Page:Origin of the Anglo-Saxon Race.djvu/391

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Settlements on the Welsh Border.
377

previously located there. This view is supported, first, by the place-names which are of the West Saxon and Scandinavian types; and, secondly, by the customs of a large number of manors in Glamorganshire, which are different from the Welsh, and bear a close resemblance to those in west Somerset, to which locality the dialect also points. There must have been a connection between the settlers on both sides of the Channel, as the dialect, customs, and general character of the old names show.

There is also evidence which shows that the coast of Wales and its border near the sea was occupied by Anglian settlers at an earlier period than that of the main settlements by Northmen, and this may be summarised as follows: The topographical name Angle survives on the coast, and can be traced also in old records on the north-east border of Wales. There are Anglesea on the north-west, Angle and Angle Bay in Pembroke Harbour, and Pen Anglas, a promontory west of Fishguard Bay. In the Patent Rolls 9 Edward I. and other documents we read of the cantred of Ross and Englefeld, in or very near the county of Chester. It may be considered certain that these Angle place-names were not given to the districts to which they refer by the Welsh. Their name for Angles, Saxons, and Jutes alike was Saxons, similar to the popular Irish name for the English at the present time. These old place-names must have originated at a time when Angle was in use as a distinctive name for people who migrated from England or for settlers from the North of Europe. During the Viking period such settlers would be known as Northmen and Danes. It is not at all probable that the Angles of Northumbria or parts of Mercia formed new settlements on the Welsh coast while the Danes were establishing others on their own, and it must be remembered that after the Danish period the name Angle or Engle passed out of use, and the English name became solely used. It is difficult, therefore, to avoid the conclusion that these Angle