Chapter 6

"At Michael's term had many atrial,Worse than the dragon and St.Michael."(Hudibras,III. ii. 51.)[Footnote: Cf.Viallsfrom Vitalis, also a saint's name.]

(Hudibras,III. ii. 51.)

[Footnote: Cf.Viallsfrom Vitalis, also a saint's name.]

This name exists in several other forms, e.g.Mihell,Myhill,Mighill, and most frequently of all asMiles(Chapter VIII). The reader will remember the famous salient of Saint-Mihiel, on the Meuse, held by the Germans for so long a period of the war. From Gabriel we haveGabb,Gabbett,etc. The common rustic pronunciationGablehas givenCable(Chapter III).

Among female saints we find Agnes, pronouncedAnnis, the derivatives of which have become confused with those of Anne, or Nan, Catherine, whenceCall,Catlin, etc., Cecilia, Cicely, whenceSisley, and of course Mary and Margaret. For these see Chapter X. St. Bride, or Bridget, survives inKirkbride.

FEAST-DAYS

A very interesting group of surnames are derived from font-names taken from the great feasts of the Church, date of birth or baptism, etc.[Footnote:Names of this class were no doubt also sometimes given to foundlings.]These are more often French or Greco-Latin than English, a fact to be explained by priestly influence. ThusChristmasis much less common thanNoelorNowell, but we also findMidwinter(Chapter II) andYule.Easterhas a local origin (from a place in Essex) and also represents Mid. Eng. estre, a word of very vague meaning for part of a building, originally the exterior, from Lat.extra. It survives in Fr.lesêtresd'unemaison.Hester, to which Bardsley gives the same origin, I should rather connect with Old Fr.hestre(hêtre), a beech. However that may be, the Easter festival is represented in our surnames byPascall, CornishPascoe, andPask,Pash,Pace,Pack.

Patch, formerly a nickname for a jester (Chapter XX), from his motley clothes, is also sometimes a variant ofPash. And the dim.Patchetthas become confused withPadgett, from Padge, a rimed form of Madge.Pentecostis recorded as a personal name in Anglo-Saxon times. Michaelmas is nowMiddleman(Chapter III), andTiffanyis an old name for Epiphany. It comes from Greco-Latintheophania(while Epiphany representsepiphania), which gave the French female name Tiphaine, whence ourTiffin.Lammas(loaf mass) is also found as a personal name, but there is a place called Lammas in Norfolk. We have compounds ofdayinHallidayorHoliday,Hay-day, for high day,Loveday, a day appointed for reconciliations, andHockaday, for a child born during Hocktide, which begins on the 15th day after Easter. It was also called Hobday, though it is hard to say why; hence the nameHobday, unless this is to be taken as theday, or servant (Chapter XIX), in the service of Hob; cf.Hobman.

The days of the week are puzzling, the only one at all common beingMunday, though most of the others are found in earlier nomenclature. We should rather expect special attention to be given to Sunday and Friday, and, in fact, Sonntag and Freytag are by far the most usual in German, while Dimanche and its perversions are common in France, and Vendredi also occurs. This makes me suspect some other origin, probably local, forMunday, the more so as Fr. Dimanche, Demange, etc., is often for the personal name Dominicus, the etymology remaining the same as that of the day-name, the Lord's day. Parts of the day seem to survive inNoon,Eve, andMorrow, butNoonislocal, Fr. Noyon (cf.Moon, earlierMohun, from Moyon),Eveisthe mother of mankind, andMorrowis formoor-wro, the second element being Mid. Eng.wra, comer, whenceWray.

MONTH NAMES

We find the same difficulty with the names of the months. Several of these are represented in French, but ourMarchhas four other origins, from March in Cambridgeshire, from march, a boundary, from marsh, or from Mark; whileMaymeans in Mid. English a maiden (Chapter XXI), and is also a dim. of Matthew (Chapter IX). The names of the seasons also present difficulty.Springusually corresponds to Fr. La Fontaine (Chapter II), but we find alsoLent, the old name for the season, and French hasPrintemps.[Footnote:The cognate Ger.Lenzis fairly common, hence the frequency ofLentin America.]SummerandWinter[Footnote:Winter was one of Hereward's most faithful comrades.]are found very early as nicknames, as are alsoFrostandSnow; but why alwaysSummersorSomerswithsandWinterwithout?[Footnote:Two other common nicknames wereFlintandSteel.]The latter has no doubt in many cases absorbedVinter, vintner (Chapter III) but this will not account for the complete absence of genitive forms. And what has become of the other season? We should not expect to find the learned word "autumn," but neitherFallnorHarvest, the true English equivalents, are at all common as surnames.

