Old English to Modern English

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with Old English to Modern English. The Saxons, Angles, Jutes and Frisians arrived on our shores from the fifth century AD. They brought with them the basis of our culture and a language which we refer to as Old English. Over the next 1,500 years influences principally from the Scandinavian and French tongues took this to Middle English and eventually to Modern English. English is the most diverse language and this is not simply down to the number of words adopted from quite unrelated tongues, a remnant of colonial days. There is a reason why English, more than any other, needs a thesaurus - indeed most languages never bother publishing a thesaurus (Japanese is a notable exception). That English has been influenced by so many others has led to such a great number of alternative words. Learn how these came began, where they came from and, most interestingly, how they evolved, how the meanings changed and developed to become the language we know today. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

The letter A is for an used in such things as ‘an egg’ instead of ‘a’ when the following noun begins with a vowel. However, it actually began as ‘one’ hence ‘one egg’ and the use of ‘a’ actually the loss of the following ‘n’. Note it is difficult to say AN LEG, AN HORSE, AN BOTTLE) but Old English would have been pronounced as AYN LEG, AYN HORSE, AYN BOTTLE which is rather easier. The same thing is seen in anfeld which may have been used to mean ‘simple’ but actually comes from ‘one-fold’ as in ‘once’.

The letter C is for ceap meaning ‘market’ and which also gave geceapian ‘to buy’. Now today we look for things on the cheap at the market, where originally they would market things at the cheap. Note we say ‘on the cheap’ to mean ‘cheaply’ – on the cheap meaning ‘on the market’. And this is still seen in place names such as Chipping Norton, Chipping Sodbury and street names such as Cheap Street and Cheapside.

The Letter K is for nothing, no not a silent ‘k’ but a letter coming to modern English from the Scandinavian languages. Incidentally the silent ‘K’ is a modern idea – once we had k-nights, and k-nives, but nobody wore k-nickers as this was originally knickerbockers and even that word unknown before 1859. This was not what you were expecting when I mentioned knickerbockers – admit it.

The letter Q is French and did not appear in Old English. Oddly the word ‘queue’, albeit with a spelling of c-u-e, appeared in English before the Norman invasion. It was used to describe a ‘tail’ (and other long parts of the mammalian anatomy), and first used to refer to a line of people in 1837, some 350 years after the first queues were named as ‘lines of dancers’.

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.

Measurements

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with Measurements. Be it imperial inches or metric millimetres, pints or litres, pounds and kilos, each has its own origins. Whilst many of the metric terms are reasonably easy to see, those old imperial measurements have a story to tell. Pecks, bushels, feet, yards, acres, stones, quarts, and many others you have forgotten. Learn how they developed, why they were named, and what they were used for. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

For many the metric measurements will be self-explanatory (if they’re not, then you’ll have to book me to find out more) and for me the origins of the imperial measurements is far more interesting. Here’s a taster…

Yard – a word derived from the Saxon or Old English for a straight branch. When the tree was pollarded to produce straight poles – these used to produce walls, fences, gates, etc., after woven with pliable twigs and then covered by the wattle and daub method – the poles would grow straight for about three feet. Not always, of course, this measurement is a guide rather than an actual measurement. This comes from Old English yeard ‘a straight pole’.

Bushel, a measure of volume for dry goods, came to English from Old French. Of much more interest is where the French got the term, for it is derived from Gaulish bosta 'palm of the hand', a term still seen in the Irish bass and Breton boz 'hollow of the hand'.

And week is thought to be related to the Old Norse vika, which had the original meaning of 'a turning'. Thus as 'month' is from 'moon', perhaps the four distinct phases of the moon are referred to as 'changes' or 'weeks'.

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.

Watling Street

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with Watling Street. This famous 'Roman road' and why it is more than one road and indeed why it was a road several hundred years before the Roman Empire even existed. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

A couple of teasers on Roman roads – none of them were named by the Romans, for all but one are known as ‘street’, which comes from Old English straet meaning ‘paved road’. The exception being the Fosse Way, also named by the Saxons from Old English fossa meaning ‘ditch’.

There is around 2,000 miles of Roman roads in the UK, but if we include undiscovered and minor routes, it is thought that figure could be as much as 6,000 miles.

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.

The Saxon Era

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with The Saxon Era. A revealing look at the so-called Dark Ages, revealing why they were anything but 'dark' and gave us a language, a system of government, many of the imperial measurements, and much, much more. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

The talk focuses on that which the Saxons brought to our culture and which we still use today. Now while we are officially a nation which went metric years ago, we still use the pint and the mile.

