CYCLOPEDIA OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.

First Period.

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO 1400.

age presents us with historical chronicles, theological treatises, religious, political, and narrative poetry, in great abundance, written both in Latin and in the HE ENGLISH native tongue.* LANGUAGE is The earliest name in the list of Anglo-Saxon essentially a writers is that of Gildas, generally described as a branch of the missionary of British parentage, living in the first Teutonic, the half of the sixth century, and the author of a Latin language spo- tract on early British history. Owing to the obken by the scurity of this portion of our annals, it has been the inhabitants of somewhat extraordinary fate of Gildas to be reprecentral Eu-sented, first as flourishing at two periods more than a rope immedi- century distant from each other; then as two differately before ent men of the same name, living at different times; the dawn of and finally as no man at all, for his very existence history, and is now doubted. Nennius is another name of this which constitutes the foun- age, which, after being long connected with a small dation of the modern Ger- historical work, written, like that of Gildas, in Latin, man, Danish, and Dutch. has latterly been pronounced supposititious. The Introduced by the Anglo- first unquestionably real author of distinction is Saxons in the fifth century, ST COLUMBANUS, a native of Ireland, and a man it gradually spread, with the of vigorous ability, who contributed greatly to people who spoke it, over the advancement of Christianity in various parts of nearly the whole of England; Western Europe, and died in 615. He wrote relithe Celtic, which had been gious treatises and Latin poetry. As yet, no eduthe language of the aboriginal people, shrinking cated writer composed in his vernacular tongue: it before it into Wales, Cornwall, and other remote was generally despised by the literary class, as was parts of the island, as the Indian tongues are now the case at some later periods of our history, and retiring before the advance of the British settlers Latin was held to be the only language fit for reguin North America.* lar composition.

The first Anglo-Saxon writer of note, who composed in his own language, and of whom there are any remains, is CEDMON, a monk of Whitby, who died about 680. Cædmon was a genius of the class headed by Burns, a poet of nature's making, sprung from the bosom of the common people, and little indebted to education. It appears that he at one time acted in the capacity of a cow-herd. The circumstances under which his talents were first developed, are narrated by Bede with a strong cast of the marvellous, under which it is possible, however, to trace a basis of natural truth. We are told that he was so much less instructed than most of his equals, that he had not even learnt any poetry; so hide his shame, when the harp was moved towards that he was frequently obliged to retire, in order to him in the hall, where at supper it was customary for each person to sing in turn. On one of these * Biographia Britannica Literaria: Anglo-Saxon Period. By Thomas Wright, M.A.

1