The country around Glastonbury was not added to the West Saxon kingdom until the time of Cenwealh, who in 658 extended his frontier as far as the Parret. He, a Christian King of the Gewissas, began to build at Winchester the old church of St. Peter on the site probably of the present cathedral. His successor, Centwine, drove the Welsh to the sea in 682, and added the Quantock district to his kingdom. Thus, before the end of the seventh century Saxon Christians were settled in parts of Somerset. We cannot doubt that the profession of a religion common to both races must have had a great influence in preventing a war of extermination in this county. Then, no doubt, began that blending of the two races which can be traced by ethnological observation in the county at the present day. Fair and dark haired people may be observed among the natives in almost every village.
The dialect of Somerset, and particularly that of the western part of the county, points to a commingling of different tribal people among the original settlers. In the west, Elworthy has found eight forms of plural terminations, and in a small district containing two or three villages, among which is Kingsbury, the word utch for I is still used.[1] The use of this word utch or itch as a survival of the Anglo-Saxon ic for I was formerly common in the dialect of various parts of the county. The dialect of west Somerset thus clearly points to colonists of various origins.
The ancient ports of Somerset were Watchet and Portlock, and through them we may trace the immigration of early settlers, among whom probably came the colony from Sussex. One of the peculiarities of the settlement of the south-western counties is the evidence pointing to the establishment of colonies on the coasts before the occupation of the interior of these counties
- ↑ Elworthy, F. T., ‘Grammar of the Dialect of West Somerset,’ p. 34.