Mile comes from the Latin for ‘one thousand’, the idea being it represented a thousand paces. Now the Romans didn’t have extremely long legs or a ridiculously long stride – which would be required to walk a mile of 1,760 yards in a thousand paces – it is simply that, for the Romans, a pace was two steps (or what we would see as two paces).

Pint comes from a time when we didn’t drink ale from a glass but from a clay or leather vessel. The latter, made from leather scraps joined together and sealed with tar even less likely to be accurate than the clay version. To ensure the measure served would be the same for all, a line was painted on the inner surface to show when the measure was correct. A paint line became a ‘pint’ line and the measurement stuck.

Acre, still a popular measurement of land area, was for the Saxons was never a measurement but simply a reference to land used for agriculture.

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.

Synonym Etymologies S

Continuing the look at synonyms through the eyes of the etymologist, this time it is the letter S and stop. All versions suggest a Germanic origin, but with nothing earlier than Vulgar Latin stuppare it seems this is probably an example of a Germanic load word from Latin. The Latin stuppare is used in the sense 'to plug, to stop up', which explains why the modern sense of 'halt' is not seen until the middle of the 15th century, and even then it referred to a bung in a hole.

Cease comes from the Old French cesser and Latin cessare>, each with the same meaning. These can be traced to the Proto-Indo-European root ked 'to go, yield'.

End, here as a verb, comes from the noun and itself from Proto-Germanic andiaz 'the opposite side'. It comes from Proto-Indo-European antjo 'end, boundary' and its root ant 'front, forehead'.

Done is the past participle of 'do', itself traceable through the Germanic line to Proto-Indo-European dhe 'to set, put, place'.

Over is from the Old English uffera, with the same meaning. It is derived ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root uper 'over' in the sense of 'above'.

Conclude can be traced back to the Latin claudere 'to shut'.

Terminate is another or Latin derivation, here terminare describes 'the end of the boundary'.

Pause is easy to trace through Old French pausee, Latin pausa, and Greek pausis, all with the same meaning.

Finish has only been used in the sense of 'the end' since 1790, the earlier meaning of 'that which gives completion' (as in paint or polish) is still in use. Coming to English from Old French finiss and Latin finire are as far as this can be traced, although it may have a link to the word 'fix'.

Halt is related to 'hold' and traceable to the Proto-Indo-European root keld 'to strike, cut'.

New Words

I recently came across E. E. Cummings and a poem where he coined the word manunkind. Not normally overly delighted with modern created words, but this example, published in 1944, intrigued me. Used in the poem to describe a potential environmental problem, it started me looking at other recently created words. Note I've tried to avoid technological and scientific words.

Bling has been used since at least 1997, although initially often given as bling-blingm and started by American rappers. Despite the recent creation the origin is by no means certain but may well have been based on the German blinken 'to gleam, sparkle'.

Crunk is a style of music, the word becoming popular in the 1990s. It is thought to be a contraction of 'crazy drunk', the same word also used to mean 'good'.

Grrrl is a contraction of 'grrr' and 'girl', describing a young woman who sees herself as independent, strong, and possibly aggressive.

Jeggings are tight-fitting trousers, similar to leggings but made from denim - hence a combination of 'jeans' and 'leggings'.

Listicle is a piece of writing presented in list form, thus part 'list' and part 'article'.

Locavore is another portmanteau, is puts together two elements which describe someone who eats local produce. (I would have preferred to learn it was one who ate the locals.)

Noob is an abbreviation of 'newbie' but used in a derogatory sense by those playing computer games. Note 'newbie' has only been used since 1969, this first used by US military. In 1946 we find newie, in 1909 we first see newing or 'new thing' and referring to a naval cadet on their first training session, and in the 15th century newing which is a contraction of 'new thing'.

Po-Po, recently starting to be used in Britain and appearing in the OED since 2015, has been imported from the USA where it began in the 1980s as an abbreviation for Portland Police and what was shouted by lookouts used by gangs to warn of the imminent arrival of the constabulary.

Purple State is another US import, one which describes an electorate which is neither traditionally right (blue) or left (red) and thus a mix or purple. In the United Kingdom we would normally refer to such seats as marginals.

Screenager is a teenager who spends a lot of time in front of a screen, such as a computer or a phone.

