This language, commonly called the
Anglo-Saxon, was cultivated with great
diligence, especially from the time of King
Alfred,who laboured hard to promote the
cause of native literature. The laws were
written in that language; and useful books
were translated, in order that a love of
learning might be fostered among the people.
Some few Latin words were adopted; but in
most cases the foreign terms were translated
into the mother tongue; the Evangelium
was the God-spell, that is, good-spell, or
good-tiding; the Saviour was the Haelend,
or Healer. In speaking of God, they called
him not only the Ael-mihtig, or all-mighty,
but likewise the All-walda, or all-wielder, and
the Ael-craeftig, or all-skilful. For infinite,
they said Un-ge-end-ed, that is, un-ended or
unbounded; and consciousness was the
in-witness.

We may thus see, that in Anglo-Saxon
there was not only a power of making
compound words, but a habit of translating
Latin or Greek compounds into the
corresponding Saxon; and the same principle was
carried out in all the sciences, as far as the
learning of the time extended. Astronomy
was Star-craft; literature was Book-craft,
and a literary man was a Book-man; botany
was Herb-craft; magic was Witch-craft; and
even yet, the labour of the hands is said to be
used in a Hands-craft.

This Teutonic, or Anglo-Saxon language,
prevailed for about six hundred years; but,
when the Normans came over and subdued
the country, they made great changes.
Thenceforward, while Saxon was the
language of the common people, French was
spoken by their lords and masters. This
French, which is a sort of corrupt Latin, was
taught in the schools, spoken in the courts of
justice, and used in the drawing up Acts of
Parliament. And so, from the Conquest till
the time of Henry the Third, there were two
distinct languages in the country, both
undergoing change in their own way; the
Saxon losing the purity which it had in
Alfred's days; the French of London failing
to keep pace with the French of Paris. But
the common people did not give up their
own language; and they have retained for
us some very pure fragments of it in our
county dialects.

Thus, for about three hundred years, the
two languages went side by side, though
both were changing,—drawing closer to each
other. The changes undergone by Saxon,
are seen in the later portions of the Saxon
Chronicle, which was a note-book kept
through a long series of years, until the
reign of Henry the Second, and also in poems
of a later time. As for the French, Chaucer
tells us that the French spoken in the
neighbourhood of Stratford-le-Bow was no longer
recognised at Paris: for, when describing
the Prioress, in his Canterbury Tales, he
says:—

    And French she spake ful fayre and fetisly
    After the schole of Stratford-atté-Bowe;
    The French of Paris was to hir unknowne.

Victors and vanquished were to speak one
tongue; the groundwork of it and the grammar
remained Saxon; but a large number of
words, particularly of compound words, were
French; for the custom of translating Latin
into Saxon ceased. And thus, towards the
end of these three hundred years, a language
was formed, which was intelligible both to
the gentry and the common people.

Dean French, in his valuable work on the
Study of Words, has considered the relations
of the Saxon and Norman occupants; and
thinks, that from an intelligent study of the
contributions which they have severally
made to the English language, we might
almost get at the main story of the country,
even though we had lost our written records.
He observes, that at one period there would
exist duplicate terms for many things; but
that when a word was often upon the lips of
one race, while its equivalent was seldom
employed by the other, the word frequently
used would very probably be handed down,
and its equivalent would be forgotten. In
other cases, only one word may have existed;
inasmuch as the thing which it represented
was confined to one half of the nation, and
remained strange to the other.

He also remarks that our words which
denote dignity, state, or honour, are mostly
derived from the Norman-French. Such
words are, sovereign, sceptre, realm,
chancellor, palace, &c., whence we may infer that
the Normans were the ruling race. For the
word king, which is an exception, he gives an
ingenious explanation. On the other hand,
the objects of nature, the affairs of daily life,
the ties of domestic life, are denoted by Saxon
terms. "The palace and the castle may
have come to us from the Norman, but to
the Saxon we owe far dearer names,—the
house, the roof, the home, the hearth. The
instruments used in cultivating the earth,
the flail, the plough, the sickle, the spade, are
Saxon; so, too, the main products of the
earth, as wheat, rye, oats, &c. And observe,
that the names of almost all animals, so long
as they are alive, are Saxon, but, when
dressed and prepared for food, become
Norman; a fact which we might have expected
beforehand; for the Saxon hind had the
labour of tending and feeding them, but only
that they might appear at the table of his
Norman lord. Thus ox, steer, cow, are
Saxon, but beef, Norman; calf is Saxon, but
veal, Norman; sheep is Saxon, but mutton,
Norman; so it is severally with swine and
pork, deer and venison, fowl and pullet.
Bacon, the only flesh, which, perhaps, ever
came within his reach, is the single
exception."

We may remember also the anecdote told
about the order of the Garter, and the remark
ascribed to King Edward the Third, "Honi