I regard this group, viz. days, months, seasons, as one of the least clearly accounted for in our nomenclature, and cannot help thinking that the more copious examples which we find in French and German are largely distorted forms due to the imitative instinct, or are susceptible of other explanations. This is certainly true in some cases, e.g. Fr. Mars is the regular French development of Medardus, a saint to whom a well-known Parisian church is dedicated; and the relationship of Janvier to Janus may beviathe Late Lat.januarius, forjanitor, a doorkeeper.

[Footnote:Medardus was the saint who, according to Ingoldsby, lived largely on oysters obtained by the Red Sea shore. At his church in Paris were performed the 'miracles' of the Quietists in the seventeenth century. When the scenes that took place became a scandal, the government intervened, with the result that a wag adorned the church door with the following:

De par le Roi, défense à DieuDe faire miracle en ce lieu."]

CHAPTER XMETRONYMICS

"During the whole evening Mr. Jellyby sat in a corner with his head against the wall, as if he were subject to low spirits."

(BleakHouse, ch. iv.)

Bardsley first drew attention to the very large number of surnames derived from an ancestress. His views have been subjected to much ignorant criticism by writers who, taking upon themselves the task of defending medieval virtue, have been unwilling to accept this terrible picture of the moral condition of England, etc. This anxiety is misplaced. There are many reasons, besides illegitimacy, for the adoption of the mother's name. In medieval times the children of a widow, especially posthumous children, would often assume the mother's name.Widdowsonitself is sufficiently common. In the case of second marriages the two families might sometimes be distinguished by their mothers' names. Orphans would be adopted by female relatives, and a medieval Mrs. Joe Gargery would probably have impressed her own name rather than that of her husband on a medieval Pip. In a village which counted two Johns or Williams, and few villages did not, the children of one might assume, or rather would be given by the public voice, the mother's name. Finally, metronymics can be collected in hundreds by anyone who cares to work through a few early registers.

FEMALE FONT-NAMES

Thus, in the Lancashire Inquests 205-1307 occur plenty of people described as the sons of Alice, Beatrice, Christiana, Eda, Eva, Mariot, Matilda, Quenilda,[Footnote:An Anglo-Saxon name, Cynehild, whenceQuennell.]Sibilla, Ysolt. Even if illegitimacy were the only reason, that would not concern the philologist.

Female names undergo the same course of treatment as male names. Mary gave the diminutives Marion and Mariot, whenceMarriott.Itwas popularly shortened into Mal (cf. Hal for Harry), which had the diminutive Mally. From these we haveMawsonandMalleson, the former also belonging to Maud. Mal and Mally became Mol and Molly, hence Mollison. The rimed forms Pol, Polly are later, and names inPol- usually belong to Paul (Chapter IX). The nameMorrishas three other origins (the font-name Maurice, the nickname Moorish, and the localmarsh), but bothMorrisandMorrisonare sometimes to be referred to Mary. Similarly Margaret, popularly Mar-get, became Mag, Meg, Mog, whenceMeggitt,Moxon,etc. The rarity ofMaggotiseasily understood, but Poll Maggot was one of Jack Sheppard's accomplices and Shakespeare usesmaggot-piefor magpie(Macbeth,iii,4). Meg was rimed into Peg, whencePeggs, Mog into Pog, whencePogson, and Madge into Padge, whencePadgett, when this is not forPatchett(Chapter IX), or for the Fr.Paget, usually explained asSmallpage. The royal name Matilda appears in the contractedMaud,Mould,Moule,Mott,Mahood(Old Fr. Maheut). Its middle syllableTillgaveTilly,Tillsonand the dim.Tillet,Tillot, whenceTillotson. From Beatrice we haveBee,BeatonandBetts, and the northernBeattie, which are not connected with the great name Elizabeth. This is in medieval rolls represented by its cognate Isabel, of which the shortened form wasBell(Chapter I), or Ib, the latter givingIbbot,Ibbotson, and the rimed formsTib-,Nib-,Bib-,Lib-. Here also belongEbbsandEppsrather than to the Anglo-Sax. Ebba (Chapter VII).

