It was at this time that the language of Acquitaine which has lingered in the valleys of the Pyrenees began to be called Basque. The rest of the country was speaking the Romance, with its 3,000 "barbarian words." Among these are some Acquitanian, a few of which are below:—
Basque Words in Provençale.
| Aonar | to aid | Asko | much |
| Rabbi | river | Biz | black |
| Grazal | vase | Enoc | sadness |
| Nec | gloomy | Gais | evil, misfortune |
| Gaissar | to injure |
Unlike the languages of the so-called Sanscrit type (to which belong Greek, Latin, Celtic, and even Slavonian), the Basque—as is well-known—cannot be traced back to any common origin: this mysterious aboriginal tongue of the Acquitani is an orphan and an alien without kith or kin, unless indeed the adventurous writer who claims for it an Etruscan origin be in the right.
Acquitaine took a large part in the wars with the invading Arabs of Spain, and their Duke Eudes, after many victories, was finally defeated by the famous Abderrahman and the county was left at the mercy of the conquerors until Charles Martel at length expelled them.
It was in these wars that Charlemagne made his famous and disastrous expedition to Ronçevalles which inspired the poetic imagination of the day.
The many wars of these times of transition and the long struggles of the Gallo-Romans and Acquitanians against the Franks formed subjects for the popular poetry which was slowly working towards the literary outburst of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
COW-BOYS OF THE CAMARGUE.
By Joseph Pennell.