Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch | Page 6

will generally
represent fairly well the extent of settlement. But where they have
taken place comparatively late, or where they have been of a more
peaceful nature, the number of new names of places that result from
them may not at all indicate their extent. The Scandinavians that settled
in Southern Scotland probably at no time exceeded in number the

native population. The place-names would then for the most part
remain unchanged. The loanwords found in Southern Scotch and the
names of places resemble those of Northwestern England. The same
Northern race that located in Cumberland and Westmoreland also
located in Scotland. It is probable, as Worsaae believed, that it is a
second migration, chiefly from Cumberland. Dumfriesshire, at any rate,
may have been settled in this way. The settlers of Kircudbright and
Wigtown were probably largely from the Isles on the west. Other
independent settlements were made in Lothian and the region about the
Forth. That these are all later than those of Cumberland and
Westmoreland is probable. According to what has been said above, the
settlements in Dumfries, which seem to have been the earliest, could
not have taken place before about the second quarter of the 10th
Century, and probably were made later. The other settlements in
Southern Scotland may extend even into the 11th Century. The name
Dingwall (O.N. _Ðingvöllr_) in Dumfries, the place where the laws
were announced annually, indicates a rather extensive settlement in
Dumfries, and the dialect of Dumfries is also characterized by a larger
number of Scandinavian elements than the rest of the Southern
counties.
4. SETTLEMENTS IN ENGLAND, NORSE OR DANISH? THE
PLACE-NAME TEST.
That the Danes were more numerous than the Norsemen in Central and
Eastern England from Northumberland down to the Thames there can
be no doubt. The distinctive Norse names fell, tarn and force do not
occur at all, while thorpe and toft, which are as distinctively Danish,
are confined almost exclusively to this section. In Northumberland,
Durham, Cumberland, Westmoreland and Lancashire thorpe is
comparatively rare, while toft is not found at all. On the other hand, fell,
dale, force, haugh, and tarn (O.N. fjall, dalr, foss and fors, haugr,
_tjörn_) occur in large numbers in Northwestern England. Beck may be
either Danish or Norse, occurs, however, chiefly in the North. Thwaite
Worsaae regarded as Danish "because it occurs generally along with
the Danish by." We find, however, that this is not exactly the case. In
Lincolnshire there are 212 _by's_, in Leicestershire 66, in Northampton

26; thwaite does not occur at all. In Yorkshire there are 167 names in
by and only 8 in thwaite, and 6 of these are in West Riding. It is only in
Cumberland and Westmoreland that the proportions are nearly the same,
but on by see below §5. Tveit is far more common in Norway than tved
in Denmark. The form of the word in place-names in England is,
furthermore, more Norse than Danish. In the earliest Scandinavian
settlements in England, those of Lincolnshire, for instance, thwaite
might be Danish if it occurred, for monophthongation of _æi_ to e did
not take place in Danish before about the end of the 9th Century; by
about 900 this was complete (see §6). The Scandinavian settlements in
Northwestern England, however, did not take place so early,
consequently if these names were Danish and not Norse we should
expect to find thwet, or thweet (_tweet_), in place of thwaite. It is then
to be regarded as Norse and not Danish. Thwaite occurs almost
exclusively in Northwestern England--43 times in Cumberland as
against 3 in the rest of England south of Yorkshire. Garth (O.N.
_garðr_, O. Dan. gardh, later _gaard_), occurs very often in
Cumberland. With, ness, holm, land, and how, do not occur very often.
How reminds one of the Jutish _höw_ in Modern Danish dialect. The
rest of these may be either Danish or Norse. In Yorkshire we find a
mixed condition of affairs. East Riding, as we should expect, has
predominantly Danish names. Thorpe, which occurs 63 times in
Lincolnshire, is found 48 times in East Riding. Fell, tarn and haugh do
not occur. Force is found twice, and thwaite once. Dale, however,
occurs 12 times. West Riding was probably settled by Danes from the
East and by Norsemen from the West. Thorpe occurs 29 times, with 8,
toft 2, beck 4, fell 15, thwaite 6, dale 12, and tarn 2. In North Riding
thorpe occurs 18 times. Force, fell, and tarn
together 12. The large
number of names in dale in North Riding is rather striking (40 in all),
as compared with 52 for Westmoreland and Cumberland. While dale is
predominantly Norse, it may perfectly well be Danish, and it is not rare
in Denmark. Furthermore, the greater number of dales in Norway as