Page:Origin of the Anglo-Saxon Race.djvu/135



HE settlement of Danes in England, which began before Bede’s time, went on apparently more or less continuously after the eighth century. They are mentioned by the name Dene in early Anglo—Saxon records and in the ‘Traveller’s Song,’ and by various names, such as Dacians, Daucnnes, and Scyldings in other ancient writings. Some of them were also known by names derived from the islands they inhabited or their Scandinavian provinces, such as Skanians from the province of Skane.

One of the earliest traces of the Danish name in England is Deniseshurne, mentioned by Bede, apparently a place in Northumberland. Another early name of the same kind is Denceswyrth in Berkshire, in a Saxon charter about A.D. 811. The Anglo-Saxon names Denesig, now Dengey, in Essex, Denetun or Denton in Kent, and Densige, appear to have been derived from those of individuals or families who were Danes, while the name Dentuninga, now Dentun, in Northamptonshire, apparently denotes a kindred of the same race. The Domesday Hundred name Danais, or Daneis, in Hertfordshire, is also apparently derived from the same people.