tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311063131188554905.post8229019198862524211..comments2024-03-28T23:39:31.606-07:00Comments on Casting Light upon the Shadow: English Place NamesAnnie Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11028691371545306450noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311063131188554905.post-15585839144121662152018-03-28T12:42:12.808-07:002018-03-28T12:42:12.808-07:00Thanks so much - glad you enjoyed it :-)Thanks so much - glad you enjoyed it :-)Annie Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11028691371545306450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311063131188554905.post-14072279237850941262018-03-28T11:59:01.970-07:002018-03-28T11:59:01.970-07:00Fascinating. I knew some of this, my old A Level H...Fascinating. I knew some of this, my old A Level History teacher is an Anglo Saxon language expert and ensured we knew how to recognise an Anglo Saxon place name when we saw one (we enjoyed his explanation of Snodland but didn't really believe him, though now I know differently...) so it is great to read a far more thorough explanation to dispel the myths and reveal the truths. Thank you.Little Angelic Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13636466826438530446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311063131188554905.post-60017562331422001272017-09-14T01:04:04.457-07:002017-09-14T01:04:04.457-07:00Thanks Roland - glad you enjoyed the post. I know ...Thanks Roland - glad you enjoyed the post. I know Norfolk very well, having lived there as a teenager. Yes, 'Windham' is certainly an interesting one!! Ingoldisthorpe is another...Annie Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11028691371545306450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311063131188554905.post-72945374480701425132017-09-13T12:31:52.329-07:002017-09-13T12:31:52.329-07:00I've been fascinated by place names for decade...I've been fascinated by place names for decades, so I loved this fascinating post. I grew up in Sussex and later moved to East Anglia encountering Happisburgh in Norfolk - and others. The pronunciation of place names definitely changed with the 'geography' and the settlers. Learning how to say Wymondham was another challenge.......Roland Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03302133565980901397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311063131188554905.post-43359627195122075402017-09-13T07:57:36.120-07:002017-09-13T07:57:36.120-07:00We have a Hammerwich just outside Lichfield!We have a Hammerwich just outside Lichfield!Richard Tearlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13593521217135620570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311063131188554905.post-89452843338339936492017-09-13T05:17:56.321-07:002017-09-13T05:17:56.321-07:00Thanks for getting in touch Sarah, and how lovely ...Thanks for getting in touch Sarah, and how lovely that you grew up in Upper Slaughter - I know the name because the protagonist in my second novel, Earl Aelfhere, had a house there! Wychcraft demonstrates exactly how these old names can be misinterpreted - one would immediately presume that it had something to do with witches, which seems to be very wide of the mark :-)Annie Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11028691371545306450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311063131188554905.post-39348779278425484762017-09-13T04:12:10.205-07:002017-09-13T04:12:10.205-07:00Thank you for this. I love investigating place nam...Thank you for this. I love investigating place names. Th village where I grew up in the Cotswold - Upper Slaughter and where I live now, Solihull both mean muddy place and muddy hill in OE. My father asked me to discover the meaning of one of my uncle's fields called Madcombe. It turned out it was just the obvious description of that particular field - sloping meadow leading down to a brook!. My unlce has another field called Wychcraft which, thanks to you, I presume had something to do with either a market or may just have been a place to store grain as it was known as wheatcroft in Victorian times (it's a strange square field with only one hedge and no walls).Sarah Headhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08975928642943693605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311063131188554905.post-89532985834475986132017-09-13T02:44:53.596-07:002017-09-13T02:44:53.596-07:00Probably something -wic, as in Hamwic, the old nam...Probably something -wic, as in Hamwic, the old name for Southampton.Annie Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11028691371545306450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311063131188554905.post-76593059425681277032017-09-13T02:42:03.301-07:002017-09-13T02:42:03.301-07:00Presumably, yes.....According to the great God Wik...Presumably, yes.....According to the great God Wiki, Leighton comes from Leah-tun (farm in a clearing) and Buzzard was added by the Dean of Lincoln after his clerk, de Busar, because he had another estate called Leighton and wanted to distinguish them. Poor soul. I am always tickled by a signpost that actually appears on local Kentish Roads - Ham on one arm and Sandwich on the other. Of course, Sandwich was named well before the Earl's famous 'beef between two slices'. As it was once by the seaside, presumably the name alludes to the port that was once there?Richard Tearlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13593521217135620570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311063131188554905.post-76921617348051412742017-09-13T02:30:44.543-07:002017-09-13T02:30:44.543-07:00Ah, Leighton Buzzard...I meant to look that one up...Ah, Leighton Buzzard...I meant to look that one up and forgot. There's such a wealth of material here, I could've made the post three times as long. Houghton Regis presumably has the same kind of heritage as other places with 'regis', and those like Lynn, which went from being Bishop's Lynn to King's Lynn after it got its royal charter?Annie Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11028691371545306450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311063131188554905.post-2487970242200354582017-09-13T02:28:38.016-07:002017-09-13T02:28:38.016-07:00I've never heard of Barton in the Beans! I lov...I've never heard of Barton in the Beans! I love it!Annie Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11028691371545306450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311063131188554905.post-45724848766035590092017-09-13T02:27:09.342-07:002017-09-13T02:27:09.342-07:00Fascinating! I suppose place names developed rathe...Fascinating! I suppose place names developed rather like surnames (although that should be the other way around!) in that a short description was the best way to identify a place. Funny you should mention Tilsworth: assuming it is the same one, it is the next village from where my ancestors originated in Stanbridge (Stanbrigge = Stoner Bridge) in Bedfordshire. some good names in that are, too - Houghton Regis, Leighton Buzzard, Edelsborough, Hocliffe. This last was once Hocgancliffe and Athelstan, son of Ethelraed II, bequeathed a manor there to Sigeferth, thegn of Mercia. Sadly long gone....Richard Tearlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13593521217135620570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311063131188554905.post-18823968779710435792017-09-13T02:20:46.991-07:002017-09-13T02:20:46.991-07:00I live by Ashby de la Zouch (that's where I do...I live by Ashby de la Zouch (that's where I do my Tesco shop) but my favourite place name is Barton in the Beans!A. J. Seftonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12923223045942979654noreply@blogger.com