Mazes and Labyrinths: A General Account of Their History and DevelopmentMatthews, W. H.
History
Mazes and Labyrinths: A General Account of Their History and Development
Matthews, W. H.
Labyrinths; Maze gardens
Maze Hill has sometimes been assumed to derive its name from a maze
which is supposed to have existed in the park of the former royal
palace of Greenwich (see p. 136), but the name was formerly spelt in
a different manner and may have quite another origin. In Hasted's
"History of Kent," 1778, it is referred to as Mease Hill, and it has
been suggested that this may have come from the Celtic word _Maes_,
meaning "field." There is a Maze Green in Hertfordshire, near Bishops
Stortford. Possibly there was formerly a turf maze in the vicinity
like that on Saffron Walden common, not very far away, but we have no
evidence to that effect.
A few miles west of Lisburn, in Ireland, are two places named
respectively "The Maze" and "Mazetown," the former a small village in
Antrim, the latter a racing centre just over the county border in Down.
"Troy-town," as we have seen, also occurs as a place-name. In Dorset
there is one near Dorchester and another near Bere Regis. These are
alleged to be the sites of former turf mazes, of which, however, there
are no authentic records. In Kent there is one near Hastingleigh, and
the name also occurs at Rochester.[7] The latter is said to commemorate
a former owner or builder of property in that part of the town, whose
name happened to be Troy. A part of Peckham also used to be known as
Troy-town.
[7] See also p. 91.
The word "Troy" alone is also of fairly frequent occurrence, as for
instance near Stalybridge, Lancs, and near Londonderry; Troy Michell
and Troy Hall are found in Monmouthshire, and the latter name also
at Blackburn, Lancs, but such names are no more likely to have any
connection with ancient maze sites than is the flourishing city of
similar name in the United States, the probability being that in all
these cases it is the famous Troy of the Iliad that furnished the
inspiration. The name of Troy-town may in some cases have been given on
account of irregularity or intricacy of design, for the word is found
in certain local dialects as a synonym for a state of confusion, an
untidy house being said to be "just like Troy-town."
It is surely uncommon for the word "Labyrinth" itself to be found as a
place-name, but in February 1911 Captain Scott pitched his camp in an
Antarctic spot which, on account of the fantastically sinuous nature of
its surroundings, he decided to name "Labyrinth Camp."
We must now draw to a close.
Enough has perhaps been said to give some idea of the variety and
extent of the different ways in which the labyrinth idea has developed
and in which it has been employed, but it would obviously be wrong to
assume that the last word on the subject has now been pronounced.
As regards the early history of the idea and of the terms associated
with it we have seen that the boundaries of our knowledge are still
misty and ill-defined, a circumstance that only gives zest to the study
of the subject.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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