Page:Origin of the Anglo-Saxon Race.djvu/405



NE of the conclusions to which the evidence that has been brought forward leads us is that the Old English or Anglo-Saxon race was formed on English soil out of many tribal elements, and that the settlers who came here were known among themselves by tribal names, many of which still survive in those of some of the oldest settlements, where they lived under customary family and kindred law. Under the general names Jutes, Angles, Saxons, Danes, and Northmen, came numerous allies. It appears certain that Frisians of various tribes were, in regard to number, as important as any settlers, and that they came among the Angles as well as among the Jutes and Saxons. Under the Saxon name there can be very little doubt that colonists were settled on the east coast of England before the withdrawal of the Romans.

In reference to Danes and Scandinavians, it appears from the evidence adduced that they brought with them many allies from various countries on the Baltic coasts on which they had previously formed settlements, or which they had brought under subjection. The evidence appears conclusive that there was a Wendish, and consequently a Slavonic, element among the earlier tribal immigrants as well as among the later. It has also been shown that some Celtic people must have been absorbed into the Anglo-Saxon stock.