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WORDS AND PLACES. 



!i 



I 



.WORDS AND PLACES 



OR 



ETYMOLOGICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 



OF 



HISTORY ETHNOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY 



BY 



ISAAC TAYLOR, MA., Litt.D., Hon. LL.D. 

Canon of York., Rector of Settrington 



WITH MAPS 



1 n ll n 
MACMILLAN AND CO. 

AND NEW YORK 
1893 

The Ri^hi of Translation and Reproduction is Reserved 



r 



106 

7:14- 



Richard Clay and Sons, Limited, 
lonoon and bungay. 



First Edition^ Crown %vo, 1863. 

Reprinted^ 1864. 

New Edition, Globe 8v0, January 1873. 

Repfinted, Au£ytst 1873 ; 1875, 1878, 1882, 1885, 1888, 1893. 



PREFACE. 

The design of this book, and an outline of its contents, are 
set forth in the Introductory Chapter, and need not be further 
spoken of in this place. 

The subject has hitherto received scant attention from 
competent English scholars. This book is, therefore, based 
mainly on the researches of German philologists, notably on 
the works of Forstemann, Zeuss, Diefenbach, Diez, Pott, Leo, 
Gliick, Worsaae, and Buttmann. The works of Kemble, 
Guest, Hartshorne, Ferguson, Trench, Edmunds, Latham, 
Donaldson, and other English writers, have, however, been 
freely used as occasion served. 

In previous Editions, all such literary obligations were ac- 
knowledged in the foot-notes These notes it has no longer 
seemed needful to retain, but at the close of nearly every 
chapter a brief general reference to authorities has been in- 
serted as an aid to students who may desire to work out for 
themselves, in greater detail, any special line of investigation. 
The Appendices, and other literary scaflfolding, have likewise 
been removed, and the reader is now presented with results, 
apart from methods of research. 






^ 



VI PREFACE. 



In thus recasting the work, the intention has been to fit it 
for the use of students and general readers, rather than, as 
before, to appeal to the judgment of philologers. The book 
has already been adopted by many teachers, and is prescribed 
as a text-book in the Cambridge Higher Examinations for 
Women : and it is hoped that the reduced size and price, and 
the other changes now introduced, may make it more generally 
useful than heretofore for Educational purposes. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE SIGNIFICANCY OF LOCAL NAMES. 



PAGE 



Local Names always significant, and possessed of great vitality — 
Some names descriptive — ^Their geological value — Others con- 
serve ethnological and historical facts, or illustrate the state of 
civilization or religion in past times ' . } 



CHAPTER II. 

NAMES OF RECENT ORIGIN. 

T t 

Colonization of America — Greenland — Leif Ericson — Columbus — 
Religious feeling in the Names given by the Spaniards and by 
the Puritans — Salem — Providence — The Quaker Colony — The 
Red Indians — The Elizabethan worthies : Frobisher, Davis, 
Baffin, Hudson, Drake, and Gilbert — Adventures of Captain 
Smith — ^The French plantations — The Dutch in North and South 
America — Magalhaens — Spanish and Portuguese discoveries — The 
Dutch in the South Seas — ^New Zealand and New Holland — 
Recent Arctic discoveries 



CHAPTER III. 

THE ETHNOLOGICAL VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 

U>cal names are the beacon-lights of primeval History — ^The method 
of research illustrated by American Names — Recent progress of 
Ethnology — The Celts, Anglo-Saxons, and Northmen — Retro- 
cesnon of the Sdaves — Arabic Names — Ethnology of mountain 
districts— The Alps 2? 



\ 



viii CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE NAMES OF NATIONS. 



PAGE 



Ethnic 'Names usually of obscure origin — ^Name of Britain — Many 
nations bear duplicate names — ^Deutsche and Germans — "Bar- 
barians" — Welsh — Gaels — Aryans — ^Names of conquering Tribes 
— Ancient Ethnic Names conserved in those of modem cities — 
Rome — Ethnic Names derived from rulers — from gec^^raphical 
position — Eiirope — Asia — ^Africa — Ethnographic Names — ** War- 
riors" — "Mountaineers" — "Low Coastlanaers " — Names of ex- 
tended signification — Greece — Italy 37 



CHAPTER V. 

THE PHCBNICIANS. 

Physical character of Phoenician sites — ^Tyre — Sidon — Phenice — 
Phcenician colonies in Crete, Cyprus, Sardinia, Corsica, Italy, 
Sicily, Malta, Africa, Spain, and Britain ^Cj 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE ARABS IN EUROPE. 

The Empire of the Cailiphs — Arabic Names in Southern Italy and 
Sicily — Tribes by which the conquest of Sicily was effected — Con- 
quest of Spain — Tarifa and Gibraltar — ^The Arabic article — River- 
names of Spain — Arabs in Southern France — ^They hold the passes 
of the Alps — The Monte Moro pass and its Arabic Names — Tlie 
Muretto pass and Pontresina 65 

CHAPTER Vn. 

THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 

England is the land of inclosures — ^This denoted bv the character of 
Anglo-Saxon Names which end in "ton," *^yard," "worth," 
"fold," "hay," and "bury "—Ham, the home— The Patronymic 
<«iiig»» — Teutonic clans — The Saxon colony near Boulogne — The 
Saxon settlement in England began before the departure of the 



CONTENTS. ix 



FAGfl 



Romans — Elarly Frisian settlement in Yorkshire— Litus Saxonicum 
near Caen — German village-names in France and in Italy — Patro- 
nymics in Franconia and Swabia — Seat of the " Old-Saxons " . 77 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE NORTHMEN. 



tf 



[nciirsions of the Northmen — ^Norse test-words: "by," "thorpe,' 
"toft," "ville," "garth," "ford," " wick "~ Vestiges of the 
Djanes near the Thames — In Essex, Sifffolk, Norfolk, and Lincoln- 
shire — ^The Danelagh — Norwegians in Sutherland, the Orkneys, 
Sbetlands, Hebrides, and Isle of Man — Cumberland and West- 
moreland — ^The Wirall — Colony in Pembrokeshire — Devonshire 
and the South Coast — Northmen in Ireland — Intensity of the 
Scandinavian element in different parts of England — ^Northmen in 
France — Names in Normandy — Norse Names in Spain, Sicily, and 
the Hellespont — Local vestiges of the Anglo-Norman conquest — 
Aiii^lu- Norman nobles in Scotland 103 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE CELTS. 

Prevalence of Celtic Names in Europe — Antiquity of River-names — 
• The roots Avon, Dur, Stour, Esk, Wye, Rhe, and Don — Myth of 
the Danaides — Hybrid composition, and reduplication of syno- 
nyms — ^Adjectival river- names : Yare, Alne, Ban, Douglas, Leven, 
Tame, Aire, Cam, and Clyde — Celtic mountain-names : cefh, pen, 
cenn, dun — Names of Rocks — Valleys — Lakes — Dwellings — 
Cymric and Gadhelic test-words — Celts in Galatia — Celts in Ger- 
many, France, and Spain — Euskarian Names — Gradual retro- 
cession of Celts in England — Amount of the Celtic element — 
Division of Scotland between the Picts and Gaels — Inver and Aber 
^Ethnology of the Isle of Man 129 



CHAPTER X. 

THE HISTORIC VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 

Contrast between Roman and Saxon civilization, as shcA^Ti by Local 
Names — Roman roads — "Gates" — Bridges and fords — Celtic 
bridges — Deficiency of inns — Cold Harbour — Saxon dykes — 

b 



CONTENTS. 



PA.C«11 

Roman walls — Saxon forts — "Bury" — Ancient camps — Chester, 
caster, and caer — Stations of the Roman Legions — Frontier dis- 
tricts — Castile — The Mark — Pfyn — Devises — Ethnic shire-names of 
England — Intrusive colonization 1 66 



CHAPTER XL 

THE STREET-NAMES OF LONDON. 

The walls of Old London — Gradual extension of the town — Absorp- 
tion of surrounding villages — The brooks : the Holbom, the 
Tyburn, and the Westboume — Wells, conduits, ferries — Monastic 
establishments of London — Localities of certain trades — Sports 
and pastimes — Sites of residences of historic families preserved in 
the names of streets — The Palaces of the- Strand — Elizabethan 
London — Streets dating from the Restoration 183 



CHAPTER Xn. 

HISTORIC SITES. 

Places of popular assembly — Runnimede — Moot-hill — Detmold — 
The Scandinavian "things" or parliaments — ^The Thingvellir of 
Iceland — The Thing^\'alls and Dingwells of Great Britain — 
Tynwald Hill in the Isle of Man— Battle-fields : Lichfield, Battle, 
Slaughter — Conflicts with the Danes — Eponymic Names — Myths 
of Early English History — Carisbrooke — Hengist and Horsa — Cissa 
— Mile — Cerdic — Offa — Maes Garmon — British chieftains — 
Valetta — Alexander — Names of the Roman Emperors — Modem 
Names of this class 196 



CHAPTER XIII. 

SACRED SITES. 

Local vestiges of Saxon heathendom — Tiw, Frea, Woden, Thor, 
Balder — Celtic deities — Teutonic demigods — Way land Smiths 
Old Scratch — Old Nick — The Nightmare — Sacred groves and 
temples — Vestiges of Sclavonic heathendom — The Classic Pan- 
theon — Conversion of the Northern nations — Paulinus at Good- 
manham— "Llan" and " Kil "— The Hermits of the Hebrides 
— The local saints of Wales — Places of pilgrimage — The monastic 
houses «<••-« ztj 



CONTENTS. « 



CHAPTER XIV. 

PHYSICAL CHANGES ATTESTED BY LOCAL NAMES. 



page 



The nature of geological changes — The valley of the Thames once 
a lagoon filled with islets — Thanet once an island — Reclamation 
of Romney Marsh — Newhaven — Somersetshire — The Traeth Mawr 
— ^The Carse of Gowrie — Loch Maree — The Fens of Cambridge- 
shire — The Isle of Axholme — Silting-up of the Lake of Geneva — 
Increase of the Delta of the Po — Volcanoes — Destruction of 
ancient forests — Icelandic forests — The Weald of Kent — 
Increase of Population — Populousness -of Saxon England — The 
nature of Saxon husbandry — English vineyards — Extinct animals : 
the wolf, badger, aurochs, and beaver — Ancient salt works — 
Lighthouses — Changes in the relative commercial importance of 
towns * 235 

CHAPTER XV. 

CHANGES AND ERRORS. 

Vitality of Local Names — Recurrence to ancient Names — Changes 
in Names often simply phonetic — Lincoln — Sarum — Whitehall — 
Phonetic corruptions among savage tribes — Interchange of suffixes 
of analogous sound — Tendency to contraction— Laws of Phonetic 
change— Examples — Influence of popular etymological speculation 
on the form of Names — Tendency to make Names significant — 
Examples — Transformations of French Names — Invention of new 
Saints from Local Names — Transformed names often give rise 
to legends — Bozra — Thongcastle — The Dun Cow — Antwerp — The 
Mouse Tower — The Amazons of the Baltic— Pilatus — The Picts — 
The Tatars — Poland — Mussulman — Negropont — Corruptions of 
Street-Names — America — The Gypsies 256 

CHAPTER XVI. 

WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 

Growth of words out of names — Process of transformation — Examples: 
cherry, peach, chestnut, walnut, quince, damson, Guernsey lily, 
currant, shallot, coflfee, cacao, and rhubarb — Tobacco — Names of 
wines and liqueurs— Gin, negus, and grog — Names of animals : 
turkey, ermine, sable — Breeds of horses — Fish — Names of Mine- 
rals : loadsto^fv magnet, ag^e, y^ nitre* .'unmouia — Textile fabrics 



' xii CONTENTS. 



PAG 

— Manufactures of the Arabs : muslin, damask, gauze, fustian — 
Manufactures of the Flemings : cambric, diaper, duck, ticking, 
frieze — Republics of Northern Italy — Cravats — Worsted — ^Names 
of vehicles — The coach — Names of weapons — Inventions called 
from the name of the inventor — Pasquinade, punch, harlequin, 
charlatan, vaudeville — Mythical derivations — Names of corns — 
Moral significance attached to words derived from Ethnic Names 
— Examples : Gothic, bigot, cretin, frank, romance, gasconade, 
lumber, ogre, fiend, slave — Names of servile Races — Tariff — 
Cannibal — Assassin — Spruce — Words derived from the practice of 
pilgrimage : saunter, roam, canter, fiacre, tawdry, flash — History 
of the word palace 275 

CHAPTER XVII. 

ONOMATOLOGY ; OR, THE PRINCIPLES OF NAME-GIVING. 

Dangers which beset the Etymologist — Rules of Investigation — 
Names in the United States — List of some of the chief components 
of Local Names 311 

INDICES. 

Index of Local Names 336 

Index of Matters "... 358 



MAPS. 

Chromolithographic Map of the settlements of the Celts, Saxons, 

Danes, and Norwegians in the British Isles and Northern France . i 

Sketch-Map shewing the distribution of Arabic Names in Spain and 

Portugal 69 

Sketch-Map of the Saxon colony in Picardy and Artois 87 

Sketch-Map shewing the Teutonic settlements in France .... 96 

Sketch-Map shewing the settlements of the Northmen in Normandy. 123 

%* In these Maps each dot represents the position of an ethnographic local namr-.. 



WORDS AND PLACES. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE SIGNIFICANCY OF LOCAL NAMES. 

Local Names always significant^ and possess^ of great vitality — Smne de- 
scri^ive — Geological value of stick names — Others conserve ethnological and 
historical facts y or illustrate the state of cvvUization or religion in past times. 

Local names — ^whether they belong to provinces, cities, and 
villages, or are the designations of rivers and mountains — are 
never mere arbitrary sounds, devoid of meaning. They may 
always be regarded as records of the past, inviting and re- 
warding a careful historical interpretation. 

In many instances the original import of such names has 
faded away, or has become disguised in the lapse of ages; 
nevertheless, the primeval meaning may be recoverable, and 
whenever it is recovered we have gained a symbol that may 
prove itself to be full-fraught with instruction; for it may 
indicate— emigrations— immigrations— the commingling of 
races by war and conquest, or by the peaceful processes of 
commerce : — the name of a district or of a town may speak to 
us of events which written history has failed to commemorate. 
A local name may often be adduced as evidence determinative 
of controversies that otherwise could never be brought to a 
conclusion. 

The names of places are conservative of the more archaic 
rorras of a living language, and they often embalm for us the 
?uise and fashion of speech in eras the most remote These 

c 



SIGNIFICANCY OF LOCAL NAMES. 



topographic words, which float down upon the parlance of 
successive generations of men, are subject in their course to 
less phonetic abrasion than the other elements of a people's 
speech. Such words, it is true, are subject to special perils, 
arising from attempts at accommodating their forms to the 
requirements of popular etymological speculation ; but, on the 
other hand, they are more secure than other words from the 
modifying influences of grammatical inflexion. 

The name of many an ancient city, such as Tadmor, Sidon, 
or Hamath, seems as if it were endowed with an inherent and . 
indestructible vitality : it is still uttered, unchanged in a single 
letter — monumentum <Bre perennius — ^while fragments of marble 
columns, or of sculptures in porphyry or granite, are seen 
strewing confusedly the desolated site. 

What has been affirmed by the botanist as to the floras of 
limited districts, may be said, with little abatement, concerning 
local names — that they survive the catastrophes which over- 
throw empires, and that they outlive devastations which are 
fatal to almost everything besides. Invading hosts may 
trample down or extirpate whatever grows upon a soil, 
excepting only its wild flowers, and the names of those sites 
where man has found a home. Seldom is a people utterly 
exterminated,^ for the proud conqueror leaves " of tiie poor of 
the land " to till the glebe anew ; and these enslaved outcasts, 
though they may hand down no memory of the splendid deeds 
of the nation's heroes, yet retain a most tenacious recollec- 
tion of the names of the hamlets which their own ignoble 
progenitors inhabited, and near to which their fathers were 
interred. 

Nineteen-twentieths of the vocabulary of any people lives 
only in the literature and the speech of the cultured classes.^ 

1 In the historical books of the Old Testament, we have, incidentally, a 
proof of the large Canaanite element remaining after the Israelitish con- 
quest of Palestine. We see the old Canaanite names straggling for existence 
with those imposed by the conquerors : — Kirjath A^i with Hebron ; 
Kirjath Sepher with Debir ; Keneth with Nobar ; Luz with Bethel ; 
Ephratah with Bethlehem. 

* Of the 50,000 words in the English language, some 10,000 constitute 
the vocabulary of an educated Englishman, and certainly not 1,000, perhaps 
not more than 500, are heard in the mouths of the labouring classes. 



PERMANENCE OF NAMES. 



Bui the remainder — the twentieth part — has a robust life in 
the daily usage of the sons of toil : and this limited portion 
of the national speech never fails to include the names of those 
objects which are the mpst familiar and the most beloved. A 
few score of " household words " have thus been retained as 
the common inheritance of the whole of the Indo-European 
nations ;^ and the same causes have secured the local preserva- 
tion of local names. 

These appellations, which have thus been floated forward 
from age to age, have often, or they had at first, a descripth^e 
import 'jr=:^<ty tell us something of the physical features of the 
land [Thus it is that they may either give aid to the philo- 
logist when the aspect of the country remains the same — ^its 
visible forms standing in view as a sort of material lexicon of 
a tongue that has ceased to be vernacular ; or, on the other 
hand, where the face of nature has undergone extensive 
change&j-where there were formerly, it may be, forests that 
have been cleared, marshes that have been drained, coast-lines 
that have advanced seaward, rivers that have extended their 
deltas or found new channels, estuaries that have been con- 
verted into alluvial soil, lakes that have been silted up, islands 
that have become gentle inland slopes surrounded by fertile 
com-flats ; — in all such cases, instances of which will be 
adduced hereafter, these pertinacious names have a geological 
significance — they come into use as a record of a class /oi 
events, as to which, for the most part, written history is silent. 
In this manner — and the instances are many — the names of 
places become available as the beacon-lights of geologic history. 
In tnith, there are instances in which local names, conserved in 
places where little or nothing else that is human has endured, 
niay be adduced as evidence of vast physical mutations, side 

' The names of the numerals, of father, mother, and brother, of the parts 
^^ the body, of two or three of the commoner metals, tools, cereals, and 
<lomesticated animals, such as the cat, the mouse, and the goose, as well as 
the names of the plough, of grist, of fire, of the house, as well as some of the 
?cnoBal pronouns and numerals, come within this category. The analysis 
o[ words of this class gives us a clue to the relative epochs at which the 
(^Itic, Romance, Sclavonic, and Teutonic families separated from the parent 
Slock, or from each other, and shows what progress nad been made m the 
arts of life at the periods when each of these separations took place« 
I B a 



SIGNIFICANCY OF LOCAL NAMES. 



by side with the stone hatchets and the spear-heads of the 
drift of Abbeville, the canoes and anchors found in the allu- 
vium of the Carse of Falkirk and Strathclyde, the gnawed 
bones of the Kirkdale Cavern, the glaciated rocks of Wales, 
the rain-dinted slabs of Sussex, and other massive vouchers in 
the physical history of the globe. 

The picturesque or descriptive character of local names is, 
as might be anticipated, prominently exemplified in the appel- 
lations bestowed on the most striking feature in landscape — 
mountain peaks and ranges. Thus it is easy to perceive that, 
in every region of the world, the loftier mountains have been 
designated by names which describe that natural phenomenon, 
which would be most certain to impress the imagination of a 
rude people. The names of Snowdon, Ben Nevis, Mont 
Blanc, the Sierra Nevada in Spain, Snafell in Iceland, the 
Sneeuw Bergen at the Cape of Good Hope, the Sneehatten in 
Norway, Sneekoppe in Bohemia, and the Weisshom, the 
Weissmies, and the T^te Blanche in Switzerland, as well as 
the inore archaic or more obscure names of Lebanon, of 
Caucasus, of Haemus, of the Himalaya, of Dwajalagiri, and 
of Djebel-es-Sheikh, are, all of them, appellations descriptive, 
in various languages, of the characteristic snowy covering of 
these lofty summits. 

But there are many names which conjoin historical and 
physical information. Thus, when we learn that the highest 
summit in the Isle of Man is called snafell, we recognise at 
once the descriptive character of the name, and we might be 
satisfied with simply placing it in the foregoing list But when 
we discover that the name Snafell is a true Norse word, and 
that it serves moreover for the name of a mountain in Norway, 
and of another in Iceland, we find ourselves in presence of the 
historical fact that the Isle of Man was, for centuries, a 
dependency of the Scandinavian Crown — ^having been con- 
quered and colonized by the Norwegian Vikings, who also 
peopled Iceland. 

This is an instance of what we may call the ethnological 
import of names. The chief value of the science of geo- 
graphical etymology consists in the aid which it is thus able 
to give us in the determination of obscure ethnological 



HISTORICAL IMPORT OF NAMEa 5 



questions. There are many nations which have left no written 
records, and whose history would be a blank volume — or 
nearly so — were it not that in the places where they liave so- 
joumed they have left traces of their migrations, sufficientlo- 
enable us to reconstruct the main outline of their history. (The 
hills, the valleys, and the rivers are, in fact, the only writing- 
tablets on which unlettered nations have been able to inscribe 
their annals.. The great advances in ethnological knowledge 
which hav^ecently taken place are largely due to the deci- 
pherment of the obscure and time-worn records thus conserved 
in local names. The Celtic, the Iberic, the Teutonic, the 
Scandinavian, and the Sclavonian races have thus, and for the 
most part thus only, made known to us their migrations, their 
conquests, and their defeats. 

To this subject — ^Etymology in its relations to Ethnolog}' — 
several of the succeeding chapters will be devoted. 

But we sometimes derive historical information in a still 
more explicit form from local names. They often preserve the 
memory of historic sites, and even enable us to assign approx- 
imate dates to certain memorable events. Thus, there is a 
meadow near Stamford Bridge which still goes by the name of 
BATTLE FLATS. For eight centuries, this name has kept in its 
tenacious grasp the memory of the precise locality of the 
timous territorial concession which Harold, son of Godwine, 
made to Harald Hardrdda, King of Norway, "seven feet of 
English ground, or as much more as he may be taller than 
other men." And at the other extremity of the kingdom the 
name of the town of battle, in Sussex, is the epitaph which 
niarks the spot where, in less than a month, the English king 
lost his kingdom and his life. 

The names of messina in Sicily, of carthagena in Spain, 
and'of MILETUS in Ionia, repeat the names of the mother-cities 
vhich sent out these colonies; and the name of Tripoli 
eminds us that there were three cities — Tyre, Sidon, and 
Aiidus— which joined in establishing the new settlement. 

The name of the Philippine Islands tells us of the reign 
in which the Spanish galleons steered from Peru across the 
Southern Sea, The name of Louisiana reminds us that, in 
the days of the Grand Ifonarqucy France was the rival of Eng- 



SIGNIFICANCE OF LOCAL NAMES. 



land in the colonization of the Western World ; and the names 
of VIRGINIA, of the CAROLiNAS, and of GEORGIA give us the 
dates of the first foundation of England's colonial empire, and 
of some of the chief successive stages in its progress. The 
word LONDONDERRY spcaks to us of the resettlement of the 
desolated city of Derry by the London guilds ; while the names 
king's county and queen's county, philipstown, and Mary- 
borough, commemorate the fact that it was in the days of King 
Philip and Queen Mary that the O'Mores were • exterminated, 
and two new counties added to the English Pale. 

There are materials of yet another class which may be col- 
lected from the study of ancient names. From them we may 
decipher facts that have a bearing on the history of ancient 
civilization. With regard, for example, to Saxon England, we 
may from local names draw many inferences as to the amount 
of cultivated land, the state of agriculture, the progress of the 
arts of construction, and even as to the density of the popula- 
tion and its relative distribution. In the same records we 
may discover vestiges of various local franchises and privileges, 
and may investigate certain social differences which must have 
characterised the districts settled respectively by the Saxons 
and the Danes. And we may collect enchorial vestiges of the 
heathenism of our forefathers, and illustrate the process by 
which it was gradually effaced by the efforts of Christian 
teachers. 

We thus perceive how many branches of scientific, historical, 
and archaeological research are capable of being elucidated by 
the study of names; and it is manifest that upon many grounds, 
the work of their Historical Interpretation is called for. The 
almost virgin soil of a rich field, which has never yet been 
systematically cultivated, presents itself before the labourer; 
and an industrious criticism, bringing into combination the 
resources of Geography, of Physical Description, of Geology, 
of Archaeology, of Ethnology, of Philology and of History, may 
hope to reach results, more or less important, in each of these 
departments of knowledge ; or, at all events, it cannot fail to 
indicate, for future exploration, some of the sites where He 
buried the hidden treasures of the past 



CHAPTER II. 

NAMES OF RECENT ORIGIN. 

Coionizttiion of America — Greenland — Leif Ericson — Columbus — Religious 
feeling in the Names given by the Spaniards and by the Puritans — Salem — 
Providence — The Quaker Colony — Native Indian Names — The Elizabethan 
worthies : Frobisher, Davis, Baffin, Hudson, Drake, and Gilbert — Adven- 
tures of Captain Smith — The French plantations — The Dutch in North 
and South America — Magalhaens — Spanish and Portuguese discoveries — 
The Dutch in the South Seas — New Zealand and New Holland — Recent 
Arctic discoveries. 

The peopling of the Eastern Hemisphere is an event of the 
distant past The names upon tlie map of Europe have re- 
mained there, most of them for ten, many of them for twenty, 
centuries. To study them is a task full of difficulties ; for they 
are mostly derived from obscure or unknown languages, and 
they have suffered more or less from the phonetic changes of 
so many years. But with the New World the case is different 
The colonization of America has been effected during the 
modem historic period, the process of name-giving is illustrated 
by numerous authentic documents, and the names are derived 
from living languages. Just as the best introduction to the 
smdy of geology is the investigation of recent formations, 
abounding in the remains of still existing organisms, so we may 
fitly commence our present task by an examination of what we 
may call the tertiary deposits of America and Australia, which 
are still in process of formation ; and we shall then be better 
prepared to explore the Wealden and other secondary forma- 
tions of the Teutonic Period, and the still older primary Celtic 
strata — Silurian, Cambrian, and Devonian. We shall find that 
the study of the more recent names throws much light on those 



8 NAMES OF RECENT ORIGIN. 



natural laws which have regulated die nomenclature of Europe -, 
and the investigation is, moreover, full of interest, from the 
numerous associations with the names of the bold conquistadors 
and the daring seamen whose enterprise has added another con- 
tinent to the known world. 

By means of the names upon the map, we may trace the 
whole history of the successive stages by which the white men 
have spread themselves over the Western World. We may 
discover the dates at which the several settlements were 
founded, we may assign to each of the nations of Europe its 
proper share in the work of colonization, and, lastly, we may 
recover the names of the adventurous captains who led their 
little bands of daring followers to conquer the wilderness from 
nature, or from savage tribes. 

The name of Greenland is the only one which is left to 
remind us of the Scandinavian settlements which were made 
in America during the tenth century. The discoveries of Leif, 
son of Eric the Red, have been forgotten, and the Norse names 
of Vinland (Massachusetts), Markland (Nova Scotia), Hellu- 
land it mikla (Labrador), and Litia Helluland (Newfoundland), 
have been superseded, and now survive only in the memory 
of the curious. 

Without disparagement of the claims of Leif Ericson to the 
discovery of the New World, we may regret that the names of 
the city of colombus and of the district of Columbia form the 
only memorials of the bold Genoese adventurer ; and we may 
wish that the name of the entire continent had been such as 
to keep constantly in memory the exploits of Christopher 
Columbus rather tiian of those of Amerigo Vespucci. Alex- 
ander von Humboldt^ has, indeed, vindicated Vespucci from 
the charge of trickery or forgery which Las Casas attempted to 
fasten upon him ; and we must, therefore, regard the name of 
AMERICA as an unfortunate mistake rather than as an inglorious 
and successful fraud. 

The deep religious feeling of the earlier voyagers is well 
illustrated by the names which they bestowed upon their 
discoveries. The first land descried by Columbus was the 
island of san Salvador. From day to day he held on, in 

' Cosmos, vol. ii. note 457, 



COLUMBUS. 



spite of the threats of his mutinous crew, who threatened to 
throw the crazy visionary into the sea. With what vividness 
does this name of San Salvador disclose the feelings with 
which, on the seventieth night of the dreary voyage, the brave 
Genoese caught sight oi what seemed to be a light gleaming 
on some distant shore; how vividly does that name enable 
us to realize the scene when, on the next day, with a humble 
and "grateful pride, he set foot upon that new world of which 
he had dreamed from his boyhood, and, having erected the 
symbol of the Christian faith and knelt before it, he rose from 
his knees and proclaimed, in a broken voice, that the land 
should henceforth bear the name of San Salvador — the Holy 
Saviour, who had preserved him through so many perils ! 

We cannot but reverence the romantic piety which chequers 
the story of the violence and avarice of the conquistadors. 
When unknown shores were reached, tlie first thought of those 
fierce soldiers was to claim the lands as new kingdoms ot 
their Lord and Master, and to erect forthwith His symbol, the 
SANTA CRUZ, the VERA CRUZ, names which mark upon our maps 
so many of the earliest settlements of the Spaniards and 
Portuguese. 

The name of san Sebastian, the first Spanish colony 
founded on the continent of South America, forms a touching 
memorial of the perils which beset the earlier colonists. On 
disembarking from the ships, seventy of the Spaniards were 
killed by the poisoned • arrows of the Indians ; on which 
accoimt the dangerous spot was put under the special pro- 
tection of the martjrr, who, by reason of the circumstances of 
his death, might be supposed to feel a personal and peculiar 
sympathy with those who were exposed to the like sufferings. 
So too the name of the ladrones, the "Robbers' Islands,** 
commemorates the losses of Magalbaens' crew from the thievish 
propensities of the natives ; and the name of sierra leone, 
the "Lion's range," records the terrors of the Portuguese 
discoverers at the nightly roaring of the lions in the mountains 
which fringe the coast. 

As in the case of many great men, there seems to have 
been a sort of mysticism underlying the piety of Columbus. 
On his third voyage he discerned three mountain-peaks rising 



lo NAMES OF RECENT ORIGIN. 



from the waters, and supposed that three new islands had 
been discovered. On a nearer approach, it was found that 
the three summits formed one united land — a fact which 
the admiral recognised as a mysterious emblem of the Holy 
Trinity, and therefore bestowed upon the island the name of 
LA TRINIDAD, which it Still retains. So the huge mountain 
mass of ST. kitts, bearing on its shouldet a smaller pyra- 
mid of black lava, took in the imagination of Columbus the 
form of the giant St Christopher bearing on his shoulder the 
infant Christ. 

The Spaniards were devout observers of the festivals of the 
Church, and this circumstance often enables us to fix the 
precise day on which great discoveries were made. Thus 
FLORIDA, with its dreary swamps, is not the " Flowery Land," 
as it is sometimes thought tp be; but its name records the 
fact that it was discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon on Easter 
Sunday — a. festival which the Spaniards call Pascua Florida, 
from the flowers with which the churches are then decked* 
The island of dominica was discovered on a Sunday — dies 
Dominica, natal was discovered by Vasco de Gama on 
Christmas-day — dies Nataiis, The virgin isles, a number- 
less group, were discovered by Columbus on the day sacred 
to St Ursula and the eleven thousand virgins. The town 
of ST. AUGUSTINE, the oldcst in the United States, was founded 
on St. Augustine's-day by Melendez, who was sent by Philip 
II. of Spain on the pious mission of exterminating a feeble 
colony of Huguenot refugees^ who were seeking, on the coast 
of Florida, that religious liberty which was denied them in their 
native land. The log of the exploring expedition sent out by 
the Portuguese in 1501 is written on the Brazilian coast, and 
can be easily deciphered by the aid of the Roman calendar. 
The explorers reached S. Roque on Aug. i6th, Cape S. Au- 
gustin on Aug. 28th, Rio de S. Miguel on Sept. 29th, Rio de 
S. Jeronymo on Sept 30th, Rio de S. Francisco on Oct loth, 
Rio das Virgens on Oct. 21st, Rio de Santa Lucia on Dec. 
15th, Cape S. Thome on Dec. 21st, S. Salvador de Bahia on 
Dec. 25th, Rio de Janeiro on Jan. ist, Angra dos Reis on Jan. 
6th, and the Island of S. Sebastiao on Jan. 20th. 

The islands of ascension and st. Helena, the river st. 



PURITAN NAMES. ii 



LAWRENCE, and other places too numerous to mention, thus 
date the day of their discovery by their names. 

A religious feeling equally intense with that which dictated 
the names bestowed by the Spanish discoverers, but very 
different in character, is evinced by the names which mark 
the sites of the earlier Puritan colonies in North America. 

Salem was intended to be the earthly realization of the 
New Jerusalem, where a " New Reformation," of the sternest 
Calvinistic type, was to inaugurate a fresh era in the history of 
the world, and a strict discipline was to eradicate every frailty 
of our human nature from this City of the Saints. If the 
" Blue Laws" of the neighbouring town of Newhaven, given by 
Hutchinson, are authentic, they afford a curious picture of life 
in this Puritan Utopia. They enact, under severe penalties : — 

" That no one shall be a freeman unless he be converted. 

" That no one shall run on the Sabbath, or walk in his garden. 

"That no one shall make beds, cut hair, or shave, and 
no woman shall kiss her children on the Sabbath. 

" That no one shall make mince-pies, or play any instrument, 
except the trumpet, drum, and Jews'-harp. 

" That no food pr lodging shall be given to any Quaker or 
other heretic." 

The laws of Massachusetts assigned the penalty of death to 
all Quakers, as well as to " stubborn and rebellious sons," and 
to all "children, above sixteen, who curse or smite their 
natural father or mother," and to persons guilty of idolatry, 
witchcraft, or blasphemy. 

These laws, breathing the spirit of Christianity as under- 
<itood by the Puritan exiles for conscience' sake, quickly bore 
their fruit Roger Williams, a noble-hearted man, who, strange 
to say, had been chosen to be minister at Salem, dared to 
affirm the heresy that " the doctrine of persecution for cause 
of conscience is most evidently and lamentably contrary to 
the doctrine of Christ Jesus," and that "no man should be 
bound to worship against his own consent." For maintaining 
these heterodox opinions, which struck at the root of the New 
England system of polity, Williams had sentence of exile 
pronounced against him. He wandered forth into the snows 
of a New England winter : " for fourteen weeks," he says, " he 



12 NAMES OF RECENT ORIGIN. 



often, in the stormy night, had neither fire nor food, and liad 
no house but a hollow tree." 

The savages shewed him the mercy which his fellow- 
Christians had refused him ; an Indian chief gave him food and 
shelter; but that wigwam in the far forest was pronounced 
to be within the jurisdiction of the Puritan colony, and the 
Apostle of Toleration, hunted even from the wilderness, 
embarked with five companions in a canoe, and landed in 
Rhode Island. With simple piety he called the spot where 
the canoe first touched the land, by the name of provi- 
dence — a place which still remains the capital of Rhode Is- 
land, the State which Williams founded as "a shelter for 
persons distressed for conscience." 

The name of concord, the capital of the State of New 
Hampshire, shews that some at least of the Puritans were 
actuated by feelings more in harmony with the spirit of the reli- 
gion they professed ; while Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly 
Love, tells a touching tale of the unbrotherly persecutions 
which filled the gaols of England with 60,000 Quakers, — 
persecutions from which they fled, in the hope of inaugurating 
a Utopian era of peace and harmony. 

All readers of Pepys* amusing Diary are familiar with the 
name of his colleague at the Admiralty, Sir William Penn. 
The funds which should have found their way into the naval 
chest were diverted to purposes more agreeable to the " merry 
monarch" than the purchase of tar and timber; and in con- 
sequence, the fortune which the Comptroller of the J^avy 
bequeathed to his Quaker son was a claim on the joyal purse 
for the sum of 16,000/. The money not being forthcoming, 
young Penn — who, much to the annoyance of his family, had 
embraced the tenets of the Quakers — obtained in satisfaction 
of his claims, a large grant of forest-land in North America, 
and led forth a colony of Quakers to found the new colony, 
called, after himself, Pennsylvania. 

• The name of boston reminds us of the part of England 
from which the first Puritan settlers emigrated. They had, 
with much difficulty, escaped from the Lincolnshire coast — 
some of them having been apprehended on the beach for the 
crime of attempting to reach a country where they might worship 



INDIAN NAMES. 



according to their consciences. Their first refuge was in 
Holland, from whence the Mayflower carried them to the shores 
of New England, and ont he nth of December, 1620, landed 
them on a desolate spot, five hundred miles from the nearest 
settlement of white men. To this spot they gave the name of 
PLYMOUTH — a reminiscence of the last English land which 
they had seen as they passed down the Channel. 

HoBOKEN, an Indian word, meaning the " smoke pipe," was 
the name of a spot in New Jersey, at which the setders met 
the Indian chiefs in council, and smoked the pipe of peace, 
while they forfned a league of amity — too soon, alas ! to be 
broken by the massacre of bloody brook, where many of the 
colonists were treacherously slain. Hoboken is one of the 
many Indian names which we find scattered over the map of 
the American continent, and which are frequently used to de- 
signate the great natural features of the country, the lakes, the 
rivers, the mountain ranges, and the chief natural territorial 
divisions.^ Such are the names of the Niagara, the potomac, 
the OTTAWA, the Rappahannock, the Susquehanna, the 
MISSISSIPPI, the MISSOURI, the Minnesota, Canada, Massa- 
chusetts, CONNECTICUT, ARKANSAS, WISCONSIN, MICHIGAN. 

The name of Mexico is derived firom Mexitli, the Aztec war- 
god. TLASCALA meaus " the place of bread." hayti is the 
''mountainous country." The andes take their name from 
the Peruvian word anta — copper. Local names are the only 
memorial of many once powerful tribes which have become 
extinct The names of the alleghany Range, the mohawk 
Valley, Lake huron, Lake erie, Lake nipissing, the City of 
NATCHEZ, CHEROKEE 'Couuty, the Rivcr OTTAWA, and the 
States of KANSAS, ohio, and Illinois are all derived from the 
names of tribes already extinct or rapidly becoming so. Cen- 
turies hence, the historian of the New World will point to these 
names as great ethnological landmarks : they will have, in his 
eyes, a value of the same kind as that which is now attached to 
the names of Hesse, Devonshire, The Solway, Paris or Turin. 
The name of Virginia carries us back to the reign of the 
Virgin Queen, and gives us the date of the exploits of those 

1 It will hi shewn hereafter that rivers and mountains, as a rule, receive 
their names from the earliest races, villages and towns from later colonists. 



14 NAMES OF RECENT ORIGIN. 



hardy sailors, who cast into the shade the deeds even of the 
Spanish conquistadors. Not far from the scene of one of his 
ruinous enterprises,^ the most chivalrous, the most adventurous, 
the most farsighted, and the most unfortunate of Englishmen, 
has recently had a tardy tribute paid to him, in the adoption, 
by the Legislature of North Carolina, of the name of raleigh 
as the designation of the capital of the State in which Raleigh's 
colony was planted. On raleigh island, at the entrance of 
Roanoke Sound, may still be discerned the traces of the fort 
around which the adventurers built the city of raleigh, a 
place which has now vanished from the map. Of Raleigh's 
other enterprises, more especially of his quixotic ascent of the 
Orinoco for four hundred miles in small open boats, no local 
name remains as a memorial. 

The names of other heroes of the Elizabethan era are to be 
sought elsewhere. In the Northern Seas we find a record of 
the achievements of four brave Englishmen^Frobisher, Davis, 
Baffin, and Hudson. The adventurous spirit which actuated 
this band of naval worthies is shewn in the declaration of 
Martin Frobisher, who deemed the discovery of the North- 
West Passage " the only thing of the world that was yet left 
undone by which a notable minde might be made famous and 
fortunate." In command of two little barks, respectively of 25 
and 20 tons, and accompanied by a small pinnace, frobisher 
steered for the unknown seas of ice, and, undaunted by the 
loss of the pinnace and the mutinous defection of one of his 
crews, he persevered in his enterprise, and discovered the strait 
which bears his name. 

John Davis, with two ships respectively of 50 and 35 tons, 
followed up the discoveries which Frobisher had made. With 
a brave heart he kept up the courage of his sickly sailors, who 
were struck with terror at the strange sight of huge floating 
icebergs towering overhead, and at the fearful crash of the 
icefloes as they ground one against the other, and threatened 
the ships with instant destruction. When, at length, the wished- 
for land came in sight, it was found to be so utterly barren and 
inhospitable that the disappointed seamen gave it the name 

* Cape fear commemorates the narrow escape from destruction of one 
9f the expeditions sent out by Raleigh. 



FROBISHER, DAVIS, BAFFIN, AND HUDSON. 15 



which it still bears — cape desolation. But Davis persevered, 
and was rewarded by the discovery of an open passage leading 
to the North-West, to which the name of davis' straits has 
been rightfully assigned. 

Bylot and Baffin, with one small vessel, and a crew of fourteen 
men and two boys, eclipsed all that Davis had done, and 
ventured into unknown seas, where, for two hundred years, none 
dared to follow them. They discovered the magnificent expanse 
of water which is known by the name of Baffin's bay, and 
they coasted round its shores in hopes of finding somp outlet 
towards the North or West. Three channels were discovered, 
to which they gave the names of Sir James Lancaster, Sir 
Thomas smith, and Alderman jones, by whose countenance 
and pecuniary assistance they had been enabled to equip the 
expedition. 

The adventurous life and tragic fate of Henry Hudson 
would make an admirable subject for an historical romance. 
The narration is quaintly given in Purchas His Pilgrimes; but, 
fortunately or imfortunately, it has not, so far as I am aware, 
been selected as a theme by any modern writer. Hudson's 
first voyage was an attempt to discover the North-East Passage 
to India. With ten men and a boy, he had succeeded in 
attaining the coast of Spitzbergen, when the approach of win- 
ter compelled him to return. In a second voyage he reached 
Nova Zembla. The next year he traced the unknown coast- 
line of New England, and entered the great river which bears 
his name. His last expedition was rewarded by still greater 
discoveries than any he had hitherto effected. In a bark of 55 
tons he attempted the North-West Passage, and, penetrating 
through Hudson's strait, he reached Hudson's bay, where 
his ship was firozen up among the icefloes. Patiently he waited 
for tlie approach of spring, although, before the ship was 
released, the crew had been reduced to feed on moss and frogs. 
After a while, they fortunately succeeded in catching a supply 
of fish, and prepared to return home, with provisions for only 
fourteen days. Dismayed at this prospect of starvation, the 
crew mutinied, and, with the object of diminishing the number 
of mouths to be fed, they treacherously seized their brave 
captain ; and having placed in a small boat a little meal, a 



I6 NAMES OF RECENT ORIGIN. 

musket, and an iron pot, they cast Hudson adrift, with eight 
sick men, to find a grave in the vast inland sea, the name of 
which is the worthy epitaph of one of the most daring ot 
England's seamen. The names of these four men — Frobisher, 
Davis, Baffin, and Hudson — the world will not willingly let die. 

The naval triumphs of the Elizabethan era are also asso- 
ciated, in the minds of Englishmen, with the exploits of Drake 
and Gilbert, although they have not been fortunate enough to 
give their names to seas or cities. Drake's almost fabulous 
adventures — ^his passage of the Straits of Magalhaens — his 
capture of huge treasure-ships with his one small bark — his 
voyage of 1,400 miles across the Pacific, which he was the first 
Englishman to navigate — his discovery of the western coast of 
North America, and his successful circumnavigation of the 
globe, form the subject of a romantic chapter in the history of 
maritime adventure. 

But a still higher tribute of admiration is due to the brave 
and pious Sir Humphrey Gylberte, who, on his return from his 
expedition to Newfoundland, attempted to cross the Atlantic 
in his " Frigat," the Squirrel, a little vessel of 10 tons. Near 
the Azores, a storm arose, in which he perished. The touching 
account of his death as given in Hakluyt is well known, but 
it can hardly be repeated too often : " The Generall, sitting 
abaft with a booke in his hand, cried out to us in the Hind, so 
oft as we did approach within hearing, * We are as neere to 
heaven by sea as by land,' — reiterating the same speech, well 
beseeming a souldier resolute in Jesus Christ, as I can testifie 
he was. The same Monday night, about twelve of the clocke, 
or not long after, the Frigat being ahead of us in the Golden 
Hinde, suddenly her lights were out, whereof, as in a moment, 
we lost the sight, and withall our watch cryed the Generall was 
cast away, which was too true ; for in that moment the Frigat 
was devoured and swallowed up of the sea." 

Such were the gallant gentlemen and " souldiers resolute in 
Jesus Christ " who made the reign of Elizabeth illustrious. 

The records of the progress of English colonization during 
the next reign are to be sought on tfie banks of the james 
RIVER. On either side, at the entrance of this river, are Cape 
HENRY and Cape charles. Cape Charles was called after 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 17 



"Baby Charles," and Cape Henry bears the name of the 
hopefiil prince whose accession to the throne might probably 
have changed the whole course of English history. Elizabeth 
County, the scene of M'Clellan's campaign, and in which 
stands Fortress Monroe, was so called in honour of the sister 
of these princes — the hapless Winter Queen, the mother of 
Prince Rupert, smith's isles, near Cape Charles, and 
SMiTHFiELD, on the opposite side of the James River, are 
memorials of Captain John Smith, a man of rare genius and 
enterprise, to whom, even more than to Raleigh, the ultimate 
establishment of the English colony in Virginia is due. 

Even in those days of wild adventure, Smith's career had 
been such as distinguished him above all his fellow-colonists in 
Virginia. When almost a boy he had fought, under Leicester, 
in 5iat Dutch campaign, the incredible mismanagement of 
which has been so ably detailed by Mr. Motley. His mind, as 
he tells us, " being set upon brave adventures," he had roamed 
over France, Italy, and Eg)rpt, doing a little piracy, as it would 
now be called, in the Levant. Coming to Hungary, he took 
service for the war with the Turks, against whom he devised 
many "excellent stratagems," and performed prodigies of 
valour in various single combats with Turkish champions, 
slaying the " Lord Turbashaw," also " one Grualgo, the vowed 
friend of Turbashaw," as well as " Bonny Mulgro," who tried 
to avenge the death of the other two. 

After numerous adventures, for which the reader must be 
referred to his amusing autobiography, a general engagement 
took place, and Captain Smitii was left for dead upon the field 
of battle. Here he was made prisoner, and sold into slavery at 
Constantinople. Being regarded with too much favour by his 
" fair mistresse,'* who " tooke much compassion on him," he was 
sent into the Crimea, where he was " no more regarded than a 
beast" Driven to madness by this usage, he killed his task- 
master, the Tymor, whose clothes he put on, and whose horse 
he appropriated, and thus succeeded in escaping across the 
steppes ; and, after overcoming many perils, he at last reached 
a Christian land. "Being thus satisfied with Europe and 
Asia," and hearing of the " warres in Barbarie," he forthwith 
proceeded to the interior of Morocco, in search of new ad- 

c 



18 NAMES OF RECENT ORIGIN. 



ventures. We next hear of him " trying some conclusions at 
sea" with the Spaniards ; and at last, at thirty years of age, he 
found himself in Virginia, at a time when a great portion of the 
hundred colonists had perished, and the survivors were medi- 
tating the abandonment of what seemed a hopeless enterprise. 
Before long, Smitli's force of character placed him at the head 
of affairs, which soon began to improve under the influence of 
his resolute and hopeful genius. But the position of responsi- 
bility in which he was placed could not put a stop to the 
execution of his adventurous projects. In an open boat he 
made a coasting voyage of some three thousand miles, in the 
course of which he discovered and explored the Potomac. On 
the occasion of one of these expeditions, his companions were 
all cut off by the Indians, and he himself, " beset with 200 
salvages," was taken prisoner and condemned to die. Brought 
before the King of Pamaunkee, " the salvages " had fastened 
him to a tree, and were about to make him a target for the 
exhibition of their skill in archery, when he obtained his 
release by the adroit display of the great medicine of a pocket- 
compass. " A bagge of gunpowder," which had come into the 
possession of " the salvages," " they carefully preserved till the 
next spring, to plant as they did their come, because they 
would be acquainted with the nature of that seede." Taken 
at length before " Powhattan, their Emperor," for the second 
time Smith had sentence of death passed upon him. ** Two 
great stones were brought ; as many as could, layd hands on 
him, dragged him to them, and thereon laid his head, being 
ready with their clubs to beate out his braines." At this juncture 
** Pocahontas, the king's dearest daughter," a beautiful girl, the 
" nonpareil of the country," was touched with pity for the white- 
skinned stranger ; and, " when no intreaty could prevaile," she 
rushed forward and " got his head in her armes, and laid her 
owne upon his to save him from death," and thus succeeded, at 
the risk of her life, in obtaining the pardon of the prisoner. 
Pocahontas was afterwards married to John Rolfe, " an honest 
and discreet" young Englishman, and from her some of the 
first families of the Old Dominion are proud to trace their 
descent.^ 
^ See The True Travels^ Adventuret^ and Observations of Captain John 



THE FRENCH PLANTATIONS. ig 



The State of Florida, as the name imports, was originally 
a Spanish colony. Louisiana, new Orleans, mobile, and 
many other names, ^remind us that, in the reign of Louis XIV., 
France held firm possession of the Valley of the Mississippi, 
and stretched a chain of forts, by st. louis, st, charles, and 
the State of Illinois, to fond du lac and lac superieur, the 
** Upper Lake " of the great chain of lakes, as far as Detroit, 
the " narrow passage " between the lac st. clair and Lake 
Erie. In Canada, the Habitam^ as the French Canadians of 
the Lower Province are called, still retain the characteristics of 
the Normand peasantry in the time of Louis XIV., and Frencli 
is still the vernacular over large districts. Here we are of course 
surrounded by French names. Quebec is a name transferred 
from Brittany, and Montreal is the " Royal Mount," so named 
by the Frenchman Cartier in 1535. Lake champlain takes its 
name from Champlain, a bold Normand adventurer " delight- 
ing marvellously in these enterprises," who joined an Indian 
war-party, and was the first to explore the upper waters of the 
St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. Cape breton was disco- 
vered, by mariners from Brittany, as early as the lifetime of 
Columbus. The name of Labrador was bestowed by the 
Portuguese slave merchants, on account of the strength and 
endurance of the hardy "labourers" whom they kidnapped 
on its coasts. The name of the State of Vermont shews that 
it came within the great French dominion, and the State of 
MAINE repeats in the New World the name of one of the 
maritime provinces of France. But the genius of Lord 
Chatham wrested the empire of the New World from France ; 
and Fort Du Quesne, the key of the French position in the 
Valley of the Ohio, under its new name of piitsburgh, com- 
memorates the triumphs of the great war-minister, and is now 
one of the largest cities in the United States. 

The State of Delaware was "planted" in 16 10 by Lord 
De la Warr, under a patent granted by James I. The further 
progress of colonization in this region is commemorated by the 

Smith in Europe ^ Asia, Africke^ and America, London, 1629 ; and The 
Geturcdl Huiiorie of Virginia, Neiv England, and the Sommer Isles, London, 
1627 — two most quaint and delightful, though possibly not strictly ver* 
acious, works. 



c 



^ 



20 NAMES OF RECENT ORIGIN. 

Roman Catholic colony of Maryland, named after Henrietta 
Maria, Queen of Charles I. ; and Baltimore, the chief city of 
the State, takes its name from Lord Baltimore, the patentee 
of the new colony, who thus transferred to the New World 
the Celtic name of the little Irish village from which he 
derived his title. 

. New jersey, in like manner, was founded under a patent 
granted, in the reign of Chares II., to George Carteret, Lord 
Jersey ; while nova scotia was a concession to Sir William 
Alexander, a Scotchman, who, with a band of his compatriots, 
settled there in the time of James II. Its recolonization in the 
reign of George II. is marked by the name of Halifax, 
given in honour of Lord Halifax, President of the Board of 
Trade. 

The city of Charleston, albemarle Sound, the rivers 
ASHLEY and cooper, and the States of North and South Caro- 
lina,^ date from the time of the Restoration ; and the people 
are justly proud of the historical associations which attach to 
many of the local names, annapolis, the capital of Mary- 
land, as well as the rapidan and north anna Rivers, bring us 
to the reign of Queen Anne ; and Georgia, the last of the 
thirteen colonies, dates from the reign of George II. nkv/ 
INVERNESS, in Georgia, was settled by Highlanders implicated 
in the rebellion of 1745. Fredericksburg, the scene of 
a bloody battle in the civil war, and Frederick city, in 
Maryland, bear the name of the weak and worthless son of 
George II. 

The Scandinavian colonv of new sweden has been absorbed 
by the States of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey ; but 
a few names, like swedesboro* and dona, still remain as evi- 
dences of a fact now almost forgotten. 

The map of the State of new york takes us back to the 
reign of Charles II. The King's brother, James, Duke of 
York and Albany, had a grant made to him of the as yet 
unconquered Dutch colony of the new Netherlands, the two 
chief cities of which, new Amsterdam and fort orange, were 

* The name of the Carolinas seems to have been revived at this period, 
having been originally given at the time of the first colonization by the 
Huguenots in the reign of Charies IX. of France. 



MAGALHAENS. 21 



rechristened, after the Dutch had been dispossessed, by the 
names of new york and Albany, from the titles of the royal 
patentee. The names of the katskill Mountains, staten 
Island, BROOKLYN (Breukelen), wallabout Bay, yonker*s 
Island, the kaarlem River, and the villages of flushing, 
STUYVESANT, and blauvelt,^ are among the local memorials 
which still remind us of the Dutch dominion in North 
America.^ 

The Dutch colony in South America has had a greater per- 
manence. NEW AMSTERDAM, FREDENBURG, BLAUWBERG, and 

many other Dutch names in the same neighbourhood, sur- 
rounded as they are by Portuguese and Spanish names, are an 
exhibition of the results of intrusive colonization, and are in- 
structive analogues of obscure phenomena, which we shall 
hereafter find exhibited on the Continent of Europe. 

Cape horn, or rather cape hoorn, as it should properly 
be written, is also a vestige of the early enterprise of Holland. 
The name is derived from Hoorn, a village on the Zuyder Zee, 
which was the birthplace of Schouten, the first seaman who 
succeeded in doubling the Cape. Before the time of Schouten's 
voyage, the Pacific had been entered by the straits of magal- 
baens, a passage bet>veen Tierra del Fuego and the mainland, 
which had been discovered by a man who, for genius, fertility 
of resource, and undaunted courage, deserves a place on the 
roll of fame beside Columbus, Cortez, Smith, and Hudson. 
Fernando Magalhaens was a Portuguese, engaged in the 
Spanish service, and was sent out to wrest from his fellow- 
countrymen the possession of the Moluccas, which, under the 
terms of the famous Papal Bull, were conceived to be included 
in the Spanish moiety of the world. Threading his way 
through the straits which bear his name, Magalhaens held on 
his way, in spite of the mutiny of his crews, the loss of one 
ship, and the desertion of another, and at last reached the 
Philippine Islands, where, during an attack by the natives, he 

* Wc may add the names of Kinderhook, Haverstraw, Spuyten Duy vcl, 
Watenrliet, Roosefelt, Roseboom, Rosendale, Staatsburg, and Claverack. 

• The word creek, which often appears in American river- names^ appears 
to be a vestige of the Putch dominion. Kreek is a common suffix in the 
Netheriands. 



22 NAMES OF RECENT ORIGIN. 



fell beneath a shower of spears. Torres' straits bear the 
name of one of Magalhaens* lieutenants. 

The PHILIPPINES and the Carolines bear the names of two 
Spanish monarchs, Philip II. and Charles II., under whose 
respective auspices the first were colonized and the second 
discovered. The Marquesas received their name in honour 
of the Marquis Mendoza de Canete, who, from his Viceroyalty 
of Peru, equipped the expedition which led to the discovery. 
The island called Fernando po was discovered by FemaS 
de Poo, a Portuguese noble, juan Fernandez, a bold Spanish 
sailor, chanced upon the solitary isle which bears his name 
— an island which is chiefly memorable to Englishmen from 
having been, for four years, the abode of one of Dampier's 
comrades — Alexander Selkirk, whose adventures suggested to 
De Foe the inimitable fiction of Robinson Crusoe, The 
BERMUDAS, " the Still vexed Bermoothes," alluded to in Shake- 
speare's Tempest^ were discovered, at an earlier period, by another 
Spaniard, Juan Bermudez : they took the name of the somers 
islands, by which they were long known, from the ship- 
wreck of Sir George Somers, one of the deputy-governors of 
Virginia. 

We cannot complete the list of Spanish explorers without 
a mention of the name of orellana, which, according to 
some maps, is borne by the largest river of the world. There 
are few more romantic narratives of adventure than the 
history of Orellana's voyage down the Amazons. In the 
company of Gonzales TPizarro he left Peru, and, having pene- 
trated through the trackless Andes, he came upon the head 
waters of a great river. The provisions brought by the ex- 
plorers having at length become exhausted, their shoes, and their 
saddles were boiled and eaten, to serve as a condiment to such 
roots as could be procured by digging. Meanwhile the ener- 
gies of the whole party were engaged in the construction of 
a small bark, in which Orellana and fifty men committed them- 
selves to the mighty stream, which, in seven long months, 
floated them down to the Atlantic, through the midst of lands 
utterly unknown, clad to the water's edge with gigantic forest- 
trees, and peopled by savage and hostile tribes. Not 
content, however, with describing the real perils of the voyage, 



PORTUGUESE AND DUTCH DISCOVERERS. 23 



or, perhaps, half-crazed by the hardships which he had under- 
gone, Orellana, on his return to Spain, gave the reins to his 
imagination, and related wild travellers' tales concerning a 
nation of female warriors who had opposed his passage ; and 
posterity has punished his untruthfulness by enshrining, in a 
memorial name, the story of the fabled amazons, and letting 
the remembrance of the daring explorer fade away. 

We find the records of Portuguese adventure in bahia, per- 
NAMBUco, BRA.GAN9A, and a host of other names in the Brazils, 
which were accidentally discovered by Cabral, who was sailing 
with an expedition destined for the East Indies. But the great 
field of Portuguese enterprise lay in the East, where the names 
BOMBAY, MACAO, and FORMOSA attest the wide-spread nature 
of the commerce which the newly found sea-route to India 
threw into the hands of its discoverers. Their track is marked 
by such names as saldanha bay, cape agulhas, algoa bay, 
and CAPE DELGADO, which we find scattered along the southern 
coasts of Africa. The name of the Cape itself reveals the 
spirit of hopeful enterprise which enabled the Portuguese to 
achieve so much. Bartholomew Diaz, baffled by tempests, was 
unable, on his first expedition, to weather the cape which he 
had discovered, and he, therefore, named it cabo tormentoso 
— the Cape of Storms — a name which John, the sanguine and 
enterprising king, changed to the cabo de bona esperanza, 
arguing the good hope which existed of the speedy discovery of 
the long-wished-for route to the realms of " Ormus and of Ind." 

The Eastern route found by the Portuguese was soon fol- 
lowed by the Dutch. The names of the Mauritius and the 
orange river were bestowed by them at the time when, under 
the Stadtholder Maurice, Prince of Orange, they were hero- 
ically striving against the colossal power of Spain. This death- 
struggle for freedom did not prevent them pursuing their dis- 
coveries in the Eastern seas : and at the lowest point of their 
fortunes, when all seemed likely to be lost, it was soberly 
proposed to cut the dykes and leave to the Spaniards the task 
of once more reclaiming Holland from the waves, and for 
themselves to embark their families and their wealth, and 
seek in batavia a new eastern home for the Batavian nation. 

From tlieir colonies of Ceylon and Java, the Dutch fitted 



24 NAMES OF RECENT ORIGIN. 



out numerous expeditions to explore the then unknown South- 
em Seas. Carpenter, a Dutch captain, was the first to discover 
the northern portion of the Australian continent. His name 
is attached to the Gulf of Carpentaria; and the "great 
island " in the gulf bears the Dutch name of groote eylandt, 
which he gave to it. The earliest circumnavigation of the new 
southern continent was achieved by means of two vessels of 
discovery, which were equipped by Antony Van Diemen, the 
Governor of Batavia, and entrusted to the command of Abel 
Jansen Tasman. new Zealand and new Holland, the chief 
fruits of this expedition, had conferred upon them the names 
of two of the United Provinces ; and on the discovery of a 
third large island, an attachment as romantic as a Dutchman 
may be supposed capable of feeling caused the rough sailor, 
if tradition speaks the truth, to inscribe upon our maps the 
name of the beautiful daughter of the Batavian Governor, 
Maria Van Diemen. In consequence of an ignorant pre- 
judice, which was supposed to deter intending colonists, the 
name of van diemen's land, or Demon's land, as it was 
called, has, after the lapse of two centuries, been changed to 
TASMANIA, in honour of the sailor who preferred the fame of 
his mistress to his own. 

We may here briefly enumerate a few remaining discoverers, 
whose names are found scattered over our maps, dampier's 
Archipelago and wafer Inlet bear the names of William 
Dampier and Lionel Wafer, the leaders of a band of West 
Indian buccaneers who marched across the Isthmus of Darien 
(each man provided only with four cakes of bread, a fusil, a 
pistol, and a hanger), and who, having seized a Spanish ship, 
continued for a long time to be the terror of the Pacific. 
Kerguellen was an officer in the French service, who, in the 
reign of Louis XV., discovered the island called kerguellen*s 
LAND ; while jan meyen, a Dutch whaling captain, has handed 
down his obscure name by his re-discovery of that snow-clad 
island cone, which forms such a striking frontispiece to Lord 
Dufferin's amusing volume. 

Behring, a Dane by birth, was sent by Peter the Great to 
explore the eastern shores of Asia. He crossed Siberia, and, 
having constructed a small vessel on the co^st of Kamtschiitka, 



NAMES OF ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 25 



he discovered the strait which separates Asia from America. 
On his return from a second expedition, his ship was wrecked, 
and the hardy sailor, surrounded by the snows and ice of an 
Arctic winter, perished miserably of cold, hunger, and fatigue, 
on an island which bears his name. 

At the instance of the British Government, Captain 
VANCOUVER succeeded in surveying 9,000 miles of the unknown 
western coast-line of America. His name stands side by side 
with those of Hudson, Behring, Franklin, and Cook — the 
martyrs of geographical science ; for the exposure and the toil 
which he underwent proved fatal to him. 

Mr. Bass, a naval surgeon, in an open whale-boat manned 
by a crew of six men, made a voyage of 600 miles, which 
resulted in the discovery of bass's straits, which separate 
Van Diemen's Land from the Australian continent. 

The discoveries of Captain Cook are so well known, that a 
brief reference to the names which he added to our maps may 
here suffice. He was despatched to observe the Transit of 
Venus in 1769. In this expedition he discovered the society 
ISLANDS, so named from the Royal Society, at whose instigation 
the expedition had been undertaken ; as well as the sandwich 
ISLANDS, called after Lord Sandwich, the First Lord of the 
Admiralty, who had consented to send it out. In his second 
voyage. Captain Cook explored and named the coast of new 

SOUTH WALES, the new HEBRIDES, NEW CALEDONIA, NORFOLK 

ISLAND, and sandwich land. 

We must not forget those Arctic explorers who, within the 
last half century, have added so largely to our geographical 
knowledge. The names of Mackenzie, ross, parry, franklin, 

BACK, HOOD, RICHARDSON, DEASE, SIMPSON, CROZIER, MACLURE, 

M*CLiNTOCK, and KANE, perpetually remind those who examine 
the map of the Arctic regions, of the skill, the courage, and 
the endurance of the brave men who have, at last, solved the 
problem of three hundred years — " the only thing of the world 
yet left undone by which a notable minde might be made 
famous." Such names as repulse bay, point turnagain 

RETURN KEEF, POINT ANXIETY, the BAY OF MERCY, FORT 
ENTERPRISE, FORT PROVIDENCE, FURY BEACH, and. WINTEK 

If ARBOUR r^ci^U to th^ memory of the readers of Arctic adven- 



26 NAMES OF RECENT ORIGIN. 

ture some of the most thrilling passages in these nanatives ; 
and, at the same time, they form a melancholy record of the 
difficulties, the hardships, the disappointments, and the failures 
which seemed only to braven the resolution and to nerve the 
courage of men whom all Englishmen are proud to be able to 
call their fellow-countrymen. 

Mention has already been made of the Sandwich Islands and 
the Marquesas, as commemorating the names of statesmen who 
have been instnimental in furthering the progress of geogra- 
phical discovery. Other names of this class — prime ministers, 
eminent statesmen, lords of the Admiralty, and colonial secre- 
taries — are to be found in great profusion in the regions which 
have most recently been explored. We may instance the names 

of MELVILLE, HOBART, MELBOURNE, AUCKLAND, BARING, BARROW, 
CROKER, BATHURST, PEEL, WELLINGTON, and SYDNEY. Port 

PHILLIP, BRISBANE, the Rivcr DARLING, and the macquarie 
take their names from governors of the Australian Colonies, 
and Lake simcoe from a governor of Canada, boothia felix, 
GRiNNELL LAND, SMITH'S SOUND, and jONEs' SOUND Comme- 
morate merchant princes who fitted out exploring expeditions 
from their private resources ; while the names of king george, 

QUEEN CHARLOTTE, the PRINCE REGENT, KING WILLIAM, QUEEN 

ADELAIDE, VICTORIA, and ALBERT are scattered so lavishly over 
our maps, as to prove a serious source of embarrassment to the 
young student of geography ; while, at the same time, their 
English origin testifies to the energy and success with which, 
during the last hundred years, every comer of the globe has 
been explored by Englishmen. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE ETHNQLOGICAL VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 

Local names are tJie beacon-lights of primeval History — The method of re- 
search illustrated by American Names — Recent progress of Ethnology — 
The Celts^ Anglo-Saxons^ and Northmen — Retrocession of the Sclaves — 
Arabic Natnes — Ethnology of mountain districts — The Alps, 

Ethnology is the science which derives the greatest aid from 
geographical etymology. The names which still remain upon 
our maps are able to supply us with traces of the history of 
nations that have left us no other memorials. Egypt has be- 
queathed to us her pyramids, her temples, and her tombs; 
Nineveh her palaces ; Judaea her people and her sacred books ; 
Mexico her temple-mounds ; Arabia her science ; India hei 
institutions and her myths; Greece her deathless literature; 
and Rome has left us her roads, her aqueducts, her laws, and 
the languages which still live on the lips of half the civilized 
world. But there are other nations which once played a promi- 
nent part in the world's history, but which have bequeathed no 
written annals, which have constructed no monuments, whose 
language is dying or is dead, whose blood is becoming undis- 
tinguishably mingled with that of other races. The knowledge 
of the history and the migrations of such tribes must be 
recovered from the study of the names of the places which 
they once inhabited, but which now know them no more — 
from the names of the hills which they fortified, of the rivers 
by which they dwelt, of the distant mountains upon which they 
gazed- As an eloquent writer has observed, " Mountains and 
rivers still murmur the voices of nations long denationalized or 
extirpated." Language adheres to the soil when the race by 



28 ETHNOLOGICAL VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 



which it was spoken has been swept from off the earth, or when 
its remnants have been driven from the plains which they once 
peopled into the fastnesses of the surrounding mountains. 

It is mainly from the study of local names that we must 
reconstruct the history of the Sclaves, the Celts, and the 
Basques, as well as the earlier chronicles of the Scandinavian 
and Teutonic races ; while from the same source we are able to 
throw great light upon the more or less obscure records of the 
conquests and colonizations of the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the 
Romans, and the Arabs. In many instances, we can thus con- 
vert dubious surmises into the clearest historical certainties. 

The nomenclature of America, the nature of which has been 
indicated in the preceding chapter, may serve to explain the 
method by which etymological considerations become available 
in ethnological inquiries. Here we have a simple case, in which 
we possess documentary evidence as to the facts which we 
might expect to be disclosed by etymological investigations, 
and where we can thus exhibit the method of research, and at 
the same time test the value of the results to which it leads. 

If we examine a map of America, we find names derived 
from a dozen languages. We first notice a few scattered Indian 
names, such as the potomac, the rappahanock, or Niagara. 
These names are sparsely distributed over large areas, some of 
them filled almost exclusively with English names, while in 
others the names are mostly of Spanish or Portuguese origin — 
the boundary between the regions of the English and Spanish, 
or of the Spanish and Portuguese names, being easily traceable. 
In Louisiana and Lower Canada we find a predominance of 
French names, many of them exhibiting Normand and Breton 
peculiarities. In New York we find, here and there, a few 
Dutch names, as well as patches of German names in Michigan 
and Brazil. We find tliat the Indian, Dutch, and French names 
have more frequently been corrupted than those derived either 
from the English or from the Spanish languages. In New 
England we find names like salem and providence ; in Vir 
ginia we find such names as james River, Cape charles, and 
ELIZABETH County. In many places the names of the Old 
World are repeated : we find a new Orleans, a new Bruns- 
wick, a NEW HAMPSHIRE, and the like. 



THE METHOD OF RESEARCH. 29 



If we were entirely destitute of any historical records of the 
actual course of American colonization, it is evident that, with 
the aid of the map alone, we might recover many most impor- 
tant facts, and put together an outline, by no means to be 
despised, of the early history of the continent ; we might 
successfully investigate the retrocession and extinction of the 
Indian tribes — we might discover the positions in which the 
colonies of the several European nations were planted — we 
might show, from the character of the names, how the gradually 
increasing supremacy of the Anglo-American stock must have 
enableil it to incorporate, and overlay with a layer of English 
names, the colonies of other nations, such as the Spanish settle- 
ments in Florida and Texas, the Dutch colony in the neigh- 
bourhood of New York, and the French settlements on the 
St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. We might even go further, 
and attempt to discriminate between the colonies founded by 
Puritans and by Cavaliers ; and if we possessed a knowledge of 
English and French history, we might assign approximate dates 
for the original foundation of a large number of the several 
settlements. In some cases we might be able to form probable 
conjectures as to the causes and methods of the migration, and 
the condition of the early colonists. Our investigations would 
be much facilitated if we also possessed a full knowledge of the 
presait circumstances of the country — ^if, for example, we knew 
that the English language now forms the universal medium of 
communication throughout large districts, which, nevertheless, 
are filled with Spanish or French names ; or if we learned that 
in the State of New York the Indian and Dutch languages are 
no longer spoken, while many old families bear Dutch, but none 
of them Indian surnames. The study of the local names, 
illustrated by the knowledge of such facts, would enable us to 
reconstruct, in great part, the history of the country, and would 
prove that successive bands of immigrants may forget their 
mother tongue, and abandon all distinctive national peculi- 
arities, but that the names which, on their first arrival, they 
bestowed upon the places of their abode, are sure to remain 
upon the map as a permanent record of the nature ami extent 
of the original colonizations. 

We shall hereafter investigate classes of names which present 



30 ETHNOLOGICAL VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 



a perfect parallelism to those in America. In the case of Spain, 
the Iberian, Celtic, Phoenician, Arabic, and Spanish names 
answer in many points to the strata of Indian, Spanish, Dutch, 
French, and English names which we find superimposed in the 
United States; while an isolated name like swedesboro', in 
New Jersey, may be compared with that of the town of rozas, 
which stands upon the Gulf of rhoda — names which have 
-landed down the memory of the ancient Rhodian colony in 
North-eastern Spain. The phenomena of the Old World are 
similar to those presented in the New. In either case, from 
similar phenomena we may draw similar inferences. 

This method of research — the application of which has been 
exhibited in the familiar instance of the United States, where the 
results attained can be compared with well-known facts — ^has of 
late years been repeatedly applied, and often with great success, 
to cases in which local names are the only records which exist. 

Wilhelm Von Humboldt was one of the pioneers in this new 
science of etymological ethnology. On the maps of Spain, 
France, and Italy he has marked out, by the evidence of names 
alone, the precise regions which, before the period of the Roman 
conquest, were inhabited by those Euskarian or Iberic races 
who are now represented by the Basques — the mountaineers of 
the Asturias and the Pyrenees. He has also shown that laige 
portions of Spain were anciently Celtic, and that there was a 
central zone inhabited by a mixed population of Euskarian s 
and Celts. 

By a similar process Prichard demonstrated that the ancient 
Belgae were of Celtic, and not of Teutonic race, as had pre- 
viously been supposed. So cogent is the evidence supplied by 
tliese names, that ethnologists are agreed in setting aside the 
direct testimony of such a good authority as Caesar, who asserts 
that the Belgae were of German blood. Archdeacon Williams, 
in like manner, has indicated the limits of the Celtic region in 
Northern Italy, and has pointed out detached Celtic colonies 
in the central portion of that peninsula. Other industrious 
explorers have followed the wanderings of this ancient people 
through Switzerland, Germany, and F»*ance, and have sliown 
that, in those countries, the Celtic speech still lives upon the 
map, though it has vanished from the glossary. 



ENGLISH ETHNOLOGY. 31 



In our country, this method has afforded results of peculiar 
interest and value. It has enabled us to detect the successive 
tides of immigration that have flowed in ; as the ripple-marked 
slabs of sandstone record the tidal flow of the primeval ocean, 
so wave after wave of population — Gaelic, Cymric, Roman, 
Saxon, Anglian, Frisian, Norwegian, Danish, Norman and 
Flemish — has left its mark upon the once shifting, but now 
indurated sands of language. The modem map of our own 
islands enables us to prove that almost the whole of England 
was once Celtic, and shews us that the Scottish lowlands were 
peopled by tribes belonging to the Welsh and not to the Gaelic 
stock. The study of Anglo-Saxon names enables us to trace the 
nature and progress of the Teutonic settlement, and to draw 
the line between the Anglian and the Saxon kingdoms ; while 
the Scandinavian village-names of Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, 
Caithness, Cumberland, Pembrokeshire, Iceland, and Nor- 
mandy, teach us the almost-forgotten story of the fierce 
Vikings, who left the fiords of Norway and the vies of Denmark, 
to plunder and to conquer the coasts and kingdoms of Western 
Europe. 

The same method enables us to investigate the obscure 
relations of the tribes of Eastern Europe, to mark the oscil- 
lations of the boundaries of the Sclaves and Germans, and 
even to detect the alternate encroachments and retrocessions 
of either race. Sclavonic names,' scattered over Central and 
Western Germany, lead us to infer that, at some remote 
period, the Sclavonians must have extended themselves west- 
ward much beyond their present frontier of Bohemia, even as 
far as Darmstadt, where the River weschnitz marks the extreme 
westem limit of Sclavonic occupancy. For several centuries, 
however, the German language has been encroaching towards 
the east; and the process is now going on with accelerated 
speed In Bohemia, where almost every local name is Scla- 
vonic, and where five-and-twenty years ago few of the elder 
people knew any language but their Bohemian speech, we find 
that the adults are now universally able to speak German ; and 
in half a century, there is every likelihood that the Bohemian 
language will be extinct. Farther to the north a similar process 
has also taken place. Proceeding from west to east, the Rivet 



32 ETHNOLOGICAL VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 



BOMLiTZ, near Verden in Hanover, is the first Sclavonic name 
we meet with. In Holstein, Mecklenburg, Luneburg, and 
Saxony — in East and West Prussia — in Brandenburg and 
Pomerania — we find numerous Sclavonic names, such as 
POTSDAM, LEiPSiG, LOBAU, or KULM, Scattered over an area 
which is now purely German.^ These names gradually increase 
in frequency as we proceed eastward, till at length, in Silesia, 
we find that the local names are all Sclavonic, although the 
people universally speak German, except on the eastern rim of 
the Silesian basin, where the ancient speech still feebly lingers. 
The phenomena, in fact, are analogous to those which are 
exhibited as we proceed from Somersetshire, through Devon- 
shire, to Cornwall. 

It will be manifest that this distribution of Sclavonic names 
will greatly guide us in interpreting the obscure historical 
notices which make it probable that in the fifth and sixth 
centuries the Sclaves took possession of the regions left vacant 
by the advance of the Teutonic nations towards the west and 
south ; while in the seventh and eighth centuries the Germans 
began to recover the lost ground, and in the great struggle of 
the ninth and tenth centuries finally wrested from the Sarma- 
tians Mecklenburg, Pomerania, Brandenburg, Silesia, Saxony, 
and part of Courland. 

The names in Eastern Europe illustrate the maxim that Eth- 
nology must always be studied with due reference to Hydro- 
graphy. In rude times, the rivers form the great highways. 
The Rhine, the Danube, and the Elbe seem to have regulated 
the directions of the early movements of nations. And the 
distribution of Sclavonic names proves that the Sclaves must, 
originally, have descended by the valleys of the Elbe and the 
Mayn, just as the Germans descended by the valley of the 
Danube, where we find a wedge or elbow of German names 
protruding eastward into the Sclavonic region. So, again, in 
Hungary we find that the central plains are occupied by the 

^ Potsdani is a Germanized form of the Sclavonic Potsdupimi. In the 
Aischthal, the presence of the Wends is denoted by names like Ratzenwin- 
den and Poppenwind. In Wiirtemberg, we find Windischgratz and Win- 
nenden ; in Baden, Windischbuch ; in Saxony, Wendischhayn ; in Bruns- 
wick, Wenden and Wendhausen ; in Westphalia, Windheim and Wcndcn. 



ETHNOLOGY OF EASTERN EUROPE. 33 



Magyar shepherds from the steppes of the Volga, while the 
original Sclavonic population has been driven to the mountain 
r^on on either side. Still farther to the east we find the 
isolated Saxon colony of Siebenbiirgen (Transylvania), where, 
surrounded on all sides by Sclavonic, Magyar, and Wallachian 
names, we find cities called kronstadt, hermannstadt, 

KLAUSSENBURG, ELISABETHSTADT, and Mt^HLENBACH, which arC 

inhabited by a population that has been transferred from the 
Lower Rhine to the Lower Danube. For seven centuries this 
little colony has retained, unchanged, its own peculiar laws, 
language, institutions, and customs. Siebenbiirgen, in fact, 
presents a well-conserved museum of mediaeval peculiarities — 
a living picture of Ancient Germany, just as in Iceland we find 
the language and customs of our Scandinavian ancestors still 
subsisting, without any material change. 

We find similar phenomena in the west and south. Franche 
Corat^, Burgundy, and Lombardy contain many disguised 
German names — evidences of ancient conquests by Germanic 
tribes, which have now lost their ancient speech, and have 
completely merged their nationality in that of the conquered 
races. In Alsace, which is now so thoroughly French in feeling 
and in language, the German names of the villages have suffered 
no corruption during the short period which has elapsed since 
the conquest under Louis XIV. 

The Arabic names which we find in Asia, in Africa, in Spain, 
in Sicily, in Southern Italy, in Provence, and even in some 
valleys of the Alps, tell us of the triumphs of the Crescent 
from the Indus to the Loire. In some instances, these names 
even disclose the manner in which the Mahometan hosts were 
recruited for the conquest of Europe from the valley of the 
Euphrates and the borders of the Sahara ; and we can trace the 
settlement of these far-travelled conquerors in special valieys 
of Spain or Sicily. 

In mountainous regions, the etymological method of ethno- 
logical research is of special value, and yields results more 
definite than elsewhere. Among the mountains the botanist 
and the ethnologist meet with analogous phenomena. The 
lowland flora of the glacial epoch has retreated to the Gram- 
pians, the Carpathians, the Alps, and the Pyrenees ; and in like 

D 



34 ETHNOLOGICAL VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 



manner we find that the hills contain the ethnological sweepings 
of the plains. Mountain fastnesses have always formed a provi- 
dential refuge for conquered tribes. The narrow valleys which 
penetrate into the great chains are well adapted to preserve for 
a time the isolation of unrelated tribes of refugees, to hinder 
the intermixture of race, and thus preserve from extermination 
or absorption those who should afterwards, at the right time, 
blend gradually with the conquerors of the plains, and supple- 
ment their moral and intellectual deficiencies. 

Instances of this peculiar ethnological character of mountain 
districts will occur to everyone. The Bengalees, though they 
are in geographical contact with the hill tribes of India, are 
yet, in blood, further removed from them than from ourselves. 
Strabo informs us that in his day no less than seventy languages 
were spoken in the Caucasus, and the number of distinct dia- 
lects is probably, at the pres«3t time, nearly as large. Here, 
in close juxtaposition, we find archaic forms of various Georgian, 
Mongolian, Persian, Semitic, and Tatarian languages, as well as 
anomalous forms of speech which bear no affinity to any known 
tongue of Asia or of Europe. 

In the Pyrenees we find the descendants of the Euskarians, 
who have been driven from the lowlands of France and Spain. 
The fastnesses of Wales and of the Scotch Highlands have 
enabled the Celts of our own island to maintain their ancient 
speech and a separate existence. An inspection of the map of 
the British Isles will show that the Peak of Derbyshire and the 
mountains of Cumberland retain a greater number of Celtic 
names than the adjacent districts ; and the hills of Devonshire 
long served as a barrier to protect the Celts of Cornwall firom 
Anglo-Saxon conquerors. 

But Switzerland is the most notable instance of the ethno- 
logical interest attaching to a mountainous district. In a 
country only twice the size of Wales, the local names are de- 
rived from half-a dozen separate languages, three or four of which 
are still spoken by the people, while in some districts almost 
every valley preserves its separate dialect. Thirty-five dialects 
of German, sixteen of French, five of Romansch, and eight of 
Italian are spoken in the several Swiss cantons. In the 
cantons of Neufchatel, Vaud, Geneva, and in the western part 



ETHNOLOGY OF MOUNTAIN DISTRICTS. 35 



of the Valais, French is the prevailing language. In the 
northern and central cantons, which were divided among Bur- 
gundian, Alemannic, and Suevic tribes, various High German 
dialects are spoken ; ^ while in Canton Ticino, and in portions 
of the Grisons, Italian is the only language understood. The 
Romansch language, spoken in the upper valley of the Rhine, 
is a debased Latin, with a few Celdc, German, and, possibly, 
some Iberic and Etruscan elements. In the Upper Engadine 
we find the Ladino, another Latin dialect, distinct from the 
Romansch ; while throughout the whole of Switzerland nume- 
rous Celtic names ^ show traces of a still earlier wave of popu- 
lation, of which no other evidence remains. Not only has the 
region of the Alps been the immemorial abode of Celts, but 
there also we find indications of fragments of intrusive races — 
the meteoric stones of Ethnology. Thus, in the Valley of 
Evolena, there are traces of the former presence of a race of 
doubtful origin — possibly Huns or Alans, who Jong retained 
their heathenism. In some valleys of the Grisons there are 
names which suggest colonies from Southern Italy ; for example, 
LAviN, which is apparently a reproduction of Lavinium, and 
ARDETZ, of Ardea. There is reason for believing that the 
Rhcetians of the Grisons and the Tyrol are the descendants of 
an ancient Etruscan stock ; ^ while other valleys in the Valais 
and the Grisons astound us by the phenomenon of Arabic 
names, for whose presence we shall presently endeavour to 
account 

On the Itahan side of the Alps we find valleys filled with 
Sclavonic names, besides many isolated villages of Teutonic 

> German Switzerland is mainly Alemannic, French Switzerland is mainly 
Burgundian. In Berne, however, as well as in portions of Freibuig, Lut- 
zem, and Argau, the Burgundians have retained their German speech. 

* For instance, in Canton Zurich we find that 2 cities, and 100 important 
rivers, mountains, and villages, bear Celtic names ; while 3,000 homesteads, 
!00 hamlets, and 20 villages are Alemannic. The other names are ot* 
modem German origin. 

• The village-names of Tilisuna, Blisadona, Trins, Vels, Tschars, Na- 
tams, Vehhurns, Schluderns, Villanders, Gufidaun, Altrans, Sistrans, 
Axams, and others, have been thought to bear a resemblance to Etruscan 
names with which we are acquainted. Compare also the names Tusis aptl 
Tuscany, Rhoetia and Rasenna. 

D 2 



36 ETHNOLOGICAL VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 



colonists,^ who still keep themselves distinct from their Italian 
neighbours, and who speak a German dialect more or less cor- 
rupt. The German-speaking villages are often surrounded by 
a penumbra of German local names, which prove that the little 
^**ettlement must formerly have occupied a more extensive area 
than at present. It is difficult to say whether these intrusive 
populations did, at some remote period, cross the passes and 
take possession of the unoccupied Italian valleys, or whether 
they are fragments thrown off at the time of either the Burgun- 
dian or the Lombardic invasions, and which the isolation of the 
mountain-valleys has prevented from becoming Italianized. In 
the case of the valleys of Macugnaga, Gressonay, Alagna, 
Sermenta, Pommat, and Sappada, we may, perhaps, incline to 
the former supposition ; while with regard to the Sette Comuni, 
near Vicenza, and the Tredici Comuni, near Verona, which 
still retain their Lombard-German speech, the latter hypothesis 
may be the more probable.^ 

We shall now proceed, in the six following chapters, to fill up 
some portions of the outline which has just been traced, and 
endeavour to decipher from the map of Europe the history of 
the conquests and immigrations of some of the chief races 
that have succeeded one another upon the stage. 

^ Thus in the valley of the Tagliamento, north of Venice, we find the 
Sclavonic village-names GNIVA and stolvizza, and the mountains posgost, 
5 TOLAC, and zlebac. 

^ Local tradition makes them the remains of the Cimbrian horde which 
was overthrown by Marius in the neighbourhood of Verona. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE NAMES OF NATIONS. 

Ethnic Names are of obscure origin — Nanu of Britain — Many tuitions bear 
duplicate names — Deutsche and Germans — "Barbarians " — PVelsh — Gaeis 
— Aryans — Names of conquering Tribes — Ancient Ethnic Names con- 
serve in those of modem cities — Ethnic Names from rulers— from gen- 
graphical position — Europe — Asia — Africa — Ethnographic Names — 
" Warriors "— -" Mountaineers"— "Lowlanders "— " Foresters "— * * Coast- 
landers " — Greeks — Names of extended signification. 

The names borne by nations and countries are naturally of 
prime importance in all ethnological investigations. They are 
not lightly changed, they are often cherished for ages as a 
precious patrimony, and therefore they stretch back far into 
the dim Past, thus affording a clue which may enable us to dis- 
cover the obscure beginnings of separate national existence. 
But, unfortunately, few departments of etymology are beset with 
more difficulties, or are subject to greater uncertainties. Some 
of those ethnic nanies which have gained a wide application 
had at first a very restricted meaning, as in the case of Italy 
or ASIA; others, like that of the romams, may have arisen from 
special local circumstances, of which we can have only a con- 
jectural or accidental knowledge ; ^ others, again, as in the case 
of LORRAINE, may be due to causes which, if history be silent, 
the utmost etymological ingenuity is powerless to recover. It 
is only here and there that we find countries bearing names 
which have originated within the historic era, and the meaning 
of which is obvious. Such are the names of the united states : 

* The name of Roma is probably fiom the Groma^ or four cross-roads at 
ihe Forum, which formed the nucleus of the city. 



38 THE NAMES OF NATIONS. 

of LIBERIA, the "freed man's land;" Ecuador, the republic of 
the " Equator;" the banda oriental, which lies on the " eastern 
bank " of the Rio de la Plata, or River of the " Silver," which 
gives its name to the argentine republic on the opposite 
shore. But the greater number of ethnic names are of great 
antiquity, and their elucidation has often to be sought in 
languages with which we possess only a fragmentary acquaint- 
ance. Frequently, indeed, it is very difficult — sometimes im- 
possible — to discover even the language from which any given 
ethnic name has been derived. 

It is not needful to travel far for an illustration of the mode 
\n which this difficulty presents itself— the name of our own 
country will supply us with an instance. The British people, 
the inhabitants of great Britain, are, we know, mainly of 
Teutonic blood, and they speak one of the Teutonic languages. 
None of these, however, affords any assistance in the explana- 
tion of the name. We conclude, therefore, that the Teutonic 
colonists must have adopted an ethnic appellation belonging to 
the former inhabitants of the country. But the Celtic aborigines 
do not seem to have called themselves by the name of Britons, 
nor can any complete and satisfactory explanation of the name 
be discovered in any of the Celtic dialects. We turn next to 
the classic languages, for we find, if we trace the literary historj' 
of the name, that its earliest occurrence is in the pages of 
Greek, and afterwards of Latin writers. The word, however, 
is utterly foreign both to the Greek and to the Latin speech. 
Finally, having vainly searched through all the languages spoken 
by the diverse races which, from time to time, have found a 
home upon these shores — having exhausted all the resources of 
Indo-European philology without the discovery of any available 
Aryan root, we turn, in despair, to the one remaining ancient 
language of Western Europe. We then discover how great is 
the real historical significance of our inquiry, for the result 
shows that the first chapter of the history of our island is in 
reality written in its name — we find that this name is derived 
from that family of languages of which the Lapp and the Basque 
are the sole living representatives in Europe ; and hence, we 
reasonably infer that the earliest knowledge of the island which 
was possessed by the civilized world must have been derived 



NAME OF BRITAIN. 39 



from the Iberic mariners of Spain, who either in their own ships, 
or in those of their Punic masters, coasted along to brittany, 
and thence crossed to Britain, at some dim pre-historic period. 
The name Br-tfan-ia. may possibly contain the Euskarian 
suffix i/any the plural of an, the suffixed locative preposition, or 
sign of the locative case. We find this suffix, which is used to 
signify a district or country, in the names of most of the regions 
known to, or occupied by, the Iberic race. It occurs in 
Aqu-ilan-ia. or Aquitaine, in Lus-iVtf«-ia, the ancient name of 
Portugal, in Maur-^/^w-ia, the ** country of the Moors,*' as 
well as in the names of very many of the tribes of ancient 
Spain, such as the Cerr-efan-i, Aus-efan-i, "Ldl-efan-i, Cos-efan-i, 
Vesc-//df«-i, Liic-efan-if Carp-^/^«-i, Or-efan-i, Bast-ifan-i, Turd- 
etan-i, Suess-etan-i, and the Ed-^/^«-i. The first syllable of the 
name, dro, or dri\ is possibly a Celtic gloss (Brezonec, dro, a 
country, which appears in the names of the AUo-^r^-ges and 
Pem-^n7-ke), to which the Iberic efan was appended. 

This illustration not only indicates the value of the results 
which may accrue from the investigation of ethnic names, but it 
will also serve to show how difficult it may often be to determine 
even the language from which the explanation must be sought. 
In attempting to lay down general principles to guide us in 
our investigations, we have in the first place to deal with the 
remarkable phenomenon — an instance of which has just pre- 
sented itself — that a great number of ethnic names are only to 
be explained from languages which are not spoken by the people 
to whom the name appUes. Most nations have, in fact, two, 
or even a greater number of appellations. One name, by which 
the nation calls itself, is used only within • the limits of the 
country itself; the other, or cosmopolitan name, is that by 
which it is known to neighbouring tribes. 

Thus, the people of England call themselves the English, 
while the Welsh, the Bretons, the Gaels of Scotland, the Irish, and 
the Manxmen, respectively, call us Saeson, Saoz, Sasunnaich, 
and Sagsonach. The natives of Wales do not call themselves the 
Welsh, but the Cymry. The people to the east of the Rhine 
call themselves Deutsche, the French call them Allemands, we 
call them Germans, the Sclavonians call them Niemiec, the 
Magyars call them Schwabe, the Fins call them Saksalainen, 



40 THE NAMES OF NATIONS. 



the Gipsies call them Ssasso. The people whom we call the 
Dutch call themselves Nederlanders, while the Germans call 
them Hollanders. The Lapps call themselves Sabme, the Fins 
call themselves Quains. Those whom we call Bohemians call 
themselves Czechs. The Germans call the Sclavonians, Wends, 
but no Sclavonian knows himself by this name. 

The origin of these double names is often to be explained 
by means of a very simple consideration. Among kindred 
tribes, in a rude state of civilization, the conception of national 
Unity is of late growth. But it would be natural for all those 
who were able to make themselves mutually intelligible, to call 
themselves collectively, "The Speakers," or "The People," 
while they would call those neighbouring races, whose language 
they could not understand, by some word meaning in their own 
language "The Jabberers," or "The Strangers." 

A very large number of ethnic names can be thus explained. 
Thus the Sclavonians call themselves either slowjane, the 
" Intelligible men," or else srb, which means " Kinsmen," while 
the Germans call them wends, which means " Wanderers," or 
"Strangers." The Basques call themselves euscaldunac, 
" Those who have speech." The leleges are " The Speakers ; " 
the Samojedes call themselves chasowo, the "Men;" the 
SABAANS are also the " Men," and the name of sheba or seba is 
referable to the same root. The Welsh call themselves cymry, 
the "People," or "Compatriots;" the Getes or Goths are, 
perhaps, the " Kinsmen ; " and the names of the Achseans, the 
Sacae, and the Saxons have been thought to be of kindred 
meaning. The people who call themselves Dacotahs, are called 
SIOUX, or " Enemies," by their neighbours the Ojibwas. The 
Esquimaux call themselves innuit, which means " our People." 
The name Esquimaux is the form given by French traders to 
the Chippeway or Cree phrase, ushke-umoog^ the "Eaters of 
raw flesh." The word kabyle means the " Tribes." The letts, 
LITHUANIANS, and possibly also the latins, are the " People." 
All the Sclavonic nations call the Germans niemiec, " Dumb 
men." The earliest name by which the Germans designated 
themselves seems to have been tunori,* "Those who have 

^ The QUADi are the Speakers. Cf. the Sanskrit wady to speak, the 
Anglo-Saxon cwede^ and Welsh chwed, spoech, and the English quoth, and 



DEUTSCHE— ALLEMANDS— GERMANS. 41 

tongues," the " Speakers." This name was succeeded by the 
term Deutsche, the ** People," the " Nation," a name which 
still holds its ground. We have borrowed this national appel- 
lation of the Germans, but curiously enough we have, during 
the last two hundred years, limited its use to the dutch, a 
portion of the Teutonic race on which the Germans themselves 
have bestowed another name. But while the Germans 
call themselves the "People," the name given to them 
by the French means the "Foreigners." The French word 
ALLEMAND is modernized from the name of the Alemanni, 
the ancient frontier tribe between Germania and Gaul. The 
Alemanni seem to have been a mixed race — ^partly Celtic, 
partly Teutonic, in blood. The name is itself Teutonic, 
and probably means " Other Men " or " Foreigners," and thus, 
curiously enough, the French name for the whole German 
people has been derived from a tribe whose very name indicates 
that its claims to pure Teutonic blood were disowned by the 
rest of the German Tribes.^ The English name for the same 
nation has been adopted from the Latin term, germania. It 
must have been from the Celts of Gaul that the Romans 
obtained this word, which seems foreign to all the Teutonic 
languages. The etymology has been fiercely battled over; 
perhaps the most reasonable derivation is from the Gaelic 
%airmean^ " one who cries out," and the name either alludes to 
the fierce war-cry of the Teutonic hordes, or more probably it 
expresses the wonder with which the Celts of Gaul listened to 
the unintelligible clash of the harsh German gutturals. 

The Russians call the contiguous Ugrian tribes by the name 
TSCHUDES, a Sclavonic word which means "Strangers" or 
" Barbarians." The Philistines are, probably, the " Strangers," 
and if this be the true meaning of the name, it strengthens the 
supposition that this warlike people arrived in Palestine by 
sea during the anarchic period which succeeded to the Israel- 

qw^ So the JAZYGES derived their name from the Sclavonic word jazik^ 
the tongue. 

^ The al in Alemanni is probably the al in a^us and ^/satia, or the d 
in ek/t and £/sass, not the al in aU. Thus the Alemanni are the " other 
men," not the ** all men " or " mixed men," as is usually supposed. Com- 
pare the a/ in Allobroges. 



4i THE NAMES OF NATIONS. 



itish conquest under Joshua, having been, as it seems probable, 
driven out of Crete by the Dorian conquest of the island. 
Similarly . the Flemings are the "Fugitives." The names of 
the African and Asiatic Kaffirs, of the perizzites, and of the 
lONiANS, are also nearly identical in meaning with those of the 
Philistines, the Allemands, and the Tschudes. The word Bar- 
barian was applied by the Egyptians, and afterwards by the 
Greeks and Romans, to all who did not speak their own 
language. The root barbar may be traced to the Sanskrit varvara, 
a " foreigner," or " one who speaks confusedly," and, according 
to the opinion of the best scholars, it is undoubtedly onomato- 
pceian. So also in the case of the hott-en-tots we find a name 
which is supposed to have been given by the Dutch in imitation 
of the characteristic click of the Hottentot language, which 
sounds like a repetition of the sounds hot and tot. A similar 
onomatopceian name is that borne by the zamzummin, the 
Aborigines of Palestine. 

Few ethnic names are more interesting than that of the 
WELSH. The root enters into a very large number of the ethnic 
names of Europe, and is, perhaps, ultimately onomatopceian. 
It has been referred to the Sanskrit mlick^ which denotes ** a 
person who talks indistinctly,"— "a jabberer."^ The root ap- 
pears in German, in the form wal^ which means anything that 
is "foreign" or "strange." Hence we obtain the German 
words waller^ a stranger or pilgrim, and wallen^ to wander, or to 
move about. A walnut is the " foreign nut," and in German a 
turkey is called Wdische kahn, "the foreign fowl," and a French 
bean is Wdhche bohne, the "foreign bean." All nations of 
Teutonic blood have called the bordering tribes by the name of 
Walsche, that is, Welshmen, or " foreigners." We trace this 
name around the whole circuit of the region of Teutonic occu- 
pancy. WALSCHLAND, the German name of Italy, has occasioned 
certain incomprehensible historical statements relating to Wales, 

^ The Sanskrit m often becomes w in Gothic ; thus, from mlaiy to fade, 
we have vlacian, to flag, welken, to wither, and the name of the soft mollusk 
called a whelk. According to this phonetic law, from the Sanskrit mltch 
we obtain the German wlacky walach^ and Wdlsch. 

' The word waller^ a pilgrim, no longer survives in English except as a 
surname ; but we retain the derivative, wallet^ a pilgrim's eqsipage. With 
wcdlm^ to wander, are connected the words to walk^ and to valse or vmUs, 



WELSH. 43 



in a recent translation of a German work on mediseval history. 
The Bernese Oberlander calls the French-speaking district to 
the south of him by the name of Canton wallis, or Wales. 
WALLENSTADT and the WALLENSEE are on the frontier of the 
Romansch district of the C\mr-7vaichmy or men of the Grisons. 
The Sclaves and Germans called the Bulgarians Wlochi, or 
Wolochi,^ and the district which they occupied wallachia; 
and the Celts of Flanders, and of the Isle of walcheren, were 
called WALLOONS by their Teutonic neighbours. North-western 
France is called valland in the Sagas, and in the Saxon 
Chronicle wealand denotes the Celtic district of Armorica. 
The Anglo-Saxons called their Celtic neighbours the welsh, 
and the country by the name of wales.^ The village of wales 
in the north of Derbyshire marks the place where the British 
population maintained its existence in the hills, while the Hood 
of Saxon invasion poured onward to the west Corn-wall was 
formerly written Comwales, the country inhabited by the Welsh 
of the Horn. The chroniclers uniformly speak of North- Wales 
and Corn-Wales. In the charters of the Scoto-Saxon kings the 
Celtic Picts of Strath Clyde are called Walenses. 

Entangled with this root wal, we have the root gal. The 
Teutonic w and the Celtic and Romance g are convertible 
letters. Thus the French Gualtier and Guillaume are the same 
as the English Walter and William. So also guerre and war, 
guard and ward, guise and wise, guile and wile, gaif and waif, 
gaude and woad, gaufre and wafer, garenne and wairen, gault 
and weald, guarantee and warranty, are severally the Romance 
and Teutonic forms of the same words. By a similar change 
the root 7ualv& transformed to gaL The Prince of Wales is called 
in French " le Prince de Galles." Wales is the " pays de Galles," 
and Cornwall is Comouailles, a name which was also given 
to the opposite peninsula of Brittany. Calais was anciently 
written indiflferently Galeys or Waleys ; and the name, as will 
presently be shown, most appropriately indicates the existence 

> Compare the Polish I'Vloch^ an Italian, and the Slowenian Vlah, a Wal- 
lachian. From the same Sanskrit root we have the name of the beloochs 
or VVdsh of India. 

* Strictly speaking, Wales is a corruption of IVetUhas, the plural of 
weulht a Welshman or forei^er. 



44 THE NAMES OF NATIONS. 



of the remnant of a Celtic people surrounded by a cordon of 
Teutonic settlers. 

This convertibility of the roots gal and wal is a source of 
much confusion and difficulty ; for it appears probable that gal 
may also be an independent Celtic root,^ entirely unconnected 
with the Teutonic wal; for while the Welsh of Wales or Italy 
never called themselves by this name, it appears to have been 
used as a national appellation by the Gaels of cal-edonia ^ 
and the gauls of gall-ia. gal-way, done-gal, gall-oway, 
and AR-GYLE are all Gaelic districts ; and goello is one of the 
most thoroughly Celtic portions of Brittany. The inhabitants of 
gall-icia and portu-gal possess more Celtic blood than those 
who inhabit any other portion of the Peninsula. The Austrian 
province of gal-itz or gal-icia is now Sclavonic, and the name, 
as well as that of Wallachia, is probably to be referred to the 
German root wal^ foreign ; though it is far from impossible that 
one or both of these names may indicate settlements of the 
fragments of the Gaelic horde which in the third century before 
Christ pillaged Rome and Delphi, and finally, crossing into 
Asia, settled in and gave a name to that district of gal-atia, 
whose inhabitants, even in the time of St. Paul, retained so 
many characteristic features of their Celtic origin.^ 

So interlaced are these two primeval roots that it is almost 
hopeless to attempt to disentangle them. 

Another root which is very frequently found in the names of 
nations is ar. This ancient word, which enters very extensively 
into the vocabularies of all the Indo-European races, seems 
primarily to have referred to the occupation of agriculture. 

^ No satisfactory explanation from Celtic sources has, I believe, been 
offered. Mone says it is the ** west." Pott derives it from gwAl^ the " cul- 
tivated country." Zeuss thinks it means the "warriors." Dr. Meyer prefers 
the cognate signification of ** clansmen." celt is of«ourse only the Greek 
form oigad or gallus. 

^ This word possibly contains the root gael. If so, the Caledonians 
would be the Gaels of the duns or hills. The usual etymology is from coii- 
dooinff the ** men of the woods." 

^ GALATA, near Constantinople, is regarded by Diefenbach as a vestige 
of the passage of the Galatian horde. It seems more probable that 
this name is Semitic, and should be classed with kelat in Beloochistan. 
alcala in Spain, and calata in Sicily. See Chapter VI. 



ARYANS. 45 



The verb used to express the operation of ploughing is in Greek 
dpow, in Latin aro, in Gothic arjan, in Polish oraCf in old High 
German aran, in Irish araim, and in Old English far. Thus 
we read in our version of Isaiah of " The oxen that Mr the 
ground," and the two great operations of ploughing and reaping 
are called in the Bible "earing and harvest" A plough is 
aptn-pcfv in Greek, aratrum in Latin, ardx in Norse, and arad in 
Welsh ; and the English harrow was originally a rude instru- 
ment of the same kind. The Greek apovpoj the Latin arvum, 
and the Polish ^^racz mean a field, or arable ground. Aroma. 
was the aromatic smell of freshly ploughed land ; while aproc; 
and ^zrvest reward the ploughman's labour. The Sanskrit 
ira, ,the Greek tpa, the Gothic a/rtha, and their English repre- 
sentative, earth, is that which is ^^red or ploughed.^ 

The Sanskrit word arya means an agriculturist, a possessor 
of land, or a householder generally ; hence it came to denote 
anyone belonging to the dominant race* — the aristocracy of 
landowners — as distinguished from the subject tribes ; and at 
length it began to be used as an ethnic designation, correspond- 
ing to some extent with the word deutschy as used by the 
Germans. 

The name of this conquering aryan race, which has gone 
forth to till the earth and to subdue it, is probably to be found 
in the names of ir-an, her- at, ar-al, ar-menia, and, perhaps, 
of ib-er-ia, er-in, and ire-land. The Ossetes in thr Caucasus 
call themselves iron. In the cuneiform inscriptions che Medes 
and Persians claim proudly to be Aryans, and Darius styles 
himself an Arya of the Aryans. In languages which belong to . 

1 Scores of related words might be collected from the Romance, Celtic, 
Sdavonic, and Gothic languages. Tilled land being the chief kind of pro- 
perty, we have tiie Gothic arbi, an inhmtance. Since ploughing was the 
chief Azmest occupation practised at an early stage of civilization, the root 
comes to take the general signification of any kind of work. Hence the Greek 
t^yov, the LAtin ars, the German arbeit, the English errand ; all of which 
deserve earnings and Ernest money. It would not be difficiilt to trace the 
connexion of the Greek ip-€rfi6s, rpt-tfp-ijs and {nt'iitp'iTrts, the Latin remus, 
the English oar^ the Sanskrit dcritra, a ship, as well as of urbs and ^rbis. 

* The profession of arms being engrossed by the ruling race has caused 
the root, if mdeed it be the same, to enter mto a number of military terms 
••Hinny, armonr, arms, harness, hero, "Afn^v 



46 THE NAMES OF NATIONS. 



the Teutonic branch of the Aryan stock, we find the root in 
the form ware} inhabitants. Burgh^j are those who inhabit 
towns, apd a skipp^ is one who lives in a ship, as may be seen 
by tracing the words bkck to the Anglo-Saxon burhvare, citizens, 
and the old Norse skipveri, a sailor. The Prussian laxidwehr 
' is the levy en masse of the whole population, and not the land- 
guard^ as is often supposed. Tliis word ware enters into the 
names of a 'great number of German tribes. It is Latinized 
into the forms miri, oari^ and bari; and the w is sometimes 
changed into a g^ in accordance with a phonetic law which has 
been already illustrated. Among the peoples of Central Europe 
. ^ are fpund the Ing-tiari-i, the Rip-tmrt-i, the ChsLS-uari-i, the 

Chatt-«tfn-i, tlie Att-uari-i, the Angri-vari-i, and the Ansi-bari-L 
The name of the 'Boi-oari-i is preserved in the modem name of 
BA-VARi-A, the land of the Boii. The bulg-ari-ans were the 
men from he Bolg, or Volga, on the banks of which river there 
is another,' or Great Bulgaria. King Alfred speaks of the 
MOR-AVi-ANS under the name MaLVvaro, the dwellers on the river 
Mams or Morava. Kun-gari-a,, or hun-gar-y, is the land 
formerly peopled by the Huns ; and the name survives, though 
the Huns have been long dispossessed by Magyars and Sck- 
vonians. wo-r-cester is a corruption of Hwic-a/drr^^ceaster, 
the castle of the inhabitants of the country of the HuicciL 
The men of Kent were the Cant-«/^rr^/ and though this term 
is obsolete, it surviv<is in the name of their chief town Cant- 
wara-hyrig, or cant-er-bury, " the burgh of the men of the 
headland," while the ordinary signature of the primate, Cant-«ar, 
•a contraction of Episcopus Cantuariensis, exhibits the Saxon 
root ware in a prominent form, car-isbrook, in the Isle of 
Wight, is a name closely analogous to Canterbury. Asser writes 
the word Gwiti-^ar«-burg, " the burgh of the men of Wight." 
It will easily be seen how the omission of the first part of the 
name, and the corruption of the last part, have reduced it to 
its present form. 

Another of these widely diffused roots is safan, seUlers, oi 
inhabitants, and safe or sefna, the seat or place inhabited 

1 Compare the Sanskrit v(ra, the Latin vir, the Celtic ^wr andyfr, the 
Gothic z/airs^ and the S^drtivi varan, all which denote a man. From the 
low Latin, /faro, A male, comes daron, and perhaps the Scotch dairn. 



NAMES OF CONQUERING TRIBES. 47 . 



ALm/ia, alsace, or elsass, is the " other seat," the abode of he 
German j^lers west of the Rhine, a district where, as we have 
seen, the names of places are still purely German, holstein is 
a corruption of the dative case of Holt-sati, the " forest abode." 
From the same root we get somer-set and dor-set. It would 
appear that the / in wil-t-shire is also due to this root, since 
the men of Wiltshire are called in the Saxon Chronicle Wil- 
ssetan, just as the men of Somerset and Dorset are called 
Sumorssetan and Dornssetan. We have also Pecsaetan, men of 
the Peak (Derbyshire) ; Scrobsaetan, the men of Shropshire or 
Scrubland ; Ciltemsaetan, the men of the Chiltems ; and Wo- 
censaetan, the people of the Wrekin or hill country of Exmoor. 
Conquering tribes, numerically insignificant, when compared 
with the other elements of the population, have not un- 
firequently bestowed their names upon extensive regions. 
ENGLAND, for instance, takes its name from the Angles, who 
only colonized a portion of the country. In the case of 
SCOTLAND, we may believe that the Angles, the Norwegians, 
and the Cymric Celts severally constituted a larger element 
in the population than the Scots, yet this conquering Irish 
sept, which appears to have actually colonized only a por- 
tion of Argyle, has succeeded in bestowing its name upon 
the whole country. France takes its name from the Franks, 
a small German tribe ^ which effected a very imperfect 
colonization of a portion of Central France : the whole of 
Picardy, Normandy, Brittany, Burgundy, Languedoc, Guienne, 
and Gascony being excluded from their influence. Even so 
late as the time of Philippe Auguste, the term France did not 
comprehend either Aquitaine or Languedoc. Several of the 
old French provinces — burgundy, normandy, picardy, and 
the ISLE OF FRANCE — ^preserve the names of the German tribes 
which conquered them. The eastern division of the Frank 
nation has left its name in the Bavarian province of franken, 

1 The mixed multitude of Grades, Italians, Maltese, English, Germans, 
French, and other western Europeans who are found in the streets of Cairo 
and other cities of the Levant, aU go by the name of Franks to this day, and 
Ferin^ee is in India the appellation of all Europeans. The cause of the 
supremacy of the Frank name in the East is probably due to the prominent 
position ^en at the time of the Crusades by Godfrey of Boulogne, and thr 
Franks of Northern France. 






48 THE NAMES OF NATIONS. 



or Franconia, as we call it We find the name of the Suevi 
preserved in swabia ; of the Rugii in the Isle of rugen ; of the 
Chatti in hesse ; of the Saxons in saxony ; of the Lombards 
in LOMBARDY ; of the Huns in Hungary ; of the Atrebates in 
ARTOis; of the Pictones in poitou; of the Cymry in Cum- 
berland, CAMBRIA, and the cumbray Islands at the mouth of 
the Clyde ; of the Goths or Jutes in catalonia, Jutland, the 
Isle of GOTHLAND, and the Isle of wight ;^ and that of the 
Vandals possibly in andal-usia 

The Celtic Boii, who left their ancient " home " in Bohemia 
(Boi-hem-ia, or Boi-heim) to Sclavonic occupants, gave their 
name to Bai'tm, or bavaria ; and it has been thought that the 
name of bologna in Italy is a mark of their inroad across the 
Alps. So the Sclavonic and Hellenic districts under Moslem 
rule are called turkey, from the Turkomans or Turks, who 
constitute only a small governing class ;^ and it is singular that 
the Philistines, the " strangers " from Crete, who merely occu- 
pied a narrow strip of the sea-coast, should, through their 
contact with the western world, have given their name to the 
whole of the land of Palestine, in which they never succeeded 
in gaining any lasting supremacy. 

The names of ancient tribes are also very frequently pre- 
served in the names of modem cities. The process by which 
this has taken place is exemplified in the case of the Taurini, 
whose chief city, called by flie Romans Augusta Taurinorum, 
is now Torino, or turin; while the capital of the Parisii, 
Lutetia Parisiorum, is now Paris; and that of the Treviri, 
Augusta Trevirorum, has become trier or TRiiVES.* We 
have the name of the Danmonii in devon, and a portion of 

1 In the laws of Edward the Confessor the men of the Isle of Wight are 
called Guti, i.e. Jutes or Goths. We have also the intermediate forms 
Geat, Gwit, Wiht, and Wight. 

^ The word Turk had a still wider signification in the sixteenth and seven- 
teenth centuries, when it was used to denote all Mahomedans, as the word 
Saracens was in the twelfth century. Compare the collect for Good Friday 
— "All Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics. 

' Of course in cases of this kind it is impossible to say that the name oi 
the city is not more ancient than the name of the tribe. The names Parisii 
or Taurini, for instance, may not be true ethnic names, but may have been 
derived from the name of their capital, the original name of which can only 
be dimly discerned through its Latin garb. 



ROME. 49 

the name of the Z>«rotriges is preserved in dor-ch ester, of 
the Huiccii in w-orcester, of the Iceni in iken and ick- 
BOROUGH, of the Selgovae in the soltWay, of the Bibroci in 
BR-AY hundred near Windsor, of the Regni in J^i^rn^-wood or 
RING-WOOD in Hants, and of the Cassii of Caesar in the hundred 
of CASHio, Hertfordshire, and in cashio-bury Park, which pro- 
bably occupies the site of the chief town of the tribe. Many 
of these names have a certain ethnological value, inasmuch as 
they enable us to localize ancient tribes ; and therefore a list 
of such probable identifications is subjoined at the end of this 
chapter. 

The world-famous name of imperial Rome has been retained 
by various insignificant fragments of the Roman empire. The 
VVallachians, the descendants of the Roman colonists on the 
Danube, proudly call themselves romani, and their country 
ROMANIA. The language of modem Greece is called the 
ROMAIC ; that of Southern France is the romance ; and that 
of the Rhaetlan Alps the romansch. The romagna of Italy 
preserves the memory of the bastard empire which had its seat 
at Ravenna ; and the name of the Asiatic pashalics of roum 
and erzeroum are witnesses to the fact that in the mountain 
fastnesses of Armenia the creed and the traditions of the 
Eastern Empire of Rome continued to exist long after the 
surrounding provinces had fallen under the dominion of the 
Turks ; while for the European province of roumelia was re- 
ser^'cd the privilege of being the last morsel to be swallowed 
by the Moslem Cyclops. 

Conversely the name of a city has often become attached to 
the surrounding region. The roman empire must ever remain 
the chief instance of such an extension of meaning. This has 
also been the case with new york, with berne, schwytz, 
ZURICH, and others of the Swiss cantons, with Switzerland itself, 
with several German States, such as hanover, baden, Bruns- 
wick, and MECKLENBURG, and with a large number of the 
English counties, as Yorkshire, Lancashire, and salop. 

A few countries have taken their names from some ruler of 
renown, lodomiria, which is the English form of the Scla- 
vonic Vlodomierz, is so called from St. Vladimar, the first 
Christian Tzar. The t^vo Lothairs, the son and the grandson of 

e 



so THE NAMES OF NATIONS. 

Louis le Ddbonnaire, received, as their share of the Carlovin- 
gian inheritance, a kingdom which comprised Provence, Switz- 
erland, Alsace, Franche Comtd, Luxembourg, Hainault, 
Juliers, Li^ge, Cologne, Treves, the Netherlands, Oldenburg, 
and Friesland. This territory went by the name of the 
Regnum Lotharii, Lotharingia, or Lothier-regne ; but by the 
incapacity or misfortune of its rulers the outl)4ng provinces 
were gradually lost, so that in the course of centuries the 
ample " realm of Lothair " has dwindled down into the con- 
tracted limits of the modern province of Lorraine. 

The most recent instance of a state called from the name of 
its founder is Bolivia ; a name which remains as a perpetual 
reproach to the Bolivians, proclaiming the discords and 
jealousies which drove Bolivar, the liberator and dictator, to 
die in obscure exile on the banks of the Mississippi. Stei 
nominis umbra. 

The name by which we know china belongs, in all proba- 
bility, to the same category. It was during 3ie reign of the 
dynasty of Thsin, in the third century before Christ, that the 
first knowledge of the Celestial Empire was conveyed to the 
West. That the form of the name should be China, rather 
than Tsina, seems to prove that our first acquaintance with 
the Chines^ empire must have been derived from the nation 
in whose hands was the commerce with the far East — ^the 
Malays — ^who pronounce 7%sina as C^ina, just as the more 
ancient form sina indicates transmission through the Arabs. 

The names of America, Tasmania, Georgia, Carolina, and 
others of this class, have already been discussed. 

