Mr. Spelman, on the death of ProfelTor 
 Wheloc, had felecSted the Rev. Samuel Fofter as a proper perfon to fucceed 
 him ; but Archbifhop Uiher in the mean time recommended Mr. Somner, 
 for his knowledge of the Saxon language, and his laudable undertaking, in 
 which he had then advanced a confiderable way, the compilation of a 
 Saxon 'Dictionary. To the credit and fat is faction of all parties concerned, 
 the difficulty was thus removed ; Mr. Fofter accepted the living, but re- 
 linquifhed the Profeflbrfhip ; and Mr. Somner was confequently appointed, 
 though perfonally unknown both to Mr. Spelman and to Mr. Fofter. It is 
 probable, that this unfortunate feparation of the eccleliaftical preferment 
 from the ftipend of the Profeflbr, however amicably or honourably adjufted 
 at the time, was the true caufe of the decay of this endowment at Cam- 
 bridge ; and the account of Bifliop Kennet *=, which certainly refts on bet- 
 ter authority than that of Bifhop Gibfon, confirms the fuppofition. I have 
 been thus particular in examining a point, of no very general intereft per- 
 haps, but connedled intimately with the hiftory of Anglo-Saxon literature, 
 becaufe I find an erroneous ftatement of the cafe in the life of Sir Henry 
 Spelman in the Biographia Britannica, which differs entirely from the ac- 
 count given in the fame work in the life of Mr. Somner. The following 
 inftances of inaccuracy may ferve to flicw how far the contents of that arti- 
 cle are to be relied on. The word heros (which is frequently applied by 
 Wheloc, in the Preface to his edition of Bede, to the hero of Saxon litera- 
 ture. Sir Henry Spelman) being miftaken for hares, the writer has af- 
 ferted, that Wheloc was recommended^ to Sir Henry Spelman by his fon 
 and heir. Sir John Spelman"^ ! — Again, Wheloc having told us, in the fame 
 
 ' Life of Mr. Somner, page 73. Oxford, 1693. 
 
 '' In faft, he was recommended to the Univerfity at a meeting in Sydney College by Arch- 
 h'ljbop UJhcr, as a proper perfon to accept the endowment : " fub aufpiciis Reverendiffimi Ar- 
 " machani, &c." Vide Dedic. five Praef. ad Academ. Cantabrig. p. 2,. 
 
 * The words of Wheloc are : " Acceffit poftea et hoc ; ut beros me huic munerl prasfenti 
 " non illiberali quidem commendaverlt," 8:c. And in another place : " Senex prope o£toge- 
 " narius — minerval annuum — in literas hafce, five publice legendo, five Codices MSS. in lu- 
 " cem edendo, (et llbros Saxonicos publici juris faciendo, Praf. p. 2.) promovendas deCg- 
 " navit." 
 
 Preface, 
 
41 
 
 Preface, that Sir Henry Spelman often employed him to read Saxon Manu- 
 fcripts, &c. to him in the public Library at Cambridge ^, and, in the Dedi- 
 cation, that Archbifhop Ulher propo/ed to him, in the year 1640, to read 
 and explain the Saxon Gofpels s, the writer of this article, joining thefe two 
 fatSts together, and mifreprefenting both, affures us, without the leaft hefita- 
 tion, " that jirchbijhop UJker heard Wheloc read leilures on the Saxon 
 " language in the Univerlity of Cambridge !" (Biogr. Brit. art. Spelman.) 
 
 ' " Concilia Britannica in lucem editurus, me faepe ut anagnojla, at faepius ut difctfuh, 
 " ufus eft." Praefat. ad Leftorem, pag. 2, edit. Cantabrig. fol. 
 
 8 " Mihique ipfe Praeful amplilUmus Saxonica Evangelia auditoribus ex idiomate Saxo- 
 " num antiquo aperienda tunc quidem {^161^0.) propofu'it. Abfit igitur ut integerrimi herois 
 " exemplum et vota frorfus exciderent, aut refpublica literaria ingrata reticentia injuriam pa- 
 " teretur. Sed, dum recolo liberaliores hafce mentis et induftriae occupationes a veftris pri- 
 " mo fufFragiis profeilas effe, continuo in mentem mihi fubit, oportere me fpecimen aliquod 
 " gratitud'mis, quantillumcunque, idque de thefauris antiquitatum veftris, terfum ab annofo 
 " pulvere, expolitumque, vobis offerre." He therefore publifhed his Latino-Saxon edition oif 
 Bede, &c. Cant. 1644. (Vid. Ded. five Praef. ad Academ. Cantabrig. &c.) 
 
 ?f APPENDIX 
 
APPENDIX m. 
 
 Pages 14 and 16. 
 
 Archbishop Parker, in the Preface to his edition of Affer's Life of 
 Alfred, alludes to the publication of the Saxon Gofpels in thefe words : 
 " Quatuor Evangclia eadem lingua" (Saxonica) " atque iifdem literarum 
 " formulis excndi curavmiis, et quo facilius ejus cognitionem intelligentiam- 
 " que comprehenderes, Anglica cum Saxonicis in margine conjunx'imiis, ta- 
 " libufque notis atque figurarum lignis d'l/iinx'inms, ut perfacile inter fe di- 
 '' vcrfarum linguarum fententiae comparari queant." He mentions Daye 
 alfo as the frjt printer, and, as far as he knew, the ordy one, who engraved 
 the Saxon charadlers, " ieri incident ;" tlierefore we may fafely conclude, 
 that the work afcribed to P"'oxe was in reality publifhed under the diredlion 
 of the Archbifliop, and that it is the earlieft fpecimen of Saxon typography 
 in England ! Afler's Annals of the Life of Alfred, though written in La- 
 tin, were publifhed by the learned Archbifliop about the fame time in the 
 fame Saxon characters in which he found the Manufcript written. It is 
 remarkable, that the oldeft books in the Ir'ijh language are found printed 
 with Saxon types *, and the Saxon charadlers are alfo feen in JVelJJt MSS. 
 
 • The Moft Reverend editor of the Irifti Prayer-book of 1608 aflerts, in the Dedication 
 of that work to Sir Arthur Chichefter, Knt. that the Saxons borrowed their letters from Ire- 
 land i if fo, it muft have been long before the period he affigns, which is towards the latter 
 end of the eleventh century ! The derivation of Seotia, the ancient name of Ireland as well 
 as of Scotland, from the Greek (rxona, darhiefs, gives us no very favourable idea of the Arch- 
 bifliop's accuracy of inveftigation, or of the enlightened (late of his countrymen in former 
 times. There is however a ftriking refemblance between the Saxon and the Irifh characters 
 in moft of the coetaneous manufcrijUs j and in all printed books nearly the fame types were 
 
 \vt' formerly 
 
43 • 
 
 The Saxon Gofpels were afterwards publiflied by Junius in conjun(5lion 
 with Dr. Marfhall, together with the Moefo-Gothic fragments afcribed to 
 Bifhop Ulphilas''. For this purpofe Junius collated four MS3. the Bod- 
 leian, the Cantabrigian, the Benedidline, and the Hattonian ; not to men- 
 tion two interlinear verfions, which he calls, from the then pofl'effors, the 
 Cottonian and Rufhworthian glofles. The former of thefe interlinear 
 glofTes, or Saxon verfions, is the more curious and valuable, becaufe its aoe 
 and author, I think, may be precifely afcertained. It is written in a fmaller 
 charadler, over and between the lines of a moft beautiful and very ancient 
 Latin verfion, called the Durham book, for a more particular account of 
 which I refer the reader to Wanley's Catalogue, and to the excellent Obfer- 
 vations of Dr. Marfhall, annexed to the Gothic and Saxon Gofpels pub- 
 liflied by him and Junius, pp. 491, 492. It is now in the Britifh Mufeum, 
 (B. 2. Nero. D. 4) Mr. Henfhall has lately undertaken a new publica- 
 tion of the Dano-Saxon glofs of this book, together with the fragments of 
 the Ulphilo- Gothic verfion, in order to illuftrate the flriking refemblance 
 between thofe ancient languages and our prefent Englifh. He feems how- 
 ever to fuppofe, that the Saxon verfion is coeval with the Latin ; whereas it 
 appears to me to have been written about 360 years after. However this 
 may be, it ought certainly to be called Aldred's glofs, as Dr. MarOiall has 
 fuggefted, becaufe it was written by a prieft of that name ; as appears from 
 the following memorandum at the end of the MS. " Aldred, prefbyter in- 
 " dignus et miferrimus, mijj Godes fultume and fandti Cujjbertes, hit 
 " ofergloefade on Englifc ;" that is, « Aldred, an unworthy and miferable 
 " prieft, with the help of God and St. Cuthbert, overghjfed it in Englifli." 
 ' The queftion is, who is this Aldred ? this miferable p-'teji, as he humbly 
 calls himfelf ? I find an Aldred, or Ealdred, mentioned in the Saxon Chro- 
 
 formerly ufed in both languages, as I have obferved above ; an additional argument, perhaps, 
 for the ftudy of Saxon literature. See the Irifti Prayer-book, tranflated by William Archbi- 
 ftiop of Tuam from the Liturgy of the Church of England, " for the comfort of the meere 
 " Irifh Churches," &c. printed by Sheon jrpancke (alias) ppanckeon, Ppiontoiji an Rioj an 
 Gipm, (i. e. Printer to the King in Ireland,') 1608. See alfo the Cod. Boerner. et Montf. Pal. 
 Gr. p. 237, with all the MSS. ul'i ubiftnt, written by Sedulius Scotus. 
 *• Dordrechti, typis et fumptibus Junianis, 4to. 1665. 
 
 G i nicle. 
 
44 
 
 nicle, who, on the death of Archbiftiop Kinfey, having gone through fome 
 previous degrees of preferment, was promoted to the fee of York, in the 
 year 1060*^. I take him to be the fame Aldred, Ealdred, or vEldred, who 
 is mentioned alfo in the Saxon Chronicle (anno 1047.) as one of the Eng- 
 lifh bilhops who went to Rome, to attend a fynod or council there in that 
 year"*. And, as the language of the glofs itfelf is Dano-Saxon, it appears 
 almoft certain, that it was written not long before this time, and probably 
 by this fame Aldred, who feems to have been fhortly after rewarded for his 
 piety, learning, and humility, by being chofen a Bifhop, and afterwards 
 Archbifhop of York. If this account of the age of this Saxon manufcript 
 can be relied on as accurate, it will be confidered, I trufl:, as a curious and 
 valuable fpecimen of the language fpoken in the North of England about 
 the middle of the eleventh century '". 
 
 ■' Chron. Saxon, ad annum, ed. Gibfon. p. 170. 
 
 ■^ He was then Bifliop of Woicefter, having been promoted to that fee the year before. 
 
 ' Of the age both of the Latin text and of the Dano-Saxon glofs the following is the opi- 
 nion of the indurtrioiis Wanley : " Mille annorum vetuftas hujus codicis Latino textui adju- 
 " dicatida eft. De Aldredi afate nihil certi babeo quod dicam. Ex dialeflo autem Gloflae, et 
 " m^nu in qua fcripta eft, ilium circa tempora .^Ifredi regis, oftingentis abhinc annis, flo- 
 " ruilfe exiftimo." Cat, p. 252. Wanley's Catalogue was printed in lyoj. 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
APPENDIX IV. 
 
 " Operae pretium erit patrium hunc noftrum (quo hodic utimur) fermonem cum illo obfo-- 
 leto jam pene et extinflo conferre, et conferendo, quam firit inter fe fimiles et pene esedemj, 
 animadvertere." Preface to AJfers Life vf Alfred, edit. Parker. Land. 1574. 
 
 Page 30. 
 
 Pater Nofter on Englifc, 
 
 " Du ure facder jje eart on heofenum. beo j>in nama gehalga'd. ge- 
 " cume j>in rice, beo J»in willa fwa fwa on heofenum fwa ece on eor))an. 
 " fyle us to daeg urne daegwhamlican hlaf. And forgif us ure gyltas fwa 
 " fwa we forgifa]? Jjam J»e wij» us agylta)>. And ne laed |)U na us on cofl:- 
 " nungCj ac alys us from yfele. Sy hit fwa." 
 
 Pater Nofter in Enghfh ; (according to the modern orthography.) 
 
 " Thou our fathe/ that art in heaven. Be thy name hallowed. Come 
 " thy kingdom. Be thy will fo as in heaven fo eke on earth. Sell us to- 
 " day our daily loaf. And forgive us our guilts fo as we forgive them that 
 " with us are guilty. And lead thou not us into cozening '', but releafe us 
 " from evil. Be it fo." 
 
 * I have purpofely printed the few fpecimens here given of the Saxon language with com- 
 mon types, becaufe there is only one Saxon character, )>, which is not reprefented equally well 
 by the Roman. This is therefore retained ; and perhaps, if the Saxon \, or S, like the Greek 
 9, or ^, was neceflary in former times, it is equally fo now. In fail, it was generally ufed in 
 Englifli MSS. till the invention of printing, and for fome time after. 
 
 ** This word is now ufed in a ftronger fenfe than it was among the Saxons ; it is from the 
 verb cojrcnian, or cojrian, tentarc ; connefled with accojier, to accojl, cofia, coffe, Sec. 
 
 Se 
 
46 
 
 . Se laefle Creda. 
 *' Ic gelyfe on God fasder aelmihtigne. fcyppend heofonan and eorjjan. 
 " And ic gelyfe on haelend Crift his ancennedan funu urne drihten. fe 
 " waes ge-eacnod of )jam halgan gafte. and acenned of Marian Jjam mae- 
 " dene, gejjrowod under ]jam Pontifcan Pilate, on rode ahangen. He waes 
 " dead and bebyrged. • and he nyther aftah to helle. and he aras of 
 " deajje on jjam jjriddan dacge. and he aftali up to heofenum. and litte]^ 
 " nu aet fwijjran Godes aelmightiges ftcder. jjanon he wyle cuman to dem- 
 " enne aegjjer ge })am cucum ge |)am deadum. And ic gelyfe on Jjone 
 " halgan gaft. and ))a halgan gelaj)unge. and halgena gemsennyfTe. and 
 " fynna forgifenyflb. and flaefces arift. and J^at ece life. Sy hit fwa." 
 
 MaefTe Creda. 
 " Ic gelyfe on fcnne God faeder aclmihtygne. wyrcend heofenan and eor- 
 " J)an. and ealra gefewenlicra J>inga and ungefewenlicra. and on acnne Crift 
 " haelend drihten. J)one ancennedan Godes funu. Of J>am faeder acenned 
 " ser ealle worulda. God of God. leoht of leoht. So})ne Gode of fo]jum 
 •' Gode. Acennedne. na geworhtne. efentowifthce jjam faeder. ))urh Jjone 
 " fynd ealle J>ing geworhte. fe for us mannum and for ure haele nejjcr 
 " aftah of heofenum. and wear)> geflaefc-hamod of })am halgan gafte. 
 " and of Marian jjam maedene. and wear)) mann geworden. He jjrowade 
 *' eac fwylce. on rode ahangen for us. and he was bebyrged. and he 
 " aras on J)am J)riddan daege. fwa fwa gewritu fec^)>. and he aftah to 
 *• heofenum. and he fitt aet fwijjran his faeder. and he eft cym]> mid 
 " wuldre to demenne Jjam cuicum and )jam deadum. And his rices ne bijj 
 " nan ende. And ic gelyfe on Jjone halgan gaft jjone liiFaeftendan God. 
 " fe gaeth of jjam faeder and of ))am funa. and fe is mid J)am fasder and 
 " mid ]jam funa gebeden and gewuldro'd. and fe fpraec ]jurh witegan. Ic 
 " andette ]>a anan halgan and ]ja geleafFullan and )>a Apoftolican gelajjunge. 
 " And an fulluht on forgifnyfle fynna. And ic andbidige aeriftes deaddra 
 " manna. And thaes ecan lifes thaere toweardan worulde. Sy hit fwa." 
 
 From the above fpecimens of the Saxon language, compared with our 
 prefent Englilh, I think it may fairly be concludedj that it is from this an- 
 cient 
 
^1 
 
 cient and primeval fource we muft principally trace the characSter, the 
 idiom, and the origin, of our native tongue ; and, notwithftanding the un- 
 worthy complaints that we hear of the inftability and fludluation thereof, 
 perhaps there are few languages that have ftood the teft of fo many event- 
 ful centuries, and fo many political revolutions, and yet have retained fo 
 much of their original ftrength and fplendour. In order to prove how 
 much even Milton himfelf is indebted for the majeftic fimplicity of his 
 verfe to the Saxon materials therein, I have ventured to give a tranflation 
 of the firft fixteen lines of the Paradife Loft into that language ; a kind of 
 exercife, which, together with that of modernizing ancient documents, 
 might be recommended to all Saxon ftudents as both amufing and in- 
 flrudlive. 
 
 The few words which it was neceflary to fubftitute in the room of thofe 
 of Latin etymology are marked with inverted commas. 
 
 Miltotis Paradife Loft, Book I. 
 Of mannes fyrft " unhyrfumnefle *=," and jjaos 
 " Waeftmes''" of jjat forbiddene treowe, hwa's tasft^ 
 
 ' The word unhypj-umnej-j-e affords a convenient fpecimen of the general etymology of 
 the Saxon language. From the verb hj-pan, to bear, is derived the adjeflive hypj-um, inclined 
 to bear, i. e. obedient ; di^o audiens, obaudiens, or obediens, Lat. nej-j-e is a common addition to 
 exprefs a quality, or the indication of fome quality, as hypjn:mnej-]-e, obedience ; to which the 
 guttural particle je may be added ad libitum, which will form je-hypj-umnej-j-e : if we then 
 prefix the negative particle un, derived from the particij)le ge-pon, iDanted, we (hall fee the 
 whole ftru6lure of the Saxon word, unjehypj-umnej-j-e. And it is remarkable, that the fame 
 procefs has been obferved in the formation of the word dif-ob-ED-ience : the radical of which 
 is aud-io, from the Greek, oyj, wro;, the ear. In fome of the bed MSS. and printed editions 
 of Salluft we have the word obaiidientia, not obedientia. Bell. Catilinar. fub init. 
 
 * Fruit being derived Uom fruit, Yx. frudus, Lat. it is neceffary here to ufe the Saxon word 
 •wajlmes, which fignifies the fame. And, for the fame reafon, un-bcar-Jom-nefs for dijobedience. 
 
 ^ The word mortal is omitted in this line ; indeed, " mortal tafte — Brought death into the 
 " World,'" &c. is a tautology unworthy of Milton, though it feenis to have been overlooked by 
 all his commentators and editors. Ta-Jl is a noun formed from the paft participle of the verb 
 tafan, vellicarc, to pluck, whence, in another fcnfe, the modern verb to teaze. This, it is hoped, 
 is fufficient authority. I believe the word tqf.e, in our prefent acceptation of it, which Dr. 
 
 Johnfon 
 
48 
 
 Broht deajj in to J>e world, and call ure wa, 
 
 Wi]> lofe of Eden, til an greater man 
 
 An-fteor us, and an-g'ahnc jjc blifsful faet, 5 
 
 Sing, heofenlic Mufe, )>e on |»am " diglod" top 
 
 Of Oreb, ojjjje of Sinai, " onbeblew'ft" 
 
 Done fceaphyrd, hwa fyrft tae'hte the ceofen faed, 
 
 On ]>e beginning hu ))e heofen and eorJ> 
 
 Ras ut of Chaos ; oj^jje, gif Sion hill 10 
 
 De " lyftath" mare, and Siloa's broc jjat flow'd 
 
 Fafte bi )>e " ftefne f" of God ; ])anon ic nu 
 
 Call on ))ine aide to min " gedyrftigE" fong, 
 
 Dat wi]> na middel fliht " upgangan" wolde 
 
 Begeond j>e' Aonifc munt, hwile hit " ehte" thing ^ 
 
 Unwriten get on " forth-rihte'" o]j]>e on rime ! 16 
 
 Johnfon and others derive from tejler, to try, (Qu. tejlari f) does not exift in any document 
 written in the Saxon language that is now extant, being the fame with tejl, an experiment, &:c. 
 
 ' Steven, for voice, or oracle, was retained from the Saxon word as lately as the time of 
 Chaucer, and afterwards. It is found in Hampole's " Stimulus Confcientiae," an Englifh 
 Poem written in the fifteenth century ; two MSS. of which are in the archives of Trinity 
 College, Oxford. See Chaucer, fajjlm, Johan. Capellan. and others. 
 
 6 The final 5 here, as the c above in heofenlic, was latterly almoft quiejcent, and the whole 
 word was pronounced by the Normans, yduppie ; / dwrjl is a phrafe well underftood in the 
 prefent day. The initial 5, before e, &c. was alfo frequently pronounced asj/ 'vayet,ye, &c. 
 
 *■ Thing was fometimes ufed by our Saxon anceftors both in the Angular and plural num- 
 ber, as the vulgar now fay, two mile, tivo found, &c. inftead of tzuo miles, tivo pounds, &c. 
 
 ■ Fortb-ribt is ufed by iElfric, the compiler of the Latino-Saxon Grammar in the eleventh 
 century, to fignify profe, as oppofed to verje, or metre. The word is very expreffive, particu- 
 larly with reference to the other term rime ; and I hope here to be indulged in a little verbal 
 criticifm, becaufe I find the latter word has been much mifunderftood. Fortb-ribt denotes a 
 compofition which flows right onward, or /brthtvard, whhoat breaks or interruptions, from 
 one line to another j and therefore properly fignifies /iro/^. Rime, which has been erroneoufly 
 fuppofed by fome to be derived from the Greek pv^jMO;, and therefore corrupted by de- 
 grees, firft into ri&ime, and then into r;^me, has been as erroneoufly reftridled by others 
 to fignify thofe c/xoiorsXEura, or homoiotekutic lines in modern poetry, to the jingle of 
 which the ancient poets were ftrangers. The word Rim, in mofl; of the Northern languages, 
 implies, in its firft fenfe, any limit, end, or extremity whatever, as, the rim of a glafs, the 
 
 rime. 
 
49 
 
 rime, or light hoar froft, which fo beautifully iij>s the extremities of the trees, bullies, and 
 hedges, in the winter. It fometimcs fignifies the completion of numbers, and rimcrqft is aritb- 
 metie, or the fciencc of numbers. Applied to written compofitions, it is a certain number or 
 meafure of metrical feet, limited by the rules of poetry, and therefore properly oppofed to 
 forth-ribt, or profe. Now it is obvious, that this definition of the word is not only confiftent 
 with its etymology, but alfo applicable univerfally to alt poetry, both ancient and modem ; 
 which Milton of courfe intended it ftiould be, when he declared his lofty purpofe of purfuing 
 
 " Things unattempted yet in profe or rime." 
 
 If the reader will turn to the variorum notes on this paiTage In Todd's edition of Milton, I 
 truft he will not deem this long note unneceffary. That Mr. Todd fliould have invariably 
 printed rhyme inftead of rime, contrary to the text of all the beft editions, is altogether ine\- 
 cufable. ijnwj Teut. Grerm. Belg. Sax. Dan. Swed. Ifland. &c. rima, Ital. rime, I"r. &c. &c. 
 
