me. Asser
has been used with caution, where his information seems to be really
contemporary. I have also derived some occasional hints from the old
British bards, from _Beowulf_, from the laws, and from the charters in
the "Codex Diplomaticus." These written documents have been helped out
by some personal study of the actual early English relics preserved in
various museums, and by the indirect evidence of local nomenclature.

Among modern books, I owe my acknowledgments in the first and highest
degree to Dr. E.A. Freeman, from whose great and just authority,
however, I have occasionally ventured to differ in some minor matters.
Next, my acknowledgments are due to Canon Stubbs, to Mr. Kemble, and to
Mr. J.R. Green. Dr. Guest's valuable papers in the Transactions of the
Archaeological Institute have supplied many useful suggestions. To
Lappenberg and Sir Francis Palgrave I am also indebted for various
details. Professor Rolleston's contributions to "Archaeologia," as well
as his Appendix to Canon Greenwell's "British Barrows," have been
consulted for anthropological and antiquarian points; on which also
Professor Huxley and Mr. Akerman have published useful papers. Professor
Boyd Dawkins's work on "Early Man in Britain," as well as the writings
of Worsaae and Steenstrup have helped in elucidating the condition of
the English at the date of the Conquest. Nor must I forget the aid
derived from Mr. Isaac Taylor's "Words and Places," from Professor
Henry Morley's "English Literature," and from Messrs. Haddan and Stubbs'
"Councils." To Mr. Gomme, Mr. E.B. Tylor, Mr. Sweet, Mr. James Collier,
Dr. H. Leo, and perhaps others, I am under various obligations; and if
any acknowledgments have been overlooked, I trust the injured person
will forgive me when I have had already to quote so many authorities for
so small a book. The popular character of the work renders it
undesirable to load the pages with footnotes of reference; and scholars
will generally see for themselves the source of the information given in
the text.

Personally, my thanks are due to my friend, Mr. York Powell, for much
valuable aid and assistance, and to the Rev. E. McClure, one of the
Society's secretaries, for his kind revision of the volume in proof, and
for several suggestions of which I have gladly availed myself.

As various early English names and phrases occur throughout the book, it
will be best, perhaps, to say a few words about their pronunciation