54. The Celtic Influence.

Nothing would seem more reasonable than to expect that the conquest of the Celtic

population of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons and the subsequent mixture of the two peoples

should have resulted in a corresponding mixture of their languages; that consequently we

should find in the Old English vocabulary numerous instances of words that the Anglo-

Saxons heard in the speech of the native population and adopted. For it is apparent that

the Celts were by no means exterminated except in certain areas, and that in most of

England large numbers of them were gradually assimilated into the new culture. The

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that at Andredesceaster or Pevensey a deadly struggle

occurred between the native population and the newcomers and that not a single Briton

was left alive. The evidence of the place-names in this region lends support to the

statement. But this was probably an exceptional case. In the east and southeast, where the

Germanic conquest was fully accomplished at a fairly early date, it is probable that there

were fewer survivals of a Celtic population than elsewhere. Large numbers of the

defeated fled to the west. Here it is apparent that a considerable Celtic-speaking

population survived until fairly late times. Some such situation is suggested by a whole

cluster of Celtic place-names in the northeastern corner of Dorsetshire.1

It is altogether

likely that many Celts were held as slaves by the conquerors and that many of the Anglo-

Saxons chose Celtic mates. In parts of the island, contact between the two peoples must

have been constant and in some districts intimate for several generations.