 VV HILE the compofitor was ietting his types for this fheet, it occurred 
 to me, that, as he wanted materials to complete it, I could not mwe ufe- 
 fully fill a few vacant pages, than by adding the Saxon, Gothic, Runic, and 
 Iflandic alphabets, for the ufe of fuch as may be defirous of cultivating this 
 kind of literature ; in which I have introduced as many different characters 
 as I could reprefent by our prefent apparatus of Northern typography. 
 Thofe however who are fo fortunate as to pofTefs a copy of the magnificent 
 Thefaurus of Dr. Hickes, or who can have accefs to it in libraries, may 
 colledl from the various plates in that work a complete Palaographia Sep- 
 tentrionalis, forming a valuable counterpart to the elaborate Palaographia 
 Graca of Montfaucon, 
 
 It is very much to be lamented, that the plates, on which fac-limiles of 
 Manufcripts and other fuch curiofities are engraved, are not more fre- 
 quently preferved, to be ufed again on any future occafion. The utility, 
 and even neceffity, of having recourfe to various forms of letters, in order to 
 read Manufcripts with facility, to decypher coins and monumental infcrip- 
 tions, and fometimes to reflore the genuine text of an author in a corrupted 
 
 H paiTage, 
 
50 
 
 paflage, muft be feen and acknowledged by all. In order therefore to con- 
 tribute fome little affiftance in this way, and for the fake of thofe who 
 may- be delirous of making any great progrefs in Northern literature, I have 
 enquired into the ftate of the Junian types, among which I expedled to 
 find the greateft variety of Septentrional charadters. They are ftill pre- 
 ferved, though in imperfedl fets, in the Clarendon Printing-houfe ; but 
 alas ! as Junius, who left them to the Univerlity, has been dead nearly 130 
 years, and as no conliderable work that required them has been printed 
 there for more than a century, they are, unfortunately, in fuch a ftate as we 
 might expeB indeed, but by no means in fuch a ftate as we fhould dejire ; 
 not worn out by ufe, but rendered almoft ufelefs by defceuvrement ! There 
 are, however, perfedl fets of the common Saxon chara6lers, the fame which 
 were ufed more than a century ago in printing the valuable works of 
 Hickes, Wanley, Thwaites, Gibfon, Chr. Rawlinfon, and other Saxon fcho- 
 lars of that period. Thefe are in a tolerable ftate of prefervation, though 
 many of the letters are very much worn. The misfortune is, that thefe 
 types are caft of a different height from thofe now in ufe ; fo that they 
 cannot be worked together in the fame page. But, if any encouragement 
 were given to this kind of literature, a new plan might be adopted, of print- 
 ing all the moft important remains of the Saxon language with the common 
 Roman types, referving the J) only, as at leaft an ufeful and elegant abbre- 
 viation, being more pleafing to the eye than th ; as may be feen by the 
 word o\\t, compared with oththe, &c. Some may even think it a neceflary 
 chara6Ver, to make a diftinftion between the found of th when united, and 
 that of the fame letters when they belong to two feparate fyllables. Many 
 learned men regret the lofs of this charafter, which we feem to have igno- 
 rantly abolifhed out of compliment to our neighbours. They indeed relin- 
 quifhed it long ago, becaufe they had long loft the found of it ; for it is a 
 remarkable fadV, that there are only two nations in Europe who have pre- 
 fer ved the original pronunciation of this letter; namely, the English and 
 
 the ISLANDIC. 
 
 THE 
 
THE SAXON ALPHABET. 
 
 A kind of Italic a is much ufed in MSS. The diph- 
 thong oe, £e, or ea, occurs continually, where we now ufe the 
 fingle a, or e. The firft is moft frequent in the Dano-Saxon. 
 A character is found in coins and MSS. which refembles 
 the e or j3 of the Greek alphabet. E, which differs from 
 the r of the Greeks only by the addition of the horizontal 
 line below, and is often found in coins without it, may be 
 confidered as older than the circular form of the Roman 
 letter C. It is the Hebrew j or 3 turned from the left to 
 the right. D and G are evidently variations of E and C. 
 Caius was pronounced Gaius in the time of QuincSliiian. 
 From the two fides of a triangle "t, the Hebrew Daleth, 
 the Greeks formed their A by adding the third \ the Ro- 
 mans converted one of the angles into a femicircle, D, 
 which being turned the contrary way becomes d, the A. of 
 the Mcefo-Gothic alphabet. See the Runic alphabet. 
 
 The Saxons dotted the y inftead of the i, being at flrft 
 perhaps written ij, the U twice dotted of the Germans, and 
 the i" of the Ulphilo-Gothic alphabet, which correfponds 
 with the I in the Alexandrian, Beza, and other old MSS. 
 of the New Teftament ; as lOTAAC. lAONTEC. npni". 
 The Irifli dotted the Saxon 5 inftead of the y. 
 Whether the old Saxons had the letter K, and difcarded it, like the Ro- 
 mans, I know not ; C was generally ufed till the Danes and Normans in- 
 troduced K ; probably from the Runic p. It is ufed at prefent, as for- 
 merly, in order to prevent the foft found of C. See the Runic alphabet. 
 
 The Roman M is generally found both in Anglo-Saxon and Dano-Saxon 
 coins ; being more eafily Ihaped by the monetaru. All letters may be ob- 
 
 H 2 ferved 
 
 ROM. 
 
 SAXON. 
 
 A 
 
 AK a 
 
 B 
 
 B |3 b 
 
 C 
 
 E r c 
 
 D 
 
 Dl> b 
 
 E 
 
 6E e 
 
 F 
 
 F|: j: 
 
 G 
 
 DG5 
 
 H 
 
 OH h 
 
 I 
 
 I J 1 
 
 K 
 
 KC k 
 
 L 
 
 LX 1 
 
 M 
 
 GQOlm 
 
 N 
 
 Nn n 
 
 
 
 
 
 P 
 
 P p 
 
 Q. 
 
 QEpcu 
 
 R 
 
 R ja 
 
 S 
 
 8 Z r 
 
 T 
 
 T c 
 
 V 
 
 U Yu 
 
 VV 
 
 FtU p 
 
 X 
 
 X-l-x 
 
 Y 
 
 Y r y 
 
 Z 
 
 Z 8 z 
 
 D,«, 
 
 \,th,^,%. 
 
52 
 
 ferved to aflume an angular form in coins, types, monumental infcriptions, 
 &c. whereas in writing they naturally run into circles, femicircles, and flou- 
 rifhes. CD feems to correfpond with the Hebrew d, having an additional 
 ftroke to the left, to diftinguifh it from n, with which, neverthelefs, it has 
 been often confounded. See the Iflandic alphabet, &:c. &c. 
 
 N feems to be derived from the Runic Kj or !N, by adding a perpendi- 
 cular. See Profeffor Worm's Literatura Runica, p. 1 15. Hafn. 1651. 
 
 O appears in various forms on coins ; fometimes it aflumes the figure of 
 a crofs with a circle defcribed in the centre; fometimes it reprefents z. /quart 
 inftead of a circle, &c. &c. Vid. Hickes. Diflert. Epift. p. 168. 
 
 The Saxons, like the latter Romans, expreffed the p' of the Hebrews, 
 the ^ ' or Koppa of the Cadmean Greeks, the l| ' of the Goths, &c. by two 
 or three charafters inftead of one ; cp, cw, quu, or cu. If this be a defedl, 
 it was fo alfo in the refined orthography of the Greeks and Romans ; jtcu- 
 a^Tof, quartus, &c. Q^indeed very feldom occurs in Saxon MSS, 
 
 Y, or V, is nothing more nor lefs than y Greque, as the French call it, 
 the Greek T, or u, the Latin v, &c. and fo ufed in coins and MSS. Mo- 
 dern Grammarians have raifed it to the rank of a confonant ! 
 
 Y, or }), differs only in form from the ^olic digamma, F, or y, by clof- 
 ing the two horizontal lines which proceed from the perpendicular. In the 
 middle or the end of a word or a fyllable it retains its original found of 
 w, v'j, ou, 00, or the w and u of the Welfh. It is fometimes confounded 
 
 ' Thefe characters flood for the number 90 in all thofe languages, if we except the He- 
 brew ; for by fome means or other the V, the letter preceding p in the alphabet of that lan- 
 guage, appears to have ufurped its place, if we may judge from the arrangement that is 
 made of the letters in Pfal. cxix. and in other places ; as in Prov. xxi. 10. &c. and fix times 
 in the Lamentations of Jeremiah. The Greek >, or Koppa, for 90, is ftill to be feen in mod 
 MSS. and printed editions of Thucydides, and other Greek authors, whofe works are divided 
 into chapters. Vide Qulnftil. Gefner. I. 4. 9. ed. Oxon. Montfaucon, Palxogr. Gr. p. (^6g. 
 Ariftoph. Nub. v. 23. cum nott. edd. in voc. K.o-mca.Tia.v. I fufpe£t that the Samecb of the 
 Hebrew alphabet (D) was introduced, at a time comparatively modern, by thofe who could 
 iiot pronounce the Sclnn, {'!',) as in the famous word Sbihbolctb, which the Ephraimltes 
 foftened into SihloJeth, to the great contempt of thofe who retained the original proiun- 
 ciation. The Germans have preferved the proper pronunciation of this character, but they are 
 obliged to ufe three charafters (fch) in the JymboHzation of it. 
 
 with 
 
53 
 
 with P in coins and MSS. Hence Sir H. Saville read Edpard for Ed- 
 ward, &c. In the beginning of a word or fyllable it is the Roman V. 
 
 Z of courfe is a variation of 8, Z ; Z, ^, ^ ; to exprefs a diftinftion of 
 found. The Romans generally ufed ff or x, as in caujfa, majfa ; ju,a^«, Gr. 
 Befides the foregoing charatfters, f, o-, ^, ft, j* for p, &c. &c. are frequently 
 found in Saxon MSS. ss, for ff, we feem to have borrowed from the 
 French, our guides in typography as in every thing elfe, making no diftinc- 
 tion between the fmall letter and the capital ; but the limilarity of f and f 
 certainly pccafions many miftakes in printing, ■f , thxt, or that, "j, et, or and, 
 \, vel, & ovi &c. are common abbreviations in MSS. and printed books. 
 
 The Theta of the Saxon alphabet, D, S, or \, correfponding with the 
 Greek ©, S-, 0, and the Runic I, which has been called Thorn, from the 
 ftroke which pierces the body of the perpendicular line in the firft, is un- 
 fortunately become obfolete. The. Gothic Q, to exprefs hw, or the quhw 
 of the Scoto-Saxon, was equally worthy of being preferved, and, as it is a 
 handfome letter, may yet be revived. I have therefore procured fome types 
 to reprcfent this and fome other long- forgotten characters, the founds of 
 which they are the fymbols being but imperfedtly reprefented by our pre- 
 fent fyftem of typography ; much lefs can we print correal editions of 
 Chaucer, Gawin Douglas, &c. without them. The ufe of 'S and )> is parti- 
 cularly neceffary, and miglit be of great fervice even now, not only to en- 
 able us to diftinguifli the different founds of /// in fuch words as thj and 
 thigh, this and thifth, that and thatch, &c. &c. but alfo to lead all future 
 grammarians into a rational fjftem of orthography and orthoepy. At the 
 fame time I beg leave to obferve, that I do not wifh to introduce any unne- 
 ceflary innovations, where cuftom has fo long prevailed. Some may even 
 think, that every alphabet might- be reduced to about nine fimpJe confonants, 
 and one vowel ; all the reft being nice diftindtions, elegant abbreviations, 
 artificial combinations, &c. &c. invented by Pythagoras and others, in times 
 comparatively modern, and continued fince under different forms, j>ro vario 
 genio ac Itbitufcriporum. But we know what uncertainty has arifen in the 
 Hebrew and Runic languages, from the adoption of minute ^o/«/j to fupply 
 the deficiency of letters. See the Runic alphabet in the next page. 
 
 ■^ 1. The 
 
54 
 
 The Mcefo-Gothic Alphabet of Ulphllas. 
 
 I. 
 
 3- 
 
 4- 
 
 5' 
 <5. 
 
 7» 
 
 6 e « «. 
 
 a v w VI. 
 
 8. 
 
 9. 
 
 20. 
 30. 
 40. 
 JO. 
 
 1 I i '. 
 
 <Jo« 
 70. 
 80. 
 Po. 
 loo. 
 
 9ty S" 
 
 200. S/'<- 
 
 300- T ? T. 
 
 400' f ^w t'P' 
 joo. pfph^. 
 600. X '^ Af- 
 700. ywwwv. 
 800. i< ". 
 
 900, H cf «. 
 
 looo.vpnsnNA.. 
 
 a. The Scytho-Gothic, Runic, Cimbric, or Scandic alphabet. 
 
 F F V. Fie, or fcoh, fee, 
 
 n U. Ur, ferri fcintilla, vel pluvia 
 
 Ii -^ D. Dufs, Btoi, deus. 
 
 4 O. Oys, ofiium fiuniinis. 
 R A R. Ridhr, or rad, rider. 
 F K. Kaun, or ken, ulcus, 
 * H. Hxgl, bail. 
 K N. Nadur, or nyd, Mee//. 
 I I. Jis, i|-e, Sax. malfe hod. ice. 
 4 A. Aar, antii proven tus. 
 Vt^ S. S'lgd, or i6\, fail, or fun. 
 
 •t 4 T. • Tyr. taur-utt Mars, &c. 
 
 B B. Biarkan, or birk, betula, birch. 
 
 ^ L. Lagur, liquor. 
 
 ^ M. Madur, man. 
 
 F V W. Stungen fie, or wen. 
 
 H Y. Stungen ur. 
 
 t Th. Stungen dufs, or thorn. J>. 
 
 1 C. Kne-{o\. 
 
 P G. Stungen kaun. 
 
 f E. Stungen jis. 
 
 B P. Stungen birk, or biarkan. 
 
 In this alphabet I have followed the order of the Runic charafters, as they are 
 placed for golden numbers and dominical letters in the old calendars. In 
 the modern (erics they ftand thus, in compliance with modern alphabets : 
 
 A A. BB IC ID ^EFFPG*HIIFK^LTMKNfJOBPFnQ,RARHS 
 
 3. The Iflandic alphabet ; the fame with the Franco-Teutonic, modern Ger- 
 man, Danish, Swedish, English Black letter, &c. &c, 
 
 4bci)cf0|)iHinnopqrf6tuPtpjfj>i)3K 
 
 The Lord's Prayer in this ancient language, 
 
 Siibet uor Hi font ctt a ^imnum/ ^l0e(! litt t^fn/ Cilfomc fitt Kiffe/ 
 t?crbe l>inn »iUie/ (0 a 3<"^^"/ f^"" * fttrane/ (Bicff i>u 00 i b«0 uort baglegt 
 Btftub/ (D0 percjicff 00 uorar @fuUber/ fofem viev fi)er0tefum tiorum @fulbin<xu- 
 rum/ (Dg inlcib 00 ccfe i ^rciflne/ ^clbc frclfa fu 00 fra tllu/ Ini;«b f itt « 
 Kijfeb/ 00 tTlafttr/ o0 ©yrb/ in ftUber rtllba/ 2(mert. 
 
 In 
 
55 
 
 In the Gothic alphabet it will be feen, that I have changed the common 
 order of the letters, and introduced two new charadlers ! The former of thefe 
 innovations, however, is fupported by authority which cannot be refifted ; 
 for I have merely followed the order in which I find the letters placed in 
 the margin of the Moefo-Gothic Gofpels. As they ftand there for numbers, 
 as regularly as the Hebrew letters in many parts of the Old Teftament, it 
 occurred to me, that fince Junius and others haftily adopted the A, B, C, 
 of the modern languages, and printed their alphabets according to their own 
 fancy, it was neceflary to have recourfe to fome higher authority. On 
 comparing my alphabet afterwards with the Greek and the Hebrew, I was 
 agreeably furprized to find, that they almoft entirely coincided. For the 
 other innovation, the introdudlion of two new charadlers into the alphabet, 
 or rather, perhaps, the revival of the old, I refer the reader to the fame au- - 
 thority, and to a MS. treatife On the Letters and Language of the Goths, 
 mentioned by Profeflbr Thwaites in the notes to his Moefo-Gothic alpha- 
 bet. See alfo the four alphabets of J. Hepburn, i. e. the Gothic, the Ge- 
 tic, the Scythian, and the Maffagetic, engraved in Hickes's Thefaurus, 
 Gram. Ifland. p. 4. The Runic alphabet has been reftored on the fame plan. 
 
 As a mere experiment, I have ventured to enlarge my original defign, by 
 publifhing an extract from King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon verfion of Orofius, 
 in which I have retained the \ only of the Saxon alphabet, for the reafons 
 before mentioned. Whether antiquaries in general will approve or condemn 
 the innovation, I know not ; but I have the fatisfaftion of affuring them 
 and the public, that I had an opportunity of fhewing the firft Iheet to a 
 Gentleman of the higheft authority and experience as an antiquary, when 
 he was lately at Oxford, and that he was kindly pleafed to give me his un- 
 qualified approbation of the whole plan ; and with a liberal and patriotic 
 zeal for the advancement of Saxon learning, and the knowledge of our 
 Englifh antiquities, he alfo fignified at the fame time his noble intention of 
 fending to the Univerfity all his valuable printed books and manufcripts 
 relating to thofe fubjedls ! 
 :. En- 
 
56 
 
 Encouraged and animated by fo generous a donation, though my labours 
 may fail of fuccefs, or may be executed in a manner unworthy of public pa- 
 tronage, I feel it to be my duty to contribute fome litrie affiftance to the 
 cultivation of this too much neglected branch of Englifh literature. 
 
 I have begun therefore with a very eafy and pure fpecimen of the Saxon 
 language, which claims the immortal Alfred for its author ! It defcribes the 
 land-marks, or boundaries, of all Europe, as they were known in the ninth 
 century ; and it is a very valuable and neceffary document to illuftrate the 
 geography of the middle ages. That part of it which contains an authen- 
 tic hiftory of three Voyages made in the North seas in the 
 NINTH CENTURY, One of whicli is a profeffed voyage of discovery, 
 was inferted by King Alfred himfelf into his verfion of Orofius, and it is 
 generally believed to be the original compoiition of that truly great man. 
 The tinbelieving reader, however, may confult the Preface of the Hon. Mr. 
 Daines Barrington, brother to the prefent Bifhop of Durham, in his 
 edition of this work, if he happens to have a copy of it. It was from this 
 publication of Mr. Barrington, now become very fcarce, of which I have a 
 prefentation copy, with a MS. letter of the editor, through the friendfhip of 
 Mr. Price, the Bodleian Librarian, that I firft intended to reprint this va- 
 luable extradl ; and I concluded, from Mr. Barrington's general knowledge 
 as an antiquary, and from his acquaintance with the Saxon language in par- 
 ticular, that I fhould ha\'e very little more to do than to deliver the copy to 
 the compofitor, fudante prelo ; but, on examination, I found the text of his 
 book fo inaccurately printed, and the tranflation in many parts fo com- 
 pletely unintelligible, that I determined to collate the whole with the Ju- 
 nian tranfcript from the Cotton library, (Tib. B. i.) and other MSS. and 
 printed books in the Bodleian. I have alfo revifed the tranflation through- 
 out, and only followed him in thofe places where I faw no reafon to depart 
 from him. I have preferved fome of his notes, as well as the geographical il- 
 luftrations of Mr. J. Reinhold Forfter, who, having failed round the world, 
 and being particularly famous for his knowledge of the North of Europe, 
 bpth by land and fea, muft be confidered as a valuable commentator on the 
 geography of Alfred and Orolius. 
 
 THE 
 
"♦ '^ 
 
 
 % 
 
 THE 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE; 
 
 EXTRACTED 
 
 FROM KING ALFRED'S 
 ANGLO-SAXON VERSION OF OROSIUS. 
 

 p 
 
THE 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE 
 
 BY 
 
 KING ALFRED, 8rc. 
 
 JN U wille we ymb Europe land-gemaere reccan; fwa tnycel fwa we hit 
 fyrmeft witon:. Fratn ]j3ere ea Danais weft o]) Rin J)a ea. (feo wylj? of J»aem 
 beorge j)e man Alpis hset. and yrn)j ))onne nor))rihte on jjass garfecges earm 
 J?e Jjaet land utan ymbli)) jje man Bryttannia haet.) and eft fu)) 0)7 Donua* jja 
 ea. (Jjasre aevvylme'' is neah jjaere ea Rines. and is li))|jan eaft yrnende wi)> 
 Nor)>an Creca-lande ut on jjone Wendel fae.) and norjj on jjone garfege ]je 
 man Cwen fae haet. binnan Jjsem fyndon manega jjeoda. ac hit man hast eall 
 Germania:. Donne wij? nor|)an Donua aewylme and be eaftan Rine fyndon 
 Eaftfrancan. and be fujjan him fyndon Svvaefas. on ojjre healfe Jjoere ea Do- 
 nua. and be fujjan him and be eaftan fyndon Baeg]>-ware. fe dael Jje man 
 Regnef-burh haet. and rihte be eaftan him fyndon Berne, and eaft nor)j fin- 
 don Dyringas. and be norJ>an him fyndon eald Seaxan. and be nor)>an- 
 weftan him fyndon Fryfan. and be weftan eald Seaxum is -^Ife mu])a Jjaere 
 ea and Fryfland. and ))anon weft nor]j is jjaet land J)e man Angle haet. and 
 Sillende. and fumne dael Dena. and be nor])an him is Apdrede. and eaft 
 norj) wylte jje man Haefeldan *= haet. and be eaftan him is Wineda land. Jie 
 man HceFSyfyle. and eaft fuj> ofer fumne dael Maroaro. and hi Maroaro 
 habbaj) be weftan him Dyringas and Behemas and Baegjjware healfe. and 
 
 » Donaiv is preferred by Milton to the latinized term Danube. J. I. 
 
 '' Hence the name of Ewelm in Oxfordihire. y. I. 
 
 '^ 1 have adopted the afpirate H here from a various reading, y. I. 
 
 I a be 
 
60 
 
 be fu])an him on o]>re healfe Donua ]>aere ea is ]>ast land Carendre. fu]> o]> jja 
 beorgas |je man Alpis haet. to J)aem ilcan beorgum licgajj Baeg]>wara land- 
 gemaere and Swasfa:. Donne be eaftan Carendran lande begeondan J)3em 
 weftenne is Pulgara land, and be eaftan j>aem is Creca land, and be eaftan 
 Meroaro lande is Wifleland. and be eaftan ))oem find Datia^. {la )>e iu wae- 
 ron Gottan:. Be norjjan eaftan Maroara fyndon DalamenMn. and be eaftan 
 Dalamenfam findon Horithi. and be norjjan Dalamenfam findon SurpS. and 
 be weftan him findon Syfele:. Be norjjan Horiti is M2eg)>aland. and be 
 norjjan Masg]?aland is Sermend^ o^ jja beorgas Riffin. and be weftan fu)> 
 Denum is jjaes garfecges earm J)e li|j ymbutan jjaet land Brittannia. and 
 be norjjan him is jjaes faes earm ))e man haet Oft fae. arid be eaftan him 
 and be nor);an him fyndon nor]> Dene, aagjjer ge on jjsem maran landum 
 ge on ))aem iglandum. and be eaftan him fyndon Afdrede. and be fu]>aa 
 him is ^Ife mu]>a |>ePre ca. and eald Seaxna fum dael:. Nor]> Den^ hab- 
 baj> him be nor)>an |>one ilcan fscs earm }?e man Oft fae hast, and be eaftan 
 him fyndon Ofti ))a leode. and Afdrede be fu)>an:. Ofti habbaj) be norjjan 
 him ))one ilcan faes earm. and Winedas and Burgendas. and be fujjan him 
 fyndon Haefeldan:. Burgendan habba]? |>one ylcan fa»s earm be weftan 
 him. and Sweon be nor])an. and be eaftan him fint Sermende. and be 
 fujjan him Surfe:. Sweon habbaj? be fujjan him jjone faes earm Ofti. and be 
 efcftan him Sermende. and be norjjan ofer ]>a. weftennu is Cwen land, and 
 be weftan norJ)an him findon Scride-Finnas. and be weftan Nor]>menn. 
 
 " Oht-here fsede his hlaforde jElfrede kynincgc })£et he ealra Norjjmanna 
 " norbmeft bude:. He cwaej) Jjjct he bude on Tpscm lande norjjeweardum wib 
 " ba weft fae. he faede |>eah J?st jjzet land fy fwy|je lang norjj j^anon. ac hit is 
 " eall wefte buton on feawum ftowum. fticce maelum wiciajj Finnas. on 
 " huntajje on wintra. and on fumera on fifco)je be )>acre fje:. He fsde ]jast 
 " he iet fumum cyrre wolde fandian hu lange jjast land norjj-riht lacge. o]>J»e 
 " hwsether aenig man be nor}>an Jjjem weftene bude:. Da for he norjtrihte 
 
 ■* Qu. Daca ? c is often confouncUd with t in Saxon MSS. not to mention that Dac'ia 
 and Daita are generally pronounced alike. Dacx being once written Dace, then Dada, the 
 tranfition to Datia appears natural and obvious. But perhaps the country is put inadver- 
 tently for the inhabitants. The words of Orofius are : " Dacia, ubi et Gothia." J, I. 
 