Totes is an abbreviation for 'totally', where the word is used rather ungrammatically such as in the phrase 'it was like totally amazing'. For those of an earlier time, 'totes' would have been a method of gambling similar to a lottery where numbers are predicted or a form of horseracing betting.

Truthiness is a weird word for it doesn't quite mean what seems evident. Here the use is to describe something which appears or is felt as true, but isn't - rather like the word then.

Whovian is someone who is a fan of the television series Doctor Who. This is, of course, the modern era of the series. When it first aired on BBC in black and white and ran with actors William Hartnell to Sylvester McCoy, these would have been science-fiction enthusiasts.

Yarn-Bombing is that weird idea of decorating a tree, bench, metal pole or barrier with a knitted something. I'm told it's a fund-raiser, but then I'm told many things are fund-raisers and I don't see the point of those either.

Many new words are portmanteaus, itself a word coined by Lewis Carroll, describing words made by combining two or more other words. In Old English, Anglo-Saxon if you prefer, the same was true although those were referred to as kennings. Words such as ban-haus or 'bone house' which is a reasonable enough description of the body. Other portmanteau words created in the 21st century include badassy, droolworthy, buzzworthy, fatberg, frankenfood, guyliner, microaggression.

Roman Roads

My history lessons, courtesy of Mr Wallbank, told us how these wonderful Romans brought the civilized world to our barbaric islands. Every week we heard of how they educated the savage Celts, brought viaducts, the arch, roads, housing, etc. Doubtless if I had bothered to listen long enough we would have been told the Romans also invented television, internet, iPad and every other technological advance of modern times.

Of course we now know this is not quite correct. The Romans came here to find a thoroughly advanced group of Britons skilled in metalwork - with the Britons equally keen to find a market for their products and the conquerors were simply responsible for writing the history. Doubtless the technologies of the day were not dreamt up by the Romans but acquired from those they encountered. For example our lesson on how the Romans invented the viaduct fails to take into consideration the Babylonians moved water around centuries before the foundation of Rome and its subsequent empire.

The same is true of the famed Roman roads. In Britain there are a number of major arteries known as Roman roads and yet the names alone tell us these are not simply 'Roman'. Indeed the tracks were undoubtedly in use for uears before the Romans arrived. Whilst we should concede the superior surface, enabling rapid movement of troops, is down to Roman intervention, these are no more Roman roads than the modern version of Watling Street with its dual carriageways, traffic lights, white lines and electric lighting.

To find the use and routes prior to the arrival of the Romans is impossible. However we can look at what happened in the years following their departure. For example, note how many of the following names are known as 'Streets', indeed none of the Roman roads are named 'Roads'. The term 'street' comes from Old English straet, a Saxon term referring very specifically to 'a paved road' and that would only be a Roman road. This element is seen in place names such as Stratford 'the ford on a Roman road' and Stretton 'the farmstead on a Roman road'.

The names of the roads themselves also provide information on how they developed and why they were named.

Watling Street was originally a stretch of road around St Albans, albeit then the place was home to the Saxon tribe known as the Waeclinga or 'the people of Waecla'. Eventually the name of this short stretch of road began to stretch along the route, albeit very slowly. Not until the 11th century did the name begin to be used for the whole length and also for other routes not part of this ancient route. This was down to a royal proclamation ordering designated 'safe' routes, among which was Watling Street. Those keen to ensure the trade routes to their towns were considered 'safe' took the clever step of naming such Watling Street. Thus anyone considering committing any crime (no matter how trivial) received the same punishment - death.

Ermine Street, running from London to Lincoln, follows a similar tale to Watling Street. With the earliest recorded version as Earninga Straete, this is from the Earningas tribe who lived around Arrington in Cambridgeshire where they gave their name to the Armingford Hundred and also to the route.

Icknield Street is originally recorded as Hikenild Street and generally accepted as a reference to the Iceni tribe of Boudicca fame as the earliest Saxon records speak of this as Icenhilde Weg.

Ryknield Street is a little different, with the name not found before the 12th century. Both the route and the lack of early forms (not to mention the differences in those records found) have brought into question whether this road ever existed as a true Roman road but is simply another attempt to copy a safe route and thus an erroneous version of Icknield Street above.

Fosse Way is undoubtedly both a Roman road and one named by the Saxons. Indeed, because this comes from Old English fosse meaning 'ditch', it is clear it will not have been named until the Saxons arrived (and the Romans had departed our shores).

