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The Saxon Invasion and its Influence on our Character as a Race

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2009

J. Foster Palmer
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Extract

In the following paper the term ‘Ancient Briton’ is applied to the whole of the mixed races which inhabited this island prior to the Teutonic irruption. They consisted of the two Celtic families (the Gaels and the Brythons, or Cymri), and the pre-Celtic races. On the divisions of the latter anthropology has not yet decidedly pronounced, though it seems probable that they were not homogeneous. In any case the principal pre-Celtic type at present discovered, which may generically be termed Iberian, and which appears to correspond with that of the original neolithic inhabitants, was dark, small, and short, the average stature being only sixty-three inches. The pure Celt, on the other hand, was extremely tall, the average stature being sixty-nine inches, and that of the Saxon sixty-seven. This agrees with the statements of Polybius, Strabo, and Ammianus Marcellinus as to the height of the Celt, and at the same time accounts for the Britons being spoken of as short and thick-set. For in this country the Celt was found mixed to a large extent with the short pre-Celtic race or races. The people, therefore, that the Saxons had to contend with were, on an average, of shorter stature than themselves. They varied, no doubt, in different parts of the country, but probably the purest Iberian blood, and consequently the shortest stature, would be at the bottom of the social scale. If any pure Celtic blood remained in the country it would be chiefly in the east; and it is to the permanence of this, rather than to the superior stature of the Angles over the rest of the invaders, that I attribute the height of the present inhabitants of the Anglian districts. The prevailing physiognomy of East Anglia also supports this view; the tall stature, brown hair, grey eye, and arched nose of the pure Celt is not uncommon there.

Type
Research Article
Information
Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , Volume 2 , Issue 2 , June 1885 , pp. 173 - 196
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1885

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References

page 174 note 1 ‘An indolent and slothful race.’—‘Gildas.

page 174 note 2 ‘Enervated and demoralised by long dependence.’—Stubbs, Select Charters.

page 175 note 1 Even as late as the year 836 A.D., Ethelwerd speaks of the conflict with the Britons as still going on. Book III. chap. ii.

page 175 note 2 Henry V., act iv. scene I.

page 175 note 3 Called Gurthrigern by Gildas, Vurthern by Ethelwerd. Vide Appendix, Myths and Heroes.

page 176 note 1 Pearson, C. H., History of England during the Early and Middle Ages, pp. 88, 89Google Scholar; cf. Nennius, , History of the Britons, §§ 31, 38Google Scholar, and Whitaker, History of Manchester, Book II. chap. ii. Though commonly spoken of as a faction fight, this may be considered a rebellion, as Vortigern was at this time the recognised ruler. It is evident from a comparison of these authorities, that Ambrosius, though of partial Roman descent, took the side of the country tribes, while Vortigern, assisted by the Saxons, led the Romanised Britons. Even Green (who rarely agrees with Pearson in anything) appears to support this view, for he mentions a league between the un-Romanised Britons and the Picts.

page 176 note 2 It is not improbable that he subsequently played still more treacherously into the hands of the Saxons by revealing a British conspiracy against them. The language of the triads and the bards favours this view. Vide Craik, and Macfarlane, , Pictorial History of England, vol. i. pp. 141, 142Google Scholar; Herbert, , Britannia after the Romans, pp. 46, 47Google Scholar.

page 177 note 1 Geoffrey of Monmouth, British History, Book VI. chap. vii.

page 177 note 2 Gildas.

page 177 note 3 Vide Appendix, Myths and Heroes.

page 177 note 4 Ibid.

page 177 note 5 Transactions of the Royal Historical Society for 1883, p. 246.

page 178 note 1 As an instance of this it is recorded by Nennius (History of the Britons, § 50) that at the battle of Gurnion Arthur carried on his shoulders the image of the Virgin Mary, and that to this his soldiers attributed the victory. This account, though usually set aside as fiction, suggests precisely what a leading mind in a superstitious age would be likely to do. It shows that he knew how to turn to his own advantage the superstitions of his followers. The power of an army depends more upon the mental condition of its members than on any other cause. A fixed idea of supernatural intervention, if duly impressed upon them, has a double effect. It convinces them of the justice of their cause and of the impossibility of failure. Their action then is united, and they become almost invincible. History abounds in instances of the kind, and commanders have not been slow to avail themselves of such means of success. On the other hand, if he was himself tinged with superstition, it was in common with many of the greatest commanders before and since.

page 178 note 2 Short History of the English People.

page 179 note 1 Transactions of the Royal Historical Society for 1883, p. 187.