Many names which would now sound somewhat ambitious were common among the medieval peasantry and are still found in the outlying parts of England, especially Devon and Cornwall. Among the characters in Mr. Eden Phillpotts'sWidecombeFairare two sisters namedSibleyandPetronell. From Sibilla, now Sibyl, come most names inSib-, though this was used also as a dim. of Sebastian (see also Chapter VII), while Petronilla, has givenParnell,Purnell. As a female name it suffered the eclipse to which certain names are accidentally subject, and became equivalent to wench. References to a "prattling Parnel" are common in old writers, and the same fate overtook it in French—

"Taisez-vous,péronnelle"(Tartufe,i.1).

Mention has already been made of the survival of Guinevere (Chapter VIII). From Cassandra we haveCash,Cass,Case, andCasson, from Idonia,Ide,Iddins,Iddison;these were no doubt confused with the derivatives of Ida. William filius Idae is in the Fine Rolls of John's reign, and John Idonyesone occurs there, temp. Edward I.Pim, as a female font-name, may be from Euphemia, andSiddonsappears to belong to Sidonia, while the pretty name Avice appears asAvisandHaweis. From Lettice, Lat.laetitia, joy, we haveLetts,Lettson, while the correspondingJoyce, Lat.jocosa, merry, has become confused with Fr. Josse (Chapter I).Anstey,Antis, is from Anastasia,Preciousfrom Preciosa, andRoycefrom Rohesia.

DOUBTFUL CASES

It is often difficult to separate patronymics from metronymics. We have already seen (Chapter VI) that names inEd- may be from Eda or from Edward, while names inGil- must be shared between Julian, Juliana, Guillaume, Gilbert, and Giles. There are many other cases like Julian and Juliana, e.g.Custanceis for Constance, butCustmay also represent the masculine Constant, while among the derivatives of Philip we must not forget the warlike Philippa. Or, to take pairs which are unrelated,Kitsonmay be from Christopher or from Catherine, andMattisonfrom Matthew or from Martha, which became Matty and Patty, the derivatives of the latter coalescing with those of Patrick (Chapter VI). It is obvious that the derivatives of Alice would be confused with those of Allen, while names inEl- may represent Elias or Eleanor. Also names inAl- andEl- are sometimes themselves confused, e.g. the Anglo-Saxon AElfgod appears both asAllgoodandElgood. MoreNelsonsare derived from Neil,i.e. Nigel, than from Nell, the rimed dim. of Ellen.Emmettis a dim. of Emma, butEmpsonmaybe a shortenedEmersonfrom Emery (Chapter VIII). The rather commonplaceTibblesstands for both Theobald and Isabella, and the same is true of all names inTib- and some in Teb-. Lastly, the coalescence of John, the commonest English font-name, with Joan, the earlier form of Jane, was inevitable, while the French forms Jean and Jeanne would be undistinguishable in their derivatives. These names between them have given an immense number of surnames, the masculine or feminine interpretation of which must be left to the reader's imagination.

CHAPTER XILOCAL SURNAMES

"Now as men have always first given names unto places, so hath it afterwards grown usuall that men have taken their names from places"(VERSTEGAN,RestitutionofDecayedIntelligence).

"Now as men have always first given names unto places, so hath it afterwards grown usuall that men have taken their names from places"

(VERSTEGAN,RestitutionofDecayedIntelligence).

There is an idea cherished by some people that the possession of a surname which is that of a village or other locality points to ancestral ownership of that region. This is a delusion. In the case of quite small features of the landscape, e.g.Bridge,Hill, the name was given from place of residence. But in the case of counties, towns and villages, the name was usually acquired when the locality was left. Thus John Tiler leaving Acton, perhaps for Acton's good, would be known in his new surroundings as John Acton. A moment's reflection will show that this must be so.Scottisan English name, the aristocratic Scotts beyond the border representing a Norman family Escot, originally of Scottish origin.English, early speltInglis, is a Scottish name. The namesCornishandCornwallisfirst became common in Devonshire, asDevenishdid outside that county.FrenchandFrancis, Old Fr.lefranceis, are English names, just asLanglois(l'Anglais) is common in France. For the same reasonCutleris a rare name in Sheffield, where all are cutlers. By exception the nameCurnow, which is Cornish for a Cornishman, is fairly common in its native county, but it was perhaps applied especially to those inhabitants who could only speak the old Cornish language.

