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CHAPTER VII.

MIXED NAMES OF PLACES.

THE mixed or Gothic names of places in England, compared with the Celtic, bear the character of lateness, that is, a great part of them belong to the present day, and nearly all the rest to the period immediately preceding. Substantive names have already become endings; and through this arises a facility of dealing with them, they may be classed by their terminations, and thus apportioned to the different peoples. It holds good as a general rule, that no tribe of people used two different endings to express precisely the same meaning.

Mixed names, compared with older names, are liable to an illegitimate increase; what the latter lose, the former gain. All that has been said on pseudo-etymology in a former chapter, belongs equally to this place. The latest dialect gains from all the preceding, checked only by the dominant language. Prof. Worsaae observes on this subject: "It is not of course very easy to point out the meaning of every name of a place that has a Danish or Norwegian termination, the Scandinavians

having often merely added an ending to the older names, or at most remodelled them into forms that had a home-like sound to their ears." This remodelling, having no connexion with the origin of the place, must be especially worthless to ethnographers.

One of the latest and most ordinary mistakes that second colonists make with regard to older names, is that of personification. If the name is not otherwise to be accounted for, it becomes the name of a person. The moor in Denmark called Dannerlyng, on the centre of which stands a single stone, is said to be the burial-place of King Dan, the first king of Denmark. Dunmaile

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ANGLE AND SAXON TZEMINATIONS.

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(the hill of the tumulus). was in the same way converted into a crowned head, and the addition of 66 raise," eq. maile was thus made intelligible,-it was King Dunmaile's Raise. The mistakes of this kind amongst mixed names of towns, barrows, and monumental stones, must be very numerous.

ANGLE TERMINATIONS.

Bury, berry (N. byr, a farmhouse), a village originating in a farmhouse.

Ey (H. C. i, D. ö, an island, H. C. innis, an island or river-side ground), river-side ground more or less surrounded by water. Eq. in meaning to the D. ing.

Ton (C. dun, tun, a hill, a fort), a farmhouse and outbuildings strengthened for defence.-The Eng. town.-Hutton (G. hut, guard), the herdsmen's village is nearly eq. Wharton, Warwick, etc. Whitehaven has also the popular name of Whitton.

Wick (Lat. vicus, a village, N. ve, a dwelling), a village. Wigton, that is, Wick-ton, eq. Wickham. It has become wich in the Saxon parts of England.

Worth (N. virki, a mound, an entrenchment, D. värge, to defend, Eng. work), a village originating in a fortified house. Cf. the D. wark. Naworth (G. neu, new) and Newark have precisely the same meaning. In Warkworth we have both forms explaining each other. There is no doubt, that Workington is the correct form of Worthington.

SAXON TERMINATIONS.

Barrow, berg (A. S. beorg, a hill, a tumulus, G. berg, a hill) a burial-place. Bargheist, the ghost that haunts the barrow. Eq. the D. höi, a hill, a tumulus.

Burn (C. bran, a mountain torrent), a stream.—The Fr. borne, a boundary. The two parts of Wytheburn (C. C. gwyth) translate each other. Holborn in London (holtbourne), the wooded stream, was probably once the name of the Fleet.

Ham, a village. Sebergham is explained by Sedbergh (H. C. sidhe, a hill, A. S. beorg, a hill). The Eng. diminutive hamlet, a village, shows plainly that the ham had then become a town.

Hill, both Angle and Saxon, is frequent in this district, but seems to be late. It is generally found as a repetition: Brownberg Hill, Castle Law Hill (A. S. beorg, a hill, hlæw, a hill), etc.

More, a moor. Westmorland was probably the original name of the Morland district. Melmerby (D. mellem, cf. mellemmuur, mellemvei, the middle wall, the middle way), the "town on the middle of the moor," furnishes us with the same orthography as is found in Westmeria.

There are other terminations, brough, a castle, brig, a bridge, land, ley, a meadow, and mere, a lake; but most of them are Angle as well as Saxon.

Late English terminations, such as water, stone, etc., as they belong to the dominant language, can be of no use to the ethnographer.

DANISH TERMINATIONS.

By (D. by, a town), a village originating in a farmhouse and outbuildings. Gamblesby (D. gammel), old town, contrasts with Newby; Upperby with Netherby, lower town. Scaleby (D. skiul, a shelter or refuge) may be compared to the Angle Skelton. Tebay (N. thy, a slave or bondman) seems to belong to this termination. Kirkby is invariably of Christian origin, as Kirkby Stephen, Kirkby Kendal, etc. Kirkby Thore cannot have any connexion with the god Thor; it is so called from the Roman road, N. thor, H. C. tochar, a highway.