page 179 note 2 ‘Report of the Anthropometric Committee of the British Association for 1883,’ pp. 262, 263. Roberts, Charles F.R.C.S., ‘Education and Body-Growth,’ Journal of Education for 12 1883Google Scholar.

page 179 note 3 Short History of the English People, p. 29.

page 179 note 4 ‘Expostulation.’

page 180 note 1 Pearson (p. 56) says: ‘These [the Roman] influences can hardly be over-rated, nor can it be doubted that many of them remained, and even gathered strength, when all seemed to be swept away.’

page 180 note 2 Sir F. Palgrave; Kemble, Anglo-Saxon Charters; Macaulay, , History of England, p. 3Google Scholar.

page 180 note 3 Vide Appendix, Myths and Heroes.

page 181 note 1 As Araunah and Uriah.

page 181 note 2 Transactions of the Royal Historical Society for 1883, p. 208.

page 181 note 3 Some of the old poets were accurate observers of physiognomy. The following lines from ‘Argentile and Curan,’ by William Warner (1558 to 1609), describe the heroine, who, as the daughter of the King of Deira, would be a pure Anglo-Saxon:—

‘Her stature comely, tall; her gate

Well graced; and her wit

To marvell at, not meddle with,

As matchless I omit.

A globe-like head, a gold-like haire,

A forehead smooth, and hie,

An even nose; on either side

Did shine a grayish eie:

Two rosie cheeks, round ruddy lips,

White just set teeth within;

A mouth in meane; and underneathe

A round and dimpled chine.’

Percy' Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. ii. p. 198.

This description coincides very closely with that of the most recent anthropological researches.

page 182 note 1 Roberts, Charles, F.R.C.S., ‘Education and Body-Growth,’ Journal of Education for 12 1883Google Scholar.

page 182 note 2 Vide ‘Report of the Committee of the British Association for 1883, appointed for the purpose of defining the facial characteristics of the Races and Principal Crosses in the British Isles,’ p. 306 of the Association's Report.

page 183 note 1 This is the proportion which the breadth of the skull at its widest part bears to its length at the longest. The length being arbitrarily fixed at 100, the index may vary in different races from 62 to 90 or more.

page 183 note 2 Professor Flower (lectures on the Principal Types of the Human Species) states, as the result of his experience in craniological measurements, that an average of twenty skulls of any race will give a series of indices that has rarely to be modified by observations on a larger number.

page 183 note 3 Thesaurus Craniorum. By Barnard Davis, F.R.S.

page 183 note 4 Topinard's, Anthropology. Translated by Bartley, , p. 241Google Scholar.

page 183 note 5 Park Harrison.

page 183 note 6 Topinard's, Anthropology, p. 241Google Scholar.

page 183 note 7 These were collected with the assistance of Mr. Henry Harvey, the sculptor, who is accustomed to taking minute and accurate measurements for artistic purposes. They are to some extent representative, as all belong to different families, and are all, as far as I can ascertain, of English or Lowland Scotch extraction. The condition of the soft parts may make a slight variation in the measurements, but there is no doubt that they are approximately correct, and are further interesting as being taken from a class whose skulls are not usually available for craniological measurements.

page 184 note 1 ‘Report of the Committee of the British Association for 1883.’

page 185 note 1 Transactions of the Anthropological Institute for 1877, p. 447.

page 185 note 2 My own observations on the colour of the hair and eyes have, at present, given a larger proportion both of the Saxon and Iberian types. The Anthropo-metric Committee of the British Association gives 33.7 per cent, of dark eyes for the whole of England. The colour of the hair is not sufficiently differentiated to form any conclusion on this subject. Vide Report of the Association for 1883, p. 253.

page 185 note 3 Rhys, , Celtic Britain, p. 272Google Scholar.

page 186 note 1 These unfortunate words have met with strange vicissitudes. Whitaker (History of Manchester) gives their number at 3,000, besides local appellations, and Davies (on the Races of Lancashire) also considers them to be very numerous. On the other hand, most of the lexicographers, beginning, I believe, with Johnson (vide Johnson, Latham, Richardson, and others), evince such a determined hostility to all Celtic words, that when they come in contact with one of undoubtedly Celtic origin, they suggest that it must have been purloined by the Romans, taken to Rome, and then sent back to us through Latin sources. Professor Skeat (Etymological Dictionary of the English Language), who may be considered a fair representative of the modern school of philologists, takes a middle course, and, undeterred by the fetters of Johnsonian tradition, introducts about 250. But the number of Celtic words in our language does not in any way affect the main question.

