Scandinavian-Britain

176 SCANDINAVIAN BRITAINScandinavian characteristics in the north of England,we cannot but inquire Is not the account of thedestruction of life overdrawn ? or, if not, whence didthe fresh population come? In 1378, for example,nearly forty of the surnames on the roll of freemen ofYork may be derived (according to Dr. J6n Stefanssonin the article quoted above) from Norse nicknames.At this present time the dialect, folkloreand physical characteristics of Yorkshire and Lincolnshireare strongly Scandinavian, almost, if not quite,as much so as those of Cumberland, in which noever set foot.soldier of William the ConquerorThe depopulation was possibly as severe as Freemanmakes it, following Symeon of Durham, who hadfull local knowledge, but perhaps a tradition of animositywhich has somewhat exaggerated the area ofdevastation. Large tracts were entirely ravaged ;other parts escaped. The mere fact that peoplecould sell themselves as slaves isenough to show thatthere^were buyers, kind ladies like Geatflaed, whotook the homeless flock of Gospatric, Danish andEnglish, under her care, and set them free whenthe storm was past. Many, of course, were not sofortunate ;but many must have found a refuge inWestmorland and North Lancashire among a kindredand stillindependent population; others certainlyfled north into Scotland.In a paper for the Yorkshire Archaeological Society(K A. J., vol. xix., 1906) on the ethnology of WestYorkshire, by Dr. Beddoe and Mr. J. H. Rowe, thestrong Scandinavian character of the people of south-