OLD ENGLISH OR ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. REPRESENTATIVE WRITERS. POETRY. Caedmon († 680). PROSE. Bede (673-735). Alfred the Great (849-901). I. OLD ENGLISH OR ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. (500-1066.) 8. British Celts.- The original inhabitants of the British Isles, within historic times, were Celts—a part of the first great Aryan wave that swept over Europe. In a portion of Great Britain,-in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales,-the Celtic element is still very strong. The Celts are a vigorous people, adhering to their national customs with great tenacity. They possess a lively imagination, delicate feeling, and a ready enthusiasm. They seem, however, to be lacking in the power of strong political organization; and this defect made them a prey, first to Roman, and later to Teutonic, invaders. 9. Roman Conquests.- The Romans under Cæsar invaded Britain, 55 B. C., and partly subdued it. In the following century Agricola extended the Roman conquest over the territory now included in England, and reduced Britain to a Roman province. Towns were built; military roads were constructed; Roman law was administered; Christianity was introduced; and a considerable commerce was developed. Corn was exported, and the tin mines of Cornwall were worked. But the native population, unlike what had taken place in Gaul and Spain, remained unassimilated to the empire, and still clung, in large measure, to its language and customs. When, after some four hundred years, the Roman forces were withdrawn, the Latin language, with the exception of a very few words, disappeared entirely. The principal relics of this Roman occupation surviving in our language to-day are the word street (from the Latin strata via, a paved way), and the words caster, cester, and chester (from the Latin castra, camp) in the names of places; as, Lancaster, Worcester, and Winchester. IO. Teutonic Invasion.- After the withdrawal of the Roman legions in the fifth century, Britain was invaded by the Angles, Saxon., and Jutes Teutonic tribes that inhabited Schleswig, Jutland, and adjacent territory on the Continent. The beginning of this invasion is usually dated from 449, the year in which Hengist and Horsa, according to the AngloSaxon Chronicle, landed on the shores of Kent. The invading Teutons, hated for their cruelty and their heathenism, were stubbornly resisted by the native Celts, and it was nearly a hundred years before the Britons were finally driven back into Cornwall and Wales. They slowly retired, as did the American Indians in this country, without assimilation; and beyond a few names of places, they left scarcely any trace in our language. The Saxons occupied the south, and the Angles the north and centre of Britain; and to the latter, who were the more numerous, belongs the honor of giving to the country its modern name of England - a word signifying the land of the Angles. II. Racial Character. In the character of these Teutonic tribes are to be found the fundamental traits of the English people and of English literature. In their continental home they led a semi-barbarous and pagan life. The sterile soil and dreary climate fostered a serious disposition, and developed great physical strength. Courage was esteemed a leading virtue, and cowardice was punished with drowning. No other men were ever braver. They welcomed the fierce excitement of danger; and in rude vessels they sailed from coast to coast on expeditions of piracy, war, and pillage. Laughing at storms and shipwrecks, these daring sea-kings sang: "The blast of the tempest aids our oars; the bellowing of heaven, the howling of the thunder hurts us not; the hurricane is our servant, and drives us whither we wish to go." With an unconquerable love of independence, they preferred death to slavery. Refined tastes and delicate instincts were crushed out by their inhospitable surroundings; and their pleasures, consisting chiefly of drinking, gambling, and athletic sports, were often coarse and repulsive. Yet under their coarsest enjoyment we discover a sturdy, masculine strength. |