Climbing in The British Isles. Vol. 1 - EnglandHaskett Smith, W. P. (Walter Parry)
History
Climbing in The British Isles. Vol. 1 - England
Haskett Smith, W. P. (Walter Parry)
Mountaineering -- England; Mountains -- England -- Guidebooks
=Beck.=--In the North of England (except in Northumberland and Durham,
where 'burn' prevails) this is the usual word for a brook. It differs
from a 'gill' in being more open, and having banks less rocky and a
stream somewhat more copious. A gill may contain only a few drops of
water, or none at all, and still preserve its self-respect, but not so a
beck. Camden speaks of 'Beakes and Brookes.'
=Bell= enters into many North Country hill-names. It is commonly said to
indicate spots which were specially devoted to the worship of Baal, and
many arguments have been based upon its occurrence and distribution. If
there is anything in this assertion, the 'high places' for the worship
of Baal must have been most capriciously selected. My own belief is that
the term is purely descriptive and is applied to a convexity in the
slope of a hill. In Lowland Scotch the phrase 'bell of the brae' is not
uncommon and has the same significance.
=Bell Rib End=, a short drop on the narrow south ridge of _Yewbarrow_.
Though on a very small scale, it is not without interest, and was a
favourite with Mr. Maitland, one of the early explorers of Wastdale.
=Bield.=--This word not only occurs frequently in place names, but is
still part of living speech in North England and South Scotland. It
means shelter of any kind for man or beast, and in the latter case
especially a fox or a sheep. It is also used as a verb; in fox hunting,
for instance, the animal when run to earth is said to be 'bielded.'
=Bink=: a long narrow grassy ledge. (N. of Eng.)
=Black Sail.=--It has been suggested that this name, now borne by the
pass from Wastdale to Ennerdale between Pillarfell and Kirkfell, may
have originally been named from the mountain it crossed, and so may
possibly now preserve an older name of one of those two mountains. Dr.
Murray, writing to a local paper some years ago, did not hesitate to
affirm positively that Pillar Fell is entirely due to the Ordnance
surveyors, and that the original name was Black Sail, a fact which he
said could be proved by historical evidence. It would be extremely
interesting to see this evidence, but the name 'Pillar' certainly
appears in maps published long before that of the Ordnance. (See
_Sail_.) The pass (1,750 ft.) is very familiar to all climbing folk,
being the ordinary way of reaching the Pillar Rock from Wastdale Head.
It is generally preferred to _Wind Gap_ on account of greater variety
of view and better 'going,' and some make use of it even for the purpose
of reaching the Ennerdale side of _Great Gable_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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