CLASSES OF LOCAL NAMES

The local name may range in origin from a country to a plant(France,Darbishire,Lankester,Ashby,Street,House,Pound,Plumptre,Daisy), and, mathematically stated, the size of the locality will vary in direct proportion to the distance from which the immigrant has come. Terentius Afer was named from a continent. I cannot find a parallel in England, but names such as the nounsFrance,Ireland,Pettingell(Portugal), or the adjectivesDench, Mid. Eng.dense, Danish,Norman,Welsh,(Walsh,Wallis, etc.),Allman(Allemand), often perverted toAlmond, were considered a sufficient mark of identification for men who came from foreign parts. But the untravelled inhabitant, if distinguished by a local name, would often receive it from some very minute feature of the landscape, e.g. SolomonDaisymay have been descended from a RobertDayeseye, who lived in Hunts in 1273. It is not very easy to see how such very trifling surnames as this last came into existence, but its exiguity is surpassed in the case of a prominent French airman who bears the appropriately buoyant name ofBrindejonc, perhaps from some ancestor who habitually chewed a straw.

An immense number of our countrymen are simply named from the points of the compass, slightly disguised inNorris, Anglo-Fr.lenoreis,[Footnote:The correspondinglesurreisisnow represented bySurridge.]Sotheran, the southron, andSterling, for Easterling, a name given to the Hanse merchants.Westraywas formerlylewestreis. A German was to our ancestors, as he still is to sailors, a Dutchman, whence our nameDouch, Ger.deutsch, Old High Ger.tiutisc, which, through Old Frenchtieis, has givenTyas.[Footnote:Tyars, orTyers, which Bardsley puts with this, seems to be rather Fr.Thiers, Lat. tertius.]

But not every local name is to be taken at its face value.Hollandis usually from one of the Lancashire Hollands, andEnglandmay be for Mid. Eng.ing-land, the land of Ing (cf. Ingulf, Ingold, etc.), a personal name which is the first element in many place-names, or froming, a meadow by a stream.Holylandis not Palestine, but the holly-land.Hampshireis often for Hallamshire, a district in Yorkshire.Daneis a variant of Mid. Eng.dene, a valley, the inhabitant of Denmark having given usDench(Chapter XI) andDennis(ledaneis). Visitors to Margate will remember the valley called the Dane, which stretches from the harbour to St. Peters.Saxonis not racial, but a perversion of sexton (Chapter XVII). Mr. Birdofredum Sawin, commenting on the methods employed in carrying out the great mission of the Anglo-Saxon race, remarks that—

"Saxonswould be handyTo du the buryin' down here upon the Rio Grandy"(Lowell,BiglowPapers).

To du the buryin' down here upon the Rio Grandy"(Lowell,BiglowPapers).

(Lowell,BiglowPapers).

The nameCockaynewas perhaps first given derisively to a sybarite—

"Paris est pour le riche un pays deCocagne"(Boileau),

but it may be an imitative form of Coken in Durham.

Names such asMorris,i.e. Moorish, orSarson,i.e. Saracen (but also for Sara-son), are rather nicknames, due to complexion or to an ancestor who was mine host of the Saracen's Head.Moorissometimes of similar origin.Russ, likeRush,isone of the many forms of Fr. roux, red-complexioned (Chapter II).Poleis forPool, the native of Poland being called Polack—

"He smote the sleddedPolackon the ice"(Hamlet, I. i).

But the namePollockis local (Renfrewshire).

COUNTIES AND TOWNS

As a rule it will be found that, while most of our counties have given family names, sometimes corrupted, e.g.Lankshear,Willsher,Cant,Chant, for Kent, with which we may compareAnguishfor Angus, the larger towns are rather poorly represented, the movement having always been from country to town, and the smaller spot serving for more exact description. An exception isBristow(Bristol), Mid. Eng.brig-stow, the place on the bridge, the great commercial city of the west from which so many medieval seamen hailed; but the name is sometimes from Burstow (Surrey), and there were possibly smaller places called by so natural a name, just as the nameBradford,i.e. broad ford, may come from a great many other places than the Yorkshire wool town.Rossiteris generally for Rochester, but also for Wroxeter (Salop); Coggeshall is well disguised asCoxall, Barnstaple asBastable, Maidstone asMayston, Stockport asStopford. On the other hand, there is not a village of any antiquity but has, or once had, a representative among surnames.

