THE SAXONS IN ENGLAND.
[book I.
the fortune and the arms of Rome had prevailed
over her ill-disciplined antagonists, and both con-
tinent and island were subject to the same all-em-
bracing rule, it is highly probable that the ancient
bonds were renewed, and that the most familiar
intercourse continued to prevail. In the time of
Strabo the products of the island, corn, cattle, gold,
silver and iron, skins, slaves, and a large descrip-
tion of dog, were exported by the natives, no doubt
principally to the neighbouring coasts, and their
commerce with these was sufficient to justify the
imposition of an export and import duty ɪ. As early
as the time of Nero, London, though not a colony,
was remarkable as a mercantile station 2, and in all
human probability was the great mart of the Gauls.
There cannot be the least doubt that an active com-
munication was maintained throughout by the Kel-
tic nations on the different sides of the channel ;
and similarly, as German tribes gradually advanced
along the lines of the Elbe, the Weser, the Maes
and the Rhine, occupying the countries which lie
upon the banks of those rivers, and between them
and the sea, it is reasonable to suppose that some
offsets of their great migrations reached the oppo-
site shores of England3. As early as the second
ɪ Book iv. p. 278. 2 Tacit. Ann. xiv. 33.
, Caesar notices the migrations of continental tribes to Britain : he
says, “ Britanniae pars interior ab iis incolitur, quos natos in insula
ipsa meɪnoria prodituɪn dicunt ; ɪnaritima pars ab iis qui praedae ас
belli inferendi causa ex Belgis transierant ; qui omnes fere iis nomini-
bus Civitatum adpellantur, quibus orti ex civitatibus eo pervenerunt, et
bello inlato ibi remanserunt, atque agros colere coeperunt.” Bell. Gall,
v. 12.
CH. I.]
SAXON AND WELSH TRADITIONS.
century, Chauci are mentioned among the inhabit-
ants of the south-east of Ireland1, and although we
have only the name whereby to identify them with
the great Saxon tribe, yet this deserves considera-
tion when compared with the indisputably Keltic
names of the surrounding races. The Coritavi5 who
occupied the present counties of Lincoln, Leicester,
Rutland, Northampton, Nottingham and Derby,
were Germans, according to the Welsh tradition
itself2, and the next following name Kατυeυχλαvot,
though not certainly German, bears a strong re-
semblance to many German formations3.
Without, however, laying more stress upon these
facts than they will fairly warrant, let us proceed
to other considerations which render it probable
that a large admixture of German tribes was found
1 Ptolemy, bk. ii. c. 2. It is true that Ptolemy calls them Kαvκo<,
but this mode of spelling is not unexampled, and is found in even so
correct a writer as Strabo. The proper form is K<wχot. Latin authors
occasionally write Cauci for Chauci, and sometimes even Cauchi : see
Zeuss, Die Deutschen und die Nachbarstamme, p. 138. It is right to
add that Zeuss, whose opinion on such a point is entitled to the highest
consideration, hesitates to include these Kαvκoc among Germanictribes
(p. 199). The Mamrrtoil placed also by Ptolemy in Ireland, can hardly
be Germans.
2 Ptolemy, bk. ii. C. 3. μcθ' oυs Kopιτavo'ι, tv o’s rroλtιs, λlvδov, paye
eιτα, Haτvιυχλavo'ι, tv oïs τr<5λeιr, σaληvaι [al. σαλιoiiα4^, oυpoλavιov.
Others have preferred the form Koριτavoι, but the authority of the best
manuscripts, not less than the analogy of the names Ingaevones, Iscae-
vones, Chamavi, Batavi, confirms the earlier reading. According to the
Triads, theseCoritavi (Coriniaidd) had migrated from aTeutonic marsh-
land. Thorpe’s Lappenberg, i. 15. Thewordisthusinallprobability
derived from Hor, lutum, Horiht, Iutosus ; equivalent to the “ aquosa
Fresonum arva.” Vit. Sci. Sturm. Pertz. ii. 372. “ Saxones, gentem
oceani, in Iittoribus et paludibus inviis sitam.” Oros. vii. 32.
3 Chatuarii, Heaftobeardan. Heaftormmes. However Catu is a ge-
nuine British prefix.