Gill (Scand.), a ravine, has given Fothergill, Pickersgill, and
Gaskell, from Gaisgill (Westmorland). These, like most of our names
connected with mountain scenery, are naturally found almost
exclusively in the north. Other surnames which belong more or less to
the hill country are Hole, found also as Holl, Hoole, and Hoyle, but
perhaps meaning merely a depression in the land, Ridge, and its
northern form Rigg, with their compounds Doddridge, Langridge,
Brownrigg, Hazelrigg, etc. Ridge, Rigg, also appear as Rudge, Rugg.
From Mid. Eng. raike, a path, a sheep-track (Scand.), we get Raikes
and perhaps Greatorex, found earlier as Greatrakes, the name of a
famous faith-healer of the seventeenth century.
WOODLAND AND PLAIN
The compounds of Wood itself are very numerous, e.g. Braidwood,
Harwood, Norwood, Sherrard and Sherratt (Sherwood). But, in
considering the frequency of the simple Wood, it must be remembered
that we find people described as le wode, i.e. mad (cf. Ger. Wut,
frenzy), and that mad and madman are found as medieval names
"Thou told'st me they were stolen unto this wood;
And here am I, and wode within this wood,
Because I cannot meet my Hermia."
(Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. 1.)
As a suffix -wood is sometimes a corruption of -ward, e.g. Haywood is
occasionally for Hayward, and Allwood, Elwood are for Aylward,
Anglo-Sax. AEthelweard. Another name for a wood was Holt, cognate
with Ger. Holz--
"But right so as thise holtes and thise hayis,
That han in winter dede ben and dreye,
Revesten hem in grene whan that May is."
(Troilus and Criseyde, iii. 351.)
Hurst or Hirst means a wooded hill (cf. Ger. Horst), and Shaw was once
almost as common a word as wood itself--
"Wher rydestow under this grene-wode shawe?"
(D, 1386.)
Hurst belongs especially to the south and west, though Hirst is very
common in Yorkshire; Shaw is found in the north and Holt in the east
and south. We have compounds of Shaw in Bradshaw, Crashaw (crow),
Hearnshaw (heron), Earnshaw (Mid. Eng, earn, eagle), Renshaw (raven)
[Footnote: It is obvious that this may also be for raven's haw
(Chapter XIII). Raven was a common personal name and is the first
element in Ramsbottom (Chapter XII), Ramsden.], etc., of Hurst in
Buckhurst (beech), Brockhurst (badger), and of Holt in Oakshott.
We have earlier forms of Grove in Greaves--
"And with his stremes dryeth in the greves
The silver dropes, hangynge on the leves"
(A. 1495)--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account