An eloquent modern writer has declared, with a good reason, that even if all other records had perished, "anyone with skill to analyse the language, might re-create for himself the history of the people speaking that language, and might come to appreciate the divers elements out of which that people was composed, in what proportion they were mingled, and in what succession they followed one upon the other." From a careful analysis of the names of the more prominent features of the land; of its divisions, its towns and villages, and even its streets, as well as the nomenclature of its legal, civil, and political institutions, its implements of agriculture, its weapons of war, and its articles of food and clothing,—all these will yield a vast fund of history.

The place-name Liverpool has been the greatest puzzle to local etymologists. From the earliest known spelling—recorded in a deed of the time of Richard I. 1189–99, where the form is Leverpool—to the present, it has gone through more changes than any other local name. As the Norse element in the vicinity of Liverpool has been very great, we may assume the original derivation to come from "hlith," the old Norse for a "slope." The north dialect also contains the word "lither" meaning sluggish. It is an adjective bearing the same meaning as the modern English "lithe," pliant, or gentle. The names Lithgoe, Lethbridge, Clitheroe, and Litherland may be derived from it.

From the peaceful reign of Canute, or Knut, we derive the nautical term, some place-names—Knuts-ford, Knott End, Knot Mill, Knottingley. Knot, from old Norse "Knutr," and "Knotta," a ball, was the name given to the measurement of speed of a ship. Fifty feet was the distance allowed between the knots on the cord, and as many as ran out in half a minute by the sand-glass indicated the speed of the ship. And thus we speak of a 10 knot breeze blowing.B

Hope, as a place-name, is common from the Orkneys to the Midlands, and is derived from an old Norse word "hoop," for a small land-locked bay, inlet or a small enclosed valley, or branch from the main dale. Hope is a common place-name, as well as a surname. In compounds we find it in Hopekirk, Hopeton, Hapton, Hopehead, Dryhope.

From "Trow," a trough, we derive Trowbridge, Troughton, Trawden, and probably Rawtenstall.

The battle of Brunanburg, which took place in the year 937, is supposed to have been fought on the site of the modern Burnley, on the river Brun. King Olaf brought his men over in 600 ships, many containing over 100 men each. He was defeated by Athelstane and his brother Edmund. There was until recently pulled down in Burnley a house called Danes-house. Though the Danes lost this battle, the northern bards recorded its bravery in their war songs, of which their Sagas or legends still preserve some remains.

Among the chief followers of King Athelstane in 931, who subdued the Danish kingdom in England, we find the names of the following Jarls: Urm, Gudrum, Ingrard, Hadder, Haward, Healden, Rengwald, Scule, and Gunner. It is not difficult to recognise modern surnames from this list, such as Urmston, Guthrie, Hodder, Howard, Holden, Heald, Reynolds, Scholes, and Gunning.

"Northumbria was the literary centre of the Christian world in Western Europe," says John Richard Green; and the learning of the age was directed by the Northumbrian scholar Baeda, the venerable Bede.

Yorkshire.

The population of Yorkshire, after the retreat of the Romans, was composed of Angles.

When the Vikings invaded the county, the wide dales only had been occupied by these early settlers. The higher valleys were densely wooded, the broad moors and mosslands had not been penetrated until the coming of the Norse in 900 A.D.

Some Anglian districts were refounded under Danish names, and became flourishing settlements. Canon Atkinson has shown by his analysis of Cleveland, that at Domesday, very little of that district was under cultivation. To the end of the eleventh century it consisted of moor and forest, and that many of the villages had then Danish names. The name Ingleby shows the passing of the Angles, by the addition of the Danish 'by.'

At Domesday Yorkshire was divided into Ridings (thrithings), and Wapentakes.

Such names as Thingwall near Whitby, Thinghow near Gainsborough, Thinghow near Northallerton, and Tingley near Wakefield, though some of the sites have disappeared, remain to show the centres of Danish government. The presence of many Scandinavian places and names suggests that the country before then was a wilderness. The condition of the country may be gathered from the records and traditions of Reginald and Symeon of Durham. In 875 Halfdan the Dane began his raid into Bernicia, and the Abbot of Lindisfarne, Eardwulf fled before him, taking the relics of St. Cuthbert. These wanderings, says Symeon, covered a period of nine years. The leader of this band was Eadred, the Abbot of Carlisle (Caer-Luel), whose monastery had been destroyed, and with the city, lay in ruins for two hundred years. At the places where these relics rested during their wanderings, Churches were afterwards erected, and dedicated to this Saint. The direction taken by the fugitives has been traced by Monsignor Eyre and the late Rev. T. Lees, first inland to Elsdon, then by the Reed and Tyne to Haydon Bridge, and up the Tyne valley; south by the Maiden way, and then through the fells by Lorton and Embleton to the Cumberland coast. At Derwentmouth, Workington, they determined to embark for Ireland, but were driven back by a storm and thrown ashore on the coast of Galloway, where they found a refuge at Whithorn.