NAMES PRECEDEDBYDE

The provinces and towns of France and Flanders have given us many common surnames. From names of provinces we haveBurgoyneandBurgin,ChampainandChampneys(Chapter II),GascoyneandGaskin,Mayne,Mansell, Old Fr.Mancel(manceau), an inhabitant of Maine or of its capital Le Mans,BrettandBritton, Fr. le Bret and le Breton,Pickard,Power, sometimes from Old Fr.Pohier, a Picard,Peto, formerly Peitow, from Poitou,PoidevinandPuddifin, for

Poitevin,Loring, Old Fr.leLohereng, the man from Lorraine, assimilated toFleming,Hammy, an old name for Hainault,Brabazon, le Brabançon, andBrebner, formerly le Brabaner,Angwin, for Angevin,Flinders, a perversion of Flanders,Barry, which is sometimes for Berri, and others which can be identified by everybody.

Among towns we haveAllenson, Alençon,Amyas, Amiens,Ainger, Angers,Aris, Arras,Bevis, Beauvais,Bullen, Boulogne,Bloss, Blois,Bursell, Brussels,CallisandChallis, Calais,Challen, from one of the French towns called Chalon or Chalons,Chaworth, Cahors,Druce, Dreux,Gaunt, Gand (Ghent),Luck, Luick (Liege),Loving, Louvain,Malins, Malines (Mechlin),Raynes, Rennes and Rheims,Roan, Rouen,Sessions, Soissons,Stamp, Old Fr. Estampes (ttampes),Turney, Tournay, etc. The name de Verdun is common enough in old records for us to connect with it both the fascinating Dolly and the illustrious Harry.[Footnote added by scanner:Some modern readers might not realise that Weekley was referring to Harry Vardon, a famous golfer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Dolly Varden was a character in Dickens’ "Barnaby Rudge", a pretty girl in flowered hats and skirts. Her name was borrowed for various clothing styles, breeds of flowers, shows, theatres and even angling fishes among other things. There seem to have been several references to "the fascinating Dolly Varden", though the expression does not occur in the book.]To the above may be added, among German towns,Cullen, Cologne, andLubbock, Luebeck, and, from Italy,Janes, Gênes (Genoa),JanawayorJanways,i.e. Genoese, andLombardorLombard. Familiar names of foreign towns were often anglicized. Thus we find Hamburg calledHamborough, BrugesBridges, and ToursTowers.

To the town of Angers we sometimes owe, besidesAinger, the forbidding namesAngerandDanger. In many local names of foreign origin the prepositiondehas been incorporated, e.g.Dalmain, d'Allemagne, sometimes corrupted intoDallmanandDollman, though these are also forDoleman, from the East Angliandole, a boundary,Dallison, d'Alençon,Danvers, d'Anvers, Antwerp,Devereux, d'Évreux,Daubeney,Dabney, d'Aubigny,Disney, d'Isigny, etc.Doyleis a later form ofDoyley, orDolley, for d'Ouilli, andDarcyandDurfeywere once d'Arcy and d'Urfé.Dewissometimes for de Eu. Sir John de Grey, justice of Chester, had in 1246 twoAliceinWonderlandclerks named Henry de Eu and William de Ho. A familiar example, which has been much disputed, is the Cambridgeshire nameDeath, which some of its possessors prefer to write D'Aeth or De Ath. Bardsley rejects this, without, I think, sufficient reason. It is true that it occurs asdeDethein the Hundred Rolls, but this is not a serious argument, for we find alsodeDaubeney(Chapter XI), the originaldehaving already been absorbed at the time the Rolls were compiled. This retention of thedeis also common in names derived from spots which have not become recognized place-names; see Chapter XIV.

But to derive a name of obviously native origin from a place in France is a snobbish, if harmless, delusion. There are quite enoughmoorleysin England without explainingMorleyby Morlaix. To connect the Mid. English nicknameLongfellowwith Longueville, or the patronymicHansom(Chapter III) with Anceaumville, betrays the same belief in phonetic epilepsy that inspires the derivation ofBarberfrom the chapelry of Sainte-Barbe. The fact that there are at least three places, in England calledCarringtonhas not prevented one writer from seeking the origin of that name in the appropriate locality of Charenton.

CHAPTER XIISPOT NAMES

"Inford, inham, inleyandtunThe most of English surnames run"(VERSTEGAN).

"Inford, inham, inleyandtunThe most of English surnames run"

(VERSTEGAN).

