But though many Welshmen were doubtless spared from the very first, nothing is more certain than the fact that they became thoroughly Anglicized.

A few new words from Welsh or Latin were introduced into the English tongue, but they were far too few sensibly to affect its vocabulary.

The language was and still is essentially Low German; and though it now contains numerous words of Latin or French origin, it does not and never did contain any but the very smallest Celtic element.

The slight number of additions made from the Welsh consisted chiefly of words connected with the higher Roman civilisation--such as wall, street, and chester--or the new methods of agriculture which the Teuton learnt from his more civilised serfs.

The Celt has always shown a great tendency to cast aside his native language in Gaul, in Spain, and in Ireland; and the isolation of the English townships must have had the effect of greatly accelerating the process.