Mr. W.G. Collingwood says in his "Scandinavian Britain," that in this storm the MS. Gospels of Bishop Eadfirth (now in the British Museum) were washed overboard, but recovered. At Whithorn the bishop heard of Halfdan's death, and turned homewards by way of Kirkcudbright.

The fact that the relics of St. Cuthbert found refuge in Cumberland and Galloway shows that the Danish invasion, from which they were saved, took very little hold of these parts. The Vikings of the Irish Sea were already under the influence of Christians, if not christianised, and were not hostile to the fugitive monks, while the natives welcomed them.

The early historians relate the curious story of the election of Guthred, Halfdan's successor. Eadred, Abbot of Carlisle, who was with St. Cuthbert's relics at Craik, in central Yorkshire, on the way home, dreamt that St. Cuthbert told him to go to the Danish army on the Tyne, and to ransom from slavery, a boy named Guthred, son of Hardecnut (John of Wallingford says, "the sons of Hardecnut had sold him into slavery"), and to present him to the army as their king. He was also to ask the army to give him the land between the Tyne and the Wear, as a gift to St. Cuthbert and a sanctuary for criminals. Confident in his mission, he carried out its directions; found the boy, ransomed him, gained the army's consent, and the gift of the land, and proclaimed Guthred King at "Oswigedune." Eardwulf then brought to the same place the relics of St. Cuthbert, on which every one swore good faith. The relics remained until 999 at Chester-le-Street, and there Eardwulf re-established the bishopric.

In these records of the Saxon historian Symeon, we have the curious illustration of the Viking raiders becoming rapidly transformed from enemies into allies and rulers chosen from among them. The history of Guthred's reign was peaceful, and he became a Christian King. His election took place about the year 880. During the reign of Guthred, his kingdom became christianised, the sees of Lindisfarne and York survived the changes. Guthred died in 894 and was buried in the high church at York.

In 919 Ragnvald, called by Symeon "Inguald," became King of York. He was one of the most romantic figures of the whole Viking history. His name bore many forms of spelling: Ragnvald, Reignold, Ronald, Ranald, and Reginald.

Coming from the family of Ivar in Ireland, Ragnvald mac Bicloch ravaged Scotland in 912, fought and killed Bard Ottarsson in 914 off the Isle of Man. Joined his brother at Waterford in 915 and set out for his adventure in North Britain. Landing in Cumberland, he passed along the Roman wall, and becoming King of York, was the first of the Irish Vikings who ruled until 954.

The attacks of Vikings who were still Pagans continued, and many curious lights are shed by the chronicles of Pictish writers. The power of St. Cuthbert over the lands given for a sanctuary to Eadred the Abbot, is recorded in the legend of Olaf Ball (from 'ballr,' the stubborn), a Pagan who refused rent and service to St. Cuthbert, for lands granted to him by Ragnvald, between Castle Eden and the Wear. This Pagan came one day to the Church of St. Cuthbert at Chester-le-Street. He shouted to Bishop Cutheard and his congregation, "What can your dead man, Cuthbert, do to me? What is the use of threatening me with his anger? I swear by my strong gods, Thor and Uthan, that I will be the enemy of you all from this time forth." Then, when he tried to leave the Church, he could not lift his foot over the threshold, but fell down dead. "And St. Cuthbert, as was just, thus got his lands."

The succession of races which gave many of our place-names, and the order in which they came, has been pointed out in the following names by the late Canon Hume, of Liverpool: Maeshir, now called Mackerfield, was called Maeshir by the Britons, meaning longfield; to which the Saxons added field, which now becomes Longfield-field, Wansbeckwater is Danish, Saxon, and English, three words meaning water. Then we have Torpenhowhill, a hill in Cumberland, composed of four words, each meaning hill.

In addition to maritime terms, and terms of government, we derive from Danish sources titles of honour and dignity, such as king, queen, earl, knight, and sheriff.

The Danes have left us traces of their occupation in the word gate, which is of frequent occurrence, and used instead of street in many of our older towns. The Saxons, who were less civilised, left many terms, such as ton, ham, stead, and stock. But they had no word to denote a line of houses. "Gata" was therefore not the English word used for gate, but a street of houses. From the Norman we have row, from rue, a street.