 "be 
 
m 
 
 " be jjaem lande. let him ealne weg ))aet wefte land on )>aet fteorbord and 
 *' j>a wid fa: on bsec-bord ]>ry dagas. Jja waes hfe fwa feor norj> fwa fova hwsel 
 " huntan fyrreft fara)>- j>a for he jja gyt norjj-rj'hte fwa he inihte on )>£em 
 " ojjrum J)rim dagum gefeglian. j>a beah « J>3et land )>iEr eafte ryhte oj)|?e fio 
 *' fae in on )>act land, he nyfte hwacj)er. buton he wide j>£t he jjser bad 
 *' weftan windes. ojjjje hwone nor)>an. and feglede J^anon eaft be land fwa 
 " fwa he mihte on feower dagum gefeglian. jja fceolde he bidan ryhte 
 *' nor])an windes. forJ>an j»2t land jiaer beah fujjrihte oj)}>e fio fje in on )>£et 
 "" land he nyfte hwaejjer. j>a feglede he )janon fujjrihte be lande fwa fwa he 
 *' mihte on fif dagum gefegliam. Da laeg {ȣer an mycel ea up in )>aet land. 
 " )ja cjTdon hy up in on ))a ea. for |)aem hy ne dorfton for{) be jjaere ea feg- 
 " lian for unfrij^e. for {)sm j>aet land wajs call gebun ^ on o)jre healfe |)aere 
 *' eas. ne mette he aer nan geblin land fyjjjjan he fram hys agnum hame 
 " for, ac him waes ealne weg wefte land on jjaet fteorbord butan fifceran 
 " and fugeleran and huntan. and jjaet wacron ealle Finnas. and him wees a' 
 " wid foe on ))^t baec-bord:. Da Beormas haefdon fwijie well gebtin hyra 
 " land, ac hi ne dorfton ])£er on cuman. ac Jjaera Terfenna land waes eall 
 " wefte. butan ^xr huntan gewicodon. oj?))e fifceras. ojjjje fugeleras.: 
 
 " Fela fpella him faedon ];a Beormas. jegjjer ge of hyra agenum lande'^ 
 " ge of )72em lande J)e ymb hy utan wieran. ac he nyfte hwset j):Es*fo)jes waes. 
 ■" for j)ffim he hyt fylf ne gefeah:. Da Finnas (him jjuhte) and ))a Beorma* 
 " fpraecon neah an gejjeode:. Swijjoft he for ))yder to eacan {)£es landes 
 ■" fceawunge. for ))£cm horf-hwaelum. for jjasm hi habba]) fwyj)e aejjele ban on 
 *•' hyra to]>um. ))a te]) hy broton fume jjasm cynincge. and hyra hyd bi]> 
 " fwijje god Kto fciprapum:. Se hvva^l bi)) micle Isefta ])onne o^re hwalas. 
 
 ' This word is not tranflated well by Mr. Barrington, " the land !ay," Sec ; it is the pre- 
 terit from the verb bujan, or bygan, to hyui, or bend ; and well exprefles the bend or turn of 
 the land to the eaft at the North Cajje. It occurs again a few lines below, y. /. 
 
 f Mr. Barrington improperly prints jebon here, and gebunb in the next line. I find jebun 
 in the Junian tranfcript with a dafliover the u in both places, perhaps as a mark of con- 
 tra£lioB for gebujen, as we find ta'en ufod by our poets for taken. So below, a is ufed like 
 the Scottifti abbreviation in a', ca' fa', ha', wa', &c. for all, call, fall, ball, zuall, &c. a' fignifies 
 all, always, at all times, 8cc. tranflated (imply, a ividcfea, by Mr. Barrington I J. I. 
 
 s " Hie incipit lacuna in Cod. MS. Lauderdal. qua laborat ufque ad cap. ix. lib. i. p. 20." 
 Marginal note by Dr. Marfliall in the Junian tranfcript of Alfred's Orofius, p. 10. J. I. 
 
 «ne 
 
62 
 
 *< ne bijj he lengra jjonne fyfan eina lange. ac on his agnum lande is fe bet- 
 " fta hwiel hunta]?. ]ja beo)? eahta and feowertiges elna lange, and Jja maeftan 
 *' fiftiges elna lange. jjara he fede |>3et he fyxa fum ofsloge fyxtig' on twam 
 " dagum:. He was fwyjje fpedig man on ^xm jehtum jje heora fpeda on 
 *' beoj), jjaet is on wildrum"*:. He haefde )>a gyt. ))a he jjone cyning fohte. 
 *' tamra deora unbebohtra fyx hund- (jja deor hi hatajj hranas) ])ara waEron> 
 " fyx ftcel-hranas. Jja beoj) fwyjje dyre mid Finnum. for jjaem hy foj» J)a 
 " wildan hranas mid:. 
 
 *' He waes mid Jjsm fyrftum mannum on ]j£em lande. nsefde he Jjeah ma 
 " Jjonne twentig hry))era and twentig fceapa and twentig fwyna. and Jjset 
 " lyde ^xt he erede he erede mid horfan. ac hyra ar is msft on {>aDm gafole 
 *' J»e ]ja Finnas him gyldajj. )>£t gafol bijj on deora fellum and on fugela 
 *' fejjerum and hwales bane, and on Jjaeni fciprapum ))e beojj of hwaeles 
 " hyde geworht and of feoles:. -^ghwilc gylt be hys gebyrdum. fe byr- 
 " defta fceal gyldan fiftyne mearjjes fell, and fif hranes. and an beran fel. 
 " and tyn ambra fejjra. and berenne kyrtel o)>))e yterenne. and twegen fcip- 
 " rapas. acgjjer fy fyxtig elna lang. ojjer fy of hwaeles hyde geworht. ojjer 
 " of fioles:. 
 
 *' He faede Jjast norjjmanna land waere fwyjje lang and fwy}>e fmsel:. Eal 
 " j?aet his man ajjer ojjjje ettan oj)])e erian masg. jjaet lij> wij) jja fie. and j>aet is 
 *' jjeah on fumum ftowum fwyjje cludig. and licgajj wilde moras wijj eaftan. 
 •* and wijj upp on emnlange jjaem bynum lande:. On jjsm morum eardia}> 
 " Finnas. and jjast byne land is eafte-weard bradoft. and fymle fwa norjjor 
 *< fwa fmalre:. Eafteweard hit mtt>g bion fyxtig mila brad, ojjjje hwene 
 ** braedre. and midde-weard jjritig ojjJje bradre. and norjjeweard he cwsej? 
 " (jjsr hit fmalofl: waere) jjaet hit mihte beon jjreora mila brad to }ja;m more. 
 " and fe mor fyjjjjan on fumum ftowum fwa brad fwa man mjeg on twam 
 " wucum oferferan. and on fumum ftowum fwa brad fwa man mieg on fyx 
 " dagum oferferan:. Donne is to emnes Jjaem lande fujjweardum on ojJcr 
 " healfe jjaes mores Sweoland. o]» Jjaet land norjjweard. and to emnes Jjjem 
 
 i I conceive this (hould be j-yxa. D. B. Nihil necejfe. See the tranflation. J. I. 
 
 ^ pilbnum mvjl be here ufed as a contradlion for pilbeopum, or ii.'ild deer. D. B. There is 
 no neceffity, I think, for this forced contraAion, of which there is no fimilar example. It 
 refers to sehrum above. See the Englifli tranflation. J. I. 
 
 :* land 
 
03 
 
 " land nor]>weardum Cwena land:. Da Cwenas hergiaj) hwilum on ))a nor]>- 
 " men ofer j)one mor. hwilum j>a norjjmen on hy. and Jjaer fint fwy])e 
 " micle meras ferfce geond Jja moras, and bera)) ))a Cwenas hyra fcypu ofer 
 " land on |)a meras. and ))anon hergia]» on })a nor|)men. hy habbaj) fwyjjc 
 " lytle fey pa and fwy)je leohte:. 
 
 " Oht-here faede Jjast lio fcir hatte Halgoland ])e he on bude:. He cwaej» 
 " j?£et nan man ne bude be norjjan him:. Donne is an port on fujjweardum 
 " jjaem lande. ))onne man haet Sciringes heal. Jjyder he cwsej) jjaet man ne' 
 " mihte gefeglian on anum mdn)>e. gyf man on niht wicode ' and aslce daeg 
 " hifde ambyrne wind, and ealle J)a hwile he fceal feglian be lande. and on 
 " ])3et fteor-bord him bi)) sereft Ira-land, and jjonne j>a igland "' Jje fynd be- 
 " twux Ira-lande and jjifTum land- }>onne is J>is land o]) he cymj> to Scirin- 
 " ges heale. and ealne weg on J»aet basc-bord Norjjwege- bi fuj)an jjone Sci- 
 " tinges heal fylj> fwijje micel fae up in on jjset land, feo is brader J»onne 
 " a3nig man oferfeon maege. (and is Gotland on o]>re hedfe ongean, and 
 " fijjjja Sillende-) feo fae lij) msnig hund mila up in on }>aet land:. And of 
 " Sciringes heale he cwae]) ))st he feglode on fif dagan to jjsem porte jje 
 " men hsct aet Hajjjum. fe flent betwuh Winedum and Seaxum and 
 " Angle, and hyrj> in on Dene:. 
 
 " Da he )>iderweard feglode fram Sciringes heale. J>a wa;s him on basc- 
 " bord Dena mearc. and on {)aet fteor-bord wid fae. jjry dagas:. And jja 
 " twegen dagas £er he to Hsejjum come him wses on jjjet fteor-bord Got- 
 " land, and Sillende. and iglanda fela. on ]jaem landum eardodon Engle aer 
 " hi hider on land comon. and him waes j>a twegen dagas on J>st bsec-bord 
 " ]>a igland \t in Dene-mearce hyraj):. 
 
 " Wulfftan facde j>aet he gefore of Haejjum. ]>£et he waere on Trufo on 
 " fyfan dagum and nihtum. ))3ct Jjaet fcyp waes ealne weg yrnende under 
 " fegle. Weonodland him wa:s on fteor-bord. and on btec-bord him wjes 
 " Langaland and Laeland and Falfter and Sc6n-eg. and |>as land call yra]i 
 " to Dene-mearcan. and J)onne Burgenda land waes us on baec-bord. an4 
 
 ' I fufpeA this fliould be pacQbe, or watched. D. B. 
 
 "" Many words in Saxon were the fame both in the (ingular and plural ntimber ; as even 
 to this day two mile, two found, &c, are vulgar expreffions for two miles, two pounds, &c. J. I. 
 
t54 
 
 " jja habba]> him fylf cyning:. Donne a^fter Burgenda lande wacron us {)as 
 " land |)a fynd hatene asreft Blecinga-eg " and Meore. and Eowland and 
 " Godand. on bxsc-bord. and )>as land hyrj^ to Swcon. and Weonod-land 
 " W35S us ealne weg on fteorbord o|> Wifle mujjan:. Seo Wifle is {wy])e 
 " mycel ca. and hio to li]> Widand and Weonodland. and |)aet Witland 
 " belimpej> to Eftum. and feo Wifle lij> ut of Weonodlande. and li)) in 
 " Eftmere. and fe Eftmere is huru fiftene mila brad:. Donne cyme]? Ilfing 
 " caftan in Eftmere. of jjsm mere Jje Trufo ftandejj in ftaj)e. and cumaj) ut 
 *' famod in Eftmere Ilfing eaftan of Eaftlande and Wifle fu|)an of Winod 
 " lande. and })onne benimj) Wifle Ilfing hire naman. and lige}) of Jjsm mere 
 " weft, and nor^ on fae. foi^y hit man hst Wifle mu]ja:. Dst Eaftland is 
 " fwyjje micel. and Tpxr bi]? fwyjje manig burh. and on jekere byrig bij) cy- 
 '' ninge. and }»ffir bi)) fwyjje micel hunig and fifca]?. and fe cyning and ])a ri- 
 '^ coftan men drincajj myran " meolc. and j^a unfpedigan and j)a jjeowan 
 ** drinca)> medo:. Daer bijj fwy|)e mycel gewinn betweonan him. and ne 
 " bi]) jjjer nsenig ealo gebrowen mid Eftum. ac J>asr bij) medo genoh:, 
 
 " And jjaer is mid Eftum ])eaw. jjonne jj^cr bij> man dead, jjst he li)j inne 
 " unforbaerned mid his magum and freondura monaj). gehwilum twegen. 
 " and J)a kyninges and |ja o|>re heah-))ungene men fwa micle leng fwa hi 
 " maran fpeda habba)?. hwilum healf gear ])3Et hi beoj> unforbserned and 
 " licga]> bufan eor|)an on hyra hufum. and ealle ]ja hwile jje )>cet lie bij) inne 
 *' ))£er fceal beon gcdrync and plega oj) jjonc daeg )« hi hine forbarrne]?:. 
 *' Donne ])y ilcan dxg hi hine to Jjaim ade beran wylla]) )>onne todalaj) hi 
 " his feoh. jjaet Jjjer to lafe bi]) after ])acm gedrynce and ]?sm plegan. on 6E 
 " oj)J)e fyx (hwilum on ma) fwa fwa \xr feos andefn bi)):. Alecga]) hit 
 " ])onne for hwa?ga on anre mile ])one marftan dasl fram J>aem tune. Jjonne 
 " ojjerne. })onne Jjsene ])riddan o|) Jje hyt eall aled bi]) on ])sre anre mile, and 
 V fceal beon fe lacfta dffl nyh'ft )>2cm tune ^e fe deada on li]?:. 
 
 » 
 
 " €5 mud be here ufed as a contraflion for ejelanfe, an ijland, or, as it is more commonly 
 written, iglanb. Z). B. I fufpeft this to be merely the concluding fyllable of Blccinga-eg, 
 now Blekingen, as we find Sco'n-eg for Schonen, Scania, or Scandinavia, y. /. 
 
 " " Marti milk ;" the word mypan is not tranilatcd by Mr. Barrington ; for whatreafbn, 
 I know not ; it is certainly the moft important word in the fentence, as it conveys to us the 
 intelligence of a curious fa£l. See the tranilation, 8r not. in locum. J. I. 
 
 " Donne 
 
•* Donne fceolon beon gefamnode ealle ])a men Jie fvvyftofte hors habbajj 
 *' on jjaem lande for hwa?ga on fif milum o})))e on fyx milum fram ^xm feo:. 
 *' Donne arna]) by ealle toweard jj^em feo. jjonne cyme]? J>e man fe j)aEt 
 ♦' fwyfte hors hafajj to l^sem aereftan dal and to J)£em macftan. and fwa a^lc 
 " jefter o))rum oj> hit bij> eall genumen. and fe nim]> {wane laeftan d«I fe 
 " nyh'ft jjaem tune J>act feob gejemejj. and ]>onne ridej) jelc his weges mid J>a 
 •' feo. and hyt motan habban call, and forjjy jjaer beoj> jja fwiftan hors unge- 
 " foge dyre:. And Jione his geflreon beoj) J>us eall afpended Jjonne byrj» 
 " man hine ut. and forb«me|> mid his wa?pnum and hraegle. and fwijjoft 
 " ealle hys fpeda hy forfpendajj mid Jjan langan legere )>ass deadan mannes 
 " inne. and j^acs ]je hy be jjaem wacgum alecga|>. \>e J>a fremdan to-sernajj and 
 " nimaj):. And jjset is mid Eftum })eaw. J)a;t ))acr fceal aelcts gejjeodes man 
 " beon forbsemed. and gyf ]jar man an ban findejj unforbasraed hi bit fceo- 
 " Ian miclum gebetan:. And jjasr is mid Eaftum an m£egj>. J>aet hi magon 
 " cyle gewyrcan. and ]>y jjser licgaj> |>a deadan men fwa lenge and ne fuliaj?. 
 *' Jiact hi wyrcaj) J>one cyle hine on, and ^eah man afette twegen faetels full 
 " ealajj. o)j)je wateres. hy gedo'{> j>aet oJ)er bij) oferfroren. fam hit fy fummor. 
 " fam winter:." 
 
 Nu wille we fecgan be flijjan Donua J>aere ea ymb Creca-land. )>e Ii{> vvy|> 
 eaftan Conftantinopolim (Creca byrig) is fe fae Propontis. and be nor]jan 
 Conftantinopolim (Creca byrig) fcyt fe fae earm up of jjsm fae weftrihte Jje 
 man haet Euxinus. and be weftan norjjan ])sere byrig Donua mu]ja Jjsre ea 
 fcyt fuj) eaft ut on J»one fag Euxinus. and on fu]> healfe and on wefthealfe 
 J>aes mujjan fyndon Moefi Creca leode. and be weftan Jjiere byrig fyndon 
 . Traci. and be eaftan J>aere byrig fyndon Macedonie. and be fujjan Jjaere by- 
 rig. on fu)>healfe Jjaes faes earmes Jjc man hast Egeum. fyndon Athena, and 
 Corinthus ))a land, and be weftan fujjan Corinthon is Achaie jjaet land, jet 
 J>aem Wendel fa:. Das land fyndon Creca leode:. And be weftan Achaie. 
 andlang J>aes Wendel (xs. is Dalmatia J>aet land on nor]>healfe jjaes fass. and 
 be nor|>an Dalmatia fyndon Pulgare. and Iftria. and be fujjan Iftria is fe 
 Wendel fje {>e man hajt Adriaticum. and be weftan jja beorgas jje man hat 
 Alpis. and be norjjan Jjaet weften Jjast is betwux Carendran and F'ulgarum:. 
 
 Donne is Italia land weft norjj lang. and eaft fujj lang. and hit belijj Wen- 
 del fas ymb eall utan butoa weftan norJjan* aet Jjaem ende hit belicgajj jja be- 
 
 K orgas 
 
06 
 
 orgas Jje man haet Alpis. jja onginnajj weftane fram J>aem Wendel fe in Nar- 
 bonenfe Jjare Jjeode. and endiaj) eft eaft in Dalmatia jjiem lande act Jjscm fae:. 
 Da land Jje man haet Gallia Belgica. be eaftan ))aem is fio ea J)e man hset 
 Rin. and be fujjan jja beorgas J)e man haet Alpis. and be weftan fu)>an fe gar- 
 fecg Jje man hajt Brittannifca. and be nor))an on ojjre healfe jjtes garfecges 
 earm is Brittannia:. Daet land be weftan Ligore is ^Equitania land, and be 
 fuJjan -^quitania is Jjass landes fum dael Narbonenfe. and be weftan fujjan 
 Ifpania land, and be weftan garfecg- be fu)>an Narbonenfe is fe Wendel fse. 
 Jjaer ^xr Rodan feo ea ut fcyt. and be eaftan him Profent-ftc. and be weftan 
 him Profent-fs* ofer )>a wefteriu feo us nearre Ifpania. and be weftan him 
 and be norjjan Equitania. and Wafcan be norjjan:. Profent-fae hacfj) be 
 norjjan hyre \>a, beorgas ))e man Alpis hjet. and be fu|jan hyre is Wendel fae. 
 and be norjjan hyre and eaftan fynd Burgende. and Wafcan be weftan:. If- 
 pania land is J)ry-fcyte. and eall mid fleote utan ymbhsfd. (ge eac binnan 
 ymbhaefd ofer ]>a land.) ajgjjer ge of J)sm garfecge ge of j)am Wendel fae:. 
 . An Jjara garena p li}) fujjweft ongean )>£et igland jje Gades hatte. and ojjcr eaft 
 ongean jjact land Narbonenfe. and fe jiridda norjjweft ongean Brigantia Gallia 
 burh:. And ongean Scotland, ofer jjone faes earm. on geryhte ongean jjaene 
 muj»an j)e mon htet Scene ''. feo us fyrre Ifpania- hyre is be weftan garfecg. 
 and be norjjan Wendel fae* be fujjan and be eaftan feo us nearre Ifpania. be 
 norjjan Jjjere fynt Equitania. and be norjjan eaftan is fe weald Pyreni. and be 
 eaftan Narbonenfe. and be fujjan Wendel fae:. 
 
 Brittannia' Jjaet igland, hit is norjj eaft lang. and hit is eahta hund mila 
 
 P An Jiapa japena, i. e. one of the gars, wards, promontories, (dx-pa.,) or angular bounda- 
 ries, &c. Mr. Harrington improperly prints ■}, the abbreviation of and ; in confequence of 
 which the genitivs cafe precedes the verb / The word gap in this paffage may ferve to lead us 
 to the etymology of Trafal-gar, jjpy-jalb-jap. Sax. a triple promontory or point of land, im- 
 mortalized by the triumphs of Nelfon and the Britifh Navy ! J. I. 
 
 'J Now the mouth of the Shannon ; written by Cellarius, Scbennon, who refers to this very 
 paflage of Orofius ; Scena, & Sejius, Lat. J. I. 
 
 ' This defcription of the idand of Great Britain, tranflated from Orofius, may be com- 
 pared with the following, tranflated from Venerable Bede by the fame royal Paraphraft : 
 " BREOTON is garfecges Ealond J)a;t waes iugeara ALBION haten. is gefeted betwyh 
 " norj)daele and weftdaele Germanic and Gallie and Hifpanic. J>am maeftum daelum Europe 
 " myccle fxce ongegen. jjset is Nor)» ehta hund mi!a lang and twa hund mila brad, hit hafa]> 
 
 " fram 
 
67 
 
 lang. and twa hund mlla brad, jjonne is be fujjan him on o)>re healfe j)£s faes 
 earmes Gallia Belgica. and on weft healfe on ojjre healfe jjaes faes earmes is 
 Ibernia ]>£et igland. and on nor)) healfe Orcadus )>aet igland:. Igbernia. Jjast 
 we Scotland hata^. hit is on aelce healfe ymbfangen mid garfecge. and forpon 
 jje lio funne jjser gaej) nea'r on fetl Jjonne on ojjrum lande )>asr fyndon lyjjran 
 wedera jjonne on Brettannia^:. Donne be vveftan norjjan Ibernia is jjaet yte- 
 mefte land ' Jjaet man haet Thila. and hit is feawum mannum cujj for jjaere 
 ofer fyrre:. 
 
 Nu haebbe we gefasd ymbe call Europe land-gemaero. hu hi tolicga)>:. 
 
 " fram Sujxlaele Jja tnaegjje ongean ))e mon hataj> Gallia Belgica, &c." The whole defcrip- 
 tion muft be interefting to every Englifliman. Vide lib. i. cap. r. y. I. 
 
 ' This reafoa for the weather in Ireland being more mild than it is in Britain, is added by 
 the royal Tranflator, who at the fame time leaves out what Orofius mentions with regard \o 
 the Ifle of Man : " Huic" (fc. Hiberniae) " etiam Menavia infula proxima eft, et ipfa fpatio 
 " non parva, folo commoda, atque a Scotorum gentibus habitatur." Orof. lib. i. c. 2. D, B. 
 
 * The claflical reader will here recognize the " Ultima Thule" of Virgil, &c. and he will , , 
 
 agree with Orofius and his royal Tranflator, that it could not have been much known in , %*■•■' Jf^"*' , 
 their times, when he finds an annotator on Juvenal (Sat. lib. xv. ver. 112.) doubting whe- ■^ ^ |* ^ 
 
 ther by Thule we are to underftand Norway, or the ijle of Schelland, i. e. the Shetland ijlcs. -- «. > 
 This uncertainty, however, is pardonable in Lubinus ; but that jProfeflbr Heyne lliould *Wite»^ ' 
 
 the following note, is furprizing : " Thulen ad noftras infulas Shetlandicas a fqjtentrione Bri- - ' * ^ 
 " tanniae obje£las referendas efle, nunc fans co?tJlat!' (Virg. Georg. I. 3.) Thofe who'att&n- ;^i '*" 
 tively examine the fituation of the Shetland ifles will fay, perhaps, non conjiat. Even Jpww/^ 
 which was ignorantly fuppofcd by the ancients to' be an ifland, is much more likely to be*the 
 ultima Tbule than the Shetland ifles. But the fa£l is, IJland was difcovered more than three 
 centuries before the Chrifliian aera, by Pytheas of Marfeilles ; and though the Greeks and Ro- 
 mans knew but little about it, as may be feen in the works of Strabo, Polybius, Plutarch, 
 Pliny, Procopius, &c. &c. yet it was well known to the Norwegians, and ihofefcw nations to 
 
 which the Royal Geographer alludes, at a very early period. The fituation of Ifland, zueji by ' 
 
 Tiortb of Ireland, as it is accurately defcribed by King Alfred, appears to decide this long-dif- ^ ^*- 
 
 puted queftion in geography. Norway was eafily confounded with Ifland by the Greeks and ^ '"^ 
 
 Romans, becaufe fome part of it lies in the fame latitude, and they all imagined it to be an "*^«,^, ^_ 
 
 ifland ! I intend, on fome future occafion, to illuftrate the geography of the ancients, as far , ' 
 
 as it relates to the northern parts of Europe. J. I. 
 