Another class of names of countries is derived from their 
geographical position. Such are Ecuador, the republic under 
the Equator, and piedmont, the land at the foot of the great 
mountain chain of Europe. Names of this class very frequently 
enable us to discover the relative position of the nation by 
which the name has been bestowed. Thus Sutherland, which 
occupies almost the extreme northern extremity of our island, 
must evidently have obtained its name from a people inhabiting 
regions still further to the North — the Norwegian' settlers in' 
Orkney. We may reasonably attribute to the Genoese and 
Venetians the name of the levant, for to the Italians alone 



EUROPE-ASIA. 51 



would the eastern shores of the Mediterranean be the "land of 
the sunrise." In like manner the Greeks of Constantinople, 
who watched the sun rise over the mountains of Asia Minor, 
called the land anatolia (the rising), a name which is pre- 
served by the Turkish province of natolia. The name of 
JEPAN or Jehpun is evidently of Chinese, and not of native 
origin, for it means the ** source of day." The amalekites, 
as well perhaps as the saracens, are the "Orientals ; '* bactria 
comes from a Persian word bakhtar, "the east ;" the Portuguese 
province of the algarbe is " the west ; " and some scholars 
are of opinion that the name of andalusia is also from an 
Arabic source, and is equivalent to Hesperia, the " region ot 
the evening." More probably, however, Andalusia is Vandal- 
usia, the country of the Vandals. 

The name of the dekkan is a Sanskrit word, which means 
the " South." The etymology of this word gives us a curious 
glimpse into the daily life of the earliest Ajyan races. The 
Sanskrit dakshina (cf. the Latin dextera) means the right hand ; 
and to those who daily worshipped the rising sun, the south 
would, of course, be the dakkhina, or dekkan, " that which is 
to the right" ^ 

Hesychius tells us that Europe means x^9^ ^^ic 3v9ca)c, the 
"land of the setting sun," and the etymology is supported by 
Kenrick and Rawlinson, who think that we have in this case a 
Semitic root applied by the Phoenicians to the countries which 
lay to the west of them. Archbishop Trench, on the other 
|iand, supports the common explanation that the term evp-wvri 
is descriptive of the " broad face " or profile, which the coast 
near Mount Athos would present to the Asiatic Greek. 

The origin of the name of asia is also in dispute. Pott 
refers it to the Sanskrit uskas (cf. the Greek €wc), and thinks 
that it means the " land of the dawn," and is, therefore, to be 
classed with such names as Levant, Anatolia, and Japan. On 
the other hand, much may be said in favour of the view that 
the word Asia was originally only the designation of the 
roarshy plain of the Cayster^ — the Asian plain on which 

* Lassen derives the name from the Sanskrit d^ggdn, peasants. ES SHAM, 
^ local name of Syria, means " the left." 
' *hff[(f h Xdfiwvi, Kavarplov d/i^i fUdpa. Homer, Iliads b. ii. L 461. 

£ 2 



L 



S± THE NAMES OF NATIONS. 



EPHESUS (€0-fff-ofi) was built; and the root as or es may, 
perhaps, be referred to that widely-diflfused word for watei 
which, as we shall see hereafter, enters into the names of many 
rivers and marshes throughout the Indo-European region. As 
the dominion and the importance of the city of Ephesus 
increased, the name of this Asian district would naturally be 
extended to the surrounding region, and the Romans afterwards 
transferred to the whole country east of the -^gean the name 
which they found attaching to that Asiatic province with which 
they first became acquainted. The name of asia minor seems 
to have been invented by Orosius in the fifth century, when a 
wider geographical knowledge required the name of Asia as a 
designation for all the regions to the east of the Mediterranean. 
The earliest name for the African continent was libya. 
The root is, perhaps, the Greek word Ai/3a (moisture) — ^an 
etymology which, inappropriate as it may seem, would indicate 
the fact that Africa was first known to the Greeks as the region 
from which blew the Libyan or " rain-bringing " south-west 
wind. The meaning of the word Africa, the Roman name of 
Libya, is very doubtftil. The name seems to have originated 
in the neighbourhood of Carthage, and is probably Punic, at 
all events Semitic. It has been conjectured, with some show 
of probabiHty, that it is derived from the ethnic designation of 
some tribe in the neighbourhood of Carthage, and whose name 
signified "the Wanderers," in the same way that the numidians, 
ancestors of the Berbers and Kabyles, were the vofidhc — 
Nomads, or wandering shepherd tribes. So also the Suevi or 
Swabians,^ and probably the Vandals and the Wends, were 
the roving border tribes of ancient Germany. The root of 
these two names appears in the German word wanMn, and 
its English equivalents, to wander or wend. To this root may 
also be attributed the name of flanders ; as well, perhaps, 
as those of vindelicia and venetia. The name of the 
SCOTS has been deduced from an Erse word, scuite^ meaning 
" wanderers," which is preserved in the English word scout. 
The name of the scythians may possibly be allied to 

1 From schweben, to move. Grimm thinks the root is a Sclavonic worti 
meaning "free." Leo prefers a Sanskrit root meaning "offerers," and he 
believes that the practice of human sacrifice lingered long in the tiibe 



ETHNOGRAPHIC NAMES. 53 

that of the Scots. The parthians are also the " wanderers " 
or strangers. 

A few names of races are descriptive of personal appearance, 
or physical characteristics ; and they therefore possess a peculiar 
value in the eyes of ethnographers. 

The EDOMiTES were the "red" men, the moors and the 
PHCENiciANS^ probably the " dark " men, and of still darker hue 
are the negroes, and the Ethiopians or " burnt-faced raen,"^ 
quos India torret. The soudan is the " country of the blacks." 
We may compare the name of the Du-gall and Fin-gall, the 
"black" and "white" strangers from Scandinavia who plun- 
dered the coasts of Scotland, with that of the ** Pale faces," 
who have encroached on the hunting-grounds of the " Red 
men " of North America, and of the " Blacks " of the Aus- 
tralian continent The Gipsies term themselves the zincali 
or " Black men." 

Professor Leo thinks that the boii are the " trim " or " neat " 
men, and he traces the name of the goths or OETiE to the San- 
skrit word gata^ which denoted a special mode of dressing the 
hair in the form of a half moon, which was practised by the 
devotees of Siva. The sikhs were at first only a religious 
sect, and the name means the ** disciples." The kookas are 
Sikh reformers, and derive their name from a peculiar noise 
which they make with their mouths. 

The name of the Britons has been conjectured to be from 
the Celtic briih^ paint, but it is not probable that any nation 
would have called themselves by such a name. The peculiarity 
might have struck a foreigner, but not a native. The same 
reasoning will lead us to reject Claudian's etymology of the 
name of the painted Picts — necfalso nomine Picti, The picts, 

^ From ^wPilt reddish-brown. Movers inclines to the opinion that 
Phcenicia is the " land of palms." 

' AiBia^t from cXBu, to bum. Cf. UiXo^, the swarthy-faced. So the 
native name of Egypt, Ch6mi (Ham), means black. Hence through*thp 
Arabs we obtain chemistry 2Xii^ alcheniyy the ** Egyptian sciences." The 
name EGYPT denotes the country which the Nile overflows. The root ary, 
which means " water," appears in the name of the ^.gean Sea. Mizraim, 
the Biblical name, means either " the two " banks, or more probably " the 
two" districts of Upper and Lower Egypt. So India and sinde are ^ach 
•he "land of tlic river." 



54 THE NAMES OF NATIONS. 

as well as the pictones of Gaul, are probably the " fighters," the 
name being traceable to the Gaelic peicta^ or the Welsh /«/>^, 
a " fighting man," a root related to the Latin word pugna. 
The men of the Balearic Isles are the " slingers," the turks 
are the "men with helmets," and the Tatars probably de- 
rive their name from a Turanian root, meaning primarily to 
stretch, and hence "to draw the bow," and to " pitch tents." ^ 
The name of the cossacks is also Turanian, and means 
" mounted warriors." It has been thought that the scythians 
are either the " shooters," or the " shield men," though it is 
more probable that the name Siev^c is a corruption of tschud, 
barbarian, a name which the Greek colonists on the Euxine 
may have heard applied by their Sclavonic neighbours to the 
barbarous tribes further to the north. 

With regard to the saxons, the old et)rmology of Verstegan, 
broached two hundred years ago, has recently been revived and 
supported by competent scholars. There are good reasons for 
supposing that the name did not refer to any particular tribe, 
but was the designation of a military confederation composed 
of adventurers from various Low-German peoples, who were all 
distinguished by their use of the seax^ a short knife-like sword, 
originally a stone knife, or celt, the name being derived from 
saihs^ a stone, a word related to the Latin saxum. Similarly it 
has been supposed that the franks were distinguished by the 
use of \ht f ranee, franca^ OTframea, a kind of javelin; and the 
Langobards or Lombards, by a long partisBXi or hdlberd. So 
the name of the angles has been derived from angoi, a hook, 
that of the Germans from the javelin called a gar^ and those of 
the HERULi and the cherusci from the Gothic heru, a sword. 
These etymologies are plausible, but by no means indisputable. 
They may, however, be supported by the analogous fact in the 
history of names that the Red men of North America called 
the early European settlers by words signifying " sword men " 
and " coat men." 

The name of dauphiny is unique. Its origin is to be traced 
to the Dolphin, which was the heraldic bearing of the Counts 
of Albon, the feudal lords of the district. The name of this 

* Amdt derives the name of the Tatars from the Chinese Ta-ta^ a barba- 
rian* ap OQomatopoeian word, like m((ch, and varvara. 



MOUNTAINEERS. 55 



cetax:ean, if traced to its source, proves, curiously enough, to be 
derived from a local name. The chief shrine of Apollo was at 
Delphi, and the animal, h\<^Ce, was sacred to the Delphian god. 
The natural features of the country have supplied many 
ethnic names. From the Greek rpaxvQ we obtain the name of 
THRACE,^ the "rugged country," as well as of trachonitis,^ a 
sort of basaltic island in the Syrian desert — a scene of grand 
rocky desolation, where vast fissures and lines of craggy battle- 
ment call to mind the lunar landscape, as viewed through a 
powerful telescope, rather than any scene on the surface of the 
earth, petra takes its name firom the long sandstone parapets 
which gird the Wady Mousa; albion is the "hilly land" of 
Scotland, and Albania is so called from the snowy range, whose 
peaks are seen, from the Ionian islands, ghstening brilliantly in 
the evening sun. The Chorwats, or Croats, derive their name 
from the Sclavonic gora, a mountain, a root which is found in 
the name of Car-inthia, and also of the Carpathians, which were 
anciently called Chorwat, or Chrbat Malaja means a mountain 
in the Turanian languages of India, and has given a name to 
the MALAYS. The arcadians,* the greeks, the dorians,* the 
thuringians, and the tyrolese are the " Highlanders," while 
athca is the " Promontory."* The avites and the amorites 
are the "dwellers on the hills," as distinguished from the 
canaanites, or " Lowlanders," and from the hittites and 
the HrviTES, who were respectively the " men of the valleys,*' 
and the " men of the towns." The poles are the " men of 
the plain," volhynia is the " level country," westphalia the 
great "western field," Holland is the "fen,"* batavia (Bet-au)^ 
the "good land,"^ brabant "the ploughed land,"® and eubcea 

^ Grimm thinks the root is Bpaah rather than rpax&i' 

' Trachonitis is the Greek tianslation of Argob, the Hebrew name. 

> The root is seen in the Latin arx^ and the Greek lUpov, 

* The same root is fomid in the Latin turns, and in the Tors of Devon- 
shire and Derbyshire. The Tyrol, however, may take its name from a 
castle near Meran. ' The root is found in iacri/i and athos. 

* From ollant, marshy ground. 

^ Bd, tiie first part of this name, is the obsolete positive degree of better 
and best Hence comes our word bad, which originally meant good, just as 
bliuk onsinally meant white. The second syllable au, land, is seen in the 
woond fidfow, the exhausted oitfaUmg land. 

* Brabant, anciently Brftch-bant, is from the old High German prdcha. 



$6 THE NAMES OF NATIONS. 



is the " well-tilled." The argives lived in the " tilled " plain of 
Argos,^ and the latins are the men of the " broad plain " of 
Latium. italy is the " land of cattle." The kurds are the 
*' shepherds," the sarmatians are the ** men of the steppe," ^ 
and the arabs as well as the bedouin * are the " men of the 
desert," as contrasted with the fellahs or fellahin, the "men 
of the cultivated ground." 

The burgundians were the dwellers in burghs or fortified 
towns. The Tyrrhenians, or etruscans, were the "tower- 
builders." The SPARTANS were the dwellers in Sparta, the town 
of " scattered houses," more loosely built than other Grecian 
cities, because unconfined by a wall. The ramnes, as Mommsen 
thinks, were the " Foresters," a meaning which, according to 
Wilhelm von Humboldt, attaches to the name of the basques, 
the biscayans, and the Gascons. The Caledonians are, pro- 
bably, the " men of the woods," fife is the " forest," lycia* and 
CORSICA the " wooded." 

PoNTUS was the province on the Black " Sea." pomerania * 
is a Sclavonic term, meaning " by the sea." The Celtic names 

of the MORINI, of ARMORICA, of MORHIBAN, of MORAY Or 

MURRAY, and of Glamorgan or Morgant,® have the same signi- 
fication. The SALiAN FRANKS, to whom is attributed the Salic 
law of succession, lived by the " salt " water at the mouth of 
the Maas. The ionians are, perhaps, the " coast-men : " ^ they 

ploughing. Bant means a district, as in the names of the Subantes, Tri- 
bantes, and Bucinobantes. 

1 The root is seen in l'p7oy. 

' From sara, a desert or steppe, and mat, a tribe or race. This root is 
seen in the names of the Jaxa-matae, Thisa-matse, Aga-matae, Chari-mat£, 
and other Asiatic tribes. 

' From arabahy a desert, and badiya, a desert 

^ A word akin to lucus must have once existed in the Greek language. 
The LACEDiCMONiANS are either the dwellers in the forest, or, more pro- 
bably, the dwellers in the hollow or marsh. 

^ From po, by, and more, the sea. So the Prusi, or PRUSSIANS, are 
probably the Po-Rusi, the men near the Rusi, or Russians, or perhaps near 
the Russe, a branch of the river Niemen. 

• From mor, the sea, and gant, side. 

' From iiXdav, the coast. More probably they are the " wanderers," from 
the Sanskrit root jd, which we find in the names of Ion, Hypciion, and 
Amphion. 



GREEKS. 57 



were called also the AiytaXeic, or the "Beachmen." The 
ACHiEANS may be the *' Seamen," and the iEOUANS the " mixed 
men." The Hellenes, if not " hill-men," may be the " warriors," 
whose martial prowess caused their name to be extended to the 
whole of the people whom we know by the name of greeks. 
This last name is a singular misnomer. It was derived from a 
small and unimportant Epirote tribe of " mountaineers " — the 
Graeci, who, in blood, were probably not Hellenes at all, but 
lUyrians, and whose territory is not even included in the limits 
of the modern kingdom of Greece. By the accident of geo- 
graphical proximity the Romans became first acquainted with 
this tribe, and applied their name to the whole of Hellas ; and 
the modem world has adopted this blunder from the Romans, 
and stamped it with the approval of its usage. Curiously 
enough the Greeks made a similar blunder with respect to Italy. 
ITALY, which means the " land of cattle," was the designation 
of that extreme southern portion of the peninsula which was 
best known to Greek mariners. Aristotle uses the word to 
denote a small portion of Calabria, and it was not extended to 
the whole peninsula till the time of Augustus. There are many 
similar cases of names of extended signification. The far-fiuned 
empire of cathay takes its name from a petty village on the 
road to Cashmere, and the name of india, and more remotely 
that of the west indies, is derived firom the river Indus, which 
was the eastern limit of the knowledge of Alexander and 
his Greeks. The names Persia and parsee are to be traced 
to the small province of Fars, or Pars. The city of Tyre seems 
to have given its name to the whole of syria, and we have 
aheady seen how the Philistines of the coast gave their name 
to Palestine^ how the French name for Germany is derived 
from the border tribe of the Alemanni, and how in the cases 
of EUROPE, ASIA, and AFRICA, three names of limited local 
significance have come to denote the three continents of the 
old world. ^ 

^ The chief writers on the subject of this chapter are Knobel, Schafarik, 
Mahiif Kenrick, Zeuss, Bergmann, Diefenbach, Kuhn, Meyer, Pictet, Amdt, 
Gliick, Pott, Grimm, Leo, Rawlinson, Movers, Renan, Prichard, Curtius. 
F. H. Muller, and H. Muller. 



58 



THE NAMES OF NATIONS. 



Names of Ancient Tribes preserved in the Names ^Modern Cities 

and Provinces. (See p. 49.) 



Ancient Names, 

Abrincatuiy 

Ambiani, 

Andecavi, 

Arverni, 

Atrebates, 

Ausd, 

BajucasseSy 

Beilovaci, 

Bigerrones, 

Bituriges-Cubi, 

Boii, 

BrannoviceSy 

BrixanteSy 

Cadurci, 

Caletes, 

Camutes, 

Cassii, 

Catalanni, 

Catuiiges, 

Cenomani, 

Centrones, 

Cimbri, 

Conembricse, 
Consorranni, 
Convene, 
Curosolites, 

Damnonii) 
Diablintes, 
Durocasses, 
Durotriges, 

Eburovices, 
Elusates. 

GabaU, 

Huicii, 

Iberi, 
Iceni. 



Modem Names. 

Avranches. 

Amiens. 

Angers inAnjou. 

Auvergne. 

Arras in Artois. 

Auch. 

Bayeux. 

Beauvais. 

Bagn^res de Bi- 

Berri. [gorre. 

Buch. 

Briennois. 

Bregentz. 

Cahors inQnercy 

Caux. 

Cbartres. 

Cashiobuiy. 

Chalons. 

Choigres. 

Le Mans. 

Centron. 

Cambrilla, 

Quimper. 
Coimbra. 
Conserans. 
Comminge. 
Corseult 

Devon. 
Jubleins. 
Dreux. [Dorset 
Dorchester in 

Evreux. 
Eaose. 

Javaux in G^- 
vaudan. 

Worcester. 

Ebn>. 

Iken, Ickboro', 
Ickworth. 



Ancient Names. 

Lexovii, 

Lemovices, 

Lingones, 

Mediomatrici, 
Meldi, 

Namnetes, 
Nantuates, 

Parisii, 

Petrocorii, 

Pictonesy 

Remi, 
Rhedones, 
Rothomagi, 
Ruteni, 

Santones, 

Scoti, 

Seduni, 

Selgovae, 

Senones, 

Sesavii, 

Silvanectes, 

Suessiones, 

Taurini, 

Tolosates, 

Treviri, 

TricasseSy 

Tungri, 

Taronei» 

VassateSy 

Velavii, 

Veliocasses, 

Veneti, 

Veneti, 

Veromandni, 

Vidncasses^ 



Modem Names. 
Lisienx. 

Limoges in Li- 
mousin. 
Langres. 

Metz. 
Meaux. 

Nantes. 
Nantueil. 

Paris, [rigord. 
P^rigueuxinP^- 
Poictiersin Poi- 
tou. 

Rheims. 
Rennes. 
Rouen. 

Rhodes in Ro- 
veigne. 

Saintes in Sain- 

tonge. 
Scotliuid. 
Sion or Bitten. 
Solway. 
Sens. 
S^ez. 
Senlis. 
Soissons. 

Turin, orTorino. 
Toulouse. 
Treves, or Trier. 
Troyes. 

Tongres. [raine. 
Tours in Tou- 



Vday. 

Vcxin. [Vendue. 

Vannes in La 

Venice. 

Vermand. 

Vienx. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE PHCENICIANS. 

physical character of Phomictan sites— Tyre— Sidon—Phentce—PActnician 
colonies in CretCy Cyprus y Sardinia^ Corsica^ Italy ^ Sicily ^ Malta, Africa ^ 
Spainy and Britain, 

9 

The Phoenicians established a vast colonial empire. The 
Mediterranean coast-line of three continents was dotted over 
with their settlements, which extended beyond the pillars of 
Hercules, as far as the River Senegal to the south, and as far as 
Britain to the north. The causes of this development of 
colonial dominion must be sought, firstly, in the over-population 
of their narrow strip of Syrian coast, shut in between the 
mountains and the sea, and, secondly, in the spirit of mercantile 
enterprise with which the whole nation was imbued. As in the 
case of the Venetians, the Dutch, and afterwards still more 
notably of the English, the factories, which were established 
for commercial purposes alone, rose gradually to be separate 
centres of dominion. To protect themselves from the lawless 
violence of the barbarous tribes with whom they traded, the 
merchant princes of Tyre found themselves unwillingly com- 
pelled to assume sovereignty over the surrounding districts. 
The origin of the colonial empire of the Tyrians is curiously 
mdicated by a physical characteristic which marks the sites of 
many of their settlements. These were placed, almost in- 
variably, on some rocky island near the coast, or on some 
promontory connected with the mainland by a low isthmus. A 
position of this kind would usually afford the advantage of a 
natural harbour, in which vessels might find safe anchorage, 



6o THE PHCENICIANS. 



while the trading settlement would be secured from the attacks 
of the barbarous tribes which occupied the mainland. Tyre 
itself was probably at first only a trading colony sent forth 
from the mother city at the entrance of the Persian Gulf. The 
name tzur, or tyre, which means a ** rock," characterises the 
natural features of the site — a rocky island near the coast — 
well suited to the requirements of a band of mercantile 
adventurers. The neighbouring city of Aradus stood also 
upon a littoral island, sidon occupies a somewhat similar 
position, being built on a low reef running out to sea ; and 
the name, which denotes a "fishing-station,"^ suggests to us 
what must have been the aspect of the place in those prehistoric 
times when the first settlement was made. Not unfrequently 
the names of the Phoenician settlements thus indicate the 
circumstances of their foundation. Sometimes, as in the case 
of Spain, Malaga, or Pachynus, the names refer to the nature 
of the traffic that was carried on — more frequently, as in the 
case of Cadiz, Hippo, or Lisbon, we have a reference to the 
fortifications which were found necessary to protect the wealthy 
but isolated factory. 

We find the name of the nation repeated in Cape phineke 
in Lycia, also in Phcenice in Epirus, a place which now bears 
the name of finiki, and in five places called phcenicus, 
severally in Cythera, in Messenia, in Marmarica, in Ionia, and 
in Lycia. 2 Pliny also states that the island of Tenedos, as 
well as a small island near the mouth of the Rhone, was called 
PHCENICE. The latter may probably be identified with one of 
the Hieres islands, which would satisfy the conditions which 
the Phoenicians sought in their trading stations. One of the 
Lipari islands, anciently called Phoenicodes, now goes by the 
name of felicudi. 

But the most interesting spot on which the Phoenicians have 
left their name is a rocky promontory on the southern coast of 
Crete, which possesses good harbours on either side. This 
place is called phceniki, and has been identified with the 
haven of Phoenice mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. St. 

^ Compare the name of beth-saida, the "house offish." 
* It is possible that some of these places may be named from the paln^- 
trees, " ^oivi^," growinjj on them. 



THE LEVANT. 6i 



Luke says, ** We sailed under Crete . . . and came into a place 
which is called the Fair Havens . . . and because the haven 
was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to 
depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to 
Phenice, which is an haven of Crete, and there to winter." 
With true maritime instinct the Phoenicians seem to have 
selected for the centre of their Cretan trade this sea-washed 
promontory, with its double harbour, now, as in the time of St. 
Paul, the best haven along the southern coast of the island 

Lebena, another harbour on the Cretan coast, is the ** Lion 
promontory." There is a Cretan Jordan flowing from a Cretan 
LEBANON. Idalia in Cyprus, now dalin, is the ''sacred 
grove." SAMOS is the " lofty," and the name of samothrace 
contains the same root. From the Phoenician word s^la, a 
rocky we derive the name of Selinus, now sei^enti, in Cilicia — 
a town which stands on a steep rock almost surrounded by 
the sea. tarsus, the brithplace of St. Paul, is " the strong." 
Lampsacus, now lamsaki, near Gallipoli, is the " passage," and 
seems to have been the ferry across the Hellespont 

Sardinia is full of Phoenician names, cagliari, the chief 
town, was a Tyrian colony, and its Phoenician name Caralis, or 
Cararis, has suffered little change, bosa still bears its ancient 
Tyrian name unaltered. Macopsisa, now macomer, is the 
"town;" OTHOCA seems to be a corruption of Utica, the 
" old " town ; and nora, like so many other Phoenician settle- 
ments, was built upon a little island off the coast. ^ 

The name of Corsica, according to Bochart, means the 
'' wooded." The desolate forest-clad mountains of this island 
seem, however, to have had few attractions for the Phoenician 
merchants, since none of the towns bear names which, in their 
language, are significant. 

At Caere, in Italy, there was a Tyrian settlement, which 
anciently bore the Phoenician name of agylla, the "round 
town,** and in lower Italy we find the Phoenician names of 
Malaca, Sybaris, Crathis, Tempsa, Medma, and Hippo. 

Cape PACHYNUS in Sicily was the " station " for the boats 
engaged in the tunny fishery. Catana, now catania, is the 

^ Other Phoenician names found in Sardinia, are Comus, Ca b a, Olbia 
Buccina, Cunusi, Charmis, and Sulchi. 



62 THE PHCENICIANS. 



'^ little " town, mazara, which still preserves its ancient name, 
is the " castle," and the familiar name of etna is a corruption 
of attuna, the "furnace/* Many other ancient names attest 
the long duration of the Phoenician rule in this island.^ 

Diodorus informs us that the Island of malta was a 
Phoenician settlement ; and this assertion is borne out by the 
name of the island, which means in Phoenician a " place of re- 
fuge." Moreover at a place called hagiar chem — " the stones 
of veneration" — extensive remains of a Phoenician temple 
are to be seen. The site was explored about thirty years ago, 
when the outlines of the seven courts of the temple were 
traced, and the statues of the seven presiding planetary deities 
were disinterred. The Phoenician capital was, probably, near the 
south-eastern extremity of the island. Here is a deep bay, on 
the shores of which stand the ruins of a temple of Melcarth, 
the "city king."^ This word cartha, a city, appears in the 
Old Testament in the name of twelve places called Kirjath, as 
well as in that of Carthage, the great Tyrian colony in 
Northern Africa.* Carthage — Kart-hada, or Kartha-hadtha 
— the " New Town," soon eclipsed in splendour and import- 
ance the older settlement of utica, " the ancient ; ** and before 
long she began to rival even the mother city of Tyre, and to 
lay the foundations of a colonial empire of her own. 

Spain seems to have been first known to the Phoenicians as 
the land where the skins of ya\^ Tapn;«7iat — martens, or 
perhaps rabbits — were procured, and the name Hispania or 
Spain appears to be derived from a Phoenician word sapan^ or 
span^ which denotes the abundance of these animals. Many of 
the Phoenician colonies in Spain seem to have been Tyrian 
rather than Carthaginian, escalona is, probably, the same 
word as Ascalon ; and magueda is, perhaps, identical with 

^ We have Arbela, which also occurs in Palestine ; Thapsus, ** the pas- 
sage," Anesel, the "river head," Amathe, the "castle," Adana, Tabae, 
Motuca, Mactorium, Ameselum, Bidis, Cabala, Inycon, and many more. 

2 The word Melek, a king, is found in all the Semitic languages. It is 
seen in the names of Melchizedek, Melchior, Abdu-1-malek, &c. 

^ It appears also in the names of Cirta, Ta-carata, Cartili, Cartenna, 
Caralis, Carpi, Carepula, Mediccara, Cura, Curum, Rusucurum, Ascurum, 
Ausocurro, Curubis, Garra, Medugarra, Tagara, Tagarata, &c. A suburb 
of Palermo anciently bore the name of Karthada. 



SPAIN. 63 

- -' , , ■■■I - - -- .II -' 

Megiddo. Asido, now mfdina sidonia, was, as the name 

denotes, a colony of the. Sidonians. Cadiz, as we learn from 

Velleius Paterculus, was founded before Utica, and consequently 

long before Carthage. The name cadiz is a corruption of the 

ancient name Gadeira, and is referable to the Phoenician word 

gadir, an inclosure.^ The site presents the features of other 

Tynan settlements — an island separated by a narrow channel 

from the main land. The same is the case at Carthagena, 

which is built on a small island in a sheltered bay. The name 

of CARTHAGENA is a Corruption of Carthago Nova or New 

Carthage ; and we may therefore assign it to a Carthaginian 

rather than a Tyrian origin. Near Gibraltar there is another 

town named carteja, anciently Carteia. The name of Malaga 

is derived from the Phoenician word malaca, salt. Hispalis, 

now SEViLLA, was also a Carthaginian colony, and the name is 

deducible from a Phoenician word meaning a " plain." The 

TAGUS is the "river of fish," and the root appears in the name 

of Dagon, the " fish god." The name of Olisippo, which has 

been corrupted into Lisbon, contains the word hippo, the 

" walled " town, which occurs so frequently in Phoenician names. 

There were three cities called hippo in Africa, one of them 

celebrated as the See of the great Augustine, and two of the 

same name in Spain, as well as Orippo, Belippo, Baesippo, 

Irippo, and Lacippo, all on the Spanish coast. Tarraco, now 

TARRAGONA, is the " palacc." The name of cordova, anciently 

Cortuba, may be derived either from coteba, the " olive press," or 

from Kartha Baal, the " city of Baal." Belon, now belonia, near 

Tarifa, as well, perhaps, as the Balearic ^ Isles, contain the 

name of Bel or Baal, the deity whose name enters into the 

composition of so many Tyrian and Carthaginian names, such 

as Hannibal, Asdrubal, Maherbal, Ethbaal, Agebalos, Jezebel, 

Belshazzar, and Baalbec. There are many other places in Spain 

which seem originally to have been Carthaginian colonies, since 

^ Hence the iEgades Islands near Sicily, and the Biblical names of Geder, 
Gedera, Gedor, and Gadara, the city of the Gadarenes. 

' See, however, p. 54 supra, Ebustts^ now iviCA, means the **pine 
island," and the Greek name Pitusse is merely a translation of the earlier 
Phoenician appellation. The Balearic Islands present many Phoenician 
names, such as Cinici, Cunici Bocchorum, Jamna, Mago, and Sanifera. 



64 THE PHOENICIANS. 



their names can be explained from Punic sources. Such are 
TOLEDO ; Abdera, now adra ; BarcinO) now Barcelona ; Ebora, 
now EVORA, the " ford "; Arci, now arkos ; and the River Anas, 
now the guadiana. 

Whether the Carthaginians reached the shores of Britain is 
uncertain. We have already seen that the Euskarian origin of 
the name makes it probable that the earliest knowledge of the 
island was obtained from Iberic traders; and it is certainly 
probable that the Carthaginians would follow in the tracks 
discovered by their Spanish subjects. It is a noteworthy cir- 
cumstance that the almost unique physical characteristics of St. 
Michael's Mount, in Cornwall, conform precisely to the account 
given by Diodorus Siculus of the trading station from which 
the Phoenicians obtained their tin. We may mention, though 
we can hardly maintain the supposition, that the names of 
MARAZioN, the '*hill by the sea," and polgarth (root K&rtha) 
are of Phoenician origin, and are records of the first intercourse 
of our savage ancestors with the civilized world.^ 

1 On Tyrian and Carthaginian names, see the erudite work of Bochart, 
GeograpkuK Sacra pars posterior^ Chanaan, seu de Coloniis et semume Phani' 
cunty and the more trustworthy works of Movers, Die Phoniuer, and the 
Article Phbnixien in Ersch und Gruber's Allgetndne EncyJUopSdie. See 
also Kenrick's Phcsnicia; Olshausen, Ueber Pkonicische Ortsnanten; Renan, 
Langues SSmiHques ; and the valuable treatise of Gesenius, Scripitira Lin- 
guaque PhxnicuB Monununta, 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE ARABS IN EUROPE. 



The Empire of the Cailiphs — Arabic Names in Southern Italy and SiciJy— 
Tribes by which the conquest of Sicily was effected— Conquest of Spain — 
Tarifa and Gibraltar — Arabic article — River-names of Spain — Arabs in 
Southern France — They hold the passes of the Alps — The Monte Moro pass 
and its Arabic Names — The Muretto pass and Pontresina. 

The Arab conquests in the seventh and eighth centuries 
form one of the most remarkable episodes in the history 
of the world. At the time of its greatest extension, the 
empire of the Cailiphs extended from the Indus to the 
Loire. In the course of a single century they overran 
Persia, S5nia, Egypt, Northern Africa, Spain, and the south 
of France. We find Arabic names scattered over the whole 
of this vast region; and it will be an interesting and pro- 
fitable task to investigate these linguistic monuments of 
Moslem Empire, confining our attention more especially 
to those districts where Christianity has long resumed its 
sway. 

In Southern Italy the dominion of the Arabs lasted 
hardly half a century, and consequently we cannot expect 
to find many Arabic names. Their chief conquests lay 
in the neighbourhood of the cities of Benevento and Ban, 
not far from which we find the doubtful Arabic names of 
ALiFE, ALFiDENA, and the river almaro. 

In Sicily, where the Arab colonization was more exten- 
sive, and where their empire was more enduring than in 
Italy, we naturally find more abundant and less doubtful 
traces of their presence. The well-known name of marsaj^a 

F 



66 THE ARABS IN EUROPE. 



means, in Arabic, the "Port of God." Ge^e/, the Arabic 
name for a mountain, is still retained in the pa/ois of the 
Sicilian peasantry, who prefer the mongrel term mongibbllo 
to the ancient Phoenician name of Etna. From the same 
root comes the name of the gibellina— a mountain ridge 
in the Province of Trapani. 

It would appear that the Arabs kept down by military 
rule a considerable subject population, for the island is 
covered with fortresses of their erection. The position of 
these we can often discover by means of the Arabic word 
koTa/if or kaVcUy a castle on a rock — a root which enters 
into the names of many Sicilian towns, such as caltabalotta 
(Kal*at-a-bellotta, oak-tree castle), caltagirone (KaVat-a- 
Girun), calatascibetta (Kal'at-a-xibetta), calatafimi (Kal*- 
at-a-fieni), calatamisetta (castle of the women), calatavu- 
tura, caltanisetta, calatabiano, calamonaci, and cata- 

LAMITA.^ 

Tliere are also in tliis island many Arabic names of 
villages and farms. The word tnenzil^ a " station," or " hut," 
is found in misilmeri (Menzil-Emir), and in mezzojuso 
(Menzil-Yusuf). The most common of these Arabic prefixes 
is rahl^ a " house," which appears in the names of regalmuto 
and RE-SULTANA. It occurs no less than one hundred and 
seven times, while kaVat is only found in twenty names, 
and menzil in eighteen. We have rar, a cape, in the names 
of RASiCANZiR, the cape of swine ; rasicalbo, the dog's cape ; 
RASACARAMi, the capc of vineyards ; and rasicorno, or Cape 
Horn. In Palermo the two chief streets bear the Arabic 
names of the cassaro, or ** Castle Street," and the maccheda, 
or " New Street," and we find many other Arabic names 
scattered here and there over the island, such as godrano, 
the "marsh"; chadra, and cadara, the "green"; alcara, 

MISTRETTA, MUSSOMELI, GAZZI, MONTE MERINO ; and a few 

personal names, such as abdelali and zyet. 

Several Arabic words are retained in the Sicilian patois^ as 
saliarcy to wonder ; chammarru^ an ass ; hannaca, a necklace. 

^ Compare the names of KRSLAT, the capital of Beloochistan, and of 
galata, a ^valled suburb of Constantinople, yenikale in the Crimea is 
Y^Hi Kal'ah, the " n^w fortrcfs " — ^ n^m? Wf Turkish «nd hiJf Ar^bfc, 



SICILY AND MALTA. 67 



The few Arabic words in Italian — such as alcova^ a chamber, 
ammiraglio, an admiral, arsenaie, an arsenal, and the vessels 
called carracca and fdtua — ^were probably introduced tlirough 
the Spanish. 

The mediaeval and modem names of Sicilian villages supply 
us with curious information as to the countries out of which 
was gathered the motley host that fought under the standard 
of the Prophet In Sicily alone we find traces of tribes from 
Scinde, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Syria, and Spain. Thus, a 
fountain near Palermo, now called dennisinni, was anciently 
Ain eS'Sindty the fountain of Scinde. But the conquest of 
Sicily seems to have been effected, for the most part, by troops 
levied from the neighbouring continent of Africa. There are 
more than a dozen indisputable names of Berber tribes to be 
found in Sicily, chiefly in the neighbourhood of the Val di 
Mazara. Altogether there are in Sicily 328 local names of 
Arabic origin, and the distribution of these is remarkable, as 
showing the relative amount of Arab influence in different 
portions of the island. In the Val di Mazara there are 209 
Arabic names, in th^ Val di Noto 100, and the Val Demone 
only 19. 

In the islands of Sardinia and Corsica the Arab rule was 
brief, and we find no Arabic names, except ajaccio, and, 
perhaps, alghero and oristan. But Malta is full of Arabic 
names. The word mirsah, a. port, which is found in the name 
of Marsala, in Sicily, appears in Malta in the names of numerous 
bays and inlets, such as mars a scirocco, mars a scala, mars a 
MUSCErro, and marsa forno. The ravines commonly go by 
the name of vye/i, or 7€//a/, a corruption of the Arabic word 
-wmH. The hills have the prefix gehe/, the fountains aayn, the 
wells ^/r, the castles ca/a, the houses /feyr, the caves ^Aar, the 
villages raAa/, the capes ras. From the map of the island it 
would be easy to collect scores of such names as aayn il 
kebira, the great fountain ; aayn taiba, the good fountain ; 
GEBEL OOMAR, the mountain of Omar ; ras el tafal, Chalk 
Cape. In the neighbouring isle of Gozo we find the Arabic 
village-names of nadur, zebbev, garbo, sannat, and xeuchia. 
Among the peasants of Malta and Gozo a corrupt Arabic 
pa/m still holds its ground against the Lingua Franca, the 

F 2 



68 THE ARABS TN EUROPE. 



Italian, and the English, which threaten to supplant it. Of the 
island of Pantellaria the Duke of Buckingham says, " The 
language spoken is a bad Italian, mixed up with a bastard 
Arabic. All the names of places, headlands, and points, are 
pure Arabic, and every hill is called ghibel something." 

In no part of Europe do we find such abundant vestiges of 
the Arab conquest as in Spain and Portugal. The long 
duration of the Arab rule — ^nearly eight centuries — ^is attested 
by the immense number of Arabic local names, as compared 
with the dozen or half-dozen that we find in Italy, France, or 
Sardinia, which were speedily reconquered. 

The very names of the first invaders are conserved in local 
memorials. In September, a.d. 710, Tarif-Abii-Zafah, a Berber 
freed-man, effected a landing at a place which has ever since 
been called after him — tarifa. He was quickly followed by 
Tarik-Ibn-Zeyad, a liberated Persian slave, who, at the head of 
a body of light horsemen, advanced, in a few weeks, some 
seven hundred miles across the peninsula, as far as the Bay 
of Biscay. This bold chieftain landed in the Bay of Algeziras,^ 
and he has left his name on the neighbouring rock of Gibraltar, 
which is a corruption of the Arabic name Gebel-al-Tarik, the 
"Mountain of Tarik." 

The accompanying sketch-map, in which each dot represents 
an Arabic name, will serve to give a rough notion of how they 
arc distributed throughout the peninsula. Though unfortunately, 
owing to the smallness of the scale, it has been impossible to 
indicate the position of more than a proportion of the names, 
yet it is easy to distinguish at a glance those districts where 
the Arab population was most dense. The Arabic names are 
seen to cluster thickly round Lisbon and Valencia ; and in the 
neighbourhood of Seville, Malaga, and Granada, the last strong- 
holds of the Moslem kingdom, they are also very numerous ; 
but as we approach the Pyrenees, and the mountains of Galida 
and the Asturias, these vestiges of Moslem rule entirely dis- 
appear, and are replaced by names derived from the Baisque, 

^ Algeziras means " the island." By the Arabic chronidenit is called 
Jezirah al-Khadhra, '' the green island." Algiers is a corraption of the same 
appellation, Al Jezirah, a name which has also been given to Mesopotamia 
«— the peninsula between the Tigris and the Euphrates. 



DISTRIBUTION OF ARABIC NAMES. 



69 



Celtic, and Spanish languages. Contrary to what might have 
been supposed, we find that the Arabic names in the im- 
mediate vicinity of Granada and Cordova are relatively less 
numerous than in some other places, as the neighbourhoods of 




DISTRIBUTION OF ARABIC NAMES IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. 



Valencia and Seville. This is probably due to the forced 
eviction of the inhabitants of Granada under Ferdinand and 
Isabella, and the wholesale substitution of a large Christian popu- 
lation ; whereas in the case of earlier conquests the Arab popu- 
lation, being allowed to remain till gradually absorbed, suc- 
ceeded in transmitting the greater number of the local names. 



70 THE ARABS IN EUROPE. 



An obvious feature which characterises the local nomen- 
clature of Spain and Portugal is the prevalence of the 
Arabic definite article al^ which is prefixed to a very large 
proportion of names, such as alicant, albuera, almanza, 

ALCALA, ALMAKEZ, ALMEIDA, ALHAMBRA, and ALGOA. On 

the maps of the Peninsula published by the Useful Know- 
ledge Society, there appear about two hundred and fifty 
names containing this prefix. Of these, 64 per cent, are 
found to the south of the Tagus, and only 36 per cent, 
to the north of that river. 

The Spanish river-names beginning with guad are very 
numerous. In Palestine and Arabia this word appears in 
the form wadly a " ravine," and hence a " river." The name 
of the GUADALQUIVIR is a corruption of Wadi-1-Kebir, the 
great river — a name which is found also in Arabia. We 
have also the river-names guadalcazar, which is Wadi-1- 
Kasr, the river of the palace ; guadalhorra, from Wadi- 
1-ghar, the river of the cave; guadarranke, from Wadi- 
1-ramak, the mare's river; guadalquiton, from Wadi-1- 
kitt, the cat river; guadalaxara, from Wadi-1-hajarah, the 
river of the stones; guaros£AN, firom Wadi-r-roman, the 
river of the pomegranate-trees; guadalaviar, fi:om Wadi- 
1-abyadh, the white river; Guadalupe, the river of the 
bay; gualbacar, the ox river; guadalimar, the red river; 
r^UADARAMA, the sandy river; guadaladiar, the river of 
houses ; and the more doubtful names of guadaira, the rivei 
of mills ; guadalertin, the muddy river ; and guadalbanar, 
the river of the battle-field We have also the guadiana 
iind the guadalete, which embody the more ancient names 
»f the Anas and the Lethe.^ 

The name of Medina, which means ** city," is found not 
)nly in Arabia and Senegambia, but also in the names of 
MEDiNACELi, MEDINA siDONiA, and three other Spanish cities. 
The word kaVah^ a castle, which we have traced in Sicily 

^ We find also the rivers Guadafion, Guadehenar, Guadajor, Guadalbano, 
Guadalbullon, Guadalcana, Guadalerce, Guadaleste, Guadalmallete, Guad- 
almedina, Guadalmelera, Guaderriza, Guedaxira, Gupdazamon, Guadaze- 
lete, Guadacenas, Guadetefra, Guadarmena, Guadelieu, Guadalmez, and 

Guadalcalon. 



ARABIC NAMES IN SPAIN. ^l 



and Malta, is found in calatayud, Job's castle, in Aragon ; 
CALAHORRA, the fort of stones, in Old Castile; and cala- 
TRAVA, the Castle of Rabah, in New Castile. There are 
also half-a-dozen places called alcala, which is the same 
word with the definite article prefixed. 

Such names as benayites, beniajar, benarraba, benicalaf, 
BENiAUX, BENTARiQUE, and BENADADID, embody curious in- 
formation as to the names of the original Arab settlers, for 
the first syllable of such names is the patronymic Beni, " sons," 
and the remainder is a personal or tribal appellation. 

But the great mass of Hispano-Arabic names are descriptive 
terms, relating to the artificial or natural features of the country. 
Such are the names Trafalgar (Taraf al-ghar), the promon- 
tory of the cave ; alborge, the turret ; albufeira (Albtieyrah\ 
the lake ; almeida, the table ; alcacova, the fortress (a 
common name) ; almanza, the plain ; alpuxarras, the 
<< grassy " mountains ; almaden, the mine ; alhambra, the red \ 
algarbe, the west; arrecife, the causeway; almazara, the 
mill ; ALCAZAR, the palace ; aldea, the village ; Alcantara, the 
bridge ; and alqueria, or alcarria, the farm, almena, the 
battlemented tower ; almazen, the storehouse ; and alcana, the 
exchange, are of interest as embodying the Arabic roots from 
which we derive respectively the familiar words minaret^ maga- 
zine^ and dogana or douane, 

A competent and exhaustive investigation of the Hispano- 
Arabic names has never been attempted ; and it would, un- 
doubtedly, supply materials of value to the historian of the 
conquest 

Flushed by the ease and rapidity of their Spanish conquest, 
the Arabs crossed the Pyrenees, and spread their locust swarms 
over the southern and central regions of France, as far as 
Tours. In the neighbourhood of this city, in the year 732, 
Charles Martel gained one of the great decisive battles which 
have changed the current of the world's history, and the almost 
total destruction of the Moslem host rescued Western Chris- 
tianity from the ruin which seemed to be impending. After 
this event the fugitives seem to have retired into Provence, 
where they maintained a precarious sovereignty for some 
thirty years. 



72 THE ARABS IN EUROPE. 



In the Department of the Basses-Pyr^ndes we find some 
vestiges of these refugees. At Oloron, a town not far from 
Pau, is a fountain called la houn {ain) deous mourous, or the 
fountain of the Moors j and in a neighbouring village, which 
bears the name of moumour, or Mons Mauri, there stands a 
ruined tower called la tour des maures. fontarabie, in 
the Department of the Charente Infdrieure, marks a kind of 
oasis in the sandy desert of the Landes, and, like Fontarabia 
on the Bidassoa, may have been a station of the Arabs. In 
the patois of south-eastern France there are several words of 
Arabic origin, while, down to the seventeenth century, many 
families of Languedoc, descended from these Moors, bore the 
name of " Marranes." In Auvergne also there is a pariah race 
called Marrons, whose conversion to Christianity has given the 
French language the term marrane, " a renegade." After an 
interval of more than a century, the Moorish pirates, who had 
long infested the coast of Provence, established themselves 
(ad. 889) in the stronghold of Fraxinet, near Frejus, and held 
in subjection a large part of Provence and Dauphiny. The 
forAt des maures, near Frejus, is called after them ; and the 
names of puy maure and mont maure, near Gap, of the col 
de maure, near Chi,teau Dauphin, and of the whole county of 
the MAURiENNE, in Savoy, are witnesses of the rule in France 
of these Moorish conquerors. In the tenth century the Moors 
still held the Maurienne, and in the year 911, by a convention 
with Count Hugo of Provence, they- crossed the Cottian Alps, 
, and look possession of the passes of the Pennine chain, which 
they guarded for Count Hugo's benefit, while they levied black 
mail on travellers for their own. In the years 921 and 923, 
and again in 929, the chroniclers record that English pilgrims, 
proceeding to Rome, were attacked by Saracens while crossing 
the Alps. The bishops of York, Winchester, Hereford, and 
Wells were among those who thus sufiered. In the year 973 
St. Majolus, Abbot of Cluny, was taken prisoner by these 
marauders at Orsiferes, on the pass of the Great St Bernard, 
and he could only obtain his freedom by the pa3rment of a 
ransom, which consisted of a thousand pounds* weight of the 
church plate of Cluny. 

Such are the few meagre historical facts relating to the Arabs 



THE MONTE MORO. 73 



in the Alps which we are able to glea^ from mediasral 
chroniclers; fortunately, it is possible to* supplement our 
knowledge by the information which has been conserved in 
local names. The mountain to the east of the hospice on the 
Great St. Bernard bears the name of mont mort, which there 
is reason for believing to be a corruption of Mont Maure. If 
this name stood alone, we might hardly feel ourselves justified 
in connecting it with the local . traditions which refer to the 
Arabs in the Alps. We find, however, that the name monte 
MORO, the ''Moor's Mountain," is attached to another pass 
which was much frequented in early times, before the great 
roads of the St. Gothard, the Simplon, and the Spliigen had 
been constructed. Though no direct historical evidence of 
the fact exists, it seems impossible not to believe that this pass 
of the Monte Moro must have been held by these " Saracens," 
or " Moors." 

In the first place, we find that a strong position, which 
commands the passage up the Val Anzasca on the Italian side 
of the pass, is called calasca — a name which is apparently 
derived from the Arabic kal *ahy a castle, which occurs in the 
Alcalas and Calatas of Spain and Sicily. The peak opposite 
Calasca is called piz del moro. On tlie other side of the 
valley is the cima del moro, beneath which lies the hamlet of 
MORGHEN. Crossing the Moro pass, the first hamlet we arrive 
at is placed on a mountain spur or terrace, which commands 
the view both up and down the valley. This place is called 
ALMAGEL, which, on the hypothesis of an Arab occupation, 
would be a most appropriate name, since al mahal denotes in 
Arabic " the station," or " the halting-place.'* A high grassy 
mound, probably the terminal moraine of an ancient glacier, is 
called the telliboden, the first syllable of which name seems 
to be the Arabic word tell^ a round hill. The neighbouring 
pasture goes by the name of the matmark, the ancient form of 
which was Matmar, or the "Moor's Meadow." Close by is 
another pasture called the even — a name which is pronounced 
in exactly the same way as the Arabic din^ a " fountain," or 
"source of waters" — a very apposite description, as will be 
admitted by all those Alpine tourists who, before the recent 
construction of a road, have splashed across it, ankle deep, for 



74 THE ARABS IN EUROPE. 

some hundred yards. Passing the distel Alp — a doubtful 
name — we find the valley completely barred by an enormous 
glacier. This is called the alalein Glacier, and the Arabic 
interpretation of the name, AlSk 7 din^ or " Over the source," 
gives a most graphic picture of the precipitous wall of ice, with 
the torrent of the Visp rushing from the vast cavern in its side. 
Opposite Almagel, and a little to the north of the Alalein 
Glacier, are the mischabel horner, three peaks, the midmost 
of whidi, the Dom, is the loftiest summit in Switzerland. The 
latter part of the name Mi-schabel is pronounced almost 
exactly in the same way as the Arabic gebel^ a mountain. The 
genius of the Arabic language would, however, require gebel 
to be a prefix rather than a suffix, but it is quite possible that 
Mischabel may be a hybrid formation, akin to Mongibello in 
Sicily. The northern outlier of the Mischabel range is called 
the BALFRAiN, a name whose Arabic interpretation — " the peak 
with two river sources" — describes the twin glaciers which 
hang fix)m the flanks of the mountain, and send their tributary 
streams to join the Visp. 

It is probable that the etymologies assigned to some 
of these names may be fallacious, but the cases are too 
numerous, and the accordances with the physical features 
of the spot are too precise, to allow us easily to explain 
them away by any hypothesis of accidental coincidence of 
sound ; and though we may not be able to find any historical 
evidence whatever that the Moro was one of those passes which 
were occupied by Count Hugo's Moors, yet it seems difficult 
not to believe, on the evidence of the names alone, that the 
present inhabitants of the Saas Valley are descended from the 
marauders from the Maurienne. 

The third of the passes which in ancient times formed the 
chief commimication between Italy and the North, was 
that which connects the Lake of Como with the Engadine. 
This, also, it would seem, was occupied by the Arabs. 
Near the summits of the St. Bernard and of the Moro we 
have the Mont Mort and the Piz del Moro ; and so, near 
the summit of the Maloja and muretto passes, we have the 
piz muretto, the piz mortiratsch, and the piz morter. 
Descending the pass on the northern side, we come to a very 



PONTRESINA. 75 



ancient stone bridge of one arch, springing from rock to rock 
across a narrow chasm. This place is called pontresina, 
which seems to be a corruption of Fonte Saracina, the Saracens' 
bridge. The village of Pontresina is composed of solid stone 
houses, Spanish rather than Swiss in their appearance. Five 
minutes' walk from the village, we come to an ancient five- 
sided stone tower called spaniola. In documents of the 
twelfth and fourteenth centuries we find mention of families 
inhabiting this valley bearing the names De Ponte Sarisino, 
Sarradno, Sarazeno, and the like. Saratz is still a very common 
surname in the district, and those bearing it claim descent 
from the Saracens, and possess a marked Oriental type of 
feature. A Herr Saratz was lately president of the Gotthaus 
Bund, the Eastern division of the Orisons. 

In the neighbourhood of Pontresina there are several names 
which can be explained from Arabic sources. Such are samaden, 
ALVENEN, albigna, tarasp, al-vaschein, MAD-UI/-EIN, and the 
Val AiN-AS. The river which flows from the Maloja on the Italian 
side is called the maira Near the Swiss frontier a barrier oiroches 
moutonnus blocks up this valley so completely that it has been 
necessary to excavate a considerable tunnel through the rock 
to admit of the passage of the road. On the summit of this 
admirable defensive position stands a ruined castle, which goes 
by the name of Castel muro, and an ancient building by the 
side of the castle exhibits certain Saracenic features which are 
in striking contrast with the Italian architecture around. In 
this neighbourhood, however, I have been unable to discover 
traditions of Saracenic occupation resembling those which are 
current at Pontresina. 

To the west of Pontresina is the scaletta pass, which leads 
to the valley of the Upper Rhine. A local tradition affinus 
that the Scaletta is not the Staircase pass, as we might suppose, 
but that it owes its name to the bleaching skeletons of a band of 
marauding Moors from Pontresina, who were defeated by the 
men of Chur, and whose corpses were left strewn over the 
mountain side where they fell in their attempted flight across 
the pass. The encounter is supposed to have taken place at 
the foot of the pass, on the western side, where there is a 
pasture which still goes by the name of kriegsmatten, the 



76 THE ARABS IN EUROPE. 



" battle-field." Whether there be truth in this tradition or not, 
it is valuable as testifying to the popular belief in the existence 
of a Moorish colony in the valleys of the Bemina, and it 
harmonizes well with the curious evidence supplied by the still 
existing local names.^ 

1 On Arabic names consult Amari, Storia deiMusulmanidi SicUia ; Abela, 
Malta Illustrata ; Gesenius, Versuch fiber die Maltesiscke Sprctche ; Wenrich, 
Rerum ab AraMbus gestarum Comtnentaru; Bianchi-Giovini, Dominazione 
de^i Arabi in Italia ; Engelmann, Glossaire des Mots Espagnols et FortU' 
gats diripis deVArabe; De Sousa, Vestigios da Lingua Arabica em PortU' 
gal; Weston, Remains of Arabic in the Spanish and Portuguese Languages ; 
Renan, Langues Shnitiques; Gayangos, History of the Mohammedan 
Dynasties in Spam; Conde, Historia de la Dominacum de los Arabes en 
Espafta ; Pihan, Glossaire des Mqts Francois tiris de VArabe; Reinaud, /«• 
vasions des Sarasdns en France; Engelhardt, Das Monte Rosa und Matter- 
horn Gebirge; Lechner, Pis Languard, 



CHAPTER VII. 

THS ANGLO-SAXONS. 



EitgUuic is the land of inclosures — This denoted by the character oj Anglo- 
Saxon Vames which end in *' ton," ''yard;' '''worthy' *'fold;* '*hay, 
and ** iury'* — Ham, the home — The Patronymic **ing*' — Teutonic clans 
^Saxot Colony near Boulogne — Saxon settlement in England began before 
the dep^ rture of the Romans — Early Frisian settlement in Yorkshire — Litus 
Saxonititm near Caen — German village- names in France and in Italy — 
Patronymics in Westphalia, Franconia, and Swabia — Seat of the ''Old 
Saxons. * 

England is pre-eminently the land of hedges and inclosures. 
On a visit to the Continent almost the first thing the tourist 
notices is the absence of the hedgerows of England. The 
fields, nay even the farms, are bounded only by a furrow. The 
bare shoulders of the hills offend an eye familiar with the pic- 
turesque wooded skyline of English landscape ; the rectangular 
strips of cultivation are intolerable ; and the interminable mono- 
tony of the plains, varied only by the straight rows of formal 
poplars which stretch for miles and miles by the side of the 
chausshy is inexpressibly wearisome to those who have been 
accustomed to quaint, irregular crofts, and tall, straggling hedge- 
rows, twined with clematis and honeysuckle — 

" Little lines of sportive wood run wild," 

overshadowed here and there by gnarled oaks and giant elms. 
And if we compare the local names in England with those 
on the Continent, we shall find that for more than a thousand 
years England has been distinctively and pre-eminently the 
land of inclosures. The sufSxes which occur most frequently 



78 THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 



in Anglo-Saxon names denote an inclosure of some kind — 
something hedged, walled in, or protected. An examination of 
these names shews us that the love of privacy, and the seclu- 
siveness of character which is so often laid to the charge of 
Englishmen, prevailed in full force among the races which 
imposed names upon our English villages.^ Those universally 
recurring terminations ton^ hattty worth, stoke, stotv, fold, garth, 
park, hay, burgh, bury, brough, borrow, all convey the notion of 
inclosure or protection. The prevalence of these suffixes in 
English names proves also how intensely the nation was im- 
bued with the principle of the sacred nature of property, and 
how eager every man was to possess some spot which he could 
call his own, and guard from the intrusion of every other man. 
Even among those portions of the Teutonic race which remained 
on the Continent, we do not find that this idea of private right 
has been manifested in local names to the same extent as in 
England. The feeling seems, indeed, to have been more or 
less enchorial, for we find strong indications of it even in the 
pure Celtic names of Britain. Probably more than one-half 
of the Celtic names in Wales and Ireland contain the roots 
Han, kil or bally, all of which originally denoted an inclosure 
of some kind. The Teutonic suffixes which do not deiiote 
inclosures, such as gau, dorf, leben, hausen, stadt, and stein, all 
so numerous in Germany, are not reproduced in England 
to anything like the same extent as on the Continent. It 
would seem, therefore, that the English passion for inclosures 
is due partly to the Celts who were gradually absorbed a- 
mong the Saxon colonists, and partly to the necessity for 
protection felt by intruding colonists settling among a hostile 
and alien race. 

The suffix ton constitutes a sort of test-word by which we 
are enabled to discriminate the Anglo-Saxon settlements. It 
is the most common termination of English local names ; and 
although it is a true Teutonic word, yet there is scarcely a 

^ This characteristic of the Teutonic race did not escape the acute obser^ 
vation of Tacitus. ' ' Colunt discreti ac diversi, ut fons, ut campus, ut netnus 
placuit. Vicos locaat, non in nostrum morem connexis et cohaerentibus 
9edi£ciis : suam quisque domnm spatio circumdat." — Germania, § i6. 



THE SUFFIX "TON." 



single instance of its occurrence throughout the whole of 
Germany.^ In the little Anglo-Saxon colony on the French 
coast it is as common as it is in England,^ and it is not 
unfrequent in Sweden ^ — a fact which may lead to the establish- 
ment of a connexion, hitherto unsuspected, between the Anglo- 
Saxon colonists of England and the tribes which peopled 
eastern Scandinavia.* 

The primary meaning of the suffix ton? believed to be 
related to the Celtic dun (whence the suffix -don) denotes 
a place surrounded by a hedge. In modem Dutch tuin 
means a "garden," and in modern German we find the 
word 3<iun, a hedge, and in Anglo-Saxon we have the verb 
tynan, to hedge. The phrase "hedging and tining," for 
hedging and ditching, was current two hundred years ago. 
Brushwood used for hedging, is called Hnetum in law Latin. 
Hence a tutiy or ton^ was a place surrounded by a hedge, 
or rudely fortified by a palisade. Originally it meant only 
a single croft, homestead, or farm, and the word retained 
this restricted meaning in the time of Wycliffe. He trans- 
lates Matt. xxii. 5, "but thei dispiseden, and wenten forth, 
oon into his toun {a-ypoi)^ another to his marchaundise." 
This usage is retained in Scotland, where a solitary farm- 
stead still goes by the name of the toun; and in Iceland, 
where the homestead, with its girding wall, is called a tun. 
In many parts of England the rickyard is called the \i^xton 
— that is, the inclosure for the bear^ or crop which the land 
bears. The sixty English villages called barton, or burton 
must, at first, have been only outlying rickyards. Usually, 
however, the ton included the settler's house. In a few cases 
the features of the original settlement are still conserved. Thus 

^ We have, however, Altona, near Hamburg, and Ost- and West-tonne 
in Westphalia. 

^ E.g, CoUncthun, Alencthun, and Todincthun. See p. S9. 

' E.g. Eskilstuna, Sollentuna, Wallentuna, Sigtuna, and Frotuna. 

^ Sweden takes its name from the Suiones who peopled it. The Suiones 
are probably identical with the Suevi or Swabians who, as will be shewn, 
contributed largely to the Teutonic colonization of England. 

* The root is widely difhised through the Aryan langoi^es. Compare 
the S^vonic tuirty a hedge, and even the Armenian tun^ a house. 



8o THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 



the lone farmhouses in Kent called Shottington, Wingleton, 
Godington, and Appleton, may be regarded as venerable monu- 
ments, showing us the nature of the Saxon colonization of 
England. But in most cases the isolated ion became the 
nucleus of a village, then the village grew into a town^ and, 
last stage of all, the word town has come to denote, not the 
one small croft inclosed from the field or the forest by the first 
Saxon settler, but the dwelling-place of a vast population, 
twice as great as that which the whole of Saxon England 
could boast. 

The Anglo-Saxon yard^ and the Norse equivalent garthy 
contain nearly the same idea as ton. It denotes some place 
guarded or girded round. 

The same may be said respecting sioke^ or stow^ another 
common suffix, which we find in Basingstoke and Alver- 
STOKE. A stoke is a place stockdAtA^ surrounded with stocks 
or piles, like a New Zealand pah, A somewhat similar inclo- 
sure is denoted by the suffix fold (A.-S. falod). This was a 
stall or place constructed oi felled trees, for the protection of 
cattle or sheep. 

The Anglo-Saxon weorthig^ which appears in English names 
in the form of worthy bears a meaning nearly the same as 
that of ton or garth. It denotes a place warded, or protected. ^ 
It was, probably, an inclosed homestead for the churls, sub- 
ordinate to the tun. We find this suffix in the names of 

BOSWORTH,^ TAMWORTH, KENILWORTH, WALWORTH, WANDS- 
WORTH, and many other places. 

A haighy or hay^ is a place surrounded by a hedge, and 
appears to have been usually an inclosure for the purposes 
of the chase. We find it in rothwell haigh, near Leeds 3 

1 Cf. the German gerte, and the Anglo-Saxon gerd. The Goths and 
Franks seem to have introduced the yfOY&jardin into the French, Spanish, 
and Italian languages. Of cognate origin are the Albanian gSrdlne, the 
Servian grhdena^ the Russian gorod and grad^ and the Persian gird, a city 
or fortified town. 

^ From the Anglo-Saxon warian, to ward or defend. A weir which 
wards off the waters of a river, is from the same root. Compare the San- 
skrit vri^ to protect, and the Zend vara, a place hedged round. 

2 Bosworth is a worth containing a boose or cowstall. (Anglo-Saxon b6s.) 



NAMES WHICH DENOTE INCLOSURES. 8l 



HAVE PARK, at Knaresborough ; and iiorsehay, near Cole- 
brookdale.^ The word park^ which is of kindred meaning, 
seems to have been adopted by the Saxons from the Celtic 
parwgj an inclosed field. 

Related to the Anglo-Saxon verb beorgan, and the Ger- 
man bcrgen^ to shelter or hide,* are the suffixes bury^ borough^ 
burgh^ brought and barrow. Sometimes these words denote 
the funeral mound which gave shelter to the remains of 
the dead, but more frequently they mean the embanked 
inclosure which afforded refuge to the living. Such places 
were often on the crests of hills; hence the word came 
to mean a hill-fortress, corresponding to the Celtic dun. 
In Anglo-Saxon a distinction was made between beorh^ 
which answers to the German berg^ a hill, and buruh^ which 
is the equivalent of the German burg^ a town. This dis- 
tinctive usage is lost in modern English. The word barrow^ 
however, is generally confined to funeral mounds, as in 
iNGLEBARROW. Burgh and brought which we find almost 
exclusively in Northumbria, as jedburgh, broughton, 
BROUGH, are Anglian and Norse forms ; so also, probably, 
are four-fifths of the boroughs ; as for example Peterborough, 
SCARBOROUGH, MARLBOROUGH, while bury is the distinctively 
Saxon form. 

The suffix ham, which is very frequent in English names, 
appears in two forms in Anglo-Saxon documents. One of 

^ The HAGUE (correctly 's Gravenhage, the count's hedge) was originally 
a hunting-seat of the Counts of Holland. Cf. the Dutch haagt an inclo- 
sure ; the old High-German hag, a town ; the German hagen, to hedge ; 
the French hate, a hedge ; and the English ha-ha, and ^izcz-thom, or hedge- 
thorn. The source seems to be the Sanskrit kakscha, which means *' bush " 
and also a " fence." 

* Compare the phrases to burrow in the earth ; to borrow, t,e, to obtain 
goods on security ; to bury, i,e» to hide in the earth ; the bark of a tree is 
that which hides or covers the trunk. This widely diffused root appears to 
have been introduced from the Teutonic into the Romance languages. To 
it we may refer Burgos, Bergamo, Cherbourg, Luxembourg, Perga, Per- 
gamos, and scores of other names spread over Europe and Asia. Gothic 
^urgs, Greek irvpyos, Macedonian fivpyos. Even the Arabs borrowed 
^urg^ a fortress, from the Goths. Etymology shows that the Roman (fjffi* 
dum^ like the English borough, was originally an earthwork. 





^2 THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 



these, ham} signifies an inclosure, that which hems in— a 
meaning not very different from that of ton or worth. These 
words express the feeling of reverence for private right, but ham 
involves a notion more mystical, more holy. It expresses the 
sanctity of the family bond ; it is the home, the one secret 
(ge^eim) and sacred place.^ In the Anglo-Saxon charters we 
frequently find this sufiix united with the names of families — 
never with those of individuals. This word, as well as the 
feeling of which it is the symbol, was brought across the ocean 
by tlie Teutonic colonists, and it is the sign of the most 
precious of all the gifts for which we thank them. It may 
indeed be said, without exaggeration, that the universal pre- 
valence throughout England of names containing this word 
HOME, gives us the clue to the real strength of the national 
character of the Anglo-Saxon race. What a world of inner 
diflference there is between the English word hotne^ and the 
French phrase chez nous ! It was this supreme reverence for 
the sanctities of domestic life which gave to the Teutonic 
nations the power of breathing a new life into the dead bones 
of Roman civilization. 

The most important element which enters into Anglo-Saxon 
names yet remains to be considered. This is the syllable ing. 
It occurs in the names of more than one-tenth* of the whole 

^ This is, for the most part, the source of the Frisian suffix um^ which 
fringes the coast-line of Hanover and Oldenburg. It occurs in Holstein 
and part of Sleswic, in the Danish islands Sylt and Fohr, and in the Frisian 
colony in Yorkshire. See p. 92, infra. It should be noted, however, that 
the suffix um is sometimes only the sign of the dative plural. 

* Cognate with ham is the German hdm, home, which enters so largely 
into the names of Southern Germany. We have also the Gothic haims, the 
Lithuanian ^a/;7/a^, and the Greek K^tii\j a village. The ultimate root seems 
to be the Sanskrit f/, to repose. Cf. K«7/ua< and KoinAm. 

' Mr. Kemble has compiled a list of 1,329 English names which contain 
this root To ascertain the completeness of the enumeration, the Ordnance 
Maps of three counties — Kent, Sussex, and Essex — ^were carefully searched, 
and it was discovered that Mr. Kemble had overlookM no less than forty- 
seven names in Kent, thirty-eight in Sussex, and thirty-four in Essex. If 
the omissions in other counties are in the same ratio, the total number of 
these names would be about 2,200. Large additions might also be made 
from Domesday Book. The Exon and Ely Domesdays alone contain thirty- 
six names not given by Mr. Kemble. 



THE PATRONYMIC "ING.'' S3 



number of English villages and hamlets, often as a simple suffix, 
as in the case of barking, brading, dorking, Hastings, 
KETTERING, TRiNG, or WOKING ; but moie frequently we find 
that it forms the medial syllable of the name, as in the case 

of BUCKINGHAM, KENSINGTON, ISLINGTON, HADDINGTON, Or 
WELLINGTON. 

This syllable ing was the usual Anglo-Saxon patronymic. 
Thus we read in the Saxon Chronicle (a.d. 547) : — 

Ida waes Eopping, Ida was Eoppa's son, 

Eoppa waes Esing, Eoppa was Esa's son, 

Ksa waes Inguing, Esa was Ingwy's son, 

Ingui, Angenwiting. Ingwy, Angenwit's son. 

In fact the suflSx ing in the names of persons had very much 
the same significance as the prefix Mac in Scotland, O' in 
Ireland, Ap in Wales, or Beni among the Arabs. A whole 
clan or tribe, claiming to be descended from a real or mythic 
progenitor, or a body of adventurers attaching themselves to 
the standard of some chief, were thus distinguished by a 
common patronymic or cian^ name. 

The family bond, which, as we have seen, was so deeply 
reverenced by the Anglo-Saxon race, was the ruling power 
which directed the Teutonic colonization of this island. The 
Saxon immigration was, doubtless, an immigration of clans. 
The head of the family built or bought a ship, and embarked 
in it with his children, his freedmen, and his neighbours, and 
established a family colony on any shore to which the winds 
might carry him. The subsequent Scandinavian colonization 
was, on the other hand, wholly or mainly effected by soldiers 
of fortune, who abandoned domestic ties at home, and, after a 
few years of piracy, settled down with the slave women whom 
they had carried off from the shores of France, Spain, or Italy, 
or else roughly wooed the daughters of the soil which their 
swords had conquered. Thus the Scandinavian adventurers 
Grim, Orm, Hacon, or Asgar, left their names at grimsby, 
ORMSBY, HACONBY, and ASGARBY ] whercas in the Saxon districts 

^ It may be observed that the etymology of the word clan proves the 
patriarchal nature of the Scottish clans. It is derived from the Gaeh'o 
chiftt children. So the Teutonic king was the kinsm2^n of the tribe he rulea. 

G 2 



84 THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 



of the island we find the names, not of individuals, but ol 
clans. It is these family settlements which are denoted by the 
syllable ing. Hence we perceive the value of this word as an 
instrument of historical research. In a great number of cases^ 
it enables us to assign to each of the chief German clans its 
precise share in the colonization of the several portions of our 
island 

In investigating the local topography of England, we con- 
stantly meet with the names of families whose deeds are 
celebrated in the legendary or historic records of the Teutonic 
races. Thus members of a Prankish clan — the Myrgings, 
or Maurings, of whom we read in the " Traveller's Song," 
and who, at a later time, are familiar to us as the Merovingian 
dynasty of France — seem to have settled in England at mer- 
RiNG in Nottinghamshire, and at merrington in Durham 
and Shropshire. The family of the Harlings, whose deeds 
are also chronicled in the " Traveller's Song," is met with at 
HARLING, in Norfolk and in Kent, and at harlington, in Bed- 
fordshire and Middlesex. The families of the Brentings, 
the Scylfings (a Swabian race), the Banings, the Haelsings, die 
Hocings,^ and the Scserings, which are all mentioned in 
Beowulf or in the "Traveller's Song," are found at brent- 
ingley, shilvington, banningham, helsington, hucking, 
WOKING, and sherringham; and the Scyldings — ^a Danish 
family, to which Beowulf himself belonged — are found at 
SKELDiNG in Yorkshire. In the Edda and in Beowulf we read 
of the Washings, a Prankish race, whom we find settled at 
v^OLSiNGHAM in Norfolk, woolsingham in Durham, and wol- 
siNGHAM in Northumberland. The Thurings, a Visigothic clan, 
mentioned by Marcellinus, Jomandes, and Sidonius ApoUonaris, 
are found at thorington in Suffolk and thorrington in Essex. 

^ The syllable ittg has sometimes a topographic rather than a patronymic 
signification. Thus, in the Chronicle and the Charters, mention is made of 
the Centings, or men of Kent, the Brytfordinp, or men of Bradford, and 
the Bromleagings, or men of Bromley. Sometmies the suffix m,^ has simply 
the force of uie genitive singular. In a few cases, used as a prefix, it denotes 
a meadow, as INGHAM, and ingrovx. 

* The H6cings are probably the same as the Chaud of Tacitus — ^the 
interchange of h to ch or w often takes place, as in the case of C^atti and 
//esse. The Wokings were probably the same as the Mdchig^ 



THE TEUTONIC CLANS. 85 

 M m*m» • mm    II  II ' '      ^ - — .... — ^ ^ II ^^^^m^    ^.— — -  — 

The Silings, a Vandal tribe, mentioned by Ptolemy, are found 
at SELLING in Kent. The Icelings, the noblest family of 
Mercia, are found at icklingham in Suffolk. The Hastings, 
the noblest race of the Goths, are found at hastingleigh in 
Kent, and Hastings in Sussex. The Ardings, the royal race 
of the Vandals, are found at ardington in Berkshire, and 
ARDiNGLEY in Sussex ;. and a branch of the royal Visigotliic 
family is found at belting in Kent. The Irings, the royal 
family of the Avars, are found at erringham in Sussex, and 
at errington in Yorkshire. The Varini, who are placed by 
Tacitus in juxtaposition with the Angli, are found at War- 
rington in Lancashire and Bucks, and at werrington in 
Devon and Northamptonshire. The Billings, who were the 
royal race of the Varini, seem, as might have been anticipated, 
to have profited extensively by the conquest of England, for we 
find their name in no less than thirteen places, as billinge, 

BILLINGHAM, BILLINGLEY, BILLINGTON, and BILLINGSHURST. 

The iEscings, the royal race of Kent, are likewise found in 
thirteen places. The Cyllings and the Wealings are found in 
twelve places ; the' Dodings, the Wittings, and the Willings 
in eleven ; the Ofings in ten ; the Donings and the Sillings in 
nine ; the Edings, the Ellings, the Hardings, and the Lings in 
eight; the Fearings, the Hemings,,the Herrings, the HoUngs, 
the Homings, the Newings, the Serings, and the Wasings in 
seven ; the Cannings, the Cerrings, the Hastings, the LuUings, 
the Hannings, the Stannings, the Teddings, the Tarings, and 
the Withings in six ; the Bennings, the Bings, the Bobbings, 
the Caedings, the Collings, the GUlings, and the Stellings in 
five; and the remaining 400 or 500 patronymics in four or a 
smaller number of places. Some families seem to have spread 
much more widely than others. Of many only an isolated 
local name bears witness, some are confined to a single county, 
while the names of others, as the iEscings and the Billings, are 
spread far and wide throughout the island. 

Where the patronymic stands without any suffix, as in the 
case of MALLiNG, BASING, or HASTINGS, Mr. Kcmblc thinks that 
we have the original settlement of the clan, and that the names 
to which the suffixes /tarn or ton are applied mark the filial 
cQloni^s sent oiit frpni this parent settlement This th^Qiy 



86 



THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 



derives considerable support from the way in which these 
patronymics are distributed throughout the English counties. 
By a reference to the subjoined table, which represents the pro- 
portion of names of these two classes to the acreage of the 
several counties, it will be seen that the names of the former 
class are chiefly to be found in the south-eastern districts 
of the island, where the earliest Teutonic settlements were 
formed, — namely, in Kent, Sussex, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, 
Suffolk, and the adjacent counties, — and that they gradually 
diminish in frequency as we proceed towards the northern and 
western counties. Still farther to the west, as in Gloucester- 
shire and Warwickshire, the names of the former class are 
very rare ; those of the second abound. In the semi-Celtic 
districts of Derbyshire, Devonshire, and Lancashire, names 
of either class become scarce, while in Cumberland, West- 
moreland, Cornwall, and Monmouth they are wholly or almost 



Kent . 
Sussex . 
Middlesex 
Essex . 
Norfolk . 
Suffolk . 
Bedfordshire . 
Huntingdonshire 
Berkshire . . 
Surrey . . . 
Hertfordshire . 
Northamptonshire 
Oxfordshire . 
Nottinghamshire 
Hampshire . . 
Lincolnshire . 
Cambridgeshire 
Yorkshire . . 
Dorsetshire 
Lancashire . . 



Original 
Settle- 
ments. 



22 
21 
Ig 

i8 

15 
13 

12 
II 

9 

9 
6 

5 
4 
4 
4 
3 
3 
3 
3 
3 



FiUal 
Colonies 



29 

41 

38 

24 

46 
36 
51 
46 
29 

22- 

14 
41 
51 
31 
23 

34 
29 

26 

25 
16 



Derbyshire . . 

Gloucestershire 

Northumberland 

Leicestershire 

Buckinghamshire 

Warwickshire 

Somerset . 

Salop . . 

Wiltshire . 

Devonshire 

Rutland . . 

Cheshire 

Worcestershire 

Herefordshire 

Staffordshire 

Durham . . 

Cumberland 

Westmoreland 

Cornwall . 

Monmouth . 



Original 
Settle- 
ments. 



3 
2 

2 

2 

2 

I 

I 

I 

I 

h 
O 

O 

o 
o 
o 
o 
o 
o 
o 
o 



Filial 
Colonies 



15 
46 

32 
29 
28 

44 

35 

33 

23 
12 

36 

31 

24 

23 
22 

21 

5 

3 
2 



ORIGINAL AND FILIAL SETTLEMENTS. 



87 



wholly wanting. This remarkable distribution of these names 
accords with the supposition that the Saxon rule was gradually 
extended over the western and central districts by the cadets 
of families already settled in the island, and not by fresh im- 
migrants arriving from abroad. 

England is not, however, the only country which was con- 
quered and colonized by the Anglo-Saxon race. In the old 
French provinces of Picardy and Artois there is a small well- 
defined district, about the size of Middlesex, lying between 
Calais, Boulogne, and St. Omer, and fronting the English coast, 
in which the name of almost every village and hamlet is of the 
pure Anglo-Saxon tyTpe, To exhibit graphically the distri- 
bution of these Saxon villages the accompanying sketch-map 
has been constructed. Each dot represents the position of 
one of the Saxon names. 



D«vcp ^^ 



Dunkerqwc^ 



Cblai* 



M«tek 



• • ••• «• •• . • 



• • • • 



. • f 



MnJbnuLlC' 



R.$«mt«^ 




'•...»•, ,y 



Awas o 



o 

1 I I > 



J. 



AMftViUt 



IV11LE.S 



Oou 



^i'o 



10 



-^ 



SAXON NAMES IN PICARDY AND ARTOIS. 



88 THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 



These names are, most of them, identically the same with 
village-names to be found in England. 
Thus we have in the 

French District. In England. 

Warhem Warham, Norfolk, 

Rattekot Radcot» Oxon, 

Le Wast Wast, Gloucestershire, Northumberland. 

Frethan YxtXxm^ Norfolk, 

Cohen, Cuhem, and Cuhen Cougham, Norfolk. 

Hollebeque Holbeck, A^^?///., Yorks.^ Lincoln. 

Ham, Hame, Hames . . Ham, Kent Surrey^ Essex, Somerset. 

Warwick Warwick, Warwicksh.^ Cumberland. 

Appegarbe Applegarth, Dumfries. 

Sangatte Sandgate, /Cent. 

GViindal Windle, Lancashire. 

Inghem Ingham, Lincoln, Norfolk, Middlesex. 

Oye ^y^,Suffolk,Hereford,Northamptonsh.,Oxon. 

Wimille Windmill, AW*/. 

Grisendale Grisdale, Cumberland, Lancashire. 

We have also such familiar English forms as Graywick, Bru- 
quedal, Marbecq, Longfosse, Dalle, Vendal, Salperwick, Forde- 
becques, Staple, Crehem, Pihem, Dohem, Roqueton, Hazel- 
brouck, Roebeck, and the river Slack. Twenty-two of the names 
have the characteristic suffix -toiiy which is scarcely to be found 
elsewhere upon the Continent ; and upwards of one hundred 
end in hatn^ han^ or hen. There are also more than one hundred 
patronymics ending in ir^. A comparison of these patronymics 
with those found in England proves, beyond a doubt, that the 
colonization of this part of France must have been effected by 
men bearing the clan-names which belonged to the Teutonic 
families which settled on the opposite coast^ More than 
eighty per cent, of these French patronymics are also found 
in England. 

* A few phonetic changes are worthy of notice. We find ham once or 
twice dose to the coast — ^the usual form, however, is hem — and farther 
inland it changes to hen : while ing is sometimes changed into eng or inc, 
and gay into gue. The suffix gay, which we find in Framlingay and Gam- 
lingay, is found abundantly in those parts of Germany from whence the 
Saxons emigrated. It there takes the form gau. This word originally 
denoted a forest clearings hence aftenvards it came to mean the primary 
scttt^m^t with independent iurisdiction, like the Cvmric treff 



THE SAXON COLONY NEAR BOULOGNE. 89 



Thus we have 



In France, In En^and. 

Alencthun AUington, Kent. 

Bazlngham Bassingham, Line, 

Balinghem Ballingham, Hereford, 

Berlinghen Birlingham, Worcester, 

Colincthun CoUington, Sussex, 

Elingehen EUingham, Hants, 

Eringhem Eningham, Sussex, 

Hardinghem Hardingham, Norfolk 

Linghem Lingham, Cheshire, 

Lozinghem Lossingham, Kent, 

Maninghem Manningham, Yorks, 

Masinghen Massingbam, Norfolk, 

Pelincthun Pallington, Dorset, 

Todincthun Toddington, Bedford, 

Velinghen Wellingham, Norfolk, 



These correspondences, a complete list of which would fill 
pageSy afford convincing proof that the same families which 
gave their names to our English villages also made a settlement 
on that part of the French coast which lies within sight of the 
English shore. 

The question now arises whether the Saxons, as they coasted 
along from the mouths of the Weser and the Rhine, made the 
Boulogne colony a sort of halting-place or stepping-stone on 
their way to England, or whether the French settlement was 
effected by cadets belonging to families which had already 
established themselves in this island. 

In favour of the latter view we may adduce the entire absence 
of Saxon names from that part of the coast which lies to the 
north-east of Cape Grisnez. Why should the intending settlers 
have passed along this stretch of coast, and have left it entirely 
untouched? The sketch-map shews conclusively that the 
colonists did not arrive from tiie east, but from the west — the 
Saxon names radiate, so to speak, from that part of the coast 
which fronts England. And the names are arranged exactly 
as they would have been if the invaders had set sail from 
Hythe for the cliffs on the horizon. The district about St. Omer 
yf^s evidently colonized bjr men \vhQ landed, not in the neigh- 



90 THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 



bourhood of Dunkerque, but in the neighbourhood of Boulogne. 
Again, if any importance is to be attached to Mr. Kemble's 
theory of original and filial settlements, the Saxon villages in 
France must all have been filial settlements* We find that 
///^ is never a mere suffix \ in every case it forms the medial 
syllable of the name. 

On the other hand, it may be said that these names mark 
the position of the " Litus Saxonicum in Belgica Secunda " — 
the coast settlement of the Saxons in Flanders — which is men- 
tioned in the " Notitia Imperii." This Litus Saxonicum existed 
as early as the third century, and therefore, it may be urged, 
its foundation must have been long anterior in date to the 
Saxon colonization of Britain, which, according to the chro- 
niclers, commenced in the fifth century, with the arrival of 
Hengist and Horsa. Eutropius informs us that the Emperors 
Diocletian and Maximian appointed Carausius, " apud Bono- 
niam" (Boulogne), to protect the Flemish coast and the 
adjoining sea, " quod Saxones infestabant." Carausius was a 
Menapian ; that is, a native of the islands near the mouth of 
the Rhine. He was probably himself one of those pirates 
whose incursions he was appointed to suppress. Carausius, 
it would seem, entered into a compact with his Saxon kinsmen, 
and promoted their settlement, as subsidized naval colonists, 
in the neighbourhood of his fortress at Boulogne. 

It may be said, in reply, that the date ordinarily assigned for 
the commencement of the Saxon colonization of Britain is too 
late by at least a couple of centuries. Even in the time of 
Agricola the Saxon piracy had begun. In the south-east of 
England a Saxon immigration seems to have been going on in 
silence during the period of the Roman rule. Without sup- 
posing, as some inquirers have done, that the Belgae, whom 
Caesar found in Britain, were Low Germans in blood and speech, 
we may suppose that, after the extermination of the Iceni, the 
desolated lands of Eastern Britain were occupied by German 
colonists. In Essex and Suffolk there is a smaller proportion 
of Celtic names than in any other district of the island, and this 
would indicate that the Germanization of those counties is ot 
very ancient date. Gildas, Nennius, and Beda, among all their 
lamentations over the " destruction of Britain " by the Jutish 



FIRST TEUTONIC SETTLEMENT IN ENGLAND. 91 



and Saxon invaders, are strangely silent as to any settlements 

on the eastern coast, where, from geographical considerations, 

we might have expected that the first brunt of invasion would 

be felt While we can trace the progress of the Saxons in the 

western and central districts of England, with respect to the 

east both the British bards and the Saxon chroniclers are 

dumb. They tell us of no conquests, no defeats. Descents 

had, however, been made, for we learn from Ammianus Mar- 

ceUinus that, nearly a century before the date assigned by Beda 

for the landing of Hengist and Horsa, London was taken by 

Saxon invaders, who slew the Duke of Britain and the Count 

of the Saxon shore. 

This name alone might suffice to set the question at rest. 
Even before the time of Constantine, there was in England, as 
well as in Flanders, a Litus Saxonicum, or Saxon coast settle- 
ment, which extended from Brancaster in Norfolk as far as 
Shoreham in Sussex. The Roman names of the places in this 
district seem in some cases to be referable to Teutonic rather 
than Celtic roots. The modem name of reculvers probably 
approximates very closely to the original word which was 
Latinized into Regulbium, and it suggests the settlement of a 
Teuton named Raculf.^ The name -of dover, Latinized into 
Dubris, reminds us of douvres in the Saxon shore near 
Bayeux, and of dovercourt in the intensely Teutonized dis- 
trict near Harwich, as well as of the Dovrefjeld in Norway ; 
and THANET, also a Teutonic name, appears in the pages of 
Solinus, an author certainly not later than the fourth century. 

There are also several concurrent indications that the district 
of Holdemess was occupied by Teutonic settlers before the 
close of the Roman mle. Holderness is a fertile tract of some 
250 square miles, bounded on the north, east, and south by the 
sea and the Humber, and on the west by the Wolds, which 
were probably a frontier of wooded and impenetrable hills.* 
In this district Ptolemy places a people whom he calls the 
UapliToi. Grimm has shewn that the Old German / is 

' The name of the British usurper, Tetricus, whose date is about 270 A. d. , 
appears to be only the German name Dietrich in a Latinized form. 

- The name Holdemess means the wooded promontory of Deira, The 
Wolds ^re "thQ woods," Cf' th^ German waM, 



92 THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 



nuercliangeable in Latin with f^ the aspirated form of the 
same letter. This would lead us to identify the nopto-oi with 
the F-risii or Frisians.^ In the same district Ptolemy places 
PETUARIA, a name which cannot be explained from Celtic 
sources, but which points undoubtedly to the German root 
wcRre — inhabitants, which appears in Cantware, Wihtware, and 
so many other names.^ Nor is this all, for Ptolemy gives us 
a third name in the district of Holdemess, Gabrantoz^rum 
Sinus, which must be either Filey Bay or Bridlington Bay. 
Now, this word contains the root vic^ which was the appella- 
tion of a bay in the language of the z^'>Hngs or Bay-men who. 
at a later period, descended in such numbers from the Frisian 
region. 

There seems therefore to be good ground for assigning for 
the commencement of the Saxon settlements in Britain a date 
anterior to the time of Carausius,^ and we may believe that the 
Saxon settlement in Flanders may be partly due to the energetic 
measures by which he compelled or induced the Saxon pirates, 
who were establishing themselves on the British coast, to seek a 
new home beyond the channel. 

There was also a third Litus Saxonicum, in the neighbour- 
hood of Caen, and which -extended as far as the islands at the 
mouth of the Loire, where the population still retains the dis- 
tinctive outward marks of Saxon blood. The Swabian IcsH who, 
as we learn from the Notitia, were settled at Bajoccas (Bayeux), 
may have formed the nucleus of this settlement In the year 
843 the annalists mention the existence of a district in this 
neighbourhood called Otlinga^ Saxonica, and Gregory of Tours 

^ The Frisian form of ham is um. See p. 82. Holdemess is the only 

part of England where this form occurs. Here we find the village-names 

Arg-axv, News-<?»i, HoU-^'w, Arr-aiw, Kys-om Garth, and Vlr-ifm^, as well 

as Owstwick, another Frisian form. The village of frismersk is now 

washed away. Names in 'Om or 'Um are often dative plurals. 

' Ptolemy also gives us a Vand-t/ar-ia, near the wall, apparently a settle- 
ment of some tribe of Vandals or Wends. 

' The date usually assigned to the landing of Hengist and Horsa is 449 
A.D. The Saxons took London in 367. Carausius was appointed in 287. 
The latest writer on the subject places the commencement of the Saxon 
colonization ** three or four centuries " before 449. 

^ Jhis phrase^ which has elicifed so man^ ingenious etvmolop[ical j^esses^ 



SAXON SETTLEMENT IN NORMANDY. 93 



speaks of the " Saxones bajocassini." This Saxon settlement 
dates from the third century, and its formation was probably 
contemporaneous with that of the colony in Picardy. By the 
aid of local names we can still trace its sharply defined bound- 
aries.^ It will be seen that in the departments of the £ure and 
of the Seine Inf^rieure, where the Danish names of a later 
period are so thickly clustered, hardly a single Saxon name is 
to be found, while in the department of the Calvados, and in 
the central portion of La Manche, where the Danish names are 
comparatively scarce, their place is occupied by names of the 
Saxon type. The Northmen seem to have respected the tenure 
of their Teutonic kinsmen, and to have dispossessed only the 
Celtic tribes who dwelt to the east and north-west of the Saxon 
colony. It is curious to note that the artificial landscape in 
this Saxon district is of a thoroughly English type. The 
sketcher might imagine himself in Devonshire or Kent The 
country is divided by thick hedgerows into small irregular 
crofts, and the cottages are unmistakeably EngHsh rather than 
French in structure and appearance.^ 

In this neighbourhood we find the village-names of sassei'ot 
(Saxons'-field), hermanville, Istreham or ouistreham 
(Westerham), hambye, le ham, le hamelet, cottun (cows' 
yard), etainhus, heuland (highland), plumetot (Blomfield 
or Flowerfield), caen, which was anciently written Cathem and 
Catheim, and douvres, on " the shore," which reminds us of 
our own Dover. There are also about thirty Saxon patro- 
nymics. It is curious to observe in how many cases we find 
the same famiUes on the opposite coast of Hants, Dorset, 
Devon, and Cornwall. In the whole of Cornwall there are 
only two patronymic names, and both of these are also found 
among the thirty on the opposite coast. 

does not mean the district where the Saxon language was spoken, but the 
abode of Saxon nobles, Adalings or ^thelings. Compare the name of 
Athelney, which in the Saxon Chronicle is written jEthelirtga-igge, the isle 
of the iEthelings. 

^ See the coloured map, and the sketch map of Normandy in the next 
chapter. 

' These two characteristic features of Saxon colonization are also to be 
noted in the Litus Saxonicum near Boulogne. 



94 



THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 



Near Bayeux at 
Berengeville 
Berigny . . 
Bellengreville 
Bazenville 
Baubigny 
Caligny . 

Chavigny 

Cavigny . 

Cartigny . 

Gravigny 
Hardinvast 
Juvigny . 
Isingy . 
Marigny . 
Potigny . 
Savigny . 
Soulangy 
Thorigny 



\ 



In England at 
\ Berrington, Dur,^ Gl<n4c.. 
Salopt Worcester, 
Bellinger, Hants, 
Basing, Hants, 
Bobbing, Kent, 
Callington, Cornwall. 
Chalvington, Sussex. 
Chevington, Suffolk. 
Covington, Huntingdon, 
Cardington, Beds,, Salop. 
Cardingham, Cornwall. 
Grayingham, Line, 
Hardenhuish, Wilts. 
Jevington, Sussex, 
Issington, Hants, 
Marrington, Salop. 
Podington, Dorset, 
Sdvington, Kent, 
Sullington, Sussex. 
Torrington, Devon. 



We have the 

Families of the 

Berrings 

Bellings . 
Basings . 
Sobbings 
Callings . 

Ceafings 

Cofings . 

Ceardings 

Grsefings 
Hardings 
Ifings . 
Essings . 
Maerings 
Potings . 
Seafings. 
Sulings . 
Dhyrings 

Local names are of great value when we attempt to estimate 
the amount and the distribution of the Teutonic element in the 
population of France. It is only by means of the local names 
that we are enabled to prove that certain parts of modem 
France are as thoroughly Teutonic in blood as any portion 
of our own island. The historical evidence is meagre and 
vague, and the philological analysis of the modem French 
vocabulary would give a most inadequate notion of the 
actual numbers of the Frank and Burgundian colonists. There 
are not more than five hundred words in the French language 
which were introduced by the German conquerors. A large 
proportion are names of weapons and military terms, such 
as gonfanon ; massacre from metzger, a butcher ; bivouac from 
beiwacht; guerre from werra, war ; and the cheese from hetzen. 
The other words are chiefly the names of articles of dress, of 
beasts of the chase, and terms belonging to the feudal system. 
To these must be added the points of the compass, nord, sud, 
est, ouest}- 

^ The fact that in these cases the Teutonic terms should have displaced 
their Romance equivalents is a striking indication of the more mobile iiabits 



GERMANIZATION OF FRANCE. 95 



THe German ization of France commenced with settlements 
of subsidized colonists, Mi,^ who were introduced by the 
Roman rulers to defend the frontier. According to the Notitia 
there were Batavian IcbH at Arras. The Emperor Julian trans- 
ported thousands of the Chattuarii, Chamavi, and Frisii, to the 
neighbourhood of Amiens, Beauvais, and Langres. The system 
was continued at a later period. Charlemagne transported into 
France a vast multitude of S^xons-^mulHtudinem Saxonorum 
cum muUeribus et infantibus. After another Saxon conquest he 
transplanted every third man — tertium hominem — of the van- 
quished people. A few of the German names in France may 
be due to these forced immigrations, but by far the greater 
number are, no doubt, records of the settlements of the Frank 
and Burgundian conquerors. The area and intensity of this 
German colonization may conveniently be traced by means of 
the patronymic village-names, of which there are more than 
HOC in France. 

The subjoined sketch-map, which gives the political frontier 
of France prior to the late annexations, will give an approxi- 
mate idea of the distribution of these names. 

The Isle of France, especially the department of the Aisne, 
the Upper Valley of the Loire above Orleans, and the provinces 
of Franche-Comte and Burgundy, present numerous names of 
the patronymic class. In that part of the old province of 
Lorraine which has just been re-annexed to Germany, almost 
every village-name is patron)rmic, and bears witness to the 
extensive colonization effected by the Frankish conquerors. 
The shaded district (Alsace) is also full of names of the pure 

of the Gennan tribes as contrasted with the stationary life of the Celto-Latin 
inhabitants. The radical meaning of the word west is perhaps the vast, the 
vastitudo, or great unknown region lying before the conquerors as they ad- 
vanced from the east The Romance words introduced into the Teutonic 
languages are chiefly ecclesiastical, a fact which, connected with the naturt 
of the terms conversely introduced into the Romance languages, suggests 
curious speculations as to the reciprocal influence of the rude conquerors 
and their more civilized subjects. German was spoken in France more 
or less for some 400 years after the Teutonic conquest. So late as the 
year 812 a.d. the Council of Tours ordained that every bishop should 
be able to preach both in the Romance and Teutonic languages. 

1 A Latinization of the German word l^ettte, people. The lathes of Kent 
ire probably a vestige of the Isetic organization. 



96 



THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 



German type, (qw of which, however, are patronymic. It is 
worthy of note that the German settlers took possession of the 
fertile valleys of the great rivers, leaving the barren uplands 
almost wholly undisturbed. It is manifest also that the whole 
of the south and west of modem France was unaffected by the 
Teutonic invasion. 




GERMAN PATRONYMIC VILLAGB-NAMES IN FRANCS. 

The towns indicated by ixutials are Amiens, Caen, Rouen, Paris, Rheims, 
Treves, Chalons, Troyes, Dijon, Strasburg, and Majon. 

Of the 1 100 patronymic village-names in France, about 
250, or nearly one-fourth, are also to be found in England — 
the proportional number of identifications being far smaller 
than in the case of the Litus Saxonicum in Picardy, where it is 
more than three-quarters. 



GERMAN VILLAGE NAMES IN FRANCE. 



97 



Thus we have the 

Families if the 

things . • 

iEcings . . 

flings . . 

Antings . 
Arriogs 
Bxlings . 

Basings . 

Beadings . 

Bellings . . 

Bcssings . 
Billings . 
Bings . . . 

Sobbings . . 



Boilings . 

Bondings . 
Brantings . 



In France at 
5 Aubinges, Burgundy, (3) . ) 
J Franche-ComtS, Fmtou, (2) . ( 
Acquing, Isle of France . . 

SAUigny, Burgundy . . . . ) 
Allinges, Burgundy ... J 
Antigny, Burgundy ^ Poitou (2) 
Arrigny, Champagne , . . 
Balagny, Isle of France . . 

iBazegny, Champagne . . . { 
Bazainville, /j/^^/Va«r^. .) 
Bettigny, Champagne . . . 

iBelligneux, Burgundy . . . | 
Belligni, Anjou { 

Bissines, Limousin .... 
Billanges, Limousin . . . 
Binges, Burgundy .... 

SBobigny, Isle of France , . 
Beanbigny, Burgundy . . . 
3 Boligneux, Burgundy . . , 
i BoUigney, Fr, Comt^ , . , 
Bontigny, Lorraine , . . , 
Brantigny, Champagne 



In England at 

Abington, Camb, 

Oakington, Camb, 
Allington, Devon, Hants^ 

Kent, 
Antingham, Norf, 
Arrington, Camb. 
Ballingdon, Essex. 

Basing, Hants, 

Beddingham, Sussex. 

Bellinger, Hants, 

Bessingham, Norf, 
Billing, Northumb. 
Bing, Suff, 

Bobbing, Kent. 

BoUington, Essex, 

Bondington, Somers, 
Brantingham, Yorks. 



It is difficult to account for these resemblances on the or- 
dinary theory that England was colonized exclusively by Saxons 
and Angles, and France by Franks and Burgundians. We find 
that numerous Frankish, Vandal, Visigothic, Gothic, and Bur- 
gundian families settled in England, while many Anglian and 
Saxon families have recorded their names in the list of French 
villages. It is therefore certain that a large number of Frank 
adventurers tnust have joined in the descents which the Saxons 
made on the English coast : and many Saxons must have 
found a place in the ranks of the Frankish armies which 
conquered North-eastern France. The chroniclers, when 
mentioning the earlier invasions and piratical attacks, attri- 
bute them to Franks and Saxons, or to Saxons and Lom- 
bards in conjunction.^ The Welshman Llywarc Hen uses 

^ Eutropinsy Julian, and Ammianus Marcellinus associate the Franks and 
Saxoos in this manner. Ammianus Marcellinus places Alemanni in Britain ; 
Lappenberg believes that the Saxons were accompamed by large numbers 
of Franks, Frisian;, and Lombards ; and Latham thinks that Kent was 
largely colonized by Franks. 

H 



o8 THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 



Frank as an equivalent for Saxon. The evidence leads to the 
conclusion that the various tribes between the Rhine and the 
Elbe — Franks, Saxons, Angles, Sueves, Lombards, and Bur- 
gundians — were united by a much closer connexion — ethno- 
logical, geographical, and political — than historians have 
hitherto been willing to admit. At all events, the speech of all 
these invading tribes must have been mutually intelligible. 
Indeed, there are reasons for believing that the names of Frank, 
Saxon, and Lombard are not true ethnic names, but that they 
were only the designations of temporary confederations for 
military purposes, an hypothesis which would be almost reduced 
to a demonstration if we could succeed in establishing that 
plausible etymology of these names which makes them descrip- 
tive terms relating to the equipment of the invading hosts — 
whether armed with javelin (franca) ^ sword (seax\ or partisan 
{/angdarta).^ 

Little need be said respecting the German names in Italy. 
Paulus Diaconus and Gregory of Tours assert that the conquest 
was effected by Saxons and Lombards. The Lombard German 
was commonly spoken in Northern Italy, till the year 800 a.d. 
We find the names of the early Lombard kings are of a pure 
Anglo-Saxon type. Thus Audouin and Alboin are, no doubt, 
the same names as Edwin and Elfwine. There are several 
clusters of patronymic names in Northern Italy. One of these 
is to be found on the southern side of the Po, opposite the 
mouth of the Dora Baltea, where we have the villages ot 

VARENGO, ODALENGO, TONENGO, GONENGO, and SCALENGHE. 

Near Biella there is another cluster of these names — valdengo, 
ARBENGO, BOLENGO, and TERNENGO. Near Milan we find 
MARENGO and MORENGO; and near Brescia — bovengo and 
PISOGNE. In the villages of roncegno and torcegno, in the 
Valle Sugana, German is still spoken. All these patronymics 
reappear in England, where we find the village-names of War- 
rington, Athelney, Donnington, Connington, Skillington, Wal- 
dingfield, Erpingham, Bolingbroke, Thurning, Marrington, 
Bovington, Bessingham, Rockingham, and Torkington. 
There are not many undoubtedly Teutonic names in Spain. 

, * See p. 54, sufira. 



TEUTONIC NAMES IN ITALY AND SPAIN. 99 

We have, however, the notable exception of burgos, as well as 
COLLUNGA and MEVILLE, both of which are within the limits ot 
the Swabian kingdom, which comprised Galicia, the Asturias, 
and part of Portugal. 

It has been generally assumed that the original home of the 
Saxons is to be sought between the mouths of the Elbe and the 
Weser. I have made a careful search in this region for names 
identical or analogous with those which are found in Saxon 
England. But the investigation was remarkably barren of 
results; the names, for the most part,^ proving to be of an 
altogether dissimilar type. The search was continued over 
Medclenburg, Holstein, Friesland, and the greater part of 
Germany. A few sporadic names were found, but always sur- 
rounded and outnumbered by names possessing no distinctive 
Anglo-Saxon character. There is, however, in a most unlikely 
comer of the Continent, a well-defined district, rather larger 
than Devonshire, where the names, though slightly disguised 
in form, are as characteristically Saxon as those found in the 
Boulogne colony. This district is confined chiefly to the 
Valley of the Neckar, but just crosses the watershed between 
the Neckar and the Danube. It occupies the northern half of 
the modem kingdom of Wiirtemberg, and includes a small 
portion of Bavaria in the neighbourhood of Donauworth. It 
also stretches into the State of Baden, between Heidelberg and 
Bruchsal. It does not extend to the left bank of the Rhine, 
or to the right bank of the Lower Neckar. In Wiirtemberg, 
however, it occupies both banks of the Neckar. The railway 
fi-om Bruchsal to Uhn, with its serpentine windings and fearful 
gradients, carries the tourist through the centre of this district — 
which has attractions for the artist and the angler, as well as for 
the ethnologist. 

This district comprehends the southern portion of the region 
which used to be known as franken, or Franconia, together 
with the northern part of swabia, or Schwabenland, as well as 
a region which in mediaeval times bore the name of the an- 

* Names in wick and wich^ so common in England, are fomid on the 
Continent only in the Netherlands, Friesland, and old Saxoi^y. The horsts 
whidi abound in Kent and Sussex, are found also on the Weser in West- 
phaluL 

H 2 



100 THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 



GLADEGAU. Etymologically and historically, Franconia is the 
land of the Franks, and Schwabenland is the land of the Suevi, 
just as England is the land of the Angles. We have already 
seen that Franks and Saxons were closely associated in the 
conquest of England, so much so that the names are used 
almost interchangeably. The same close connexion subsists 
also between the Suevi and the Angles. Tacitus locates the 
Suevi near the Angles ; and Ptolemy even speaks of the Suevi 
as one division of the Angles : rioy h ivroc ical fiKroydwy idyiHv 
fiiyiffra jjiiv etni to te tS>v 2ov/;/3(i)V t&v 'AyyciXwv. And it is a 
very significant fact that in mediaeval times the Swabian 
borderland south of Heidelberg should be called the angla- 

DEGAU. 

The ancient charters of this district, extending from the 
eighth to the twelfth centuries, have been admirably edited, 
and published by the Government of Wiirtemberg.^ The local 
names which occur in these charters are, to a surprising extent, 
identical with those in the Anglo-Saxon charters, published by 
the English Historical Society. ^ Twenty-four very remarkable 
correspondences have been noted by Professor Leo, and it 
would be easy largely to increase the list 

But confining ourselves to the names which have survived to 
the present time, I find in the maps of the admirable Govern- 
ment Survey of Wiirtemberg no less than 344 patronymics, of 
which 266, or 80 per cent, occur in England, and a large num- 
ber also in France. The evidence is overwhelming. It proves 
that the villages of Wiirtemberg and the villages of England 
were originally settled by men bearing the same family names. 
Detailed lists of these correspondences were given in the former 
editions of Words and Places ; a few instances must now suf- 
fice. Thus the ^slingas are mentioned in a Kentish charter, 
we have Eslingaforda in the Exon Domesday, and Islington 
in Norfolk and Middlesex. In Artois we find islinghem and 
ESLiNGHEN ; and in Wiirtemberg there are several villages 
named esslingen, eislingen, and aislingen. Again, the 

^ Wirtembergisches Urkundenbuch^ herausg^eben von dem Koniglichen 
Staaisarckiv in Stuttgart. Edid. Kaiisler ; two vols. 4to. 1849 and 1858. 

* Codex Diplomaiicus jEtn SaxonUi, opera Job. M. Kcmble ; six vols. 
8vo. 



I^RANCONIA AND SWABIA. loi 



Besingas, who are mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon charter, 
appear at bessingham in Norfolk, at bezingham in Artois, and 
at BissiNGEN in Wiirtemberg. The Birlingas appear in a Wor- 
cestershire charter ; we have birling in Kent, birlingham in 
Worcestershire, barlinghem and berlinghen in Artois, and 
in Wiirtemberg bierlingen — a place which has been identified 
with the Birlingen of an ancient charter. So also we have 
booking in Essex, bouquinghem in Artois, and bochingen 
in Wiirtemberg. 

These Swabian names terminate almost universally in itfg-en. 
The sufiix en is usually the sign of the dative plural. Thus 
Birlingen would mean "At the Birlings," that is, **at the place 
where the family of Birl lives." ^ It should, however, be noted 
that a name like Birlingen may be a corruption of the Berling- 
hen which we find in Artois. The hen in this case is, un- 
doubtedly, a corruption oihem, for we find that close to the coast 
the village-names end in /lem, a suffix which passes into hen as 
we approach the Belgian frontier. The hem of Artois is un- 
doubtedly only a phonetic modification of the English ham ; 
and it is therefore a question whether the -ing-en of Wiirtem- 
berg is not the same as the -ingham of England, since we can 
trace it through the intermediate stages of inghen and inghem,^ 

What interpretation shall we put upon these facts ? Shall 
we conclude that the cradle of the Saxon race is to be sought 
in the Valley of the Neckar, or were Swabia and England both 
colonies from a common motherland ? In the case of a fluvia- 
tile migration the descent of the river would be far more easy, 
and therefore far more probable, than the ascent against a rapid 
current like that of the Rhine. But this argument is of small 

I So Bad^/f is a dative plural answering to Thermis or Aquis. Hoists'//, 
Sweden, Hess^w, and Preuss^/i are also dative phirais. 

• In Switzerland heim often becomes en : e.g. Altheim is now Alten, 
Dachsheim is now Dachsen, Sickingen was anciently Sickingheim. In 
Hesse we find Sielen, anciently Siliheim, and Heskem, anciently Heistinc- 
heim. Some of the names, instead of the suffix ing-en, terminate in ig^heim. 
This is clearly the Anglo-Saxon ham, a home, while hdm, an inclosure, 
would be represented by en. The distinction which has been lost in £ng- 
land has been preserved in Swabia. Since heim is a long syllable, the 
penultimate Ls shortened for phonetic reasons by the omission of a letter, and 
ingkeim becomes igheim, or enheim, as in the cases of Bonigheim, Besig- 
heim, Bietigheim, Billigbeim, and Dackenheim. 



I02 THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 



force, when weighed against the concurrence of ancient tradition, 
which places the Saxons on the coast of the German Ocean. 
Ptolemy speaks of the "islands of the Saxons ;" and the geo- 
grapher of Ravenna says, confinalis Danice est patria qua nomi- 
natur Saxonia, Orosius speaks of the Saxons, gentem Oceani 
in litorihus et paludibus inviis sitam. It need hardly be said 
that it is out of the question to locate the " old Saxons " in the 
modem kingdom of Saxony, which was Sclavonic to a late date, 
as is shewn by the local names. 

We are compelled, therefore, to come to the conclusion that 
the " old Saxons " were seated somewhere between the mouths 
of the Elbe and of the Rhine, in juxtaposition with the Suevi, 
the Franks, the Lombards, and the Angles. It was here that, 
for thirty-two years, they withstood the power of Charlemagne, 
who avenged their obstinate resistance by the massacre of 
thousands of their warriorS in cold blood, and, as we have seen, 
dispersed a third of the nation into distant provinces. This 
extermination of the Saxons on the Weser, coupled with the 
subsequent influx of a Sclavonic population, as evinced by the 
local names, may serve to account for the absence of charac- 
teristic Saxon names in that region, while the Swabians and 
Angles of Wiirtemberg may possibly have formed one of the 
transported colonies of Charlemagne ; if. indeed, the Swabian 
colony was not a settlement brought about at the same time 
and by the same causes that produced the descents upon the 
English coast.1 

^ The chief authorities on Teutonic names are the two invaluable works 
of Forstemann, Alt'dmtsches Namenbuchy and Die Deutschm Ortsnamen^ 
See also Kemble, Codex Diplontaticus ; Leo, Rectitudims Singularum 
Personarum ; Zeuss, Die Deutsckm und die Nachbarstamme ; and Die Her^ 
kunft der Baiem ; Ellis, Introduction to Domesday Book ; Bender, Die 
Deutschen Ortsnamen ; Buttmann, Die Deutschen Ortsnamen ; Vilmar, 
Ortsnamen in Kurhessen ; Meyer, Ortsnamen des Kantons Zurich ; Miiller, 
Marken des Vaterlandes ; Edmunds, Names of Places ; Monkhouse, Etymo- 
logies of Bedfordshire ; and the works of Jacob Grimm, Diefenbach, Leo, 
Kemble, Guest, Gamett, Latham, and Donaldson. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE NORTHMEN. 

Incursions of the Northmen — Norse test-words: ** by,"** ** thorpe^** ^^tojt'* 
••»£&," *' garth," ''ford;' ''wick'' ^Vestiges ojf the Danes near the 
Thames — Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Lincolnshire — The Danelagh — 
Norwegians in Sutherland, the Orkneys, Shetlands, Hebrides, and Isle oj 
Man — Cumberland and Westmoreland — The Wirall — Colony in Pern- 
brokeshire — Devonshire and the South Coast — Northmen in Ireland — 
Intensity of the Scandinaznan element in different parts of En^nd — 
Northmen in France — Names in Normandy — Norse Names in Spain, 
Sicily, and tJie Hellespont — Local vestiges of the Anglo-Norman conquest — 
Ang^O'Norman nobles in Scotland. 

For three centuries the Northmen were the terror of Western 
Europe. They sailed up the Elbe, the Scheldt, the Rhine, the 
Moselle, and the Neckar. They ravaged the valleys of the 
Somme, the Seine, the Mame, the Yonne, the Loire, and the 
Garonne. They besieged Paris, Amiens, Orleans, Tours, 
Troyes, Chalons, Poictiers, Bordeaux, and Toulouse. They 
plundered the coasts of Italy, and encountered the Arabs at 
Seville and Barcelona. Over the entrance to the arsenal al 
Venice may still be seen one of the sculptiu-ed lions which once 
adorned the Pirse^is at Athens. The marble is deeply scored 
with Norse runes, which, by the aid of photography, have been 
deciphered by Professor Rafn of Copenhagen, and which prove 
to be a record of the capture of the Piraeus by Harold Hardrdda, 
the Norwegian king who fell at Stamford Bridge. The North- 
men established themselves as conquerors or colonists over the 
half of England, in the isles and western coasts of Scotland, in 
Greenland, in Iceland, in the Isle of Man, and in the north of 
France — they founded kingdoms in Naples, Sicily, France^ Eng- 



I04 THE NORTHMEN. 



land, Ireland, and Scotland — while a Norse dynasty ruled 
Russia for seven hundred years, and for centuries the Varan- 
gian guard upheld the tottering throne of the Byzantine 
emperors. 

The historic annals of these exploits are scanty and obscure. 
But the Norse names which are still found scattered over the 
north-west of Europe supply a means of ascertaining many facts 
which histor}^ has left unrecorded. By the aid of the names on 
our modern maps we are able to define the precise area which 
was ravaged by the Scandinavians, and we can, in many in- 
stances, detect the nature of the descent, whether for purposes 
of plunder, trade, or colonization. Sometimes, indeed, we can 
even recover the very names of the Viking chiefs and of their 
followers, and ascertain from whence they sailed, whether from 
the low-lying coasts of Denmark, or from the rock-bound fjords 
of Norway. 

Before we proceed to attempt the solution of any of these 
curious problems, it will be necessary to exhibit the tools with 
which the historical lock is to be picked. We must analyse 
and classify the characteristic names which the Northmen have 
left upon the map. 

The most valuable and important of these test-words is byt 
or by. This word originally meant an abode, or a single farm, 
and hence it afterwards came to denote a village.^ In Iceland, 
at the present day, the ordinary name given to a farmstead is 
boer, and in Scotland a cow-stall is still called a byre. The Devon- 
shire suffix bere or bear comes still nearer to the Icelandic form. 
We find this word as a suffix in the village-names of Denmark, 
and of all countries colonized by the Danes. In Normandy 
we find it in the form bue or boeuf, which seems to be represented 
in the English booth, and the Scotch bot/iie. In England this 
suffix is usually contracted into by. In the Danish district of 
England — ^between Watling Street and the river Tees — the suf- 
fix by frequently takes the place of the Anglo-Saxon -ham or 
'ton. In this region there are numerous names like orimsby, 

WHITBY, DERBY,* RUGBY, KIRBY, NETHERBY, SELBY, Or ASHBY. 

y A by-law is the local law enacted by the township. 
3 In a few cases we have documentary evidence of a change of name 
consequent upon the Danish conquest. Thus we know that the Norse 



fHE SUFFIXES *'BY," "THORPE," AND "TOFT." 105 



In Lincolnshire alone there are one hundred names ending in 
by. To the north of Watling Street there are some six hundred 
instances of its occurrence — to the south of it, scarcely one. 
There are scores and scores of names ending in by in Jutland and 
Sleswic, and not half^-dozen throughout the whole of Germany, 
and even these are found chiefly in the Danish district of Hol- 
stein. The sufllix is common both to the Norwegian and Danish 
districts of England, though it is more frequent in the latter. 

Another useful test-word is tliorpCy throp, or trop,^ which we 
find in althorpe, copmansthorpe, and wilstrop. It means 
an aggregation of men or houses — a village ; being in fact the 
Norse form of the German word dorf^ a. village, which we have 
in DUSSELDORF. This suffix is very useful in enabling us to 
discriminate between the settlements of the Danes and those 
of the Norwegians, being confined almost exclusively to the 
former. It is very common in Denmark and East Anglia, it 
is very rare in Norway, it does not occur in Lancashire, only 
once in Cumberland, and very seldom in Westmoreland. 

The w^ord toft, which in Normandy takes the form /<?/, is also 
distinctly Danish and East Anglian. It is very scarce in Nor- 
way and Westmoreland, and is unknown in Cumberland. It 
signifies a homestead or inclosure, and, like by and thorpe^ it is 
an indication of permanent colonization. 