The names of many of our streets and buildings are full of historical associations and information. In Bolton, Wigan, and Preston we find some streets bearing the name of gate, such as Bradshawgate, Wallgate, Standishgate, and Fishergate. In the towns of York, Ripon, Newcastle, and Carlisle many more of these gates are to be found. York has no less than twenty gates.

To the roads of the Romans, the Danes gave the name of "a braut," i.e., the broken course, or cleared way. (From this "a braut" comes the modern English word abroad, and the adjective broad.) The Anglo-Saxon took the name of street from the Roman strata. Thus we get the name of Broad Street, being two words of similar meaning.

Lone, lonely, and alone come from "i laun," which means banishment, and those thus outlawed formed the brigands of the hill districts. We thus get Lunesdale, Lune, and Lancaster, from which John of Gaunt took his English title.

Skipper was the Danish term for the master of a small vessel. In the game of bowls and curling the skipper is the leader or director.

"Hay," the Norse for headland, pronounced hoy, furnishes us with several local place-names, such as Huyton, Hoylake, Howick.

A Norse Festival.

Trafalgar Day is celebrated by the usual custom on October 21st—by the hoisting of the British flag on the public buildings and by the decoration of the Nelson Monuments in Liverpool and London. This battle was fought in 1805, and decided the supremacy of Britain as a sea power. Long may the deathless signal of our greatest hero continue to be the lode star of the man and the nation: "England expects that every man will do his duty."

Let us trace the connection between Lord Nelson and the Danes in our own county. Admiral Nelson bore a genuine Scandinavian name, from "Nielsen," and was a native of one of the districts which were early colonised by the Danes, namely, Burnhamthorpe, in Norfolk. His family were connected with the village of Mawdesley, near Rufford, which still has for its chief industry basket-making. Fairhurst Hall, at Parbold, in the same district of Lancashire, was the home of a Nelson family for many centuries.

This recalls the fact that we have still in existence a curious survival. "A strange festival" is celebrated each year on January 31st at Lerwick, or Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkney Isles. The festival called "Up-helly-a" seems to be growing in favour. Lerwick becomes the Mecca of the North for many days, and young people travel long distances to witness the revels that go to make up the celebration of the ancient festival. All former occasions were eclipsed by the last display. At half-past eight o'clock a crowd of about 3,000 people assembled in the square at the Market Cross. In the centre stood a Norse war galley or Viking ship, with its huge dragon head towering upwards with graceful bend. Along the bulwarks were hung the warriors' shields in glowing colours, the Norse flag, with the raven, floating overhead. On board the galley fiddlers were seated. Then a light flared below Fort Charlotte, which announced that the good ship Victory would soon be on the scene. And a stately ship she was, as she came majestically along, hauled by a squad in sailor costume, while a troop of instructors from the Fort walked alongside as a guard of honour to the good vessel. The Victory immediately took up her position, and the guizers began to gather. Torches were served out, the bugle sounded the call to light up, and then the procession started on its way round the town. The guizers who took part numbered over three hundred, and seen under the glare of the torches the procession was one of the prettiest. The Norse galley led the way, and the Victory occupied a place near the centre of the procession. The dresses were very tasteful and represented every age and clime. There were gay Cavaliers, Red Indians, Knight Templars, and squires of the Georgian period. The procession being over, the Victory and the Norse galley were drawn up alongside each other, near the market cross, while the guizers formed a circle round them. Toasts were proposed, songs were sung, and thereafter the proceedings were brought to a close by the guizers throwing their flaming torches on board the ships. As soon as the bonfire was thoroughly ablaze, the guizers formed themselves in their various squads, each headed by a fiddler, and began their house to house visitation. The guizer was costumed as an old Norse jarl, with a sparkling coat of mail, and carried a prettily emblazoned shield and sword. The squad of which he was chief were got up as Vikings. Curiously enough, these were followed by Dutch vrows.

The Orkneys and Shetland Isles were ceded to James III. of Scotland, as the dowry of his wife, Margaret, in 1469, and became part of Great Britain on the union of Scotland with England. James I. married Ann of Denmark, and passed through Lancashire in August, 1617, when he visited Hoghton Tower. The effusiveness of the Prestonians was outdone at Hoghton Tower, where His Majesty received a private address in which he was apostrophised as "Dread Lord." He is reported to have exclaimed "Cot's splutters! What a set of liegemen Jamie has!"