page 186 note 2 No one who has lived in Paris will doubt this fact so far as the French are concerned.

page 187 note 1 Vide de la Villemarqué, Hersart, Les Bardes Bretons: Poèmes du VIe Siècle, and the other works referred to on p. 191Google Scholar. The great Saxon writers Bede and Caedmon did not live till the following century.

page 187 note 2 Decline and Fall, 8vo ed., 1788, vol. vi. chap, xxxviii. p. 304.

page 187 note 3 On this subject see The Druids and their Religion, by Howard, John Eliot F. R. S., ‘Transactions of the Victoria Institute for 1880,’ particularly on the origin of the Cymric language and of the megalithic temples (p. 115)Google Scholar. Among other things, the Druids could calculate eclipses with remarkable accuracy; the structure of Stonehenge also shows their knowledge of astronomy. See also the other works on Druidism referred to on p. 190.

page 188 note 1 Gibbon, , Decline and Fall, vol. i. chap. ix. pp. 367, 368, 369Google Scholar.(German Chastity.)

page 188 note 2 Roberts, William, M.D., F.R.S., ‘Address on Collective Investigation of Disease,’ British Medical Journal for 11 3, 1883, p. 861Google Scholar.

page 188 note 3 Aristotle's, Rhetoric, ed. Gillies, , 1823, Book III. chap. x. p. 403, note IGoogle Scholar(Ϭ κύων τὰ καπηλɛῖα ἐκάλɛι “τὰ 'Ạττικὰ øɛιδίτια.”) —Oxford edition, 1833, p. 185.

page 189 note 1 Roberts, Charles, F.R.C.S., ‘Education and Body-Growth,’ Journal of Education for 12 1883Google Scholar.

page 190 note 1 ‘Cette race [the Celtic] veut l'infini: elle en a soif.’— Renan.

page 190 note 2 For the general tenor of the Druidical theology see Encyclopædia Britannica, art. ‘Druidism,’ by J. Macdonald, and authors referred to by him, especially Reynaud (L'Esprit de la Gaule), who maintains that the Druids were the first to teach clearly the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. Also Giles, , Six Old English Chronicles, pp. 430–434Google Scholar; Gardner, Faiths of the World, art. ‘Druidism;’ John Eliot Howard, The Druids and their Religion, and authors quoted.

page 191 note 1 De la Villemarqué, Poèmes des Bardes Britons du VIe Siècle; Owen, Heroic Elegies of Llywarch Hen; Williams Ab Ithel, Y Gododin; Stephens, ‘Literature of the Kymry’ and ‘Taliessin’ in Archæologia Cambrensis; Warton, History of English Poetry; Sharon Turner, Vindication of the Welsh Bards; Skene, Four Ancient Books of Wales; Herbert, Cyclops Christianus; W. O. Pughes, Cambrian Biography; Owen Jones, Archœology of Wales, &c.; Quarterly Review for September 1852, p. 293; Ibid. for April 1876, pp. 299, 300; Encyclopædia Britannica, art. ‘Celtic Literature,’ by Professor Sullivan, and authors quoted by him.

page 191 note 2 Gibbon's, Decline and Fall, vol. vi. chap, xxxviii. p. 400Google Scholar, note 159 (Gira'dus Cambrensis).

page 192 note 1 Henry Irving and J. L. Toole.

page 192 note 2 Giles, , Six Old English Chronicles, p. 292Google Scholar, note.

page 194 note 1 There is said to be some archæological evidence pointing to the personality of Hengist; vide Pearson, , History of England during the Early and Middle Ages, p. 87Google Scholar; Wilson, , Prehistoric Annals, p. 96Google Scholar, &c.

page 194 note 2 Baring-Gould, Myths of the Middle Ages.

page 194 note 3 This name adapts itself still better to the form 'Aπῴλɛια = Destruction, or 'Aπоλλύων = the Destroyer.

page 194 note 4 ‘By a natural, though unjust, reverse of the public opinion, the severity of the present age is inclined to question the existence of Arthur.‘—Gibbon, , Decline and Fall, vol. vi. chap, xxxviii. p. 392Google Scholar.

page 195 note 1 Encyclopadia Britannica, art. ‘Arthur,’ and authors there referred to, particularly Turner's Anglo-Saxons.

page 196 note 1 Even Hume, the first chapter of whose History appears to be written chiefly with the object of disparaging the Britons, admits that in Northumbria the Saxons met with an ‘obstinate resistance.’