Thufaite, on the other hand, is the distinctive Norwegian suf- 
fix. The meaning is nearly the same as the Saxon yf^/^/, a forest 
clearing. It is very common in Norway, it occurs forty-three 
times in Cumberland, and not once in Lincolnshire, while thorpe, 
the chief Danish test-word, which occurs sixty-three times in 
Lincolnshire, is found only once in Cumberland. 

In Normandy the greater proportion of Norse names end in 
ville, as TANCARViLLE or HACONViLLE. This suffix is not, as is 
commonly supposed, due to the Romance word villa, but is iden- 
tical with the German weiler (old High German wilari or wilre), 
an abode, a single house, which is so common in the Rhinegau 

name of Deoraby or derby took the place of the former Saxon name of 
Northweorthig, or Norworth as it would now be written. So the Saxon 
Streoneshalch became the Norse whttby. 
^ In Westphalia and Miinster the form trup or drup is very common, as 

HOLTRUP, ALDRUP, SANDRUP, BARNSTRUP, WESTRUP. 



to6 THE NORtHM£K. 



and other parts of Germany, as breitwil. Toward the edge 
of the Norman occupancy it takes the form milters, as in the 
name hardivilliers, a form which suffices to shew how inade- 
quate the Romance villa is as a source of these names. In 
the United States it has been extensively adopted in such 
compounds as smithville or brownville. 

The Norse garth, an mclosure, which corresponds to the 
Anglo-Saxon yard, has already been discussed. 

The word beck,^ a brook, is more frequent in the Norwegian 
than in the Danish region, and this also is the case with the 
suffixes 'haugh, -with, and -tarn. The word force, which is the 
ordinary name for a waterfall in the Lake district, is exclusively 
Norwegian, and corresponds to the Norwegian and Icelandic 
foss. The word fell is also derived from Norway, where it takes 
the form f/eld (pronounced Ji-ell). It is the usual name for a 
hill in the north-west of England. The Anglo-Saxon Jield or 
/eld is from the same root as the Norse fell. A fell is a place 
where the ground is on the fall ; a ^eld or feld is where the 
trees have been felled. Just like the American term " a clearing " 
the word ^.^bore witness to the great extent of unfelled timber 
which still remained. In old writers wood and field are con- 
tinually contrasted. With the progress of cultivation the word 
has lost its primitive force. The word fold is from the same 
root, and means an inclosure formed by felled trees. 

We now come to the words which do not necessarily imply 
any permanent colonization by the Northmen., The Norse 
word dale, which is seen in kendal, annandale, and lons- 
DALE, is the equivalent of the German Ihal, a valley. The 
Anglo-Saxon form is dell, as in arundel. When dal is a pre- 
fix it is usually a corruption of the Celtic dol, a field, as in the 
cases of dalkeith and dalrymple. The word ford is a deri- 
vative oifaran or fara, to go. A cabman's or waterman's y^r^ 
is the person who goes with him. Farewell is an imperative, 
meaning journey well. The ^t\d-fare is so called from its 
characteristic habit of moving across the fields. From/aran, to 
pass, we get ford, that which is passed, a passage. This suffix 
ford occurs both in Anglo-Saxon and in Norse names, but with 

^ In Mercia we find the fonn iatck, as in woodbatch, comber batch. 

and SA.NDBACII. 



*«FORD" AND "WICK." ioj 



a characteristic difference of meaning. The fords of the Anglo- 
Saxon husbandmen, which are scattered so abundantly over the 
south of England, are passages across rivers for men or cattle ; 
the fords of the Scandinavian sea-rovers are passages for ships ^ 
up arms of the sea, as in the case of the fjords of Norway and 
Iceland and the firths of Scotland. These Norse fords are 
found on the coasts which were frequented for purposes of 
trade or plunder. We have instances in wexford, carling- 
FORD, WATERFORD, and STRANGFORD in Ireland, in haverford 
in Wales, in orford and chillesford in Suffolk, in the 
firth of forth in Scotland, and in faxa fiord, hafnafiord, 
and hvalfiord in Iceland. 

Wick is also found in both Anglo-Saxon and Norse names, 
but here also there is a difference in the application, analogous 
to that which we have just considered. The primary meaning 
in either case seems to have been a station.^ With the Anglo- 
Saxons it was a station or abode on land — hence a house or a 
village : with the Northmen it was a station for ships — Whence 
a small creek or bay. The sea-rovers derived their name of 
vikings^ or " creekers," from the wics or creeks in which they 
anchored. The inland wicks, therefore, are mostly Saxon, while 
the Norse wicks fringe our coasts,* and usually indicate the 

^ It is curious and instructive to note, that while many of our agricultural 
terms, as basket, crook, kiln, fleam, barrow, ashlar, gavelock, rasher, and 
mattock, are of Celtic origin ; seafaring words, such as cockswain, boatswain, 
and skipper, are mostly Norse. 

' The root runs through all the Aryan languages. We have the Sans- 
krit ttifOy the ^nd vtf^ the Greek oliros, a house ; and the Latin vicusy the 
MsKo-Gothic veihsy the Polish wies^ the Irish jfich^ the Cymric gwic^ aU 
meaning an abode or village. 

' Afterwards the word viking came to be used for any robber. Thus in 
a Norse Biblical paraphrase Goliath is termed a viking. 

* The whole of the Essex coast is lined with names ending in wick. 
About thirty of the farmhouses in the salt marshes bear this name. We 
have the Wick (three times), Eastwick (twice), Westwick (twice), Northwick 
(twice), as well as Tewick, Raywick, Frowick, I^ngwick, and Lastwick. 
These names may be derived either from the Anglo-Saxon, or from the 
Norse, wic More probably, however, they should be referred to an entirely 
different source, namely the Anglo-Saxon vtc^ a marsh, a word which is 
related to the German weichy soft, and the modem English word vjeak. 
Several places in South Tyrol called vigo seem to derive their names from 
the Latin lictis. 



1 



io8 THE NORTHMEN. 



stations of pirates rather than those of colonists. Thus we 
have WICK and sandwich, in Kent ; wyke, near Portland ; 
BERWICK, in Northumberland; and wicklow, in Ireland, all 
of which occur in places where there are no inland names 
denoting Norse colonization. 

The names of northwich, mtddlewich, nantwich, droit- 
wicH, NETHERWiCH, SHiRLEYWiCH, WICK HAM, and perhaps of 
WARWICK, although inland places, are derived indirectly from 
the Norse wir^ a bay, and not from the Anglo-Saxon wic^ a 
village. All these places are noted for the production of salt, 
which was formerly obtained by the evaporation of sea-water 
in shallow wiches or bays, as the word haysalt testifies. Hence 
a place for making salt came to be called a wych-housej and 
Nantwich, Droitwich, and other places where rock-salt was 
found, took their names from the wych-houses built for its 
preparation.^ 

Another word which denotes the occasional presence of the 
sea-rovers is ness or naze^ which means a nose, or promontory 
of land. Thus we have Caithness, wrabness, cape grinez 
near Calais, and the naze in Norway and in Essex. 

We may also detect the visits of the Northmen by the word 
scar^ a face of rock or cliff — from skera^ to shear or cut asunder.^ 
Instances are to be found in the names of Scarborough, the 
skerries, and skerryvore. A holm means an island, almost 
always an island in a lake or river. Stockholm stands on such 
an island. We have also flatholm in the Severn, anrt ling- 
holme in Windermere. An island in the sea is denoted by 
the suffix oe^ «, or a}\ as in the case of the faroe islands ; 
mageroe, in Norway ; staffa, iona, and cumbray, on the 

^ Domesday Book mentions salt-works at Wich, Upewic, Helperic, 
Midelwic, and Norwiche, all in Worcestershire. From the same authority 
we learn that at droitwich certain dues of salt were payable. 

* Cf. the Gaelic and Erse sgeir^ a cliff, and the Anglo-Saxon sciran^ to 
divide. Hence the shire, a division of the kingdom, the shore which divides 
land from sea, the skewer, the ploughj^ar^ and the shears, instruments for 
dividing, and a share^ a divided part A sJioiver consists of divided drops 
of water. To scare is to make notches on a stick, and the numeral a score 
denotes the number of notches such a stick would contain. A scar is the 
mark where the flesh has been divided. A shard is a bit of broken pottery. 
Shear^ sharp, and sharp denote that something has been cut off. Srwer, 
Kore, and scour are from the same root. 



DANES IN ESSEX. 109 



western coast of Scotland; and lambay on the Irish coast. 
The forms m and ey are usually Anglo-Saxon, as chelsea and 

ROMNEY. 

Furnished with these test-words, we may endeavour to trace 
the various settlements of the Danes and of the Norwegians. 

To begin with our own island. As will be seen by a refer- 
ence to the coloured map, the Danes of Jutland appear to have 
frequented the south-eastern portion of the island for pur- 
poses of trade or plunder rather than of colonization. This 
we gather from the fact that the Norse names in this district 
are found chiefly in the immediate vicinity of the coast, and 
designate, for the most part, either safe anchorages or dangerous 
headlands. We find hardly one solitary instance of the occur- 
rence of the suffixes by, toft, thorpe, or thwaite, which would 
indicate permanent residence. 

London was repeatedly besieged by the Danes. With the 
hope of capturing the rich and un rifled prize, their fleets lay 
below the city for many months together.^ Their stations were 
at DEPTFORD, " the deep fiord ; " at Greenwich, the " green 
reach ;" and at woolwich, the "hill reach," ^ so called appa- 
rently from its being overhung by the conspicuous landmark 
of Shooter's Hill. The spits and headlands which mark the 
navigation along the Thames and the adjacent coasts, almost 
all bear characteristic Norse names — such as the foreness, 

the WHITENESS, SHELLNESS, SHEERNESS, SHOEBURYNESS, FOUL- 
NESS, wrabness, orfordness, and the naze, near Harwich. 
On the Essex coast we find danesey flats, langenhoe, and 
alresford. In the south-east of Essex we have indications 
of Danish colonization, due perhaps to the settlement of some 
of the victors after Cnut*s great victory over Eadmund Ironside 
at Assandun. Here we find the Hundred of dengey (Danes' 
Island), which is spelt Daneing in a charter of Edward the 
Confessor, prettlewell and hawkswell, in the same neigh- 
bourhood, may probably contain the suffix -vilky which is so 
common in Normandy ; and the village of thoby, near Ingate- 
stone, clearly implies the presence of Danish settlers. In the 

1 Saxon Chronicle, a.d. 1013, 1014, 1016. 

' This etymolc^ is confirmed by the fact that Woolwich i$ written 
Hulviz In Domesday. 



no THE NORTHMEN. 



extreme north-eastern comer of the county we find a little 
compact Danish colony — planted on a spot well guarded by 
marshes and the sea. Here we discover the Danish names of 
HARWICH, HOLMES Island in hamford water, kirby, thorpe- 
le-Soken, and East thorpe. At walton on the naze there 
seems to have been a walled inclosure, to defend the intruders 
from the assaults of their hostile Saxon neighbours. In the 
south-eastern corner of Suffolk we have another walton, pro- 
bably a second fortified outpost of the Danish kingdom. ^ 

In Suffolk there are a few scattered Danish names, chiefly 
near the coast — such as ipswich, dunwich, walderswick, 

ORFORD, CHILLESFORD, THORPE, BARNBY, and LOWESTOFT. 

The name of Norwich is probably Norse. The city is 
situated on what was formerly an arm of the sea, and it was 
visited by Danish fleets. In the south-eastern comer ot 
Norfolk there is a dense Danish settlement — occup)ring the 
Hundreds of East and West flegg,^ a space some eight miles 
by seven, well protected on every side by the sea and the 
estuaries of the Bure and the Yare. In this small district 
eleven village-names out of twelve are unmistakeably Norse, 
compounded mostly of some common Danish personal name, 
and the suffix by. We find the villages of stokesby, billockby, 

FILBY, HEMSBY, ORMSBY, SCROTEBY, ROLLESBY, MALTBY, 

herringby, and clippesby. The parish of repps reminds 
us of the Icelandic districts called Hreppar^ and St. Olave's 
Bridge preserves the name of the royal saint of Scandinavia. 
In the remaining part of Norfolk there are scattered names of 
a distinctively Danish character, though they by no means 
preponderate. Here, however, we are met by an element ol 
uncertainty, since the dialectic peculiarities of the Danes from 

^ In England we find some forty places called Walton. With one or 
two exceptions these occur in the neighbourhood of some isolated Danish 
or Norwegian colony. There are places bearing the name in the neighbour- 
hood of Harwich, Ipswich, Fenny Stratford, Lynn, Wisbeach, Liverpool, 
and Haverford West, all r^ons inhabited by an intrusive population, to 
whom the security afforded by a walled Unvn would be a matter of prime 
necessity. 

' From the Norse word fleggt or Danish vlak, flat. Compare the names 
of FLECKNEY, in Leicestershire, and FI«£KK9Sfjord $^^4 f^^kckeror, oq 
the Norwegian coast* ^ 



NORFOLK AND LINCOLNSHIRE. in 



Jutland merge into those of the East Anglians who migrated 
from the contiguous districts of Holstein and Sleswicj and 
it is often difficult to discriminate between the names derived 
from either source. 

When, however, we cross the Wash and come to Lincolnshire, 
we find overwhelming evidence of an almost exclusive Danish 
occupancy. About one-fourth of the village-names in Lincoln- 
shire present the characteristic Danish suffix by^ while the total 
number of Danish names in this county amounts to about 
three hundred — ^more than are found in all the rest of South 
umbrian England. 

The fens which border the Witham, the Welland, and the 
Nen effectually guarded the southern frontier of the Danish 
settlers ; and this natural boundary they do not seem to have 
crossed in any considerable numbers. A line drawn from east 
to west, about eleven miles to the north of Boston, will mark 
the southern limit of the purely Danish, as distinguished from 
the Anglian settlement. North of this line is a district about 
nine miles by twelve, between Tattershall, New Bolingbroke, 
Homcastle, and Spilsby, which would appear to have been 
more exclusively Danish than any other in the kingdom. In 
this small space there are some forty unmistakeable Danish 
village- names; such as kirby, moorby, enderby, wilksby, 
CLAXBY, miningsby, hagnaby, danderby, scrivelsby, hareby, 
lusby, revesby, raithby, sommersby, salmonby, fulletby, 
ASHBY, asgardby, hemingby, TOFT, and others, all denoting the 
fixed residence of a Danish population. 

From Lincolnshire the Danes spread inland over the con- 
tiguous counties. The Danelagh, or Danish district, by an 
agreement made between Alfred and Guthrum, and renewed 
by Eadmund and Anlaf in 941, was divided from the English 
kingdom by a line passing along the Thames, the Lea, and the 
Ouse, and then, following the course of Watling Street, the 
Roman road which runs in a straight line from London to. 
Chester. North of this line we find in the local names abun- 
dant evidence of Danish occupancy, while to the south of it 
hardly a single name is to be found denoting any permanent 
colonization. The coloured map will shew the manner in 
which the Paiu§h local uam^s radiate from the Wash, In 



112 THE NORTHMEN. 



Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire, and Yorkshire, the 
Danish names preponderate over those of the Anglo-Saxon 
type ; while Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, 
and the adjacent counties, protected from invasion by the fens, 
present scarcely a single Danish name, with the exception of 
TOFT, in Cambridgeshire. We have, however, in Oxfordshire, 
the Danish village-names of hevthrop, adlestrop, and 
cocKTHORPE. DACORUM Hundred, in Herts, is called Danais 
in Domesday : it contains the hamlets of elstrop, aystrope, 
CAUSEWELL, HAMWKLL, and a place called danefurlong ; and 
on the borders of the hundred, close to the dividing line of 
Watling Street, are kettlewell, chiswill, and danesend. 
It is curious also to see how the Danish names cluster thickly 
round the Danish fortresses of Leicester, Derby, Stamford, 
Nottingham, Lincoln, and York. 

As we leave Yorkshire and approach Durham and North- 
umberland the Norse names rapidly diminish in frequency, and 
north of the Tweed they almost entirely disappear. The few 
that we find are usually only stations on the coast, as alnwick 
and BERWICK. The names of a few bays and headlands prove 
that the Northmen were familiar with the navigation of the 
coast, while the absence of any Norse names of villages or 
farmss proves that the soil, for some reason, was left in the un- 
disturbed possession of the Anglian s or the Celts. In Fife we 
find by once or twice, and thorpe appears once in the form of 
threap. The map proves conclusively that tl\e district between 
the Tees and the Forth is, ethnologically, one of the most 
purely English portions of the island, thus remarkably illustrating 
the assertion of historians, who affirm that down to the ele- 
venth century the Lothians were accounted as English soil. 

As we approach the north-eastern extremity of Scotland a 
new phenomenon presents itself. We find a large number of 
Norse names ; they are, however, no longer Danish as hereto- 
, fore, but exclusively Norwegian. The local nomenclature of 
the region bears decisive witness to the historical fact that 
down to the middle of the thirteenth century the Shetlands, 
the Orkneys, the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man, were not 
dependencies of the Crown of Scotland, but jarldoms attached 
to the kingdom of Norway. 



THE ORKNEYS AND SHETLANDS. li^ 

It may seem strange to us that the extreme north-western 
comer of Great Britain should be called Sutherland. No 
inhabitants of Scotland could have bestowed so inappropriate 
a name. And, accordingly, we find that the Gaelic peasantry 
call the county Catuibh.^ The name of Sutherland was evidently 
given -by a people living still further to the north. Sutherland, 
in short, was the mainland to the south of the Orkney jarldom. 
Here, as well as in Caithness, we find numerous Norwegian 
names, such as brora, thurso, wick, skeroar, Loch sker- 
Row, and sandwick Bay. The local names prove that the two 
races were in joint occupation of the land. The barren uplands 
were left to the Gael — the names are Celtic — while in the more 
fertile straths and glens we find the Norse suffixes -daiey -seter, 
and -ster. Names like loch laxford (Salmon fjord), or strath 
HELMSDALE, in which a Celtic synonym is prefixed to the Norse 
word, seem to point to the recovery by the Celts of that pre- 
ponderance of which, for a time, they had been deprived. 

In the Orkneys the Celtic element is nearly evanescent. 
In all the sixty- seven islands there are only two, or perhaps 
three, Celtic names. One of these is the name of the group. 
In the word Orkney the terminal syllable ey is the Norse for 
island. The n which precedes is, apparently, a vestige of the 
Gaelic tnnis or inch, an island. Ork is probably from the 
Gaelic ore, a, whale. Milton speaks of ** the haunt of seals and 
ores." Dr. Guest and Chalmers, however, think that the root 
is the Cymric word orch, which means a border or limit. The 
names of the individual islands present, with hardly an excep- 
tion, the Norwegian suffix, a, island. We have sanda (sand 
island), stronsa (stream island), and westra (west island) ; and 
often, as in the case of ronaldsa and egilsa, we find the name 
of the first Norwegian chief who found here a safe island home. 

When we come to the Shetlands, we find that every local 
name, without exception, is Norwegian. The names of the 
farms end, as in Norway, in -sefer or -sfer, and the hills are 

1 This word, and the first syllable of Caithness, are probably vestiges of 
an Ugrian occupation, which preceded the arrival of tile Celts. In the 
Lapp language J^je means an end or extremity. The black-haired short- 
suuured race which is found here, in the south-west of Ireland, and m, parts 
of Wales, is undoubtedly of Ugrian or Euskarian, not of Celtic blood. 

I 



ti4 THE NORTHMEN. 



called 'how, -hoy, and -holL The names of the small bays have 
the Norwegian suffix -voe, as westvoe, aithsvoe, laxvoe, and 
HAMNAVOE. We find also burrafiord, saxaford, lerwick, 
and SANDWiCK. The Faroe Islands are also wholly Norwegian. 
We have the islands of sandoe, megganaes, hestoe, vaagoe, 
NAALSOE, and the chief town is thorshavn. 

It was the practice of the Vikings to retire during the winter 
months to one of the small islands off the coast, and to issue 
forth again on the return of summer to recommence their 
piracies. The names of the innumerable islets of the Hebrides 
bear curious testimony to the prevalence of this practice. The 
small islands, with few exceptions, bear Norse appellations,^ 
while the local names on the mainland are almost wholly 
Celtic The name of lewis is the Norwegian Ijod-hus, the 
wharf or landing-place ; and in this island we find bays called 
SANDWICK and norwick. uig was anciently called Wig, and 
HARRIS is a corruption of Harige. broadford bay, in Skye, 
is a name identical with breida fiord in Iceland, and there 
are also the capes of trotternish and vatternish (water- 
ness). The first portion of this name contains the characteristic 
Norse word vatn, which appears in the names of no less than 
ten of the Hebridean lakes — as, for example, in those of Lochs 
langavat and steepavat.^ 

The Norsemen called the Hebrides the sudreyjar, or 
Southern Islands. The two sees of the Sudreyjar and of the 
Isle of Man were united in the eleventh centiu-y, and made 
dependent on the Archbishop of Trondhjem, in Norway, by 
whom, till the year 1334, the Episcopi Sudorenses were always 
consecraced. The Anglican Bishop of sodor and Man still 
retains his titular supremacy over those " southern isles " which 

^ There are three islands called Bemera, two called Scalpa, iwo called 
Pabbay. We have also the islands of Skarpa, Tarransay, Gillisay, Barra, 
Sundera, Watersay, Mingalay, Sanderay, Plottay, Uidhay, Eriskay, Fiaray. 
Wiay, Grimsay, Rona, Calvay,^Lingay, and Hellcsay. Nearer to the coast 
we nnd Rona, Fradda, Raasay. S<>a (twice), Longa, Sanday, Canna, Ulva, 
Gommeray, Staffa (cf. Stafafell, in Iceland), lona, Colonsay, Oronsay, 
Kerrera, Skarba, Jura, Islay, Gigha, Caxa, Cumbray, Ailsa, and many 
others. 

' In Iceland there are lakes called Langer-vatn, Apa-vatn, Groena-vatn) 
Fiski-vatn, Torfia-vatn, and Sand-vatn. 



SODOR AND MAN. 115 



have so long been under the pastoral care of a presbyterian 
Church. 

In the south of Scotland the only Scandinavian settlement on 
the mainland was in Dumfriesshire. Here we find more than a 
dozen names with the suffix by^ and others ending mgarth^ becky 
and thwaiie. In the neighbouring counties of Kirkcudbright and 
Wigton there are also a few outlying names of the same class. 

The Isle of Man, which at one time formed a portion of the 
kingdom of Norway, must have contained a considerable 
Norwegian population, as appears from the Norse names of the 
villages, such as colby, greenaby, dalby, baleby, kirby, 
SULBY, and jurby. On the coast we find the bays of perwick, 

FLESWICK, GREENWICK, SANDWICK, ALDRICH, SODERICK, GAR- 
WICK, and DRESwicK, the capes of langness and littleness, 
and the islands of eye, holm, the calf, and ronaldsay ; 
while sneefell (snow hill), the highest mountain in the island, 
bears a pure Norwegian name. The distribution of these 
Norse names is very noteworthy. It will be seen by a reference 
to the coloured map that they are confined mainly to the south 
of the island, a circumstance which is explained by the 
historical fact that when Goddard of Iceland conquered Man 
he divided the southern portion among his followers, while he 
left the natives in possession of the northern region, where, 
consequently, Celtic names still prevail. 

In the same way that the Danish names in England are seen 
to radiate from the Wash, so the Norwegian immigration seems 
to have proceeded from Morcambe Bay and that part of the 
coast which lies opposite to the Isle of Maji. Cumberland, 
Westmoreland, Lancashire, and Dumfriesshire contain a very 
considerable number of Scandinavian names, but comparatively 
few of a distinctively Danish cast. The labe district seems to 
have been almost exclusively peopled by CeUs and Norwegians. 
The Norwegian suffixes, -gill^ -garthy -haugh^ -thwaite, -force^ 
and -felly are abundant ; while the Danish forms, -thorpe and 
'toft J are almost unknown; and the Anglo-Saxon test-words, 
'haniy -fordy -worthy and -toriy are comparatively rare. Of the 
other test-words we find holm in lingholm and silverholm on 
Windermere, and in rampsholme on UUeswater. The suffix 
a, which denotes a river as well as an island, appears in the 

I 2 



Ti6 THE NORTHMEN. 



river-names of the greta, liza, wiza, rotha, bretha, rathay, 
CALDA, as well as in the ea and the eamont. Ness occurs 
in the names of bowness, shinburness, scarness, and 
furness ; — wick in keswick on Derwentwater, and in blowick 
on UUeswater. The Norwegian word stackr^ a columnar rock, 
was appropriately applied to the mountains which bear the 
names of the stake, the sticks, pike o' stickle, and the hay 
STACKS (the high rocks). 

More than 150 different personal names of the Icelandic 
type are preserved in the local topography of the lake district. 
According to the last Census there are now only sixty-three 
surnames in Iceland, of which the commonest are Kettle, 
Halle, Ormur, and Gils, In Cumberland and Westmoreland 
these are preserved in the local names, kettlewell, hall- 
thwaite, ormathwaite, and gellstone. By far the most 
common Christian names in Iceland are Olafur (borne by 992 
persons), Einer (by 878), and Bjami (by 869). These are 
found in ulverston, ennerdale, and barneyhouse. We find 
the name of Hrani (now Rennie) in ransdale, rainsbarrow, 
and WRENSiDE ; Loki in lockthwaite, lockholm, lockerby, 
and LOCKERBARROW ; Buthar in buttermere, butterhill, and 
buttergill; Geit in gateswater, gatesgarth, and gates- 
gill ; and Skogul in skeggles water. The Norse haugr^ a 
sepulchral mound, is often found in the names of mountains 
crowned by conspicuous tumuli. The name of the old Viking 
who lies buried beneath is often preserved in the first portion 
of such local names. Thus, silver how, bull how, scale 
HOW, and butterlip how, are, probably, the burial-places of 
the forgotten heroes, Solvar, Boll, Skall, and Buthar Lipr. 

In Cheshire, with one remarkable local exception, we find 
no vestiges of Norse colonists. But the spit of land called 
the Wirral, between the Dee and the Mersey, seems to have 
allured them by its excellent harbours, and the protection 
afforded by its almost insular character. Here, in fact, we 
find geographical conditions similar to those which gave rise 
to the two isolated Norse colonies at the mouths of the Stour 
and the Yare, and the result is no less remarkable. In this space 
of about twelve miles by six there is scarcely a single Anglo- 
Saxon name, while we find the Norse villages of raby, pensby, 



THE LAKE DISTRICT. 117 

IRBY, FRANKBY, KIRBY, WHITBY, and GREASBY. We find alsO 

the Norse names of shotwick, holme, dalpool, howside, 

BARNSTON, THORNTON, THURSTANSTON, BIRKENHEAD, and the 

BACK Brook ; and in the centre of the district is the village of 
THiNGWALL, a name which indicates the position of the meeting- 
place of the Thing, the assembly in which the little colony of 
Northmen exercised their accustomed privileges of local self- 
government 

The Vikings cruised around the coasts of North Wales, but 
we find no trace of settlements, though the names of the 

ORME's ^ HEAD, the NORTH STACK, the SOUTH STACK, FENWICK 

ROCK, the SKERRIES, and priestholme, shew their familiar 
acquaintance with the dangerous points on this rock-bound 
coast. 

There is a curious exception to the broad assertion that has 
been made as to the non-existence of Norse names to the south 
of Watling Street The sea-rovers, with infallible instinct, seem 
to have detected the best harbour in the kingdom, and to have 
found shelter for their vessels in the fjords of the Pembroke- 
shire coast — the deep land-bound channels of milford, haver- 
ford,2 whiteford,* and skerryford, and the neighbouring 
creeks of wathwick, little wick, oxwich, helwick, gellys- 

WICK, MOUSSELWICK, WICK HAVEN, and MUGGLESWICK BAY. 

The dangerous rocks and islands which fringe this coast like- 
wise bear Norwegian names; such are the stack Rocks, 
stackpole Head, the stack, penyholt stack, st. bride's 
stack, stack Island, skokholm Island, skerryback, sker- 
POiNT, the naze, strumble Head, the worm's Head, nash 
(Naze) Point, and dungeness (Dangemess). Most of the 
names on the mainland are Celtic, but the neighbouring 
islands bear the Norse names of caldy (Cold Island), barry 
(Bare Island), sully (Ploughed Island), lundy (Grove Island), 

' From the Norse onnr, a serpent The Wurmshead in South Wales 
presents the Saxonized form of the same word. In Stanfield's admirable 
picture of this rock we seem to see the sea-serpent raising its head and the 
naif of its huge length above the waves. 

• Havenijord. So there is a Hafnafjord in Iceland. 

' Whiteford Sands shew that the estuary of the Burry must have received 
from the Norsemen the appropriate name of HvU-fjord, 



ii8 THE NORTHMEN. 



SKOKHOLM (Wooded Island), denney (Danes' Island), ramsey, 

SKOMER, BURRY HOLMES, GATEHOLM, GRASSHOLM, FLATHOLM, 
and STEEPHOLM. 

No less than twenty-four of the headlands on the Pembroke- 
shire coast are occupied by camps, which we may regard as 
the first beginning of a Scandinavian occupation of the soil. 
Round the shores of Milford Haven a little colony of perma- 
nent settlers was established in the villages of freystrop 
(Freysthorpe), studda, vogar, angle, tenby (Daneby), derby, 

HASGUARD, FISHGUARD, DALE, LAMBETH, and WHITSAND. Of 

the Vikings who founded thi^ Welsh colony, Harold, Bakki, 
Hamill, Grim, Hiam, Lambi, Thorni, Thor, Gorm, Brodor, 
Solvar, Hogni, and Buthar have left us their names at 

HAROLDSTON, BUCKSTON, AMBLESTON, CREAMSTON, HEARSTON, 
LAMBSTON, THORNSTON, THURSTAN, GOMFRESTON,^ BROTHER 
HILL, SILVER HILL, HONEY HILL, and BUTTER HILL, Several of 

which may be the burial places of those whose names they 
bear. 

There is, occasionally, in Pembrokeshire, a difficulty in dis- 
tinguishing between the Norse names and those which are due 
to the colony of Flemings which was established in this district 
during the reign of Henry I. We read in Higden's Chronicle^ 
" Flandrenses, tempore Regis Henrici primi ... ad occiden- 
talem Walliae partem, apud Haverford, sunt translati." These 
colonists came from a portion of Flanders which was sub- 
merged by an irruption of the sea in the year mo. leweston, 

RICKESTON, ROBESTON, ROGESTON, JOHNSTON, WALTERSTON, 
HERBRANDSTON, THOMASTON, WILLIAMSTON, JAMESTON, and 

JEFFREYSTON belong to a class of names which we find 
nowhere else in the kingdom — ^names given, not by Saxon or 
Danish pagans, but by Christianized settlers, men bearing the 
names, not of Thurstan, Gorm, or Grim, but of Lewes, Richard, 
Robert, Walter, and others common in the twelfth century. 
The names of the village of flemingston, and of the via 
FLANDRiCA, which runs along the crest of the Precelly 
mountains, afford ethnological evidence still more conclusive, 

1 The last syllable in these names would seem not to be the Anglo-Saxon 
ton^ but was prolxibly derived from the memorial stone erected over the 
|;raYe of some departed hero, 



PEMBROKESHIRE AND DEVONSHIRE. 119 



and TUCKING Mill (Clothmaking Mill) shews the nature of the 
industry which was imported. 

This Pembrokeshire settlement was probably, at first, little 
more than a nest of pirates, who sallied forth to plunder the 
opposite coast of the Channel, and to prey upon any passing 
merchant craft. That the Somersetshire coast was not un- 
known to them, we see from the Norse names of wick Rock 
at one entrance of Bridgewater Bay, and how Rock at the 
other. The sands which lie in the estuary of the Yeo are 
called Langford grounds — an indication that this " long fiord " 
was known to the Northmen by the appropriate name of 

LANGFORD. 

The chief port of Scilly bears the name of grimsby, and 
ST. AGNES, the name of the most southern island, is a corruption 
of the old Norse name Hagenes. On the mainland of Corn- 
wall only one station of the Northmen can be discovered, but 
the position is admirably adapted for refitting ships, and obtain- 
ing necessary supplies. Near the Lizard Point a deep inlet 
bears the name of helford, and the village at its head is 
called GWEEK, evidently a corruption of Wick. 

In Devonshire there are two or three clusters of Norse 
names. These present the characteristic suffix dy in & form 
nearly approaching to the old Norse form fyr, which is preserved 
in the doer of the Icelandic farms. In North Devon we find 
ROCKBEER and BEAR, both in the neighbourhood of the fjord 
of BiDEFORD. On the left bank of the estuary of the Exe, in 
South Devon, we have another cluster of such names, com- 
prising the villages of aylesbere, rockbere, larkbeer, and 
HOUNDBERE. We find also byestock and thorp, exwick and 
cowiCK, TOTNESS (foft-ness)^ the ness at Teignmouth, the 
skerries close by, and a place called normans {j,e. North- 
man's) CROSS. Here a portion of the Roman road to Exeter 
takes the Danish name straightgate. Four hills in Dart- 
moor are called respectively fieldfare, dryfield (fjeld), scor- 
HiLL, and WATERN TOR. The Northmen also penetrated up 
the estuary of the Tamar. In the Sa^on Chronicle (a.d. 997) 
we read of a descent of the Danes at Lidford ; and in tiiis 
neighbourhood we find langabeer, beardon, beer alston, 

BEARON, BEER FERRERS, DINGWE^^L, and THURSHELTON^ aS 



I20 THE NORTHMEN. 



well as BURN and beara (byr water), both on the banks oi 
brooks. At the mouth of the Otter, again, we find the villages 
of BEER, BEREWOOD, and BOVY IN BEER. Near Poole Harbour 
we have holme, bere, and swanage (a corruption of Swanwick). 
In the Saxon Chronicle (a.d. 877) we read of the defeat of a 
Danish fleet at Swanawic on the south coast ; and it has been 
conjectured, with some probability, that a chief bearing the 
common Danish name of Sweyn may have been in command, 
from whom we derive the name of "Sweyn's Bay." swan- 
THORPE, IBTHROP, and EDMUNDSTHROP, all in Hampshire, 
exhibit the suffix which is so characteristic of Danish settle- 
ments. At holmsdale, in Surrey, we find an isolated Danish 
name. At this spot the crews of 350 ships, who had marched 
inland, were cut off by Ethel wulf, in the year 852, and it is 
probable that the survivors may have settled in the neighbour- 
hood. Further to the north we find thorpe, near Chertsey. 
There seem to be traces of the Danes at Berwick and seaford 
near Beachy Head, and at holmstone ^ and wick in Romney 
Marsh, as well as at the point of dungeness, or dengeness. 
Finally, we find them on the Kentish coast at sandwich 
(the sandy bay) — a name which occurs also in Iceland, in 
Norway, in the Orkneys, in the Hebrides, and in the Shetlands. 
Sandwich in Kent was one of the favourite stations for the 
Danish fleets ; they were there in the years 851 and 1014, as we 
learn from the Saxon Chronicle. 

The Northmen would appear to have established themselves 
m Ireland rather for the purposes of trade than of colonization. 
Their ships sailed up the great fjords of waterford, wexford,^ 
STRANG FORD, and CARLiNGFORD, and anchored in the bays of 
limerick and wicklow. In Kerry we find the name of smer- 
wicK, or "butter bay," then apparently, as now, a trading 
station for the produce of the surrounding district. The name 
of COPLAND Island, near Belfast, shows that here was a trading 
station of the Norse merchants, who trafficked in English 
slaves and other merchandise. As we approach Dublin the 
numerous Norse names along the coast — lambray Island 

^ Here a battle was fought between Danes and Saxons. The Danes hat? 
a fortress in Romney Marsh. 
* To the south of Wexford is the Barony of forth (fjord). 



IRELAND. 121 



DALKEY Island, Ireland's eye, the skerries, the Hill of howth, 
and leixlip (the "salmon leap") on the Liffey — prepare us 
to learn that the Scandinavians in Dublin were governed by 
their own laws till the thirteenth century, and that, as in 
London, they had their own separate quarter of the city, 
guarded by walls and gates — oxmantown, that is, Ostmantown, 
the town of the men from the East At one time Ostman 
kings reigned in Limerick, Dublin, and Waterford. 

The general geographical acquaintance which the Northmen 
had witi^ the whole of Ireland is shewn by the fact that three 
out of the four Irish provinces — ^namely, leinster, munster, 
and ULSTER — present the Norse suffix -stery a, place, which is so 
common in local names in the Shetlands and in Norway. 

From the character of the Norse names upon the map of 
the British Isles, we may class the districts affected by Scan- 
dinavian influence under three general divisions : — 

I. Places visited only for trade or booty. These fringe the 
coast, and are the names of bays, capes, or islands. The 
surrounding villages have Saxon or Celtic names. To this 
class belong, mostly, the names along the estuaries of the 
Thames and Severn, and along the coasts of Kent, Sussex, 
Essex, North Wales, Ireland, and Eastern Scotland. 

II. Isolated settlements amid a hostile population. These 
are found in places which are nearly surrounded by water, and 
which are furnished with good harbours. In this class we must 
include the settlements near Harwich, Yarmouth, Birkenhead, 
and Milford. 

III. The Danelagh, or Danish kingdom, where the Norse 
element of the population was predominant. Yet even here 
the names are clustered, rather than uniformly distributed. 
Such clusters of names are to be found near Stamford, Sleaford, 
Homcastle, Market Rasen, Melton Mowbray, Leicester, 
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Newark, Lincoln, Grimsby, York, and 
BridUngton. 

In order to estimate with some exactitude the proportionate 
amount of the Scandinavian element in the different parts of 
England, the following table has been carefully compiled. It 
shews the proportion of Norse names denoting permanent set- 
tlement to the acreage of the several cpunties— the proportion 



122 



THE NORTHMEN. 



in Kent being taken as the unit of computation. The names 
in those counties which are printed in italics exhibit a 
Norwegian rather than a Danish character. 



Kent 

Glamorgan 
Hants . 
Essex . 
Warwick 
Bucks . 
Cheshire 
Devon . 
Suffolk . 
Bedford 
Pembroke 
Northumberland 
Derbyshire 



I 


Lancashire 


I 


Durham . . 


4 
5 

5 


West Riding . 
Nottingham . 
Norfolk . . 


6 
8 


Northampton . 
Rutland . . 


9 

lO 


North Riding . 
Cumberland . 


n 


Westmoreland. 


'5 
15 


East Riding . 
Lincolnshire . 


i6 


Leicestershire 



2^> 
30 

6' 
6: 

76 

83 

83 
III 

124 

125 

126 

165 

169 



The actual number of names is — in Lincolnshire, about 300 ; 
in Leicestershire, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and each of the 
Ridings, about 100 ; in Norfolk, Northampton, . Notts, and 
Lancashire, about 50 ; in Durham and Northumberland, about 
20 ; in Suffolk, Derby, Cheshire, Rutland, and Pembroke, 
about a dozen ; in Bucks, Bedford, and Warwick, not more 
than half that number. 

With the exception of a few nautical terms, the Scandinavians 
who settled in France have left hardly any memorials of their 
speech in our French dictionaries — few permanent conquests 
have had so slight an influence on the language of the 
conquered nation. The conquerors married native women, 
and their sons seem only to have learned the language spoken 
by their mothers; so that, except in the neighbourhood of 
Bayeux,^ where the Norman speech was grafted on the nearly- 

* A few Old Norse words still survive in the dialect of Normandy. Thus 
we have — 

English. 

breakfast. 

pocket. 

neighbour. 

clever. 

dying. 

cottage. 

These are not the terms used either in French or Danish. The French 



Nomiand. 


Icelandic. 


davre. 
fikke. 


dagverdr. 
ficki. 


grande. 
gild, 
feig. 
kaud. 


granni. 
gildr. 
feigr. 
kot. 




Z^ TOT 
XB EU F 

.'.•. Ok Kcr Names 



iu 



THE NORTHMEN IN FRANCE. 123 



related and firmly-established language of the Saxon shore, the 
sons of the soil at no time spoke a Scandinavian dialect. But 
the map of Normandy supplies abundant traces of the Scan- 
dinavian conquest The accompanying sketch-map shews the 
distribution of these names, and it proves also how carefully 
the Scandinavians avoided all encroachment on the district 
already occupied by Saxon colonists. 

We find that the names of the original Scandinavian settlers 
are thickly scattered over the land. We have seen that in 
England the former abodes of the Northmen — Grim, Bioni, 
Harold, Thor, Guddar, and Haco — ^go by the names of Grimsby, 
Bumthwaite, Harroby, Thoresby, Guttersby, and Hacconby : 
in Normandy these same personal appellations occur in the 
village-names, and we find grimonville, borneville, herou- 

VILLE, TOURVILLE, GODARVILLE, HACONVILLE, and HACQUE- 

ville. 

The Norse gardr, an inclosure, or yard, occurs in Normandy 
at FisiGARD, AUPPEGARD, and EPEGARD — names which we may 
compare with Fishguard in Pembrokeshire, Applegarth in 
Yorkshire, and iEblegaard in Denmark. Toft, which also 
means an inclosure, t^es the form of tot in Normandy, as in 

YVETOT, Ivo's toft; PLUMETOT, flowcr toft ; LILLETOT, little 

toft ; ROUTOT, red toft ; criquetot, crooked toft ; berquetot, 
birch toft ; hautot, high toft ; and langetot, long toft We 
have also Prdtot, Toumetot, Bouquetot, Grastot, Appetot, 
Gametot, Ansetot, Turretot, Hebertot, Cristot, Brestot, 
Franquetot, Raflfetot, Houdetot, and others, about one 
hundred in all. Toft being a Danish^ rather than a Nor- 
wegian suffix would incline us to suppose, from its frequent 
occurrence, that the conquerors of Normandy were Danes 
rather than Norwegians ; and the total absence of thwaite, the 
Norwegian test-word, tends to strengthen this supposition. 
The suffix byy so common in Danish England, generally takes, 

expresions would be dejeuner, poche, voisin, habile, moribond, and cabane ; 
and the modem Danish would be frokost, lomme, nabo, flink, dodsens, and 
hytte. 

^ Moreover, in Denmark we often find combinations identical with some 
of those just enumerated. Such are Blumtofte, Rodtofte, Langetofte, and 
Grastofte, 



124 THE NORTHMEN. 



in Normandy, the form bxuf^ buf, or hue, as in the cases of 
CRiQUEBUF (Crogby, or crooked-by), marbceuf (Markby), 
QUiTTEBEUF (Whitby, or white-by), daubeuf (Dalby), carque- 
BUF (Kirkby), quillebeuf (Kil-by *), elbceuf, painbeuf, and 
LiNDEBEUF. The form buf^ or bosufy seems very remote from 
the old Norse boer; but a few names ending in bue, such as 
LONGBUE and tournebue, and still more the village of bures, 
exhibit the transitional forms through which the names in bt^ 
may probably have passed, hambye and colomby are the 
only instances of the English form. The village of le torp 
gives us the word thorpe, which, however, more usually appears 
in the corrupted form of torbe, tourp, or tourbcy as in the case 

of CLITOURPS. 

The name of the river Dieppe, which was afterwards given to 
the town which was built beside it, is identical with that of the 
Diupa, or " deep water," in Iceland ; and it may be compared 
with "The Deeps'* near Boston. From the Norse beckr 
(Danish ^^^), a brook, we have caudebec, the " cold brook," the 
same name as that of the Cawdbeck in the Lake District, and 
the Kaldbakr in Iceland. The name of the briquebec, the 
" birch-fringed brook," is the same as that of the Birkbeck in 
Westmoreland. The houlbec, the "brook in the hollow," 
corresponds to the Holbeck in Lincolnshire, and the Holbek 
in Denmark. The name of bolbec we may compare with 
Bolbek in Denmark ; and the name of foulbec, or " muddy 
brook," is identical with that of the Fulbeck in Lincolnshire. 
The suffix fletir^ which we find in honfleur and other names, 
is derived from the Norse Jliot (Danish Jlod, English flood)^ a 
small river or channel, which we have in Purfleet, Northfleet, 
and many other English names. The phonetic resemblance 
between fieur and fleet may seem slight, but the identification 
is placed beyond a doubt by the feet that harfleur was 
anciently written Herosfluet ; while Roger de Hovenden calls 
barfleur by the name of Barbeflet, and Odericus Vitalis calls 
it Barbeflot. vittefleur is the "white river," and fique- 
fleur seems to be Wickfleet, "the river in the bay." The 
Danish o^ an island is seen in eu, cantaleu, jersey, guernsey, 

' Norse kdlday German quelU^ a well or nver-source 



NORMANDY. 125 



and ALDERNEY ', and ^/me, a river island, appears in the names 
of TURHULME, NiHOU,^ and LE HOULME, near Rouen. Cape 
de la HOGUE, Cape hoc, and Cape le hode, may be compared 
with the Cape near Dublin, called the Hill of Howth. The 
root is the old Norse hauf^r^ a sepulchral mound, the same 
word which appears in the haughs of Northumberland. The 
name of the castle-crowned rock of falaise reappears in the 
fells of Cumberland; and les dalles, oudales, crodale, 
CROiXDAL, danestal, depedal, dieppedal, darnetal, and 
bruquedalle, remind us of the dales of Westmoreland and 
the North Riding, escoves seems to be the Icelandic skogr, 
and corresponds to the English shaw, a wood, or shady place. 
Bosc, a wood, or bushy place, is a very common suffix in 
Normandy, as in the names verbosc, bricquebosq, and 
BANDRiBOSC. Holt, a wood, occurs in the name terhoulde, 
or theroude. The Calf of Man is repeated in le cauf. 

Beyond the district of Norse colonization we have a few 
scattered names of bays and capes, indicating occasional visits 
of the Vikings. Such are Cape grinez (Greyness), near 
Calais ; wyk in Belgium ; quantovic ; vigo Bay in the North 
of Spain, and possibly vice in the Bay of Naples. The ber- 
LiNGAS, a group of rocky islets forty miles north-west of Lisbon, 
would seem to have been a station of the Northmen, apparently 
presenting a widely diffused patronymic which is found on 
the Baltic coast, in Friesland, and in England, hastingues, 
a river-island near Bayonne, probably takes its name from the 
renowned Viking Hasting, who was long the terror of France, 
Spain, and Italy ; and the He de biere in the Loire was no 
doubt so called from the huts which the Danes erected upon it 
for the accommodation of their prisoners, scaranos, on the 
southern coast of Sicily, is an almost solitary memorial of the 
visits of the Vikings to the Mediterranean. With this name 
we may compare those of Scamose on the coast of Banff, 
Scamess in Cumberland, and Sheemess on the Thames. The 
SKERKi rocks, also on the Sicilian coast, may not improbably 
have received from the Northmen the name of the Skerries, or 
Scar Isles, which was so frequently given to similar dangerous 

^ Granted to one Njal, or Niel, AD. 920. 



126 THE NORTHMEN. 



needles of sea-washed rock. The most easterly Norse name 
is KiBOTUS (Chevetot), on the Hellespont. Here was the 
station of the Vseringer, or Varangian guard of the Byzantine 
Emperors, who were afterwards reinforced by the Ingloi, or 
Saxon refugees, who fled from the Norman conquerors. We 
find the name of these Warings, or Varangians, at varenge- 
FjORD in Norway, varengeville in Normandy, wieringer- 
WAARD on the coast of Holland, and at warrington and other 
places in England. 

The Norman conquest of England has left comparatively 
few traces on the map. There was in no sense any coloniza- 
tion, as in the case of the previous Saxon and Danish invasions ; 
nor was there even such a general transference of landed 
property as took place in Normandy, and which is there so 
fully attested by the local names. The companions of the 
Conqueror were but a few thousands in number, and they were 
widely dispersed over the soil. A few Norman-French names, 
however, may be still pointed to as memorials of the conquest. 
The only Anglo-Norman suffixes seem to be clere^ manor, and 
courty as in highclere, beaumanoir, and hampton court. 
We have also a few hybrid names like chester-le-street, 
BOLTON-LE-MOOR, and laughton-en-le-morth£n. We have 
two county names, Montgomery and glare ; but, as might be 
expected, the Norman names belong mostly to castles and 
abbeys. Thus at malpas was a castle built by the first Norman 
Earl of Chester to guard the " bad pass " into the valley of the 
Dee. montford, or Montesfort, in Shropshire, and mold in 
Flintshire, anciently Monthault (Mons Altus), were also frontier 
fortresses; so was Montgomery on the Welsh border; and 
the same story is told in another language by the Welsh name 
of Montgomery — Trefaldwyn, or Baldwin's Town, mont-acute 
Hill, in Somerset, has Mortaine's Norman castle on its summit, 
and a Norman abbey at its foot. The commanding situation 
of belvoir Castle justifies its Norman name. Henry IV. 
transferred to his Surrey palace at Sheen the name of his York- 
shire earldom of Richmond. At beaumont, near Oxford, was 
a palace of the Norman kings; and at pleshy {plessts) in 
Essex, the seat of the High Constables of England, the ruins 
of the Norman keep are still visible, beauchamp-otton, near 



THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 127 



Castle Hedingham, bears the name of Ottone, the skilful gold- 
smith who fashioned the tomb of the Conqueror at Caen. We 
find the Norman abbeys of rievaux and jorveaux in York- 
shire, BEAULiEU in Hampshire, delapre in Northamptonshire, 
and the Augustinian Priory of gracedieu in Leicestersliire. 
The Norman village of St. Clair has bestowed its name upon 
a Scottish family, an English town, an Irish county, a Cambridge 
college, a royal dukedom, and a king-at-arms.^ We have the 
names of Norman Barons at stoke-mandeville, carlton- 

COLVILE, MINSHALLrVERNON, ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH, NEWPORT- 

pagnell, bury-pommeroye, aston-canteloupe, stoke-pirou, 
ACTON-TURViLLE, and NEVILLE-HOLT. Local names bear striking 
testimony to the power and possessions of certain families. 
Thus no less than one hundred parishes in the Welsh marches 
bear the suffix Lacy, as mansel lacy. The names of hurst- 

MONCEAUX, HURST-PIERPOINT, and HURST- COURTRAY all OCCUr 

in the county of Sussex, where the Conqueror landed, and 
where the actual transfer of estates seems to have taken place 
to a greater extent than in other counties. Sussex is the only 
English county which is divided into rapes, as well as into 
hundreds or wapentakes. While the hundred seems to indicate 
the peaceful settlement of Saxon families, and the wapentake 
the defensive military organization of the Danish intruders, 
the rape, as it would appear, is a memorial of the violent 
transference of landed property by the Conqueror — the lands 
being plotted out for division by the hrepp^ or rope, just as 
they had been by Rolf in Normandy, as Dudo tells us — "lUam 
terram (Normandy) suis fidelibus funiculo divisit." So also the 
districts of Iceland are called Hreppar. The hyde, the Saxon 
unit of land, seems to have been a portion measured off with a 
thongy as the rape was with a rope^ and the rood with a rod. 

There are some curious memorials of that influx of Anglo- 
Norman nobles into Scotland which took place during the 
reigns of David I. and Malcolm Canmore. In ancient records 
the name of Maxwell is written in the Norman form of 
Maccusville. The name of Robert de Montealt has been 

^ The Clartnceaux King-at-Arms had jurisdiction over the Surroys, or 
men south of the Trent, and the Norroys* king over those to the north of 
that river. 



128 THE NORTHMEN. 



corrupted into Mowatt and moffat; and the families of 
Sinclair, Fraser, Baliol, Bruce, Campbell, Colville, Somerville, 
Grant* (le grand), and Fleming are all, as their names bear 
witness, of continental ancestry. Richard Waleys — that is, 
Richard the foreigner — was the ancestor of the great Wallace, 
and has left his name at richardtun in Ayrshire. The 
ancestor of the Maule family has left his name at Maleville, or 
MELVILLE, in Lothian, seton takes its name from a Norman 
adventurer called Say. tankerton, in Clydesdale, was the 
fief of Tancard, or Tancred, a Fleming who came to Scotland 
in the reign of Malcolm IV. And a few village names like 
INGLISTON, NORMANTON, and FLEMiNGTON, afFord additional 
evidence of the extensive immigration of foreign adventurers 
which was encouraged by the Scottish kings.^ 

^ On the subject of this chapter the following works may be consulted : 
Worsaae, Danes and Norwegians ; Ferguson, Northnten in Cumberland ; 
Strinnholm, WiHngziige der alien Skandinavier ; Finnson, Islands Land- 
namabok ; Donaldson, English Ethfwgrapky ; Depping, Expeditians 
Maritimes des Normands ; Lappenberg, England under the Anglo- Nor^ 
man Kings; Borring, Sur la Limite Miridionale de la Monarchie Danoise ; 
Palgrave, History of Normandy and England; Petersen and Le Prevost, 
Recherches sur t Origine de efudques Noms de Lieux en Normandie ;' Gerville, 
Recherches sur les Anciens Noms de Lieu en Normandie, 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE CELTS. 

PreodUnce of Celtic Names in Europe — Antiquity of River-names — Thercoti 
Avon, Dur, Stour, £sk, Rhe, and Don — Myth of the Danaides — Hyhria 
composition J and reduplication of synonyms — Adjectival river-names: 
Yare, Alne, Ban, Douglas, Leven, Tame, Aire, Cam, and Clyde — Celtic 
mountain-names: Cefn, Pen, Cenn, Dun — Names of Rocks — Valleys — 
Lakes — Dwellings — Cymric and Gadhelic test-words — Celts in Galatia— 
Cdts in Germany, France, and Spain — Euskarian Names — Gradual 
retrocession of Cdts in England — Amount of the Celtic element — Division 
of Scotland between the Puts and Gaels — Inver and Aber — Ethnology oj 
the Isle of Man. 

Europe has been peopled by successive immigrations from the 
East. Five or six great waves of population have rolled in, 
each in its turn urging the flood which had preceded it further 
and further toward the West. Of the earliest, the Euska- 
rian, there are but dim indications round the coast-line of 
Western Europe ; but the next, the mighty Celtic inundation, 
can be distinctly traced in its progress across Europe, forced 
onward by the succeeding deluges of the Romance, Teutonic, 
and Sclavonic peoples, till at length it was driven forward into 
the far western extremities of Europe. 

The Celts were divided into two great branches which 
followed one another on their westward passage across the 
Continent. Both branches spoke languages of the same stock, 
but distinguished by dialectic differences as great as those 
which divide Greek from Latin, or English from German. 
There ai^ living tongues belonging to each of these branches. 
The first, or Gadhelic branch, is now represented by the Erse 

K 



I30 THE CELTS. 



of Ireland, the Gaelic of the Scotch Highlands, and the 
Manx of the Isle of Man; the second, or Cymric branch, 
by the Welsh of Wales, and the Brezonec or Armorican 
of Brittany, which is still spoken by a million and a half of 
Frenchmen. 

Although both of these branches of the Celtic speech now 
survive only in the extreme corners of Western Europe, yet, 
by the evidence of local names, it may be shewn that they 
prevailed at one time over a great part of the continent of 
Europe, before the Teutonic and the Romance races had 
expelled or absorbed the once dominant Celts. In the geo- 
graphical nomenclature of Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, 
Germany, and England, we find a Celtic substratum underlying 
the superficial deposits of Romance and Teutonic names. 
These Celtic syllables form the chief available evidence to 
which we can appeal when investigating the migrations of the 
Celtic peoples. 

We shall now proceed to adduce a few fragments of the 
overwhelming mass of material which has been collected by 
numerous industrious explorers, and which seems to justify 
them in their belief as to the wide extension of the Celtic race 
at some unknown pre-historic period. 

One class of local names is of special value in investigations 
relating to primaeval history. The river-names, more par- 
ticularly the names of important rivers, are everywhere the 
memorials of the earliest races. These river-names survive 
where all other names have changed — they seem to possess an 
almost indestructible vitality. Towns may be destroyed, the 
sites of human habitation may be removed, but the ancient 
river-names are handed down from race to race; even the 
names of the eternal hills are less permanent than those of 
rivers. Over the greater part of Europe— in Germany, France, 
Italy, Spain — we find villages which bear Teutonic or Romance 
names, standing on the banks of streams which still retain 
their ancient Celtic appellations. Throughout the whole of 
England there is hardly a single river-name which is not Celtic 
By a reference to the map prefixed to this volume it will be 
seen that those districts of our island which are dotted thickly 
with Anglo-Saxon or Scandinavian village-names, are trav6rsed 



RIVER-NAMES. 131 



ever3rwhere by red lines, which represent the rivers whose 
names are now almost the sole evidence that survives of a once 
universal Celtic occupation of the land. 

The Celtic words which appear in the names of rivers may 
be divided into two classes. The first may be called the 
substantival class, and the second the adjectival. 

The first class consists of ancient words which mean simply 
water or river. At a time when no great intercommunication 
existed, and when books and maps were unknown, geographical 
knowledge must have been very slender. Hence whole tribes 
were acquainted with only one considerable river, and it sufficed, 
therefore, to call it " The Water," or " The River." Such terms 
were not at first regarded 2.% proper names ; in many cases they 
only became proper names on the advent of a conquering 
race. To take an example — the word afon. This is the usual 
Welsh term for a river. On a map of Wales we find at 
Bettws-y-Coed the " Afon Lugwy," or, as it is usually called by 
English tourists, the " River Llugwy." So also at Dolwyddelen 
we find the Afon Lledr, or River Lledr, and the Afon Dulas 
and the Afon Dyfi at Mach)nilleth. In England, however, the 
word avon is no longer a common name as it is in Wales, but 
has become 2, proper name. We have a River avon which flows 
by Warwick and Stratford, another River avon flows past Bath 
and Bristol, and elsewhere there are other rivers of the same 
name, which will presently be enumerated. The same process 
which has converted the word afon from a common name into 
a proper name has also taken place with other words of the 
same class. There is, in fact, hardly a single Celtic word 
meaning stream, current, brook, channel, water, or flood, which 
does not enter largely into the river-names of Europe. 

The second class of river-names comprises those which may 
be called adjectival. The Celtic words meaning rough, gentle, 
smooth, white, black, yellow, crooked, broad, swift, muddy, 
clear, and the like, are found in the names of a large propor- 
tion of European rivers. For example, the Celtic word garw^ 
rough, is found in the names of the carry, the yare, the 
YARROW, and the garonne. 

We may now proceed to enumerate some of the more im- 
portant names which belong to either class. 

K 2 



132 THE CELTS. 



I. AvoN.^ This, as we have seen, is a Celtic word meaning 
"a river/' which has become a proper name in the case of 
numerous streams in England, Scotland, France, and Italy. 
The Stratford avon flows through Warwickshire and Worcester- 
shire. The Bristol avon divides the counties of Gloucester 
and Somerset. The Little avon, also in Gloucestershire, runs 
near Berkeley Castle. One Hampshire avon flows past Salis- 
bury to Christchurch, another enters the sea near Lymington. 
We also have rivers called avon or evan in the counties of 
Devon, Monmouth, Glamorgan, Lanark, Stirling, Banff", Kin- 
cardine, Dumfries, and Ross. We find the ive in Cumberland, 
the ANNE in Clare, and an inn in Fife and in the Tyrol. The 
aune in Devon keeps close to the pronunciation of the Celtic 
word. The auney, in the same county, is the Celtic diminutive 
" Little Avon," which we find also in the ewenny in Glamorgan, 
the EVENENY in Forfar, the inney in Cornwall, and the aney 
in Meath. 

A very large number of French river-names contain the root 
afon. In Brittany we find the aff, and two streams called 
AVEN. There are two streams called avon in the river system 
of the Loire, and two in that of the Seine. The names of the 
chief French rivers often contain a fragment — sometimes only 
a single letter — of this root, which may, however, be identified 
by a comparison of the ancient with the modern name. ' Thus, 
the Matr^;/a is now the Mar«e, the Awm. is the Ais;/e, the 
Sequ^wa is the Sei//e, the Aniuxdi is the j&ure, the Iscauna. is 
the Yomie, the Saua?«a is the Sa^/^e, the Meduana. is the 
M^ymne, the Dur«;^ius is the Dord^^e, the GsLrumna, is the 
Gaion/ie. The names of an immense number of the smaller 
French streams end in on, onne, or one, which is probably a 
corruption of the root q/bn. In the single department of the 
Vosges, for instance, we find the Msidon, the Duihion, the 
Angronne, and the Yohgne, The same termination occurs 

^ It is written aon in the Manx language, and abhuinn (pronounced avain) 
in Gaelic. We find also the ancient forms amJiain and auwon. It is cog- 
nate to the Latin amnis. Ultimately afon is to be referred to the Sanskrit 
root a/, water, which we see in the names of the Punj-a^, or land of the 
" five rivers ;" the Do-fl^, the district between the " two rivers ;" as well 
as the river- names of the Z-ab, and of the Dan-w^-ius, or Dan-t^-e. 



RIVER-NAMES— AVON— DUR. 133 

frequently in the names of German streams, as, for example, 
in the case of the Lah«, anciently the l^ohana, the Isen, 
anciently the Isana, the Mor«, anciently the Meunaj and the 
Argen, anciently the Argana; while the Diave and the Save 
preserve the former instead of the latter portion of the ancient 
word. In Italy we find the Avenzsi, the Savone, the Au/entc^ 
and the Avens ; in Portugal we have the avia, and in Spain 
the ABONO or avono. The guadi-ana is the Anas of Strabo, 
with the Arabic prefix JVadt. 

II. DuR. Another word, diffused nearly as widely as a/oftf is 
the Welsh //ze/r, water. ^ Forty-four ancient river-names contain 
this root. On the modem map we find the dour in Fife, 
Aberdeen, and Kent, the dore in Hereford, the duir in 
I^nark, the thur in Norfolk, the doro in Queen's County and 
Dublin, the durra in Cornwall, the dairan in Carnarvonshire, 
the durarwater and the deargan in Argyle, the dover or 
Z>urheck in Nottinghamshire ; the G\3isdur, or grey water, in 
Elgin ; the Rof/ier, or red water (Rhuddwr), in Sussex ; the 
Q^er^ or winding water, in Lancashire (twice), Yorkshire, 
Cumberland, Lanark (three times), Edinburgh, Nairn, Inverness, 
and Renfrew; the Adder in Wilts and Berwick (twice), the 
Adur in Sussex, the Adar in Mayo, the ^oder in Wiltshire, the 
Qh^ddar in Somerset, the cascade of 'Lodore, the lakes of 
Wmdermtxt and Z^^nvent- water. The name i^drwent is proba- 
bly from dwr-gwyriy the clear water. There is a river Derwent 
in Yorkshire, another in Derbyshire, a third in Cumberland, 
and a fourth in Durham. The JDarwen in Lancashire, the 
JDerwen in Denbighshire, the Darent in Kent, and the Dart 
in Devon, are contractions of the same name.^ dorchester 
was the city of the JDur-otiiges, or dwellers by the water, and 
a second ancient city of Dorchester, in Oxfordshire, stands 
upon the banks of the Thames. 

^ Brezonec and Cornish dour: Gaelic and Irish dur and dobhar^ pro- 
nounced doar ; cf. the Greek SSo'p. 

* Perhaps, however, from the Norse kalldr^ cold. 

^ That the Darent was anciently the Derwent is shewn by the name of 
DERVENTio, the Roman station on the Darent. The further contraction 
into the form Dart is exhibited in the name of Dartford, the modem town 
on the same river. 



134 THE CELTS. 



In France we have the Duranius, now the Dordogne ; the 
An/wra, now the Eure; and the hiur\x% now the Adour. The 
Alpine Durance, anciently the Z>rz^entia, reminds us of our 
English Derwents. We find the thurr in Alsace, and again 
in Switzerland, the £>urhion in the Vosges, the Durdaxi in 
Normandy, the JDaurdon and the Daurhie in the department 
of the Aveyron, as well as the Douron in Brittany. In the 
north-western, or Celtic part of Spain, there are the Z)//nus, 
now the douro ; the Dtiema^ the DuraXon, the Torio, the Tera^ 
the Tl^rones, and the 7J?nnes. In Italy are the torre, the 
two Durias or doras in Piedmont, the turia, a tributary of 
the Tiber, the TVonto, the Tr/onto, the Tr^fbia, the 7^as,and 
the T^rmus. In Germany we find the Oder, the Dra.vQ, the 
Durhachy the Z>wrrenbach in Wiirtemberg, the Z^wmbach in 
Austria, the Z>i^rrenbronne near Eppingen, and the city of 
Marco^wrum, now duren. Zurich, in Switzerland, is a cor- 
ruption of 7«ncum, solothurn of Salo//«rum, and winter- 
THUR of Yitodumm,^ 

Stour is a very common river-name. There are important 
rivers of this name in Kent, Suflfolk, Dorset, Warwickshire, and 
Worcestershire ; we have the stor in Holstein ; the Stura, in 
Latium, is now the store, and stura is a common river-name 
in Northern Italy. The etymology of this name Stour is by no 
means certain. In Welsh, words are augmented and intensified 
in meaning by means of the prefix ys. Thus we have — 



UWCy 


a lake ; 


Yslwc, 


a slough. 


Ber, 


a bar ; 


Yspar, 


a spear. 


JJac, 


lax; 


Yslar, 


slack. 


Grecian 


, to creak ; 


Ysgrec, 


a shriek. 


Crafu, 


to scratch ; 


Ysgrafu, 


to scrape 


Pin, 


a point ; 


Yspin, 


a spine. 


Mwg, 


vapour (muggy) ; 
light, fickle ; 


Ysmwg, 


smoke. 


Mai, 


Ysrnal, 


small. 


Pig. 


apeak, a point ; 


Yspig, 


a spike. 


Brig, 


a shoot ; 


Ysbrig, 


a sprig. 



^ In ancient Gaul we find many names of towns in which this root indi- 
cates that their sites were on the banks of rivers. We may specify, among 
others, Ernorfwrum, Salo^wmm, Icto^«mm, Divofl^«rum, Breviodf«nim, 
Gano^«nim, Velato</»rum, Antisso</wrum, Octo^«mm, Brivoe/Mrum, Mar- 
co</wnim, 2?«ronum, ZPiirocatalaunum. and Veto</«rum. In the valley of 



RIVER-NAMES—ESK. 135 



Staur, therefore, may be only the intensitive of dur. Or it 
may be derived from the Gaelic sturr, rough, uneven ; or it 
is possible that by a common process of reduplication of 
synonyms, which will presently be discussed, the word Stour 
may be formed from a prevalent root — />, water; and dwr, 
water. There is also a further complication, arising from a 
Teutonic river-root st-r, which appears in the names of more 
than one hundred German streams, such as the Elster, Alster, 
Lastrau, Wilster, Ulster, Gelster, Halsterbach, Streu, Suestra, 
Stroo, Strobeck, Laster, Nister, and others. 

III. EsK. The Gaelic and Erse word for water is uisge. 
The word Whisky is a corruption of Uisge-boy, yellow water. 
In Welsh we have the related words wysg, a current, and 
guty^ or wy, water. This root, subject to various phonetic 
mutations, is found in the names of a vast number of rivers. 
There is an esk in Donegal, in Devon, in Yorkshire, in 
Cumberland, in Dumfries, two in Forfarshire, and two in 
Edinburghshire. We have an esky in Sligo, an esker in 
King's County and in Brecknock, an eskle in Herefordshire, 
and an isle in Somerset. J?Jthwaite water, and Eased.2\ty in 
the Lake district, contain the same root, as well as the ewes 
in Northumberland and Dumfries, the ise near Wellingborough, 
the ijrboume, a tributary of the Stratford Avon, the ^^w^bum 
in Yorkshire, the Ashhonxn^ in Sussex, and the ash in Hert- 
fordshire and Wiltshire. In Bedfordshire and in Hertford- 
shire we have the iz ; the ijrchalis was the ancient name of the 
/vel, and the Tisa of the Toes, The T&ai-ese^ or Thames, is 
the "broad water." In Wales we have the river which the 
Welsh call the wysg, and the English call the usk. This 
Celtic word was Romanized into Isca, while another Isca in 
Devonshire, now the exe, has given its name to -fi'^eter, 
Exmoox, and ^^nnouth. There is also an ex in Hampshire 
and in Middlesex. The Somersetshire axe flows by -^jcbridge, 

the Danube we find Gabano^«rum, Brago^Mmm, Ebodi^ram, Ecto^«mm, 
Boio</wram ; and in Britain, 2?«rovemum, Z?«robriv8e, Z>«n)levum, Dur- 
olitum, 2?»rocornovium, Z>«;^cobrivium, and Z>»«)lipsus. 

* The Welsh names of many aquatic animals contain the root gwy water, 
e.g. hwyadf a duck ; gwydd^ a goose ; ^illeraot. Guit is the Proven9al 
term for a duck. 



136 THE CELTS. 



and the Devonshire axe gives its name to -^^^rminster and 
AxmcmilL The ancient name of the Chelm must have also 
been the Axe, for Chelmsford was formerly Trajectus ad Axam, 
and Thaxted has been supposed to be a corruption of The Ax 
Stead. The town of 6^bridge stands on the river Colne, a 
later Roman appellation, which apparently superseded the 
Celtic name Ux The ock joins the Thames near Oxford, the 
OKE is in Devon, and the Banochum, near Stirling, has given 
its name to a famous battle-field. The few Gadhelic names 
in England are found chiefly towards the eastern part of the 
island ; here consequently we find three rivers called the ouse, 
as well as the ousel, the ouseburn, the use in Buckingham- 
shire, UGG Mere, and os-ey Island, ose-ney Abbey is on an 
island near Oxford. The n is probably a relic of the Celtic 
inms, island, as in the case of Orkney, and wisk-in (water 
island) in the Fens, which was formerly an island. The Welsh 
wysg rather than the Gaelic utsge seems to be the source of 
this name, as well as of the wisk and the ^^^^bum in York- 
shire, the GUASH in Rutland, the JVissey in Norfolk, and the 
local names of WzsMoid, Wtsley, Wtstow, and -^jbeach, in 
the fens of Huntingdonshire, J^wbeach, and the wash. 

In Spain there are the esca and the -fi'^la, the latter of which 
we may compare with the two Trias in Scotiand, the Isle in 
Somerset, and the Isle in Brittany, where also we find the /jac, 
the Oi^f, the Cou^imon, and the Cou^jan ; and in other districts 
of France are the esque, the asse, the ose, the Tirol^, the IshiCy 
the Ouscht, the Aisnt, the Ausonnt, and the Ach^<f. There 
are several French rivers called the aJes or a&se. The ijrara, 
or Esidiy has become the oise, the -^^ona is now the At'sne, the 
Iscauna. is the Fonne, the Ligerw is the Loire, and the 6^antis 
insula is the island of Otiessaxit or 6^hant. The name of the 
town of Orange, near Avignon, is a corruption of Ar^wion. 
The Tyella is now the Yssel, the Scald/> is the Scheldt, 
the Vahal/j is the Waal, the Albis is the Elbe, the Tanaw 
is the Don, the Borj^jthenes is the Dan«jper or Dm>per, the 
Tyras is the Dan^iter or Dni<?Jter, the Tib/>cus is the The/j, and 
the Ister is the Danube. Among German streams we find the 
ISE, the AXE, the /iren, the Tirar, the jEtsa,ch, the -ffjchaz, the 
5ave, the AAse, the Eisbach, the AscAbach^ and scores of similar 



RIVER-NAMES —WYE—RHE. 1 37 



names. The word etsch is a German corruption of the 
ancient name Atgsts or Ath^/>, which the Italians have softened 
into the Adtg^, In Italy we find the Is now the Isssiy the ^sis 
now the Fium^ino (Flumen ^Esinum), the -^jarus now the 
IsaxOy the Natwo now the Nat/jone, the Gal^xus now the 
Gakfo ; the Os2ij which still retains its name unchanged ; the 
Atis^iXy now the *Serchio ; the Aprwxa, now the Ausdi ; and the 
Pad2^^ a branch of the Po. The name of istria — a region 
half land, half water — is derived from the Celtic roots, is, 
water, and ter, terra ; and Tri<?jte, its chief town, exhibits a 
Celtic prefix tre, a dwelling, which will presently be discussed. 

From the closely related Welsh word gwy or wy (water), we 
may derive the names of the wye in Wales and in Derbyshire, 
and of the wey in Hampshire, in Dorset, and in Surrey. The 
lAugwy (clear water), the Mynwy (small water), the Gdjway 
(rough water), the T^owrddwy (noisy water), the Ela/j^ (gliding 
water), the Conway (chief water), the Soze/j/, the Edwy, the 
Onwy, the Olway, the Yrynwy, are all in Wales ; the Medway 
is in Kent, and the Solway on the Scottish border. There is 
an /vel {Guiyol) in Somersetshire and in Bedfordshire. The 
Solent was anciently called Yr wyth^ the channel, and the Isle 
of Wight was Ynys yr wyth, the Isle of the Channel, from 
which the present name may possibly be derived.' We 
find the Vie/thsich, lVippa.ch, and many similar names in 
Germany. In France the Gy, the CPwsave, and the Gut], in 
the department of the Hautes Alpes, and the GuitxSy in the 
department of the Ain, seem to contain the same root. 

IV. Rhe. The root I^he or jRhtn is connected with the 
Gaelic rea, rapid ; with the Welsh rhe, swift ; rhedu^ to run ; 
rhtn, that which runs; and also with the Greek pew, the 
Sanskrit ri, and the English words nm and rain? From this 
root we have the rye in Kildare, Yorkshire, and Ayrshire ; the 
REA. in Salop, Warwick, Herts, and Worcestershire ; the rev in 

1 See, however, p. 48 supra. 

2 The rcUftdeer is the running deer. In Welsh rhyn is a promontory, a 
point of land which i-uns out to sea. Penrhyn near Bangor, R)Tid in Perth. 
Rhind in Clackmannan, the Rins of Galloway, Penryn in Cornwall, Rien 
in Clare, Rinmore in Devon, Argyle, and Aberdeen, and several Ring in 
Knry, are all projecting tongues of land. 



138 THE CELTS. 



Wilts, the RAY in Oxfordshire and Lancashire, the rhee in 
Cambridgeshire, the rhea in Stafibrd shire, the wrey in Devon, 
the ROY in Inverness, the roe in Derry, the rue in Montgomer)-, 
the eryn in Sussex, the J^oden in Salop and Essex, and the 
/Nibble in Lancashire. We also find this root in the names of 
the RHINE (Rhenus), the rhin, the regen, the rega, and the 
^^^danau, in Germany, the Reindxih and the Reuss in Switzer- 
land, the Regge in Holland, the i?Aone in France, the Rt'gsi in 
Spain, the rha or Volga in Russia, the jS'r/danus, now the Po, 
and the ^^^nus, now the RenOy in Italy. 

V. Don. The meaning of this root is obscure. It may be 
connected with the Celtic aforiy or it may be an unrelated Celtic 
or Scythian gloss. In the language of the Ossetes — a tribe in 
the Caucasus, which preserves a very primitive form of the 
Aryan speech — the word don means water or river.* If- this 
be the meaning of the word, it throws light on certain primaeval 
myths. Thus Hesiod informs us that £>anaMS, the grandson 
of Poseidon and Libya (Xt/3a, moisture), relieved Argos from 
drought : "Apyoc awdpov eov Aarao9 noiritrev tvvZpov. Again, 
we are told that the fifty Danaides, having slain their husbands, 
the fifty sons of -^gyptus, on the wedding night, were con- 
demned to cany water in broken urns to fill a bottomless 
vessel. This myth receives a beautiful interpretation as an 
exoteric exposition of a natural phenomenon, if we interpret 
the ancient gloss dan as meaning water. We then see that the 
i7^«aides, or daughters of Dany are the waters of the inunda- 
tion, which overwhelm the fifty provinces of Egypt in their 
fatal embrace^ and for a penalty have to bear water up the moun- 
tain sides in their broken urns of cloud, condemned ceaselessly 
to endeavour to fill the valley, a bottomless gulf through which 
the river carries forth the outpourings of the clouds into the sea. 

But whatever may be the signification of this root, we find 
it in a large number of the most ancient and important river- 

^ There is a Gadhelic word taitij water. Armstrong says don is an ob- 
solete Gaelic word for water, and that it is still retained in the Armorican. 
Compare the Sclavonic tonu^ a river-deep. Ultimately, we may probably 
refer don to the conjectural Sanskrit word udan^ water — which contains the 
root undf to wet. Hence the Latin unda. The Sanskrit udra, water, 
comes from the same root und^ and is probably the source of the Celtic dufr. 



RIVER-NAMES— DON. 139 



names. On the Continent we have the jDanvLbty the 2?£i«astris, 
the I?an2iSteT or Z>«iester, the Z^d:«apris, Danaspei or Z^wieper ; 
the DON, anciently the Tanais, and the Donetz, a tributary of 
the Don, in Russia ; the 'RhsidansLU, in Prussia, the Rhodanus 
or Rho«e, the Adonis, the Aredon in the Caucasus, the Tidone 
and the Tanaxo, affluents of the Eri^^wus or Po, the Duidan 
in Normandy, the Don in Brittany, and the Msuion, the Yerdon, 
the Ijondony the Odon, and the Rosco^<?;^ in other parts of 
France. 

In the British Isles this word is found in the names of the 
DON in Yorkshire, Aberdeen, and Antrim, the BsLudon in 
Londonderry, the dean in Nottinghamshire and Forfar, the 
DANE in Cheshire, the DUiji in Lincolnshire and Ayrshire, the 
TONE in Somerset, and probably in the Eden in Yorkshire, 
Cumberland, Kent, Fife, and Roxburgh, the da von in Cheshire 
and Glamorgan, the devon in Leicestershire, Perth, Fife, and 
Clackmannan, and possibly in the tyne in Northumberland and 
Haddington, the teign in Devon, the tian in the Island of 
Jura, the teane in Stafford, the teyn in Derbyshire, and the 
tynet in Banff.' 

It thus appears that the names of almost all the larger rivers 
of Europe, as well as those of a very great number of the 
smaller streams, contain one or other of the five chief Celtic 
words for water or river, viz. — 

1. Avon or aon. 

2. Dwr<;rter. 

3. Esk or wye. 

4. Rhe or rhin. 

5. Don or dan. 

It will, doubtless, have been remarked that several rivers 
figure more than once in the foregoing lists ; we find, in short, 

* Some of these names may be from the Celtic /£3«, running water, or, 
perhaps, from Ta-aon, the still river. In many river-names we find an 
initial d or /, which may be either firom dhu, black, da, two, or from the 
Celtic preposition di, do, or duy which means "at." Thus the dusk is pro- 
bably the ** dark water," while the Deton and the Deskie, each formed by 
the junction of two streams, may be the ** double water." The incorpora- 
tion of a preposition in a name is exemplified in the cases of Zermat, Andct - 
mat, Amst^, Stanko {Is tA^ Kw), Utrecht (ad trajectum), Armorica, Aries. 



140 



THE CELTS. 



that two or even three of these nearly s)aionymous roots enter 
into the composition of their names. Thus it seems probable 
that the name of the 



Dan-as-ter, or ) 


contains roots 


H3rpan-is 








. (I) (3) 


Dn-ies-ter ) 


(5) (3) (2) 


Tan-ais . 








. (5) (3) 


Rha-dan-au 


. (4) (5) (I) 


Eri-dan-ns 




« 




(4) (5) (3?) 


Is-ter . . . 


. (3) (2) 


Ex-ter . 








. (3) (2) 


Rho-dan-us 


. (4) (5) (3?) 


Tyr-as . 








(2) (3) 


Dan-ub-ius . . 


. (5) (I) (3?) 


Ax-ona . . 




« 




(3) (I) 


Dur-dan . . 


. (2) (5) 


S-avone 








. (3) (I) 


Dur-an-ius . . 


. (2) (I) (3?) 


Ans-onne . 








. (3) (I) 


Rhe-n-us . . 


. (4) (I) (3?) 


Is-en . . 




i 




(3) (I) 


Isc-aun-a . . 


. (3) (I) 


Dour-on 








(2) (I) 


Dan-as-per . . 


. (5) (3) 


S-tour . 






. '. (3?) (2) 


Ter-ab-ia . . 


. (2) (I) 


Ati-ton . 








(I) (5) 



Some of these cases may be open to criticism, but the 
instances are too numerous to be altogether fortuitous. The 
formation of these names appears to be in accordance with an 
important law which elucidates the process of slow accretion 
by which many ancient names of mountains and rivers have 
been formed. The theory assumes that, when the same 
territory has been subject to the successive occupancy of 
nations speaking different languages, or different dialects of 
the same language, the earliest settlers called the river, on 
whose banks they dwelt, by a word signifying in their own 
language " The Water," or ** The River." As language changed 
through conquest, or in the lapse of ages, this word was taken 
for a proper name, and another word for " River " or " Water " 
was superadded. This process of superimposition may have 
been repeated again and again by successive tribes of 
immigrants, and thus ultimately may have been formed the 
strange aggregations of sjnionymous syllables which we find in 
so many river-names. The operation of this law we may 
detect with greater certainty in the case of names not affected, 
as are most of the names which have been cited, by the 
phonetic changes of many centuries. It will be well, therefbre, 
to illustrate this process in the case of some familiar and more 
modern names, where it must, beyond possibility of doubt, 
have taken place. 

In the case of the dur-beck in Nottinghamshire, and the 



REDUPLICATION OF SYNONYMS. 141 



DUR-BACH in Germany, the first syllable is, plainly, the Celtic 
dwry water. The Teutonic colonists, who, in either case, dis- 
possessed the Celts, inquired the name of the stream ; and 
being told it was dwr, the water, they naturally took this to 
be a proper name instead of a common name, and suffixed the 
Teutonic word beck or bcich^ a stream. In the names of the 
ESK-WATER and the dour-water in Yorkshire, we have a 
manifest English addition to the Celtic roots esk and dwr. 
The is-BOURNE, the ease-burn, the ash-bourne, the wash- 
burn, and the ouse-burn, present the Anglian burn, appended 
to vivrious common modifications of the Celtic uisge. In the 
name of wan-s-beck-water we first find wan, which is a 
corrupted form of the Welsh afon. The s is probably a vestige 
of the Gadhelic uisge. As in the case of the Durbeck, the 
Teutonic beck was added by the Anglian colonists, and the 
English word water was suffixed when the meaning of Wans- 
beck had become obscure, and Wan sbeck water, or Riverwater- 
riverwater, is the curious agglomeration which has resulted. 

The same process of formation may be traced in the names 
of mountains as well as of rivers. Thus the mountain at the 
head of the Yarrow is called mountbenjerlaw. The original 
Celtic name was Ben Yair, or " Yarrow Head." The Angles 
added their own word hlaw, a hill ; and the mount is an Anglo- 
Norman addition of still later date. In the name of brindon 
HILL, in Somersetshire, we have first the Cymric bryn, a hill. To 
this was added dun, a Saxonised Celtic word, nearly synony- 
mous with bryn; and the English word ///// was added when 
neither bryn nor dun were any longer significant words, pen- 
DLE-HiLL, in Lancashire, is similarly compounded of three 
synonymous words — the Cymric pen, the Norse hall, and the 
English hill. In pen-tlow hill, in Essex, we have the Celtic 
pen, the Anglo-Saxon hlaw, and the English hill, shar-pen- 
hoe-knoll, in Bedfordshire, contains four nearly synonymous 
elements. The names of pin-how in Lancashire, pen-hill in 
Somersetshire and Dumfriesshire, pen-d-hill in Surrey, and 
pen-law in Dumfriesshire, are analogous compounds, mon- 
gibello, the local name of Etna, is compounded of the Arabic 
gebel, a mountain, to which the Italian monte has been prefixed. 

Trajan's bridge, over the Tagus, is called the la puente de 



142 THE CELTS. 



ALCANTARA. Here we have the same process. Al Cantara 
means " the Bridge " in Arabic, and La Puente means precisely 
the same thing in Spanish. In the case of the city of nag- 
poor we have nagara, a city, and pura, a city. The val de 
NANT, in Neufchatel, presents us with the Celtic nant and the 
French val, both identical in meaning, hert-ford gives us 
the Celtic rhyd, a synonym of the Saxon ford. In holm-in 
ISLAND there are three synonyms. We find, first, the Norse 
holm; secondly, the Celtic innis ; and, lastly, the English 
island, inch island is an analogous name. In the case of 
the Isle of Shepp^, Q^nvey Island, Os<fv Island, and Rams^v 
Island, we have the Anglo-Saxon ea, which is identical in 
meaning with the English island. In like manner, we 
might analyse the names of the Hill of Howth, the Cotswold 
Hills, the Tuskar Rock, the Menrock, Smerwick Harbour, 
Sandwick Bay, Cape Griznez, Start Point, the A-land Islands, 
Treville, Hampton, Hamptonwick, Bourn Brook in Surrey, the 
Bach Brook in Cheshire, the Oeh-bach in Hesse (Old High 
German aha, water). Knock-knows, Dal-field, Kinn-aird Head, 
the King-horn River, Hoe Hill in Lincoln, Mal-don (Celtic 
maol or moel, a round hill), Maserfield (Welsh maes, a field), 
Romn-ey Marsh (Gaelic ruimne^ a marsh), Alt Hill (Welsh 
allt, a clifi), and many others. It would be easy to multiply, 
almost without end, unexceptional instances of this process 
of aggregation of synonyms ; but the cases cited may suffice 
to make it highly probable that the same process prevailed 
among the Celtic and Scythian tribes of Central Europe, and 
that this law of hybrid composition, as it is called, may 
without extravagance, be adduced in explanation of such 
names as the Rha-dan-au, or the Dn-ies-ier, and with the 
highest probability in cases like the Ax-ona or the Dur-dan. 

It now remains briefly to consider the second or adjectival 
class of river-roots. 

Two have been already mentioned. From the Welsh garw 
(Gaelic and Irish, garbh\ rough, we obtain the names of the 
gara in Sligo and Hereford, the carry in Perth and Inverness, 
the yare in Normandy, in Norfolk, in the Isle of Wight, and 
in Devon, the garway in Carmarthen, the garnere in Clare, 



ADJECTIVAL RIVER^NAMES. 143 



the GARNAR in Hereford, the yarro in Lancashire, the yarrow 
and the yair in Selkirk, the garve and the gareloch in 
Ross, the GARONNE, the gers, and the giron in France, and 
the GUER in Brittany. 

From the Gaehc «//, white, we obtain al-aon, "white afon." 
The Romans Latinized this word into Alauna. The Lancashire 
Alauna of the Romans is now the lune ; and the Warwickshire 
Alauna is the aln.^ There is another lune in Yorkshire, and 
one in Durham. We find a river allen in Leitrim, another 
in Denbigh, another in Northumberland, and a fourth in Dorset. 
There is an allan in Perthshire, and two in Roxburgh shiie. 
The ALAN in Cornwall, the allwen in Merioneth, the elwin in 
Lanark, the ellen in Cumberland, the ilen in Cork, and the 
ALN or auln, which we find in Northumberland, Cumberland, 
Hampshire, Warwick, Roxburgh, and Berwickshire, are all 
modifications of the same name, as well as the aulne and the 
ell^e in Brittany. The name of the elbe is probably con- 
nected with the same root. 

To the Gaelic and Erse ban^ white, we may refer the ben in 
Mayo, the bann in Wexford, the bane in Lincoln, the bain in 
Hertford, the aven-banna in Wexford, the Banon (Ban Afon) 
in Pembroke, the bana in Down, the jBandon in Cork and 
Londonderry, the Banney in Yorkshire, the Bana.c in Aber- 
deen, the Ban-oc-hnm in Stirling, the baune in Hesse, and 
theBanitz in Bohemia. 

The word dAu, black, appears in five rivers in Wales, three 
in Scotland, and one in Dorset, which are called Dulas, There 
are also two in Scotland and one in Lancashire called the 
Doug\2iS, and we have the JDoula-s in Radnor, the DowXt^ in 
Shropshire, and the Z^/ggles in Lancashire. 

From llevn, smooth, or from its derivative linn, a still pool, 
we obtain the names of Loch leven and three rivers called 
leven in Scotland, beside others of the same name in 
Gloucestershire, Yorkshire, Cornwall, Cumberland, and Lanca- 
shire. To one of these words we may also refer the names of 
Loch LYON in Perth, the river lyon in Inverness, the loin in 

* Zfl«caster, anciently Ad Alaunam, is the castra on the Lune. The 
name of AlcesXtr, which stands on the Aln^ the Warwickshire Alauna, is 
written EUencaster by Matthew Paris. 



144 THE CELTS. 



Banff, the leane in Kerry, the line in Cumberland, North- 
umberland, Nottingham, Peebles, and Fife, the lane in 
Galloway, and the lain in Cornwall. Deep pools, or lynns, 
have given names to Lincoln, King's lvnn, Dublin, glaslin, 

LINLITHGOW, LINTON, KILLIN, and ROSLIN. 

The word tam^ spreading, quiet, still, which seems to be 
related to the Welsh taw and the Gaelic tav^ appears in the 
names of the 7Iw«-ese or Thames, the tame in Cornwall, 
Cheshire, Lancashire, Stafford, and Bucks, the tamar in 
Devon, the tema in Selkirk, the teme in Worcester, and 
perhaps^ in those of the taw in Devon and Glamorgan, the 
TA Loch in Wexford, the tay (anciently the Tavus) in Perth 
and Waterford, the tavy in Devon, and the tave in Wales. 
Pliny tells us, " Scythge vocant Mgeotim Temarundam," — the 
" Broad Water." 2 

The widely-diffused root ar causes much perplexity. The 
ARAR, as Caesar says, flows " incredibili lenitate ; " while, a6 
Coleridge tells us, the arve and the arveiron " rave cease- 
lessly." We find, however, on the one hand, a Welsh word 
arafy gentle, and an obsolete Gaelic word ar, slow, and on the 
other we have a Celtic word arw, violent, and a Sanskrit root 
arb, to ravage or destroy. From one or other of these roots, 
according to the character of the river, we may derive the 
names of the arw in Monmouth, the are and the aire in 
Yorkshire, the ayr in Cardigan and Ayrshire, the arre in 
Cornwall, the arro in Warwick, the arrow in Hereford and 
Sligo, the -^ray in Argyle, the Ara-g\in and the Ara-g2idten 
in Cork, the erve, the arve, the ourcq, the arc, the ^rri^ge 
and the -^rz^eiron, in France, the Arga, and three rivers called 
A^-va. in Spain, in Italy the Amo and JEra., in Switzerland the 
AAR and the ^rbach, in Germany the ohre, ahr, Isar, Aurach, 
OnCj Er\ £r\a., Ar\, Orla, Argen, and several mountain 
streams called the are ; besides the well-known ancient names 
of the OaruSy the Praxes, the ar-ar-ar, the Nap^ns, the 
Aras, and the Jax^rtes. 

^ See page 139, supra. 

2 We nnd a Sanslait word, tdmara, water. The ultimate root seems to 
be fam, languescere« 



RIVER-NAMES— CAM— CLYDE. 145 



The word cam)' crooked, we find in the cam in Gloucester 
and Cambridgeshire, in the camil in Cornwall, the camlad 
in Shropshire, the cambeck in Cumberland, the camlin in 
Longford, and the camon in Tyrone, morcambe bay is the 
crooked-sea bay, and camden is the crooked vale. We have 
also the rivers kamp and cham in Germany, and the kam in 
Switzerland. 

To the Gaelic clith^ strong, we may refer the Clyde and the 
CLUDAN in Scotland, the clwyd, the cloyd, and the clydach, 
in Wales, the glyde and several other streams in Ireland, and, 
perhaps, the clitumnus in Italy. 

There are many other clusters of river-names which invite 
investigation, but of which a mere enumeration must suffice. 
Such are the groups of names of which the neath, the soar, 
the may, the dee, the tees, the cher, the ken, the frome, the 
colne, the IRKE, the lid, the lea, the meuse, the glen, and 
the swale, may be taken as types. It is indeed a curious fact 
that a unique river-name is hardly to be found. Any given 
name may immediately be associated with some dozen 
or half dozen names nearly identical in form and mean- 
ing, collected from all parts of Europe. This might suffice 
to shew the great value of these river-names in ethnological 
investigations. Reaching back to a period anterior to all 
history, they enable us to prove the wide diffiision of the 
Celtic race, and to trace that race in its progress across 
Europe. 

For antiquity and immutability, the names of mountains and 
hills come next in value to the names of rivers. " Helvellyn 
and Skiddaw," says an eloquent historian, " rise as sepulchral 
monuments of a race that has passed away." The names of 
these conspicuous landmarks have been transmitted from race 
to race very much in the same way, and from the same causes, 
as the names of rivers. 

* This word was adopted into English, though it is now obsolete. In 
CoriolanuSf Act iii. scene i., Sicinius Velutus says of the crooked reasoning 
of Menenius Agrippa, ** This is clean kam ;" to which Brutus replies, 
** Merely awry." The root appears in the phrase, arms in kembo, or 
a>kimbo. To cam^ in the Manchester dialect, is to cross or contradict a 
person, or to bend anything awry. 

L 



146 THE CELTS. 



The modem Welsh names for the head, the brow, and the 
back, are pen^ bryn, and cefn. We find these words in a large 
number of mountain-names. The Welsh cejh (pronounced 
keven), a back, or ridge, is very common in local names in 
Wales, as in the case of cefn coed or cefn bryn. In Eng- 
land it is found in the chevin, a ridge in Wharfdale ; in chevin 
Hill near Derby ; in keynton, a name which occurs in Shrop- 
shire, Dorset, and Wilts ; in chevening, on the great ridge of 
North Kent ; in chevington in Suffolk and Northumberland ; 
also in chevy Chase, and the CHETfiOT Hills ; in the Gehenna 
Mons, now les cevennes, in France ; and in Cape chien in 
Brittany. 

The Welsh word bryn^ a brow ^ or ridge, is found in brandon 
in Suffolk, which is the Anglicized form of Dinas Bran, 
a common local name in Wales. A ridge in Essex is called 
BRANDON, breandown is the name of a high ridge near 
Weston-super-Mare, brendon Hill forms part of the great 
ridge of Exmoor. birnwood Forest, in Buckinghamshire, 
occupies the summit of a ridge which is elevated some 300 
feet above the adjacent country, braintree in Essex, and 
brinton and brancaster in Norfolk (anciently Brannodunum) 
contain the same root, which is found in numerous Swiss and 
German names, such as brannberg, Brandenburg, bren- 
denkopf, and the brenner pass in the Tyrol. 

The Welsh pen^ a head, and by metonymy, the usual name 
for a mountain, is widely diffused throughout Europe. The 
south-easterly extension of the Cymric race is witnessed by the 
names of the penn-ine chain of the Alps, the a-penn-ines, a 
place called penne, anciently Pinna, in the high Apennines, 
and Mount pindus, in Greece. The ancient name of peni- 

^ Cf. the Sanskrit hhHiy eyebrow. The English word broiv^ the Scotch 
hrae^ and the old German brdwa, all seem to be connected with this root. 

2 From the root pen, originally a head or point, come probably, pinnacle, 
penny (?), pin, spine, and the name of the pine-tree. It is curious that the 
Cymric /^r, a fir, bears the same relation to the name of the Terences that 
pina does to those of the Apennines and Pennine Alps. Compare the Pyem 
mountains in Upper Austria, and the Femer in Tyrol. In the case of many 
of the Pyrenean giants the topmost pyramid of each is called its ** penne. 
Pefia is &e name for a rock in Spanish, and in Italian penna is a mountain 
summit. 



NAMES OF MOUNTAINS. 147 



Lucus, at the end of the lake of Geneva, is evidently a 
Latinized form of Fen-y-llwchy the head of the lake. We find 
PENHERF and the headland of penmarch in Brittany, and there 
is a hill near Marseilles which is called la penne. In our 
own island, hills bearing this name are very numerous. We 
have PENARD, PENHiLL, and pen in Somerset, Upper and 
Lower penn in Staffordshire, and pann Castle near Bridgenorth. 
The highest hill in Buckinghamshire is called pen. One ot 
the most conspicuous summits in Yorkshire is called pennigant, 
inkpen stands on a high hill in Berkshire. We have pendleton 
and PENKETH in Lancashire, penshurst in Sussex ; in Cumber- 
land we find PENRITH, the head of the ford ; and in Hereford- 
shire, PENCOiD, the head of the w;ood. In Cornwall and Wales 
the root pen is of perpetual occurrence, as in the cases of 
PENRHYN and PENDENNis {Feti Ditias) in Cornwall, and pkn- 
MAENMAWR, PEMBROKE (Fm-bro, the head of the land), and 
PENRHOS, in Wales. 

In Argyleshire and the northern parts of Scotland the Cymric 
pen is ordinarily replaced by ben or cenn, the Gaelic forms of 
the same word. 

This distinctive usage of pen and ben in local names 
enables us to detect the ancient line of demarcation be- 
tween the Cymric and Gadhelic branches of the Celtic race. 
We find the Cymric form of the word throughout the 
kingdom of Strath-clyde, as in the case of the pentland 
Hills, and penpont in Dumfries, the pen of Eskdalemuir, 
pen CRAIG in Haddington, penwally in Ayrshire. On the 
other hand the Gaelic ben, which is conspicuously absent 
from England,^ Wales, and the south of Scotland, is used 
to designate almost all the higher summits of the north, 
as, for instance, bennevis, benledi, benmore, benwyvis, 
benlomond, bencruachan, and many more, too numerous 
to specify. 

The Gadhelic cenn, a head, is another form of the same 
word. It is found in kenmore,^ cantire, kinnaird, and 

^ Ben Rhydding, in Yorkshire, is a name of very recent concoction. 

2 Kenmore, the "great head," from the Gaelic mor, or the Welsh mawr, 
great. This name is found also in Switzerland. There is a mountain called 
the kamor in Appenzell, and another called the kammerstock between 

L 2 



148 THE CELTS. 



KINROSS in Scotland, kinsale and kenmare in Ireland, in the 
English county of kent, kenne in Somerset, kennedon in 
Devonshire, kenton in Middlesex, kencot in Oxfordshire, 
and KENCOMB in Dorset. 

The position of ancient Celtic strongholds is frequently in- 
dicated by the root dun^ a hill-fortress, a word which is closely 
related to the modem Welsh word dinas? The features of 
such a natural stronghold are well exhibited at sion in Switzer- 
land, where a bold isolated crag rises in the midst of an alluvial 
plain. Like so many other positions of the kind, this place 
bears a Celtic name. The German form sitten is nearer than 
the French sion to the ancient name ^tdunwoiy which is the 
Latinized form of the original Celtic appellation. In a neigh- 
bouring canton the ancient •Ebre//««um has become yverdun, 
a place which, as well as thun (pronounced Toon), must have 
been among the fortress-cities of the Celts of Switzerland. In 
Germany, Campo//««um is now kemp-ten, and Toxodurmm, in 
the modem form of dor-n-stadt, preserves only a single letter 
of the Celtic dun. The same is the case with C^jrodumim 
(carraighdun, the rock fort), now khar-n-burg on the Danube; 
while IdunMidy on the same river, is now i-din-o. The ancient 
name of Belgrade was segodunum, Seigha-dun^ equivalent to 
Hapsburg, or Hawks'-hill. thundorf and dune-stadt also 
witness the eastem extension of the Celtic people. In Italy 
we find nine ancient names into which this Celtic root enters, 
as Vin///«um, the " white fort," A//«a, and Re//«a. cor-tona 
was evidently Caer-dun, But in France, more especially, these 
Celtic hill-forts abounded. Augusto^^^wum is now au-tun, and 
]v\iodunMm is lou-dun near Poictiers. Lug^wmim {llwych-dun, 
the "lake fort,") on the Rhone, is now lyons; Lug//«;^um 
or I^ugod&>mm, in Holland, is now leyden ; and Lugu/w«um, 
in Silesia, is now glogau. The rock of laon, the stronghold 
of the later Merovingian kings, is a contraction of Lau//««um. 
Novio//«mim, the " new fort," is a common name : one is now 

Uri and Glarus. Mont cenis was anciently Mons Cinisius. geneva is 
probably cenn afon^ the head of the river. 

^ From the Celtic the root has penetrated into Italian and Spanish as 
duna, into English as dcrutny and into French as dune. The Dkuns of the 
Himalayas, as Kjarda Dhun and Dehra Dhun, arc cognate words. 



CELTIC STRONGHOLDS. I49 



NOYON, another nevers, another nyon, another jubleins. 
Melodunum {mea//dun, the hill-fort), now melun, Yeroiiunum 
(fir-dun^ the " man's fort,") now verdun, and Uxello//2/;mm in 
Guienne, were also Celtic strongholds. 

In England there seem to have been fewer Celtic fortresses 
than in France. \xmdun\yxQ. or Lon^/;/ium, the fortified hill 
on which St. Paul's Cathedral stands, is now London, lex- 
don, near Colchester, seems to have been Legionis dunum ; 
Camalo^wwLim is possibly maldon, in Essex. Sorbiort^wz/um, 
now Old SARUM ; Branno^////um, the " brow fort," now bran- 
caster ; Mori^2/«um, the " sea fort," now carmar-then \ 
Mori^////um, probably seaton ; Rigio^wwum, perhaps ribble- 
chester ; and Tao^7/«um, now Dundee, were all British forts 
which were occupied by the Romans. The same root dun 
is found also in dunstable, dunmow, and dundry Hill in 
Somerset. In Scotland we have dumblane, Dumfries, dun- 
keld, the "fort of the Celts," and Dumbarton, the "fort of the 
Britons." In Ireland we find dundrum, dundalk, dungannon, 
dungarvon, dunleary, dunlavin, and scores of other names 
which exhibit this root. It was adopted by the Saxons from 
the Celts, and, in accordance with the genius of their language, 
it is used as a suffix instead of as a prefix, as is usually the 
case in genuine Celtic names. We have instances in the names 
of HUNTINGDON, FARiNGDON, and CLARENDON. The Celtic lan- 
guages can, and usually do, place the substantive first and the 
adjective last, while in the Teutonic idiom this is unallowable. 
The same is tiie case with substantives which have the force of 
adjectives. Thus the Celtic Strathclyde and Abertay corre- 
spond to the Teutonic forms Clydesdale and Taymouth. This 
usage often enables us to discriminate between Celtic and 
Saxon roots which are nearly identical in sound. Thus, Balbeg 
and Strathbeg must be from the Celtic begy little ; but Bigholm 
and Bighouse are from the Teutonic big^ great. Dairy, 
Dalgain, Dalkeith, Daleaglis, Dolberry in Somerset, and Tou- 
louse must be from the Celtic dol^ a plain; while Rydal, 
Kendal, Mardale, and Oundle, are from the Teutonic dale^ z. 
valley. 

FENRUO& a name which occurs in Wales and Cornwall. 



ISO THE CELTS. 



contains a root — rhoSy a moor^ — which is liable to be confused 
with the Gaelic ros, which signifies a prominent rock or head- 
land. ROSS in Hereford and in Noithumberland, rosneath 
by Loch I>ong, and rosduy on Loch Lomond, are all on pro- 
jecting points of land. Every Rigi tourist will remember the 
projecting precipice of the rossberg in Canton Schwytz, 
whose partial fall overwhelmed the village of Goldau. There 
are six other mountains of the same name in Germany. To the 
same source we may probably refer the names ^ of Monte rosa, 
Piz rosatsch, roseg, and rosenlaui in Switzerland, and 
rostrenan in Brittany. In our own islands we find this root 
ni the names of wroxeter, roslin, Kinross, cardross, 

MONTROSE, MELROSE, ROXBURGH, ARDROSSAN, and ROSCOMMON. 

Craigy a rock, so common in Welsh names, is found in crick 
in Derbyshire and Northampton, and cricklade in Wilts. In 
Ireland this word takes the form carraig, as in the case of 
carrickfergus. The root is probably to be found in the 
name of the three ranges called respectively the graian,' 
the carnic, and the karavanken Alps. In the Tyrol we 
have the prefix kar, and in Savoy it takes the form crau. 
This form also appears in the name of a barren boulder-covered 
region between Aries and Marseilles, which is called la crau. 

Tory a projecting rock, is found in the names of Mount 
TAURUS, the TYROL, TORBAY, and the TORS of Devonshire and 
Derbyshire. We find yes tor, fur tor, hey tor, mis tor, 

HESSARY TOR, BRENT TOR, HARE TOR, and LYNX TOR, in 

Devon ; and row tor, mam tor, adyn tor, ghee tor, and 
OWLAR TOR, in Derbyshire, hentoe, in Lancashire, is a cor- 
ruption of Hen Tor. 

The word ardy high, great, which forms the first portion of 
the name of the legendary King Arthur, occurs in some 200 
Irish names, as ardagh, Armagh, and ardfert. In Scotland 
we have ardrossan, armeanagh, ardnamiJrchan, and ards. 

^ The rush is the characteristic moorland plant.* The Latin rus is a cog- 
nate word, and indicates the undrained moorland condition of the country. 

^ Some of these may be the ** red " mountains. The red hue of Monte 
Rosso, a southern outlier of the Bemina, is very markedly contrasted with 
the neighbouring "black peak*' of Monte Nero. 

^ Petronius tells us that this name means a rock. 



COMBE. 151 



The name of arran, the lofty island, has been appropriately 
bestowed on islands off the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, and 
it attaches also to a mountain in Wales. The lizard Point is 
" the high fort." In combination with the word den^ a wooded 
valley, it gives us the name of the Forest of arden in Wanvick- 
shire and in Yorkshire, and that of the ardennes, the great 
forest on the borders of France and Belgium, auverne is 
probably arfearanriy the " high country." 

The word cwm ^ is very frequently used in Wales, where it 
denotes a cup-shaped depression in the hills. This word, in 
the Saxonized form combe, often occurs in English local names, 
especially in those counties where the Celtic element is strong. 
There are twenty-three parishes called compton in England. 
In Devonshire we have ilfracombe, yarcombe, and combe 
martin; and the combes among the Mendip hills are very 
numerous. The Celtic county of Cumberland has been sup- 
posed to take its name from the combes with which it abounds.' 
Anderson, a Cumberland poet, says of his native county : — 

** There's C«wwhitton, C»^whinton, CV^mranton, 
C»/;2rangan, 61/mrew, and 6W/»catch, 
And mony mair Cums i* the county, 
But nin wi' C«»*divock can match. " 

High WYCOMBE in Buckinghamshire, combe in Oxfordshire, 
appledurcomb and gatcomb in the Isle of Wight, facomb and 
combe in Hampshire, gomshall and combe in Surrey, are 
instances of its occurrence in districts where the Celtic element 
is more faint than in the west : and abroad we find the root in 
the name of the Puy de bellecombe in Cantal, and not impro- 
bably even in the name of como. 

The Welsh llwch, a lake, morass, or hollow, corresponds to 
the Scotch loch and the Irish lough. This word constitutes the 
first syllable of the common ancient name Lugdunum, which 
has been modernized into lyons and i^eyden. We can trace 
the first portion of the Romanized Celtic name Luguballium 

^ A combf a measure for corn, and the comb o{ bees, are both from this 
root, which is found in several local dialects in the Celtic parts of France, 
Spain, and Italy, as, for example, the Piedmontese combo. 

^ See, however, p. 48, supra. 



152 THE CELTS. 



in the mediaeval Caerluel which superseded it, and which, with 
little change, still survives in the modern form Carlisle. The 
lake which fills a remarkable bowl-shaped crater in the Eifel 
district of Germany is called laach. We find the same root in 
Lukotekia, Lukotokia, or Lutetia, the ancient name of Paris.^ 

The Cymric prefix /r<?, a place or dwelling, is a useful test- 
word, since it does not occur in names derived from the Gaelic 
or Erse languages, though related to the Irish treabh^ a clan, 
and, more distantly, to the Latin tribus. It occurs ninety-six 
times in the village-names of Cornwall,' more than twenty 
times in those of Wales ; and is curiously distributed over the 
border counties. We find it five times in Herefordshire, three 
times in Devon, Gloucester, and Somerset, twice in Shropshire, 
and once in Worcester, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumberland, 
and Northumberland.* It is frequent in Brittany, it occurs 
some thirty times in other parts of France, and twice or thrice 
in the Celtic part of Spain, as in trevento and conterbia. 
TRtiVES, anciently Augusta TV^irorum, troves, anciently Civitas 
Tricassium, and tricastin, near Orange, exhibit this widely- 
diffused Cymric root. The tribe of the Duro/n^s, the dwellers 
by the water, have given a portion of their name to Dorset, 
and the A/r<?bates have bestowed theirs upon arras and 
ARTOis. In Italy we find the name Treba, now trevi, Trebula. 

^ Old Paris was confined to the island which divides the Seine into two 
branches. The name seems to be fi-om llwch^ and toki^ to cut. From the 
related Welsh word llaith^ moist, we have the name of arles, anciently 
Arelate, the town " on the marsh." 

* More than a thousand times, if we include hamlets and single home- 
steads. Hence it enters into a vast number of Cornish territorial surnames. 
There is an old adajje which says : — 

** By Tre, Pol, and Pen, 
You may know the Cornish men." 

* We have, for example, such names as — Trefonen, Tre-evan, Tretirc, 
Trevill, and I'rewen, in Herefordshire ; Trebroader in Shropshire ; Trc- 
borough in Somerset ; Treton in Yorkshire ; Trebroun in Berwickshire ; 
Trehom in Cunningham, in Ayrshire ; Tretown in Fifeshire ; Tregallon in 
Kirkcudbright ; Treuchan in Perthshire. Such names as Uchiltre in Ayr- 
shire, Wigtonshire, and Linlithgow ; Wavertree in Lancashire ; Braintree 
in Essex ; Bawtry in Notts ; Oswestry in Shropshire ; and Coventry in War- 
wickshire, may, or may not, contain this root. The substantive * in Celtic 
names is usually, but not invariably, the prefix. See p. 149, supra. 



NAMES OF DWELLINGS. . i53 



now TREGLIA, TRESSO, TREVISO, TREBBIA, and TRIESTE, besid€;S 

TRiENT in the Italian Tyrol, and other similar names in the 
most Celtic part of Italy, near the head of the Adriatic. 

Bod^ a house, is very common in Cornwall, as, for example, 
in BODMIN, the "stone house," and it appears also in Wales. 
Ty means a cottage, and is universally prevalent in Wales, 
though it enters into few important names. In Cornwall it 
takes also the forms Chy and Ky^ as chynoweth, the " new 
house," KYNANCE, the *' house in the valley." In Brittany it is 
very frequent in the form of Qui and Cae^ as in quiberon. 

Llan^ an in closure, and hence, in later times, the sacred in- 
closure, or church, is also a useful Cymric test-word. It occurs 
ninety-seven times in the village-names of Wales, thirteen times 
in those of Cornwall, in Shropshire and in Herefordshire seven 
times, in Gloucestershire four times, and in Devon twice. It 
is also found in the Cymric part of Scotland, as in Lanark 
and LANRiCK, and is very common in Brittany. The original 
meaning of llan was probably not an inclosure but a level plain,i 
such as the landes, the vast sandy flats near Bayonne, or the 
LLANOS, the sea-like plains of South America. In a mountainous 
country like Wales such level spots would be the first to be 
inclosed, and it is easy to perceive the process by which the 
transition of meaning might be effected. The root, in its 
primary meaning, appears in the name of mi-lan, which stands 
in the midst of the finest plain in Europe. The Latin name 
Medio/c2!;/um probably embodies, or perhaps partly translates, 
the ancient enchorial word. 

The Celtic word maii^ a district, is probably to be sought 
in MAINE, MANS, MANTES, and MAYENNE in France, in mantua 
in Italy, in la mancha and Manxes in Spain, in England in 
MANSFIELD, in Mancunium, now Manchester, in Mandues- 
sedum, now mancester, as well as in mona, the menai Straits, 
the Isle of man,^ and several Cornish names. 

Nant^ a valley, is a common root in the Cymric districts of 
our island, as in nant-frangon, the "beavers' valley," in Car 

* Our words lawn and land come from the same ultimate root. Com- 
pare, however, the Persian /4«, a yard. 

' Mona and the Isle of Man are perhaps from the Welsh mon^ separate, 
a word cognate with the Greek fi6i'os. 



tS4 THE CELTS. 



narvonshire, or nantglyn in Denbighshire, nan bield is the 
name of a steep pass in Westmoreland, and nantwich stands 
in a Cheshire valley. In Cornwall we find nans, nancemeLt 
LIN, the " valley of the mill," pennant, the " head of the valley," 
and TRENANCE, the " town in the valley." It is also found in 
nantua in Burgundy, nancy in Lorraine, nantes in Brittany, 
and the vai. de nant in Neufchitel. All Chamounix tourists 
will remember nant bourant, nant d'arpenaz, nant de ta- 

CONAY, NANT DE GRIA, NANT DANT, NANGY, and the Other 7iants 

or valleys of Savoy, which were once, as this word proves, 
possessed by the same people who now inhabit the valleys of 
North Wales. 

The ancient kingdom of gwent comprised the counties of 
Monmouth and Glamorgan, and Monmouth still locally goes 
by this name. The word denotes an open champaign country, 
and the uncouth Celtic word was Latinized by the Romans into 
Venta. Venta Silurum is now caer-went in Monmouthshire, 
Venta Belgarum is now win-chester, and Bennaventa is now 
daventry. The Veneti were the people who inhabited the 
open plain of Brittany, and they have left their name in the 
district of la vendi^e and the town of vannes. The vast plain 
at the mouth of the Po, where Celtic names abound, has from 
the earliest times been called venetia, a name which may 
probably be referred to the same root, as well perhaps as 
Beneventum, now benevento, and Treventum, now trivento. 

Most of the Celtic roots which we have hitherto considered 
are distinctively 'Cymric rather than Gaelic or Erse. Such are 
cefn^ bryn, cwm, llan^ tre^ nant, and gwent Dun and llwch are 
common to both branches of the Celts, while the Gaelic ben^ 
cenny and carraig are closely related to the Cymric pen and 
craig. The next root to be considered is decisively Gadhelic, 
and is, therefore, very useful as a test-word in discriminating 
between the districts peopled by the two great branches of the 
Celtic stock. 

The word magh^ a plain or field, is found in more than a 

* Sanskrit, tnahty terra. The Welsh form is maesy as in maes garmon, 

MESHAM, MAESBURV, MASERFIELD, MASBROOK, and WOODMAS. Thc 

MAES or MEUSE is the river of meadows. The English math^ and to mow^ 
and the I^tin mdo^ are cognate words. 



CYMRIC AND GADHELIC TEST- WORDS. 155 



hundred Irish names, such as magh-era, maynooth, ma-llow 
On the Continent it is found in many ancient and modern names. 
In Germany we find J/^^toburgum, now mag-deburg ; Mogovi- 
tiacum, now mainz, Marco/««^us, now marmagen, Noviow^^us, 
or "Newfield," now nimegen, Rigo/w^^us, or "Kingsfield," 
now rheinmagen, and Borbeto/w^^us, now worms, and in 
North-eastern France this root v/as equally common. We have it 
in "Rotomagw^, now rouen-, ^oiomagMS, now nemours, Novio- 
magyxs Lexovioruni, now lisieux, Argento/z/a^s, now argen- 
TON, Cdloximagns, now c^iorges, and Sermanicoz^^^us, now 

CHERMEZ. 

The chief Cymric roots are found scattered over Spain, 
Northern Italy, Switzerland, and Southern Germany ; but the 
root magh, the Gadhelic test-word, seems to be confined almost 
entirely to the district of the Lower Rhine and its tributaries. 
In Switzerland it does not appear,^ and in Italy it occurs only 
in the district peopled by the intrusive Boii.^ In Southern and 
Western France it hardly occurs at all, and it is found only 
once or twice in Britain.^ We may therefore conclude that 
while the Cymry came from the region of the Alps, the Gad- 
helic branch of the Celts must have migrated from the valleys 
of the Rhine and the Moselle. It seems to have been from 
this district that the earliest historic movement of the Celts 
took place. Three associated Celtic tribes burst through the 
Alps ; they pillaged Rome, and, after returning to lUyria for a 
while, they broke in upon Greece, and plundered the treasures 
at Delphi. They settled for a time in Thrace, where we have 
local traces of a still earlier abode of a Celtic people, and then 

* The Swiss form matj a meadow, which appears in zermat and ander- 
MAT, is found only in the Cymric, and not in the Gaelic portions of Great 
Britain. E.g. mathern in Monmouth and in Hereford. 

^ We have Rigowa^us near Turin, Bodincowa^us on the Po, and Came- 
Yio?nagMS near Placentia. 

