LOCKERBIE IN ITS ORIGIN. 157 
their descent on England in 787, obtained a secure footing in 
the north about the middle of the ninth century. They ravished 
Northumbria and East Anglia, drove out the Anglican Kings, and 
put Norsemen in their place. Fresh invasions of the Danes 
took place in the tenth and eleventh centuries, and from 1017 
till 1042 Danish Kings held the Throne of England. These 
Danes were absorbed in the English people, and learned to speak 
their language. The region which they occupied is said to have 
extended along the-coast from Norfolk to Northumberland, and 
in the interior from Northamptonshire to Yorkshire. A consider- 
able number of them settled also in Dumfriesshire. Over a 
thousand years have come and gone since these Danes were a 
distinct aliment in our midst, but to this day we can clearly trace 
their movements in the names of places which wholly or partly are 
of Danish origin. | For instance, for the word “ beck,’’ meaning 
a burn, we have the local place names of Beckton, Waterbeck, 
Troutbeck, and Greenbeck. From the “ garth,’’ meaning an en- 
closure, we have Applegarth and Tundergarth. From the affix 
“by,’? meaning a town or settlement, we have Sibbaldbie and 
Lockerbie. Again, the term “by law’’ originally meant a law 
enforced in a “by ’’ or settlement. The words “ gar,’’ to cause, 
“ greet,’ to weep, “ mun,’’ meaning must, and “ tine,’’ to lose, are 
all Danish, and in local use at the present day. We, therefore, 
see that in this district immediately prior to the Norman Conquest 
a considerable part of the community was composed of Danes or 
of those of Danish extraction. When they settled in a part of the 
country which had _ no special name, the first thing that would 
naturally happen would be that that place would for convenience 
acquire a name, either descriptive of its natural features or other- 
wise. When they settled in a place, however, which already had 
aname, we have no reason to suppose that they changed that 
name. They would simply—as do our countrymen to-day when 
settling abroad—adopt the name which the place already bore. 
The lights, therefore, which we have to guide us in our 
search through the dark night of the past for the origin of Locker- 
bie are — that one of the first things the Bruce would do after 
receiving a grant of the lands of Annandale would be to sub- 
divide them among his relatives and friends, who in return would 
be bound with their dependents to serve him in his operations both 
of offence and defence, as also to build and maintain a sufficient 