Athough the Latin fossa has the same meaning of 'ditch', it is difficult to see why the Romans would name one road when leaving all the rest nameless. Indeed, at a time when the maximum distance travelled in a day would have been 32 miles - the distance a group of soldiers could march in a day and no coincidence as also the distance between Roman forts on these roads - the only thing to know was the next place to rest, final destinations were not applicable and the major roads are all known for their destination.

The Cinque Ports

In 1155 a Royal Charter created what became known as the Cinque Ports, the name coming from the French for ‘five’ although, as we shall see, there were effectively more. The named ports, around the coast of Sussex and Kent, were to supply and maintain ships in readiness for whenever the Crown needed them. Collectively they were to provide 57 ships for 15 days’ service per annum, the duty shared out between them. In return the charter gave the named ports a number of privileges. As the charter states (with any necessary explanations in brackets):

“Exemption from tax and tallage (tolls), right of soc and sac (self-government), tol and team (levy tolls), blodwit (those who drew the blood of others), fledwit (those who fled justice), pillory and tumbril (carry out punishment for minor offences), infangentheof and outfangentheof (detain and even execute criminals who erred within the limits of the port's jurisdiction or even outside it), mundbryce (the right to erect dikes as flood defences on the property of others without question), waifs and strays, flotsam and jetsam and ligan (claim on goods through or lost overboard or which had been unclaimed for more than a year).”

Such powers given over to small communities was quite unusual and, rather predictably, resulted in a certain amount of lawlessness. Few saw the need to obey the laws, many offences were ignored, and smuggling was so rife as to be the dominant wage-earner.

Whilst there are officially just five cinque ports, we also find eight ‘limbs’ and some twenty associated towns and settlements. As this blog so often looks at etymologies, and having produced books looking at these specific counties - East Sussex Place Names, West Sussex Place Names, East Kent Place Names and West Kent Place Names - I thought it might be interesting to look at the origins of the names, even though these place names will have been coined many years before the charter and thus will not have been influenced by same.

The official five are:

Dover – Possibly the nation’s most famous port for passengers as it is the traditional gateway to Europe, the name appears as Dubris in the fourth century, as Dofrus at the end of the seventh century, and as Dovere in the Domesday record. This is an old river name, the River Dour being a British or Celtic river name from dubras and meaning quite simply ‘the waters’.

Hastings – Recorded as Hastinges in the Domesday survey of 1086, this comes from a Saxon personal name and Old English inga telling of the ‘(place of) the family or followers of a man called Haesta’. However this was not the original name of the place, for at the beginning of the tenth century we find Haestingaceaster or ‘the Roman stronghold of Haesta’s people’.

Hythe – Old English hyth is used to refer specifically to ‘the landing place, harbour’. This name is found as Hede in the Domesday record of 1086.

New Romney – Listed as Rumena in 895 and as Romenel in 1086, this place name was originally a river name. From Old English ea ‘river’ this suffix appears to follow the element Rumen, itself an old name for Romney Marsh meaning ‘the broad one’.

Sandwich – Seen as Sandwicae in the early eighth century and as Sandwice in the Domesday record, this name comes from Old English sand wic and refers to ‘the sandy harbour or trading centre’.



Eight Limbs:

Brightlingsea – Listed as Byrhtlingan in the early eleventh century and as Brislinga in Domesday, this name refers to the ‘raised dry land of the family or followers of a man called Beorhtric’. Here the Saxon personal name is followed by ingas eg.

Deal – Found as Addelam in the Domesday record of 1086 and as Dela in 1158, here is Old English dael or ‘(place at) the hollow valley’.

Faversham – Seen as Fefresham in 811 and Faversham as early as the Domesday record of 1086, here Old English faefer ham speaks of ‘the homestead of the smith or metalworker’.

Folkestone – Recorded as Folcanstan in 697 and as Fulchestan in Domesday, here Old English stan follows a Saxon personal name to speak of ‘the stone of a man called Folca’.

Lydd – With the earliest record dating from 774 as Hlidum, this comes from Old English hlid to speak of this place being ‘at the gates’.

Margate – A famous Kent port recorded as Meregate in 1254, with Old English mere geat referring to ‘the gate or gap to the sea’.

Ramsgate – Another Kent port, this found as Remmesgate in 1275, here we possibly find Old English hraefn geat and ‘the gap of the raven’, although it may be the first element is used as a Saxon personal name. Either way the gap is still visible in the cliffs.