* We have MagmiMmj now Dunstable. Close to the town is an ancient 
earthwork, called the Maiden Bower, or the Maidning Bourne, which seems 
to be a corruption of the Celto-Saxon name Mageburg. The original name 
of Caesarowff^us was probably Dunomagus, as is indicated by dunmow- 
the modem name. Sitoww^us is, perhaps, Thetford. The position of these 
places is a strong corroboration of the opinion held by many Celtic scholars, 
that East Anglia was Gaelic rather than Cymric 



156 THE CELTS. 



crossing the Bosphorus, they took possession of the central parts 
of Asia Minor, to which they gave the name of galatia, the land 
of the Gael, and where they long retained their Celtic speech,^ 
and the ethical peculiarities of their Celtic blood. We see, 
from many indications in St. Paul's Epistle, that the " foolish 
Galatians," who were so easily " bewitched," were, like the 
rest of the Gaelic race, fickle, enthusiastic, fond of glory 
and display, and at the same time lively, witty, eloquent, and 
full of good sense and good feeling. The Galatians, like 
all other Celtic peoples, made admirable soldiers, and over- 
threw the invincible phalanx of Macedonia. We recognise 
in them the same military qualities which have made the 
charge of the Highland clans and of the Irish regiments 
so terrible, and which have rendered so famous the brilliant 
Celtic mercenaries of France and Carthage. Here, curiously 
enough, we again encounter this root mag^ which is found 
so abundantly in the district from which they emigrated. In 
the Galatian district we find the names of Jl/^^dus, Mag- 
abula, Magd\i2k^ Myg^2\^^ J/^^nesia (twice), and the Mygdsmt^. 
Magdha, is on the Halys, which is a Celtic word, meaning 
**sa]t river." In Lycia, according to Strabo, there was an 
enormous rocky summit, steeply scarped on every side, called 

The accumulative evidence furnished by these Celtic names 
has been exhibited in a very imperfect manner, but enough has 
probably been adduced to lead irresistibly to the conclusion 
that large portions of Italy, Spain, France, Switzerland, and 
Germany, were at some period inhabited by the race which 
now retains its speech and its nationality only in a few of 

* Galatas . . . propriam lingiiam eandem pene habere quam Treviros. 
Jerome, Commentary on tJie Epistle to the Galatians^ Prcx3emium. 

^ There are many other Celtic names in Galatia and the neighbouring 
parts of Bithynia and Magnesia ; such as the rivers i^.sius, ^Esyros, and 
>Eson, which apparently contain the root eSy water. Abr-os-tola seems to 
contain the roots aber and dot as well. Vindia, Cinna, and Brianise call to 
mind the roots gwent, cenn, and bryn. Armorium reminds us of Armorica. 
Olenus, in Galatia, reminds us of Olenaeum in Britain, and Olin in Gaul. 
Agannia reminds us of Agennum in Gaul. An Episcopus Taviensis came 
from Galatia to attend the Nicene CounciL We have also the apparently 
Celtic names Acitorizacum, Ambrenna, Eccobriga, Landrosia, Roslogia* 
cum, and the river Siberis. 



CELTS IN GALATIA. 157 



the western corners of Europe — Ireland, the Scotch Highlands, 
the Isle of Man, Wales, and Brittany. 

The following may be offered as a brief summary of the 
results disclosed by the evidence of these Celtic names. 

There is no ground for any probable conjectures as to the 
time and place at which the division of the Celts into their 
two great branches may be supposed to have taken place. 

In Central Europe we find traces of both Cymry and Gael. 
The most numerous people of primaeval Germany were of the 
Gadhelic branch. They were not only the most numerous, 
but they were also the earliest to arrive. This is indicated by 
the fact that throughout Germany we find no Cymric, Scla- 
vonic, or Teutonic names which have undergone phonetic 
changes in accordance with the genius of the Erse or Gaelic 
languages. Hence it may be inferred that tlie Gaels, on their 
arrival, found Germany unoccupied, and that their iipmigra- 
tion was therefore of a peaceful character. 

Next came the Cymry. They came as conquerors, and in 
numbers they were fewer than the Gaels whom they found in 
possession. This we gather from the fact that there are com- 
paratively few pure Cymric names in Germany, but a large 
number of Gadhelic names which have been Cymricized. 
From the topographical distribution of these names we infer 
that the Gaels arrived from the east, and the Cymry from the 
south. The large number of Cymric names in Northern Italy, ^ 
and the fact that several of the passes of the Alps bear Cymric 
names, seem also to indicate the quarter whence the Cymric 
invasion proceeded. 

Lastly came the Germans from the north — they were con- 
querors, and fewer in number than either the Cymry or the 
Gael. They have Germanized many Gadhelic names which 
had previously been Cymricized. 

The names of Northern and Central France are still more 
decisively Celtic than those of Germany. Without this evi- 

1 We find the roots Hatty gwent^ afon^ is, stour^ dwry tre^ ter, A large 
number of words are common to the Celtic and Latin languages. Compare, 
for instance, the words sagitta and saighead^ lorica and luireach^ tdum and 
tailm. 



158 THE CELTS. 



dence we should have no conception of the real amount of 
the Celtic element in France ; for though the Celtic tongue was 
spoken down to the sixth century, it is surprising how very 
few Celtic words have found their place in the French lan- 
guage, though many linger in the provincial dialects. In 
Brittany, the Armorican, a language closely allied to the 
Welsh, is still spoken, and the local names, with hardly any 
exceptions, are derived from Cymric roots, and are in a much 
purer and more easily recognisable form than in other parts. 
But we find that the same names which occur in Brittany are 
also scattered over the rest of Northern France, though more 
sparingly, and in more corrupted forms. Brandes has compiled 
a list of more than three hundred Breton names, which also 
occur in other parts of France. We have avon four times, bryn 
nine times, tre thirty times, as well as llan^ ts, ar, dwr^ and 
garw} In the north-east of France we find a few Gaelic and 
Erse 2 roots which are altogether absent from the local nomen- 
clature of the west, a fact which suggests that the Gaels of Ger- 
many may have taken this road on their way to the British Isles. 
But in South-western France — the region between the Ga- 
ronne and the Pyrenees — ^the Celtic names, which are so 
universally diffused over the other portions of the kingdom, 
are most conspicuously absent. The names which we find in 
this district are not even Indo-European, but belong to quite 
another family of human speech — the Turanian, which includes 
the languages which are now spoken by the Turks, the Mag- 
yars, the Finns and Lapps of Northern Europe, and their 
distant congeners the Basques, who inhabit the western portion 
of the Pyrenees. These Spanish mountaineers, who now 
number three-quarters of a million, seem to be the sole un- 
absorbed remnant of the powerful race which once occupied 
the greater portion of Spain, the half of France, the whole of 

^ The theory has been advanced that the Bretons of Brittany were a 
colony from Cornwall or Devon. No doubt there was a great amount of 
intercourse. The Cornwall and Devon of France afforded refuge to the 
emigrants expelled by the Saxons from the Cornwall and Devon of England ; 
but the local names of France prove conclusively that the Bretons were 
once more widely spread. 

' The Glossa Mcdperga, recently disinterred by Leo, contains the laws of 
a Belgian tribe, written in a language nearly akin to Irish. 



EUSKARIANS. 159 



Sardinia and Corsica, and large portions of Italy. The philo- 
logical evidence of the existence of this people in our own 
islands is but faint, being limited to some half-dozen names 

such as CAITHNESS, HIBERNIA, BRITAIN, and SILURIA. The 

ethnologist, however, readily identifies the short-statured, dark- 
eyed, dark-haired "Silurian" race, which is so prevalent in 
South Wales and the west of Ireland, with the Gascon or 
Basque type of the Pyrenean region. It is doubtful whether 
these Ligurians, Iberians, or Euskarians, as they are called, 
crossed into Spain by the Straits of Gibraltar, or whether they 
crept along the coast of the Mediterranean from Liguria, and 
penetrated by the north-eastern defiles of the Pyrenees. The 
absence of Iberic names from Eastern Europe and Asia seems 
to make it probable that the Iberians crossed from Africa, and 
spread over Spain, and thence to France, the Italian coast- 
land, and the Mediterranean Islands. There appear, however, 
to be a few Euskarian names in Thrace. The ethnology of Spain 
has been discussed in an admirable and exhaustive manner 
by Wilhelm von Humboldt. The materials of this investiga- 
tion consist chiefly of the ancient names which are found in 
Pliny, Ptolemy, Strabo, and the Itineraries. These names he 
endeavours to trace to Celtic or Euskarian roots, and compares 
them with the Basque names now found in the Asturias. One 
of the most prevalent words is asta^ a rock, which we have in 

ASTURIA, ASTORGA, ASTA, ASTEGUIETA, ASTIGARRAGA, ASTOBIZA, 

ASTULEZ, and many other names. The root ura^ water, occurs 

in ASTURIA, ILURIA, URIA, VERURIUM, URBIACA, and URBINA. 

Iturrta^ a fountain, is found in the names iturissa, turas, 
TURiASO, TURDETANi, and TURiGA. The characteristic Euskarian 
terminations are uris, pa, etani, etania} gts, ilia, and ula. The 
characteristic initial syllables are «/, ar^ as, bae, bi, bar, ber, cat, 
ner, sal, si, tat, and tu. These roots are found chiefly in Eastern 
and Northern Spain, in the valley of the Tagus, and on the 
southern coast, while in Galicia, in the valleys of the Minho' 
and the Guadiana, and in Southern Portugal, the names are 
purely Celtic, and there seems to have been no infusion of 
an Euskarian element. Various fortresses in the Iberic district 

* See p. 39, supra, 

' The Mynnow or Mynwy, on which Monmouth stands, is the same name. 



i6o THE CELTS. 



bear Celtic names, while in the mountainous district of Central 
Spain a fusion of the two races would seem to have taken 
place, probably by a Celtic conquest of Iberic territory, and 
the Celtiberians, as they are called, separated the pure Celts 
from the pure Iberians. 

In Aquitania proper there is hardly a single Celtic name — all 
are either Iberic or Romance. In Italy Iberic names are not 
uncommon,^ and it has been thought that some faint traces ot 
a Turanian, if not of an Iberic population, are perceptible in 
the names of Egypt, North-western Africa, and Sicily. 

In the British Isles, the Gaelic, the Erse, the Manx, and the 
Welsh are still living languages. Just as in Silesia and Bohe- 
mia the Sclavonic is now gradually receding before the German 
language, so in the British Isles a similar process has been 
going on for more than fourteen centuries. We have docu- 
mentary evidence of this process. The ancient documents 
relating to the parishes north of the Forth exhibit a gradually 
increasing proportion of Teutonic names. In the Taxatio ot 
the twelfth century only 2^ per cent, are Teutonic ; in the 
Chartularies from the twelfth to the fourteenth century the pro- 
portion rises to 4 per cent., and in the tax-rolls of 1554 to 
nearly 25 per cent. In the south of the island a similar re- 
trocession of the Celtic speech may be traced. Thus in the 
will of Alfred, Dorset, Somerset, Wilts, and Devon, are enu- 
merated as " Wealhcynne," a phrase which proves that these 
counties were then Celtic in blood and language, although 
politically they belonged to the Anglo-Saxon commonwealth. 
Dr. Guest has shewn that the valleys of the Frome and the 
Bristol Avon formed an intrusive Welsh wedge, protruding 
into the Saxon district. Athelstan found Britons and Saxons 
in joint occupation of the city of Exeter. He expelled the 
former, and drove them beyond the Tamar, and fixed the 
Wye as the boundary of the Northern Cymry. Harold, son 
of Godwin, ordered that every Welshman found east of Ofia's 
Dyke should have his right hand struck off. Even so late as 
the time of Henry 11. Herefordshire was not entirely Angli- 

^ We find URIA in Apulia, astura near Antium, asta in Liguria, as 
well as LIGURIA, BASTA, BITURGIA, and others which are compounded with 
the Euskarian roots, asfa, a rock, ura, water, and t/ia or uita, a city. 



RETROCESSION OF CELTS IN ENGLAND. i6i 



cized, and it was only in the reign of Henry Vlll.vthat Mon- 
mouthshire was first numbered among the English counties. 
In remote parts of Devon the ancient Cymric speech feebly 
lingered on till the reign of Elizabeth, while in Cornwall it was 
the general medium of intercourse in the time of Henry VIII. 
In the time of Queen Anne it was confined to five or six 
villages in the western portion of the county, and it has only 
become extinct within the lifetime of living men (a.d. 1777),^ 
while the Celtic race has survived the extinction of their 
language with little intermixture of Teutonic blood. In the 
west of Glamorgan, in Flint, Denbigh, and part of Mont- 
gomery, the English language has almost entirely displaced the 
Welsh, and in the other border counties it is rapidly encroach- 
ing. In fact, we may now see in actual operation the same 
gradual process which has taken place throughout the rest of 
Britain. In Wales, the change of language, now in progress, 
is accompanied by hardly any infusion of Saxon blood. The 
same must also have been the case at an earlier period. In 
Mercia and Wessex, at all events, we must believe that the 
bulk of the people is of Celtic blood. The Saxon keels can- 
not have transported any very numerous population, and, no 
doubt, the ceorls, or churls, long continued to be the nearly 
pure-blooded descendants of the aboriginal Celts of Britain. 

These theoretical conclusions are thoroughly borne out by 
the evidence of the local names. Throughout the whole 
island almost every river-name is Celtic, most of the shire- 
names contain Celtic roots,^ and a fair sprinkling of names 
of hills, valleys, and fortresses, bears witness that the Celt 
was the aboriginal possessor of the soil ; while in the border 
counties of Salop, Hereford, Gloucester, and Devon, and in 
the mountain fastnesses of Derbyshire and Cumberland, not 
only are the names of the great natural features of the country 
derived from the Celtic speech, but we find occasional village- 

^ Many Cornish words still survive, as quilquin, a frog. 

3 Cambridge, Cornwall, Cumberland, Devon, Dorset, Durham, Glouces- 
ter, Hertford, Huntingdon, Kent, Lancaster, Lincoln, Monmouth, North- 
umberland, Oxford, Worcester, and York, together with all the Welsh and 
Scotch shires, except Anglesea, Montgomery, Haddington, Kirkcudbright^ 
Selkirk^ Stirling, Sutherland, and Wigton. 

M 



1 62 



THE CELTS. 



names, with the prefixes Ian and /r<?, interspersed among the 
Saxon patronymics. A large number of the chief ancient 
centres of population, such as London, Winchester, Glouces- 
ter, EXETER, LINCOLN, YORK, MANCHESTER, LANCASTER, and 

CARLISLE bear Celtic names, while the Teutonic town-names, 
such as BUCKINGHAM, READING, and DERBY, usually indicate 
by their suffixes that they originated in isolated family settle 
ments in the uncleared forest, or, like Stafford, Bedford, and 
CHELMSFORD, arose from the necessities of traffic in the neigh- 
bourhood of some frequented ford. These facts, taken together, 
prove that the Saxon immigrants, for the most part, left the 
Celts in possession of the towns, and subdued, each foi 
liimself, a portion of the unappropriated waste. It is obvious, 
therefore, that a very considerable Celtic element of population 
must, for a long time, have subsisted, side by side with the 
Teutonic invaders, without much mutual interference. In 
time the Celts acquired the language of the dominant race, 
and the two peoples at last ceased to be distinguishable. Just 
in the same way, during the last two centuries, Anglo-Saxon 
colonists have been establishing themselves among the abori- 
gines of North America, of the Cape, and of New Zealand, 
and the natives have not been at once exterminated, but are 
being slowly absorbed and assimilated by the superior vigour 
of the incoming race. 

To exhibit the comparative amount of the Celtic, the Saxon, 
and the Danish elements of population in various portions 
of the island, an analysis has been made of the names of 
villages, hamlets, hills, woods, and valleys, in the counties 
of Suffolk, Surrey, Devon, Cornwall, and Monmouth. River 
names are excluded from the computation. 



Per centage of Suffolk 
Names from the : ^""o»^- 



Celtic . . . . 
Anglo-Saxon 
Norse .... 



2 

90 
8 



Surrey. Devon. 



8 
I 



32 

65 

3 



Corn- 
wall. 


Mon- 
mouth. 


Isle of 
Man. 


Ire- 
land. 


• 


80 


76 


59 


80 




20 


24 


20 


19 










21 


I 





ESTIMATE OF THE CELTIC ELEMENT. 163 



By far the greater number of Celtic names in England are 
of the Cymric type. Yet, as we have already seen, there is 
a thin stream of Gadhelic names which extends across the 
island from the Thames to the Mersey, as if to indicate the 
route by which the Gaels passed across to Ireland, impelled, 
probably, by the succeeding hosts of Cymric invaders. 

The Cymry held the lowlands of Scotland as far as the 
Perthshire hills. The Celtic names in the valleys of the 
Clyde and the Forth are, as a rule, Cymric rather than Gaehc 
in their character. At a later period the Scots,^ an Irish sept, 
crossed over into Argyle, and gradually extended their dominion 
over the nearly related Gadhelic tribes who occupied the 
Highlands, encroaching here and there on the Cymry who held 
the Lowlands, and who were probably the people who go by 
the name of Picts. In the ninth century the monarchy of the 
Picts was absorbed by that of the Scots. The Picts, however, 
still maintained a distinct ethnical existence, for we find them 
fighting in the battle of the Standard against Stephen. In 
the next century they disappear mysteriously from history. 

To establish the point that the Picts — or the nation, what- 
ever was its name — that held Central Scotland, were Cymric, 
not Gaelic, we may refer to the distinction already men- 
tioned between ben and pen. Ben is confined to the west 
and north ; pen to the east and south. Inver and aber are also 
usefiil test-words in discriminating between the two branches 
of the Celts. The difference between the two words is dialectic 
only; the etymology and the meaning are the same — a con- 
fluence of waters, either of two rivers, or of a river with the 
sea. Aber occurs repeatedly in Brittany, as abervrack and 
AVRANCHES, and it is found in about fifty Welsh names, such 

as ABERDARE, ABERGAVENNY, ABERGELE, ABERYSTWITH, and 

BARMOUTH, a comiption of Abermaw. In England we find 
^^^ord in Yorkshire, and .^^nvick in Northumberland ; and 
it has been thought that the name of the humber is a cor- 
ruption of the same root. Inver^ the Erse and Gaelic form, 
is common in Ireland, where aber is unknown. Thus we find 

1 In ancient records Scotia means Ireland. North Britain was called 
Nova Scotia. In the twelfth century the Clyde and the Forth were the 
southern boundary of what was then called Scotland. 

M 2 



i64 THE CELTS. 



places called inver, In Antrim, Donegal, and Mayo, and 
iNVERMORE in Gal Way and in Mayo. In Scotland, the invers 
and abers are distributed in a curious and instructive manner. 
If we draw a line across the map from a point a little south 
of Inverary, to one a little north of Aberdeen, we shall find 
that, with certain exceptions, the invers lie to the north-west 
of the line,^ and the abers to the south-east of it.* This line 
roughly coincides with the present southern limit of the Gaelic 
tongue, and probably also with the ancient division between 
the Picts and the Scots. Hence, we may conclude that the 
Pic^ts, a people belonging to the Cymric branch of the Celtic 
stock, and whose language has now ceased to be anywhere 
vernacular, occupied the central and eastern districts of Scot- 
land, as far north as the Grampians ; while the Gadhelic Scots 
have retained their language, and have given their name to the 
whole country. The local names prove, moreover, that. in 
Scotland the Cymry did not encroach on the Gael, but the 
Gael on the Cymry. The intrusive names are invers , which 
invaded the land of the abers. Thus on the shores of the Frith 
of Forth we find a few invers among the abers, ^ The process 
of change is shewn by a charter, in which King David grants 
the monks of May, "Jnverin qui fuit Abierin." So Abemethy 
became Invernethy, although the old name is now restored. 
The Welsh word uchd^ high, may also be adduced to prove 
the Cymric aflftnities of the Picts. This word does not exist 
in either the Erse or the Gaelic languages, and yet it appears 
in the name of the ochil Hills, in Perthshire. In Ayrshire, 
and again in Linlithgow, we find places called ochil-tree ; 
and there is an uchel-tre in Galloway. The suffix in this case 
is undoubtedly the characteristic Cymric word tre^ a dwelling. 
Again, the Erse bally y a town, occurs in 2000 names in Ireland ; 
and, on the other hand, is entirely absent from Wales and 
Brittany. In Scotland tliis most characteristic test-word abounds 

^ Inverary, Inverness, Inveraven, Inverary, Inveroran, Inverlochy, In- 
vercannich, Inverfankaig, Invercaslie, Inverallen, Inverkeithnie, Inver* 
amsay, Inverbroom, Invereshie, Invergarry, Invernahavoii. 

* Arbroath or Aberbrothwick, Abercorn, Aberdeen, Aberdour, Aber- 
nethy, Abertay, Aberledy, Abergeldie, Abernyte, Aberfeldie, Aberfoyle. 

• E.g. Inveresk, near Edinburgh, Inverkeithing in Fife, Inverbervie in 
Kincardine. 



THE ISLE OF MAN. 16:? 



in the inver district, while it is extremely rare among the abers. 
The evidence of these four test-words leads us to the conclusion 
that the Celts of the Scottish lowlands belonged to the Cymric 
branch of the Celtic stock. 

The ethnology of the Isle of Man may be very completely 
illustrated by means of local names. The map of the island 
contains about 400 names, of which about 20 per cent, are 
English, 21 per cent, are Norwegian, and 59 per cent, are 
Celtic. These Celtic names are all of the most characteristic 
Erse type. It would appear that not a single colonist from 
Wales ever reached the island, which, from the mountains of 
Carnarvon, is seen like a faint blue cloud upon the water. 
There are ninety-six names beginning with Balla^ and the names 
of more than a dozen of the highest mountains have the prefix 
Slieu^ answering to the Irish Siievh or Sliabh. The Isle of 
Man has the Curraghs, the Loughs, and the Aliens of Ireland 
faithfully reproduced. It is curious to observe that the names 
which denote places of Christian worship ^ are all Norwegian ] 
they are an indication of the late date at which Heathenism 
must have prevailed, and help to explain the fact that so many 
heathen superstitions and legends still linger in the island.^ 

^ In the Channel Islands the names of all the towns and villages are de- 
rived from the names of saints, indicating that before the introduction of 
Christianity these islands were inhabited only by a sparse population of 
fishermen and shepherds. 

2 On Celtic names consult Zeuss, Grammatica CelHca ; Gliick, Die bd 
Caius Julius Cdsar vorkommenden Keltischen Namen gestdlt und erldutert ; 
Leo, Vorlesungen ; zxiA Feriengesckriften ; Diefenbach, Celtica ; Chalmers, 
Caledonia ; Prichard, Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations ; Baxter, Glos- 
mrium ; Salverte, Essai sur les Noms ; Ferguson, River Names of Europe ; 
Williams, Essays; Davies, Celtic Researches ; Skene, Celtic Topography oj 
Scotland; Dunker, Origines GermaniccB ; Radlof, Neue Untersuchungen 
les Keltenthumes ; Robertson, Gaelic Topography of Scotland ; Betham, 
The Gad and the Cymbri; Mone, Celtische Forschungen ; De Belloguet, 
EthnogSnie Gaulois ; Brandes, Ethnograpkische Verhaltniss der Kdten und 
Germanen; Contzen, Die Wanderungen der Kdten; Pott, Etymologise he 
Forschungen; Poste, Britannic Researches; Keferstein, Ansichtcn iiber die 
ITdtischen Alterthumer 



c:hapter X. 

THE HISTORIC VALUE OP LOCAL NAMES. 

C&Mti ast between Roman and Saxon cizn/tgaium, as shewn by Local Names — 
Roman roads — " Gates'''^ — Bridges and fords — Celtic bridges — Deficiency of 
tnns — Cold Harbour — Saxon dykes — Roman walls — Scucon forts — **Bury " 
— Ancient camps — Chester, caster, andcaer — Stations of the Roman Legions 
— Frontier districts — Castile — The Mark — Pfyn — Devises — Ethnic shire- 
names of England — Intrusive colonization. 

There is a striking contrast between the characteristics of 
Saxon and Roman names. The Saxon civilization was domestic, 
the genius of Rome was imperial ; the Saxons colonized, the 
Romans conquered. Hence, the traces of Roman rule which 
remain upon the map are surprisingly few in number. Through- 
out the whole island, we scarcely find a single place of human 
habitation denoted by a name which is purely Roman. ^ The 
names of our English villages, with few exceptions, are Scan- 
dinavian or Teutonic ; while the appellations of the chief centres 
of population and of the great natural landmarks — ^the rivers 
and the mountains — ^are the legacy of a still earlier race. 

The character of Roman names is very different Rome, 
with her eagle eye, could cast a comprehensive glance over a 
province or an empire, and could plan and execute the 
vast physical enterprises necessary for its subjugation, for its 
material progress, or for its defence. The Romans were es- 
sentially a constructive race. We still gaze with wonder on the 
massive fragments of their aqueducts, their bridges, their am- 
phitheatres, their fortresses, and their walls ; we still find their 

^ Exceptions are speen, anciently Spinas, pontefract, ponteland, 

CAERLEON, PORCHESTER, and CHESTER. 



ROMAN ROADS. 167 



altars, their inscriptions, and their coins. The whole island is 
intersected by a network of Roman roads, admirat)ly planned, 
and executed with a constructive skill which is able to excite 
the admiration even of modern engineers. These are the true 
monuments of Roman greatness. 

The Saxons were not road-makers. Vast works undertaken 
with a comprehensive imperial purpose were beyond the range 
of Saxon civilization. The Saxons even borrowed their name 
for a road from the Latin language. The Roman strata^ or 
paved roads, became the Saxon streets. This word street often 
enables us to recognise the lines of Roman road which, straight 
as an arrow-course, connect the chief strategic positions in the 
island. 

Thus, from the fortified port of Lymne an almost disused 
road runs across the Kentish Hills to Canterbury, bearing the 
name of stone street. From the fortified port of Richborough 
the road which the Saxons afterwards called watling street, 
the "pilgrims' road," went to Canterbury and London, and 
thence by stony stratpord, the "paved Street-ford," to 
Chester, the " castra " of the northern army, ryknield street 
led from Tynemouth, through York, Derby, and Birmingham, 
to St. David's, icknield street led fi-om Norwich to Dor- 
chester and Exeter. London and Lincoln were joined by the 
ERMiN street, or " paupers' road." The Roman road by 
which sick men journeyed from London to bathe in the hot 
springs at Bath, went, in Saxon times, by the appropriate name 
of akeman street, an appellation which survives in the name 
of a hollow called jacuman's bottom. The Westmoreland 
mountain called high street derives its name from the Roman 
road which crosses it at a height of 2,700 feet. 

Even where the Roman roads have become obliterated by 
the plough, we may often trace their direction by means of the 
names of towns, which proclaim the position they occupied on 
the great lines of communication. Such are the names of ard- 
wicK le street in Yorkshire, Chester le street in Durham, 
stretton, stratton, streatham, streatley, and several 
places called stretford or stratford, all of which inform us 
that they were situated on some line of Roman road. Roman 
roads which do not bear the name of street are often called 



i68 HISTORIC VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 



Portways, There are nine Portways in different parts of the 
kingdom. The fossway also was a Roman road, running from 
Cornwall to Lincoln. 

In the Scandinavian districts of the island, the word gate'^ is 
commonly used to express a road or street, as in the case of 
HARROGATE. In York, Leeds, Lincoln, and other northern 
towns, the older streets usually bear this suffix. In Leeds we 
find BRiGGATE or Bridge Street, and kirkgate or Church Street. 
In York this suffix was borne by no less than twenty of the 
streets, as in the case of micklegate, walmgate, jubbergate, 

FEASEGATE, GODRAMGATE, CASTLEGATE, SKELMERGATE, PETERS- 
GATE, MARYGATE, FISHERGATE, and STONEGATE. We find MILL- 
GATE STREET and ST. MARYSGATE in Manchester, and cowgate 
and canongate in Edinburgh. 

In the South the word gate usually takes the sense of 
the passage through a town wall, as in the case of newgate, 
BiSHOPSGATE, and the other gates of London. In the name 
of HiGHGATE, howevcr, we have the sense of a road. 

The passes through lines of hill or cliff are frequently denoted 
by this root. Thus reigate is a contraction of Ridgegate, the 
passage through the ridge of the North Downs, gatton, in 
the same neighbourhood, is the " town at the passage." sar- 
RAT was anciently Sceargeat, the passage between the shires of 
Hertford and Buckingham, ramsgate, Margate, westgate, 
kingsgate, and sandgate, are the passages to the shore through 
the line of Kentish cliffs. In Romney Marsh gut takes the 
place oi'gate^ as in the case of jervis gut, clobesden gut, and 
denge marsh gut. 

The difficulties of travelling must formerly have interposed 

1 The Danish word gata means a street or road. The Anelo-Saxon geat 
means a gate. The distinction is analogous to that which exists in the case 
of the word ford. (See p. 1 06, supra,) The one is a passage along^ the 
other a passage through. The root is seen in the German verb geken, and 
the English go. Compare the Sanskrit gatif and the Zend gitu, which 
both mean a road. From the same primary meaning of a passage we ob- 
tain^/, the intestinal passage, and the nautical term gatj a passage through a 
narrow channel, as the cattegat. A gate is the passage into a field. A 
man's gait is the way he goes ; his gaiters are his goers. O^exgates is the 
Sussex provincialism for otherways. The ghats, or ghauts, of India are the 
passages to the river-sides and the passes through the hill-ranges. 



ROADS AND BRIDGES. 169 



great obstacles in the way of commercial intercourse. Local 
names afford various intimations that the art of bridge-building, 
in which the Romans had excelled,^ was not retained by the 
Anglo-Saxons. Thus the station on the Tyne, which in Ro- 
man times had been called Pons -^lii,^ received from the 
Anglians the name Gateshead, or, as we may translate it, 
" road's end ;" an indication, it would seem, of the destruction 
of the bridge. At the spot where the Roman road crosses the 
Aire, the name of pontefract (Ad Pontem Fractum) reminds 
us that the broken Roman bridge must have remained unre- 
paired during a period long enough for the naturalization of the 
new name ; and the name of Stratford le bow contains in- 
ternal evidence that the dangerous narrow Saxon ford over the 
Lea was not replaced by a "bow," or "arched bridge," till 
after the tim»e of the Norman Conquest.^ 

But nothing shews more conclusively the unbridged state of 
the streams than the fact that where the great lines of Roman 
road are intersected by rivers, we so frequently find important 
towns bearing the Saxon suffix -ford. At oxford, Hereford, 

HERTFORD, BEDFORD, STRATFORD ON AVON, STAFFORD, WALLING- 

FORD, GUILFORD, and CHELMSFORD, Considerable streams had 
to be forded. In the kingdom of Essex, within twenty miles 
of London, we find the names old ford, stratford, ilford, 

ROMFORD, WOODFORD, STAPLEFORD, PASSINGFORD, STANFORD, 

CHiNGFORD, and STORTFORD. We find the same state of things 
in Kent. The Medway had to be forded at aylesford, the 
Darent at dartford and at otford, and the Stour at ash- 
ford. 



^ The importance attached by the Romans to the art of bridge-building 
is indicated by the fact that the chief ecclesiastical functionary bore the 
name of the bridge-builder — Pontifex, 

' The piles on which the Roman bridge rested were discovered in 177 1. 
There seems to have been another bridge built by iElius on the continua- 
tion of the Roman road northward. Six miles from Newcastle we find the 
village-name of ponteland, apparently a corruption of Ad Pontem iElia- 
num. There was also a Roman bridge at paunton, Ad Pontem. 

• The bridge was built by Matilda, queen of Henry I. The town of 
ISONBRIDGE in Shropshire dates from the year 1779, when an iron bridge, 
the first of its kind, was thrown across the Severn, and a town rapidly 
sprang up at its foot 



I70 HISTORIC VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 



The great deficiency of bridges is still more forcibly impressed 
upon us when we remember that while the names of so many 
large towns present the suffix ford^ there are only a very few 
which terminate in bridge. We have tunbridge, weybridge, 
UXBRIDGE, STOCKBRiDGE, CAMBRIDGE/ and a few more, all of 
which stand on small and easily-bridged streams. But in all 
these cases the English form of the suffix seems to shew the 
comparatively modem date of the erection, and names which 
take a Saxon form, such as brixton, or Bristol, anciently 
Bricgstow, are extremely rare. 

It should be noticed that pont^ the Welsh word for a bridge, 
is derived from the Latin, probably through the monks, who 
were the great bridge-builders. Nevertheless it has been thought 
that the art of bridge-building was known at ^ very early period 
to the Celtic nations, and was subsequently lost. In the most 
purely Celtic parts of Spain and France, a very large number 
of the names of riverain cities terminate in briga and briva, 
which, in the opinion of many Celtic scholars, must have meant 
a bridge. They think it is an ancient Aryan word, older than 
the epoch of the separation of the Teutonic and Celtic stems, 
and which disappeared from the Celtic speech at the time when 
the art of bridge-building was lost^ 

The hardships incident to travelling must have been much 
increased by the fewness of houses of entertainment along the 
roads. Where no religious house existed to receive the way- 
farer, he would usually be compelled to content himself with 
the shelter of bare walls. The ruins of deserted Roman 
villas were no doubt often used by travellers who carried their 
own bedding and provisions, as is done by the frequenters 

I CambonVum, the ancient name of Cambridge, gives us the Celtic root 
rhydy a ford, which we find also in ^^A/edna, the British name of Oxford, 
and in Hert-ioxd. (Rhyd-ford), where we have two synonymous elements. 
The Celtic rhod^ a roadstead, and rkyd^ or red, a ford, bear much the same 
relation to each other as the "Norse J^'ord and the Saxon /ord. 

* In Spain we have Turobriga, Segobriga, Lacobriga, Arcobriga, and 
others, thirty-five in all. In Celtic Gaul there are Eburobriga, Limnobriga, 
and Amagenbriga, and Brivate and Durocobrivis in Britain. An allied 
form is drta, which we find in Mesembria, Selymbria, and Poltyobria, in 
Celtic colonies on the Euxine. Brescia was in the Celtic part of Italy. 
The names of Bregentz, Braganza, Brian9on, and perhaps of the Brigantes, 
contain the same root 



SAXON DYKES— ROMAN WALLS. 171 



of khans and serais in the East. Such places seem commonly 
10 have borne the name of cold harbour.^ In the neighbour- 
hood of ancient lines of road we find no less than seventy 
places bearing this name,^ and about a dozen more bearing the 
analogous name of caldicot, or '* cold cot" 

The only great works constructed by the Anglo-Saxons were 
the vast earthen ramparts which served as the boundaries 
between hostile kingdoms. For miles and miles tlie dyke and 
ditch^ of the wansdyke — the ancient boundary of Wessex — 
still stretch across the bleak downs of Somerset and Wilts. 
Beginning near Portishead, on the Bristol Channel, it runs by 
Malmesbury and Cirencester, to Bampton in Oxfordshire ; it 
then crosses the Thames, and reappears at a place called kin- 
SEY. This name is a corruption of King's Way, and shews that 
the dyke must have been used as a road as well as for pur- 
poses of defence, offa's dyke, which stretched from Chester 
to the Wye, guarded the frontiers of Mercia against the Welsh. 
grim's dyke near Salisbury, old ditch near Amesbury, and 
bokerly ditch, mark the position of the Welsh and Saxon 
frontier at an earlier period. The ditch called the picts* work, 
reaching from Galashiels to Peel Fell, seems to have been at 
one time the boundary between the Anglian kingdom of North- 
umbria and the Pictish kingdom to the west. A vast work, 
variously called the recken dyke, the devil's dyke, st. Ed- 
mund's dyke, and cnut's dyke, served as the defence of the 
kingdom of East Anglia against Mercia ; unless, indeed, we 
suppose, as is not improbable, that it was constructed at a time 
when the Mercian kingdom was still British, and the East- 

^ Compare the German Ilerberg, shelter, and the French auberge. 

' There are three on Akeman Street, four on Ermin Street, two on Ick- 
nield Street, two on Watling Street, two on the Portways, and one on the 
Fossway. 

^ The Anglo-Saxon die is derived from the root which supplies us with 
the verb to dig, and is used to mean both the mound and the excavation. 
In modem English we call one the dyke and the other the ditch. Pro- 
bably the masculine and feminine of the Anglo-Saxon die supplied the 
original germ of the distinctive use. The common village-name of ditton 
(dyketon) may sometimes guide us as to the position of these dykes. Fen 
Ditton and Wood Ditton, in Cambridgeshire, stand respectively on the 
Fleam Dyke and the Devil's Dyke. 



172 HISTORIC VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 



Anglian settlement was the sole possession of the Teutons in 
the island.^ 

But these Saxon defences were at the best mere earthworks, 
and are not to be compared, in a constructive point of view, 
with the two Roman walls which stretched across the island 
from sea to sea. The Wall of Hadrian, or of Sevems, as it is 
called, ran from Newcastle to Carlisle, and is still in wonderful 
preservation. But even if the massive masonry and huge 
earthen rampart of this wall had perished, it would be easy to 
trace its direction by means of the continuous series of memorial 
names which are furnished by the villages and farm-houses 
along its course. It began at wallsend, now famous as the 
place where the best Newcastle coals are shipped. We then 
come in succession to places called Benze/^/, ^f^bottle, Hed- 
don-on-the- ^df//, Welion, J^//houses, Wall, J^A^ick Chesters, 
W^/shiels, ^f^//town, Thirla/dj//, Bixdo^waldy WallhomSy WaU 
ton, Oldwally WallkiioW, WallmiW, and Wa/Ibyy with IVal/end, 
Wallioot, and WallhtoA at the western end. The wall was, 
moreover, protected by fortified posts at regular intervals. The 
sites of these fortresses go by the names of blake (Black) 

CHESTERS, RUTCHESTER, HALTON CHESTERS, CARROWBURGH, 
CHESTERHOLM, GREAT CHESTERS, BURGH, and DRUMBURGH. 

The northern wall, or Wall of Antoninus, extended from 
the Forth to the Clyde, and goes by the name of grime's 
DYKE.^ DUMBARTON, DUMBUCK Hill, and DUNGLAS were pro- 
bably fortified stations along its course. 

Fortified camps, whether of British, Roman, Saxon, or 
Danish construction, are very commonly marked by the suffix 
bury. To enumerate any considerable portion of these names 
would far exceed our limits ; but merely to shew how this 
suffix may guide the antiquarian in his researches, it may suffice 
to exhibit the results obtained from a single county. In Wilt- 
shire alone there are, or were in Camden's time, military earth- 
works in existence at the places called Chisbury, Boadbury, 

^ The Mercian kingdom was founded 140 years after that of Kent, and 
we have seen that the East-Anglian settlement was probably much earlier 
than that in Kent. 

* There is also a Grimesditch in Cheshire, and there are four other earth- 
works bearing the same name, slightly altered. 



ANCIENT CAMPS. I73 



Abuiy, Yanesbmy, Ambresbury, Selbury, Sidbury, Badbury, 
Wanborough, Burywood, Barbury, Oldbury, Rybury, Westbury, 
Battlesbury, Avesbury, Scratchbury, Waldsbury, Biloury, Win- 
klebury, Chiselbury, Clerebury, Whichbury, Frippsbury, and 
Ogbury ; while at Malmesbury, Salisbury, Heytesbury, Rames- 
bury, Titsbury, and Marlborough, the sites of British or Saxon 
earthworks seem to have been used for the erection of Norman 
casdes. 

A competent etymological investigation of the first syllable in 
these names might probably yield results not destitute of value. 

The Roman stations throughout the island may very fre- 
quently be recognised by the fact that their modem names 
contain a modification of the Latin word castra} These modi- 
fications are very curious, as exhibiting the dialectic tendencies 
in different portions of the island. Throughout the kingdoms 
of Essex, Sussex, Wessex, and in other purely Saxon districts, 
the form Chester is universal. Here we have the names of 
Colchester, Godmanchester, Grantchester, Chesterford, Irches- 
ter, Rochester, Winchester, Ilchester, Chichester, Silchester, 
Porchester, and two Dorchesters. But as we pass from the 
Saxon to the Anglian kingdoms, we find Chester replaced by 
caster. The distinctive usage of these two forms is very 
noticeable, and is of great ethnological value. In one place 
the line of demarcation is so sharply defined that it can 
be traced within two hundred yards. Northamptonshire, 
which is decisively Anglian and Danish, is divided by the 
Nen from Huntingdonshire, which is purely Saxon. On the 
Saxon side of the river we find the village of chesterton, 
confironted on the other side by the town of castor, the two 
names recording, in two different dialects, the fact that the 
bridge was guarded by the Roman station of Durobrivse (water- 
bridge). Throughout the Anglian and Danish districts we find 
this form ccLster^ as in Tadcaster, Brancaster, Ancaster, Don- 

* One sylkble of names containing Chester^ caster ^ oxcaer^ is tksoally Celtic, 
and seems to have been a Latinization of the enchorial name. In Win- 
Chester the first syllable is the Latin venta^ a word which was constructed 
from the Celtic g;went^ a plain, -^zwchester contains a portion of the 
Latinized name Binovium. In ZP^Trchester and Ex^Xjtx we have the Celtic 
words dwr and msge^ water ; in Manchester we have man, a district 



I 

i 



174 HISTORIC VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 



caster, Lancaster, Casterton, Alcaster, Castor, and Caistor. 
As we pass from East Anglia to Mercia, which, though mainly 
Anglian, was subject to a certain amount of Saxon influence, 
we find cester^ which is intermediate in form between the 
Anglian caster and the Saxon Chester, The e is retained, but 
the h is omitted ; and there is a strong tendency to further 
elision, as in the case of Leicester, pronounced Le'ster ; Bices- 
ter, pronounced Bi'ster ; Worcester, pronounced Wor'ster ; 
Gloucester, pronounced Glos*ter, and Cirencester, pronounced 
S'isester or Si's'ter. The same tendency is seen in the cases of 
Alcester, Mancester, and Towcester. It is still more noteworthy 
that beyond the Tees, where the Danish and Mercian influence 
ceases, and where almost all the local names resume the pure 
Saxon type, we find that the southern form Chester reappears ; 
and we have the names Lanchester, Binchester, Chester-le- 
Street, Ebchester, Ribchester, Rowchester, Fichester, Chester- 
knows, Chesterlee, Chesterholm, Rutch ester, and a few others 
on the Wall. 

Towards the Welsh frontier the c or ch becomes an x^ and 
the tendency to elision is very strong. We have Wroxeter, 
Uttoxeter, pronounced Ux'ter, and Exeter, which in Camden's 
time was written Excester. 

These names on the Welsh frontier exhibit a gradual 
approximation to the form which we find in the parts 
where the Celtic speech survived, where castra is replaced 
by the Welsh prefix caer in the names of Caerleon, Caergai, 
Caergwyle, Caersws, Caerwent, Caerphilly, Caerwis, and the 
still more abbreviated forms of Carstairs, Carluke, and Carri- 
den in Scotland, Carhayes in Cornwall, Carmarthen, Cardigan, 
Cardifl", and Carnarvon in Wales, Carhallock, Carlisle, and 
Carvoran ^ in England, Caher and Cardross in Ireland. With 
these forms we may compare Caerphili and Caerven in Brittany, 
Cherbourg in the Celtic peninsula of Cornuaille, and Carsoli, 
Carosio, Carmiano, Carovigno, and Cortona, in the Celtic part 
of Italy.2 

^ Great Chesters, on the Wall, is an exact reproduction of the Celtic name 
Carvoran, frpm which it is only three miles distant. As in the case of 
Chesterton^and Castor, we have here an indication of the close geographical 
proximity in which different races must have lived. 

^ Chester and castor are, undoubtedly, from the Latin castra. But there 



STATIONS OF ROMAN LEGIONS. i7S 



The Latin word colonia is found in the names of uncoln, 
COLOGNE, and kul6nia in Palestine, and perhaps also in those 
of COLCHESTER and the two rivers called the colne, one of 
which rises near the site of the colonia of Verulamium, and the 
other flows past Colchester. In the immediate vicinity of Col- 
chester a legion was stationed for the protection of the colony. 
The precise spot which was occupied by the camp of this legion 
is indicated by the remains of extensive Roman earthworks at 
LEXDON, a name which is a corruption of L^onis Dunum, 
The Second Legion — Legio Augusta — was stationed on the 
river Usk, or Isca, at a place called, in the Roman time, Isca 
Legionis. The process by which the modern name of caer- 
LEON has been evolved is indicated in the work which bears 
the name of Nennius : " bellum gestum est in urbe Leogis, 
quse Brittanice Cair Lion dicitur." Another legion we find at 
LEICESTER (Legionis castra). 

The station of the seventh legion was in Spain, at leon 
(Legionis Castra), that of the Claudian legion at kloten in 
Switzerland. Megiddo in Palestine, where another legion was 
quartered, now goes by the name of ledji&n, or lejjun 
(Castra Legionis). 

Roman military stations in Gaul were commonly called 
TabemcB. ^abemse Triborocorum is now saverne ; Tabemse 
Rhenanae is rhein zabren ; and Tabernae Bononienses is 
DEVRES near Boulogne. 

The numerous " peels " along the Scottish border are an evi- 
dence of the insecurity arising from border warfare in times 
when every man's house was, in a literal sense, his castle also. 
The hill where the border clan of the Maxwells used to as- 
semble previous to their dreaded forays bears the appropriate 
name of the wardlaw (guard-hill). A reference to this tryst- 
ing place is contained in the war-cry of the clan, " I bid you 
bide Wardlaw." 

is considerable doubt whether caer is a modification of castra^ or an inde- 
pendent Celtic root We have the British and Cornish ctur^ the Armorican 
keTf and the Irish cathair and cc^ir^ a fortress, and the Welsh cae^ an indo- 
sure, and coTy a close. Compare the Hebrew and Phcenidan word Kartha, 
which is seen in the names of -AT/rjath, JCerioth^ Kivt and Carthage, and is 
identical in meaning with the Celtic caer. If there is no affiliation^ this is 
a very remarkable coincidence of sound and meaning. 



176 HISTORIC VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 



A similar state of society is indicated by the name of cas- 
riLE, as well as by the castle which appears on the armorial 
bearings of that kingdom. The name and the device date 
from the times of continuous border warfare, when the central 
portion of the peninsula was, mile by mile, being wrested from 
the Moors, and secured by an ever-advancing line of frontier 
castles. 

At a later period, when the unbelievers had been finally ex- 
pelled from Northern and Central Spain, the debateable ground 
was the province which now goes by the name of murcia. This 
word means the district of the "march" or margin, the de- 
marcsition between two alien races. To make a mark is to 
draw a boundary. Letters of marqtie are letters which contain 
a licence to harass the enemy beyond the frontier. A Mar- 
grave, Mark-graf, Earl of March, or Marquess was the Warden 
of the Marches, who held his fief by the tenuie of defending 
the frontier against aggression, and this important office gave 
him rank next to the Duke or Dux, the leader of the forces of 
the shire. The root is found in all the In do-Germanic lan- 
guages, and is probably to be referred to the Sanskrit maryd, a 
boundary, which is a derivative of the verb smri, to remember. 
We may compare the Latin margo^ and the Persian marg, a 
frontier. The imcleared forest served as the boundary oi^tgau 
of the Teutonic settlers. Hence the Scandinavian mdrk, a 
forest, and the English word murky, which originally denoted 
the gloom of the primaeval forest The chase took place in 
the forest which bounded the inhabited district, hence the 
Sanskrit mrga, chase, hunting. A huntsman being nearly syno- 
nymous with a horseman, we have the Celtic marc^ a horse, 
which has found its way into the English verb to march, and 
the French word markka!, a groom or farrier. The Earl Mar- 
shal was originally the "grand farrier," or "master of the 
horse " — a great officer of state, like the grand falconer. 

The Scotch and the Welsh marches, for many centuries, 
occupy an important place in English history as the border- 

^ Gaelic and Erse, marc ; Welsh, Cornish, and Brezonec mar'ch. Com- 
pare the Anglo-Saxon mear^ a horse, whence the English mare. According 
lo Ammianus Marcelliniis, the war-cry of the Sarmatians was Marha, 
Marha, "to horse, to horse." 



THE MARK. 177 



lands between England, and her ancient enemies in Scotland 
and Wales. The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of mercia was the 
frontier province between the East Angles and the Welsh. On 
the frontier line we find marbrook and marchomley in Shrop- 
shire^ MARBURY in Cheshire, and markley in Herefordshire. 
On the frontier between the Celts of Cornwall and the Saxons 
of Devon, stands the village of marham. We have seen that 
the valleys of the Frome and Avon remained Celtic long after 
the surrounding country had been occupied by the Saxons. 
Some three or four miles to the south-west of Bath stands 
the village of merkbury, the " fortress of the march " or 
boundary of the Welsh district The names of the adjoining* 
villages of englishcombe and English batch seem to mark 
oudying portions of the English territory. The town of 
MARCH in Cambridgeshire is close to the sharply defined 
frontier line of the Scandinavian kingdom, and on the frontier 
of the outlying Danish colony in Essex we find a place called 
comarques. 

Throughout Europe we find this word march or mark enter- 
ing into the names of outlying or frontier provinces. The 
marcomanni of Tacitus were the marchmen of the Sclavonic 
frontier of Germany." The names of the provinces of altmark, 
MiTTELMARK, UKERMARK,^ and NEUMARK, which collectively 
constitute the mark of Brandenburg, shew the successive 
encroachments of the Germans on the Poles ; Altmark, or the 
'* Old Mark," being the farthest to the west, while Neumark, 
the " New Mark," is the farthest to the east. Denmark was 
the Danish frontier, finmark, and four provinces called 
lappmark, shew the five successive stages by which the 
Scandinavian invaders encroached upon the territory of the 
Fins and Lapps, moravia takes its name from the March, or 
Mor-ava, a oordering river.* steyermark, or Styria, as we 
Anglicize the word, formed the south-eastern frontier between 

1 Grimm thinks that the Marcomaiini were the men of the forest, rather 
than the men of the firontier. 

* The name of the Ukermark contains two synonymous elements — 
Ukraine being a Sclavonic word, meaning a fi*ontier. The Ukraine or 
the Dnieper was the southern frontier of the ancient kingdom of Poland. 

^ The suffix ava is the Old High German aha^ a riv^. 



178 HISTORIC VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 



the Germans, and the Hungarians and Croats. Here we find 
the border town of marburg. The boundary of the Saxon 
colony in Westphalia is shewn by the district called march, 
and there is a place called marbach on the frontier of the 
Swabian settlement in Wiirtemberg. On the frontiers of the 
Saxon colony in Picardy we find the rivers marbecq and 
MORBECQUE, a dykc called the mardick, and the village of 
MARCK. In the Vosges, on the frontier of the Alemannic 
population of Alsace, we find the town of la marche. One 
of the old provinces of France, called marche, was the fi*ontier 
between the Franks and the Euskarians of Aquitaine. The 
March of Ancona, and the other Roman Marches which are 
now annexed to the kingdom of Italy, together with the 
Marquisate of Tuscany, formed the southern boundaries of 
the Carlovingian empire. The Marquisate of Flanders was 
erected at a later period as a barrier against the Danes, and 
on its frontier are two towns called marchiennes. In fact, all 
the original Marquisates, those of Milan, Verona, Carniola, 
Istria, Moravia, Cambe, Provence, Susa, Montserrat, and many 
others, will be found to have been marks or frontier territories. 

Two names survive which indicate ancient boundaries of the 
Roman empire. The name of the Fiume della fine, near 
Leghorn, is a corruption of the Roman name. Ad Fines. This 
river, about the year 250 B.C., formed the extreme northern limit 
of the Latin confederacy. The Canton Valais in Switzerland 
is curiously divided between a German- and a French-speaking 
population. The Romans left the upper end of the valley to 
the barbarous mountaineers, and their descendants now speak 
German. The lower part, which was included within the 
Roman rule, is now French in language. The line of linguistic 
demarcation is sharply drawn in the neighbourhood of Leuk. 
On this line we find a village which is called pfyn, a name 
which marks the fines^ the confines both of the Roman rule 
and of the language of the conquerors. 

A somewhat similar name is found in England, devizes 
is a barbarous Anglicization of the Low Latin Divisce, which 
denoted the point where the road from London to Bath 
passed into the Celtic district. Even so late as the time of 
Clarendon, the name had hardly become a proper name, being 



ETHNIC SHIRE-NAMES OF ENGLAND. 179 



called The Devizes, in the same way that Batli was called 
The Bath in the time of Addison. 

The former state of our island, divided between hostile 
peoples — Saxon, Celt, and Dane — is indicated not only by 
such names as Mercia and March, but by those of several 
of our English counties. Cumberland is the land of the 
Cymry. Cornwall, or Corn-wales, is the kingdom of the 
Welsh of the Horn, devon is the land of the Damnonii, a 
Celtic tribe ; kent that of the Cantii ; Worcestershire that 
of the HuiciL Sussex, essex, wessex, and Middlesex were, 
as the names imply, the kingdoms of the southern, eastern, 
western, and central Saxons. In Robert of Gloucester, tlie 
name of surrey appears in the form of Sothe-reye, or the 
south realm. Norfolk and Suffolk were the northern and 
southern divisions of the East-Anglian folk. The position on 
the map of what we call Northumberland — the land north of 
the Humber — proves that it was by aggression from the south 
that the Northumbrian kingdom, which once stretched north- 
ward from the Humber, was reduced to the restricted limits 
of the modern county. Everyone must have noticed that a 
certain number of shire-names are derived from the names 
of the county towns, as in the case of Oxfordshire or War- 
wickshire, while others are tribal or territorial, as devon, 
DORSET, or ESSEX. This distinction is not arbitrary, but has 
a curious historical basis. With hardly an exception, names 
of the former class belong to the Mercian or Northumbrian king- 
doms, which were conquests or annexations, posterior in date 
to the Saxon tribal immigration. Successive districts, as they 
were annexed, took their names from the town in which the 
earl held his court, and from which he governed his conquered 
earldom. Names of the one class point out the hmits of 
the original tribes or kingdoms ; those of the other class mark 
the boundaries of the subject provinces. 

These county names may serve to remind us of the origin 
of the discordant fragments that have at length been welded 
into a national unity ; while numerous village-names, such as 

SAXBY, FLEMINGSBY, FRANKBY, FRISBY, FINSTHWAITE,^ SCOT- 

1 We have Frankby in Cheshire, four Franktons in Salop, and one in 
Warwick, Frankley in Worcester, and Frankham in Dorset We find a 

N 2 



i8o HISTORIC VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 



THORPE, NORMANBBY, and DANBY, provc from how wide 
an area those bands of adventurers were collected who 
made their swords the title-deeds to portions of our English 
soil. 

At the close of the period of Roman occupation, the Bar- 
barian auxiliaries must have formed a not inconsiderable 
element in the population of Britain. From the " Notitia 
Imperii," and from inscriptions, we learn that there weie 
legions recruited from Moors, Cilicians, Dacians, Sarmatians, 
Tungrians, Batavians, and from sundry tribes of Gaul, Spain, 
and Germany, which were located in various parts of Britain. 
There were Indians stationed at Cirencester; Thracians in 
Yorkshire, in Shropshire, at Cirencester, and on the Wall ; and 
Dalmatians in Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and on the Wall. Local 
names preserve a few traces of these military colonies. The 
names of quat and quatford,^ near Bridgenorth in Salop, 
and of T0NG,2 in Yorkshire, have been thought to bear witness 
to settlements of Quadi and of Tungrians. The ancient 
name of hunnum on the Wall, and the modern one of Hun- 
stanton, in Norfolk, may possibly be due to the Huns. 
There is only one name of this class, however, which can be 
referred to with any confidence. We are informed by 
Zosimus that large bodies of Vandal auxiliaries were settled 
in Britain by the Emperor Probus, and Gervase of Tilbury 
informs us that Vandalsburgh in Cambridgeshire was a forti- 
fication raised by them. Vandalsburgh is undoubtedly to 
be identified with the huge earthwork called wandlesbury, 
which occupies the summit of the Gogmagog Hills, wendle- 
BURY, near Bicester, in Oxfordshire; windlesham, near 
Woking, in Surrey ; windleden and wendel Hill, in York- 
shire; and wiNDLE, in Lancashire, may, some of them, be 
Vandal settlements. 

Henry of Huntingdon informs us that the Picts, during one 

Friesthorpe in Lincolnshire, two Frisbys in Leicestershire, Frieston in Lin- 
colnshire and Sussex, and two in Suffolk, Frystone in Yorkshire, Friesden 
in Bucks, and Frisdon in Wilts. We have Finsthwaite in Lancashire, 
F'ineston in Lincolnshire, Finsham in Norfolk, and Finstock in Oxon. 

^ More probably from the Celtic cotd^ a wood. 

• More probably Norse. 



INTRUSIVE COLONIZATION. iSi 



of their incursions, advanced as far as Stamford, where they 
suffered a bloody repulse. The remnant of this invading 
host may with some probability be traced at pitchley in 
Northamptonshire, a place which, in Domesday, is called 
Picts-lei and Pihtes-lea, the laga or settlement of the Picts 
or Pehtas.^ 

NANT-Y-GWYDDYL, the "Valley of the Gael," in the Black 
Mountains, is one among several places in Wales where frag- 
ments of an earlier Gadhelic race seems to have survived in 
the midst of their Cymric conquerors. 

Beyond the confines of England we find numerous names 
which denote intrusive colonization, or the settlement of the 
remains of defeated armies. One of the most curious of these 
is scYTHOPOLis, a strong natural rock-fortress in Eastern Pales- 
tine, the name of which is probably a record of the Scythian 
invasion in the reign of Josiah, which is recorded by Hero- 
dotus.' 

It is probable that the modern Greeks are mainly Sclavonic 
rather than Hellenic, in blood. At all events the names of 
SERViANiKA and CRAVAiTA shew that Servians and Croats 
penetrated into the Morea. In Westphalia we find the adja- 
cent villages of frankenfeld and sassenberg, and in Hesse 
Cassel FRANKENBERG and SASSENBERG Stand face to face. In 
the Rhineland, frankfurt and frankenthal^ are settle- 
ments of the Franks, just as katzellenbogen and sachsen- 
HAUSEN are of the Saxons, flamandville and sassetot in 
Normandy, and sueveghem in Flanders, are among the nume- 
rous names of the kind which might easily be collected. A 
curious tradition derives the name of Canton schwytz 
from a Swedish colony which settled there at some remote 
period. The westmann isles, opposite Hjorleifs Head on 

^ The pronunciation of this name, Peitchley, strongly favours the etymo- 
logy suggested in the text. Compare also the phrases Sexena-laga, the seat 
or district of the Saxons, and Danelagh, that of the Danes. 

^ Herodotus, i. c. 105 ; Zephaniah, ii. 5, 6. It is possible that there 
may be truth in the tradition which asserts that the Frank Mountain, in the 
same neighbourhood, was a refuge of the Crusaders. 

3 The ancient forms of these two names shew that they are derived from 
the nationality of the inliabitants, and not, as is usually supposed, from the 
possession of ceitaui franchises. 



l82 HISTORIC VALUE OF LOCAL NAMES. 



the coast of Iceland, were the refuge of some westmen^ or Irish 
slaves, who slew their master, Hjorleif, and then, seizing a boat, 
fled for their lives to the neighbouring islets.^ 

^ On the subject of this chapter consult Bruce, The Roman Well ; Harts- 
hunie, Scdopia Aniujua ; Horsley, Britannia Romana ; Vosi^, Britanni- 
Researches ; Wright, Wanderings of an Antiquary^ and Essays on Archoeo- 
logical Subj^ts ; Baxter, Glossarium ; Gough's Camden ; and the works of 
Guest, Diefenbach, Gliick, Kemble, Gamett, and Latham. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE STREET NAMES OF LONDON. 

The walls of Old London — Gradual extension of the town — Absorption of 
surrounding tnllages — The Brooks; the Holbomy the Tyburn^ and the 
Westboume — Wells^ conduits^ ferries — Monastic establishments of London 
—Localities of certain trades — Sports and pastimes — SUes of residences 
of historic families preserved in the names 0/ streets — The Palaces of the 
Strand — Elizabethan London — Streets dating from the Restoration. 

The ^history of many cities has been deciphered from inscrip- 
tions, and so the history of Old London may, much of it, be 
deciphered from the inscriptions which we find written up at 
the comers of its streets. These familiar names, which catch 
the eye as we pace the pavement, perpetually remind us of the 
London of bygone centuries, and recall the stages by which 
the long unlovely avenues of street have replaced the elms and 
hedgerows, and have spread over miles of pleasant fields, till 
scores of outlying villages have been absorbed into a " bound- 
less contiguity " of brick and mortar. 

By the aid of the street names of London let us then endea- 
vour to reconstruct the history of London, and, in the first 
place, let us take these names as our guide-book in making the 
circuit of the old City Walls. The ancient wall started from 
the Norman fortress on tower hill, and ran to aldgate — 
the " Old Gate." Through bishopsgate the Bishop of London 
used to ride forth to hunt in his woods at Stepney. Between 
aldgate and bishopsgate the wall was protected by an open 
ditch, two hundred feet broad, whose name, houndsditch, 
sufficiently indicates the unsavoury nature of its contents. 
camomile street and wormwood street remind us of the 



i84 THE STREET NAMES OF LONDON. 

desolate strip of waste ground which lay immediately within 
the wall, and of the hardy herbs which covered it, or strove to 
force their rootlets between the stones of the grey rampart. 
In continuation of the street called Houndsditch, we find a 
street called London wall. Here no ditch seems to have 
been needed, for the names of finsbury, moorfields, moor 
LANE, and MOORGATE STREET, hand down the memory of the 
great Fen or Moor — an "arrant fen," as Pennant quaintly 
calls it^which protected the northern side of London. On 
this moor, just outside the wall, was the artillery ground,' 
where the bowmen were wont to assemble to display their skill. 
Where the fen terminated the wall needed more protection, 
and here accordingly we find the site of the barbican, one of 
the gateway towers, which seems to have guarded aldersgate, 
the chief entrance from the north. Considerable remains of 
the wall are still visible in castle street, as well as in the 
churchyard of St. Giles', cripplegate. Passing by newgate 
we come to the old bailey, a name which is derived from the 
ballium or vallum^ an open space between the line of the outer 
wall and the advanced gate of the city.' The wall now turned 
southward, and ran along the crest of ludgate hill, its western 
face being protected by the fleet,^ a small stream which 
flowed along the ditch of the city wall, which was here called 

1 Hard by we find artillery street, where the Bowyers and Fletchers 
fabricated longbows and cloth-yard shafts. The word artillery ^ in Old 
English, denotes bows and arrows, and it retained this meaning till the 
seventeenth century, for we find the word used in this sense in i Sam. xx. 
where our version reads, '*And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, 
and said unto him. Go, carry them to the city." 

2 In a similar position with respect to the city wall, we find the OLD 
bayle at York, the church of St. Peter in the Bailey at Oxford, and Bailey 
Hill at Sheffield and Radnor. A bailiff was originally the Bayle-reeve, or 
officer in charge of the Ballium ; just as the sheriff is the shire-reeve. A 
bail^ is etymologically a palisade. Thus the bails at cricket were originally 
the' stumps, the present restricted meaning of the word being of later origin. 
The Roman vallum^ and the English wally arc etymologically stockades. 
So also is Bally^ the commonest prefix in Irish village-names. 

^ The words floody fleets and floaty come from the Anglo-Saxon verb 
ficotattf to lloat or swim. A. fleet is either that which is afloat, or a place 
where vessels can float — that is, a channel, or where water fleets or runs. 
Hence the names ebbfleet, northfleet, southfleet, purfleet, 
and PORTFLEiCT. The word vley, which the boers of the Cape use for the 



THE WALLS. 185 



the FLEET DITCH. The river Fleet also gave its name to the 
street which crossed it at right angles, and entered the city by 
Fleetgate, Floodgate, or ludgate. A Norman fortress erected 
at the same time as the Tower of London stood at the 
angle formed by the wall and the Thames. A wharf which 
occupies the site, as well as one of the city wards, still retain 
the name of castle baynard, although every vestige of the 
fortress has long disappeared, dowgate and billingsgate 
were two of the passages through that part of the wall which 
protected the city from assailants coming from the riverside. 

The small space within the walls of Old London was almost 
eicactly of the same shape and the same area as Hyde Park. 
As the last syllable of its name indicates, London was origin- 
ally a dun or Celtic hill-fortress, formed by Tower Hill, Corn- 
hill, and Ludgate Hill, and eflfectually protected by the Thames 
on the south, the Fleet on the west, the great fen of Moorfields 
and Finsbury on the north, and afterwards by the Houndsditch 
and the Tower on the east. 

For a long period London was confined within the limit of 
its walls. In the reign of Edward I. charing was a country 
village lying midway between the two cities of London and 
Westminster, and ST. martin's-in-the-fields long continued 
to be the village church. Along the strand of the river hardly 
a house had been built in the time of Edward III., and no 
continuous street existed till the reign of Elizabeth. Even 
then, to the north of this straggling line of houses, the open 
country extended from Lincoln's inn fields to the village 
church of st. giles' in the fields. James I. ordered the 
justices to commit to prison any p.erson presuming to build 
upon this open space, long acre, formerly a field called 
" The Elms," or " The Seven Acres," was not built upon 
till the reign of Charles I. And scarcely a century ago a 
man with a telescope used to station himself in Leicester 
FIELDS — now Leicester Square— and offer to the passers-by, at 
the charge of one half-penny, a peep at the heads of the 
Scotch rebels which garnished the spikes on Temple Bar. 

If, two or three centuries ago, what now forms the heart of 

smaller rivers, is the same word fleet (Dutch, vliet)^ in a somewhat dis- 
guised form. 



i86 THE STREET NAMES OF LONDON. 



London was unbuilt upon, it was at a still more recent period 
that Kensington, Brompton, Paddington, Dalston, Stoke New- 
ington, and Islington, remained detached country villages, 
though they are now districts incorporated with the wilderness 
of streets. There was a coach which took three hours to nm, 
or rather to flounder through the ruts, from the village of Pad- 
dington to London : and Lord Hervey, in country retirement 
at Kensington, laments that the impassable roads should cause 
his entire isolation from his friends in London. 
The names spitalfields, bethnal green, field lane, 

CLERKENWELL GREEN, PADDINGTON GREEN, VINE STREET, MOOR- 
FIELDS, SMITHFIELD, COLDBATH FIELDS, ST. GEORGE'S FIELDS, 
SPA FIELDS, ROSEMARY LANE, COPENHAGEN FIELDS, and KINGS- 
LAND, indicate the rural character of the districts that separated 
the outlying villages from the neighbouring city. In these 
fields the citizens could take pleasant country walks with their 
wives, while their children clambered over Goodman's style, 
in Goodman's fields, to drink fresh milk from Farmer Good- 
man's cows, or, on rare occasions, went nutting on notting 
HILL. In WINDMILL STREET, Fiusbury, there was a windmill 
built on the lop of a large mound composed of bones and 
earth which had been carted from the churchyard of Old St. 
Paul's ; there was another windmill in windmill street, at 
the top of the Haymarket ; and there was a water-mill in 
milford lane, Strand. In tothill fields there was a bear 
garden, and the hounds of the Lord Mayor's pack were ken- 
nelled at DOGHOusE-BAR, in the City Road. In the fields by 
the side of the brook which has given its name to Brook 
Street, an annual fair was held on the site of Curzon Street and 
Hertford Street — a rural fete whose memory is preserved in 
the name of the fashionable region of mayfair. 

The names of the present streets will enable us to trace 
the courses of the brooks which ran through these country 
fields. The Httle stream called the holborn, rising near 
Holborn Bars, gave its name to the street down which it 
flowed;^ and after turning the mill at turnbull or Turnmill 

1 The "Old Bourne," or burn, is tlie etymology of "The Holborn," 
which is universally given — thoughtlessly copied, according to the usual 
custom, by one writer frv^jm another. That a village or town should be 



THE BROOKS. 1^7 



Street, it joined the fleet river at Holbom Bridge. From 
this point to the Thames the Fleet was navigable, at all 
events by barges, as is attested by the names of seacoal 

lANE and NEWCASTLE LANE. 

Finsbury and Moorfields were drained by the walbrook, 
which passed through the wall in its course to the Thames. 
At BUDGE ROW — a corruption of Bridge Row — there was a 
bridge over this brook. Two or three centuries ago the 
stream was vaulted over, and walbrook street was built 
upon the ground thus gained. The langbourne, another of 
the city streams, has given its name to one of the London 
wards ; and sherbourne lane, near London Bridge, marks 
the course of the Sherbourne. Further to the west, the posi- 
tions of two small rivulets which crossed the Strand are denoted 
by ivvbridge lane and strand-bridge lane. 

The TYBURN, a much larger stream, after passing by the 
church of St. Mary le bourne, or marylebone, and crossing 
the great western road near Stratford Place, passed across 
brook street, and down engine street, to the depression 
of Piccadilly. The hollow in the Green Park is, in fact, the 
valley of the Tyburn, and the ornamental water in front of 
Buckingham Palace was the marsh in which it stagnated 
before its junction with the Thames. 

To the west of the Holbom and the Tybum we find the 
WESTBOURNE, with its affluent the kilburn. Where this 
stream crossed the great western road, it spread out into a 
shallow BAY-WATER, where cattle might drink at the wayside. 
On the formation of Hyde Park a dam was constructed across 
the valley of the Westboume, so as to head up the water, thus 
forming the serpentine river, which leaves the park at Albert 
Gate, and crosses the Kensington Road at knightsbridge. 

It would appear that the water supply of Old London, when 
not derived from the Thames, the Holborn, or the Tybum, 

called Oldham, Aldborough, or Newton, is intelligible, but how a name 
like Oldbourne should have arisen is difficult to explain. The introduction 
of the h is another difficulty in the way of this etymology. It seems far 
more in accordance with etymological laws to refer the name to the Anglo- 
Saxon hole^ a hollow, or ravine ; the Holbom will therefore be ** the Burn 
in the hoUow," like the Holbeck in Lincolnshire, and the Holbec in 
Normandy. 



i88 THE STREET NAMES OF LONDON. 



was obtained from numerous wells — clerkenwet.i. or the 
priesfs well, bridewell or St. Bridget's well, holywell/ 
Sadler's wells, bagnigge wells, and others, — and in later 
times from the conduits or fountains which gave a name to 
lamb's conduit street, and conduit street, Regent Street. 
The use of the shoreditch, the Walbrook, the Sherbourne, 
the Langbourne, and the Fleet, was, we will hope, discon- 
tinued at a comparatively early period. 

Redriff, or rotheriiithe, St. Mary somerset, a corruption 
of Summer's Hithe, stepney, anciently Stebenhithe, queen- 
HiTHE, and LAMBETH, or Lambhithc, mark some of the chief 
" hithes " or landing-places on the banks of the Thames.^ 

Close to London Bridge we find the church of St Mary 
OVERY, or St Mary of the Ferry.^ This name, if we may 
believe the old traditions, recalls the time when the Thames 
was unbridged, and when the proceeds of the ferry formed the 
valuable endowment of the conventual church. So horse- 
ferry ROAD is a reminiscence of the ferry which Westminster 
Bridge has superseded. 

The monastic establishments were chiefly situated in the 
fields around the city, their sacred character rendering un- 
necessary the protection of the walls. Convent, or covent 
GARDEN,^ was the garden of the monks of Westminster abbey. 
The name of the Chartreuse, or Carthusian convent, has been 
corrupted into the charterhouse. At canonbury, Islington, 
was an affiliated establishment of the canons of St. Bartholo- 
mew's Priory, now sT. Bartholomew's hospital, spital 
SQUARE occupies the site of the churchyard belonging to the 
church of the priory and hospital of St Mary, which stood 

I am not aware that any etymology of the name of WYCH STREET has 
been proposed. Like Wynch Street in Bristol, it may be probably derived 
from the wynch of the public well of Holywell. 

' The names of Eritli and Greenhithe, lower down the river, contain the 
same root. 

^ This etymology, as well as the myth of the miserly ferryman and his 
fair daughter, are open to grave suspicion. St. Mary Overy is probably 
St. Mary Ofer-ea, or St. Mary by the water-side. The Anglo-Saxon ofer 
is the same as the modem German ufer, a shore. 

^ So ORCHARD STREET, Bristol, was the garden of a monastery, and 
CULVER street was the columbarium. 



MONASTIC ESTABLISHMENTS. 189 



beyond the walls in spital-fields. In Austin friars, Broad 
Street, stood the convent of the Augustines; that of the 
Minoresses, or Nuns of St. Clare, was in the minories, just 
outside the eastern wall; and in crutciied friars. Tower 
Hill, was that of the Cnitched Friars, distinguished by the 
cross upon their dress.^ In monkwell street was a hermitage 
belonging to the Monastery of Garendon in Leicestershire, and 
in HOLYWELL STREET, Shoreditch, the Priory of the Nuns of 
Sl John the Baptist, st. katherine's docks occupy the site 
of the abbey of St. Katherine. The Knights of the Temple 
of Jerusalem occupied what is now the temple ; the round 
church, built on the model of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, 
being the only part of the ancient building still remaining. At 
ST. John's gate, Clerkenwell, we find a vestige of the other 
great military order, the Hospitallers, the Knights of the 
Hospital of St. John, of Jerusalem, Rhodes, and Malta. 

To several of the convents belonged sanctuaries, or precincts 
possessing the valuable privilege of freedom from arrest. The 
BROAD SANCTUARY belonged to the abbot and monks of West- 
minster. The monastic establishment of the savoy enjoyed 
similar privileges, gloster court, Blackfriars, is a corrup- 
tion of Cloister Court, and marks the site of the convent of 
the BLACK FRIARS, or Domiuicans, who together with the 
white friars, or Carmelites, and the grey friars, or Fran- 
ciscans,^ possessed the privileges of sanctuary, the abuse of 
which has conferred an unenviable notoriety upon the districts 
to which these immunities were attached. The monastery of 
the Greyfriars is now Christ's Hospital. The cloisters and the 
buttery are the only parts of the old edifice now remaining. 

1 A crutch is the old English word for a cross. A cripple*s crutch has a 
cross piece of wood at the top. Crouchmass was the festival on the 14th 
of September, held in honour of the Holy Cross. To crouch is to bend the 
body into the form of a cross. CrocJiet work is performed with a crooked 
needle. A person who has a crotchet has a crook in the mind. A crotchet 
in music is a crooked note. A shepherd's crook is crooked at the top. 

3 The Augustines, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, and the Carmelites, 
were the four mendicant orders, whose sphere of labour lay among the 
crowded population of great cities. The Benedictines and Cistercians had 
I heir establishments, for the most part, in country districts, where they dis- 
charged the duties uf great feudal landowners. 



/go THE STREET NAMES OF LONDON. 



The Greyfriars were sometimes called the Minorites, but the 
name of the Minories is derived, as has been said above, from 
the Minoress nuns, and not from the Minorite Friars. 

Special districts in the city, or in the suburbs, were assigned 
to aliens, or appropriated by those who carried on certain 
trades, tooley street, a corruption of St. Olaf s Street, and 
the church of ST. clement danes mark respectively the colony 
and the burying-place of the Danes in the southern and western 
suburbs. The Jews were admitted within the walls, and 
resided in the two districts which still retain the names of 
jEwiN street and the old Jewry. The Lombard pawn- 
brokers and money dealers established themselves in the street 
which bears their name, between the two chief centres of trade, 
the positions of which are denoted by the names of cheapside 
and EASTCHEAP.^ The corn-market on cornhill adjoined the 
grass-market in Grasschurch or gracechurch street, and the 
hay-market in fenchurch street. ^ The wool-market was 
held round the churchyard of ST. mary woolchurch. The 
soapmakers were established in soper*s lane, now Queen 
Street, Cheapside; the buckler-makers in bucklersbury; while 
LOTH BURY, a corruptiou of Lattenbury, was inhabited by the 
workmen in brass and copper, sermon lane is a corruption 
of shiremonger's lane, and was inhabited by the shere- 
moniers, whose business if was to cut bullion into shape ready 
for coining. The mint, in Bermondsey, was the issuing place 
at a later date. The colemen or charcoal-burners sold their 
goods in COLEMAN STREET, and the makers of the trumpets for 
the city watchmen were conveniently located in trump street, 
close to the Guildhall. The names of the poultry, the vintry, 

FISH STREET, BREAD STREET, MILK STREET, LEADENHALL, (a 

coiTuption of Leather Hall,) leather lane, silver street, 
and smithfield, indicate the localities appropriated to other 
trades. 

The streets in the neighbourhood of st. Paul's were occu- 
pied by those who ministered to the temporal and spiritual 
necessities of the frequenters of the church, dean's court, 

* From the Anglo-Saxon ceap^ sale. 

9 The name of Fenchurch is probably firom fxtium ox fom^ hay* The 
western haymakkft dates from a much later period. 



TRADES— RECREATIONS. 191 



doctors' commons, and godliman street, still form an oasis 
of ecclesiastical repose amid the noise and v/hirr of the 
city. At the great entrance of the Cathedral the scene must 
have resembled that which we see at the doors of contine«tal 
churches, which are often blocked up by stalls for the sale 
of rosaries, crucifixes, and breviaries. We read in Stow's 
Survey : '* This street is now called paternoster row, be- 
cause of the stationers or text-writers that dwelled there, 
who wrote and sold all sorts of books then in use, namely 
ABC, or Absies, with the Paternoster, Ave, Creed, 
Graces, &c. There dwelled also Turners of Beads, and 

they were called Paternoster-makers At the end of 

Paternoster Row is ave mary lane, so called upon the 
like occasion of text-writers and bead-makers then dwelling 
there. And at the end of that lane is likewise creed lane, 
late so called, .... and amen corner is added thereunto 
betwixt the south end of Warwick Lane, and the north end 
of Ave Mary Lane." 

Of the recreations of old London but few memorials 
are preserved in names. It is difficult to realize the fact 
that tournaments were held on London Bridge, or in the 
middle of Cheapside. The name of queen street, Cheapside, 
seems to have arisen from an ancient stone balcony which had 
been erected at the comer of the street in order to enable the 
queens of England to enjoy the spectacle of the tourneys 
which on special occasions were held in this great thorough- 
fare. The permanent stone balcony was erected in 1329, 
in consequence of the fall of one of the temporary 
wooden structures previously used. The name of the street 
was bestowed in 1667, when it was rebuilt after the Great 
Fire. 

The city Maypole was erected in front of the church of st. 
ANDREW UNDERSHAFT. The tall shaft, when not required for 
use, lay upon a row of hooks over the house doors in shaft 
ALLEY. The pole was erected for the last time in the year 
15 1 7, and was destroyed by the mob in 1552. 

Drury Lane Theatre was built on the site of a cockpit 
called the Phoenix, the memory of which is perpetuated, 
not only in the " Rejected Addresses," but by the names of 



192 THE STREET NAMES OF LONDON. 



PHCENix ALLEY, leading to Long Acre, and of cockpit alley 
in Great Wyld Street. 

The names of many of our streets preserve the remembrance 
of the sites of the town houses of great historical families. 
These were originally within the walls. Richard III. resided 
in Castle Baynard, and Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, and 
Prince Rupert, in the Barbican, old palace yard reminds us 
of the ancient palace of the kings of England, the site of 
which is now occupied by the Houses of Parliament, addle 
STREET, near the Guildhall, was believed by Stow to owe its 
name to the royal residence of Athelstane, which once stood 
upon the site. In the time of Henry VI. the Percys, Earls of 
Northumberland, had their town house near Fenchurch Street, 
on the spot which still goes by the name of Northumberland 
alley. The De la Poles, Dukes of Suffolk, lived in Suffolk 
LANE, Cannon Street ; duck's foot lane, dose by, is probably 
a corruption of Duke's Foot-lane ; the Manners family resided 
in RUTLAND PLACE, Blackfriars ; the Earls of Devonshire in 
DEVONSHIRE SQUARE, Bishopsgatc ; and the Earls of Bridge- 
water in BRiDGEWATER SQUARE, Barbican. London house 
YARD, in St. Paul's Church-yard, marks the site of the palace 
attached to the See of London. 

The greater security which existed under the Tudor princes 
is shown by the fact, that the protection of the walls was 
found to be unnecessary, and mansions began to cover the 
ground between London and Westminster, where hitherto 
churchmen only had found it sife to reside. 

The Bishops of Bangor, Chichester, Durham, and Ely lived, 
respectively, in bangor court, Shoe Lane; Chichester rents, 
Chancery Lane ; Durham street. Temple Bar; and ely place, 
Holborn. saffron hill, near Ely Place, obtained its name 
from the saffron which grew abundantly in the gardens of Ely 
House. Betvreen the river Fleet and Temple Bar, we find 
SALISBURY square, which occupies the site of the courtyard of 
the old Salisbury House, belonging to the see of Sarum ; while 
DORSET STREET and DORSET COURT, Fleet Street, mark the 
position of the residence of the Sackvilles, Earls of Dorset 
In Clerkenwell we find a Northampton square, which was 
formerly the garden of the Earls of Northampton; and in 



HOUSES OCCUPIED BY HISTORIC FAMILIES. 1^3 

AYLESBURY STREET and COBHAM ROW, both in the same fashion- 
able locality, were the houses of the Earls of Aylesbury, and 
of the celebrated Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham. Lin- 
coln's INN was the town house of Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, 
and gray's inn of the Baron Gray of Wilton. The Wriothes- 
leys, Earls of Southampton, lived in soui'hampton buildings, 
Chancery Lane, and Christopher Hatton, Elizabeth's chan- 
cellor, had his house in hatton garden. 

But the neighbourhood of the Strand was the favourite 
residence of the great nobles, probably because the execrable 
condition of the roads rendered necessary the use of the 
Thames as the chief highway. At the beginning of the seven- 
teenth century the Strand must have presented the appearance 
of a continuous line of palaces, with gardens sloping down to 
the brink of the then silvery Thames, essex street, deve- 
reux court, and essex court, point out the spot where 
Elizabeth's favourite plotted and rebelled. The great space 
which is now occupied by surrey street, Howard street, 
NORFOLK street, and ARUNDEL STREET, is a proof of the 
wide extent of the demesne attached to Arundel House, the 
residence of the head of "all the Howards.** The present 
SOMERSET HOUSE Stands on the site of the palace which was 
built by the Protector Somerset, and which afterwards became 
the residence of Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I. Those 
nests of poverty and crime called clarehouse court, glare 
MARKET, and NEWCASTLE STREET, replace the mansion and 
gardens of Clare House, the residence of the Earls of Clare, 
afterwards Dukes of Newcastle. Near craven buildings, 
Drury Lane, stood the house of Lord Craven, a soldier of the 
Thirty Years' War, celebrated as the hero of Kreutznach, and 
the champion of the Winter Queen. Clifford's inn was the 
mansion of the Baron Clifford. Peter de Savoy, uncle of 
Eleanor of Provence, the queen of Henry III., built for him- 
self a palace at the savoy, which was afterwards converted 
into a conventual establishment. Facing each other, on 
opposite sides of the Strand, stood the mansions of the two 
sons of the great Sir William Cecil, Loid Burleigh. The 
elder son, created Earl of Exeter, occupied his father's house, 
which has now made way for burleigh street, exeter 

o 



194 THE STREET NAMES OF LONDON. 

HALL, and EXETER STREET ; while the younger son, Sir Robert 
Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, built Salisbury House on the site 
where Cecil street and Salisbury street are now standing.^ 
In close proximity to the houses of the Cecils was, as we 
have seen, the " convent garden," belonging to the abbot and 
monks of Westminster. After the dissolution of the monas- 
teries this property came into the hands of the Russell family, 
and here the Earls of Bedford built a mansion, which, about a 
century and a half ago, gave place to Southampton street, 

RtJSSELL street, TAVISTOCK STREET, and BEDFORD STREET. 

The Russells then removed to Bloomsbury, where Bedford 

SQUARE, SOUTHAMPTON STREET, RUSSELL SQUARE, TAVISTOCK 

square, and chenies street, preserve the memory of the 
great house they occupied. Sydney alley and Leicester 
square remind us of another historic name — that of Robert 
Sydney, Earl of Leicester, whose house stood on what is now 

called LEICESTER PLACE. GEORGE STREET, VILLIERS STREET, 
DUKE STREET, OF ALLEY, and BUCKINGHAM STREET, preserved, 

till our own day, every syllable of the name and titles of 
" Steenie," the fortunate and unfortunate favourite of James I. 
and " baby Charles." Of all the palaces which once lined the 
Strand, Northumberland House is the only one which remains. 
If the Strand is full of memories of the statesmen and favour- 
ites of Elizabeth, Piccadilly brings us to the time of the 
Restoration. The street itself takes its name from Piccadilla 
Hall, a shop for the sale of piccadillas, the once fashionable 
peaked or turn-over collars. The clarendon stands on the 
site of the mansion of the great statesman and historian. 
ALBEMARLE STREET and CLARGES STREET preserve the memory 
of Monk, Duke of Albemarle, and of Nan Clarges, the 
butcher's daughter, his duchess ; Arlington street and ben- 
NET STREET, of Henry Bennet, Earl of Arlington ; cork street, 
of Boyle, Earl of Cork ; Coventry street, of Lord Keeper 
Coventry ; dover street, jermyn street, and st. alban's 
PLACE, of Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Albans, one of the heroes ol 
Grammont's Memoirs ; sackville street and Dorset place, 
of Edward Sackville, Earl of Dorset; Cleveland row, of 

* The Adelphi, with the five streets— Robert Street, John Street, George 
Street, James Street, and Adam Street — was built m 1760, by four brothers 
of the name of Adam. 



STREETS DATING FROM THE RESTORATION. 195 

the "beautiful fury," Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland 
and mistress of Charles II. ; while king street, charles 

STREET, ST. JAMES' STREET, DUKE STREET, YORK STREET, and 

THE ALBANY bear the names and titles of the royal brothers, 
Charles II. and James, Duke of York and Albany, and are in 
convenient proximity to pall mall and the mall in St. James's 
Park, where the courtiers played at Faille Maille while the 
merry monarch fed his ducks. 

There are a few scattered names to remind us of persons 
and events memorable in later times, harley street, oxford 

STREET, HENRIETTA STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE, and HOLLES 

STREET, take their names from Harley, Earl of Oxford, and 
his wife Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holies, hans place and 
SLOANE STREET bear the names of Sir Hans Sloane, who invested 
his fees in the purchase of the manor of Chelsea, and in the 
formation of a collection of natural curiosities as celebrated as 
Harley's collection of MSS. or the marbles of the Earl of Arundel. 
piMLico takes its name from a celebrated character of a very 
different order — one Ben Pimlico, who kept a suburban tavern, 
first at Hoxton, but afterwards in the neighbourhood of Chelsea.^ 
The dates at which other streets were built can, in many 
cases, be determined by the names they bear. If the savoy re- 
minds of the queen of Henry III., Portugal street, Lincoln's 
Inn, carries us to the time of the marriage of Charles II. 

QUEEN ANNE STREET, MARLBOROUGH STREET, HANOVER SQUARE, 
GREAT GEORGE STREET, REGENT STREET, KING WILLIAM STREET, 

and VICTORIA street, afford dates, more or less definite, of cer- 
tain metropolitan extensions or improvements ; while Blenheim 

STREET, QUEBEC STREET, VIGO STREET, WATERLOO BRIDGE and 

TRAFALGAR SQUARE are instances of that system of nomen- 
clature which has been so extensively carried out in Paris.^ 

' The MALAKOFF, in like manner, Avas called from a tavern kept by 
Alexander Ivanovitch Malakoff, a ropemaker discharged for drunkenness 
from the arsenal at Sebastopol. Strange origin for a ducal title 1 

2 The chief books on the London Streets are — Stow, Survey of the CUies 
of London and Wesiminster ; Pennant, Some Account of London ; Smith, 
Antiquarian Rambles through the Streets of London ; Pauli, Pictures of OUi 
England; Stanley, TheStudy of Modem History in London ; Cunningham, 
Handbook for London^ Past and Present; Timbs, Curiosities of Lofuion ; 
and Mackavi History of London. 

O 2 



CHAPTER XII. 

HISTORIC SITES. 

Places of popular assembly — Runnimede — Moot-hill — Detmold — The Scandi- 
navian ^* things^* or parliaments — 754^ Thingvellir of Iceland — The Thing' 
wails and Dingwells of Great Britain — TymocUd Hill in the Isle of Man 
— Battlefidds: Lichfield^ Battle^ Slaughter — Conflicts with the Danes — 
Eponymk names — Myths of Early Ent^ish history — Carisbrooke — Hen- 
gist and Horsa — Cissa — jEUe — Cerdic — Offa — Mcus Garmon — British 
chieftains — Valetta — Alexander — Names of the Roman Emperors — 
Modem names of this class. 

In the preceding chapter it has been shown how the history of 
a great city tends to perpetuate itself in its street-names. It 
would be easy, did space permit, to apply the same method of 
investigation to other cities, such as Paris, Rome, or Athens. 
We might show, from the evidence of names, how Paris was 
originally confined to the little island in the Seine, upon which 
the cathedral of Notre Dame now stands; and how the 
LOUVRE was at first a hunting-seat ; and the tuileries a tile- 
yard (French tuile^ a tile). The names of the Palatine, the 
Vatican, and the Janiculum, of the Forum, and the Latin Gate 
at Rome, or of the Ceramicus, the Acropolis, and the Pnyx at 
Athens, would prove similarly suggestive. 

But the instance of London may suffice as an example of 
the value of local names in city history, and in this chapter we 
will rather pursue another department of the subject, and 
collect the names of various scattered historic sites — ^names 
which conserve the remembrance of historic personages, which 
denote the localities of great battles, or of places otherwise 
memorable in the history of the human race. 

The places where popular self-government has at any time 
been exercised are frequently indicated by local names. 

Runnimede, the " meadow of the runes," was the ancient 
Anglo-Saxon field of council ; and on the spot thus consecrated 



PLACES OF POPULAR ASSEMBLY. 197 

to national liberty, the privileges of the great feudatories of 
England were afterwards secured by the Magna Charta. In 
Scotland the ancient place of national assembly was the mote 
HILL at Scone, near the ancient capital of the kingdom. This 
hill, perhaps the most interesting historical memorial in Scot- 
land, has been recently removed, to improve the view from a 
drawing-room window. In the midst of the town of Hawick 
there is a singular conical mound called the moat hill. We 
may notice ^so the names of the moot hill at the eastern 
end of Lyne Bridge, and the mote of the mark in Galloway. 
On the confines of the Lake District there are hills called 
moutay and caermote, and there is a moot hill at Naseby, 
all of which, as well as ludlow, the "people's hill," have 
probably served as the meeting-places of local popular assem- 
blies. The Nottinghamshire mote was held under an oak in 
SHERWOOD (shire-wood), and the county of Berks derives its 
name from the bare oak beside which the shire mote met 

The names of the English Hundreds are often very curious 
and significant, guiding us for the most part to the spot 
appointed for the assemblage of the heads of households in 
prehistoric times. These places are sometimes important 
towns or villages, but quite as often barrows, dikes, trees, 
and heaths — conspicuous landmarks rather than centres of 
population. Thus in the single county of Dorset we have 
HUNDREDS BARROW Hundred, loosebarrow Hundred, bad- 
bury Hundred, ombsditch Hundred, Clifford tree Hun- 
dred, and rushmore Hundred. 

The Stannary Court of the Duchy of Cornwall is an 
assembly which represents, in continuous succession, the local 
courts of the ancient Britons. The court was formerly held 
in the open air, on the summit of crokern tor, where the 
traveller may still trace concentric tiers of seats hewn out of 
the rock. The name of Crokern Tor seems to point to a 
deliberative assembly,^ and wistman's wood, in the immediate 

1 We have the Welsh word gragan^ to speak loud, whence comes the 
English verb to croak, to make a loud noise like a frog or raven. The 
crea^OMg of a door and the name of the Qatncrake are fi-om the same rcot. 
Compare the Sanskrit kru^, to call out, the Greek irpc^^w, and the Latin 
crocire. 



198 HISTORIC SITES. 



neig^ibourhood, suggests the wisdom traditionally imputed to 
the grave and reverend seniors who took part in the debates. 

In Germany there are several places called Ditmold. We 
find the names detmold, dietmale, rodenditmol, and 
KiRCHDiTMOLD. Thesc were all places of popular assembly, 
as the names imply. The first portion of the name is diet, 
people, which we have in the name of Deutschland. The 
suffix is mal, a place of assembly, or court of justice. 

But the most noticeable traditions of ancient liberties are 
associated with the places where the Things} the judicial and 
legislative assemblies of the Scandinavian nations, were wont 
to meet These institutions, of which we find traces in all the 
regions colonized by the Northmen, were derived from the 
parent country, Norway, where there was an Althing, or general 
assembly, and four district Things for the several provinces. 
The Norwegian parliament still goes by the name of the Stor- 
thing, or great council. 

The Thing usually met on some island, hill, or promontory, 
where its deliberations could be carried on secure from lawless 
disturbance. Thus the Swedish parliament used to assemble 
on a mound near Upsala, which still bears the name of iings- 
HOGEN {Thing-hough). One of the chief attractions for Ice- 
landic tourists is a vast sunken lava-plain which bears the 
name of the thingvellir,^ or " council plains." In the midst 
of this plain there is an isolated area, some two hundred feet 
long and fifty broad, which is guarded on every side by deep 
rifts, produced by the cooling of the lava. Across these rifts 
the sole access is by one narrow bridge of rock. This spot, so 
well protected by nature, is called the althing, and, till the 
beginning of the present century, was the assembly-place of 
the " general council " of the whole island. A mound, in the 
midst of the Althing, bears the name of the lSgberg, the 
sacred " hill of laws," from whose summit, for nine hundred 

1 The word thing is derived from the Old Norse tinga, to speak, and is 
allied to the English word to think. 

* Often wrongly called the Thingvalla. This, however, is the genitive 
case. The woi^ vbllr means a plain or field. The root is the Norse z^r, 
a stick or post (Mseso-Gothic valus : cf. the English goat, a 'mmnng-post). 
The vot/r takes its name from the nature of the inclosing fence, like ton^ 
ham^ gntih, stoke, and l>ally. 



THINGS. 199 



years, all the enactments of the Althing had to be promulgated 
before they could receive the force of laws. Each of the 
twelve districts into which Iceland is divided had also its Thing., 
where the peasant-nobles carried into action their privileges ot 
local self-government, thinganes, thingskaler, arnesthing, 
THiNGORE, and thingmuli, were, as the names denote, places 
at which some of these subordinate assemblies were accus- 
tomed to be held. 

The Northmen introduced their Things into England. The 
very name survives among us as a household word. A " meet- 
ing," according to Dr. Dasent, is the mot things or assembly ot 
freeholders, and at the "hustings," or h(mse things^ the duly 
qualified householders still assemble to delegate their legis- 
lative powers to their representatives in parliament In the 
Danelagh, as well as in most of the detached Scandinavian 
colonies, we find local names which prove the former existence 
of these Tilings. 

In the Shetland Islands, sandsthing, aithsthing, delting, 
NESTING, and LUNZiESTiNG, wcre the places of assembly for the 
local Things of the several islands, which were usually held in 
the centre of circles of upright stones, perhaps the erection ot 
an earlier race. The Althing^ or general assembly, seems to 
have been held in the parish of tingwall. Here, in the midst 
of a small fresh-water lake, there is an island which is still 
called the sawting. On this island are four great stones, 
forming the seats for the officers of the court, and the access is 
by stepping-stones laid in the shallow waters of the lake. In 
the Shetlands, the old Norwegian laws are even now admin- 
istered at open courts of justice, which go by the ancient 
name of Lawtings, In the Ross-shire colony we find the 
names of dingwall and tain, while tinwald Hill, near 
Dumfries, was the assembling place of the Norse colonists who 
settled on the northern shore of the Solway. Not far from the 
centre of the Cheshire colony in the Wirall, we find the village 
of thingwall. Near Wrabness, within the limits of the little 
colony in the north-east of Essex, we find a place whose name, 
dengewell, probably marks the spot where the local jurisdic- 
tion was exercised. The three neighbouring Danish parishes 
of Thorp le Soken, Walton le Soken, and Kirby le Soken 



200 HISTORIC SITES. 



possessed the privilege of holding a soke^ or local court, inde- 
pendent of the jurisdiction of the hundred — ^a vestige, probably, 
of their ancient Scandinavian franchises. 

In the absence of all documentary evidence, I was inclined 
to believe that the apparendy Danish names in Devonshire^ 
must be explained from Saxon sources ; I felt that I should 
hardly be justified in placing a Scandinavian colony in that 
county, so far removed from their compatriots in the Danelagh. 
But my hesitation was removed by the accidental discovery 
of an isolated farmhouse bearing the name of dingwell. It 
stands on a plateau, steeply scarped on three sides, and 
about a mile from the village of thur-shed-ton, a name every 
syllable of which is of the Icelandic type, denoting the tun or 
enclosure round the skaaier, or wooden booths, which were 
usually erected at some little distance from the Thingveilir for 
the convenience of persons attending the meeting.^ The 
Thing was inaugurated by sacrifices and religious ceremonies, 
which enables us to understand why the name of the deity 
Thor should appear in the first syllable of this name Thur- 
shelton. These two names, Thurshelton and Dingwell, sur- 
rounded as they are by names of the Norse t)rpe, seem to 
prove that the Northmen must have settled in this remote 
comer of the island in suflUcient numbers to establish their 
usual organized self-government 

In the Danelagh we meet with several places bearing names 
which may, with greater or less certainty, be regarded as meet- 
ing places of local Things, In Northamptonshire we have, near 
Kettering, a place called finedon, which was anciently written 
Thingdon, and there is a place called dingley near Market 
Harborough. We find tinwell in the county of Rutland, 
TiNGRiTH in Bedfordshire, and tingewick, in the north of 
Buckinghamshire, ixworth in thingoe, near Bury St. Ed- 
munds, was probably the meeting place of the Suffolk Thing. 
In Yorkshire, there are tinsley near Rotherham, and thwing 
near Bridlington. In Durham, on the extreme northern border 
of the Danelagh, we find dinsdale, a place which is almost 

^ See p. 1 19 supra, 

« Near Tingwall, in Shetland, we find SCALLOWAY, or Booth Bay. 
foi\xfkgsccflet near Keswick, seems to be an analogous name. 



TYNWALD HILL. 201 



entirely surrounded by one of the bends of the Tees, and is 
thus well protected from hostile intrusion, as is the case with so 
many of these sites. I cannot discover any indication of the 
place where the Lincolnshire Thing assembled, unless indeed 
it be at thimbleby or legbourn. In the Scandinavian district 
of Cumberland and Westmoreland, the word Thing does not 
appear in any local name \ but the Vale of legberthwaite, no 
doubt, contained the loghergy or " hill of laws," from which the 
local enactments were promulgated. 

By far the most interesting of these ancient Westminsters is 
TYNWALD HILL in the Isle of Man. Less than a century ago 
the Isle of Man preserved a sort of quasi independence of the 
British crown, and it was only in the year 1764 that the Duke 
of Athol parted with the last of the royal rights, which had 
descended to him from the ancient Norwegian kings. But 
though the representative of the Norwegian jarls has divested 
himself of his regal prerogatives, the descendants of the vikings 
still retain a shadow of their ancient legislative powers. The 
old Norse Thing has survived continuously in the Isle of Man 
to the present day, though in Iceland, in Norway, and in 
Denmark, its functions have been intermitted, or have long 
ceased The three estates still assemble every year, and no 
laws are valid in the island unless they have first been duly 
proclaimed from the summit of tynwald hill. This is an 
ancient mound some eighteen feet in height, and constructed 
with four concentric circular stages, whose diameters are, 
respectively, 80, 27, 15, and 7 feet. 

The ancient place of the coronation of the kings of England 
was KINGSTON in Surrey, where, in the centre of the town, is 
still to be seen the stone on which the Saxon monarchs sat 
while the ceremony was performed, trondhjem, or drontheim, 
was in like manner the " throne home," or coronation seat of 
the kings of Norway, and konigsberg, in the extreme east of 
Prussia, shews the way in which that agglomerated kingdom 
has extended itself westward from the ancient seat of the grand 
master of the Teutonic Knights, kingsgate, in the Isle of 
Thanet, marks the spot where Charles II. landed after his. 
exile; and queenborough, in the Isle of Sheppey, is a proof 
of the development of the English navy in the time of Edward 



202 HISTORIC SITES. 



III. The manor of Hull, or kingston-upon-hull, was pur- 
chased by Edward I. ; and Coningsby, Coneysby, Conington, 
Cunningham, Kingthorpe, Kinsby, King's Lynn, Lyme Regis, 
and many similar names, denote the residences, or manors, 
of Saxon, Danish, and English monarchs. 

Local names often conserve the memory of famous battles, 
or sometimes they tell us of forgotten contests of which no 
other memorial remains. 

Probably the greatest reverse ever suffered by the Roman 
arms was the defeat which Hannibal inflicted on Flaminius at 
Thrasymene. The brook which flows through this scene of 
slaughter is still called the sanguinetto, and the name of the 
neighbouring village of ossaia shews that the plain must have 
long been whitened by the bones of the fallen Romans. 

The Teutonic division of the Cimbric horde which invaded 
Italy was annihilated by Marius in the year 102 b.c., and the 
slaughter is said to have reached the immense number of 
100,000 men. The battlefield afterwards bore the name of the 
Campi Putridi, a name which is preserved by the Provencal 
village of POURRiisRES. The Temple of Victory built by the 
conqueror is now the parish church of sx. victoire. 

Of the great battles which have changed the course of the 
world's history, few are more important than the defeat of the 
Magyars by the Emperor Otho in the tenth century. This battle, 
regarded as to the magnitude of its results, can only be com- 
pared with the overthrow of the Saracens by Charles Martel. 
The one rescued Christianity, the other saved civilization. 
The Magyar host, like that of the Saracens, was all but 
exterminated, and the name of the leichfeld, or " Field of 
Corpses,'* near Augsburg, informs us of the precise locality 
of the fearful slaughter. The German word leich^ a corpse, 
is preserved in the lychgate of our churchyards, where the 
corpse awaits the approach of the priest ; and in the lyke- 
wakCy or funeral feast, which is celebrated in some parts of 
Scotland. From this root comes the name of lich field in 
Hampshire, where are seven barrows. At lichfield in Stafford- 
shire, the city arms are a field surcharged with dead bodies. 
Tradition refers the name to the martyj-doms of a thousand 



BATTLEFIELDS. 203 



Christian converts. These names, as well as that of leck- 
HAMPSTEAD in Buckinghamshire, are probably memorials of 
battles of which history has presented no certain record. The 
chroniclers tell us that in the year 1173 ^^ army of 10,000 
Flemings under Robert, Earl of Leicester, was almost totally 
annihilated at lackford, near Bury St. Edmund's, by Richard 
Lucy, Chief Justice of England, leckford in Hampshire may 
also not improbably indicate the site of a bloody battle which 
was gained by Cymen over the Britons in this immediate 
neighbourhood. The final overthrow of the Britons by Athelstan 
in the year 936 occurred at a place called bolleit, in Cornwall. 
This name means in Cornish the '* House of Blood." 

The name of battlefield, about three miles from Shrews- 
bury, is a memorial of the decisive contest which Shakespeare 
has so vividly brought before us ; and an additional memorial 
of the fiery Welsh chieftain is found in an ancient tumulus 
near Corwen, which bears the name of dinas mont owain 
GLYNDWR, and from the summit of which he is said to have been 
in the habit of gazing down the valley of Dee. 

Close to Bannocbum is the inclosure of bloody fold, where 
the Earl of Gloucester fell, and the name of gillies hill 
commemorates the station of the camp-followers who created 
the fatal panic. 

Of the destruction of the Spanish Armada we have a 
geographical reminiscence in the name of port-na-spanien in 
Ireland, where one of the galleons of the Invincible Armada 
was dashed to pieces. 

The chief struggle at the battle of Towton took place in a 
field called bloody meadow, where the grass still grows rank. 
There is a place called battle flats north of Bosworth, 
though perhaps hardly near enough to be confidently referred 
to as the scene of the struggle, crown hill, a small eminence 
on the plain, is pointed out as the spot where Stanley placed 
Richard's crown on the head of Henry VII. 

Knocktoe, near Galway, the site of the great battle between 
the Earl of Kildare and the Earl of Clanricarde in the year 
1504, is a corruption of Knoc-na-tuadh^ battle-axe hill. 

The flying Cavaliers, after the defeat at Naseby, were over- 
taken and cut to pieces at a place now called slaughterford. 



204 HISTORIC SITES. 



where the road to Harborough crosses the Welland ; and a part 
of the route by which Monmouth's army marched to the night 
attack at Sedgemoor still goes by the name of war lane. 

The names of the town of bati'le in Sussex, and of battle 
FLATS near Stamford Bridge, have already been mentioned. 
SENLAC {Sangue Lac), the Norman name of the battle-field of 
Hastings, still survives as a local name in the neighbourhood 
of the town of Battle, standard hill, close by, is said to 
be the place where the Conqueror raised his standard previous 
to the commencement of the engagement, and montjoie, one 
of the four wards of the town, commemorates the spot to 
which he rode in triumph at the conclusion of the fight 

The Battle of the Standard was fought near Northallerton. 
Here a farm called standard hill marks the position of the 
three Yorkshire standards; and a mile to the north a farm 
called SCOTS pits takes its name from the trenches into which 
the slaughtered Scots were thrown. 

About six miles south of Poictiers there is a place called 
MAUPERTUis, a name supposed to commemorate the exact site 
of the battle-field which proved so disastrous to the chivalry of 
France. Frederick the Greafs victory over the Austrians at 
Hohenfriedberg has given the name of siegesberg, or " Victory 
Hill," to an eminence which stands within the confines of the 
battle-field. 

The terror which was inspired by the inroads of the Danes, 
and the joy with which their discomfiture was hailed, is 
evidenced by numerous local names, which are often associated 
with traditionary battle-legends which still linger among the 
surrounding villagers. Such a tradition is connected with a 
camp in Hampshire called Ambrose Hole, hard by which runs 
a rivulet called danestream. At slaughterford in Wiltshire, 
and at bledloe {bloody hlaw) in Buckinghamshire, there are 
traditions that great slaughters of the Danes took place. 
englefield in Berkshire was the scene of a victory which 
the men of Wessex obtained over the Danes in the year 870. 
In the Saxon Chronicle we have an account of the great 
victory gained by Cnut over Eadmund Ironside, which led to 
the division of the kingdom between the two monarchs. The 
Chronicle places the battle at Assandun in Essex. Near 



CONFLICTS WITH THE DANES. 205 



Billericay there is a place now called Assingdon^ and in the 
neighbourhood we find twenty barrows, and the names of 
CANEWDON and BATTLEBRiDGE. At KNUTSFORD in Cheshire 
Cnut also gained a battle. On camphill, near Rochdale, the 
Danes are said to have encamped on the eve of the battle that 
was fought in the neighbourhood ; and killdanes, the name 
of the valley below Camphill, tells us the story of the bloody 
day. Near Stow-on-the-Wold in Gloucestershire is a Danish 
earthwork called Bury Camp, and an adjacent village bears the 
name of slaughter. In a field called knap dane in the 
parish of Nettlecombe, a vast quantity of bones was found, 
supposed to be those of the Danes who landed at Watchet in 
the year 918. At danebury near Chelmsford, and at danes- 
BANKS in the parish of Chartham in Kent, the outlines of camps 
are still to be traced, gravenhill is also the legendary scene 
of a battle with the Danes. It is surrounded with entrench- 
ments, and is covered with mounds, which are probably the 
graves of the fallen warriors. At danes graves on the York- 
shire wolds numerous small tumuli are still visible. The name 
of DANESFORD, in Shropshire, is supposed to be a memorial of 
the Danes who wintered at the neighbouring town of Quatford 
in the year 896. dantsey, or " Danes Island," in Wiltshire, 
was formerly the property of the family of the Easterlings, a 
name usually given to the Vikings from the East, ware in 
Hertfordshire seems to have been the place at which Alfred 
constructed his weir across the river Lea, in order to cut off 
the retreat of a Danish fleet. On Brent ICnoU near Athelney, 
in Somersetshire, is a camp which tradition ascribes to Alfred, 
and at the foot of the hill, half a mile from its summit, stands 
the village of battlebury. There is also a camp near Salisbury 
which goes by the name of battlesbury; and there is a 
place called battlewick near Colchester. By the side of 
the Dee in Scotland there is an ancient earthwork called 
NORMAN (Northmen's) dikes, in the front of which there is 
a piece of land which bears the name of bloody stripe. 
Near Bumham in Norfolk there is a camp surrounded by tumuli, 
the road leading to which goes by the name of bloodgate. 
At Chelsham in Surrey there is a Roman camp crowning the 
summit of a knoll called botle or batle hill. Two Roman 



206 HISTORIC SITES. 



camps in Forfarshire go by the names of battle dikes and 
WAR DIKES. In Perthshire there is a place called blairinroan, 
which means the " field of division." This has been identified 
as the probable site of the battle of the Mons Grampius, in 
which the Ninth Legion, under Agricola, narrowly escaped 
destruction. Close at hand there is a Roman camp, and some 
upright monoliths which are locally known as the roman stones. 
There is a camp near Caterham called war coppice ; and the 
name of caterham itself may perhaps be referred to the Celtic 
word cathy battle. The name of the Caturiges, "the battle 
kings," and the personal names of Catullus, Cadwallon, 
Cadwallader, St Chad, and Katleen, contain this word. 
CADBURY, a name which occurs in Somersetshire and in Devon, 
means the " battle entrenchment." caterthun, a remarkable 
Celtic fortress which overlooks Strathmore, is no doubt " Battle 
Hill." The numerous Cat Stanes in Scotland are supposed to 
be memorials of battles. Such are the catt stane in Kirkliston 
parish, and the caig stone near Edinburgh. From the Anglo- 
Saxon camp^ battle, we have a few names like campton and 
KEMPSTON in Bedfordshire. The Nicene Creed was framed 
in NiCiEA, a city whose name, like those of nicopolis, the Italian 
NICE, the Egyptian Cairo, and the Indian futehpore, is a 
record of victory. 

In the case of several of these battle-fields we find traditions 
which assign a local habitation to the names of British chief- 
tains or Anglo-Saxon kings. It is possible that in some of 
these instances minute fragments of historic truth have been 
conserved, but it is needless to say that the greatest caution 
must be exercised as to the conclusions which we allow our- 
selves to draw. The traditions are generally vague and obscure, 
and the personages whose names are associated with these sites 
have often only a mythical, or, to speak technically, an eponymic 
existence. This convenient phrase is used to convey the sug- 
gestion that a personal name has been evolved by popular 
speculation to account for some geographical term, the true 
meaning of which has not been understood. 

A fiill discussion of this subject would form a curious and 
important chapter in what we may call the history of History. 

Most nations have supposed themselves to be descended 



EPONYMIC NAMES. 207 



from some mythical or eponjTnic ancestor. The Lydians, the 
Phoenicians, the Pelasgians, the Dorians, the iEolians, the 
Hellenes, the Sicilians, and the Italians, have respectively 
traced their origin to mythical personages whom they called 
Lydus, Phoenix, Pelasgus, Dorus, iEolus, Hellen, Siculus, and 
Italus. Rome was said to have been built by Romulus; 
Nineveh by Ninus; Memphis by Menes. When we come 
down to a later time we are encountered by the still more 
extravagant absurdities which fill the pages of Geoffrey of 
Monmouth, Layamon, Wace, Matthew Paris, and Matthew of 
Westminster, by whom the origin of all the nations and cities 
of Europe is traced to heroes of the Trojan war. We are 
gravely told that France takes its name from Francus, a son of 
Hector, and Britain from Brute, Prydain, or Pryd, a son of 
iEneas ; that Lisbon (Olisipo) was built by Ulysses ; and Paris 
by the well-known son of Priam. Tours was the burial-place 
of a Trojan named Turonus, and Troyes was, of course, a 
colony from Troy. Niirnberg was built by Nero, and Prussia 
takes its name from one Prussus, a brother of Augustus. But 
these are modest pretensions when compared with that of the 
Scots, who claimed to be descended from Scota, a daughter of 
Pharaoh, while the Saracens are assigned to Sarah the wife of 
Abraham. 

These wild absurdities are mostly the creation of authors of 
a late date, and seldom conceal any esoteric truths. The case 
is often different with the earliest legends. Thus we are told 
that Pedias was the wife of Cranaus, one of the mythical kings 
of Attica. Under this disguise we recognize a statement of 
the fact that Attica is formed by the union of the mountain 
district {xpayaog, rocky), and the plain (vedidgy level). 

But the extravagances of Geoffrey of Monmouth, or the 
more recondite myths of Grecian history, concern us less nearly 
than the eponymic names which fill the earlier pages of Beda 
and the Saxon Chronicle. These narratives are still regarded 
as historical by the great mass of half-educated Englishmen, 
who seem to have hardly a conception that, in the ordinary 
school histories of England, the chapter " On the arrival of the 
Saxons" relates the deeds of personages who, in all proba- 
bility, have only an eponymic existence. 



iioS HISTORIC SITES. 



To take a few instances. The name of Portsmouth un- 
doubtedly dates. from the time when the commodious harbour 
was used as a partus by the Romans. But when we read in 
the Saxon Chronicle that Portsmouth derives its name from a 
Saxon chieftain of the name of Port, who landed there, we 
conclude at once that the name of Port is eponymic^ or, in other 
words, that no such personage ever existed except in the ima- 
gination of some early historical speculator, the name of the 
person having been invented to account for the name of the 
place. Again, carisbrooke, in the Isle of Wight, was anciently 
written Wiht-gara-byrtg. Respecting the etymology of this 
name there can be little doubt Wiht is a corruption of Vectis, 
the Roman name of the island. The inhabitants of the island 
would be called Wtht-ware^ and the chief town of the island 
would be called IViht-gara^yrig, "the burgh of the men of 
Wight," just as Canterbury, or Cant-wara-byrig, is " the burgh 
of the men of Kent" But when the Saxon Chronicle asserts 
that Wiht-gara-byrig was the burgh of a Saxon chief named 
Wihtgar, who was buried there, we do not hesitate to affirm 
that the name of Wihtgar, like that of Port, is eponymic. But 
we should undoubtedly be wrong were we to extend our scepti- 
cism to some other cases. . For instance, we read in a later and 
more historical portion of the Saxon Chronicle, and in the 
Latin version which bears the name of Florence, that King 
Harthacnut drank himself to death at a feast which Osgod 
Clapha, one of the great nobles of Wessex, gave in his house 
at Lambeth to celebrate the marriage of his daughter G)rtha 
with Tovi the Proud. In this case there is a very high proba- 
bility that the London suburb of clapham takes its name from 
the ham of the Saxon thane. Or to take another case of a 
somewhat different character, we find near Christchurch, in 
Hampshire, a place called tyrrell's ford, around which a tra- 
dition used to linger that heie Tyrrell passed on the day of the 
death of Rufus. There is nothing intrinsically improbable 
about this tradition, and Tyrrell is certainly not an eponymus. 
We may even go so far as to lend an ear to the assertion that 
Jack Cade was killed at cat street, near Heathfield, in 
Sussex — especially when we find that the name was anciently 
written Cade Street. 



HENGIST AND HORSA. 209 

Bearing in mind, then, the necessity of great caution as to 
the eponymic character of many of the heroes who figure in 
Beda and the Saxon Chronicle, we may proceed to enumerate 
a few of the more cbnspicuous of the localized traditions of 
the Saxon conquest. . 

