The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-10-28
flor the Dispatch.J
lIFor
0ur Names.

IpquiYers into the origin OF English sur
names have generally gone no further bach
than the Norman invasion OF the year 1866
But we must remember that the battle oil
Hastings was not The first occasion OF con.
test between Mortimer and Saxons. AS
cOBquerors and c0lonists, the Danes had
established themselves, more than hun.
dred years previously, over half OF Eng
land; the Norwegians had settled. extern
-siyely the western coast OF Scotland. and
had full possession in the north OF the Shet-
land and the Orkney Islands, as well as
.Dumfriesshire on the mainland; and the Isle
OF Man was for centuries a dependency OF
the crown OF Norway, having been con-
.quered by the same old Vikings that disco
yvered Iceland.
During the ninth. tenth, and eleventh
centuries the Scandinavian races were the
most enterprising people OF Europe. 'fbey
sailed up the Elbe, the Scheldt, the Rhine,
THE Moselle, and the Neckar. They ravaged
the valleys OF the Somme, the Seine, the
Marine, the Yonne, the Loire, and the Ga
rome. They besieged Paris, Amiens, Or
leans, Tours, Troyes, Cbalons, POictiers,
Bordeaux, and Toulouse. They piundered
1.-THE coasts OF Italy, and encountered the
Arabs nj Seville and Barcelona. Over the
be seen one OF the sculptured lines that
once adorned the PiIaus at Athens. The
marble is deeply scored with Morse runes.
which, as deciphered by Professor Rain, OF
,Copenhagep, give the record Of tie capture
of the Pir2ps by Harold Hardrada. theNor-
weeian King. In the year are Rollo the
Dane received large province to eheId
las afief Of the Crown OF France from the
nationality OF the conquer0rs it was called
"Normandy." For centuries Norman
guard.wa the chief support Of the totter-
ing throne Of the ConstantinopOlitan enpe-
} rors.
A race so energetic must have left some
Impress OF themselves upon the face Of the
. earth. The written annals uf theirscOn-
Gquesls are, however, scanty and obscure.
sBut many Facts which history has left unre-
corded are recoverable by means OF the
Morse nanss which abound along the
northwestern shores OF Europe. '@fByitbe
;,aE Of the names on our modern map"
SAY Isaac Taylor, ave are able to define
the precise area which was ravaaoG by the
/, ScardinaviaRs, and we can in dnaay in
+, stas, detects The nature OF the descent,
wbesher for proposes OF plundec, rtrste, cor
cOI0ngzatiOn. Sometimes, indeed, we can
''eyens. ecover tbeVyery names OF the Vickisg
chiefs.and Of that followers, aud ASCERTAIN
from n hence they sailed, whether from the
iow-Iyiag coasts a. Denmark or from, the
rock.bVlnd fiords Ct Norway
1t isho part Of ear purpose TO inysstii
gate geographical nsines, as Mr.. Tayl0i1Ilas
done so elaborsteiy 10 bis Words ,szaS
Places; klt we want to ascer fain whether
agreat ma3y Of our existing suraames are
sDoE as piai0'y due tothese Dort heCn adyen-
tuners as The names Of fbe stat ions where,
tbay shelferaj their -shigs, or of tae settled
men<s where their colonists cong Tegtted. !
Macy OF Onf modern surnam, V aTe in
txpliszble without recunnis TO No rserootsl
For Instance, woo will suppose bat Dir!
Baccbcs takes BIZ eognomeE from theSlas-
sic god Of wine5 But wbea we lea ia chat
BdkkS was personal name Ia use ssnsng
the scandinayians. II is easy to see no wrfhe
possessiye patronym Baktis might have
been written Bacchus by some one vb0
knew more about Latin than he did al Natf:l
Danish.
And what 10 Paxton IL 1t Is not Bakk sSti
|0tcR? And right here we will remark ID siiI
L ID not necessary TO flnd on the map a Sc. III
,lement answering TO every English sur
name In ton, for the reason that the word |
originally meant single homestead or !
arm, or any place enclosed with hedge
rom the Anglo-Saxon verb tyndu, "to I.
le0xe." The word still had this restricted | 4
nesning In Wickiine's time. for thus was 4
endered Matthew xii, 8: F" But thei dis. {
'iseden, and wenten forth, Don into his d
Gun r. farm" Greek ogros). another to bis /,
10 Iceland, where the O
I'D Morse language remains least changed, d
be homestead Ia still called the tun. and the d
ickyard the 5evfNn whence Barton and n
'urton, perhaps, 10 EngIisb)--that is. the h