THE president's ADDRESS. 365 



In 835, some Danish vessels entered the Tamar, and the 

 Britons joined hands with them against the Saxons. Egbert 

 collected an army, and a battle was fought on Hengesdon, and 

 the allies were routed. 



The last relic of the Damnonian kingdom disappeared after 

 Athelstan's visit to West Wales in 926 and 928. Howel, the 

 king, made his submission during the first expedition, but on 

 the second Athelstan expelled the Britons from Exeter. 



There for some time, as already stated, Britons and Saxons 

 had lived in contiguous cities. As Mr. Karslake pointed out, a 

 good many years ago, "the area of the British Isca is indicated 

 by the parishes under the patronage of Celtic Saints, SS. Kerian, 

 Petrock, David, and Paul of Leon." 



So far I have been summing up briefly what we know of 

 the blows dealt the West Welsh from without, let us now look 

 at what is known of the history that was enacted within the 

 British frontiers. 



The advance of the Saxons and the rolling back of the 

 Britons had heaped up crowds of refugees in Wales and in Devon 

 and Cornwall, more in fact than the country could maintain. 

 Accordingly an outlet had to be sought. 



The Armorican peninsula was thinly peopled. It had once 

 been occupied by the Curiosoliti, with their capital at Corseult, 

 and the Ossismi further west, who had their headquarters at 

 Vorganium, now Carhaix. But a single Soman road traversed 

 the country, and that ran from Nantes to Vannes, then to 

 Carhaix and thence to the estuary, Abervrach. 



South of the Curiosoliti and Ossismi were the Veneti. But 

 in consequence of the exactions of the decaying empire, and the 

 ravages of northern pirates, the Armorican seaboard was all but 

 uninhabited, and the centre of the peninsula was occupied by a 

 vast untrodden forest, or by barren stone-strewn moors. Armorica 

 therefore was a promising field for colonisation. 



Procopius says that in the 6th century swarms of immigrants 

 arrived from Britain, men bringing with them their wives and 

 children. These migrations assuriied large dimensions in 450, 

 512-4 and between 561 and 566. 