Verstegan's couplet, even if it be not strictly true, makes a very good text for a discourse on our local names. Theham, or home, and theton, or town, originally an enclosure (cf. Ger.Zaun, hedge), were, at any rate in a great part of England, the regular nucleus of the village, which in some cases has become the great town and in others has decayed away and disappeared from the map. In an age when wool was our great export, flock keeping was naturally a most important calling, and theley, or meadow land, would be quickly taken up and associated with human activity. When bridges were scarce,fordswere important, and it is easy to see how the inn, the smithy, the cartwright's booth, etc., would naturally plant themselves at such a spot and form the commencement of a hamlet.

ELEMENTS OF PLACE-NAMES

Each of these four words exists by itself as a specific place-name and also as a surname. In factLeeandFordare among our commonest local surnames. In the same way the local origin of such names asClayandChalkmay be specific as well as general. But I do not propose to deal here with the vast subject of our English village names, but only with the essential elements of which they are composed, elements which were often used for surnominal purposes long before the spot itself had developed into a village.[Footnote:A good general account of our village names will be found in the Appendix to Isaac Taylor'sNamesandtheirHistories. It is reprinted as chapter xi of the same author'sWordsandPlaces(Everyman Library). See also Johnston'sPlace-namesofEnglandandWales, a glossary of selected names with a comprehensive introduction. There are many modern books on the village names of various counties, e.g. Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Suffolk (Skeat), Oxfordshire (Alexander), Lancashire (Wyld and Hirst), West Riding of Yorkshire (Moorman), Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire (Duignan), Nottinghamshire (Mutschmann), Gloucestershire (Baddeley), Herefordshire (Bannister), Wiltshire (Elsblom), S.W. Yorkshire (Goodall), Sussex (Roberts), Lancashire (Sephton), Derbyshire (Walker), Northumberland and Durham (Mawer).]Thus the nameOakleymust generally have been borne by a man who lived on meadow land which was surrounded or dotted with oak-trees. But I should be shy of explaining a given village called Oakley in the same way, because the student of place-names might be able to show from early records that the place was originally aney, or island, and that the first syllable is the disguised name of a medieval churl. These four simple etymons themselves may also become perverted. Thus -hamis sometimes confused with -holm(Chapter XII), -ley, as I have just suggested, may in some cases contain -ey, -tonoccasionally interchanges with -donand -stone, and -lordwith the French -fort(Chapter XIV).

In. this chapter will be found a summary of the various words applied by our ancestors to the natural features of the land they lived on. To avoid too lengthy a catalogue, I have classified them under the three headings—

(1) Hill and Dale,(2) Plain and Woodland,(3) Water and Waterside,

(1) Hill and Dale,

(2) Plain and Woodland,

(3) Water and Waterside,

reserving for the next chapter the names due to man's interference with the scenery, e.g. roads, buildings, enclosures, etc.

They are mostly Anglo-Saxon or Scandinavian, the Celtic name remaining as the appellation of the individual hill, stream, etc. (Helvellyn, Avon, etc.). The simple word has in almost all cases given a fairly common surname, but compounds are of course numerous, the first element being descriptive of the second, e.g.Bradley, broad lea,RadleyandRidley, red lea,Brockley, brook lea or badger lea (Chapter XXIII),Beverley, beaver lea,Cleverley, clover lea,Hawley, hedge lea,Rawnsley, raven's lea, and soadinfinitum. In the oldest records spot names are generally preceded by the prepositionat, whence such names asAttewell,Atwood, but other prepositions occur, as inBythesea,Underwoodand the hybridSuttees, on Tees. Cf. such French names asDoutrepont, from beyond the bridge.

One curious phenomenon, of which I can offer no explanation, is that while many spot names occur indifferently with or without -s, e.g.Bridge,Bridges;Brook,Brooks;Platt,Plaits, in others we find a regular preference either for the singular or plural form.[Footnote:In some cases no doubt a plural, in others a kind of genitive due to the influence of personal names, such as Wills,Perkins,etc.] Compare the following couples:

FieldMeadowsLakeRiversPoolMears(metes)SpyingWellsHouseCoates(P, 133)MarshMyers(mires)[Footnote:Myersis very often a Jewish name, from the very common Ger.Meyer, for which see Chapter IV.]

FieldMeadows

LakeRivers

PoolMears(metes)

SpyingWells

HouseCoates(P, 133)

MarshMyers(mires)

[Footnote:Myersis very often a Jewish name, from the very common Ger.Meyer, for which see Chapter IV.]

to which many more might be added. So we find regularlyNokesbutNash(Chapter III),BeechbutWillows. The general tendency is certainly towards the -sforms in the case of monosyllables, e.g.Banks,Foulds,Hayes,Stubbs,Thwaites, etc., but we naturally find the singular in compounds, e.g.Windebank(winding),Nettlefold,Roundhay, etc.