Whether the names of Hengist and Horsa are wholly 
eponymic, or whether there remains a substratum of historic 
fact, after all due concessions have been made to the demands 
of modern criticism, is a question respecting which scholars 
are not agreed. But we find their names in many places. 
Thus at HENGiSTBURY HEAD, on the Hampshire coas^ there is 
a large funeral barrow protected by an entrenchment ; and a 
tumulus of flints at horsted, in Sussex, is said to mark the 
sepulchre of Horsa. There is also a mound near the castle 
wall of Conisbrough which bears the name of Hengist. 
Camden asserts that it was his tomb ; and we learn from 
Polydore Vergil that in the sixteenth century a local tradition 
still survived respecting a great battle which had been fought 
upon the spot. Henry of Huntingdon informs us that Hengist 
and Horsa fought a battle with the Picts and Scots at Stamford, 
in Lincolnshire. A local tradition affirms that the Saxons came 
from Kent by sea, and landed near Peterborough, after sailing 
up the Nene. This tradition is supported by the fact, that at 
about two miles from Peterborough there is an ancient en- 
trenchment which goes by the name of horsey hill. There is 
a camp near Chesterford in Essex, called hingeston barrows. 
We have also the names of hinksey near Oxford, anciently 
Hengestesige ; henstridge in Somerset, anciently Hengestesricg ; 
hinxworth in Hertfordshire, anciently Haingesteworde ; and 
hengeston, anciently Hmgestesduriy in Cornwall. There are 
many other names of the same class. The numerous Horsleys 
and Hinkleys are probably only forest leys or pastures for horse 
or steed (hengst). Other names, such as two Horsteads in 
Sussex, and one in Norfolk, Horsham in Sussex and in Norfolk, 
Horsey in Norfolk, and Horsell in Sussex, certainly seem 
specially to connect some person, or persons, bearing the name 
of Horsa with the two English counties of Sussex and Norfolk. 

According to the Saxon Chronicle the kingdom of the South 
Saxons was founded by iElle and his three sons, Cymen, 

p 



2IO HISTORIC SITES. 



Wlencing, and Cissa. If these names are not altogether 
eponymic, as is probably the case, the account in the 
Chronicle receives very remarkable confirmation from local 
names. The landing is said to have taken place at keynor 
in Selsea, anciently Cymenesora^ or Cymen's shore, where we 
may suppose the eldest son was left to guard the ships while 
the father and the brothers advanced into the interior. We 
find the name of -^Ue at elstead in Sussex and elstead in 
Surrey.^ The name of lancing near Shoreham is certainly 
very remarkably coincident with that of Wlencing. The name 
of Cissa may be sought at cissbury, a rude camp on a lofty 
hill near Worthing, as well as at another camp in Wiltshire 
called CHiSBURYj also at cissanham in Hampshire, and at 
CHICHESTER, anciently Cissan-ceaster, the "fortress of Cissa," 
who, according to the Chronicle, succeeded in taking the 
old Roman city, and made it the capital of his kingdom of 
the South Saxons. 

The kingdom of Wessex was founded, we are told, by Cerdic, 
through whom Queen Victoria may claim to be lineally de- 
scended from Woden ! The name of Cerdic we find at his 
town of CHARD, and also at charford, anciently Cerdices-ford^ 
where was fought the decisive battle whidi gave the Saxons the 
supremacy as far west as the Hampshire Avon. Cerdices-ora^ 
where the Chronicle asserts that Cerdic landed, may perhaps 
be CHARMOUTH in Dorset. The name of lichmere, the moor 
of corpses, not far from Charford, seems to mark the precise 
locality of the struggle, and is of a more definite historic 
character. The nephew of Cerdic was the eponymic Wihtgar 
of Carisbrooke Castle, whose claims to an historical existence 
have already been discussed. 

In SEWARDSTONE near Waltham Abbey we have, perhaps, 
the name of Seward, king of the East Saxons; and Olfa, 
another king of the same people, had a palace and a tomb at 
OFFLEY near Hitchin. Another Offa, king of the Mercians, 
had a palace at offenham in Worcestershire, and in the year 

^ There was another iElle, founder of the Anglian kingdom of Northum- 
bria. To him we may perhaps refer EUakirk, EUaby, Ellard, EUerbeck, 
Ellexbum, and other Yorkshire names. Ellescroft is said to be theb urial 
place of tibe ^lle who was killed in a battle with R^;ner Xx>dbrok. 



ANGLIAN KINGS. 211 



773 he is said to have gained a victory over Eadmund, king of 
Kent, at otford on the Darent The name of Wuffa, king of 
the East Angles, may perhaps be found at ufford in Suffolk. 
RENDLESHAM, in the same county, was in the seventh century 
the residence of Redwald, another king of the East Angles. 
Among other Anglian traditions we are told that King Atla of 
Norfolk was the founder of attlebury, and that the name of 
Bebbe, queen of Ida of Northumbria, is to be found in Bebban- 
burhy now bamborough, near Berwick-upon-Tweed. Oswald, 
a Christian prince of Mercia, gave his name to oswestry, 
where he fell fighting against the heathen Penda, who ordered 
the body of his foe to be cut into pieces, and suspended on 
three crosses in derision of his faith. The strong natural for< 
tress of EDINBURGH bears the name of Edwin, king of Northum- 
bria, who extended his kingdom to the shores of the Forth. 

Ajnmianus Marcellinus, a more trustworthy authorit)' than 
the earlier portion of the Saxon Chronicle, says, that Valentinian 
sent over to Britain one Fraomarius, the king of the Bucino- 
bantes, an Alemannic tribe neax Mayence. These names are 
perhaps preserved at bramerton and four buckenhams, all in 
Norfolk. 

Attempts have been made to identify the spots selected for 
an abode by other less distinguished settlers. The results are 
of course highly conjectural, to say the least, but they are 
perhaps sufficiently curious to justify the insertion of a few 
specimens in a note.^ 

^ Thus we have — 
Personal name. Ancient local name. Modem local name. 

( Hannodestone {Domesday) . . . Harmestone, Lincoln. 
Heremod . . < Hermodesthorpe {Domesday) . . Harmthorpe, Lincoln. 

{ Hermodesworde {Domesday) . . Harmondsworth, Mid. 
Heorogar . Herigerby {Domesday) .... Harrowby, Lincoln. 

IHelgiby (Domesday) Hellaby, Yorks. 
Helgefelt (Domesday) .... Hellifield, Yorks. 
Halgeforde (Cod Dip. No. 483) . Halliford, Mid. 
Halganstok (Cod. Dip. No. 701) . Halstock, Dorset, 
yjj A S Wsermundes hl8ew( Cod. Dip. No. 1 368) Warmlow, Worces. 
waermuna . | Waennundesham(C«/. Dip. No. 18) Mundham, Sussex. 
Scylf . . . Scylftun (Cod. Dip. No. 775) . . Shilton, Oxford. 
Bedca . . . Bedan ford {Saxon Chronicle) . . Bedford. 
Cbilderic , , Hildericesham (Domesday) « . . Hildersham, Yorks. 

P 2 



212 HISTORIC SITES. 



The British traditions conserved in local names are often 
more trustworthy than those of the Saxon period. There is 
a high probability that maes garmon near Mold was the scene 
of the famous Alleluia victory, which was obtained by St. 
Garmon over the Picts. The good bishop placed the members 
of his Church militant in ambush, and when the invaders were 
fairly entangled in the intricacies of the valley, a loud shout 
of Alleluia from the Welsh created a panic which enabled 
them to gain an easy but decisive victory, pwll-meurig in 
Monmouthshire is the site of a battle in which the Welsh king 
Meurig was slain by the Savons. The caradoc, the most 
picturesque of the Shropshire hills, is crowned by an earthwork 
bearing the name of Caer Caradoc, and here, as tradition 
affirms, was the stronghoia of Caractacus.* 

A camp near Verulamium, called oister hills, has been 
supposed to bear the name of the Roman general Ostorius, 
and we have a Caesar's camp near Farnham, and a vespasian's 
CAMP in Wiltshire, chilham in Kent was anciently called 
/«/ham, and is supposed to be the site of the battle fought by 
Julius Caesar, in which Laberius was slain. This supposition 
is curiously corroborated by a tradition which calls a large 
tumulus in the neighbourhood by the name of julaber's 
GRAVE. According to the Chronicles, it fell to the lot of 
Catigem, a Kentish chieftain, to oppose the earliest invasion of 
the Saxons. We are told that he fought a battle with the 
forces of Hengist and Horsa in the neighbourhood of Ayles- 
ford. On the summit of the downs which overlook the battle- 
field there is a Celtic tomb, constructed of vast vertical and 
horizontal slabs of sandstone. This, the most remarkable 
megalithic erection in the south-eastern portion of the kingdom, 
goes by the name of kits coty house, and may not impro- 
bably bear the name of the British prince. We also read that 
the body of Ambrosius, the successor of Vortigem, was buried, 
according to his dying request, at ambresbury on Salisbury 
Plain. There is also a hrge camp in Epping Forest called 
ambresbury banks. 

In the year 945 the British population of Cumbria, under a 

^ The real name of Caractacus was probably Cradock, which is still a 
common surname in the West of England, 



BRITISH CHIEFS. 213 



chief who bore the name of Donald, made a final and un- 
successful attempt to shake off the Saxon yoke. A cairn at 
the summit of the desolate pass which leads from Keswick to 
Ambleside is called dunmailraise, and in all probability it 
marks the precise scene of the struggle with Eadmund, as well 
as the burial-place of the British leader. In Stratheam there 
is a barrow which goes by the name of carn-chainichin, 
that is, the Cairn of Kenneth. This name no doubt preserves 
the memory of the burial-place of Kenneth IV. of Scotland, 
who in the year 1003 was slain by Malcolm II. in a battle 
which was undoubtedly fought in the near neighbourhood of 
the cairn. An entrenchment on Barra Hill in Aberdeenshire 
bears the name of cummin's camp, and thus preserves 
the memory of the defeat of Comyn, Earl of Buchan, by 
Robert Bruce ; while dalry, the " king's field," in Perthshire, 
is the spot where John of Lorn defeated Bruce, and from 
whence he tracked him with blood-hounds, as is so inimitably 
told in the *' Tales of a Grandfather." 

The names of Gibraltar and tarifa have already been 
noticed, valetta, the port and chief town of Malta, preserves 
the name of John Parisot de la Vallette, the heroic Grand 
Master of the Knights of St. John. Together with the suburb 
of viTTORiosA it was founded in the year 1566, at the close of 
the memorable siege in which some 500 knights, assisted by 
9,000 men-at-arms, successfully withstood for four months the 
assaults of an army of 30,000 Turks, until at last there survived 
only 600 of the Christians, utterly worn out by the toils and 
perils of the siege. One of the gates of Valetta hands down 
the memory of a much later siege. It is called the port des 
BOMBES, from its bearing the marks of the cannonade which 
took place when the French were attacked by the English and 
Maltese. 

The rulers of the ancient world seem to have anxiously 
desired to stamp their names upon cities of their own creation. 
Of the fifteen cities upon which Alexander the Great bestowed 
his name, only six retain it, and only two still possess any 
geographical importance. The name of Alexandria in Egypt 
has been corrupted into the Arabic form of iscanderieh, 
and Alexandria in Bokhara is now samercand. The city of 



214 HISTORIC SITES. 



Alexandria which was built near the battle-field of Issus, 
though now a miserable village, has given a name to the Bay 

of SCANDEROON Or ISKENDEROON. ALEXANDRETTA and CAN- 

DAHAR still maintain an obscure existence.^ Antiochus and 
Seleucus, and the princes of their dynasties, followed the 
example of their great captain. There were ten cities called 
Antiochia, and seven called Seleucia ; but while the once im- 
portant name of seleucia has almost vanished from the map, 
being retained only by the Cilician village of selefkieh, 
Antioch, on the Orontes, now antakieh, still ranks among the 
great cities of the East. Philippi, now felibedjik, built by 
the father of Alexander, would be now forgotten were it not 
for the epistle addressed by St. Paul to its inhabitants ; and 
the mention of Philadelphia in the Apocalypse still causes 
us to bear in mind that it was built by Attains Philadelphus, 
king of Pergamus. 

The names of the Roman Emperors are scattered over 
Europe, and some of them are found under very curious 
phonetic disguises. Who would expect, for instance, to find 
the name of Caesar in Jersey, a name which nevertheless is 
probably a corruption of Csesarea ? ^ In the East the phonetic 
changes have been less ; the Caesareas in Palestine and CiHcia 
are now called kaisariyeh ; and kesri, on the Dardanelles, 
is probably a corruption of the same name. The dty of 
Caesarea Jol, built by Juba in honour of Augustus, is now 
ZERSHELL in Algeria. Two of the most curious of these 
transmutations are those of Caesarea Augusta into zaragossa, 
and Pax Augusta into badajoz. Augusta Emerita has been 
clipped down into merida. Augustodunum is now autun, 
and Augusta is aosta and augia. We find the same Imperial 
name preserved in augsburg, augst in Canton Bile and in 
Canton Ziirich, aoust in the department of the Drdme, auch 
near Toulouse, and the aust passage over the Severn. 

^ ALESSANDRIA, an important fortress in Piedmont, takes its name from 
a Roman Pope. Several places in Russia and Siberia are called alexan- 
DROV and Alexandria, from the Russian Emperor. 

* The names of guernsey and Cherbourg are possibly to be traced to 
a similar origin, as well as Jerbourg in Guernsey ; though it is more pro- 
bable that the first is Norse, and that the root of the two latter is the Celtic 
word Caer, 



ROMAN EMPERORS. 215 

The names of Julius and Julia we have in loudon (Julio- 
dunum), beja in Portugal (Pax Julia), truxillo in Spain 
(Tunis Julia, or Castra Julia), jt^ucH or juliers (Juliacum), 
the valley of zsil (Julia) in Hungary, pronounced JUy zuglio 
(Julium), iTUCCi (Victus Julius), and lillebonne (Julia bona) ; 
while FRiULT, FORLi, and frejus are all corruptions of Forum 

Julii. ORLEANS, VALENCIENNES, GRENOBLE, and ADRIANOPLE, 

bear the names of the Emperors Aurelian, Valentinian, Gratian, 
and Hadrian, by whom they were respectively founded or 
rebuilt Forum Aurelii is now fiora, Aurelia or Aureliana is 
ORLEANS, Claudii Forum is klagenfurt, and pampeluna and 
LODi (Laus Pompeii) bear the name of Pompey. tiberias, in 
Palestine, was built by Herod Antipas in honour of his imperial 
friend and master. Constantius Chlorus gave his name to 
CONSTANCE or coNSTANZ on the Boden See, and to coutances 
(Constantia) in Normandy, where Roman antiquities are still 
occasionally found. The surrounding district, now called the 
c6tantin, exhibits very curiously a parallel but independent 
corruption of the name Constantinum. kustendje is the 
Turkish corruption of Constantiana. constantineh is the 
strongest place in Algeria. Constantine, the son of Con- 
stantius, had a palace a few miles from Treves, at a place 
now called conz, a name which, after long obscurity, is again 
becoming audible among men, in the novel character of a 
great railway junction. I could not but think, as I once whiled 
away a tedious hour in the waiting-room at Conz, of the 
waiting-rooms on the same spot once thronged by the nobles 
of Western Europe, worshipping the rising sun who was 
afterwards to imprint his name on Constantinople, the new 
capital of the Roman world. 

The successive rulers and conquerors of India have striven 
to stamp their names upon her cities. Thus we have aurung- 

ABAD, HYDERABAD, FEROZEPORE, SHAHJEHANPORE and RUN- 

jeetgurh ; together with hideous hybrid compounds belonging 
to the period of the English rule, such as campbellpore, 
morellgunj, edwardesabad, and frazerpet. 

Of the modem cities which are thus inscribed with the 
dates of their foundation, ST. Petersburg, Adelaide, and 
victoria, the capitals of three distant realms, occur at once 



2i6 HISTORIC SITES. 

to the memory, ekaterinenburg was founded by the great 
Empress Catherine, bonifacio, on the strait between Corsica 
and Sardinia, was built by Boniface, Lord of Pisa, in the 
ninth century, christiania, christianstad, and christian- 
SAND, are memorials of the subjection of Norway and Sweden 
to the crown of Denmark in the seventeenth century, during 
the reign of Christian IV. of Denmark. The little kinglets of 
Germany, otherwise unknown to fame, have not been slow in 
endeavouring to rescue their obscure names from oblivion by. a 
geographical immortality of this kind. As we fly past upon 
the railway, the names of carlsruhe, friedrichshafen, 
i.UDWiGSHAFEN, LUDWiGSBURG, or wiLHELMSBAD may, perhaps, 
induce the traveller to endeavour to learn from his open 
Murray the deeds of the monarchs who have thus eagerly 
striven after fame. 

A far more inconvenient practice prevails in the United 
States, where the names of popular Presidents have been 
bestowed so liberally on towns and counties as to occasion no 
little confusion. There are no less than 169 places which bear 
the name of Washington, 86 that of Jefferson, 132 that of 
Jackson, while Munroe and Harrison have respectively to be 
contented with 71 and 62 places named in their honour.^ 

^ On "Things," see Dasent, Story of Burnt Njal ; Baring-Gould, Ice- 
land ; Worsaaej Danes and Norwegians; and Train, Isle of Man. On 
Eponymic names consult Pott, My tho- Etymologies in Kuhn's Zeitschrift^ vol. 
ix ; Lappenberg, Anglo-Saxon Kings; Haigh, Conquest of Biitain ; 
Kemble, Codex Diplomaticus ; Buttmann, Mytholoqus ; Welsford, Origin 
of the English language. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

SACRED SITES. 

lA>cal vestiges of Saxon heathendom — Tiw^ Frea, IVoden, Thor, Balder— 
Celtic deities— Teutonic demigods — Way land Smith — Old Scratch — Old 
Nick — The Nightmare — Sacred groves and temples — Vestiges of Sclavonic 
heathendom — The Classic Pantheon — Conversion of the Northern nations 
—Paulinus at Goodmafiham—'' Llan " and **Kil"-'The Hermits of the 
Hebrides — TTie local saints of Wales — Places of pilgrimage— The monastic 
houses. 

Day after day, as the weeks run round, we have obtruded upon 
our notice the names of the deities who were worshipped by 
our pagan forefathers. This heathenism is indeed so deeply 
ingrained into our speech, that we are accustomed daily, with- 
out a thought, to pronounce the once sacred names of Tiw, 
Woden, Thunor, Frea, and Saetere. These names are so 
familiar to us, that we are apt to forget how little is really 
known of the mythology of those heathen times. We have, it 
is true, Beowulf and the Traveller's Song, the verse Edda, and 
other parallel Norse and Teutonic legends, but the Anglo- 
Saxon literature dates only from the Christian period, and 
proceeds mostly from the pens of Churchmen, who naturally 
preferred to recount thaumaturgic histories of Christian saints, 
and willingly allowed the pagan legends to die away out of the 
memories of men. So small, in fact, are the materials at our 
disposal for an account of the Anglo-Saxon Pantheon, that the 
very name of Saetere is conjectural — it is not found in any 
literary document till long after the extinction of the Anglo- 
Saxon paganism — and it would almost appear as if the name, 
the attributes, and the culte of this deity had been constructed 



2i8 SACRED SITES. 



ia comparatively recent times, in order to illustrate the assumed 
etymology of the word Saturday.^ Our knowledge of Anglo- 
Saxon mythology being thus scanty, it will bear to be supple- 
mented by the information which may be derived from local 
names. 

We may arrive at some vague estimate of the relative mytho- 
logical importance of the various Anglo-Saxon deities by means 
of a comparison of the number of places which severally bear 
their names, and which were probably dedicated to their wor- 
ship. Judging by this standard, we conclude that Tiw, Frea, 
and Saetere, had but a small hold on the religious affections of 
the people ; for tewesley in Surrey, Great tew and tew 
DUNSE in Oxfordshire, tewin in Hertfordshire, dewerstone 
in Devon, frathorpe and fridaythorpe in Yorkshire, frais- 
thorpe in Holdemess, freasley^ in Warwickshire, three 
fridaystreets in Surrey and one in Suffolk, satterleigh in 
Devon, and satterthwaite in Lancashire, seem to be the 
only places which bear their names. 

But of the prevalence of the worship of Woden and 
Thunor we have wide-spread evidence, wednesbury in 
Staffordshire, wisborow hill in Essex, wanborough in Surrey, 
WANBOROUGH in Wilts, wembury in Devon, two warn- 
BOROUGHS in Hampshire, woodnesborough in Wilts, the 
Kentish tumulus called winsborough, and woodbridge in 
Suffolk, are all corruptions of the Anglo-Saxon word Wodnes- 
beorhy a name which indicates the existence of a mound or 
other similar erection dedicated to Woden, wanstrow in 
Somerset was formerly Wodnestreow^ and wansdike in Wilt- 
shire was Wodnesdic. woden hill on Bagshot Heath, won- 
STON in Hampshire, wambrook in Dorset, wedneshough in 
Lancashire, wampool in Cumberland, wansford in North- 
amptonshire and in Yorkshire, wanstead in Essex, wamden in 
Bucks, WADLEY in Berks, two wansleys and wednesfield in 

^ That the worship of Saetere was very local, appears also from the fact 
that Saturday, as a name for the last day of the week, is fomid only in the 
Frisian, Anglo-Saxon, and other Low-German languages. Laugardagr^ 
the Norse equivalent for Saturday, the Swedish Lbrdctgy and the Danish 
and Norwegian LSversdag, mean the washing-day, or laving-d^y ; .ifi indeed, 
they do not refer to the Scandinavian deity Lolu. 

> Fraisthorpe and Freasley are more probably Frisian settlements. 



THE ANGLO-SAXON DEITIES. 219 

Staffordshire, wendon in Essex and in Somerset, wedesley in 
Derbyshire, wednesham in Cheshire, wanthwaite in Cumber- 
land, and WONERSH in Surrey, with other more doubtful names 
of the same class, enable us to form some estimate of how 
wide was the diffusion of Woden's worship. 

The Scandinavian Thor was worshipped by the Anglo- 
Saxons under the name of Thunor, a name identical with the 
English word thunder and the German equivalent Donner, A 
laborious comparison of the Teutonic and Indian myths has 
enabled Mannhardt to establish the original identity of Thunor 
and Indra. The names also of Indra and Thunor, different as 
they may seem, are, no doubt, ultimately identical. We have 
seen (p. 138, supra) that udra and udan are related Sanskrit 
words, meaning water. The first gives us the name of Indra, 
the second that of Donnor or Thunor, both of whom are the 
storm and rain gods ; both were bom out of the water, both 
fill the rivers, and pour the milk of the cloud-cows of heaven 
upon the earth. We find traces of the worship of this deity in 
the names of thundersfield in Surrey, two places called 
THUNDERSLEiGH in Essex and one in Hants, as well as thun- 
DRiDGE in Herts and thunderhill in Surrey. To the name 
of Thor we may assign thursley in Surrey, thurleigh in 
Bedfordshire, kirby thore in Westmoreland, thurscross in 
Yorkshire, thurston in Suffolk, thurstable and thurlow in 
Essex, THURSFiELD in Staffordshire, thursford in Nortc^k* 
TURSDALE in Durham, thurshelton in Devon, thursby in 
Cumberland, thurso in Caithness, torness in Shetland, and 
THORiGNY in Normandy, all of which, as we have seen, are in 
regions settled more or less by Scandinavian colonists. In 
some of these cases it is probable that the name may have 
been derived from some Viking who bore the name of Thor. 
The Anglo-Saxon names, however, are not liable to this ambi- 
guity, since it does not appear that any Anglo-Saxon — more 
timid, or more reverent than the Northman — ever dared to 
assume the name of the dreaded Thunor. 

The curious fact that no names of Saxon heathendom are 
to be found in Salop or Herefordshire shews that the conquest 
of those counties was not effected till after the adoption of 
Christianity. 



220 SACRED SITES. 



Names like balderby or balderton may probably be 
derived from the personal name Balder, rather than from thai 
of the deity. Pol, another form of the name of the god 
Balder, is probably to be found in such names as polbrook, 

POLSTEAD, POLSDEN, and POLSDON. BELL HILL and HILL BELL 

are probably vestiges of a still earlier culttis — Celtic, or pos- 
sibly Semitic. It has been thought that there must have been 
some original connexion, etymologic or mythologic, between 
the Syrian Baal, the Celtic Bel or Belen, the Sclavonic Biel-bog, 
and the Teutonic Pol. To the Celtic deity we may probably 
assign the local names of belan, near Trefeglwys in Mont- 
gomeryshire, belan near Newtown, two belan banks in Shrop- 
shire, and the baal hills in Yorkshire, besides three mountains 
called belch in the Vosges and the Black Forest, balerium, 
the ancient name of the Land's End, may possibly be due to 
the Phoenicians, bel tor in Devon may be either Teutonic, 
Celtic, or Semitic. Several of the Devonshire Tors seem to 
bear names derived from a primeval mythology, mis tor and 
HAM TOR have been supposed to bear Semitic names derived 
from Misor, the moon, and Ham or Ammon. The name of 
HESSARY TOR Can with greater confidence be referred to the 
Celtic deity Esus or Hesus,^ mentioned by Lucan — 

** Teutates, horrensque fens altaribus Hesus, 
Et Taranis Scytliicae non mitior ara Dianse." 

The Celtic deity Taith referred to in these lines under the 
name of Teutates, must not be confounded with the Teutonic 
Tiw, though the names are probably not unconnected, as we 
find that the word was used as the name of the Deity by all 
the Aryan nations. The Sanskrit dh)a^ the Greek 0€os. the 
Latin deus^ the Lithuanian dewas^ the Erse dia^ and the Welsh 
dew are all identical in meaning. The etymology of the word 
seems to point to the corruption of a monotheistic - faith. 
The Sanskrit word dydus means the expanse of blue sky, the 
heaven. This sense is retained in the Latin word dies^ and in 
the phrase sub Jove^ " in the open air." Jupiter, Diupiter, or 

* Cf the Sanskrit Asura, the supreme, self-existent Spirit, a name pro- 
bably derived from a root as = esse. A statue inscribed with the name of 
£sus has been exhumed at Paris. 



LOCAL VESTIGES OF HEATHENDOM. 221 



Diespiter, is the "heavenly father." Places called tot hill, 
TOOT HILL, or TOOTER HILL, are very numerous, and may 
possibly have been dedicated to the worship of Taith. 

The word Easter, as we learn from Beda, is derived from the 
name of Eostre, or Ostira,^ the Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring, 
to whom the month of April was sacred. As in other in- 
staoces, the Catholic clergy seem to have given the heathen 
festival a Christian import, and to have placed " Our Lady " on 
the throne previously occupied by the virgin goddess of the 
spring. She seems to have bestowed her name on two parishes 
in Essex which are called good easter and high easter 
(Estra in Domesday) ; we find also the more doubtful names of 
easterford in the same county, easterleake in Notts, and 
eastermear in Hants. 

The name of Hel, the mistress of the gloomy under-world, 
seems to be confined to Yorkshire ; it may possibly be pre- 
served in the names of hellifield, hellathvrne, helwith, 
two HEALEYS, HEALiGH, and HELAGH, all in Yorkshire, hel- 
WELL in Devonshire is probably only the covered well, the word 
hell originally meaning only the " covered " place. Thus a 
wound heals when it becomes covered with skin. The hed is 
that part of the foot which is covered by the - leg. A hdtnet 
covers the head. The hull is the covered part of a ship. To 
hele potatoes is to clamp or tump them. In Kent, to heal a 
child is to cover it up in its cradle, and to heal a house is to 
put on the roof or covering. A hellier is a slater. 

Of the mythic heroes of Scandinavian legend, the name of 
Weland, the Northern Vulcan, who fabricates the arms of the 
Iieroes of the early Sagas, is preserved at a place in Berkshire 
called waylandsmith. Here, appropriately placed at the foot 
of that sacred hill of the white horse, which from imme- 
morial times has borne the colossal symbol of Saxon conquest, 
there stands a huge megalithic monument, consisting of two 
chambers constructed of upright stones and roofed with large 
slabs. This structure our ancestors called Weland's Smithy, 
and the legend is that here was the forge in which the hero- 
smith fabricated the shoes for the sacred horse. Though bear- 

^ Cf. the Sanskrit ushas = Aurora, from a toot ush^ to bum or glow 
Hence the Greek 7l«y, the Latin austsr^ the souths and the English east. 



222 SACRED SITES. 



ing a Saxon name, and connected with a Saxon legend, it is 
doubtless only a Celtic grave. The name of Eigil, the hero- 
archer, is probably to be sought at aylesbury, formerly 
/E^eshyrig^ as well perhaps as at aylesford, aysworth, and 
AYLSTONE. ASGARDBY and AYSGARTH, however, probably refer 
to Asgard, the home of the gods. 

Curious legends often linger round the numerous places 
called the Devil's Dyke, the Devil's Punchbowl, and the like, 
and results, not without value, might doubtless be obtained by 
a comparative analysis of the names of the various celebrated 
witch mountains.^ A dark and rugged rock in the Lake Dis- 
trict bears the name of scratch meal scar. Here we may 
perhaps detect the names of two personages who figure in the 
Norse m)rthology, Skratti, a demon, and Mella, a weird giantess. 
Mella, when tired of the company of Skratti, had a separate 
abode on mell fell; unless, indeed, this name be Celtic 
rather than Scandinavian, and allied to the word muU^ a head- 
land, which we have in the Mull of Cantyre and other names. 
Or the name may be connected with the Icelandic mdr^ a 
sandy hill. There is a moblifell in Iceland, and there is a 
SCRATTA WOOD on the borders of Derbyshire. The demon 
Skratti still survives in the superstitions of Northern Europe. 
The Skratt of Sweden, with a wild horse-laugh, is believed to 
mock travellers who are lost upon the waste, and sundry 
haunted rocks on the coast of Norway still go by the name 
of SKRATTASKAR.2 In the North of England the name of 
Skratti continues to be heard in the mouths of the peasantry, 
and the memory of " Old Scratch," as he is familiarly called, 
may probably be yet destined to survive through many future 

^ The chief of these are the Blocksberg, or Brocken, in the Hartz ; 
several Blocksbergs in Mecklenburg ; the Huiberg near Halberstadt ; the 
Horselbeig in Thurmgia ; the Bedielsberg in Hesse ; the Koterbezg and 
the Weckingstein in Westphalia ; the luindel, the Heuberg, and tiie 
StafTelstein in the Black Forest ; the Bischenbeig and the Buchelbeig in 
Alsace ; the Blakulla (Black Mountain) in Sweden ; and the BlaakoUe in 
Norway. Hanenkamm and Hanenbuck in Bavaria were places of heathen 
worship. Heidenberg is the name of a hill near Zurich, down which on 
winter nights a headless horseman is seen to ride. 

* The name of Skratti is found also in the Sarmatian legends. In 
Bohemian, Screti means a demon. 



OLD SCRATCH— OLD NICK— BOGIE. 223 

Christian centuries, in company with " Old Nick," who is none 
other than Nikr,^ the dangerous watsr-demon of Scandinavian 
legend. This dreaded monster, as the Norwegian peasant will 
gravely assure you, demands every year a human victim, and 
carries off children who stray too near his abode beneath the 
waters. In Iceland also, Nykr, the water-horse, is still believed to 
inhabit some of the lonely tarns scattered over the savage region 
of deso ation which occupies the central portion of the island. 

Many similar traces of the old mythology are to be found in 
that well-stored antiquarian museum, the English language. 
In the phrase " Deuce take it," the deity Tiw still continues to 
be invoked. In his book De Civitate Dei, St. Augustine 
speaks of " quosdam dsemones quos dustos Galli nuncupant." 
The Bogie, with whose name nurses are wont to frighten 
children, is probably Bogu, the Sclavonic name of the Deity, 
(Sanskrit bhaga, god, the sun,) and the name of Puck has been 
referred to the same source. The nursery legend of "Jack 
and Jill " is found in the younger Edda, where the story of 
Hjuki (the flow) and Bil (the ebb), the two children of the 
Moon, is seen to be merely an exoteric version of the flowing 
and ebbing of the tides. The morning gossamer is the gott- 
cymar, the veil or trail left by the deity who has passed over 
Uie meadows in the night. The word brag has an etymological 
connexion with the name of Bragi, the Norse god of song and 
mirth, while the faithful devotees of Bragi fall after awhile under 
the power of Mara, a savage demon, who tortures men with 
visions, and crushes them even to death, and who still survives, 
though with mitigated powers, as the Nightmare of modem days. 

There is another class of names of sacred sites, those, 
namely, which are not associated with the names of particular 
deities. The name of redruth in Cornwall is written in old 
deeds Dre-druith, the town of the Druids, dilliker and 
DiLWYN are the " idol's enclosure," and the " idoFs island," from 
the Welsh delWy an idoL From the Celtic nemd^ a sacred grove, 

^ NoTwegian nbk^ Swedish neck, German nix^ plural nixen, English 
nixies, and Old JVicA, The name of the river Neckar probably comes 
from the same root 

' Sanskrit nam, to worship, Greek v4/iu9, Irish nemhta, holy, LAtm 
nemus, a grove, Gaulish nemdunh a temple^ Brezonec fumet, a sacred grove. 



224 SACRED SITES. 



we may deduce the name of nymet Rowland in Devonshire, 
and of NiSMES, anciently Nemausus, in Provence, as well as 
many ancient Gaulish names, such as Nemetacum, Nemeto- 
cenna, Vernemetum, and Tascinemetum. lund and lund- 
GARTH, both in Holdemess, are probably from the Norse lundr^ 
a sacred grove, lundy Island in the Bristol Channel and 
LUNDHOLME near Lancaster may be from this source, or from 
the Norse lundi^ a puffin. There is an islet called lundey on 
the Icelandic coast. The name of hoff, near Appleby, and 
two places called hof in Iceland, seem to be from the Anglo- 
Saxon and old Norse hof^ a temple. The vast inclosure of 
siLBURY is probably the holy hill (selig, holy). So Jerusalem 
is called by the Arabs el kuds, the holy. Compare also the 
name of bethel, the " house of God," with the Beit-allah of 
Mecca, and the Baetulia of early Phoenician worship. Behistan 
is the abode of the gods, from the Sanskrit bhaga. The names 
of wydale, wigthorp, and weighton, as well as weihbogen 
in the Tyrol, wyborg and wisbv, all of them holy places, are 
probably connected with the Norse ve, a sacred place. We 
have the Gothic veihs, holy, and veihan^ to consecrate ; the old 
High German vih^ a sacred grove or temple, the German 
weihnacht, Christmas, and the Anglo-Saxon wiccian, fascinare, 
whence the English word witch, 

HELIGOLAND — which means "holy island land*' — has been 
with great probability identified with the insula oceanic which 
is described by Tacitus as the seat of the secret rites of the 
Angli and other adjacent continental tribes. Of the numerous 

places bearing the name of holywell, holy island, and 
HOLY hill,^ many were probably the sites of an ancient pagan 
cultus^ to which, in accordance with Gregory's well-weighed 
instructions, a Christian import was given by Augustine and his 
brother missionaries.^ The churches of St. Martin and St. 

1 Holy Hill is the highest point of ground in Kent. There are nume- 
rous Heiligenbrunns and Heilbrunns in Germany, to the waters of many 
of which a supernatural efficacy was supposed to attach. The original 
meaning of holy is healing. 

2 Gregory, "diu cogitans," came to the conclusion that "fana idolorum 
destrui minime debeant," but that the idols should be destroyed, and the 
temples, well sprinkled with holy water, should be supplied with relics, so 
that the gens Anglorum ** ad loca quae consuevit familarius concurrat" 



J 

VESTIGES OF SCLAVONIC HEATHENDOM. 225 



Pancras, at Canterbury, as well as Westminster Abbey and St. 
Paul's Cathedral, were built on the sites of heathen temples, 
and are instances of this practice of enlisting, in favour of the 
new faith, the local religious attachments of the people. 

It would demand more space than the interest of the subject 
would warrant, to trace the local vestiges of the worship of the 
Sclavonian deities. They have left their names scattered far 
and wide over Eastern and Central Europe — a testimony to the 
long duration and great difficulty of the process by which the 
Sclavonic nations were converted to Christianity. Thus the 
name of Radegast, a god of light, is found at two places called 
RADEGAST in Mecklcnburg Schwerin, one of the same name 
in Anhalt Dessau, and another in Oschatz ; as well as at 
RADEGOSZ in Posen, radihoscht in Bohemia, rodges in Hesse 
(anciently villa Rad^astes\ and many villages bearing the 
names of radibor, radeburg, radensdorf, and the like. 
At zwettnitz in Bohemia, and schautewitz in Pomerania, 
we find traces of the worship of Swjatowit, a deity with 
attributes similar to those of Radegast ; at jtJTERBOGK, near 
Berlin, of Juthrbog the god of spring ; at zeitz, near Leipsig, 
of Ciza the goddess of fertility ; at mitau in Courland, of 
Mita a malevolent cynoform deity ; and at marzahn near 
Berlin, marzahn A near Wittenberg, and marzana in Illyria, of 
Marsana the Sclavonic Ceres. 

The subject of names derived from the Eastern and classic 
mythologies is too extensive for discussion in this place. It 
would require a chapter, or rather a volume, to itself. There 
are many such places in India, Syria is full of them, they 
abound in Italy and Greece. Thus Calcutta and calicut are 
the Kali-Ghauts, the steps or landing-places by the river-side, 
where the festival of Kali was celebrated, and seringapatam 
is the " city of Sri Ranga " or Vishnu, baalbec was the 
chief seat of the worship of Baal, the ruins of whose temple, 
with its substructure of colossal stones, is still one of the 
wonders of the world. In the Old Testament we find many 
traces of the Canaanitish worship still lingering in Palestine. 
For a long time, probably, the devotions of the people were 
attracted by the old idolatrous sanctuaries, such as baal gad, 

BAAL HERMON, BAAL TAMAR, BAAL HAZOR, BAAL JUDAH, BAAL 

Q 



226 SACRED SITES. 



MEON, and BAAL PERAZiM. In the genealogies of families we 
find evidence of the same lingering superstitions. Thus in the 
family of Saul we find persons bearing the names of Baal, 
Eshbaal, and Meribaal. Panium, now banias, was a sanctuary 
of Pan, Near Boulogne we have Fanum PoUucis, now 
FAMPOUX. The shores of the Mediterranean were covered 
with places bearing the names of the deities of Greece and 
Rome. More than a dozen might be enumerated taking their 
names from Neptune or Poseidon, of which paestum, the 
ancient Posidonia, is the only one that still retains both its 
name and any human interest. Hercules seems to have been 
deemed the most powerful protector of colonies, for from him 
we find that some thirty or forty places were named heracleia, 

HERACLEOPOLIS, Of HERCULANEUM. MONTERCHI, in Umbria, is 

Mons Herculis. Twenty places, under the protection of 
Apollo, were called apollonis or apollonia, and fifteen bore 
the name of Pallas Athene, all of which, except athens, 
have sunk into obscurity. 

It is pleasant to leave these dry bones of a dead paganism, 
and turn to the names which speak to us of the first propaga- 
tion of Christianity in our native land. One of the most 
striking scenes in the whole history of missionary enterprise 
was enacted in the East Riding of Yorkshire, at goodmanham, 
or GODMUNDiNGAHAM,^ a mile from wetghton, the "sacred 
inclosure," where, as the name implies, stood a large heathen 
temple, the ruins of which may still be seen. Beda tells that 
the Bishop Paulinus presented himself on this spot before 
Edwin, king of the Northumbrians, and urged eloquently the 
claims of the new faith. Coifi, the pagan high-priest, to the 
surprise of all, proclaimed aloud that the old religion had 
neither power nor utility " If," said he, " the gods were of 
any worth, they would heap their favour upon me, who have 
ever served them with such zeal." The demolition of the 
temple was decreed, but, with a lingering belief in the ancient 
faith, all shrank from incurring the possible hostility of the old 
deities by taking part in its destruction. " As an example to 
all," said Coifi, " I am myself ready to destroy that which I 

^ The home of the mund, or protection of the gods, or from the Norse 
godif a priest ; ho/s godi^ a temple priest. 



CONVERSION OF THE ENGLISH AND THE CELTS. 227 



have worshipped in my folly." Arming himself with spear and 
sword, he mounted on a horse, and having profaned the temple 
by casting his lance against it, it was set on fire and consumed. 

GoDNEY near Glastonbury, godmanchester in Huntingdon- 
shire, GODMANSTONE in Dorset, GODLEY in Cheshire, godstow 
near Oxford, godshill in the Isle of Wight, and godstone in 
Surrey, were probably, like Godmundingaham, pagan sites 
consecrated to Christian worship. 

The prefix llan^ which, as we have seen, occurs so frequently 
in Cornwall, Wales, and the border counties, often enables us 
to detect the spots which were the first to be dedicated to 
purposes of Christian worship. 

The Cymric llan is replaced in Scotland and Ireland by the 
analogous Gadhelic word kiL Originally this denoted only a 
hermit's "cell," though it was afterwards used to mean the 
" church," of which the hermit's cell was so often the germ. 
The numerous village-names which have this prefix kil possess 
a peculiar interest. They often point out to us the earliest 
local centres from which proceeded the evangelization of the 
half-savage Celts ; they direct us to the hallowed spots where 
the first hermit missionaries established each his lonely cell, 
and thence spread around him the blessings of Christianity 
and of civilization. In Ireland alone there are no less than 
1,400 local names which contain this root, and there are v^ry 
many in Scotland also, as kilmore and killin. In Wales 
and the neighbouring counties a few names occur with the 
prefix kil instead of llan. These names may probably be 
regarded as local memorials of those Irish missionaries who 
about the fifth century resorted in considerable numbers to the 
shores of Wales.^ 

It seems to have been by means of these Irish hermits that the 
fierce Scandinavians who settled in the islands off the Scottish 
coast were brought to submit to the gentle influences of Chris- 
tianity. The Norse name for these anchorite fathers was Papar, 
Three islets among the Hebrides, two in the Orkneys, two in the 

1 We find Kilowm, Kilsant, and Kilycon in Carmarthen ; Kilgarran land 
Kilred in Pembrokeshire ; Kilkenin, Kiluellon, and Kilwy in Cardigan ; 
Kilowen in Flint; Kilgwri in Cheshire; Kihnersdon and Kilstock in 
Somerset ; Kildare and Killow in Yorkshire ; and Kilpisham in Rutland. 

Q 2 



228 SACRED SITES. 



Shetlands, and others among the Faroes and off the coabt oi 
Iceland, bear the names of pabba, or papa, the "Father's 
isle." In the mainland of Orkney, and again in South 
Ronaldshay, we find places called paplay, the "hermit's 
abode," and at enhallow, and at one of the papas in the 
Orkneys, the ancient cell still remains, dysart, on the coast 
of Fife, marks the wilderness — desertum — where St Serf scooped 
out of the rocks a cave for his abode. 

In that part of England which was settled by the Danes, 
the missionary efforts seem to have been more of a parochial 
character. We find the prefix kirk^ a church, in the names of 
no less than sixty-eight places in the Danelagh, while in the 
Saxon portion of England we find it scarcely once. It is found 
over the whole track of the Norsemen, from kirkwall in the 
Orkneys to dunkerque in Flanders, and querqueville in 
Normandy, kirby means church-village, and the Kirbys 
which are dotted over East Anglia and Northumbria speak 
to us of the time when the possession of a church by a village 
community was the exception, and not, as is now happily the 
case, the rule. These names point to a state of things some- 
what similar to that now prevailing in Australia or Canada, 
where often but a single church and a single clergyman are to 
be found in a district fifty miles in circumference. Thus we 
may regard these Kirbys distributed throughout the Danelagh 
as the sites of the mother churches, to which the surrounding 
parishes, whose names contain no sucli prefix, would bear a 
filial relationship. 

Joined with the prefixes kil and llan we find not unfrequently 
the name of the apostle of each wild valley or rocky islet — 
the first Christian missionary who ventured into the mountain 
fastnesses to tame their savage denizens. From the village- 
names of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, it would be almost 
possible to compile a Hagiology of these sainted men, who 
have been canonized by local tradition, though their names are 
seldom to be found in the pages of the BoUandists. 

In a few of these cases, where the same name is repeated 
again and again, we can only infer the fact of the dedication 
of the church to some saint of widely extended fame. Thus 
the repute of St. Bridget has given rise to no less than eighteen 



LOCAL SAINTS OF WALES. 229 



Kilbrides in Scotland alone. At icolmkill, or lona, the chief 
monastery and seminary of North Britain, and the burial-place 
of innumerable kings and saints, as well as at inchcolm, 
COLONSAY, and kirkcolm, we find the name of St. Columba, 
the great apostle of the Picts, who is said to have founded a 
hundred monasteries in Ireland and Scotland. So the name 
of St. Ciarran, the apostle of the Scoto-Irish, and the founder 
of a monastic rule, is found at kilkiaran in Islay, as well as 
at KiLKERRAN in Ayrshire and in Connemara. But a very 
large number of these saint-names are locally unique, and the 
parishes which bear such names are almost always the most 
ancient, their ecclesiastical position being that of the mother 
parishes, affiliated to which are the churches dedicated to saints 
in the Romish calendar. Hence these village-names may fairly 
be adduced as evidence in any attempt to localize the scene 
of the labours of these primitive missionaries. 

Were we to attempt such a commemoration in this place 
our space would fail, for in Wales alone there are no less than 
479 of these local saints; it must therefore suffice to indicate 
a few names which are associated with some of the more 
familiar localities. Thus the watering-place of Llandudno 
takes its name from St. Tudno, a holy hermit who took up his 
abode among the rocks of the Orme's Head, llanberis, now 
the head-quarters of Welsh tourists, commemorates the labours 
of St. Peris, an apostolically-minded cardinal. In the case of 
beddgelert, the old Aryan legend of the hound Gelert, which 
Spenser has so gracefully enshrined inverse, must give place to the 
claims of St. Celert, a Welsh saint of the fifth century, to whom 
the church of llangeller is also consecrated. Llangollen is 
so called from St. Collen, a man more fortunate, or unfortunate, 
than the majority of his brethren, in that a Welsh legend of 
his life has come down to us, recounting the deeds of valour 
which he performed when a soldier in the Roman armies ; how 
he became Abbot of Glastonbury, and finally retired to spend 
the remainder of his days in a cave scooped out in that rugged 
wall of cliff which bounds the lovely valley on which the saint 
has bestowed his name. The name of merthyr tydfil com- 
memorates the spot where the heathen Saxons and Picts put 
to death the martyr Tydfyl^ daughter of the eponymic King 



230 



SACRED SITES. 



Brycnan, who is asserted by Welsh legend to have given his 
name to the county of Brecon. St David or St. Dewi was a 
Welsh prince, whose preaching is compared to that of Sl John 
the Baptist He lived on herbs, and clothed himself in the 
skins of beasts, llanddewi brefi marks the spot where, at 
a synod assembled for the purpose, he refuted Pelagius. He 
was buried at his see of ty ddewi, " the house of David," a 
place which the Saxons call St David's. The names of St 
Asaph, the apostle of North Wales, and of St Maughold or 
Macull, the apostle of the Isle of Man, are to be found on the 
maps of the countries where they laboured. A few more ot 
these names are appended in a note.^ 

At KIRKCUDBRIGHT and clscwhere we find the name of St 
Cuthbert, a shepherd- boy who became abbot of Melrose, and 
the Thaumaturgus of Britain. St. Beya, an Irish virgin, lived 
an ascetic life at st. bees, where her shrine was long a great 



* 754^ nanus of 

LLAN6ATT0CK, Brecon, and Mon- 
mouth 

CADOXTON, Glamorgan .... 
I,LANBAD£RN, Radnor and Cardigan 



LLANGYBi, near Caerleon . 
CAERGYBI, at Holyhead . 
LLANILLTYD, Glamorgan 
ILLSTON, Glamorgan . . 
CRANTOCK, Cardigan . . 
LLANGADOG, Carmarthenshire 

LLANIDLOES 

ARDFINNAN, in Tipperar}' . 
INISFALLAN, in Kerry . . 
KILBAR, in the Isle of bark a 
ST. kenelm's well . . . 



KILl«ALO£ ..a..... 

perranzabuloe, or St. Perranin 
Sabulo, Cornwall, a church 
buried in the drifting sand . . 

PADSTOW, i.e, Petrocstow, in Corn- 
wall 

PENZANCE, i,e. Saint's Headland . 



are attributed to 



St. Cadoc, a martyr. 



St. Padem, an Armorican bishop 
who came to Wales. 

St. Cybi. 

St. liltyd, an Armorican. 

St. Carannog. 

St. Gadoga, a British saint of the 
fifth century, who died in Brittany. 
St Idloes. 

St. Finian the leper, a royal saint. 

St. Bar. 

St. Kenelm, a Mercian prince, mur- 
dered in a wood by his aunt at the 
age of seven. 

St. Lua. 

St. Piran, a bishop consecrated by 
St. Patrick for a mission to Corn- 
wall. 

St. Petroc, one of St Patrick's mis- 
sionary bishops. 

St. Anthony. 



IRISH MISSIONARIES. 231 



place of pilgrimage. We find the name of St. Jia, another 
female saint, at st. ives in Cornwall There is another place 
called ST. ives, which takes its name, we are told, from St. 
Ivon,^ a Persian bishop ; but how his body reached Hunting- 
donshire, where it was miraculously discovered by a ploughman 
in the year looi, tradition sayeth not. The neighbouring town 
of ST. neot's bears the name of St Neot, who was a relative 
of King Alfred. 

St. malo takes its name from St. Maclou, as the chronicles 
call him. He appears to have been one of those wandering 
evangelists of whom Ireland and Scotland sent forth so many 
in the sixth century, and we may perhaps conjecture that his 
real name was McLeod, and that his cousin St. Magloire was 
a McClure. A more historical personage is St. Gall (the Gael), 
the most celebrated of the successors of St. Columba: — ^he 
occupied high station in France, and founded in the uncleared 
forest the Scotch abbey of st. gallen, from which one of the 
Swiss cantons takes its name. Another Swiss canton was 
formerly the domain attached to a church founded by St. 
Fridolin, an Irish missionary, and dedicated to St Hilarius, a 
saint whose name has been corrupted into glarus. st. goar 
built a hut beneath the dangerous Lurlei rock, at the spot 
which bears his name, and devoted himself to the succour of 
shipwrecked mariners. St Brioc fled from the Saxon invaders 
of Britain, and founded a monastery at ST. brieux in Brittany. 
The town of ST. omer was the see of St Audomar, a Swabian 
favourite of Dagobert, and st. cloud was the scene of the 
retirement of St Hlodowald, one of the saints whose royal 
birth facilitated their admission to the honours of the calendar. 
Legends more or less marvellous often attach to names of 
this class. The history of St Brynach, who gave his name to 
LLANFKYNACH, is, to Say the least, somewhat remarkable. We 

1 There is a third St. Ivo, the popular saint of Brittany. He was an 
honest lawyer, and hence he is represented as a black swan in certain 
medixval verses in his honour : — 

'* Sanctus Ivo erat Brito 
Advocatus, sed non latro ; 
Res miranda populo.'*' 



232 SACRED SITES. 



are gravely told how, for lack of a boat, he sailed from Rome 
to Milford Haven mounted on a piece of rock, and how 
among other proofs of supernatural power he freed Fishguard 
from the unclean spirits, who by their howlings had rendered 
the place uninhabitable. Sometimes we have legends of a 
totally different class, as in the case of ST. heliers in Jersey. 
Here, we are told, was the retreat of St. Helerius,^ who mor- 
tified the flesh by standing on sharp stones, with spikes pointed 
against his shoulders, and others against his breast, in order to 
prevent him from falling backwards or forwards in his weari- 
ness. A far more picturesque legend is that which accounts, 
for the name of the castle of st. angelo at Rome. We are 
told that; in the time of Gregory the Great, while a great 
plague was desolating Rome, the Pontiff, walking in procession 
at the head of his monks, and chaunting a solemn litany for 
the deliverance of the city, saw, or thought he saw, St. Michael, 
the destroying angel, standing upon the very summit of the vast 
mausoleum of Hadrian, in the act of sheathing his avenging 
sword. The plague ceased, and thenceforward, in memory of 
the miracle, the tower bore the name of the " castle of the 
angel," whose effigy, poised upon its summit in eternal bronze, 
is pointed out as a perpetual evidence of the truth of the 
legend. 

Where the reputed burial-places of celebrated saints have 
become great places of pilgrimage, the name of the saint has 
often superseded the original appellation. Thus the reputed 
tomb of Lazarus has changed the local name of Bethany to 
EL LAZARiEH ; and Hebron, the place of interment of Abra- 
ham, who was called the friend of God, is now called by the 
Arabs el khalil, or " the friend." ST. Edmund's bury in 
Suffolk was the scene of the martyrdom of St. Edmund, king 
of the East Angles. He was taken prisoner by Ingvar the 
Viking, and having been bound to a tree, he was scourged, 
and made a target for the arrows of the Danes, and was finally 
beheaded, st. osyth in Essex is said to bear the name of a 
queen of the East Angles who was also beheaded by the 

^ Not to be confounded with St. Hilarius, Bishop of Poitiers, or with 
Hilarius, Bishop of Aries, to whom Waterland has assigned the authorship 
of the Athanasian Creed. 



LOCAL LEGENDS. 233 



Danes.^ There is only one saint of whom the local memory 
survived the efifacing ordeal of the Saxon conquest. The vene- 
rable memory of ST. alban, the protomartyr of Britain, has 
supplanted the name of the Roman city of Verulamium, where 
he suffered. The marvellous legend of Dionysius the Areo- 
pagite finds a local habitation at st. denis, the burial-place of 
the kings of France. Halifax in Yorkshire derived its name 
from the " holy tress " of the Virgin's hair which so many pil- 
grims came to see. The name of Santiago de compostella 
in Spain has been curiously formed out of the Latin phrase 
Sancto Jacobo Apostolo. santarem, Santiago, and sant- 
ANDER, also in the Peninsula, take their names respectively 
from St. Irene, a holy virgin, St. James, and St. Andrew; 
archangel, in Russia, from St. Michael; marsaba, on the 
Dead Sea, from the celebrated St Saba, hermit and abbot. 

Of the great monastic edifices of later ages, most of which are 
now demolished wholly or in part, or devoted to other purposes, 
we find traces in the names of axminster, leominster, Kid- 
derminster, WESTMINSTER, WARMINSTER, BEDMINSTER, BEA- 

MiNSTER, STURMiNSTER, UPMINSTER, and Others. Minstcr is 
the Anglo-Saxon form of the Low Latin monasterium. From 
the same word come the names of several places called mons- 
TiERS, MOUSTiERS, or MOUTIER in France and Switzerland, and 
various monastirs in Greece and Thessaly. The bay of aber 
BENiGUET, in Brittany, takes its name from the lighthouse 
which the Benedictine monks maintained to warn vessels from 
the dangerous rocks upon the coast. Mt^NCHEN, or Munich as 
we call it, takes its name from the warehouse in which the 
monks (German monche) stored the produce of their valuable salt- 
mines at Reichenhall and Salzburg. Abbeville was the town- 
ship belonging to the Abbot of St. Valeri, seized and fortified 
by Hugh Capet Numerous names, such as nunthorpe and 

NUNEATON, STAPLEFORD ABBOTS and ABBOTS LANGLEY, BISHOPS- 

ley and bishops stortford, monkton and monklands, pres- 
TON and prestwich, priors hardwick, buckland monacho- 

RUM, KINGSBURY EPISCOPI, and TOLLER FRATRUM, ICCOrd th^ 

sites of the long-secularized possessions of nuns, abbots, priors, 

^ The name seems to be eponymic. Osyth means "water channel," 
and would correctly characterize the natural features of the spot. 



234 SACRED SITES. 



bishops, friars, monks, and priests. The word Temple often 
appears as a prefix or suffix in village names, and marks the 
possessions of the Templars : such are cressing temple and 

TEMPLE ROYDON in EsseX, TEMPLE CHELSING, and TEMPLE DIN- 

SLEY in Herts, terregles in Dumfries is a corruption of 
Terra Ecclesia^ a phrase which is usually translated into the 
form of KiRKLANDS, or corrupted into eccles. The name 
of Aix-LA-CHAPELLE ^ reminds us of the magnificent shrine 
erected over the tomb of Charlemagne, and capel curig of 
the chapel of a humble British saint^ 

^ Mr. Burgon, in his amusing letters from Rome, has recently pointed out 
an undoubted etymology for this word chapd^ which has so long puzzled 
etymologists. It seems to have originally been the name given to uat arched 
sepulchres excavated in the vralls of the catacombs of Rome, which after- 
wards became places where prayer was wont to be made. The Low Latin 
capdla is the hood or covering of the altar. Hence our words cape and cap» 

' On the subject of this chapter the following books may be consulted : 
Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie; Mannhardt, Die Gotterwelt der detUschen und 
nordischen Volker; and Germamsche Mythen; Mone, Geschichie des Hei- 
denthums im nordlichen Europa; Miiller, Geschichie und System der alt^ 
deutschen Rdigion; Buttmann, Die deutschen Ortsnattten ; Panzer, Bei' 
trag tur deutschen Mythologie ; Barth, Ueber die Druidem der Kdten ; Kemble, 
The Saxons in England; Thorpe, Northern Mythology ; Pictet, Les Origines 
Jndo-Europiennes ; Rice Rees, Essay on the Wdsh Saints; W. J. Rees, Usfa 
of the CanUnrO' British Saints; Butler, Lives of the Saints ; Edmunds, Names 
oj Places ; and the Zeitschrijtjur Deutsche Mythologie, passim. 



1 



CHAPTER XIV. 

PHYSICAL CHANGES ATTESTED BY LOCAL NAMES. 

Tike nature of geological dmnges — The valley of the Thames once a lagoon 
filled with islets — Thanet once an island— Reclamation of Romney Marsh 
— Newhaven — Somersetshire — The Traeth Mawr — The Carse of Cowrie— 
Loch Maree — The Fens of Cambridgeshire — The Isle of Axhalme — Silting 
up of the Lake of Ceneva — Increase of the Ddta of the Po — Volcanoes — 
Destruction of ancient forests — Icdandic forests — The Weald oflCent — In- 
crease of population — Populousness of Saxon England — The nature oj 
Saxon husbandry — English vineyards— Extinct animals : the wolf, badger, 
aurochs, and beaver — Ancient salt works — Lighthouses — Changes in the 
rdative commercial importance of towns. 

Vast geological operations are still in progress on this globe ', 
continents are slowly subsiding at the rate of a few inches in a 
century ; while new lands are uprising out of the waters, and 
extensive deltas are in process of formation by alluvial deposi- 
tion. But these changes, vast as is their aggregate amount, 
are so gradual that generations pass away without having made 
note of any sensible mutations. Local names, however, form 
an enduring chronicle, and often enable us to detect the pro- 
gress of these physical changes, and occasionally even to 
assign a precise date to the period of their operation. 

Thus it is not difficult to prove that the present aspect of 
the lower valley of the Thames is very different from what it 
must have been a thousand years ago. Instead of being con- 
fined within regular banks the river must have spread its slug- 
gish waters over a broad lagoon, which was dotted with marshy 
islands. This is indicated by the fact that the Anglo-Saxon 
word ea or ey^ an island, enters into the composition of the 
names of many places by the river-side which are now joined 



236 PHYSICAL CHANGES. 



to the mainland by rich pastures Such are 3£RMokdS£Y, 

PUTNEY, BATTERSEA, CHERTSEY, MOULSEY, IFFLEY, OSNEY, 

WHITNEY, and EATON or ETON. The Abbey Church of West- 
minster was built for security on thorney Island, and the 
eastern portion of the water in St James's Park is a part of 
that arm of the Thames which encircled the sanctuary of the 
monks, and the palace of the Anglo-Saxon kings. The name 
CHELSEA is a contraction of chesel-ea, or " shingle island," and 
in its natural features the place must have once resembled the 
eyots which are found in the Thames near Hampton. In 
Leland*s time there was a shingle bank at the mouth of the Axe 
in Devon called the Chisille. The long ridge of shingle which 
joins the Isle of Portland to the mainland is also called the 
Chesil bank ; and the name of the Isle of Portland indicates 
that the formation of this ridge took place in modern times, 
subsequent to the period when Anglo-Saxon gave place to 
modem English. 

The ISLE OF THANET was formerly as much an island as the 
Isle of Shepp<fy is at the present time. Ships bound up the 
Thames used ordinarily to avoid the perils of the North Fore- 
land by sailing through the channel between the island and 
the mainland, entering by Sandwich and passing out by Re- 
culver, near Heme Bay. sandwich, or ** sandy bay," was then 
one of the chief ports of debarkation ; but the sands have filled 
up the wick or bay, the ancient port is now a mile and a half 
distant from high-water mark ; and the ruins of Rutupiae, now 
Richborough, the port where the Roman fleets used to be laid 
up, are now surrounded by fine pastures, ebbfleet, which is 
now half a mile from the shore, was a port in the twelfth cen- 
tury, and its name indicates the former existence of a " tidal 
channel" at the spot. The Celtic name of durlock, more 
than a mile from the sea, means " water lake," and indicates 
the process by which the estuary was converted into meadow. 
This navigable channel, which passed between the Isle of 
Thanet and the mainland, has been silted up by the deposits 
brought down by the River Stour. stourmouth — the name, be 
it noted, is English, not Anglo-Saxon — is now four miles from 
the sea, and marks the former embouchure of this river. 
chiselet, close by, was once a shingle islet; and five miles 



ISLE OF THANET. 237 



farther inland, the name of fordwick,^ the " bay on the arm ot 
the sea," proves that in the time of the Danes the estuary 
must have extended nearly as far as Canterbury. Beyond 
Canterbury is olantigh, anciently Olantige, whose name shows 
that in Saxon times it must have been an island. 

RoMNEY Marsh,2 which is now a fertile tract containing 
50,000 acres of the best pasturage in England, must, in Saxon 
times, have resembled the shore near Lymington — a worthless 
muddy flat, overflowed at every tide, old romney, new 
ROMNEY, and scoTNEY, were low islands which afforded sites 
for the earliest fisher-villages. The name of winchelsea, or 
givmt-chesel-ey enlightens us as to the process by which these 
islands were formed — namely, by the heaping up of shingle banks 
at the seaward edge of the muddy flats.^ The recent origin of 
this tract of land, and the gradual progress of its reclamation., 
are curiously illustrated by the character of the local names. 
Throughout the greater portion of the marsh they are purely 
English, such as ivychurch, Fairfield, brookland, and new- 
church. In a few of the more elevated spots the names are 
Saxon or Celtic, as winchelsea or romney, while it is only 
when we come to the inland margin of the marsh that we meet 
with a fringe of ancient names like lymne or appledore, which 
show the existence of continuous habitable land in the times 01 
the Romans or the Celts.* appledore is a Celtic name mean- 
ing "water-pool," and was formerly a maritime town; while 
lymne, the ancient Portus Lemanus, is the jcaivos \i\i^v of 

* Fordwick was anciently the port of Canterbury, ancj a corporate town. 
"Norwich in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was " on the banks of an 
arm of the sea." 

* From the Gaelic word ruimne, a marsh. The name of Ramsey, in the 
Fens, is derived from the same source. 

3 Dungeness, at the southern extremity of Romney Marsh, is a long spit 
of shingle, derived from the disintegration of the cliffs at Beachy Head, and 
has for the last two centuries been advancing seaward at the rate of nearly 
twenty feet per annum. 

* The same is the case in the Fens. The portions reclaimed at an early 
period show English names surrounded by a border of Danish names on the 
north, and of Saxon names on the south. The same is the case with the 
Delta of the Rhone. Places lying to the north of the old Roman road be- 
tween Nismes and Ceziers have Celtic names, while all those to the soath 
of the road have names of Romance derivation. 



238 PHYSICAL CHANGES. 



Ptolemy, and was one of the three great fortified harbours 
which protected the communications of the Romans with the 
Continent. The ruins of the Roman port are now nearly two 
miles from the sea. The names of west hythe, which is 
more than a mile from the shore, and of hythe, which is only 
half a mile, chronicle the silting up of the backwater which 
formed the ancient port, and the successive seaward advances 
of the shingle, since the time when the Saxon word hithe was 
superseded by its English equivalent haven. The name ot 
NEWHAVEN commcmorates a geological event of an opposite 
character, lewes was anciently a port, and hamsey was a 
marshy island in the estuary of the River Ouse, which then 
entered the sea at seaford, but a great storm in the year 1570 
permanently changed its course, and the port of Newhaven has 
arisen at the new outlet of the river. The name of Newport 
in South Wales reminds us in like manner of the decay of the 
Roman port at Caerleon, and the erection of another a little 
nearer to the sea ; and Newport in the Isle of Wight has taken 
the place of an older harbour near Carisbrooke. pevensey and 
SELSEY are now no longer islands, the channels which divided 
them from the mainland having been silted up. The name 
of SELSEY (seal's island) reminds us of the remote period whien 
seals lay basking on the Sussex coast. 

The central part of Somersetshire presents many names 
which show great physical changes. In Celtic times stick- 
linch, moorlinch, and charlinch, were islands, as was the 
case in the Saxon period with muchelney, rodney, godney, 

ATHELNEY, HENLEY, BRADNEY, HORSEY, HACKNEY, OTHERY, 
MIDDLENEY, THORNEY, CHEDZOY, WESTONZOYLAND, MIDDLEZOY, 

and WESTHOLME, while the pasture-land called meare must 
once have been the bed of an inland lake. 

The whole district of the traeth mawr or " Great Sand " 
in North Wales was an estuary at no very remote period. The 
action of the sea may be distinctly traced along the rocks near 
Tremadoc.^ Almost every rocky knoll on the wide flat pasture- 
land bears the name of ynys^ or island,^ and must once have 

* The site of this town was reclaimed from the sea in 1813 by means of 
an embankment made by a Mr. Maddock. 

• E,g. YNYS-GWELY, YNYS-CEILIOG, YNYS-CALCH, YNYS-TYWYN. 



ELEVATION OF SCOTLAND. 239 



been surrounded by every tide, as is still the case with Ynys- 
gifFtan and Ynys-g)mgar. ynys fawr and ynys fach, the 
** Great Island " and the ** Little Island " are now two miles 
from the sea, and ynys gwertheryn, south of Harlech, is a 
mile inland. From ynys hir, now some way inland, Madoc 
is said to have sailed in quest of unknown lands. Ywern, two 
miles from the sea, was once a sea-port, as is proved by the 
parish register of Penmorpha. 

The tract of land near Dartmouth called new ground was 
only reclaimed from the river a century ago. roodey, which 
now forms the race-course at Chester, was formerly an island 
surrounded by the river Dee, like the inches, or islands of 
Perth. The Carse of Gowrie is the bed of an ancient arm of 
the sea, which having been nearly filled up by the alluvium 
of the Tay and the Earn, has, in common with the whole of 
central Scotland, undergone an elevation of twenty or thirty 
feet since the Roman period, inchture, inchmartin, inch- 
MiCHAEL, INCHYRA, and MEGGINCH were, as the names witness, 
islands in this frith. An anchor has been dug up at Megg- 
inch, and at the farm of Inchmichael a boat-hook was found at 
a depth of eight feet below the soil, and twenty feet above the 
present high water-mark. In the plain a little below Dunkeld, a 
hillock containing 156 acres goes by the name of inchtuthill^ 
" the island of the flooded stream," showing that the Tay must 
once have surrounded it. 

This secular elevation of Scotland may also be traced by 
means of the raised beaches on the western coast. Here also 
we meet with a remarkable etymological confirmation of the 
results arrived at on independent grounds by geological inves- 
tigators, " Loch Ewe, in Ross-shire, one of our salt sea lochs," 
says Hugh Miller, "receives the waters of Loch Maree — a 
noble freshwater lake, about eighteen miles in length, so little 
raised above the sea level that ere the last upheaval of the land 
it must have formed merely the upper reaches of I-,och Ewe. 
The name Loch Maree — Mary's Loch — is evidently mediaeval. 
And, curiously enough, about a mile beyond its upper end, 
just where Loch Ewe would have terminated ere the land last 
arose, an ancient farm has borne, from time immemorial, the 
name of kinloch ewe— the head of Loch Ewe." 



240 PHYSICAL CHANGES. 



Start island, in the Orkneys, has in comparatively recent 
times been separated from the Island of Sanda. The word 
start means a tail, as in the case of Start-point, in Devon. The 
redstarty is the red-tailed bird. Thus the name of start island 
proves that it was once only a long promontory projecting from 
the island of Sanda, and the recent date of the separation is 
shewn by the form of the name being Start Island, instead of 
the Norse equivalent Starts:, So the name of studland (Anglo- 
Saxon stiiduy a post or pillar) proves the antiquity of the chalk 
columns which fringe the cape. 

The Fens which surround the Isle of Ely constitute a vast 
alluvial flat of more than a thousand square miles in extent, 
and must formerly have been a shallow bay six times as large 
as the Wash, which has been silted up by the deposits of the 
Nen, the Welland, the Witham, and the Ouse. 

The local names in this district shew, as might have been 
expected, great alterations in the distribution of land and 
water. We have landbeach, waterbeach, asbeach, over 
(Anglo-Saxon ufer, a shore) and erith {aray shore, and 
hithe, haven), which are all places on the edge of the present 
Fen district, holbeach is now six miles from the coast, and 
wiSBEACH, the beach of the Wash or Ouse, is seven miles inland. 
The ancient sea-wall, now at a considerable distance from 
the shore, has given rise to the local names of walsoken, 
WALTON, and walpole. 

The tide does not now come within two miles of tydd, and 
almost all the present villages in the Fen country were origi- 
nally islands, as is shown by their names. Thus Tilney, Ged- 
ney, Stickney, Ramsey, Thorney, Stuntney, Souther^, Norney, 
Quaney, Helgae, Higney, Spinney, Whittlesey, Yaxley, Ely, 
Holme, Oxney, Eye, Coveny, Monea, Swathesey, Sawtrey, 
Raveley, Rowoy, and Wiskin (Celtic, the water island), are no 
longer, as they once were, detached islands in a watery waste ; 
the great inljid seas of Ramsey Mere and Whittlesey Mere 
are now draiired, and the flocks of wildfowl have given place 
to flocks of sheep. 

The Isle of axholme or axelholme, in Lincolnshire, is now 
joined to the mainland by a wide tract of rich corn-land. The 
name shews that it has been an island during the time of the 



FENS. 241 

Celts, Saxons, Danes, and English. The first syllable Ax is 
the Celtic word for the water by which it was surrounded. The 
Anglo-Saxons added their word for island to the Celtic name, 
and called it Axey. A neighbouring village still goes by the 
name of haxey. The Danes added holm, the Danish word 
for island, to the Saxon name, and modem English influences 
have corrupted Axeyholme into Axelholme, and contracted it 
into Axholme, and have finally prefixed the English word Isle. 
The internal evidence afforded by the name is supplemented 
by historical facts. In the time of Henry II. the island was 
attacked and taken by the Lincolnshire men in boats, and so 
late as the time of James I. it was surrounded by broad waters, 
across which the islanders sailed once a week to attend the 
market at Doncaster. 

We can trace similar changes on the Continent. The city 
of LISLE is built on L'isle, once an island, montreuil sur 
MER, formerly Monasteriolum super Mare, was built in the 
year 900, on the banks of an estuary which has been silted up, 
and the town is now separated from the sea by many miles of 
alluvial soil. A Danish fleet once sailed up to Bawtnt, which 
is now ten miles from the sea. wissan is now four miles firom 
the sea. The name is a corruption of the Norse Wissant or 
Witsand, and refers to the "white sand " which has choked up 
the harbour from which, in all probability, Csesar first sailed 
for Britain. ST. pierre-sur-le-digue, near Bruges, is six miles 
from the present sea-wall, and the town of damme, which once 
possessed an harbour and considerable maritime trade, is now 
an inland agricultural town, notre dame des ports, at the 
mouth of the Rhone, was an harbour in the year 898, but 
is now three miles firom the sea. ostia, as the name implies, 
and as we are expressly told, was founded at the mouth of 
the Tiber, but the alluvial matter firom the Apennines brought 
down by the yellow river has now advanced the coast-line 
three miles beyond the town. t 

There are but few islands in the world whose names do not 
contain some root denoting their insular character. A remark- 
able exception to this rule is to be found in the names of the 
islands which lie off" the mouth of the Scheldt, and at the en- 
trance of the Zuyder Zee. Does not the circumstance bear a 

R 



242 PHYSICAL CHANGES. 



striking testimony to the historical fact that it is only wittnn 
comparatively recent times that the delta of the Scheldt has 
been broken up, and the Zuyder Zee formed by incursions ot 
the ocean ? 

Port valais, the Portus Valesiae of the Romans, occupies 
the site of the ancient harbour at the upper end of the Lake of 
Geneva. The alluvium of the Rhone has advanced the land 
nearly two miles in less than two thousand years, being at the 
rate of between four and five feet per annum, villeneuve, the 
new town, has taken the place of the old port 

The southern face of the Alps is bare and precipitous, and 
from meteorological causes, which are well understood, the dis- 
trict is peculiarly liable to sudden and violent falls of rain. The 
rivers of Lombardy are, in consequence, charged with an ex- 
ceptional amount of alluvial matter. The whole plain of the 
Po is gradually rising, so much so that at Modena the ruins of 
the Roman city are found forty feet beneath the surface of the 
ground. Hence at the embouchures of the Po and the Adige 
we might anticipate rapid changes in the coast line ; and this 
we find to be the case. We find a range of ancient dunes and 
sea beaches stretching from Brandolo to Mesola. Ravenna, 
now four miles inland, stood on the coast two thousand 
years ago. One of the suburbs of Ravenna is called classe, a 
corruption of Classis, the ancient name of the port, which was 
capable of giving shelter to 250 ships of war. Classe is 
now separated from the sea by a dense forest of stone-pines 
two miles in breadth. The Adriatic takes its name firom the 
town of ADRiA, which was its chief port, B.C. 200. atri, the 
modem town upon the site, is now nearly twenty miles from 
the coast. 

The present delta of the Po, containing 2,800 square miles, 
was probably at no very distant date a shallow lagoon, re- 
sembling that which is crossed by the railway viaduct between 
Mestre and Venice. The delta commences at the town of 
osTEGLiA, now eighty-six miles from the sea. The name ot 
Osteglia would indicate that here formerly was the embouchure 
of the Po. ESTE is nearly thirty miles inland, and the name 
seems also to be a corruption of the word osfia. The Po has, 
moreover, frequently changed its channel, and two of these 



DELTAS. 243 



deserted river-beds are known by the names of the po muuto, 
the PC VECCHio. 

The name of Vesuvius is probably Oscan, and proves, as 
Benfey thinks, that this volcano must have been in eruption 
some 2,400 years ago, before the Greeks arrived in Italy A 
similar conclusion may be deduced from the fact that the name 
of ETNA means a " furnace " in the Phoenician language.^ 

On the Bay of Baiae we find monte nuovo, the "new 
mountain," which at the time of the eruption in the year 1538 
was thrown up to a height of 440 feet in less than a week. 

Near Primiero, in the Italian Tyrol, is a lake, three miles 
long, called lago nuovo. This was formed some years ago 
by a landslip which choked up the narrow entrance to one 
of the mountain valleys. 

The physical condition and the climate of the northern 
hemisphere have been largely affected by the destruction of 
the forests which once clothed the greater part of Europe. 
The notices of ancient writers are seldom sufficiently definite 
or copious to enable us to discover the extent of the old 
woodland. Occasionally we have tangible evidence, such as 
is supplied by the bog oak of Ireland, or the buried trees of 
Lincolnshire. But ancient names here stand us in good stead, 
and enable us, at certain definite periods, to discover, with con- 
siderable precision, the extent of primaeval forests now partly 
or entirely destroyed. 

The local names of Iceland shew in a very^ curious manner 
the way in which the rigour of the climate and the scarcity of 
fuel have caused the total destruction of the few forests of 
dwarf trees which existed at the time when the island was 
first discovered. At the present time, a solitary tree, about 
30 feet in height, is the sole representative of the former Ice- 
landic forests ; and the stunted bushes growing on the heaths 
are so eagerly sought for fuel that, as a recent traveller has 
observed, the loss of a toothpick may prove an irreparable 
misfortune. The chief resource of the inhabitants is the drift- 

^ See p. 62, supra. The name of SODOM means burning, thereby indi- 
cating, as Dr. Stanley has suggested, the volcanic character of the region 
in which the catastrophe took place. 

R 2 



244 PHYSICAL CHANGES. 



wood cast upon the coast by the Gulf Stream, or the costly 
substitute of Norwegian timber. But at the time of the first 
settlement of the island there must have been considerable 
tracts of woodland. In the Landnamabok we find no less than 
thirty-one local names containing the suffix holt^ a wood, and 
ten containing the word skogr^ sl shaw. Most of these names 
still remain, though every vestige of a wood has disappeared. 
Thus there are several places still called holt; and we also 
find HOLTFORD, SKALHOLT, REYKHOLT (where Snorro Sturleson 
was murdered), skogarfoss. Cape, skagi, skogcottr, and 
BLASKOGiHEiDi, or BUic-wood-Heath. 

The name of holstein, or Hol-satia, means the Forest 
settlement, and it probably indicates that the now barren Sege- 
berger Heath was once a vast forest which supplied a portion 
of the Angles with the materials for the fleets with which they 
invaded the shores of England 

In Southern Europe, names like broglio, brolo, and breuil 
attest the former existence of forests in districts now entirely 
bare. The name of the island of madeira bears witness to 
the vast forests which clothed the mountains of the island, 
and which were wantonly destroyed by fire soon after the dis- 
covery by the Portuguese. 

The bare heaths to the south-west of London seem to have 
been at one time partially clothed with forest. This is indi- 
cated by the root Ao/f (German Ao/z)^ which we find in the 
names of bagshot, badshot, ewshot, lodshot, bramshot, 
aldershot, and aldersholt. 

The vast tract in Kent and Sussex which is now called the 
WEALD (German waM, wood), is the remains of an ancient forest 
called the Andredesleahy which, with a breadth of 30 miles, 
stretched for 120 miles along the northern frontier of the king- 
dom of the South Saxons, well Street, the " wood-road," is 
the name of the Roman rqad which ran through the wooded 
district In the district of the Weald almost every local name, 
for miles and miles, terminates in hurst ^ ley^ den, or field. The 
hursts and charts ^ were the denser portions of the forest ; the 

^ The word chart is identical with the hurt (wood, or forest) which we 
find in such German names as the hartz Mountains, the HERCYNIAN 
Forest, hunhart, and lyndhart. //and eh are interchangeable, as in the 



FORESTS. 



245 



leys were the open torest glades where the cattle love to lie ; ^ 
the dens*^ were the deep-wooded valleys, and Xki^fieldSy as cuck- 
FiELD, LiNDFiELD, and UCKFIELD, Were little patches of " felled " 
or cleared lands in the midst of the surrounding forest From 

PETERSFIELD and MIDHURST, by BILLINGHURST, CUCKFIELD, 
WADHURST, and LAMBERHURST, aS far as HAWKSHURST and TEN- 

TERDFN, these forest names stretch in an uninterrupted string.^ 
The dens were the swine pastures ; and down to the seven- 
teenth century the " Court of Dens," as it was called, was held 
at Aldington to determine disputes arising out of the rights of 
forest pasture.* Another line of names ending in den testifies 

case of the Chatti, who have given their name to Hesse. There seems to 
have been a German word harud or ckarud^ from which kart and chart are 
derived. We find it in the names of the "forest tribes," the Harudes and 
the Chenisci. 
^ The root of the word leak or lea^ is the verb " to lie." 
' Den is probably a Celtic word adopted by the Saxons. The ardennes 
is the ** great forest " on the frontiers of Belgium and France. 

' An analysis of the forest names in the Weald gives the following 
results : — 





hurst. 


den. 


ley. 


holt, 
or hot. 

I 

4 
11 

3 
19 


field. 


Total. 


Central Kent .... 
Northern Sussex . . . 
Southern Surrey . . . 
Eastern Hants .... 

Total 


33 
40 

I 

26 


42 
16 



I 


22 

21 

8 

15 


19 
28 

2 

6 


117 

109 

22 

51 


100 


59 66 


55 


299 



* The surnames Hayward and Howard are corruptions of Hogwardcn, 
an officer elected annually to see that the swine in the common forest pas- 
tures or defis were duly provided with rings, and were prevented from 
straying. The Howard family first comes into notice in the Weald, where 
their name would lead us to expect to find them. So the family name of 
Woodward is vtidu veard, the wood warden, whose duties were analogous 
to those of the howard. There are » many evidences of the importance 
attached to swine in Anglo-Saxon times. Flitch is etymologically the same 
word d&Jleisch or fleshy showing that the flesh of swine was pre-eminentlv 



246 PHYSICAL CHANGES. 



to the existence of the forest tract in Hertfordshire, Bedford- 
shire, and Huntingdonshire, which formed the western boundary 
of the East Saxon and East Anglian kingdoms, henley in 
ARDEN, and HAMPTON IN ARDEN, are vestiges of the great War- 
wickshire forest of ARDEN, which stretched from the Forest of 
Dean to Sherwood Forest. Names ending in hatch often 
indicate the ancient boundaries of forests. They are derived 
from the hitch-gates which kept cattle from straying out of the 
forest Thus colney hatch marks the southern extremity of 
Enfield Chase. 

The BLACK FOREST in Argyle is now almost entirely destitute 
of trees, and the same is the case with the cotswold Hills in 
Gloucestershire. This name contains two synonymous elements. 
The second syllable is the Anglo-Saxon wealdy a wood, which 
we find in the now treeless wolds of Yorkshire ; and the first 
portion is the Celtic coed^ a wood, which we find in chat moss, 

CATLOW, COITMORE, GOODGRAVE, and CADBEESTON. 

The name of derby, the "village of wild beasts,"^ shows, us 
the state of things on the arrival of the Danes. The Midland 
Derby lay between the forests of Arden and Sherwood. The 
hundred of Derby, which occupies the southern portion of 
Lancashire, and includes the populous towns of Liverpool and 
Wigan, was one vast forest, with the solitary village of Derby 
standing in the midst, till at length the villages of Ormskirk 
and Preston grew up around the church built by Ormr, and 
the priest's house. 

Indeed, Lancashire, which is now such a busy hive of 
workers, was one of the most desolate and thinly peopled parts 
of England before coal had been discovered underlying her 
thick forests and barren moorlands. An analysis of the local 
names will enable us to make a rough comparison of the area 
anciently under cultivation with that which was unreclaimed. 
Throughout Lancashire we find very few names ending m 

**the flesh" to which our ancestors were accustomed. Sir Walter Scott, 
m the well-known forest dialogue in Ivanhoe, has pointed out the fact that 
while vesJ, heef, mutton, and venison are Norman terms, hacon is Saxon. 

* The German word thier still means any wild animal ; but in England 
the extermination of the wolf, the wild ox, and the badger, has leS the 
**dcer" as the solitary representative of the German thier. 



POPULATION. 



247 



borough^ by, or thorpe, and hence we conclude that the number 
of villages and towns was small. There is a fair sprinkling 
of names in hatn^ worthy and cote^ suffixes which would denote 
detached homesteads ; while the very large number of names 
which are compounded with the words shaw, holty ley, hill, 
and mere, prove that the greater portion of the country con- 
sisted only of woodland or wild moor. 

In order to arrive at somewhat definite results, an analysis 
has been made of the local names in the counties of Surrey 
and Suffolk. Of the total number of names in Surrey 36 per 
cent, have terminations like wood, holt, hurst, ley, den or moor, 
and 12 per cent, end in don, combe, ridge, hill, &a,, while 40 
per cent exhibit such suffixes as ham, worth, cote, ton, sted, or 
borough, whence we gather that the proportion of uninhabited to 
inhabited places was 48 to 40. In Suffolk, on the other hand, 
the population seems to have been much more dense, for 65 
per cent, of the names denote habitations, 18 per cent, denote 
wood and moorland, and 7 per cent, denote hills.^ It would 
thus appear that the ratio of the density of the population in 
Suffolk to that in Surrey was approximately as 13 to 8, whereas 
at the present time the population of Suffolk is 215 to the 
square mile, and that of Surrey 842, or in the ratio of 13 to 48. 

The names which we have been considering indicate the 
former existence of ancient forests that have been cleared. 
In Hampshire we are presented with the converse pheno- 
menon ; we meet with names which establish a fact which has 
been doubted by some historical inquirers, that extensive 
populated districts were afforested to form what now con- 
stitutes the New Forest The very name of the new forest 
has its historical value — and within its present reduced area. 



^ We may tabulate th( 


;se results i 


IS follows : — 










Names in 


ham. 

84 
36 


ton. 

88 
30 


ing. 
10 


thorpe. 


borough field, 
or bury. 


ley. 

27 
40 


wood. 


hurst 


Suffolk . . . 
Surrey . . . 


5 
I 


12 
10 


31 

9 


I 
14 



15 



248 



PHYSICAL CHANGES. 



the sites of some of the villages that were destroyed are at- 
tested by names like trougham, fritham, wooton, hinton, 

BOCHAMPTON, TACHBURY, WINSTED, CHURCH WALK, and CHURCH 

MOOR, while the village names of Greteham, Adelingham, 
Wolnetime, and Bermintone survive only in the Domesday 
record. 

The hundred is supposed to have been originally the set- 
tlement of one hundred free families of Saxon colonists, just 
as the Canton (from the Welsh cant^ a hundred) was a similar 
Celtic division. In rural districts the population must have 
increased at least tenfold — often in a much larger proportion — 
&ince the period of the formation of the present hundreds. 
Many single agricultural parishes contain a hundred families 
removed above the labouring class, and we may probably con- 
clude that the population is equal to that of one of the Saxon 
hundreds. 

The manner in which the island was gradually peopled, 
and the distribution and relative density of the Saxon popula- 
tion, are curiously indicated by the varying sizes of the hun- 
dreds. In Kent, Sussex, and Dorset, which were among the 
earliest settlements, the small dimensions of the hundreds 
prove that the Saxon population was very, dense, whereas, 
when we approach the borders of Wales and Cumberland, 
where the Saxon tenure was one rather of conquest than of 
colonization, and where a few free families probably held in 
check a considerable subject population, we find that the 
hundreds include a much larger area. 

Thus the average number of square miles in each hun- 
dred is — 



In Sussex 23 

Kent 24 

Dorset 30 

Wiltshire 44 

Northamptonshire ... 52 

Surrey 58 



In Herts . . . 
Gloucestershire . 
Nottinghamshire 
Derbyshire . . 
Warwickshire . 
Lancashire . . 



79 

97 
105 

162 

179 

302 



We arrive at somewhat similar conclusions from the propor- 
tions of the slaves to the rest of the population, as returned in 
Domesday. In the east of England we find no slaves retumedi 



AGRICULTURE. 249 



the Celtic population having become entirely assimilated. In 
Kent and Sussex the slaves constitute 10 per cent of the 
population ; in Cornwall and Devon, 20 per cent. ; and in 
Gloucestershire, 33 per cent. 

The knowledge which we possess of several thousand names 
which have been preserved in Anglo-Saxon charters, enables us 
to ascertain, in many cases, the original forms of names which 
have now become more or less corrupted. From the study of 
these names it may be inferred that agriculture was in a more 
advanced state among the Anglo-Saxons than on the Conti- 
nent. A three-course system of husbandry was adopted ; wheat 
and flax are the crops which seem to have been the most 
cultivated. We meet with indications of the existence of 
extensive estates, on which stood large houses, occasionally of 
stone but more frequently of wood, for the residence of the 
proprietor, surrounded by the tun or inclosure for cattle, and 
the bartun or inclosure for the gathered crops. Round the 
homestead were inclosed fields, with bams, mills, and weirs. 
There were detached outlying sheepfolds and sheepcotes, with 
residences for the serfs, and special pasturages were allotted to 
swine and goats. The estates were separated from one another 
by a mark^ or broad boundary of woodland. There were open 
forest-pastures fed by swine, which must have presented an 
appearance resembling that of the open parts of the New 
Forest at the present day. In these woodlands the prevalent 
vegetation consisted of the thorn, hazel, oak, ash, elm, lime, 
and fern. The maple, beech, birch, aspen, and willow grew 
less abundantly. There were plantations of osiers, and the 
names of the rush and sedge occur so frequently as to indicate 
a very defective state of drainage. 

One fact, however, which we gather from these ancient 
names indicates a marked peculiarity in the aspect of Anglo- 
Saxon England. In no single instance throughout the charters 
do we meet with a name implying the existence of any kind of 
pine or fir, a circumstance which ciuiously corroborates the 
assertion of Caesar, that there was no fir found in Britain. The 
names of fruit-trees are also very unfirequent, with the excep- 
tion of that of the apple-tree, and even this appears very 
rarely in conjunction with Anglo-Saxon roots, being found 



250 THYSICAL CHANGES. 



chiefly in Celtic names, such as appledurcombe, and avalot^ ; 
or in Norse names, such as appleby, applegarth, and 

APPLETHWAITE. 

At the period of the Conquest, vineyards do not seem to 
have been uncommon in the south of England. In Domesday 
Book vineyards are mentioned in the counties of Hertford, 
Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent, Hampshire, Dorset, and 
Wilts. At the present day a part of the town of Abingdon is 
called the vineyard, and there is also a field so called near 
Beaulieu Abbey in Hampshire, and another near Tewkesbur>^ 
The same name is borne by lands which were formerly 
attached to monastic foundations in the counties of Worcester, 
Hereford, Somerset, Cambridge, and Essex. The very early 
existence of vine culture in England is indicated by the name 
of wiNNAL in Hampshire, whicli is derived from the Celtic 
gwinlian, a vineyard. 

Local names occasionally preserve evidence of the former 
existence of animals now extinct The names of the wolf and 
the bear were so commonly used as personal appellations by 
the Danes and Saxons, that we are unable to pronounce with 
certainty as to the significance of names like wolferlow in 
Herefordshire, or barnwood in Gloucestershire, wolvesey, a 
small island at Winchester, was, however, the place where 
the Welsh tribute of wolves' heads was annually paid. The 
seal ascended the Humber as far as selby. The badger or 
broc gave its name to bagshot, broxbourne, and brogden ; 
the wild boar {eofir) was found at evershaw, evershot, 
EVERTON, and eversley; and the crane at cranfield and 

CRANBOURN. 

The huge aurochs, which once roamed over the forests of 
Germany, is mentioned in the Niebelungen Lied by the name 
of the Wisent; and in Hesse we find a place called wiesen- 
feld, the "aurochs' field," and another called wiesenstiege, 
the "aurochs' stair." We find traces of the elk at elbach 
and ellwangen; and of the Schelch, a gigantic elk, now 
everywhere extinct, at schollnach. 

The fox is unknown in the Isle of Man, and not even a 
tradition survives of its former presence. A place called 
CRONKSHYNNAGH, which meaus " Fox hough," is, however, 



EXTINCT ANIMALS. 251 



sufficient to prove that this animal was once a denizen of the 
island. 

The vestiges of the -Beaver are very numerous, beverley 
in Yorkshire is "the beaver's haunt," and we find a bever- 
STONE in Gloucestershire, and a bevercoates in Nottingham- 
shire. The valley which stretches northwards from the Glyders, 
scored with glacial striae and dotted over with moraines, bears 
the name of nant frangon, or " the beaver's dale ; " and across 
this valley stretches barn yr afrange, or " the beaver's dam." 
The magnificent pool, well known both to the artist and to the 
angler, which lies just below the junction of the Lledr and 
the Conway, is called llyn yr afrange, " the beaver's pool." 
In Germany we have the names of bibersburg, biverbike 
(the beaver's beck), and the bebra (anciently Fiparaha, or 
beaver's river). From the Sclavonic hohr^ a beaver, we have 
the river bober in Silesia, as well as bobern, boberow, 
bobersburg, eoberwitz and bobrau. bi^vre on the Aisne 
has been identified with the bibrax of Caesar, and bibracte, 
now Autun, was the chief city of the ^dui. The tribe of the 
bibroci no doubt called themselves " the Beavers," in the same 
way that North American tribes take their names from the 
snakes, the foxes, or the crows. ^ The great auk is now extinct 
in Newfoundland, and though specimens have been found con- 
served in the guano of the Funk Islands, no record or memory 
of the bird exists save the name of the penguin islands, on 
which they used to breed. 

In the Saxon charters we find many allusions to quarries, 
but there is a remarkable absence of names denoting iron- 
works or mines, such names, for instance, as the Goldberg, 
eisenberg, KUPFERHtJTTE, and ERZGEBiRGE, which wc find 
in Germany. In the Forest of Dean, however, we find on 
the map cinderford and cinderhill, names derived from 
vast heaps of scoriae, from which the iron had been so imper- 
fectly extracted by the Roman miners, that these mounds 
form a valuable consideration in the purchase of the ground 
on which they lie. The charters contain numerous indications 

^ The word beaver is common to most of the Aryan languages. Latin 
fiber [ =■ biber], Cornish befer, Gaelic beabhor^ Gaulish biber, German befer. 
The Welsh names are afrange and Host fydan, ** the broad-tailed." 



252 PHYSICAL CHANGES. 



of the localities where salt was procured or manufactured. 
Domesday Book enumerates no less than 385 salt-works in 
the single county of Sussex. The wics, in the Essex marshes 
were probably once salt-works, and we have already traced the 
singular way in which the wych or bay-houses on the coast 
came to give a name to the inland salt-works of droitwich 
and NANTWiCH.^ But the evidence of names enables us to 
prove that many existing salt-works were worked before the 
advent of the Teutonic race. This we can do by means ot 
the Celtic word hal^ salt ; which we find in the name of pwll- 
HELLi, the " salt pools," in Carnarvonshire. At haling, on the 
Hampshire coast, salt-works still exist, which apparently date 
from Celtic times; and we find a place called halton in 
Cheshire, and halsal and hallaton in Lancashire. In the 
salt-producing districts of Germany several towns whose names 
contain theXeltic root hcU stand on rivers which contain the 
Teutonic synonym sal?' Thus halle, in Prussian Saxony, 
stands on the river saala (salt river) ; reichen-hall, in 
Bavaria, is also on a river sale ; hallein, in salzburg, 
stands on the salza. We find towns called hall near the salt 
mines of the Tyrol, of Upper Austria, and of Swabia ; there is 
a HALLE in Ravensberg, a hallstadt in the Salzkammergut, 
and HALEN and hal in Brabant. 

The institution of lighthouses dates from very early times, as 
names bear witness. The names of the pharos, at Dover and 
Alexandria, and the gibel el faro, near Malaga, take us back 
beyond the Christian era. In Sicily, the cape by the side of 
Charybdis, and opposite Scylla, was called cape pelorus 
(Cape Terrible). It has now become capo di faro — the 
erection of the lighthouse having caused the Cape to lose at 
once its terrors, and its name of terror, cape colonna, in 
Greece, takes its name from the conspicuous white columns ot 
the ruined Doric temple which served as a landmark to the 
Genoese and Venetian seamen ; and cape corunna, in Spain, 
is so called from the columna or tower which served the 

^ See p. 108, supra. 

* There are six German rivers anciently called sala. We find the river 
HALYS (salt water) in Galatia/ and the river halycus in Sicily. 



MINES— LIGHTHOUSES. 253 



purpose of a Pharos. The name of flamborough head speaks 
of Uie rude fires of coal or wood that used to " flame " by 
night on that dangerous headland.^ At the extremity of the 
peninsula of furness (Fireness) is a small island, on which 
stands a ruined building, called the pile of foudry — that is, 
the "peel" or tower of the "fire isle."^ Furness and Foudry 
are Norse names, and are an indication of the antiquity of the 
lighthouse which guided the Northmen in their voyages from 
the Isle of Man to Lancaster. The numerous beacon hills 
throughout the island call to mind the rude though efficient 
means by which, before the days of the Electric Telegraph, 
the tidings of great events could be communicated from one 
end of the island to the other. There are those now alive 
who can remember looking out, the last thing every night, 
towards the Beacon Hill, to know if the dreaded landing ot 
Bonaparte had taken place. 

Though the commerce of the Anglo-Saxons was not ex- 
tensive, yet our local names indicate considerable changes in 
the relative commercial importance of various towns. The 
natural advantages of the site of London have enabled it to 
maintain, at all times, its ancient pre-eminence — for its Celtic 
name implies that, even in pre-historic times, it was, as it is 
still, the " city of ships." 

From the Anglo-Saxon ceapian, to buy, cypan, to sell, and 
ceap,^ price, or sale, we derive many names which indicate 

1 This name may, however, mean the ** camp of refuge " (Anglo-Saxon 
fleam, a fugitive). The extremity of the headland has been converted into 
a stronghold by an ancient dyke still called Danes' Dyke. 

• It IS possible, however, that Furness may be only the ** fore ness," and 
Foudry the " isle of fowls," There is also a furness on the Belgian 
coast. 

^ To this root we may trace many idiomatic English words. A chapman 
is an itinerant seller : chap was originally an abbreviated form of chapman. 
Cheap, an abbreviation of "good cheap," answers to the- French bon 
marchi ; vrhUe goad cheap still survives in the phrase dog cheap, where the 
Utters d and g have been interchanged according to a well-known phonetic 
law. The original sense of the root is that of bargaining — the ancient 
method of making a purchase — which is preserved in the word to chaffer. 
To chop horses is to sell them. A horse couper is one who deals in horses. 
To chop and change is to sell and barter. To swop and to swab are pro- 
bably phonetic variations of. to chop. Thus wc say the wind chops, i,c. 



254 PHYSICAL CHANGES. 



early seats of commercial activity. A chipping was the old 
English term for a market-place ; thus Wicllffe translates Luke 
viL 32, "They ben like children sitting in chepinge and 
spekinge togidre." Hence we see that chipping Norton, 

CHIPPING CAMDEN, CHIPPING SODBURY, CHIPPING ONGAR, 

CHIPPING BARNET, CHEPiNG HILL on the south side of the 
church at Witham, chepstow, and chippingham, are ancient 
market-towns — once of much greater relative commercial 
importance than they are at present, cheapside and east- 
cheap were the old market-places of London. In Norse 
names the form cope takes the place of the Anglo-Saxon ceap, 
COPENHAGEN, anciently Kiobmaens havn, is equivalent to 
Chapmen's Haven. Hence also we derive the names of 
j6nk6ping, LIDC6PING, nykOping, and norrkCping. In like 
manner we infer from the name of the copeland Islands near 
Belfast, that here were the storehouses of the goods brought 
by Norwegian traders, copmansthorpe, near York, would be 
equivalent to the German Kaufmansdorf, the merchants- 
village ; and the form of the word shows us that here the 
Danish traders resided, just as those of Saxon blood dwelt 
together at chapmanslade. kiel and kielerfiord take their 
names from the Danish keol^ a ship. The name of the hanse 
towns seems to be from hansel^ a contract, or hanse^ a company 
or association, ampurias in Spain retains, nearly unchanged, 
the name of the Hellenic settlement of Emporice, Some of 
the local centres of Anglo-Saxon trade are denoted by staple^ 
a word which has undergone some changes in meaning. It 
now signifies the established merchandise of a place ; — thus 
we should say lace is the staple of Nottingham. But the 
term was formerly applied to the place rather than to the 
merchandise, and our forefathers would have said Nottingham 
is the staple of lace. In local names — ^as dunstable, barn- 
staple, and etaples in France— this word staple denotes a 
place where merchants were wont to store their goods. 

When the English word market takes the place of the 
Anglo-Saxon chipping^ or staple^ as in the case of stow- 

changes. The nltimate root is the Sanskrit kupa, the beam of a balance. 
Compare the old Sclavonic kupiH^ to buy, the Gothic kaupon, the Latin 
caupo, and the Greek KiiniKos, 



COMMERCE. 255 



MARKET, MARKET BOSWORTH, 01 WICKHAM MARKET, WC may 

fairly conclude that the commercial importance of the town 
in question dates from a more recent period.^ 

^ On this subject see Lyell, Principles of Geology ; Chambers, Ancient 
Sea Margins ; Maury, Histoire des Grandes For its de la Gaule; Marsh, 
Man and Nature ; Ellis, Introduction to Domesday ; Piderit, Ortsnamen 
in Niederhessen ; Leo, Rectitudiius Singularum Personarum, 



CHAPTER XV. 

CHANGES AND ERRORS. 

Vitality of Local Names — Recurrence to ancient Names — Changes in Names 
often simply phonetic — Lincoln — Sarum — WhitehcUl — Phonetic corruptions 
among savage tribes — Interchange of suffixes of analogous sound — Tendency 
to contraction — Laws of Phonetic change — Examples— Influence of popular 
etymological speculation on the form ^ Names — Tendency to make Names 
significant — Examples — Transformations of French Names — Invention of 
new Saints from Local Names — Transformed names often give rise to 
legends — Bozra — Thongcastle — The Dun Com — Antwerp — The Mouse 
Tffiver—TIu Amazons of the Baltic— Pilatm— The Picts—7'he Tatars 
— Poland — Mussulman — Negropont — Corruptions of Street'Names — 
America — The Gypsies, 

The words of a nation's speech are continually clipped and 
worn down by constant currency, until, like ancient coins, the 
legend which they bore at first becomes eflfaced. Many words 
whose paternity is nevertheless indisputable do not retain a 
single letter, sometimes not even a single vocable, of the ances- 
tral form, and exhibit still less resemblance to collateral descen- 
dants from the parent stock. Who would imagine, for instance, 
that the French word larme is the same as the English tear; 
that the French jour is a lineal descendant of the Latin dies^ 
or that jour and the two syllables of Tuesday are all descended 
from the same original Aryan root ? 

In the case of local names the raw materials of language do 
not lend themselves with the same facility as other words to 
the processes of decomposition and reconstruction, and many 
names hav^ for thousands of years remained unchanged, and 
sometim^ linger round the now deserted sites of the places to 
which they refer. The names of foiu: of the oldest cities ot 

^ Dies — diurnum tempus—giomo—jour. Aujourd^hui contains the root 
dies twice, the kui being a corruption of hodie = hoc die. 



VITALITY OF LOCAL NAMES. 257 

the world — hebron, gaza, sidon, and hamath — are still pro- 
nounced by the inhabitants in exactly the same manner as was 
the case thirty, or perhaps forty centuries ago, defying often- 
times the persistent attempts of rulers to substitute some other 
name. During the three hundred years of the Greek rule, an 
attempt was made by the conquerors to change the name of 
HAMATH to Epiphania, but the ancient appellation lingered 
on the lips of the surrounding tribes, and has now resumed 
its sway, while the Greek name has been utterly forgotten. 
The name of Accho, which we find in the Old Testament, was 
superseded for some time by the Greek name of Ptolemais. 
This is now forgotten, and the place goes by the name of akka. 
The Greeks attempted to impose their name of Nicopolis on 
the town of Emmaus, but in vain ; for the modern name, 
AMwls, still asserts 'Jie vitality of the ancient designation. 
We read, in the Book of Chronicles, that Solomon built tadmor 
in the wilderness. The Romans attempted to impose on it the 
name of Adrianopolis, but this appellation has utterly perished, 
and the Bedouin still give the ancient name of Tadmor to the 
desolate forest of erect and prostrate columns which marks the 
site of the city of the palms, palmyra is the Italian transla- 
tion of the enchorial name of Tadmor, and is known only in 
the West, tenedos and argos still bear the names which they 
bore in the time of Homer. Most of the islands of the Grecian 
archipelago, and many of the neighbouring cities, retain their 
ancient names with little variation. Delos is now dili, Paros 
is PARO, Scyros is skyro, Naxos is naxia, Patmos is patimo, 
Samos is samo, Thasos is thaso, Sardis is sart, Sparta is sparti, 
Arbela is arbil. Tyre or Tzur is stR, Nazareth is nazirah, 
Joppa is YAFA, Gaza is ghuzzeh. Several of the Etruscan 
cities are called by the same names which they bore at the first 
dawn of Italian civilization. Thus the names of saturnia and 
POPULONiA are unaltered. Cortona is now cortono, Vola- 
teirae is volaterra, Sena is sienna, Pisae is pisa, and Perusia 

is PERUGIA. V 

But we need not go to the East for instances of the per- 
sistency with which names adhere to the soil. The name of 
LONDON is now, in all probability, pronounced exactly as it 
was at the time when Caesar landed on the coast of Kent 

s 



258 CHANGES AND ERRORS. 



The Romans attempted to change the name, but in vain. It 
mattered little what the city on the Thames was called in the 
edicts of prefects and proconsuls. The old Celtic name 
continued in common usage, and has been transmitted in 
turn to Saxons, Normans, and Englishmen. It is curious 
to listen to Ammianus Marcellinus speaking of the name of 
London as a thing of the past, — an old name which had 
gone quite out of use, and given place to the grand Roman 
name "Auguste."^ 

In like manner the ancient Indian name of haiti has 
replaced the appellation of st. tdomingo, which the Spanish 
conquerors attempted to impose upon the island. But though 
so many names remain substantially unchanged in spite of eflorts 
to supplant them, yet, as the successive waves of population 
have flowed on, many influences have been set at work which 
have sometimes produced material modifications, and it often 
requires the utmost care, and no inconsiderable research, to 
detect the original form and signification of very familiar 
names, and to extract the information which they are able to 
afford. 

These modifjdng influences are of two kinds. The first is 
simply phonetic. A conquering nation finds it difiicult to 
pronounce certain vocables which enter into the names used 
by the conquered people, and changes consequently arise 
which bring the ancient names into harmony with the phonetic 
laws of the language spoken by the conquerors. Many 
illustrations of this process may be found in Domesday. The 
"inquisitors" seem to have been slow to catch the pronun- 
ciation of the Saxon names, and were, moreover, ignorant of 
their etymologies, and we meet consequently with many 
ludicrous transformations. The name of Lincoln, for example, 
which is a hybrid of Celtic and Latin, appears in the Ravenna 
Geographer in the form Lindum Colonia, and in Beda as 
Lindocolina. The enchorial name must have been very nearly 
what it is now. This, however, the Norman conquerors were 
unable to pronounce, and changed the name into Nincol or 

1 " Ab Augnstft profectus, quam veteres adpellav6re Lundinium." — 
Amm. Marc, lib. xjcviii. cap. 3, § i. ''Lundinium, vetus oppidnm, quod 
Angastam posteritas adpellavit.''— Ibid. lib. xxvii. cap 8 § 7. 



PHONETIC CORRUPTIONS. 259 



Nicole. The name of Shrewsbury is an English corruption 
of the Anglo-Saxon Scrobbes-byrig or Shrubborough. The 
Normans, however, corrupted Scrobbesbury into Sloppes- 
burie, whence the modern name of salop is derived. So 
also the Roman Sorbiodunum was contracted into the Eng- 
lish SARUM, and then, as in the case of Salop, the Normans 
changed the r into an /, and have thus given us the form 

SALISBURY. 

In die Arabic chronicles of Spain we meet with many 
curious transformations of familiar names, such, for instance, 
as that of the Visigoths into the Bishtolkat So also the 
Indian names Misachibee and Tlaltelolco have been cor- 
rupted into MISSISSIPPI and guadalupe. Mr. Motley gives 
an amusing instance from the archives of Simancas. A 
despatch of the ambassador Mendoja stated that Queen 
Elizabeth was residing at the palace of St. James's. Philip 
II., according to his custom, has scrawled on the margin of 
this despatch, "There is a park between it and the palace 
which is called Huytal, but why it is called Huytal I am 
sure I don't know." Whitehall seems to have presented 
an insurmountable etymological difficulty to the *' spider " of 
the EscuriaL 

Among unlettered nations phonetic changes of this kind are 
especially likely to arise. The word Yankee is probably an 
Indian corruption of either Anglois or English, The Chinese 
call an Englishman Yingkwohj the Bengalee calls him Ingrey, 
and corrupts the words champagne and Smith into the forms 
simkin and Ismit, At Fort Vancouver, the medium of inter- 
course a few years ago was a curious Lingua Franca, composed 
of Canadian-French, English, Iroquois, Cree, Hawaian, and 
Chinese. The word for rum was lum^ for money /w/a, a 
corruption of dollar, and an Englishman went by the name of 
a Kintshoshy a corruption of King George. An American was 
called Boston, and the ordinary salutation was Clakhohahyah, 
which is explained by the fact that the Indians, frequently 
hearing a trader named Clark, long resident in the Fort, 
addressed by his companions in the village, " Claxk, how are 
you?" imagined that this sentence was the correct English 
form of salutation. The Kaffirs of Natal call Harry Hali^ 

s 2 



26o CHANGES AND ERRORS. 

and Mary Malu The Egbas have turned Thompson into 
Tamahana^ and Philip into Firipi, The Maoris make sad 
havoc of Biblical names ; they have transformed Genesis into 
Kmehi, Exodus into Ekoruhi^ Jordan into Horamo^ and 
Philemon into Firtmona, Sailors are especially given to such 
innovations. Jos-house, for instance, the name applied to the 
Buddhist temples in China, has been formed by English sailors 
out of the Portuguese word dios, god. The sailors* trans- 
formations of H.M.S. Bellerophon mto the Billy Ruffian^ of the 
Andromache into the Andrew Mackay, of the ^olus into the 
Alehotdse, of the Courageux into the Currant Juice, and oi 
the steamer Hirondelle into the Iron £>eml, belong to another 
class of changes, which we shall presently consider. 

Anglo-Saxon suffixes of nearly similar sound sometimes 
come to be interchanged. This has very frequently taken 
place in the case of stone and ton. Thus Brigges-stan has been 
transmuted into brixton, and Brihtelmes-stan into Brighthelm- 
stone, Brighthampton, and Brighton. The change from don 
to ton is also common Seccandun and Beamdun, which we 
find in the Saxon Chronicle, are now seckington and bampton. 
The suffix hithe, a haven, is clianged into <fy, an island, in the 
case of STEPNEY, formiTly Stebenhithe, and into head, in the 
case of MAIDENHEAD, formerly Maydenhithe. In carisbrook, 
which was anciently Wihtgara-b)Tig, we have a change from 
burgh to brook. The suffix in the name Durham is properly 
not the Saxon ham, but the Norse holm; and Dunelm — the 
signature of the bishop — ^reminds us also that the Celtic prefix 
is Dun, a hill fort, and not Dur, water. In the Saxon Chronicle 
the name is correctly written Dunholm. 

Many of these changes seem to be simply phonetic, among 
which we may reckon Gravesham into gravesend, Edgeworth 
into edgware, Ebbsham into epsom, Swanwick into swanage, 
and Badecanwylla or Bathwell into bakewell. The great 
tendency is to contraction : " letters, like soldiers," as Home 
Tooke puts it, " being very apt to desert and drop off in a 
long march." In Switzerland inghofen is generally contracted 
into ikon, as Benninghofen into bennikon. We find Botolph's 
ton contracted into bo'ston, Agmondesham into amersham, 
and Eurewic into york. In London St Olaf s Street has been 



PHONETIC CHANGES. 



261 



changed into tooley Street, and in Dublin into tulloch Street.^ 
St. Mar}''s Hall, Oxford, has been transformed into Skimmery 
liall, and this has been abbreviated into the disrespectful 
appellation skim. St. Bridget is turned into St. Bride, St. 
Benedict into St. Bennet, St. Etheldreda into St Awdrey, St. 
Egidius into St Giles. Territorial surnames show changes 
quite as startling. St Denys has been corrupted into Sydney, 
St Maur into Seymour, St. Paul into Semple, Sevenoaks into 
Snooks, and St. John and St Leger are pronounced Sinjun and 
SiUinger. This tendency to contraction is often to be detected 
in the pronunciation of names of which the more lengthened 
form is retained in writing. Thus Cirencester is pronounced 
Cisester; Gloucester, Gloster; Worcester, Worster; bar- 
freestone, Barston; and trotterscliffe, Trosley. In 
America, on the other hand, owing to the universal prevalence 
of reading, the tendency is to pronounce words exactly as they 
are spelt, and Worcester is pronounced Wor-ces-ter, and 
ILLINOIS is called lUinoys. In Samuel Rogers* youth everyone 
said Lunnon; we have now returned to Lundun, and may 
perhaps ultimately get back to London. 

In endeavouring to recover the original forms of names, it 
becomes important to discover the phonetic tendencies which 
prevailed among different nations. This is not the place to 
exhibit or discuss the laws of phonetic change which have 
been detected ; ' all that can here be attempted is to illustrate 

1 Now pulled down. It was standing in the sixteenth century. 
> ** Grimm's law," as it is called, enables us to identify cognate words in 
the Teutonic and Romance languages. It 15 



In Greek and gene- \ 
rally in Sanskrit ( 
and Latin, the I 
letters . . . ) 


P 


b 


ph{M) 


t 


d. 


rtW 


k(c) 


S 




Correspond in | 
Gothic to . . ( 


PM/) 


P 


b 


th 

d 


t 


d 


kh[h^ 


k 


And in Old High 
Gennan to . . 


b{vj) 


phU) 


P 


m) 


t 


gW 


kh 


k 



262 



CHANGES AND ERRORS. 



them by a few characteristic instances. Thus Eburovices ha^ 
been changed into Evreux ; Vesontio into Besangon ; Vinovium 
into Binchester ; Bononia into Boulogne ; Chatti into Hesse ; 
Aquitania into Guienne ; Olisippo into Lisbon ; Agrigentum 
into Girgenti ; Aletium into Lecci ; Aquae into Aix. In 
French names a final n or sis often added, as in the change of 
Dibio to Dijon ; Matesco to Ma^on ; Brigantio to Briangon ; 
Massilia to Marseilles ; Londinium to Londres. 

The lendency among the German nations is to develop the 
sibilants and gutturals ; among the Romance nations to sup- 
press these and develop the mutes and liquids. Thus, in the 
name of the river Atesis, how harsh is the German name — the 
ETSCH ; how soft and harmonious the Italian development of 
the same word — the adige. Again we may compare the 
German lutiich with the French likge, or we may contrast 
the German change of Confluentes into coblentz with the 
soft effect produced even in cases when the Italians have intro- 
duced sibilants, as in the change of Florentia into firenze, or 
Placentia into piacenza. 

But the best illustration of these phonetic tendencies will 
be to enumerate a few cases where the same root has been 
variously modified by different nations. Let us take the Latin 
word forum. The Forum Julii, in Southern France, has become 



The changes from the Latin to the modem Romance languages are more 
simple. The chief correspondences are — 



Latin . . . 


/ 


h f 
v,f h 


V 


c 


9 


? 


• 


Romance Lan- , ^. 
guages . . * 


b 


g, ch, k, Z, J, €, p 


yy h J 


s* d^y 



Latin . . . 



Romance Lan- 
guages 



• • 



dy Z 



*ijt h ^t ^ 



s 


m 


n 


I 


r 
l,d 


k, Z, X 


n 


l.r 


r^n^lh 



PHONETIC CHANGES. 263 

I, I . ~ -  ' 

FRftjus; and, in Northern Italy, the same name has been 
changed to friuli. In the Emilia we find forli (Forum 
Livii), FOSSOMBRONE (Forum Sempronii), ferrara (Forum 
Allieni), and fornovo (Forum Novum). In CentraJ Italy 
we have forcassi (Forum Cassii), fiora (Forum Aurelii), 
forfiamma (Forum Flaminii), and forlimpopoli (Forum 
Popilii). With these compare the German name klagenfurt 
(Claudii forum), the Dutch voorbourg (Forum Hadriani), the 
French feurs (Forum Segusianorum), and the Sardinian for- 
DONGiANUS (Forum Trajani). 

Or let us take the changes effected in the Greek word 'nvXiQ, 
a city. Neapolis, in Italy, has become napoli (Naples), in the 
Morea it has become nauplia ; Neapolis, near Cannes, is now 
NAPOULE ; Neapolis, near Carthage, is nabel, and NeapoHs, in 
Syria, is nAbulus or NABLts. heerapfel, near Saarbriicken, 
is a corruption of the Roman name Hierapolis. Tripoli is 
little changed ; Amphipolis is now emboli, Callipolis is gal- 
LiPOLi, Antipolis is antibes, and Gratianopolis is grenoble. 
stamboul, or istamboul, the modem name of Byzantium, is 
not, as might be imagined, a corruption of Constantinopolis, 
but of is rdv TToXtv, a phrase analogous to that which we use 
when we speak of a journey to London as going " to town." 
In like manner stanko, the modem name of the island of 
Cos, is a corraption of kg rdv Kw.^ 

We find the word Trajectus in atrecht or arras (Atrebatum 
Trajectus), maestrecht (Mosae Trajectus), and utrecht 
(Ultra Trajectum). 

