Vestiges of the supremacy of Mercia in the south of England during the eighth century — John Shaqi
Vestiges of the supremacy of Mercia in the south of England during the eighth centuryKerslake, T. (Thomas)
History
Vestiges of the supremacy of Mercia in the south of England during the eighth century
Kerslake, T. (Thomas)
Great Britain -- Antiquities; Great Britain -- History -- Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066; Mercia (Kingdom) -- History
It is not meant that these three name-marks are not to be found in
other parts of England: on the contrary, we shall hereafter see Mercian
operations in other counties sufficient to account for a very wide
sprinkling of them. What is here dwelt upon is the unexampled crowding
of them, showing simultaneous colonisation upon a great scale. Another,
but smaller, group of “-worthy” and “-cot,” occurs on the Severn
coast of Somerset, about Minehead, indicating another naval descent
of Mercia. In fact, although the great swarm above described occurs
between the Torridge and the Tamar, two distinct trains flow from it:
one, as before said, over the west foot of Dartmoor to the south sea:
another along the Severn coast, eastward, ending with the Minehead or
Selworthy group; and does not crop up again until in Gloucestershire it
is found in its home midland form of Sheepwardine, and Miserden.
Another example of this sort of connection of Mercia with Cornwall and
south-west England may be briefly cited. Among the few--not more than
six or eight--non-Celtic, but national or non-Catholic, dedications
in Cornwall, is one of St. Cuthbert; a name that is also continued in
“Cubert,” the secular name of the town. It is situated in one of the
promontories that so boldly project into the sea on the north coast
of Cornwall, but farther westward than the English footsteps above
noted. A very learned and acute writer[16] could not make out how
“St. Cuthbert has made his way from Lindisfarn to Wells;” and says,
perhaps truly, that it “does not imply a Northumbrian settlement in
Somerset.” But St. Cuthbert at Wells, might reasonably be left to the
cross-examination of historians, or neighbours, of that place; and if
judiciously and reverently questioned, by the help of what is here
said, would possibly give a good account of himself.
It is quite true, as might have been expected, that St. Cuthbert is
much more often found at his home in Northumbria than in the south-west
of England. In the south-eastern counties he has not been found at
all: but over the midland counties, and all down through the western
ones he is thinly sprinkled all the way. Between Humber and Mersey,
and Tweed and Solway, forty-three can be named if required, and Bishop
Forbes adds many from his side of the border. Derbyshire has one at
Doveridge, near the Mercian royal castle of Tutbury; Warwickshire one
at Shustoke, eight miles south of another villa regia at Tamworth;
Leicestershire, Notts, Beds, have each one; Lincoln and Norfolk two
each; Worcestershire perhaps one in the name “Cudbergelawe;”[17]
Gloucestershire, one at Siston by Pucklechurch, and probably a second
in the name “Cuberley;” Herefordshire two, or three? Somerset one at
Wells; Dorset one, or two? Devon one, Cornwall one.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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