There is also a further problem offered by names in -er. We know that aWallerwas a mason or wall-builder, but was aBridgerreally aPontifex,[Footnote:An example of a Latinized name. Cf.Sutor,Faber, and the barbarousSartorius, forsartor, a tailor.Pontifexmayalso be the latinized form ofPopeorBishop. It is not known why this title, bridge-builder, was given to high-priests.]did he merely live near the bridge, or was he the same as aBridgman, and what was the latter? Did SamWeller'sancestor sink wells, possess a well, or live near someone else's well? Probably all explanations may be correct, for the suffix may have differed in meaning according to locality, but I fancy that in most cases proximity alone is implied. The same applies to many cases of names in -man, such asHillman,Dickman(dyke),Parkman.

Many of the words in the following paragraphs are obsolete or survive only in local usage. Some of them also vary considerably in meaning, according to the region in which they are found. I have included many which, in their simple form, seem too obvious to need explanation, because the compounds are not always equally clear.

HILL AND DALE

We have a fair number of Celtic words connected with natural scenery, but they do not as a rule form compounds, and as surnames are usually found in their simple form. Such areCairn, a stony hill,Crag,Craig, and the relatedCarrickandCreagh,GlenorGlynn, andLynn, a cascade. Two words, however, of Celtic origin,don, ordown, a hill, andcombe, a hollow in the hills, were adopted by the Anglo-Saxons and enter into many compounds. Thus we findKingdon, whence the imitativeKingdom,Brandon, from the name Brand (Chapter VII),Ashdown,etc. The simpleDonneorDunneissometimes the Anglo-Saxon name Dunna, whenceDunning, or a colour nickname, whileDownandDowningmay represent the Anglo-Sax. Duna and Duning (Chapter VII). FromCombe, used especially in the west of England, we haveCompton, and such compounds asAcomb, at combe,Addiscombe,Battiscombe, etc. ButNewcombisforNewcome(Chapter II). See alsoSlocomb(Chapter XXI).

HILLS

The simpleHillandDaleare among our common surnames.Hillalso appears asHulland is easily disguised in compounds, e.g.Brummelfor broom-hill,TootellandTuttlefor Toothill, a name found in many localities and meaning a hill on which a watch was kept. It is connected with the verb totout, originally to look out

"David dwellide in thetotehil"(Wyc, 2Sam.v. 9).

We haveDaleand its cognateDellinSwindell(swine),Tindall(Tyne),Twaddell,Tweddell(Tweed), etc. —

"Mr. H. T.Twaddleannounced the change of his name toTweeddalein theTimes, January 4, 1890" (Bardsley).

Other names for a hill areFell(Scand.), found in the lake country, whenceGrenfell;andHoughorHow(Scand.), as in the north country namesGreenhow,Birchenough.

This is often reduced to -o, as inClitheroe,Shafto, and is easily confused withscough, a wood (Scand.), as inBriscoe(birch),Ayscough(ash).

In the north hills were also calledLawandLow, with such compounds asBradlaugh,Whitelaw, andHarlow. To these must be addedBarrow, often confused with the relatedborough(Chapter XIII). Both belong to the Anglo-Sax.beorgan, to protect, cover. The name Leatherbarrow means the hill, perhaps the burial mound, ofLeather, Anglo-Sax. Hlothere, cognate with Lothair and Luther.

A hill-top wasCopeorCopp. Chaucer uses it of the tip of the Miller's nose

"Upon thecoperight of his nose he hadeA werte, and thereon stood a toft of herys."(A. 554.)

"Upon thecoperight of his nose he hadeA werte, and thereon stood a toft of herys."

(A. 554.)

Another name for a hill-top appears inPeak,Pike,Peck, orPick, but the many compounds inPick-, e.g.Pickbourne,Pickford,Pickwick, etc., suggest a personal namePickof which we have the dim. inPickett(cf. Fr. Picot) and the softenedPiggot.Peakmay be in some cases from the Derbyshire Peak, which has, however, no connection with the common noun peak. A mere hillock or knoll has given the namesKnapp,KnollysorKnowles,Knock, andKnott. ButKnappmayalso be for Mid. Eng.nape, cognate withknaveand with Low Ger.Knappe, squire—

"Wer wagt es, Rittersmann oder Knapp'.Zu tauchen in diesen Schlund?"(Schiller, Der Taucher, 1. I.)