 'X.S> 
 
 ^ 
 
 K 2 DIRECTIONS 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR THE PRONUNCIATION. 
 
 VV HEN the Saxon language is properly pronounced, it is by no means 
 deficient in harmony, though its peculiar charadleriftics are ftrength and 
 fignificance of expreffion, together with a facility and felicity of combina- 
 tion, which are exceeded only by the copioufnefs of the Greek. In the 
 pronunciation of c and 5, the Saxons, long before the Norman conqueft, 
 appear to have nearly coincided with the Italians, either from their religious 
 intercourfe with the fee of Rome, or from that natural propenfity which all 
 nations have to foften their language in the progrefs of refinement. Thus 
 our modern ch was anciently exprefled by c only, as in the word ceofen, 
 chofen, Cefl:er, Chefter, he. fc had the found of^, the German /?//, &c. as 
 in the word fcip, &J/iip, Hk&rss, fijhermen, &c: '^, the origin of the z which 
 we find in Scoto-Saxon and old Englifh MSS. was pronounced like y in 
 many inftances, particularly before the vowel e ; fbmetimes even before a, 
 u, &c. as in dagas, dagum, days, &c. hence the origin oi jate for gate, ftill 
 
 ^ ufed in Gloucefterftiire. Land-gemaere, gefeglian, manega, ulcere, agnum 
 
 hame, fugleran, fugeleras, &c. if pronounced according to the Italian man- 
 ' ner, will be found not unharmonious. The difficulty confifts in knowing 
 when thefe doubtful confonants are to be pronounced hard and when foft ; 
 for this very purpofe, the Danifh k was early introduced, and c was often in- 
 ferted before 5, or a double cc or double j^ was adopted, which produced 
 the hard c and 5 ; thus kynincge for cyninge, kyrtel for cyrtel, fticce-mae- 
 lum, {Jlick-meal,) &c. were ufed as early as the time of Alfred, if wc have 
 the original MS, of his tranflation of Orofius, which is the belief of moft 
 antiquaries. The Normans preferred the foft founds of thefe letters ; hence 
 michd (or viitchel) for mickle ; bridge, for l>rigg, &c. The final e was fel- 
 dom quiefcent, and generally pronounced as by the Italians to this day ; 
 
 ^Sff hence Berne is found written for Be' ma, or Bohemi, the Bohemians \ Dene is 
 
 the fame with Dant, the Danes. Contra6lions were common ; tlius, n'yfte 
 for ne unjl ; n'asfde, for ne h^efed, had not ; yrn'I>, for yrne]j, runneth, &c. 
 
 THE 
 
THE 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE; 
 
 EXTRACTED 
 
 FROM KING ALFRED'S 
 ANGLO-SAXON VERSION OF OROSIUS; 
 
 INCLUDING 
 
 An original Periplus round the North Cape, with two other Voyages 
 within the BaUic ; written by KING ALFRED, from the reports of 
 two Northern Navigators, OHT-HERE and WULFSTAN, in the 
 NINTH Century ! 
 
 ^MK-' 
 
THE 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE 
 
 BY 
 
 KING ALFRED, &c. 
 
 iN OW will we defcribe the geography of Europe ; fo far, at leaft, as our 
 knowledge of it extends. From the river Tanais, weftward to the river 
 Rine, (which takes its rife from the Alps, and runs directly north thence- 
 fonvard on to the arm of the Ocean that furrounds Bryttania,) then fouth- 
 ward to the river Danube, (whofe fource is near the river Rine, running af- 
 terwards in its courfe along the confines of Northern Greece, till it empties 
 itfelf into the Mediterranean •'',) and northward even unto the ocean, which 
 men call Cwen-fea ; within thefe boundaries are many nations ; but the 
 whole of this tracft of country is called Germany. 
 
 Then to the north of the fource of the Danube, and to the eaft of the 
 Rine, are the Eaftern Franks ' ^ ; and to the fouth of them are the Sua- 
 bians '' ; on the oppolite bank of the Danube, and to the fouth and eaft are 
 the Bavarians ', in that part wliich is called Regnefburh. Due eaft from 
 thence are the Bohemians *, and to the north-eaft ■= the Thyringians \ to the 
 
 * In the Saxon, " the Wendel-fea," which comprehended the whole of that <wimUng or 
 tuandering fea, which extended from the Euxine to the pillars of Hercules, y, /. 
 
 '' This and the following figures refer to Mr. Forftcr's notes, printed at the end of this 
 tranflatlon, which are too ingenious and learned to be configned to oblivion, y. I. 
 
 ' Eatt-norlh, in the Saxon, as I have before obfcrved with regard to the fouth-weft, which 
 in the Saxon is weft-fouth ; a fingle inftance follows, however, where the point fouth-weft is 
 mentioned, and not weft-fouth. D. B. Eaft -north fignlfies north-eaft by 7ior!b. J. I. 
 
 north 
 
5^ 
 
 north of thefe are the Old SAXONS*, to the north -weft are the Friefland- 
 ers *, and to the weft of the Old Saxons is the mouth of the Elbe, as alfo 
 Friefland, Hence to the weft-north ^ is that land which is called Angle- 
 land ^ Sealand, and fome part of Den-marc ; to the north is Apdrede ', 
 and to the eaft-north the wolds^ which are called the Heath -wolds '°. Hence 
 eaftward is the land of the Veneti", (who are alfo called Silefae,) extending 
 fouth-weft over a great part of the territory of the Moravians. Thefe Mo- 
 ravians '- have to the weft the Thyringians and Bohemians, as alfo part of 
 Bavaria, and to the fouth, on the other fide of the Danube, is the country 
 of the Carinthians '^, lying fouthward even to the Alps. To the fame 
 mountains alfo extend the boundaries of the Bavarians and the Suabians. 
 Thence to the eaftward of Carinthia, beyond the wafte, is the land of the 
 Bulgarians '*. To the eaft of them is the land of the Greeks '' ; and to the 
 eaft of Moravia is Wifle-land "^ ; to the caft of that are the Dacae '', who 
 were originally a tribe of Goths. To the north-eaft of the Moravians are 
 the Dalamenfae '" ; eaft of the Dalamenlians are the Horithi, and north of 
 the Dalamenfians are the Servians " ; to the weft alfo are the Silefians ". 
 To the north of the Horiti "' is Mazovia, and north of Mazovia " are the 
 Sarmatians " quire to the Riphsean mountains. To the weft of the South- 
 ern Danes is the arm of the ocean that furrounds Britannia, and to the 
 north of them is the arm of the fea called Oft-fea ; to the eaft and to the 
 north of them are the Northern Danes '*, both on the continent and on the 
 iflands ; to the eaft of them are the Afdrede ; and to the fouth is the 
 mouth of the Elb, with fome part of Old Saxony. The Northern Danes 
 have to the north of them the fame arm of the fea called Oft fea *' ; to the 
 eaft of them is the nation of the Eftonians '**, and the Afdrede to the fouth. 
 The Eftonians have to the north of them the fame arm of the fea, and alfo 
 the Winedae and Burgundae ""^ and to the fouth are the Heath-wolds. The 
 Burgundians have the fame arm of the fea to the weft of them, and the 
 Sweons ^* to the north ; to the eaft of them are the Sarmatians, and to the 
 fouth the Servians. The Sweons have to the fouth of them the fame arm 
 
 ^ This ftiould be north-eaft. D. B. If by nucjl-north we underftand norib-wejl by Tiortl, 
 we fiiall fee no occafioii to alter the expreffion in the text. J. 7. 
 ' IJUylce. D. B. See a note on this word hereafter. Jf. I. 
 
 of 
 
73 
 
 of the fea called Oft-fe'a ; to the eaft of them the Sarniatians ; and to the 
 north, over the waftes, is Cvvenland ; to the weft-north of them are the 
 Scride-Finnas " *, and to the weft the Northmen. 
 
 " Ohthere told his lord, king Alfred, that he lived to the north of 
 " all the Northmen s. He fays, that he dwelt on the main-land to the 
 " northward, by the weft fea ; •' that the land, however, extends to a very 
 " great length thence onward to the north ; but it is all wafte, except in a 
 " few places, where the Finlanders occafionally refort, for hunting in the 
 " winter, and in the fummer for fifhing along the fea-coaft. He faid, that 
 " he was determined to find out, on a certain time, how far this country ex- 
 *' tended northward, or whether any one lived to the north of the wajle. 
 " With this intent he proceeded northward along the coaft ', leaving all 
 " the way the wafte-land on the ftarboard, and the wide fea on the back- 
 " board '', for three days. He was then as far north as the whale-hunters 
 " ever go. He then continued his voyage, fteering yet northward, as far as 
 " he could fail within three other days. Then the land began to take a 
 
 ^ Hakluyt terms the country Scrlck-Finnia ; and Richard Johnfon, in his account of 
 Nova Zernblji, fays, "That E. S. E. from .the caftle of Wardhus are the Scrick-Finnes, who 
 " are a wild people, which neither know God nor good order ; and thefe people live in tents 
 "made of deer-fltins, and they have no certain habitations, but continue in herds and com- 
 " panies, by one hundred and two hundreds." Hakluyt, vol. i. p. 283. D.B. Vid.loc. cit. J.I. 
 
 8 It may be imagined by a fallidious critic, that this exprellion is incorreft ; Herodotus 
 found fault with the term Hyperboreans ; as if, fays he, there could be any people above or be- 
 yond the North ! The obfervation, however, is perhaps hypercritical. In the prefent inftance, 
 the Saxon expreffion of King Alfred is much more elegant and correft than that of his mo- 
 dern tranflator: literally; " That he of all the northern men the northern-moll abode." J. I. 
 
 ^ The word lang, well denoting the extreme length of Norway, is omitted in Mr. Barring- 
 ton's edition, as well as in the Oxford edition of 1678, though it is there properly tranflated, 
 " dixit terram illam occidentalem longe verfus Aquilonem elfe porrciiaml' Mr. Barrington, 
 however, tranllates the paflage with abundance of confufion and contradiiftion : " the land of 
 " the Northmen is due north from that fea" In v/hich fhort fentence there are three miftakes : 
 a proof of the importance of a fingle word, and that an adjedlive and a nionofyllable ! J. I. 
 
 • " ))a for he norJ>rihte be faem lande," which is not fully tranflated ; " atque ea propter fe 
 " refta verfus feptentrionein elTe profeftum." See the Oxford edition, by the Scholars of 
 Univerfity College. D. B. See alfo the notes of the ingenious Mr. Forfter, fub initiura. J. I, 
 
 ■= Or to the left. D. B. The lar-board, according to the prefent nautical phrafe. J. I. 
 
 L " turn 
 
74 
 
 " turn ^ to the eaftward, even unto the inland fea, but he knows not how 
 " much farther "*. He remembers, however, that he flayed there waiting 
 " for a weflern wind, or a point to the north, and failed thence eaftward by 
 " the land, as far as he could in four days. Then he was obliged to wait 
 " for a due north wind, becaufe the land there began to run fouthward, quite 
 " to the inland fea, he knows not how far ". He failed thence along the 
 " coaft fouthward, as far as he could in five days. There lay then a great 
 <f river ° a long way up in the land, into the mouth of which they entered p, 
 <* becaufe they durft not proceed beyond the river from an apprehen- 
 " fion of hoftilitles 'i ; for the land was all inhabited on the other fide of 
 " the river. Ohthere, however, had not met with any inhabited land be- 
 " fore this, fince he firft fet out from his own home. All the land to hia 
 " right, during his whole voyage, was uncultivated, and without inhabit- 
 " ants, except a few fifhermen, fowlers, and hunters '^; all of whom were 
 " Finlanders ; and he had nothing but the wide fea on his left all the way. 
 " The Biarmians, indeed, had well cultivated their land ; though Ohthere 
 " and his crew durft not enter upon it ; but the land of the Torne-Finnas * 
 
 ' beah. Sax. the preterit of be'aiij or bygan, to bend. See the original, & not. in loc. y. I. 
 
 " The words in the original are, " oJ)}>e fio fae in on J>aet land he nyfte hwaej)er," which in 
 the Latin tranflation run, " Nefcire autem fe num infra terram illam Jit mare ;" but the ob- 
 jeftion to this tranflation is, that there is no word in the Saxon to be rendered _/?/. D. B. 
 The greateft objeftion is, that the word hwaej)er has been mifunderftood, which in this place 
 fignifies lubtther, or bovjfar, quoufque; not whether, ulrum, necne; num, &c. Mr. Barrington's 
 tranflation is therefore right in the prefent inftance. This inland fea is the Cwen-fea. J. 1. 
 
 " By this the land and inland fea before mentioned are plainly alluded to. Z>. B. 
 
 " The river Dwina, near Archangel ; fee the notes at the end of this tranflation. y. L 
 
 P I muft here objeiSl again to the Latin tranflation of the following words, " ))a cyrdon hy 
 ',' up in on J)a ea," viz. " ad ejus oftia fe fubftitiffe," which is by no means the fenfe of the 
 paflage. D. B. They turned in upon the river, without landing on the coaft. J. I. 
 
 '1 " Mctu incolarum," Lat. tranfl. " for unfri))e," Sax. i. e. for want oi free paflTport, or 
 permlffion. They therefore converfed with the natives from the fliip, J. I. 
 
 ' Ohthere had before explained this refort to have been only occafional. D. B. 
 
 ' Mr. Lye, in his Saxon Di6lionary, refers to this word, and renders it Tarlari ! D. B. 
 Our Saxon and Englifli word-books are too frequently but blind guides. J. I. 
 
 '' was 
 
75 
 
 ** was all wafte *, and it was only occafionally inhabited by hunters, and 
 *' fifhcrmen, and fowlers. 
 
 " The Biarmians '° told him many ftories, both about their own land " 
 *' and about the other countries around them ; but Ohthere knew not how 
 " much truth there was in them, becaufe he had not an opportunity of fee- 
 " ing with his own eyes. It feemed however to him, that the Finlanders 
 " and the Biarmians fpolce nearly the fame language. The principal objeft 
 "of his voyage, indeed, was already gained; which was, to increase 
 " THE discovery OP THE LAND "^ ; and on account of the horfe-whales, 
 " becaufe they have very beautiful bone in their teeth x, fome of which they 
 
 * Tornea-Lapmark and Finmark, both which perhaps are to be underftood by the land of 
 the Terfemas, are very little cultivated to this day. Between the Bothnia gulf and the fea are 
 immenfe forefts, which if cleared might very much improve the climate of thofe northern re- 
 gions, and open a new field for the induftry of man. J. I. 
 
 " It muft be owned, that this rather contradias what is mentioned in the preceding pe- 
 riod. D. B. This apparent contradiclion arifes from the obfcurity of the original, which I 
 think may be removed by a little attention. See note q in the preceding page. J. I. 
 
 " Hence we may conclude, that it was but little known at that time. The original words 
 in the Saxon are, " Swijjoft he for })ider to ecati )>ae.s landes fceawunge j" the laft word (Jbevj- 
 hig) being miftaken, and printed fceapunge, {Jl?afmg,) from the fimilarity of the Saxon p to 
 p, Mr. Barrington has erroneoufly tranllated the paffage thus : " He went the rather, and 
 "Jhaped his courfe to each of thefe countries, on account of the horfe-whales," &c. as if he 
 had made only a cujlomary voyage to Finland and Biarmia \ Tht: verb eacan alfo, which 
 fignifies to eke, or increafe, feems to have been confounded with the modern pronoun each, 
 which however in Saxon is aelc, elc, &c. It is moreover remarkable, that the words are not 
 tranflated at all in the Latin verfion of Sir John Spelman : " Ipfum vero has regiones praeci- 
 " pue adlifle, cafiendorum Hifpopotomorum gratia," &c ! Yet the paflage appears too eafy and 
 obvious to be mifunderftood, and at the fame time fo important, that it might well ferve as 
 a motto to every voyage of difcovery, every aiftive and public-fpirited enterprize, undertaken 
 to Jbew to mankind more clearly and completely the knowledge of diltant lands ! In this 
 point of view the Periplus of Ohthere becomes important, and we may confider him, per- 
 haps, as THE FIKST NAVIGATOR THAT SAILED BOUND TftB NoRTH CaPE, of which the an- 
 
 cients knew nothing ! Yet, though the hiftory of his difcoveries has been dignified and im- 
 mortalized by the pen of Alfred, his glory has been hitherto diminiflied by the inattention 
 of Engliflimen to the treafures that are concealed in their ancient language ! y. I. 
 
 y It is faid that one of thefe teeth, in the i6th century, fold for a ruble. Hakluyt, vol. i. 
 p. a8o. D. B. They held it at a ruble, as a common price. Vid. loc. cit. J. I. 
 
 I- a " brought 
 
76 
 
 "brought to the King''; and their hides are good for fhip-ropes. This 
 " fort of whale is much lefs than the other kinds ; it is not longer, com- 
 " monly, than feven ells : but in his own country (Ohthere fays) is the 
 " beft whale-hunting ; there the whales are eight and forty ells long, and 
 " the largeft ^ fifty ; of thefe, he faid, he once killed (fix in company) lix- 
 " ty ^ in two days. He was a very rich man in the pofleffion of thofe ani- 
 " mals in which their principal wealth confifts, namely, fuch as are naturally 
 " wild. He had then, when he came to feek King Alfred '^, fix hundred 
 " deer, all tamed by himfelf, and not purchafed. They call them rein-deer. 
 " Of thefe fix were fl:all-reins, or decoy-deer ^, which are ver}"^ valuable 
 " amongft the Finlanders, becaufe they catch the wild-deer with them. 
 
 ^ Sc. jElfred. D. B. See note c hereafter, y. /. From this circumftance it hath been 
 inferred, that Ohthere was fent by this king on this difcovery, which however is by no 
 meaijs conclufive ; for every traveller, in relating his voyage, (hews the produft of the coun- 
 tries he hath vifited. Richard Chancelor, fpeaking of the commodities of Ruflia, fays, 
 " There are alfo a fiflies teeth, which fifli is called a Morjfe." Hakluyt, vol. i. p. 237. fol. 
 1598. D. B. See alfo pp. 280, 493, &c. &c. of the fame vol. with the notes hereafter, y. /. 
 
 * Maeftan, very improperly rendered in the Latin tranflation nonnuUts. D. B. 
 
 ^ I conceive that fyxa (hould be a fecond time repeated here, inftead of fyxtig, or (ixty; it 
 would then only be afferted, that Jix had been taken in two days, which is much more proba- 
 ble than fixty. D. B. The tranflator of the Periplus in Hakluyt underftands the paflage as 
 implying, thatyZ^f men together (lew fixty in two days. This fenfe, which is eafy and obvious, 
 removes the difficulty ; I have therefore adopted it in the prefent tranflation. J. I. 
 
 ' This (hews, that Ohthere was a man of confiderable fubftance when he left his own 
 country to come to England ; and there is not the leall allufion to his having been fent to 
 the northward by Alfred, as this voyage feems to have happened long before he was known 
 to that king. D. B. I have inferted the name of Alfred in the tranflation, though the mo- 
 deft omiffion of it in the original, both here and in a former inftance, is no inconfiderable 
 proof, among many others, that this is the genuine work of that incomparable monarch, and 
 that Ohthere's enterprlfe alfo originated in his own mind. " Da he J)one cyninge fohtc," 
 " when he the King fought," are the words of the original. See a former paflage of this Pe- 
 riplus ; " )>a te]) hy broton fume to jjsem cynincge : fome of thefe teeth they brought to the 
 " Kino-;" & not. in loc. The name of Alfred is mentioned but once. Vid. p. 6o- y. I. 
 1! d ihe Saxon word is ftael-hranas ; and we apply, even to this day, the word Jlale to a dead 
 bird, which is placed on a tree in a living attitude, furrounded with lime-twigs, in order' to 
 entice the wild ones. D. B. The reader muft weigh this note with caution, lefl he fhould 
 fuppofe the rein-deer above mentioned were dead, Jlale, and putrid, with which the Finlanders 
 
 caught 
 
11 
 
 " Olithere himfelf was amongft the firft men in the land, though he 
 " had not more than twenty rother-beafts ^, twenty fheep, and twenty 
 " fwine ; and what little he ploughed, he ploughed with horfes. The an- 
 " nual revenue of thefe people confifts chiefl}'^ in a certain tribute which the 
 " Finlanders yield them^. This tribute is derived from the Ikins of ani- 
 " mals, feathers of various birds, whale-bone, and Ihip-ropes, which are 
 " made of whales hides and of feals. Every one pays according to his fub- 
 " fiance ; the wealthieft man amongft them pays only the fkins of fifteen 
 " marterns, five rein-deer fkins, one bear's Hcin, ten bufhels of feathers, a 
 " cloak of bear's or otter's ficinj two fhip-ropes, (each lixty ells long,) one 
 " made of whale's, and the other of feal's fkin. 
 
 " Ohthere moreover faid, that the land of the Northmen was very long 
 " and very narrow ; all that is fit either for pafture or plowing lies along 
 " the fea-coaft, which however is in fome parts very cloddy; along the 
 " eaftern fide are wild moors, extending a long way up parallel to the culti- 
 " vated land. The Finlanders inhabit thefe moors ; and the cultivated land 
 " is broadeffc to the eaftward ; and, altogether, the more northward it lies, 
 
 caught the wild-deer. The word denotes thofe rein deer that were kept in Jialh, or, trained 
 for the purpofes oi Attr-Jiealitig. Vid. Ol. Magn. lib. xvii. cap. 28. tifeqq. J. I, 
 
 'i.e. red cattle, as oppofed to black cattle ; I have .retained this word, bccaufe it is fiill in 
 ufe in many counties — particularly where the modern fyftem oi Jeveralty and inclojure has not 
 fuperfeded the old praftice of common pajiurage. The fubfequent obfervation, which King 
 Alfred makes with fome degree of aftoniihment, that the little land which Ohthere ploughed 
 he flotigbfd ivttb morses, is a very curious and ftriking proof of the preference given to oxf.v 
 in this country, even in the ninth century ! Is there any thing nciu then in the fug- 
 geftions of modern agriculturifts in favour of this preference ? I remember only one paflage 
 of antiquity, in which the ufe of horfes inftead of oxen is at all countenanced. It is in that 
 beautiful chorus in the Antigone of Sophocles, in which he defcribes the wonderful operations 
 of MAN ! Among the reft he is faid to fubdue the earth, 'ittitaw yevet ■moXsviuv, (ver. 340.) 
 which the Scholiaft, however, explains by r^ijAovot;, mules ; as if he could not fuppofe Sopho- 
 cles to be fo bad an agricullurift as to recommend the noble race of horfes, when mules or 
 oxen would anfwer the purpofe better. Ai yap rs ^owv mpo(psp£rs^a.t ila-iy, 'EAxsasvai vaojo 
 3a3av;f ^r^-nrov dporpw. Horn. Tivs; Ss (fays the Scholiaft, as if recolledting an exception 
 to a general cuftom,) HinOIX y^§wvra.i si; oiforpMor[i.ov. Vid. Schol. in locum. J. I. 
 
 ' This is now exatled from the Finlanders by Denmark, Sweden, and Ruffia. See the in-' 
 terefting account of the " Ambaflage of Dr. Giles Fletcher, &c." in the year 15S8. J. I. 
 
 ■ . " the 
 
^ the more narrow it is. Eaftward it may perhaps be fixty miles broad ; 
 '* in forae places broader ; about the middle, thirty miles, or fomewhat 
 " more ; and northward, Ohthere fays, (where it is narroweft) it may be 
 " only three miles acrofs from the fea to the moors ; which, however, are 
 *' in fome parts fo wide, that a man could fcarcely pafs over them in two 
 " weeks, though in other parts perhaps in fix days s. Then parallel with 
 " this land fouthward is Sweoland'\ on the other lide of the moors, extend- 
 " ifig quite to the northward ' ; and, running even with the northern part 
 " of it, is Cwenaland". The Cwenas'' fometimes make incurfions againfb 
 " the Northmen over thefe mooi-s, and fometimes the Northmen on them ; 
 " there are very large meres of frefh water beyond the moors, and the 
 " Cwenas carry their fhips ' over land into the meres, whence they make 
 " depredations on the Northmen ; they have fhips that are very fmall and 
 " very light. 
 
