A Brief History of the English Language and Literature, Vol. 2 | Page 7

in
contact, have had many results-- one among others, that of presenting
us with contributions to our vocabulary. We found Kelts here; and

hence we have a number of Keltic words in our vocabulary. The
Romans held this island for several hundred years; and when they had
to go in the year 410, they left behind them six Latin words, which we
have inherited. In the seventh century, Augustine and his missionary
monks from Rome brought over to us a larger number of Latin words;
and the Church which they founded introduced ever more and more
words from Rome. The Danes began to come over to this island in the
eighth century; we had for some time a Danish dynasty seated on the
throne of England: and hence we possess many Danish words. The
Norman-French invasion in the eleventh century brought us many
hundreds of Latin words; for French is in reality a branch of the Latin
tongue. The Revival of Learning in the sixteenth century gave us
several thousands of Latin words. And wherever our sailors and
merchants have gone, they have brought back with them foreign words
as well as foreign things-- Arabic words from Arabia and Africa,
Hindustani words from India, Persian words from Persia, Chinese
words from China, and even Malay words from the peninsula of
Malacca. Let us look a little more closely at these foreign elements.
6. +The Keltic Element in English.+-- This element is of three kinds: (i)
Those words which we received direct from the ancient Britons whom
we found in the island; (ii) those which the Norman-French brought
with them from Gaul; (iii) those which have lately come into the
language from the Highlands of Scotland, or from Ireland, or from the
writings of Sir Walter Scott.
7. +The First Keltic Element.+-- This first contribution contains the
following words: Breeches, clout, crock, cradle, darn, dainty, mop,
pillow; barrow (a funeral mound), glen, havoc, kiln, mattock, pool. It is
worthy of note that the first eight in the list are the names of domestic--
some even of kitchen-- things and utensils. It may, perhaps, be
permitted us to conjecture that in many cases the Saxon invader
married a British wife, who spoke her own language, taught her
children to speak their mother tongue, and whose words took firm root
in the kitchen of the new English household. The names of most rivers,
mountains, lakes, and hills are, of course, Keltic; for these names
would not be likely to be changed by the English new-comers. There

are two names for rivers which are found-- in one form or another-- in
every part of Great Britain. These are the names +Avon+ and +Ex+.
The word +Avon+ means simply water. We can conceive the children
on a farm near a river speaking of it simply as "the water"; and hence
we find fourteen Avons in this island. +Ex+ also means water; and
there are perhaps more than twenty streams in Great Britain with this
name. The word appears as +Ex+ in +Exeter+ (the older and fuller
form being Exanceaster-- the camp on the Exe); as +Ax+ in
+Axminster+; as +Ox+ in +Oxford+; as +Ux+ in +Uxbridge+; and
as +Ouse+ in Yorkshire and other eastern counties. In Wales and
Scotland, the hidden +k+ changes its place and comes at the end. Thus
in Wales we find +Usk+; and in Scotland, +Esk+. There are at least
eight Esks in the kingdom of Scotland alone. The commonest Keltic
name for a mountain is +Pen+ or +Ben+ (in Wales it is Pen; in
Scotland the flatter form Benis used). We find this word in England
also under the form of +Pennine+; and, in Italy, as +Apennine+.
8. +The Second Keltic Element.+-- The Normans came from
Scandinavia early in the tenth century, and wrested the valley of the
Seine out of the hands of Charles the Simple, the then king of the
French. The language spoken by the people of France was a
broken-down form of spoken Latin, which is now called French; but in
this language they had retained many Gaulish words out of the old
Gaulish language. Such are the words: Bag, bargain, barter; barrel,
basin, basket, bucket; bonnet, button, ribbon; car, cart; dagger, gown;
mitten, motley; rogue; varlet, vassal, wicket. The above words were
brought over to Britain by the Normans; and they gradually took an
acknowledged place among the words of our own language, and have
held that place ever since.
9. +The Third Keltic Element.+-- This consists of comparatively few
words-- such as clan; claymore (a sword); philabeg (a kind of kilt), kilt
itself, brogue (a kind of shoe), plaid; pibroch(bagpipe war-music),
slogan (a war-cry); and
whisky. Ireland has given us shamrock, gag,
log, clog, and brogue-- in the sense of a mode of speech.
10. +The