THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES OXFORD HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY NOTES ON STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES W. H. DUIGNAN OP WALSALL LONDON HENRY FROWDE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AMEN CORNER, E.C. NEW YORK : 91 & 93 FIFTH AVENUE 1902 [All rights reserved] Colleg-e Library DPi h~\ Sn PREFACE THE study of place names is a modern science. Until Kemble published his Codex Diplomaticus (1839-48), our Anglo-Saxon records were inacces- sible to ordinary students. They were scattered, and those in public institutions were uncatalogued, unindexed, and difficult to decipher ; in addition, the language in which they were written was understood by few, and generally neglected. Kemble performed his work under great difficulties, and. as the charters related to most parts of England, without the advan- tage of local knowledge. His arrangement is con- fusing, the index incomplete, and his correlation of ancient to modern names deficient, and frequently erroneous. Thorpe published his Diplomatarium Anglicjim in 1845, containing some additions to Kemble's work, and several accurate and useful trans- lations. The Government, since 1873, have published four folio volumes of Facsimiles of Ancient Cliarters in the British Museum, and three similar volumes of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts, with transliterations and translations. Mr. W. de Gray Birch between 1885 and 1893 also published three quarto volumes of Cartularium Saxonicum, comprising all known charters to the year 975. This work, so far as it goes, is infinitely superior to Kemble's Codex> being well annotated ; but it is incomplete, and has an t 1182717 VI PREFACE index only of personal names. We had no Anglo- Saxon dictionary, worth the name, until Bosworth published his in 1838, a vastly improved edition of which was issued by the Clarendon Press, under the editorship of Professor Toller, between 1882 and 1898. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that county and other historians, who thought it necessary to deal with local etymologies, should generally display little learning, and make frequent and flagrant mistakes. The study of Anglo-Saxon, or Old-English as some prefer to term it, is now however open to all, and is fast being considered a necessary part of liberal edu- cation. Knowledge of the language is indispensable in construing place names, as probably ninety per cent, of them have their genesis in it. The philologist also has opportunities to refresh himself by researches in Norman-French, Norse, Welsh, and other Celtic languages; so that he will probably never lack occupation, or cease to learn. After Anglo-Saxon records, our next authority is Domesday Book. It is wonderfully correct, con- sidering the rapidity of its compilation (it is said to have occupied two years), that it is the work of Norman commissioners and clerks taking oral evidence from A. S. witnesses, and was transcribed from the crabbed and abbreviated writing of the period by other clerks. Numerous errors are of course to be found in it, and local charters of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries are often preferable authorities. It is rarely safe to trust the present form of a name. Change has been going on at all times, and corrup- tion crept in long before the Conquest. ' Before PREFACE Vll attempting an etymology, ascertain the earliest form and use of the word ; observe history and chronology ; observe phonetic laws ' (Professor Skeat). The gravest errors are perpetuated in history in consequence of the ignorance of early writers of every- thing concerning place names. As Professor Skeat says, ' they had no means of ascertaining principles that are now well established, and instead of pro- ceeding by rule had to go blindly by guess.' It is certainly important to know whether a battle in which Ceawlin (King of Wessex) was defeated by the Britons in 592 was fought at Wanborough in Wilts., or at Wednesbury in Staffordshire. These places are about ninety miles apart, and we cannot understand the relative occupation of the country by Saxons and Britons, at the time referred to, without identifying the locality. Three versions of the A. S. Chronicle, under the year 592, say 'There was a great slaughter in Britain at Woddesbeorge, and Ceawlin was driven out ' ; but a fourth version says 'at Wodensbeorgel Henry of Huntingdon says 'at Wednesburiej Ethel weard's Chronicle ' at Wodnesbyrgl and Florence of Wor- cester ' at Wodnesbeorh, that is Woden's Mount.' Camden lays the scene at Woodborough (which he feels constrained to spell Woodensburge), seven miles south-east of Devizes. This does not commend itself to Gough, who says, in his Additions to Camden, ' But Woodborrow being the only village whose name retains any traces of Wodensburg, and there not being the least sign or tradition of a battle fought there, others suppose that Wanborow is the town in question ; for Wodensburgh might as easily pass into Wanborongh as Wodensdic into Wansdike? Vlll PREFACE Lingard accepts ' Woodensburg ' (there is no such place) ' in Wilts.' Elton (Origins of History} says ' it was probably at Wanborough ' ; and Kemble, finding a Wodnesbeorg (plainly on the bounds of Alton in Hants) in charters 1035 and 1070 (Cod. Dip.}, recklessly assigns it, in his Index, to Wan- borough. ' Sir R. A. C. Hoare suggests Woodborough in Wilts. Thorpe says ' it is undetermined/ and Dr. Guest (Origines Celticae) writes, 'The place, beyond all question, is Wanborough in Wilts.' ; and he argues that he would expect Wodensburgh, by the eleventh or twelfth century, to soften into Woden-burgh, of which Wanborougk would be the modern corrup- tion. Later writers have accepted this view without investigation. Now it is impossible it can be Wan- borough, because in three charters of the ninth century that place is recorded as Wenbeorg\ in Domesday it is Wembcrge, the ;;/ being an evident mistake for n. Wen, in the ninth century, could not represent an original Woden. There is only one Wednes- bury in England (the Wodensbcorg in Alton being out of the question and now unknown), and I suggest that the Woddesbeorge of three versions of the Chronicle is an error for Wodnesbeorge. There is another reason why Wednesbury should be preferred. It is well known that the Saxons advanced from the south and east, gradually driving the Britons before them. The Chronicle, under the year 577 (fifteen years before the battle referred to), says 'Cuthwine and Ceawline fought against the Britons at Deorham, and took three cities from them, Gloucester, Ciren- cester, and Bath.' It is more likely that the victorious Caewlin advanced northward to Wednesbury, than PREFACE ix that he fell back forty miles south. Again, the Chronicle, under 715, tells us that 'Ina' (King of Wessex) ' and Ceolred ' (King of Mercia) ' fought,' three versions say 'at Woddesbeorgel and two say ' at Wodnesbeorge' Ethelweard's Chronicle says ' at Wothnesbeorge ' (th clearly representing d]. Florence of Worcester writes 'at Wodnesbeorh! Commen- tators also assume this to mean Wanborough. I submit that both the events referred to took place at Wednesbury in Mercia, not at Wanborough in Wessex. Even contemporary writers of eminence are ex- ceedingly slipshod in construing place names, and deducing history from them. Any old nonsense is good enough. The third edition of The Story of some English Shires, by Mandell Creighton, D.D., late Lord Bishop of London, has just (1901) been published, the writer, we are told in the preface, being ' one of the recognized masters of English history.' Well, to him Lichfield is ' the field of corpses ' ; Stafford is * the ford over the broadening stream which could be crossed by the help of a staff.' Wolverhampton ' tells, by its name, of the ravages made by the wild wolves on the flocks of its first inhabitants.' Coventry ' took its name from the convent round which it gathered,' overlooking the fact that Coventry was Cofantreo centuries before the Conquest, and that covent, meaning a convent, was borrowed from the French, and is not found in our language before 1225. The rest of the etymo- logies are of similar value. A large proportion of place names, throughout the world, have their origin in personal names. ' Their X PREFACE inward thought is that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling-places to all generations ; they call their lands after their own names.' In construing these names we must remember that nicknames, pet names, and short names were as common before the Conquest as they were in the last century ; and further, that Time inclines to brevity. ' Letters, like soldiers on a long march, have a tendency to drop off and desert.' Our old writers, when they recognize a per- sonal name, usually assign it to some distinguished individual. But all the prominent names in history were borne alike by nobles and peasants ; and it is more likely that a place would take its name from an original settler than from some great man, unless known in the locality. The influence of personal names has only been recognized within the last thirty years. Until the publication of Mr. Searle's Onomasticon Anglo- Saxonicnm (1897), which gives a list of personal names from the time of Beda to that of King John, all collections were fragmentary. I have found the work of infinite service, and the author is entitled to the gratitude of all philologists. The Norsemen appear to have influenced, to some extent, the formation of place names in the moorland district of North Staffordshire. This influence is entirely absent in the south of the county. Whether a colony of Norsemen settled on the moorlands, or their descendants migrated from the north, or the language trickled down, we cannot tell ; but Norse influence is apparent north of Newcastle, Cheadle, and Uttoxeter. In cases where I have been unable to arrive at a satisfactory opinion I have thought it best to give PREFACE Xl the forms I have met with, and leave the construction to others who may have more learning, or meet with better material. Farm and field names are frequently of extreme antiquity, and in a word sometimes convey a story. The difficulty with them is that without access to the owner's title-deeds it is hard to get reliable early forms. They can therefore only be scantily dealt with. Old street names are often historically interest- ing, and municipal records generally afford early forms. I have been chary of them to avoid incum- brance, and probably they would be more interesting in municipal history. Many of them have their origin in Norman-French, the language of the law courts and lawyers for about a hundred and fifty years prior to 1363. Take for instance a street name in Walsall. Ablewell Street skirts the foot of the hill on which the church stands, and is connected with it by a side street called 'the Ditch.' In the thirteenth century the name of the street was Aval- walle. In N.F. aval means 'below,' and walle is a M. E. word commonly applied to earthworks or ancient entrenchments. ' The Ditch ' represents the fosse of these earthworks, which was visible fifty years ago, and may still be traced. Altogether we get this story : that, in remote times, the church hill was crowned by earthworks (a fort). That the ancient fathers built, within the fort, a primitive church, not for defence, but because it was their common policy to use any place frequented or venerated by the heathen people, as being attractive to them. And the town grew round the church. I have to express my acknowledgements and thanks XII PREFACE to Major-General the Honourable George VVrottcslcy, whose patient and learned labours in the compilation of Collections for a History of Staffordshire (William Salt Archaeological Society) first suggested, and greatly facilitated, these notes ; to Professor Skeat of Cambridge, for advice on many occasions, always most promptly and courteously afforded ; and to my friend, Mr. W. H. Stevenson, Fellow of Exeter College. Oxford, for his valuable revision of these notes, for which, however, he is not to be held responsible further than indicated by his initials. VV. H. DUIGNAN. WALSALL, December, 1901. PRINCIPAL CONTRACTIONS A. S., Anglo-Saxon = Old English. Bosworth- Toller, Bosworth-Toller's A. S. Dictionary. c., century. Cart. Sax., Birch's Cartularium Saxonicum. Cod. Dip., Kemble's Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici. D,, Domesday Book. dot., dative. E. D. S., English Dialect Society. E. E. T. S., Early English Text Society. E. P. N., Britten and Holland's English Plant Names, E. D. S. Eng. Dial Diet., English Dialect Dictionary. Exs., Examples. f.,fem., feminine. G., Gaelic. gen., genitive. h., hamlet. H. E. >., Historical, or New, English Dictionary. /., Irish. L., Latin. m., miles. M., Manx. M. E., Middle-English. m., mas., masculine. N. F., Norman or Old French. 0. E., Old-English or Anglo-Saxon. O. F., Old or Norman French. 0. N., Old Norse. 0. W., Old Welsh. P. ., personal name. //. H., place name. pr., pronounced. W., Welsh. W. //. S., W. H. Stevenson. SUFFIXES Barrow, in various forms, is a common terminal. The root is A. S. beorg, beorh, M. E. beoruh, berghe, berwe, borw, borg, burgh, barrough, Mod. E. barrow. The original meaning is a hill, hillock, but at a very early period the word was commonly applied to a low, or burial-mound. The forms are so various in M. E. that great care is needful to distinguish them from A. S. burh, M. E. burgh, borowe, &c. V. Bury. Bury, Borough, Berry. These terminals have their root in A. S. burh, dat. byrig, byrg, M. E. burgh, borowe, burwe, borugh, Sec., meaning an enclosed place, from a castle, town, or village, to a single homestead surrounded by a wall or rampart of earth. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish the forms, which in M. E. are very varied, from A. S. beorg, beorh, beorge, a hill, tumulus (v. Barrow). (The r was strongly rolled, and the h was like Scotch ch in loch ; thence develop- ment of u in form borough. Burgh, in Lincolnshire, is pronounced ' Borough.' W. H. S.) Burgh, burg, burh, in A. S. dictionaries are generally interpreted a fortified place, a town, a city. But we must remember that, with few exceptions, towns and cities were not founded right away, but grew from small beginnings perhaps a single home- stead and acquired a name before they had any pretensions to importance. In a charter of 996 'the old burg' is mentioned as on the bounds of a manor. The bounds are precisely what they were, and the description so accurate that every locality can be identified. The 'old burg' con- sists of seven small pits, the dwellings of some primitive race. XVI STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES No trace of enclosure or earthwork remains, and it is improbable that any ever existed. Pit-dwellings could only have been occupied by some persecuted feeble race hiding themselves in holes ; and yet the place is called a burg. Don, a common terminal, from A. S. dun, dune (pr. down), a mountain, hill, 'down.' In Staffordshire pi. names it may always be translated ' hill,' the county having no moun- tains or downs. In M. E. it appears as dune, doune, doun. Dun is a common word in Celtic and Teutonic languages. In I. it is generally applied to a hill-fort. In W. the form is din and dinas, with a similar meaning. Field, Feld, Felt, common terminals from A. S. feld, a field ; in pi. names not an enclosure as we now under- stand it, but ' a plain, open, unenclosed country as opposed to woodland ; an expanse.' Ford, a common terminal from A. S. ford, a road or passage through a stream, irrespective of its size. In A. S. charters a road to a man's house which crosses a rivulet is frequently called So-and-So's ' ford.' Hale. This very common terminal is usually treated as a form of A. S. heall, a hall, or principal dwelling ; but it seems also to be a form of A. S. healh, Mercian halh, dat. heale, Mercian hale, which Bosworth-Toller's Dictionary gives as ' a word of doubtful meaning ' ; but it is certainly used in A. S. charters in the sense of meadow or pasture land. Kemble (Cod. Dip.) always construes it 'hall'; but it is clear that many pi. names now ending in ' hale ' or ' hall ' refer to meadow-land. Rischalc, now Rushall, cannot mean a hall built of rushes. It is more likely to mean 'rushy meadow or pasture ' ; Fearnhealas cannot mean Fern halls, but may reasonably be read 'ferny meadows'; Ualhhalan is more likely to mean ' heathy meadow ' than ' heath hall,' SUFFIXES XV11 and so on. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, I construe hah as ' hall.' In the early part of the 140. the words hale and halle (from O. F. hale) were applied to places roofed over, but usually open at the sides, to pavilions, tents, and booths; hence our town-fo//, market-^a//. In pi. names, however, this meaning must be disregarded. Ham. This common terminal is usually derived from A. S. ham, home, a dwelling; but many places now ending in ham derive that part of their name from A. S. hamrn and holm, river-side meadow. (Holm is O. N., not O. E., in this sense. W. H. S.) Yes ; probably borrowed from O. N. before the Saxons came here ; I am unwilling to admit that the Norsemen had any influence whatever in the forma- tion of early Staffordshire pi. names, except in North-East Staffs. Hay, a common prefix and terminal, is from A. S. hegt (g = y), meaning (i) an enclosed place, (2) a locality known by defined bounds, but not enclosed. Forests were usually divided into hays for administrative purposes. Cannock Forest is sometimes recorded as ' The Forest of the Seven Hays.' In M. E. hege becomes heye, hete, haie, hqye, hay, and similar forms. It is allied to A. S. haga, M. E. haw, haghe, hawe, which also means an enclosure, and is frequently applied to burgage tenements in towns. Hill, a common terminal, and an occasional prefix, is from A. S. hyll y M. E. hul, hulle, a hill. The word is comparative, and often applied in level districts to slight elevations. Hope, in various forms, is a common terminal, and an occasional prefix in the Midlands, especially Salop. It is A. S. hop, M. E. hope, only to be found in A. S. dictionaries in its adjectival form, hopig (g-=.y), in hills and hollows, or in compound, such as mdr-hopu (plural), moor-hope, a fen. It means 'a valley between two hills.' Exs. : Hopwas, Hopton, b XV111 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Woolhope, Ratlinghope, &c. Hope, bach, combe, have sub- stantially the same meaning. Ley, Leigh, Lea, Ly, Lay. These common terminals are from A. S. leak. gen. and dat. leage (g = y), M. E. ley, leye, lay, le, open unfilled land used as pasture, the unenclosed parts of a manor, which might be grassy, bushy, woody, or varied. For brevity I translate the forms as ' pasture. Low, a common terminal, from A. S. hlaw, M.E. lawe, lowe, a mound, hillock; but, in pi. names, may always be read ' burial-mound,' ' barrow.' More, Moor, common terminals, from A. S. mor (pr. moor), M. E. mor, more, moore. The word is usually applied to waste, swampy land ; but sometimes to high, waste ground, untimbered. Ton, Tone, Tun, terminals and occasional prefixes, are A. S. lun, dat. tune, M. E. loun, Mod. E. town.. The original meaning of the word was ' an enclosure, a field or place surrounded by a bank or hedge ' ; hence ' barton/ an enclosure for corn, 'appleton,' an apple orchard. It then came to signify ' a separate dwelling with the land enclosed about it.' Now it is usually applied to a large village, a town ; but the original sense is expressed in most of our pi. names ending in 'ton.' As late as 1389 Wycliffe writes, Matt. xxii. 5 : ' But thei dispisiden, and wenten forth, oon to his toun' (field), 'anothir to his marchaundise.' (Tun was shortened in compounds, hence u, not ow, the development of u in normal circumstances. W. H. S.) Wich,, a common terminal from A. S. wic, dat. wice (c = ch before e), M.E. wic, wike, wyke (also in composition assibilated -wich, -wych, -wyj, from L. vicus, a place), dwelling, village, town. In the N. and K. it becomes, under Scandinavian influence, wick and wyke. The word is not to be confounded with wick, on the coast, which is generally SUFFIXES XIX from O. N., and means a bay ; nor with wick (origin un- known), a salt spring, or salt town; e.g. DroitzwirA, Nant- wich, Northw/'^, MiddlezwVA, ShirleyzwV-fc, &c. Worth, a common terminal, is A. S. worth, weorlh, wurth, wyrth, wierth, homestead, farm, estate, property. It is allied to A. S. worthig, weorthig. wurthtg, wyrthig, sometimes found as worlhign, worthine, which has precisely the same meaning. The latter forms have frequently, especially in Salop, hardened into wardtne, e. g. Shrawardine, Belswardine, Pedwardine, Cheswardine, &c. ; and in the SW. have become worthy, as in Holsworthy, King's Worthy, &c. STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Abbey Hulton, h., in Burslem. 13 and 14 c. Hulfon. A. S. hyll, M. E. hil, hull, and A. S'. tun, M. E. toun, town (v. Ton) Hilltown. Abbey is an addition, after the erection of a Cistercian abbey here in 1223. Abbots Bromley, v. Bromley Abbots. Abbot's Castle hill, 2 m. W. of Trysull, a long ridge of hilly ground, here forming the boundary between Stafford- shire and Salop. 1294 Aguardes-c aslel ; 1300 Apewardes* Castle. It is clear that Aguard and Apeward represent one of the many A. S. names ending in -weard, e.g. s&lfweard, ALlhelweard, &c.; but the forms are too corrupt for identi- fication. The connexion of an ' Abbot ' with the locality may be dismissed, and we must be content to know that the ' castle ' (probably the prehistoric earthworks on the ridge) was named after some A. S. whose name commenced with A- or &- and ended in -weard. The gen. es in the forms makes this certain. Abnalls (The), an ancient estate i m. NW. of Lichfield. 13 c. Abbenhale, Abbenhall. ^Ebba was an A. S. p. n., which, later, became Abba, gen. Abban. The terminal hale (q.v.) I construe ' hall ' ^Ebba's hall. Ackbury or Hackbury, a farm i m. S. of Brewood. 13 c. Herkebarewe; 1304 and 1327 Erkebarwe. The terminal is plainly A. S. beorh, M.E. berewe, a hill or tumulus, in M.E. generally applied to a barrow or burial-mound. The prefix represents a p. n., probably originally Arncytel, B 2 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES which was shortened to Arcytel and Arcil. It is not possible (with the forms) to identify the name, but Ackbury certainly means ' the burial-mound ' of some one whose name is repre- sented by ' Ack ' and ' Erke' Acton Trussell, 3 m. N. of Penkridge. 1004 Aclun ; D. Actonc. A. S. dc, oak, tun, town (v. Ton) Oaktown. The long a became in M. E. o or oa. It is curious that Aclun has almost invariably maintained its form, whilst Adea has become ' Oakley/ The Trussells were a Norman family holding lands in Staffordshire. They were early lords of Acton. Adbaston, 4 \ m. W. of Eccleshall. D. Edbaldestone ; 12 and 13 c. Adbaldestone, Alboldestun, Albaldiston. Clearly from the A. S. p. n. Eadbald Eadbald's town. The es is the full gen., now shortened to s. Admaston, h., in Blithefield, 4 m. N. of Rugeley. 12 c. Edmundeston, Admerdeslon ; 13 c. Admundeslan, Admundes- lon, Edmundestone. A. S. p. n. Eadmund Eadmund's town (v. Ton). There is an Admaston, h., i\ m. NVV. of Wel- lington, Salop, which, in the 13 c., was Ademonston, Ade- moneston. The root is the same, ' Eadmund.' Agardsley, h., nr. Abbots Bromley. About 1004 Ead- gares leye; D. Edgareslege ; 13 c. Adgaresle, Addegaresleye. A. S. p. n. Eadgar, and A. S. leak, leage, pasture, unfilled land Eadgar's pasture (v. Ley). The Agards are an ancient Staffordshire family, taking their name from this place, or perhaps conferring it. Aldorloy, h. in Meerbrook, 3 m. N. of Leek. 1129 Aldredeslega. A. S. p. n. Ealdred, later Aldred. The ter- minal lega is the latinized form of A. S. leage (v. Ley). The meaning is Aldred's pasture-land. Aldorshaw, h., i m. S. of Lichfield. 130. Alreshawe\ 14 c. Allershawe. A. S. air, a/re, M. E. aller, alder y the alder (tree), and A. S. sceaga, M. E. schawe, shawe, a wood, grove, the alder wood. ACTON TRUSSELL ALSTONFIELD 3 Aldridge, 3 m. NE. of Walsall. D. Alrewic; 12 c. Alrewich, Allerwych, frequently. A. S. air, alre, M. E. aller, alder, alder (tree), and A. S. wic, a village (v. Wich) the alder village. Almington, h., i m. E. of Market Drayton. D. Almon- tone; 13 c. Alkementon. The D. form points to the A.S. p. n. Ealhmund or Aldmund ; but the later form (to which I give preference) points to Alchmund (ch = K] Alchmund's town (v. Ton). Alrewas, 5 m. NE. of Lichfield. 942 Alrewas and Alrewasse; 1 1 c. Air ewes', D. Alrewas; 12 c. Alrewas. A. S. air, alre, alder (tree) (v. Aldridge), and wcesc (whence wash), a wash, swamp, fen the alder swamp. Alrewas lies on Trent, nr. its junction with Tame, and the locality i liable to flood. Before the country was drained there must have been much fenny ground here, and alders are still common. ' Half my power this night, Passing these flats, are taken by the tide; These Lincoln washes have devoured them.' Shakespeare, K. John, v. 6. 41. Cf. Sugwas, Broadwas, Hopwas, Moccas, all on river- sides and liable to flood. Alston, h., 5^ m. SW. of Stafford. D. Alverdestone. A. S. p. n. sElfweard ^Elfweard's town (v. Ton). The es in the D. form is the full gen., now shortened to s. There is, or was, for I cannot find it on the Ordnance map, an Alstone in Hill Chorlton, nr. Whitmore, which in the 12 c. was Aluredstone, from the p. n. ALlfred. Alstonfleld, nr. Leek. D. sEnestanfelt. This is an illustration of the importance of early forms. I see no reason to distrust D., but for which we might conclude that this Alston- had the same meaning as the preceding example. The terminal felt in the D. form is a common representation of A. S./eld, a field (v. Field). sEne is the A. S. p. n. B 2 4 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES ALna\ and stan, A.S. s/an, stone ^ne's-stone field. There may have been, in the locality, some remarkable stone known as trie's stone ; but the probability is that the stone marked the boundary of ^ne's property. Alton, Alveton, or Alton Towers, 7i m. N\V. of Uttoxeter. D. Elvetone; 13 and 14 c. Alneion (read Alvetoti) frequently. This would probably be, originally, slElfaniun, from the A. S. p. n. slfa, or a short form of one of the many p. names commencing sl/- t such as ^El/gar, &lfgeat, ^l/cytel, &c. ^Ifa's town (. Ton). Amblocote, a suburb of Stourbridge, but in Staffordshire. D. Elmelecote; 13 c. Amekcote, frequently; 14 c. Cole Hamde (Hundred Rolls), Amelcote. I think the Hundred Rolls give the key, and that we may read this Hemele's cot. Hemele was a well-known A. S. p. n., appearing in D., in a latinized form, as Hamelinus. The dropping of an initial h was common in M. E. Amerton, h., 5^ m. NE. of Stafford. 13 c. Embridon\ later, Ambricton, Ambrighlon. A.S. p. n. Eanbriht (older Eanbeorhf] Eanbriht's town (v. Ton). Anker, river, flows into Tame at Tamworth. This is a M. E. name (from A.S. ancra). The M.E. forms are ancre, ankre, anker, an anchorite, hermit, nun, the word being both mas. and fern. The river is twenty miles long, and there were two hermitages, both for ' anchoresses,' and a nunnery (Polesworth) upon its course. Ankerwyke, nr. Staines, 'Anchoret's village,' has a similar origin, a Benedictine nunnery having been founded there in the la c. Anslow, h., 3$ m. NW. of Burton-on-Trent. 1004 Ansythlege, Eansythelegt, Ansideleyt\ 13 and 14 c. Anstdes- leye\ later, Ansedeltye and Ansley. The early forms point to the A. S. fern. p. n. Eanswyth. It may be a saint's name ; there was a St. Eanswyth, and Anslow belonged to the monks of Burton, who maintained a chapel here, destroyed after the Reformation; it is not known to whom it was ALTON ARLEY (UPPER) 5 dedicated. We may, however, safely conclude that the meaning of Anslow is Eanswyth's pasture-land (v. Ley). Apeton, h., 5^ m. SW. of Stafford. D. Abetone; 13 c. Abbeton, Apelon, Abelon', 14 c. Apeton. These forms point to the A. S. p. n. Abba, sEbba, or sEbbe (fern.), and favour the last. I therefore translate the name Abbe's town. The correct A. S. form would be sEbbantun. Aquilate, h., in Meertown, 2 m. NE. of Newport. 