 8 Thefe very minute particulars feem plainly to be taken down by JElfred, from Oht- 
 here's own mouth, as he correfts himfelf mod fcrupuloufly, in order to inform the King with 
 accuracy. D. B. This furvey of Ohthere is a curious remnant of Northern topography, y. /. 
 
 ** Now Sive-Sen ; as if the inhabitants were a mixture of Sweons and Denes, (or Danes ;) 
 unlefo den be thought to (ignify a retreat, refuge, or habitation. See more hereafter. J. I. 
 
 ' i. e. NorJ>manna-land, Ohthere's own country. D. B. From feveral particulars con- 
 tained in this minute defcription of North-manna-land, or the land of the Northmen, it it 
 evident that Halgoland, the country of Ohthere, was a diftinft territory, independent of 
 what is now called Norway ; and even to this day, Helgeland forms a feparate dlflri£t, fitu- 
 ated between Trondheim on the fouth fide, and the lands ftill called Nordlands on the 
 north. Mr. Harrington feems to have confounded it with Northmanna-land, which was a 
 general term, comprehending both Norway and Helgoland j the land of the Nortbmc'n. y. /. 
 
 ^ Whether the Cwenas, or Queens, a word which in the original Cimbric and Iflandic fig- 
 aifies tvomen as well as fair men, were not in earlier times the fame with the Scythian Ama- 
 zons of Herodotus, may be worthy of confideration. In the elegant language of Sweden the 
 fair fex are all without exception called quinfolk to this day, without any exclufive reftridtion 
 of the word to royalty. The Samoyedes are defcribed by Dr. Giles Fletcher, as " naturally 
 " beardlefle ; and therefore the men are hardly difcerned from the women by their lookes." 
 Hakluyt's Voyages, Vol. I. p. 491. See the notes hereafter on the Cwen-fea, &c. J. I. 
 
 ' Thefe Jhifs were probably the fame with the fmall boats called coracles, which are ufed 
 both on the Towy and the Wye. They make them near Monmouth, not to weigh above 
 451b. and they are eafily therefore carried on a fifherman's back over fhallows, D. B. 
 
 « Oht- 
 
79 
 
 " Ohthere faid, that the fhire™ which he inhabited is called Halgoland". 
 " He fays, that no human being abode in any fixed habitation to the north 
 " of him ". There is a port to the fouth of this land, which is called Sci- 
 " ringes-heal". Thither he faid that a man could not fail in a month, if 
 " he watched in the night p, and every day had a fair wind ; and all the 
 " while he fhall fail along the coaft ; and on his right hand firft is Is- 
 " LAND " 1, and then the iflands which are between Ifland and this land. 
 
 ■" That is, the Jbare, divifion, or diftrift, of Northmannaland, fituated between Norway, 
 properly fo called, and Pinmark, or Terfinnaland, as Ohthere calls the land beyond him. J. I. 
 
 " « The land was all full of little iflands, and that innumerable, which were called ^Ege- 
 " land and Halgdand, in lat. 66. deg. N." Hakluyt, vol. i. p. 235. where the following note 
 is inferted in the margin : " In this land dwelt Ochther, as it feemeth." D. B. 
 
 " It ftiould feem that this is to be underftood as confined to Halgeland, as the port to the 
 fouth, which follows, plainly relates to the fame province. D. B. This is ptainly impoffi- 
 ble J fee the context, and the notes which follow hereafter, y. I. 
 
 V The word in the original is wicode, which is rendered " curfum fiftens ;" but it properly 
 fignities to go back, and not flop ». I cannot, therefore, but think that it ftiould be wacode ^, 
 and the meaning would then be, that this port was diftant a month's fail, if the veflel conti- 
 nued its courfe both by day and night. As for this port called Sciringes-heal, in order to 
 find out what place is hereby intended, we ftiould fuppofe it to be pronounced Sbiringes-heal ; 
 for/-, followed by the vowels i and e, (and fometimes by others,) feenis always to have been 
 pronounced by the Saxons as it is by the Italians in the word Sciolto, pronounced Sbiolto'^. 
 Thus we pronounce k'lp Jjip, {atWJbell, fcMJbielii, fdnajbin, idrejblre, fifcas,^, &c. D. B. 
 This accounts for the apparent diffimilarity between Scytas, Sax. Scots, or Scottijhmm, which 
 the Greeks wrote Sy.uSai, and the fofter pronunciation of our prefent language in the verb to 
 Jhoot, fcytan. Sax. The fecond age of mankind, according to Epiphanius, was ^■/.■jiiKriJ.os, 
 the age of archery. See alfo Herodotus. Hence it is, that fo many parts of the globe are de- 
 fcribed by hiftorians as being originally inhabited by Scythians. The Hippotoxotae gave rife 
 to the fable of the Centaurs. Scotland and Shetland ftill retain the Scythian name. J. I. 
 
 1 I fufpeft, that the true reading in the original, inftead of Ira-land, (i. e. Scotland,) 
 ftiould be Ifa-land, Ifeland, (or, as it is fometimes improperly written, Iceland.) How fre- 
 quently the Saxon letters p and j- have been confounded and interchanged, is well known to 
 every perfon converfanf in the language. As Ohthere failed from Halgoland, Ifland was the 
 
 » There is no inftance, 1 believe, of this fignification. Lye improperly gives rrcedtre with r^ir-illare, J. I. 
 •> If fo, many perfons will deny the connexion between this word and the Latin " ■vig-Wixc." ■ In the old 
 Saxon, vowels are as little to be depended upon as the Mazoretic points in Hebrew. J. J. 
 ' And like theyl/j of the Germans. See Dired'tions for the Pronunciation, p. 68. J. I. 
 
 firft 
 
80 
 
 *' Then this land'' continues quite to Sciringes-heal ; and all the. way on the 
 " left is Norway. To the fouth of Sciringes-heal a great fea^ runs up a 
 " vaft way into the country, and is fo wide, that no man can fee acrofs it. 
 " (Jutland is oppofite on the other fide, and then Sealand.) This fea lies 
 " many hundred miles up into the land. Ohthere further fays, that he 
 " failed in five days from Sciringes-heal to that port which men call ^Et- 
 " Haethum '*, which ftands between the Wlnedee, the Saxons, and the An- 
 " gles, and is fubjeft to the Danes. 
 
 " When Ohthere failed to this place from Sciringes-heal, Denmark was 
 " on his left, and on his right the wide fea, for three days ; and for the 
 " two days before he came to Haethum, on his right hand was Jutland, 
 "Sealand, and many iflands ; all which lands were inhabited 
 " BY THE English, before they came hither.*; and for thefe two 
 " days the iflands which are fubjedt to Denmark were on his left "." 
 
 f WuLPSTAN faid, that he went from Heathum to Trufo" in feven days 
 ' and nights, and that the fhip was running under fail all the way. Weo- 
 ' nodland was on his right, and Langland, Laeland, Falfter, and Sconey, on 
 ' his left, all which land is fubjedl to Denmark'*. " Then on our left we'' 
 
 firft land to his right, and then the iflands of Faroe, Shetland, and Orkney, between Ifland 
 and this land, (i. e. England ;) then this land continued ftill on his right hand, till he en- 
 tered the Baltic, which he foon afterwards defcribes very accurately, as running up many 
 hundred miles into the land, and fo wide that no man could fee over it. Yet Mr. Barring? 
 ton tranfiates, " the fea of SUkndc lies ma7iy miles up," &c ! The two moft difficult places !o 
 afccrtain in this Periplus are Sciringes-heal and At-h.xthum. See the notes hereafter. J. I. 
 
 ■■ i. e. England ; for King Alfred muft be fuppofed to be here fpeaking. J. I. 
 
 » i. e. the Eaft-fea ; the Baltic, or Beltic ; including the Great and Little Bilts, the Sound, 
 Cattegat, Skager-rack, &c. together with the gulfs of Bothnia, Finland, and Livonia, y. I. 
 
 " Thefe were the iflands of Moen, Falfler, Laeland, Langland, &c. fome of which are men- 
 tioned immediately after in the account of Wulfllan's voyage. I truft this part of Alfred's 
 geography muft be interefting to every Englifh reader, particularly from fome recent opera- 
 tions, and from the prefent theatre of an eventful war ! jf. I. 
 
 « This clears up moft decifively the doubts in Camden's Preface, p. clviii. with regard to 
 the fituation of the Angles. D. B. The Danes afterwards took pofieffion of thefe lands. J. I. 
 
 * It feenis very clear, from this expreffion oi we, that when King Alfred came to that part 
 of the hiftory of Orofius, which defcribes the geography of the North, he confulted Ohthere 
 and Wulfftan, who had lived in the northern parts of Europe, which the ancients were fo 
 
 little 
 
81 
 
 " had the land of the Burgundians, who have a king to themfclves. Then, 
 " after the land of the Burgundians, we had on our left the lands that have 
 " been called from the earlieft times Blekingey", and Meore"^', and Eow- 
 " land", and Gotland ■'°; all which territory is fubjedl to the Sweons ; and 
 " Weonodland was all the way on our right, as far as Weiffel- mouth*' y. 
 " The Weiflel is a very large river, and near it lie Witland '■ and Weonod- 
 '' land. Witland belongs to the people of Eaftland ; and out of Weonod- 
 " land flows the river Weiflel, which empties, itfelf afterwards into Eft- 
 " mere *"". This lake, called Eftmere, is about fifteen miles broad. Then 
 " runs the Ilfing eaft [of the WeiflTel] into Eftmere, from that lake on the 
 " banks of which ftands Trufo. Thefe two rivers come out together into 
 ^' Eftmere ; the Ilfing eaft from Eaftland, and the Weiffel fouth from 
 " AVeonodland *\ Then the Weiflel deprives the Ilfing of its name, and, 
 " flowing from, the weft part of the lake, at length empties itfelf northward 
 " into the fea ; whence this point is called the Weiflel-mouth. This coun- 
 " try called Eaftland ^ is very extenfive, and there are in it many towns, 
 " and in every town is a king. There is a great quantity of honey and 
 " fifh ; and even the king and the richeft men drink mare's milk '', whilft 
 " the poor and the flaves drink mead. There is a vaft deal of war and 
 
 little acquainted with, and that he took down this account from their own mouths. For the 
 fame reafon, it is not improbable that there may be fome miftakes in the King's relation, as, 
 though thefe northern travellers fpoke a language bearing an affinity to the Anglo-Saxon, 
 yet it was certainly a dialeft with material variations. For proof of this, let a chapter of the 
 Speculum Regale, written in the old Iflandic or Norwegian, be compared with the Anglo- 
 Saxon. This very curious work was publiflied at Soroe, in 1768. D. B. 
 
 y I have adopted the modern name of this river, JVeiJJeJ, in preference to the Vijlula of the 
 ancient geographers, or the Wejcl of Mr. Barrington ; though perhaps King Alfred's ortho- 
 graphy {Wijle) is the beft, as it approaches nearer to the Viflula of the ancients, and the mo- 
 dern Wifla of the Poles. Poland is alfo called Wiile-land by King Alfred, p. 60. J. I. 
 
 ^- Mr. Banlngton tranflates it Willaml, but he has printed Witland twice in the Saxon, as 
 I find it in the MSS. It is now probably Witepflci in Lithuania, to the eaft of Wilno. J. I. 
 
 ' Now generally called Ettonia ; I have therefore called the inhabitants Eftonians. J. I. 
 
 ^ See the fame cuftom reported of the Scythians by Herodotus, and of the Tartars and 
 other rude nations by modern travellers ; particularly in Hakluyt's Colkdlion of Voyages, 
 &c. Vol, I. p. 97. fol. Lond. 1598. Mr. Barrington feems to have overlooked the word my- 
 ran in the original. Vid. not, in locum. " Lac equinum bibunt," Lat. Verf. J. I. 
 
 M « con- 
 
82 
 
 *' contenhon = amongft the different tribes of this nation. There is no ale 
 " brewed amongft the Eftonians, but they have mead in profufion'^. 
 
 '* There is alio this cuftom with the Eftonians ", that when any one dies, 
 " the corpfe continues unburnt with the relations and friends for at leaft a 
 " month ; fometimes two ; and the bodies of kings and illuftrious men, 
 " according to their refpeftive weahh, he fometimes even for half a year 
 " before the corpfe is burned, and the body continues above ground in the 
 " houfe ; during which time drinking and fports are prolonged, till the day 
 " on which the body is confumed ^ Then, when it is carried to the fune- 
 
 * Gewinn, Sax. " Multum vini eft etiam inter eos — " according to the Latin tranflation j 
 (iElfredi Magni Vita, p. 208.) and, as the royal Geographer is here enumerating the liquors 
 which the Eftonians ufed, it appears at firft fight more natural that he fiiould mention ivine 
 than luaT. But the word ivin is generally ufed for •wine, without the prefix ge ; and perhaps 
 the only iv'ine of thefe people was mead; meddi, Br. ij.b^v, Gr. The other fail, refpedling 
 the want of ale and the art of brewing, though it may appear trifling now, was confidered re- 
 markable and important enough to be noticed in the days of Alfred j and, indeed, ale or beer 
 was afterwards a confiderable article of commerce between the Flemings and the Eftonians. 
 See a Poem written in the reign of Henry the Sixth, On the Policy of keeping the Sea, c. 5. 
 printed in Hakluyt, Vol. I. p. 192. Sigifmund of Herberftein fays of the Rujftans in his 
 time : " Their common drinke is mead; the poorer fort ufe water, and a third drinke called 
 " quajfe, which is nothing elfe (as we fay) but water turned out of his wits, with a little 
 " branne meaflied with it." Hakluyt, Vol. I. p. 496, Cur moriatur homo cui quajfia ? J. I. 
 
 '^ Here Wulfftan's voyage ends in Hakluyt. D. B. Vid. Voyages, &c. Vol. I. p. 6. ed. 
 1598. Somner printed the remainder of it in his Saxon Diftionary, except the laft fen- 
 tence. Vid. voc. gedrync, Som. Diclionar. Sax. Lat. Angl. Ox. 1659. J. I. 
 
 * The following curious particulars, relating to the manners of the Eftonians in the ninth 
 century, the prefervation of which we owe to the diligent pen of King Alfred, form a valua- 
 ble fuppleinent to the ftiort Iketches of aboriginal manners delineated by Caefar and Tacitus. 
 They alfo tend to illuftrate the hifiorj' of fome obfcure antiquities in our own ifland. Per- 
 haps the veil of myftery which has fo long enveloped the remains of Stonehenge, Abury, &c. 
 is here removed. See the notes hereafter, pp. 83, 87, and 88. J. I. 
 
 ' This ceremony was fo important among the Northern nations, that they regulated their 
 chronology, not on the Newtonian fyftem of eclipfes, but by the hunting of fome particular 
 hero or heroine. A perfon's age was alfo tolerably well afcertained, not by parochial re- 
 gifters, but by his having been prefent at the burning of fome great man. Queen Mary at- 
 tempted to introduce a worfe chronology into this country 7tot many centuries ago, attended 
 with circumfiances of much greater atrocity, ignorance, and barbarifm. J. I. 
 
 "ral 
 
83 
 
 '* ral pile, the fubftance of the deceafed, which remains after thefe drinking 
 *' feftivities and fports, is divided into five or fix heaps ; fometimes into 
 " more ; according to the proportion of what he happens to be worth. 
 " Thefe heaps are fo difpofed, that the largeft heap fhall be about one mile 
 " from the town ; and fo gradually the fraaller at leffer intervals, till all the 
 " wealth is divided, fo that the leaft heap fhall be nearefl: the town where 
 " the corpfe lies. 
 
 " Then all thofe are to be fummoned together who have the fleeteft 
 -*' horfes in the land, for a wager of fkill, within the diftance of five or fix 
 " miles from thefe heaps s ; and they all ride a race toward the fubftance of 
 " the deceafed. Then comes the man that has the winning horfe toward 
 " the firft and largeft heap, and fo each after other, till the whole is feized 
 " upon. He procures, however, the leaft heap, who takes that which is 
 " neareft the town ; and then every one rides away with his Ihare, and 
 *■' keeps the whole of it. On account of this cuftom fleet horfes in that 
 " country are wonderfully dear. When the wealth of the deceafed has 
 " been thus exhaufted, then they carry out his corpfe from the houfe, and 
 " burn it, together with his weapons and clothes '> ; and generally they 
 " fpend his whole fubftance by the long continuance of the body within 
 
 8 More than equivalent to tiuo tirec-mile-heats in the prefent day ! If any cuftom can be 
 ennobled by antiquity, the friends of the turf may here find an argument for their favourite 
 diverfion. Equeftrian exercifes, and all the public games of competition, were anciently con- 
 ne£ted with rites and ceremonies of the moll ferious and important nature. See Homer, and 
 his faithful copyift Virgil. Jornandes (c. xlix.) gives an interefting defcription of the fune- 
 ral of Attila, which was celebrated with all that ftrange mixture of grief and feftivity, of 
 pomp and cruelty, of funeral folemnity and tumultuous joy, which charaiSterizes fuch a cere- 
 mony in a rude ftate of fociety. y. I. 
 
 *" This cuftom of the Eftonians will forcibly recall to the mind of the claffical antiquarv 
 the following paiTage in Caefar's Commentaries, (de Bello Gallico, lib. vi. c. 19.) " Funera 
 " fimt pro cultu Gallorum magnifica et fumptuofa ; oimuaque, qua vivis cordi fuijfd arbhran- 
 " iur, in ignem infirunt, eiiam ammaUa ; ac paullo fiipra banc memoriam fervi, et clientes 
 " quos ab ils diletlos efle conftabat, juftis funeribus confefti una cremabantur." The cuftom 
 of burning the dead, fEXfOxavtrria, or cremation, was almoft univerfal among rude nations from 
 the age of Homer to that of Alfred, See the Heathen burial-place, with its Hippodrome, &c. 
 on Salifbury plain, vulgarly called Stonehenge, a corruption of Stone-ridge. J. I. 
 
 M 2 <« the 
 
84 
 
 <' the houfe'; together with what they lay in heaps along the road, which 
 " the ftrangers run for, and take away. 
 
 " It is alfo an eftabliflied cuftom with the Eftonians, that the dead bodies 
 " of every tribe or family fliall be hurned ; and if any man findeth a fingle 
 " bone unconfumed, they'' fhall be fined' to a conliderable amount. Thefe 
 " Eftonians alfo have the power of producing artificial cold ; and it is thus 
 " the dead body continues fo long above ground without putrefying*", on 
 " which they produce this artificial cold ; and, though a man fhould fet 
 " two veffels full of ale or of water, they contrive that either fhall be com- 
 
 ' That is, by the confequential expcnces. D. B. 
 
 ^ i. e. the relations of the deceafed ; or, perhaps, the whole tribe ; as King Alfred made a 
 whole hundred in England pay for any public outrage, or notorious violation of the laws. J. I. 
 ' " hi hit fceolan miclum gebetan," Sax.' " they fliall it mickle boot," O. E. Mr. Bar- 
 rington, fuppofing perhaps that the word gebetan here was the fame with our prefent verb to 
 beat, and that beating implies anger, tranflates the paffage feebly and erroneoufly thus : " It 
 " is a caufe of anger !" Boot is ftill underftood, both as a noun and a verb : " Alas ! what 
 " boots it with inceflant care, &c." Milton's Lycidas. Mr. Barrington appears to have had 
 his eye on a paffage in Tacitus, where, fpeaking of thefe fame Eftonians, he fays, " rarus fer- 
 " ri, irc(\}icns fujilum ufus !" (Tac. Germ. c. 45.) y. I. 
 
 " Pbineas Fletcher, who was ambaffador from Queen Elizabeth to Ruffia, gives an ac- 
 count of the fame praflice continuing in fome parts of Mofcovy. " In winter time, when all 
 " is covered with fnow, fo many as die are piled up in a hovel in the fuburbs, like billets on 
 " a wood-ftack ; they are as hard with the froll as a very ftone, till the fpring-tide come and 
 " refolve the froft, what time every man taketh his dead friend, and committeth him to the 
 " ground." See a note to one of Fletcher's Eclogues, p. 10. printed at Edinburgh, in 1771. 
 i2mo. See alfo a poem written at Mofcow, by G. Turberville, in the firft volume of Hak- 
 luyt, p. 386. where the fame circumftance is dwelt upon, and the reafon given, that the 
 ground cannot be dug. Bodies, however, are now buried at Mofcow during the winter. D. B. 
 As the poem of G. Turberville, to which Mr. Barrington refer;;, in Hakluyt, is addreffed to fo 
 great a poet as Spejifer, thofe readers who happen not to have a copy of Hakluyt's Voyages, 
 may be amufed perhaps with the following fpecimen of it : 
 
 " Perhaps thou mufeft much, how this may (land with reafon. 
 
 That bodies dead can uncorrupt abide fo long a feafon ! 
 
 Take this for certaine trothe ; as foone as heate is gone. 
 
 The force of colde the body binds as hard as any ftone. 
 
 Without offence at all to any living thing; 
 
 And fo they lye in perfe6t ftate, till next returne of fpringe." J, I. 
 
 " pletely 
 
85 
 
 " pletely frozen over ; and this equdly the fame in the fumnier" as in the 
 " winter." 
 
 Now will we fpeak about tliofe parts of Europe that He to the fouth of 
 the river Danube ; and firft of all, concerning Greece. The fea which 
 flows along the eaftern fide of Conftantinople (a Grecian city) is called 
 Propontis. To the north of this Grecian city an arm of the fea fhoots up 
 weftward from the Euxine ; and to the wefl: by north the mouths of the ri- 
 ver Danube empty themfelves fouth-eaft into the Euxine". To the fouth 
 and weft of thefe mouths are the Moefians, a tribe of Greeks ; to the weft 
 of the city are the Thracians, and to the weft alfo are the Macedonians. 
 To the fouth of this city, towards the fouthern part of that arm of the fea 
 which is called the Egean, Athens and Corrnth are fituatcd. And to the 
 weft by fouth of Corinth is the land of Achaia, near the Mediterranean. 
 To the weft of Achaia, along the Mediterranean, is Dalmatia, on the north 
 fide of the fea ; to the north of Dalmatia are the boundaries of Bulgaria 
 and Iftria. To the fouth of Iftria is that part of the Mediterranean which 
 is called the Adriatic ; to the weft are the Alps, and to the north that de- 
 fert which is between the Carinthians and the Bulgarians. 
 
 Italy, which is of great length weft by north, and alfo eaft by fouth, is 
 furrounded by the Mediterranean on every fide but towards the weft-north. 
 At that end of it lie the Alps, which begin weftward from the Mediterra- 
 nean, in the Narbonenfe country, and, end eaftward in Dalmatia, near the 
 [Adriatic] fea p. 
 
 With refpedl to the territory called Gallia Belgica, to the eaft of it is the 
 river Rine, to the fouth the Alps, to the weft by fouth the fea called the 
 British Ocean, and to the north, on the other fide of the arm of the 
 
 " This muft have \jeen efFefted by fome fort of an ice-houfe j and It appears by the Amoe- 
 nitates AcaJemicae, that they have now ioe-houfes in Sweden and Lapland, which they build 
 with mofs, D. B. This is now confidered a modern invention ! J. I. 
 
 ° Into the foiitb-eajl fart of the Euxine, according to Mr. Barrington's tranflation j for the 
 corredlion of which I refer the reader to the original, and to the firft map of Europe that he 
 happens to lay his hand on. Three lines below, for eajl read iveji. J. I. 
 
 P " To the eaft of the fea oppofite to Gallia Belgica," according to Mr. Barrington, who 
 was mifled by an improper punftuation in the original. J. I, 
 
 Ocean 
 
Ocean, is Britannia. The land to the weft of the river Loire is ^qui- 
 tania ; to the fouth of ^quitania is fome part of the Narbonenfe ; to the 
 weft by fouth is the territory of Spain ; and to the fouth the Ocean. To 
 the fouth of the Narbonenfe is the Mediterranean, where the Rone empties 
 itfelf into the fea, having Provence both on the eaft and weft. Over the 
 Pyrenean waftes is Ifpania citerior i ; to the weft of which, by north, is 
 Equitania, and the province of Gafcony ^ to the north. Provence *' has to 
 the north of it the Alps ; to the fouth of it is the Mediterranean ; to the 
 north-eaft of it are the Burgundians, and the people of Gafcony to the 
 weft. 
 
