From Mr Edward Johnson
Sir: I cannot disagree too strongly with Martin Evison's article,
`Lo, the conquering hero comes (or not)' (April), which argues that `accommodation was the rule' between invaders and natives in early medieval Britain.
As a linguist I must take Dr Evison to task. Let us consider the Norman Conquest which led to a Franco-Norman immigrant group establishing itself as a ruling caste of perhaps 10 per cent of the population. Though their linguistic impact was great, English continued to be at base a Germanic tongue, with a majority of the 5,000 basic words of everyday use being of AngloSaxon origin. Yet Dr Evison would have us imagine a majority Celtic population becoming English speakers and bequeathing not more than ten words of their own language into our lexicon! Likewise all the myriad new settlements and political units (wards, counties and the like): some old names did survive and others were transliterated into Anglo-Saxon but these were the exception rather than the rule.
The Scandinavian language (as Dr Evison refers to it) didn't `dwindle away after a few generations'. Old Saxon and Old Norse were sufficiently similar to allow intercommunication, and the first stage of the development of English was the crossfertilisation of Saxon with Danish/ Norse in the early Middle Ages. Of the 5,000 basic words of English, about 20 per cent are Scandinavian, including: get, hit, leg, low, root, skin, same, want, wrong, white, sky, skirt, and skill. The Scandinavian impact on syntax and grammar was even stronger.
As for the genetic evidence, we are still in our infancy in matters of genotype research. However, the blood groupings found in eastern England outwith the major urban centres are similar to North Germany and Scandinavia, that is 70 per cent Group A. Rural Wales contains a majority of Group O, with a large minority of Group B, almost unknown in eastern England. Considering centuries of population movements and intermarriage, this is quite remarkable. Perhaps here we have a clue as to what should be done in order to sample for genes. We should choose from people in rural and semi-rural areas, whose four grandparents (or preferably, eight great-grandparents) were all from eastern England and were protestants (less likely to have married out of the community), and who have English surnames (such as those typical occupational names associated with Anglo-Saxon life: Smith, Wright, Carter, Miller, and so on). Perhaps then it will be possible to begin to consider the AngloSaxon genetic heritage, especially if this is done in conjunction with studies in Wales, Ireland and Scotland.
Dr Evison posits only one theory for the scarcity of a genetic variant here in England but quite common in North Germany. However, there are at least three possibilities. First, that England was predominantly Celtic even after the Anglo-Saxon invasion (Dr Evison's view); second, that England was predominantly Anglo-Saxon but population movements, intermarriage, and other factors have led to a genetic shift; and third, that England was predominantly Anglo-Saxon but population change in North Germany has led to a genetic shift there as well as in England.
I favour a combination of the second and third possibilities. In 70 or so generations since the Anglo-Saxon land-taking there has been emigration, immigration, exogamy, and much else besides. Up to the Norman Conquest documents indicate that the Anglo-Saxons were conscious of their Germanic origins and felt a bloodbond with other Germanic peoples. There is little indication of blood-bonds at this time between the Welsh and the English. Indeed, Celtic Christians at first hated the Saxons so much that they preferred not to proselytise these heathens, such was the resentment between the two races.
Finally, in Schleswig-Holstein and Friesland, original homelands of the English, the majority of residents today are immigrants or the descendants of immigrants of the last 200 years. A large minority, for example, are there as a result of the displacement of Germans from the territories lost in the East after the Second World War - from Silesia, Prussia, Sudetenland and elsewhere.
Yours faithfully,
From Mr Quentin Hawkins
Sir: Martin Evison includes a picture of a pair of knights from the Lewis chessmen, and asserts that they look `indistinguishable from other European warriors of the time'. I would argue rather that they reveal certain clear distinctions.
The Lewis chessmen are catalogued as dating from the 12th century, and their long shields are typical of those used across Europe at this time. Their caparisoned horses can also be seen as following continental fashion. Nevertheless it was normal for 12th century knights to ride fairly large horses, but the horses ridden by the Lewis knights bear a striking resemblance to the ponies commonly ridden by the Vikings. The Lewis chess figures have mostly long hair, in some cases very long. This too is surely a Viking attribute.
Ivory chess figures may not exactly be conclusive evidence, and we cannot be sure that these figures actually originate from the Outer Hebrides, merely that they were discovered there. Nonetheless I feel it is safe to assume that they are evidence for the Norse population of medieval Scotland having been slow to discard their traditional customs and image.
Yours faithfully,
From Mr Graham Robertson
Sir: Your news item, `New 7th century remains found at Ripon' (May), contains the statement `St Wilfrid's stone church was built during the first century of Christianity in England'. This cannot go unchallenged. The early 3rd century Christian writer Tertullian states that the faith was alive and well in Britain in his day. Alban, supposedly the first Englsh martyr, died 450 years before Wilfrid became Abbot of Ripon. Patrick is believed to have preached in the north-western part of Lancashire in the 5th century.
It was not Christianity that was introduced to these islands by Augustine in 597 but rather Roman Catholicism. Had there been no existing Church, there would have been no need for the Synod of Whitby in 664.
Yours faithfully,
From Mr Tony Legge
Sir: Is Francis Pryor being cast in the role of Farmer Palmer
(Letters, June) from the rude comic magazine VIZ? Could the signator Ms Millicent Tant possibly be related to the character Millie Tant in that same publication? I think that we should be told.
Yours faithfully,
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© Council for British Archaeology, 1997
Saxons & Vikings
EDWARD JOHNSON
Saltaire
West Yorkshire
29 April
QUENTIN HAWKINS
London
SE25
22 April
Early Christians
GJ ROBERTSON
Liverpool
11 May
Rude farmer
TONY LEGGE
Birkbeck College
London WC1
12 June