Saxons and not Angles at all; which leads up to the paradox that they
did not speak "English"; for that, in the extreme literal sense, was
the language of the Angles only! But now that the true relationship of
the old dialects is known, it is not uncommon for scholars to speak
of the Wessex dialect as "Saxon," and of the Northumbrian and Mercian
dialects as "Anglian"; for the latter are found to have some features
in common that differ sharply from those found in "Saxon."

Manuscripts in the Southern dialect are fairly abundant, and contain
poems, homilies, land-charters, laws, wills, translations of Latin
treatises, glossaries, etc.; so that there is considerable variety.
One of the most precious documents is the history known as the
_Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, which was continued even after the Conquest
till the year 1154, when the death and burial of King Stephen were
duly recorded.

But specimens of the oldest forms of the Northern and Midland dialects
are, on the other hand, very much fewer in number than students of our
language desire, and are consequently deserving of special mention.
They are duly enumerated in the chapters below, which discuss these
dialects separately.

Having thus sketched out the broad divisions into which our dialects
may be distributed, I shall proceed to enter upon a particular
discussion of each group, beginning with the Northern or Northumbrian.




CHAPTER III