 Spain is triangular ; and entirely guarded on the outfide by the fea, ei- 
 ther by the great Ocean or by the Mediterranean, and alfo well guarded 
 within over the land. One of the angles lies fouth-weft againft the ifland 
 of Gades ; the fecond eaftward againft the Nai'bonenfe territory, and the 
 third north-weft againft Braganza, a town of Gallicia. And againft Scot- 
 land, (i.e. Ireland,) over the arm of the fea, in a ftraight line with the mouth 
 of the Shannon, is Ifpania ulterior "i. To the weft of it is the Ocean, and 
 to the fouth and eaft of it, northward of the Mediterranean, is Ifpania cite- 
 rior 1 ; to the north of which are the lands of Equitania ; to the north-eaft 
 is the weald of the Pyrenees, to the eaft the Narbonenfe, and to the fouth 
 the Mediterranean. 
 
 With regard to the iiland Britannia, it is of confiderable length to 
 the north-eaft ; being eight hundred miles long, and only two hundred 
 miles broad. To the fouth of it, on the other fide of the arm of the fea, is 
 Gallia Belgica ; to the weft, on the other fide of an arm of the fea, is the 
 ifland Ibernia, and to the northward the Orkney ifles. Igbernia, which we 
 call Scotland, is furrounded on every fide with the Ocean ; and hence, 
 becaufe the rays of the fetting fun ftrike on it with lefs interruption than on 
 
 1 It muft be recollefted, that Orofius is fuppofed to fjieak, and not iElfred. D. B. The 
 royal Geographer, indeed, appears to have deferted Orofius entirely, as an infufficient guide, 
 till he came to thofe territories which are fituatcd to the fouth of the Danube. This, there- 
 fore, is the only part of his defcription, which can be ftriftly confidcred as a tranjlat'ion. The 
 divifion alfo of all Europe into the countries lying north and fouth of the Danube, fo clear 
 and fimple, which is completely original, (hews how much we owe to King Alfred. ^. /. 
 
 other 
 
87 
 
 other countries ', the weather is milder there than it is in Britain. Thence, 
 to the weft-north of Ibernia is that utmost land called Thila, which is 
 known to a few men only, on account of its exceeding great diftance '. 
 
 Thus have we now fufficiently defcribed all the land-marks of Europe, 
 according to their refpedlive fituations. 
 
 ' Literally, " for that the fun goetb nighrr on Jettk, Sec." Though King Alfred of courfs 
 delivered his thoughts in the popular language of his time, it may perhaps be difficult to find 
 a more philofophical reafon for a well known fa£l, which Orofius indeed had recorded, but 
 did not explain. In fpite of philofophy we ftill talk of the rifing and iht felting fun. J. I. 
 
 • The words of Orofius are : " Deinde infula Thule, (/. Tbik,) quae per infinitum a ceteris 
 *' leparata, circium verfus medio fita oceano, vix paucis nota habetur." Orof. Haverc. p. 28. 
 " Pro Tbulc ed. pr. et MSS. Flor. TiJe. Aug. Thih" &c. Havercamp. Yet he prints Tbuk. 
 Our royal Tranflator appears to have read Tbila, or Tbile ; which agrees better with the ety- 
 mology of the word, though the Greeks wrote QovXr^, and the Romans after them Tbule. 
 The epithet ytemejle, which is the real meaning of Thile, is added by King Alfred, corre- 
 fponding with the epithet ultima in Virgil, (Georg. I. 30.) Venantius Fortunatus, (Vit. S. 
 Martini, III. 494-) &c. See Ol. Rudbek. Atlant. c. v. & xix. Though Profelfor Rudbek, 
 like other iyftem-builders, would make all the learning of antiquity converge, as to a centre, 
 to his favourite Sveonia, and though it is evident, that the Thule of Pliny, Proeopius, and 
 fome others, muft have been the great peninfula of Sweden and Norway, yet it is equally ma- 
 nifeft, from the accurate defcriptions of Alfred and Orofius, that by Thule tbey underftood 
 the modern Island. Vid. M. de Bougainville, fur les Voyag. de Pytheas, &c, jf. I. 
 
 As I have ventured (p. 83.) to give a new interpretation of that wonder 
 of the world, Stonehenge, though whole volumes might be written with 
 the pompous title of Stonehenge restored, and with fairer claims to 
 public attention than thofe of Inigo Jones and others, yet at prefent I 
 fhall content myfelf with reprinting on a vacant page in this fheet the fol- 
 lowing document, extradled from Dugdale's Monafticon, Vol. III. p. 857. 
 It is a grant of lands from King Athelftan to Wilton Abbey, extending 
 from the banks of the Nadder along the Pile of Stones to Burbage, 
 Savernak foreft, Oare, and Wonfdike to the north, and beyond Weftbury 
 along the old Bath road to the weft. 
 
 The whole well deferves the attention of the future hiftorian of Wiltfliire. 
 
 Ex 
 
88 
 
 Ex Cartulario de Wilton, penes Comitem Pemhrocie?!/. anno 165 8. 
 {Vid. Monqjl. Angl. III. 857. etfeqq.) 
 
 Dis is Nor]) Nlwantunes boc, 
 
 TTliREST on Avene * at Stintes forde. ))at and lang weges on Teolton forde 
 and fwa ongean ftream on Wifeles forde. Jjonne and lang ]jaGS frijj herpa)>es on 
 Sand beorh. of ]?am beorge to Botan wylle. jjonne for|> be ftreame on blacan 
 lace. ]j£et and lang lace on Afene *. and fwa and lang ftreame eft on Stintes 
 ford:. Dis fynd ]>a. land gemscre aet jjam Oran ^. ^reft on Heefel wylle 
 jjat and lang weges on Beorh die. |jonne and lang )>aere die on Risjjyfel and fwa 
 weft on butan on bradan ftane. of J)am ftane on rugan die. J)onne on Lufa 
 beorg. Jjast and lang weges on readan floh and fwa to Wodnes die ''. )>onne 
 forb be Jjsere die on Crypel geat. ])onne forj) to Drag ftane and fwa to 
 Meofleage. of ))are leage and lang oxna pae]>es eft on Heefel wylle:. 
 
 (De VI, manfts apud Brydancumbe.) 
 
 Dis is Brydancumbes land boc ])e Ajjelftan eing gebocode jjam hiwum 
 aet Wiltune for hine and for Eadflede his fwiftor on eche yrfe:. Dis fyndon 
 ba land gemsero set Brydancumbe. of Noddre '^ fta)>e up ofer eaft cumbe fwa 
 fe Stan-hrycg ^ fcyt to ))aem Hee])anne Byrgelse. jjonne weft and 
 lang hriges fwa fe herepo]) fceat to Jjam beorge ^ to fcorte Hryjjrum s. Jjonne 
 forb be yfre o)) Bringwoldes treow. Jjonne and lang herpojjes in on beorge ^. 
 for]j Jjonne and lang ftreames o)> oxna ford. Jjonne Jjaer ofer on ane lake, 
 jjonne and lang lake in on Noddre '^. 
 
 <' Adla eft haec prasfata donatio anno ab Incarnatione Domini noftri Jefu 
 " Chrifti Dccccxxxvii.'lndidlione X. 
 
 * Avon. ^ Oare. ' Wonsdike, i.e. Woden's-dike. '' Nadwer, or AdUerbourn. 
 « Stone-ridge ; vulg. Stonidge, Sionage, Stonebenge, &c. f Westbury. 
 
 s Short River ; near Beorge^ or Weftbury ; i. e. the Short Rotber-^Viih. 
 
 King 
 
89 
 
 «» King Alfred's Defcription of the Hands in the Mediterranean, 
 
 from Orojiiis. 
 
 IN U wille we fecgan ymb )>a ygland ]je on )>a Wendel fae fyndon:. Cipros 
 ^aet igland. hit lij> ongean Cilicia and Ifaurio. on Jjam faes earme jje man haet 
 Ifllcos. and hit is an hund mila lang and fifan and fifantig. and an hund 
 mila brad and twa and twentig:. Creto jjaet igland. him is be eaftan fe fae 
 J)e man Caifatium haet. and weftan be nor)>an Creticum fe fae. and be weftan 
 Sicilium. jje man ojjre naman haet Addriaticum. hit is an hund mila long 
 and hund-fifantig. and fiftig mila brad:, Dara iglanda Jje man hat Cicla- 
 des. )>ara fyndon Jjreo and fiftig. and be eaftan him is fe Icarifca fae. and 
 be fu]>an fe Cretifca. and be norjjan fe Egifca. and be weftan Addriaticum:. 
 Sicilia j?3et igland is J>ry-fcyte. on aelces fceatan ende fyndon beorgas. jjone 
 norJ> fceatan man haet Pelores. jjaer is feo burh neah JMeffana. and fe fuj> 
 fceata hatte Pachinum. J>aer neah is fio burh Siracuflana. and jjone weft 
 fceatan man haet Lilibeum. )>aer is fio burh neah J>e man haet Lilibeum. and 
 hit is an hund and fyfan and fiftig mila lang fu]) and norj). and fe j>ridda 
 fceata is an hund and fyfan and hund-fyfantig weft lang. and be eaftan Jjaem 
 lande is fe Wendel fae \& man haet Adriaticum. and be fujjan \zm man haet 
 Affricum. and be weftan jje man hait Tirrenum. and be norjjan is fe fae J»e 
 segjjer is ge nearo ge hreoh:. 
 
 WiJ» Italic J>am lande Sardinia and Corfica ]ja igland todaslejj an lytel faes 
 earm. fe is twa and twentig mila brad. Sardinia is J»reo and Jritig mila lang 
 and twa and twentig mila brad, him is be eaftan fe Wendel fae j>e man haet 
 Tirrenum. \& Tiber fio ea ut fcyt on. and be fu})an fe fae j)e li|> ongean Nu- 
 media lande. and be weftan J)a twa igland \e man haet Balearis. and be 
 
 N norjjan 
 
90 
 
 nor])an Corfica )»3et igland. Corfica. him is Rome burh be eaftan. and Sar- 
 dinia be fu]jan. and be weftan J>a igland Balearis. and be norjjan Tufcania 
 baet land, hit is fyxtene mila lang. and nygan mila brad:. Balearis ])a tu 
 igland. him is be fu]>an AfFrica. and Gades be weftan. and Ifpania be norJ>an:. 
 Scortlice haebbe we nu gefasd be jjaem gefeteneflum iglandum ))e on )>3em 
 Wendel fe lindon:. 
 
 NOTES 
 
NOTES 
 
 ON THE 
 
 FIRST CHAPTER OF THE FIRST BOOK 
 
 OP 
 
 ALFRED'S ANGLO-SAXON VERSION OF OROSIUS. 
 Mr. J. R. FORSTER, F. R. S.» 
 
 ± HE Geography of King JEKred is not to be confidered as a mere tranf- 
 lation of Orolius, for he brings in the teflimony of Ohthere and Wulfiftan, 
 who came to the King, and gave him a moft minute and accurate account of 
 
 * John Reinhold Forster, I believe, is the /r/? and only perfon, who has hitherto had 
 the fagacity juftly and duly to appreciate the value of this geographical fragment. He has 
 therefore taken great pains to render it more intelligible. The geographical notes of Buf- 
 faeus, printed at Copenhagen in the year 1733 with his editiafi of the Periplus of Ohthere 
 &c. faid by Mr. Harrington to have been publifhed together with Arius Polyhiftor, I have not 
 yet feen. But I conclude, if they had been of much fervice, they would have been confulted 
 to fome advantage by Mr. Forfter and Mr. Harrington, the latter of whom has exprefsly 
 mentioned them. With refpeft to the objeftion of Mr. Harrington to the word periplus, as 
 applied by HulTaeus to the voyage of Ohthere, it appears to me to be totally groundlefs, par- 
 ticularly (i nee the word has been made familiar to every Engllfh reader by the ingenious 
 publications of Dr. Vincent, the learned Dean of Weftminfter. That the voyage was llridly 
 a circumnarvigation, muft be evident to any perfon who examines the courfe of it ; and it ap- 
 pears to me to deferve the name as much as any circumnavigation hitherto performed, though 
 it is certain, that he did not fail round the globe ! Whether my tafte will be condemned as 
 barbarous, or not, I cannot tell; but I confefs I have felt more intereft and amufement from 
 the perufal of the Periplus of Ohthere, and the Paraphs of Wulfllan, as written by King Al- 
 
 N 2 fred. 
 
92 
 
 their own navigations ; and therefore it is a most precious frag- 
 ment OF THE REAL SITUATION OP SEVERAL NATIONS IN THE NINTH 
 
 CENTURY ! The veil which time has drawn over the hiftory of thofe dark 
 middle ages, efpecially in regard to the more remote countries in the north 
 
 fred, than from any Periplus or Paraplus of antiquity. To the exploits of the ancients, in- 
 deed, we may apply the philofophical fentiment of Salluft ; they have been magnified by the 
 genius of their hiftorians, poets, and orators, " quantum extollere potuerunt praeclara inge- 
 " nia !" Mr. Barrington, who certainly had to contend with great difficulties in this part of 
 his work, fays, " that the firft chapter of Alfred's Orofius, which defcribes the boundaries of 
 " Europe, Afia, and Africa, together with the principal provinces, will undoubtedly appear to 
 " moft readers very uyentertaining, though it will be found to contain many particulars, ivhicb 
 " ivUl lUuJirate the geografhy of the middle ages, efpecially in the more northern paHs of Europe." 
 (Preface to his Tranflation, p. xxiii.) This chapter, indeed, is the more difficult to be un- 
 derftood, and therefore lefs likely to ht entertaining, becaufe the royal Paraphraft is fo far from 
 tranflating Orofius literally, that he deferts him almoft in every line, omits what he thought 
 uninterefting to his Saxon readers, tranfpofes what is out of order, and fupplies what ap- 
 peared to be deficient. And though this was his general praflice in his tranflations of au- 
 thors, yet it is no where fo confpicuous as in this firft chapter of his Orofius. The reader 
 will form fome idea of the truth of this ftatement when he is told, that the whole defcription 
 of Europe in Havercamp's Orofius fills but fix pages 4to. of very large type, more than one 
 lalfoi which confilb, as ufual, of notes about various readings I We are indebted to King 
 Alfred, and to King Alfred alone, for the accurate defcription of nearly all thofe numerous 
 tribes, with their territories, from which has been conftruifted the immenfe fabric of the Ger- 
 man empire ; the ruins of which are about to be employed to increafe the aggrandifement of 
 France. The fources of the Rine and the Danube, as well as the courfe of thofe rivers, are 
 more accurately marked than in the original; and let it be remembered, that there is fcarcely 
 any authentic and accurate information to be derived either from Orofius or from any other 
 writer, previous to the time of Alfred, with refpecl to any country of Europe fituated be- 
 yond the latitude of _55 degrees north. This feems to have been the ne plus ultra of the geo- 
 graphical knowledge of the ancients towards the north, as the Pillars of Hercules were to 
 the weft. For, though Ptolemy, Pliny, and many others have mentioned an ifland called 
 Thile, Thyle, or Thule, as the extreme fioint to the north, yet it is evident, from the difcord- 
 ant opinions refpefting the fituation of it, which have agitated the learned for the laft two 
 thoufand years, that nothing certain was known concerning it. But, whatever might have 
 been confidered by other geographers as the Thile, or extreme point towards the north, the 
 Thile of Orofius and of his royal Tranflator was undoubtedly Island. How far the land of 
 Norway and Sweden (the ancient Scandinavia, and the Thule of Pliny, Procopius, and others) 
 extended towards the North Pole, was totally unknown, till an obfcure navigator of Plelgo- 
 
 land 
 
and eaft of Europe, makes it certainly very difficult to find out the real 
 names of feveral nations and places mentioned by King vElfred : but the 
 comparative view of the fituation of fuch nations as are known to us will 
 contribute to identify thofe that are either unknown, or at leaft fo difguifed 
 as to make it no eafy matter to fix their feats with any degree of certainty. 
 
 The firft country in Europe, that Alfred defcribes, is Germany : but 
 he gives it fuch an extent, as few other writers have done. Among thofe 
 few is Paulus Warnefried, (Hill Longob. 1. i. c. i. fub initium.) It muft 
 therefore be underftood, that he takes in all the Teutonic tribes, when he 
 fpeaks of Germany ; and even then the geography is not eafily compre- 
 hended ; though upon examination we find the royal Geographer well in- 
 formed and perfe6lly accurate ''. The limits of Germany are, to the eaft- 
 ward the river Tanais, to the wefl; the river Rine, to the fouth the Danube, 
 and to the north the ocean called the Cwen-fea. The rivers Tanais, Da- 
 nais, or Don, the Rine, and Danube, are well known ; the fea, however, 
 called the Cwen-fea, is very litde if at all fo. 
 
 To fliew its true fituation, we mufl; trace Ohthere in his navigation. He 
 firfl: fays, that he lived to the north of all the Northmen ; and calls the fhire 
 he inhabited Halgoland. This Halgoland cannot be the ifle of Helgheland, 
 at the mouth of the Elb, becaufe it lies not north of all the Northmen <^ ; 
 
 hnd came to the court of King Alfred in the ninth century, and delivered to that Mon- 
 arch a faithful report of a voyage of discovery, which he had made round the North 
 Cape, and to the banks of the Dwina ! In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, nearly 700 years 
 afterwards, a new difcovery of this north-eaft palTage to Kuflia was fuppofed to have been 
 made by the tliijis of the English Company. Yet, though Sir Hugh Willoughby and his 
 whole crew were frozen to death in the attempt, this hardy fon of the North has tiot 
 complained of the fiightell inconvenience during his whole voyage. 'Ihe two other voyages 
 along the (hores and iflands of the Baltic, or Eaft fea, cannot but be interefting to every inha- 
 bitant of the North of Europe, particularly amidft the prefent operations of the belligerent 
 powers, and the novel complexion of political affairs. 
 
 *> Yet Mr. Harrington thihks it neceflary to veil his own miftakes under the following cau- 
 tion : " I do not profefs to maintain the accuracy of either the geography or the exprelfions 
 " of the royal Tranllator." p. 23 . 
 
 <= Much lefs can it be the province called Haxland, which then belonged to the Danes, 
 bat is now part of Sweden. Yet Somner in his Diftionarj- fays, " Per Halgoland intelligen- 
 
 " dum 
 
94 
 
 befides, this ifle had in ancient times another name, viz. Farroee, Farria, or 
 Harthia, for it was confecrated to the Earth, the great divinity of feveral 
 German nations, (Tacit, de mor. Germ. c. 40.) and thence it had the name 
 of Harthia, from Herthum the divinity. Tacitus obferves, " Eft in infula 
 '• oceani cajlum nemus/' a holy foreft ; this caufed the whole ifle to be 
 called Helgheland, i. e. Holy-land. 
 
 Ohthere's Halgoland, however, was in Norway, a diftrift belonging to 
 the province of Nordknd, (i. e. Northland,) about 65". north lat. ^•, it is- 
 ftill called Helgheland, and is really one of the northernmoft places in our 
 time, that are inhabited. From this place Ohthere failed due north, with 
 
 ABr INTENT TO DISCOVER HOW FAR THIS COUNTRY EXTENDED IN 
 
 THAT DIRECTION^; and he being the northernmoft inhabitant, beyond 
 him the country was defert. This wafte land he had on his ftarboard, and 
 the wide fea on his larboard fide : thefe circumftances fhew evidently, that 
 he had the Weftern Ocean on his left, and the fhores of Lapland on his 
 right ; for he failed north hy the land (be jjaem lande,) i. e. along the Ihore ; 
 the particle he having this flgnification ftill in the German. Three days 
 
 " dum puto regionem illam Danorum regi fubje£lam, hodieque Hallani) appellatam !" Mr. 
 Lye, haflily adopting this opinion without examination, goes ftill farther, and confiders this 
 fmall province, "regionem Danorum regi fubjedlam," as the whole of Denmark, Dania I 
 
 ^ Rather, perhaps, about 66°. 40'. for fo I find it in maps of good authority, and generally 
 written Heligeland, or Helgeland. There is ftill a whole diftriift of this name between 
 Trondheim and the Norlands, or between what is properly called Norway and Finmark, ex- 
 tending from lat. 6c,°. 30 . to a little diftance beyond the Ardlic circle ; this is probably the 
 fiire or divifion of Northniannaland, the moft northern part of which Ohthere inhabited. 
 Ifland was the firft land to his right, as he fet fail from Helgoland to the Baltic. 
 
 ' And to difcover. alfo, " whether there were any human beings to the north of the wafte> 
 " or defert!" A noble and perilous enterprlze for a northern navigator in the ninth cen- 
 TtJRY ! The following paflage in the original Saxon, which has been either overlooked or to- 
 tally mifunderftood by the editors, exprefsly mentions the grand objedl of this voyage, and 
 proves it to have been a voyage of discovery.; " Swi)>oft he for ])yder to eacan ]>je3 
 " LANOBS scEAWUNGE," &c. (See the Englifti tranflation, & not. in locum.) Ought we not 
 then to place the name of Ohthere, as M. de Bougainville fays of Pytheas of Marfeilles, 
 " dans la lifte des Gamas, des Colombs, des Magellans ; efpece de conquerans plus digue de 
 " vivre dans la memoire des hommes, que Ics Sefoftris et les Alexandres .'" Mem. de Litterat. 
 torn. xix. p. 147. 
 
 fail 
 
95 
 
 fail brought him to the place, which was the ne plus ultra of the whale- 
 hunters in that age ; and he then continued his courfe due north three other 
 days. A day's fail was, with the ancient Greeks, looo ftadia, which is 
 above a degree, or about loo fea-miles ; fo that it is no wonder, that Oht- 
 here found himfelf at laft near the North-Cape, within fix days eafy fail, 
 which is not quite fix degrees north of Helgheland. He could not double 
 the Cape unlefs with a wefi; wind ; and after a fhort firay he Ihaped his 
 courfe eaflrward during four days ; but then the coafl; began to run due 
 fouth, and he therefore waited till he could proceed with a north wind. 
 Having obtained this wind, he went on for five days in a fouthern direcSlion, 
 and came in that time to the mouth of a great river^, on the banks of which 
 dwelt the Beormas, (or Biarmians,) who hindered him from going higher 
 up in that river : this was the firft inhabited country he met with ; having 
 had all the time of his courfe a defert on his right, frequented only occa- 
 fionally by the fowlers, fiftiermen, and hunters of the Finnas, or Terfennas. 
 Lapland is called Finmark by the Danes to this very day ; which proves 
 the Finnas to be the Lapponians. In the country of the Beormas he found 
 the horfe-whales s, or the Walrufs, animals which he difl:inguiflies carefully 
 from the whales and the feals, of whofe teeth he brought a prefent to King 
 vEifred, and which are found no where but in the White fea near Archan- 
 gel, and the other feas to the north of Siberia. In all the ocean near Nor- 
 way and Lapland no walruffes are ever feen, but ftill lefs in the Baltic ; and 
 this ftrongly proves Ohthere to have been in the White Sea. 
 
 Ohtherc afterwards defcribes Northmannaland, which is a long narrow 
 country, extending all along the fhores of the Weftern Ocean, having to 
 the caft great moorsj inhabited by the Finnas. To the fouth of this coun- 
 
 ' Now called the Dwina, which flows into the White Sea near Archangel, about lat. 64". 
 60'. fo that Ohthere's voyage round the North Cape muft have defcribed at leaft a femicircle, 
 or about 1500 fea-miles, and therefore is well worthy of the title of a Periplus. 
 
