Mr J. J. A. Worsaae, a conspicuous member of that brilliant corps of
northern antiquaries who have of late given a new wing to history,
travelled through the United Kingdom in 1846-7, on a commission from
his sovereign the king of Denmark, to make inquiry respecting the
monuments and memorials of the Danes and Norwegians, which might still
be extant in these islands. The result of his investigations appeared
in a concise volume, which has been translated into English, and
published by Mr Murray in a handsome style, being illustrated by
numerous wood-cuts.[4] It is a work which we would recommend to the
attention of all who feel any interest in our early history, as
calculated to afford them a great gratification. One is surprised to
find in how great a degree the Northmen affected Britain; what an
infusion of Scandinavian blood there is in our population; how many
traces of their predominancy survive in names of places and in more
tangible monuments. Mr Worsaae writes with a warm feeling towards his
country and her historical reminiscences, but without allowing it to
carry him into any extravagances. He is everywhere clear and
simple--sometimes rises into eloquence; and always displays a close
and searching knowledge of his subject.
From the end of the eighth century till the time of the Norman
Conquest, the restless chiefs of Denmark and Norway were continually
in the practice of making piratical expeditions to our shores. They
committed terrible devastations, and made many settlements, almost
exclusively on the eastern coast. Finally, as is well known, we had a
brief succession of Danish kings in England, including the magnanimous
Canute. When we look at the quiet people now inhabiting Denmark and
Norway, we are at a loss to understand whence came or where resided
that spirit of reckless daring which inspired such a system of
conquest, or how it came so completely to die out; but the explanation
is, that the Northmen of those days were heathens, animated by a
religion which made them utterly indifferent to danger. Whenever they
became Christianised, they began to appreciate life like other men,
and ceased, of course, to be the troublers they had once been. Mr
Worsaae draws a line from London to Chester--the line of the great
Roman road (Watling Street)--to the north of which the infusion of
Scandinavian population is strong, and their monuments abundant. A
vast number of names of places in that part of the island are of
Danish origin--all ending in _by_, which in Danish signifies a town,
as Whitby (the White Town), Derby (Deoraby, the town of Deer), Kirby
(the church town), &c.--all ending in _thwaite_, which signifies an
isolated piece of land--all ending in _thorpe_ (Old Northern, a
collection of houses separated from some principal estate)--all ending
in _næs_, a promontory, and _ey_ or _öe_, an island. _Toft_, a field;
_with_, a forest; _beck_, a streamlet; _tarn_, a mountain-lake;
_force_, a waterfall; _garth_, a large farm; _dale_, a valley; and
_fell_, a mountain, are all of them common elements of names of places
in England, north of the line above indicated, and all are
Scandinavian terms. The terminations _by_, _thwaite_, and _thorpe_,
are still common in Denmark.
Mr Worsaae found many memorials of the Northmen in London: for
example, the church of St Clement's Danes, where this people had their
burial-place; the name _Southwark_, which is 'unmistakably of Danish
or Norwegian origin;' St Olave's Church there, and even Tooley Street,
which is a corruption of the name of that celebrated Norsk saint; but,
above all, in the fact that 'the highest tribunal in the city has
retained in our day its pure old northern name "Husting."' The fact
is, that about the time of Canute, the Danes predominated over the
rest of the population of London. Mr Worsaae was not able to trace the
Danish face or form as a distinct element in the modern population. In
going northward, however, he soon began to find that the prevailing
physiognomy was of a northern character: 'The form of the face is
broader, the cheek-bones project a little, the nose is somewhat
flatter, and at times turned a little upwards; the eyes and hair are
of a lighter colour, and even deep-red hair is far from being
uncommon. The people are not very tall in stature, but usually more
compact and strongly built than their countrymen towards the south.
The Englishman himself seems to acknowledge that a difference is to be
found in the appearance of the inhabitants of the northern and
southern counties; at least, one constantly hears in England, when
red-haired, compact-built men with broad faces are spoken of: "They
must certainly be from Yorkshire;" a sort of admission that light
hair, and the broad peculiar form of the face, belong mostly to the
north of England people.... In the midland, and especially in the
northern part of England, I saw every moment, and particularly in the
rural districts, faces exactly resembling those at home. Had I met the
same persons in Denmark or Norway, it would never have entered my mind
that they were foreigners. Now and then I also met with some whose
taller growth and sharper features reminded me of the inhabitants of
South Jutland, or Sleswick, and particularly of Angeln; districts of
Denmark which first sent colonists to England. It is not easy to
describe peculiarities which can be appreciated in all their details
only by the eye; nor dare I implicitly conclude that in the
above-named cases I have really met with persons descended in a
direct line from the old Northmen. I adduce it only as a striking
fact, which will not escape the attention of at least any observant
Scandinavian traveller, that the inhabitants of the north of England
bear, on the whole, more than those of any other part of that country,
an unmistakable personal resemblance to the Danes and Norwegians.'