1129 Aquila; 13 c. Aquilade, Aquilone; 14 c. Aquilot; 1 6 c. Acquilat. The first form, Aquila, I have only met with as a p. n., but I think it is the right root, and that the other forms represent it. In the Pipe Rolls for 1129 Matilda de Aquila is returned as a Staffordshire tenant in capite. She was a daughter of the Norman house of L'Aigle. I am not able to prove that Matilda owned Aquilate, but it would, I think, be impossible to find any other place in Staffordshire which could be represented by Aquila. I need scarcely say that Aquila is only the L. form (the Pipe Rolls are in L.) for French 'L'Aigle' and English ' Eagle.' Except as forms of Aquila, no sense can be made of Aquilade, Aquilone, or Aquilot. Matilda was the widow of Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, and, with licence from the Pope, married his nephew Nigel de Albini ; but the marriage was questioned, and Albini remarried. Matilda remained a widow, and resumed her maiden name. She had manors in Dorsets., and has conferred her name on Winford, since known as Winford ' Eagle.' Montgomery, and Caux, in Salop, are examples of the adoption of Norman p. names as pi. names. Arley (Upper), 4^ m. NW. of Bewdley. 994 Earnleie; D. Ernlege; noo Ernlege \ 12 and 13 c. Erlei; 13 c. Arnlegh. A. S. earn means an eagle, and Professor Skeat is of opinion that Arley means ' Eagle's lea.' But Arley is not a likely place for eagles, having no rocks or cliffs about it, and Erne, Earn, was an A. S. p. n., as ' Eagles ' is now. 6 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES It is also the prefix to numerous names, such as Earnbald, Earngeat, Earngrim, &c. 1 think it more likely, therefore, that Earn here represents a p. n. than an eagle. Arley Kings, or Lower Arley, i m. S. of Stourport. D. Ernlege\ 12 c. Ernleye. V. Arley (Upper). It is 7 m. lower down the Severn than Upper Arley, and is called ' Kings,' because in the Middle Ages it belonged to the Crown, having twice escheated. Armitage, h., 5^ m. NW. of Lichfield. 13 c. Hermitage; 1 6 c. Hermytage. This is a M.E. name, borrowed from the French, who had it from L. eremita. The word is found in M. E. as hermitage, Jierymilage, eremitage (er = ar). There was a hermitage here in the 13 c. Ashley-on-Tern, 5 m. NE. of Market Drayton. D. Esselie; 13 c.Assingelegh. The D. form might be translated ' the ash lea,' from A. S. and wic, a village (v. Wich) Beorcol's village. I a STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Beaudesert, mansion and park, 4 m. \V. of Lichfield. 130. Beaudesert', 14 c. Bellum Deserlum (L. deed) ; 16 c. Beawdesert. A N. F. name beautiful wild. The park here, an ancient enclosure from Cannock Forest, is very lovely, undulating, and finely timbered. Beaudesert, in Warwick- shire, is a M. E. change of name ; it is recorded in D. as Donnelie. Bednall, 4 m. NE. of Penkridge. D. Bedehala\ 1271 Bedenhulle ; 1 3 c. Bedenhale and Badenhale, both frequently. The prefix is clearly the A. S. p. n. Beda, the n being the correct gen. addition. The D. terminal halo, is a latinized form of heale, the dat. of healh, meadow or pasture land, and if we accept that form the interpretation would be ' Beda's meadows.' The form of 1271 would give us Beda's hill (M.E. hulle), and the other forms, which are numerous, would give us ' Beda's meadows ' or ' Beda's hall ' (v. Hale). Befcote, h., 5 m. S\V. of Stafford. D. Befecote; 13 c. Berscoit, Bescolt, Besscot. This name is probably unique, and I think D. may here be trusted. The later forms are blunders of mediaeval scribes, who perhaps confounded the place with Bescot, nr. Walsall. The prefix represents the A. S. p. n. Beffa ' Beffa's cote ' (cottage). Beggars Bush, h., 3 m. SW. of Sutton Coldfield. There is a large hawthorn here which stands on the boundary of the parishes of Sutton Coldfield and Perry Barr, and of the counties of Stafford and Warwick; also on the old road from London to Chester. I know nothing of its history, but the name is common. ' Beggar ' is not to be found in any A. S. dictionary, and even the H. E. D. treats the word as a M. E. one, and, under ' Beg,' as ' of uncertain origin ' ; whereas it must be an A. S. word, as ' Beggares-thorn ' appears twice in a charter of 975, Cod. Dip. 587. Bellamour, hall and h., 2 m. NW. of Rugeley. A modern mansion erected near the site of a house built by Herbert Aston (Astons of Tixall), on his marriage about 1639. BEAUDESERT BERRY HILL 13 He had resided much abroad, and gave the house the name Q Bell amore (Italian for ' good love ') ' because it was finished by the benevolence and assistance of his friends/ and prob- ably also with reference to his wife (Hist, of Colton). The original spelling ought to be reverted to. Bentley, 2 m. W. of Walsall. 1 2 c. Benatlea, Benetkgh ; 13 c. Benetley, Benetleye. A. S. beonet, M. E. bent, coarse, stiff grass, of a reedy or rush-like character, such as grows on upland moors. The word beonet is not to be found in A. S. dictionaries, though it frequently occurs in charters as an element in pi. names, and exists in Old Saxon as binet. In M. E. certainly, ' the bent ' is commonly used to describe a tract of country unenclosed, and producing mainly coarse grass or heath. The same meaning probably attached to the A. S. form, and to its use in pi. names, rather than to mere herbage. Bentley was one of the hays in Cannock Forest, and until the beginning of the 16 c. was woodland and moor, over tvhich roamed herds of red and fallow deer. The ' great oaks ' were felled and the deer destroyed temp. Edw. VI, 1546-53 (papers in Walsall Town Chest). The greater part of the manor is land of moorish tendency, and, left to itself, returns to sedgy grass and heath. Bentley is a common pi. n., and means ' the lea of the bent,' or ' benty grass ' ; v . Ley, and H. E. D. s. ' Bent.' ' They lighted high in Batinghope, Atween the brown and benty ground; They had but rested a little while, Till Parcy Reed was sleeping sound.' (The Death of Parcy Reed, 16 c.) Berry or Bury Hill, 2 m. NW. of Stone, in a 13 c. deed is le buri in Wulfcestre. It is said that Wulphere, King of the Mercians (659-724), resided here, and that it was anciently known as Wulpherceasire (A. S. ceastre, a castle or fortress). Buri is a M. E. form of A. S. burh, an enclosed place surrounded by a wall or rampart of earth. V. Bury. 14 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Bescot, h., i \ m. W. of Walsall. D. Bresmundes-cole ; 13 c. Bermondscole, Bermonscot, Beremundescote, Bermundescote ; 140. Bfrkescole, Berhnondescote. A.S. p. n. Beorhtmund Beorhtmund's cottage. This is an example of the tendency of syllables to drop out. In a charter of 969, not relating to Bescot, the p. n. appears as Beremund, showing how early contraction set in. Betley, 6 m. NW. of Newcastle-under-Lyme. D. Bele- lege; 12 c. Bctteleg (g = y) ; 13 c. Bdtelegh. Beta was an A. S. p. n. I read this as ' Beta's lea ' (v. Ley). It might be said that the prefix represents A. S. bet, better, or bete, beet- root ; but I think it extremely unlikely, and have never met with those words as elements in pi. names ; nor can it be our 'Betty/ as 'Elizabeth' is a post-D. name. Belli was an A. S. name. This is the only Betelege in D., and the only Betley in England. Bickford, 2 m. W. of Penkridge. D. Bigeford\ 1334 Bikeford. Bickford is a common name, and usually means ' the ford of the brook ' (A. S. bee, a small stream) ; but here our forms are Bige-> Bike-, Bick-, and probably represent the common A. S. p. n. Bica. If so, the original name would be Bicanford Bica's ford. Bick forms the prefix to a large number of pi. names, such as Bickenhall, Bickenhill, Bick- ham, Bickley, Bicton, Bickmarsh, Bicknor, &c., so that its meaning is interesting. Biddulph, 3 m. SE. of Congleton. D. Bidolf; 13 c. Bidolf, Bidulf, frequently. This is a rare instance of a p. n. without a suffix. A.S. Beadulf (correctly Beaduwulf \izx- wolf). If we could trace the name before the Conquest we should probably find it Beaduwul/estun. The tendency of names is to shorten ; it increased after the Conquest, but commenced earlier. Bilbrook, h., 4 m. NW. of Wolverhampton. D. Bilre- broch ; 1 3 c. Bilrebroch, Billebroc. The terminal is plainly A.S. broc, a brook. Bilre probably represents bilders or BESCOT BIRCH ILLS 15 litters, 'a name given by the old herbalists to some water plant,' ' in modern dialects applied locally to water-cress,' &c. (H. E. D. s. Bilders ; E. P. N. s. Billers). I am unable to make anything else of bilre. BiUington, h., 3 m. SW. of Stafford. D. Belintone. The probability is that the modern form is correct. Bit, Billa, Silling, were all A. S. p. names. The -ing in Billing is probably patronymic, meaning 'sons or descendants of Bil or Billa. I read this as Billing's town. Bilston. 994 Biheinatun, Bilsetneiun D. Billestune; 13 c. Biles tun, Bilks ion, Biles tone. Bil, Billa, and many names commencing Bil-, were A. S. ; scetna is the gen. pi. of scelan, a settler, inhabitant. We have therefore here ' the town of Bil's folk.' In A. S. charters scetna frequently appears as part of a pi. n., when it really means ' the people ' of the place. It quickly fell into disuse. Birchills, h., i m. NW. of Walsall. 16 c. Bircheleses, Byrchylles, Burchelles, Rough Byrchells covered with a wood, Byrchells. Birchills has no connexion with birch-trees. The prefix birch represents an A. S. bryce (pronounced breche), which in M. E. passed into bruche, and later into birch. In old deeds we find field names, such as Newbreche, passing into Newbruche, and then Ntwbirch ; Bruchehull becomes Birchill. The shifting of the r in M. E. is well known to etymologists. Time softens all things, including language thus our third was thrid, bird brid, dirt drit, and breche becomes birch. The meaning of breche, bruche, and birch is ' newly enclosed or broken up ground.' The word is only found on the frontiers of old forests and wastes, and is equivalent to the Lancashire Royd, and our Ridding, Stockings, Stubbock Green, Old Fallings, Old Falls, &c., all local names, meaning a clearing in the wilderness. Harvington Birch and Long Birch, nr. Brewood, Breach Mill, nr. Hagley, the Breach, in Halesowen, the Breach, nr. Bellbroughton, the Braich, nr. Enville, and the 16 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Bralches, in Norton Canes, are examples of the word. Birchills stands high, and was anciently within the bounds of Cannock Forest. The adjoining district to the E. is still called ' The Forest.' Bishops Offley, v . Offley (Bishops). Bishton, h., 2m. NW. of Rugeley. D. Bispestone] 130. Bissopeslun, Bissopeston. A. S. biscop (pr. bishop) Bishop's town (v. Ton). We must not therefore conclude it was the residence of a bishop, as Biscop became a p. n. at an early period. In this case, however, the name is probably con- nected with the bishops of Lichfield, who were, in remote times, large local landowners, and had a residence at Bishton. Black Halves, an ancient farm in Essington, 4 m. NW. of Walsall. Halve, Haave, Have, are dialectic forms of Haw, applied equally to the berries of the hawthorn, and to the tree itself (Eng. Dial. Diet. s. Haw). The right form would pro- bably be Black haaves = black thorns. Black Ladies, an ancient farm 2 m. W. of Brewood. 1327 De Nigris Monialibus (the Black Nuns); since Black Ladies. The house, now much altered, was formerly a Benedictine nunnery, founded in or prior to the 13 c., and suppressed temp. Henry VIII. They were called Black Ladies because they dressed in black, and as distinguished from the Cistercian nuns of White Ladies, 2 m. further W., who dressed in white. Black Lees, an ancient farm 3 m. SW. of Cannock. 130. le Blakele; 15 c. Blakelyes, Blackleys. A. S. blccc, M. E. blac, blak, blake, dark, black. The farm is an old enclosure from Cannock Forest. Land covered with gorse and heath was locally called black land, as distinguished from cultivated land. V. Blake Street. Blakolow, a m. W. of Stone. 1263 Blakelaw; 1266 Blakelowe the black low (burial-mound). V. Black Lees, and Low. BISHOPS OFFLEY BLITHE 17 Blake Street, the name of an ancient road forming a portion of the boundary between the parishes of Shenstone and Sutton Coldfield, and the counties of Stafford and Warwick. 13 c. Blakestrel', and the locality Blakele, Blake- leye. It is often supposed that ' street ' indicates a Roman road, but it is only evidence of antiquity. In A. S. charters, highways which have no pretension to Roman origin are frequently termed ' straet ' (street). The country around Blake Street was heath ground until the middle of the last century. Slake = black, and the meaning is ' Black Street ' (v. Black Lees). An ancient road called ' Blake Street,' once a portion of the great London and Chester road, now diverted, formerly extended over Cannock Chase, between Brownhills and Hednesford, and formed (its line still forms) a manorial boundary. In the year 1300 it is written Blake streefe', in 1595 'Black street.' It was all wild land. Blakenhall, h., i m. S. of Wolverhampton. Blakenall, h., 2 m. N. of Walsall. Blakenhall, nr. Christchurch-on- Needwood. Cf. Blakenhall, 5^ m. SE. of Crewe; Blakenall, nr. Lutterworth ; Blakenham (2), in Suffolk. The earliest forms I have are 13 and 14 c. Blakenhale (numerous). The en is clearly a gen, addition, and possessive. Blac was an A. S. p. n., and if we could meet with an early form we should find it Blac-en-hale the hall of Blac. The early A. S. had no k, c performing its functions. We have few English families of 'Black,' because a dark-complexioned man was frequently termed Brun (brown) ; hence our many Browns; but the p. names Blac, Blaca, Blcecca, and Blacman are frequently met with in charters ; and then the p. n., like blcec (colour), becomes Blake in M. E. ; hence our fairly numerous Blakes, Blakeman, &c. Blithbury, h., 3 m. NE. of Rugeley. 12 c. Blitheburgh, Blithburie. Is situate on the river Blithe = the burgh on the Blithe (v. Blithe and Bury). Blithe or Blythe, river, affluent of Trent, is always c l8 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES found in its present form, the th being occasionally repre- sented by d. I think it must be A. S. blithe, which meant, originally, mild, gentle, but came to mean merry, brisk, alluding to the motion of the water in some part of its course. Many of our river names are poetical, and convey the sense of sound or motion. There are two rivers Blyth in Northumberland; a Blyth in N. Notts; another in E. Suffolk ; a Blithe in N. Warwickshire ; and many pi. names commencing Blithe- or Blyth- from their situation on or near these rivers. Blithfleld, 2 m. SW. of Abbots Bromley. D. Blidevelt. D. uses a medial d to represent a medial A. S. th, though it uses th as an initial letter ; the v represents an A. S. f, so that we must read the D. form as Blilhefelt. This means the field on the Blithe (v. Field). Blore, 4 m. NW. of Ashbourne. D. Blora; afterwards Blora and Blore. The terminal a is commonly used in L. documents for an O. E. f, in order to give the name a latinized sound ; we may assume Blore to be the correct form. The Rev. John Young, Rector of Blore, writes: 'Blore, physically, is a well-defined rising from the river Manifold, is partly circumscribed by that river, and rises very markedly from its margin with a north aspect, much exposed to the winds from that quarter.' A. S. blow (d = o) is our verb ' to blow ' ; and blawere is ' one who blows.' Our A. S. dictionaries are yet imperfect. There must have been, before D., a word like blawere or blare, signifying a blast of wind, as it still exists in our language. Blore, though incapable of etymological explanation, means a blast, a roaring wind ; v. H. E. D. and Century Diet. 4 Like rude and raging waves roused with the fervent blore Of th' east and south winds.' Chapman, Iliad, ii. 1332. ' Blore,' as a pl.n., is, I think, unique, but D. records a Cheshire manor, Blorat, which I have not been able to identify. There is also a h., ' Bloore,' 3 m. E. of Market Drayton ; and BLITH FIELD BLYMHILL 19 Blurton, in Trentham, was Blorton in the 12 c. I construe 'Blore' as meaning a place exposed to winds. It is not impossible that before D., Blore had a suffix (like Blorton), which has dropped off(z>. Biddulph). PS. There are 'Blore Park,' Blore Pipe,' h., and ' Blore Pipe Wood/ 5 m. W. of Eccleshall ; also ' Blore,' ' Blore Heath/ ' Blore Farm/ and ' Blore Dale/ 3 m. E. of Market Drayton, and 4 m. NW. of the first-mentioned Blores. (W. H. S. disapproves of the meaning attributed to Blore, and considers it ' very improb- able.') I admit the construction is extraordinary, so is the name, and I can attach no other meaning to it. Bloxwich, h., 2 m. NW. of Walsall. D. B locheswic ; 13 c. Blockeswich, Blokeswych, Blokeswyke ; 14 c. Blockeswich, Blakeswych, Blokkeswich, Bloxwych. The terminal wick (q. v.) means a village, and the es is clearly a genitive posses- sive form, pointing to the p. n. Blocc, which would take es as its gen. In late A. S. charters, however, the gen. forms are often confused. In Cod. Dip. 278 we find Bloccan hah, Blocc's lea. With one exception, it will be noticed, all the forms have o, so that the evidence is against blac or bide having any part in the formation of the name. D. records Blochelei, Blochesham (3), Blocheshorde (horde represents worth}, and this Blocheswic, so that it is, I think, clear that Blocc or Blocca was a p. n., and that Bloxwich means Blocc's (or Blocca's) village. Blurton, h., 5m. SE. of Newcastle-under-Lyme. 12, 13, and 1 4 c. always Blorton. I suggest this means ' the town of the Blore' (blast of wind), v. Blore. ('Very improbable.' W.H.S.) Blymhill, 6 m. NE. of Shiffnal. T).Brumhelle; 12, 13, and 14 c. Blumonhull, repeatedly. D. is here astray; the later forms appear to be accurate. Blum or Blom does not appear to have been an A. S. p. n., though ' Blome ' and ' Bloomer ' are now family names. I think Blum here represents A. S. Bloma (o = 00), M. E. blume, a bloom or mass of metal. In primitive times the ' bloom ' was made c 2 20 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES direct from the ore, not, as now, from the pig, and was charcoal iron, i.e. smelted with wood. A 'bloomery' or ' bloom smithy ' was a forge or furnace where these blooms were made ; and as vast quantities of wood were consumed, these works followed the woods. ' Forge Pool,' and ' Old Forge/ 2^ m. SW. of Blymhill, show that this has been at some time an iron-working locality. The ore would probably be obtained fromt he neighbourhood of Oakengates. I read Blymhill as meaning ' the hill of the bloomery.' There is no word in any A. S. dictionary for ' bloomery,' but there must have been such a word to describe a place where Bldmas (blooms) were made. The words ' Bloomery ' and ' Bloom Smithy ' are found in M. E. in iron-producing districts. The H. E. D. s. ' Bloom,' says : ' No examples of the word have been found between O. E. times and the end of the 16 c.' This is probably to be accounted for by the fact that iron- making was confined to very few localities where the ore cropped to the surface or was near at hand. V. Austrells, Bonehill, Smestow. Bobbington, 3 m. NW. of Enville. D. Bubintone\ 12 c. Bobinlune. Bobba, Bubba was an A. S. p. n. The original form would be, say, Bobbantun (n being the gen.) Bobba's town. The gen. an frequently passes into ing, and is then mistaken for a patronymic form. In the Middle Ages the county assizes were occasionally held at Bobbington. It would be interesting to know how the judges, jurors, witnesses, &c., were accommodated. Bonehill, h., 2 m. SW. of Tamworth. 13 and 14 c. Bollenhull, repeatedly. This, I think, is the correct form, and, assuming it to be so, and to be A. S., we must translate it ' the hill of the Boll.' In A. S. dictionaries bolla is given as 4 a bowl,' but it had other meanings. We speak now of the bole (trunk) of a tree, of a bole of cotton. Or boll may be some dialectic word the origin of which is unknown. ' Bole hill, 1 in Derbyshire and the North, signifies a place where lead BOBBINGTON BONEHILL 21 (and doubtless other metals) was anciently smelted. ' These boles, which are identified by the piles of slag left by the ancient smelters, are supposed to have been built by simply placing stones around a central fire, and in situations where there would be likely to be a good draft, since no artificial blast was used ' (Century Diet. ; v. also H. E. D. and Eng. Dial. Diet., under ' Bole '). ' Close to the spot there was a bole, by which is meant a place where, in ancient times, miners used to smelt their lead ores' (Archseologia, vii. 170, 1785). There is no lead ore within thirty miles of Bonehill, but abundance of ironstone close to. I submit that Bonehill has the same meaning as 'Austrells' and ' Blymhill' (q. v.), and means ' the hill of the bole (or furnace).' ' When the Spaniards arrived in Peru they found the natives smelting the silver ores in furnaces built on eminences where the air was freest; they were perforated on all sides with holes, through which the air was driven in when the wind blew, which was the only time the work could be carried on, and under each hole was made a projection on which was laid burning coals (wood) to heat the air before it entered the furnace ' (Scrivener's History of the Iron Trade). Sven Hedin (Through Asia, 1898) says: 'Five miles south of the village (in Chinese Mongolia) there is an iron-mine known as Kok-bainak. The ore occurs in strata of loose earth or clay, and is dug out and carried to Ighiz-yar to be smelted. Both the appliances and the process of extraction are of the most primitive description ; the furnace being only about six feet high, with three feet interior diameter. It is housed in a little hut built of planks and sun-dried clay. After the furnace is half filled with charcoal, the ferruginous earths are thrown in, till they cover the charcoal to the depth of six or eight inches. The fuel is then lighted, and half a dozen men squat on their haunches in front of as many holes made near the bottom of the furnace, and blow into it with goat- skin bellows, in order to intensify the draught. They keep 22 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES up at that nearly all day long, from time to time examining, by means of an iron rod inserted through a hole in the side of the furnace, how the smelting is progressing. Towards evening the molten metal comes running out at the bottom of the furnace. After every burning the furnace of course requires to have the slag and ashes raked out, so that it may be clean and ready for a fresh batch of ore. One entire day's smelling yields 5 chareck, which are sold in Yanghi-hissar for 30 tengeh (6s. 8'). A. S.fearn, M.JL.ferne, and leage (v. Ley), pasture the fern, or ferny, lea. M. E. er was pronounced ar ; from Farnley to Farley is an easy step. Farleigh and Farnley are common pi. names with similar roots ; the n is more frequently elided than retained. Fauld, h., in Hanbury, 7 m. SE. of Uttoxeter. D. Felede; 13 c. Falede, Fauld, Fold, Feld, Felde. The forms point to A. S. fald, /aide, falod, a fold, farm-yard. In Scotland the form is still fald and fauld. Fazeley, i m. S. of Tarn worth. 1300 Fares/eye; 14 c. Faresleye, Fareshe. A. S.fearr (gen. fear res) means a bull, ox. The A. S. form of the name would probably be Fearres- leah, the bull's (or ox) pasture. Farcet, in Hunts, was Fearres-heafod (heafod = head), Bull's head. (W. H. S.) 60 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES , Featherstone, 6 m. K. of Wolverhampton. 994 Feo- iherstan, Fcolhcrestan ; D. Ferdeslan ; 1271 Feihereston. The lerniinal is clearly A. S. stan, stone. A large stone, at ' Warstone,' called in a charter of 994 Horestan, marks the boundary of Featherstone. In A. S. /ether means a feather; but it is unlikely that 'feather' and 'stone' can form a compound, and I think we must look elsewhere. Feeder, Feader, Fader (only different modes of spelling ' father '), was a somewhat common p. n. ' Feader ' was murdered by a mob, at Worcester, when collecting taxes for Hardicanuie, in 1041. The charter of 994 is lost, and only a corrupt copy of it remains, so that I do not feel bound by its exact spelling. 1 think we shall be right in reading this as ' Feader's stone.' We have Featheiston nr. Halt- whistle, Featherstone nr. Pontefract, and Featherstal nr. Rochdale. Fenton, h., in Stoke-on-Trent. D. Fenlone; 13 c. Culverdesfenton, Fen Ion, Fenton- Vivian, Fenton-Culvart, A . S. fen, a fen, marsh, and tun (v. Ton) Fen town. A Vivian was Rector of Sioke in the 1 2 c. , and probably impressed his name on the place, for a time. Culverd is a family name, and Culverd s-low is a pi. name met with in mediaeval charters relating to Fenton. Finchflcld, an ancient estate in Tettenhall, 2^ m. W. of Wolverhampton. 1 3 c. Fynchenesfeld, Fynchingefeld ; 1 4 c. Fynchenefeld. A. S.finc (c = ch), M.E. finch, fynch, means a finch (bird) ; but Fine was also a p. n., which in M. E. became Finch. The family name Finch is not uncommon. Holloway Bank, Wednesbury, was anciently Finchespath, the road to Finch's house. We have Fincham in Norfolk, Finch- hamstead in Berks., Finchdean in Hants, Fichenfield in Kssex, and Finchley in Middlesex, probably from the same root. The earliest form, Fynchenesfeld, shows our language in a transition state ; the correct form would be Fynchenfeld, 'the field of Finch' (/' and y interchangeable); but the scribe adds also the modern gen. cs. FEATHERSTONE FLASHBROOK 6 1 Fisherwiek, h., on the Tame, 3^ m. NE. of Lichfield. 12 c. Fischerewich 5130. Fisherwyke,Fysscherwik, Fyscheres- wick. A. $. fiscere (sc=sfi), M. E. fishere, a fisherman, A. S. zi'/'. Bromley Gerrards. Gillotty Greaves, h. and ancient farm, i m. S. of Wai sail. In deeds of the 14 and 15 c. the place is regularly called ' le greve/ M. E. for a grove or wood. Later it is found as greves and greaves (woods) ; later still it is mentioned as ' Gillott o' th' Greaves.' Probably a family named Gillott went to reside there, and impressed its name on the place. The adjoining localities still bear the names of Wood End, Hay Head, and Barr Common; in the 14 c. the country for miles round was wild and waste. Gnosall, 6| m. W. of Stafford. D. Geneshale*, 1199 Gnodweshall, Gnodeshall; 1204 Gnoweshale; 1223 Gnoushale. The D. scribe was probably as much perplexed by this name as I am, and I disregard his entry, which conflicts with the later and modern forms. The terminal may be construed ' hall ' (v. Hale), and the prefix probably represents some unrecorded A. S. p. n. The forms of 1199 point to the rare p. n. Cnofwealh. The passage of C to G before would be likely. Gornall, h., in Sedgley, 2 m. N\V. of Dudley. 15 c. Gwarnell, GuarnelL The forms are late, but I think this is clearly A. S. czueorn, M. E. quern, cwerne, a mill. In Mod. E. quern means a hand-mill, but formerly it meant any kind of mill for grinding. Exs. : Quarnford=Millford, Quarndon= Mill hill. In M. E. er = ar. It is difficult to say whether the terminal ell, in the forms, represent an original hale, or hull. If hale then I should translate Gornall, Mill meadow F 2 68 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES (v. Hale) ; if hull, Mill hill. The probability is in favour of Mill meadow, as Gornall lies at the base of the Sedgley hills. Originally all mills were hand-mills. They were followed by ass or ox-mills ; then by water-mills, and after- wards by windmills. There is no record of a windmill before the 13 c., and all the mills mentioned in D. are water- mills. When we read, ' Two women shall be grinding at the mill ; the one shall be taken and the other left,' we must understand a hand-mill or quern, with the women sitting close together, turning by upright handles the revolving upper stone. Gosbrook, h., in Bushbury, i m. N. of Wolverhampton, takes its name from a brook which in 14 and 15 c. deeds appears as Gosbroke and Gosebroke. A. S. gos, M. E. gos, goos, a goose, becomes gos- in pi. names, as in gosling and goshaiuk. Gosebroc, Gosden (den, valley), Gosford, Gosleah, Goswell, Gosfeld, are forms frequently met with in A. S. charters. The word included, and includes, many varieties of wild aquatic birds, as well as the tame species. Qoscote, h., 2 m. NE. of Walsall. 