"Wer wagt es, Rittersmann oder Knapp'.Zu tauchen in diesen Schlund?"

(Schiller, Der Taucher, 1. I.)

Redknap, the name of a Richmond boat-builder, is probably a nickname, like Redhead. A Knapper may have lived on a "knap," or may have been one of the Suffolk flint-knappers, who still prepare gun-flints for weapons to be retailed to the heathen.

KnockandKnockerare both Kentish names, and there is a reef off Margate known as the Kentish Knock. We have the pluralKnox(cf.Bax, Settlements and Enclosures, Chapter XIII).Knottis sometimes for Cnut, or Canute, which generally becomesNutt. Both have got mixed with the nicknameNott.

A green knoll was also calledToft(Scand.), whenceLangtoft, and the name was used later for a homestead. FromCliffwe haveClift,[Footnote:This may also be from Mid. Eng,clift, a cleft.]with excrescent -t, and the cognatesCleeveandClive. Compounds ofCliffareRadcliffe(red),Sutcliffe(south),Wyclif(white). The c- sometimes disappears in compounds, e.g.Cunliffe, earlier Cunde-clive, andTopliff;butAyliffeis for AElfgifu or AEthelgifu andGoodliffefrom Godleof (cf. Ger. Gottlieb). The older form ofStoneappears inStaines,Stanhope,Stanton, etc.Wheatstoneis either for "white stone" or for the local Whetstone (Middlesex). InBalderstone,Johnston,Edmondstone,Livingstone, the suffix is -ton, though the frequence ofJohnstonpoints to corruption fromJohnson, just as in Nottingham we have the converse case ofBeesonfrom the localBeeston. InHailstonethe first element may be Mid. Eng,half, holy. Another Mid. English name for a stone appears inHone, now used only of a whetstone.

A hollow or valley in the hillside was called in the northClough, also speltClow,Cleugh(Clim o' the Cleugh), andClew. The compoundFaircloughis found corrupted intoFaircloth. Another obscure northern name for a glen wasHope, whenceAllsop,Blenkinsop, the first element in each being perhaps the name of the first settler, andBurnup,Hartopp, (hart),Harrap(hare),Heslop(hazel).

Gill(Scand.), a ravine, has givenFothergill,Pickersgill, andGaskell, from Gaisgill (Westmorland). These, like most of our names connected with mountain scenery, are naturally found almost exclusively in the north. Other surnames which belong more or less to the hill country areHole, found also asHoll,Hoole, andHoyle, but perhaps meaning merely a depression in the land,Ridge, and its northern formRigg, with their compoundsDoddridge,Langridge,Brownrigg,Hazelrigg, etc.Ridge,Rigg, also appear asRudge,Rugg. From Mid. Eng.raike, a path, a sheep-track (Scand.), we getRaikesand perhapsGreatorex, found earlier asGreatrakes, the name of a famous faith-healer of the seventeenth century.

WOODLAND AND PLAIN

The compounds ofWooditself are very numerous, e.g.Braidwood,Harwood,Norwood,SherrardandSherratt(Sherwood). But, in considering the frequency of the simpleWood, it must be remembered that we find people described aslewode,i.e. mad (cf. Ger.Wut, frenzy), and thatmadandmadmanare found as medieval names

"Thou told'st me they were stolen unto this wood;And here am I, andwodewithin this wood,Because I cannot meet my Hermia."(MidsummerNight'sDream, ii. 1.)

"Thou told'st me they were stolen unto this wood;And here am I, andwodewithin this wood,Because I cannot meet my Hermia."

(MidsummerNight'sDream, ii. 1.)

As a suffix -woodis sometimes a corruption of -ward, e.g.Haywoodis occasionally forHayward, andAllwood,Elwoodare forAylward, Anglo-Sax. AEthelweard. Another name for a wood wasHolt, cognate with Ger.Holz—

"But right so as thiseholtesand thise hayis,That han in winter dede ben and dreye,Revesten hem in grene whan that May is."(TroilusandCriseyde,iii.351.)

"But right so as thiseholtesand thise hayis,That han in winter dede ben and dreye,Revesten hem in grene whan that May is."

(TroilusandCriseyde,iii.351.)

HurstorHirstmeans a wooded hill (cf. Ger.Horst), andShawwas once almost as common a word as wood itself—

Back to Index Next