6 ■ ELKVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 



cross at Britigwater and other objects." Having referred 

 to the Word "pig" as formlng a part of the names of 

 various localities — as in " Pig's hill," a farra near Nether 

 Stowey ; " Pig's ditcli," four acres of land in Chilton-super- 

 Polden ; and in particular, the " Pig cross " at Bridg- 

 ■yyater — the writer intimated that this word was really of 

 Danish origin, and inight be regarded as one of the remains 

 of Danish occupation in this part of England. 



" It is natural to suppose that the Saxons and Danes 

 would leave some impress of their language in the places 

 where they were, for so long a period, the dominant races. 

 The Saxon and the Danish are cognate dialects of the 

 Teutonic language. 



" In the Saxon language the name for a girl is " piga/' 

 and its diminutive " pigsney " is thus explained in John- 

 son's dictionary : " pigsney, from piga (Saxon), a girl ; a 

 word of endearment to a girl." In Bay's Enghsh and 

 Danish dictionary I find : ^^ pigc, a maid, maiden, girl, 

 lass.' In the Danish New Testament now before me, the 

 English Version, chap. 9, v. 24 : " He said unto them, give 

 place, for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth," is thus ren- 

 dered in Danish : "thepigen er ikke dod " — the "pigen" 

 is not dead, &c. (Pige becomes pigen, as maid maiden.) 

 In verse 25 : " But when the people were put forth he went 

 in and took her by the band, and the maid arose " — thus 

 rendered in Danish : " the maid arose — da stod pigen op — 

 then the pigen stood up." St. Luke, c. 22, v. 51 : "And 

 the father and mother of the maiden " — in Danish : " Og 

 pigens fader og moder ;" and "pig's" or "pigeus" father 

 and mother. And in verse 56 : " But a certain maid saw 

 him" — in Danish : "Men en pige saae ham " — but a pige 

 saw him. 



" Oldmixon, a pative of Bridgwater, in bis history of 