13 c. Gorslycole; 14 c. Gorslicote, Gorscole. A. S. and M. E. gorsl, gorse, gorse, furze ' the cottage in the gorse,' or, ' on the heath.' The locality was formerly within the limits of Cannock Forest, and two centuries ago had much heath about it. Gospel Oak, h., i\ m. W. of VVednesbury, is on the boundary of the parishes of Wednesbury, Tipton, and Sedg- ley. The Oak has long ago succumbed to ironworks and collieries. Gospel Oak, Gospel Tree, and Gospel End are common names on parish boundaries. They originate in the perambulations of parishes, which, before maps were used, were made at irregular intervals, generally in Rogation week. The custom is very ancient, being referred to in the Canons of Cuthbert, Archbishop of Canterbury, A. D. 747 ; and Rogation days are called ' gang days ' (gang = going) in the laws of King Alfred. The minister, accompanied by his COS BROOK GRANGE 69 churchwardens and parishioners, then ' beat the bounds ' of the parish, and, at certain accustomed spots on the border read portions of the Bible. An oak tree, a great stone, spring, or other notable landmark, was usually adopted as a ' Gospel place/ These perambulations were carefully recorded, and concluded with a free feast. The following is an extract from a perambulation of Norton Canes made in 1775 : ' . . . and so to Newlands Well, which well is a Gospel Place, and a Psalm was sung and a Gospel read by the said Mr. Jno. White, the Curate ; and from the said well up the Lane on the North side to the top of the said little Newlands Lane, and from thence across and over a small inclosed piece of Land to the Gravelly Path on the Road from Cannock to Lichfield where there is a Foot Bridge, which is a Gospel Place, and a Gospel was read, and a Cross was made, and from thence along the publick Road and Highway leading from Cannock towards Lichfield, across the Common or Heath called Cannock- Wood untill you come over against the Round Turrett which lieth on the Southern Side of the said Road at about an Hundred yards distance from it in which Road a Cross is made, and on the Turrett is a Gospel Place, where the said Curate read a Gospel, and a Psalm was sung,' &c. Gothersley, h., 3 m. NW. of Stourbridge. 14 c. God- richesley, Godertcheley. A. S. p. n. Godrich (c = cti) Godric's lea. Hence the family names ' Godrick ' and ' Goodrich/ Grange, a name borne by many ancient farms, is a M. E. word, derived from O. F. grange, graunge, the original meaning of which was properly a barn ; but was applied to outlying farms belonging to the abbeys. The manual labour on these farms was performed by an inferior class of monks, called lay-brothers, who were excused from many of the requirements of the monastic rule; but they were superintended by the monks themselves, who were allowed, occasionally, to spend some days at the grange for that 70 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES purpose. At the suppression of the monasteries many of them were dismantled and turned into ' granges.' ' At the moated grange resides this dejected Mariana ' (Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, iii. i). Graseley or Grazeley, h., i \ m. SW. of Wolverhampton. 1 282 Graseley. A. S. gars, gers, grass, becomes in M. E. grces, gras, and gives us here ' the grassy lea.' This is another example of the shifting of r. Gres-, Gras-, and other forms meaning ' grass/ form the prefix to many pi. names. Gratwich, 4 m. SW. of Uttoxeter. D. Gralewich ; 1 2 c. Grotewich ; 1 3 c. Greteivyc, Gretewych. A. S. great, M. E. grete, and A. S. wic , M. E. ivich, wych great village. Great Barr, v. Barr (Great). Great Bridge, h., 2 m. SW. of Wednesbury. 14 c. Crete] 16 c. Greele; 17 c. Greet Bridge. Stands on a stream formerly called ' Greet,' which divides the parishes of Westbromwich and Tipton, where it is crossed by the main road from Birmingham to Dudley. Greta and Greet are common river names. The root is perhaps A. S. gret (from greotan, M. E. greteti), to greet, wail, murmur, &c. Poets write of ' murmuring streams ' and ' babbling brooks/ and this river name appears to be one of the few of A. S. origin which have any poetry in their meaning. Indeed, as Greta and Greet are Scottish and Northern names, it is not unlikely that they have a Celtic origin. Grindley, h., 4 m. SW. of Ultoxeter. 13 c. Greneleye, frequently. A. S. and M. E. grene, green the green lea (pasture), v. Ley. There is rich meadow-land here on the Blythe river. Grindon, 5 m. NW. of 11am. D. Grendone; 12 and 13 c. Grendon. A. S. grine dun Green hill. Grendon and Grindon are common pi. names. Gunston, h., 3 m. SW. of B re wood. 13 c. Goneston, Goneslonf, Guns/one; 14 c. Guns/on. The gen. s points to GRASELEYHALES 71 a p. n. Neither Gon nor Gun alone was a p. n., but both formed prefixes to many names of which Gon or Gun may be a short form. Gunnr was an O. N. name introduced in the 10 c., and Gun- may here represent it. Our family name Gunn is probably O. N. Haden Hill, Haden Cross, High Haden, h., in Rowley Regis, 4 m. SE. of Dudley, takes its name from a family of repute named Haden, living in Rowley Regis in 1417, and probably long before. Their descendants still live in the neighbourhood. Halford, h., 2 m. NW. of Stourbridge. 1343 Oldeforde (juxta Stapenhult). This place is near the Stour river, where it is crossed by an ancient road from Shropshire (and Wol- verhampton uniting at Himley) to Kidderminster, Worcester, and the South. The form explains the meaning. Hales, h., 3 m. E. of Market Drayton. D. ffalas(?); 13 and 14 c. Hale, Hales. Hales and Halas are plural forms of healh, which A. S. dictionaries treat as ' a word of doubtful meaning,' or misconstrue ; but a reference to the charters leaves no doubt that it means ' meadow or pasture land,' and Stratmann (M. E. Diet.), under halh, so interprets it. In mediaeval deeds ' in le Hale ' or ' in Hales ' (meaning in the meadow, or meadows) are common forms; hence our family names Hale, Hales, and the numerous pi. names Hale, Hales, Haile, Hailes. Halesowen, in Worcestershire, in D. is Halas, a correct plural form of healh ; and there the ' Leasowes ' (A. S. Iceswe, meadow-land), the residence of the poet Shen- stone, repeats the meaning of the locality. ' Owen ' is a mediaeval addition given to distinguish it from other Hales, and because the manor was given by Henry II to his sister Emma, on her marriage with David ap Owen, Prince of North Wales, and their son Owen succeeded them. Some pi. names have ' Hales ' as a suffix, e. g. Dray ton- in-Hales, Betton-in- Hales, Sheriff-Hales, &c. 72 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Hammerwich, 3 m. SW. of Lichfield. D. flumerwiche ; 12 c. Hamerwich, Hamenv iche 13 c. Homerwich. The terminal is plainly A. S. wic, M. E. wick, a village. A. S. hamor, Earner, homer, means a hammer; but 'hammer village' is a very unsatisfactory interpretation. I think the prefix represents an A. S. p. n. Homa and Hama were p. names, and I should read this as Homa or Kama's village. Hamps, river, NE. Staffordshire, tributary of the Manifold. I have not met with any early forms of this name. I think it is M. E., and probably related to our verb ' hamper/ some of the meanings of which are ' to entangle, restrain, clog, hold back, fetter, shackle,' &c. The origin of the word ' hamper ' is unknown, and it first occurs in our language circa 1350, when it is found as hampre, hampres, hampris, forms which might readily pass into ' Hamps.' The name, if my suggestion is right, would be in allusion to the eccentricity of the stream, which totally disappears into the earth and rises again, like its twin the Manifold. V. Dove. Hamstall Ridware, r. Ridware (I lamstall). Hamstead, h., in Handsworth, 3 m. NW. of Birmingham. 14 c. Hamstede, Hamps tede, Hamstid. A. S. hdm-stede t home- stead. When / is introduced it is excrescent, and should be rejected. Hanbury, 6 m. NW. of Burton-on-Trent. 13 c. Hamburg Hambyri, Hamberi, Hambery, Hambury; 14 c. Hanbury , Hambury; 1430 Hambury. These forms are late, but, if we can trust them, Hanbury is properly Ha/wbury. The change from m to n appears to have 'commenced' in the 14 c. Hanbury, in Worcestershire, was in A. S. Hcdn-byrig, high burgh (v. Bury). Here, upon the forms, the construction is ' the home burgh,' but I do not find Hamburh in any A. S. charter, and I doubt the accuracy of the m. If the m should be n then we have plain Htanburh, the high burgh, or borough. HA MMER WICH HANYA RD 73 Hanch, Hanch HaU, h., 3 m. NW. of Lichfield. M. E. hanche, from O. F. hanche, is an occasional field name, arising from the shape of the enclosure. Ex. : Haunchwood, nr. Tarn- worth. ' Haunch/ now the common form, displaced ' hanch ' only in the 18 c. Hanchurch, h., in Trentham, 3 m. S W. of Stoke-on-Trent. D. Hancese; 1296 and 1300 Hanchurch, frequently. The D. terminal cese represents A. S. circe (church). An A. S. form would probably be Hedncirce, high church. Handsacre, 4 m. N W. of Lichfield. D. Hadesacre ; 1 2 c. Hendesacre, Hundesacre. The terminal is A. S. cecer, which in pi. names is not a measure of land, but a field or fields of enclosed or defined land of any quantity. Hund, Hunda, meaning ' hound,' was an A. S. p. n., and I read this as Hund's field (or farm). Handsworth, 3 m. N W. of Birmingham. D. Honesworde ; 12 c. Hunesworth, Honesworth 5130. Honesworth, Hunnes- worth. The terminal is A. S. worth, a farm, property (v. Worth). Hun, Hune, Huna, \vas an A. S. p. n., giving us here ' Hune's property (or farm).' Hone was not a p. n., and the form doubtless represents Hun. There was, in Warwickshire, a D. hundred of ' Honesberie,' now part of Kineton hundred. Hanford, in Trentham, 3 m. SW. of Stoke-on-Trent. D. Heneford; 14 c. Honeford, Honford. I think these forms represent an A. S. Heanford, high ford. The village stands on a hill, near the foot of which the Trent is crossed by the great NW. Road. Hanley, Potteries. 1332 Hanky. Having only one form, and that a late one, any opinion is liable to error. The best construction I can give is that Hanley represents an A. S. Heanleage, 'high lea' (v. Ley). An A. S. hean generally becomes han in M. E. Hanyard, h., in Tixall, 3^ m. E. of Stafford. 1227 Hagonegaie, Hageneyate ; 13 c. Hanleryate, Hanyate. This h. 74 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES is now represented by two farms, Upper and Lower Han- yard, on the borders of Tixall Park, an ancient enclosure, and near one of its entrances. The early forms look like the p. n. Haguna, gen. Hagunan, dat. Hagan of the Nibe- lungen-Lied. Hagunan-geat would give M. E. Hagone-yate, Haguna's gate. V. Haunton. Harborne, 3 m. SW. of Birmingham. D. Horeborne; 1 2 c. Horeborne ; 1 3 c. Horeburn, frequently ; 1 4 c. Hor bourne. The terminal is A. S. burn, burne, M. E. borne, bourne, a brook, stream. The prefix is undoubtedly A. S. har (d = o), M. E. har, hor, hore, hoor, the meaning of which our dictionaries give as ' hoar, hoary, grey, old.' I do not dispute this inter- pretation, but contend that the word had another meaning (at least in compound), viz. ' boundary.' It is continually met with in those parts of A. S. charters which describe the bounds of the property dealt with, and never elsewhere. Bosworth- Toller translates har-hcelh, grey heath, haran-hasel, the grey hazel (and feels obliged to add 'with lichens' !), haran- apuldran, the old apple tree, haran-slan, grey stone, &c. We find in charters (always on boundaries) haran-ivyihie (withy), hore-wylhege, hore-thorne, hare- and hore-mapeldre (maple-tree), hare-lane, hore-cross, hoar-law (tumulus), horpyt (pit), hore-ac (oak), hore-clive (hill), haran-lcrh (lea), hore-hyrne (corner), horestok (now Warstock), &c. These extracts might be greatly extended. It would be manifestly absurd to translate some of these forms as 'grey,' or even 'old.' Harbourn (according to authority) must be translated ' grey brook ' ; if ' old ' was meant the form would be ealdbourne, and that is never found in A. S. charters. Harborne, being in Stafford- shire, is divided from Worcestershire by a stream called Bourncbrook, and I submit that the plain meaning of the name is 'boundary brook.' Mr. William Hamper published an exhaustive article in Archseologia, 1832, p. 30, on ' Hoar-stones,' and the meaning of the word ' Hoar,' which he contends to be ' boundary.' The Century Dictionary trans- HARBORNE HARTWELL 75 lates 'hoar-stone' as 'a stone marking the bounds of an estate ; a landmark.' The H. E. D. has not yet reached the word. (PS. It has now; and under 'Hoar,' says (3): ' Used frequently as an attribute of various objects named in ancient charters as marking a boundary line. Obs. Hence in many place names.' 'Hoar-stone ' is also accepted as meaning ' an ancient boundary stone, mere-stone.') Harden, h., 2 m. N. of Walsall. 14 c. Haworthyn, Hawerthyn, Hawardyn ; 1 5 c. ffawardyne ; 1 6 c. Hawrden, Hawredene; 1648 Harden. This is an A. S. name, the original form of which would be heahworthyn, the high farm or estate. For the passage of worthyn into wardine v. Worth. The hamlet stands very high, and is an ancient enclosure in the Forest of Cannock. The adjoining locality is still called 'the Forest.' Hawarden, in Flintshire, has the same root, and is pronounced Harden. Harlaston, 4^- m. NE. of Tarn worth. 1004 Heorlfes- lun\ c. noo Heor laves ton ; D. Horulvestune ; 12 c. Her- laveslone, Erlaveslon; 13 c. Horlaveslon. The terminal is A. S. tun, town (v. Ton), and the gen. es points to a p. n., the original form of which would be Heorulaf- Heorulaf's town. Harracles Hill, Harracles Mill, 2 m. W. of Leek. 13 c. Harecheles; 17 c. Haracles, Herracles. The 13 c. form is entitled to the most credit, and I think must be treated as a compound of Har and echeles. I construe Har as meaning boundary (v. Harborne), and echeles a ladder or staircase (v. Nechells) = the two-storied house on the boundary. I do not know what boundary Harracles is near. Hartwell, 4 m. N. of Stone. 1361 Herfwalle. The M. E. terminal welle. a spring, frequently passes into walle. I have no doubt the right form is well, giving us ' the Hart's spring ' (A. S. heorl, M. E. hert, hart, male red deer). Hart-, as a prefix, plays a great part in pi. names, as does Hind-, female red deer. Before the 14 c. red deer evidently 76 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES overran the country, and every man was more or less a hunter. Haselour, 5 m. N. of Tamworth. 13 c. Hazeloure\ 14 c. Haselovere\ 1796 Haselover or Haselor. A. S. hcrsel, M. E. hasel, hazel, hazel, and A. S. ofer, o/re, a bank, margin (of a stream or hill-side) ' the hazel bank.' There was no v in A. S.,_/ performing its functions. Hatherton, 2 m. NW. of Cannock. 996 Hagenthorndun ; D. Hargedom; 13 c. Halherdene, HelherJon, Hatherdone. This is an illustration of the value of early forms : without the record of 996 we should be led astray. Hagathorn is A. S. for hawthorn, and hagen- is the gen., so that we have, very accurately, ' the hill of the hawthorn.' Hatton, Hattons (The). These are common names in the Midlands; but, as they are generally single homesteads, or hamlets, it is rarely that they can be traced to A. S. roots. By the 13 and 14 c. they had become ' Hatton ' ; but, when- ever I have been able to trace them, the A. S. form has been HietLtun, heath town. So Hiethfeld has become Hatfield ; Halhlcah) Hadleigh or Hatlty ; and Hccihdun (heathy hill), Haddon or Hatton. Ilaught on, 4 m. S\V. of Stafford. D. Haltone; 12 c. Halecton 5130. Halinglon, Halechlone, Halctone, Halegione, Haluchlone; 14 c. Haleughlon. The root of this is A. S. healh, of which hakh, halech (pr. something like ha I itch) are M. E. forms. All the forms are corruptions, or dialectic forms, of hale h. Haughton is a common pi. n. ' Halloughton ' is only another form of it, both meaning ' the town in the meadows.' F. Hales. Haunton, h., in Clifton Camville, 4 m. NE. of Tamworth. 942 Hagnatun; 13 c. Hagheneton, Hannelon, Annetoti. Hagan, Hagana, Haguna, Hagene, (variants) was an A. S. p. n. The original form, taking the last variant, would be Hagenan-lun, passing, in M.E., to Hagene-tun, Hagene's town, g between vowels having the sound of y. V. Hanyard. HASELOURHEIGHLEY CASTLE 77 Hawkbach, an ancient homestead in Upper Arley, on Severn, 2 m. NW. of Bewdley. 14 c. Haukebache, Hawke- bache. A. S. hq/bc, M. E. hauke, hawke, a hawk. The terminal bach is a common one in Salop, and rare in Staffordshire ; Hawkbach is on the border. It is A. S. beech, bace (ce = ch), a bottom, valley with a stream through it. The word is not yet recognized in A. S. dictionaries, though it is frequently met with in the charters, and is perversely translated ' beech ' (tree). Layamon, who lived at Lower Arley, and wrote his poems in the 12 c., frequently uses the words beech, bache (according to the case), in the sense of ' valley.' This is .clearly ' Hawk valley.' The H. E. D. recognizes bache as of ' origin doubtful,' meaning ' the vale of a stream or rivulet.' Hawke was a M. E. p. n., and it is possible (the forms being only 14 c.) that the prefix may represent the p. n. Haywood (Great), h., 5 m. NW. of Rugeley. D. Hat- wode; 12 and 13 c. Hqywode, Heywood, Heiwode. Haywood abuts on the ancient bounds of Cannock Forest (the Trent). Haywood Park was within the Forest, and was enclosed by the bishops of Lichfield, who were great landowners hereabout. The meaning of the name is ' the fenced or enclosed wood ' (A. S. Aaga, an enclosure). ' Great ' is a late M. E. addition, made, probably, when Little Haywood sprang up. The earliest record I have of Little Hqywode is in 1432. Hednesford, h., 2 m. NE. of Cannock. 13 and 14 c. Hedenesford, Edenesford. A. S. p. n. Heoden. It appears in Hednesdene (Heoden's valley), Cart. Sax. 544. Henshaw, in Haltwhistle, Was anciently written Hednes-halgh (Heoden's meadow-land). An ancient road, I believe a British trackway from London to Chester, passes through Hednesford, and fords a stream in the middle of the ' old ' village. Heighley (or Helegh) Castle, 4^ m. W. of Newcastle- under-Lyme. D. Heolla; 13 c. Helley, Helegh. Nothing can be made of these forms in A. S. I think the root is 78 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES W. heol, heolau, a road, way. Heol-y-gwint is the Milky Way. If this assignment is correct D. has done extremely well with a W. root. Heleigh does not appear to be situate on any ' Roman ' way, but it is upon, or close to, a thoroughfare road from the SE. to Nantwich, and all salt towns were anciently the centres of considerable traffic. Hextons or Extoiis, homestead and farm in Upper Arley, 3 m. N. of Bewdley. 1227 Hekstane; 1295 Hexton \ 14 c. Hekstane, Hextane, Hecston, Hexton, Hecstan. This is A. S. hac, gen. h(cce, M. E. hec, hek, hacche, &c., a hatch, and A. S. stan, stone the hatch stone. Hatch has various meanings, the lower part of a divided door, a wicket gate, a flood gate. The word is also applied to an instrument for catching fish, made in the form of lattice-work or a grating, and as Extons is close to the Severn the word may be used in that sense. The place gave name to a family of Heggeston, Exston, or Hexton (as they variously spelt themselves). One of the Hextons was a Bristol merchant, and in 1485 gave ' Hextons ' to the Collegiate Church of Westbury-on-Trym. They parted with it in 1501. Though this is a place of small importance, it is a good illustration of the way in which pi. names and family names are built up. ' Excellent gi indie- stones are dug out of a quarry at " Hextons," and when first discovered (about 1680) proved a great benefit to the country, which abounded then, as it does now, with numerous manu- facturers in iron, who, before that time, were obliged to procure their prindle-stones from Derbyshire and other dis- tant parts. Of late years several quarries of the same kind of stone have been found in this neighbourhood (Upper Arley), so that the Hexton grindle-stones are not now so much sought after' (Nash's Worcestershire, ii. App. I). (This was written by Bishop Lyttelton of Carlisle about the middle of the 18 c.) V. Extall. High Offley, v. Offley (High). High One, r. Onn (High). HEXTONS HINKSFORD 79 Hilderstone, 3 m. E. of Stone. D. Heldulvestune ; 130. Hildulvesion, fltldelveslon, Hyldeleslon, Hyldreslon. A. S. p. n. Hildewulf- Hildewulf s town (v. Ton). The meaning of the p. n. is ' Warrior wolf.' Hill Chorlton, h., i m. S. of Whitmore. 12 c. Hulle, frequently. M. E. hull, hill. Chapel Chorlton (q. v.) is a mile S., and Hill has evidently borrowed from it, in mediaeval times, the second portion of its name for distinction. Hill Bidware, v. Ridware (Hill). Hilton, h., in Shenstone, 3 m. SE. of Lichfield. 1332 Hulton. A. S. hyl, M. E. hull, a hill Hill town (v. Ton). It is situate on a slight eminence in a plain. Hilton, 5 m. NE. of Wolverhampton. 994 Hilfon; 1271 Hullon. V. Hilton, in Shenstone. The ancient manor house and locality occupy elevated land. Himley, 5 m. S. of Wolverhampton. D. Himelie ; 1 2 c. Humilileg (g =y), Humileg\ 130. Humilele, Hymele, Hume- leye. The terminal is plainly lea, pasture, untilled land (v. Ley). Hemele was an A. S. p. n., but the possessive gen. is lacking in all the forms. I think the prefix is A. S. hymele, the hop plant. Himbleton, in Worcestershire, in 816 and in 884, was Hymeltun (in D. Himeltun). Hemlington, in York- shire, in D., is Himeligetun, and Hambleton, same county, is Humelton. These D. prefixes .appear to be the same as here. I construe Himley 'the lea of the hop (plant).' It is not a hop locality now ; but it is warm and sheltered, and may have been; indeed the name may refer to the wild hop. Humulus is L. for hop ; the Anglo-Saxons may have borrowed their form from it. Hinksford, h., 2 m. NW. of Kingswinford, on the Smestow and a tributary stream. 1271 Henkeston\ 1300 Hinkesford. The A. S. form here would be Hengestestun (or -ford) ; if -ford, the meaning is Hengest's ford. PI. names in A. S. charters commencing Hengest- have now become Hinx- or Hinks- ; hence those family names. 8o STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Hints, 6 m. SE. of Lichfield. D. Hintes ; 130., frequently, ffyntes; later Hints. This is W. hynt, a way, road. The village lies on Walling Street. There is a ' Hints ' in Cain- ham, 3 m. E. of Ludlow. Hixon, 5^ m. NE. of Stafford. D. Husledone; i$ c. Huntesdun, Huhlesdon, Hucstedon, Huccesdon, Huncesdon, Huntesdon, Hughcesdon ; 140. Hughcesdon ; 1 6 c. Hickslon otherwise Hixeton. The terminal is clearly A. S. dun, a hill, and the prefix a p. n. like Huctred, or some guttural name with ch in it. Hixon stands on a hill, bordering the valley of the Trent. This name illustrates the value of early forms and the folly of ' guess ' by modern forms. (This is a puzzle. Some forms, and the modern one, suggest Hengestes dim. W. H. S.) F. Hinksford. Hoar Cross, 10 m. NE. of Lichfield. 1262 La Croiz; 1267 Or cross ; 1248 Harecres; 1268 Horecros; 1513 Whorecrose. It was a custom to set up crosses to mark the limits of an estate or manor. Needwood Forest (temp. Elizabeth) was divided into four wards or bailiwicks, Tutbury, Marching- ton, Yoxall, and Barton. According to the perambulations all the wards met at Hoar Cross. The meaning is ' boundary cross.' V. Harborne. Hobs Hole, Aldridge ; Hobs Hole, nr. Willenhall ; Hobs Hole, VVednesbury. Hob is a M. E. word for a sprite, an elf, a hobgoblin. Hole in M. E. means a hollow, dingle, or small valley. Hob and Pouke have the same meaning; 7'. Pouke Hill. Holbeach, homestead in Himley, 5 m. S. of Wolver- hampton. 1300 and 1327 Holebacht. A. S. hoi, M. E. hole, a hollow, and A. S. bach, M. E. bache, a valley the hollow (or deep) valley (v. Hawkbach). Holbeach was the scene of the death and capture of some of the conspirators in the Gun- powder Plot. Hollington, h., 4 m. SE. of Cheadle. 13 c. Holyngton. A. S. holen, holegn, M. E. hollen, holin, the holly (tree) the town in the hollies (v. Ton). HINTS HUNTINGTON 8l Hoo (The), Hoe (The). This is a common name, and there are several examples of it in Staffordshire, generally hamlets or single homesteads. It is A. S. hoh, M. E. hoo, a hill. Hopwas, 2 m. \V. of Tamworth. n c. Hopewaes; D. Opewas ; 12 c. Hopwas. A. S. hop, M. E. hope, a valley, and A. S. wase, wees (Older, ge-wcesc), a swamp, marsh. Hopwas lies in the Tame valley, at the foot of a ridge, and much of it is liable to flood. The meaning of the name is substantially ' the marshy valley.' In Mod. E. a wash is a piece of ground washed by the sea or a river, sometimes overflowed, and sometimes dry, a morass, a marsh, &c. V. Alrewas. Horninglow, h., 2 m. N. of Burton-on-Trent. 13 c. Horninglow, Horninglawe, frequently. The terminal is A. S. hlcew, M. E. lawe, low, a burial-mound (v. Low). Horn is a recorded A. S. p. n., and probably Horning was one also, as in charters we meet with such forms as Horningaden, Horningdun, Horningga, Horning ameer e, Horningeseie, &c. I read this as ' Horning's burial-mound,' though it may be that the ing is patronymic or possessive. Houndhill, an ancient estate in Marchington, 5 m. SE. of Uttoxeter. 13 c. Hunhyle, Hunhyl, Hogenhull; 14 c. Howenhull, Hounhull, Hounhul. The terminal is A. S. hyl, M. E. hull, a hill. The prefix in the forms is confused ; but it probably represents A. S. hund, M. E. hund, hond, a hound ; but then Hund, Hunda, was an A. S. p. n., and it is more likely that the place was named after a man than a dog, though Houndhill lay in the Forest of Needwood. Hounslow, nr. London, was in A. S. Hundeshlcew, Hund's burial-mound. There Hund doubtless represents a p. n., as it is improbable that a 'low' would be raised over or named after a dog. (The forms Hogenhull and Howenhull suggest the p. n. Hoga, ' the prudent.' W. H. S.) Huntington, 2 m. N. of Cannock. 1262 Huntingdon ; G 82 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES 1271 and 1300, and later, Huntyndon. A. S. hunla, gen. hunt an, a hunter, and dun, a hill the hunter's hill ; but Hunta and Hunting were p. names, and we are left in doubt. Huntington was a hamlet in the heart of Cannock Forest, and a very likely place for a hunter, or forest official, to live in. There is a disused moated site here, and anciently there was a chapel, the site of which is still known as Chapel Field. Hyde (The), an ancient estate, i m. SW. of Brewood. Always Hyde. A. S. hid, hide, did not mean a measure or fixed quantity of land, but an estate or farm ; originally ' as much land as would support one family,' necessarily a flexible quantity. This estate belonged, from remote times, to the Lanes of Bentley, now of Kings Bromley. Icknield Street, Roman way, running N. and S. through the counties of Gloucester, Worcester, Warwick, Stafford, and Derby. 12 c. Ad regalem viam quae vocatur Ikenhilde- strete ; Stratam regiam quae appellatur Ykenild ; via regia vel le Ricnelde strete; 13 c. Rikelinge slrete] 14 c. Ryken- yldstrete (the above extracts, except the first, relate to parts of the road between Lichfield and Derby) ; 13 c. le Slanway (a common local name for Roman roads) ; Ykenilde stret, Ykenhilde stret; these relate to the street in Shenstone parish. I take the name to have been in A. S. Icenhilde. This ' Ick- nield ' Street appears to join the Foss Way (Exeter to Lincoln, via Bath, Cirencester, Stow-on-the-Wold, High Cross, Leicester, and Newark) 3 m. SW. of Stow-on-the- Wold. It is plain, or traceable, northwards to Chesterfield, in Derbyshire. The Ordnance map shows no further trace. If made further the street should pass about 2 m. E. of Sheffield, but there is nothing to justify the belief that it was continued. It may have been intended to join the Ermine Street nr. Pontefract, but from Chesterfield to Pontefract is about 40 m. without sign. The road may have turned NE. HYDE (THE) ILAM 83 beyond Chesterfield, and joined the Ermine Street at Don- caster, but again there is no evidence that it did. There is an ' Icknield Way ' (not a Roman road as commonly supposed, but a British trackway) running NE. and SW. from Avebury in Wilts, through Wallingford, Princes Ris- borough, Dunstable, Hitchin, Baldock, Royston, and through Cambridgeshire into Norfolk. This road is mentioned in numerous 10 c. charters, as Ycenilde weg (g =y), Iccenhilde wege, Icenhilde weg, Icenhilte, Icenhylte, Cinges streets, and similar forms. Another way, apparently Roman, now called in part Mear Lane, between Derby and Chesterton nr. Stoke- on-Trent (via Rocester and Draycot on the Moors), is called Richmilde streete in a charter of 1257 (the m should probably be read ). There is another road, apparently Roman, running E. and W. 3 m. S. of Burford, in Oxfordshire, marked on Ordnance map ' Ikenild Way,' on what authority I know not. Thorpe Salvin, 5 m. NW. of Worksop, was anciently Rikenhildfhorp, but does not appear to have had any connexion with this street. It is clear that ' Icknield ' (Riknield I think a corruption) is a generic name, as Watling Street is, given by the Anglo-Saxons to Roman or British lines of road. We have no evidence what, if any, names the Romans gave to their roads, and the Anglo-Saxons probably invented names for themselves. A tribe of Iceni are said to have inhabited Norfolk, and the Icknield Way from Avebury leads direct to their country. But this Icknield Street had no connexion with the Iceni, or with that road, and must have some other meaning which I cannot divine. Possibly the name is wholly or partly allegorical, like Watling Street (q. v.). Dr. Guest (Origines Celticae, ii. 228) translates Icenhilde weg ' the highway (or military way) of the Iceni.' It is true that hilde means ' war, battle,' but it is a poetical word only, and no instance of its use in compound with weg or street is to be found. Ham, 5 m. NW. of Ashbourne. 