Chapter XXXII: Section III

_The ancient history of Lynn continued—the town supposed to have been founded by a colony of foreigners_, _introduced by the Romans—etymology of its name—mistakes of Camden_, _Spelman_, _&c. pointed out_.

The great project formed by the Romans of embanking, draining, and improving these fens and marshes, is said to have been executed by a foreign colony, {220} brought over and settled here for that purpose, but, without doubt, powerfully assisted by the natives. This colony is presumed to have been of Batavian or Belgic origin; for where could the Romans have found a people so fit for their purpose as among the inhabitants of a country that so much resembles this, and who must have been, while at home, habituated to the work in which they were here to be employed? The vicinity of those countries to this, and their then subjection to the Romans, may be considered as further corroborating this opinion. From the exposed situation of Marshland, and its lying next to the inhabited part of the country, it may very reasonably be supposed, that these colonists would begin their work there, and even on its eastern side, about where Lynn now stands: and as they would immediately want habitations, it is very natural to conclude, that the town of Old Len, or Lynn, was built for, or by them, and that they were the very people that gave it its _name_. These conclusions appear remarkably countenanced and supported by that very name itself; for LEN, in the _Celtic_ (or _Belgio-celtic_) dialect, or language, is said to signify a _Fen_, _Morass_, or _Marsh_. {221} LEN, therefore, as they applied, or used the word here, might mean a town by a morass, the town in the marsh, or the chief town and mother town of Marshland and the Fens. This seems to be, by far, the most tenable and satisfactory explanation of the name of this ancient town, that has ever yet been offered or suggested.

_Camden_ derives the name of Lynn from the British word _Llyn_, which signifies _a lake_; but circumstances do not at all support that idea. There was anciently at Lynn no very large collection of waters: its very river was inconsiderable, consisting only of the water of the _Little Ouse_, and the _Wissey_, together with that of the _Nar_, or Setch river, formerly called _Len_, and sometimes _Sundringham Ea_. {222a} The very harbour also, for many ages, was remarkably narrow. As to the waters below, in the roads, “It is very unlikely that the Britons should call them _Llyn_, (_i.e. Lake_,) a name which they never appear to have given to similar collections of water: but if we were to admit, that they actually gave that name to these waters, still it would seem exceedingly improbable, that this place should derive its name from thence, any more than _Rising_, or other towns that are situated near to the like estuaries, or arms of the sea.” _Spelman’s_ conjectures on this point are weaker and more untenable still. He would have the name to be derived from the _Saxon Læn_, or _Lean_, signifying, as he says, a _farm_, or _tenure in fee_; but which sense, according to _Hicks_, is unusual: nor is it likely, as _Gough_ has observed, that this tenure should be more particularized here than elsewhere. {222b} Equally futile is what he further advances, “that _Len_ is Saxon for church-land; whence _Ter Llen_, in Welsh, is church-land:” which is most strangely confounding those two languages, as if the one had sprung from the other. Nor is it strictly true, that _Ter llen_ in welsh means _church-land_, or even that there is such a welsh word in being. _Tir llan_ might, indeed, have such a meaning, but it does not seem to be ever used in that sense. _Llen_ or _Llëen_, in that language, means _literature_, and not church; and as an adjective, it means _literary_, _scholastic_, or _clerical_; whence _gwyr llen_, or _llëen_, signifies the _clergy_, as _gwyr lleyg_, or _lleygion_ does _the laity_. But all this can make nothing for Spelman’s point, and it must, of course, fall to the ground.—That Lynn ever went by the name _Maidenburg_, from saint Margaret the virgin, seems to be another of the idle whimsies of dreaming antiquarians. Of all such dreamers none perhaps ever exceeded _Parkin_, the continuator of Blomefield the Norfolk historian: whenever he is at a loss for the etymology of the name of any town or village, he generally refers to the _British_, and pretends to explain it accordingly. Never is he more ready or flippant than when speaking of the signification of British words; of which, at the same time, he knew nothing at all.