 E Thefe are explained to be the fame with the morfes in a marginal note to the tranilation 
 in Hakluyt, already quoted by Mr. Barrington. Ilakluyt's Voyages, Vol. I. p. 5. They 
 are the fame with the fhoca, or ihuVi mariiii of Pliny. " Morse, f. fie-heft, eller oxe hoi ■ 
 " marinus." Serenius, Swedifli Diflionary. In fa6l, the word morfe appe5,rB to be a contrac- 
 tion oimcT-orJe, ijea-horft. Hnval-rnJ^ \i a Ihijfian wbak, 
 
 try 
 
Q6 
 
 try was Sweoland, now Sweden : quite beyond the moors (on the defert, 
 which Hes north from his habitation,) is Cwenland, whofe inhabitants made 
 inroads into Northmannaland, going over the moors. Confequently it is 
 evident, that Cwenland can be no where elfe, but in the modern Finland, 
 which lies beyond the moors of the defert, (which laft are now Lapland.) 
 King Alfred faid the fame before, mentioning the Sweons, " to the eaft of 
 " which are the Sermende (in Livonia) ; and to the nor-th of the Sweons, 
 " over the waftes, (i. e. having pafTed the waftes or deferts,) are the Cwe- 
 " nas \" From hence it is inconteftible, that Cwenland is the fame with 
 Finland, and the Cwen-fea muft be one of the feas including Finland. 
 The Baltic is on one of its fides, but this is called by King Alfred the Oft- 
 fea, which is its ufual name in the German language to this day. On the 
 other fide, is the gulf called the White Sea ; this therefore muft be Cwen- 
 fea. Nay, Snorro Sturlefon mentions, " that Carelia extends quite to 
 " Gandwich, (i. e. the White Sea,) where Quenland lyes along its fhores, 
 " near Biarmia :" fo that there is no doubt, but that Cwen-fea is the White 
 Sea '. Therefore Germany, in the time of King Alfred, extended quite to 
 the Cwen-fea. 
 
 The Danes, the Swedes, and the Normans'' fpoke certainly a dialedl of 
 German, underfl:ood then by the Germans,. which is plain from a compari- 
 fon of both languages in the mofl: ancient records ;. and a dialedl o( the 
 German was fpoken from 'the White Sea to the Baltic, along the Dnepr, 
 and probably farther eaft to the very Tanais, This, I believe, induced 
 
 ^ Adamus Bremenfis defcribes Sweden as extending northward " ufque ad terram fcemlna- 
 " rum;" (i. e. Cwena-land.) The hiftory of the Amazons, which has been confidered as en- 
 tirely fabulous, is partly explained by the meaning of the word Cwenas, which is here tranf- 
 lated/a-ww^ / Vid. JE\fr. Orof. p. 48. et feqq. ed. Barrington. 
 
 ' This ingenious conjeflure is confirmed by the very fignification of the word cwen, white, 
 fair, or beautiful, preferved in the Wellh language to this day in gwyn, gwen, giien, or gwent; 
 qwin, Swcd. queen, Engl. See Lhuyd's Archaiolog. Brit, and Baxter's Gloflary. The Cwen- 
 fea alfo is called Bella More by the Kuffians, which conveys precifely the fame idea. 
 
 •= Or Norwegians j which three nations are often defcribed under the general appellation 
 of Northmen, or Normans ; and their language has been called, in a vague manner, the 
 Norfe, or Nourfe ; a term corrupted from Norike, Norrlfh, Nor'fh, Nor'fe, &c. So ErTe 
 from Erfke, Erifti, Irifli, &c. The Norfe, Norwegian, and Iflandic are the fame. 
 
 King 
 
97 
 
 King Alfred to look upon all that vaft traft, from the Don to the Rine, 
 and from the Danube to the White Sea, as belonging to Germany. Hav- 
 ing thus ftated the limits of Germany in general, we muft follow the roval 
 Geographer in the particulars. 
 
 ' ' The Eaft-Francan "• were confined between the Rine to the weft and 
 the Sala to the eaft, the Danube to the fouth, and the Saxons to the north, 
 according to Eginhard, Charlemagne's Secretary : and this lituation is like- 
 wife given to them by our royal Geographer. 
 
 '' The Suevas, [Svevi,]] or Swsefac, are the Suabians; and inhabited that 
 part of Germany called fince the time of Caracalla, Allemannia ". 
 
 ' The Beathware are undoubtedly the Bavarians, or the Boiari, whofe 
 country was called Boiaria ; its prefent German name is Bayern ", and it is 
 really to the fouth-eaft of Francia Orientalis. Its limits formerly extended 
 beyond the Danube, between the rivers Leek to the weft, and the Ens or 
 Anifus to the eaft. The town of Ratift)on is' called in the German Regenf- 
 burgh, and belonged to Bavaria. 
 
 * The Beme, or Behemaj, are the Bohemians p. Their countrj' was, in 
 
 ' Thefe numbers refer to the Englifli tranflation, which begins p. /i. 
 
 ™ The inhabitants of Francia Orientalis, or Eaft-Frankland ; the old name is now perhaps 
 preferved in the Circle of Franconia. In the Roman furvey of the globe, and in the Cofmo- 
 graphy of iEthicus, the French are called Francifcani, i. e. Frankilh men j firft written bj- 
 us, Francifc-meii, then French ; Francas by themfelves, then Franfois. 
 
 " The Cirde of Suabia in fome old maps of Germany is called Circulus Sitevkus. Thefe 
 Suabians, or Suevi, like the Vandals and other ivandermg tribes, had their name from their 
 roving and unfettled habits ; the vforA fchiveiffen in German ftill fignifies to ivandcr. Tacitus 
 and other writers call the whole fea that lies to the north of Germany Mare Suevicum j and 
 the whole of Germany as far as the Viftula is fometimes called Suevia. Orofius fays ex- 
 prefsly, that the Suevi occupied the greateft part of Germany in his time, and that they con- 
 fided offfly-four different tribes, or nations, gentes. He has, neverthelefs, mentioned but very 
 few of thofe fifty-four tribes, and King Alfred with great judgment endeavours to fupply the 
 deficiency. 
 
 ° Now generally called the Circle of Bavaria, lying next to the Circle of Franconia to the 
 fouth-eaft. 
 
 P Though the word Beme may appear a barbarous contraftion for Bohemae, or Boihemi, it 
 is neverthelefs derived from the Greek and Roman geographers, who have invariably written 
 BiWftoi, Baemi, &c. by corruption, from the days of Ptolemy to thofe of Alfred, who has alfo 
 
 o written 
 
98 
 
 ancient times, inhabited by a tribe of Celti, or Gauls ; who conquered and 
 fettled in it, and called it Boiohemntn, the home of the Boii. Bohemia had 
 its Sclavonic dukes in the time of Charlemagne, in whofe annals we find, in 
 the year 805, the following account : " Eodem anno mifit imperator exer- 
 " citum fuum cum filio fuo Carolo in terram Sclavorum, quae Beheim 
 " vocatur, qui, omnem eorum terram depopulatus, ducem eorum, nomine 
 *' Lechonem, occidit." The royal Geographer's centre is ftill Francia Ori- 
 entalisj and to the eaft of that is Bohemia. 
 
 ' The Thyringae are a nation to the north-eaft of Francia Orientalis. 
 They were formerly called Therringi, mentioned by Amm. Marcellinus, 
 1. xxxi. c. 3. Eutrop. 1. viii. They were a branch of the Goths in ancient 
 Dacia ; and afterwards in one of the great migrations they fettled fome- 
 where north-eaft of Francia Orientalis, near the river Sala, where at prefent 
 Thyringen is fituated. 
 
 ' The Saxons, or Seaxan, were to the north of Thyringen and the Eaft- 
 iFrancan. This nation has been very famous ; it was thus called, to diftin- 
 guifh it from thofe nations, which had no certain or fettled habitations, as 
 the Suevi and Vandali ; and their name implies a fettled people (Sajfen) "i. 
 They formerly lived on the eaftern fhore of the Elb, which our royal Geo- 
 grapher calls Old Saxony ; for, according to Stephanus Ethnicographus, 
 they lived formerly in the Cherfonefus Cimbrica. When the Franks had 
 conquered France, the Saxons took poffeffion of their feats, even to the 
 Rine ; and thofe of them that lived on the weft fhores of the Wefer were 
 called fVeJt-phali, from the old word fahlen, ivahkn, or d'walkn, to dwell, 
 
 written Behema; and even fo lately as the reign of Henry the Sixth we find nearly the fame 
 orthography : 
 
 " Alfo Prufe men maken her adventure 
 
 Of plate of filver, of wedges good and fure, 
 
 In great plentie, which they bring and bye 
 
 Out of the lands of Beame and Hungarie." 
 Vid. "The Policie of keeping the Sea ; the fifth chapitle j" printed in Hakluyt, from a MS. 
 " in the Trinitie church of Winchefter," Vol. I. p, 192. fol. Lond. 1598. See alfo the No- 
 nienclator Ptolemaicus of Ortelius, p. 14. fol. Antwerp. i_584. 
 
 1 A different interpretation is given by Verftegan, and other antiquaries. See " Reftitu- 
 " tion of decayed Intelligence in Antiquities," Spelman's Life of Alfred, &c. 
 
 be- 
 
99 
 
 becaufe they really were to the weft ; thofe that were eaft of the Wefer 
 bore the name of Ofi-phali, i. e. Eaji- dwellers, and part of them extending 
 to the north along the Wefer were the Angrivarii, or Angrn. 
 
 ' The Fryfa; are placed to the north-weft of Francia Orientalis, which is 
 true ; for Charlemagne confined them within the Wefer, the Scheld, and 
 Fryfland, and they were therefore weftward of Old Saxony, 
 
 ' Angle, or Angle-land, is to the north-eaft of Old Saxony, together with 
 Sillende, or Sealand, and part of Dene, or Denmark ; and therefore it is 
 very probable, tliat the point of the compafs muft be wrong in the original, 
 or that the good king has been miftaken "■. 
 
 ■■ I believe it will be found, on examination, that the good king is right, and that the point 
 of the compafe is not wrong in the original ; though Mr. Forfter and Mr. Barrington are 
 both pofitive, that the Angles lived to the iior\.h-eaJl of the Saxons. Now, in the firft place, 
 the land which they inhabited was called the Angle, or Angk-lznd, whence it is evident, that 
 they lived at the ivejlern extremity of what is now called Holfatia, or Old Saxony, beyond 
 Kiel and Lubek ; and in the next place we muft confider, that it is in the Circle of Franco- 
 nia, not in Old Saxony, where we are to feck the geographical centre of King Alfred. It 
 may be here oblerved, once for all, that King Alfred ufes twelve points of the compafs i a cir- 
 cumftance hitherto overlooked. Thefe are the four cardinal points, Eaft, Weft, North, and 
 South ; and two intermediate points between each of thefe cardinal points, which are em- 
 phatically called, North-eaft, and Eaft-north ; South'weft, and Weft-fouth ; Weft-north, and 
 North-weft ; Eaft-fouth, and South-eaft. If therefore, for inftance, the point intended to be 
 defcribed between Eaft and North happened to be more to the Eaft than to the North, the 
 expreflion vifed is North-eaft j and on the contrary, if it lay more to the North than to the 
 Eaft', it was conveniently defcribed in Saxon by the obfolete compound Eaft-north, the moft 
 emphatic word being placed laft. The Greeks appear to have had names for eigbt winds 
 only ; fome allowed but four. Andronicus Cyrrheftes is celebrated by Vitruvius, for main- 
 tainin"' the oftonary number, and for erefting on that fyftem the famous oftagon tower of 
 marble at Athens, called the Tower of the Winds ; on the model of which the Obfervatory 
 at Oxford is built ; having on each fide of the oftagon a winged figure in relievo, reprefent- 
 ing one of the eight winds. (Vid. Vitruv. lib. i. c. 6. & Stuart's Athens, vol. i. c. iii. p. 13.) 
 The erroneous conjefture of Le Roy, refpefting the fo7ir and twenty winds fuppofed to be re- 
 prefented on this tower at Athens, arofe merely from the appearance of the pyramidal roof, 
 the bafe of which is a polygon of four and twenty fides ; but the four and twenty winds are 
 to be found only in the imaginary compafs of the French traveller. To the eight winds of the 
 Greeks the Romans added four more, making the twelve of King Alfred. In an excel- 
 lent map of the Empire of Charlemagne, by J. Janflbn, the fame points of the compafs are 
 
 o 1 given. 
 
100 
 
 ' The Apdredec % or, as they are afterwards called, the Afdredae, are no 
 doubt, both by their name and polition, the Obotritae, a Venedic nation, 
 fettled in Meklenburgh. 
 
 '° ^feldan are, as King Alfred calls them, wolds ' : there are at prefent 
 in the middle part of Jutland large tradls of high moors, covered with 
 heath only". 
 
 " Weonodland, or Winedaland, is the country of the Venedi, a nation 
 originally of the fame origin with the Pruffians and Lithuanians. 
 
 " The Maroare are the Sclavi Maharenfes, or the Moravians, from the 
 river Marus, or Maharus, running through their country, and which emp- 
 ties itfelf into the Danube not far below Vienna. 
 
 " Carendre is the name by which King jElfred probably calls the Sclavi 
 Carenthani, or Carentani : at prefent their country is the Duchy of Carin- 
 thia, or Caernthen. Formerly, in Strabo's time, the Carni lived there ; 
 (libi vii.) whether they were of Teutonic offspring, or one of thofe Gaulic 
 tribes who fettled here with the Scordifci and Boii, cannot be ealily afcer- 
 tained. From the neighbourhood of the Sarmatae in Fannonia, and from 
 the affinity of the name of Carni with Grain, which in the Sclavonic Ian- 
 given, and the names of the winds differ but little from the nomenclature of King Alfred. 
 Pliny and Vitruvius have given us the beft account of the winds of the ancients. 
 
 ' The name appears to be preferved in the word Ahendradc, or Afenrade, a town and dlf- 
 trift in the duchy of Schlefwig ; lat. 54°. 52'. N. but at fome diftance from Meklenburgh. 
 
 ' This word has never been fnfficiently explained ; its original fignification is the fame, 
 whether written felds, fields, velts, welds, wilds, wyltes, wealds, walds, waltz, wolds, &c. &c ; 
 I being the radical and unchangeable letter, which implies length, or extent, whether of 
 power, as in the Hebrew name of the Deity, or of fpace, as in his wonderful works; lakes, 
 (lochs,) wealds, wolds, wilderncffes, &c. So old age was properly called eld by our elder 
 poets. It is therefore by fubaudition that iveald fignifies a place abounding in •woods, whilft 
 luold, as explained by Bifliop Gibfon, is an extent of plain, nvitbout any wood. Thus the 
 ivealds of Kent are very different from the luolds cii Yorkfliire. Mr. Forfler has therefore 
 not without reafon explained the heath-fields mentioned by King Alfred by nvolds; wylte. Sax. 
 
 " Mr. Forfler feems to have read haefeldan, (or hse})feldan,) which indeed I find in the 
 Junian MS. inferted as a various reading by Dr. Marfliall. (MSS. IVN. 15.) It alfo oc- 
 curs farther on in the MS. without any various reading; I have therefore inferted it in the 
 text. Ilercynia Jylva feems to be derived from erica, heath ; Erkcnwald, or Erkenfeld, in 
 the old German. Heide js now ufed in German to fignify heath. 
 
 guage 
 
101 
 
 guage fignifies a limit, I fufpedt the Carni were Sarmatians, and continued 
 to live in thef'e parts, till by length of time they were called Carni and Ca- 
 rinthi, and at laft their name was changed into Carentani. This opinion 
 may be further proved from the name of the Duchy of Grain, which lies 
 next to Carinthia, and which preferves the Sclavonic name of Grain, though 
 it is called by the Latin writers Garniola. (Paul Warnefried, Hift. Longo- 
 bard. 1. vi. c. 12.) This country was always confidered as the boundary of 
 Pannonia, Germany, and Italy. Even in the latter ages there was here 
 eftablifhed a Marquifate of the Winedi, or, as it is commonly called, the 
 Windijhe March, i. e. Limes Venedicus, or Marchia Sclavonica. The Scla- 
 vonic nations frequently employed the word Crain for a limit ; thus the 
 Ukraine in Ruffia ferved as a barrier againft the Tartars. In great Poland 
 is a tradl: fituated along the New-Mark of Brandenburg and Silefia, called 
 Kraina, becaufe it makes the limits towards the above countries : it is there- 
 fore highly probable, that the Carendre, or Sclavi Carentani, are derived 
 from the ancient Carni, and had formerly the name of Crain, on account of 
 their limitary fituation. The Alps were no doubt the ftrongeft barriers for 
 all nations ; thefe begin in this part called Crain, and were called by Strabo 
 and other writers Alpes Carnicae. 
 
 '* Bulgaria is well known in hiftory and geography ; it was fituated upon 
 the Danube, next to Dacia : this is the opinion of Eginhard, who relates, 
 that in the year 824 an embafly came to Charlemagne from the Abotritae, 
 " qui vulgo Prsedenecenti vocantur, et contermini Bulgaris Daciam Danu- 
 " bio adjacentem incolunt." The Bulgari had this name, becaufe they 
 came originally from the river Volga : and it is well known, that about 
 fixty miles to the fouth-weft of the city of Kazan in Ruffia, between the 
 rivers Wolga, Kama, and Samara, is a place called Bulgarfk. The name 
 of this nation is certainly derived from the river Wolga, beyond which the 
 Bulgari or Wolgari lived ; for fo it ought to be fpelled, becaufe the latter 
 Greek writers pronounced the B hke a W '=. 
 
 * In another part of the Saxon verfion King Alfred fays, " Iliricos. \e. we Pulgare hate}> ; 
 " the Illyrians, whom we call Bulgarians^ Vid. Orof. lib. iii. c. 7. verf. j-Elfred. 
 
 Bul- 
 
102 
 
 Bulgaria mentioned by our royal Geographer comprehends, no doubt, 
 the country where now Moldavia and Bulgaria are, on both lides of the 
 Danube. I fufpedl however that they had, about the time wherein King 
 Alfred wrote, occupied many parts of the countrj' which the Avares for- 
 merly had in their pofleflion : for Charlemagne had fo much weakened 
 them, that their country was then reckoned a wafte, till in the year 893 
 the Madgiari, or the prefent Hungarians, united with the pitiful remains of 
 the Avari, and eredled a new kingdom. This at the fame time is a proof 
 of the time wherein King Alfred drew up his geographical account : for as 
 he ftill mentions a defert or wafte between the Carendre and the Bulgari, 
 it muft of courfe have been before 893, when the Hungarians made the 
 firft invalion into Bulgaria and Pannonia : about fifty years before this, the 
 Emperor Conftantinus Porphyrogenita wrote his book De adminifiratione 
 imperii, which was in 843. 
 
 " Greece, which is mentioned here, fignifies the Byzantine empire, and 
 not ancient Greece : for of that our royal Author fpeaks afterwards. 
 
 "* Wifleland is that part of Poland, which commonly goes by the name 
 of Little Poland ; for in this part of the country the river Viftula takes its 
 origin ; which is called in German Weiflel, Weichfel, or Weixel, and in 
 Polifh Wifla : and the pofition of it to the eaft of Moravia cannot be ealily 
 mifl:aken. 
 
 '^ Datia comprehends the country which is now called Red Ruflia, Tran- 
 fylvania, with the upper parts of Moldavia, and all Wallachia ; and our 
 Author takes notice, that all this formerly belonged to the Goths. 
 
 '^ Dalamenfae are thofe Sclavonians who formerly inhabited Silefia, 
 from Moravia as far as Glogau, along the river Oder, or Viadrus. Wite- 
 kind of Corbey calls them Sclavi Dalamanti, and their country Dalamantia : 
 fome other writers call them Daleminci, 
 
 " The SurpS are thofe Sclavonic tribes which were known by the name 
 of Sclavi Sorabi or Soravi, Sorbi or Sorvi, who lived in Lufatia and Mifnia, 
 and part of Brandenburg and Silelia below Glogau ; their capital was So- 
 raw, a town which ftill exifts. Charlemagne conquered thefe Sorabi about 
 806, and they were afterwards under the controul of the Dux Sorahici limi- 
 
 tis. 
 
103 
 
 tis. The Wendic language (a Sclavonian dialedt) is ftill fpoken by the 
 country people ; the Bible is printed in this language, and divine fervice 
 performed in the fame. 
 
 " The Syfele are placed to the weft of the Surpe. When King ^Elfred 
 mentions Wineda-land, he adds thefe words, " which men call Syfyle." 
 There is no doubt that he means here the fame country : but Wineda-land 
 cannot be faid to be to the weft of the Surpe, as it rather is to the north of 
 it. The name Syfele, or Syfyle, is very little known in hiftory, unlefs this 
 name be preferved in the lately-publifhed Obotritic monuments, where, on 
 the facred Caduceus, fig. 23. a. the following Runic characters are en- 
 graved, viz. ShefJ. The Annales Fuldenfes mention, in the year 874, the 
 revolt of the Sorbi and Siufle ; perhaps thefe latter may be our SyfelS y. 
 
 " The Honithi our royal Author places north of the Dalamenfae. By 
 their fituation it appears that thefe Honithi are the inhabitants of Great 
 Poland, who had their own dukes ; but how King Alfred got this name of 
 Honithi is altogether unaccountable ''. 
 
 "^ Maegthaland our royal Geographer places to the north of Honithi, or 
 Great Poland, where formerly the Duchy of Mazovia was fituated. It was 
 then fubje<ft to fovereign princes, who took the title of Dukes. This coun- 
 
 y I fufpeft, that the f and 1 in this word have changed places, as they have a great refem- 
 blance to each other in manufcripts ; and that we ought to read Sylyfae, or Sylefae, the Sile- 
 siANS ! Silefia, it mull be remembered, formerly occupied a much larger fpace on the map of 
 Europe than it does at prefent. A fimilar error appears in the word Siujle above. 
 
 ' It is remarkable, that the word is not to be found either in the MSS. or even in the 
 printed text of Mr. Barrington's edition, but in the tranflation only ! The Saxon p (r) being 
 miftaken for n, Horithi, Horiti, Horoti, have been invariably transformed into Honithi ; fo 
 that, inftead of expretfing our furprize with Mr. Forfter, " how Kitig yElfred got this name of 
 " Honithi," we may rather wonder, how Mr. Barrington or his printer got it ! At fome fu- 
 ture time, perhaps, it may be as eafy to identify the Horithi as the other nations mentioned 
 by King Alfred. At prefent, it is with reluftance I offer a conjefture by no means fatif- 
 faflory to myfelf ; I fufpeft, however, that Horithi is the error of a negligent fcribe in the 
 firft inftance, which has been faithfully retained by others. For, in two places out of three 
 where the fame word occurs, we find it written without the b. Perhaps, therefore, the Ho- 
 rili, or Heruli (called alfo Lemovii by Tacitus and others) may be here intended. 
 
 try 
 
104 
 
 try is called Magau or Mazawland in the ancient writers, and feems to be 
 our Maegthaland. 
 
 '" The Sermende are, according to our royal Geographer, to the north 
 of the Mazovians, and to the eaft of Bornholm and Sweden, which is con- 
 fequently now Livonia, Eftland, and part of Lithuania, In the beginning 
 of this work it is faid, " that the Tanais takes its fource from the northern 
 " parts of the Riphaean mountains, which are near the ocean that men call 
 " Sarmondifca," It is pretty clear, that the Sarmondi mull be the Sauro- 
 matae ; for the ancient geographers were of opinion, the Tanais took its 
 fource near the Riphaean mountains, in the country of the Sauromatae, or 
 Sarmatae. 
 
 "^ The North Dene, our Author fays, lived both on the continent and 
 on the iflands ; confequently it hence evidently appears, that the North 
 Dene not only were fettled in North Jutland, but alfo in the ifles of Fyh- 
 nen, Sealand, Langland, Laeland, and Falfter ". 
 
 ^^ The Oft-Sea is here, according to our Author, that arm of the fea 
 which furrounds Jutland on its north fide, the ifles above enumerated, and 
 alfo the ifle of Bornholm ; it wafhes befides the fhores of Pruffia, Pomera- 
 nia, and Meklenburg, and this very arm Alfred extends even to the north 
 of Sweden up in the Bothnic gulf' ; confequently it comprehends what we 
 
 * Mr. Forfter feems here to have confounded the Northern with the Southern Danes, -be- 
 tween whom King Alfred makes an evident diftinftion. By the Northern Danes wc are to 
 underftand thofe who were then fettled in the province fmce called Hallmid, and which now 
 belongs to Sweden, as well as thofe of North Jutland. By the Southern Danes are fignlfied 
 thofe of South Jutland, with thofe who were fettled in Sealand, Sconey, Moen, Faliler, Lae- 
 land, Langland, &c. &c. In the map of thefe territories by Ortelius we find the whole of the 
 foulh-weftern coaft of Sweden afcribed to Denmark. Hence the name of Swe-den, the coun- 
 try of the Sweo-Dene. This confideration will confirm a conjefture hereafter refpeiSting the 
 fituations of Sciringes-heal and iEt-Haethum, the moft difficult to be afcertained. 
 