1006 Hilum\ 13 c. G 2 84 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Hilum, Ilium, Hylum, Hum. In A.S. hyllum is the dat. pi. of hyl, a lull, and the plain meaning of the name is ' at the hills.' The whole manor is hill and dale. Laneham, in Notts, was Lanum, ' at the lanes ' ; Halam, in Notts, was aet Halum, at the hills. Ingestre, 4 m. NE. of Stafford. D. Gestreon; 13 c. Ingesiraund, Ingeslrent, Ingestre (frequently), I'ngtstre. Here D. seems to be quite at sea, and though the river Trent bounds the manor, I do not think it plays any part in the present form of the name. Ing, Inga, was an A. S. p. n., and the terminal tre doubtless represents A. S. iremv, treo, M. E. tree, ire, a tree ; perhaps because Ing's property was bounded by some notable tree, or l>ecause he lived near one. I do not reject the terminals straund and trent. A. S. strand, M. E. slronde, meant (inter alia) the shore or bank of a river. It is possible that the name was in an unsettled state, hovering for a time between Inge's strand, Inge's trent, and Inge's tree ; but of the prefix there can be no doubt. Ipstones, 5 m. NW. of Cheadle. 12 c. Yppeslan\ 13 c. Ippestanes frequently, Yppestanes ; 14 c. Ippestanes. The terminal is A. S. slanes, stones. The prefix is probably A. S. yppe, a raised, or look-out place = the look-out stone or stones (the first form being singular, and the later forms plural). Places are not uncommonly named from their commanding situations and being resorted to as look-out places in time of war. Ibstone, 9 m. W. of High Wycombe, is Ypeslan in D. V. Tcitenhall. Ivetsie Bank, h., 4 m. NW. of Brewood. 13 c. Ovey- )iotes haye, Orctls hay, Uvetshay \ 1 4 c. (hy he tie shay , Oviotes- hay ; 1 7 c. Jvif/sqy, Ivellshay. The terminal haye, hay, means a hedge, enclosure (v. Hay). The prefix represents the A. S. p. n. U/egeat. With the Conquest f commonly became v , and, the g being sounded y, Ufegeat would yield the forms quoted. The meaning of the name is therefore 1NGESTRE KING'S STANDING 85 ' Ufegeat's hay.' Down to the time of King John the locality was in Brewood Forest, which John disafforested. En- closure would then set in ; but even two centuries ago the country between Brewood and Shiffnal was mostly waste. The hamlet, which consists principally of a noted roadside inn on Watling Street, stands on a hill, hence 'Bank'; but that is a late addition. Ufegeat is only a late form of Wulfgeal. The name appears in D. as Ulfiet and Ulviet. Keele, 3 m. S W. of Newcastle. Not in D. ; 12 c. Kiel frequently. Nothing can be made of this in A. S., and I think it must be Celtic. W. cell, I. ceal, cille, G. cill (c=k), M. Keeyl, Kill, mean a cell belonging to a hermit or monastery, a small church. In Ireland, where small churches abounded, over 2000 pi. names commence Kyle-, Keel-, or Kil-. The Celts probably borrowed the word from L. cello, (c hard). The name does not appear to be O. N., in which kirk = church. Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire, in D. is Keilmersc ; Keelby, N. Lincolnshire, and Kelby, S. Lin- colnshire, in D. are Chelebi (ch = k}. These prefixes have doubtless the same root and meaning as Keele. Cf. also 4 Keel ' (2) in Montgomeryshire. Kings Bromley, v. Bromley (Kings). Kingsley, 2 J m. NE. of Cheadle. D. Chingeslei (chK) ; 13 c. Kynggesley, A. S. cyning, cyng, cing (gen. cinges), and ley (q. v.), the King's lea ; probably because the manor, or part of it, belonged at some time to the Crown. Cyng was not an A. S. p. n., but v Cyne, ' royal, bold,' was, and formed the prefix to many compound names. King only became a family name about the 130. King's Standing, a tumulus on Perry Barr Common, 3 m. SW. of Sutton Coldfield. The Forest and Chase of Sutton Coldfield says (p. 117) : ' King's Standing is a small artificial mound, reputed to be the position occupied by 86 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Charles I when reviewing troops brought up by the Stafford- shire gentry, on October 16, 1642. He was then on his way to Meriden, from a two days' visit at Aston Hall, and continued his journey by the Chester road.' Shaw (History of Staffordshire, i. 17) describes King's Standing as ' a little artificial mount where Charles I is said to have stood when he harangued the troops he brought out of Shropshire at the beginning of the civil war.' Mr. Wm. Fowler, in his pamphlet, History of Erdington, p. 7, says : ' In 1642 Charles stayed (at Aston Hall) two nights, the i6th and 1 7th October; and on the i8th reviewed the troops on the waste land near Sutton Park at the spot still called the King's Standing.' Unfortunately none of these writers give any authority for their statements. We know that Charles I was at Bridgnorth on October 14, 1642, and at Edgehill on the 23rd, so it may be correct, and I am not aware that the locality was known as King's Standing before 1642. But it is unlikely that the mound now there was thrown up for the purpose mentioned. It is doubtless a pre- historic tumulus, though it may have been utilized by Charles. It lies on an eminence on the Coldfield, within two hundred yards of the Icknield Street (now enclosed and effaced), and a thousand yards of the Chester road. The mound is about twenty feet in diameter, and five feet high in the centre, and is enclosed with iron hurdles and planted with young trees. Kings winford. 10 c. Swin/ord; 1023 Swin/ord; D. Suinesford; 12 c. Suinesford. I think this is A. S. swin, swine the swine's ford. The manor lay on the borders of Kinver Forest, where the pasturage of swine was of impor- tance. Swfgen (g=.y) was a p. n. introduced by the Danes. It is spelt Swtn, Suin, Swain, Suien, &c., but, as it appears only after the 10 c., it cannot have influenced this name. ' Kings' is a mediaeval addition to distinguish it from other Swinfords, it being a royal manor at the time of D., and KINGSWINFORD KINDER 87 therefore of ' ancient demesne.' This tenure conferred great privileges on manorial tenants. They could only be sued in their own local court (save by special writ from the king) ; were not liable to serve on juries out of the manor, were toll free, and enjoyed other cherished immunities. Kinvaston, an estate and D. manor, 2 m. SW. of Penkridge. 994 Cynwaldestun ; D. Chenwardeslone ; 1224 Kynewaldeston. A. S. p. n. Cyneweald Cyneweald's town (v. Ton). Kinver, or Kinfare, 4 m. SW. of Stourbridge. 736 the wood called Cynibre ; 964 Cynefare; D. Chenevare (ch = k and v =f) ', 1 2 c. Kenefare, Chenefare. Changes of terminal, or even of name, were not uncommon in primitive times. Assuming that Cynibre refers to Kinver, of which I think there can be no doubt, I translate it ' Royal hill ' (A. S. cyne, royal, VV. bre, hill, v. Brewood). In 736 Kinver was close to the Welsh border, and the Anglo-Saxons so frequently used the word bre, as in Bredon, Brehull, Bray, &c., that I incline to think they borrowed the word from the Welsh, though it has not found its way into A. S. dictionaries. This name I should attribute to the fact of Kinver Forest being hunting ground for the early kings, and their having a royal residence or lodge within it, as after mentioned. Cynefare I translate royal road; A. S.yfer, later fare, a way, road. Cyne-strczt is given in Bosworth-Toller as a royal street or road. In M.E./ar/). Having NORTON (COLD) OFFLEY (BISHOPS) 109 regard to the latitude in spelling which our forefathers in- dulged in, one would expect to find a generous liberality on the subject ; but lawyers, and even juries, appear sometimes to have taken very narrow views. At Stafford Assizes in 1293 the Abbot of Croxden complained that the Dean of Wolverhampton had disseised him of four acres of wood in Ake. The dean objected that there was no vill in Staffordshire called Ake, and he appealed to a jury. The jury found that the vill was called Oke, and not Ake, and the suit was therefore dismissed. (Oaken probably takes its form from dcum (dat. plural of dc), oaks. W. H. S.) Oakley, an ancient estate and manor, now a farm, 7 m. NE. of Lichfield. 1004 Acdea; D. Aclei; 13 c. Adeia, Okeley ; 1 4 c. Odeye, Okleye. A. S. dc , oak, and leak, lea, lea, pasture the oak lea. It is curious that with the terminals -ley, -field, -ford, and -ham, dc has become oak, as in Oakley, Oakfield, Oakford, Oakham ; but with -ton it remains ac, as in our numerous Actons (q. v.). Oakley, h., and hall, in Mucklestone, 2\ m. NE. of Market Drayton. D. Adei. The oak lea. V. Oakley nr. Lichfield. (When the meaning is clear I think it unnecessary to multiply forms.) Ocker Hill, in Tipton. Hockley Hill, in Handsworth. Ocker Hill, Hockerill, and Hockley, are somewhat common names, always in relation to a hill or hill-side. I can make nothing of the names in A. S. The root may be W. ochr, ochren, a side, a shelving locality. Probably Oakengates, in Salop, has the same etymon. It lies on a steep hill-side, on Watling Street. A. S. geat, M. E. gate, yate, gate, a way. I have not met with any early forms of these names ; without them it is only ' a guess.' Offley (Bishops), 3$ m. W. of Eccleshall. D. OffeUia. Offa was a common A. S. p. n. I read this as Offa's lea (v. Ley). At the time of D. the bishops of Lichfield were its tenants in capite. 110 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Offley (High), 6 m. NE. of Newport. D. O/eh't. A. S. p. n. Offa Offa's lea (v. Ley). Offlow, Staffordshire hundred. D. Offelau; 130. Ofelawe. A. S. p. n. Offa, Offa's low (burial-mound) (r. Low). Offlow is an arable field in Swinfen, 3 m. S. of Lichfield. In the field, towards the centre, are the remains of a tumulus which, from repeated ploughings, is sadly defaced, but still visible. It has been much reduced within the last fifty years. The field adjoins the old road from Pirmingham to Lichfield, and also an ancient diversion of Watling Street between Wall (Etocetum) and Fazeley. Offa was the name of a Mercian king, 757-87 ; but the name was borne also by common men. Ogley Hay, now better known as Brownhills, 5 m. N. of Walsall, was formerly one of the hays, or divisions, of the Forest of Cannock. It was given by Wulfrun in 996 to the monks of (Wolver)hampton under the name of Ocgingtun. D. records it as Hocintune, the property of the church at Wolverhampton, and 'waste.' This D. manor has never been identified, and Eyton (D. Studies of the Staffordshire Survey) records it as ' obsolete.' The description of the boundaries in the charter of Wulfrun identifies it with Ogley Hay, and in the 1 2 c. the Dean and Chapter of ' Wolverne- hampton ' conveyed the manor to William Ruffus (the red) of Waleshale (Walsall) under the description of ' a certain wood which is called Hogelty' (giving the bounds). In 1300, in a perambulation of the Forest, it is mentioned as ' the bounds of Opgeltye and Preshvode' (Priest's wood), the latter name frequently attaching itself to ecclesiastical property in a wild state. In 1431 it is also Oggeley. The hay (and manor) contained about 2,700 acres, and was extra-parochial until the 18 c., when it was added to Shenstone parish. It was enclosed in 1834, up to which time it was part of Can- nock Chase, and inhabited only by deer. The Ocgingtun in Wulfrun's charter points to the p. n. Ocga, the gen. form OFFLEY (HIGH] ORETON in of which would be Ocgantun, Ocga's town. The D. form points to Hocca, but I think Hocca and Occa were .only forms of Ocga. Variety in the spelling of pi. names has been great within the last two centuries, and was not less a thousand years ago. The terminal leye of the later forms is of course a complete change from the earlier tun. Okeover, 2 m. NW. of Ashbourne. 1004 Acofre; D. Acorere; 13 c. Acovere, Acoure (u = v} ; 14 c. Ockover. A. S. dc, oak, ofer, ofre, a bank, margin, border the oak bank (or border). A. S. ofer (o unaccented) means, in pi. names, ' above, upper,' as in Ofertun (Overton), upper town. Ofer is only found, in pi. names, as a prefix, and ofer as a suffix. Old Falling, v. Falling (Old). Onecote, 5 m. E. of Leek. 1199 and 1204 Anecote; 1285 Onecote. In A. S. the form would be ancote; in M. E. an becomes one, on, oon, one cot (cottage). Cf. Onehouse, in Suffolk, which in A. S. was Anhus. Onn (High), 6 m. SE. of Newport. D. Otne; 12 and 13 c. Onne, regularly. We may dismiss D. as being a blunder; possibly the / is a mistake for n. The Normans were sometimes perplexed by A. S. forms, but W. tried them sorely. I think this is W. onn (plural), ash-trees high ashes, high being a M. E. addition. Exs. : Onny, river in Salop ; another Onny river in Herefordshire ; Onibury in Salop ; Onneley in Staffordshire ; Onllwyn (the ash grove), 10 m. NE. of Neath; Onneley nr. Woore in Salop. Onn (Little), 7 m. SE. of Newport. D. Anne. Little Onn and High Onn are only a mile apart, and I have difficulty in assigning the mediaeval forms, but all are Onne, and none Anne', so I think D. again at fault, and that Little Onn means little ashes. V. Onn (High). Onneley, h., \\ m. NW. of Woore. D. (Salop) Anelege. I think this means the lea of the ash trees. V. Onn (High). Oreton, h., 4^ m. SW. of Wolverhampton. D. Overiune; 112 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES 13 c. Over/on and Orion, frequently. A. S. Ofer-tun, upper town. (Or ofer, bank, border. W. H. S.) I think not ; ofer is always a suffix ; ofer always a prefix. Orgreave, h., in Alrewas, 6 m. N. of Lichfield. 1195 Ordgrave; 1262 Orgrave; 13 c. Ordgrave, Ordegrave. Ord was an A. S. p. n., and also the prefix to many compound names, such as Ordgar, Ordbeorht, Ordfrith, &c. The A. S. form of Orgreave would be Ordesgraf, Ord's grove (or wood). It lay in Alrewas Hay in Cannock Forest. Orslow, h., 5 m. SE. of Newport. 1203 and 1208 Horselawe; 14 c. Orselowe, Horselowe. Horsa was an A. S. p. n., and in A. S. hors is a horse, so that it is difficult to say whether we should read this as ' Horsa's low ' (burial-mound) (y. Low), or ' the horse low.' The former is the more likely. It might, however, be a mound raised over some favourite horse, or over horses killed in battle. The dropping of an initial H is not uncommon. Oscot, h., in Perry Barr, 4 m. N. of Birmingham. 13 c. Oscole, Oscott. The terminal is clearly A. S. col, a cot, cottage. Os, I think, represents the p. n. Osa, or one of the many names commencing Os-, such as Oswald, Osbeorn, Osmod, Oswulf, &c. Bescot (q. v.) is all that remains of Beorchtmundescot. Otherton, h., i m. SE. of Penkridge. D. Orretone ; 12 c. Oder/one- 13 c. Otherton, frequently. There is no other Orretone (or Oretone) in D. The forms are conflicting. It may be that the A. S. form was Ofer-tun, which ought to yield a M. E. Over-Ion, upper town ; but the forms are incon- sistent with that view. V. Oreton. There is an Otherton, h., in Cotheridge, 3 m. W. of Worcester. Oulton, h., i m. N. of Stone. 13 c. Oldelon, Oldinglon, Oldeton. M. E. Oldelon, old town. The A. S. form, if the place was of A. S. origin, would be Ealdantun (clat.). (Perhaps from the p. n. Ealda, Ealda's town ; the ing and e show that it was Ealdantun. W. H. S.) ORGREAVE PALFREY GREEN 113 Oxley, h., i \ m. N. of Wolverhampton. D. Oxelie ; 13 c. Oxeleg, Oxleg, Oxle, Oxeley. A. S. oxa, M. E. oxe, and A. S. leak, leage, lea, a lea (pasture) the ox lea. In 14 c. local deeds a place identical with, or close to, Oxley is frequently mentioned as Oxneford and Oxeneforde. The prefix is M. E. oxen, oxne, oxen the ford of the oxen. The city of Oxford has similar early forms and the same meaning. Packington, h., 3 m. NVV. of Tamworth. D. Paginlone; 1 2 c. Pakintone. As no A. S. p. n. commenced Pac-, we may assume that the D. Pag- is correct, and represents an A. S. Pcecga, P&ga, Paga. Paga's town (v. Ton). These forms in the gen. or dat. cases become Pcecgan, Pcegan, Pagan, so accounting for the D. n and the modern ing. There are several Packingtons in England. Palfrey Green, h., i m. SE. of Walsall. 16 c. Palfraye Green; 17 c. Palfrey Green. The green, a fragment of which I remember, has disappeared, and the locality, being populous and an ecclesiastical district, is now called ' Pal- frey.' The word is M. E. (from O. F.), and means a riding horse, generally a lady's, but not always, as we read of ' the king's palfrey.' A palfrey is often mentioned in mediaeval deeds as a fine or payment to the king, or a superior lord, for a grant or restoration of land, or confirma- tion of tide ; and sometimes as an annual or periodical pay- ment. A palfrey was also a fee payable, by custom, to the king's marshals, chamberlains, and other officers, when tenants in capite (i.e. holding direct from the king) did homage, and on other state ceremonies (v. Statute 13 Ed. I, cap. 41). The ' palfrey ' was generally commuted into money, which was called ' Palfrey silver.' Sixty years ago I col- lected ' Palfrey silver,' ' Frith silver/ and other chief rents, which have since been compounded for, and used to wonder what old-world things they were. They were chargeable on land, but I never knew what lands. It is probable that i 114 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES the name 'Palfrey Green' has its origin in some such payment. Patshull, 9 m. NW. of Wolverhampton. D. Pecleshella ; 130. Petleshull, Patkshull very often. I think the later forms represent the A. S. p. n. Pyttel, and, with M. E. hull, give us Pyttel's hill. (This will not account for Pat-. I think an unre- corded p. n. Pacgel is involved, and that D. is correct. The change of c to / before / is common ; Pcccga does occur as a p. n., and Pcecgcl has merely another suffix. There is a Peggies- worth in Gloucestershire. W. H. S.) I think Mr. Stevenson is probably right, and that we should read this Paecgel's hill. Pattingham, 6 m. W. of Wolverhampton. D. Pafingham] 12 c. Patlingcham; 150. Patincham. I believe this name is pronounced ' Pattinjam.' I cannot construe it. (From the p. n. Peal/a] cf. Peatiinglun, Cart. Sax. 77, 230, said now to be Patton, Salop. W. H. S.) But how do we get the soft gl That puzzled me. Peak is a common local pi. n. in N. Staffordshire, rarely found in the S. of the county. The word is not admitted into A. S. dictionaries, though the A. S. Chronicle terms the mountainous parts of Derbyshire Peac-lond. It is pro- bably Celtic, as it exists in I. peac. In M. E. it is pec and peke. It meant the summit of a hill, whether sharp or round topped, and in comparatively level localities was frequently applied to small elevations. The meaning is now confined to something with a sharp point. Pelsall, 3 m. N. of Walsall. 994 Peolshale ; D. Peleshah ; 12 and 13 c. Peleshale', 14 c. Peoleshalc. I cannot identify ' Peol' as an A. S. p. n., but here it is certainly used in that sense, and we may translate this Peol's hall. V. Hale. Pendeford, h.,3 \ m. N. of Wolverhampton. D. Pendeford; 130. Pendeford; 14 c. Penntford, Pendfford. I cannot con- strue the name, except of course the terminal. (This is Penda's ford, from an A. S. Pcndanford. W. H. S.) Penda was a cele- brated king of Mercia, 626-55. The name is not ' recorded ' PATSHULL PENKRIDGE 115 to have been borne by any other A. S., but Pendan dc, Penda's oak, is mentioned in a Worcestershire charter of 849. Penk, river, rises in Bushbury and Codsall, the two brooks uniting nr. Pendeford ; flows through Penkridge into Sow. 13 c. the river called Pencriz, the river of Pencriz ; 14 c. river Penk; 16 c. water of Penck. I think, from the early forms, that the Penk takes its name from Penkridge. Penk has no meaning in A. S., nor, I think, in any other language. V. Penkridge. Penkhull, ii m. S^T. of Newcastle. D. Pinchetel(ch = c hard) ; 1 2 c. Pencul. This place can have no connexion with the river Penk, being twenty miles from it. Notwith- standing the D. form I think it probable the terminal is rightly M. E. hull, a hill, the 1 2 c. and modern forms favouring that view. The prefix may represent the A. S. p. n. Pinca ; but the forms are few and conflicting, and any conclusion upon them would be only ' guess.' Penkridge, 5 m. S. of Stafford. 958 Charter of Eadgar, King of the Mercians, tested at ' the famous place which is called Pencric' (Cart. Sax. 1041); circa 1000 Pencric; D. Pancriz ; 1 2 c. Pencrtch, Pancriz ; 1 4 c. Penkrich. The vill is on the river Penk, which I think takes its name from Penk- ridge (v. Penk). I accept the form Pencric, and divide it into Pen-eric. It is then evident that the name is not A. S. but Celtic. In \V.pen means ' the head, extremity, or upper part' (of any- thing). In G. crioch, criche, I. crioc, crioch, means a boundary, end, limit, frontier. I am unable to verify eric as a W. word, but it probably existed in O. W., as there are places named ' Crick,' 4 m. SW. of Chepstow, Crickadarn,' 8 m. NE. of Brecon, ' Criccieth ' in Carnarvonshire, ' Cricketh,' 4 m. S. of Oswestry, and Cricklas, i \ m. W. of Carmarthen. The same observation applies to Cornish, as 'Crickapit' and ' Crickley ' are pi. names in Cornwall. Though not included in any A. S. dictionary, the word crick is used in a charter of 705 (Cart. Sax. 112) in describing the bounds of the I 2 Tl6 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES manor of Doulting in Somersetshire : ' then to Crich- hulle.' Joyce's Irish Place Names, a work of great learn- ing and authority, says (2nd S. 206): ' Crioch means an end, confine, or boundary. . . . When it is found in names we may conclude that it marks the ancient boundaries of farms, townlands, or territories.' We do not know what frontier Penkridge stood upon in prehistoric times, but we do know that the Penk was an ancient boundary of Cannock Forest to the W. and N., and that it flows at the foot of a hill country bordering on an immense plain of which the Wrekin forms a prominent centre, and therefore likely to be inhabited by separate tribes. Crioch and Cn'che appear to have formed an element in English pi. names. Crick in Northamptonshire (D. Crec) abuts on the boundary of the counties of Warwick and Northampton ; Crackley Bank, 3 m. N. of Shiffnal, is on the border line of Staffordshire and Salop ; Cricklcy Coppice, 5 m. SW. of Tamworth, is on the bounds of Staffordshire and Warwickshire; Crich, in Derbyshire (D. Crice) lies on the bounds of four hundreds ; Pentrich, alias Pentridge, in Derbyshire (D. Pentric], lies on the bounds of three hundreds ; Pentridge, in Dorset (an. 958 Pencn'c), lies on the bounds of Wilts, and Dorset. Cricklade (A. S. Crecca- gelade, Creocegeldde, Cricgelade, Crecalade, D. Crichfhide) lies on the border of Wilts, and Gloucester ; it was also on the frontier of Mercia and Wessex. Then we have ' Crickett/ 2 m. W. of Ellesmere ; Moore ' Critchell,' 6 m. SW. of Cranbourne ; ' Cricket ' Malherbie, 3! m. NE. of Chard ; ' Crickett ' St. Thomas, 4 m. SW. of Crewkerne, all on the boundaries of hundreds. In Scotland we find ' Crichope,' Dumfriesshire ; ' Crichie,' E. Aberdeenshire ; ' Crichton,' NW. Dumfries ; Crichton, 6 m. SE. of Dalkeith ; and ' Criech,' in N. Fifeshire. Penkridge lies 2 m. N. of Watling Street, and about the same distance from Stretton, the ' supposed ' site of the Roman station ' Pennocrucium,' mentioned in the Itinerary of Antoninus. There is undoubted affinity between PENN PENSNETT nj ' Pennocrucium ' and ' Pencric,' and if Pencric is a Celtic name it was pre-Roman, and it is well known that the Romans adopted native names in Latin forms. There is no evidence that the Romans ever occupied Penkridge ; but parishes or manors did not exist in their time, and ' Pencric ' may have been the name of a district including the site of Penno- crucium. Professor Rhys (Lectures on Welsh Philology, 2nd ed., 184, and Hibbert Lectures, 1888, 203) deals with the etymology of Penkridge, and reads it Pencrug, the head of the mound ; but I think the professor, not finding them recorded in Welsh, has overlooked the undoubted Celtic words crioch and criche. There is no trace or tradition of any mound at Penkridge, and the passage of cfug into eric and crick, a thousand years ago, with great respect to the professor, I think improbable. I suggest that Pencric means ' head or end of the border, a frontier.' The description of Penkridge in the test of the charter of 958, as ' the famous place which is called Pencric,' shows that it was then a place of importance, and an occasional residence of the Mercian kings. There is an ancient thoroughfare road leading from Penkridge to the W. (Newport, Shrewsbury, and Chester), which is known as ' King Street ' and. is so mentioned in old local deeds. Perm, 3 m. SW. of Wolverhampton. D. Penne\ 12 and 1 3 c. Ptnne, repeatedly. I think this is plain A. S.petiu, a pen, fold. Penn lay within the limits of Kinver Forest, and probably took its name originally from a cattle pen or fold in the Forest. It must have been a horse or cattle fold, or possibly a swine pen, as goats and sheep were not commonable. Swine also were not commonable without special grant from the king. Pensnett, now a populous locality in Kingswinford, formerly Pensnett Chase. 1248 Free chase in the wood of Roger (de Somery, Lord of Dudley") at Peninak. William (Burdetf) remits his claim , for which Roger grants to him four fat bucks and four does yearly, William to take them on giving a day's notice to the forester of Roger at Duddeley ; Il8 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES 13 c. a wood called Penniak, later Pennak, chase of Penny oke\ 1 4 c. Pensyned, Pensmed chace, Pensned chace, chace of Pensned. The terminals in the later forms look like A. S. snad (mod. snead, sneyd (q. v.) ), a detached, cut off, intrusive, or isolated portion of a manor, or anything. It may be that Pensnett Chase was once a part of Kinver Forest, which it adjoined, and, becoming the property of a subject, became a ' chase,' not subject to the laws of the Forest, and, being detached, acquired the terminal snead. Pen may be W. pen, head, end (Pensnett occupies high land); but a W. prefix and A. S. suffix do not commend themselves, and the forms are too late and various for decision. Perry Barr, 3 m. N. of Birmingham. D. Ptrio; 12 c. Pine, Pin', Pirye\ 13 c. Pyrie, frequently. A. S. pirige (g = y\ M. E. pirie, a pear-tree. Barr is a late mediaeval addition made, no doubt, to distinguish it from other Perrys, and because it adjoined Great Barr (q. v.). Perry Hall, an ancient farm in Wednesfield, 4 m. NE. of Wo'.verhampton. 13 c. Thomas dc Pyrye ; 14 c. Robert at Pyrie, Richard, son of Nicholas, at Pyrie, William atle Perye. A. S. pirige, M. ~\L.pirie, a pear-tree. V. Perry Barr. Pertcn, or Purton, h., 4 m. W. of Wolverhampton. nc. Pertune ; D. Pertone ; 1 2 c. Pcrtone. Though the form is Pertune in a charter of Edward the Confessor giving the estate to the monks of Westminster, I have no doubt the original foim was 2*erigtun, the town of the j)ear-tree. The pronunciation of Perigtun would be Periton, quickly pass- ing into Pirton. Pirton, nr. Worcester, in A. S. charters is Perigton and Pyritun. Picards, h., in Upper Arley, 4 m. NW. of Bewdley. 13 C.John Picard, son of Hugh dc Waban, but commonly called Pikard; 1315 John Pykard, John Pikard; 1476 Pycardes- londes (Upper Arley deeds). This example shows how pi. names and family names sometimes arise. Pickard probably means a native of Picardy, in France. PERRY BARR PIPE 119 Pillaton, Pillaton Hall, h. and ancient seat of the Little- tons, 2 m. E. of Penkridge. 