parts In the north of England there are very few In other shires. The counties are principally lands; there all are are Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland; Lands. and these are the only lands in England except Rutland and Cleveland, a district of Yorkshire. Durham is the only county in the north which is not a land or a shire. The other two northern counties are shires, viz. Lancashire and Yorkshire. In Yorkshire were formerly three small shires, viz. Hallamshire, Blackburnshire, and Richmondshire, and one land, viz. Cleveland; and in Northumberland was formerly a small shire called Hexhamshire. In Scotland there are only three counties which are not shires, and of these Caithness and Sutherland are both Norwegian. This is why the latter, although the most northern county in Scotland, is called South-, or Suther-, land. It was south of Norway. In Ireland there is only one shire, Downshire. took their names from towns already The shires took their name in most cases from The shires towns, which were built before the country was divided into shires. Thus we know that York was built before the time of the Romans, before shires were built. heard of, and must have given its name to Yorkshire. In like manner Leicester gave the name to Leicestershire, Hertford to Hertfordshire, and so on. This rule applies to the whole of the midland counties, forming, as I have mentioned, the old kingdom of Mercia. Shropshire at first seems to be an exception; but Shrewsbury, the capital town, was anciently spelt Scrobbesbury, from which Shropshire (perhaps originally Scrobbesburyshire) was probably derived. of Wessex In Wessex this rule does not apply; but the Divisions counties seem to have been named after the tribes derived settled there, for we have Dorset and Somerset, Ꭰ from the setan, or settlers. Importance of knowing the origin of the English race. derived from setan, a settler, and Wiltshire was originally Wiltsætan. Berkshire, formerly called Bearrucscir, is said to be derived from Bare-oak, because in that county meetings were held at a bare or pollard oak. Hampshire was originally Hamtunshire, from Hamtun, now Southampton. Devonshire was part of the ancient kingdom of Damnonia. Norfolk and Suffolk were the ancient kingdom of East Anglia divided into the North-folk and Southfolk. Essex and Middlesex were parts of the kingdom of East Seaxe. Kent was the old kingdom of the Cantwara, and Canterbury was the borough or town of the Cantwara. Sussex was South Seaxe; Surrey was formerly Suthric, or Suthrige, which meant the southern people, or people south of the Thames. In the north the counties took their names from divisions of the land; thus, Northumberland was a part of the old kingdom of Northumbria, or land north of the Humber, and Cumberland was the land of the Cumbrians. If any apology were needed for thus bringing before you an account of the origin of these ancient divisions of our island, the following extract from Dean Trench's Lectures on the Study of Words would be quite sufficient. He says: "Of all the thousands who are aware that the Angles and Saxons established themselves in this island, and that we are in the main descended from them, it would be curious to know how many have realised to themselves that this 'England' means 'Angleland,' or that in the names of Essex,' 'Sussex,' and 'Middlesex,' we preserve a record to this day of East Saxons, South Saxons, and Middle Saxons, who occupied those several portions of the land. I can not but believe that these Angles and Saxons, about whom our pupils may be reading, will be to them more like actual men of flesh and blood, who indeed trod this same soil that we are treading now, when we can thus point to the traces of them surviving to the present day, which they have left behind them, and which England, as long as it is England, will retain." The Danes remained in England for about 300 years; but, until Canute became king of England, they seem to have been rather ravagers of the land than peaceful settlers. The changes they effected in our laws are matter of controversy, and patriotic Danes claim for them trial by jury, and many other beneficial institutions. In this there is unquestionably great exaggeration. The exact truth is difficult to ascertain, but the Danish names of places, scattered over a considerable portion of England, show that they had settled themselves widely throughout the country. Traces of the names Danes in of places. names of tinguished from An glo-Saxon. The Danish names of places may easily be dis- Danish tinguished from the Anglo-Saxon. Thus, all places which end in -ton, -ham, -bury or borough, -forth easily disor -ford, -hurst (a wood or forest), and -worth, not to mention others, are Anglo-Saxon. Sussex, Surrey, and Kent were eminently Anglo-Saxon counties, and the number of places whose names end in -hurst, as Penshurst, Midhurst, Ewhurst, are evidence, not only of their Saxon character, but also of the extensive forests which formerly covered large portions of those counties, and of which many parts still remain, especially on the borders of Sussex and Surrey. The Weald (wold or wood) is yet applied to the same district, including the adjoining part of Kent. The following are Danish rather than Saxon end Danish names principally ings: with, a forest; -toft, a field; -fell, a rocky mountain; -force, a waterfall; -garth, a large farm. The ending -by, a town, is exclusively Danish. Now these Danish names are found principally in the middle and north of England. There are above 600 towns and villages ending in -by; such as Derby, and north Whitby, Grimsby, Selby, Rugby. Of these, above in the middle of Eng land. Danish endings compared glo-Saxon endings. 200 are in Lincolnshire, and above 150 in Yorkshire, while in Essex there are only two, in Kent only one, and not one in any other county south of the Thames. Where the English, or Anglo-Saxons, said Ship-, as in Shipton, the Danes said Skip-, as in Skipton, with An- Skipwith; where the English said Fish-, as in Fishtoft, the Danes said Fisk-, as in Fiskerton; where the English said Worm-, as in Wormshead, the Danes said Orm-, as in Ormshead; where the English said -church, as in Dunchurch, Whitchurch, the Danes said -kirk, as in Ormskirk; where the English said -cester or chester, as in Worcester, Manchester, both derived originally from the Latin word Castrum, a camp, the Danes said -caster, as in Lancaster; and where the English said Charl-, as in Charlton, the Danes said Carl, as in Carlby, thus using c or k where the Saxons used h or ch. It is needless to give more instances of these endings, but, if you look through any large maps, you will find these Danish names distributed as I have mentioned. Danes in In London, there are several names which recall the memory of the Danes and Northmen. Thus in the Borough, there is St. Olave's Church, dedicated to the Norwegian king, Olaf the Saint, and Tooley Street is believed to be a corruption of St. Olave's Street. There are in London three other churches dedicated to St. Olaf. Then again, in the Strand, there is the parish of St. Clement Danes. This was originally a Danish settlement outside the walls of the old city of London. In one instance it is curious that the Danes changed the name of an old Saxon city into a Danish name, and that the Danish name has remained to this day. Derby, which from its termination is evidently a Danish word, was originally called by the Saxons Northweorthig. The Danes had five great settlements in that part of England, viz.: Derby, Stamford, Lincoln, Nottingham, and Leicester. What I have told you about these names of places is sufficient to show you that the Danes settled themselves widely over England, and principally on the north-east coast, from which they seem to have spread into the midland counties. From the south, where they made great efforts to overcome the Anglo-Saxons, they seem to have been entirely driven out; and neither in our language, nor in our laws, have they, in any part of England, left traces so deep as the Saxons. The Reign of Edward the Confessor. A. D. 1042. the Con king. Hardicanute died in 1041, and, on his death, the Edward English, enraged at the oppressions of the Danes under his reign and that of his predecessor Harold chosen Harefoot, shook off the Danish yoke, and chose for their king, Edward, called the Confessor on account of his piety. He was the son of Ethelred the Second, called the Unready, and of Emma, sister of Richard Duke of Normandy, from whom descended William called the Conqueror. A King of the Anglo-Saxon race thus again ascended the throne. But although |