of the serfs were mainly Celtic,—­Griffith, Modred, Riol, and so forth,—­as may be seen from the list of manumissions preserved in a mass-book at St. Petroc’s, or Padstow.  Elsewhere, however, the Celtic names seem to have dropped out, for the most part, with the Celtic language.  It is true, we meet with cases of apparently Welsh forms, like Maccus, or Rum, even in purely Teutonic districts; and some names, such as Cerdic and Ceadwalla, seem to have been borrowed by one race from the other:  while such forms as Wealtheow and Waltheof are at least suggestive of British descent:  but on the whole, the conquered Britons appear everywhere to have quickly adopted the names in vogue among their conquerors.  Such names would doubtless be considered fashionable, as was the case at a later date with those introduced by the Danes and the Normans.  Even in Cornwall a good many English forms occur among the serfs:  while in very Celtic Devonshire, English names were probably universal.

The Danish Conquest introduced a number of Scandinavian names, especially in the North, the consideration of which belongs rather to a companion volume.  They must be briefly noted here, however, to prevent confusion with the genuine English forms.  Amongst such Scandinavian introductions, the commonest are perhaps Harold, Swegen or Swend, Ulf, Gorm or Guthrum, Orm, Yric or Eric, Cnut, and Ulfcytel.  During and after the time of the Danish dynasty, these forms, rendered fashionable by royal usage, became very general even among the native English.  Thus Earl Godwine’s sons bore Scandinavian names; and at an earlier period we even find persons, apparently Scandinavian, fighting on the English side against the Danes in East Anglia.

But the sequel to the Norman Conquest shows us most clearly how the whole nomenclature of a nation may be entirely altered without any large change of race.  Immediately after the Conquest the native English names begin to disappear, and in their place we get a crop of Williams, Walters, Rogers, Henries, Ralphs, Richards, Gilberts, and Roberts.  Most of these were originally High German forms, taken into Gaul by the Franks, borrowed from them by the Normans, and then copied by the English from their foreign lords.  A few, however, such as Arthur, Owen, and Alan, were Breton Welsh.  Side by side with these French names, the Normans introduced the Scriptural forms, John, Matthew, Thomas, Simon, Stephen, Piers or Peter, and James; for though a few cases of Scriptural names occur in the earlier history—­for example, St. John of Beverley and Daniel, bishop of the West Saxons—­these are always borne by ecclesiastics, probably as names of religion.  All through the middle ages, and down to very recent times, the vast majority of English men and women continued to bear these baptismal names of Norman introduction.  Only two native English forms practically survived—­Edward and Edmund—­owing to mere accidents of royal favour.  They were the