1004 Bedintun \ D. Beddintone. Wulfric Spott, Earl of Mercia, about the year 1004, gave Bedintun to the monks of Burton, and they continued to hold it until the suppression of the monasteries. Bedintun (Beda's town) is not mentioned after D., and all trace of the name has vanished; but it is well identified with Pillaton. The first form of that name known to me is in 1185, Pilatehale; in the 13 c. it appears as Pylatenhale, Pilletenhale, Pilatehak, Pilitenhale, and Piletehale ; 14 c. Pilatenhale, and similar forms. It is of course a complete change of name. What led the monks to abandon the venerated name of Beda for an apparent ' Pilate,' it is difficult to imagine. ' Pilate's hall ' is unique as a pi. name, but 1 can place no other construc- tion on the forms. Pillaton lies low, is on a small stream, and so boggy that a chapel, a portion of the old hall, is built on piles. A. S./J/ (from L. piluni) means a pile, but I can- not see, having regard to the forms, how that word can be here represented. I see no reason to believe that 'Pilate' has ever been used as a p. n. in England, and, if here referred to, it must point to the scriptural Pilate. (You could not get the gen. en from ' Pilate.' W. H. S.) Cf. Pillaton, a parish in E. Cornwall; but there the root would be in Cornish, which cannot be the case here. There are two ' Pillerton ' in S. Warwickshire ; but their early forms are Pilardetune and Pilardinton, clearly from the A. S. p. n. Pilheard. The meaning of Pillaton must remain conjectural. Pipe, a township in Lichfield, i \ m. from the city. This was a post-D. manor, or rather two manors, Great Pipe and Little Pipe, first found as a pi. name in the 12 c., and always Pipe or Pype. Pipe is an A. S. word, meaning a pipe, and I have no doubt that is the meaning of this name. Lichfield is, and for many centuries has been, supplied with water from springs rising in Pipe Manor, and conveyed by pipes to the city. These springs and pipes are referred to in 120 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES 130. documents as rights of the Dean and Chapter. An ancient family, 'de Pipe,' took their name from Pipe, and carried it, as a M. E. prefix, to Pipe Ridware (q. v.). There is a Pipe 3 m. N. of Hereford (D. Pipe], which may have a somewhat similar origin. Pipe Hayes, Pipe Hill, are localities within the old manor. Pipe Ridware, v. Ridware (Pipe). Pirehill, h., 2 m. S. of Stone. Pirehill, Staffordshire Hundred. D. Pirehel, Pireholle-, 12 c. Pirehulle, Pirhelle, Pirhulle, Pyrhelle, Pirehul. The terminal may be safely treated as A. S. hyll, M. E. hull, hill. The prefix may be a short form of A. S. pirige, a pear-tree ; that word, in char- ters, sometimes appears as ptri- and pyri-\ and pirgraf, a pear-tree orchard, is also found. Nothing else can be made of the prefix in A. S., and it is not a p. n. I think we may construe it ' the hill of the pear-tree.' Podmore, h., 6 m. NW. of Eccleshall. D. Podemore; 1 3 c. Poddemert ; 1 4 c. Podemor, Podmore. The prefix has no meaning in A. S. except as a p. n. Podda was a p. n., and I read this as ' Podda's moor.' Portway, the name of many roads in Staffordshire and elsewhere. It is a superstition to suppose, as most anti- quaries do, that the name is indicative of a Roman way. Port, in A. S., means a port, haven ; but it also means a town, and, when used inland, may always be so construed. ' 1 will that no man buy out of port, but have the port reeves witness,' &c. (Laws of Edward the Elder). ' And we have ordained that no man buy any property out of port, over xx pence,' &c. 'That every marketing be \\ithin port? &c. (^sthelstan's Laws). Here port is used in the sense of town, or market. Porlstrcct, Portweg (g =J>), are words frequently occurring in A. S. charters, and mean simply the town or market way. A road so named is presumably of great antiquity, and may be pre-Roman. The name is local, and often applied to parts of Roman and other ways leading to market towns, beyond which the name ceases. I know PIPE R1DWARE POUKE HILL 121 many Portways which have no pretension to Roman origin. We had thoroughfare roads before the Romans set foot in Britain. Pouke Hill, in Bentley, 2 m. NW. of Walsall. Powke Lane, in Rowley Regis. Many localities bear the name of ' Pouk.' Pouk, Pouke, Powke, are mediaeval forms. The origin is W. pwca, I. puca, A. S. pucel, M. E. pouke, an elf, sprite, hobgoblin 'Puck.' The word is undoubtedly of Celtic origin, and widely spread. Pucan-wyl, Puck's spring, is found in an A. S. charter (Cod. Dip. 408). Spenser says : * Ne let the Pouke, nor other evil spirit, Ne let mischievous witches with their charms, Ne let hobgoblins, names whose sense we know not, Fray us with things that be not.' Shakespeare writes : ' fairy. Either I mistake your shape and making quite, Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite Called Robin Goodfellow : are you not he That frights the maidens of the villagery ; Skim milk, and sometimes labour in the quern, And bootless make the breathless housewife churn ; And sometime make the drink to bear no barm ; Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm? Those that Hobgoblin call you and sweet Puck, You do their work, and they shall have good luck : Are you not he ? Pttck. Fairy, thou speak 'st aright; I am that merry wanderer of the night,' &c. In Ireland the form has become pooka and phooca; hence Pollaphuca in Wicklow, the pool of the Phooka; Puckstown in Louth ; Carrigaphooca, county Cork, the rock of the Phooka ; Ahaphuca in Limerick, the ford of Phooka. The Norse word for the sprite is Pukt. (This must be borrowed by W. and I. A' native Celtic word cannot appear in both languages with initial p. W. H. S.) Pouke Hill is an emi- nence of basaltic rock, now deeply quarried. It is on cross- roads, and was, a generation ago, wooded and lonely, on the 122 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES border of a large heath, and a likely spot to be thought haunted. V. Hobs Hole. Prestwood, an ancient moated homestead and farm in Wednesfield, 3 m. NE. of Wolverhampton. 13 and 140. Prestwode, frequently. A. S. and M. E. Preslwode, Priest's wood. It lay within the bounds of Cannock Forest. Edward III granted it to the Dean and Chapter of Wolver- hampton as ' Prestwode,' but the monks probably held it long before. Grants were frequently mere confirmations of title. If a man had no deeds, as was often the case, or they were lost or burned, it was worth his while to get a 'grant' from the king, which he could always do ' for a consideration,' and then his title was indefeasible. The manors of Wednes- field, Hilton, and Featherstone, all adjoining and within the Forest, belonged to the monks before the Conquest. They were indulgent landlords, and allowed enclosures freely, or on very easy terms. Hence the many ancient encroachments and moated sites to the N\V. of Wolverhampton. Prestwood, ancient estate, 3 m. N\V. of Stourbridge. 1 2 c. Preslewude ; 1 3 and 1 4 c. Presiewode, Prestwode. Priest's wood (v. Prestwood in Wednesfield). This Prestwood was in Kinver Forest, and lies on the river Stour. In the 8, 9, and 10 c. the bishops of Worcester held lands 'at Sture, in the province named of old Husmere.' The bishops lost or disposed of this property before 1086, D. not recording them as possessing anything in Staffordshire. Since the Conquest Prestwood has not belonged to any ecclesiastical body, and there can be little doubt its name is derived from the ancient ownership of the bishops of Worcester. The ' province of Husmere ' (elsewhere written Usmere) is first recorded in 736 (Cart. Sax. 154), before the formation of counties, and is now represented by ' Ismere ' House, 4 m. S. of Prestwood. Priestflelds, h., in Bilston. The property here once be- longed partly to the church at Penkridgc, partly to the church at Stretton, and partly to a chantry at Bilston ; hence the name. PRESTWOOD RADMORE 123 Quarnford, h., 5 m. S\V. of Buxton. 1227 Querneford. The A. S. had no q, cw performing its functions. The root is A. S. cweorn, cwyrn, M. E. quern, cwtrne. In Mod. E. quern means a hand-mill, but the old meaning was a mill of any kind. The construction is plain ' Mill-ford.' In M. E. er is pronounced ar. Cf. Quarndon, Derbyshire ; Quern- more, N. Lancashire ; Quorndon, Leicestershire. Originally all grain was ground by hand, then by cattle, then by water, afterwards by wind. V. Gornall. Queeselet, h., in Great Barr. 16 c. Quieslade, Queeslade. M. E. queest, queasl, qucase, queese, wood-pigeon ; A. S. slced, M.E. slade, a little valley, open ground in woodland, a glade the slade of the wood-pigeon. Queeselet lies in a hollow. Quixhill, h., 5^ m. N. of Uttoxeter. 1236 Quikeshull; 14 c. Quikeshulle, Quickeshull, Quixhulle. The A. S. having no q we must read the prefix as cwices, gen. of cwic. Cwic means ' living/ whence our ' quick and the dead ' ; and it has come to mean a ' live ' fence, a quickset hedge. Here Cwic is clearly used in the gen. and possessive sense, and although it was not, alone, a p. n., it formed the prefix of many names, e. g. Cwicheard, Cwichelm, Cwicwine, &c. Either the terminal has dropped out, or the original name was shortened, and we have ' Cwic's hill.' Radley Moor, in Shenstone. This name is borne by several low-lying fields between Little Aston and Footherly, over which the Icknield Street (q. v.) once ran. Faint traces of the line still remain, but the road itself, for about four miles, has sunk into the bog, emerging from it at both ends. I think the root is A. S. rdd, M. E. rade the road lea (v. Ley). Moor is probably a later addition (cf. Radmore). Radmore, a district on Cannock Chase. In the valley or plain at the foot of Castle Rings, between Lodge Hill, Gentleshaw, and Cannock Wood, close to Nun's Well, is a moat (now mostly dry) marking the site of a hunting lodge of the early kings. Henry II was an occasional 124 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES visitor here, and expedited several charters from ' Radmore.' There was also a monastery hard by (site unknown), which removed to Stoneleigh, in Warwickshire, in the latter part of the 1 2 c. The road to the king's house, and to the monastery from the SVV., led over the moor, and would be the prin- cipal approach to those places, as also to Castle Rings, a British fort. In early records the name is spelt Radmore and Rademore. I think it is A. S. rod, M. E. rade, a road, and A. S. and M. E. mor, more, a moor the road moor. ' Radmore Lane,' 2 m. W. of Gnosall, appears to be on an ancient road to Chester, and ' Radmore Plain,' 3 m. S. of Market Bosworth, is upon an ancient way, apparently Roman, leading out of Watling Street at Mancetter (Manduesseduni) to Leicester. V. Radley Moor. Bake End, Rake Lane, Rakeway, Rakemoor, The Rakes or Raikes. These are common field or local names. The root is M. E. rake, raike, a way, path. The word is sometimes used as a suffix, e. g. Whiterake, Wain rake, Dirty- rake, Highrake, Deeprake, Hardrake, Outrake, Great Rakes. In the Lake Country it is commonly applied to the narrow paths along which sheep are driven to the fell. In the Mid- lands the name is often applied to localities adjoining ancient commons through which the cattle were driven to pasture. An ' Outrake ' was on the edge of the common, and the stock was there collected for driving out, or driving home. The root is doubtless O. N. reik, a way, path. The word must have trickled down from the N. since the Conquest. It is common in Derbyshire and N. Staffordshire ; I have not met with it S. of Shenstone. The word appears to have been applied to cattle roads, sheeptracks, and field ways, not to thoroughfare roads or public highways. From Great Rakes we get our family names Greatrex and Greatorex. Ramshom, or Ramsor, 8 m. W. of Ashbourne. 13 c. Romesovere ; 14 c. Rommessore; 16 c. Ramsore. The terminal is clearly A. S. o/irr, M. E. wer, ovre (frequently shortened to ore), a bank, border. A. S. raram, romm, means RAKE END RAY 125 a ram, and this may be ' the ram's bank '; but earlier forms might lead to another conclusion. Ram was not a p. n. until after the Conquest (and Ramshorn probably bore its name before then). (The A. S. p. n. Hrcefn became Hramn (by assimilation offn to mri), later Hrem, and the prefix here may represent this name. Ramsley, in Salop, in the n c. appears both as Ramesleage and Hremesleage, the latter form clearly pointing to the p. n. W. H. S.) Hanton or Ronton, 5 m. W. of Stafford. D. Rantone; 13 c. Raunton, Ronton, frequently. I think the prefix is A. S. rand, M. E. rand, rond, an edge, border. The manor of Ranton lies in Pirehill hundred, on the border of Cuddle- stone hundred. The falling out of the d would be regular. Ranworth (Norfolk) is Randwrth in an A. S. charter. D. records two Randebi (Lincolnshire), both now Ranby, and two Rande, now Rand, the d, being final, having survived. I translate Ranton ' Border town ' (v. Ton). Rand still lives as a dialectic word ; rushes on the borders and edges of land near a river are called ' rands ' (Halliwell's Diet, of Archaic and Prov. Words). Rawnpike Oak, a great ancient tree in the fence of Beaudesert Park at the foot of Castle Rings, near the Can- nock and Rugeley Colliery, now hollow and somewhat stag-headed. It has been known by this name during living memory. Rawnpike, Ranpike, and Rampick, as it is occa- sionally pronounced and spelt, is a dialectic word (origin unknown) for a stag-headed tree, i. e. a tree having dead boughs standing out of its top. It is used in America, and in 1890 the forester of Bagot's Park called my attention to some ' rawn ' oaks. I think it probable that Rawnpike Oak has given name to the modern village of Rawnsley, half a mile off". Ray or Rea Hall, Great Barr, an ancient estate and house, now a farm. 1215 ' William of Rehall? This farm is bounded by the river Tame ; hence the name. Rea, Ray, Rhee, give name to several small streams in England, e. g. in Salop, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herts, Oxford- 126 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES shire, and Cambridgeshire. Some writers assign a Celtic origin to the word, but apparently without authority. I think it is simply A. S. ea, a stream, with r added to it- In A. S. charters on thare ea, on the river, is commonly met with. In M. E. this becomes on ther e, and in Mod. E. on the ree, or rea, and so we build up a new word to the bewilderment of etymologists. I do not think that Rea, as a river name, is to be found in any A. S. charter. If that be so the pre- sumption is very strong that it is not a Celtic or an A. S. word, but is M. E. The Rea, in Salop, was anciently the Keen (v. Nechells, Nurton, and Skeat's A Student's Pastime, 400). Rickerscote, h., 2 m. S. of Stafford. D. Ricardescote \ 1 3 c. Rikardescote. A. S. p. n. Ricard Ricard's cottage. Ricard = Richard. Ridge, in Standon, 8 m. S\V. of Stoke. D. Rigge. A. S. hrycg, M. E. rigge, rugge, a ridge. The word is extensively used in pi. names, and means a ridge of elevated land, some- times slight elevations. Ridgway, Rudgeway (The). This name is frequently borne by Roman and other ancient roads. The root is A. S. hrycg, M. E. rugge, rigge, the ridged way, meaning, generally, a road ditched on both sides, in convex shape. The mediaeval forms are generally Ruggewey, la Rugge, Ruggcway. The old Chester road between Castle Brom- wich and Stonnall was anciently, and still is, known as the Rudgeway. The Roman way from Chester to Worcester over Rudge heath (between Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth) is recorded as la JRugge, and also as the Stanwey (Stone way). Antiquaries assume that the name is proof of Roman origin, but it is not so, nor is Portway (q. v.). The name appears in A. S. charters as Hrycweg, Ricweg (g = j>), Ruggcstrat, and Rugweie. Ridware (Hamstall), 4 m. E. of Rugeley. D. Rideivare, Ridvare ; 1 3 c. Rydewar Hamslal, RMware HampstaL A. S. hamsteall, M. E. hams/a/, homestead. For Ridware v. Rid- ware (Mavesyn). RICKERSCOTE ROCESTER 127 Ridware (Hill), h., in Mavesyn Ridware ; 1 3 c. le Hulk \ 14 c. William o tK hull, Hull causey (causeway), Alwynes hull. V. Ridware (Mavesyn). M. E. hull = hill. Ridware (Mavesyn\ 3 m. SE. of Rugeley. 1004 Rideware ; D. Riduare (u = w). For later forms see other Ridwares. Etymologists are always loth to accept a name as compounded of two languages ; but this is a clear case. The prefix is W. rhyd, river, and A. S. ivara, M. E. ware, people, folk, inhabitants = river people. The Ridwares, i. e. Mavesyn Ridware, Hill Ridware, Pipe Ridware, and Ham- stall Ridware, are enclosed by the Blythe and Trent, and in primitive times, when bridges were rare, must have been difficult of access, and the inhabitants an isolated community. Ware forms the terminal to many A. S. compound words, e. g. Merscwara, marsh folk ; Ceaslerweara, city folk ; Can/- ware, people of Kent ; Wihtware, Isle of Wight folk, &c. Mavesyn (pr. Mason) is a mediaeval addition. The Malveysin or Malvoisin family held the manor in the 12, 13, and 14 c., when it passed to females. Ridware (Pipe), 4 m. E. of Rugeley. D. Ridware ; 1 2 c. Rideware; 13 c. Media (middle) Ridware, Parva (little) Ridware; 14 c. Pipe Ridware. For Ridware v. Ridware (Mavesyn). The 'de Pipe' family held the manor in the 13 and 14 c. They came from Pipe, nr. Lichfield (q. v.). Rocester, 5 m. N. of Uttoxeter. D. Rowecestre; 12 c. Roffecestre ; 1 3 c. Rowecestre. The terminal A. S. ceaster, ceastre, a fortress, castle, is always indicative of a Roman station, stone buildings being novel to the Anglo-Saxons. In Mercian dialect it is pronounced chester, sometimes softened to cesler. In Northumbrian dialect, under Norse influence, the c sometimes hardens, and we have Caistor and -caster. The prefix is the A. S. p. n. Hrof, modern ' Ralph ' Hrof s castle. Rochester, in Kent, was Hrofesceastre. (This corresponds to O. E. Hradwulf, being a French form of Prankish Rath- ulf. W. H. S.) A Roman road from Derby to Chesterton, 2 m. N. of Newcastle, passed through Rocester. 128 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Rodbaston, h., 2 m. S. of Penkridge. D. Redbaldestone\ 1 2 c. Rodbalde stone. This is Rodbeald's town (v. Ton). At the time of D. Rodbaston was held by ' Richard the Forester.' His descendants the de Crocs, and afterwards the de Brocs and de Loges, were chief foresters of Cannock Forest and resided at Rodbaston, probably in the moated site called Rodbaston Old Hall. The house has long ago dis- appeared. Rolleston, 4 m. N. of Burton-on-Trent. 942 Rolhulfis- fon; 1004 Rolfestun; D. Rolveslune; later Rolveslone. This is Hrothwulfs town. The form of 1004 shows how early corrupt or short forms set in. There are four other Rollestons in England. Rowley Regis, 3 m. SE. of Dudley. 12 c. Rueley, Rohele, Roele, Rueleg; 13 c. Rueleg, Roule. The prefix is A. S. ruh, M. E. rogh, row, rou, ru, ruh, rough, uncultivated ; the terminal ley (q. v.), pasture, untilled land, lea the rough lea. The A. S. and M. E. forms for ' rough ' were not pro- nounced ru/ 'as now, but row (as in cow). Hence Rowley. Pronunciation has changed quite as much as spelling. The manor belonged to the king at the time of D., hence Regis. A manor once royal acquired and maintained valuable privileges. To have been ' of royal demesne ' was a cherished tenure. Rownall, h., in Cheddleton, 6J m. N\V. of Cheadle. D. Rugehala; 13 c. Roughenhale, Rowenhalt. The prefix is A.S. ruh, M.E. rogh, row, ru, ruh, and the terminal a form of he a/A, meadow-land (v. Hale) the rough meadow. (The adj. ruh produced regularly in the weak declension ruwa, with ruwan in the oblique cases ; so that the dative would be ruwan (sometimes written rugan) heale, whence Rownall has regularly descended. W. H. S.) Rial yard, 2 m. NVV. of Leek. 1004 Rudegeard; D. Rudierd; 1 3 c. Rudyerd. The terminal is A. S. geard (g =>') M. E. yeard, yerd, a yard, enclosure. (The prefix perhaps represents a p. n. Ruda (Rudda is recorded), the gen. form RODBASTON SALT 129 being Rudangeard, Ruda's yard. This by 1004 would pro- bably be shortened to Rudegeard. W. H. S.) Bugeley. D. Rugelei 1 2 c. Ruggeley, Ruggleg. A. S. hryeg, M. E. rugge, rigge, and ley (q. v.) the ridge lea. Rugeley town is on a plain in the valley of the Trent, but the greater part of the manor is on Cannock Chase, a lofty ridge, at the foot of which the town lies. The natives keep up the old pronunciation ' Ridgeley.' Rule, h., 6 m. SW. of Stafford. 12 c. Ruwell; 13 c. Reule, Reivle, Rule, Rewelle, Rewel, Rewele, Rewell, Ruwel, Rewel, Ruwe, Rue, Rewyl; 14 c. Reul. The terminal is clearly A. S. wella, M. E. welte, a well (spring). The prefix seems to be A. S. ruh, M. E. rugh, ru, rouwe, rough the rough spring. Ruwan cnol, the rough knoll, Rugandlc, the rough ditch, Ruganhege, the rough hedge, are forms found in A. S. charters. F. Rowley Regis and Rownall. Rushall, 2 m. NE. of Walsall. D. Rischale; 12 c. Ruishale, Ruts sale, Rushale. A. S. ryse, rise (se = sh), M. E. rische, rusche, rishe, rush, and hale (q. v.) the rushy pasture. The terminal might be construed ' hall/ but as halls were never built of rushes it is more reasonable to con- strue it as a form of A. S. healh. A considerable part of the manor is low-lying and wet, and before drainage was general must have been rushy ; some parts are still so. Rush forms the prefix to many pi. names, and there are two other Rushalls in England. Rise heale, Arise heale, rise hale, hrischalh, rischale, are forms frequently met with in A. S. charters, pointing to meadow-land rather than to a ' hall.' Rushton, h., in Leek. D. Riseton; 13 c. Ruslon. Rushton Grange, h., in Burslem. D. Riseton. Rushton means ' the rushy town (enclosure).' F. Ton and Rushall. Salt, h., 3! m. NE. of Stafford. 1004 Halen ; D. Selte ; 13 c. Saut, frequently. Halen is the O. W. name, and means ' salt.' It is ' Halen ' in the will of Wulfric Spott and the 130 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES foundation deed of Burton Abbey, 1004. A. S. sealt is salt. There are ancient saltworks at Weston-on-Trent, and Shirleywich, 2 m. off, but no traces of works or surface brine springs at Salt. The 13 c. forms Saul show the popular pronunciation of the word to be very old. The probability is that, originally, ' Halen ' was a name applied to a salt- producing district, as Wich (now Droitwich) gave name to the sub-kingdom of the Wiccii (c = ch), i. e. salt-men. Salters Bridge, over Tame, between Alrewas and Elford. 14 c. Saltebrugge, Sallsbrugge, Sallerbrugge. Brugge is one of the M. E. forms for ' bridge.' It is called ' Salters ' because it carries the Saltway, an ancient road from the saltworks at Weston-on-Trent and Shirleywich to the E. A. S. sealtere, M. E. sailer, sallare. means a salt-dealer, but the term was commonly applied to the salt-carriers. Salt was formerly, for various reasons, a greater necessity of life than it is now, and was conveyed on packhorses all over the kingdom. The roads frequented by these carriers were called Saltways, and are frequently mentioned in A. S. charters. They radiate in all directions from salt towns. The road in question is still known, in places, as the Saltway, though it is here and there entirely disused. When the bridge was rebuilt, about sixty years ago, the county authorities ' labelled ' it ' Chetwynd ' Bridge ; but the old name prevails. The Saltways were used until the beginning of the 18 c., when they were gradually superseded by canals. Dr. Barth tells us that in Africa he fell in with a caravan of 3,000 camels loaded with salt, on a journey of 1,800 miles. There is a ' Saltersford Lane ' and ' Salters Bridge ' 2 m. NW. of Rocester, apparently on a road from the saltworks at Weston and Shirleywich to Ashbourne and parts of Derby- shire. Baiters Lane, Walsall Wood. This is a branch of the Saltway referred to under Salters Bridge, and leads to Birmingham. S ALTERS BRIDGE SAREDON (GREAT) 131 Saltwells, Sailers Hall, 3 m. SW. of Dudley. Plot's Staffordshire, p. 98, says : ' In Pensnet chase, S. from Dudley about a mile and a half, there is a weak brine (spring) belonging to the Right Honorable Edward Lord Ward, of which his lordship once attempted to make salt ; but the brine proving too weak he thought fit to desist/ V. Sailers Bridge. Sancion, 5 m. SE. of Stone. D. Scandone, Sandon ; 12 c. Sandone, Sandon. The c in the D. form is probably an error. The root is doubtless A. S. sand-dun, sandhill. Sandwell, an ancient priory and estate in Westbromwich. 13 c. Saundwell, Sandwell. A. S. sand, M. E. sand, sond, sand, and A. S. wiell, M. E. welle, well, a spring, fountain the sandy spring. Wells, as we understand them, were, I think, unknown to the Anglo-Saxons. A spring utilized as a supply of water was called a well. We say still ' the Seven Wells/ meaning seven springs. The spring which gave rise to this name still flows in the grounds at Sandwell. Saredon (Great), h., in Shareshill, 3 m. SW. of Cannock. D. Sardone ; 1 3 c. Sardon, Saredune, Beresardon, Beresardun. 'Bere,' because the le Bere or le Boer family were, for a time, its lords. In an A. S. charter of 994 describing the bounds of Hatherton, an adjoining manor, a brook forming the boundary is mentioned as Searesbrook. The same brook in an Inquisition of the 14 c. is ' Sarebrok in Sarden.' Searu was an A. S. p. n., of which Sear was evidently a short form, as Salisbury, in A. S. charters, is Searsbyrig, Salesberig, Searbyrig, Seresbyn'g, and in D. Searebyn'g, Sear's burgh (v. Bury). I should expect Sear in M. E. to become Sare. It is possible that the p. n. represented may have been Sagar (g = _>') I construe Saredon as Sear's or Saegaer's hill. It is noteworthy that a yeoman family of ' Sayer ' have lived in the vicinity time out of mind, and still flourish there. It is not unlikely that they are descendants of the original ' Sear ' or ' Ssegaer' who gave name to Saredon. Great Saredon stands on a conspicuous hill. K 2 132 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Saredon (Little), h., in Shareshill, 3 m. SW. of Cannock. D. Seresdone; 1262 Sardon; 15 c. Saerdon. Great and Little Saredon were separate manors, though only hamlets in the parish of Shareshill. V. Saredon (Great). Scotlands (The), h., in Bushbury, 3 m. N. of Wolver- hampton. The h. is situate at the corner of a triangular piece of land, bounded on all sides by roads. I construe it A. S. sc-eailandes, corner lands. The root has nothing to do with A. S. and M. E. scot, tribute, payment. I have seen the deeds from the time of King John, and no special payment lias ever been chargeable upon the land. There are several Scotlands in England. In the N. we may reasonably expect Scot to have some reference to Scotland or Scotsmen, but not in the Midlands. Seabridge, h., 2 m. SW. of Newcastle. 130. Sheperugge, Shepbrugge. A. S. sceap, seep, M.E. shep, sheep, and M. E. rugge, ridge, or brugge, bridge. As the terminals conflict they may be read either way ; but the right one must be brugge, as the h. does not lie on a ridge, but in a valley where two streams meet. It is doubtless ' Sheepbridge.' Sedgley, 3 m. S. of Wolverhampton. c. 1006 Stcges lea ; D. Segleslei, 13 c. Seggesleye, frequently. The gen. es in the forms points to a p. n. Secg is a name frequently met with in charters, e.g. Secgtsbearuwe, Secges-geat, Secges-leah, Secceslea, Secgesmere, &c. This is clearly ' Secg's lea ' (v. Ley). Seighford, 3 m. NW. of Stafford. D. Ctsieforde ; 1 2 c. Cesteforde; 130. Ceste/ord, frequently, and Sestt/ord; 14 c. Sesteford. (From the later forms it is evident that the D. st here must have its usual value, i. e. it represents an O. E. hi, so that Cesteford would seem to represent an O. E. Seohta-, probably Stohtre-/ord, from scohtrf, ' brook, ditch ' the ford of the brook or ditch. W. H. S.) Seisdon, Staffordshire hundred. Seisdon, h., in Trysull, 6 m. SW. of Wolverhampton. The hundred doubtless derives its name from the hamlet, so thai both SAREDON (LITTLE) SHARESHILL 133 may be taken together. D. Seisdone, Saisdone; 12 and 130. Seisdon, frequently, Seisden. The terminal is doubtless the Celtic and A. S. dun, a hill, but the prefix does not appear to be A. S. In W. Seis and Sat's mean a Saxon, and I suggest that the meaning is ' Saxon's hill.' The Welsh appear to have been in possession of the country round Wolverhampton at the end of the 6 c., as in 592 the A. S. Chronicle tells us ' there was a great slaughter in Britain at Wodembeorge ' (Wednesbury), ' and Ceawlin ' (King of the West Saxons) ' was driven out.' It is therefore not unlikely that Seisdon is a W. survival. (This is unlikely. It means that the retiring Welsh called an English fortress Seis-dun, and that the English adopted the name from their enemies ! W. H. S.) I admit the force of Mr. Stevenson's note, but can suggest no other meaning. I do not think the prefix represents a p. n. Shallowford, h., 5 m. SW. of Stone. 