Once more: it is a well-known fact in geology that the border limit between sea and land is constantly changing, the briny element in some cliffy places, as to the north of Hull, systematically undermining the land, and stealing away the farmer’s acreage inch by inch and foot by foot; while in other places, from the conjoint action of river deposits and tidal currents, large tracts of what was once a sea-bottom are added to the land. The geological proof of this is open often to the most superficial observer; but the philological proof, when you once hold the key of it, is no less patent. In the Danish language--which is a sort of half-way house between high German and English--the word _oe_ signifies an island. This _oe_, in the shape of _ay_, _ea_, _ey_, or _y_, appears everywhere on the British coast, particularly in the West Highlands, as in COLONSAY, TOROSAY, ORANSAY, and in ORKNEY; and if there be any locality near the sea wearing this termination, not now surrounded by water, the conclusion is quite certain, on philological grounds, that it once was so. Here the London man will at once think on BERMONDSEY and CHELSEA, and he will think rightly; but he must not be hasty to draw STEPNEY under the conditions of the same category, for the EY in that word, if I am rightly informed, is a corruption from _hithe_, a well-known Anglo-Saxon and good old English term signifying a _haven_; and generally, in all questions of topographical etymology, there is a risk of error where the old spelling of the word is not confronted with the form which, by the attritions and abrasions of time, it may have assumed. These observations, which at the request of the author of the following pages I have hastily set down, will be sufficient to indicate the spirit in which the study of topographical etymology ought to be pursued. Of course, I have no share in the praise which belongs to the successful execution of so laborious an investigation; neither, on the other hand, can blame be attached to me for such occasional slips as the most careful writer may make in a matter where to err is easy, and where conjecture has so long been in the habit of usurping the place of science. But I can bear the most honest witness to the large research, sound judgment, and conscientious accuracy of the author; and feel happy to have my name, in a subsidiary way, connected with a work which, I am convinced, will prove an important addition to the furniture of our popular schools. COLLEGE, EDINBURGH, _February 1875_. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS