Page:Origin of the Anglo-Saxon Race.djvu/393

Rh surrounds and radiates from the fiords of Milford and Haverford.’ There is other evidence pointing strongly in the same direction, which the same author has mentioned. This refers to the inscriptions known as oghams. The ogham inscriptions which have been found in Wales are about 20. Of these, 17 have been discovered in the counties of Pembroke, Cardigan, Carmarthen, and Glamorgan, 9 out of the 17 having been found in Pembrokeshire. In Devon, 2 ogham inscriptions have been discovered, and 1 in Cornwall. In Ireland they are much more numerous, 155 having been found, but of these, 148 belong to the four counties of Kilkenny, Waterford, Cork, and Kerry—i.e., roughly speaking, they fringe the line of coast which stretches between the two Scandinavian kingdoms of Waterford and Limerick, thus clearly showing their Scandinavian origin. Oghams are, indeed, a variation of runic writing.

The custom of borough-English is certainly not a relic of Welsh law. In parts of South Wales it prevailed, with similar privileges to widows as in the vale of Taunton and on so many manors in Sussex. This custom of some manors in Glamorganshire and Pembrokeshire, by which the youngest son succeeded to the whole of the father’s land, must have been introduced by settlers of another race. It prevailed on many lands in Gower; it was the custom of the manors of Llanbethan, Merthyr Mawr, Coity Anglia, and others. It was also the custom on some of the manors of the Bishop of St. David’s. The resemblance between this custom as it prevailed at Coity Anglia and the many manors of Taunton Dean in Somersetshire is very close—practically identical. The name Anglia attached to this manorial name is of special