The Saxons who, as already mentioned, had probably started the Franks, inhabited the country lying between the Ems and the Elbe, consequently the North of Germany. They settled in the East of our country and, later, extended their influence northwardly.
The Frisians, who are generally spoken of in connection with the Saxons, were able to hold their ground between the Weser and the Zwin (Zeelandisch Flanders). Their King, Radbout, carried their domination to the South of the Rhine and pushed on even so far as Cologne where he was defeated by Charles Martel.
If Holland was called Frisia (or Friesland) in the Middle Ages, only as far as the mouth of the Meuse, it is related, on the other hand, that Saint Amand preached the Gospel to the Frisians of Zeeland. This tradition is confirmed by Prof. FOCKEMA ANDREA, who has shown that the Frisian law of 800 was applied from the Weser to the Zwin and the Frank law as far as the Ems, that is to say: the Chamavi inhabited the Veluwe to the East of this river; consequently Utrecht belonged to Frisia.
It is also said, in connection with the struggle of the Frisians against the Franks, that Utrecht was situated on the frontier of Frisia.
In a word, the Netherlands were inhabited originally by Celts whom the Germans drove toward the South. Later, they were able, with the assistance of the Romans, to hold their ground to the South of the big rivers of the country. The first Germans in Holland were the Frisians. They occupied the coast from the Weser to the Zwin and, at a few points, established themselves among the Celts.
Thus it is that Frisian types of vessels are found from Denmark to Flanders and that they penetrated as far as Utrecht and along the tidal rivers.
The Chamavi, the first Franks, very probably occupied the Veluwe and the Betuwe as for as the Singe and the Ems.
Later, the Franks, settled North Brabant and penetrated into Zeeland, Utrecht and South Holland. As a matter of fact, we have already been impressed at meeting, in our country, with types of boats of the Lower Rhine not only along the Rhine and its tributaries, but even in the heart of South Holland and in the North-West of North-Brabant.
The Saxons, who were the last to arrive, settled in the East of the country and spread gradually into Groningen and Friesland. It is there that the slender Overijssel or Saxon types are met with.
Types of vessels, just like the styles of dwellings, languages and costumes, have certain relationships with the first inhabitants of countries.