Scandinavian words abound in the popular language of those districts.
'On entering a house there, one will find the housewife sitting with
her _rock_ (Dan., _Rok_; Eng., a distaff) and _spoele_ (Dan., _Spole_;
Eng., spool, a small wheel on the spindle); or else she has set both
her _rock_ and her _garnwindle_ (Dan., _Garnvinde_; Eng., reel or
yarn-winder) aside, whilst standing by her _back-bword_ (Dan.,
_Bagebord_; Eng., baking-board) she is about to knead dough (Dan.,
_Deig_), in order to make the oaten-bread commonly used in these
parts, at times, also, barley-bread; for _clap-bread_ (Dan.,
_Klappebröd_, or thin cakes beaten out with the hand), she lays the
dough on the _clap-board_ (Dan., _Klappebord_.) One will also find the
_bord-claith_ spread (Dan., _Bordklæde_; Eng. table-cloth); the people
of the house then sit on the _bank_ or _bink_ (Dan., _Bænk_; Eng.,
bench), and eat _Aandorn_ (Eng., afternoon's repast), or, as it is
called in Jutland and Fünen, _Onden_ (dinner.) The chimney (_lovver_)
stands in the room; which name may perhaps be connected with the
Scandinavian _lyre_ (Icelandic, _ljóri_)--namely, the smoke-hole in
the roof or thatch (_thack_), out of which, in olden times, before
houses had regular chimneys and "_lofts_" (Dan., _Loft_; Eng., roof,
an upper room), the smoke (_reek_ or _reik_, Dan., _Rög_) left the
dark (_mirk_ or _murk_, Dan., _Mörk_) room. Within is the _bower_ or
_boor_ (Eng., bed-chamber), in Danish, _Buur_; as, for instance, in
the old Danish word _Jomfrubuur_ (the maiden's chamber), and in the
modern word _Fadebuur_ (the pantry.)'
Mr Worsaae only speaks the truth when he remarks how the name of the
Danes has been impressed on the English mind. 'Legends about the Danes
are,' he says, 'very much disseminated among the people, even in the
south of England. There is scarce a parish that has not in some way or
another preserved the remembrance of them. Sometimes, they are
recorded to have burned churches and castles, and to have destroyed
towns, whose inhabitants were put to the sword; sometimes, they are
said to have burned or cut down forests; here are shewn the remains of
large earthen mounds and fortifications which they erected; there,
again, places are pointed out where bloody battles were fought with
them. To this must be added the names of places--as, the
_Danes-walls_, the _Danish forts_, the _Dane-field_, the
_Dane-forest_, the _Danes-banks_, and many others of the like kind.
Traces of Danish castles and ramparts are not only found in the
southern and south-eastern parts of England, but also quite in the
south-west, in Devonshire and Cornwall, where, under the name of
_Castelton Danis_, they are particularly found on the sea-coast. In
the chalk-cliffs, near Uffington, in Berkshire, is carved an enormous
figure of a horse, more than 300 feet in length; which, the common
people say, was executed in commemoration of a victory that King
Alfred gained over the Danes in that neighbourhood. On the heights,
near Eddington, were shewn not long since the intrenchments, which, it
was asserted, the Danes had thrown up in the battle with Alfred. On
the plain near Ashdon, in Essex, where it was formerly thought that
the battle of Ashingdon had taken place, are to be seen some large
Danish barrows which were long, but erroneously, said to contain the
bones of the Danes who had fallen in it. The so-called dwarf-alder
(_Sambucus ebulus_), which has red buds, and bears red berries, is
said in England to have germinated from the blood of the fallen Danes,
and is therefore also called _Daneblood_ and _Danewort_. It flourishes
principally in the neighbourhood of Warwick; where it is said to have
sprung from, and been dyed by, the blood shed there, when Canute the
Great took and destroyed the town.
'Monuments, the origin of which is in reality unknown, are, in the
popular traditions, almost constantly attributed to the Danes. If the
spade or the plough brings ancient arms and pieces of armour to light,
it is rare that the labourer does not suppose them to have belonged to
that people. But particularly if bones or joints of unusual size are
found, they are at once concluded to be the remains of the gigantic
Danes, whose immense bodily strength and never-failing courage had so
often inspired their forefathers with terror. For though the
Englishman has stories about the cruelties of the ancient Danes, their
barbarousness, their love of drinking, and other vices, he has still
preserved no slight degree of respect for Danish bravery and Danish
achievements. "As brave as a Dane," is said to have been an old phrase
in England; just as "to strike like a Dane" was, not long since, a
proverb at Rome. Even in our days, Englishmen readily acknowledge that
the Danes are the "best sailors on the continent;" nay, even that,
themselves of course excepted, they are "the best and bravest sailors
in all the world." It is, therefore, doubly natural that English
legends should dwell with singular partiality on the memorials of the
Danes' overthrow. Even the popular ballads revived and glorified the
victories of the English. Down to the very latest times was heard in
Holmesdale, in Surrey, on the borders of Kent, a song about a battle
which the Danes had lost there in the tenth century.'