Cleugh (N. kliufa, to split, D. klöft, a cleft), a ravine or glen.— The provincial clough, the fork of a tree, and the Eng. claw.

Croft (N. grafa, to dig, D. gröft, a ditch), a field surrounded with a sunk fence, a close.

Dale (D. dal), a valley). Garsdale means grass-dale, Sleddale (D. slet, plain), the open, level dale, and Naddle (D. nöd, cattle), the grazing dale. Cf. Nateby and Natland. Smardale (D. smör), butter-dale.

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Fell (D. field), a mountain, a hill.-The Angle field, the side or slope of the hill, as in Sheffield.-Fairfield (D. faar), the sheep fell, Souter Fell, the southern fell. Cf. Sutherland, Scotland, the southern land.

Ford (D. fiord), an arm of the sea.

Garth (N. gardhr, a hedge) an enclosed field. Crewgarth (H. C. corrach, a marsh), the field enclosed on the marsh, Cunning Garth (N. kuningr, a rabbit), the rabbits' field.-The D. gaard, a country house.

Gate (D. gade), a street, the main thoroughfare of the town. Stramongate (D. stram), Kendal, the straight street, Boroughgate, Penrith, castle-street, Bongate (D. bonde), the peasants' street. Cf. Bannerdale, Bannisdale (D. bönder, peasants). Clappersgate (N. kleppr), rough street.

Hope (N. hop), a place of refuge, a hollow between two hills. Warcop seems to be from wark hope, the fortified hope, and Rodderup from, perhaps, the D. röd, red, the red hope.

Ing (D. eng, a meadow), river-side ground. Nearly eq. the N. syke. Hincaster, the camp in the meadow.

Keld (D. kilde, a fountain), a spring.-N. kill, a brook.

Scales (D. skiul, a shelter), a temporary place of abode. Hudscales eq. Hutton (G. hut, guard). The shield of the borders, and the Shields of Northumberland and Durham.

Side (H. C. sidhe), a hill. Hartside is undoubtedly a hill. The general use appears to be eq. the Angle field, the hill-side.

Skaw, scaws, skew, sceugh, shaw (D. skov), a wood.

Stead (D. sted), a place.-The G. stadt, a town.-Boustead (D. baas, a stall), the place for cattle, eq. Cabus, Lancashire (D. ko-baas, the cowstall.)

Stock, stoke (D. stok, a stick), a house fortified with a stockade. Cf. Stockholme, the island of the fort, the D. stokhuus, a jail, etc. Thing (N. thing, an assembly, a court of justice), the district belonging to a court of justice. Irthing (H. C. iar), the western district, has given its name to a river.

Thorpe (N. thorp), a village.-G. dorf, a village.

Thwaite (N. thveitr, a piece of land, a meadow, or field), a piece

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of ground separated or enclosed to some extent, generally by rivers, as in Roundthwaite, Westmorland, where the rivers nearly form a circle.-A. S. thweotan, to cut off.-Wyberthwaite, C. C. gwy, water, D. byr. Braithwaite is from the D. bred, broad, and Brathwaite from the D. brat, steep.

Wath (N. vadha), a ford. Longwathby (pr. langaby), the village at the long ford. Yanwath is a contraction of Yamonwath, the ford of the Eamont (Yamon), that is, the water mound (the former name of King Arthur's Round Table), now transferred to the river.

With (A. wick), a village. Cf. worth and work. Skirwith (D. skiär, a rock) eq. Clifton. Names of places with this ending are not numerous, but there is a strong tendency in the district to substitute with for wick and worth.

NORWEGIAN TERMINATIONS.

Ber, bires (N. byr, a farmhouse), a farmhouse or village. Kaber (D. ko, a cow) is eq. Nateby (D. nöd, cattle). The first parts of Birthwaite, Birbeck, Barwick, Barton, are of this origin. Burton and Bruton are probably from brough.

Frith (N. fiördhr, an arm of the sea), an estuary. The Angle use of the word seems to be that of a glen, with generally a river passing through it: Holmefirth, Chapel in the Frith.

Gill (N. gil, a mountain chasm), a glen.

Haugh, how (N. haugr), a hill or burial-mound. Bruckenhow, the hill at the bridge.

Holme (N. holmi), a little island, as the holmes in Windermere. Eq. the D. ö. The Danish and Angle use of the word in Cumbria is that of ground more or less surrounded by a river. Farrisholme (D. faar), the sheep's holme, and Hestholme (D. hest), the horses' holme, may be compared to Oxenholme (D. özen).

Ness (N. nes), a cape.

Syke (N. siki, a marsh), wet meadow-land. All the present sykes were once marshes.

Street (N. stræti), a lane. vinkel), the crooked street.

Finkle-street, Kendal and Carlisle (D.
The Angle use of the word is that of

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