13 c. Schaldeford, frequently. A. S. sceald (sc = sh), M. E. shealde, scheld, and ford (q. v.), the shallow ford. It is curious that the ow should have been maintained; the usual modern form of such a name would be ' Shalford.' Shareshill, 5^ m. N. of Wolverhampton. D. Servesed ; 12 c. Sareshulf; 13 c. Sarnesculf, Sarneshull, Sharnshull, Shareshulle, Sareshull; 14 c. Shareshulle. The D. terminal ed probably represents A. S. hath, a heath, the Norman scribes commonly using d for a medial or final th ; some of the subsequent forms are clearly A. S. scylf, M. E. schelfe, a shelf (of land) (v. Shelfield), and the later forms are M. E. hull, a hill. They cannot be reconciled, and are plain variants of terminal. The n in three of the 13 c. forms is probably a mistake, or an error in transcription, for v ; as- suming this (and the is certainly intrusive), the forms of the prefix are reconcilable, and point to the A. S. p. n. Sceorf (pr. Shorf\ and the original forms would be Sceorftshasih, -scylf, or -hull, according to the terminal accepted. Sceorfes-mir 134 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES (moor) is found in Cod. Dip. 650, and Sceor/essfede (stead) in 198 and 409. I am indebted for this interpretation to W. H. S. Shatterford, h., in Upper Arley, 4 m. NW. of Kidder- minster (on the road to Bridgnorth called in a charter of 994 'the Ridgeway'). 994 Sciteresford; 1286 Sheteresford. This is A. S. scylere (sc = sti), a shooter, archer the archer's ford. Scylere is not recorded as a p. n., but may have been one. Sheen, 3^ m. SE. of Longnor, NE. Staffs. D. Sceon. This is the only form I have met with. A. S. seine, scent, sceone (sc = sh), variant forms, mean beautiful, and I suppose that is the meaning of ' Sheen.' The place is bounded by the Dove, the Manifold, and a tributary stream. One of the meanings of seme, &c., is ' a delusive appearance,' and that meaning may attach to the name in consequence of the disappearance and reappearance of the Manifold, as described under Dove (q. v.); v. also Shenstone. Sheen in Surrey is Sceon in A. S. charters. Shelfleld, h., 3 m. N. of Walsall. D. Seel/eld; 13 c. Schelfhul, Shelf hull, Schelfehulle. The terminals in the later forms are preferable to the D. -/eld. Shelfield is a moderately elevated plateau sloping on all sides. The root is A. S. scil/e, M. E. shelfe, a shelf; in pi. names it means a shelve or slope. The terminal is A. S. hyll, M. E. hull, a hill = the shelving hill. The popular pronunciation is not Shel- field, but Shelfill. Shelf and Shelve are common prefixes and terminals. Shelton. D. Scdfitone; 1189 Schelton\ 13 c. Self ton; 140. Schellon. The D. form doubtless represents an A. S. Scilfetun, the town on the shelve or slope = tableland. F. Shelfield. The passage of sc to sch and sh is regular. Shenstone, 3 m. S. of Lichfield. 1 1 c. Scenslan ; D. Senesle ; 1 2 c. Sheneslan, Scnesfan, Shenesiane ; 1 3 c. Shene- f/on, Schencstant ; 14 c. Scheneslonc. D. apparently blunders/ SHATTERFORD SH DWELLS (THE) 135 The other forms give a plain A. S. scenes/an (sc = sA), beautiful (or bright) stone. In M. E. scene becomes schene, shene, and stdn, sian, stane, stone, so that the forms are regular, and there can be no mistake as to the meaning, strange though it be. There is no beautiful stone at Shen- stone, or any record or tradition of one. The Watling Street and Icknield Street both run through the manor, and near the junction is the site of the Roman city Etocetum, now Wall, a h. in Shenstone. The Roman city may have furnished material for the name. F. Sheen. Shoal Hill, on Cannock Chase, 2 m. NW. of Cannock. 1300 Sholle. A. S. dictionaries give sceolh as meaning oblique, wry ; but it also meant sloping, slant, and is so recognized in its M.E. form schol. The western side of Shoal Hill is a long steady slope to the plain at its foot, and that is the origin of the name. Shobnall, h., 2 m. W. of Burton-on-Trent. 13 and 14 c. Shobenhale, Scobenhale, both frequently. The A. S. form would be Sceobanhale, the hall of Sceoba. An A. S. sc is equivalent to a M. E. sch or sh ; the n is the gen. addition. Showells (The), an ancient farm and estate, once a manor, in Bushbury, 2 m. N. of Wolverhampton. The site of the homestead is moated. It lay within the bounds but on the border of Cannock Forest. 13 c. Sewalle, Sewale; 14 c. Seawall) Sewall; 16 c. Shewells, Seawall, Sewall. This word is not generally recognized as A. S., but I think it is related to the A. S. verb sceawian, M. E. schewen, to scrutinize, reconnoitre, examine (the sc = our sft). It is first found in our literature circa 1225, in the poem of The Owl and the Nightingale, as sheules and scheawles in the sense of a scare- crow. It had probably been in common use before 1225, or it would hardly have occurred in the poem. Turberville's Book of Hunting, an. 1575, says: 'Anything that is hung up is called a Sewel. And those are used most commonly to amaze a Deare, and make him refuse to pass where they 136 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES are hanged up.' Sir Philip Sidney says in Arcadia, 1534: 4 So are these bugbeares of opinions brought by great clearks into the world to serve as shewelles to keep them from those faults whereto else the vanity of the world and weakness of senses might pull them.' Halliwell (Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words) says: ' Sewell, a scarecrow, which generally consisted of feathers tied to a string to prevent deer from breaking ground, by frightening them.' Nares' Glos- sary gives the word as shewelles. Coles' Dictionary of Hard Words, 1738, says: ' Sewel, a thing set to keep out deer.' In Ellis's Letters, 2nd S. ii. 61, referring to a visitation at Oxford during the suppression of the monasteries in 1535, and to the destruction of condemned books, the Visitors say that when they came to New College, they found the great Quadrant Court full of the leaves of Duns Scotus (an ancient Oxford textbook), and they add : ' We fownde one Mr. Grenefelde gethering up part of the said bowke leiffs (as he said) there to make him sewells or blawnsherrs to keep the Dere within the woode, thereby to have the better cry with his howndes.' Blawnshers or blanchers appear to have the same meaning as sewells or shewelles. Sir Philip Sidney says (Arcadia, p. 64) : ' And so manie dayes were spent, and manie waies used, while Zelmaine was like one that stood in a tree waiting a good occasion to shoot, and Gynecia a blancher, which kept the dearest deere from her.' Christopher Wace writes (1654): 'The ancients did formerly set up feathers in a line in their hunting to fray the beasts. We know that if one set up a piece of white paper it will make the deer blanch and balk that way.' Blancher, blawnsherr, blaunsher, are old words meaning, in hunting phrase, a person or thing placed to turn the deer from a particular direction ; v. H. E. D. s. ' Blancher.' In O. E. shew and show are synonyms, both pronounced 4 show/ show being the older form. They mean ' to exhibit, to present to view.' 1 suggest that the Showells was an ancient SHREDICOTESHUGBOROUGH 137 enclosure on the Forest, and that these sewells or sheivelles were used, probably on the hedgetops, to prevent the deer passing from the Forest on to the enclosed land. There is a ' Shewell Wood,' 5 m. N. of Cirencester; a ' Showell Grange ' and ' Showell Mill,' 5 m. from Newport, Salop ; ' Showell Green,' 5 m. from Solihull ; ' Sewell,' 3 m. from Luton, in Beds ; ' Sheweles Wood ' nr. Rendcomb, Glou- cestershire ; a ' Showell Farm,' between Melksham and Chippenham in Wilts. ; a ' Showels ' farm, 4^ m. NE. of Hungerford ; and a ' Show Hill ' in Penn. All these places are within, or on the confines of, ancient forests or chases. Shredicote, h., near Stafford. 13 c. Shradtcoie, frequently. The root is A. S. screade, M. E. schreade, shrede, a piece cut off, Mod. Eng. ' shred.' The locality was probably a detached, isolated, or outlying portion of a manor or estate. Sneyd, Snead (q. v.), has precisely the same meaning. Cote = cottage. Shugborough, hamlet and hall in Colwich, 4 m. E. of Stafford. 14 c. Shokkeburgh, Shukburgh, Shuiborrow; 16 c. Shuiborrow, Shokesbormv, Shukesborow, Shuchborow, Shuk- borow ; 1 7 c. Shutborough. There can be no doubt that Shuck- burgh in Warwickshire and Shugborough have a common origin, and it will be convenient to consider them together. Shuckburgh in D. is Socheberge (ch = ), and its later forms are Suckeberge, Succeberge, Shukborrow, and Shuckborough. It is clear that the terminals in both cases are variant forms of A. S. beorg, M. E. beoruh, borew, burgh, borough, Mod. Eng. barrow, a tumulus, low, or burial-mound. The prefix in both cases is scucca (sc = sK), which in M. E. becomes scucke, later schucke, a demon, an evil spirit, the devil. The form is found in an 8 c. charter relating to property in Berkshire (Cod. Dip. 161), Scuccanhlau, Scuccan being the genitive form of Scucca (sc = sh), and hlau, a low, or burial-mound the demon low, in other words ' the bewitched barrow,' the precise meaning of Shugborough. I cannot identify this Scuccanhlau with any present pi. n. If extant its form ought 138 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES now to be ' Shucklow.' No traces of a low exist at Shug- borough, but so many lows have been destroyed in the course of ages that its absence is but little argument against the construction. Tumuli were formerly regarded with reverence or superstition, and I have known farmers who would never plough them, considering it unlucky. In Ireland the senti- ment still prevails, and they are commonly supposed to be the resort of fairies, &c. In A. S. charters they are frequently referred to as ' the heathen burials.' Shugborough is still commonly pronounced Shu&borough. Shushions, an ancient moated homestead, manor, and estate, 5 m. W. of Penkridge. D. Sceotesian ; 13 c. Shustan, Shuslon, Schuston ; 1 4 c. Shustone. The prefix is A. S. sceot, scot (sc = sK), M. E. schot, schute, scute, shot, shooting. In M. E. schutte means an archer, and, as Scot was an A. S. p. n., there can be no doubt the name Scot was originally applied to an archer. The right terminal is s/an, stone, and I construe the name as ' Scot's stone ' ; it may be ' the archer's stone ' ; but probably the original ' Scot ' was so named because he was a good shot. The family name Shutt is equivalent to Archer, and families of Scot (often assumed to be of Scottish descent) are probably A. S. V. Shustoke. Shustoke, an ancient moated homestead and farm in Great Barr, 2 m. SE. of Walsall. I have no forms earlier than the 17 c., since when they have been as now. Shu- stoke nr. Coleshill, Warwickshire, was Shuttestoke in the 14 c. In this case I should assume the A. S. form (if the place was of A. S. origin) to be Sceotes or Scofestoc (sc = sfi), and the M. E. form Schutlestoke ; Side, Stoke, means a fenced- in place, much akin to Ton (q. v.) Shutt's (or the archer's) place. The p. names Scot (when of Southern origin) and Shutt are both from A. S. sceot, an archer ; they are only variants in the pronunciation of the sc. V. Shushions. Silkmoro, h., i m. S. of Stafford. D. Selchmore; 13 and SHUSHIONS SMETHWICK 139 14 c. Silkemor, Selkemer, Selkemor, Selkmore. This seems to be A. S. scolc, M. E. silk, selke, and more (q. v.), a moor; though it seems absurd to talk of a ' silk moor.' One of the terminals points to mere, a pool, but that is still more unlikely. It may be ' silken,' in the sense of soft, smooth (Silkmore lies in soft fertile meadows). There is no other Selchmore in D., and I believe ' Silkmore ' is unique. (Perhaps originally Seolcan-mor, Seolca's moor, from p.n. Seolca. W. H. S.) Very likely. Seolcan-mor would become Selkmore. Cf. Silkstone, W. R., Yorks. ; Silksworth, N.E. Durham ; Silkby, S. Lines. Slindon, h., 3 m. N. of Eccleshall. D. Slindone; 13 c. Slyndon. The terminal is plainly A. S. dun, a hill (v . Don) ; but I can make nothing of the prefix ; it does not appear to represent a p. n. Cf. Slindon and Slinfold in Sussex. Smallrice (or -rise), h., 5 m. SE. of Stone. 13 c. Smallris, Smalerys. This is M. E. smal-rise, a small rise (of ground). Smestow or Smestall, river, rises in Bushbury, and falls into Stour nr. Stourton. 1300 Smetheslall ; 1361 Smethe- stalle. This is probably a M. E. name. It means ' the stalls or places of the Smiths or Smithies', smethe being a M. E. form of A. S. smith. The lower portions of the Smestow, and the Stour on its entire course, were formerly utilized for the manufacture of iron, and the remains of old bloomeries and smithies are abundant upon the banks. Kinver Forest supplied the fuel, and the streams the power. As wood and water were superseded by coal and steam, the old works gradually fell into decay. Smethwick, 3 m. W. of Birmingham. D. Smedewich (d = ifi) ; 12 c. Smeythewik, Smethewyke. A. S. and M. E. smethe, smooth, flat, level surface, and A. S. wic, M. E. with, wyke, a village (v. Wich) the village on the plain. Smeth- wick lies on a plain at the foot of the Rowley Hills, a lofty range of igneous rock. Exs. : Smeeth nr. Ashford, Kent ; Smethcot nr. Church Stretton, Salop ; Smethwick, Cheshire ; 140 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Smeaton nr. Pontefract ; The Smeath nr. King's Lynn ; Markham Smeath nr. Swaffham. V. also Enville, which has a similar meaning. Sneyd (The), h., 3 m. NW. of Walsall. 1410 Snede. A. S. snced, M. E. snade, snede, means a piece, fragment, something cut off; and, in pi. names, is commonly applied to an outlying, detached, privileged, or intrusive portion of a manor or other division. This Sneyd is a portion of the manor of Essington, which intrudes, wedge-like, into the manors of Walsall and Wednesfield. N. of Derbyshire, under Northern influence, the form is Snaith, from O. N. sneilh, which has the same meaning. Exs. : Snead Common nr. Stourport; Snedhill, S. of Wellington, Salop; Upper Snead, Lower Snead, Snead Common, nr. Mamble, Salop ; Snead Coppice nr. Wenlock ; Snead (parish), E. Montgomeryshire ; Sneyd nr. Burslem ; Snaith, in Yorkshire. In Chirbury manor, Salop, there is a ' Snead ' hamlet nr. Bishop's Castle, anciently Sneth, Snede, formerly belonging to Augustine monks ; it appears at one time to have been a separate manor, owing exclusive allegiance to the chatellany of Montgomery, and was independent of Chirbury hundred. Somerford, h., i m. E. of Brewood, on the Penk river. 13 c. Somerford. The terminal is plainly 'ford' (q. v.), and there is no reason to doubt that the prefix is A. S. sumor, M. E. sumor, somer, summer; but 'Summer ford' is not entirely satisfactory, unless we could believe that, at some period, the Penk was usually only fordable here in summer. D. records thirty-one manors commencing ' Sumor-,' and six ' Sumreford' (Somerford). Sow, river, tributary of Trent. 12 and 13 c. Sowe. There is a river Sow in Ireland, and another in Warwick- shire which is Sow and Sowe in A. S. charters, and Sowa in D. I strongly suspect that sow and sough are variants of the same word, and mean a sough, drain, channel (perhaps SNEYD (THE) STAFFORD 141 formerly a stream). The Cent. Diet, assumes sough to be of Norse origin, but that cannot be, as we find it here in the form of sow before a Norseman set foot in the country. Stafford. Is not mentioned in any existing A. S. charter ; but it was an A. S. mint town, and early forms of the name have been preserved on coins. The museums at Stockholm and Copenhagen furnish the best examples, the Norsemen finding silver, then the only coinage, the most portable plunder. A. S. coins were small, between sixpence and a shilling in size, and, the lettering being rude, everything was abbreviated. At Stockholm is a coin of Eadgar, 958- 75, bearing on the reverse Stceth; and there are also three coins of Ethelred, 979-1016, two bearing Stceth, and one Sice ; at Copenhagen there is an Ethelred marked Stceth, and a Canute, 1017-35, marked Slceths. All these coins un- doubtedly refer to Stafford. In D. the forms are Stadford and Stafford. In the Pipe Rolls for the 12 c. the name appears frequently as Stafford, and occasionally Stafford. It is impossible to doubt that the original form was Stcethford. Ford (q. v.) means a ford, crossing of a stream, and Stafford is situate on the Sow, and within a mile of the Penk. A. S. stceth, stathe, means a bank, shore, or waterside. The word is frequently found in A. S. charters, e. g. ' on Tamese (Thames) stcethe ' ; ' from Afene (Avon) stathe to Shutsford ; ' ' from Use (Ouse) stcethe to Ealferths low,' &c. ; in the N. and E. staithe is commonly applied to a river bank, quay, or wharf. It is used in the sense of a coal wharf in the Riot Damages Act, 1886. In Peacock's Glossary of Manley, &c., E. D. S., staithe is given as ' a landing-place ; now frequently used to denote the foreshore of a river that is kept up by means of faggots or kids, or by timber or stonework.' There are places named Stathe, Stathes, Stathern, Staveley, and others with similar prefixes, which have probably the same root. It may be that Stafford was originally Stczth, ' the river side,' and that 'ford' was a later addition to describe its 14* STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES situation, being on a great thoroughfare from London to Chester and the NW. Standon, h., 4 m. N. of Eccleshall. D. Slanlone. A. S. stan, tun, stone town ; probably because the original settle- ment was built of stone, A. S. houses being generally wooden structures. The terminals ton and don are frequently inter- changed. Stan-, as a prefix, plays a prominent part in pi. names. D. records fifty S/an/one, Sianlun, and Stantune, nine Standone and Standune, nineteen Stanford, and about fifty other manors commencing Stan-. There are also sixteen com- mencing Stain-, all in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, showing how sharp and prevalent the influence of dialect was at the time of D. Mercia ended and Northumbria began at Dore, 5 m. SW. of Sheffield, and Dore means ' the door ^of the two kingdoms)/ N. of Dore pi. names have to be construed by Northumbrian dialect, and S. of it by Mercian. Stanshope, h., 6 m. NW. of Ashbourne. D. Stanesofx. A. S. stdnes, stones, and hop, a valley (v. Hope) the stony valley. Stanton, h., in Ellastone, 5 m. SW. of Ashbourne. D. Stanlonf. A. S. slan-tun, stone town. V. Standon. Stapenhill, h., 2 m. NW. of Stourbridge. 1342 Stapen- hull. Slapen- is a corrupt form of A. S. stapol, a pole or pillar marking the boundary of a manor, estate, &c. The word is frequently met with in A. S. charters in describing properties. Stapenhill adjoins the border of the counties of Stafford and Worcester. The meaning is ' the hill of the stapol.' V. Bassetts Pole. Statfold, h., 3 m. NE. of Tamworth. 13 c. Stodwald, Stalfeud, Slot/old. The w in the first form is doubtless a mistake of a scribe for/J the A. S.y and w being much alike, and sometimes not distinguishable. A. S. stod means a stud, a troop of horses, and fold a fold, or enclosure for them the stud fold. Cf. Stodham, Studley (several), Stod- marsh, Studland. STANDON STITCHBROOK 143 Stewponey (The). The name of a large inn, 3 m. W. of Stourbridge, on the high-road from Wolverhampton to Worcester, via Himley, Kidderminster, and Ombersley. The road from Birmingham to Enville and Bridgnorth, via Hales- owen and Stourbridge, crosses here, and is carried by a bridge over the Stour river close by the inn. The name is unique, and has puzzled everybody, Baring-Gould, in 'Gladys of the Stewponey,' (Lond. 1897), says: 'An old soldier in the wars of Queen Anne, a native of the place, settled there when her wars were over, and, as was customary with old soldiers, set up an inn near the bridge at the cross roads. He had been quartered at Estepona, in the S. of Spain, and thence he had brought a Spanish wife. , Partly in honour of her, chiefly in reminiscence of his old military days, he entitled his inn " The Estepona Tavern." Hence Stew- poney.' Stitchbrook, an ancient moated homestead and estate, i^ m. N. of Lichfield. D. Tichebroc; 13 c. Sicheksbroc, Siches- broc, Sticklesbrok, Stichelesbroc ; 14 c. Stichbrok. The terminal is, of course, A. S. broc, a brook, and I think the D. form is the correct one. Tica, Ticca, was an A. S. p. n., appearing in compound, in A. S. charters, as Ticce- (Titch), e. g. Ticceburne, Ticenheal, Ticcensfeld, Ticcesstede, Ticeswel, &c. D. records eight manors commencing Tice- and Tiche-. The initial *$" is probably an addition arising from the accent upon the T, so that tick has become stick as plash has become splash, and squench is frequently used for quench (v. Skeat's Principles of English Etymology, 2nd S. 234). I therefore construe Stitchbrook as Ticc's (Titch's) brook. (No. The D. form cannot be taken as a basis against the evidence of the later forms, more especially as D. frequently represents initial j/ by / only. The original form would seem to have been Sticceles-broc, Stichel's brook. W. H. S.) I have no doubt Mr. Stevenson is right ; but I have not met with ' Sticcel ' as a p. n., though it is an A. S. form. 144 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Stocking Lane, Stockings (The). These are some- what plentiful names, found in the vicinity of mediaeval, or later, enclosures. 'Stocking' means the grubbing up or clearing of wood or wild land, formerly a common occupation. It is equivalent to ' Ridding ' and ' Birch ' (q. v.), and also to ' stubbing.' Our dictionaries treat the word in an unsatisfac- tory manner, and some as if it were ' provincial '; but it is good O. E. The H. E. D. will doubtless do justice to it. Stoke-upon-Trent. D. Stoche. A. S. side, a place fenced in, equivalent to /, burh (v. Ton and Bury). D. records forty-three manors of the name. Soon after the Conquest most ' Stokes ' assumed distinctive additions. Stone. 13 c. S/ane, S/anes, both frequently. A. S. start, stone, stones, stones. What ' stone/ or ' stones,' Stone took its name from we do not and probably never shall know. Stoneywell, h., 3 m. N W. of Lichfield. 13 c. Sioniwelle ; 14 c. Sioniwalle, Stonywall, Stonywalle. This is an example of interchange of the terminals well and wall. There is no doubt the right terminal is well. Shaw (Hist, of Staffs, i. 222) says it takes its name from a small round piece of water by the roadside between Stoneywell and Farewell, about a mile SE. of Farewell church, in the middle of which is a large boulder stone ; and he adds : 'The common people have been superstitious about its being removed, imagining thereby that some injury would befall their cattle.' Stonnall, h., 5 m. NE. of Walsall. 12 c. Stanhale, Slon- hale. This, I think, is ' stone hall ' (v . Standon and Hale). As half is also a form of healh, meadow-land, it may mean Stony meadows, and Stonnall is stony. Stour, river, tributary of Severn, is mentioned in several A. S. charters as S/ur or Sture (long u = oit>). There are six different rivers in England, all having similar early forms. Nothing can be made of it in A. S. It has been guessed as Welsh ys dwr, the water (but that is impossible, as dwr is a modern colloquial form of O. W. dw/r, which could only STOCKING LANESTREIGHTS (THE] 145 appear in English as dover or duver. The Kentish Stour is recorded in the 7 c. as Sturia. The name occurs in Germany in the Star, a northern affluent of the Elbe, the old form of which is recorded as Sluria. W. H. S.). The root doubtless lies in some archaic continental language. Stourtcn, h., 3 m. W. of Stourbridge, on the river Stour. 1227 Slur ion; 1255 Slur Ion. The town on the Stour. V. Stour and Ton. Stow, nr. Lichfield. 1221 Stowe. Stow, nr. Weston-on- Trent. 13 c. Siowe. A. S. stow, an enclosed place. Stramshall, h., \\ m. NW. of Uttoxeter. D. Stagriges- hoik ; 13 c. Strangricheshull, Strangeshull, Slrangricheshall, Strongeshulf; 14 c. Slrongeshull, A. S. p. n. Slranglic, and A. S. hyll, M.E. hull Stranglic's hill. The A. S. form would be Slrangliceshyll (the ce being pr. ch], which ac- counts for the ch in the forms. The p. n. means strong, robust ; in M. E. slrang becomes strong, hence the change in the later forms. One can readily imagine the D. Norman scribe being ' staggered ' by the name, and pitying us poor savages. Strangleford Birch, h., i^ m. W. of Brewood. 1327 Strangleford. It would seem that Birch is a later addition ; it means ' a breaking up of wild land, a new enclosure ' (v. Birchills). Ford, the crossing of a stream (y. Ford). Strangle (weed) is a provincial or dialectic word for the Orobanche and Cuscuta, also called choke-fitch, chokeweed, strangle- tare, and other homely names (E. P. N., 456). There is a stream here which may, at some time, have abounded with this weed. Streethay, h., 2 m. N. of Lichfield. 1286 Siretheye; Sirethay, frequently afterwards. The Icknield Street passes through the hamlet, and the meaning of the name is ' the hay, or enclosure, on the Street.' V. Stretton and Hay. Straights (The), Sedgley, is a steep narrow road between Sedgley and Himley. I have no old forms of the name, but L 146 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES think the modern form is correct, and conveys its own meaning. The word has no connexion with ' straight,' but is of M. E. origin, derived from O. F. estreit. It was spelt strait and streight, and means ' a narrow passage ' ; hence the Straits of Gibraltar,' ' the Straits of Dover/ &c. ' Strait (i. e. narrow) is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life' (Matt. vii. 14). Stretton, 2 m. N. of Brewood. D. Estretone; 13 c. Strallon. The initial E before Latin words commencing St is only a vowel sound, and may be discarded. This is A. S. street (from L. strata), M. E. strete, sirate, a street, and Ion (q. v.) the town on the Street. Watling Street passes through the manor, and Stretton, it is said, is the site of the Roman station Pennocrucium ; but I know of no evidence to support that opinion. The Anglo-Saxons generally applied the word strat to a Roman way, but also frequently to other roads. Stretton, 2 m. N. of Burton-on-Trent. 942 Stretton ; 1004 Slratton; D. Stratone. The town on the Street. V. Stretton nr. Brewcod. The Icknield Street pastes through the manor. Sugnall, 2^ m. NW. of Eccleshall. D. Solehdle ; 12 c. Sogenhull, frequently ; 13 c. Sugginhille, Sugginhull, Sogcn- hull, Suggenhale. The D. scribe has blundered. Sucga was an A.S. p. n. (sometimes written Suga\ and I read this as Sucga's hill. The A. S. form would be Sucganhyll, which accounts for the existing n. Sucga means a bird, but of what kind is doubtful. Some suggest titlark, others wagtail ; Chaucer calls the hedge-sparrow ' the heisugge ' ; but it is much more likely the place was named after a man than a bird. Swindon, h., 5 m. W. of Dudley. 1 2 c. Swinedun ; 1 6 c. Suyndon. This, I suppose, must be taken as A. S. swln and dun Swine's hill (v. Don). Swindon was in Kinver Forest, and the pasturage of swine in a forest was an important STRETTON SW1NNERTON privilege. Swegen (g =y) was an A. S. p. n. borrowed from the Danes, but, as we do not find it here before the beginning of the n c., I do not think it formed any element in pi. names. Sigewine (' wise friend/ shortened to Siwine) was an old A. S. name which would certainly become Sivine. The prefix here may therefore represent that p. n. Swineshead, h., 5 m. N. of Eccleshall. D. Sutneshed. The terminal is doubtless A. S. heafod, M. E. heved, hfd, head, a head or end (of anything). I am doubtful whether the D. prefix represents A. S. szctn, swine, or a p. n. V. Swindon. Swineshead, in Lincolnshire, is Swinesheafod in A. S. charters. Swinfen, 3 m. SE. of Lichfield. 