The Romanized Celtic suffix acum, which has the force 
either of a possessive or a patronymic, is changed into ay in 
France and ac/t in Germany, while in Brittany and Cornwall 
the original form is ordinarily retained.' Thus Cortoriacum is 
now COURTRAY, Camaracum is cambray, Bagacum is bavay, 

1 In Spain the Arabic article Ai is often incorporated into the name. 
LUXOR, one of the four villages which stand on the site of ancient Thebes, 
is a contraction of £1 Eksor, the palaces. We have occasionally an incor- 
porated article in English names. Thus thaxted is probably The Axted 
and THISTLEWORTH The Istle-worth. 

' E.^, Bourbriac, Loudeac, and Gourarec in Brittainr, and Bradock, 
Boconnoc, Isnioc, Ladock, Phillack, and Polbathick in ComwiJL 



264 CHANGES AND ERRORS. 

and Tournacum is tournay. Antunacum is now andernach, 
Olimacum is lymbach, Vallacum is wilnpach, and Magontia- 

CUm is MAINZ. 

The manner in which personal names have entered into the 
names of places has been referred to in a previous chapter. 
A few instances may be here again enumerated as affording 
admirable illustrations of diverse phonetic tendencies. Thus 
the name of Augustus is found in the Spanish zaragossa 
(Caesarea Augusta), and badajoz (Pax Augusta) ; in the Italian 
AOSTA (Augusta); in the French adust (Augusta), auch 
(Augusta), and autun (Augustodunum) ; in the German augs- 
BURG (Augusta), and augst (Augusta); and the English. aust 
passage (Trajectus Augusti). We find the word Julius or 
Julia in lillebonne (Julia Bona), in loudon (Juliodunum), in 
BBjA in Portugal (Pax Julia), in jI^lich or juliers (Julicacum), 
in zuGLio (Julium), in ittucci (Victus Julius), in truxillo 
(Castra Julia), and in friuli and fr]&jus (Forum Julii); 
and the name of Constantius or Constantinus is found in conz, 

COUTANCES, CdTANTIN, CONSTANZ, and CONSTANTINOPLE. 

The changes that have hitherto been discussed may be con- 
sidered as natural phonetic changes— changes bringing com- 
binations of letters from one language into harmony with 
the phonetic laws of another. 

We have now to consider a class of corruptions which have 
arisen from a totally different cause. Men have ever felt a 
natural desire to assign a plausible meaning to names — to 
make them, in fact, no longer sounds, but words. How few 
children, conning the atlas, do not connect some fanciful specu- 
lations with sudi names as the calf of man, or Ireland's 
EYE ; they suppose that Jutland is the land which "juts out," 
instead of being the land of the Jutes ; they suppose that Cape 
HORN has received its name not, as is the fact, from the birdi- 
place of its discoverer, but because it is the extreme southern 
horn of the American continent ; and names like the orange 
River, or the red Sea, are, unhesitatingly, supposed to denote 
the colour of the waters^ instead of being, the one a remi- 
niscence of the extension of the Dutch empire under the house 
of Orange, and the other a translation of the Sea of Edom.^ 
^ Similar misconceptions are blackheath (bleak heath) ; the Isle of 



ERRONEOUS ETYMOLOGY. . 26s 

This instinctive causativeness of the human mind, this 
perpetual endeavour to find a reason or a plausible explanation 
for everything, has corrupted many of the words which we 
have in daily use,^ and a large allowance for this source of error 
must be made when we are investigating the original forms of 
ancient names. No cause has been more fruitful in producing 
corruptions than popular attempts to explain from the verna- 
cular, and to bring into harmony with a supposed etymology 
names whose real explanation is to be sought in some language 
known only to the learned.^ Names, significant in the verna- 
cular, are constructed out of the ruins of the ancient unin- 
telligible names, just as we find the modem villages of 
Mesopotamia built of bricks stamped with the cuneiform 
legend of Nebuchadnezzar. 

Teutonic nations, for instance, inhabiting a country, covered 
with ancient Celtic names, have unconsciously endeavoured to 
twist those names into a form in which they would be suscep- 
tible of explanations from Teutonic sources. The instances 
are innumerable. The Celtic words alt mam mean high rock. 
In the Lake District this name has been transformed into the 

Wight, see p. 208 ; Trinidad, p. 10 ; Gateshead, p. 169, supra, FLORIDA 
is not die flowery land, but the land discovered on Easter Day, (Pascua 
florida), p. 10. The finster-aar-horn is not, as guidebooks tell us, the 
peak of the Black Eagle, but the peak which gives rise to the Glacier of 
the black Aar. 

^ We may enumerate the well-known instances of rbufTetier corrupted 
into beefeater, lustrino into lutestring, asparagus into sparrow-grass, coat- 
cards into court-cards, shuttlecork into shuttlecock, mahlerstock into maul- 
stick, ecrevi^se into crayfish, dormeuse into dormouse, dent de lion into 
dandy-lion, (^uelqueschoses into kickshaws, contre danseinto country dance, 
ver de gris mto verdigrease, weissager into wiseacre, and hausenblase or 
sturgeon s bladder into isinglass. A groom used to call Othello and 
Desdemona — two horses under his cha^e — by the names of Old Fellow 
and Thursday Morning. The natives called Miss Rogers (authoress of 
" Domestic Life in Palestine ") by the name of narijus, '* the lily,*' as the 
nearest approximation to her name which they were able to pronounce. 
Ibrahim Pacha, during his visit to England, was known to tne mob as 
Abraham Parker. 

' Erroneous etymologies are unfortunately by no means confined to tlie 
unlearned. Witness Baxter's derivation of Kirkcudbright (t.^. Church 
of St Cuthbert). It is, he s2,ySf forsaHf Caer giu aber rit, i,e, Arx trajectus 
flumind iCstuarei I 



266 CHANGES AND ERRORS. 

OLD MAN of ConistOD. In the Orkneys a conspicuous pyramid 
of rock, 1,500 feet in height, is called the old man of Hoy ; 
and two rocks on the Cornish coast go by the name of the 
OLD MAN and his man. The dead man, another Cornish head- 
land, is an Anglicization of the Celtic dod mam. The tourist 
searches in vain for mines at minehead ; the name, as we learn 
from Domesday, being a corruption of Maen-hafod, the booth 
on the rock. Welli, or wheal, which occurs so often in the 
mining-share list, does not denote machinery for raising ore, 
but is a corruption of the Cornish word hudy a tin mine. Thus 
brown WILLY, a Cornish ridge, some 1,370 feet in height, is a 
corruption of Bryn Hud, the tin-mine ridge. Abermaw, the 
mouth of the Maw, is commonly called barmouth ; Kinedar 
has been changed into king edward ; Dun-y-coed, a " wooded 
hill " in Devonshire, is now called the dunagoat ; and east- 
bourne was, no doubt, the eas-bourne, or " water-brook ; " the 
t having crept in from a desire to make the Celtic prefix sig- 
nificant in English. Similar transformations of Celtic and 
Sclavonic names are to be found on the Continent In Switz- 
erland the Celtic Vitodurum, the " white water," has been Ger- 
manized into wiNTERTHUR ; Noviomagus is now nijmwegen \ 
Alcmana is altmI^hl ; and the freudenbach, or joyful brook, 
is, probably, a corruption of the Celtic ffrydan, a stream. 
The Sclavonic Potsdupimi has become potsdam, Melraz is 
now Mt^LLROSE, and Dubrawice dummerwitz. 

Anglo-Saxon and Norse names have not escaped similar meta- 
morphoses. The name of maidenhead has given rise to the 
myth that here was buried the head of one of the eleven thousand 
virgins of Cologne,^ but the ancient form of the name shows 
that it was either the " timber wharf" or the " midway wharf'' 

^ The Cologne legend of St. Ursula and her eleven thousand virgins 
seems to have arisen from the name of ** St. Undecemilla, virgin martyr." 
A trifling clerical alteration in the calendar converted this name into the form 
** Vndecem millia Virg. Mart." Upon this foundation the old Aryan myth 
of the maiden moon, with her mynad attendant stars, seems to have been 
grafted. The bones of the eleven thousand, which are reverently shown to 
the pious pilgrim, have been pronounced by Professor Owen to comprise 
osseous remains of all quadrupeds indigenous to the district. Again, 
the name of St. Bernice was Latinized into St Veronica, and then the well- 
known legend arose from an assumed mongrel etymology, vera icon. 



TRANSFORMATIONS OF FRENCH NAMES. 267 



between Marlow and Windsor. So maidstone and magdeburg 
are not the towns of maids, but the " town on the Medway," 
and the " town on the plain." hungerford, on the border be- 
tween the Saxons and the Angles, was anciently Ingleford, or 
the ford of the Angles.^ fitful head, in Shetland, familiar to 
all readers of the Waverley Novels as the abode of Noma in 
* The Pirate,* has received its present not inappropriate name, 
by reason of a misconception of the original Scandinavian 
name Hvit-fdl^ the white hill ; cape wrath, beaten, it is true, 
by wrathful storms, was originally Cape Hvarf, a Norse name, 
indicating a point where the land trends in a new direction ; 
and WATERFORD in Ireland is a corruption of the Norse 
VedrafiordTy the " firth of rams "(wethers). In the Lake District 
we also find some curious transformations of Norse names. 
SILLY WREAY is the happy nook, cunning garth is the King's 
Yard, candy slack is the bowl-shaped hollow. 

As might have been expected, French and Norman names in 
England have been peculiarly liable to suffer from these causes. 
Chdteau Vert^ in Oxfordshire, has been converted into shot- 
GVER Hill ; Beau chef into beachy Head; and Burgh Walter^ the 
castle of Walter of Douay, who came over with the Conqueror, 
now appears in the form of bridgewater. Beau lieu in 
Monmouthshire, Grand ponty the great bridge over the Fal in 
Cornwall, and BonguS, or the good ford, in Suffolk, have been 
Saxonized into bewley Woods, grampound, and bungay. 
Leighton Beau-disert has been clianged into leighton buz- 
zard ; and the brazen eagle which forms the lectern in the 
parish church is gravely exhibited by the sexton to passing 
strangers as the original buzzard firom which the town may be 
supposed to derive its name. The French colony of Beaure- 
gard, in Brandenburg, has been Germanized into burengaren 
or Bauerngarten (" peasants' garden.") 

In Canada, where an English-speaking population is en- 
croaching on the old French settlers, the same process of 
verbal translation is going on. Les Chineaux, " the channels," 
on the river Ottawa, are now the snows. So JLes Chats and 

^ Inglefield, in the immediate neighbourhood, has retained the ancient 
form. 



268 CHANGES AND ERRORS. 



Les Joachims on the same river are respectively becoming the 
SHAWS and the swashings, while a mountain near the head 
of the Bay of Fundy, called the Chapeau Dim, from the cap of 
cloud which often overhangs it, is now known as the shepody 
Mountain. The river Quah-Tah-Wah-Am-Quah-Duavic in 
New Brunswick, probably the most breakjaw compound in the 
(Gazetteer, has had its name justifiably abbreviated into the 
Petamkediac, which has been further transformed by the lum- 
berers and hunters into the tom kedgwick. 

Anse des Cousins y the "Bay of Mosquitoes," has been 
turned by English sailors into nancy cousins Bay ; they have 
changed Livorno into leg-horn ; and the nautical mind has 
canonized a new saint, unknown even to the BoUandists, by 
the change of Setubal into st. ubes. So Hagenes, the Norse 
name of one of the Scilly Isles, has become st. agnes. Sor- 
acte, the mountain whose snowy summit is sung by Horace, 
has been added to the list of saints by the Italian peasantry, 
and receives their prayers under the name of ST. oreste ; and 
in like manner st. igny has been evolved by French peasants 
out of the Celtic name Sentiniacum. The name and legend 
of ST. GOAR, who is Said to have dwelt in a cavern on the 
Rhine, where the river furiously eddies round the Lurlei rock, 
is supposed by certain sceptics to have originated in a corrup- 
tion of the German word gewirr, a, whirlpool. In this instance 
it is not improbable that the hagiologists may be right and the 
philologists wrong. The name of a well-known saint is some- 
times substituted for one less familiar. Thus St. Aldhelm's 
Head, in Dorset, has become st. alban's head. Occasionally 
the name of the saint apparently disappears, submerged beneath 
some obtrusively tempting etymology, as in the case of St 
Maidulfs borough, which has become Marlborough. 

The Hebrew name Jerusalem was reproduced under the 
form Hierosolytna, the holy city of Solomon, owing to a mis- 
taken derivation from the Greek Icpoc. A mountain on the 
eastern coast of Africa, opposite Aden, received the Arabic 
name of gebel fiel, " the elephant mountain," from a remark- 
able resemblance in the outline to the back of an elephant. 
From the resemblance of the sound the name was corrupted 
in the Periplus into Mons Felix. 



MYTHS EVOLVED FROM NAMES. 269 

Many instances may be cited of the manner in which legends 
are prone to gather round these altered names. The citadel of 
Carthage was called bozra, a Phoenician word meaning an 
acropofis. The Greeks connected this with fivpfra, an ox-hide, 
and then, in harmony with the popular notions of Tyrian acute- 
ness, an explanatory legend was concocted, which told how the 
traders, who had received permission to possess as much land 
as an ox-hide would cover, cut the skin into narrow strips, with 
which they encompassed the spot on which the Carthaginian 
fortress was erected. We find the same legend repeated in the 
traditions of other countries. The name of thong Castle, near 
Sittingboume, is derived from the Norse word tunga^ a tongue 
of land, which we find in the Kyle of Tongue in Sutherland- 
shire. This name has given rise to the tradition, that Dido's 
device was here repeated by Hengist and Horsa. The same 
story is told of Ivar, son of Regnar Lodbrok, in order to account 
for the name of thong castor, near Grimsby ; and the legend 
also finds a home in Thuringia and in Russia. 

The legend of the victory gained by Guy of Warwick, the 
Anglian champion, over the dun cow, most probably originated 
in a misunderstood tradition of his conquest of the Dena gau, 
or Danish settlement in the neighbourhood of Warwick. The 
name of Antwerp denotes, no doubt, the town which sprang 
up " at the wharf." * But the word Antwerpen approximates 
closely in sound to the Flemish handt werpm^ hand throwing. 
Hence arose the legend of the giant who cut off the hands of 
those who passed his castle without paying him black mail, and 
threw them into the Scheldt, till at length he was slain by Brabo, 
the eponymus of Brabant 

The legend of the wicked Bishop Hatto is well known. It 
has been reproduced by Southey in a popular ballad, and it is 
annually retailed and discussed on the decks of the Rhine 
steamers. At a time of dearth he forestalled the com from 
the poor, but was overtaken by a righteous Nemesis — having 
been devoured by the swarming rats, who scaled the walls of 
his fortress in the Rhine. The origin of this legend may be 
traced to a corruption of the name of the matU'thurm^ or custom- 
house, into the mAuse-thurm, or Mouse-tower. The story of 
Roland the crusader, and his hapless love for the daughter of 



270 CHANGES AND ERRORS. 



the Lord of Drachenfels, is perhaps a still greater favourite 
with the fairer portion of the Rhine tourists. It is sad to 
have to reject the pathetic tale, but a stem criticism derives 
the name of rolandseck from the rolling waves of the swift 
current at the bend of the river, which caused the place to be 
called the rollmdes-ecke by the passing boatmen. 

Near Grenoble is a celebrated tower, which now bears the 
name of la tour sans venin, the tower without poison. The 
peasantry firmly believe that no poisonous animal can exist in 
its neighbourhood. The superstition has arisen from a corrup- 
tion of the original saint-name of San Verena into sans venin. 
The superstitions which avouch that birds fall dead in attempt- 
ing to fly across the dead sea and the lake avernus (oopvoc) 
have originated in similar etymological fancies. 

In the Swedish language a woman is called quinna^ or guinn, 
a word nearly allied to ti^e obsolescent English word quean^ as 
well as to the appellation of the highest lady in the land. The 
Finns moreover call themselves Qvoens, a Euskarian word, 
which is no way related to the Teutonic root. The misunder- 
stood assertions of travellers as to this nation of Qvoens gave 
rise to the legend respecting a tribe of Northern Amazons ruled 
over by a woman. This myth must have come into existence 
even so early as the time of Tacitus, and we find it repeated 
by the geographer of Ravenna, by King Alfred, and by Adam 
of Bremen, who says, " Circa hsec litora Baltici maris ferunt esse 
Amazonas, quod nunc terra feminarum dicitur." The last-named 
writer confuses all our notions of ethnological propriety by the 
assertion that there are Turks to be found in Finland. He 
has evidently been misled by the fact that Turku was the 
ancient enchorial synon)nn for the city of Abo. 

PiLATUS, the mountain which overhangs Lucerne, takes its 
name from the cap of cloud which frequently collects round 
this western outlier of the mountains of Uri. The name has 
originated the poetic myth of the banished Pilate, who, torn 
by remorse, is said to have haunted the rugged peak, and at 
last to have drowned himself in the lonely tarn near the 
summit of the mountain. 

Drepanum, now trapani, in Sicily, was so called from 
the sickle-shaped curve of the sea-shore — Ipeaavov^ a sickle. A 



POLAND— MUSSULMEN. 271 

Greek legend, preserved by Pausanias, affirms that the name is 
a record of the fact that it was here Kronos threw away the 
sickle with which he had killed Uranos. And various myths 
have clustered round the river lycus, as if it had been the 
Wolf river (Xwoc, a wolf) instead of the White river (Afiwieoc, 
white), as is no doubt the case, just as m)^hologic legends of 
the wolf-destroyer have collected around the name of the 
Lycian Apollo — the light-giver. 

The names of countries and nations have often suffered in 
this way. The Celtic name Pehta^ or Peicta, " the fighters," 
has been Latinized into picti, the painted savages of the 
Scottish Lowlands. In the case of the Berbers, a people in 
Northern Africa, the e in the enchorial name seems to have 
been changed into an a, from a desire to establish a connexion 
with the Greek word fidppapotj and the name of barbary 
still remains on our maps to remind us of the error. A similar 
instance of the change of a single letter in accordance with a 
fancied etymology occurs in the case of the tatar hordes, which, 
in the thirteenth century, burst forth from the Asiatic steppes. 
This terrible invasion was thought to be a fulfilment of the 
prediction of the opening of the bottomless pit, spoken of in 
the ninth chapter of the Revelation ; and in order to bring the 
name into relation with Tartarus, the word Tatar was written, 
and still continues to be written, in the form Tartar.'^ 

Our English name of Poland is likewise founded on a mis- 
conception. The country consists of vast plains, and from the 
Sclavonic /^/iJ?, a plain, is derived the German plural form Polen 
or Pohlm, the men of the plains. In the old English writers 
we meet with the name Polayn, which is an admissible 
Anglicization of the German word. But the more recent 
change of Polayn into Poland is due to the desire of substi- 
tuting an intelligible word for an unintelligible sound. The 
correct formation, following the analogous case of Switzerland, 
would be Polenland. 

So the Arabic moslemin, already a plural form, has been 
corrupted into Mussulman, which is taken for a singular, and 

1 « Plebs Sathanse detestanda Tartarorum . . . exeuntes ad instar dat- 
montim solutonim a tartaro, ut bene Tartari, quasi tartarei nnncupentur." 
— Matt. Paris, Hist, Major, p. 546, a.d. 1240. 



272 CHANGES AND ERRORS. 



from which have been formed those anomalous double plurals 
— Mussulmen and Mussulmans. 

Negropont, the modem name of the island of Euboea, is a 
corruption due, probably, to Genoese and Venetian mariners. 
The channel dividing the island trom the mainland was 
anciently called Euripus, in allusion to the swiftness of the 
current ; and at one time the land on either side projected so 
far as nearly to bridge the space between the two shores. The 
town built at this spot received the name of the channel, and 
was called Evripo, or Egripo, a name which has been converted 
by Italian sailors into Negripo, or negropont, the "black 
bridge ; " and, finally, the name of the town was extended to 
the whole island. So also the name of the morea seems to 
have arisen from a transposition of the letters of Romea, the 
ancient name. The usual explanation is that the name Morea 
is due to the resemblance of the peninsula in shape to a mulberry 
leaf. This is too abstract an idea, and it argues a knowledge of 
geographical contour which woi^ld hardly be possessed by the 
mediaeval sailors among whom the name arose. 

Some of the most curious transformations which have been 
effected by popular attempts at etymologizing are those which 
have taken place in the names of the streets of London. 
Sheremoniers Lane was so called from being the dwelling- 
place of the artisans whose business it was to shear or cut 
bullion into shape, so as to be ready for the die. The name, 
as its origin became forgotten, passed into Sheremongers Lane, 
and after a while, from the vicinity of St. Paul's Cathedral, and 
an analogy with Amen Comer, Ave Maria Lane, and Pater- 
nostet Row, it became Sermon Lane. After the loss of 
Calais and its dependencies, the artisans of Hames and 
Guynes, two small towns in the vicinity of Calais, took 
refuge in England. A locality in the east of London was 
assigned for their residence, and this naturally acquired the 
name of the old home from which they had been expelled, 
and was called Hames et Guynes. The vicinity of the place 
of execution on Tower Hill probably suggested the change 
of the name to hangman's gains. Ajoiong many similar 
changes we may enumerate that of the Convent of the 
Chartreuse into the chartered school now called the chartbr 



STREET NAMES. 273 



HOUSE. Guthiirun Lane, which takes its name from some old 
Danish burgher, has become gutter Lane, the change having 
been, doubtless, suggested by the defective condition of the 
drainage. Grasschurch Street, where the old grass market was 
held, became — ^first, Gracious Street, and then gracechurck 
Street. Knightengild Lane has become nightingale Lane, 
Mart Lane is now changed to mark Lane, Desmond Place to 
deadman's Place, Snore Hill to snow Hill, Candlewick Street 
to CANNON Street, Strype's Court to tripe Court, Leather Hall 
to LEADENHALL, Cloister Court, Blackfriars, to gloster Court, 
Lomesbury to bloomsbury, Stebenhithe to stepney, St. 
Peter's-ey to battersea, St. Olaf's Street to tooley Street, 
St. Osyth's Lane to sise Lane, and tibbs Row, in Cambridge, 
is a corruption of St. Ebbe's Row.^ 

In New York there is a square called grammercy square, 
a name popularly supposed to be of French origin. But the 
true etymology is indicated in one of the old Dutch maps, in 
which we find that the site is occupied by a pond called De 
Kromme Zee^ the crooked lake. 

In addition to the corruptions already considered, there are 
misnomers which are due to mistakes or misconceptions on the 
part of those by whom the names were originally bestowed. 
Prominent among these is one which has been already referred 
to, and which has bestowed the name of Amerigo Vespucci 
upon the continent which Columbus had discovered. The 
names of the west indies, and of the red Indians of North 
America, are due to the sanguine supposition of Columbus that 
his daring enterprise had in truth been rewarded by the dis- 
covery of a new passage to the shores of India. The name of 
CANADA is due to a mistake of another kind. Canada is the 

^ The curious transformations in the signs of inns have often been com- 
mented upon. For instance, we have the change of the Belle Sauvage to 
the Bell and Savage ; the Pige washael, or the Virgin's greeting, to the Pig 
and Whistle ; the Boulogne Mouth, Le, the mouth of Boulogne harbour, 
the scene of a naval victory, to the Bull and Mouth ; the Bacchanals to the 
Bag o' Nails ; the vintner's sign of the Swan with two Nicks to the Swan 
with two Necks ; and the Three Gowts (sluices) in Lincoln, to the Three 
Goats. So, also, we have the change of the name of the German lust- 
garten, or tea-garden, called PHlomeles lust, nightingales' delight, into 
Vidlmanris lust, many men's delight. 

T 



274 CHANGES AND ERRORS. 



enchorial word for "a village." When the French explorers 
first sailed up the St. Lawrence, it would seem that, pointing to 
the land, they asked its name, while the natives thought they 
inquired the name given to the collected wigwams on the shore, 
and replied Caiiada.^ 

A notable instance of a name arising from an erroneous 
ethnological guess occurs in the case of the gipsies. Their com- 
plexion, their language, and many of their customs, prove them 
to be a Turanian tribe which has wandered from the hill-country 
of India. When they appeared in Europe in the beginning of 
the fifteenth century, their dark complexion and their unknown 
language seem to have suggested the erroneous ethnological 
guess that they were Egyptians, a word which has been cor- 
rupted into GIPSIES. The name they give themselves, romani, 
indicates their temporary sojourn in the ** Roman " colony of 
Wallachia. Another curious piece of evidence that they 
entered Europe by the valley of the Danube, lies in the fact 
that they call all Germans ssasso. This seems to shew that 
the first Teutonic people which became known to them must 
have been the Saxon colony in Transylvania. A belief that 
they came immediately from Eastern Europe is also implied by 
the French name bohi^miens, unless, indeed, as has been sug- 
gested, the name Bohemian be derived from an old French 
word boeniy a Saracen. The Danes and Swedes regard them 
as Tatars, the Dutch call them heiden or Heathen, the 
Spaniards call them gitanos (either Gentiles, or a corruption 
of the name Egyptians), and the Germans and Italians call 
them ziGANAAR, ziGEUNER, or ziNGARi, that is, the "wan- 
derers." * 

^ The etymology from the Indian words kan^ mouth, and ada, a country, 
has also been suggested. 

s On the subject of this chapter there are papers by Forstemann, in 
Kuhn's Zeitschrift fur Verg^hende Sprachforschuni; by Whewell, in vol. v. 
of the Proceedings of the Philological Society ; and by Wedgwood, in the 
Transactions of the Philological Society for 1855. See also the works of 
Archbishop Trench, Max Miiller, Farrar, Pott, Wedgwood, Comewall 
Lewis, and Mone. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES, 

Growth of Words out of names — Process of Transformation — Examples : 
cherry^ peachy chestnut^ walnut^ quince^ damson^ Guernsey lily, currant, 
shallot, coffee, cacao, and rhubarb— Tobacco-^ Names of wines and liqueurs 
— Gin, negus, and grog — Names of animals : turkey, ermine, sable — Breeds 
of horses — Fish — Names of Minerals ; loadstone, magnet, agate, jet, nitre, 
ammonia — Textile fabrics — Manufactures of the Arabs : muslin, damask, 
gauze, fustian— Manufactures of the Fletnings : cambric, diaper, duck, 
ticking, frieze— Republics of Northern Italy — Cravats — Worsted— Names 
of vehicles — The coach — Names of weapons — Inventions called from the 
name of the inventor — Pasquinade, punch, harlequin, charlatan, vaude- 
znlle — Mythical derivations — Names of coins — Moral significance attached 
to words derived from Ethftic Names — Examples; Gothic, bigot, cretin, 
frank, romance, gasconade, lumber, ogre, fiend, slave — Names of servile 
Raca — Tariff—Cannibal — Assassin — Spruce — Words derived from the 
practice of Pilgrimage : saunter, roam, canter, fiacre, tawdry, flash — 
History of the word palace. 

All local namcb were once words. This has been the text of 
the preceding chapters \ we have hitherto been endeavouring 
to make these words — ^long dumb—once more to speak out 
their meaning, and declare the lessons which they have to 
teach. We now come to the converse proposition. Many 
words were once local names. We find these words in all 
stages of the process of metamorphosis — some unchanged — 
some so altered as to be scarcely recognisable. In fact, it is 
only by watching the process of transmutation in actual pro- 
gress in the linguistic laboratory of Nature that we are able to 
trace the identity of some of the products, so strangely are 
they altered. 

T3 



276 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 



Let us take a few familiar instances. So short a time has 
elapsed since the introduction of French beans or Brussels' 
sprouts, that the names have undergone no phonetic changes — 
the information which they convey needs no interpreter. We 
may now proceed to an analogous case where the first stage in 
the transformation of names into words has already com- 
menced. We have almost ceased to speak of Swede turnips, 
Ribstone pippins, Greengage plums, or Savoy cabbages, for 
the adjectives Swede, Ribstone, Greengage, and Savoy have 
already become substantives, and the farmer talks of his 
SWEDES, and the gardener of his ribsxones, his greengages, 
and his savoys. The names serve to remind us that Ribstone 
pippins were first grown in the garden of Ribston Hall, in the 
West Riding, and that the Greengage plum was introduced by 
one Gage, belonging to the old Suffolk family of that name. 
In these instances the words themselves have as yet remained 
uncorrupted ; but in the case of the cherries called maydukes 
a further process of transformation has taken place. The word 
Mayduke is a corruption or Anglicization of the name Medoc, 
a district in the Gironde, from which these cherries were intro- 
duced. But the word cherry is itself a local name, still more 
disguised, since it has passed through the alembic of two or 
three languages instead of one. The English word Cherry^ the 
German Kirsche^ and the French Cerise^ all come to us from 
the Greek, through the Latin, and inform us that this fruit was 
first introduced from Cerasus, now, probably, Kheresoun, a 
town on the Black Sea. 

We shall find it instructive to examine in this manner the 
names of a few of our common plants and animals, with the 
double object of tracing historically the process by which 
words become disguised, and of showing the aid which etymo- 
logy is able to render to the naturalist. 

To begin with the peach. This word, like Cherry, has had 
an adventurous life, and has retained still less resemblance to 
its original form, the initial / alone remaining to remind us of 
the native country of the peach. ' The English word is derived 
immediately from the old French pesche. The j, which has 
been dropped in the English form, gives us a clue to the origin 

^ Compare the Armenian geras^ and the Persian cardsiyha. 



FRUITS. 277 



of the word ; and when we find that the Italian name is pesca 
ox persicay the Spanish perszgo, the Dutch persikboom, and the 
'LdXiVi persicuniy we discover that the peach is a Persian fruit. 
The Nectareen comes also from the same region, but tells us its 
story in a different way, the name being a Persian word, meaning 
" the best " kind of peach. The Latin name of Apricots, mala 
armeniaca, refers them to a neighbouring district; while the 
fact that the word Apricot is an Arabic word, reveals the 
agency through which they reached the West. 

The CHESTNUT is often improperly spelt chesnut, as if it 
were the cheese-like nut. But the mute /, which could never 
have crept into the word, whatever may be the danger of its 
ultimate disappearance, is valuable as an indication of the true 
et)niiology, as well as of the country in which the tree was 
indigenous. The French Chdtatgne or Chastaigne, and still 
more plainly the Italian Castagna^ and the Dutch Kastanie, 
point us to Castanaea, in Thessaly, as its native place. 

The London urchins, whose horticultural studies have been 
confined to Covent Garden, probably suppose that the walnut 
is a species of Wallfruit. The Anglo-Saxon form weaih-hnut, 
the Old Norse val-hnot^ and the German IVdlsche NusZy 
indicate that it is either the foreign nut, or the nut from 
Walschland or Italy. Though the former is, perhaps, the more 
probable etymology, yet we must remember that the walnut 
is pre-eminently the tree of Northern Italy, as will be acknow- 
ledged by all who have rested beneath the spreading shade 
of the gigantic walnut-trees of the Piedmontese valleys, or who 
have crossed the wide plains of Lombardy, where the country 
for miles and miles is one vast walnut orchard, with the vines 
swinging in graceful festoons from tree to tree. 

The word quince preserves only a single letter of its 
original form. A passage in the " Romaunt of the Rose " shews 
an early form of the word, and also exhibits chestnut and 
cherry in a transitional stage of adoption from the French. 
Chaucer writes : — 



i< 



And many homely trees there were 
That peaches, cainesy and apples here ; 
Medlers, plummes, peeres, cnesteines, 
Cherise, of which many one faine is," 



278 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 



It is evident that the English word is a corruption of the 
French coing, which we may trace through the Italian cotogna 
to the Latin cotonium or cydonium malum^ the apple of Cydon, 
a town in Crete. 

The cherry, the peach, the quince, and the chestnut are very 
ancient denizens of Western Europe. Not so the damson, 
which was only imported a few centuries ago. If we write the 
word according to the older and more correct fashion — 
damascene — ^we are able at once to trace its identity with the 
Prunum Damascenum^ or plum from Damascus. The damask 
ROSE came from the same city in the reign of Henry VII., and 
we learn how rapidly the culture of the beautiful flower must 
have extended from the fact, that in less than a century 
Shakespeare talks of the damask cheek of a rosy maiden, 
shewing that the name had already become an English word. 

The science of etymological botany has its pitfalls, which 
must be avoided. The guelder rose, for instance, is not, as 
might be supposed, the rose from Guelderland, but the elder 
rose, as is shewn by the natural affinities of the plant, as well 
as by the ancient spelling of the name. An attempt to give a 
geographical significance to the name has probably led to the 
modification of the spelling. The same cause has undoubtedly 
been at work in corrupting the name of the girasole — the 
Italian turnsole or sunflower — into the Jerusalem artichoke, 
out of which some ingenious cook has concocted Palestine 
soup I The name of the guernsey lily contains a somewhat 
curious history. The flower is a native of Japan, where it was 
discovered by Kgempfer, the Dutch botanist and traveller. 
The ship which contained the specimens of the new plant was 
wrecked on the coast of Guernsey, and some of the bulbs having 
been washed ashore, they germinated and spread in the sandy 
soil. Thence they were sent over to England, in the middle 
of the seventeenth century, by Mr. Ilatton, a botanist, and son 
of the Governor of Guernsey. The small dried grapes called 
CURRANTS were, in the last century, called Corinth grapes, or 
" corinths," Corinth being the chief port from which they were 
shipped. The currants of our gardens seem to have received 
their name from their superficial resemblance to the currants 
of commerce. 



TEA— COFFEE— CACAO. 279 

The SHALLOT, a species of onion, comes to us from Ascalon, 
as will appear if we trace the name through the French form 
ichalotte^ and the Spanish escalotuty to the Latin ascabnia. It 
is usually supposed that spinage derives its name from the 
spines on the seed, but it seems more likely that it is the olus 
Hispanicumy since the Arabs call it Hispanacky the Spanish 
plant Bli Sarrasin^ which is the French name of buckwheat, 
indicates its Eastern origin, and confirms the tradition that its 
English name is due to the fact that the seeds were brought 
home by an Eastern traveller concealed between the pages of 
a book. COFFEE has been traced to the mountains of Caffa, 
south of Abyssinia, where the plant grows wild ; and mocha, 
where it was first cultivated, still gives a name to the choicest 
growth. In like manner bohea, congou, hyson, kaisow, and 
SOUCHONG are geographical terms on a map of China, jalap 
comes from Xalapa, or Jalapa, a province of Mexico. Another 
Mexican province, Choco, has given us the names of chocolate 
and cacao. The coco nut, however, has no botanical or ety- 
mological connexion with cacao. The Portuguese term for a 
bugbear is coco^ and the word seems to have been applied to 
the palm nut on account of the appearance of a mask or face 
which is produced by the three holes at the extremity of the 
shell. The cacao nibs, which produce the beverage, are beans 
borne in the pods of a shrub {JTieobrama cacao), which has no 
resemblance or affinity to the palm-tree {Cacos nucifera), which 
produces the coco nut, or to the coca (Erythroxyhn coca\ a 
herb whose leaves are chewed by the Peruvians, as a powerful 
stimulant-narcotic. The distinctive spelling of these three pro- 
ductions, cacao, coco, and coca, should be carefully observed. 
CAYENNE, CHILIS, SEVILLE and CHINA orauges, PERUVIAN bark, 
and BRAZIL nuts are examples of names that have remained 
undisguised by etymological changes. The brazil wood oi 
commerce does not, however, as might have been thought, 
derive its name from the country ; but, on the contrary, that 
vast empire was so called from the discovery on its shores of a 
dye wood, the CcMcUpinia crista, which grows profusely in the 
forests of Brazil, and which produced the Brazil colour, or 
colour of glowing coals. The word brazil is found in our 
literature as early as the reign of Edward I., long before thQ 



28o WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 



discovery of Brazil It comes from the French braise^ or the 
Portuguese braza^ live coals. Hence the English braser, some- 
times improperly written brasier, not a brazen vessel, but a 
vessel for containing live coals. The slopes of Sinai were 
formerly overgrown with the seneh, or wild acacia-tree, a 
shaggy thorn-bush ; and it is more probable that the plant 
takes its name from the mountain than the mountain from the 
plant CARAWAYS, Pliny tells us, are from Caria; squills 
possibly from Squillace, and myrrh from Smyrna (Greek /zup^a 
= (Tfivpi'o, myrrh), rhubarb is a corruption of J^M barbarum^ 
or RJia barbaricum (German Rhabarber, Italian Rabarbard)^ 
the root from the savage banks of the river Rha, or Volga. 
Ammianus Marcellinus tells us : " Huic Rha vicinus est amnis, 
in cujus superciUis quaedam vegetabilis ejusdem nominis 
gignitur radix, proficiens ad usus multiplices medelarum." 
dragonwort is a curiously corrupted name. It comes 
from Tarragona in Spain. The word tamarind is from the 
Arabic tamarhendi, which means the Indian date, indigo is 
indicum, the Indian dye ; and gamboge is from Cambodia. 
The lemon, in Portuguese Iwiao, is said to take its name from 
Lima. Jenjibre^ the Spanish form of the word ginger, looks 
as if the root had been imported from Zanzibar, while the 
Arabic form Zenjebd seems to point to the mountains of Zend, 
or Persia. It has been thought that sugar candy is from 
Candia ; and this view is supported by the fact that kdnd is 
the Turkish word for sugar of every kind.^ The cypress tree 
comes from the island of Cyprus, and the spruce fir is the 
Prussian fir. 

" There is an herbe," says an old voyager, " which is sowed 
apart by itselfe, and is called by the inhabitants Vppowoc; in 
the West Indies it hath diuers names according to the seuerall 
places and countreys where it groweth and is used; the 
Spanyards generally call it tobacco. The leaues thereof being 
dried and brought into pouder, they use to take the fume or 
smoake thereof, by sucking it through pipes made of clay, into 

1 In Moslem countries, owing probably to the proliibition of alcohol, an 
incrdinate quantity of sugar is consumed. A very large number of the 
Arabic words now existing in the Spanish and Portuguese languages denote' 
preparations of sugar. 



TOBACCO. 281 



their stomacke and head This Vppoivoc is of so 

precious estimation amongst them (the Indians), that they 
think their gods are maruellously delighted therewith : where- 
upon sometime they make hallowed fires, and cast some of 
the pouder therein for a sacrifice."^ The general estimation 
in which the growth of Tobago ^ was held has caused the name 
of this island to become the general designation of the 
" herbe." Laodicea, the mother of Seleucus Nicator, gave her 
name to a city on the Syrian coast, and the " herbe " shipped 
from this port goes by the name of latakia tobacco — a name 
which exhibits a curious geographical juxtaposition. Another 
choice growth is called york river, a Virginian name derived 
from the Duke of York, afterwards James II. cubas, havan- 
NAHS, VEVAYS, and MANILLAS are also among the "diuers 
names " derived from " the seuerall places and countreys where 
the herbe groweth." 

The names of wines are, with few exceptions,^ derived from 
geographical sources. The chian and the samian came from 
islands of the Grecian archipelago. The falernian, of which 
Horace was so fond, was the produce of a volcanic hill-side 
near Naples. Falernian has already been driven from the 
cellar to the school-room, and the vine disease threatens to do 
the same with canary and madeira, cape comes from South 
Africa. Three of the old provinces of France give their names 
to CHAMPAGNE, BURGUNDY, and ROUSiLLON. There is a vine- 
yard near Rheims called sillery ; chablis is a town in northern 
Burgundy, not far from Auxerre, and sauterne is a village 
near Bordeaux, medoc is the name of the vast sandy plain 
which lies between the Gironde and the ocean. The town of 

^ See Hariot, " Brief and true Report of the new-found land of Virginia," 
apud Hakluyt, Voyages^ vol. iil p. 271. 

* There is also a province of Yucatan called Tabaco. Adehing thinks 
that the word tobacco is not derived from either of these local names, but 
vice versA : the word may, perhaps, be derived from the Haitean tambaku, 
a pipe, or, as some have thought, the word may have been adopted from an 
Indian name of the plant 

* Such as TENT, which is derived from the Spanish tintOf in allusion to 
its rich colour. The name of claret is derived from its clearness. No 
Frenchman, however, speaks of, or drinks cUnret, This is the mixture 
manufactured for the English market 



282 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 

MANZANARES and the val de penas, or valley of rocks, are 
both in the province of La Mancha. asti is a town neai 
Marengo, tokay is situated in the north-east of Hungary. 

Many of the wines of commerce, as bordeaux and Lisbon, 
receive their names from the port of shipment rather than from 
the place of growth. So port is the wine exported from 
Oporto, and the wines of Sicily are shipped from marsala, an 
Arabic name which means "the Port of God," and which 
reminds us of the almost forgotten story of the Mahometan 
conquests in Southern Europe, malmsey is a contraction of 
Malvasia, having been originally shipped from Napoli di Mal- 
vasia, a port in the Morea. Malaga and xeres are also places 
of export rather than of production. The Spanish x being pro- 
nounced like the cA in German, the word sherris, on English 
lips, is a very fair approximation to the name of the town of 
Xeres, which, since Shakespeare's time, has been the grand 
emporium of the Spanish wine trade. The sack or sherris 
sack, upon whose excellent " two-fold operation " Falstaff so 
feelingly dilates, is Xeres sec, or dry sherry as we should call 
it. The term sack was applied to all the dry wines of Canary, 
Xeres, and Malaga : thus we read of Canary sack, Malaga sack, 
Xeres sack. 

It would be curious to trace the progress of the perversion 
whereby the wines which in the fifteenth century used to be 
correctly designated "wines of Rhin" have come to be called 
HOCKS. Hocheim, from which the name is derived, lies on the 
Main and not on the Rhein, and neither the excellence nor the 
abundance of the Hocheim vintage seems to afford adequate 
reason for the fact that the name has become a generic term 
for the whole of the Rhein wines. It may probably be due to 
special commercial interests connecting some London firm 
with Hocheim, for in no European language except English do 
these wines go by the name of hocks. It might seem that 

JOHANNISBERG, STEINBERG, NIERSTEIN, RUDESHEIM, ASSMANS- 

HAUSEN, or some other of the venerable towns or smiling villages 
which delight the eye of the traveller, as he passes thft romantic 
ruins and steep vineyards which fringe the broad rolling stream, 
might have asserted a better claim to bestow their names upon 
the delicate vintage of the Rhein, than an obscure village^ 



WINES. 283 



which stands upon another river, and which is by no means 
unsurpassed in the excellence or abundance of its growth. 
The volcanic slopes of all the river-banks in this district 
offer a congenial soil and site for the growth of the vine, lau- 
BENHEiM on the Nahe, lahnstein on the Lahn, and zelt- 
INGEN and PIESPORT on the Moselle, compete with the more 
celebrated villages on the Rhein and the Main. The Germans 
have a saw which compares the qualities of their chief growths : 



" Rhein-wein, fein wein ; 
Neckar-wein, lecker wein ; 
Franken-wein, tranken wein ; 
Mosel-wein, unnosel wein." 



Hungary water is said to have been first distilled by 
Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary, chartreuse is prepared from 
a recipe in the possession of the monks of the celebrated 
monastery ruled over by St. Bernard. Curasao ^ came ori- 
ginally from the island of that name in the Caribbean Sea. 
COGNAC is a town in the department of the Charente. Hol- 
lands and SCHIEDAM, as their names import, came to us from 
the Dutch. Since gin is a contraction of geneva, it might be 
supposed that it was originally distilled in the city of that 
name. The word geneva is, however, only an Anglicized form 
of the Dutch jmever? juniper, from the berries of which plant 
the peculiar flavour is derived, whiskey is a corruption of 
the Celtic word uisge^ water, a root which, as we have seen, 
appears in the names of the Wisk, Esk, Usk, Exe, Thames, and 
other Celtic rivers, usquebaugh is the " yellow water," from 
the Erse boy^ yellow, glenlivat is the name of a highland 
valley in Banffshire, famous for its stills, spruce beer is either 
Prussian beer, or beer tinctured with the sap of the spruce or 
Prussian fir. Colonel negus has been immortalized by the 
beverage which he first concocted. The etymology of grog 
is curious. Admiral Vernon, a sailor of the old school, used 

^ Often wrongly spelt Cura9oa. Compare the analogous names Macao, 
Bilbao, and Callao. 

* Gin being originally a Dutch drink, the name is undoubtedly derived 
from the Dutch yWi^^r, rather than from the French equivalent gernhm^ 
as is usually alleged. 



284 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 



to wear a grogram coat,^ and hence the seamen bestowed upon 
him the nickname of " Old Grog," which was afterwards trans- 
ferred to the mixture of rum and water, which he was the first 
to introduce into the navy. 

The names of animals, like those of plants, are able to 
supply us, in many cases, with information as to the countries 
from which they have been introduced, as well as with examples 
of the curious phonetic changes which the names of those coun- 
tries have undergone. 

The naturalization of the cochin china fowl has been too 
recent to permit any of these changes to take place. The same 
is the case with dorkings and Spanish fowls. The guinea 
FOWL came firom the Guinea coast. The guinea-pig is a native 
of Brazil, but it may probably have been originally brought to 
this country by some ship engaged in the Guinea trade. The 
CANARY was brought from the Canary Isles in the middle ol 
the sixteenth century, and from the name of the bird we 
derive canary seed and the canary colour, bantams came 
from the Dutch settlement of Bantam in Java. The phea- 
sant is of much older introduction. The name is derived 
from the Latin avis phasiana — the Phasian bird, whence 
we conclude, with Pliny, that the bird was originally brought 
from the banks of the river Phasis, in Colchis. The eider 
duck takes its name from the river Eider in Holstein, whence, 
however, the bird has long disappeared. The turkey was so 
named by a mistake. It is an American fowl, but was popu- 
larly supposed to have come from the Levant. The Grerman 
name, KaJekuter^ would imply that it came from Calicut, and 
the French Dt'nde, a contraction of poulet dVnde, appears to 
endorse the same error. 

Ermine is the fur of the animal of the same name ; Chaucer 
calls it the Armine. By a parallel phonetic change, Ville Har- 
douin calls the Arminians the Hermines. Hence we may with 
great probability assign the animal to Armenia, and its scientific 
name, Mus PonticuSy points to the same region. The sable, 
like the Ermine, bears the corrupted name of a large country. 

* The word Grogram is an Anglicization of the French gros-grain^ coarse 
textured. 



ANIMALS. 285 



The English form affords no clue to the etymology, but we 
find that the word in Italian takes the form Zibellino^ which 
appears to be a corruption of Sibelino or Siberino — the fur 
from Siberia. The polecat is from Poland, shamoy leather 
is often erroneously spelt chamois, as if it were prepared from 
the hide of the Alpine antelope. But, hke Russia or morocco, 
the word shamoy has a geographical origin, and means the 
leather from Samland, a district on the Baltic. 

Many of the breeds of domestic cattle are of such recent 
origin, that the names have as yet suffered no corruption. Thus 
the names of leicesters and southdowns, devons and here- 
FORDS, as well as of angolas, cashmeres, shetlands and 
NEWFOUNDLANDS, are still in the second stage of word forma- 
tion. In the third stage we may place the spaniel, which is 
either the Spanish dog, or the dog from Hispaniola. The 
GREYHOUND is the Grecian dog (cams grains), puss is an 
endearing corruption of Pers, the Persian cat. The meaning 
of the word barb (German, barbar: Old French, barbare) is 
slowly changing ; it was at first used strictly of a horse brought 
from Barbary, just as an arab was a horse from Arabia. Of 
kindred blood to Barbs and Arabs is the Spanish horse called 
a JENNET, a name which may not improbably be derived from 
Jaen, the capital of one of the Moorish kingdoms in the 
Peninsula. Nor have we yet acknowledged all the obligations 
of our horse-breeders to the Arabian blood. One of the 
galleons of the Armada, which had succeeded in weathering 
Cape Wrath and the storm-beaten Hebrides, was lost on the 
coast of Galloway, and tradition avers that a Spanish stallion, 
rescued from the wreck, became the ancestor of the strong and 
serviceable breed of galloways. A curious instance of change 
of application in a name occurs in the case of the strong 
Normand horses which were imported from Rouen. They 
were called rouens or roans — a word which has now come to 
denote the colour of the horse rather than the breed. 

Collectors of insects often give topic names to rare or local 
species, such as the Camberwell beauty, the Kentish glory, the 
Bath white ; and there are scores of similar names which 
might be added to the list. The venomous spider called 
the tarantula takes its name from Taranto in Southern Italy. 



286 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 



The Cantharides of the druggist's shop often go by the name 
of SPANISH FLIES. Mosquitoes, however, do not take their 
name from the Musquito coast, the word being the diminutive 
of the Spanish word mosca^ a fly. The word musket (Italian, 
moschetto) is from the same root. 

The CARP is in Latin cupra or cyprinusj the fish from 
Cyprus. SARDINES are caught off the coast of Sardinia,' but 
we should be wrong in supposing that the sardine stone 
or the SARDONYX came to us from that island, for the true 
origin of these names is to be sought at Sardis in Asia Minor. 
The loadstone and the magnet are both local names. The load- 
stone is a corrupted^ translation of Lydius lapisy the stone of 
Lydia. In the same region we must seek for the source of the 
name magnet, which is derived from Magnesia, a Lydian city. 
From Magnesia we also obtain the names of manganese, 
magnesia, and magnesian limestone, copper is cuprum or 
CRS cyprium^ the brass of Cyprus. The Sanskrit name is nearly 
identical, which would indicate that copper first reached India 
from the West The neighbouring island of Crete gave its 
name to the creta^ a sort of pipeclay which the Romans 
used for seals, the knot with which the packet was tied 
being enveloped in a ball of clay, and the seal impressed 
upon it. From the Latin crda the English adjective creta- 
ceous has been formed, and from the same root we get 
our crayons through the medium of the French craie, 
TRIPOLI powder is composed of the flinty skeletons of dia- 
tomaceae, of which large beds exist near Tripoli. The turkey 
STONE on which we whet our razors is derived from the same 
region, and possibly from the same quarries as the coSy to which 
the Romans gave the name of the island from which they were 
accustomed to procure it, unless, indeed, the island derived its 
name from the stone. In favour of this view it may be urged 
that the Sanskrit (^o and the related Latin word acuo mean to 
sharpen. The turquoise is a sort of misnomer. It came 
from Nishapore in Persia, but being imported by the Turkey 
merchants was supposed to be a Turkish stone, chalcedony 
came from Chalcedon, and alabaster from Alabastrum in 

^ The notion of a leading or guiding-stone seems to have influenced the 
present form of the word. C£ Uie loadstar, or leading-star. 



MINERALS. 287 



Egypt, as we are told by Pliny, who also informs us that the 
TOPAZ came from Topazos, an island in the Red Sea. agates 
were first found in the bed of the Achates, a Sicilian river. In 
like manner the Gagates, a river of Lycia, gave its name to 
the black stone which the French call gagaU^ J(^y^i or jaet^ a 
word which we have abbreviated into jet. The crystal called 
SPA came originally from the Belgian watering-place whose 
name has been transferred to so many mineral springs, and the 
word CHALYBEATE is itself indirectly derived from the name of 
the Chalubes, a tribe which inhabited the iron-producing dis- 
trict of Armenia, seidlitz in Bohemia has given its name to 
the well-known effervescing draughts, and genuine seltzer 
water comes from Nieder Selters, near Mainz. On Epsom 
Common may still be discovered the forsaken, but once 
fashionable well, from whose waters epsom salts were first 
procured, gypsum, when written in its ancient form egipsum, 
tells us that it came from Egypt, plaster of paris was 
procured in great abundance from the catacombs of Paris, and 
UMBER and sienna, as the names import, are earths from 
Northern Italy, parian marble is from the isle of Paros, 
and the names of caen and bath stone have suffered no cor- 
ruption. SYENITE is the granite of Syene in Upper Egypt. 
The technical terms used by geologists, such as devonian, 
SILURIAN, and london clay, are largely of local origin, and 
often inform us of the regions where certain deposits were 
first observed. Two of the newly-discovered metals take 
their names respectively from yttrium in Sweden and stron- 
TiAN in Argyleshire. natron and nitre are found in the 
Egyptian province of Nitria, where natron lakes still exist, 
though it is fairly open to dispute whether the salt gave its 
name to the province, or, as Jerome asserts, the province per- 
formed the like ofhce for the salt, ammonia abounds Ukewise 
in the soil of the Libyan desert ; and in the writings of Syne- 
sius, bishop of Pentapolis, we have an account of the pre- 
paration of the sal ammoniacus by the priests of Jupiter 
Ammon, and its transmission to Egypt in baskets made of 
the leaves of palms. 

A large number, we might almost say the greater number, 
of the fabrics which we wear, are called by names derived 



288 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 

from the places at which they were originally made. Political 
and social revolutions, aided by the invention of the spinning 
jenny, the power-loom, and the steam-engine, have, it is true, 
transferred the gi*eat seats of manufacture from India, from the 
Levant, from Holland, from Northern Italy, and from East 
Anglia, to the neighbourhood of our English coal-fields, but 
the fabrics retain the ancient names which still testify of the 
places which saw the earliest developments of industrial 
energy. The word shawl is the name of a valley in AfFghan- 
istan, but our cashmere shawls are now made at Paisley; 
our JAPANNED ware comes from Birmingham, our china 
from Staffordshire, our nankeen from Manchester, and we 
even export our calico to Calicut, the very place from 
whence, three hundred years agO; it used to come. 

Names of this class resolve themselves, for the most part, 
into three divisions, which indicate in a characteristic} manner 
the three chief centres of mediaeval industry. 

The ingenuity and inventive skill of the Arabs gave the first 
impulse to the industrial progress of the West. Thus sarcenet 
(low Latin, saracenicutn) was a silken fabric obtained from the 
Saracens. Mouseline, which is the French form of the word 
muslin, clearly refers us to Moussul, in the neighbourhood ot 
(he eastern capital of the Caliphs. In Bagdad, the street 
inhabited by the manufacturers of silken stuffs was called Atab, 
and the fabrics woven by them were called Atabi. From a cor- 
ruption of this word we probably derive the words taffety and 
TABBY. A TABBY CAT is SO Called bccause it has the wavy 
markings of watered silk. The rich figured silk called damask 
and the famous Damascus swords were produced at the central 
seat of the Moslem dominion, while toledo blades remind us 
that the Arab conquerors carried their metallurgic skill with 
them to the West. From anocher Moslem kingdom came 
ciPRESSE, the black " cobweb lawn " behind which Olivia, in 
" Twelfth Night," " hides her heart," and which the pedlar Auto- 
lycus, in the " Winter's Tale," carries in his pack, gauze was 
made at Gaza, as is indicated by gaze, the French, and gasa the 
Spanish form of the name ; and in the same w*ay we are guided 
by the Italian baldacchino in assigning baudekin, which we 
read of in old authors, to Baldacca or New Bagdad, one of the 



MANUFACTURES OF THE ARABS. 289 



suburbs of Cairo. Baudekin originally meant a rich silken 
tissue embroidered with figures of birds, trees, and flowers, in 
gold and silver thread, but the word was subsequently used for 
any rich canopy, especially that over the altar, and pre-eminently 
the canopy over the high altar in St. Peter's at Rome. Previous 
to the tenth century an important suburb of Cairo was Fostat, 
where flourished the manufacture of fustian; fostagno, the 
Italian name of the fabric, indicates this more clearly than the 
English disguise. Dimity is not, however, as has been asserted, 
the fabric from Damietta, but that woven with two threads 
{liQ and fiiTog)y just as twill and drill are respectively made with 
two and three threads, as the names imply, mohair, or moire, 
is a fabric of the Moors of Spain ; and the same skilful race 
manufactured jean at Jaen. merino is woven from the wool 
of the Merino sheep, a name which Southey has ingeniously 
derived from the emirs, or shepherd princes of Spain. The 
name of moreen may be due to the same source, though it is 
more probably derived from the dark colour. It may also 
be noted that scarlet is an Arabic word. From Cordova 
came cordovan or cordwain, a kind of leather prized by the 
cordonniers or cordwain ers of the Middle Ages as highly as 
MOROCCO is by the leather-workers of the present day. Truly 
the most elaborate history of the Arabs would fail to give us 
any such vivid sense of their industry and ingenuity as is con- 
veyed by the curious fact, that the seats of their empire, 
whether in Europe, in Africa, or in Asia, have stamped their 
names indelibly on so many of the fabrics in our daily use. To 
the Arabs we also owe much of the early science of the West, 
as is shown by the words chemistry, alchemy, alembic, borax, 
elixir, alkali, alcohol, azul, lapis lazuli, algebra, almanac, 
azimuth, zenith, and nadir, which are all of Arabic origin. 
How feeble, too, would be our powers of calculation without 
the ARABIC numerals, and the Arabic system of decimal 
notation. It is also a very suggestive fact that almost every 
Spanish word connected with irrigation — some dozen in all — 
is of Arabic origin. Thus we have alberca, a tank ; azequia, 
a canal ; azena, a water-wheel ; cUjibe, a well. Many nautical 
terms used in Spain are also Arabic, such as scuHa, a boat ; 
the small three-masted vessel called a xabeque; almadia, a 

u 



290 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 



raft ; arsenal; and almirante, an admiral, which is a corruption 
of emir-al-bahr, commander at sea. 

As the energies of the Moslem races decayed, the Flemings, 
in the twelfth century, began to take their place as the chief 
manufacturing people. When Leeds and Manchester were 
country villages, and Liverpool a hamlet, Flanders was 
supplying all Europe with textile fabrics. The evidence of this 
fact is interwoven into the texture of our English speech. We 
have seen that many silken and cotton fabrics come from the 
Arabs ; the Flemings excelled in the manufactures of flax and 
wool. From Cambrai we have cambric, as is clear from the 
French form cambray^ or toile de Cambray, diaper, formerly 
written dHpre or d^Ypres, was made at Ypres, one of the chief 
seats of the cloth manufacture, as we learn from Chaucer, who 
says of his wife of Bath : — 

" Of cloth making she hadde swiche an haunt, 
She passed hem of Ipres and of G^unt." 

Another colony of clothworkers was settled on the river 
Toucques in Normandy. From the name of this river a whole 
family of words has been derived. In German the general 
name for cloth is tuchy and in Old English tmk. We read in 
Hakluyt a description of "Soliman, the great Turke him- 
selfe," who had " upon his head a goodly white tucke, con- 
taining in length by estimation fifteene yards, which was of 
silke and linnen wouen together, resembling something of 
Calicut cloth." White trousers are made of duck, our beds 
are covered with ticking, and our children wear tuckers at 
their meals. A tucker was originally a narrow band of linen 
cloth worn by ladies round the throat. Hence any narrow strip 
of cloth fastened on the dress was called a tucker or tuck, 
and when this mode of ornamentation was imitated by a fold 
in the fabric, the fold or plait itself received the same name. A 
weaver used to be called a tucker, and hence Tucker is still a 
common surname among us. In Somerset and m Cornwall 
there are villages called Tucking Mill, and Tucker Street in 
Bristol was that occupied by the weavers.^ 

^ I have left this paragraph as it stood in the first edition, though I am 
now far from certain as to the correctness of the etymology suggested. The 
very early use of the word tuck suggests some independent Teutonic root. 



MANUFACTURES (W FLANDERS AND ITALY. 291 



From the Walloons we have galloon,^ that is, Walloon lace, 
as well as the finer fabrics which take their names from Valen- 
ciennes and MECHLIN. GINGHAM was Originally made at 
Guingamp in French Flanders. From the same region come 
LISLE thread, the rich tapestry called arras, and Brussels 
CARPETS. In the marshes of Holland the fabrics were of a less 
costly type than among the wealthy Flemings, From this 
region we obtain the names of delf ware, brown Holland, 
and homely frieze,^ or cloth of Friesland. 

Passing from the ingenious Arabs and the industrious Nether- 
landers, we find among the luxurious republics of Northern Italy 
a third series of names, as characteristic and as suggestive as 
those we have already considered. The fiddles of cremona, 
the PISTOLS of Pistoja^ in Tuscany, the bonnets of leghorn, 
the PADS and padding of Padua, the rich fabric called padua- 
soY, or Padua silk, the bells for hawks called milans, and the 
scent called bergamot, are fair specimens of the wares which 
would be articles of foremost necessity to the fine gentlemen 
and fair ladies who figure in the pages of Boccace ; and it is 
easy to understand that Italian irons might be suitably intro- 
duced by those milliners and mantuamakers who derive 
their names from two cities where their services were so abun- 
dantly appreciated.* On the other hand, italics and roman 
type still bear witness in every printing office that the newly 
discovered art was nowhere more eagerly welcomed, or carried 
to a higher perfection than in the country in which the revival 
of learning first began. 

^ The GALLEON was probably a Walloon vessel, one of the great Ant- 
werp merchantmen. 

2 Compare, however, the Welsh ^^Vj, the nap of cloth. To frizzle, in 
French^w^, is to curl the hair in the Frisian fashion. The architectural term 
FRIEZE is probably derived from Phrygia, certainly not from Friesland. The 
ATTICS of our houses may be traced to the Attic order of architecture, which 
displayed an upper tier of columns. 

* The name of pistoyers was originally given to certain small daggers, 
and was afterwards transferred to the small concealed firearms. 

* The tureen is not from Turin, but is a terrine, or earthen vesseL We 
have also polonies or Bologna sausages, and saveloys from Savoy. 
Compare the names of Perigord pies, Bath buns, and Banbury cakes. The 
magenta colour derives its name from a Lombard village, but the name 
commemorates the date, and not the locality of the discovery. 

V 1 



292 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 



From the rest of Europe we may glean a few scattered names 

of the same class — though they mostly denote peculiarities of 

local costume rather than established seats of manufacture. 

We have the word cravats from the nation of the Cravates, or 

Croats as they are now called. There was a French regiment 

of light horse called " le royal Cravate," because it was attired 

in the Croat fashion, and the word cravat was introduced in 

1636, when the neck-ties worn by these troops became the 

mode. GALLIGASKINS wcrc the large open hose worn by the 

Gallo-vascones, or Gascons of Southern France. gall6ches, 

or galloshoes,^ are the wooden sabots worn by the French 

peasants, and the name has been transferred to the overshoes 

of caoutchouc which have been recently introduced. The 

French city from which we fii^t obtained shalloon is indicated 

by Chaucer in the " Reves Tale," where we read that the 

Miller of Trumpington 

'* Made a bedde 
With shetes and chalons fair yspredde." 

JERSEYS and guernseys remind us how the mothers and wives 
of the fishermen in the Channel Islands used to toil with their 
knitting-needles while their sons and husbands were labouring 
at sea. tweeds were made at Hawick, Galashiels, Selkirk, 
and other towns on the Scottish border. The name was first 
suggested by the misreading of an invoice, and the appro- 
priateness of this substitution of Tweeds for Twills gave rapid 
currency to the new name, worsted takes its name firom 
Worstead, a village not far from Norwich, and informs us that 
the origin of our English textile manufactures dates from the 
settlement, in the time of Henry I., of a colony of Flemings, 
who made Norwich one of the chief manufacturing towns of 
England. The importance of the East Anglian woollen trade 
is also shown by the fact that two contiguous Suffolk villages, 
Lindsey, and Kersey with its adjacent mere, have given their 
names to lindsey wolsey and kerseymere, guimp has been 

^ The etymology here suggested is doubtful. The word is very ancient, 
for the Roman caliga^ from which Caligula derived his name, and the Lan- 
cashire clogy are from the same root. Compare the Old Spanish gcdlocJias, 
Erse galoigf Brezonec galochou, Spenser speaks of ' * My galage grown fast 
to my heel." 



WORSTED— COACH. 293 



thought to be from Guingamp, and baize is said to be from 
Baige near Naples, though this appears to be only an ingenious 
etymological guess. The village of Bareges lies in a valley of 
the P)rrenees, and bareges is still made in the neighbourhood. 
It is said also that drugget was first made at Drogheda, in 
Ireland, and that bonnets came from the Irish village of that 
name. From the name of Hibemia is derived the Italian 
and Spanish bemia, and the French berne, a blanket, and 
hence we have obtained the semi-naturalized word bernouse. 
Llanelly, I believe, was a great place for the Welsh flannel 
manufacture, though whether the word flannel is derived 
from the name Llanelly is very doubtful. The word silk may 
be traced to the sericce vesteSy the garments of the Seres or 
Chinese, who, ever since the time of Pliny, have been the chief 
producers of this material. 

It must suffice briefly to enumerate a few inventions whose 
names betray a local origin. The towns of Sedan in France, 
and Bath in England, have given us sedans and bath chairs. 
From Kottsee, a town in Hungary, comes the Hungarian 
word kotczy, and the German kutsc)ie, of which the English 
word COACH is a corruption.^ Coaches were introduced into 
England from Hungary, by the Earl of Arundel, in 1580. The 
first berline was constructed for an ambassadorial journey 
from Berlin to Paris. The landau is said to derive its name 
from the town of Landau in the Palatinate. It seems more pro- 
bable that it was named after Marshal Landau, as in the analo- 
gous cases of the stanhope, tilbury, and brougham. There is 
a coachmaker, in Longacre, called Rumball, and a writer in Notes 
and Queries suggests that the rumble was invented by him. 
It has been supposed that Hackney coaches were first used at 
the London suburb of Hackney ; but when we find mention in 
the seventeenth century of the coche d /laqitenee, there can be 
no doubt that the true etymology is to be sought from the 

1 The Kutsche was a carriage in which the traveller might sleep, as ap- 
pears from a passage of Avila. Charles V., he says, ** se puso a dormir en 
un carro cubierto, al qual en Hungria Uaman coche, el nombre y la iuven- 
cion es de aquella tierra." Hence it has been proposed to connect the 
English word COUCH and the French verb coucher with the same root, 
but the influence is probably only of a reflex nature, the ultimate source of 
these two words being to be sought in the Latin collocare. 



294 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 



French word hacquenk, an ambling nag, of which the English 
hack is an abbreviation. 

Chevaux de frise, the wooden horses of Friesland, are due 
to Dutch ingenuity. They were first drawn up at the siege of 
Groningen, in 1658, to oppose the Spanish cavalry. A nearly 
contemporaneous invention is that of the bayonet, which was 
used at the storming of Bayonne in 1665. Grenades, however, 
have no connexion with the famous siege of Granada, but are 
so called from their resemblance to the granate or pomegranate. 
The tallest and strongest men in the regiment, who were 
chosen to throw them, were called grenadiers. The burgonet, 
probably, takes its name from Burgundy, and the carabine 
from Calabria, as is indicated by the obsolete Italian form of 
the word — calabrino. The word calibre, though apparently 
cognate, is really from an Arabic source. The pole-axe was 
the national weapon of the Poles. The oak saplings which 
grow in a certain wood in the Wicklow parish of shillelah are 
believed to be of a peculiarly tough and knotty quality, but we 
may hope that this national weapon will soon be confined to 
the museums of the antiquary ; just as the lochaber axe has 
disappeared along with Highland warfare. Improved weapons, 
according to the modern rule of nomenclature, are named 
after the inventor, as in the case of Congreve rockets, Minie 
and Whitworth rifles, and Armstrong, Dahlgren, and Parrot 
guns. An exception, however, exists in the case of enfields, 
which are made in the Government factory at Enfield, just- as 
the obsolete ordnance called carronades were cast at the cele- 
brated Carron Foundry on the Clyde. 

The word parchment is derived from the Latin cJuirta 
pergamena^ ox pergamentum^ which was used for the multiplica- 
tion of manuscripts for the great librar}' at Pergamus. From 
the Campagna of Rome we have the Italian campana^ a bell, 
and the naturalized English word campanile, a bell tower. 
The first lighthouse was built by Ptolemy Philadephus on the 
island of pharos, near Alexandria. The first artesian well 
was sunk through the chalk basin of the province of artois. 
varnish is said to be from the city of Berenice on the Red 
Sea, as is indicated by the Italian fonn vernice^ and the 
Spanish herniz. The bougie, that constant source of alterca- 



INVENTIONS. 295 



tion at Continental hotels, takes its name from Bougiah, a town 
in Algeria which exports large quantities of Beeswax. Venetian 
blinds, Prussic acid and Prussian blue, Dresden, Sevres, Wor- 
cester, Chelsea, and other names of the same class, present no 
etymological difficulties, majolica is Majorca ware, and the 
glass vessel called a demijohn may possibly take its name from 
Damaghan, a town in Khorassan formerly famous for its glass 
works. 

Many names of this description are personal rather than 
local in their origin. For example, the doiley is supposed 
to have been introduced by a tradesman in the Strand, one 
Doyley, whose name may still be seen cut in the stone over 
the office of the Field newspaper ; and the etymology of the 
word MACKINTOSH is not likely to be forgotten while the 
shop at Charing Cross continues to bear the name of the 
inventor. In like manner jacket, in French jague, was so 
called from Jaque of Beauvais, and gobelin tapestry from the 
brothers Gobelin, dyers at Paris, whose house, called the Hotel 
des Gobelins, was bought by Louis XV. for the manufacture of 
the celebrated fabric. The invention of spencers and sand- 
wiches by two noblemen of the last century is commemorated 
in a contemporaneous epigram, which may perhaps bear 
transcription v — 

** Two noble earls, whom, If I quote, 
Some folks might call me sinner, 
The one invented half a coat, 
The other, half a dinner. 

** The plan was good, as some will say, 
And fitted to console one, 
Because, in this poor starving day, 
Few can afford a whole one."^ 

The invention of Earl Spencer may be classed with the 
WELLINGTONS and bluchers which came into fashion at the 
close of the European war ; and that of the Earl of Sandwich 
with MAiNTENON CUTLETS. It has been suggested that we 
owe the brawn on our breakfast tables to a German cook 

1 The invention of Lord Sandwich is said to have enabled him to remain 
at the gaming-table for twenty-four consecutive hours, without having to 
retire for a regular meal 



296 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 



named Braun who lived in Queen Street. The word, however, 
is doubtless of much greater antiquity, the true etymology 
being to be sought in the old French braion^ a roll of flesh. 

From two Greek philosophers we derive the terms Platonic 
love, and epicure. The guillotine takes its name from Dr. 
Guillotin, who introduced it Dr. Guillotin, however, only intro- 
duced the bill in tlie Convention; a Dr. Louis was the real inven- 
tor of the machine, which was at first called the Louisette. The 
BOWIE KNIFE is due to Colonel Bowie, a Western trapper. 
The summary proceedings of Judge lynch have given our 
American cousins a verb of which they stood in need. The 
words BOGUS (Borghese) and blenkerism hand down to fame 
the names of two other Transatlantic worthies, while burking 
is the peculiar glory of this island. The derrick, a machine 
for raising sunken ships by means of ropes attached to a sort 
of gallows, perpetuates the memory of a hangman of the 
Elizabethan period, tram roads and macadamization we owe 
to Outram and Macadam. A strict disciplinarian in the army 
of Louis XVI. has given us the word martinet, and from a 
French architect we obtain the mansarde roof. Mr. pinchbeck 
was one of the cheap goldsmiths of the last century, and has 
left numerous disciples in our own. An ingenious astronomical 
toy bears the name of the Earl of orrery, the patron of the 
inventor. Galvani and Volta, Daguerre and Talbot have 
stamped their names upon two of the greatest discoveries of 
modem times. The value of mesmerism is more open to 
question. The same method of nomenclature has naturally 
prevailed among religious sects. We have arians, arminians, 
calvinists, wesleyans, simeonites and puseyites. The 
name of silhouette was bestowed in the time of Louis XV. 
on the meagre shadow portraits which were then in vogue, 
and it contains a sarcastic allusion to the niggardly finance ot 
M. de Silhouette, an unpopular minister of the French monarch. 
So Mr. Joseph Hume's unpopular fourpenny pieces were 
called joeys by the cabmen ; and Sir Robert Peel's substitutes 
for the inefficient London watchmen are still called bobbys 
and peelers. 

Paschino was a cobbler at Rome ; he was a noted character, 
and a man of a very marked physiognomy. The statue of an 



NAMES FROM INVENTORS. 297 



ancient gladiator having been exhumed, and erected in front of 
the Orsini Palace, the Roman wits detected a resemblance to 
the notorious cobbler, and gave the statue his name. It after- 
wards became the practice to post lampoons on the pedestal of 
the statue, whence effusions of this nature have come to be 
called PASQUINADES. Pamphylla, a Greek lady, who compiled 
a history of the world in thirty-five little books, has given her 
name to the pamphlet. Octave Feuillet, a living writer, has 
given his name to the feuilletons of the French newspapers. 
The name of punch, or, to give him his unabbreviated Italian 
title, Pulcinello, has been derived from the name of the person 
who is said to have first performed the world-known drama, 
one Puccio d'Aniello, a witty peasant of Acerza in the Roman 
Campagna. It has also been supposed, with some reason, that 
Punch and Judy and the dog Toby are relics of an ancient 
mystery play, the actors in which were Pontius Pilate, Judas, 
and Tobias' dog. For the word harlequin, in Italian 
Ariechino, a, local origin has, however, been suggested; the 
name being, perhaps, derived from the Arlecamps, or Champ 
d' Aries, where the performance was first exhibited. The word 
charlatan we may trace through the Italian forms ciarkUano 
and cerretano to the city of Cerreto. vaudeville is from Vau- 
de-Ville in Normandy, where the entertainment was introduced 
by Olivier Basselin, at the end of the fourteenth century. 

Many analogous derivations which we find in classical 
authors are obviously fanciful or mythical. Thus we read 
that the art of grinding was discovered at Alesiae (aXcVai, to 
grind), by Myles {,\iyi\r\t a- millstone). In like manner we are 
told that the tinder-box was invented by Pyrodes, and the 
spindle by Closter; and that the oar was first used at two 
Boeotian towns — Copse (handle), and Plataeae (blade). This, 
it need not be said, is as absurd as if a modern Pliny were 
to assure us that needles were first manufactured at the 
western extremity of the Isle of Wight, or that the game of 
draughts was originally played in Ayrshire. 

The etymology of the names of coins is often curious. The 
GUINEA was coined in 1663 from gold brought from the Guinea 
coast. It was struck as a twenty-shilling piece, but from the 
fineness of the metal the new coins were so highly prized that 



298 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 



they commanded an agio of a shilling. The name seems, 
however, to have been a revival or echo of the older name 
of the guianois iVor which were struck at Bordeaux by the 
Plantagenet dukes of Guienne, and were made current for 
a time in their English kingdom. The byzant, a large gold 
coin of the value of 15/. sterling, was struck at Byzantium. 
The DOLLAR was originally the same as the German thaler, 
which took its name from the silverworks in the valley (thai) 
of Joachim in Bohemia. Its currency throughout the New 
World bears witness to the extension of the Spanish-Austrian 
empire in the reign of Charles V. The florin was struck at 
Florence, and bore the Florentine device of the lily-flower, 
which has been reproduced on the new English coins of the 
same name. The mark was a Venetian coin, stamped with 
the winged lion of St. Mark ; and since Venice was the banker 
to half the world, it became the ordinary money of account. 
cuFic coins, silver pieces with Arabic characters, were coined 
at Cufa. The jane which is mentioned by Chaucer and 
Spenser was a small coin of Genoa (Janua). The franc 
is the nummus francicus — the coin of the Franks or French, 
and the Dutch guilder may possibly take its name from 
Gelderland. A ducat is the coin issued by a duke, just as a 
sovereign is that issued by a king. A tester bore the image 
of the king's head (teste^ or t^ti)^ and the penny is, possibly, in 
like manner, the diminutive of the Celtic pen^ a head. The 
modem Welsh word ceim'ogy a penny, is analogously from cmn, 
2L head. A shilling or skilling bore the device of a sAie/d or 
scMdy and a scudo had a scutum. The pagoda, the gold 
coin of Southern India, bore the device of a temple. An 
RAGLE, an ANGEL, and a kreutzer bear respectively the 
\merican eagle, an angel, and a cross. Twenty shillings 
used to weigh a pound (pondus). So the Italian lira and 
French livre were of the weight of a libra, English groats, 
like the German groschen, were the great coins, having been 
four times the size of the penny. A farthing is the fourthing, 
or fourth part of a penny, just as the square furlong is the 
fourthling of an acre, and as the Ridings of Yorkshire were 
the thridings or third parts of the county. 
The woras money and mint remind us that the coinage of 



COINS. 299 

the Romans was struck at the temple of Juno Moneta, the 
goddess of counsel (moneo). The word sterling is a con- 
traction of esterling — the pound or penny sterling being a 
certain weight of bullion according to the standard of the 
Esterlings or eastern merchants from the Hanse towns on tlie 
Baltic. The convenience of the local standard of Troyes has 
given us troy weight ; and the steelyard is not, as is com- 
monly supposed, a balance made with a steel arm, but is the 
machine for weighing which was used in the Steelyard, the 
London factory of the Hanse towns. That the name ori- 
ginated in England is proved by the fact that it is confined to 
this country; the French equivalent being romaine, and the 
German ruthe. 

Not the least interesting, and by far the most instructive, of 
the words that have been derived from geographical names, are 
those which have been furnished by the names of nations, and 
which will mostly be found to have a sort of inoral significance, 
ethnical terms having become ethical. Thus, when we remem- 
ber how the Vandals and the Goths, two rude Northern hordes, 
swept across Europe, blotting out for a time the results of cen- 
turies of Roman civilization, and destroying for ever many of 
the fairest creations of the Grecian chisel, we are able to under- 
stand how it has come about that the wanton or ignorant 
destruction of works of art should go by the name of van- 
dalism, and also how the first clumsy efforts of the Goths to 
imitate, or adapt to their own purposes the Roman edifices, 
should be called Gothic. It is interesting to note the stages 
by which this word has ascended from being a word of utter 
contempt to one of highest honour. Yet we may, at the same 
time, regret that the same word — Gothic — should have been 
misapplied to designate that most perfect system of Christian 
architecture which the Northern nations, after centuries of 
honest and painful labour, succeeded in working out slowly 
for themselves, and in the elaboration of which the nations of 
pure Gothic blood took comparatively little share. 

The fierce and intolerant Arianism of the Visigothic con- 
querors of Spain has given us another word. The word Visi- 
goth has become bigot, and thus on the imperishable tablets 
of language the Catholics handed down to perpetual infamy the 



300 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 



name and nation of their persecutors. From the name of the 
same nation — ^^the Goths of Spain — are derived, curiously 
enough, two names, one implying extreme honour, the other 
extreme contempt. The Spanish noble, who boasts that the 
sangre azul of the Goths runs in his veins with no admixture, 
calls himself an hidalgo, that is, a "son of the Goth" (hi d* al 
Go), as his proudest title. Of Gothic blood scarcely less pure 
than that of the Spanish Hidalgos, are the cagots of Southern 
France, a race of outcast pariahs, who in every village live 
apart, executing every vile or disgraceful kind of toil, and with 
whom the poorest peasant refuses to associate. These Cagots 
are the descendants of those Spanish Goths, who, on the in- 
vasion of the Moors, fled to Aquitaine, where they were 
protected by Charles Martel. But the reproach of Arianism 
clung to them, and religious bigotry branded them with the 
name of cd Gots (Provencal ^4=canis), or " Gothic Dogs," a 
name which still clings to them, and keeps them apart from 
their fellow-men. In the Pyrenees these Arian refugees were 
anciently called Christaas, and in French Chritims, or Chris- 
tians, probably to distinguish them from Jewish or Moorish 
fugitives. Confinement to narrow valleys, and their enforced 
intermarriages, often resulted in the idiotcy of the children, 
and the name of the outcasts of the Pyrenees has been trans- 
ferred to the poor idiotic wretches who, under the name of 
CRETINS, are painfully familiar to Swiss tourists. The word 
^otire is not, as has been thought, derived from the name of 
these Gothic refugees, but is a corruption of the Latin guttur, 
which we find in Juvenal : " Quis tumidum guttur miratur in 
Alpibus." The marrons of Auvergne are a race of pariahs, 
descended from the Mauriens, or Moorish conquerors of the 
Maurienne. Hence the French word marrane, a renegade or 
traitor, and the Spanish adjective marrano, accursed, and the 
substantive marrano^ a hog. 

When we remember how the soldierlike fidelity, and the 
self-reliant courage of the Franks enabled them with ease to 
subjugate the civilized but effeminate inhabitants of Northern 
Gaul, we can understand how the name of a rude German tribe 
has come to denote the frank, bold, open, manly character of 
a soldier and a freeman, and the word franchise to denote 



ETHNIC NAMES. 301 



the possession of the full civil rights of the conquering race. 
In tie south-east of Gaul the Roman element of the popula- 
tion had ever been more considerable than elsewhere, and in 
this region the influence of the Northern conquerors was com- 
paratively transient. Hence the langue d'oc, or language of 
Provence, the Roman Provincia, was called the Romance, 
retaining as it did a much greater resemblance to the language 
of the Romans than the langue d^oyl^ the tongue of that part 
of Gaul which had been conquered and settled by the Franks. 
Here, in the region of the Languedoc, civilization was first re- 
established j here was the first home of chivalry ; here the 
troubadour learned to beguile the leisure of knights and ladies 
with wild tales of adventure and enchantment — romances, 
ROMANTIC narratives — so called because sung in the Romance 
tongue of the Roman province. In the south-west of Gaul, on 
the other hand, the Celtic or Celtiberic element of the original 
population was little influenced either by Roman colonization, 
or by Frankish or Gothic conquest. The Gascons afforded an 
exhibition of the peculiar characteristics of the Celtic stock — 
they were susceptible, enthusiastic, fickle, vain, and ostenta- 
tious. The random and boastful way of talking in which these 
Gascons were prone to indulge, has, from them, received the 
V name gasconade.^ 

The Langobardes, or Lombards, who settled in Northern 
Italy, were distinguished by national characteristics very dif- 
ferent from those of Frank, Gascon, Goth, Visigoth, or Vandal. 
They seem to have been actuated by the spirit of commercial 
rather than of chivalrous adventure ; and at an early period we 
find them competing with the Jews as the capitalists and pawn- 
brokers of the Middle Ages. The Sicilian word lumbardu^ an 

^ RODOMONTADE, a word of somcwhat similar meaning, is derived from 
Rodomonte, a braggart who figures in Ariosto's poem of Orlando Furioso. 
The immortal romance of Cervantes has given us the word quixotic, hec- 
toring comes from ** Sir Hector " of Troy, gibberish comes from Geber, 
an obscure Eastern writer on alchemy ; and fudge, perhaps, from a certain 
inventive Captain Fudge, who flourished in the reign of Charles II. bur- 
lesque, in Italian burlesco or berniesco^ is derived from Francesco Bemia, 
who invented this species of composition, alexandrines and leonines 
are probably frx>m a French poet, Alexandre P&ris, and the monk Leo, of 
Marseilles. We speak of the Spenserian stanza, and a Ciceronian style. 



302 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 



innkeeper, shews that they also exercised this lucrative calling. 
As we have already seen, Lombard Street — still the street of 
bankers — marks the site of the Lombard colony in London ; 
and the Lombards have left their name not only in our streets 
but in our language, as a curious witness to the national 
characteristics which distinguished them from the other tribes 
which overran the Roman Empire. There is an old French 
adjective lombart^ usurious ; and the French word lanibard 
means a pawnshop. The English lumber-room is the Lom- 
bard room, the room where the Lombard pawnbrokers stored 
their unredeemed pledges. Hence, after a time, furniture stowed 
away in an unused chamber came to be called lumber ; and 
since such furniture is often heavy, clumsy, and out of date, we 
call a clumsy man a lumbering fellow; and our American 
cousins have given heavy timber the name of lumber, and 
call the man who fells it a lumberer — a curious instance of 
the complicated process of word manufacture, by which the 
name of a barbarous German tribe has been transferred to 
American backwoodsmen. 

When the Ugrian tribes of Bulgarians and Huns, undei 
Attila, overran the Roman Empire, the terror which they 
inspired was due not only to their savage ferocity, but in part 
to the hideousness of the Kalmuck physiognomy, with its high 
cheek-bones, and grinning boar-tusked visage. Their name 
became the synonym for an inhuman monster. Hence the 
German Hune^ a giant, the French Buigar, or Bougre^ and 
the English ogre. The Bulgarians^ moreover, being given to 
manichaeism, we have also the French word bougerie, heresy. 
When the Asi approached Scandinavia they found the shores 
peopled by wandering Finns, whom tradition represents as 
malignant imps and deformed demons, lurking among rocks 
and in the forest gloom. Hence, it has been thought, have 
arisen the words fiend and fiendish, and the German feittd, 
an enemy. On the other hand, the Norse word for a giant is 
jotunn; that is, Jute or Goth. 

The relations of the Sclavonic races of Eastern Europe to 
their western neighbours is also indicated by a curious piece oi 
historical etymology. The martial superiority of the Teutonic 
races enabled them, as we have seen, gradually to advance 



SLAVE— SERVANT. . 303 



their frontier toward the east, and, in so doing, to keep their 
slave markets supplied with captives taken from the Sclavonic 
tribes. Hence, in all the languages of Western Europe, the 
once gloripus name of sclave has come to express the most 
degraded condition of man. What centuries of violence and 
warfare does the history of this word disclose ! The contempt 
and hatred of race which the use of the word implies, is also 
strongly shewn by the fact that even so late as the last century 
no person of Sclavonic blood was admissible into any German 
guild of artisans or merchants. We have, however, an earlier 
and an analogous case of word-formation, which has not 
attracted the same attention as the word slave. That Sclavonic 
people which was in the closest geographical proximity to Italy 
called themselves Serbs or Servians, the "kinsmen," and it 
seems probable that the Latin word servus^ and our own deri- 
vatives SERF and SERVANT, Originated from causes similar to 
those which have given us the word slave. The probability of 
this being the true etymology of servus is much increased by 
the numerous parallel cases of ethnic terms being perverted to 
be the designation of servile races. The manner in which the 
words Davus, Geta, and Syrus are applied to slaves in the 
Graeco-Latin comedies, exhibits in a half-completed state the 
same linguistic process which has given us the words slave and 
serf, and at the same time indicates that the Grecian slave 
markets must have been largely supplied by Dacians, Goths, 
and Syrians. Aristophanes uses the word tncvOaiva in the sense 
of a female house-servant The word dovXoQ is probably derived 
from the AoXottcc, a subject race of Thessaly ; and the helots 
were the aboriginal inhabitants of the Peloponnesus, who were 
reduced to slavery at the time of the Dorian conquest The 
rich treasure-house of language has preserved a curious memorial 
of the fact that the Saxon conquest of England was accom- 
panied by a reduction to servitude of the indigenous race. 
Till within the last three centuries the word villain retained 
the meaning of a peasant.^ In Domesday the villani are 
the prsedial serfs. The root of the word is, not impro- 

^ The change to the present meaning of the word is analogous to that 
which has transformed the significations of boor (bauer, or peasant), knave 
Owy), and imp (child). 



304 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 

bably, the Anglo-Saxon wealh^ a foreigner ; or Welshman, an 
etymology which, if correct, proves that servitude must have 
been the ordinary condition of the Celts under Saxon rule. 
We have a somewhat analogous case in British India, where 
porters and palanquin-bearers go by the name of coolies, a 
name which has been extended to include the Indian labourers 
who have replaced the negro slaves in the sugar plantations ol 
Tropical America. The word Coolie is a corruption of the 
name of a Turanian hill-tribe, the Coles or Kdlas, who occupy 
the lowest place in the Indian labour-market. 

From Thrax, a Thracian, the Romans, by the change of a 
single letter, derived the word threx^ a gladiator, a fact which 
indicates the region from which the arena was supplied with 
hardy mountain combatants. The word icap is used in Greek 
to denote a mercenary soldier, the Carians having habitually 
hired themselves out to fight the battles of their neighbours. 
In like manner, the Shawi, a tribe of desert nomads, were 
enlisted by the French after their Algerian conquest, and the 
name, corrupted into zouave, still abides, though the ranks are 
now filled by the gamins of the streets of Paris. 

The stately rites of the Etruscan pontiffs, as performed at 
the city of Caere, have given us the word ceremony. On the 
other hand, the luxiuious sensuality which prevailed at Sybaris 
has attached a disgraceful signification to the word sybarite, 
and the moral corruption which poisoned the mercantile and 
pleasure-loving city of Corinth caused the word Koptydiditadai 
to become a synonym for eracpcii^, just as the more healthy 
pleasures of the Sicelian peasant made the word mK€\i(eiv 
equivalent to opxeitrOai. The dry upland sheep pastures of 
the Peloponnesus, and the rich corn-flats of Thebes, have given 
us the two adjectives arcadian and bceotian. An heroic 
man we call a trojan, an arbitrary man a turk, a benevolent 
man a good Samaritan, and "catching a tatar" is a process 
more familiar than agreeable. The terse, pregnant way in 
which the Spartans expressed themselves still causes us to talk 
of laconic speech,^ the pithy wit of the Athenians has left us 

^ The Italian word ladinoy easy, shows that Latin was the easiest lan- 
guage for an Italian to acquire. Compare the German deutlichy plain, and 
our own phrase, " It is Greek to me." 



BRIGAND— CANNIBAL—ASSASSIN. 305 



the phrase attic salt, and the bitter laughter of the Sardinians 
is commemorated in the expression " a sardonic smile." 

The word brigand is not improbably derived from the 
name of the Brigantes, or perhaps from Briga, a border town 
near Nice. The word brigant first appears in the sense of a 
light-armed soldier, and then it takes the meaning of a robber. 
Next we find bngante, a pirate ; and the pirate's ship is called 
a BRIGANTINE, of which the word brig is a contraction. From 
Tarifa the Moorish cruisers sallied forth to plunder the vessels 
passing through the Straits of Gibraltar; but discovering the 
impolicy of killing the goose that laid the golden egg, they 
seem to have levied their black mail on a fixed scale of pay- 
ment, which, from the name of the place where it was exacted, 
came to be called a tariff.^ jeddart justice, which denotes 
the practice of hanging the criminal first and trying him after- 
wards, is a reminiscence of the wild border life of which the 
town of Jedburgh was the centre. 

The word cannibal is probably a corruption of the name of 
the Caribs or Caribals, a savage West Indian people, among 
whom the practice of cannibalism was supposed to prevail. 
The horrible custom of scalping fallen enemies was usual 
among the Scythian tribes, and Herodotus gives us a picture of 
the string of bloody trophies hanging to the warrior's rein. 
Hence arose the word dirotrKvOlieiv, to scalp, which we find in 
Euripides. St. Paul also uses the word scythian as an equi- 
valent of barbarian. The word assassin probably comes from 
the name of a tribe of Syrian fanatics who, like the Thugs ot 
India, considered assassination in the light of a religious duty. 
The name of the tribe, perhaps, comes from the hashish^ an 
intoxicating preparation of hemp with which the members 
of the sect worked themselves up to the requisite degree of 
recklessness. 

During the last century false political rumours were often 
propagated from Hamburg, then the chief port of communica- 

1 The word to sally is no doubt from salire^ though there is a temptation 
to deduce it from Sallee, another chief station of the Moorish pirates. 
Corsair is certainly not from Corsica ; though, possibly, riff raff may be 
derived from the Riff pirates. 

X 



3o6 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 



tion with Germany. " A piece of Hamburg news " seems to have 
become a proverbial expression for a canard^ and it is easy to 
see how this phrase has been pared down into the modem 
slang term humbug. The analogous slang word bosh has, I 
imagine, been imported from the Cape, the metaphor having 
been taken from the rubbishing and worthless " bush^^ which 
is burned regularly every av^amn. The expressive American 
term buncum is due to the - member for the county of Bun- 
combe, in North Carolina. In the State Legislature he made 
a speech, full of high-flown irrelevant nonsense, and when called 
to order he explained that he was not speaking to the House, 
he was talking to Buncombe. Castle blarney is, of course, 
in Ireland, and the famous stone can still be seen and kissed 
by those who desire to test its virtues. By a good-natured 
allusion to another peculiarity of our Irish fellow-countrymen, 
we term a certain characteristic confusion of ideas an hiber- 

NIANISM. 

A SPRUCE person was originally a person dressed in the 
Prussian fashion. Thus Hall, the chronicler, describes the 
appearance of Sir Edward Haward and Sir Thomas Parre " in 
doblettes of crimosin veluet, voyded lowe on the backe, and 
before to the can n ell bone, lased on the breast es with chaynes 
of siluer, and ouer that shorte clokes of crimosyn satyne, and 
on their heades hattes after dauncers fashion, with feasauntes 
fethers in theim : They were appareyled after the fashion of 
Prusia or Spruce." 

Though the pilgrims of the eighth and succeeding centuries 
were often only "commercial travellers," and still more fre 
quently "vacation tourists," and although the visitation of 
foreign shrines did much to dispel national prejudices and to 
unite nations, yet we may be glad, on moral as well as on reli- 
gious grounds, that the practice of pilgrimages, which formed 
so noticeable a feature in the life of the Middle Ages, has nov^' 
ceased, at least among ourselves ; for in the word saunterek 
we have a proof that, in popular estimation," idle and vagabond 
habits were acquired by the palmers, who returned with their 
palm branches from the pilgrimage to the Sainte Terre, or 
Holy Land. A roamer was one who had visited the tombs of 
the two Apostles at Rome, and this word conveys also in its 



PILGRIMAGES. 307 



present usage an intimation of unsettled habits similar to that 
which is contained in the word saunterer. The Italian word 
romeo implies no moral censure, but means simply a pilgrim ; 
and hence we may perhaps infer, that where the distance to be 
traversed was small, the evil effects of the pilgrimage were not 
so manifest. From the Canterbury pilgrimages to the shrine of 
St. Thomas comes the word canter, which is an abbreviation 
of the phrase " a Canterbury gallop" — the easy ambling pace 
of the pilgrims as they rode along the grassy lane which follows 
the foot of the North Downs of Kent for many miles, and 
which still retains its title of the Pilgrims' Road.^ St. Fiacre 
(Fiachra) was an Irish saint of great renown, who established 
himself as a hermit at Meaux, some five-and-twenty miles from 
Paris. His tomb became a great place of pilgrimage, which 
was performed even by royal personages, such as Anne of Aus- 
tria. The miracle-working shrine being frequented by many 
infirm persons who were unable to perform the pilgrimage on 
foot, carriages were kept for their convenience at an inn in the 
suburbs of Paris, which bore the sign of St. Fiacre ; and now, 
long after the pilgrimages have ceased, the hired carriages of 
Paris retain the name of fiacres. St. Etheldreda, or, as she 
was commonly called, St. Awdrey, was the patron saint of the 
Isle of Ely. She is said to have died of a swelling in the 
throat, which she considered as a judgment on her for her 
youthful fondness for necklaces. Hence, at the fair held at the 
time of the annual pilgrimage, it was the custom for the pilgrims 
to purchase, as mementoes of their journey, chains of lace or 
silk, which were called " St. Awdrey's chains." These being of 
a cheap and flimsy structure, the name of St. Awdrey, corrupted 
into TAWDRY, has come to be the designation of cheap lace 
and showy finery. So keys were brought away by the romeos 
who had visited the tomb of St. Peter, palm-branches by the 
palmers from the Holy Land, and scallop-shells from the sea- 
shore near the shrine of St. James at Compostella. St. James* 
day is still commemorated by London urchins by oyster-shell 
grottos, for the construction of which the contributions of 

From the Cheviot hills we have the slang verb to CHEW, a remini&- 
cence of Chevy Chase. 

X 2 



3o8 WORDS DERIVED FROM PLACES. 



passers-by are solicited. On the various signs of pilgrimage, 
see the description of a pilgrim in Piers Ploughman : — 

" A boUe and a bagge And many a crouche on his cloke, 

He bar by his syde, And keyes of Rome, 

And hundred of ampulles And the vemycle bi-fore ; 

On his hat seten, For men sholde knowne, 

Signes of Synay, And se bi hise signes. 

And shelles of Galice, Whom he sought hadde. " 



In a wild district of Derbyshire, between Macclesfield and 
Buxton, there is a village called Flash, surrounded by unen- 
closed land. The squatters on these commons, with their wild 
gipsy habits, travelled about the neighbourhood from fair to 
fair, using a slang dialect of their own. They were called the 
Flash men, and their dialect Flash talk ; and it is not difficult 
to see the stages by which the word flash has reached its 
present signification. A slang is a narrow strip of waste land 
by the roadside, such as those which are chosen by gipsies for 
their encampments. To be " out on the slang," in the lingo 
used by thieves and gipsies, means to travel about the countr>' 
as a hawker, encamping by night on the roadside slangs. A 
travelling show is also called a slang. It is easy to see how 
the term slang was transferred to the language spoken by 
hawkers and itinerant showmen. The word billingsgate, 
which has spread from England to America, reminds us that 
the language of London fishwives is not so choice as their fisli ; 
and " a babel of sounds," refers to the confusion of tongues 
at the Tower of Babylon or Babel. 

Political parties have sometimes assumed names derived from 
local sources. The leaders of the Girondists were the depu- 
ties from the department of the Gironde. The jacobins took 
their name from the convent of St. James, in which the meet- 
ings of the revolutionary club were held. A templar now 
studies law in the former residence of the crusading Knights of 
the Temple of Jerusalem. The court of arches was origin- 
ally held in the arches of Bow Church — St. Mary de Arcubus — 
the cr)rpt of which was used by Wren to support the present 
superstructure. When we talk of finding ourselves in a perfect 



PALACE. , 309 



DEDLAM we do not always remember that the rapacity and the 
vandalism of tlie English Reformers were redeemed by some 
good deeds — one of which was the assignment of the Convent 
of St. Mary of Bethlehem for the reception of lunatics, who 
used previously to be chained to a post, if indeed they were 
not left utterly uncared for. The hospital of St. Lazarus, at 
Naples, has, in a somewhat similar way, given a name to those 
who would be its most fitting occupants — the Neapolitan 
LAZZARONi. The porch of a cathedral is called the Galilee, 
probably because to the Crusaders and pilgrims advancing from 
the North, Galilee formed the frontier or entrance to the Holy 
Land. An absconding debtor is said to levant, a phrase 
which casts a curious slur on the administration of Turkish 
justice. 

The winding river meander has given us a verb ; and the 
name of the Rubicon has now almost passed into our vocabu- 
lary. From the Moriscoes of Spain we have the words morris 
boards, and morris dances. 

On the Mons Palatinus — a name the etymology of which 
carries us back to the time when sheep were bleating on the 
slope^ — was the residence of the Roman emperors, which, 
from its site, was called the Palati(n)um, or Palatium. Hence 
the word palace has come to be applied to all royal or impe- 
rial residences. The Count Palatine was, in theory, the offi 
cial who had the superintendence of the household of the 
Carolingian emperors. As the foremost of the twelve peers, 
the Count Palatine took a prominent place in mediaeval 
romance, and a paladin became the impersonification of chival- 
rous devotion. His feudal fief was the Palatinate — the rich 
Rhine valley above Mainz. The counties palatine of Chester, 
Durham, and Lancaster, are so called on account of the dele- 
gated royalty — the jura regalia — formerly exercised by the 
Earls of Chester, the Earl-Bishops of Durham, and the Dukes 
of Lancaster. It is one of the curiosities of language that a 
petty hill-slope in Italy should have thus transferred its name 

1 So the CERAMicus, or "Potter's field," at Athens, was converted into 
the most beautiful quarter of the city. The name of the tuileries de- 
notes that the site was once a ** Tile yard ;" and that of the escurial shews 
ihat the palace was built upon a heap of refuse from an exhausted mine. 



3IO WORDS DERtVED FROM PLACES. 



to a hero of romance, to a German state, to three EngUsh 
counties, to a glass-house at Sydenham, 'and to all the royal 
residences in Europe.^ 

1 On this subject see Hume, Geographical Terms considered as tending to 
enrich tJie English Language ; Beckmann, History of Inventions ^ Discoveries, 
and Origins ; Knapp, English Roots ; Talbot, English Etymologies ; Diez, 
Etymologisches Wbrterbtich der Romanischen Sprachen ; Pihan, Glossaire des 
Mots Francois tiris de VArabe; Wedgwood, Dictionaiy of English Etymo- 
logy ; Sullivan, Dictionary of Derivations ; Hotten, Slang Dictionary ; 
Menage, Les Origines de la Langue Fran^oise ; Taylor, Antiquitates Curiosce ; 
Michel, Histoire des Races Maudites dela France etde VEspagne; Schafarik, 
Slawische Alterthiimer ; YioitU Les Origines Indo-Europeennes ; the works 
of Max Miiller, Marsh, and Trench, a paper by Whewell, in the Proceed* 
ings of the Philological Society ^ vol.. v. ; and Notes and Queries^ passim. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

ONOMATOLOGY; OR, THE PRINCIPLES OF NAMB-GIVING. 

Dangers which beset the Etymologist — Rules of investigation — Names in the 
United States — List of some oftJie chief components of Local Names, 

The study of local names can, as yet, hardly claim the dignity 
of a science. With the exception of Ernst ForstemanYi, those 
who have written on the subject have too often been con- 
tented to compile collections of " things not generally known," 
without attempting either to systematize the facts which they 
have brought together, or to deduce any general principles 
which might serve to guide the student in his researches. 

There are few subjects, perhaps, in which such numerous 
dangers beset the inquirer. The patent blunders, and the 
absurdly fanciful explanations of etymologists, have become a 
byword. It may be well, therefore, to clear the way for a 
scientific treatment of the subject by an examination of some 
of these sources of error, and by the suggestion of a few 
obvious rules which should be constantly kept in view by those 
who attempt the investigation of the meaning of ancient names. 

The fundamental principle to be borne in mind is an axiom 
which alone makes the study of local names possible, and which 
lias been tacitly assumed in the title of this volume, and 
throughout the preceding chapters. This axiom asserts that 
local names are in no case arbitrary sounds. They are always 
ancient words, or fragments of ancient words — each of them, 
in short, constituting the earliest chapter in the local history of 
the PLACES to which they severally refer. 

Assuming, therefore, as axiomatic, the significancy of local 
names, it need hardly be said that in endeavouring to detect the 



312 ONOMATOLOGY. 



meaning of a geographical name, the first requisite is to dis- 
cover the language from which the name has been derived. 
The choice will mostly lie within narrow limits — geographical 
and historical considerations generally confining our choice 
to the three or four languages which may have been vernacular 
in the region to which the name belongs. No interpretation of 
a name can be admitted, however seemingly appropriate, until 
we have first satisfied ourselves of the historical possibility, not 
to say probability, of the proposed etymology. For example, 
LAMBETH, as we havc seen, is a Saxon name, meaning the loam- 
hithe, or muddy landing-place. We must not, as a Saturday 
Rei)iewer has amusingly observed, plume ourselves on the 
discovery that lama is a Mongolian term for a chief priest, and 
beth a Semitic word for a house, and thus interpret the name 
of the place where the primate lives as the " house of the 
chief priest." 

In the next place the earliest documentary form of the 
name must be ascertained. In the case of an English name 
Kemble's collection of Anglo-Saxon Charters, entitled Codex 
Diplomaticus JE,vi Saxonid, Domesday Book, Dugdale, and 
county histories must be diligently searched. For Scottish 
names Innes' Origines Parochiales Scotice will generally supply 
the necessary information. For names in France, the Dic- 
tionnaire des toutes ies Communes de la France^ by Girault de 
Saint Fargeau, may often be consulted with advantage. But if 
the name to be investigated occurs in Germany, all trouble will 
be saved by a reference to Forstemann*s systematic list of 
mediaeval German names — the Altdeutsches Namenbuch — a work 
which only a German could have conceived or executed, and 
which, even in Germany, must be considered a marvellous 
monument of erudite labour. 

If no early form of the name can be discovered, we must, 
guided by the analogy of similar names, endeavour to ascer- 
tain it by conjecture, bearing carefully in mind those well- 
known laws of phonetic change to which reference has already 
been made. 

This having been done, it remains to interpret the name 
which has been thus recovered or reconstructed. To do this 
with success requires a knowledge of the ancient grammatical 



METHOD OF INVESTIGATION. 313 



Structure and the laws of composition which prevailed in the 
language in which the name is significant— the relative posi- 
tion, for instance, of adjective and substantive, and the usage 
of prepositions and formative particles. In this department 
the Gramtnatica Celtica^ of Zeuss, will be found indispensable 
for Celtic names ; and for Teutonic names, Grimm's Deutsche 
Grammatik. 

Great aid will be derived from the analogy of other names 
in the same neighbourhood. A sort of epidemic seems to 
have prevailed in the nomenclature of certain districts. There 
is hardly a single English county, or French province, or 
German principality, which does not possess its characteristic 
clusters of names — all constructed on the same type.^ The 
key that will unlock one of these names will probably also 
unlock the rest of those in the same group. 

Having thus arrived at a probable interpretation of the name 
in question, we must proceed to test the result. If the name 
be topographic or descriptive, we must ascertain if it conforms 
to the physical features of the spot ; if, on the other hand, the 
name be historic in its character, we must satisfy ourselves as 
to the historic possibility of its bestowal. 

This scientific investigation of names is not, indeed, always 
possible. In the case of the Old World, the simple-minded 
children of semi-barbarous times have unconsciously con- 
formed to the natural laws which regulate the bestowal of 
names. The names of the Old World may be systematized 
— they describe graphically the physical features of the country, 
or the circumstances of the early settlers. 

But in the New World, settled, not by savages but by civil- 
ized men, a large proportion of the names are thoroughly 
barbarous in character. We find the map of the United States 
thickly bespattered with an incongruous medley of names — for 
the most part utterly inappropriate, and fulfilling very insuffi- 
ciently the chief purposes which names are intended to fulfil. 
In every State of the Union we find repeated, again and again, 

* The local names invented by our popular novelists fi'equently set all 
etymological propriety at defiance. We have all sorts of impossible com- 
j^ounds : we have thorpes^ holms^ and thwaites in Wessex, Cornish names 
in Wales, and Kentish forms in the Midland counties. 



314 ONOMATOLOGY. 



such unmeaning names as Thebes, Cairo, Memphis, Troy, 
Rome, Athens, Utica, Big Bethel, and the Hke. What a poverty 
of the inventive faculty is evinced by these endless repetitions, 
not to speak of the intolerable impertinence displayed by 
those who thus ruthlessly wrench the grand historic names 
from the map of the Old World, and apply them, by the score, 
without the least shadow of congruity, to collections of log huts 
in some Western forest. The incongruity between the names 
and the appearance of some of these places is amusing. Thus 
Corinth " consists of a wooden grog-shop and three log shanties ; 

the Acropolis is represented by a grocery store All that 

can be seen of the city of Troy .... is a timber house, three 
log huts, a saw mill, and twenty negroes." 

The more ancient names in the States are for the most part 
far less objectionable. Indian names, such as Niagara, Mas- 
sachusetts, Missomi, or Arkansas, though not always eupho- 
nious, are otherwise unexceptionable. And the same may be 
said of most of the names given by the trappers and pioneers 
of the Far West, names such as Blue Ridge, North Fork, Pine 
Bluff, Red River, Hickory Flats, Big Bone Lick, Otter Creek, 
and the town of Bad Axe. Henpeck City and Louse Village, 
both in California, are, to say the least, very expressive, and 
the town of Why Not, in Mississippi, seems to have been the 
invention of some squatter of doubtful mind. Such names 
as Louisiana, Columbia, Pittsburg, Charleston, New York, 
Albany, Baltimore, Washington, Raleigh, Franklin, or Jefferson, 
have an historical significance and appropriateness which in- 
cline us to excuse the confusion arising from the frequency with 
which some of them have been bestowed. Much also may 
be said in favour of names like Boston, Plymouth, and Ports- 
mouth, whereby the colonists have striven to reproduce, in a 
land of exile, the very names of the beloved spots which they 
had left. Smithtown and Murfreesboro' may perhaps pass 
muster, though Brownsville and Indianopolis have a somewhat 
hybrid appearance. Flos, Tiny, and the other townships which 
a late Canadian Governor named after his wife's lapdogs, are 
at all events distinctive names, though perhaps showing a slight 
want of respect to the inhabitants. But the scores of Dresdens, 
Troys, and Carthages, are utterly indefensible ; they betray quite 



MODERN NAMES. PS 



as much poverty of invention as Twenty-fourth Street, Fifth 
Avenue, or No. lo Island, while they do not possess the prac- 
tical advantages of the numerical system of nomenclature, and 
must be a source of unending perplexity in the post-office, the 
booking-office, and the schoolroom. The geographical etymo- 
logist regards a large portion of the names in the United States 
with feelings which are akin to those experienced by the eccle- 
siologist who, having traced with delight the national develop- 
ments of the pointed architecture of Western Europe, beholds 
the incongruous restorations — so called — for which the last 
century is to blame, or the Pagan temples, the Egyptian tombs, 
and Chinese pagodas, with which architectural plagiarists have 
deformed our cities. Such plagiarisms and incongruities are 
as distasteful as the analogous barbarisms with which the 
map of the United States is so wofully disfigured. The further 
perpetration of such aesthetic monstrosities as those to which 
reference has been made is now happily impossible. Our 
architects have taken up the idea of Gothic art, and developed, 
from its principles, new and original creations, instead of repro- 
ducing, us^t^e ad nauseam^ servile copies or dislocated fragments 
of ancient buildings. Would that the same regeneration could 
be effected in the practice of name-giving ! If the true prin- 
ciples of Anglo-Saxon nomenclature were understood, our 
Anglo-American and Australian cousins might construct an 
endless series of fresh names, which might be at once harmo- 
nious, distinctive, characteristic, and in entire consonance with 
the genius of the language.^ 

When we attempt a scientific analysis and classification of 
local names, we find that by far the greater number contain 
two component elements. One of diese, which in Celtic names 
is generally the prefix, and in Teutonic names the suffix, is 

^ Many of the Swabian patronymics which have not been reproduced in 
England would furnish scores of new names of a thoroughly characteristic 
Anglo-Saxon type, if combined with appropriate suffixes, such as ham, ton, 
hurst, ley, worth, by, den, don, combe, sted, borough, thorpe, cote, stoke, 
set, thwaite, and holt. Thus Seuningham, Wickington, Erkington, Fre- 
lington, Mormgham, Hcrmingham, Lennington, Teppington, Ersmgham, 
Steslingham, Mensington, Relvington, Plenningham, Aldington, Delking- 
ton, Ensington, Melvington, are characteristic Anglo-Saxon naines, which 
nevertheless do not appear in the list of English villages. 



3i6 ONOMATOLOGY. 



some general term meaning island, river, mountain, dwelling, 
or inclosure, as the case may be. Thus we have the Celtic 
prefixes, Aber, Inver, Ath, Bally, Dun, Kil, Llan, Ben, Glen, 
Strath, Loch, Innis, Inch ; and the Teutonic suffixes, borough, 
by, bourn, den, don, ton, ham, thorpe, cote, hurst, hill, ley, 
shiels, set, stow, sted, wick, worth, fell, law, dale, gay, holm, 
ey, stone, and beck. 

This element in names is called the Grundwort by Forste- 
mann. We have already, in the case of river-names, called 
it the substantival element. The other component serves to 
distinguish the island, river, or village, from other neighbouring 
islands, streams, or villages. This portion of the name, which 
we have called adjectival^ has been denominated the Bestim- 
mungswort by Forstemann. There are only about 500 German 
Grundwbrter^ which, variously combined with the BestimmungS" 
worter, constitute the 500,000 names which are found upon 
the map of Germany. The Bestiinmungswort is frequently a 
personal name — thus grimsby is GrinVs dwelling, ullsthorpe 
is Ulf s village, balmaghie is the town of the Maghies, clap- 
ham is the home of Clapha, Kensington the homestead ol 
the Kensings. In a larger number of cases, instead of a 
personal name we have a descriptive adjective denoting the 
relative magnitude, the relative position or antiquity, the ex- 
cellence, or, sometimes, the inferiority of the place, the colour 
or nature of the soil, or its characteristic productions. A full 
enumeration, not to say a discussion, of these roots would 
occupy a volume — we can only append a list of a few of the 
more important. 



LIST OF SOME OF THE 
CHIEF ADJECTIVAL COMPONENTS OF 

LOCAL NAMES. 

I. WORDS DENOTING RELATIVE MAGNITUDE. 

From the Celtic word mor or mawr^ great, we have llie names of Benmoie, 
and Penmaen-Mawr, the great mountains ; Kilmore, the great church ; anti 
(ilenmore, the great glen. Much Wenlock, Macclesfield, Maxstoke in 
Warwickshire, Great Missenden, Grampound, and Granville, contain Teu- 
tonic and Romance roots of the same import. Similarly MISSISSIPPI is an 
Indian term of precisely the same meaning as the neighbouring Spanish 
name Rio Grande, which, as well as the Arabic guadalquiver {keber^ 
great), and the Sarmatian word wolga, signifies ** the great river." Lakes 
WINNIPEG and wiNNiPEGOOSis are respectively the great sea and the 
little sea. From the Celtic beg or bach^ little, we have Bally begg and Inis 
hegy Glydwr Fach, Pont Neath Vechan, and Cwm Bychan. We find 
several Teutonic Littleburys, Littletons, and Clintons. MAJORCA and 
MINORCA are the greater and lesser isles, boca chica is the great mouth. 
We find the prefix broad in Braddon, Bradley, Bradshaw, Bradford, ajid 
Ehrenbreitstein, and some of the Stratfords and Strettons are proliably from 
the root "strait," and not "street." 

II. RELATIVE POSITION. 

The points of the compass afford an obvious means of distinguishing 
between the places of the same name. Thus we have Norfolk and Suffolk, 
Wessex, Essex, and Sussex, Northampton and Southampton, Surrey, 
Westmoreland, Northumberland, and Sutherland ; Norton (57) and Sutton 
(77), Norbury (7) and Sudbury (7), Easton (14) and Weston (36), Eastbury 
(21) and Westbury (10), Easthorpe and Westhorpe, Norleigh, Sudley and 



3i8 ONOMATOLOGY. 



Westley. The Erse iar^ the west, appears in the name of ormundb or 
West Munster, as well, possibly, as in those of Ireland and argyle. 
The ZUYDER ZEE is the southern sea; dekkan means the south in San- 
skrit ; and algarbe is an Arabic name meaning the west. The Ostro- 
goths and VISIGOTHS were the eastern and western divisions of the Goths, 
as distinguished from the Massagetse, or the great Goths, the chief body of 
the nation. Austria (Oestreich) is the eastern empire, Westphalia the 
western plain, and the weser (anciently Wisaraha) is the western river. 
From the close resemblance of the sounds it is sometimes difficult to distin- 
guish between roots meaning the east and those meaning the west. Thus 
OSTEND in Belgium is at the west {ouest) end of the great canal ; and 
OSTEND in Essex is the east end of the land. In Chinese, pih and nan 
mean respectively north and south. Hence we have pih-king and nan- 
king, the northern and southern courts; PIH-LING and nan-ling, the 
northern and southern mountains ; nan-hai, the southern sea, and the 
kingdom of an-nam, or the ** peace of the south." 

PERiCA is the country "beyond ** the Jordan, antilibanus is the range 
" opposite " Lebanon. Transylvania is the country beyond the forest- 
dad range of mountains which bounds Hungary to the south-east. Hinton 
(14) is a common name for a village behind a hill, as in the case of Cherry 
Hinton, near Cambridge. From the German prepositions an, in, and zu, 
we have the names of Amsteg, Andermat, Imgrund, Zermatt, Zerbruggen, 
and Zermagern. Many German names beginning with M are due to am or 
im prefixed to Celtic names. Thus Oersberg has become marsberg, Ep- 
penthal is now meppenthal, Achenthal is machenthal. From the Anglo- 
Saxon at, at, we have Atford, Adstock, Otford, and Abridge. From the 
Celtic preposition ar, upon, by, or at, we obtain such names as ar- 
morica, the land "upon the sea," or arles (ar-AwM), the town "upon 
the marsh." In the names of pomerania, and of Prussia, we have the 
Sclavonic preposition/^, by. With Netherby, Dibden, Dibdale, Deeping, 
(the low meadow), Holgate and Hollo way, we may contrast High Wycombe, 
High Ercal, Upton (42), Higham, Highgate, and High-street. 