In our own northern land, the Northmen committed as many devastations,
and made nearly as many settlements, as in England. The Orcadian
Islands formed, indeed, a Norwegian kingdom, which was not entirely at
an end till the thirteenth century. In that group, and on the adjacent
coasts of Caithness and Sutherlandshires, the appearance of the
people, the names of places, and the tangible monuments, speak
strongly of a Scandinavian infusion into the population. Sometimes,
between the early Celtic people still speaking their own language, and
the descendants of the Norwegians, a surprisingly definite line can be
drawn. The island of Harris is possessed for the most part by a set of
Celts, 'small, dark-haired, and in general very ugly;' but at the
northern point, called 'the Ness,' we meet with people of an entirely
different appearance. 'Both the men and women have, in general,
lighter hair, taller figures, and far handsomer features. I visited
several of their cabins, and found myself surrounded by physiognomies
so Norwegian, that I could have fancied myself in Scandinavia itself,
if the Gaelic language now spoken by the people, and their wretched
dwellings, had not reminded me that I was in one of those poor
districts in the north-west of Europe where the Gaels or Celts are
still allowed a scanty existence. The houses, as in Shetland, and
partly in Orkney, are built of turf and unhewn stones, with a wretched
straw or heather roof, held together by ropes laid across the ridge of
the house, and fastened with stones at the ends. The houses are so
low, that one may often see the children lie playing on the side of
the roof. The family and the cattle dwell in the same apartment, and
the fire, burning freely on the floor, fills the house with a thick
smoke, which slowly finds its way out of the hole in the roof. The
sleeping-places are, as usual, holes in the side-walls.
'It is but a little while ago that the inhabitants of the Ness, who
are said to have preserved faint traditions of their origin from
Lochlin--called also in Ireland, Lochlan--or the North, regarded
themselves as being of better descent than their neighbours the Gaels.
The descendants of the Norwegians seldom or never contracted marriage
with natives of a more southern part of the island, but formed among
themselves a separate community, distinguished even by a peculiar
costume, entirely different from the Highland Scotch dress. Although
the inhabitants of Ness are now, for the most part, clothed like the
rest of the people of Lewis, I was fortunate enough to see the dress
of an old man of that district, which had been preserved as a
curiosity. It was of thick, coarse woollen stuff, of a brown colour,
and consisted of a close-fitting jacket, sewn in one piece, with a
pair of short trousers, reaching only a little below the knees. It was
formerly customary with them not to cover the head at all.'
The people of the Ness are described as good fishermen--a striking
trait of their original national character, for nothing could
distinguish them more from their neighbours, the ordinary Highlanders
being everywhere remarkable for their inaptitude to a sea-life.
Tradition speaks loudly all over Scotland of the ancient doings of the
Danes. So much, indeed, is this the case, that every antiquity which
cannot be ascribed to the Romans, is popularly thought to be Danish,
an idea which has been implicitly adopted by a great number of the
Scotch clergy in the Statistical Account of their respective parishes.
In the Highlands, Mr Worsaae found the people retaining a very fresh
recollection of the terrors of the Northmen, and ready to believe that
their incursions might yet be renewed. 'Having employed myself,' he
says, 'in examining, among other things, the many so-called "Danish"
or Pictish towers on the west and north-west coast of Sutherland, the
common people were led to believe, that the Danes wished to regain
possession of the country, and with that view intended to rebuild the
ruined castles on the coasts. The report spread very rapidly, and was
soon magnified into the news, that the Danish fleet was lying outside
the sunken rocks near the shore, and that I was merely sent beforehand
to survey the country round about; nay, that I was actually the Danish
king's son himself, and had secretly landed. This report, which
preceded me very rapidly, had, among other effects, that of making the
poorer classes avoid, with the greatest care, mentioning any
traditions connected with defeats of the Danes, and especially with
the killing of any Dane in the district, lest they should occasion a
sanguinary vengeance when the Danish army landed. Their fears were
carried so far, that my guide was often stopped by the natives, who
earnestly requested him, in Gaelic, not to lend a helping-hand to the
enemies of the country by shewing them the way; nor would they let him
go, till he distinctly assured them that I was in possession of maps
correctly indicating old castles in the district which he himself had
not previously known. This, of course, did not contribute to allay
their fears; and it is literally true, that in several of the Gaelic
villages, particularly near the firths of Loch Inver and Kyle-Sku, we
saw on our departure old folks wring their hands in despair at the
thought of the terrible misfortunes which the Danes would now bring on
their hitherto peaceful country.'
We have here been obliged wholly to overlook Mr Worsaae's curious
chapters about Ireland and the Isle of Man, and to give what we cannot
but feel to be a very superficial view of the contents of his book
generally; but our readers have seen enough to inspire them with an
interest in it, and we trust that this will lead many of them to its
entire perusal.