12 c. Swinfen', 13 c. Swinesfeud, Swynefen, Suynesfen. V. Swindon. I think this means ' the swine's fen.' Swinfen is a large hollow tract of land, and must have been a swamp before the country was drained and enclosed, a very likely summer resort for the herds of swine the Anglo-Saxons are known to have possessed. Swinnerton, 3 m. NVV. of Stone. D. Sulvertone ; 1205 Silver Ion; 1206 Soulvcrton ; 13 c. Swinnerlon, frequently, Szvinafer/on, Swynefarton, Swinforton ; 1 4 c. Swineforton ; 15 c. Swynerton. The D. and earlier forms are unquestion- ably A. S. seolfor, M. E. selfer, selver, suh'er, suelfer, &c., silver, and ton (q. v.) Silvertown; but the later and modern forms are extraordinary changes, arising, probably, from the varied manner of the M. E. spelling of ' silver.' Assuming this construction to be correct, the A. S. form would be Seolfortun, and though I am not aware that the name is to be found in any A. S. charter, I should not doubt its A. S. origin. Silverton, Devon, is Svlfretone (v = u) in D., which clearly means Silvertown, and represents an A. S. Seolfortun. Seolfor was not an A. S. p. n. (the family name ' Silver ' is doubtless M. E.), though Seulf, a short form of L 2 148 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Sawulf, was; but thai would not yield any of the forms quoted. Why a Staffordshire manor should be called Silver- town it is hard to say, and not worth while to guess ; but I feel sure it was so, though the corruptions are difficult to account for. Swinscoe, h., si m. NW. of Ashbourne. 13 c. Swyne- skow, Swiniscow, Swineschoch. The terminal is interesting and excessively rare in Staffordshire, though plentiful in Lancashire and Yorkshire. It is Danish skov, Sw. skog, O. N. skogr, a wood. Hence, under Norse influence, the numerous terminals in the N., -sceugh, -scottgh, -scow. Siv'm means swine, both in A. S. and O. N., and it is difficult to say whether the prefix represents swirie, or a p. n. like Swegen (g = j>) or Siwine (v. Swindon). The probability, I think, is that the name means ' the swine's wood.' Syrescote, h., 3 m. NW. of Tamworth. noo Sirices- cotan ; D. Fricescote ; 1 2 c. Sirescote, Sirichescote. The D. F is doubtless a mistake of the scribe or copyist for Si. The first form is perfect A. S. for ' the cottages of Siric.' Sin'c and Sigeric are only variants of the same name (Sigeric being the old and correct form), meaning ' victorious.' Colan is the plural of cote ; the later forms drop into the singular. Talk o' th' Hill, h., 5 m. W. of Newcastle. D. Talc ; 13 c. Talk. This is W. twlch, a height, hill. The h. stands on a high ridge upon the great NW. road. The form is rare in England. Talkin, 3 m. SE. of Brampton in Cumberland, is probably an example, meaning ' little hill.' In I. and G. the form is tulach (pr. tulla\ hence Tulla, Tullamore, Tullagh, Tullow, &c., in Ireland. Tame, river, tributary of Trent. 13 c. Thame, Tame, Teme. It is easy to say this is A. S. tarn, tame (the opposite of wild), and it is plausible also, because there is no other word known to us more acceptable. There is also no reason SWINSCOE TATENHILL 149 to doubt that the Thames, the Teme, the Tame, the Tamar, have a common root, so that its meaning is interesting. Professor Skeat will not accept it as an A. S. form, and suggests that ' tame ' would be an unlikely term to apply to a river ; that the root is older than A. S., and probably irre- coverable. The Thames appears in A. S. charters as T&mese, Tamese, Temis, and Tame, but those forms do not help us, and we must leave the meaning of Tame, Thames, and Teme to be yet discovered. It has been said, over and over again, to mean ' tame ' ; but, as Professor Skeat says, ' that proves nothing.' Canon Taylor writes : ' Thames is a Celtic word meaning the " tranquil " or " smooth " river.' Perhaps so ; but what is the Celtic word, and where is it to be found ? There is a river Tones in Hungary, giving name to Temes- var, and a river Tamega in Spain. Tamhorn, h., 2 m. NW. of Tamworth. D. Tamahore] 12 c. Tamenhorn ; 13 c. Thamehorne, Tamenhorn. D. blunders. Tam-en-horn is good A. S. for ' the horn of Tame.' The h. is situate on the river where it bends ' hornlike.' We say the ' horn ' of a side saddle. Tamworth. 10 c. Tamaworlhige, Tamanweorthe, Tama- wearlhige, Tamweor/he, Tamewurthe, Tomwurth, Toman- worthig; D. Tamezvorde, Tamworde. Tamworth, having been a residence of the Mercian kings, is frequently men- tioned in their charters. The terminal is the A. S. worth (q. v.), homestead, farm, estate. The prefix represents the river Tame (q. v.), on which Tamworth is situate, and the meaning is 'the farm or estate on the Tame.' The n in some of the forms is the gen. case. D. always writes d for a medial or final th. Tatenhill, 2^ m. SW. of Burton. 771 Tatenhyll; 12 c. Tatenhulle ; 1 4 c. Taienhull. Tate was an A. S. fem. p. n., and the forms are all correct for ' Tate's hill,' n being the gen. case. Tata was a mas. form of the name, and Tat- formed the prefix of a great number of p. names; it means 150 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES 1 joyous, cheerful ' ; hence Tatwine, joyous friend, Tathelm, joyous protector, Talwulf, joyous wolf, Tatmann, cheerful man, &c. Tean, h., in Checkley, 9 m. SE. of Sioke. D. Tene\ 13 and 14 c. Tene, Teyne. Takes its name from the river Teau (q. v.), on which it is situate. Tean, river, flows into the Dove nr. Uttoxeter. For forms t>. Tean, h. This is a Brythonic name, as many of our rivers and hills are. We have the Teign and the Tane in Devon, the Tain in Scotland, the Tyne and the Team in the N., all probably from the same root. I think it is a form of W. tain, taen, fan, G. taine, I. tain, a spread or expanse (of water). Teddesley, 2 m. NE. of Penkridge. 13 c. frequently Teddesleg (g =^), Teddesltye. Teddesley Hay was one of the hays of the forest of Cannock. Tedd is a short or pet form of some p. n. I have not met with any form before the 13 c., so that it is difficult to identify it with any known name. In a charter of 963 a place is named Teodecesleage, which Kemble (Index to Cod. Dip.) identifies with this Teddesley. But he is clearly wrong ; the place referred to is, on the face of the charter, in Worcestershire, and I do not doubt is ' Tidsley Wood,' i m. W. of Per- shore, which in Taylor's Map of Worcestershire, 1772, is marked ' Teddesley Wood ' ; so that it is probable that both places have the same root. But neither Tcdd nor Ttodec was an A. S. p. n., and I suggest that the name represented by both forms is Theodric, sometimes written Tedric, and that the original meaning was Theodric's lea (v. Ley). The contraction of p. names frequently perplexes etymologists. Torthelm, a bishop, sometimes writes himself Totta; Ordgar becomes Odda, and so on, men gradually adopt- ing the short or pet names conferred ujxjn them by their neighbours. Tern, river, on the NE. boundary of Staffordshire against TEAN TETTENHALL 151 Salop. 12 c. Time, Tyrne frequently, occasionally Turne. There is, I believe, no other river Tern. Nothing can be made of the forms in A. S., and I suggest the root is W. ier, clear, pure, and the n excrescent. An excrescent n frequently attaches at the end of a word, especially when it is of foreign origin ; M. E. bitor (from O. F. butor) becomes in Mod. E. bittern (bird) ; M. E. marter (also from F.), later mar tern, becomes marten ; stubborn was originally without the n. V. Tirley Castle. Tettenhall, 2 m. NW. of Wolverhampton. A. S. Chronicle Ttotanheak, Totanheale ; D. Totehala ; 1 2 c. Totenhale, Tetten- hale, Tetlenhalle ; 13 c. Tatenhale, Totenhale, Tetenhale, fre- quently. The later forms point to the A. S. fem. p. n. Tate or Tetta, and the terminal hale may be construed ' hall ' or ' meadow-land ' (v. Ha'e). I think the earlier forms are the most trustworthy, and that it is impossible to reject them. They appear in the A. S. Chronicle under the year 910, and are, to some extent, confirmed by D. and by two of the later forms. I read the prefix as being allied to the A. S. verb iofian, M. E. Men, to project, stick out, hence ' put one's head out, look around, spy ' ; in M. E. tote-hil and toot-hill are rendered ' mount of observation.' The terminal heale is a form of healh, meadow-land (v. Hale), and I construe Tettenhall as meaning ' the look-out place by the meadow-land.' The village lies partly in fertile meadows on the Smestow, and partly on a loffy sandstone ridge which ascends abruptly, and com- mands an extensive view of the country for miles around. On the plain at the foot, in 910, a battle was fought between the Saxons and the Danes, which in the Chronicles is called the battle of Totanheale, though it was actually waged about a mile N. of Wolverhampton. It may be that Tettenhall takes its name from having been a 'watch-tower' on this occasion ; but it is probable that the name is more ancient, and that it was a common post of observation in time of war. Totley (D. Totingelei), 6 m. S. of Sheffield, occupies 152 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES a commanding situation on the ancient frontier of Mercia and Northumbria. I read that as ' the look-out lea.' Professor Skeat writes (History of Tettenhall, 8) : 'If we take the words (forms) as they stand (A. S. Tolanhale, D. spelling Tolehala), then A. S. Man heall means " tout's corner," i. e. a corner or convenient spy-place whence a spy looks out. To/an should be Tolan with long o, and is the gen. case of To/a, a spy or look-out man, Mod. E. 'tout' for custom. It means the hall or dwelling on a look-out hill. We should call it Spy Hall if we had to make up the word nowadays.' But some one has supplied Mr. Skeat with a wrong A. S. terminal ; it is not hah (a form of both heall and healh\ but heale, which is a form only of healh, meadow-land. V. Tutbury and Ipstones. (' Teot cannot be connected with lotion. It is a p. n. ; cf. Tetsworth.' W. H. S.) The verb ' to tote ' is used by many M. E. writers in the sense ' to watch, to look out' (Way's Prompt. Parv., 499, s. 'Tute hylle'). Thickbroom, h., 3 m. SE. of Lichfield. 13 c. Thykebrom, Tykebrom t Thikebrom, Thikebrom. A. S. thicce-brom, M.E. thike-brbm, thick broom, Cytisus (Genesta) scoparius. The country around was formerly heath-land. Thorpe Constantino, 5 m. NE. of Tamworth. D. Torp ; 1 3 c. Thorp Cons/an/in. Constantine was the name of its lords in the 13 c. They were a Norman family, and Earls of Brete- ville, Pacey, 'Constantine,' and other places in Normandy. Thorp, throp, is an A. S. word meaning a village ; but the Anglo-Saxons probably borrowed the word from the Norse- men, with whom it was common. ' Thorpes ' are numerous in the N. and E., where Scandinavian influence prevailed. In the SW. the word is unknown. The church is dedicated to St. Constantine, probably out of compliment to the early lords. There is no mention of a church (or priest) here in D., and the church was probably built by the Constantines. Throwley, h., \\ m. NW. of Ham. 13 c. Trulfg. The THICKBROOM TIPTON 153 terminal is clearly 'ley,' pasture, untilled land (v. Ley). Putting the old and modern forms together I do not doubt the prefix is A. S. Ihruh, M. E. ihrowe, a sarcophagus, tomb. There are many tumuli in the locality, and probably a stone coffin is the origin of the name. In later times a 'through-stone' came to mean a grave-stone, and Sir Walter Scott (Anti- quary, chaps, xvi, xxiii) uses the word in that sense. For authorities v. Cath. Angl., E. E. T. S., s. ' Thrughe,' and Jamieson's Scottish Diet. s. ' Thruch-stane.' Cf. Throw- leigh in Devon, Throwley in Kent. Thrubroc and Thruh- ham are pi. names found in A.S. charters. Thursfield, now New Chapel, \\ m. N. of Newcastle. I believe the name is obsolete ; but as it was a D. manor, and identified with a family of Thursfield, well known in Staffordshire and Salop, I think it worthy of notice. D. Turvoldesfeld ; 13 c. Thurfredesfeld, Torvedesion, Turvedes- tone. The prefix is the A. S. p. n. Thurweald, which appears also as Thurwold, Turold, and Thorold. Thur, Thor, was the Saxon Jupiter, and weald means power, control. It is not uncommon in early forms for the terminals to vary, as they do here, between tun and feld. As feld has survived I give it the preference and read the name ' Thurweald's field' (v. Field). The Anglo-Saxons probably borrowed the name from O. N. Thorvaldr ; the form Thurfredesfeld looks like the O. N. fern, name Thorfriiha. Tillington, adjoining Stafford on the N. D. Tillintone. Tila was an A. S. p. n., of which the gen. form would be Tilan, giving Tilaniun Tilla's town. Till is now a family name. Exs.: Tillington, Sussex; Tillington, Herefordshire; Tillingham, Essex. I have before explained the tendency of the gen. an to become ing. Tipton. D. Tibintone; 13 c. Tibinton, Tybeton. Ttba, Tibbe, was an A. S. fern. p. n. St. Tibbe or Tybba was the patroness of hunting and hawking. ' When any noblemen have lost their hawk.es/ writes John Rouse, of Warwick, ' or 154 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES cannot tame them, it is the custom to send waxen models to the virgin St. Tybba, and they soon obtain their wish.' I do not suggest that Tipton is named after St. Tibbe, but it is |K>ssible. She died in 696, and Tipton, black as it is now, \\as once a hunting country. Places are often named after saints. We have Tibberlon in Gloucestershire, another in Salop, another nr. Worcester, and another nr. Hereford, Tibenham nr. Norwich, Tibthorpe in Yorkshire, Tibshtlf in Derbyshire, and a Tipton in Devon. Tirley Castle, h., on Tern river, adjoining Market Dray ton. D. Tirelire, Tyrle, Tyrlegh, Tireleye. V. Tern. Here the terminal has conserved the old river name without the excrescent n, and we have ' the pasture on the Ter.' Tittensor, h., 3! m. NW. of Stone. D. Tilesoure; 12 c. Ti/esoura(u = v), Titnesovre; 13 c. Titneshovere. The terminal is A. S. ofer t ofre (later era), a border, margin. The prefix is certainly a p. n. ; I should say Tila (pr. ////a), but the gen. would be Titan, yielding Tiianofre (or ora\ I cannot account for the persistent s after n (a double gen.). The name may have been Tidwine, passing into Tiden and Tilin ; we should then get Titencso/re, meaning Tid wine's border, i. e. the boundary of his manor or land ; the exact name is uncertain. V. Tittesworth. Tittesworth, h., nr. Leek. 13 c. Tettesworth, Tetesworlh. Here we are free from the embarrassing n of Tittensor (q. v.). Tele, Tel/a, Tette, was an A. S. fern. p. n., and this is clearly Tette's worth farm or estate (v. Worth). Exs.: Tetsworth nr. Oxford; Tetworth, Hunts; Tetton, Cheshire; Tatton, Cheshire; Tatworth, Somersetshire. Tale, Tele, Telia, Tetle, are considered to be pet names. (This is not a fem. p. n. on account of the gen. es. It is mas. Teot Teot's worth. W. H. S.) Tixall, 4 m. SK. of Stafford. D. Ticheshale (ch - K] ; 1 2 c. Tichesale, Tikeshale. Ticce (pr. lich) was an A. S. p. n., probably a short form of liccen, a kid. Titchbourn, Hants, TIRLEY CASTLE TRENT 155 was Ticceburn Ticce's brook ; Ticknall, Derby, was Ticcen- heal Ticce's meadow-land; Titchfield, Hants, was Ticcenes- feld (here the name was Ticcen followed by the gen. es) Ticcen's field. The name abounds in A. S. charters and in D. D. always spells it Tic he, but it has occasionally become Tick and Tix. The meaning here is Ticce's hall (v. Hale). Tor, a local name in NE. Staffordshire, and plentiful in the adjoining parts of Derbyshire, meaning a high or sharp rock. It is rare in the Midlands, probably because rocks are very scanty, but is common in Devonshire. It is an A. S. word, also found in O. W. and I., and is our modern ' tower/ used in a somewhat different sense. Totmanslow, h., 2 m. SW. of Cheadle. Totmanslow, Staffordshire hundred. D. Tatemaneslau, Tateslaw ; 13 c. Taimondeslow, Tatemanlawe. Talmann was an A. S. p. n., meaning cheerful or joyous man; but the meaning of the pi. name is Tatmann's low (burial-mound) (v. Low). Trent, river. 7 c. (Beda) Treonta; 10 c. Trent \ A. S. Chronicle Trent; D. Trent; 130. Trent. In the Academy for April 28, 1883, Mr. Henry Bradley identifies Ptolemy's river Trisanton with the river Arun, co. Sussex, the older name of which was the Tarent; and he suggests that another British Trisantona is referred to in Tacitus, Annals, xii. c. 31, in the corrupt passage ' cunctosque castris Antonam et Sabrinam fluvios/ which he emends to cis Trisantonam, and identifies with the Trent. In Celtic a consonant between vowels always disappears, so that from Trisantona would arise Trianiona, In A. S. this would produce Treonte, gen. Treonlan, which is actually the A. S. name of the Trent. Mr. Bradley does not make any reference to the meaning of Trisantona, Treated as a Latin word Trisan/onam can only be translated ' Three Santoni,' or ' Thrice Santonian,' the Santoni being a Gaulish tribe settled in what is now the Department of Charente-InfeVieure. How that name can 156 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES be applicable to the Trent it is difficult to imagine. The name, however, is probably not Latin, but an Old Celtic form, and I think the root of Trent lies in some archaic language, and its meaning has yet to be discovered. Trentham, 5 m. NW. of Stone. D. Trenham; 12 c. Trentham, frequently. Being situate on the Trent it takes its name from the river (q. v.) the home on the Trent (v. Ham). Trescot, h., Trescot Grange, 4 m. SW. of Wolverhamp- ton. 1006 Tresdcote. V. Trysull. Tromelowe, farm, commonly called Rumbelows, in Wed- nesfield parish, \\ m. N. of Wolverhampton. 13 c. Trome- lowe ; 1 4 c. in the field of Thromelcwe \ 1 5 c. Romylow ; 16 c. le Thromyhuues. In 910 a battle was fought at Wednes- field between the Saxons and the Danes, in which the Saxons gained the victory (A. S. Chronicle). Formerly there were many burial-mounds around called Horselow, Ablow, North- low, Southlow, the Low, the Little Low, Thrombelow, and others, the names of which have been lost. I suggest that the root is A. S. truma, M. E. trume, /romt, a legion, troop, army, host, and Mow, M. E. /owe, a burial-mound (v. Low) the burial-mound of the army or host. There was a War- wickshire D. hundred (obsolete) named Tremelau. (More likely from the p. n. Truma, an unrecorded but regular form of a name beginning with Trum, 'strong' (/rum means ' squadron, battalion,' not an army, and is unlikely to occur in local names). Rumbelow is probably from 'at Trume- lowe.' W. H. S.) Trysull, 5 m. SW. of Wolverhampton. 984 and 1006 Tresel\ D. 7'res/ei; 12 c. Tresel. The name is pr. 'Treezle.' 1 suggest the root is W. tresll^ a trestle (from O. E. W. H. S.). The word is not ' admitted ' to be A. S. ; but it must have been, because, besides being in W., it is found in M. E. as ireslel, tresllis (plural), and trestes. \\ m. N. of Trysull is Trescot (q. v.), anciently Treselcote the trestle TRENTHAM UTTOXE TER 157 cot ; probably because the cot was built trestle fashion. There may have been some connexion between the two places as the root is certainly the same. Places are often named from some dwelling out of the common. Early household tables commonly consisted of boards laid on movable ' trestles.' There is no other Trysull in England. Tunstal, h., in Adbaston. D. Tunes/a!. Tunstall (Pot- teries). 1322 Tunstal, later Dunstal. Tunstall, h., \\ m. NW. of Wolverhampton. 1327 Tunstal. V. Dunstall. Tutbury. D. Toteberie ; 1 2 c. Stuteberie, frequently, Tutte- buiy, Tufebiri; 13 c. Tultesbiri, Tutesbury. The S in Stute- berie is excrescent, a not uncommon addition to an intensive prefix, e. g. s-queeze, from A. S. cwesan, to crush (v. Skeat's Principles of Etymology, ist S. 381). It may therefore be rejected. Tutbury Castle lies close to the church and town, on a lofty mount commanding a wide prospect over the valley of the Dove, and stands upon the boundary of Stafford- shire and Derbyshire, which, in remote times, were probably under separate rulers, occasionally at war. I think the meaning of the name is 'the look-out, or watch, town' ~(v. Tettenhall). (No. The forms have gen. es. It is from a p. n. Tult (cf. Tutta, which is recorded) ' Tutt's burgh.' W. H. S.) But the earlier forms are without es. Underbill, ancient estate in Bushbury, 3 m. N. of Wolver- hampton. 1327 Thomas-under-the-hull, Richard Under hull; 1369 Thomas Undurhulle. The homestead lies at the foot of Bushbury Hill M. E. hull The Underbills held the estate till about 1617, when Sir Hercules Underhill sold it. It has given name to a large and well-known South Staffordshire family. Uttoxeter. D. Wotoc heshede ; 12 c. Uttockeshedere, Utukes- here ; 1 3 c. Huttokeshagh, Ottokeshather , Hottokesacre in con- junction with Ottokeshather ; 14 c. Utloxatre, Uttoxhather, Uitoxeshather, Uttockcester, Utcheler] 16 c. Utc ester t Utseter, 758 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Ultccesler. The D. terminal hede must be read helhe, the d representing, as usual in D., an A. S. th. It is A. S. hath^ M. E. haiher, haddcr, heiher, heath. The mediaeval terminals all point to this. The cester, in some of the later terminals, is probably a fancy of antiquarian scribes, as Uttoxeter never had a castle, nor was it a Roman town. The gen. es in the early forms points to a p. n. which I take to be Hwittuc. There was no Wotoch. Whutluc, or Uttoc. (The c of the ter- minal acre (13 c. form) must be read /, c and / being often indistinguishable. \V. H. S.) I have no doubt that the meaning of the name is ' Hwittuc's heath.' Initial h before w began to drop off or follow the w before the Conquest. Uttoxeter was on the border of Needwood Forest, and heath would be a likely terminal. D. has no other prefix Wotoch- ; but it has a \Viloch-, which probably also represents Hwittuc (modern surname Whittuck and Whittock. W. H. S.). Walk Mill, i \ m. S. of Cannock. Always Walk Mill. This is a common name, especially in the N. It is from A. S. wealcere, M. E. walker, a fuller of cloth, from the verb u'tolc, M. E. u-alke, to walk. Hence the p. names Walker and Fuller. All ' Walk ' Mills have been, at some period, cloth or fulling mills. Wail, 2 m. SW. of Lichfield. 12 c. Walle \ 13 c. Wall, le Wai, le Walle. This is A.S. weall, M.E. wal, walle, a rampart of earth, or wall of stone. Wall is on Watling Street, and on the site of the Roman city of Etocetum. The foun- dations of Roman walls are still visible. There is a village ' Wall,' in Northumberland, close to the Roman Wall, and a h. ' Wall,' i m. SW. of Leek, which in the 13 c. was ' Wal,' and belonged to the Priory of Trentham. Mr. Henry Bradley writes in the Academy for Oct. 30, 1886, and Nov. 9, 1889, that the Roman name of Wall was Letocetum (not Etocetum), a corrupt or latinized form, as he suggests, of O. W. Luitcott (Mod. W. Llwydcoed), ' city of the grey wood ' ; WALK MILL WALTON 159 and he transfers the name to Lichfield, two miles off, but fails to prove identity, and the evidence he adduces clearly points to some place in Wales. Wall Heath, h., in Kings\vinford, 5 m. W. of Dudley. 1330 Kingswallhuth (huth = hethe]. Wall Heath in the year 1300 was on the bounds of Kinver Forest. A mile SW. are ancient earthworks, frequently called 'walls.' V. Wall. There is a very large entrenched fort called ' The Walls/ 7 m. W. of Wolverhampton. Walsall. 1004 Waksho; later, same c., Waleshale; not in D. ; 12 and 13 c. Walessale, Walsale, Waleshale. The terminal ho, in A. S., means a hill, a projecting ridge, which is appropriate to the situation of the church and ancient part of the town. Some time in the 1 1 c. the terminal changed to hale (q. v.). Wales is the gen. of Mercian zvalh, West- Saxon wealh, a Welshman, and Walsall may be translated ' the hall of the Welshman, or stranger ' ; but Wales was also a p. n., as it is a family name now ; it is more likely that we ought to read it ' Wales' hall.' In the latter half of the 8 c. ' Wales prefectus ' witnesses charters relating to the abbey at Worcester. Prefectus means a reeve, or person in authority, and possibly he may have founded the first church here. Many places owe their names to early benefactors. D. records thirteen manors commencing Wales-. Walton, h., in Stone (| m. S. of). 942 Waletune; D. Waletone; 13 c. Waleton. There are over fifty Walions in England, besides many other places commencing Wai-, such as Walworth, Walstead, Walwick, &c. D. records twenty- three Waletone, fourteen Wai/one, nine Waltune or Waltun, thirteen Walecote, three Wales, seven Walesbi, and one Wales- tun. Walton is a difficult name to construe, as wale was a form of A. S. walk, wealh, a stranger, foreigner, and also a p. n., and wal was a form of weall, a wall, rampart, bank of earth or stone ; so that different Waltons may have different meanings, and we can only be guided by early 160 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES forms or local knowledge. Where the { ossessive s is found in the forms (it rarely is) we may assume the p. n. ; but Walelone I should construe as ' the walled town,' meaning an enclosure surrounded by a bank and ditch (field-like). Occasionally the name might arise from the existence of Roman remains, or from an ancient entrenchment, dyke, or sea-wall. Walton, h., 2 m. SE. of Eccleshall. D. Walelone. Walton, h., in Gnosall. D. Waletone. Walton, h., in Baswich. D. Waletone. V. Walton nr. Stone. Warslow, h., in Alstonefield, 8 m. N. of Leek. D. Weres- lie; 1300 Werselow. I assume the terminal to be Iffiv (q. v.), a burial-mound, as the mediaeval and modern forms agree, and there are tumuli hereabout. I think the prefix repre- sents the p. n. War, or possibly a short form of some name of which it formed a stem, e.g. Wccrbald, Wicrburg, War/rith, &c. I read it ' Wser's burial-mound.' The A. S. form should be Wares-, which D., never using diphthongs, would write Went-. Warton, h., 3 m. NE. of Newport. 1272 Wavertune. Though only one form, and that rather late, we may safely accept it. The change from Waver- to War- is regular. Warton, nr. Polesworth in Warwickshire, is Wavre in D, having subsequently acquired the -ton. Woore in Salop is also Wavre in D. Wavertree in Lancashire has preserved its form, but is pr. ' Wartree.' Waverton in Cheshire (D. Wavrelori) has also maintained its form. The difficulty is the meaning of Waver. There are three places named Wavre in Belgium, a Wawre in Poland, and a Wavre in Switzerland. (It is O. E. wafer meaning unknown. W. H. S.) PS. It has been suggested that Wavre means the aspen poplar (Populus tremula), from its waving or wavering habit, and I think it extremely likely, though unable to give any authority. Trees left in the felling of a thick wood are called ' wavers.' The A. S. form would be wafer, wafre. The dictionaries give WALTON WATFORD GAP l6l no such meaning to the word, but they are all imperfect. Professor Skeat favours the suggested construction. Warstone, h., in Hilton, 3 m. S. of Cannock. 