III. RELATIVE AGE. 

There are numerous English villages which go by the names of Althorp, 
Alton, Elston, Elton, Eltham, Elbottle, Alcester, Aldbury, Abury, Albury, 
Aldborough, Aldburgh, and Oldbury, and on the Continent we find Altorf, 
Starwitz (Sclavonic stary, old), Torres Vedras, Civita Vecchia near Rome, 
and Citta Vecchia in Malta. On the other hand, there are in England 
alone more than 120 villages called Newton, besides Newport (12), 
Newnham (11), Newland (11), Newark, Newbiggen (17), Newbold (11), 
Newbottle, Newstead, Newbury, Newby, Newcastle (10), Newhall and 
Newburgh, which we may compare with Continental names like Villeneuve, 
Villanova, Neusiedel, Neustadt, Novgorod, Neville, Neufchatel, Nova 
Zembla, Newfoundland, Naples, and N&blus. These names denote only 
relative, and not absolute age. Thus the New Castle built by the Normans 
on the Tyne is now 800 years old, yet still keeps its name ; and Niblus 



ADJECTIVAL COMPONENTS. 319 



(Neapolis) in Palestine is twice that age, having been founded by Vespasian 
after the destruction of Samaria. New College is one of the oldest colleges 
in Oxford, having been founded in 1386 ; and New Palace Yard, Westmin- 
ster, is a memorial of the palace built by Rufus. 

IV. NUMERALS. 

In ancient Anglo-Saxon and German names, the numerals which most 
commonly occur are four and seven, numbers which were supposed to have 
a mystical meaning. Such are Sevenoaks, Klostersieben and Siebenbiirgen. 
Nine-elms dates from a later period. We have a mountain group called 
the Twelve Pins, in Ireland, and Fiinfkirchen and Zweibriicken in Germany. 
Neunkirchen, however, is only a corruption of Neuenkirchen, or New 
Church, and Ninekirks, in the Lake district, is St. Ninian's Kirk. The 
modem names of the ancient Roman stations in the Upper Rhine valley, 
near Wallenstadt, are curiously derived from the Roman numerals. We 
find, at regular intervals, as we proceed up the valley, the villages of Seguns, 
Tertzen, Quarten, Quinten and Sewes. The three cities of Oea, Sabrata, 
and Leptis in Africa, went collectively by the name of TRiPOLis. TRIPOLI 
in Syria was a joint colony from the three cities of T)rre, Sidon, and Aradus. 
On the Lake Ontario there is the Bay of the Thousand Isles, terceira, 
one of the Azores, is the third Island. The laccadives are the ten thou- 
sand islands, and the Maldives are the thousand isles. The Punjab is 
the land of the five rivers, and the doab^ is the country between the ** two 
rivers," the Ganges and the Jumna, plynltmmon is a corruption of Pum- 
lumon, the five hills ; and mizraim, the Biblical name of Egypt, describes 
either the ** two " banks of the Nile, or the "two " districts of Upper and 
Lower Egjrpt. 

V. NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. 

A far larger number of names are derived from natural productions. 
Mineral springs are often denoted by some corruption of the Latin word 
Aquae. Thus we have Aix in Savoy, and Aix near Marseilles ; Aix la 
Chapelle, or Aachen, in Rhenish Prussia ; Acqui in Piedmont ; and Dax, 
or Dacqs, in Gascony. The misunderstood name Aquae Solis, or Aquae, 
probably suggested to the Anglo-Saxons the name of Ake mannes ceaster, 
the invalid's city, which was changed at a later period to Bath, from a 
root which also supplies names to Bakewell, anciently Badecanwylla, in 
Derbyshire, and to the numerous Badens on the Continent. THERMOPYLiE 
took its name from the hot spnngs in the defile ; tierra del fuego 
from its volcanic fires; and reikjavik, or **reek bay," was the Norse 
settlement in the neighbourhood of the geysers,^ or "boilers." hecla 

' The ai here is the Sanskrit and Persian word for water, which comes to us from the 
Persian through the Arabic, and which we have in the word juhi/ (gvlt rose ; and ad, 
water)* as well as in shrub and syrop (scharA^). 

' The words nyser, yeast, getst, fas, gust, and ghost, are all from the same root, which 
signifies something boiling, bubbling up, or overflowing Compare the cognation of 
ftfe/ioff sind animus. 



320 ONOMATOLOGY. 



was so called from the ** cloak" of smoke hanging over the mountain. 
VESUVIUS is an Oscan name, meaning the emitter of smoke and sparks. 
The basaltic columns of staffa are well described by its name, ** the isle 
of steps," a Norse name which we have repeated in the case of the basaltic 
rocks of STAPPEN in Iceland. Missouri is the muddy river, and the name 
maybe compared with those of the foulbeck and the lambourn; while the 
names of accho or acre, and of scinde, describe the sandy nature of the 
country. SANDWICH is the sandy bay : we have many analogous names, 
such as Sandhurst, Sandon, Sandford, Sandbach, and Peschkow, which 
last is derived from pesky the Sclavonic word for sand, alum bay, in the 
Isle of Wight, is a modem name of the same class. The Rio de la plata, 
or river of the silver, took its name from a few gold and silver ornaments 
which Sebastian Cabot found in the possession of the natives, and which he 
hoped were indications of an £1 Dorado, or golden land, in the interior. 
The GOLD coast and the ivory coast were names appropriately bestowed 
by early traders. The name of the ANDES is derived from the Peruvian 
word anta^ which means copper. 

Many names are derived from animals. We find that of the Ox in 
Oxley, and perhaps in Oxford ; and that of the Cow in Cowley ; wol^ the 
Sclavonic name for an ox, appears in the names of WoUau (14), Wollin 
(6), and many other places. We find Swine at Swindon, Swinford, 
and Swingfield : — Kine at Kinton : — Neat Cattle at Nutford and Netley ; 
and Sheep at Shipton and Shipley. The names of the Faroe Islands, 
and of FAIRFIELD, a mountain in Westmoreland, are probably from the 
Norse faar^ sheep. Deer, or perhaps wild animals generally (German, 
Thier ; Anglo-Saxon, deor\ are found at Deerhurst and Djrrham in 
Gloucestershire, Dereham in Norfolk, Dereworth in Northamptonshire, 
and Derby, anciently Deoraby. schwerin, which serves as a name for 
a German principality and three other places in Germany, is the exact 
Sclavonic equivalent of Derby. 

Other wild animals whose names often occur are : The Slag at Stagbatch 
and Heurtley : the Roe at Roehampton : the Fox or Tod at Foxley, Fox- 
hill, Foxhough, Todbuni, and Todfield : the Wild Boar at Evershot and 
Eversley : the Seal at Selsey : the Otter at Otterboum in Hants : the 
Beaver at Beverley and Nant Frangon : the Badger, or Broc, at Bagshot, 
at Broxboume, and at Brokenboroug^ in Wilts, anciently Broken-eber-egge, 
or Badger-boar-comer : the Hare at Homsea, anciently Haraney : the 
Crane is found at Cranboume, and the Eagle at Eamley in Sussex, and 
Arley in Warwickshire, both of which are written Eameleah in the Saxon 
charters. 

Ely was once famous for the excellence of its eels. In the Isle of Ely 
rents used to be paid in eels. The Norse word for a salmon is lax. Hence 
we have Laxvoe, or ** salmon bay '* in Shetland, Loch Laxford in Suther- 
land, the Laxay, or "salmon river," in the Hebrides, and also in Cantire, 
the river Laxey in the Isle of Man, and five rivers called Laxa, in Ice- 
land. We have Laxweir on the Shannon, Leixlip, or salmon-leap, on 
the Liffey, and Abbey L«ix, in Queen's County, zeboim is the ravine of 
hysenas, and ajalon the valley of stags, berne takes its name from the 



ADJECTIVAL COMPONENTS. 321 

bears with which it formerly abounded, arlberg in the Tyrol is the 
Adlers berg, or eagle's mountain : and hapsburg, the stammsckhss of the 
Austrian dynasty, is hawk castle, swan River was so called fi om the 
number of black swans seen there by Vlaming, the first discoverer. The 
River Uruguay takes its name from the uruy a bird found on its banks. 
CHICAGO is the city of the skunk. The AZORES when discovered were 
found to abound in hawks ; the canaries in wild dogs ; the camaroons 
in shrimps (Portuguese, camaroeSj shrimps) ; the Galapagos islands in 
turtles ; and the Bay of Panama in mud fish. There are five islands called 
TORTUGA, either from the turtles found on the coast, or from their turtle-like 
shape. The island of Margarita received its name from the pearls which 
Columbus obtained from the inhabitants. The island of barbadoes is said 
to have derived its name from the long beard-like streamers of moss hang- 
ing from the branches of the trees ; the island of barbuda from the long 
beards of the natives ; and the ladrones from their thievish propensities. 
The patagonians were so called by Magalhaens from their clumsy shoes. 
The name of Venezuela, or little Venice, is due to the Indian villages 
which were found built on piles in the lake Maracaybo. 

Names derived from those of plants are found in great abundance. We 
have, for example, the Oak at Acton, Auckland, Okely, Oakely, and 
Sevenoaks. From the Erse acire, an oak, we deduce the names of Derry and 
Kildare. We have the Elm at Nine Elms, Elmdon, Elmstead, and Elms- 
well ; the Ash at Ashton and Ashley ; the Beech at Buckland and Buck- 
hurst ; the Birch at Berkeley, Bircholt, and Birbeck ; the Lime at Lindfield 
and Lyndhurst ; the Thorn at Thomey ; the Hazel at Hasilmere ; the 
Alder at AUerton, Aldershot, AUerdale, OIney, and Ellerton ; the Apple 
at Avallon, or Apple Island, Appleby, and Appleton ; the Cherry at 
Cherry Hinton; the Broom at Bromley and Brompton; the Fern at Famham 
and Famborough ; Rushes at Rusholme ; Sedge at Sedgemoor and 
Sedgeley ; Reeds at Rodney and Retford ; and Shrubs at Shrewsbury and 
Shawbury. The names of Brescia and Brussels have been referred to a 
root connected with the low Latin bruscia, thicket, or brushwood, thougli 
Brussels may be from the Flemish breecksaly a swamp. Among Sclavonic 
roots of this dass are dttb, the oak, which is very common : there are 200 
places called Dubrau. Brasa, the birch, occurs in the names of 40 places, 
as Braslaf : lipa^ the lime, occurs in the names of 600 places, as Leipzig, 
the " linden town : " and we have topoly the poplar, at Toplitz. 

The Mount of Olives and the Spice Islands are familiar instances of this 
mode of nomenclature. Saffron Walden took its name from the saffron, 
the cultivation of which was introduced in the reign of Edward HI. and 
which still to some extent continues, gulistan is the place of roses. 
The name of SCio comes from scinOf mastic, tadmor, or palmyra, is 
the city of palms, phcenicia is perhaps the land of palms, en rimmon 
is the Fountain of the Pomegranate, cana, which stands close to the lake, 
is the reedy. BETH tapuah is the apple orchard, and anab means the 
grape. Java is the isle of nutmegs (jayah), and pulopenang means, in 
Malay, the island of the areca nut. Malacca derives its name from tlie 
malaka tree {Phyllanthus emdlica), the medicinal properties of whose fruit 

Y 



/ 



322 ONOMATOLOGY. 

caused it to be much sought after, brazil, as we have seen, was name<l 
from the red dye-wood, which was the first article of export kartoom 
on the Upper Nile takes its name from the safflower {Carthamus tinctorius)^ 
a valuable oil-bearing plant, locally called the Gartoom. Mount IDA is tlie 
wooded height, madeira, when discovered by the Portuguese in 1418, 
was found uninhabited and covered with dense forests. It received its 
name from the Portuguese word madera^ timber (Latin iKateria). The Rio 
madeira, an affluent of the Amazons, still flows through the immense 
forests from which it took its name. 

VI. QUALITY. 

Names implying the excellence of the locality are far more common than 
those implying the reverse. Thus Formosa, funen, and joppa, in Portu- 
guese, Danish, and Hebrew, mean fine, or beautifuL Valparaiso is 
Paradise Valley, and gennesareth is nearly identical in meaning. The 
name of buenos ayres describes the delicious climate of Southern Brazil. 
The PACIFIC Ocean seems calm to those who have just weathered the tem- 
pests of Cape Hoom. BUNGAY is probably from the French bon guij fair 
ford ; the existence of a French name being accounted for by the adjacent 
Norman castle of Hugh Bigot. Palermo, a corruption of Panormus, is 
the haven sheltered from every wind. The Genoese gave balaclava its 
name of the beautiful quay, bdla chiava, OHio, in Iroquois, means the 
beautiful river. The name of Bombay is from the Portuguese bona bahia, 
the good bay, and well describes the harbour, one of the largest, safest, and 
most beautiful in the world. BAGDAD is the "garden of justice : " ISPAHAN 
the **half of the world," and astrakhan the "city of the star." CAIRO 
is the Anglicized form of the Arabic El ICahirah, the "victorious." The 
real name of Cairo is Misr ; El Kahirah or Cairo is only a title of honour 
applied to the city, just as Genoa is called **La Superba," Verona, "La 
Degna," Mantua, **La Gloriosa," Vicenza, "L'antica," and Padua, "La 
Forte." The name of Cairo may be compared with that of vittoriosa, 
a suburb of Valetta which was built at the conclusion of the great siege. 
The Romans often gave their colonies names of good omen, as Placer tia, 
now piacenza ; Valentia, now VALANCE, valentz, and valentia ; Pol- 
lentia, now polenza ; Potentia now s. maria potenza ; Florentia, now 
FiRENZE or FLORENCE ; Vicentia, now vicenza ; Faventia, now faenza ; 
Bona, now BONN ; and the queenly city Basilia, now basel or bAle. 

Names of bad omen are rare. From the Anglo-Saxon fiean^ poor, we 
have Henlow, Hendon, and Henley, pernambuco means the moutli ol 
hell, and bab-el-mandeb the gate of the weeping place. M alp as is the 
bad frontier pass, dungeness (danger cape) and Cape pelorus express 
the terrors of the sailor. Caltrop, Colton, Caldecote, and Cold Harbour, 
are all cold places. A volcano broke out on the "most beautiful" island 
of CALLISTE, which caused the name to be changed to thera, "the beast." 
At the time of a subsequent eruption the island was placed under the pro- 
tection of the Empress St. Irene, whose name it still bears in the form of 
santorin. 



ADJECTIVAL COMPONENTS. 3^3 



VII. CONFIGURATION. 

A fevi names, chiefly those of islands, bays, and mountains, are derived 
from the configuration of the land. Thus anguilla is the eel-shaped 
island. Drepanum, now trapani, is from a Greek word, meaning a sickle. 
ZANCLE, the original name of Messina, is said to be derived from a Siculian 
root of the same significance. SICILY perhaps comes from a root allied to 
sica^ a sickle, and the name seems to have been first applied to the curved 
shore near Messina, and then extended to the whole island, an con A, 
which preserves its original name unchanged, is built at the place where 
Monte Conero juts out into the sea and then recedes, forming a sort of bent 
"elbow" (h.yK^v). The name of GOMPHI, near Pindus, expresses the 
"wedge-shaped" formation of the rocks, and may be compared with that 
of the NEEDLES in the Isle of Wight, or the opposite columned cape at 
STUULAND (Anglo-Saxon stttdu, a pillar). At meteora the convents arc 
poised "aloft in the air" on the summits of rocky columns. Tlie name 
Trapezus, now trkbizond, on the Black Sea, is identical in meaning with 
that of table mountain at the Cape, monte video takes its name from 
a conspicuous hill which rises to the height of 500 feet just behind the har- 
bour. The organ Mountains in Brazil derive their name from the fantastic 
forms of the spires of rock, resembling a row of organ pipes, phiala, in 
Palestine, is the "bowl." rhegium is the "rent" between Sicily and 
Italy. TKMPE is the "cut" (T€fty«) in the rocks through which the Peneus 
flows, and Detroit the "narrows " between Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair. 

VIH. COLOUR. 

The adjectival element in names is frecjucntly derived from colour. 
Names of this class are often admirably descriptive. How well, for instance, 
the Northmen described a conspicuous chalk cliff", past which they steered to 
Normandy, by the name of Cape grisnez, or the grey nose. Cape blanc- 
NEZ, close by, is the white nose. Cape verde is fringed with green palms. 
The local name for the Indus is the Nilab, the blue river ; and the name 
of the Blue Nile is, perhaps, an unconscious reduplication.^ The Minne- 
sota is the sky-coloured water. The xanthus is the yellow river. The 
RIO COLORADO takes its name from its deep red colour ; ratby, rugby, 
and RUTLAND, from their red soil, ratcliffe, at Bristol, is the red clifi". 
The Red Sea, the Black Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the ^Vhite Sea, are 
translated names. The city of Hatria or adria, from which the Adriatic 
took its name, is the black town, so called, perhaps, because built on a 
deposit of black mud. The kedron is the black valley. From the Celtic 
dhu^ black, we have the names of Dublin, the black pool or linn, and the 
DOUGLAS, or black water, in Lancashire, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. 
The RIO NEGRO and the River melas are also the black rivers. The River 
LYCUS is, as we have seen, the white river, and not the wolf river. The 

* Pott thinks the name of the Nile is only an accidental coincidence with the Sanskrit 
nila^ blue, whence, through the old French necl^ we obtain the verb to anneal. Com. 
pare neelnh^ the Indian name of indigo. 

Y 2 



324 ONOMATOLOGV. 



HVITA, a common Norse river-name, is the white water. Names like 
Blackheath, Blackmore, Blakeley, or Blackdown, are very ambiguous, as 
they may be either from the English blacky or from the Norse blakka^ which 
means white. Compare the English verb to bleach or make white, the 
German bleich, pale, and the French blanc. The bleak is the white fish. Some 
of tliese names, however, may be from the Celtic blaighe, a hill. From the 
Sclavonic bd^ white, we have Belgrade and bolgrad, the "white 
castles," and scores of names in Eastern Germany, such as Biela, Bielawa, 
Beelow, Bilau, and Biilow. The Turkish Ak-kerman is the white castJe. 
From the Wendish zamy, black, we have Samow, Same, and many other 
names; from seleny, green, come Zielonka and Zelenetz; and so on through 
the whole range of the spectrum. 

The names of mountains are naturally derived in many cases from their 
prevailing hue. Thus we have the nilgherries, or the "blue hills" ot 
India, the blue ridge of Virginia, and the blue mountains of New 
South Wales and Jamaica. From the Gadhelic ^onn, blue, we have 
BENGORM in Mayo, and the cairngorm group in the Highlands. Roger 
"Williams tells us that the name Massachusetts is an Indian word, mean- 
ing the blue hills. The hills of VERMONT are clothed to the summit with 
green forests, while the sierra morena of Spain is the "sombre range" 
(Latin inorus)^ and the sierra vermeja is the "red range." From the 
Welsh cochf red, we have CRIB GOCH, the name of the striking peak which 
overhangs the pass of Llanberis,^ while monte rossi, one of the peaks ol 
Etna, and monte rosso, an outlier of the Bemina, are so called from their 
characteristic russet or rosy hue. A very large number of the loftiest 
mountains in the world derive their names from their white coverings of 
snow. From the Sanskrit hitfia, snow (cf. the Latin hieniSy winter, and the 
Greek X'^^y snow), and dlajay an abode (cognate with the verbs to lie^ and 
lay^ and the common English suffix ley\ we have the name of the majestic 
niMALAjA, the perpetual "abode of snow.** himaprastha is the snowy 
head, himawat is the snow-covered, and the names of the haemus and 
the imaus are from the same root, dwajalagiri is the " white moun- 
tain," and cv^TAGHARA, the second highest peak of Dwajalagiri, is the 
white castle. The akhtag in Bokhara are the white mountains, and from 
the Hebrew laban, white, we deduce the name of LEBANON. The hoary 
head of djebel esh sheikh,' the chief summit of the Lebanon, is covered 
with snow even during a Syrian summer. We are told by Pliny that Grau* 
casus, the old Scythian word from which we derive the name of the CAU- 
CASUS, means nive candldus. This is evidently cognate with the Sanskrit 

* Cf. the Latin coccinus. The cock is the " red*' bird. 

° This Arabic word seems to have been adopted from the Persian shak^ a king. The 
name of Xerxes (Khshayoarsha) is the ' ' venerable king ;" that of Artaxerxes is the ' ' great 
venerable king. The English ramifications of this root are curious to trace. We received 
tlie game oi chess from the Persians through the Arabs. The name of the game is a cor- 
ruption of shah or sheikh. We cry check (king), to give notice that the king is attacked : 
check mate means "the king is dead." The verb maiay ** he is dead," we have in the name 
of the Spanish matador, who kills the bull. The word checkered describes the appearance 
of the board on which the game is played. In the Court of Exchequer the public accounts 
were kept by means of tallies placed on the squares of a chequer«;d cloth. Hence thc 
I phrase to check an account, and the other uses of the verb to check. 



ADJECTIVAL t:OMPONENTS. 325 



(»rdva-Aasas. The former part of the name seems to be related to the Greek 
Kp6os, and the latter to the Latin castus. The Mustagh are the ice 
mountains. The name of the Apennines has been explained by a reference 
to the Vf^ii^y-pen-ghwirty the white head. OLYMPUS derives its name from 
its glittering summit (A4^ira»), snow-clad till the month of May. The 
BIELOUKA, the giant of the Altai, is the white mountain ; and a range in 
China is called siu^-LiNG, or the snow mountains. More obvious are the 
etymologies of Mont Blanc, the Sierra Nevada in Spain, the Nevado in 
Mexico, Ben Nevis in Scotland, Snowdon in Wales, Sneehattanin Norway, 
Sneeuwbergen in the Cape Colony, two Snafells in Iceland, Sneefell in the 
Isle of Man, Schneekoppe, the highest peak of the Riesen Gebirge, Snee- 
beig; Sneekopf, and the Eisthaler Spitze, in the Carpathians, and the Weiss- 
horn, Weissmies, Dent Blanche, and many other peaks in Switzerland. The 
names of the Swiss mountains are often admirably picturesque and descrip- 
tive. How well do the words Dent, Horn, and Aiguille describe the rocky 
teeth, spires, and pinnacles of rock which shoot up into the clouds. How 
appropriate, too, are the names of the schreckhorn, or " Peak of Terror ;" 
of the wetterhorn, the " Peak of Storms," which gather round his head 
and reverberate from his fearful precipices ; of the eigher, who uprears his 
* * giant " head ; the monch, with his smooth-shaven crown ; the jungfrau, 
or ** Maiden," clad in a low descending vesture of spotless white ; the glit- 
tering silberhorn ; the soft disintegrating rock of the ill-conditione(( 
FAULHORN ; and the dent du Midi, the " Peak of Noon," over whose riven 
summits the midday sun streams down the long Rhone valley to the lake. 
PILATUS, the outlier of the Bernese chain, takes his name from the '*cap" 
of cloud which he wears during western winds. On the other hand, the 
matterhorn, the most marvellous obelisk of rock which the world con- 
tains, takes its name, not from its cloud-piercing peak, but from the scanty 
patches of green meadow which hang around its base ; and which also give 
their name to zermatt — the village "on the meadow." 

The root alp^ or alb, is widely diffused throughout the Aryan languages. 
Alt high, is common in Shropshire names, as Ercal, Shifihal, and Peck- 
nail. The Gaelic and Welsh word, alp^ means a height or hill, and is no 
doubt connected with the root of albus. Hence we obtain the name of 
the elvesy who are the "white beings." In Switzerland the ALPS are now 
not the snowy summits, but the green pasturages between the forests and 
the snow line. Albania, as seen from Corfu, appears as a long snowy 
range. We may refer the name ALBION to the same root ; it may have 
been bestowed on the land lying behind the white cliffs visible from the 
coast of Gaul. ALBANY (Duke of Albany), the old name of Scotland, 
means probably the hilly land. 

The name of the Pyrenees is probably from the Basque word fyrgx, 
liigh ; that of the URAL is from a Tatarian word meaning a belt or girdle. 
The name of the Carpathians comes, we have seen, from the Sclavonic 
chrbatj a mountain range, ox gora, a mountain, which is related to the Greek 
6pot, HOR means the mountain ; PISGAH, the height ; sign, the upraised ; 
HERMON, the lofty peak ; gibeah, the hill ; and SAMOS, the lofty. 



LIST OF SOME OF THE 
CHIEF SUBSTANTIVAL COMPONENTS OF 

LOCAL NAMES. 



I. NAMES OF MOUNTAINS AND HILLS. 

pen; Welsh; ) ^ head, hence a mountain. E,g, Pennigant, Ben 

CENN ; GadheUc ; \ j^ | Kenmore, Kent, CantaL p 147. 

BEN ; Gadhehc ; J * 1 -f/ 

COP ; Saxon ; a head. E.g. Malcop. 

MONADH ; Gaelic ; ) a bald head« E.g. Monadh liadh^ Inverness ; 
MYNYDD ; Welsh ; ( Mynydd-Mawr, Carnarvonshire. 

J MULL ; Scotland ; Gaelic viaol ; a headland. E,g, Mull of Cantyre. 

I MOEL ; Wales ; a round hill. E.g. Moel Siabod. 
DODD ; Cumbria ; a mountain with a round summit. E.g. Dodd Fell. 
ARD ; Celtic ; a height. E.g. Ardrossan. p. 150. 

tor; .Celtic ; a tower-like rock. E.g. Mam Tor. pp. 55, 150. 

PEAK ; England ; \ 

PIKE ; England ; I allied to the words beak, spike, spit. Spithead is 
PIC ; Pyrenees ; I at the end of a long spit of sand. E.g. Peak of 
BEC ; Piedmont ; I Derbyshire, Pike o* Stickle, Pic du Midi, Beca di 
riz ; Tjn-ol ; j Nona, Piz Mortiratsch, Oertler Spitz, Spitzber- 

SPITZ ; Germany ; j gen, Puy de Cantal. 
PUY ; Auveme ; ' 

GEBEL ; Arabic ; a mountain. E.g. Gibraltar, Gebel Mousa. p. 66. 

BARROW ; ) Anglo-Saxon beorh^ a hilL Liable to be confused with 
BOROUGH ; > names from burh^ an earthwork. E.g. Ingleborough, 
BERG; ) Brownberg Hill, Queensberry, Erzberg. pp. 81, 172. 

GORA ; Sclavonic ; a mountain. E.g. Gorlitz, Carpathians. p. 55. 

CARRICK ; Ireland ; \ 

CRAIG ; Wales ; I Gadhelic, carraig; Cymric, craigy a rock or crag. 
CRICK ; England ; | E.g. Craigruigii, Carrickfergus, Cricklade. p. 15a 
CRAU ; Savoy ; J 



SUBSTANTIVAL COMPONENTS. 327 



CHLUM ; Sclavonic ; an isolated hill. There are forty-seven places in 
Bohemia alone which go by this name or by its diminutive Chlumetz. 

DAGH or TAGH ; Turkish ; a mountain. E,g, Altai, Agridagh, Belurtagh 
(the cloud mountains), Mustagh (the ice mountains). 

SHAN ; Chinese ; a mountain. E,g, Quinsan. 

TELL ; Arabic ; a heap, a small hill. 

KOM ; Arabic ; a high mound. 

LOW • England • i Anglo-Saxon hlaw, a mound, a rising ground. 

law;' Scottish border:) ^•^- Hounslow, Ludlow, Marlow, Moodlaw. 

' ( p. 141. 

HOW • Cumbria • i Norse, haugr, a mound. Old High German houc, 

haugh; Northumbria; ^^ ^l{j^ ^^^ German ^^i^^/ is a diminutive. 
' ' ( E.g, Fox How, Silver How. p. 125. 

hill ; Anglo-Sax. hyl^ Norse holl, 

KNOTT ; a small round hill. E,g. Ling Knott, Amside Knott. 

sliabh or slievh ; Erse ; K „iountain. E.g. Slievh Beg. p. 165. 

SLtiivL/ , jyxanx ; \ 

J FELL ; '^orstfjeld; a hill-side. E.g. Goatfell in Arran. p. 106. 

{ PELS ; German ; a rock. E.g. Drachenfels. 

DUN ; Celto-Saxon ; a hill fort. E.g. London, Dunstable. p. 148. 

BRYN ; Welsh ; a brow, hence a ridge. E.g, Brandon. p. 146. 

DRUM ; Ireland ; Erse druim, a back or ridge. E.g. Dromore, Dundrum. 
CEFN ; Cymric ; a back, hence a ridge. E.g, Les Cevennes. p. 146. 

• ( E'^gl^'*^ J ^ hss^ or ridge. Anglo-Saxon hrycg; German riicken^ 
oT^r-l. * \ * back; cf. the English rick-yzxA. E.g. Reigate, Rugeley, 
rigge ; 1^ Rudge. 

SIERRA ; Arabic. Not, as is usually supposed, from the Latin serra, a 

saw, but from the Arabic sehrah^ an uncultivated tract. E.g. Sierra 

Nevada. 
CORDILLERA ; Spanish ; a chain. 

horn ; German ; a peak. E.g. Matterhom, Schreckhom, Wetterhom. 
rog ; Sclavonic ; a horn. 
DENT ; French ; a tooth. E.g. Dent du Midi. 
BLUFF : American. A bluff, as distinguished from a hill, is the escarpment 

formed by a river running through a table-land. 
MONT ; France ; ) a mountain. Latin mons. E.g. Mont Blanc, Mont- 
MONTE; Italy; { martre, Monte Rosa. 

KNOCK ; Gadhelic ; a hill. E.g. Knocknows, Knockduff. p. 203. 

ALT ; Welsh ; a steep place. E.g, Builth, Altcar. 
BALM ; Celtic ; an overhanging wall of rock ; a cave : not uncommon in 

Switzerland and France. E.g. Col de Balm. 
SCAR ; Norse ; a cliff. E.g. Scarborough. p. 108. 

gourna ; Arabic ; a mountain promontory. 

NESS; Norse; a nose or headland. E.g. Wrabness, Sheemess. p. 108. 
RAS ; Arabic ; a cape. p. 66. 

ROSS ; Celtic ; a promontory. E.g. Rossberg, Kinross, Roseneath, Mctl- 

rose, Ross. 
BRE ; Celtic ; a promontory. E.g. Bredon, 



328 ONOMATOLOGY. 



II. PLAINS. 

GWENT ; Celtic ; a plain. E.g. Winchester. p. 154. 

CLON ; Ireland ; Erse cluain, a plain surrounded by bog or water. E.g. 

Clonmel, Cloyne. It occurs four times in Shropshire. E.g, Clunbury. 

PLON ; Idi^S^c'; i " P^- ^e- ^^^" See. m HolsteJn. 
LAN ; Celtic. ) „ .^. ^ ,-^ 

LAND ; English ; {* P^^"^' P- '53- 

DOL ; Celtic ; a plain. E,g, Toulouse, Dolberry. p. 106. 

BLAIR ; Gadhelic ; a plain clear of wood. E.g. Blair Atholl. 
SHARON ; Hebrew ; a plain. 

TIR ; Welsh ; land. E.g, Cantire. p. 137. 

BELED ; Arabic ; a district. 

GAU ; Teutonic ; a district. Cf. the Greek yu/o. E.g. Spengay in Cam* 
bridgeshire, Wormegay in Norfolk. p. 89. 

MAN; Celtic; a district. E.g. Maine, Manchester. p. 153. 

BRO ; Celtic ; a district E.g. Pembroke. 
KUND ; India ; a province. E.g. Bundelkund. 
MAT ; Swiss ; ^ 

MAES ; Welsh ; [a field. E.g. Andermat, Masham, Maynoolh, Mar- 
MAGH ; Erse ; j magen. pp. IS5> ^5° 

MAG ; Gaulish ; j 

ING ; Anglo-Saxon ; a meadow. E.g. Ingham. p. 84. 

SAVANNAH ; Spanish ; a meadow. 

AUCH ;^ simfjid ; I ^"^ ^'^^^^ ^ ^^^^- ^•"^- ^^^g'^* Auchinleek. 

AC ; France ; sometimes a corruption of agh ; sometimes of the Celtic ach 
or axe^ water ; sometimes of the Teutonic aha or ahi ; more often 
the Celtic derivative particle. * pp. 263, 334. 



III. VALLEYS. 

NANT ; Cymric ; a valley. E.g. Nant-frangon. p. 153, 

GLYN ; Wales ; J ^ narrow valley. E,g. Glynneath, Glencoe. 

GLEN; Gaelic; { 

STRATH ; Gaelic ; a broad valley. E.g. Strathclyde, Stratheme. 

THAL ; German ; j ^ valley. E.g. Lonsdale, Arundel, Frankenthal. 

DALE ; Northumbrian ; I Names in dol are very common in Bohemia and 
DELL ; Southumbnan; { Moravia. pp. 106, 125. 

dol; Sclavonic; / 

VYEO ; Malta ; ( Arabic, wadi^ a ravine, valley, or river. E.g, Guadal- 
GUAD ; Spain ; j quiver. pp. 67, 70. 

COMBft ; Celto-Saxon ; ) a bowl-shaped valley. E.g. Wycombe, Cwm 
CWM; Welsh; \ Bechan. p. 151. 

KOTL ; Sclavonic ; a kettle or combe. 



SUBSTANTIVAL COMPONENTS. 329 



COP ; Celtic ; a hollow or cup. E.g. Warcop. 

DEN ; Celto-Saxon ; a deep-wooded valley. E.g, Tenterden. pp.245, '5'* 

GILL ; Lake District ; a ravine. E,g, Aygill. 

IV. FORESTS. 

Hol^';S^skxon; l/^^P^^' ^.^. Bagshot, Sparsholt. pp. 125,244 
HURST ; England ; ) thick wood. Anglo-Saxon hyrst. E.g. Lyndhurst, 
HORST ; Germany ; ( Penshurst. p. 244. 

^^4 Sffl'; ! » ^°''«'- ^S- H»nhart, Seal Chart. p. 244. 

BOR ; Sclavonic ; a forest. E.g. Bohrau. 
DROWO ; Sclavonic ; a wood. E.g. Drewitz. 
GOLA ; Sclavonic ; a wood. E.g. GoUwitz. 

Z^^^ V^"i^^^^ ' \ woodland ; related to holi. Anglo-Saxon itmdu, 

WAU)'. Ge™'- I ^"^ '^^^'* ^^^ "^Sh German, witu. Eg. 

.J^l ' p T °i^ ' / Waltham, Walden, The Cotswolds, Wootton, 

wrifNiandsJ Schwa^wald. Emswoude p. W- 

COED ; Welsh ; a wood. jS'.^.Bettwsy Coed,Cotswold Hills, Catlow. p. 246. 

LEY ; England; | an open place in a wood. Anglo-Saxon leak. E.g. 

LOO ; Belgium ; \ Leighton,Hadleigh; Waterloo, Venloo. pp. 181,245. 

DEN ; Celto-Saxon ; a deep wooded valley. Den and dun are from the 
same root, but the meanings are convei-se, like those of dike and 
ditck. p. 245. 

MONEY ; Ireland ; Erse mutne, a brake or shaw. E.g. Moneyrea, Moneymore. 

ACRE ; a field. Latin ager. Low Latin aera. E.g. Longacre. 

SHAW ; England ; a shady place, a wood. Anglo-Saxon sceaga ; Norse 
skogr. E.g. BsigshsLW. LiabJe to be confused with ^<i2&. pp. 125,244. 

HAW ; German gekaw, a place where the trees have been kiwn. Nearly 
the same as field. Liable to be confused with names from klaw, a hill. 

FIELD ; Anglo-Saxon /e/d, a forest clearing, where the trees have been 
felled. Eg. Shefiield, Enfield. pp. io6, 245. 

ROYD ; Teutonic ; land that has been ridded of trees. Low Latin terra 
rodata. E.g. Huntroyd, Holroyd, Ormeroyd. Names in rod^ rode, 
or rotk are common in Hesse ; liable to be confused with ritke, run- 
ning water, and rkyd, a ford. 

LUND ; Norse ; a sacred grove. E.g. Lundgarth. p. 224. 

NEMET ; Celtic ; a sacred grove. Eg. Nismes, Nymet Rowland, p. 224. 

V. ISLANDS. 

VNYS ; Welsh ; \ an island. E.g. Inchiquin and Inchkeith in Scot- 

INNIS ; Gadhelic ; I land ; Enniskillen, Ennismore, Ennis, and at least 

ENNIS ; Irish ; [ 100 names in Ireland, as well, perhaps, as Erin 

jNCH J Scotch \ ) and Albion. p. 239. 



330 ONOMATOLOGY. 



EY ; J Teutonic ; an island. From the Anglo-Saxon «j, Norse oe, £yot 
A ; f is the diminutive of <fj/, ait the contraction of eyot^ and eyre^ ayre, 
oe; l and aire are the plural forms. E.g, Saltaire, Stonaire, Eye, 
AY ; ) Sheppey, Rona, Faroe, Colonsay. pp. io8, 114, 124, 236. 

HOLM ; Norse ; an island in a river. E.g. Flatholm. pp. 108, 125. 

JEZIRAH ; Arabic ; an island. E.g, Algiers, Algeziras. p. 68 

VI. RIVERS AND WATERS. 

A ; Anglo-Saxon ea ; Norse a ; Old High German aha ; Gothic ahva. 
water. Cognate with Latin flr^/za. iF.^. Greta, Werra. p* i^S* 

AVON ; Celtic ; a river. p. 132. 

DWR ; Cymric ; water. p. 133. 

ESK ; Celtic ; water. p. 135. 

WY ; Cymric ; water. p. 137. 

BURN ; England ; \ 

BRUNNEN; Germany; > a stream. E.g. Blackburn, Tyburn, Hachbom. 
BORN ; Hesse ; ) 

BROOK ; Anglo- Saxon^re^ff, a rushing stream. 

BECK; Northumbria ;\ a small stream. E.g. Welbeck, Holbeck, Caude- 
BACH ; Germany ; I bee. There are fifty names in batch in Shrop- 
BATCH ; Mercia ; j shire, as Comberbatch, Coldbatch, and Snail- 
BEC; Normandy; j batch (2.^. Schnell-bach). pp. 106, 124. 

REKA ; Sclavonic ; river. E.g. River Regan. 
WODA ; Sclavonic ; water. E.g. River Oder. 
GOL ; Mongolian ; a river. E.g. Khara-gol, the black river ; Shara-gol, the 

yellow river. 
RUN ; Anglo-American ; a brook. E.g. Bull's Run. 
CREEK ; Anglo-American ; a small river. E.g. Salt Creek. 
FORK ; Anglo-American ; a large affluent. E.g. North Fork. 
PARA ; Brazilian ; a river, E.g. Parahiba, Paraguay, Parana, Paranybuna. 
KlANG ; Chinese ; a river. E.g. Chinkiang. 
RITHE ; Anglo-Saxon ; running-water. E.g. Meldrith, Shepreth. 

FORCE ; Northumbria ; J ^ waterfall, -fi".^. Airey Force, Skogar Foss. p. 106. 
FOSS ; Iceland \ \ 

FLEul • NofmandV • \ Anglo-Saxon /«;/, a flowing stream. E.g. North- 

GANGA ; India ; a river. In Ceylon most of the river-names terminate in 

ganga. The Ganges is " the river." 
BIRKET ; Arabic ; a lake. 

LINN ; Celtic ; a deep pool. E.g. Lincoln, Linlithgow, Dublin, Lynn. p. 144. 
VAT ; Hebrides ; a small lake. Norse valn^ water. E.g. OUevat. p. 1 14. 
TARN ; Lake District ; a small mountain lake, lying like a tear on the face 

of the hill. Norse /w>w, a tear. -ff.^. Blentam. 

KELL ; England ; ) ^ pi^ce whence water flows forth. Cf. the Wel- 
WELL ; England ; > j^nd, which is a tidal stream. 
QUELLE ; Germany ; J 



SUBSTANTIVAL COMPONENTS. 331 



AIN ; Arabic ; a fountain. E.g. Engedi, the fountain of the kid ; Eniogel, 
the fountain of the foot. pp. 67, 73. 

HAM MAN ; Turkish ; hot springs. 

BEER ; Hebrew ; ) ^ ^ ^ Beersheba, Beyrout. p. 67. 

BIR; Arabip; J ^ * ^ ^ ' 

BAHR ; Arabic ; a canaL 

BALA ; Welsh ; effluence of a river from a lake. 

ABER ; Cymric ; ) a confluence of two rivers, or of a river and the sea. 

INVER; Ga.dhelic ; } £'.^. Abergavenny, Inverness. p. 163. 

CONDATE ; Old Celtic ; a confluence of two rivers. £.g. Conde, Ghent. 

BUN ; Erse ; the mouth of a river. E.g. Bundoran. 

WICK ; Norse ; a bay. E.g. Sandwich. p. 107. 

POOL ; ) Welsh pwly an inlet or pool. E.g. Pill in Somerset, Poole in 

PILL ; { Dorset, Bradpole, PwJhelli, Liverpool. 

FORD ; England ; ( Norse fiord, an arm of the sea. E.g, Orford, Haver- 

FJORI) ; Iceland ; \ ford, Faxa Fjord. p. 106. 

OVER; Anglo-Saxon, ofer; German, ufer; a shore. E.g. Hanover, 

Overyssel, Over near Cambridge, Wendover. Andover is not from 

the root o/eTf but waei'e. 
SHORE ; e.g. Shoreham. 
OR ; Anglo-Saxon ora, the shore of a river or sea. E.g. Bognor, Cumnor, 

Oare near Hastings, Elsinore. Windsor was anciently called Win- 

dlesora, the winding shore. Ore in Iceland denotes a narrow strip 

of land between two waters. 
TRA ; Erse ; a strand. E.g. Tralee, Ballintra. 

MERE ; ) Anglo-Saxon ; a lake, a marsh. ^.^. Foulmire, Mersey, Morton, 
MOOR ; { Blackmore. 

MORFA ; Welsh ; a marsh. E.g. Penmorpha. 
MOSS ; Anglian ; a bog. E.g. Chatmoss. 
JASOR ; Sclavonic ; a marsh. 

RUIMNE ; Celtic ; a marsh. Eg. Romney. pp. 142, 237, 

RHOS ; Celtic ; a moor. E.g. Rossall, Rusholme. p. 150. 

VII. ROADS, BRIDGES, FORDS. 

GATE ; England ; \ 

GUT ; Kent ; I a passage, a road or street. E.g. Reigate, Gatton, 

GHAT ; India ; 1 Ramsgate, Calcutta. pp. 168, 225. 

GHAUT ; India ; ) 

ATH ; Erse ; a ford. E.g. Athlone. 

RHYD; Welsh; a ford. p. 170. 

WATH ; Northumbria ; { a ford. Related to the verb to wade. 

WASH ; Southumbria ; ) 

FORD ; England ; ) 

FURHT ; Germany ; > E.g. Oxford, Frankfurt, Lemforde. pp. 106, 169. 

FORDE ; Hanover ; ) 

PONT ; Welsh and French ; abridge. Eg. Pontaberglaslyn,Pontoise. p. 170. 

MOST ; Sclavonic ; a bridge. E.g. Babimost, Motzen, Maust. 



332 ONOMATOLOGY. 



BRb^CKE*; g"^^ J?^' ^^^^n, Bruges, Innspriick, Wey- 

BRIVA ; Old Celtic; ) ^^^^^' Bnangon. p. 254. 

BAB ; Arabic ; a gate. £^. Babelmandeb. 

STREET ; Latin and Saxon ; a road. £.g, Stretton, Stratford. p. 167. 
SARN ; Welsh ; a road. £.^. Sam Helen. 



VIII. HABITATIONS AND INCLOSURES. 

HEIM ; Germany ; \ 

HAM ; England ; r a home. £^. Hocheim, Buckingham, Rysum, Ham- 

HEN ; Picardy ; t burg. pp. 82, 92, loi. 

UM ; Friesland ; ) 

TON ; Anglo-Saxon tun, an inclosure. Hence a village. p. 79. 

SwiCK ; Anglo-Saxon vtc, an abode. Related to the Latin vicus* p. 107. 
WAS ; Sclavonic ; a village. £^, Weska, Wasowetz. 
WIKI ; Sclavonic ; a market. £.g. Fourteen places called Wick. 
WEILER ; Germany ; \ 

viL-^E^^ Norn^^v • 1 ^" abode, a house. £^. Berweiler, Hardivillicrs, 
itTxr% . ' i I Haconville, Chiswill. p. 105. 

^AT^^^ ' ( Gadhelic dai/e, an abode. Equivalent to the Cymric /r^ and 
«AT t'a . ( the Norse dy, £,g, Ballymena, Balbriggan. p. 184. 

ABAD ; India ; an abode. £.g. Allahabad. 

BV; England; ) Norse byr, an abode. £.g, Derby, Elboeuf, 

BCEUF ; Normandy ; \ Amelsbiiren. pp. 104, 124. 

bUren; Germany; ) rr -r» -r 

BOLD* '(^'^S^^i^'l Anglo-Saxon and Norse botl^ a house, from 
pffTTPT . V;#.rmftnv • / h^iati, to build. Rare in Anglo-Saxon names. 
SlS! Friesl^d ;^ ' I ^'^^ Newbottle, WolfenbUttel, BothwelL 
BUS ; Sclavonic ; a dwelling. £.g. Trebus, Lebbus, Putbus. 
buda ; Sclavonic ; a hut. £.g, Buda, Budin, Budan, Budkowitz. 

BOD * ) 

' .' I Cymric ; a house. £g, Bodmin, Bod>vrog, Boscawen. p. 153. 

)' STAN ; Persian ; a place. £.g, Kurdistan, Hindostan, Beloochistan. 
STEAD ; England ; ) Anglo-Saxon stede, a place. £.g. Hampstead, 
STADT; Germany; \ Darmstadt. 

STOKE ; ) Anglo-Saxon stoc, a stockaded place. E,g, Bristol, Chepstow, 
STOW ; 5 Tavistock, Stockholm. p. 80. 

SET ; from Anglo-Saxon seta, a settlement. £.g, Dorset. p. 47. 

seTER ; Norse ; ) a seat or dwelling. £.g, Ellanseter, Seatollar, 
ster; Norse; J Ulster. pp. 113, 121. 

SSEDLO ; Sclavonic ; a possession. £.g. Sedlitz. 
TRE ; Cymric ; a village. E.g. Tredegar, Treves. p. 152, 



\ 
\ 



SUBSTANTIVAL COMPONENTS. 333 



THORPE; J ^ 

THROP ; > England ; i Norse thorps German dorf^ a village. E,g. 
TROP ; ) V Altliorp, Ibthrop, Rorup, Wanderup, Dussel- 

HUP ; Holstein ; l dorf. pp. 105, 124. 

DORF; Germany; / 

HOUSE ; England ; \ a house. E.g. the portage at the falls of the 
HAUS; I Cermanv • Rhine Is Schaffhausen, ** at the ship-houses." 

HAUSEN ; \ ( '^^^ dative plural hausen is the commonest 

HUUS ; Norway ; ; suffix in German names. 

TY; Welsh; a house. E.g, Tynycomel. p. 153. 

JAZA ; Sclavonic ; a house. E.g. jaschen, Jaschwitz. 
DOM ; Sclavonic ; a house. 

EETH ; Hebrew ; a house. E.g. Bethany (house of dates), Bethlehem 
(house of bread), Betheaida (house of fish), Bethel (house of God), 
Bethhoron (house of caves), Bethphage (house of figs). 
COTE ; Anglo-Saxon ; a mud cottage. Coton is the plural of cote. E.g. 

Fosscot, Coton Hill in Shropshire. 
SELL ; Anglo-Saxon ; a cottage, a little superior to cote. 
HALL ; Anglo-Saxon ; J a stone house. E.g. Coggeshall, Mildenhall, 
SALL ; Anglo-Saxon ; j Kensal, Walsall. 

clere ; Anglo-Norman ; a royal or episcopal residence on a lofty hill. 
E.g. Highclere, Burghclere, Kingsclere. p. 126. 

SCALE; Norse; a shepherd's hut. Cf. the Scotch, a shcaUng. E.g. 
Portinscale, Scalloway. p. 200. 

FOLD ; Anglo-Saxon ; an inclosure made oi felled Uqqs. pp. 80, 106. 

TOFT ; Danelagh ; ) Norse ; an inclosure ; related to turf. E.g. Lowestoft, 
tot; Normandy; \ Yvetot, Totness. pp. 105, 124. 

THWAITE ; Norse ; a forest clearing. E.g. Finsthwaite. p. 105. 

LEBEN ; Germany ; a place to live in. This suffix is very prevalent north 

of the Hartz. 
WORTH ; Anglo-Saxon and German ; an inclosure. E.g. Tamworlh, 
Konigsworth. p. 80. 

HAGEN ; Germany 

HAY 
HAIGH 

GADIR ; Phoenician ; an inclosure. E.g, Cadiz. p. 63. 

CARTHA ; Phoenician ; an inclosed place, a city. E.g. Carthage. p. 62. 
GARTH ; Norse ; j an inclosed place. E.g. Fishguard, Applegarth. 

yard; Anglo-Saxon; j pp. 80, 123. 

gorod; Russian ; ) , , „ , . ) ^^¥^\ ^? J^''''; ^ ™o?"taj?» J^.t as burg 
GROD • Polish • P ^^^ * I *' related to berg. E.^. Gratz m Styna, 
GRATZ ; Sclavonic a town ; Konigs^-^tz in Bohemia, Novgorod (new 

hrad; Bohemian; a castle; ^^2' ^^^^7f^^ <^^*'^ ^^1^>» Stargard 
«„. V / (Aldboi-ough). p. 80. 



jvonigswonn. p. 50. 

EN ; Germany ; 1 ^ place surrounded by a hedge ; a park. E.g. 
} \ England ; I Roundhay, Hagendom, La Haye Sainte. p. 81. 



BARROW 



9 



BURG; I fj.yjj^ j|jg Anglo-Saxon^//;-^, buruh^ and byrigy an earthwork, 

«?T«S^^" ' ) hence a fortified town. Related to the Celtic briga and tlic 

Sclavonic ^c^/W. pp. 81, 172. 



BURY ; 
BURGH ; 
BROUr.H 



334 ONOMATOLOGY. 



^™i« Vr • * I From f ^e Latin casira. E.g. Winchester, Leicester, 
CESTER; Mercian; \ r>oncaster n 177 

CASTER ; Anglian ;• 1 ^^^^-^ster. p. 173. 

CAER; Welsh; j Either related to the preceding, or to the Erse 

CAR ; Welsh ; > cathair^ a fortress. E.g. Caermarthen, Carlisle. 

KER ; Brezonec ; ) p. 174. 

(Anglo-Saxon stan^ a stone. Old German stain. 
The STEENS in Holland are castles built of stone 
aniii-* , vjciiiittuj y \ or brick (Dutch gebakken steen). Many of the 
s TEEN ; Netherlands ; 1 German steins are stone castles. E.g, Robc- 

\ stone, EhrenbreiLstein, Brunsteen. 
DON ; Cel to- Saxon ; a bill fort. E.g. London, Dunmow. p. 148. 

LIS ; Gadhelic ; an earthen fort ; equivalent to bury. E.g. Lismore, 

Listowel, and 300 names in Ireland. 
RATH ; Erse ; an earthen fort, or mound. E.g, Rathboyne, Rathlih. 
kote ; India ; a fort. E.g. Sealkote. 
URWG ; Southern India ; a fort. E.g. Nuldurg. 
KASR ; Arabic ; a fort. E.g. Kosseir. 

kalat ; Arabic; a castle. E.g. Calatagirone, Alcala. pp. 66, 71. 

peel ; Celtic ; a stronghold. 

civiTA ; Italy ; | Latin, cwitas, E.g Civita Vecchia, Ciudad Rodrigo. 

CIUDAD; Spam; S 

MEDINA ; Arabic ; a chief city. E.g. Medina Sidonia. p. 70. 

PATAM ; India ; a city. E.g. Patra, Seringapatam. 

PORE; India; a city; Sanskrit /«r<z, related to iruAt?. E.g. Singa- 

poor. 
POLIS ; Gieek ; a city. E.g. Constantinople, Grenoble, Naples. p.- 263. 
BEN I ; Arabic ; sons of. Common prefix to names of Arab villages. E.g. 

Benihassan. P- 7^' 

AC ; Celtic ; derivative particle. It is sometimes the patronymic suffix, 
sometimes the possessive suffix, and sometimes gives a substantive 
the power of an adjective. In some parts of France this suffix is 
almost universal. E.g. Langeac. p. 328. 

MENZIL ; Arabic; a station. ' p. 66; 

RAHL ; Arabic ; a village, or house. pp. 66, 67. 

KAFR ; Arabic ; a village. 

BENDER ; Arabic ; a market town. 

COLN ; Latin, colonia. E,g. Lincoln, Cologne. : p. 175. 

HIPPO ; Phoenician ; a walled town. p. 63. 

HAZOR ; Semitic ; an inclosure for cattle in the desert. A common prefix 
in the names of the settlements of the fixed Arabs. E.g. Hazar- 
Ithman, Hazar-Aman. 

STAPLE ; England ; a market. E,g Dunstable, Etaples. p. 254* 

KAHN ; Arabic ; a market. 

MULLEN ; Gadhelic; a mill. E.g. Mullingar, Mulintra. 

MLYN ; Sclavonic ; a mill. E.g. Mlinek. 

MASARA ; Arabic ; a mill. 



SUBSTANTIVAL COMPONENTS 335 



kVrk • Nortta"'^ ! ^•^- C'^-cl' Stretton, Kirkcudbright, p. «8. 
KIL ; Gadhelic ; a cell ; a church. E.g, Killin. p. 227. 

i.LAN ; Cymric ; an inclosure ; a church. E,g. Llanberis. pp. 153, 227. 

MOUTIERS; France; ) a monastery. E.g, Westminster, Monas- 

MINSTER ; England ; ^^^^^^^ i^^ j^^l^^^^ 

MONASTER ; Ireland, Greece ; ) r 00 

DEIR ; Arabic ; a house ; a monastery. p. 67. 

ghak; Arabic; a grotto. E.g, Trafalgar. P* 7i- 

HITHE ; Anglo-Saxon ; ) a wharf. E.g. Greeuhithe, Erith, Lambeth, 
HAFEN ; Norse ; ( Copenhagen, Kurische Haf. p. 188. 

WERP ; a wharf ; from the Danish hverve^ to turn, a word which appears in 
the name of Cape Wrath. E,g. Antwerp. pp. 207, 269. 

MARSA ; Arabic ; a port. E.g. Marsala. p. 67. 



IX. BOUNDARIES. 

TWISTLE ; Northumbria ; a boundary. E.g. Entwistle, Birchtwistle, Ex. 
twistle. 

gill; Northumbria; Norse ^7, a ravine. E*g. Dungeon Gill. 

STONE ; Anglo-Saxon and Norse stan. E.g. Stanton, Godstone. Staines 
is so called from the Stones bounding the river jurisdiction of the 
Lord Mayor. 

KAMEN ; Sdavonic ; a stone. E.g. Chemnitz. 

HAGAR ; Arabic ; a stone. 

GISR ; Arabic ; a dyke. 

DYKE ; Anglo-Saxon ; a ditch. E.g. Wansdyke. 

HATCH ; England ; a hitch-epX^, Cf. the French hkhe. This is a com- 
mon sufi&x in the neighbourhood of ancient forests. E.g. Westhatch, 
Pilgrims' Hatch. 

CLOUGH ; Erse cloch, a stone. E.g. Cloghan, Claughton in Yorkshire. 

MARK; Indo-European; a boundary. E.g. Denmark, Altmark. p. 176. 

DAM ; an embankment E.g. Rotterdam, Amsterdam.^ 

X See FSrstemann, DUdeutschen Orisfiatnen; and Alt deutsches Natnetibuch; Butt- 
maim, DU deutschen Ortsnamen; Bender, Die deutschen Ortsnamtn; Edmunds, 
Names qf Places ; Charnock, Local Etymology; Sullivan, Dictionary ^Derivations; 
G\)asiatu Etymological Geography; Monkhouse, Etymologies of Bedjonlshirt ; Morris, 
Etymology (^ Local Names. 



INDEX I. 



LOCAL NAMES. 



Aar River, 144 
Aayn il Kebira, 67 
Aayn Taiba, 67 
Aboeville, 23^ 
Abbots Langley, 233 
Abdelali, 66 
Aber Beniguet, 233 
.Aberdare, 163 
Abergavenny, 163, 331 
Abergele, 163 
Abervrack, 163 
Aberystwith, 163 
Abono River, 133 
Abridge, 318 
Abury, 318 
Acqui, 319 
Acre, 320 
Acton, 321 
Acton Turville, 127 
Adana, 62 
Adelaide, 215 
Adige River, 262 
Adlestrop, ita 
Adra, 64 
Adria, 242, 323 
Adrianople, 2x5 
Adstock, 318 
Adyn Tor, 150 
Mgadfts Islands, 63 
/Bgean Sea, 53 
Acs or Aese River, 136 
AfF River, 132 
Africa, 52 
Aguihas, Cape, 23 
Agylla, 61 
Anr River, 144 
Ainas, 75 
Aire River, 144 
Aislingeni zoo 
Ajthsthing, 199 
Aithsvoe, 114 
Aix la Chapelle, 234, 319 



AJaccio, 67 
Aialon, 320 
Akeman Street, 167 
Akhtag Mountains, 324 
Akka, 257, 320 
Akkerman, 334 
Alalein Glacier, 74 
Alan River, 143 
Albania, 55, 385 
Albany, 21, 325 
Albemarle Sound, ao 
Albigna, 75 
Albion, 55, 32s, 329 
Alborge, 71 
Albuera, 70 
Albufeira, 71 
Albury, 3x8 
Alcacova, 71 
Alcala, 44, 70, 71, 334 
Alcana, 71 
Alcantara, 71 
Alcara, 66 
Alcarria, 71 
Alcaza, 71 
Alcester, 143, 318 
Aldea, 71 
Aldemey, 125 
Aldersgate, X84 
Aldersnolt, 244 
Aldershot, 244, 321 
Ald£[ate, 183 
Aldrich, 115 
Aldrup, 105 
Alencthun, 79 
Alessandria, 214 
Alexandretta, 214 
Alexandria, 214 
Alexandre v, 214 
Alfidena, 65 
Algarbe, 51, 71, 318 
Algcziras, 68, 330 
Alghero, 67 



Algiers, 68, 330 
Algoa Bay, 23, 70 
Alnambra, 70, 71 
Alicant, 70 
Alife, 65 
Allan River, 143 
Alleghany, X3 
Allen River, X43 
Allerton, 321 
All wen River, 143 
Almaden, 71 
Almagel, 73 
Almanza, 70, 71 
Almarez, ^o 
Almaro River, 65 
Almazara, 71 
Almazen, 71 
Almeida, 70, 71 
Almena, 71 
Aln River, 143 
Alnwick, 11 a 
Alps, The, 325 
Alpuxarras, 71 
Alqueria, 71 
Alresford, 109 
Alsace, 47 
Althing, 198 
Althorp, xos, 318, 333 
A tmark, X77, 335 
Altmahl, 266 
Alton, 3x8 
Altona, 79 
Altorf, 318 
Altrans, 35 
Alum Bay, 320 
Alvaschem, 75 
Alvenen, 75 
Alverstoke, 80 
Amathe, 6a 
Amazons River, 33 
Ambleston, zi8 
Ambresbttry, ai2 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



337 



America, 8 
Amexsham, s6o 
Ameselnxn, 6a 
Ampurias, 254 
Amsteg, 3x8 
Amwas, 257 
Anab, 321 
Anatolia, 51 
Ancona, 323 
Andalusia, 48, 51 
Andermat, 155, 318, 328 
Andernach, 264 
Andes, 13, 320 
Anescl, 6a 
Aney River, 132 
Angladegau, 100 
Angle, X18 
Anguilla, 323 
Anna River, 20 
Annam, 318 
Annandale, 106 
Annapolis, 20 
Anne River, 132 
Antakieh, 214 
Antibes, 263 
Antilibainus, 3x8 
Antwerp, 269, 335 
Anxiety Point, 25 
Aosta, 214, 264 
Aoust, 214, 264 
Apennines, 146, 325 
Apollonia, 226 
ApoUonis, 226 
Appleby, 250, 32 x 
Appledore, 237 
Appledurcombe, 151, 250 
Applegarth, 250, 333 
Applethwaite, 250 
Appleton, 79, 32 X 
Aquitania, 39 
Aradus, 5, 60 
Aral, 45 

Arar River, 144 
Ararar River, X44 
Arbela, 62, 257 
Arbengo, 98 
Arbil, aw 
Arbroath, 164 
Arc Riven X44 
Archangel, 233 
Ardagh, X50, 328 
Arden, 151 
Arden Forest, 346 
Ardennes, 151, 245 
Ardetz, 35 
Ardfert, 150 
Ardfinnen, 230 
Ardglas, 150 
Ardingley, 85 
Ardington, 85 
Ardnamurchar, X50 
Ardrossan, X50, 326 



Ards, X50 

Ardwiclc le Street, 167 
Are River, X44 
Argam, 92 

Argentine Republic, 38 
Argenton, X55 
Argos, 56, 257 
Argyle, 44. 318 
Arkansas, 13 
Arkos, 64 
Arlberg, 321 
Aries, 152, 3x8 
Arley, 320 
Armagh, 150 
Armeanagh, X50 
Armenia, 45 
Armorica, 43, 56, 318 
Amesthing, X99 
Arram, 92 
Arran, X50 
Arras, X52, 263, 291 
Arreceife, 71 
Arre River, X44 
Arro River, 144 
Arrow River, 144 
Artillery Ground, X84 
Artois, 48, 152 
Arundel, xo6, 338 
Arve River, X44 
Arveiron River, X44 
Arw River, 144 
Asbeach, 240 
Ascension, 10 
Ascurum, 62 
Asgarbv, 83 
Asgardby, xxi, 222 
Ash River, 135 
Ashbourne, X4X 
Ashby, X04, XXX 
Ashby*de-la-Zouch, 127 
Ashford, X69 
Ashley River, 20 
Ashton, 32X 
Asia, 37, 5x 
Asia Minor, 52 
Asse River, X36 
Asta, 1^9, x6o 
Asteguieta, 159 
Asti, 282 
Astigarraga, 159 
Astobiza, 159 
Aston-Canteloupe, 127 
Astorga, 159 
Astrakhan, 322 
Astulez, Z59 
Astura, z6o 
Asturia, 159 
Atford, 3x8 
Athelney, 93, 98, 238 
Athens, 226 
Athos. 55 
Atrecnt, 963 

z 



Atri, 242 
Attica, 55 
Attlebury, 2zx 
Auch, 9x4, 264 - 
Auckland, 26, 321 
Augia, 214 
Augsburg, 2 74, 264 
Augst, 214, 364 
Aulne River, 143 
Aune River, X32 
Auney River, 132 
Auppegard, X23 
Aurungabad, 2x5 
Ausocurro, 63 
Aust, 3X4, 264 
Austin Friars, z88 
Austria, 3x8 
Autun, Z48, 314, 364 
Auveme, X5x 
Avalon, 350, 331 
Avon River, 133 
Avenbanna River, Z43 
Avemus Lake, 370 
Avia River, 133 
Avon Rivers, 131, 133, xj* 
Avono River, 133 
Avranches, 163 
Axama, 35 
Axe River, 135, X36 
Axelholme, 340 
Axhohne, 340 
Axminster, 333 
Aylesbere, XX9 
Aylesbury, 222 
Aylesford, X69, 222 
Aylstone, 222 
Ayr River, X44 
Aysearth, 223 
Aystrope, xxs 
Aysworth, 333 
Azores, 33X 



Baal, 335, 326 
Baalbec. 63, 225 
Baal Hills, 220 
Bab-el-Mandeb, 322, 333 
Back Brook, XX7 
Bactria, 5X 
Badajoz, 3x4, 364 
Badbury, 197 
Baden, 49, xox, 3x9 
Badshot, 344 
Baenppo, 63 
Baffin's Bay, 15 
Bagdad, 323 

Baeshot, 244, 250, 330^ 339 
Bahia, 23 
Bain River, 143 
Bakewell, 260^ 319 
Balaclava, 322 
Balderby, ^^tg 



338 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



Balderton, 220 


Beachy Head. 967 


Besnngham, 98, xox 


Bftle, 322 


Beacon Hill, 953 


Bethany, 333 


Balearic Isles, 54, 63 


Beaminster, 233 


Bethel, 2, 224, 333 


Baleby, 1x5 


Bear, xx9 


Bethlehem, 2, 333 


BalenutQ, 220 


Beara, x2o 


Bethsaida, 6o» 333 


Balfrain, 74 


Beardon, XX9 


Beth Tapuah, 39X 


Balmagme, 3x6 


Bearon, 1x9 


Bevercoates, 95X 


Beauchamp-Otton, X96 


Beverley, 2sx, 320 


Baltimore, ao 


Beauliiu, X27 


Beverstone, 251 


Bamborough, axx 


Beaumanoir, X26 


Bewley, 267 


Bampton, a6o 


Beaumont, 126 


Beyrout, 33X 


Baiut River, X43 
Banda Oriental, 38 


Bebra, 25X 


Bezinghiun, xox 


Beddgelert, 299 


Bibersbuxg, 25 x 


Bandribosc, X25 


Bedford, 162, X69, azx 


Bibracte, 25 x 


Bane River, X43 


Bedminster, 933 


Bibrax, 95X 


Banias, 926 
Bann River, X43 


Beelow, 324 


Bideford, XX9 


Beer, x2o 


Bidis, 62 


Banningham, 84 
Banon River, 143 


Beer Alston, XX9 


Bjelawa, 324 


Beer Ferrers, 119 


Bielouk*^ 325 


Bantam, 984 


Beersheba, 32X 


Biere, lie de, X25 


Barbadoes, 32X 


Be 


inng's Straits, 94 


Bierlingen, xoi 


Barbary, aji 


2*^1 


a, 9x5, 264 


Bi^yre, 25 x 


Barbican, 184 


Bel 


an, 220 


Billmge, 85 


Barbuda, 321 


Bel 


an Bank, 220 


Billingham, 85 


Barcelona, 64 


Be 


ch, 220 


Billinghurst, 85,245 


Barfleur, 124 


Be 


Kmde, 334, 333 


B lUngley, 85 


Barfreestone, 961 


Be] 


ippo,63 


BiUington, 85 


Barking, 83 
Barlingnem, xoi 


Bel 
Bel 


Icombe-. 75X 
1 Hill, 920 


Billmgsgate, X85, 308 
Billodcby, xxo 


Barmouth, 163, 266 


Bel 


on, 63 


Birbeck, 32x 


Bamby, no 


Bel 


ting, 85 


Bircholt, 321 


Bameyhousc, xi6 


Bel 


Tor, 270 


Birkenhead, X17 


Barnstaple, 254 


Be 


voir, 126 


Birling, xox 


Bamston, 1x7 


Benadadid, 71 


Birlingham, xox 


Bamstrup, 105 


Benarraba, 7X 


Bimwood, X46 


Bamwood. 250 
Barry, 117 


Benavites, 71 
Bencruachan, X47 


Bishopsgate, x68, X83 
Bishopsley, 233 
Bishops Stortford, 933 


Barton, 79 


Benevento, 154 


Basing, S< 
Basingstoke, 80 
Bass' Straits, 95 


Benp^orm, 324 


Bissin^en, xox 


Beniajar, 7x 


Biturgia, x6o 


Beniaux, 71 


Biverbike, 251 


Basta, x6o 


Benicalaf, 71 


Black Forest, 246 


Batavia, 93, 55 


Benjerlaw, X41 


Blackfriars, X89 


Bath, 3x9 


Ben edi, X47 


Blackheath, 264, 324 


Bathurst, ft6 


Ben omond, 147 


Black Sea, 323 


Batle HUl, 905 


Benmore, 147, 3x7 


Blairinroan, 206 


Battersea, 936, 973 


Ben Nevis, 4, I47» S^S 


Blake Chesters, X72 


Battle, 5, 204 
Battlebridge, 205 


Bennikon, 260 
Ben River, X43 


Blakeley, 324 
Blancnez Cape, 393 


Battlebury, 205 


Bentarique, 7X 


Blaskogiheidi, 944 


Battledikes, 206 


Ben Wyvis, 147 


Blauvelt, 2x 


Battlefield, 20^ 


Bere Regis, x2o 


Blauwberg, 2x 


Battleflats, 5, 903 


Berewood, x2o 


Bledloe, 004 


Battlesbury, 905 


Bera;amo, 8x 

Berkeley, vx 

Ber ingas Islands, 125 


Blentam, 330 


BattleWick, 205 


Blisadona, 35 


Baune River, X43 


Bloodgate, 205 


Bavaria, 46, 48 


Berlinghen, xox 


Bloody Brook, X3 


Bavay, 263 


Bermondsey, 936 


Bloody Fold, 903 


Bavent, 241 


Bermudas, 29 


Bloody Meadow, 903 


Bawtry, x$9 


Berne. 49, 320 


Bloody Stripe, 905 


Bay of Mercy, 95 


Berquetot,X23 


Bloom8bur3^ 273 
Blowick, XXO 


Bayswater, 187 


Be 


rWtCtC, Z08, ZX9, X90, X63 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



339 



Bober River, a$i 
Bobern, asz 
Boberow, 251 
Bobersbui^, 951 
Boberwitz, 251 
Bobrau, 251 
Boca Chica, 3x7 
Bochampton, 248 
BOchingen, 101 
Booking, lox 
Bodmin, 153, 33a 
Bohemia, 48 
Bokerley Ditch, 171 
Bolbec, 124 
Bolengo, 98 
Bolgrad, 324 
Bohngbroke, 98 
Bolivia, 50 
Bolleit, 203 
Bologna, 48 
Bolton-le-Moor, ia6 
Bombay, 23, 322 
Bomlitz River, 32 
Bonifacio, 2x6 
Bonn, 322 
Boothia Felix, a6 
Bordeaux, 282 
Borneville, 123 
Bosa, 6x 
Boscawen, 332 
Boston, X2, 260 
Bosworth, 80 
Botle Hill, 905 
Bouquinghem, xoi 
Bovengo, 98 
Bovin^on, 98 
Bovy m Beer, 120 
Bowness, 216 
Bozra, 269 
Brabant, 55 
Brading, 83 
Bradley, 3x7 
Bradney, 238 
Bradshaw, 3x7 
BradMrford, 317 
Bragan^a, S3 
Bramtree, X46, 152 
Bramerton, axz 
Bramshot, 244 
Brancaster, 146, 149 
Brandenbiug, 146 
Brandon, X46 
Brannberg, X46 
Braslaf, 321 
Bray, 49 
Brazil, 279, 322 
Breandown, 146 
Brecon, 230 
Breidanord, 1x4 
Breitwil, zo6 
Brendenkopf, 146 
Brendon, 146 



Brenner, 146 
Brentingley, 84 
Brent Tor, 150 
Brescia, 321 
Bretha River, xi6 
Breton Cape, 19 
Breuil, 244 
Bricquebosq, 125 
Bridewell, x88 
Bridgewater, 267 
Briggate, x68 
Brighton, 260 
Brindon Hill, 141 
Brinton, X46 
Briquebec, 124 
BrisBane, 26 
Bristol, X70, 332 
Britain, 159 
Britain, Great, 38 
Brixton, X70, 260, 33a 
Broadford, xx4 
Brogden, 250 
BrcM^lio, 244 
Brokenborough, 320 
Brolo, 944 
Bromley, 391 
Brookland, 237 
Brooklyn, 21 
Brora, 1x3 
Brother Hill, xx8 
Brough, 8z 
Broughton, 8z 
Brown WUly, 266 
Broxboume, 250, 320 
BrunsMrick, 49 
Bruquedalle, X25 
Brussels, 291, 39X 
Buccina, 6t 
Buckenham, 2xx 
Buckhurst, 32 x 
Buckinghaim, 83, 162, 332 
Buckland Monachorum, 233 
Bucklersbury, 190 
Buckston, xx8 
Buda, 332 
Budge Row, 187 
Buenos Ayres, 32 a 
Bull How, xx6 
Bungay, 267, 322 
Burengaren, 907 
Bures, X24 
Burgh, X7a 
Burghdere, 333 
Burgos, 8x, 99 
Burgundy, 47, 28 x 
Bum, X20 
Burrafiord, 2x4 
Burry Holmes, zt8 
Burton, 79 

Bury-Pommeroye, 127 
Buttergill, zx6 
Butterhill, 116, ixS 

Z 2 



Butterlip How, zx6 
Buttermere, xx6 
Byestock, XX9 
Byfleet^ 330 
Byzantium, 298 



Cabala. 62 

Cabo de Bona Esperanza, 

23 
Cabo Tor.nentoso, 21 
Cadara, 66 
Cadbeeston, 946 
Cadbury, 200 
Cadiz, 60, 63, 333 
Cadoxton, 230 
Caen, 93 
Caereybi, 230 
Caerleon, z66, X75 
Caermote, 197 
Cacrwent, xs4 
Caesar's Camp, 2x2 
Cagliari, 6x 
Caig Stone, 206 
Cairngorm, 324 
Cairo, 206, 322 
Caithness, xo8, 113, 159 
Calahorra, 7X 
Calais, 43 ^ 
Calamonaci, 66 
Calasca, 73 
Calascibetta, 66 
Calata, 44 
Calatabtano, 66 
Calatafimi, 66 
Calatamisetta, 66 
Calatavutura, 66 
Calatayud, 71 
Calatrava, 71 
Calcutta, 225, 331 
Calda River, zio 
Caldicot, X7X 
Caldy, 1x7 
Caledonia, 44 
Calf of Man, 264 
Calf, The, X15 
Calicut, 225 
Calliste, 322 
Caltabalotta, 66 
Caltagirone, 66 
Caltanisetta, 66 
Caltrop, 322 
Cam River, 145 
Camaroons, 32Z 
Cambeck River, Z4> 
Cambray, 263, 290 
Cambria, 48 
Cambridge, X70 
Camden, Z45 
Camil River, Z45 
Camlad River, m 
Camlin River, X45 



340 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



Camomile Street, 184 
Camon River, 145 
Campbellpore, 215 
Camphill, 805 
Campton, 200 
Cana, 321 
Canada, 13, 273 
Canary, 281, 282, 321 
Candahar, 214 
Candy Slack, 267 
Canewdon, 205 
Cannon Street, 273 
Canonbury, 188 
Canongate, 168 
Cantal, 326 
Cantaleu> 124 
Canterbury, 46, 208 
Cantire, 147, 328 
Capel Curig, 234 
Capo di Faro, 252 
Caradoc, 2x2 
Caralis, 6x, 62 
Carbia, 6z 
Cardross, 150 
Carepula, 62 
Carinthia, 55 
Carisbrook, 46, 208, 260 
Carlingford, 107, 120 
Carlisle. 152, x68, 334 
Carlsnihe, 2x6 
Carlton-Colville, 127 
Carmarthen, X49, 334 
Carnchainichin, 213 
Carnic Alps, X50 
Carolina, 6, 20 
Caroline Islands, 22 
Carpathians, 55, 325 
Carpentaria, Gulf, 24 
Carpi, 62 
Carquebuf, X24 
Carrickfergus, 150, 326 
Carrowburgh, 172 
Carteja, 63 
Cartenna, 62 
Carthage, 62, 333 
Carthagena, 5, 63 
Cartili, 62 
Cashio, 49 
Cashiobury, 49 
Cassaro, 66 
Castansa, 277 
Castel Muro, 75 
Castile, X76 
Castlegate, x68 
Castor, 173 
Catalamita, 66 
Catalonia, 48 
Catania, 6x 
Caterham, 206 
Caterthun, 206 
Cathay, 57 
Catlow, 246, 329 



Cat Street, 208 
Cattegat, 168 
Catt Stane, 206 
Caucasus, 4, 324 
Caudebec, 124, 330 
Causewell, 1x2 
Cayenne, 279 
Cefn Bryn, 146 
Cefn Coed, X46 
Cenis, Mont, 148 
Ceramicus, 309 
Cerasus, 276 
Cevennes (les), 146, 327 
Chablis, 28x 
Chadra, 66 • 

Champagpe, 281 
Champlam, Lake, 19 
Cham River, 145 
Chapmanslade, 254 
Chard, 210 
Char ford, 210 
Charing, 185 
Charles, Cape, 16, 28 
Cliarleston, 20 
Charlinch, 238 
Charm is, 61 
Charmouth, 210 
Charter-house, 188, 272 
Chat Moss, 246, 331 
Cheapside, 190, 254 
Chedzoy, 238 
Chee Tor, 150 
Chelmsford, 162, 169 
Chelsea, 109, 236 
Ch8mi, 53 
Chemnitz, 335 
Cheping Hill, 254 
Chepstow, 254, 332 
Cherbourg, 81, 214 
Cher River, 145 
Chermez, 155 
Cherokee, 13 
Cherry Hinton, 321 
Chertsey, 236 
Chester, 166 
Chesterholm, 172 
Chester le Street, 126, 167 
Chesterton, 173 
Chevening, 146 
Chevin, X46 
Cbevington, 146 
Chevir* WSIls, 146, 307 
Chevy v^i^^ae, 146, 367 
Chicago, 32X 
Chichester, 2x0 
Chien Cape, 146 
Chilham, 212 
Chili, 279 

Chillesford, 107, 110 
China, 50 
Chineford, X69 
Chinkiang. 330 



Chipping Bamet, 354 
Chipping Camden, 254 
Chippingham, 254 
Chipping Norton, 254 
Chipping Ongar, 354 
Chipping Sodbury, 254 
Chisbury, axo 
Chiselet, 236 
Chiswill, XX2, 332 
Chlum, 327 
Chlumetz, 327 
Chorges, 155 
Christiania, ax6 
Christiansand, 2x6 
Christianstad, 2x6 
Church Moor, 248 
Church Stretton, 335 
Church Walk, 248 
Chynoweth, xs3 
Cima del Moro, 73 
Cinderford, 2sx 
Qnderhill, 951 
Cinici, 63 
Cirencester, 261 
Cirta, 62 
Cissanham, 210 
Cissbury, 210 
Ciudad Kodrigo, 334 
Qvita Vecchia, 318, 334 
Clapbam, 208, 3x6 
Clare, ia6 
Clarendon, X49, 94 
Classe, 242 
Claughton, 335 
Claverack, 21 
Claxby, xxx 
Clerkenwell, X87 
Clifford Tree, X97 
Clinton, 3x7 
Clippesby, ixo 
Clitourps, 12 j. 
Clitumnus River, 145 
Clobesden Gut, 168 
Cloghan, 335 
Clonmel, 328 
Cloyd River, X45 
Cloyne, 328 
Cludan River, X45 
Clunbury; 333 
Clwyd River, X45 
Clydach River, X45 
Clyde River, 145 
Cnut'sDyke, X7X 
Coblentz, 262 
Cockthorpe, xx2 > 

Coggeshall, 333 
Coitmore, 246 
Colby, 115 
Colchester, 175 
Coldbatch. 330 
Col de Balm, 327 
Col de Maure, 73 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



341 



Cold Harbour, 171, 322 
Coleman Street, 190 
Colincthun, 79 
Collunflra, 99 
Colne River, 145, 175 
Colney Hatch, 246 
Cologne, 175, 334 
Colomby, 124 
Colonna, Cape, 252 
Colonsay, 229, 330 
Colton. 322 
Columbia, 8 
Columbus, 8 
Comarques, 177 
Combe, 151 
Combe Martin, 151 
Comberbatch, xo6, 330 
Como, 151 
Compton, X5X 
Concord, 12 
Cond^33i 
Coningsby, 202 
Connecticut, 23 
Connington, 98 
Constance, 2x5 
Constantineh, 2x5 
Constantinople, 215, 264, 

^334 

Constanz, 264 
Contrebia, 152 
Conz, 2x5, 264 
Cooper River, 20 
Copelai^d Island, 120, 254 
Copenhagen, 254, 335 
Copmansthorpe, X05, 254 
Cordova, 63, 289 
Corinth, 278, 304 
Comus, 6x 
Cornwall, 179 , 
Corsica, 56, 61 
Cortona, X48 
Cortono, 257 
Corunna, Cape, 252 
Cotantin, 215, 264 
Coton Hill, 333 
Cotswold Hills, 246, 329 
Cottun, 93 
Courtray, 263 
Coutances, 215, 264 
Coveney, 24X 
Covent Garden, 188 
Coventry, 152 
Cowg^ate, 168 
Cowick, X19 
('owley, 320 
Craigruigh, 326 
Cran bourne, 250, 320 
Cranfield, 250 
Crantock, 230 
Crathis, 6x 
Cravatta, 181 
Creamston, xx8 



Cressing Temple, 234 
Crib Goch, 324 
Crick, X50 
Cricklade, 150, 326 
Criquebuf, X24 
Criquetot, X23 
Crodale, 125 
Croixdale, 125 
Crokem Tor, X97 
Cronkshynnagh, 350 
Crown Hill, 203 
Crutched Friars, 189 
Cuba, 281 
Cuckfield, 245 
Cumberland, 48, 151, 179 
Cumbray Islands, 48, xo8 
Cummin's Camp, 2x3 
Cumnor, 2x0^ 331 
Cunici Bocchorum, 63 
Cunning Garth, 267 
Cunusi, 6z 
Cura, 6a 
Curubis, 6p 
Curura, 52 
Cvitaghara, 324 
Cwm Bychan, 317, 328 
Cydon, 278 



Dacorum Hundred, 1x2 
Dairan River, X33 
Dalby, 1x5 
Dale, 1x8 
Dalin, 6x 
Dalkeith, xo6 
Dalkey Island, 121 
Dalpool, XX7 
Dairy, 2x3 
Dalrymple, xo6 
Damascus, 278, 288 
Damme, 241 
Dampier Islands, 24 
Dan by, 180 
Danderby, iii 
Danebury, 205 
Danefurlong, 112 
Dane River, X39 
Danesbanks, 205 
Danesend, X12 
Danesey Flats, 109 
Danesford, 205 
Danesgraves, 205 
Danestal, X25 
Danestream, 204 
Dantsey, 205 
Danube River, 132, 139 
Darling River, 26 
Dametal, 125 
Dart River, X33 
Dartford, 169 
Daubeuf, 124 
Dauphiny, 54 



Daventry, X54 
Davis' Straits, 15 
Davon River, 139 
Dax, 310 
Dead Man, 266 
Deadman*s Place, 27) 
Dead Sea, 270 
Dean River, 139 
Deargan River, X33 
Debir, 2 
Dee River, X45 
Deeping, 3x8 
Deerhurst, 320 
Dekkan, The, 5x, 318 
Delapre, 127 
Delaware, 19 
Delgpido Cape, 23 
Delting, 199 
Denge Marsh Gut, 168 
Dengewell, 199 
Dengey, 109 
Denmark, 177, 335 
Denne^, xi8 
Dennismni, 67 
Dent du Midi, 325, 327 
Depedal, X25 
Deptford, X07, 109 
Derby, 104, xx8, 162, 246, 

32<x 332 
Dereham, 320 
Deny, 6, 321 
Derventio, X33 
Derwent River, X33 
Deskie River, 139 
Desolation Cape, 15 
Detmold, X98, 323 
Detroit, 29, 323 
Devil's Dyke, 17X 
Devizes, X78 
Devon, 48, 179 
Devon River, 139 
Devrcs, 175 
Dewerstone, 218 
Dibden, 318 
Dieppe, 124 
Dieppedal, 125 
Dietmale, X98 
Diggles River, X43 
Dih, 257 
Dilliker, 223 
Dilwyn, 223 
Dingley, 200 
Dingwall, Z99 
Dingwell, 1x9^ 200 
Dinsdale, aoo 
Distel Alp, 74 
Ditton, X71 

Djebel es Sheikh, 4, 324 
Dniester River, Z39 
Doab River, 132, 319 
Dodd Fell, 326 
Doghouse Bar, x86 



342 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



Dolbcrry, 328 
Dominica, xo 
Dona, 80 
Doncaster, 334 
Done^, 44 
Donningfton, 98 
Don Kiver, 139 
Dora River, 134 
Dorchester, 49, 133 
Dore River, 133 
Dorking, 83 
Dornstadt, 148 
Doro River, 133 
Dorset, 47, 153, 179, 332 
Douglas, 323 
Douglas Kiver, 143 
Douro River, 134 
Dour River, 133 
Dourwater, 141 
Dover, 91 
Dovercourt, 91 
Dover River, X33 
Dovreljeld, 91 
Douvres, 91, 93 
Dowgate, 185 
Dowles River, 143 
Drachenfels, 337 
Drepanom, 970 
Dreswick, 1x5 
Drewitz, 329 
Droitwich, xoB, 252 
Promore, 337 
Drontheim, aoi 
Drumburgh, 173 
Dryfield, X19 
Dublin, 144, 323, 330 
Dubrau, 321 
Duir River, 133 
Dulas River, 143 
Dumbarton, X49, 172 
Dumblane, 149 
Dumbuckhill, 172 
Dumfries, X49 
Dummerwitz, 266 
Dumnailraise, 213 
Dunagoat, 266 
Dundalk, X49 
Dundee, 149 
Dundrum, 149, 327 
Dundry Hill, 149 
Dunestadt, 148 
Dungannon, 149 
Dungarvon, 149 
Dungeness, 1x7, xso, 237, 

32a 
Dungeon Gill, 33s 
Dunglas, 172 
Dunkeld, 149 
Dunkerque, 228 
Dunlavin, 249 
Dunleary, 194 
Dunmow, X49, xss, 334 



Dun River, 139 
Dunstable, 149, X55, 354, 

Dunwich, xxo 
Durarwater River, X33 
Durbach, 14 x 
Durbeck, 140 
Duren, 134 
Durham, 360 
Durlock, 836 
Durra River, 133 
Dusk, 139 
Dusseldorf, 333 
Dw^jalagiri, 4, 324 
Dyrham, 330 
Dysart, 338 



Eamont River, xi6 
Ea River, xi6 
Eamley, 330 
Easebum, X4X 
Eastbourne, 266 
Eastbury, 3x7 
Eastcheap, X90, 254 
Easterfonl, 231 
Easter, Good, 221 
Easter, High. 221 
Easterleake, 221 
Eastermear, 221 
Easthorpe, 317 
Eaton, 336 
Ebbfleet, 184, 236 
Ebro River, 58 
Eccles, 234 
Ecuador, 38, 50 
Eden River, X3 
Edgware, 360 
Edinburgh, six 
Edmundsthorp, 120 
Edwiurdes-abad, 215 
Kgilsa, xx3 

Kf ypt. 53. 

Ehrenbreitstein, 317, 334 
Eigher, 325 
Ebepburg, 35 x 
Eislingen, xoo 
Ekaterinenburg, 316 
Elbach, 350 
Elbe River, 143 
Elbceuf, X34, 333 
Elisabethstadt, 33 
Elizabeth County, X7, 38 
El Khalil, 333 
El Kuds, 234 
Ellaixseter, 333 
El Lazarieh, 333 
E116e River, 143 
Ellen River, 143 
Ellerton, 331 
Ellwangen, 350 
Elmdon, 321 



Elmswell, 301 
Elsass, 47 
Elsinore, 331 
Elstead, 2x0 
Elston, 3x8 
Elstrop, X13 
Elton, ^x8 
Elwin Kiver, X43 
Ely. 8^ 330 
Emboli, 363 
Emswoude, 329 
Enderby, 11 1 
Enfield, 329 
England, 47 
Englefield, 804 
Englishbatch, X77 
Englishcombe, X77 
Enhallow, 228 
Ennerdale, xx6 
Ennis, 329 
Enniskillen, 329 
Enni»more. 339' 
En Rimmon, 331 
Enterprise, Fort, 35 
Ep^ard, X33 
Ephesus, 5a 
Ephratah, 3 
Epsom, 360, 387 
Erie, X3 

Enn, 45. 3»9 
Erith, 340, 335 
Ermin Street, X67 
Erpingham, 98 
Erringham, 85 
Errington, 85 
Erve Kiver, 144 
Eryn River, 138 
Erzbetg, 326 
Erzeroum, 49 
Erzgeberge, 351 
Esca River, 136 
Escalona, 62 
Escoves, X25 
Escurial, 309 
Esk River, X35 
Esker River, X35 
Eskilstuna, 79 
Eskle River, X35 
Eskwater, X4X 
Esky River, 135 
Eslinghen, xoo 
Esque River, 136 
Essex, X79, 317 
Esslingen, xoo 
Este, 843 
Etainhiis, 93 
Etaplcs, as4, 334 
Etna, 63, 843 
Eton, 836 
Etreham, 93 
Etsch River« 137, aCa 

£u, 124 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



343 



Euboea, 55 
Europe, 51 
Evan River, 132 
Eveneny River, 13a 
Evershaw, 250 
Evershot, 250, 320 
Eversley, 250, 320 
Everton, 350 
Evora, 64 
Ewenny River, 132 
Ewes River, 135 
Ewshot, 244 
£xe River, 135 
Exeter, 162, 174 
Ex River, 135 
Exwick, zip 
Eye, lis, 240, 330 
Eyen, 73 



Pacomb, 151 

Faenza, 332 

Fairfield, 337, 320 

Falaise, 125 

Fampoux, 226 

Fariuiam, 321 

Faro, Capo di, 252 

Farte Islands, 168, 114. 320 

330 
Farringdon. 149 

Faulhoni, 325 
Faxa Fiord, 107, 331 
Fear, Cape, 14 
Feasegate, z68 
Felibedjik, 214 
Felicudi, 60 
Fenwlck Rock, 1x7 
Fernando Po, 22 
Ferozepore, 2x5 
Ferrara, 263 
Feurs, 263 
Fianuna, 263 
Fieldfare, xxg 
Fife, 56 
Filby, xxo 
Finedon, 200 
Finiki, 60 
Finmark, Z77 
Fiasbury, Z84 
Finsthwaite, Z79, 333 
Finster-aar-hom, 265 
Fiora, 2x5, 263 
Fiqueifleur, Z24 
Firenze, 262 
Fishergate, 168 
Fishguard, xiS, 333 
Fisigard, X23 
Fitful Head, 267 
Fiume della Fine, Z78 
Flamandville, x8i 
Flamborough Head, 253 
Flanders, 53 



Flash, 308 

Flatholme, zoS, zxS, 330 
I*leckeroe, zio 
Fleckney, zxo 
Fleet, X84 
Flcffg, zzo 
Flekkesfjord, xio 
Fiemingsby, Z79 
Flemingston, zi8 
Flemingtou, 128 
Fleswick, X15 
Florence, 398, 322 
Florida, zo, 19, 265 
Flushing, 21 
Fond du Lac, 19 
Fontarabie, 72 
Forcassi, 263 
Fordongianus, 263 
Fordwick, 337 
Foreness, 109 
For^t des Maures, 73 
Forfiamma, 263 
Forli, 2x5, 263 
Forlimpopoli, 263 
Formosa, 33, 323 
Fomovo, 363 
Fort Enterprise, 35 
Fort Oran^^e, 30 
Fort Providence, 25 
Fossombrone, 363 
Fossway, The, 168 
Foulbec, X24 
Foulbeck, 320 
Foulmire, 33Z 
Foulness, Z09 
Foxhill, 320 
Fox How, 327 
Foxlev, 320 
Fraisuorpe, 318 
France, 47 
France, Isle of, 47 
Franconia, 48, 99 
Frankby, 117, X79 
Franken, 47, 99 
Frankenburg, 181 
Frankenfeld, x8i 
Frankenthal, x8z, 328 
Frankfiut, z8x, 33X 
Frathorpe, 3z8 
Frazerpet, 3Z5 
Freaslev, 3z8 
Fredenberg, sz 
Frederick City, 20 
Fredericksburg, 30 
Frejus, 3Z5, 363, 364 
Freudenbaeh, 366 
Freystrop, zi8 
Friday-street, 318 
Fridajrthorpe, 3x8 
Frtedrichslufen, 316 
Frieston, 180 
Frisby, Z79 



Frismersk, 93 
Fritham, 348 
Friuli, 3Z5, 363, 364 
Frobisher Strait, 14 
Frome River, Z45 
Frotuna, 79 
FuUetby, izx 
Funen, 322 
Fumess, xi6, 353 
Fur Tor, 150 
Fury Beach, 35 
Futehpore, 206 



Gadara, 63 
Galapagos, 32 x 
Galata, 44, 66 
Galatia, 44, Z56 
Galicia, 44 
Gallipoli, 263 
Galloway, 44, 385 
Galway, 44 
Ganges, 330 
Gara River, Z43 
Garbo, 67 

Gareloch River, Z43 
Gamar River, 143 
Gamere River, Z43 
Garonne River, Z3X, 143 
Garra, 63 

Garry River, 131, 143 
Garve River, X43 
Garway River, X43 
Garwidc, zz5 
Gatcombe, z5z 
Gateholm, zz8 
Gatesgarth, zi6 
Gatesgill, zz6 
Gateshead, 169 
Gateswater, xi6 
Gatton, z68, 331 
Gaza, 357, 388 
Gazzi, 66 
Gebel, 66 
Gebel Fiel, 268 
Gebel Mousa, 326 
Gebel Oomar, 67 
Geder, 63 
Gedera, 63 
Gedor, 63 
Gellstone, zi6 
Gellyswick, X17 
Geneva, Z48 
Gennesareth, 322 
Georgia, 6, 20 
Germany, 41 
Gers River, X43 
Geysers, 319 
Ghent, 331 
Ghuzzeh, 357 
Gibeah, ^s 
Gibel el Faro, 35c 



344 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



Gibellina, 66 
Gibraltar, 68, 2x3, 335 
Gillies Hill, 203 
Giron River, 143 
Glamorgan, 56 
Glarus, 231 
Glaslin, 144 
Glencoe, 328 
Glenmore, 3x7 
Glen River, 145 
Glogau, 148 
Gloscer Court, 273 
Gloucester, 162, 261 
Glyde River, 145 
Glynneath, 328 
Gniva, 36 
Goatfell, 327 
Godarville, 123 
Godington, 79 
Godley, 227 
Godmanchester, 227 
Godmanstone, 227 
Godmundingsiham, 326 
Godney, 227, 238 
Godramgate, 168 
Godrano, 66 
Godshill, 227 
Godstone, 227, 334, 335 
Godstow, 227 
Goello, 44 
Goldberg, 251 
Gold Coast, 320 
Gollwitz, 329 
Gomfreston, 118 
Gomphi, 323 
Gomshall, 151 
Gonengo, 98 
Good Easter, 221 
Goodgrave, 246 
Good Hope, Cape of, 23 
Goodmanham, 226 
Gorlitz, 326 
Gothland Island, 48 
Gracechurclv«treet, 273 
Gracedieu, 127 
Graian Alps, 150 
Grammercy-square, 273 
Grampound, 267, 317 
Granville, 317 
Grassholui, 118 
Gr&tz, 333 
Gravenhill, 205 
Gravesend, 36c 
Gray's Inn, 193 
Greasby, X17 
Great Britain, 38 
Great Chesters, 172 
Greece, 57 
Greenaby, 115 
Greenhithe, 335 
Greenland, 8 
Greenwich, 109 



Green wick, 1x5 
Grenoble, 215, 263, 334 
Greta River, xi6, 330 
Grime's Dyke, 172 
Grimonvilie, 123 
Grimsby, 83, X04, 1x9, 316 
Grim's Dyke, X7X 
Grinez, Cape, 108, 125, 323 
Grinnell Land, 26 
Groote Eylandt, 24 
Guadaira, 70 
Guadaladiar, 70 
Guadalaviar, 70 
Guadalaxara, 70 
Guadalbanar, 70 
Guadalcazar, 70 
Guadalertin, 70 
Guadalete, 70 
Guadalhorra, 70 
Guadalimar, 70 
Guadalquiton, 70 
Guadalquiver, 70, 317, 328 
Guadalupe, 70, 259 
Guadarama, 70 
Guadarranke, 70 
Guadiana, 64, 70, 133 
Gualbacar, 70 
Guaroman, 70 
Guash, X36 
Guernsey, x 24, 214 
Guer River, X43 
Gufidaun, 35 
Guilford, 169 
Gulistan, 321 
Gutter Lane, 273 
Gweek, 119 
Gwent, X54 

Haarlem River, 21 
Hachbom, 330 
Hackney, 238 
Haconby, 83 
HaconviIIe, 105, 123, 332 
Hacqueville, 123 
Haddington, 83 
Haemus, 4 
Hafnafiord, 107 
Hagendom. 333 
Hagiar Chem, 62 
Hagnaby, xxi 
Hague, The, 8x 
Haiti, 258 
Hal, 252 
Halen, 252 
Halifax, 20, 233 
Haling, 252 
Hall, 252 
Hallaton, 252 
Halle, 252 
Hallein, 252 
Halliford, 211 



Hallstadt, 253 
Hallthwaite, xx6 
Halsal, 253 
Halstock, SIX 
Halton, 352 
Halton Chesters, X73 
Halycus River, 252 
Halys River, 252 
Hamath, 2, 257 
Hambye, 93, X24 
Hamnavoe, X14 
Hampstead, 332 
Hampton Court, X26 
Hampton in Arden, 346 
Hamsey, 338 
Ham Tor, 320 
Hamwell, xxs 
Hanenkamm., 222 
Hangsman's Gains, 272 
Hanover, 49, 331 
Hanse Towns, 254 
Hapsbur^, 321 
Hardivilliers, xo6 
Hare Tor, xso 
Hareby, xxi 
Harfleur, 124, 330 
Harling, 84 
Harlington, 84 
Harmondsworth, 21 1 
Ilarmstone, 211 
Harmthorpe, 211 
Haroldston, xi8 
Harris, 1x4 
Harrowby, 211 
Harrogate, x68 
Haitz Mountains, 244 
Harwich, xxo 
Hasp;uard, xx8 
Hasilmere, 321 
Hastingleign, 85 
Hastings, 83, 85 
Hastingues. 125 
Hautot, X23 
Havannah, 28X 
Haverford, 107, 117, 331 
Haverstraw, 2x 
Hawkshurst, 245 
Hawkswell, 109 
Haxey, 24X 
Haye Park, 81 
Haystacks, The, xx6 
Hayti, X3 
Hazar-Aman, 334 
Hazar-Ithman, 334 
Hazor, 334 
Healey, 321 
Healigh, 221 
Hearston, 1x8 
Hebron, a, 357 
Hecla, 3x9 
Heerapfel, 263 
Heidenberg, 222 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



345 



Helagli, 3az 
Helford, X19 
Heligoland, 324 
Hellaby, azx 
Hellathyrne, 29z 
Hellifielc^ 2x1, 221 
Helluland it mikla, 8 
Helluland, Litla, 8 
Helsinston, 84 
HelweU, 221 
Helwick, X17 
HelwiUi, 221 
Hemingby, zzx 
Hemsby, xxo 
Hendon, 322 
Heogeston, 209 
Heneistbury Head, 209 
Hcnjey, 238, 522, 329 
Henley in Arden, 346 
Henlow, 332 
Henry, dape, x6 
Henstridge, 209 
Hentoe, X50 
Heracleia, 226 
Heracleopolis, 226 
Herat, 45 
Herbrandston, ziS 
Herculaneum, 226 
Hercynian Forest, 244 
Hereford, x6o 
Hermannstadt, 33 
Hermanville, 93 
Hermon, 325 
Herouville, X23 
Herringby, xxo 
Hertford, X42, X69, 320 
Hessary Tor, 150, 220 
Hesse, 48, xoz 
Hestoe, 1x4 
Heuland, 93 
Heurtley, 320 
Heythrop, Z12 
Hey Tor, Z50 
Hibemia, Z59 
Highclere, Z26, 333 
Highgate, z68, 318 
High Easter, 22 z 
High-street, Z67, 318 
Hildersham, 21Z 
Hill Bell, 220 
Himalaya, 4, 324 
Himaprastha, 324 
Himawat, 324 
Hindostan. 332 
Hineeston, 209 
Hinkley, 209 
Hinksey, 209 
Hinton, 248, 318 
Hinxworth, 309 
Hippo, 6p, 6x, 63 
If obart Town, 26 | 

Hoboken, 13 .>- 



Hoc. Cape, 125 

Hocheim, 282, 332 

Hode, Cape le, Z25 

Hof, 224 

Hoff, 224 

Hogue, Cape de la, Z35 

Holbeach, 240 

Ho beck, 330 

Ho bom, 186 

Ho demess, 91 

Ho land, 55, 29Z 

Ho loway, 3Z8 

HoUym, 92 

Ho m, XX5 

Ho me, 1x7 

Holme, East, z2o 

Holmes Islands, zzo 

Ho min Island, Z42 

Ho msdale, z2o 

Ho mstone, z2o 

Holroyd, 329 

Ho stein, 47, zoz, 224 

Ho t, 944 

Holtford, 244 

Holtrup, Z05 

Ho y Hill, 224 

Ho y Island, 224 

Ho ywell, z88, 234 

Ho ywell-street, Z89 

Honey Hill, zz8 

Honfleur, Z24 

Hor, Mount, 325 

Hoom, or Horn, Cape, 2z, 

264, 322 
Hornsea, 320 
Horsehay, 8z 
Horsey, 238 
Horsey Hill, 209 
Horsley, 209 
Horsted, 209 
Houlbec, Z24 
Houndbere, X19 
Houndsditch, X83 
Hounslow, 327 
How Rock, XX9 
Howside, xx7 
Howth, Hill of, 121 
Hucking, 84 
Hudson s Bay, X5 
Hudson's Strait, zs 
Humber River, Z63 
Hundreds Barrow, 197 
Hungary, ^6, 48 
Huneerford, 267 
Hunhart, 244, 329 
Hunnum, z8o 
Huzistanton, z8o 
Huntingdon, Z49 
Huntroyd, 329 
Huron, Z3 
Hurstcourtray, Z27 
Hurstmonceaux, Z27 



Hurstpierpoint, Z3« 
Hvalnord, Z07 
Hvita, 324 
Hyderabad, az5 
Hythe, 238 
Hythe, West, 238 

Iberia, 45 
Ibthrop, z2o« 333 
Ickborough, 49, 58 
Icklingham, 85 
Icknield-street, Z67 
Icolmkill, 329 
Ida, 332 
Idalia, 6z 
Idino, Z48 
Iffley, 236 
Iken, 49, 58 
Hen, River, 143 
Ilford, Z69 
Ilfracombe, Z51 
Illinois, Z3, a6z. 
lUston, 230 
Iluria, Z59 
Imaus, 724 
Imerund, 3Z8 
Incncolm, 229 
Inches, 239 
Inchiquin, 329 
Inch Island, Z42 
Inchkeith, 329 
Inchmartin, 239 
Inchmichael, 239 
Inchture, 239 
Inchtuthill, 239 
Inchyra, 239 
India, 53, 57 
Ingham, 84, 328 
Ingle barrow, 8t 
Ingleborough, 326 
Ingliston, 128 
Ingrove, 84 
Inkpen, Z47 
Inisfallan, 230 
Inney River, 132 
Iiin River, Z32 
Innspruck, 332 
Inver, Z64 
Invermore, X64 
Inverness, 33Z 
Inycon, 63 
lona, Z08, 329 
Ipswich, zzo 
Iran, 45 
Irbv, XX7 
Ireland, 4.';, 3x8 
Ireland's Eye, xai, 26k; 
Irippo, 63 
Irke River, X45 
Ironbridge, 169 
Isboume, X4X 



346 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



scanderMh, ax3 
se River, 135 
skenderoon, 3x4 
sic of France, 47 
sle of Thanet, 336 
sle River, 135 
slinghem, xoo 
slineton, 83, 100 
spanan, 332 
stamboul, 363 
stria, 137 

talyt. 37. 56, 57 

tucci, 315, 264 

turissa, 159 

ve River, 132 

vica, 6p 

vory Q>ast, 320 

vychurch, 237 

xworth in Thingoe, 3c» 

z River, 135 



acuman's Bottom, 167 

ames River, 16, 28 

ameston, xz8 

aomsk, 63 

an Meyen's Island, 24 

aschen, 333 

aschwitz, 333 

ava, 3ax 

edbuxgh, 81, 305 

effreyston, xi8 

epan, 51 

ersey, 124, 214 

erusalem, 368 

ervis Gu^ x68 

ohnston, xx8 

ones' Sound, 15, 26 

onkoping, 254 

oppa, 323 

brdan, 61 

orveaux, 127 

uan Fernandez Island, 22 

ubbergate, x68 

ubleins, 149 

ulaber's Grave. 212 

ulich, or Juliers, 313, 264 

ungfrau, 335 

urby, XX5 

uterbogk, 325 

utiand, 48, 264 



Kuisariych, 214 
Kanimerstock, 147 
Kanior, X47 
Kanip River, 145 
Kam River, 145 
Kansas, 13 

Karavanken Alps, 150 
Karthada, 62 
Kartoom, 33a 



Katskill Mountains, 3X 
Katzellenbogen, x8x 
Kedron, 333 
Kelat, 44 ^ 
Kempston, 300 
Kempten, 148 
Kencomb, 148 
Kencot, 148 
Kendal, zo6 
Keneth, 3 
Kenilworth, 80 
Kenmare, X48 
Kenmore, X47, 336 
Kenne, 148 
Kennedon, 148 
Ken River, 145 
Kensal, 333 
Kensington, 83, 316 
Kent, 148, 179, 326 
Kenton, 148 
Kerguellen's Land, 34 
Kesri, 3x4 
Keswick, xi6 
Ketterine, 83 
Kettlewell, 113, xi6 
Kejmor, 2x0 
Keynton, 146 
Khara-gol, 330 
Khamburg, 148 
Khelat, 66 
Kibotus, X26 
Kidderminster, 933 
Kiel. 3^ 
Kielernord, 354 
Kilbar, 330 
Kilbum, X87 
Kildare, 331 
Kilkerran, 229 
Kilkiaran, 329 
Killaloe, 230 
Killdanes, 305 
Killin, X44, 337, 335 
Kilmore, 337, 3x7 
Kinderhook, ax 
King Edward, a66 ^ 
Kingsbury Episcopi, 333 
Kingsdere, 333 
King's County, 6 
King's Gate, x68, 301 
King's Lynn, 144 
Kingston, aox 
Kingston-upon-HuU, 202 
Kinloch Ewe, 339 
Kinnaird, 147 
Kinross, 148, 150, 327 
Kinsale, 148 
Kinsey, x7x 
Kinton, sao 
Kirby, 104, ixo, xxx, 115, 

XX7, 328 
Kirby Thore, 219 
Kirchdidaokl, 198 



Kirjath, 63 
Kirjath Arba, a 
Kinath Sepher, a 
Kiikcolm, 339 
Kirkcudbright, aso^ 265, 335 
Kirkgate, x68 
Kirklands, 234 
Kirkwall, aaS 
Kit's Co^ House, axa 
Klagenfurt, 3x5, 363 
Klaussenberg, 33 
Klostersieben, 3x9 
Kloten, X75 
Knap Dane, 205 
Knightsbri(j^e, 187 
Knockduflf, 337 
Knocknows, 337 
Knocktoe, 303 
Knutsford, 305 
Kdnigsberg, 3ox 
Kdnigsgrfit^ 333 
Koni^worth, 333 
Kossier, 334 
Kriegsmatten, 75 
Kronstadt, 33 
Kulm, 32 
Kuldnia, X75 
Kupferhuite, 251 
Kurische Haf, 335 
Kustendje, 3x5 
Kynance, X53 

Laach, 153 

Labrador, 8, 19 

Laccadives, 3x9 

Ladppo, 63 

Lackford, 303 

La Crau, x^ 

Lac St. Clair, 19 

Lac Superieur, 19 

Ladrones, 9, 321 

Lago Nuovo, 243 

I-A Haye Sainte, 33^ 

La Houn deous Mourous, 

72 
Lain River, 144 
La Marche, X78 
Lambay Island, X09, x3o 
Lamberhurst, 245 
Lambeth, xx8, x88, 313, 335 
Lamboum, 320 
Lambston, xx8 
Lampsacus, 6x 
Lamsaki, 6x 
Lauarlo 153 
Lancashire, 49 
Lancaster, X43, 162 
I^Ancaster Sound, 15 
Lancing, 3x0 
Landbeach, 240 
Landes, The, 153 



INDEX I. —LOCAL NAMES. 



34; 



Lane River* Z44 

Langabeer, Z19 

Langavat, 1x4 

Langbourne, 187 

LAngeac, 334 

Langenhoe, 109 

Langetot, 123 

Langford, 119 

Lang^ness, 1x5 

Lanridc, 153 

Ladn, Z48 

La Penne, 147 

Lappmark, 177 

Larkbere, 119 

Latakia, sSi 

Latium, 56 

La Tour des Maures, 72 

La Tour sans Venin, 270 

Laughton enle Morthen, 126 

La Vendee 154 

Lavin,3S 

Laxa River, 320 

Laxey Rirer,' 320 

Laxvoe. 2x4, 320 

Leadennall, 273 

Leane River, 144 

Lea River, 14s 

Lebanon, 4, 6z, 324 

I^bbus, 333 

Lebena, 61 

Le Cauf, 125 , 

Leckford, 203 

Leckhampstead, 203 

Ledl&n, X75 

I^gberthwaitc, 20X 

Legboum, 201 

Leghorn, 368 

Le Ham, 03 

Le Hamelet, 93 

Le Houlme, 125 

Leicester, X7S, 334 

Leichfeld, 202 

Leighton, 329 

Lcighton Buzzard, 267 

Leinster, 12 x 

Leipsig, 32, 321 

Leixlip, 121, 320 

LemRJrde, 33X 

Leominster, 233 

Leon, 175 

Lerwick, 114 

Les Cevennes, 146 

I^s Dalles, 125 

I^e Torp, 124 

levant, 50 

Leven, Loch, X43 

Leven River, 143 

Lewes, 338 

Leweston, 118 

Lewis, X14 

(^exdon, 145* i75 

Leyden, 148, 151 



Liberia, 38 

Libya, 53 

Lichfiela, so3 

Lichroere, 3x0 

LidcOping, 354 

Lid River, 145 

Li^e, 363 

Liguria, x6o 

LiUebonne, 2x5, 264 

Lilletot, X23 

Limerick, 120 

Lincoln, 144, 163, X75, 258, 

.330, 3,34 
Lmcoln s Inn, 193 
Lindebuf, X24 
Lindfield, 245, 321 
Line River, X44 
Lingholme, 108, 115 
Ling Knott, 327 
Linlithgow, 144, 330 
Linton, 144 
Lisbon, 60, 63, 282 
Lisieux, 58, 155 
Lisle, 24 X 
Lismore, 334 
Listowel, 334 
Litia Helluland, 8 
Littlebury, 317 
Littleness, Z15 
Littleton, 3x7 
Littlewidc, 1x7 
Liverpool, 33X 
Liza Kiver, zx6 
Lizard Point, X5x 
Llanbadem, 330 
Llanberis,^ 229, 335 
Llanddewi Brefi, 230 
Llandudno, 339 
Llanfr3macn, 331 
Llangadog, 330 
Llangattock, 330 
Llangeller, 229 
Llangollen, 229 
Llangybi, 330 
Llanidloes, 330 
Llanilltyd, 230 
Llanos, The, Z53 
Llyn yr Afrange, 3sz 
Lobau, 32 

Loch Laxford, ZX3, 330 
Lockerbarrow, xx6 
Lockerby, 116 
Lockholme, xx6 
Lockthwaite, 116 
Lodi, 31$ 
Lodomina, 49 
Lodshot, 344 
LOgberg, Z98 
Lorn River, 143 
Lombardy, 48 
London, 149, 162, 185, 257, 

327. 334 



Londonderry, 6 
London, Street-names of, 

183 
London-wall, Z84 
Long Acre, X85, 329 
Longbue, Z34 
Lonsdale, zo(3, 338 
Loosebarrow, X97 
Lorraine, 37, 50 
Lothbury, X90 
Loudon, 3x5, 364 
Loudun, Z48 
Louisiana, 5, 19 
Louvre, 196 
Lowestoft, xxo, 333 
Ludgate, X84 
Ludlow, 197, 327 
Ludwigsburg, 316 
Ludwigshafen, 3x6 
Lund, 334 
Lundey, 324 
Lundgarth, 224, 329 
Lundholme, 224 
Lundy, xz7 
Lune River, Z43 
Lunziesting, 199 
Lusby, zzz 
Lusitania, 39 
Luttich, 362 
Luxemoourg, 8z 
Luxor, 363 
Luz, 3 
Lycia, 56 
Lycus, 37Z, 333 
Lymbach, 264 
Lyme Regis, 202 
Lymne, 337 
Lyndhart, 344 
Lyndhurst, 321, 329 
Lynn, Z44, 330 
Lynx Tor, X50 
Lyon Locbf 143 
Lyon River, Z43 
I^yons, X48, Z5X 



Macao, 33 
Maccheda, 66 
Macclesfield, 317 
Machenthal, 318 
Macomer, 61 
Macopsisa, fn 
Macquaric, 26 
Mactorium, 62 
Madeira, 244, 281, 322 
Madulein, 75, 
Maes, Z5S 
Maesbury, 154 
Maes Garmon, 154, azs 
Maestretcht, 963 
Magalhaens Straits, 31 
Magdeburg, XS5, 3«^ 



34« 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



Mageroe,io8 
Maghera, 155 
Magnesia, 156^ 386 
Mago, 63 
Magueda, 63 
Maidenhead, 360, 366 
Maids;one, 367 
Maine, 19, 153, 338 
Mainz, 155, 264 
Maira, 75 
Majorca, 317 
Maiaca, 61 
Malacca, 321 
Malaea, 60, 631 282 
Malakoflf, 195 
Malcop, 336 
Maldives, 319 
Maldon, 149 
Mailing, 85 
Malpas, 126, 323 
Malta, 63 
Maltby^ no 
Mam Tor, 150, 326 
Mancester, 153, 328 
Mancha, La, 153 
Manchester, 153, 162. 328 
Manilla, 281 
Man, Isle of, 153 
Mans, 153 
Mansel Lacy, 127 
Mansfield, 153 
Manxes, 153 
Manzanares, 282 
Mantes, 153 
Mantua, 153 
Marazion, 64 
Marbach, 178 
Marbecq River, 177 
Marbccuf, 124 
Marbrook, 177 
Marburg, 178 
Marbury, 177 
March, 177, 178 
Marche, 178 
Marchiennes, 178 
Marchomley, 177 
Marck, 178 
Marcomanni, 177 
Mardick, 178 
Marengo, 98 
Margarita, 32X 
Margate, z68 
Marham, 177 
Mark, 177 
Mark Lane, 273 
Market Bosworth, 255 
Markland, 8 
Markley, 177 
Marlborough, 81, 268 
Marlow, 327 
Mannagen, 155, 328 
Marquesas, The, 23 



Manington, 98 
Marsa Fomo, 67 
Marsaba, 331 
Marsala, 65, 2^*2, 335 
Marsa Muscetto, 67 
Marsa Scala, 67 
Marsa Scirocco, 67 
Marsbeig, 318 
Maryborough, 6 
Marygate, x68 
Maryland, 20 
Marylebone, 187 
Mai^ahn, 225 
Marzahna, 225 
Marzana, 225 
Masbrnok, 154 
Maserfield, 154 
Masham, 328 
Massachusetts, 8, 13, 324 
Mathem, 155 
Matinark, 73 
Matterhom, 325, 327 
Maupertuis, 204 
Mauretania, 39 
Maurienne, 72 
Mauritius, 23 
Mausethurm, 269 
Maust, 33X 
Maxstoke, 317 
Mayenne, 153 
Mayfair, 186 
Maynooth, 155, 328 
May River, 145 
Mazara, 62 
Meander River, 3og 
Meare, 238 
Mechlin, 391 
Mecklenburg, 49 
Mediccara, 62 
Medina, 70 
Medinaceli, 70 
Medina Sidonia, C3, 70, 334 
Medina, 6z 
Medoc, 276, 281 
Medugarra, 62 
Medway River, 137 
Meggannaes, X14 
Megginch, 239 
Melas, 323 
Me bourne, 26 
Meldrith, 330 
Me 1 Fell, 222 
Melrose, 150, 327 
Me ville, 26, X28 
Melun, 149 
Menai Straits, 153 
Mepi^euthal, 318 
Mercia, 177 
Mercy, Bay of, 25 
Merkbury, X77 
Merida, 214 
Merring, 8^ 



Merrington, 84 
Mersey, 33X 
Merthyr Tydvil, 339 
Meshaim, X54 
Mcx'^ina, 5 
Meteora, 323 
Meuse River, 145, 155 
Meville, 99 
Mexico, 13 
Mezzojuso, 66 
Michigan, 13 
Micklegate, 168 
Middleney, 238 
Middlesex, 179 
Middlewich, 108 
Middlezoy, 238 
Midhurst, 345 
Milan, X5^ 
Mildenhall, 333 
Miletus, 5 
Milford, X07, 117 
Miilgate Street, 168 
Minehead, 266 
Miningsby, xix 
Minnesota, X3, 323 
Minorca, 317 
Minories, 188 
Minshall-Vernon, 127 
Mischabel HOrner, 74 
Misilmeri, 66 
Misraim, 319 
Mlinek, 334 

Mississippi, X3, 259, 317 
Missouri, 13, 320 
Mis Tor, 150, 220 
Mistretta, 66 
Mitau, 225 
Mittelmark, X77 
Mizraim, 53, 3x9 
Moat Hill, X97 
Mobile, 19 
Mocha, 379 
Moel Siabod, 326 
Moffat, 128 
Mohawk, 13 
Mold, 126 
Mona, 15^ 
Monadh liadh, 326 
Monastrevin, 335 
Monastir, 233 
Mdnch, 325 
Moneymorc, 329 
Moncyrea, 329 
Mongibello, 66, 141 
Monklands, 233 
Monkton, 233 
Monkwell Street, 1S9 
Mons Palatinus, 309 
Monstiers, 235 
Montacute HiII, X26 
Mont Blanc, 4, 325, yty 
Mont Cenis, 148 



INDEX T. —LOCAL NAMES. 



