Page:Origin of the Anglo-Saxon Race.djvu/30

16 On the manor of Wandsworth the youngest son inherited his father’s land, a custom of peculiar interest in reference to Wendish researches. The Wends who took part in the Anglo-Saxon settlement were Slavs of such a mixed Slav descent that they had retained a custom, that of junior right, which was the ancient law of inheritance among the Slavs, and it is very difficult to avoid the conclusion that the Wendish origin of the name is confirmed by the survival of the custom. We are not now, however, considering the settlement in any one district, but the general evidence of a mixture of people of many tribes in different parts of the country, by the formation of communities of people of various races near each other. In connection with this inquiry the survival of names of places derived from the names of well-known tribes among the ancient Germans and Scandinavians, and the survival here and there, notwithstanding the changes likely to have occurred in the course of many centuries, of manorial customs which are known to have been ancient customs, or to closely resemble customs which in ancient time prevailed in parts of Germany and Scandinavia, are most important considerations. Customs of family inheritance, where they can be traced, are in many instances of as much value as contemporary historical information. It does not appear that there is any county in England where the surviving place-names are exclusively of Saxon, Anglian, Jutish, Danish, or Norse origin. If, for example, we consider those in the great areas to which the natural entrances from the sea are by the Humber, the Wash, the Thames, and the Southampton Water, with its adjoining estuaries, we shall find evidence of names of various origins, pointing to settlements of people of distinct races or tribes. In all parts of our country we find that during the last thousand years men have left in their architecture survivals of the period in which they lived. Tribal customs among our forefathers had an earlier origin than their arts, and we may recognise in their