SMITH-CRAFT WITH THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 3ji 



ad usum ecclesiag.' ' His day in the calendar is the i8th 

 of August. 



Smithcraft was no doubt as important an occupation 

 among the Anglo-Saxons as among the Gauls or Celts. 

 Under the designation of ' isern-smithas,' — the Gothic or 

 old German appellation introduced into England by the 

 Anglo-Saxons, the grimy workman is frequently men- 

 tioned in their records, and he appears, in time, to have 

 been held in nearly as high honour as his congener at 

 the ancient British court. Verstegan, referring to those 

 who derived their surnames from their occupations, 

 speaks of the origin of Smith : — - 



* From whence came Smith, all be he knight or squire. 

 But from the smith that forgeth at the fire ? ' 



Aldhelm^ is eloquent in describing the 'convenience 

 of the anvil, the rigid hardness of the beating hammer, 

 and the tenacity of the glowing tongs ;' and remarks that 

 ' the gem-bearing belts and diadems of kings, and the 

 various instruments of glory, were made from the tools of 

 iron.' 



In Elfric's colloquy, the smith says, in alluding to the 

 multiplicity of objects he could make : ' Whence the 

 share to the ploughman, or the goad, but for my art ? 

 Whence to the fisherman an angle, or to the shoe- 

 wyrhta (shoemaker) an awl, or to the sempstress a needle, 

 but for my art ? ' And to this the other replies : ' Those 

 in thy smithery only give iron fire-sparks, the noise of 

 beating hammers, and blowing bellows.' ^ 



' Act. SS. August, vol. iii. p. 659. 

 ^ Aldhelm. De Laud. Virg. 298. 

 s MSS. Til:)erias, A. 3. 