994 Har- slan; 1300 Horeston. Warstone is a common name for hamlets, and always found to have been originally Harstan. The change to War- appears to have commenced in the 1 6 c. The meaning of Har in A. S. is recorded as ' grey, hoary, old ' ; but it is clear from the use of the \vord in A. S. charters that, whatever its original meaning was, it came to mean, at an early period, ' boundary,' and consequer. .ly all ' War-stones,' ' Hoar-stones,' and ' Whore- stones ' will be found to be on ancient boundaries. There are several huge boulders at Warstone, one of which is the boundary stone between Hilton and Essington. (PS. The H. E. D. is the first great authority to recognize ' Hoar,' in pi. names, as meaning 'boundary.') V. Harborne. Water Eaton, v. Eaton (Water). Waterfall, 8 m. SE. of Leek. 13 and 14 c. Water/ale. This is one of many places which owe their name to the eccentricity of the river Hamps (one of the head waters of the Dove), which, near the village, after flowing eight miles, disappears into the limestone. V. Dove, and Hamps. There is no other ' waterfall ' here. Watford Gap, h., i^ m. S. of Shenstone, is situate on cross-roads, an ancient way called Blake Street (q. v.) here cutting the Birmingham and Lichfield road at right angles. Immediately below the intersection Blake Street crosses a stream. Gap is a M. E. word, apparently derived from O. N., and means 'a breach in the continuity of anything,' e. g. a hedge, wall, road. It is consequently applied to cross- roads, and in the N. to the road itself, e. g. Scarfe Gap, Raise Gap, Hunter's Gap. Watford is a difficult name to construe. The terminal is plain ' ford ' (q. v.), but Wat has no meaning in A. S., and is certainly a corrupt form, though Watford in Berks, appears as Watford in a charter of 994. Watford in M l6a STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Northamptonshire is recorded in D. as Watford and Wadford. I think the probability is that Wat- represents the p. n. Wada, which in gen. form would give Wadan/ord, Wada's ford. This would certainly become Wadford or Watford (d and / being often interchanged). Watling Street. The A. S. forms are Watlinga-strate and Wcelling-slrete. Occasionally it is found as Waclinga-, but the c is a mistake in the reading or copying for /, those letters in A. S. being frequently indistinguishable. In M. E. the forms are Watlinge-, Waltelinge-, and Watlinga- (strete). I assume the correct form to be Watlinga-strat (gen. pi.), and the translation is clearly ' the way of the Waetlingas, or sons of Waetla.' Florence of Worcester and Roger of Hoveden, who wrote in the 12 c., and were doubtless thorough A. S. scholars, both write, under the year 1013, of Watling Street as 'the road which the sons of King Weatla made across England from the eastern to the western sea.' That Waetla was a 'king' is obviously no part of the translation, but mere imagination of the writers, as no ' King ' Waetla ever reigned here, or else- where as far as we know. Apparently the Romans gave no distinctive names to any of their roads. Walling, Icenhilde, Fosse, and Ermine streets, the names of the principal Roman ways, are clearly of A. S. origin. An important element for consideration is the fact that the name ' Watling Street ' is borne not only by the great road from Dover to Wroxeter nr. Shrewsbury, but by other Roman roads. In all published A. S. charters ' Watling Street ' clearly refers to the road between Dover and Wroxeter; but northern charters are extremely rare. I believe that the If \ttlinga street mentioned in the treaty between Alfred and Guthrum is not the Watling Street now dealt with, but the Roman way at Huntingdon now called Ermine Street, and that the treaty must be read not up on Usan, ' upwards on the Ouse,' but ' upon the Otue/ i. e. down stream. The Ouse, upwards, would be an WATLING STREET 163 improbable boundary, eating by tortuous courses into the very heart of Mercia, whilst down stream it would form a good one, and a sensible Danelagh. That treaty is only known to us by late fragmentary copies, and its verbiage cannot be trusted. We have no direct evidence as to the A. S. name of the Northern Watling Street, but the Boldon Book of Durham (through which county that road passes) in 1183 records a tenant as Watlingus (the latinized form of Watling), which shows that the name was then known in the county. Leland in his Itinerary (circa 1538) says (i. 30) : ' Ancaster ' (8 m. N. of Grantham on what is now called Ermine Street) 'stondith on Wateling, as in the highway to Lincoln.' At p. 35 he calls the Roman way from Lincoln to Doncaster Watheling Streat; it is now Tilbridge Lane. At p. 46 he writes : ' Wateling Streate lyith straite over Castleford bridge. ... I never saw yn any parte of England so manifest tokens as heere of the large high crest of the way of Watelinge Streate made by hand. * . . Aber- ford is a poo re thoroughfare on Wateling Streate' At p. 101 he says : ' The Toune (Boroughbridge) is but a bare thing ; it stondith on Watelinge Streate' At p. 105 he speaks of Wetherby and Brotherton as being on Watheling Streat', and (viii. 69 b) he gives the way and distances on Watlynge- strete from Boroughbridge to Carlisle, via Catterick, Leeming, Greta, Bowes, Stanmore, Appleby, and Penrith. He no- where recognizes ' Ermine ' Street. Now the road is marked on the Ordnance map, in parts, ' Ermine Street/ ' Roman road,' and ' Watling Street.' Lambard (Description of England and Wales), circa 1570, says: 'The way toward Yorke, lyinge beyond Stylton, is at this day called Watling- strete of the common people.' Norden (Speculum Bri- tanniae, 1595, ed. 1723, p. 3), under Hertfordshire, calls the present Ermine Street on its way through the hundred of Oddesey, S. of Royston, ' Old Watline Street.' In Speed's Map of Huntingdonshire, 1610, the street S. of Castor, 5 m. M 2 164 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES W. of Peterborough, is marked ' Ermin Street ' ; but north- wards ' the Roman way called Walling Street, or Forty-foot way. 1 Stukeley in his Itinerary, circa 1723, calls the same road, S. of York, 'Hermen Street/ and he says (p. in) the name Walling Street ' became almost the common appellative of such Roman roads.' Speed's Map of Hunts, 1610, marks the passage of the Nen at Wansford, 6 m. S. of Stamford on the Great North Road, as ' Watlingford,' and so does Blome's Map of Hunts, 1673. Horsley (Brit. Rom.), circa 1 730, says : ' The country people near Wroxeter in Shropshire give the name of Watling Street to the military way which goes through the middle of that county . . . toward Kenchester. . . . The same name is also given (as far as I could learn) to all the military ways in Scotland. The vulgar call the military way from Cataract Bridge to Carlisle, through Westmoreland and Cumberland, Mitchell (Michael) Scott's Causeway ; as they do also that which is called Watling Street in the county of Durham.' In Armslrong's Map of Norlhumberland, 1769 (from aclual survey), the Roman way, between Ebchester, Corbridge, and the Roman Wall, is marked ' Watling Street,' and that portion running NW. from the Wall into Roxburghshire, also ' Watling Street.' A great Roman way running almost due N. and S. through Northumberland, passing 2\ m. E. of Wooler and the same disiance W. of Berwick, is marked ' Watling Street or Devil's Causeway.' D., under Norfolk, records a manor, Watlingsela, in the half hundred of Dice (Diss). This I take to mean ' Watling folk.' I cannot identify this manor ; but it is curious that a Roman way (apparently to Norwich) passes two miles E. of Diss. Watlinglon in Oxfordshire, 6 m. NE. of Wallingford, in A. S. charters appears as Wtcdinclunr, Hwallinga tune, Watlinciune, Watlingfunt, and in D. as Wattlintont. It lies upon an Icknield Street, which I take to be pre-Roman, leading apparently from Avebury, in Wilt- ahire, into NE. Norfolk, the country of the Iceni. It is, for WATLING STREET 165 long distances together, a most impressive highway, and a thousand years ago was probably more so. There isi a Watlington in Norfolk, 6 m. S. of King's Lynn, which I cannot trace in D., or the Liber Eliensis, or any early charter. It lies on a road not identified as Roman. Wat- lington in Sussex, 2 m. NE. of Battle, D. Wallinglone, lies between two roads i| m. apart, not supposed to be Roman, but undoubtedly ancient. D. also records a Watelintune, in Berks., which I cannot identify. I think it may be taken as proved that ' Watling Street ' is a generic name, and means ' the way of the sons of Waetla." (Inga in the forms is the gen. pi. of ing, ' sons or descendants of,' equivalent to the Scotch ' Mac,' and Irish ' O.') But who was Waetla ? We have no record of him. We know, however, that the Milky Way is, by old writers, frequently called Watling Street. Chaucer says: ' Now, quod he thoo, cast tip thine eye, See yonder loo, the galoxie, Which men clepeth the milky weye, For it is white : and some parfeye, Callen hyt Watlyng stretch The Complaint of Scotland, a Scottish work, 1549 (E. E. T. S, 58), speaks of the Milky Way as being called by mariners Vatlant (Watling) streit, and Douglas' Virgil, 85, again terms the Milky Way Watlingsirete. Many nations have associated the Milky Way with the idea of a road. The Welsh know it as Hynt St. lalm, St. James' way, and Lwybr- y-gwynt and Heol-y-gwynt, the path or way of the wind. The Italians named it 'the holy street to Loretto,' the Spaniards ' the road to St. lago/ and Mahommedans ' the Hadji's way.' I suggest that Wcctla is the name of some un- recorded mythical hero of the Saxons before their arrival here; that the Milky Way was then known to them as ' Watling Street,' and they transferred the name to the great roads which they must have regarded with astonishment. 1 66 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES Horsley, who travelled much upon the Roman roads in the beginning of the 18 c., frequently speaks of their ' grand ' and ' magnificent ' appearance ' for miles together.' This Watling Street, where it has not been contracted or modernized say between Weedon and High Cross is still a most noble and impressive work. It is common to all nations to attribute works or natural objects incom- prehensible to them to their gods, heroes, or other super- natural agency. A cromlech on the Icknield Street in Berkshire, now commonly called ' Wayland Smith's Cave,' appears as ' Welandes smithy ' in an A. S. charter, Weland being the Teutonic Vulcan. The mysterious ditch Wansdyke (A. S. Wodnesdic) is so named after their deity Woden. Grim's Dyke, Grim's Ditch, Grimspound, probably have their root in A. S. grima, a spectre, goblin. The Ermine Street, I think, is so named after Eorman, the celebrated King of the Ostrogoths. Later generations have conferred on similar objects such names as the Giant's Causeway, the Devil's Causeway, the Devil's Highway (both Roman roads), the Devil's Arrows, the Devil's Bellows, the Devil's Bridge, the Devil's Punchbowl, &c. Part of the constellation Ursa Major was known by the Saxons in heathen times as ' Woden's way,' and subsequently as Carles-wcrgen, Charles' Wain (wagon), after Charles the Great (Charlemagne). Since writing this I find that Jacob Grimm (Teutonic Mythology, translated by Stallybrass) arrived at the same conclusion. He writes (i. 356-7) : ' Now it is not un- important that one of the highways, Wanlinga Straet, is at the same time translated to the sky, and gets to look quite mythical. A plain enough road ... is the Milky Way in the heavens, i. e. it is travelled by the car of some heathen god. . . . Wastlinga is plainly a genitive plural ; who the Waetlings were, and how they came to give their name to an earthly and a heavenly street, we do not know. . . . Among other nations also fancy and fable have let the names of earthly WATLING STREET 167 and heavenly roads run into one another.' Rydberg (Teutonic Mythology, Anderson's translation, 647) writes: 'The Watlings, after whom the Milky Way is named, are descen- dants of Vate-Vada, Volund's father.' At 667 he says : ' The name Irung, Iring, as a synonym of Gjuke, is of im- portance from a mythological point of view. Widukind of Corvei (about the year 950) tells us in ch. 13 of his Saxon Chronicle that the Milky Way is designated by Iring's name even to this day. Just previously he had mentioned a Saxon warrior by this name, whom he believes to have been the cause of this appellation. . . . According to A. S. glossaries, the Milky Way is called " Iringes weg." With this we should compare the statements made above, that the Milky Way among the Teutonic population of England was called the way of the Watlings (that is, the descendants of Vate, i. e. Ivalde). Both statements harmonize. In the one it is the descendants of Ivalde in general, in the other it is Slagfin-Iring whose name is connected with the Milky Way. Thus Slagfin, like Volund and Orvandel-Egil, was a star- hero.' At 670 he writes: 'Gjuke and Hjuke are therefore names borne by one and the same person, by Slagfin the Niflung, who is the. progenitor of the Gjukungo. They also look like analogous formations from different roots. This also gives us the explanation of the name of the Asgard bridge, Bilrost, "Bil's way." The Milky Way is Bil-Idun's way, just as it is her brother Hjuke's ; for we have already seen that the Milky Way is called Irung's way, and that Irung is a synonym of Slagfin-Gjuke. Bil travelled the shining way when she was taken up to Asgard as an asynje. Slagfin travelled it as Balder's and Hoder's foster-brother. If we now add that the same way was travelled by Svipdag when he sought and found Freyja in Asgard, and by Thjasse- Volund's daughter, Skade, when she demanded from the gods a ransom for the slaying of her father, then we find here no less than four descendants of Ivalde who have travelled 1 68 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES over the Milky Way to Asgard; and as Volund's father among his numerous names also bore that of Vate-Vada, then this explains how the Milky Way came to be called Walling Street in the Old English literature, and thus Vigfusson's opinion that the Asgard bridge is identical with the Milky Way is correct.' Rydberg's Vale- V'ada, or Iralde, and Wcctla are synonyms, and Slagfin-Irung, Volund or Weland, and Orvandel-Egil were his sons ; hence by legend and saga their names were associated with the Milky Way, and, transferred from Norse to Saxon, crossed to England, and took root here both in heavenly and earthly ' ways.' Wednesbury. A. S. Chronicle Wodnesbeorgt, Wodnesbeorh, Wodnesbyri', D. Wadnesberie ; 12 c. Wodnesbyrg, Wodents- beorh, Wodnesberi, Wodnesbeorh, that is Woden's Mount. This is the p. n. Woden (gen. Wodnes) and beorh (dat. beorge], a hill, mount ' Woden's hill.' Woden was one of the principal deities of the Saxons. I thought, at one time, that the name might also have been borne by ordinary mortals ; but having been unable to discover a single instance of its use, I have arrived at the conclusion that the god is referred to. Grimm (Teutonic Mythology) says that the Saxons named their children after their mythological heroes, but not after their gods. Wednesbury stands on a conspicuous somewhat conical hill, on which, it is said, a temple to Woden formerly stood. That is probably true, but there is no evidence of it beyond his name. Cf. Wednesfield, the Wansdyke (Wodncsdic), and Wensley in Derbyshire, anciently Wedneslegh. In Germany, where Woden took the form of Woatan, Wuotan, Wodan, and in Scandinavia, where the form was Odin, the name forms the prefix to several pi. names. The battles referred to in the A. S. Chronicle, under the year 592, when 4 there was a great slaughter in Britain and Ceaw- lin was driven out,' and under 715, when ' Ina and Ceolred fought,' were certainly waged at Wednesbury, though old writers imperfectly acquainted with local etymology, followed WEDNESBURY WERGS (THE) l6g blindly by modern historians, have laid the scene of both engagements at Wanborough in Wilts, (v. Preface, vii). Wednesfield, 3 m. E. of Wolverhampton. 994 Wodnes- feld;T).Wodnesfeld. 'Woden's field/ V. Wednesbury. In 910 a battle was fought here between the Saxons and the Danes, in which the Saxons were victors. The A. S. Chronicle re- cords it as being fought at Tettenhall (Teotanheale), 2 m. NW. Weeford, 4 m. SE. of Lichfield. D. Weforde; 12 c. We- ford; 13 c. Weford. Weeford lies on Watling Street, which here crosses a small tributary of Blackbrook. The terminal is clearly A. S.ford, a ford (q. v.). If the name was M. E. the prefix might be construed wee, little, small ; but being in D., it is clearly A. S., and we have no evidence that wee was an A. S. word ; it is supposed to have been introduced by the Danes. It might be suggested that the prefix represents A. S. weg (g =j>), a way, road ; but then the forms ought to give us Wetford, and the modern form should be Jf^ford. The wee may represent A. S. weed, a shallow ford, but without earlier forms it is only guess. Weeping Cross, 2 m. SE. of Stafford, at the junction of the great London and NW. road with the road from Bir- mingham and Walsall, marks the site of one of the crosses or stations which, before the Reformation, were as common on our highways as they are still in Roman Catholic coun- tries, and where the pious or penitent offered their devotions. ' To come home by Weeping Cross ' means to repent, to grieve. Wergs (The), h., 3 m. NW. of Wolverhampton. 13 c. Wytheges\ 14 c. Wzihegis, Wytheges, Withegges, Wyrges. M. E. withi, withthe, and hegges the withy hedges. In early times hedges were very rudely made, a ditch and bank with a dead fence upon it being customary. A live thorn-fence was practically unknown. Here some early squatter probably fenced his land with withy (sallow). There is a field called 'The Wergs' in Colon Clanford, and in 1636 there were, 1 70 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES and probably still are, two fields, on separate farms, in Weston-under-Lizard bearing the same name. Westbromwich, v. Brormvich (West). Weston, h., in Siandon, 6 m. S. of Stoke. D. Weslone. A. S. West-tun West town. D. records sixty-five Westone and Westunt. Weston Coyney, h., in Caverswall, 5 m. W. of Cheadle. D. Westone, V. Weston. Coyney is a M. E. addition, the Coyneys (rightly Coignet) being Norman lords. Weston Jones, h., in Norbury, 3 m. NE. of Newport. 140. Weston J hones, Weston Jones. V. Weston. Jones was probably a local landowner, and his name added to distinguish the place from oiher Westons. Weston-under-Lizard, 7 m. SE. of Newport. D. Wes- tone. 14 c. Weston-under-Brewode, Weslon-under-Lusyerd \ 150. Weston-sublus-Luceyord. V. Weston. The village lies 2 m. NE. of Lizard Hill, a conspicuous eminence. Lizard appears in a forged A. S. Peterborough charter (probably post-Conquest) as Lusgerd \ 12 c. Luseiard; 13 c. Lusyard (frequently), which I should read as M. E. Luce-geard, a fish- yard (i. e. a fish-pond or stew), from O. F. /us , fish. Weston-on-Trent, 6 m. NE. of Stafford. 1004 Wcslun-, D. Westone. V. Weston. Wetmoor, h., 2 m. NE. of Burton, n c. Wilhmcrt, Wiffnere, Wihlmere; D. U'itmere; 13 and 14 c. regularly, Withmert. In the 1 1 c. charter the bounds of Wetmoor commence & rst of Trenle war tha thcofes hangath, ' first from Trent where the thieves hang.' The locality is, or was until lately, known as Gallows Flat, and Gallows Lane. This is clearly ' withy mere ' (pool). The place lies on Trent side. Whoaton Aston, 5 m. W. of Penkridge; an ancient village, though not mentioned in I). la c. Estone; 1327 Aston; 1362 Whelone Aston. Aston means East-town (v. Aston). Wheaten is M. E. wheten, wheaten. Probably it was WES TBR OMWICH WICHNOR 1JI a wheat-growing locality in the 14 c., and a second name was wanted to distinguish it from other Astons. Wheat- is the prefix to many pi. names. The A. S. form was hwcele ; the h shifted in late M. E., and it became whele, later wheat. Whiston, h., 2 m. W. of Penkridge. 1004 Witeslun; nc. Witestone ; D. Witestone. Wita was an A. S. p. n., and the possessive j of the forms points to a p. n. It is fre- quently written Wite in A. S. charters, and we may translate this ' Wite's town.' Whiston, h., in Kingslev, 2\ m. N. of Cheadle. D. Wifes- tone ' Wite's town.' V. Whiston nr. Penkridge. Whitgreave, h., 4 m. N\V. of Stafford. 12 and 13 c. Whitegrave, Whttegreve, Wilegreve, Wytgreve. A. S. Lwit- graifa, M. E. whit-greve White thicket or grove. Whitmore, 4! m. SW. of Newcastle. D. Witemore; 1242 Wytemore-under-Lyme. A. S. hwit-mor, M. E. w hit, wtte, mor, more White moor. (Perhaps p. n. Wtla, from the absence of h in the early forms. W. H. S.) Whittington, 3 m. E. of Lichfield. 925 Hwitanione, Hwituntune; 14 c. Whytynton. Hwita was an A. S. p. n. to which n would be the gen. addition, giving us Hwita's town, and a clear example of a gen. form passing into ing. (It may be ' Whitestone,' since the dative of the weak declension, which is generally used in local names and is a mark of great antiquity, was hwllan. W. H. S.) An A. S. ini.ial Hw regularly becomes Wh in M.E. Whittington, h., 4 m. S W. of Stourbridge. 1 3 c. Whytyn- lon, Whitenton. The forms here are not so early or clear as in Whittington nr. Lichfield, but I construe them alike ' Wita's town.' Wichnor, 6\ m. NE. of Lichfield. n c. Hiviccenofre, D. Wicenore ; 1 2 c. Whichnore, Wytchnor ; 130. Wycchenore, \Vychenovere. The terminal is clearly A. S. ofre, ofer, edge, margin, bank (of river). \Vichnor is on a bank sloping to the Trent. The prefixes in the forms would all be 17? STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES pr. 'wich,' and the is the correct gen. addition. If Hwicce had been an A. S. p. n. I should read the forms as ' Hwicce's bank'; but I can find no satisfactory record of such a name. A Bishop of Lichfield (circa 737) is recorded by Simeon of Durham, who wrote circa 1120, as Hwicca ; but contemporary charters describe him as Hwita, and as the / and c in A. S. are often indistinguishable, the presumption is that Simeon, or his transcribers, made a mistake. Assuming therefore that Hwicce is not a p. n. \ve find that in A. S. it means ' a chest, box, coffer.' In M. E. it becomes whyche and huche, and in Mod. Eng. hutch. We may therefore read Wichnor as ' the bank of the chest or hutch.' A. S. cesle (c = c h) means a chest, coffin, sarco- phagus, but I cannot find any authority for saying that hwicce had these extended meanings. V. Seighford. Hwicce was the name of a province comprising Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, and part of Warwickshire, the people of which were called Hwiccas, Hwiccii, &c., whence, directly or in- directly, I think we get the word wich in connexion with salt towns, as in T>ro\\wich t NaimwirA, Shirley M-yirA, Northzt'/irA, MiddleuvrA, &c. Wich certainly came to mean a brine spring, and I translate Hwiccas as ' salt people.' Wychwood, in Oxfordshire, formerly belonged to the bishops of the Hwiccii, and certainly derives its prefix from them. It is not impossible that some of these people migrated up or down Trent, and, settling at Wichnor, gave their name to it. But the meaning must, for the present, be considered unsettled. Wicken, a local name in N. Staffs. It is common in Yorkshire and the N. of England, and occasional in Cheshire and Salop, but unknown in S. Staffs. It is a dialectic word (origin unknown) for the mountain ash, also known in the N. as the rowan-tree. The name is sometimes found as Quicken and Wiggin. Wiggmton, 2$ m. N. of Tamworth. n c. Wugintutt', WICKEN WOLSELEY 173 D. Wigetone. Wicga was a common A. S. p. n., and I read this as 'Wicga's town' (v. Ton). The correct A.S. form would be Wicgantun. It is curious that all pi. names commencing Wig have stopped at an, en, or in, never passing into ing, as so common with the gen. and dat. forms of strong nouns. Wightwick, h., 3 m. W. of Wolverhampton. D. Wistewic ; 13 c. Wystewyk, Wytewyk, The terminal is clearly A. S. wic, a village, and one is disposed to read the prefix as represent- ing A. S. west west village ; but wist or wyst do not appear ever to have been forms of west. (No. From modern form it is evident that st represents ht, and therefore an O. E. Wihtan- wic or Wihtes-wic = Wihta's or Wiht's village. W. H. S.) Wilbrighton, h., in Gnosall. D. Wilbrestone ; 13 c. Wylbridon. A. S. p. n. Wilbriht' Wilbriht's town ' (v. Ton). Willenhall, 3 m. W. of Walsall. Ethelbald, King of the Mercians, about 732 tests two charters at Willanhalch (Cart. Sax. 149, 150), which I assume to be this Willenhall (there is another Willenhall in Coventry) ; 996 Willan- hale; D. Winehala, Winenhale\ 12 c. Willenhal, Willenhale. The first form is perfect A. S. for ' the meadow-land of Willa.' Halch is the dat. form of healh (v. Hale). D. has blundered. Wilmington, h., in Mucklestone, 4 m. E. of Market Drayton. D. Wennitone. Wenni was an A. S. p. n., and I should think this was Wenni's town. If so the correct A. S. form would be Wennintun, and D. is very near it. Wobaston, ancient farm in Bushbury, 3 m. N. of Wolver- hampton. 1227 Wibaldestun; 1327 Wybaston. The first form is perfectly correct, and gives us ' Wibald's town/ Wibald being a short form of Wigbeald, bold in battle. V. Ton. Wolgarston, ancient farm in Penkridge. D. Turgares- tone; 12 c. Wulgarestone. There is some error in the D. form. The meaning is clearly ' Wulfgar's town.' Wolseley, h. and hall, 2 m. NW. of Rugeley. D. Ulslei\ 12 c. Wulfsieshy, Wulfsicsleg, frequently; 13 c. Wulseleye. 174 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES D. never uses Wu, but always writes it U or }\\ This is clearly ' Wulfsige's lea ' (v. Ley). The name frequently appears as Wulfsi. It means 'victorious wolf.' The Wolseleys of Wolseley are lineal descendants of the Saxon possessor. Wolstanton. D. Wislanetone ; 1198 Wuktanestone. Here the 1 2 c. form, coupled with the modern one, is preferable to D. ; indeed most 12 c. forms are. It gives us ' Wulfstan's town ' (v . Ton). If the D. form was accepted it would be ' Wigstan's town.' Wigstan frequently appears as Wistan, even before the Conquest. Wolverhampton. 985 Heanlune (charter of Ethelred, Cod. Dip. 650, clearly identified with Wolverhampton by Wulfrun being mentioned in it, and Trysull, Trescote, and Bilston also referred to) ; 994 Hamiun, Hantone (charter of Wulfrun, only a corrupt copy of which remains); 1006 Hcantun (Will of Wulfgate of Donnington nr. Albrigh- ton); D. Hanlone, Handone; Worcestershire D. Wrehanton^ Wrehantune\ 12 c. Wulfrunehanton, Wulfrunhamlun, Wol- vtrenehamplon, Wolvernhampton ; 13 c., commonly, Wolvern- hampton. This is an interesting example of the value of early forms and of the progress of corruption and mediaeval addition. It is clear that the original name was Heantun High town. D. confirms this, Hean in D. always being represented by Han. The Wre in the Worcestershire D. doubtless represents ' Wulfrun,' or as much of that name as the scribe could master, the Normans abhorring Jf. Wul- frun was a lady of rank who in 994 gave great possessions to the church at Wolverhampton, and it is clear that soon afterwards her name was prefixed for distinction. The passage from Wulfrun to Wolverene- % Wolverne-, and Wolver-, is in accordance with phonetic law. In my opinion many Hamptons have been originally Heantun, but D., invariably writing Han- for Hean- t has changed the form. Hampton Lucy, in Warwickshire, was Heamlun in 1062; Hampton- on-tlie-hill, nr. Warwick, is Hantone in D., and so is Hampton- WOLSTANTON WOOTTON 175 in-Arden, Dugdale, no mean authority, writing ' from hean, high, corrupted to ham.' Hampton Gay, in Oxfordshire, was Heantun in 958. The p in -Hampton is excrescent, and the natural result of accent falling on m. Wolverhampton stands on high table-land. Wombourne, 5 m. SW. of Wolverhampton. D. Wam- burne; 12 c. Wamburne; 13 c. Wombeburne, Wamburn. The terminal is A. S.' burne, a brook. I suggest that the prefix is A. S. and M. E. wambe, wombe, ' belly, womb/ here used in the sense of ' hollow.' In Cod. Dip. 559, the charter, describing a boundary, says (translated) : ' Along the hedge- row; then to Ondoncilles wombe' and Kemble translates this ' a womb or hollow.' The original meaning of ' belly ' was a bag, and ' bellows ' is only a plural form of the Avord. If a seam of coal dips and rises again we say it 'bellies.' The Cent. Diet, gives as one of the meanings of womb, 'any large or deep cavity that receives or contains any- thing,' and Shakespeare speaks of ' the fatal cannon's womb.' 1 Wombridge in Salop, and Wombwell in Yorkshire, may be examples of the use of the word in the sense suggested. I think we shall be right in construing Wom- bourne as ' the brook in the hollow ' ; its situation quite accords with that construction. "Woollaston, h., 7 m. SW. of Stafford. D. Ullavestone ; 13 c. Wolaston, Wollaston. D. never uses Wu, always spelling Wulf Wl or Ul. We have here clearly ' Wulflaf 's town ' (v. Ton). Before the Conquest the name sometimes appears as Wullaf. Wootton, h., i| m. S. of Eccleshall. D. Woddone. A. S. Wudutun, M. E. Wodetone Wood town (v. Ton). At the time of D. the manor belonged to the king, and was ' waste.' Eyton (Staffordshire D. Studies) identifies this place with Wodestone; but he is wrong: that manor was in Offlow hundred; this is in Pirehill. And he identifies Wootton- under- Weaver, 5 m. E. of Ashbourne, with this Wootton ; and 176 STAFFORDSHIRE PLACE NAMES again he is wrong, as Wootton-under- Weaver is in Totmans- low hundred. The D. manor of Wodeslone, in Offlow, has yet to be ' discovered.' Most if not all ' Woottons,' if traced to the original form, would probably prove to be ' Wood town.' The common A. S. forms are Wudutun, Wudalun, Wudetun ; but a Wodestone (having the possessive x) I should translate ' Wuda's town.' Wordsley, h., in Kingswinford, 2 m. NW. of Stourbridge. 12 c. Wuluardeslea ; 13 c. Wohvardele. A. S. p. n. Wulf- weard ' Wulfweard's lea ' (v . Ley). II 'ulf, wolf, plays a great part in A. S. p. names. Worstead Hall, Delves Green, 2 m. S. of Walsall, an old farm. 15 c. Wahlodc, Walstead, Walstede, the name of a yeoman family living here for several generations in the 15, 1 6, and 17 c. The original name was A. S. Wealhstod. A large number of our family names are corrupt forms of A. S. p. names. Worston, h., 5 m. NW. of Stafford. 13 and 14 c. Wiveleslon, Wyver stone, Wyfridestone, Worflestone. A. S. p. n. Wifel (gen. Wtfles) ' Wifel's town ' (v. Ton). Wiveliscombe, in B-35m-e,'C2(D2'J184)4280 UCLA-College Library DA 670 S7D9 Library DA 6?0 L 005 682 587