 *> Tacitus calls the whole fea Mare Suevicum, (de Mor. German, c. 45.) the eaflerji arm of 
 it was anciently called Sinus Venedicus, afterwards Finnicus, and to this day the Gulf of 
 Finland. With refpe£l to the propriety of the term Eajl Sea, as applied to the Baltic, it was 
 perhaps fo called originally by the Northern nations, to diftinguith it from the oppofite fea 
 which wafhes the outer coaft of Norway, and which Ohthere in the beginning of his Periplus 
 calls the JVeJl Sea. (See page ^o.) 
 
 caU 
 
105 
 
 call at prefent the Sbager-rack, Catte-gat, the two Belts, the Sound, and 
 the Baltic. The Germans have for the Baltic no other name than the Oft- 
 Sea, i. e. eaft fea, which fully proves that no other fea can be underftood : 
 and though it feems that the name of Oft-Sea hath fome impropriety, be- 
 caufe it is to the north of Germany, it muft be remarked, that the German 
 nation, in the ninth century, was entirely excluded from this fea by the 
 Wenedi and other Sclavonic tribes, and had confequently no notion of it : 
 what they knew of it they learned from the Danes, who fpoke the fame 
 language ; now in regard to the Danes, this fea certainly lies to the eaft ; it 
 is therefore no wonder they adopted from them this name of Oft- Sea. 
 However, it is remarkable, that even the arm which is between Norway and 
 Denmark is called by our Author the Oft- Sea ; which obfervation will be 
 ufeful in clearing up fome other geographical points. As the great ocean 
 alfo between Britain and Norway, Denmark and Friefland, is called the 
 North Sea, in refpedl to this fea the arm between Norway and Jutland may 
 juftly be called Oft-fea. 
 
 "^ The Ofti are undoubtedly the fame nation that is afterwards called by 
 Wulfftan the Efti ; they lived, according to the fame navigator, eaft of the 
 mouth of the WeifTel, or Viftula, along the Baltic. Tacitus mentions the 
 vEftii in the fame place ; and King Theodoric (ap. Calliodor.) calls them 
 by the fame name =. It feems they obtained it from the Danes and other 
 Teutonic tribes, becaufe they lived eaft of the Viftula, the boundary of 
 Germany in the time of Tacitus. When the Hanfeatic league exifted, 
 thofe wealthy merchants eftabliftied their fadlories in Livonia, and even in 
 great Novogorod in Ruflia ; they called alfo the nations living in thefe 
 countries tlie Ofterlings, i. e. the Eafterlings, and the country itfelf Eft- 
 land, or Eaftland : whence the northernmoft part of Livonia ftill bears the 
 name of Eftland **. 
 
 '^ They are alfo mentioned by Eginhard, (c. 12.) under the appellation of Aifti : Tacitus 
 defcribes them as living on the eaftern fliore of the Mare Suevicum, now the Baltic ; what 
 he remarks of their language, that it refembled the Brki/b, then perhaps nearly the fame 
 with the Cimhrk, is curious : " ritus habitufque Suevorum ; lingua Britannicce propior." c. a.<,. 
 
 * That fmall part of this large territory which now remains under a fimilar appellation, is 
 generally called Eftonia, latinized from Eftland, as Liffland is converted into Livonia, Inger- 
 
 P land 
 
100 
 
 '' The Burgundae were formerly a nation living in the north of Ger- 
 many, mentioned by Pliny, (1. iii. c. 28.) belonging to the Wandali, or 
 Vindali. This nation was afterwards defeated by the Goths, and perhaps 
 part of the nation retired for fafety into the ifle of Bornholm ; another part 
 fettled near the river Saal in Germany, and had with the Alemanni frequent 
 feuds and contefts about iht f ah --wells. (Amm. Marcell. i. 28.) Thofe in 
 the ifle gave their name to it, and it was conftantly called Burgunda-holm, 
 i. e, the ifle of the Burgundians ; from which Bor'nholm is a mere con- 
 traftion. Wulfftan in his account afterwards calls it Burgenda-land ; and 
 mentions that its inhabitants had a king of their own *. 
 
 " The Sweon are the Sveones or Svtones of Tacitus ^, (de morib. 
 Germ. c. 44.) who, according to that writer, Ihed in the ocean, and had 
 fhips, either end of which they ufed occafionally, and were fubjeA to a 
 king. They occur likewife in Eginhard (in vita Karoli Magni,) and in 
 Adamus Bremenfis. Jornandes calls them Swethans, and fays, they fend 
 to Rome faphilinas pelles, remarkable for their fine blacknefs ; he means, I 
 fuppofe, fable ikins, faphilinas pelles being barbarous Latin. 
 
 "' The Scride-Finnas are the fame with the Finnas, likewife mentioned 
 by Ohthere. Jornandes mentions (de reb. Get. p. 6n.) the Crefennae, 
 which no doubt is ufed inflead of Scredefennas ; or, as Procopius (Hift. 
 Goth. lib. ii. p. 261.) calls them, Scritifinni. Paul Warnefried exprefsly 
 mentions, thay were thus called, " a faliendo, juxta linguam harbaram. 
 " Saltibus enim utentes, arte quadam hgno incurvo, ad arcus fimilitudinem, 
 
 land into Ingria, the Lettowe of Chaucer into Lithuania, &c. &c. Eftonia is fituated along 
 the eaftern ihore of the Baltic, having the gulf of Finland to the north ; and there is only 
 the province of Ingria between this country and the city of Peterfburg, the modern metro- 
 polis of Ruffia. 
 
 « In fa£t, in whatever part of Europe they were fixed, they bad their name from living in 
 hurgs, boroughs, or towns, in a more fettled manner than the Suevians, the Vandals, &c. 
 Burgo-woners, in Saxon Burg-wuniendas, or Burgendas, were eafily converted by the Romans 
 into Burgundae, Burgendse, and Burgundiones. Hence the modern name of Burgundy in 
 France, as well as that of Burgenda-holm, or Bornholm, in the Baltic. 
 
 ' The anceftors of the Swedes, who call their country and their language to this day Siven- 
 Jka, i. e. SiveoTuJh. The name of Sweden appears to have been given to this country from its 
 being inhabited by a mixed race of Sweon aud Dene. 
 
 ** feras 
 
107 
 
 "■' feras aflequuntur :" and Adamus Bremenfis fays, " between Nordmannia 
 <' and Svconia the Warmelani and Finwedi live, as alfo fome other na- 
 " tions. Upon the limits between the Sveons and Nordmans, towards the 
 " north, live the Scritefinni, who are faid to overtake wild beafts by run- 
 " ning : their capital is Halfingaland. In Sweden, to the weft, are the 
 " Goths, and the city of Scarane ; to the north, are the Wermilani, with 
 " the Scritefinni, whofe capital is Halfingaland. To the fouth is the Bal- 
 " tic, and the city of Sidlona." Thus we learn, from the defcription of 
 Adamus Bremenfis, the Wermilani were the neighbours of the Scritefinni. 
 By cafting our eyes on the map of Sweden, we find between Norway and 
 Gothia the province of Warmeland, and to the eaft of this is Helfingland, 
 or Helfingen : it therefore is eafy to colledl from thence, that the Screde- 
 finnae of King Alfred are the fame Finnas whom Ohthere mentions as in- 
 habiting the moors to the eaftward of North mannaland, and oppofite this 
 land, to the fouth, he places Sweoland ; which perfedlly agrees with the ac- 
 covmt of Adamus Bremenfis. 
 
 Ter-fennaland is the defert or wafte to the north of Northmannaland, 
 and of the country where the Finnas were fettled, near Haslfingland s. 
 
 ^° The Beormas are a nation living eaft of the river Dwina, near the 
 White Sea. The northern writers frequendy mention the Biarmians, and 
 the Normans and Sweons had much intercourfe with them; which was very 
 eafy by the Newa, that communicates with the Ladoga Lake ''. 
 
 e The firft fyllable of the name of Tkr-fenna-land is ftlU preferved, perhaps, in the modem 
 appellation of Torne, or Tomea, applied to the river, the town, and the diftrift of that name, 
 in Lapland. Fenna-land, Fen-land, or Finland, is now called Finmark; Terfinnaland, there- 
 fore, probably comprehended both Finmark and Tornea-Lapmark, together with the whole 
 of that fenny diftritl, now called Pitea-Lapmark, from which the Finnas, or Fennas, ori- 
 ginally received their name. A fimilar diftrift on the other fide of the gulf of Bothnia ftill 
 retains the name of Finland for the fame reafon : whence alfo the gulf of Finland, finus Fin- 
 nicus, vel Venedicus. The ancient Feneti, or Heneti, of Livy, the Winedas of King Al- 
 fred, &c. as well as the Veneti, whofe defcendants founded the republic of Venice, were Co 
 called originally, in like manner, from their fituation amidft /ens, lakes, marilies, and mo- 
 rafles. From an inattention to the real meaning of names has arifen a vaft deal of error, 
 fable, and confufion, refpefting the early hiftory of all nations. 
 
 *> Perhaps they have left the remnant of their name in the RulTian province of Permia, or 
 
 r 2 Bermia, 
 
108 
 
 "^ Cwen-land ; as we have ftated the fituation of this country before ', I 
 fhall only add, that the name Cwenac, perhaps, is preferved in Cayane- 
 burgh, a town in the eaftern parts of Finland, where Cwenland was. 
 
 ^^ Sciringes-heal feems to be the fame place which is mentioned by Pau- 
 lus Warnefried (Hift. Longob. I. i. c. 7.) by the name of Scoringa, whi- 
 ther the Winili or Longobardi, when they emigrated from Scandinavia, firft 
 went : it was in the neighbourhood of the Wandals. 
 
 Scoringa was near the place where now the province of Upland is ; for it 
 was not far from Gotland : and Ohthere fays, Sciringes-heal is due north '' 
 
 Bermia, in the town of PermfTii, or Berma-weliki, the capital of that province, and in the 
 diftriiSl of Warmia in Poland. Biarmia occurs in many old maps on both fides of the White 
 Sea ; and it rs not improbable, that the name of Wearme-land in Sweden is derived from a 
 branch of this people. See the romantic hiftory of Hialmar, King of Biarmland and Thule- 
 jiiar'k, printed at Stockholm from an ancient Runic MS. and accompanied with a Latin 
 tranflation, by J. Peringikiold ; republiflied by Dr. Hickes in his Thefaurus. (Diff. Epift. p. 
 123.) For the honour of Peringfkiold, this paflage in the Periplus of Ohthere contradicSls 
 the following opinion, expreflid in a note to Shelton's Tranflation of Wotton's Confpedus Tbc- 
 Jauri Hichfiani, &c. " As to the names Biarmlandia and Tbuh-markia, fays the writer, " fince 
 " the whole hiftory itfelf is fabulous, and valuable only for preferving fo much of the Iflandic 
 " language, fo I take thefe names to be invented by tbe •writer of it, and not to admit of ex- 
 " planatory notes!" (Second Edition, p. 65.) 
 
 * Sub initiuiti. Vide pp. g^ — 96. The whole diftridl is fometimes called Caiania. 
 
 ^ Here appears to be a material error, which has produced a vaft deal of confufion and 
 contradiflion. The word norj^woege, or norj)wege, occurs in the original ; which being found 
 jn fome MSS. written without any kind of punftuation after it, and beginning with a fmall 
 letter inftead of a capital, as ufual in old MSS. the name of Norway, a diftinft territory of 
 Nortbmannaland, has been entirely overlooked by the tranfcribers and editors ! Now, in the 
 firft; place, fo far is Ohthere from defcribing Sciringes-heal to be due nortb of Helgoland, as 
 Mr. Forfter tells us, that he twice informs King Alfred exprefsly, that there were no inhabit- 
 ants fettled to the nortb of him ; but, he adds, there is a port (which implies inhabitants) to 
 the fouth of the land, that men call Sciringes-beal. In the next place, to read, " ealne weg 
 " on baet baecbord norjjwege bi fufan }>one Sciringes-heal," i. e. " all the way on the larboard 
 " northway by fouth," &c. is to confound nearly all the cardinal points of the compafs ! 
 (See the note on At-Haethum.) It is nianifeft therefore, that we muft look for Sciringes- 
 heal, i. e. the port of Skiring, or Skeren, not to the nortb of this land, but in the foutbern part 
 of Nortbmannaland itfelf; confequently, if we fix on the port of Ske'esj, oppofite the north- 
 ern part of Jutland, in lat. 59°. 15'. we (hall be able to follow the track defcribed by Ohthere 
 
 with- 
 
log 
 
 of Helgoland ; and to the fouth of this port is a vaft hay which no one 
 can fee acrofs, but that Godand is oppofite, confequently Sciringes-heal 
 muft be the Scoringa of Paul Warnefried. The only difficulty in adopting 
 this fituation is the dijiance from Helgoland, which Ohthere fays to be a full 
 month's continued failing ; but it is eafy to account for that ; when Ohthere 
 failed to the Cwen-fea and the Beormas, he took his courfe in the open fea, 
 though in fight of land, but here he went clofe to the fhore ; and, as the 
 fhores of Oft Gothland and Upland are fo full of rocks ', we may eafily 
 think, what a dangerous and therefore tedious navigation it mufi have been, 
 171 this labyrinth of rocks, without charts, without compafs, without pilots, or 
 
 without the leaft difficulty. Thofe alfo who recolleft the procefs by which Kining in our lan- 
 guage has been contradled into King, &c. will not wonder that Skiring, or Skefen, fhould he 
 now written Ske'en. 
 
 With refpedl to the next port, called At-Haethum, i. e. a port by the heaths, afterwards 
 changed into Haitbaby, and called to this day Haddehy, it is fituated on the fouth fide of the 
 river Schle, oppofite to Schlcfivig, which having fince become of greater importance, has 
 eclipfed the fame of its ancient rival. Hence Sir J. Spelman, Somner, Lye, and others, fol- 
 lowing the authority of Ethelwerd, a Saxon writer, have confidered At-Haethum, or HadcUby, 
 to be the fame with Scbkfwig. 
 
 This port, before the Angles, Jutes, and Saxons came into Britain, was the capital of Old 
 England, or Angle-land ; but when Ohthere and Wulfftan performed their navigations it 
 belonged to the Danes, who appear to have penetrated farther fouth after this great emigra- 
 tion, and to have occupied the vacant feats of the ancient inhabitants; thofe few that re- 
 mained being eafily conquered, and amalgamated with the Southern Danes, whilft fome of 
 the North Dene or Sweo-Dene in their turn have been incorporated into the independent 
 kingdom of Sweden. Jutland, properly written GotIa?id in the time of King Alfred, ftiU 
 retains its ancient name, derived unqueftionably from that branch of Gothic fettlers who firft 
 peopled the Cimbric Cherfonefe. Mr. Forfter feems not to have diliinguilhcd accurately be- 
 tween the ifle of Gothland, or Gotland, and the peninfula of Jutland. This miliake, I ima- 
 gine, together with that of all the editors, of underftanding nokjjwege, the Saxon appellation 
 of Norway, to fignify northward, led him to confider Sciringes-heal to be the modern port 
 of Stockholm. As I have had occafion in this inftance to differ fo widely from Mr. For- 
 fter, in illuftrating the navigation of the Baltic in the ninth century, if my labours fhould 
 happily be rewarded by public approbation, 1 hope, on fome future occafion, to publifli the 
 whole of Alfred's geography, accompanied with accurate maps. 
 
 ' So alfo are thofe of Norway, which may account for the length of the voyage from Hal- 
 goland to the port of Ske'en. See the ditVercnt fignilications of the word zuicode, not. in loc. 
 
 any 
 
no 
 
 ttny of thofe helps, which male our voyages more expecJ'ttious and lefs Jan- 
 geroiis ! 
 
 " Iraland is no doubt here Scotland, which fhews, how unfettled thefe 
 countries muft have been ; and that they were mutually peopled from each 
 other ". 
 
 '* At-Haethum has commonly been thought to be the port of Slefwick, 
 for thus Sir John Spelman tranflates it ; but if we examine the courfe of 
 Wulfftan from At-Heathum to Ilfing, we may be foon convinced how im- 
 poffible it is to be Slefwick ; for when he failed from Heathum he had 
 Weonodland to his right hand, and Langland, Laeland, Falfter, and Sco- 
 ney, or Scania, to his left, which cannot happen in failing from Slefwick to 
 Elbing, and the mouth of the Viftula. It muft therefore be fame port be- 
 yond the Belt in Jutland ; where it will make part of the DenS, and be fi- 
 tuated between Winedum, or the Venedi, the Saxons, and the Angles. 
 
 '^ Trufo feems to have been a town on the banks of the river Ilfing. 
 There is a lake, from which" the river Elbing in Pruffia takes its fource, 
 that is called Draufen or Drufen by the common people. Upon the banks 
 of this lake, I fufpedV, the town of Trufo or Drufo formerly flood ". 
 
 '"^ Denemarca. Mark fignifies country " in the old Northern languages : 
 Denemark is therefore the country of the Danes ; Finmark, the country of 
 the Finni. -ALFRED is the most early writer hitherto 
 
 KNOWN, who mentions THIS NAME. 
 
 " Blecinga is called an ifle p ; but as there are none between Bornholm 
 and Oeland, it muft be rather Bleckingen. 
 
 "> Ireland is generally called Scotland by the writers of the middle ages ; but I do not recoi- 
 led an inftance in which our modern Scotland is called Ireland. I have therefore humbly 
 propofed the reading of Ifaland for Iraland. Vid. not. in loc. 
 
 ■ Wulfftan fays exprefsly, that Trufo flood on the banks of that mere, or lale, from which 
 the Ilfing flowed ; but the paflage is omitted by Mr. Barrington in his tranflation. 
 
 " In its firft fenfcj a boundary, XznA-mark, or dlvifion, between the pofleflions of different 
 perfons or nations. Hence the German titles of Margrave and Margravine, as well as the 
 Englifli Marquifs and Marchionefs, originally fignifying the guardians of boundaries, or 
 marches. The word mear, from mearc, or maerc. Sax. is flill ufed in many parts of England 
 for a boundary or divifion between the lands of different perfons. 
 
 P It is merely called Blecinga-eg, as Scania is called Sconeg j the word eg, ega, aqua, e'a, 
 
Ill 
 
 ^' Meore ^ feems to be comprehended in the diftricfts, which now are 
 called Slider and Norder Moehre, in the province of Smalland : Mau- 
 ringa', mentioned by Paul Warnefried (de geft. Langob. 1. i. c. ii.) as one 
 of the ftations of the Langobardi on their march fouthwards, is very proba- 
 bly this Meore. 
 
 " Eowland is clearly the fame with Oeland ; and is one of the mofl: fer- 
 tile and agreeable iflands of the Baltic ^ 
 
 *° Gotland has unalterably kept its name to the prefent time ; and is 
 famous for having been the conftant rendezvous of the northern heroes, be- 
 fore they went on their marine excurlions. 
 
 *' Wifle is the Weixel, Weichfel, or Weiffel, called by the Poles Wifla, 
 and by the Latin writers, Viftula. Jornandes (de reb. Get. c. 3.) defcribes 
 this river extremely well ; faying of Scancia : " Hccc a fronte pofita eft 
 " Viftulae fluvii : qui Sarmaticis montibus ortus, in confpe6lu Scanziee 
 " feptentrionali oceano trifulcus illabitur :" for this river has really three 
 arms ; the wefternmoft is near Dantzig ; the two eafternmoft branches enter 
 a large lake oi frejh water, called Frifh-HafF: it is about eighteen German 
 miles long, and in fome places three German miles broad, (or ninety Eng- 
 lilh miles long, and fifteen Englifh miles broad). 
 
 eau, Fr. fignifies luater; confequently ealand, or iland, is the fame with nvater-land, and is 
 applied fometimes to a peninfula, as well as to an ijland ; hence the ijles of Purbeck, Portland, 
 &c. each of which is a peninfula. Neither the French word ijle, from infula, ifola, Ital. nor 
 ijland, coraiptly fo written for iland, abfolutely fignifies, in its proper fenfe, land totally Jur- 
 rounded with water. 
 
 "' The penetrating fagacity of Mr. Forfter has appropriated the geographical fifuation of 
 this territory, notwithftanding the confufion occafioned by reading Meroc inftead of Mtore ! 
 
 ' Mauringe appears in Olaus Rudbek's Atlantica, Tab. II. fig. 2. In a defcription of 
 the limits of Denmatk and Sweden in an old Runic MS. publifhed by Wormius, one pf the 
 flones for marking the boundaries is faid to have been placed betweeu Bleking and More, 
 " MiLLiN Bleking og More." Reg. Dan. p. 29. The. name is ftiil preferved in the laft 
 fyllable of the town and territory of Calm ar, oppofite to the iile of Oeland. 
 
 ^ It. is very long and narrow ; extending from lat. 56". 30'. N. to lat. j;°. 40'. Yet, 
 though 70 miles in length, it is not more than 20 in breadth In the wideft part. It lies al- 
 moft oppofite to the iile of Gothland, or Gotland, which is mentioned immediately after. 
 
 ** Eft- 
 
112 
 
 *'' Eft-mere is the PVifh-Haff above mentioned, which is conneAed with 
 the Bakic by a mouth opening near Pillau *. 
 
 "' Weonodland is the ifle of Fynen, or, as the Danes call it, Fy'en, and 
 in Latin Fionia ". 
 
 ** The Wafcan. Thus ^Elfred calls the people of Gafcogne, or the Gaf- 
 coins ; which is a clear proof of the different pronunciation between the 
 Celtic, or Gallic, and the Teutonic tribes. Thus William is changed by 
 the French into Guillaume ; and the family of the Welfi are the Guelfs of 
 the Italian and French writers ". 
 
 •** Profent and Profent-fea are certainly corruptions of the Roman word 
 frovincia ; for this part of Gaul was formerly the Provincia Galliae, and is 
 now called Proven9e, 
 
 ' This lake called by Wulfftan EJlmere, now the Frifti or Frifche Haff, is noticed by Pom- 
 ponius Mela, under the appellation of Eftia, as one of the three largeft lakes in Germany. (De 
 Situ Orbis, lib. Hi. c. 3.) The oppofite Haff io the north-eaft is called the Currifche-Haff. 
 
 " Called by the French Geographers, " Ille de Fiouie." But it is impoflible that Wulfftan 
 could mean the ifle of Fynen in this place; for he had faid before, that Weonodland was all 
 the nvay on the right hand even to the mouth of the Viftula, now called Weijfel-munde \ 
 whereas Fynen was undoubtedly on the left. He alfo defcribes the Vijlula as flowing out 
 of Weonodland (or Winodland) into Eaftmere, now called the Frijh-Haff. I imagine, there- 
 fore, we are to underftand the whole of the fouthern coaft of the Ba'";, formerly inhabited 
 by the Venedic tribes, fome of the defendants of whom no .v occupy the Duchy of IFcndeii. 
 In the geography of Ortelius, (1584.) there is a town called Wineta fouth eaft of the ifle of 
 Rugen. Thefe Venedic tribes were anciently fo numerous, that from them a part of the 
 Baltic was called Mare Venedicum, and the gulf of Finland was called Sinus Venedicus, as 
 well as Finnicus. Mr. Forfter had made the fame miftake before, p. 110. 
 
 * An attention to the guttural prefix ge, common to all rude languages, but almoft obli- 
 terated in the progrefs of refinement, will feri'e to explain thefe varieties of orthography and 
 pronunciation, and contribute to aflimilate all the languages of Europe. William is not 
 changed by the French into Guillaume, for Gild-helm is the original word, which is both 
 Frankifli and Saxon. With refpeft to the Welfi or G'uelfs here mentioned, they were the 
 progenitors of the illuftrious family now on the throne of England ; whofe hiftory, fuc- 
 ceffively illuftrated by the labours of Leibnitz, Echard, Gruber, and Scheidius, amounts to 
 four handfome volumes in folio, entitled, Osioenes Guelfic^e, Planov. 1750, i^S^- 
 
 THE END. 
 
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