Tenterden – Found as Tentwardene in 1179, this refers to itself as ‘the woodland pasture of the Thanet dwellers’. The name of Thanet is suffixed by Old English ware and denn. The Isle of Thanet itself means ‘the bright island’, a British or Celtic name thought to refer to a beacon.



Others:

Bekesbourne – Seen in the Domesday record of 1086 as Burnes and in 1280 as Bekesborne, the original name is from burna or ‘stream’, with the later addition showing it was held by Willelmus de Beche, if only for a short period between 1198 and 1208.

Birchington – Found as Bircheton in 1275, here is the birce tun or ‘farmstead among the birches’.

Bulverhythe – With the earliest record dating from 1229 as Burewarehethe, here we find Old English burg wara hyp or ‘the landing place of the people of the fortified place’.

Eastbourne – Listed in Domesday simply as Burne, this is from Old English burna or ‘stream’. The addition, first seen in 1279, means exactly what it says and compares its location to the Westbourne.

Fordwich – With eighth century records of Fordeuuicum in 675 and Forduuic in 747, here is Old English ford wic referring to ‘the dairy farm at the ford’.

Grange (part of Gillingham) – As a Saxon reference is always to an outlying field or farm belonging to a monastery or the church.

Hydney (lost place name in Eastbourne) – Comes from two Old English elements, hid eg refers to ‘the hide of dry ground in a marsh’. A hide is not a true measurement of land, even if it is often cited as being equivalent to 120 acres. This is simply an average as the true definition should be ‘the area of land required to feed one family for one year’. Clearly many factors have to be taken into consideration, such as quality of the soil, annual rainfall, drainage, suitability of the crops grown, and the size of the family.

Kingsdown – Two quite obvious elements here, Old English cyng dun referring to ‘the king’s land of or near a hill’.

Northeye (lost Sussex village) – As with Kingsdown this is clearly from two Old English elements where north eg describes ‘the northern area of dry land’.

Pebsham – Once again the Old English elements are easily seen, here ham follows a Saxon personal name to refer to ‘the homestead of a man called Pybba’.

Pevensey – Listed as Pefenesea in 947 and as Peuenesea in 1050, this sees the Old English suffix ea with a Saxon personal name to describe ‘the river of a man called Pefen’.

Reculver – A Kent place name from a British word related to Welsh gylf and Old Irish gulba following a Latin prefix prae to give the great headland or promontory’. The name has a myriad early listings beginning with Regulbium in 425.

Ringwould – Found as Roedligwealda in 955, this name speaks of the weald or ‘previously high forested ground of people of a man called Hrethel’.

St Johns – Quite clearly a place named from the dedication of its church.

St Peters – Again a place named from the dedication of its church.

Sarre – Listed as Seorre in 761, this represents an old British river name, and while the true origin is not certain, possibly comes from the same root as Latin serth meaning ‘to crawl’.

Seaford – A name which is self-explanatory and describes ‘the ford by the sea’. The name is recorded as Saford in 1150.

Stonar – First seen in 1178 as Stanora this name comes from Old English stan ora and describes ‘the stony shore or landing place’.

Walmer – From Old English wahl mere here is ‘the pool associated with the Welshmen’.

West Hythe – As with Hythe this describes ‘the landing place’ with the addition showing location in respect to its namesake.

Woodchurch – A very easy name to define, indeed it is still self-explanatory. However the ‘church built of wood’ tells us rather more than would first be apparent. In Saxon times churches were predominantly constructed of wood, not until the Normans arrived were they mainly of stone. This stone gave the common place name of Whitchurch, literally ‘white church’ and showing it stood out as being made of stone, prior to this references to a church were simply to the place of worship and not to the material of which it is constructed. Hence we can deduce this church at Woodchurch was built from timber at a time when it was unusual to do so, showing the name and the church was comparatively late.

Origins of English Place Names

This week saw me complete negotiations for more books on the origins of place names. These, together with previously released volumes, mean I will have penned and published something on every English county by the time the last of these is released by the summer of 2014. I make no apologies for taking this opportunity to define the names of the counties and include a shameless plug for each volume and include a link to each. The list appears in the same chronological order these books were and/or wiil be released.