349 



Monterchi, 326 
Monte Merino, 66 
Monte Moro, 73 
Monte Nuovo, 243 
Monte Rosa^ 327 
Monte Rossi, 324 
Monte Video, 323 
Mcatford, 126 
Montgomery, 126 
Montjoie, 304 
Mont Martre, 327 
Mont Maure, 72 
Mont Mort, 73 
Montreal, 19 
Montreuil sur Mer, 241 
Montrose, 150 
Moodlaw, 327 
Moorby, xzx 
Moorfields, 184 
Moorgate Street, 184 
Moor Lane, 184 
Moorlinch, 238 
Moot Hill, X97 
Moravia, 177 
Moray, 56 
Morbecque, 178 
Morcambe Bay, 145 
Morea, 272 
Morellgunj, 2x5 
Morengo, 98 
Morghen, 73 

Morniban, 56 

Moro, The, 74 

Morton, 33X 

Mote Hill, 197 

Mote of the Mark, 197 

Mote, The, 197 

Motuca, 62 

Mutzen, 331 

Moulsey, 236 

Mourmour, 73 

Mount Benjerlaw, 141 

Mousselwick, Z17 

Mous^, 288 

Moustiers, 233 

Moutay, X97 

Moutier, 233 

Muchelney, 2^8 

Much WenlocK, 317 

Muggleswick Bay, 117 

MOhlenbach, 33 

Mullintra, 334 

Mullingar, 334 

Mu 1 of Canty re, 222, 326 

MQllrose, 266 

MOnchen, 233 

Mundham, 2xx 

Munich, 333 

Munster, 121 

Murcia, 176 

Muretto, 74 

Muro, Castel, 75 



Mussomeli, 66 
Mustagh, 325, 327 
Mynydd Mawr, 326 



Naalsoe, X14 

Nabel, 263 

N&blus, or Nabulus,363,3i8 

Nadur, 67 

Nagpoor, 142 

Nan Bield, X54 

Nancemellin, 154 

Nancy, 154 

Nancy Cousins Bay, 268 

Nangy, 154 

Nanhai, 318 

Nanking, 3x8 

Nanling, 3x8 

Nans, X54 

Nantes, 58, X54 

Nant Bourant, 154 

Nant Dant, X54 

Nant d'Axpenaz, X54 

Nant de Gria, X54 

Nant de Taconay, X54 

Nant Frangon, xS3, 951,320, 
338 

Nantglyn, 154 

Nantua, X54 

Nantwich, xo8, 154, 252 

Nant-y-Gwyddyl, 18 1 

Naples, 263, 3x8, 334 

Napoule, 263 

Nash Point, xx7 

Natal, xo 

Natchez, X3 

Natolia, 5x 

Natums, 35 

Nauplia, 363 

Naxia, 357 

Naze, The, xo8, xo9» XX7. 

Nazirah. 357 

Neath River, X45 

Neckar River, 323 

Needles, The, 323 

Negropont, 272 

Nemours, 155 

Ness^ The, xx9 

Nestmg, X99 

Netherby, X04, 3x8 

Netherwich, xo8 

Netley, 320 

Neufch&tel, 318 

Neumark, X77 

Neustadt, 3x8 

Nevers, X49 

Neville. 319 

Nevilleholt, 137 

New Amsterdain, 30, 

Newbottle, 333 

New Brunswick, 28 

Newby, 3x8 



New Caledonia, 35 
Newcastle, 3x8 
Newchurch, 337 
New Forest, 247 
Newfoundland, 8, x6, ^^tS 
Newgate, 68, X84 
New Ground, 339 
New Hampshire, 28 
Newhaven, 238 
New Hebrides, 25 
New Holland, 24 
New Inverness, 20 
New Jersey, 20 
Newland, 3x8 
New Netherlands, 20 
New Orleans, X9, 28 
Newport, 238, 3x8 
Newport-Pagnell, X27 
Newsom, 03 
New South Wales, 25 
Newstead, 3x8 
New Sweden, ao 
New York, 20, 49 
New Zealand, 24 
Niagara, X3, 28 
Nice, 806 
Nicopolis, 306 
Nightingale Lane, 3/3 
Nihou, X35 
Nilgherries, 324 
Nimegen, X55 
Nimwegen, 266 
Nine Elms, 3x9, 33x 
Ninekirks, 3x9 
Nipissing, X3 
Nismes, 334, 339 
Nobar, 3 
Nora, 6x 
Norbury, 3x7 
Norfollc, X79, «7 
Norfolk Island, 35 
Norleig^. 3x7 
Normandby, x8o 
Normandikes, 905 
Normandy, 47 
Norman's Cross, xx9 
Normanton, 138 
NorrkOping, 354 
North Anna River, 30 
Ncnthfleet. X34, X84, 330 
North Fork, 330 
Northumberland, X79, 3x7 
Northwich, xo8 
Norwich, zxo 
Norwick Bay, 1x4 
Notre Dame des Ports, 241 
Nottins HiU, z86 
Nova Scotia, 8, 30 
Nova Zembla, 3x8 
Novgorod, 3x8, 333 
Novon, X49 
Nuldurg, 334 



350 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



NuaeaUn^ 333 
Nunthorpe, 233 
Nutford, 320 
NycOping, 854 
Nymet Rowland, 224, 399 
Nyon, X49 



Oakley, sax 
Oare, 331 
()chil HUls, X64 
Odiiltree, 164 
Ock River, 136 
Odalen^o, 98 
Oder River, 330 
Oerder Spitz, 326 
OfTa's Dyke, 171 
Offenham, 2zz 
Offley, 2ZO 
Ohio, 13. 322 
Ohre, lover, 144 
Oise River, 136 
Oister Hills, 212 
Okeley, 321 
Oke River, 136 
01bia,6z 
Olanogh, 237 
Old Bailey, 184 
Old Ditch, 171 
Old Ford, 169 
Old Man, 266 
OUevat, 330 
Olney, 321 
Oloron, 72 
Olympus, 325 
Ombsditch,z97 
Oporto, 282 
Orange, Fort, 20 
Orange River, 93, 264 
Orellana River, 22 
Orford, 107, no, 331 
Orfordness, ioq 
Or^an Mountains, 303 

Onppo, 63 
Oristaii«o7 
Orkney, xx3 
Orleans, 2x5 
Ormathwaite, xi6 
Ormennrd, 389 
Ormes Ready xt7 
Ormsby, 83, sio 
Ormunde, jxS 
Oseney, X36, 836 
Ose River, 136 
Osey Ishuid, 136 
Ossaia^ aoa 
Ostegha* ofB 
Ostend, 318 
Ostia, 241 
Ost-tOnne, 79 
Oswestry, X52, «ii 



Otford, 169, 2X1, 3x8 
Othery, 238 
Othoca, 6x 
Ottawa, X3 
Otterboum, 320 
Oudales, X25 
Ouistrebam, 93 
Ouroq River, X44 
Ousebum, X36, X4X 
Ouse River, X36 
Ousel River, X36 
Over, 240^ 331 
Overyssel, 331 
Owlair Tor, X50 
Owstwick, 92 
Oxford, X69, 320, 331 
Oxfordshire, 179 
Oxley, 390 
Oxmantown, Z2X 
Oxney. 240 
Oxwicn, XX7 

Pabba, 228 
Pachynus, 60, 61 
Pacific Ocean, 322 
Padstow, 230 
Paestum, 226 
Psdnbeuf, 124 
Palatinus, Mons, 309 
Palermo, 322 
Palestine, 48 
Pall Mall, 195 
Palmyra, 257, 321 
Pampeluna, 215 
Panama, 321 
Pann Castle, 147 
Papa, 228 
Papas, 228 
Paplay, 228 
Paraguay, 330 
Parahiba, 330 
Parana, 330 
Parangbuna, 330 
Paris, 48, 58 
Pare, 257 
Passingiord, 169 
Patagonia, 321 
Patimo, 257 
Patra, 334 
Paunton, 169 
Peak, 326 

Pelorus Cape, 252, 322 
Pembroke, Z47, 328 
Pen, X47 
Penard, X47 
Pencoid, 147 
Pencraig, 147 
Pendeonia, X47 
Pendhill, 141 
Pendldiill, 141 
Pendleton, 147 



Pendrich, X47 
Penguin Islaiids, 251 
Penherf, X47 
Penhill, X4X, X47 
Penilucus, X46 
Penketh, X47 
Penlaw, 141 

Penmaenmawr, 147, 317 
Peumarch, X47 
Penmorpha, 33X 
Penn, X47 

Pennagaul Hills, 147 
Pennant, X54 
Penne, X46 
Pennigant, X47, 326 
Pennine Al^, 146 
Pennsylvania, X2 
Penpont, X47 
Penrhos, X47, X49 
Penrhvn, X37, X47 
Pennth, X47 
Penrvn, X37 
Pensby, xx6 
Penshurst, X47, 329 
Pentland Hills, 147 
Pentlow Hills, 141 
Penwally, 147 
Penyholt Stack, 117 
Penzance, 230 
Peraea, 3x8 
Perga, 8x 
Pergamos, 8x 
Pemambuco, 23, 322 
Perranzabuloe, 230 
Persia, 57 
Peru, 279 
Perugia, 257 
Perwick, xx5 
Peschkow, 320 
Peterborough, 81 
Petersfield, 845 
Petersgate, x68 
Petra,ss 
Petuaria, 93 
Pevensey, 238 
Pfyn, X78 
Pharos, 252, 294 
Phiala, 323 
Philadelphia, Z2, 2x4 
Philippine Islands, 5, 22 
Philipstown, 6 
Phillip, Port, 26 
Phineke, 60 
Phoenice, 60 
Phoeuicisi, 53, 321 
Phoenicus, 60 
Phceniki, 60 
Piacenza, 26a, 32a 
Picardy, 47 
Piccadilly^ 194 
Pic du Midi, 326 
Picts* Work, X7J 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



351 



Piedmont, 50 

Pihkms,3z8 

Pihline, 318 

Pike o^ Stickle, xi6, 396 

Kkttis, 970, 325 

Pile of Foudry, 353 

Pilerims' Hatch, 335 

Piir^Si 
Pimlico, 189 

Pindus, Mount, X46 
Piohow, 141 
Pisa, 257 
Pbgah,335 
Pisogne, 98 
Pitchley, z8z 
Pittsburgh, zg 
Pitusae, 63 
Fix del Moro, 73 
Piz Morter, 74 
Pix Mortiratsch, 74, 336 
Piz Moretto, 74 
Pleshy, Z36 
Plflner See, 328 
Plumetot, 93, za3 
Plymouth, X3 
Plynlimmon, 3Z9 
Point Anxiety, 25 
Point Tumagain, 25 
Poitou. 48 
Poland, 97 z 
Polbrook, 990 
Polenza. 322 
Polgarth, 64 
Polsden, 220 
Polsdon, 230 
Polstead, 220 
Pomerania, 56, 3Z8 
Po Morto, 243 
Pontaberglasfyn, 33 z 
Pontefract, x66, Z69 
Ponteland, 166, 169 
Pont Neath Vechan, 317 
Pontoise, 33Z 
Pontresina, 75 
Pontus, 56 
Poole, 331 
Poppenwind, 3Z 
Populonia, 957 
Porchester, z66 
Port des Bombes, 9Z3 
Portfleet, Z84 
Portinscale, 333 
Port na Spanien, 903 
Port PhiUmTae 
Portsmouth, 208 
Port Vsdais, 242 
Portugal, 44 
Posgost, 36 
Potomac, zj, 98 
PotMJun, 3z, 39, 966 
Po Vecchio, 243 
Pourriires, aoc 



Preston, 933 
Prestwich, 933 
Prettlewell, Z09 
Preussen, zoz 
Priestholme, zz7 
Priors Hardwick, 233 
Providence, Z2, 98 
Providence, Fort, 95 
Prussia, 3Z8 

Puentede Alcantara, Z4Z 
Pulopenang, 39Z 
Punjab, Z32, 3ZQ 
Purlieet, Z94, Z84 
Putbus, 339 
Putney, 936 
Puy de Cantal, 326 
Puv Maure, 72 
Pwilhelli, 959, 331 
Pwll-Meurig, 9Z2 
Pyrenees, 300, 325 



itovic, 195 
^uat, 180 

itford, z8o 
Quebec, Z9 
>ueenborough, 9oi 
jueenhithe, z88 
)ueensberry, 326 
Queen's County, 6 
^uerqueville, 228 
luiberon, Z53 
^uillebeuf, Z24 
luinsan, 327 
juittebeuf, 224 



Raby. zz6 
RadeSurg, 925 
Radegast, 925 
Radegosz, 225 
Radensdorf, 995 
Radibor, 225 
Radihoscht, 995 
Rainsbarrow, zz6 
Raithby, zzz 
Raleigh, za 
Raleigh Island, 14 
Rampsholme, zzs 
Ramsey, xz8, 937 
Ramsgate, x68, 33Z 
Ransdale, zz6 
Rapidan, 90 
Rappahanock, X3, 98 
Rasacarami, 66 
Ras el Tafal, 67 
Rasenna, 35 
Rasicalbo, 66 
Rasicanzir, 66 
Rasicomo, 66 
Ratbyj393 
Ratcliflfe, 393 



Rathay River, zx6 
Rathboyne, 334 
Rathhn, 334 
Ratzenwmden, 3Z 
Ray River, Z38 
Rea River, Z37 
Reading, z6a, 334 
Recken Dyke, 171 
Reculvers, 9X 
Redriff, x88 
Redruth, 993 
Red Sea, 964, 393 
Regalmuto, 66 
Rega River, X38 
Re^en River, X38, 330 
Reichenhall, 252 
Reigate. z68, 327, 33Z 
Reikjavik, 3x9 
Rendlesham, azz 
Repps, zzo 
Repulse Bay, 95 
Resultana, 66 
Retford, 39Z 
Return Keef, 95 
Revesby, ixx 
Reykholt, 94a 
Rey River, X37 
Rha River, 138 
Rhea River, X38 
Rhee River, X38 
Rhegium, 323 
Rheims, 58 
Rheinmagen, 155 
Rheinzabren, X75 
Rhind, 137 
Rhine River, 138 
Rhin River, 138 
Rhoda, Ottlf of, 30 
Rhoetia, |5 
Rhone River, X39 
Ribblechesttr, Z49 
Richardtun, zaS 
Rickeston, zz8 
Rien, X37 
Rievaux, X97 
Ringwood, 49 
Rinmore, Z37 
Rins, Z37 
Rio Colorado, 393 
Rio de la Plua, 3*0 
Rio Grande, jzf 
Rio Madeira, 39a 
Rio Negro, 399 
Robeston, 1x8 
Rockbeer, 1x9 
Rockbere, xt9 
Rockinfj^uuB, p8 
Rodenaitraol, 198 
Rodges, 995 
Rodney, 938, 3gx 
Roehampton, wo 
Roe River, 138 



352 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



Kogeston, zi8 
Rolandseck, ajo 
RoUesby, no 
Romagpa, 49 
Romania, 49 
Roman Stones, ao6 
Rome, 37, 49 
Romford, X07. 
Romney, 331 
Romney Marsh, 237 
Romney, New, 237 
Romney, Old, 237 
Rona. 330 
Ronaldsa, 1x3 
Ronaldsay, 115 
Ronsegno, 98 
Roodey, 239 
Roosefelt, 2z 
Romp, 333 
Rosa, Monte, 150 
Rosatsch, 150 
Roscommon, 150 
Rosduy, 150 
Roseboom, 2x 
Roseg, 150 
Rosendale, 2Z 
Roseneath, 150, 327 
Rosenlaui, X50 
Roslin, X44, X50 
Ross, 150, 327 
Rossal, 33X 
Rossberg, 150, 327 
Rostrenan, 150 
Rotha River, zz6 
Rotherhithe, x88 
Rothwell Haigh, 8z 
Rotterdam, 335 
Rouen, 58, X55, 285 
Roum, ^9 
Roumelia, 49 
Roundhay, 333 
Rousillon, 98x 
Routot, Z23 
Row Tor, X50 
Roxburgh, 150 
Roy River, 138 
Rozas, 30 
Rubicon, 309 
Rudge, 327 
Rue Kivcr, 138 
Rugby, 104, 323 
Rugeley, 327 
Rugen Island, 48 
Runjeetguhr, 215 
Runnimede, 196 
Rushmore, 197 
Rusholme, 321, 331 
Russe River, 56 
Rusucurum, 62 
Rutchester, 172 
Rutland, 333 
Rye River, 137 



Ryknield Street, 167 
Rynd, 137 
Rysom Garth, 92 
Rysum, 332 



Saala River, 252 

Sachsenhausen, z8x 

Saffron Walden, 521 

St Agnes, zzo, 268 

St Albm's Head, 268 

St. Albans, 233 

St. Andrew Undershaft, 191 

St. Angelo, 232 

St Augustine, xo 

St. Bees, 330 

St. Bride's Stack, xz7 

St Brieux, 231 

St. Charles, 19 

St. Clair, Lac, 19 

St. Cloud, 231 

St Denis, 233 

St. Domingo, 258 

St Edmund's Bury, 232 

St. Edmund's Dyke, Z7z 

St. Gallen, 23Z 

St. Goar, 23Z, 268 

St. Helena, zo 

St Heliers, 232 

St. Igny, 368 

St. Ives, 23Z 

St. Kenelm's Well, 930 

St. Kitts, zo 

St. Lawrence, zz 

St Louis, Z9 

St. Malo, 23Z 

St. Mary Overy, z88 

St Mana Potenza, 322 

St. Mary Somerset, z88 

St Mary's Gate, z68 

St Michaers Mount, 64 

St Neot's, 23Z 

St Omer, 33Z 

St Oreste, 268 

St Osyth, 232 

St. Petersburgh, 2Z5 

St Pierre sur le Digue, 24Z 

St Ubes, 968 

St Victoire, 202 

Sala River, 252 

Saldanha Bay, 23 

Salem, zz, 28 

Sale River, 252 

Salisbury, 259 

Salmonby, zzz 

Salop, 49, 259 

Saltaire, 330 

Salt Creek, 330 

Salza, 252 

Salzburg, 252 

Samaden, 75 

Samarcand, 2Z3 



SaKio, 257 . 
Samos. 6z, 325 
Samotnrace, 6z 
Sanda, ZZ3 
Sandbach, zo6, 320 
Sandgate, z68 
Sandhurst, 320 
Sandoe, zz4 
Sandrup, Z05 
Sandsthing, Z99 
Sandwich, zo8, Z20, 236,320, 

Sandwich Islands, 25 
Sandwich Land, 25 
Sand wick, ZZ4, zzs 
Sandwick Bay, ZZ3, zxs 
San^inetto, 202 
Sanifera, 63 
Sannat. 67 
San Salvador, 8 
San Sebastian, 9 
Santa Cruz, 9 
Santander, 233 
Santarem, 233 
Santiago de Compostella 

Santonn, 332 
Same, 324 
Sam Helen, 33a 
Samow, 324 
Sam yr Afrange, 251 
Sarrat, z68 
Sart, 257 
Sarum, Z49, 259 



oaitcrLi 1 wane, 

Saturn ia, 257 
Sauterae, aSz 
Saveme, Z75 
Savoy, The, x8q 
Sawtmg, Z99 
Saxaford, zz4 
Saxby, Z79 
Saxony, 48 
Scale How, zz6 
Scalenghe, 98 
Scaletta, 75 
Scalloway, aoo, 333 
Scanderoon, 214 
Scaranos, Z25 
Scarborough, 8z, zo8, 327 
Scaraess, iz6, Z25 
Schaffhausen, 333 
Schautewitz, 225 
Schluderas, 35 
Sdineekoppe, 325 
SchOlInach, 250 
Schreckhora, 325, 327 
Schwarzwald, 399 
Schwerin, 330 



INDEX I. —LOCAL NAMES. 



353 



Scfawytz, 49, x8z 
Sdnde, 330 
Sdo, 331 
Scor Hill, xxg 
Scotland, 47, 58 
Scotney, 237 
Scots Pits, 304 
Scotthorpe, 179 
Scratch Meal Scar, 322 
Scratta Wood, 233 
Scrivelsby, zxi 
Scrotesby,^ xzo 
Scythopolis, zSx 
Seacoal L>ane, 187 
Seaford, xao, 338 
Seal Chart, 329 
Sealkote, 334 
Seaton, X49 
SeatoUer, 333 
SeckingtoD, 260 
Sedan. 393 
Sedeely, 33X 
Sedlitx, 333 
SM^odunum, 148 
Seidlitz, 387 
Selby, X04, 350 
Selefkieh, 3x4 
Selenti^ 6z 
Seleuaa, 2x4 
Selinus, 61 
Selling, 85 
Selsey, 338, 320 
Senlac, 304 

Seringapatain, 335, 334 
Sermon Lane, X90 
Serpentine, X87 
Servianika, x8x 
Seton, X38 
Sevenoaks, 3x9, 33 x 
Sevilla, 63 
Sewardstone, 3x0 
Shahjuhanpore, 3x5 
Shara-gol, 330 
Sharpenhoduioll, X41 
Shawbury 33 x 
Shaws, Tlie, 268 
Sheemess, X09, X35, 327 
Sheffield, 339 
Shellness, xog 
Shepody Mountain, 268 
Sheppey, 330 
Shepreth, 330 
Sherringham, 84 
Shilton, 2X1 
Shilvington, 84 
Shinbumess, xiC 
Shipton, 320 
Shirleywich, xo8 
Shoebiiryness, X09 
Shoreditch, x88 
Shotover Hill, 267 
Shottington, 79 



Shotwick, XX 7 

Shrewsbtuy, 359, 331 

Sicily, 333 

Sidon, 3, 5, 60, 957 

SiebenbOrgen, 33, 3x9 

Siegesberg, 304 

Sienna, 357, 287 

Sierra Leone, 9 

Sierra Morena, 334 

Sierra Nevada, 4, 335, 337 

Sierra Vermeja, 324 

Sigtuna, 79 

Silberhom, 325 

Silbury, 234 

Silly Wreay, 367 

Siluria, 159 

Silver Hill, xx8 

3ilv«rholm, xx5 

Silver How, X16, 337 

Simcoe Lake, s6 

Sina^ 50 

Sinai, Mount^ 38c 

Sinde, 53 

Singaponr, 334 

Sion, 58, X48, 335 

Sise Lane, 373 

Sistrans, 35 

Sitten, 58, X48 

Siu6-Ling, 335 

Skaei, Cape, 344 

Skalholt, 344 

Skeegles Water, 116 

Skekung, 84 

Skelme^ate, x68 

Skerki Rocks, Z35 

Skeroar, XX3 

Skerpoint, XX7 

Skerries, The, xo8, X17, xi9> 

X2X 

Skerrow, Loch, 1x3 
Skerry back, XX7 
Skerryford, XX7 
Skerryvore, xo8 
Skillington, 98 
Skim, 361 

Skogarfoss, 344, 330 
Skogcottr, 344 
Skokholm Island, XX7, xx8 
Skomer, xx8 
Skrattaskar, aas 
Skyro, 357 
Slaughter, 305 
Slaughterford, 303, 304 
Slievh Beg, 337 
Smerwick, i3o 
Smithfield. Virginia, 17 
Smith's Isles, 17 
Smith's Sound, 15, 26 
Snafell Iceland, 4, 325 
Snafell, Isle of Man, 4, 335 
Snailbatch, 330 
Sneefell, 1x5, 335 

A A 



SneehStten, 4, 335 
Sneekoppe, 4, 335 
Sneeuw Bergen, 4, 325 
Snowdon, 4, 325 
Snow Hill, 273 
Snows, The, 267 
Soar River, X45 
Society Island^ 25 
Soderick, X15 
Sodor, XX4 
SoUentuna, 79 
Solothurn, X34 
Solway, 49, 58, 137 
Somerset, 47 
Somers Islands, aa 
Sonunersby, xxx 
Soracte, 268 
Soudan, 53 
Southfleet, X84 
Spa, 287 
Spain, 60, 63 
Spaniola, 75 
Sparsholt, 329 
Sparta, 56 
Sparti, 357 
Speen, 166 
Spengay, 338 
Spitaificlds, 186, 188 
Spithead, 326 
Spitzbergen, 306 
Spuyten Duyvel, 31 
Staatsburg, 2X 
Stack Isl^d, 1x7 
Stack, North, 1x7 
Stack Rocks, Z17 
Stack. South, XX7 
Stackpole Head, 117 
StafTa, 108, 320 
Stafford, X62, 169 
Staines, 335 
Stake, 1x6 
Stamboul, 26^ 
Standard Hill, 304 
Stanford, 169 
Stanko, 363 
Stanton, 335 
Stapleford, 160 
Stapleford Abbots, 233 
Stappen, 320 
Stargard, 333 
Start Islaiidf, 240 
Starwitz, 3x8 
Staten Island, 21 
Steepavat, 1x4 
Steepholm, xi8 
Stepney, 188, 360, 273 
Steyermark, X77 
Sticklinch, 238 
Sticks, The, 116 
Stockbridge, X70 
Stockholm, xo8, 333 
Stoke-Mandeville, xa? 



354 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



Stoke-Pirou, 137 
Stokesby, xxo 
Stolac, 36 
Stolvizza, 36 
Stonaire, 330 
Stonegate, x68 
Stone Street, 167 
Stony Stratford, 167 
Store River, 134 
Storms, Cape of, 23 
Stor River, 134 
Stortford, 169 
Stourmouth, 336 
Stour River, 134 
Stowmarket, 254 
Straightgate, 119 
Strand, The, 185 
Strangford, 107, lao 
Stratford, 167, 317, 332 
Stratford-le-Bow, 169 
Stratford-on-Avon, 169 
Strathclyde, 328 
Stratheme, 338 
Strath-helmsdale, 1x3 
Stratton, X67 
Streatham, X67 
Streatley, X67 
Streets of London, X83 
Stretford, 167 
Stretton, 167, 317, 333 
Stronsa, xx^ 
Strumble Head, 1x7 
Studda, X18 
Studland, 340, 333 
Stura River, X34 
Stunninster, 333 
Stuyyesant, 3X 
Suabia, 48, 99 
Sudbury, 317 
Sudley, 3x7 
Sudreyiar, 1x4 
Suevegnem, x8x 
Suffolk, 179, 317 
Sulby^ X15 
Sulchi, 6x 
Sully, 117 
Superior, Lake, 19 
Sdr, 357 
Surrey, 179, 317 
Susquehanna, 13 
Sussex, 179, 3x7 
Sutherland, 50, X13, 317 
Swabia, 48, 99 
Swale River, X45 
Swanage, xso, 360 
Swan River, 33 x 
Swanthorpe, x3o 
Swanwick, xso 
Swashings, The, 368 
Sweden, 79, xox 
Swedesboro', ao, 30 
Swindon, 330 



Swingfield, 320 
Switzerland, 49 
Sybaris, 61, 304 
Sydney, 26 
Syria, 57 



Tabae, 62 

Table Mountain, 323 
Tacarata, 62 
Tachbury, 248 
Tadmor, 2, 257, 321 
Tagara, 62 
Tagarata, 62 
Tagus, 63 
Tain, 1 09 
Ta Loch, 144 
Tamar River, 144 
Tame River, X44 
Tamworth, 80, 333 
Tancarville, 105 
Tankerton, 128 
Tarasp, 75 
Tarifa, 68, 213, 305 
Tarik, Mountain of, 68 
Tarragona, 63 
Tarsus, 61 
Tasmania, 24 
Taurus, X50 
Tave River, 144 
Tavbtock, 332 
Tavy River, 144 
Taw River, X44 
Tay River, X44 
Teane River, 139 
Tees River, X4S 
Tei^n River, 139 
Telliboden, 73 . 

Tema River, 144 
Teme River, 144 
Tempe, 333 
Temple, 189 
Temple Chelsing, 334 
Temple Dinsley, 334 
Temple Roydon, 334 
Tempsa, 61 
Tenby, 118 
Tenedos, 257 
Tenterden, 245, 339 
Terceira, 319 
Terhoulde, 125 
Ternengo, 98 
Terregles, 234 
Tete Blanche, 4 
Tew Dunse, 2x8 
Tewesley, 318 
Tewj Great, 318 
Tewm, 3 18 
Teyn River, X39 
Thames River, 135, 144 
Thanet, 9X 
Thapsus, 6a 



Thaso. 357 
Thaxtcd, X36, 363 
Thera, 322 
Thermopylae, 319 
Theroude, 135 
Thimbleby, soi 
Thinganes, 199 
Thingmuli, 199 
Thingore, 199 
Thingskaler, 199 
Thingvellir, X98 
Thingwall, H7f ^99 
Thistleworth, 263 
Thoby, 109 
Thomaston, 118 
Thong Castle, 269 
Thong Castor, 269 
Thorigny, 219 
Thorington, 84 
Thomey, 278, 321 
Thomey Island, 236 
Thomston, 118 
Thornton, 117 
Thorp, X19 
Thorpe, no, X20 
Thorpe, East, ixo 
Thorpe le Soken, 1x0 
Thorrington, 84 
Thorshavn, xx4 
Thrace, 55 
Thun, 148 
Thunderhill, 2x9 
Thundersfield, 2x9 
Thundersleigh, 2x9 
Thundorf, 148 
Thundridge, 319 
Thurleigh, 319 
Thurlow, 3iq 
Thuming, 98 
Thur River, 133 
Thurr River, X34 
Thursby, 319 
Thurscross, 319 
Thursfield, 319 
Thursford, 2x9 
Thuishelton, xx9, soc, 219 
Thursley, 3x9 
Thurso, 1x3, 219 
Thurstable, 3x9 
Thurstan, xx8 
Thurstanton, 117 
Thurston, 219 
Thwing, 300 
Tian River, 139 
Tibbs Row, 273 
Tiberias, 215 
Tierra del Fuego, 319 
Tilisuna, 35 
Tingewick, 200 
Tingrith, 200 
Tingshogen, X9 
TingwalT, 199 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



355 



Tinsley, aoo 

Tinwald Hill, 199 

Tinwell, 200 

TIascala, 13 

Tobago, 38x 

Todburn, 320 

Todfield, 320 

Todincthun, 79 

Toft, 1x1 

Tokay, 282 

Toledo, 64, 288 

Toller Fratrum, 233 

Tom Kedgwick Mountain, 

268 
Tone River, 139 
Tonengo, 98 
Tong, 180 

Tooley Street, 261, 273 
Tooter Hill, 22 x 
Toot Hill, 22X 
Toplitz, 321 
Tor, X50 
Torbay, 150 
Torcegno, 98 
Torkington, 98 
Tomess, 2x9 
Torre River, X34 
Torres Straits, 23 
Torres Vedras, 318 
Tortuga, 321 
Tot Hill, 221 
Totness, 119, 333 
Toulouse, 58, 338 
Toumay, 264 
Toumebue, 124 
Tours, 58 
Tourville, X23 
Tower Hill, 183 
Trachonitis, 55 
Traeth Mawr, 238 
Trafalgar, 37X, 335 
Tralee, 331 
Transylvania, 33, 3x8 
Trapani, 270, 323 
Trebbia, 153 
Trebizond, 323 
Treborough, 153 
Trebroad'.T, 152 
Trebroun, 152 
Trebus, 332 
Tredegar, 332 
Tre-evan, 153 
Trefonen, 152 
Tregallon, 152 
Treglia, 153 
Trehom, 152 
Trenance, X54 
Tresso, 153 
Tretire, 152 
Treton, X52 
Tretown, X53 
Treuchan, X52 



Trevento, 152 
Treves, 48, 58, 153, 332 
Trevi, 152 
Trevill, 152 
Treviso, 152 
Trewen, 152 
Tricastin, 152 
Trient, XS3 
Trieste, XS3 



Tring. 83 
Trinidad, 



xo 



Trins, 35 
Tripe Court, 273 
Tripoli, 5, 263, 286, 319 
Trivento, 154 
Trondhjem, 201 
Trotternish, xi4 
Trotterscliffe, 261 
Troughain, 248 
Troyes, 58, 152 
Trump Street, 190 
Truxiilo, 215, 264 
Tschars, 35 
Tubingen, 334 
Tucking Mill, 1x9 
Tuileries, 196, 309 
Tulloch Street, 36x 
Tunbridge, X70 
Turas, xsp 
Turdetani, X59 
Turhulme, X35 
Turia River, X34 
Turiaso, X59 
Turiga, 159 
Turin, 48, 58 
Turkey, 48 
Tumagain Point, 25 
Tursdale, 219 
Tuscany, 35 
Tusis, 35 
Tyburn, 187, 330 
Tydd, 240 
TyDdewi, 230 
Tyne River, 139 
Tynet River, 139 
Tynwald Hill, 20X 
Tyre, 5, 60 
Tyrol, 55, 150 
Tyrrell's Ford, 208 

Ucheltree, X64 
Uchiltre, X52 
Uckfield, 245 
Ufford, 211 
Uggmere, 136 
Uig, 114 
Ukermark, 177 
Ukraine, 177 
Ulrome, 92 
UUsthorpe, 316 
Ulster, X2I, 33a 

A A 2 



Ulverstone, xx6 
Umbria, 287 
United States, 37 
Upminster, 233 
Upton, 318 
Ural Mountains, 335 
Urbiaca, X59 
Urbina, 159 
Una, X59, x6o 
Urueuay River, 32X 
Use River, X36 
Usk River, 135 
Utica, 6x, 62 
Utrecht, 263 
Uxbridge, 170 



Vaagoe, X14 
Val de Nant, X42, 154 
Valdengo, 98 
Val de Penas, 282 
Valenciennes, 215, 291 
Valentia, 322 
Valetta, 213 
Valparaiso, 322 
Vancouver's Island, 25 
Van Diemen's Land, 24 
Vanduaria, 92 
Vannes, 58, X54 
Varengefjord, 126 
Varengeville, X26 
Varengo, 98 
Vattemish, X14 
Vels, 35 
Velthurns, 35 
Venetia, 52, 154 
Venezuela, 32 x 
Venloo, 329 
Vera Cruz, 9 
Verbose, X35 
Verde, Cape, 323 
Verdun, X49 
Vermont, X9, 324 
Verurium, xsq 
Vespasian's Camp, 2x2 
Vesuvius, 243, 320 
Vevay, 28 x 
Via Flandrica, xi8 
Vicenza, 323 
Vico, 125 
Victoria, 215 
Vieo, 107, 125 
Villanders, 35 
Villeneuve, 242, 3x8 
Vindelida, 52 
Vineyard, The, 350 
Vinland, 8 
Virgin Isles, xo 
Virginia, 6, 13 
Vittefleur, 134 
Vittoriosa, 3x3, 377 
Vogar, X18 



3S6 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



Volaterra, 357 
Volhvnia, 55 
Voorbourg, 263 



Wadhurst, 245 
Wadley, 2x8 
Wafer inlet, 34 
Walbrook, 187 
Walcheren, 43 
Walden» 390 
Walderswick, xzo 
Waldingfield, 98 
Wales, 43 
Wallabout Bay, 2z 
Wallachia, 43 
Wallensee, 43 
Wallenstadt, 43 
Wallentuna, 73 
WaUis, A3 
Wallingtord, 169 
Wallsend, 172 
Walmgate, z68 
Waloole, 240 
Walsall, 333 
Walsoken, 240 
Walterston, zx8 
Waltham, 329 
Walton, xiOk 240 
Walton-on-the-Naze, zio 
Walworth. 80 
Wambrook, 2x8 
Wamden, 2x8 
Wampool, 2x8 
Wanborough, 2x8 
Wandcrup, 333 
Wandleshury, i8o 
Wandswortl^ 80 
Wansbeckwater, Z4X 
Wansdyke, Z7Z, 218, 335 
Wansford, 2x8 
Wansley, 2x8 
Wanstead, 2x8 
Wanstrow, 2x8 
Wanthwaite, 2x9 
Warcop, 329 
Warcoppice, 206 
Wardlaw, X7S 
Wardykes, 206 
Ware, 205 
War Lane, 204 
Warminster, 233 
Warmlow, 21 x 
Wamborough, 218 
Warrineton, 85, 98, Z86 
Warwidc, 108 
Warwickshire, 179 
Washburn, Z4X 
Wash, The, X36 
Wasowetz, 332 
Waterbeach, 240 
. Waterford, X07, X20, 867 



Waterloo, 329 
Watem Tor, 1x9 
Watervliet, 2X 
Wath^ick, xx7 
Watling Street, Z67 
Wavertree, X52 
Wayland Smith, 22X 
Weald, The, 244 
Wedesley, 2x9 
Wednesbury, 218 
Wednesfield, 218 
Wednesham, 2x9 
Wedneshough, 2x9 
Weighl)Ogen, 224 
Weighton, 224, 226 
Weisshom, 4, 325 
Weissmies, 4, 325 
Weland's Forge, aai 
Welbcck, 3^ 
Welland luver, 330 
Wellington, 26, 83 
Well Street, 244. 
Wembury, 2x8 
Wendel Hill, x8o 
Wenden, 3X 
Wendhausen, 31 
Wendischhayn, 3X 
Wendlcbnry, x8o 
Wendon, 2x9 
Wendover, 33X 
Werra, 330 
Werring[ton, 85 
Weschnitz River, 31 
Weser River, 3x8 
Weska, 332 
Wessex, 179, 317 
Westboume, X87 
Westgate, x68 
Westhatch, 33s 
Westholme, 238 
West Indies, 57, 273 
Westmann Isles, x8x 
Westminster, 233, 335 
Westmoreland, 3x7 
Westonzoyland, 238 
Westphalia, 55, 3x8 
Westra, XX3 
Westrup, 105 
West-tOnne, 79 
Westvoe, zz4 
Wetterhom, 325, 327 
Wexford, 107, x2o 
Weybridge, X70, 332 
Wey River, X37 
Whitby, X04, XX7 
Whiteford, ZX7 
Whitefriars, 189 
Whitehall, 259 
Whitehorse Hill, aaz 
Whiteness, Z09 
White Sea, 323 
Whitney, 235 



Whitsand, zz8 
Wick, Z07, 1x3, Z90 
Wickham, 108 
Wickham Market, 255 
Wickhaven, 1x7 
Wicklow, X08, 120 
Wick Rock, 1x9 
Wieck, 332 
Wieringerwaard 726 
Wiescnfeld, 250 
Wiesenstiege, 250 
Wight, Isle of, 48, 208, 265 
Wi^thorp, 224 
Wilhelmsbad, 2x6 
Wilksby, XXX 
Williamstown, xx8 
Wilnpach, 264 
Wilstrop, X05 
Wiltshire, 47 
Wimille, 88 
Winchelsea, 237 
Winchester, 154, Z62, 328, 334 
Windheim, 31 
Windischbuch, 3Z 
Windischgratz, 3Z 
Windle, 88, x8o 
Windleden, x8o 
Wlndlesham, z8o 
Windsor, 33Z 
Wingleton, 79 
Winnal, 250 
Winnenden, 3Z 
Winnipeg, Lake, 3Z7 
Winnipegoosis, 3x7 
Winsborough, 2x8 
Winsted, 248 
Wjnter Harbour, 25 
Winterthur, X34, 266 
Wisbeach, X36, 240 
Wisborow Hill, 2x8 
Wisby, 224 
Wisconsin, Z3 
Wiskin, X36, 240 
Wisk River, X36 
Wissan, 241 
Wistman's Wood, X97 
Wiza River, xx6 
Woden Hill, 2x8 
Woking. 83. 84 
Wolds, The, 9X, 246 
Wolferlow, 250 
Wolga, 317 
Wollau, 320 
Wolsingham, 84 
Wolvesey, 250 
Wonersh, 2x8 
Wonston, 2x8 
Woodbatch, xo6 
Woodbridge, 2x8 
Woodford, 169 
Woodmas, Z54 
Woodnesborough 218 



INDEX I.— LOCAL NAMES. 



357 



Woolsingham, 84 
Woolwiox, Z09 
Wootton, 348 
Worcester, 46, 49. 261 
Worcestershire, 179 
Worms, 15s 
Worm's Head, zxj 
Wormegay, 328 
Wormwood Street, 184 
Wrabness, xo8, 109, 327 
Wrath Cape, 267 
Wrenside, 116 
Wrey River, 138 
Wroxeter, 150, 174 
Wyborg, 224 
Wych Street, 188 
Wycombe, 151, 328 
Wydale, 234 
Wye River, 137 
Wyk, 12s 
Wyke, 108 
Wysg River, 135 



Xanthus, 393 
Xeres, 282 
Xeuchia, 67 



Yafa, 357 
Yair River, 143 
Yarcombe, 251 
Yare River, 131, 142 
Yarro River, 143 
Yarrow River, 131, 143 
Yaxley, 340 
Yellow Sea, 333 
Yenikale, 66 
Yes Tor, 150 
Ynys Fach, 339 
Ynys Fawr, 339 
Ynys Gwertheryn, 339 
Ynys Hir, 339 
Yonker's Island, 21 
York, 162, 360 
York River, 281 



Yorkslure, 49 
Yverdun, 148 
Yvetot, 133, 333 



Zab River, 133 
Zancle, 333 
Zaragossa, 314, 264 
ZebMy, 67 
Zeboim, 320 
Zeitz, 335 
Zerbruggen, 318 
Zermatt, 155, 318 
Zershell, 314 
Zlebec, 36 
Zsil, 315 
Zus^lio, 3X5, 3^ 
Zunch, 40, 134 
Zuyder Zee, 3x8 
Zweibrficken, 3x9 
Zwettnitx, 335 
Zyet«66 



INDEX II. 



MATTERS. 



•#* Prefixti, suffixes t and roots are distinguished by t/te absence of an initial capita I 
English wordt whose etymology is explained or illustrated are printed in italics. 



a, suffix, zoS, X13, 115, 330 

aayn, Arabic prefix, 67 

abcr, Celtic word, 163, 331 

ac, Celtic suffix, 328, 334 

Acliaean&, The, 57 

acre, 329 

acum, 263 

Adjectivau components of local names, 317 

—325 

Adjectival element of local names, 3x6 

^U>lians, The, 57 

afon, river-root, 131 — 133 

Agate ^ qSjt 

Ag«, relative, adjectival components de- 
noting, 3x8 

agh, 328 

Agriailture, Celtic, terms of, X07 ; con- 
dition of, in Saxon England, 250 

ain, Arabic prefix, 67, 74, 331 

AlabasttTt 286 

Alans in Switzerland, 35 

al, 41 

al, Arabic article, 70 

Alchemy, 53 

Alemanni, The, 41 

Alexander the Great, cities named after, 
213 

Alexandrine verse ^ 301 

Aliens, names in London from, X90 

Al Jezirah (Mesopotamia), 68 

Allemands, The, 41 

all— 'whiie, river-root, 143 

Alps, Arabs in, 72—76 ; ethnology of, 34— 
36 

alt, Welsh, 327 

Axnalekites, 51 

America, colonization of, 7 ; discovery of, 
by the Northmen, 8 ; names of, 8, 313 ; 
earl^ history of, 28, 29 ; mistake in nam- 
ing It, 8, 273. See United States. 



American names, 28 

Amerigo Vespucci, 8, 273 

Ammonia, 287 

Amorites, The, 55 

an, suffix, 39 

Analogy necessary in Onomatology, 312, 

313 
Angel (coin), 298 

Angles, The, 47, 54 ; Angles and Danes, 
no 

Anglo-Norman nobles in Scotland. X27 

Anelo-Saxons, 77 — 102 ; connexion with 
the Swedes, 79 ; settlements in France, 
87—90 ; our Ignorance of the m3rthology 
of, 2x7 ; places named from deities of, 
2x8. See Saxons. 

Animals, extinct, 250 ; places named from, 
320 ; derivation of names of, 284 

Anneal, 723 

Apollo, places named from, 226 

* K-KoaKvQi^leiv, 305 

Apple-trees, places in England named from, 

ar, Celtic preposition, 318 

ar — ^to plough, 44, 46 

ar, river-root, 144 

Arable^ 45 

Arabs, 33, 65 — 76: in Switzerland, js, 73 
— 76 ; Italy, 65—67 ; Malta, 67 ; fsle of 
Pantellaria, 68 ; Spain and Portugal, 68 — 
71 ; France, 71 ; Alps, 73 — 76 • proofs of 
science and ingenuity of, 283 

Arcadian^ 304 

Arcadians, The, qs 

Arches y Court of, 308 

Arctic eicploration, X4 — 16, 25 

ard, Celtic prefix, 150, 326 

Argives, The, 56 

Armorican dialect. The, 130 

Arms, 4s 



INDEX II.— MATTERS. 



359 



Army, 45 

jiroma, 45 

Artesian wells, 394 

Articles, incorporation of, with local names, 

Artillery i 184 

Artois, names in, 87 ; Saxon patronymics 

in, 89 
Aryans, The, 45 
Assassin, 305 
Assemblies, popular, nacies derived from 

sites of, X96 
ath, 331 

Atrebates, The, 48 
Attic (room), 291 
Attic salt, 305 
attuna, 62 
auch, 328 

Augustus, names from, 2x4, 264 
Aurochs, The, in Germany, 250 
Australia, Dutch discovery of, Ss4 
ava, 177 
Avars, The, 85 
Avites, The, 55 

Avon, a Celtic river-name, 131 — 133, 330 
ay, suffix, T08, 263, 330 



Baal or Bel, 63, 220, 225 

Babel, 308 

Badger, The, places in England named 

from, 250 
Baffin's adventures^ X5 
Bail, 184 
Bailiff, 184 
Bails, 184 
Bairn, 46 
Baize, 293 

Balder, names derived from, 220 
bal, balla, bally, Gadhelic root, 78, 164, 

165, 184, 332 
balm, 327 

ban — ^white, river-root, 143 
Barb, 385 
barbar, 42 

Barbarian, 42, 54, 271 
Barbican, 184 
Baron, 46 

barrow, suffix, 8r, 326, 333 
BasGues, The, 40, 56 
batch, root, 106 
Battles, sites of, 5, 202 — 206 
Baudekin, 288 

Bayeux, Saxon settlement near, 92 
Bayonet, 294 

Bayonne, Norse name near, 125 
Bay salt i 180 

Beacon Hills, origin of, 253 
Beaver, The, vestiges of, 251, 320 
bee or beck, root, 106, 1.15, X24, 326, 330 
Bedlam, 309 
Bedouin, 56 



beer, 331 

Behring's explorations. 24 

bekr, root, 124 

beled, 328 

Belgse, a Celtic tribe, 30, 90 

Belgium, Norse name in, X25 

Beloochs, 43 

ben, Gadhelic root, 147, 326 

beni, Arabic patronymic prehx, 71, 83, 334 

bere, suffix, 104 

berg, 8 X, 326 

Berline, 293 

Bennudas, The, discovery of, 2a 

Bemina, The, Moorish colony in the val- 
leys of, 76 

Bemouse, 293 

beth, 333 

Better, 55, 324 

Bigot, 299 

Billingszate, 308 

bir, Arabic prefix, 67, 331 

Biscayans, The, 56 

Bishops' residences, names in London from, 
192 

Black, 55, 324 

Black men, 53 

blair, 328 

Blarney, 306 

Bleach, 324 

Bleak, 324 

BUnkerism, 296 

bluff, 327 

Boar, The wild, places named from, 250,3.10 

Bobby, 2g6 

bod, Celtic, 153, 332 

Boeotian, 304 

boer, root, 104, 119, 124 

boeuf, suffix, 124, 332 

Bogie, 22;^ 

Bogus, 296 

Bohemian language, its decadence, 31 

Boii, The, 46, 48, 53 

Bolivar, 50 

Bonnet, 293 

Booth, X04 

bor, 329 

Border-lands or marches, their influence 
on names, 176 

bom, 330 

borough, suffix, 81, 326, 333 

bosc, 125 

Bosh, 3oi6 

Botkie, X04 

bottle, 332 

Bougie, 294 

Boulogne, Saxon colony near, 87 — 89 

Boundaries, names denoting, 176, 335 

Bowie-knife, 296 

Brag, 223 

Brawn, 296 

Brazils, The, Portuguese discoveries in. 
•3 ; origin of the name, 379 



36o 



INDEX II.— MATTERS. 



Brazil and Bramil wood, 379 

bre, Celtic, 327 ^ 

Brezonec dialect. The, 130 

Bridges, local names derived from, z6o, 331: 

and from their deficiency, 170; the art 

of building them unknown to the Saxons, 

169 ; known to the Celts, 170 
Brig't 305 
Brifana, 305 
Brtgantine, 305 
Britain, name of, 38, 39; its Euskarian 

origin, 64. See England, 
brith, 53 
British chiefs, their names conserved in 

local names, azz 
bro, root, 39, 338 
brook, 330 
Brooks in London, streets named from, 

z86 
brough, suffix, 81, 333 
bryn, Celtic root, 146, 327 
Buckwheat, 279 
buda, 332 

bue, sumx, 104, 124 
buf, suffix, 124 
Bunkum, 306 
burgh, suffix, 81, 172, 333 
Burgher^ 46 
Burgonei, 294 
Burgundians, The, 56 
Burial-places of saints, 332 
Burking, 396 
Burlesque, 30X 
bum, 330 
bury, suffix, 8z ; denoting fortified camps, 

Z72, 333 
bus, suffix, 333 
by or byr, root, X04, Z09 — zx3, zzs, zzg, 

123, 332 
By-law, Z04 
Byzant, 398 



Caen, Saxon settlement near, 93 — 94 

caer, or car, Welsh word, Z73, 334 

Caesar, Julius, local names from, 315, 364 

Cagot^ 300 

cala, Arabic prefix, 67 

Caledonians, The, 56 

Calibre, 294 

Calico, 288 

cam, river-root, Z4S 

Cambric, 290 

Cambridgeshire fens, changes in, 240 

camp, Anglo-Saxon word, 206 

Campanile, 294 

Camps, ancient, local names derived from, 
173, 205 ; indicated by suffix "bury,** Z73 

Canaanircs, The, 55 

Canaanitish names in Palestine, 3; wor- 
ship, traces of, in the Old Testament, 335 

Canada, transformation of names in, 367 



Candy sugar, 380 

Cannibal, 305 

Canter, 307 

Cap and Ca/e, 334 

Cape IVine, 38z 

Carabine, 394 

Carausius, 90, 93 

Caraways, 280 

Carp, 286 

carnck, Gadhelic root, 150, 326 

Carronade, 294 

cartha, Phoenician root, 62, 333 

Carths^ge, Tyrian colony of, 62, 63 

Carthaginians in Spain. 63 ; in Britain, 64 

caster, meaning in local names, Z73, 334 ; 

value as a test-word, Z73 
Castile, indicative of a Dorder kingdom, 

176 
Caucasus, ethnology of, 3^ ^ 
Causativeness, changes ansing from, 365 
cefii, Cymric root, names containing it, 146^ 

Celts, The, traced by local names, 3, 4Z, 
43, Z39 — z6s ; agriculture of, Z07 ; lan- 
guage of, Z39, z6o ; divided into two 
great branches, Z39 ; once the dominant 
race of Europe, Z30 ; traces of, in Swit- 
zerland, 34 ; Wales and Ireland, 78 ; 
Scotland, zz3 ; in river-names, Z30 — Z45 : 
in names of mountains and hills, Z45 ; of 
strongholds, Z48 : of rocks and combes, 
X50: of dwelling, Z53 ; of valleys and 
plains, X53 ; their distribution in Europe 
and Galatia, 155 ; summary of the evi- 
dence, Z57; their settlements in Ger- 
rnacay, X57 ; in France, 157 ; in the Bri- 
tish Isles, z6o ; . compared with the 
SaxoDs and Dane^ z63 ; their connexion 
with bridge-buildmg, Z70; deities of. 
220 : phonetic changes in names derived 
firom, 266 

cenn, Gadhelic root, Z47, 336 

Ceremony, 304 

Chaffer, 353 

Chalcedony, 386 

Chalybeate, 387 

Changes, phonetic, in local nomenclature, 
358 ; among unlettered nations, 359 ; in 
territorial surnames, s6z ; from convert- 
ing sounds into words, 36z ; from causa- 
tiveness, 365 ; from converting words 
into sounds, Celtic, 366*. Angk)-Saxon 
and Norse, 266 ; French and Nonnim, 
267 ; in Canada, 367 

Channel Islands, their village-namies aO 
derived from saints, 165 

Chap, 253 

Chapel, 234 

Chapman, 253 

Charlatan, vgi 

chart, 344, 339 

Chartreuse, 383 



INDEX II.— MATTERS. 



361 



Chasowo, 40 
Chatti, The, 48, 84 
Cf4ap, as3 

CM€Ck, 334 

Chemistry t S3 

Cherry t 276 

Cherusci, The, 54 

Cheshire, Norse colony in,^ xi6 

Chess, origin of the terms in, 324 

Chester, its meaning in local nomenclature, 
173, 33A ; its value as a test-word, 173 ; 
generally found with a Celtic prefix, 173 

Chestnuty 377 

Chevaux de Frise^ 294 

Chevy ^yyi 

Chian wine, 38z 

China, name of, 50 

chipping, market-place, 254 

chlum, 337 

Chocolate, 379 

Christianity, its early propagation in Bri- 
tain, 336 

chy, 153 

Cimbn m Italy, 36 

Cities, names of regions, &c. derived from, 
49 ; history of, perpetuated in street- 
names, Z96 ; names of ancient tribes pre- 
served in, ^7 

Civilization, its history derived from local 
names, 6 

ClaHtZ% 

Clans, Teutonic, 84, 85 

Clareit a8z 

Classical authors, fanciful derivations of, 297 

Classic mythology, names from, 325 

Classification of Norse names, 123 

clere, suffix, 136, 333 

clith, river-root, 145 

Chgy 393 

don, 338 

dough, 335 

Caachy 393 

Coast men, 57 

Coch, 324 

Cocoa^ 37^ 

coed, Celtic word, x8o, 346, 309 

Coj^ee^ 379 

Corns, etymologic of their names, 397 

Coldharbiour, origin of the name, 174 ; its 
frequency on Roman roads, Z7X 

colonia, names derived firom. X75 

Colonies, intrusive, x8x ; isolated, s8 

Colonies of the French. 5, xo ; of the Eng- 
lish, X9, so; of the Dutch, 20; of the 
Spaniards, sx ; ditto in the Padfic, sa ; 
Swedish, so ; of the Portuguese, 33 ; of 
die Germans in North Ital]N 35, 36, 98 ; 
of the Phcenidans, 59 ; of^ the Moors 
in the valleys of the Alps, 73 — 76 ; of the 
Northmen, zax ; in Pembrokesnire, 1x7 ; 
Cheshire, xz6 ; of the Saxons in Gaui, 
88, 94, I03 



Colonization of America, 7 ; German, in 
France, 94 ; Scandinavian, character of, 

Colour, adjectival compounds denoting, 

323 
Columbus, local memorials of, 8, 9 
combe, English names containing, 151, 328 
Commerce, its influence on local names, 

253 
Comparison of names in the Old World 

with those in the New, 28, 30, 313 — 315 
Compass, points of the, 94 
Component elements of local names, 131, 

3x6 ; adjectival, 317 ; substantival, 326 
condate, 33X 

Confederations of Teutonic invaders, 97 
Configuration, adjectival compounds de- 

notug, 323 
Contraction, its influence on phonetic 

changes, 261 
Cool^ Laptain, discoveries of, 25 
Coolie^ 304 

cop, Saxon, 326; Celtic, 329  
CopPfTy 286 
Cordillera, 327 
CordwaituTy 389 
Corncrake^ 197 
Cornwall, Northmen in, X19 ; language of, 

161 ; local names in, 152 ; derived from 

places of assembly, 197 
Corruptions from changing sounds into 

words, 26x ; from mistakes or miscon- 
ceptions, 273 ; legends arising from, 269 
Corsair, 305 

Corsica, Phcenicians in, 6z ; Arabs, 67 
Cossacks, The, 54 
cote, Anglo-Saxon, 333 
coteba, 63 
Couch, 293 
Counties of £n|;land, named from cities, 

49; divided into hundreds, 127; into 

wapentakes, 127 ; ethnic names of, X79 
Countries named from cities, 49 ; from 

rulers and founders, 49, 50 
court, Anglo-Norman suffix, 126 
craig, Cymric, a rock, 150, 326 
Crane, The, places in England named 

firom, 350 
crau, X50, 326 
Cravat, 292 
Crayon, 286 

creek, in American river-names, ax, 330 
Cretaceous, a86 
Crete, conquest of, by the Dorians, 42 .- 

Phoenician settlements in, 60, 6x 
Cretin, 300 
crick, 326 
Croak, igj 
Croats. 55 
Crutch, X89 
Cii^ Coins, 298 
Curufoo, 283 



362 



INDEX II.— MATTERS. 



CurrantSt 978 

cwm, Celtic root, 151, 328 

Cymxi, The, 39, 40, 47 ; their course traced 
t»y names of places, 155 ; settlements in 
Europe, 155, 156 : immigration into Ger- 
Tusaxy, 157 ; from North Italy, 157 : 
settlements in England and Wales, 160; 
in Scotland, 163 ; limits there defined, 
164 

Cymric dialect. The, 130 

CyPresSi 380 



dagh, suffix, 337 

dale, suffix, zo6, 1x3, 338 

dam, 335 

Damask^ 388 

Damask rose, 378 

Damson. 378 

Danelagh, The, zzz, zsz, 300, 301 

Danes : London besieged by, zoo , their 
settlement in the Soutn-East of England, 
Z09, zio; in Lincolnshire, zzz; in Ox- 
fordshire, ZZ3 ; in Somersetshire, iig ; 
in Devonshire, zz9 ; in Dorsetshire, z2o ; 
in Hampshire, zao; in the South of 
England, ZZ9, z30 ; in Ireland, z3o, z3z ; 
in France, 93, Z33 — Z3s; conflicts with 
them, 304—306 

Danish names, distribution of, zzz, z33 ; 
compared with Saxon and Celtic names 
in England, z6a 

Date ofthe first Teutonic settlements in 
England, 90--93 

Davis, John, his discoveries, Z4 

Del/ ware, 39z 

Demijohn, 395 

den, Celto-Saxon root, 245, 339 

dent, 337 

Derrick, 396 

Derwent, meaning of, Z33 

Descriptive names, 3, 4, 333 

Deuce, 323 

Deutsche, The, 4Z 

Devil, The, legends attaching to places 
named after, 333 ; " Old Nick ' and 
" Old Scratch,'" 322 

Devizes, derivation of the name, 178 

Devonshire, the Danes in, 1x9 ; Scan- 
dinavian colony there, 3oo 

Dexter, 5Z 

deyr, Arabic prefix, 67 

dhu — ^black, nver-root, X43 

Dialect, Anglian, zio 

Diaper, 390 

Diet, Z98 

Dimity, 389 

dodd, 336 

Doiley, 395 

dol, Celtic root, zo6, Z49, 398 

Dollar, 298 



Don, river-name, Z38 ; its probable signi* 
fication, Z38; its extensive prevalence, 
Z39 ; suffix, 334 

dorf, 78, 373 

Dorians, The, 55 

Dorsetshire, Danes in, z2o 

Douane, 71 

dour, Z33 

Dragonwort, 380 

Drake, Sir Francis, adventures of, z6 

drowo, 339 

Drugg^et, 393 

drum, prefix, 327 

drwg, Indian, 334 

Ducat, 398 

Duck (clothX 390 

Duke, Z76 

Dumfriesshire, Northmen in, zzs 

dun, Celtic root, names of fortresses con 
taining, Z48, 337, 334 

Dun cow. The, legend of, 369 

Duplicate names of nations, 39 

dur or dwr, xiver-root, Z33— Z35 ; its pro- 
bable source, Z38 

Dutch, colonies of, in North and South 
America, 30; their discoveries in the 
Eastern Ocean, 33 ; their discovery ot 
Australia, 34 ; origin of the name, 

4X 
Dwellings, substantival components de- 
. noting, 8z, Z04, Z52 
dwr, Welsh word for water, Z33, Z3S, Z73, 

330 
Dykes, Saxon, account of, Z7z ; names 
derived from, Z7Z, 335 



Ea, Z09 

Eagle (coin), 298 

Earnest, 45 

Earnings, 45 

Earth, 45 

Easter, 32 z 

Eastern mythology, names from, 335 

Eastern Ocean, Dutch discoveries in the, 

S3 

Edomites, The, 53 

Eigil, names derived from, 333 

Elements of local names, 3x6 

Elizabethxm era and its worthies, Z3, z6 

Elk, places in Germany named from, 350 

Elves, 335 

Emperors of Rome, local names derived 
from, 3Z4 

en, suffix, zoz 

Eneland, once Celtic, 3Z ; the land of in- 
cTosures, 77 ; Carthaginians in, 64 ; date 
of Teutonic settlements in, 90 — 93 ; Nor- 
mans in, Z36— Z38 ; Norman - French 
names in, Z36— Z38; Celtic river-names in, 
13Z — 145 ; Celtic roots in names cf hilli 



INDEX II.— MATTERS. 



63 



and fortresses of, 146—154 ; estimate of 
the Celtic element in, z6o; the retro- 
cession of the Celts in, z6o ; traces of 
its universal occupation ^ by them, z6z ; 
comparison of the Celtic element in, 
with the Saxon and Norse, 163 ; Roman 
names in, rare, 166 ; examples of Roman 
constructive skill abundant, 167 ; names 
from sites of popular assemblies, X96; 
from Scandinavian ** things," 198--30X ; 
from battle-fields, 202 ; its ethnic shire 
and village names, 179 ; names derived 
from confucts with the Danes, 204 — 206 ; 
myths of its early history, 207 ; eponymic 
names derived from the Saxon Conquest, 
209 — 2iv ; from British traditions, 2x2 ; 
from the propagation of Christianity, 226.; 
geological changes in, 235 ; forest dis- 
tricts, 244 — 247 ; its populousness in 
Saxon times tested by the hundreds, 
248 ; evidence as to state of agriculture, 
349; vineyards, 250; extinct animals, 
250 ; iron mines and salt works, 251, 253 ; 
commerce, 253 ; Saxon patronymics 
in, identical with those in Artois, 88 ; 

fatronymics in, and in Germany and 
'ranee, 94, p7. ^ See Britain. 

English Colonies in North America, x6, 19 

English onomatology, books necessary for, 
313 

Eostre, Saxon goddess, 33x 

Epicure, 396 

Epigram on Spencer and Sandwich, 395 

Eponymic names, examples of, S07 

Ermine^ 284 

Errand, 45 

Erse dialect. The, X30, z6o 

Esk, river-name, X35— X37, 330 

Esquimaux, 4() 

Essex, Danes in, Z09, 199 

etan, suffix, 39 

Ethical terms from names of nations, 299 

Ethiopians, The, 53 

Ethnic names, 37 — 58 ; obscure origin of, 
37 ; conserved m the names of cities, 48, 
49 ; derived from geographical position, 
50; from weapons, 54, 98 ; ethnic shire- 
names, Z7^ ; and village-names, Z79 

Ethnograpnic names, 53, 54 

Ethnology, illustrated by local names, 4, 
27 — ^36 ; its connexion with hydrography, 

32* 33 

Ethnology of Great Britain, 3Z, 161 ; of 
mountain districts, 33 — 36; of Switzer- 
land, 34 j of the Isle of Man, 165 

Etruscans in Switzerland, 35 ; in the Tyrol, 

35 

Etymologists, tlieir sources of error ex- 
amined, 3ZZ 

Europe, 5Z ; peopled from the East, 129 

Euscaldunaic, 40 

Euskarian race, traces of, 30, 34, 39, 64, 



zz3,^ Z29, 159 ; settlements in France, 
Spain, and Portugal, Z58 
Excellence, or the reverse, names denoting, 

393 
Exchequer Court, 324 
ey, suffix, 109, 1Z3, ZZ5, 236, 330 



Fabrics, textile, derivations of names ol 

288 
Falemian winCy 28 z 
Fallow f 55 
faran, zo6 

Fare and Farewell^ 106 
Farthings 298 
fell, root, Z06, 115, 125, 327 
Fellahs, The, 56 
Fens, names in the, 237 ; their reclama* 

tion and original state, 240, 24Z 
Feringhee^ 47 
Ferries, local names in London derived 

frt>m, z88 
Festivals, names of places derived from, 10 
Feuilleton, 297 
Fiacre^ yyj 
field, 105, 244, 329 
Field, Z06 
Fieldfare, zo6 
Fiel(M near London, streets named after, 

185 

Fiend, 302 

Filial and original settlements (Anglo- 
SaxonX 85 — 90 

Fir-trees, their absence from England in 
early times, 249 

Fish, names of, from places, 286, 320 

Flannel, 293 

Flash, 308 

fleet, suffix, Z24, Z84, 330 

flegg, Norse word, zio 

Flemings, The, 42 ; in Pembrokeshire, 
zz8; evidence of their manufacturing in- 
dustry-, 290 

fieur, suffix, 124, 330 

fliot, Norse word, 124 

Flitch, 24s 

Float, Z84 

Florin, 298 

Fold, Z06 

fold, suffix, 80, Z06, 333 

force, root, zo6, zzs, 330 

ford, suffix, X06, Z07, ZZ5, 33Z 

Fords, load names derived from, 169; 
proof of the deficiency of bridges, Z69 ; 
substantival components denoting, 33Z 

Foresters, 56 

Forests, primaeval, extent discoverable by 
local names, in Iceland, 343; in Hol- 
stein, &c., 344 ; south-west of London, 
244; other parts of England, 244->246 ; 
the afforestmg of the New Forest, 247 ; 
substantival components denoting, 339 



364 



INDEX T I.— MATTERS. 



folk, 330 

FOrstemann's '* Altdeutsches Namenbuch/' 
31a 

Fortresses, Arab, in Sicily, 66 ; Celtic, 148; 
Saxon, 8z, 172 ; Roman, 173 ; Spanish, 
176 

forum, phonetic modifications of, 263 

foss, root, X06, 330 

Foxes in the Isle of Man, 350 

Franc, 998 

France, mediaeval extent of, 47 ; settle- 
ments of Arabs in, 71, 7a ; of Saxons, 87, 
oa ; of Danes, 93^ ; of Germans, 94, 95 ; 
German spoken in, 05 ; German names 
^t 33* 93 — 9^ * Northmen in, xaa — 235 ; 
Celtic nver-names in, 13a — 14^ ^ Celtic 
roots in names of mountains, nill-forts, 
and towns, 146 — 154 ; traces of Celts in 
Northern and Centnd districts, 157 ; of 
Euskarians, 158 ; patronymics in, and in 
England and Germany, 88, 94, 97 

Franchise^ 300 

Frank, 300 

Franks, The, 47, 54 ; supremacy of, in the 
Levant, 47; settlement in Kent, 97; 
meanine of the name, 54, 98 

Franks, The Salian, 56 

Frea, Saxon deity, places named after, a 18 

French colonies in North America, 5, 19 

Frieze (architectural), 391 

Frieze (doth), 391 

Frisian settlements in Yorkshire, 91, 93 

Frizzle, 391 

Frobisher's discoveries, 14 

Frontiers, influence of, on local nomen- 
clature, Z77 

Fruits, derivations of the names of, 376 

Fud^e, 30X 

Fugitives, names meaning, 4a 

Fustian, 389 



Gadhelic names in England, 136, 155 

Gadhelic tongue. The, 130 

gadir, root, 63, 333 

Gaelic Celts traced by names, 156 

Gaelic tongue. The, Z30, z6o 

Gaels, The, 44; their occupation of Europe, 
44> z55i X57 \ of Galatia, z^6 ; immi^tion 
into Germany, Z57 ; their limits in the 
British Isles defined, Z63 

gairmean, 4Z 

gal, root, 43 

Galatia, settlement of Celts in, Z56 

Galilee ((lorch), 309 

Galligaskins, 393 

Galldches, 393 

Galloon, a9z 

Galloway i^ior^f^f 385 

Galvanism, 396 

Gamboge, 380 

ganga, 330 



gardr, Z33 

garth, root, 80, zo6, 115, Z33, 333 

garw, river-root, X3X, Z43 

Gas^ 3Z9 

Gasconade, 30Z 

Gascons, The, 56 

gate, its various meanings in local w^m«»«^ 

z68, 33Z 
gau, Teutonic suflix, 78, 88, Z76, 338 



(>aul, ^ ancient towns or nvers m, con« 

taining the root dur, Z34 ; Saxon colonies 

in, 95 
Gauze, 388 
gay, suffix, 88 

gebel, Arabic prefix, 66y 67, 336 
Geist, 3ZQ^ 

Geographical botany, 376 
Geographical posiuon, its bearing upon 

local names, 50—53, 3Z7. 3x8 
Geology, its operations cnronided, 3, 335 

— 343 ; origin of terms of, 387 
German colonies in Italy, 35, 36 ; in France, 

G^S2J . typology of d..n«n..., 

German language, encroachment off 3X, 33; 
spoken in France, 95 ; in Italy, 98 

German nationsi phonetic tendendes 
amongst, 363 

German Onomatology, 3x2 

German village-names in France, 33, 94— 
97; in Italy, 33 

German words introduced into the French 
language, 94 

Germany, Celtic roots in names of rivers, 
Z3X — 145; ridges, hill-forts, and head- 
lands, Z46 — Z50 ; prevalence in, of Gad- 
helic root magh, Z54 ; immigration of 
Gaels and Cymry, Z57 ; of the Germans, 
X57* places in, named from popular 
assemblies,^ Z98; from extinct animals, 
350 ; from iron and salt works, 253 ; saw 
upon its vine districts, 383 

Geyser, 3Z9 

ghiar, Antbic prefix, 67, 335 

Ghost, ^zo 

GUfbertsk^ 30Z 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, death of, 16 

giU* ixs, 339, 335 

Gin, 383 

Ginger, 380 

Gingham, 39 z 

Gipsies, route by which they entered 
Europe, 374; erroneous etymology of 
their various designations, 374 

Girondists, 308 

glen, 338 

glyn, 338 

GobeltH tapestry, 395 

Gottre, 300 

gol, Mongolian, 330 

gola, 339 
roliath, a Asking, Z07 



INDEX II.— MATTERS. 



36S 



Good Hope, Cape of, Portuguese dis- 
covery of, 23 
gora, Sclavonic root, 55, 326 
gorod, 80, 333 
Gossamer, 223 
Gothic, 299 

Gothic architecture, misapplication of the 

term, 299 
Goths, The, 40 — 53 
lE^ouma, 32^ 
Gozo, patois of, 67 
erad, Sclavonic suffix, 80 
Greeks, The, 55, 57 ; their slaves, 303 
Greengage, 276 
Greenland, a Norse name, 8 
Grenade, 294 
Grenadiers, 294 
Greyhound, 285 

** Cmmm's Law " of phonetic change, 261 
Groat, 298 
Grog, 283 
Grogram, 284 
Groschen, 298 

Groves, sacred, names from sites of, 223 
guad, Arabic prefix, 70, 328 
Guelder rose, 278 
Guernsey lily, 278 
Guilder. 298 
Guillotine, 296 
Guimp, 292 
Guinea, agj 
GjM/,319 

Sit, Kentish form of ^te, 168, 331 
uy of Warwick, origin of legend of, 269 
Gwent, ancient kingdom of, 154 ; meaning 

of the word, 154, 173, 328 
gwy or gy, in narne^ of rivers, and of 

aquatic animab, 135, 137 
Gyfsum, 287 

Habitations, substantival components de- 
noting, 33a 

Hack, 294 

Hackney coach, 293 

Hadrian's Wall, traced by local names, X72 

haffen, Norse word, 335 

haigh, suffix, 81, 333 

ham, suffix, prevalence of, in England, 8z, 
85,88,101,332 

Hamnshire, the Danes in, 120 

Harald Hardrdda, 5 ; runic inscription by, 
X03 

Harlequin, 297 

Harness, 45 

Harrow, 45 

hart, 244, 329 

Hasting, the Viking, 125 

hatch, 246,' 335 

haugh, suffix, 106, 1x5, 125, 327 

haugr, rooti zz6, 125 

haus, 333 



haw, 329 

Hawthorn, 8z 

hay, suffix, 81, 333 

Hayward (surname), origin of, 245 

Heal. 22 z 

Heathenism, Saxon, vestiges of, in local 
names, 217 ; none in Salop or Hereford- 
shu-e, 2x9; Celtic, 220; Scandinavian, 
221 ; Sclavonic, 225 ; Eastern and Classi- 
cal, 225 ; Canaanitish, 225 

Hebrides, names in the, X14 

Hectoring, 30X 

Hedge, 8x 

Heel, 22X 

heim, suffix, 82, loi, 332 

Hel, Pagan deity, names derived from, 221 

Hellenes, The, 57 

Hellespont, Norse name on the, X26 

Helot, 303 

hem, suffix, xox 

Hengist and Horsa, names of places de- 
rived from, 209 

Hercules, places named from, 226 

Herefordshire, no vestige of Heathendom 
in, 2x9 

Hermit missionaries, names in Scottish 

islands derived from, 227 
Hero, 45 

Hibemianism, 306 
Heruli, The, 54 
Hidalgo, 300 
Highlanders, 55 
hill, root, 327 
Hills, reduplication of synonyms in names 

of, 141 ; substantival components de- 

notmg, 326 
Wppo, root, 63, 334 

nispano- Arabic names, character of, 71 
Historical considerations necessary in 

Onomatoloey, 3x2 
Historical information derived from local 

names, ^—6 
Historic sites, names from, X96— 216 
hithe, x88, 238, 335 
Hithes, or landing-places in London. 

streets named from, x88 
Hittites, The, 55 
Hivites, The, 55 
hlaw, Ajiglo-Saxon, 141 
Hdcings, The, 84 

Hock wines, their inappropriate desiraa- 
Uon, 282 ^ 

hof, Norse, 224 

Holbom, etymology of, x86 

Holdemess, Teutonic settlers in, ox, 92 

hoU, root, 114 

Hollands. 283 

holm, Norse root, meaning of, 108, 1x5 
X20, 125, 330 

holt, root, X2S, 244, 339 

Home, 82 

horn, 327 



366 



INDEX II.— MATTERS. 



HorseSy breeds of, named from places, 285 

horst, root, ^ 

Houses of historic families in London, 193, 

bow, root, X14, no, 327 

Howard (surname), origin of, 345 

hoy, root, 1x4 

Hreppar, districts of Iceland so called, 

xxo, X37 
Hudson's discoveries, 15 
Hit lit 22 X 

Humboldt's investigations, 30, X59 
Hutnbugy 305 
Hundreds, counties divided into, 127 ; 

names of, significant, 197 ; the populous- 

ness of Saxon England shewn by, 348 
Hungary, 46, 48 ; ethnology of, 32 
Hungary Heater, 383 
Huns, The, 48 ; settlements in Switzerland, 

35 ; in England, x8o 
Huntingdonshire, fens of, changes in, 240 
hurst, suffix, 347, 329 
Hustings y X99 

Hybrid composition, theory of, X40 
Hyde, Saxon unit of land, X37 



Iberians, The, 30 ; traces of the Iberic race, 
35) 39 : settlements in France, Spain, 
andPortugalj 159 

Iceland, Chnstian names in, xx6; districts 
of, called Hreppar, xxo, X37 ; Thing- 
vellir or council-plains of, X98 ; extinct 
forests of, 343 

Icelings, The, 85 

Immigration of clans, Saxon, 83, 84 

Immutability of local names, 357 

inch, Gaelic, xx3, 239, 329 

Inclosures, characteristic of the Teutonic 
race, 77 ; names denoting, 78 — 83 ; sub- 
stantival components indicating, 332 

Incongruity of names in the United States, 

313 

Indian names in North America, X3, 28 

Indigo^ 280 

India, Indian deity, identical with Anglo- 
Saxon Thunor, 319 

ing, ingen, German suffix, 82, 83, 88, 90, 
xox, 328, 334 

Inheritance^ 45 

innis, Gadhelic, XX3, 136, 142, 329 

Inns, signs of, transformations in, 273 

Innuit, 40 

Insects, local names given to, 285 

Interchange of An^Io-Saxon suffixes, 260 

Intrusive colonization, 18 x 

Inventions named from places and persons, 
893 — 296 

inver, GacUielic root, 163, 33X 

Investigation of names, rules to be ob- 
served in, 3x1 

lonianB, The, 43, 56 



Ireland, Celtic names of, 78 : Norse names 
in, X20, I2X ; Celtic river-names in, con- 
taining the root afon, 133 ; dur, X33 ; 
uisge, X35; rhe, 137 ; don, X39: garw, 
142 ; all, ban, llevn, linn, X43, X44 ; ar, 
144 ; cam, clith, X45 ; rocks containing 
the root craig, X50 ; the Celtic ard, X50 ; 
names with the Gadhelic root magh, 
155 ; comparative table of its races, 162 
Iron, the name of a Caucasian tribe, 45 
Iron mines indicated by local names, 251 
Islands joined to the mainland, evidence 
of* 335 — 34X ; substantival components 
denoting, 329 
Italian, ^nSivc words in, 67 
Italy, traces of Germans in, 33, 36 ; Scla- 
vonians, 35 ; Cimbri, 36 ; Fhcenidans, 
61 ; Arabs, 65 ; Saxons and Lombards, 
98 ; Northmen, X3S ; Cymri, xs7 ; Celtic 
roots in names of rivers, X33 — 145 ; of 
mountains, strongholds, and towns, X46 

—153 
Italy, North, names from the manufac- 
tures of, 391 



" Jack and Jill," origin of, 233 

Jacket^ 295 

yacobins, 308 

yalapy 379 

James I., colonization in the reign of, 19 

James River, English colonization on, 16 

yanef (coin), 398 

jaza, 333 

Jazyges, The, 4x 

yean^ 289 

" yeddari justice*' 305 

yennety 285 

Jerusalem artichoke, corruption of term, 378 

yet, 287 

jezirah, Arabic, an island, 68, 330 

Julius and Julia, local names derived from, 

315, 364 
Jutes, The, ^, 364 
Jutland, denvation of name, 364 



Kabyle, 40 

kafr, 334 

Kaffirs, The, 43 

kal'ah (or kal'at), Arabic, a castle, 66, 70 

Kali, festival of, in the East, 335 

kamen, 535 

Kop, 304 

kartha, Phoenician root, 62 — 64, 17^ 

kasr, 334 

kell, 3TO 

Kent, Franks in, 97 

J^er, 334 

Kerseymere^ 393 

kiang, Chinese, 330 

Kibotus, Varangian guard at, izfi 



\ 



INDEX II.— MATTERS. 



367 



kil, root, 78, 327, 335 

kirk, prefix, 338, 335 
knock, 337 
knott, 327 
kom, 327 
Kookas, The, 53 
KopivOtd)^etr(faif 304 
kote, In^an root, 334 
kotl, 328 
Kreutzer^ 298 
kund, Indian root, 328 
Kurds, The, 56 

ky, 153 



Lacedaemonians, The, 56 

Laconic^ 304 

Ladino language, 35 

Laeti, Roman colonists, settlement of, at 
Bayeux, 93 ; at Arras, 95 

Lake district of England peopled by Celts 
and Norwegians, 115 

Ian, Celtic root, 153, 328 

Lancashire, mediaeval condition of, 246 

Land^ 153 

Landauy 393 

Landscape, English, character of,' 77 

Landwehr^ Prussian, 46 

Langue d'oc, why called the Romance 
language, 301 

Latakia toMiccOf 281 

Lath€f 95 

Latins, The, 40^ 56 

law, 327 

Latvn^ 153 

Lazzaroniy 309 

leben, suffix, 78, 333 

Le^^ends and myths arismg from corrup- 
tions of names, 207, 308, 221, 232, 268 
— 271 

Legends of saints, names from, 231 

Legions, Roman, names from stations of, 

175 * 

Leif Ericson, discoveries of, 8 

Leleges, 40 

Lemotiy 280 

Leonine verstf 30Z 

Letters convertible, 261 ; G and VV, 43, 

44, 46 ; P and F, 91 ; H and Ch, 244 ; 

D and G, 253 
Letts, 40 
Levant, 309 

leven, smooth, river-names containing, 143 
Lewis, meaning of, 114 
ley, suffix, 209, 245, 329 
Lighthouses, sites of, 252 
Lincolnshire, Danes in, zzi ; changes in 

the fens of, 240 
Littdsey IVolsey, 293 
linn, river-names containing, 143, 330 
Lions at Venice, Norse runes on. io:t 



Liqueurs, derivation of names of, 283 

lis, prefix, 334 

Lithuanians, 40 

Litus Saxonicum, 90 — 93 

Han, root, 78, 153, 227, 335 

llevn, smooth, 143 

llwch, root, xst 

Loadstone^ 386 

Local names derived from personal names,. 
67, 84, 116, 123, 127, 128, 192 — 195, 306 
— 216, 222 — 233, 264 

Lombards, The, 48 ; meaning of the name, 
54, 98 ; settlement in London, 190 ; com- 
mercial enterprise, 30Z ; various word» 
derived from ueir name, 302 

London, taken by Saxons, 91,02 ; besieged, 
by Danes, 109 ; history of, traced by 
street-names, x83r-z95 ; original shape 
and area of, 1^5 ; brooks of, 186 ; monav 
teries of, i83; districts of, originally 
islands, 235 ; residences of historic fami- 
lies, 192 — T9.5 ; traces of ancient forests 
to the south-west of, 244 ; persistency of 
its name, 258 

loo, 329 

low, suffix, 14Z, 327 

Lowlanders, 55 

Lumber, 302 

lundr, Norse word, 224, 329 

Lynch law, 296 



Macadaniization^ 296 

Mackintosh^ 295 

naes, 328 

mag, 328 

Magalhaens, discoveries of, 3Z 

Magazine^ 71 

Magenta, 291 

magh, Gadhelic test-word, 155, 156, 338 

Magnet, 286 

Magnitude, relative, adjectival components 

denoting, 317 
Majolica, 295 

Majolus, St., taken prisoner by the Arabs,7a 
Malaca, 6-x 
Malays, The, 55 
Malmsey wine, 282 
Malta, Phoenicians in, 63; Arabic names 

in, 67 ; patois of, 67 ; siege of, 313 
Manganese f 386 
man, Celtic root, 153, 173, 328 
Man, Isle of, Northmen m, 4 ; Norwegian 

names in, 1x5 ; comparative table of its 

races, z(^ ; ethnology of, 165 ; Norse 

*' Thing" still retained in, soz ; foxes in, 

250 
manor, Anglo-Norman suffix, 136 
Mansarde roof, 296 
Mantua maker, 2pi 
Manufactures, denvation of names of, 288 

— 206 



368 



INDEX II.— MATTERS. 



Manx language, The, 130, 160 

Map, showing the ethnology of the British 
Isles, z ; distribution of Arabic names in 
Spain and Portugal^ 69; of G^man 
patronymic names m France, ^; of 
Saxon names in Picardy and Artois, 87 ; 
Norse names in France, 12^ 

Marches, or border lands, influence on 
local names of, 176 

Mare^ 176 

Margrave t 176 

i1/rtr/(r, 298 

Mark, indicative of boundaries, 176-178,335 

Marquis^ X76 

Marrons, The, of Auvergne, 72, 300 

marsa, or mirsah, Arabic, a port, 67, 335 

Martel, Charles, 71 

Martinet^ 296 

Massachusetts, laws of, 1 1 

mat, 328 

mawr, 147, 317 

Mayduke ckerruSf 276 

MeandeTy 300 

medina, Arabic, a city, 70, 334 

Meeting^ derivation of the word, 199 

meiek, a root found in all Semitic lan- 
guages, 62 

menzil, Arabic prefix, 66, ^3^^ 

Merchants, lo<»l names aenved from, 36, 

254 
mere^ 331 
MennCi 289 
M$snurism^ 296 
MilanSy 291 

Mills, words denoting, 334 
Milliner^ 291 
Mtnaretf 71 

Minerals, derivation of names o^ 286 
Mineral springs, names derived from, 319 
minster 233, 335 
Mintt 298 

mirsah, or marsa, Arabic root, a port, 67 
Misnomers arising from misconceptions,273 
Missionaries, Irish, traces of, in the Islands 

of Scotland, 227 
mlyn, 334 
moel, ^a6 
Mohair^ 389 
monadh, 336 
monaster, 335 
Monasteries in London, streets named 

from, 188 
Monastic system, its influence on local 

names, 233 
Money y 298 
money, 329 

Mons Palatinus, names derived from, 451 
niont, 327 
Moor, 331 
Moors, The, 53 ; in France, 7a ; in the 

passes of the Alps, 73—76 ; in the valley 

of the Bemina, 75 : in Spain, 276 



mor, 147 

Moreen^ 289 

morfa,33i 

Morini, The, 56 

Morris dance ^ 309 

MosquitOy 286 

moss, 33Z 

most, 331 

Mountaineers, 55 

Mountains, ethnology of, 33—36 ; ethno- 
logical barriers, 34 ; Celtic names in, 35 ; 
names of, derived from snowy summits, 
4, 324; from tumuli, iz6; from their 
hues, 324 ; from the shape of their sum- 
mits, 335 ; substantival components de- 
noting, 336; antiquity and immutability 
of, 13, 27, X45 

mull, 333, 336 

Mullen, 334 

Muskety'Z^ 

Muslin, 288 

Mussulman, derivation of name, 371 

mvnydd, 336 

Jnyrrh, 380 

Mythical ancestors, names and cities from, 
206 

Myths and legends evolved from corrupted 
local names, 368— 371 

Myths of early English History, 308 



Names, ethnic, 37 — 58 ; Hispano-Arabic, 
7x ; onomatopoeian, 43 ; personal become 
local, 68, 83, xz6^ 123, 127, zaS, 193 — 195, 
3o6--3z6, 333 —334, 364 ; eponymic, 307 ; 
rules for their investigation^ 3ZZ ; patro- 
nymic, 83 — zoz ; list of, m England, 
Germany, and France, 89, 04, 97 ; patro- 
nymic, in Artois and in England, 89 ; 
disused, resurrection of, 357 

Nankeen^ 388 

nant, Cymric root, 154, 398 

Nations, names of, 37-~58; meanings of, 
40—58 ; often duplicate, 39— 4 z ; ethical 
words derived from, 399 

Natron, 387 

Natural proiductions, adjectival compounds 
denoting, 3Z9 

Negroes, The, 53 

Negus, 383 

nemet, Celtic word, 333, 309 

Neptune, places named from, 326 

ness, Norse root, xo8, xz6, 337 

New England, settlement of, Z3 

New Forest, sites of villages depopulated 
to form, 347 

Newhaven, laws of, zz 

New Netherlands, Dutch colony of die, 20 

Niemiec, 40 

Nightmare f 333 

Nttre, 387 

Norfolk, Danes in, zxo 



INDEX II.— MATTERS. 



369 



Nonnan Conquest^ transference of landed 
property at the tune of the, 126— isS 

Normandy, Saxons in, 93— -04 ; traces of 
Scandinavian conquest o^ 133 ; Norse 
names in, 133 — 196 ; division of land in, 
Z37 

Norman-French names in England, 135 — 
198 

Normans in England, 135—138 ; in Scot- 
land, 138 

Norse colony in Cheshire, 116 

Norse element in England, comparative 
summary of, z63 

Norse names^ 31 ; classification of, 121 ; 
occurrence m the Hebrides of, 1x4 ; in the 
Isle of Man, 2x5 ; in the Lake district, 
1x5, 1x6; in Devonshire, xzp ; in Nor- 
mandy, 133— za6; in Belgium, Italy, 
and Spain, X35 ; off the coast of Portugal, 
135 ; near Bayonne, 125 ; on the Helles- 
pont, Z26 

Norse origin of English seafaring terms,io7 

Northern Seas, discoveries in, X4— 16 

Northmen, The, discover America, 8 ; their 
ravages, X03, 104 ; settlements in the 
Isle of Man, 4, 2x5 ; in Greenland, 8 ; in 
Russia, X03 ; in East Anglia, X07 ; in 
Scotland, xx3— xz5 ; in the Lake district, 
1x5; in Cheshire, xx6; in Wales. X17; 
in Sdlly and Cornwall, ixp; in Ireland, 
1 30; in France, X33 — X35 ; m Sicily, X25 ; 
their '' Thines," or legislative assemblies, 
X98 ; isolated colony of, in Devonshire, 
ixg, 300 

Numerals, adjectival compounds denoting, 

3»9 
Numidians, The, 53 



o, root, Z34 

oe, suffix, Z08, 330 
ofer, Anglo-Saxon suffix, 331 
t?jw, 303 
Old Nick, 333 
Old ScraUh, 939 

Onomatology, or the principles of name- 
giving, 31Z 
or, MX 

Orellana's adventures, 22 
Orientals, $x 

Original and filial settlements, 86 
Orluieys, The, names in, 2x3 
ormr, a serpent, 2x7 
Onyry, 996 

Otlinga Saxonica, district of, 93 
over, 332^ 
Oxfordshire, Danes in, t ts 



Pacific, The, discoveries in 2i» 23 ; Dutch 



Padf Paddif^, Paduasoy, 291 

PagodOf 398 

Palace^ 309 

Paladtn^ 309 

Palatinate, 309 

Palatine county, 309 

Pale faces, 53 

Palestme, 4X ; traces in the Old Testament 
of Canaanitish worship in, 225 

Pallas, places named from, 226 

Pampfuetf 297 

Pantellaria, Isle of, Arabic vrords and 
names in, 68 

para, 330 

Parckmeni, 294 

park, Celto-Saxon, 8z 

Parthians, Tlie, 53 

Pasquinade, 297 

patam, 33^ 

Patronymic names, 83-^2ox ; correspon- 
dence of, on the opposite coasts of Eng- 
land and France, 94; in Wflrtemberg, 
100 ; list of, in England, Germany, and 
France, 97 : Saxon, in Artois and in 
England, 89 

Peach, 276 

peak, 326 

peel, 334 

Peeler, 296 

Peels along the Scotch border, X75 

Pembrokeshire, Scandinavian settlement 
on the coast of, 228, 229; colony of 
Flemings in, 228 

pen, Cymric root, 247, 263, 396 

Penn, William, 12 

Penny, 146, 298 . 

Perizzites, 42 

Personal names become local, 68, 84, 213, 

223, X27, 228, 202 — 295, 906 — 92^ 232 

—233, 264 ; words derived firom, 99c 
Personal Saxon names conserved in local 

names, 222 
Pheasant, 984 
Philistines, The, 48 ; originally fix>m Crete, 

4x 
Phoenician names in Crete, 60, 6z ; in Sar- 
dinia, 62 ; in SicU^, 6z ; in Italy, 6z ; in 

Malta, 62 ; in Spain, 62 — 64 
Phcenidan sites, physical characteristics of, 

59. 60 
Phoenicians, The, 53 
Phonetic changes in local names, 258 ; of 

H to Ch or W, 84 ; of G and W, 43, 44, 

46,48 
Phonetic tendencies of different nations, 

262 — 26-1 
Physical oiaracteristics of Phcenidan sites, 

59>6o 
Physical features, names derived frum 55 

.-58,3x9 

ic, 396 

icardy, xuunes in, 87 



t 



370 



INDEX II.— MATTERS. 



Pictones, The, 54 

Picts, The. 53 ; a Cymric tribe, 163 ; ab- 
sorption by the Scots, 163 ; myth arising 
from the name, 371 ; settlement in North- 
amptonshire, x8x 
fike, 3a6 
Pilgrimage, places of. 233 ; words derived 
from, 307 ; signs of, 308 

frill 331 

Pin, x^4, 146 . 

Pinchbeck^ 296 

Pine-treey 146 

Pine-trees, Caesar's statement corroborated 

by local nomenclature, 949 
Pinnacle , 146 
Pistol, 291 
Piz, 326 
Places, the names of, not arbitrary sounds, 

I. 311 

Plains, 55 ; substantival components de- 
noting. 328 

Plants, derivations of names of, 278 ; local 
names derived from, 321 

Platonic, 296 

plon, 328 

Ploughshare, xo8 

flun, 328 
^ocsihontas, the Indian pnncess, 18 
Poleaxe, 294 
Polecat, 285 
Poles, The, 55 
polis, 33^ 

n<iXic, phonetic changes, in the word, 263 
Political names derived from local sources, 

308 
Polony, 29X 

Sjnt, 170, 331 
ontresina, Saracens' bridge, 75 
Po, River, changes in its delta, 242 
po, preposition, 56, 3x8 

Popular assemblies, names derived from 

their sites, X97 
Population, Arab, in Spain, 68 
Population of England, in Saxon times, 80; 

duinges in, 247 ; shown by the size of the 

hunc&eds, 248 

Ports suted up, evidence of, in local names, 

336 
Portueal, Arabs in, 68 — 71 ; distribution of 

Axabic names in, 68, 69 ; Norse name off 

the coast of, X25 ; Celtic river-names in, 

X33 ; the Euskarians in, X59 
Portuguese discoveries, ax, 33 
Portways, Roman roads so dilled, x68 
Port wine, 283 
Position, relative, adjectival components 

denoting, 3x7 
Potomac, The, exploration of, x8 
Pound, 298 
Powhattan, Indian chief, x8 



Prefix,^ The, as a component element of 
Celtic names, 3x5 

Prepositions, their incorporation with local 
names, 263 

Prichard's researches, 30 

Property, landed, tran^erence of, at th« 
Norman Conquest, X26, X27 

Provinces, names of ancient tribes pre- 
served in, 47, 58 

Prussia, 56, 283, 306 

Punch, agj 

Puritans, The, persecution by, xx ; Utopia 
of, XX ; in New England, X2 

puy, 326 

pyr, 146 



>uadi, 40 

[ualcer Colony in North America, za 

luality, names denoting, 333 

fuince, 377 

}uixotic, 30X 



rahal, Arabic prefix, 67 

rahl^ Arabic prefix, 66, 67, 334 

Ratndeer, X37 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, discoveries of, 14 

Ramnes, The, 56 

Rapes, a memorial of the Conquest, 127 : 

Sussex divided into, X37 
ras, Arabic prefix, 66, 67, 337 
rath, prefix, 334 
rea, X37 
Red Men, 53 
Redstart, 340 
Reduplication of synonyms, in names of 

rivers, X40 ; hills, &c., X43 
Regions, names of, derived from cities, 49 
reka, 330 
Religious sentiment shewn in local names, 

8 
Rennie, surname, derivation of, xi6 
Retrocession of the Sdaves, 3X, 33 ; of the 

Celts in England, x6o 
xbedu, x^7 

rhe or rhm, river-root, 1^7 
Rhode Island, foundatiOD of, by Roger 

Williams, xa 
rhos, Celtic root, 150^ 331 
Rhubarb, 380 
rhyd, Celtic root, 270^ 332 
rh^ a promontory, 237 
Ridges, names of, containing dio root oefii( 

xig ; bryn, X46 ; hrycg, 397 

^Wrqgr* 305 

rigge, 337 

rithe, 330 

River-names, permanence o^ », STi 190, 
x3x; Arabic, m Spain, 70; diiefly of^Caltic 
derivatum, Z3x ; dassificadon of, suV 
stantival, Z3Z— 143 ; ac^ectival, xaz, 24a 



INDEX II.— MATTERS. 



371 



—145 ; containing the Celtic root afon, 
X3X— 133 ; dwr, or dur, 133, 13^; uisge, 
X35— X37 ; gwy, or wy, 137 ; rhe^ 137 ; 
don, z^, z^9 ; garw, 131, 142 ; all, X43 ; 
ban, dhu, Ueyn, linn, X43 ; tam| X44 ; ar, 
144 ; cam, cliui, X45 ; a unique one 
rarely found. X45 ; reduplication of syno- 
nyms in tkeir formation, 140 

Rivers, the ancient highways, 3a; names 
denoting, 330 

Roads, Roman, local names derived from, 
X67 ; their course traceable, X67 

Roads, substantival components denoting, 
33X 

RotuHtTf yso 

Roanhone^ 385 

RodonumUuU, 30X 

rog, 337 

RomoHCtt 30X 

Romance nations, phonetic tendency 
amongst, a6a 

Romance words in Teutonic languages, 

95 

Romani, The, 49 

Romansch lanf;uaf;e. The, 34, 49 

Romans, civilization of, contrasted with 
that of the Saxons, x66; character of 
local names, z66 ; essentially a construc- 
tive race, x66 ; places named from their 
roads, X67 ; bndges, 169 ; walls, X73 ; 
fortresses and camps, X73 ; stations, X72; 
legions, X75 ; emperors, 2x4, 264 ; boun- 
daries. X78 

Rome, the name of^ 37 ; retained in various 
parts of the ancient empire, 49 

Romney marsh, history and gradual for- 
mation of, illustrated, 237 

ros, Gaelic root, 150^ 327 

Roum, paschalic of, 49 

royd, 339 

RubicoHt 309 

rudge, 



, The, 48 



Rugii 

ruimne, Gaelic, a marsh, 237 

Rulers of the ancient world, local names 
derived from, 3x3, 264; ditto of the mo- 
dem world, 49, 3x5 

Rules for the investigation of names, 313 

RnmbU, 393 

Rusfi^ z^o 

Russia, Northmen in, X04 ; river-names in, 
contuning Celtic rootrhe, X38 ; don, X39 



Sabseans, 40 

SabUt 384 

Sack, Wine, aSa 

Sacred groves and temples, names derived 

from, 333 
Sctere, Saxon deitv, doubts regarding, 

3x8 ; places named after, 3x8 
Saints, places named after, 9— xz ; influ- 



ence of, on names, 32^—333 ; process of 
creating names of, 360 

all,333 
Sally, 305 

Salop, no traces of Saxon heathendom in, 

3X9 

Salt-making, xo8 

Salt-works, their influence on local names, 
353 

SamariioHf 304 

Samian wim, 281 

Sandwich, 395 

sapan, 6a 

Ssuacens, The, 48, 51, 75 

Saratz, fiunily name in Switzerland, 75 

Sarcenet, 388 

Sardine, fish, 286 

Sardine stone, 286 

Sardinia, Phcenician settlements in, 61 ; 
Arab settlements, 67 

Sardonic smile, 305 

Sardonyx, 286 

Sarmatians, The, 56 

sam, 333 

SaunUrer, 306 

Saveloy, 391 

Saxon and Lombard names in Italy, 98 

Saxon Chronicle, The, eponymic names 
frt>m, 308 

Saxon element in Eng^Iand, compared with 
the Danish and Celtic, X62 ; comparative 
summary of, 163 

Saxons,The,48, 54,99 ; meaning of the term, 
98; their colony in SieMnbOrgen or 
Transylvania, 33 ; immigration of clans, 
83, 84 ; colony near Boulogne, 87-^89 ; 
conquest of England, 90 — 93 ; London 
taken, 91, 93 ; settlement near Caen. 92 
— 94 ; transported into France by Cnar- 
lemagne, 95, X02; their ori^pnal seat, 
loa ; civilization contrasted with that of 
the Romans, x66 ; their names for Ro- 
man roads, X67; ignorance of bridge- 
building, Z69 ; ramparts or dykes their 
(mly SfeaX works, X7x ; local names of, 
indicating border lands, 177 ; eponymic 
names from chiefs of, 309—3x3 ; names 
fit>m deities of^ 3x7 ; list of patronymic 
names of, in Artois and England, 89 

scale, Norse word, 300, 333 

Scaletta Pass, 75 

Scandinavian element, relative intensity of 
in England, xai, X32 ; colonization, clia- 
racter of, 83 ; legends, local names from 
33 X 

scar, Norse root. xo8, 327 

Scare, 108 

Scheidam, 383 

Schwabenland, 99 

Sdlly, Northmen in, 1x9 

Sdaves, retrocession of the, 3X, v 

Sclavonic races. 40 : in Western Germany, 



372 



INDEX IT.— MATTERS. 



3X ; in Hanover, 32 ; in Italy, 35 ; his- 
tory of, illustraled by names, 32 ; by the 
word slave, 303 ; names from deities of, 

Score^ T08 

Scotland, Norwegians in, 112— 115 ; Celts 
in, 2x3, XX4 ; the Normans in, 127 ; An< 
glo- Norman nobles in, 127; Celtic 
river-names in, X32 — 145 ; Celtic roots in 
names of mountains, forts, and headlands 
in, X47 — 153 ; names in, from places of 
assembly, 197, 199; from local saints, 
229 ; local names proving its recent geo- 
logical elevation, 239 

Scots, The, 47 ; their immigration from 
Ireland, 163 

Scottish surnames, 128 

Scour^ X08 

Scudoj coin, 298 

Scythians, The, 52, 305 

Seafaring words, Norse, 107 

Seals on the Sussex coast, 238 

Sentf 46 

Seclusiveness of Englishmen, 78 

Sects, religious, nomenclature of, 296 

Sedan, 293 

sell, ^33 

Senek or Setuta^ 280 

^erfy 303 
Servant, 303 

Servile races, names derived from, 303 
set, suffix, 47, 332 
Seter, Norse suffix, X13, 121, 332 
Sette Comrauni, 36 
Settlements, original and filial, 86 
Sewer, 108 
Shallot, 279 
Shalloon, 292 
shan, 327 
Shard, 108 
sharon, 328 
Sliarp, 108 
Sltamoy leather, 285 
Share, 108 

shaw, root, 125, 247, 3:^9 
Shawl, 388 
Shealing, 333 
Shears, xo8 
Sheba, 40 

Shepherds, The, 56 
Skeremoniers, xgo 
Sheriff, 184 
Sherry, 282 

Shetlands, names in the, 2x3 
Shilline, 398 
Shire, 108 

Shire names, ethnic agnification of, 279 
Shore, 331 
Shower, xo8 

Shrubs, places named from, 32X 
Sicily, Phoenician names in, 61 ; Arabs in, 
66. 67 ; the Nor hmen in, 125 



SiebenbQrgen, isolated Saxon colony in, 33 
Sienna, 287 

sierra, mistaken etymology of, 327 
Significancy of local names, x, 311 
ZtKeXt'Ceo'i 304 
Sikhs, S3 
Silhouette, 296 
Silk, 293 
S tilery wine, 281 

Sites, historic, names from, 196 — 216 ; 
sacred, 218 — 234; of popular assemblies, 

.'97 
Size, adjectival components denoting, 317 
Sharp, X08 
Skewer, xo8 
Skipper, 46 
skogr, root, 125 
Slang, 308 
Slwe, 303 

sliabh or slievh, Erse, 165, 327 
slieu,^ Manx prefix, 165, 327 
Slowjane, 40 

Smith, Capt. John, adventures of, 17, 18 
Snow, mountain-names derived from, 4, 

^ 324 

Sodor and Man, See of, 114 

soke, 200 

Somersetshire, Danes in, 119 ; its physical 
changes shewn by local names, 238 

Sovereign, coin, 298 

Sovereigns, modern, local names derived 
from, 26, 215 

Spa^ 287 

Spam, Euskarians in^ X58 j Phoenicians in, 
62 — 64 ; Carthaginians in, 63 ; Ara1» in, 
68 — 7x, 176 ; Arabic river-names in, 70 ; 
German names in, 98 ; Norse names in, 
125; Celtic names of places in, xsa, 
153 ; Celtic river-names in, X33 — 144 

Spaniards in the Pacific, 21, 22 

Spaniel, 385 

Spanish, Arabic words in, 71, 289 

Spanish colonies, 19, 23 

Spartans, The, 56 

Spencer, 395 

Spinage, 379 

Spine, 146 

spitz, 336 

Sports and pastimes, London streets named 
after, xox 

Springs, local names from, X87, 3x9 

S^iice, 380, 306 

Spruce beer, 383 

Squills, 380 

Srb, 40 

ssedlo, 333 

stackr, root, xx6 

stadt, suffix, 78, 333 

Stamford Bridge, battle of, 5, 204 

Stan, 333 

Stannary Court of Cornwall, antiquity ot. 
197 



INDEX II.— MATTERS. 



373 



staple, 254, 334 

Statesmen, local names from, 26 

Stations, Roman, their influence on names, 

stead, sumx, 333 

Steelyard^ 299 

steen, stein, 334 

Sterlingy agg 

ster, sumx, X13, 121, 332 

stoke, suffix, 80, 332 

stone. X18, 334, 335 . , , ^ . 

Stour, i^ver-name, 134; its probable deriva- 
tions, 135 ; 

Stour River, in Kent, its silting up indi- 
cated by local names, 236 

stow, suffix, 332 

strath, 328 

Street-names, (The) of London, the records 
of its history. 783 — T95 : transfonna- 
uons of, 272 

Street, the meaning of, in local nomencla- 
ture, 167, 332 

Strongholds, Celtic, indicated by the root 
dun, X48 ; peel, 175 

Substantivsd components of local names, 
list of, 336 

Substantival element of local names, 131, 
316 

Suevi, The,»48, 52, 79, xoo 

Suffix, The, as a component element of 
Teutonic names, 316 

Suffi>lk, Danes in, xio ; analysis of its local 
nomenclature, 247 

Sttfar comfy, 280 

Suf ones, The, 79 

Surnames derived from local suffixes, 78, 
X53 

Surnames, Scottish, X28 

Surrey, analysis of its local nomenclattux, 

*47 . . 
Sussex, divided into rapes, 127 

Swabian patronymics recommended for 

New Anjrio-Saxon names, 315 

Swabiaas, The, 52, 79, 84 

Swanawic, defeat of the Danish fleet at, 

X20 

Sweden^ names in, 79 ; colonies from, in 
America, 30; in Switzerland, iHi 

Switzerland^ ethnology of, 34 ; varie^ of 
dialects m, 34 ; Alans, Celts, Huns, 
Etruscans, and Germans in, 35 ; Arabs 
**>» 3Sf 7*f 75 ' Celtic names of rivers, 
144; ndges, 146; strongholds, X48 , 
headlands, 150; and places in, X54 

Sybarite, 304 

Syenite, 287 

Synonyms, Celtic, ia the composition of 
river-names, 139 ; examples of their re- 
duplication, X40 



Talfhi 288 



Table of Norse words in N onnau French, 
X22 ; of ancient tribes-names in modem 
cities^ 58 ; of original settlements and filial 
colomes, 86; of patronymic correspond- 
ing names in England and France, 97 ; 
of patronymic corresponding names in 
England and Normandy, 94 ; of Saxon 
names in Picardy and Artois, and cor- 
responding English names, 88 ; of Saxon 
names in France and corresponding 
names in England, 8^ ; of the relative 
intensity of the Scandinavian element in 
different parts of England, 122 

Taffety, 288 

tain, X38 

Taith, Celtic deity, names from, 220 

tam, " spreadiiig,^' river-names containing, 

«44 

Tamariftd^ «8o 

Tarantula^ 285 

Tarif-Ab(i-2!ar&h, invader of Spain, 68 

Tar^, 305 

Tarik-Ibn-Zeyad, invader of Spam, 68 

tam, suffix, 106, 330 

Tatar, 304 

Tatars, 54, mythical corruption of the term, 
271 

Tawdry, 307 

tell, 327 

Templar, 308 

Templars, The, names from, 189, 234 

Temples, names from their sites, 224 

Tent wine, 28X 

Tester, 298 

Teutonic changes of Celtic names in Eng- 
land, 265 ; on the Continent, 266 

Teutonic dans, 84, 85 ; date of settlements 
in England, 90—92 

Teutonic demi-gods, names from, 220 

Teutonic lan^ages. The, Romance words 
introduced mto, 95 

T/ialer, 298 

thai, ^28 

Textile fabrics, local names given to. 288 

Thames River, changes in its valley in- 
dicated, 235 ; the Danes in the, 100; 
names in London derived from its islands, 
236 

Theory of hybrid composition, 140 

Thing, 198 

Things or councils of the Northmen, local 
names from, 198 ; in Iceland, X99 ; in 
Britain. X90— 2ox 

Thingvellir, The, or council-plains of Ice- 
land, X98 

TAiftk, X98 

Thong, 127 

Thor, Norse deity, popularity of, evidenced 
by local names, 219 

thorpe, suffix, 105, X09, X15, X24, 333 

Thxasymene, Haimibal's victory at, con- 
served in local names, 20? 



374 



INDEX II.—MATTERS. 



threap, xz3 

Thundery aio 

Thunor or "^lor, Saxon deity, his popu- 
larity evinced by local names, aoo, azg 

Thuringians, The, 55 

Thunngs, The, 84 

thwaite, Norse sunix, 105, 109, 1x5, 193, 333 

tian, X39 

Tickings 290 

tir, 328 

Tiw, Saxon deity, places named after, 218, 

TobaccOy 280 

toft, root. los, 109, 112, ixs, 123, 333 

ton, Anglo-Saxon suffix, 78, 79, 82, 85, 88, 
332 

Tc^azy 28^ 

tor, a projecting rock, names contuning, 
150, 326 

torbe, root, 124 

tot, root, 105, 123, 333 

Toucques River, words derived from, 290 

tourbe, root, 124 

tourp, root, 124 

Tours, battle of, 7X 

tia» 331 

Trades in London, streets named after, xgo 

Trajectus, phonetic changes in the word, 

263 
Tramroadsy 296 
Transformations, phonetic, in local names, 

264 ; etymological ditto, 2^8 
Transylvania, Saxon colony m, 33 
tre, Cymric prefix, its frequency m English 

names, 152, 332 
Tredici Comuni, 36 
Trees, places named from, 321 
Tribes, ancient, locality of, 48; from names 

of cities, 48 ; names of, in modern cities 

and provinces, 47 — 49, 58 
Tribes, conquering, names of, 47, 48 
Trojan, 304 
Tr(Mf weighty 299 
Tscnudes, 41 
Tucker, 290 
Tumuli, names of r>ountains derived from, 

116 
Tungri, 40 

Turanian languages. The, z6o 
Tureetiy 291 
Turk, 30^ 
Turks, The, 48, 54; the name applied to 

all Mahomedans, 48 
Turkeyy 286 
Turkomans, The» 48 
Turquoisty 286 
TweedSy 292 
twistle, 335 

?\ Welsh, X53, 230, 333 
yrian colony of Carthage, 62 
Tyrol, The, Etruscans in, 35 
Tyrolese, The, 55 
Tyrrhenians, The, ^6 



Ugrian race, xx^ 

uisge, "water, river-names containing, 

13s 
um, suffix, the Frisian form of ham, 82, 92, 

33a 
UmbtTy 987 

United. States, names in, 6, 8— X4, x6 — 31, 
38; local names derived from the presi- 
dents, 2x6 ; barbarous character of the 
modem names, 3x4 

Usquebaughy 383 



Valleys, substantival components de- 

notmg them. 338 
Vancouver, Captain, discoveries of, 35 
VandaUnHy 399 
Vandal kmgs, 85 
Vandals, The, 48, 5X, 53 
Varangian guard, Z04 ; at Kibotuit X96 
Varini, The, 85 
Varmshy 394 
varvara, 4s 

vatn, Norse root, xx4, 330 
VaudevilUy 397 
v(, Norse, 324 
Vehicles, names of, derived from places, 

293 
Veneti, The, traces of, in France, X54 
venta, names of places derived from, X54, 

173 
Vernon, Admiral, the introducer of grog, 

283 

vie, root, 92 

Vikines, meaning of the word, X07 ; traces 
of mem, ^x ; their piracies, xx4 ; Hast- 
ing, a celebrated one, 125 

villa, xos, X23 

Villages in England with ethnic names, 
X79 ; with Saxon patronymic names, 84 

Villainy 303 

yille, sufuc, X05, X09, 133, 333 

villiers, xo6, 333 

Vine-districts of Germany, saw upon, 383 

Vineyards, their frequency in England 
shewn by local names, 350 

Vir^;inia, settlement of, X7 



Visigothic kings, 84 
Visigoths of Spain, 



names derived from. 



Vitafity of local names, x, 356 
Vocabulary. English, extent of, 3 ; of the 

peasant class, 3 
voe, suffix, XX4 
Volcanoes of Italy, their names eridencc 

of their antiquity, 343 
Voltaic, 396 » 

vyed, 67, 338 



wadt, Arabic word, 67, 70 
Waelsings, The, 84 



! 



INDEX IT. -MATTERS. 



375 



if root) g9 
wal, root, 4a, 339 
^T^ald, root, ox 

Wales, Celtic names of, 78; physical 

changes in, 238; local saints of, 329; 

marcnes of, 174 ^ 
Wales, North, Northmen in, 1x7 
JTali, X84 
JVaiitTf 4a 
IVaiMf 43 
Walloons, 43 

Walls of London, streets named after, 183 
Walls, Roman, their course traced by local 

names, 173 ; places named from, 173 
Walnut, 4a, 377 
JValtz, 43 

Wanderers, 40, 53, 56 
Wapentakes, counties divided into, 137 
Wardf9o 
ware, suffix, 46 
Warrior races, 54 
Warriors, 57 
was, 333 
wash, 33X 
Waters, substantival components denoting 

them. 330 
wath, 33X 
Watling Street, 167 ; the boundary of the 

Danelagh, xxx 
Way land Snuth, legend of, asx 
Weak, X07 
weald. 339^ 
Weala, The, its character indicated by 

local names, 344*, analysis of its forest- 
names, 345 
Weapons, names derived from, 54, 98; 

names of, derived from places, 394 
weiler, Teutonic suflix, X05, 333 

well or will, suffix, x6o^ 330, 333 

Wells and conduits, London streets named 
from, x88 

Welsh; 43—44 ; origin of name, 43 ; lan- 
guage of, X30, 160 

Wead^ The, 31, 40, 5a 

werp, 369, 335 

If^^t, 95 

Whisky, X3S, 383 
White men, 53 
* 1, root, 09 



wick, Anglo-Saxon, an abode, 107, 33a 
wick, Norse root, a creek, 99, 107, 116, 33X ; 

its occurrence on the Essex coast, X07 
wiki, Sclavonic, 333 
Wdliams, Archdeacon, on the Celts in 

Italy, 30 
Williams, Ro^er, story of, xi 
Wiltshire, a cient earthworks in, 173 
Wines, derivation of the names of, a8i 

JVitck, 224 \ 

Witch mountains of Germany, 3a3 

with, suffix, X06 

woda, 330 

Woden, Anglo-Saxon deity, his great 
popularity, evinced by local names, ax8 

wolcL 91, 339 

Wolf, The, places in England named 
nrom, 350 

wood, 339 

Woolwic^ meaning of, X09 

Words, component, denotmg relative mag- 
nitude, 3x7; position, 317; ajge, 3x8; 
numerals, 318 ; natural productions, 3x9 ; 
excellence, or the reverse, 333 ; configu- 
ration, 333 ; colour, 333 

Words derived from places, 375-^310 

Worsted^ 303 

worth, Anglo-Saxon suffix, 80, 82, 333 

worthig, Anglo-Saxon, 80 

woude, 339 

Wfirtemberg, patronymic village-names in, 
xoo, xox 

wy, or gwy, X3S, 330 ; river-names derived 
from. X37 

Wych house, xo8 

wysg, X35 



Yankgf, 359 

yard, Anglo-Saxon root, 80, 106, 333 

VeasifXi^ 

yerde, Old English word, 80 

ynys, Welsh, an island, 338 

Yoriuhire, Frisian settlement in, 91, 9a 

ys, prefix, a Welsh intensitive, X34 



Zamzummin, 43 

Zincali, The, 53 

Zouave, jp^ 

ZOrich, Caitton, analysis of names In, 35 



THE END.