My first book was Staffordshire Place Names in 1996. The county, as with so many names, simply adds Old English scir to the name of the county town. The Saxon ‘shire’ was an administrative region, created when they realised something was required between the hundred and the nation. When it comes to Stafford, we see two elements where staeth ford speaks of ‘the river crossing near the landing place’. It stands to reason the landing place would have been at the highest navigable point upstream, a place which would also have been shallow enough to ford. I should add that while this book is now out of print, there will be an e-book version out within the next few months.

Next came Warwickshire Place Names which is already available as an e-book. Another ‘shire’ attached to the name of the county town. Here we see Warwick from Old English waering wic or ‘the dwellings at the weir’.

Examining Worcestershire Place Names we see another scir or ‘administrative district’, this time following the city of Worcester, named as ‘the Roman stronghold of the Weogora tribe’. These Celtic peoples are thought to have been named as ‘the dwellers at the winding river’.

On to Derbyshire Place Names and the city of Derby. Here another scir with Old Scandinavian deor by telling of ‘the farmstead where deer are found’.

In Leicestershire and Rutland Place Names two counties were covered. With Leicester we see another Celtic tribe named. Although ‘the Roman stronghold of the people called Ligore’, again with scir, features a tribal name which has never been understood. In Rutland we have a place name which was adopted as the county name, this referring to ‘the estate of a man called Rota’.

South to yet another scir and Oxfordshire Place Names with the city of spires being named from far humbler beginnings, this ‘the ford used by oxen’.

My next volume was Shropshire Place Names and a county town where pronunciation will never be agreed, at least not by Salopians. So we will ignore Shrewsbury and define Shropshire and find another scir or ‘administrative district’. The first element comes from Old English scrob meaning ‘scrubland’, thus correctly it should be Shrobshire, although the question of where this ‘scrubland’ was found remains. The answer is the county town, for Shrewsbury began as scrob’s-bury and shows why it should be pronounced Shro- and not read as Shrew- for it is the spelling of Shrewsbury which is in error and as a wise professor once told me, no name was ever mispronounced before the people could read. I am already aware the ‘correct’ pronunciation is becoming less popular and already I am wondering when the ‘incorrect’ form will become the accepted version.

No such problems when tackling Nottinghamshire Place Names where this scir suffixes the city named as ‘the homestead of the family or followers of a man named Snot’. Whilst I’m sure the residents would not appreciate the initial ‘S’ being reinstalled, they might be interested to learn the name refers to Snot’s followers, not Snot himself. Thus it is likely he was never here and this settlement may well have been named posthumously.

With Hampshire Place Names the county town is Southampton, this recorded simply as Hamtun in 825 and telling of ‘the farmstead of the hemmed-in land or promontory’. The question of why ‘south’ was always answered with Northampton being on the other end of a ancient trade route. While there may have been a regular supply of goods along a road, this is not the correct Northampton, that is in Hampshire although, for reasons nobody has ever understood, that suddenly changed the suffix and is today known as Northington.

Sharing a suffix with other Roman strongholds, the name which resulted in Gloucestershire Place Names comes from ‘the Roman stronghold called Glevum’, this a Celtic place name meaning ‘bright place’.

No scir for Dorset Place Names although it is derived from another major settlement within its borders. Today known as Dorchester, the county name simply an abbreviated version, telling of ‘the Roman stronghold known as Durnovaria’. As with the previous name this is a Celtic place name describing ‘place with large pebbles’.

Back to the suffix scir or ‘administrative district’ for Northamptonshire Place Names. As we have seen this has nothing to do with Southampton and does not share the same meaning. Here ‘the northern home farmstead’ distinguishes it from other ham tuns much closer to home.

No scir for Somerset Place Names and yet, like neighbouring Dorset, is based on a local place name. Here the county speaks of it being that of ‘the settlers around Somerton’, itself telling of its humble beginnings as ‘the farmstead used only in summer’.

The large county of Devon, covered in two volumes by firstly South Devon Place Names and the forthcoming 2014 release of North Devon Place Names, has no scir today but did originally. Here is ‘the administrative district of the Devonians or Dummonii’.

Another two volumes were released for the southeast county of Sussex, now officially split in two and covered by East Sussex Place Names andWest Sussex Place Names. As with the other counties sharing this suffix the reference is to the Saxons, here is ‘the territory of the south Saxons’ – now correctly, and rather confusingly, the east south Saxons and the west south Saxons.

Another scir is found in Herefordshire Place Names where we find ‘the administrative district of the ford capable of carrying an army’. Note the relevant part is ‘capable’, for Hereford does not tell us an army was marching back and forth but says it was of good size and solidly built.

With the county town of Chester leading to Cheshire Place Names, this is ‘the administrative district of the Roman stronghold’ from Old English caster scir.

With Buckinghamshire Place Names we see Old English inga hamm and a Saxon personal name speaking of ‘the administrative district of the hemmed-in land of the family or followers of a man called Bucca’.

North to the find Cambridgeshire Place Names and ‘the administrative district of the place at the bridge over the River Granta’ otherwise known as the Cam – this odd change is entirely down to Norman error.

Down south and another large county split into East Kent Place Names and West Kent Place Names. As a name, Kent has never really been understood. Clearly it is different from other counties and this is down to it once being a Saxon kingdom in its own right, although the name is certainly Celtic. Possibly this is ‘the coastal district’ but an origin of ‘land of the hosts or armies’ can also be seen.

Back to the scir for Bedfordshire Place Names and ‘the administrative district of the ford of a man called Beda’.

Another scir in the Home Counties and Hertfordshire Place Names where ‘the administrative district of the ford frequented by harts’ is the origin.

On the east coast is the large county covered by Lincolnshire Place Names where we find the Roman influence once more. Here the city dominated by its cathedral gives us ‘the administrative district of the Roman colony by the pool’. That ‘colony’ was for retired legionaires.

Publishing in early December 2013 Berkshire Place Names is an oddity in being a scir but without a town called ‘Berk’. Here the term describes the region as ‘the administrative district of the hilly place’, what we know as the Berkshire Downs.

Appearing in early 2014 Surrey Place Names is no scir but comes from Old English suther ge and tells of ‘the southern district’.

Another early 2014 release is Essex Place Names which, as with Sussex, speaks of itself as ‘the territory of the East Saxons’.

Set for the spring of 2014 Middlesex Place Names covers ‘the territory of the middle Saxons’.

Another scir and Lancashire Place Names will be out early next year. Here the basis is the town of Lancaster, thus this ‘the administrative district of the Roman stronghold on the River Lune’ – where the river name is understood as ‘healthy, pure’.

Spring 2014 will see Cumbria Place Names which is a modern county name based on an eighth century record speaking of ‘the territory of the Cymry or Cumbrian Britons’.

The Scilly Isles are covered in the 2014 release of Cornwall Place Names. As with the previous name, this refers to the native Celtic peoples in ‘the territory of the Cornovii tribes’.

Another new county in a 2014 release is Isle of Wight Place Names where the island, so often said to refer to the ‘white’ chalk lands, is from a Celtic word speaking of ‘the place of the division’, that the two channels between here and the mainland known as the Solent. Note the name Solent has never been understood, although it has been given to the river which eroded this valley in the millennia before our islands were severed from mainland Europe with the rising of sea level at the end of the last Ice Age.

Spring of 2014 will also see the release of County Durham Place Names where the word ‘county’ is added to differentiate between the city and the shire. Here is the dun holmr or ‘hill of drier land in the marsh’.

Also available in early 2014 is the neighbouring county covered by Northumberland Place Names and another scir in all but name. This former Saxon kingdom was much larger than the present county and it is that kingdom of ‘the territory of the Northhymbre’ or ‘those living north of the Humber’ which has led to the modern name.

Also publishing in May 2014 is Suffolk Place Names and ‘the territory of the southern people of the East Angles’.

Spring 2014 and Wiltshire Place Names and ‘the administrative disctive of Wilton’, the town itself ‘the farmstead near a spring or stream’.

In the summer of 2014 we will see four volumes for Yorkshire. The county town of the original county giving us ‘the administrative district of the yew tree estate’. Not only the vast area covered by the original county but the tremendous number of small settlements means one volume would be very heavy and very expensive. Eventually it was decided to combine the three ridings and three counties to produce four volumes entitled North Yorkshire Place Names, South Yorkshire Place Names, East Yorkshire Place Names, and West Yorkshire Place Names

Finally towards the end of 2014 Isle of Man Place Names will appear. True this is neither a scir nor a county but a place I wanted to write about and to examine its place names. The island’s name is thought to be derived from an early leader by the name of Manu, although traditionally this was said to be named after the fabled Irish sea deity Manannan mac Lir.

I would welcome any suggestions for themes or subjects, or even specific words to examine the origins, meanings and etymologies. I’d be delighted to hear from you.