V.

_Van Barr._ _Van_, Dutch for son, doubtless from Irish _bean_, woman; _barr_, summit, top. Son of Barr; son of a man of eminence.

_Vannaman._ _Van-na-mann_, from _van_, son; _na_, of the; _mann_, man. Son of the man. Names commencing with _van_ are considered by writers of philology as Dutch, but in many such terms the student readily perceives an Irish origin. _Van_, without doubt, is nothing but _bean_, the Irish for woman, with its initial consonant aspirated.

W.

_Williamson._ _Mac Uilleam_, from _mac_, son; _Uilleam_, genitive of _Uilliam_, William. Son of William. Fitzwilliam, Williams and MacWilliam are forms of the word, the last being the Irish name assumed by the Bourkes of Connaught on the death of their chief, William De Bourg, third earl of Ulster.

Y.

_Yarnall._ _Eireann_, genitive of _Eire_, Ireland; _aill_, a cliff. A cliff of Ireland.

_Yarrick._ _Eire_, Ireland; _eać_ for _neać_, an individual. An Irishman.

_Yarrow._ _Iar_, western; _ać_, fragmentary form of _neać_, pronounced _ach_, or _agh_, an individual. A western man; a native of Ireland.

FROM THE ANGLO-SAXON.

HISTORY—JUTES, SAXONS, ANGLES.

Every Englishman—and we apply the term in a comprehensive sense—who would clearly understand the force of his mother-tongue, should study Anglo-Saxon, as it is the direct and copious source of his own beloved language. Out of the many thousand words in use in English, more than five-eighths are of Anglo-Saxon origin. These, not only in number, but in their peculiar character and significance, as well as in their influence on grammatical forms, give to our language, it is universally admitted, its chief vigor. In short, they constitute its bone and sinew. Volumes may be written in words of Anglo-Saxon parentage alone, but it would be impossible to express the simplest thought in language of Latin derivation. Words expressive of the dearest relations, the strongest and most powerful feelings of nature, the language of every-day life, as of duty, business, pleasure, etc., find in the Anglo-Saxon their deepest, sincerest, and most energetic portrayals. Every speaker or writer, if he would convince the understanding and reach the heart, must shun Latinized expressions, and use the Anglo-Saxon, for the one awakens vivid, soul-stirring thoughts, and the other thoughts that are cool and unimpassioned.

With this view of Anglo-Saxon’s importance to every Englishman, a brief account of the origin of the present inhabitants of England will show that we owe to the Gothic tribes—the Jutes, the Saxons and the Angles—our physical vigor, yea, our very existence, as well as our highly expressive language. Like all the Teutonic tribes, the Saxons were of Oriental origin. They derived, most probably, their appellation from the Sacæ, who doubtless gave the name of Sakasina to a part of Armenia. In Ptolemy’s time, A. D. 90, they were as far westward as the Elbe, and, consequently, were among the first of the Teutonic tribes that visited Europe. Their location, between the Elbe and the Eyder in the south of Denmark, strengthens the belief that they were the vanguard of Germanic emigration. The Jutes, the Saxons and the Angles, which were the only tribes that successively made settlements in Britain, are therefore deemed of sufficient interest to claim especial attention.

The first to obtain possession were the Jutes. Two brothers, Hengist and Horsa, from Jutland, in Denmark, arrived in three small ships at Ebbs-fleet, in the Isle of Thanet, in 449. This island was assigned to them by the Britons for their assistance against the Picts and Scots. Subsequently, they became possessors of Kent, the Isle of Wight, and part of Hampshire.

Forty-two years later, 491, the Saxons entered Britain. Their first kingdom was established by Ella, under the name of South-Saxons, including what is now known as Sussex, together with a part of Surrey. In 494 another powerful colony, under Cerdic, arrived. Being west of the other, it took the name West-Saxons. They occupied Hants, Berks, Wilts, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and part of Cornwall. A third Saxon kingdom, in 527, was planted in Essex, Middlesex and the south of Hertfordshire, under the name of East-Saxons (East-Seaxe).

The Angles (Engle), from Anglen, the country between Flensburg and the Schley in the southeast of Sleswick in Denmark, settled about 527 in East Anglia, and exercised control over what now embraces Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and part of Bedfordshire. Ida, in 547, began to establish himself in Bernicia, comprehending Northumberland and the south of Scotland, between the Tweed and Firth of Forth. About 559 Ella conquered Deira, a tract of country between the Humber and the Tweed, embracing the counties of York, Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire. Mercia, bounded by the Thames, Humber and Severn, and comprehending the counties of Chester, Derby, Huntingdon, Lincoln, Northampton, Nottingham, Rutland, the north of Beds, Bucks, Hertford, Warwick, Oxon, Worcester, Hereford, Gloucester, Stafford and Salop, was formed by Crida, about 586, into an independent state.

From the foregoing remarks it appears that one Jute, three Saxon, and four Angle, altogether eight kingdoms, were established in Britain by the year 586, and that the Angles and Saxons were the leading spirits in the expeditions. They, therefore, when settled in this country, were collectively called Anglo-Saxons. From the Angles (Engle), who were the most numerous and predominant, the land was named Engla land, the Engle’s or Angle’s land—an appellation which was afterwards contracted into England.

Anglo-Saxon, that is, Angle-, Engle-, or English-Saxon, is the language of the Platt, Low, Flat, or North part of Germany, introduced into England by the Jutes, the Angles, and the Saxons, and modified, spoken, and written by Englishmen. The less daring and enterprising of these peoples who remained in their continental home bore the name of Old-Saxons, and their language Old-Saxon, but their brethren who settled in Britain were fitly designated Anglo-Saxons, and their language, perfected in England, was denominated Anglo-Saxon. To King Alfred, and the many writings of Alfric, we are indebted for the finest specimens of Anglo-Saxon spoken and written in England in their days.

Persons who are desirous of tracing the origin of Anglo-Saxon, or of comparing it with kindred dialects, must first go to the Old-Saxon, the Low-German spoken by those who remained in the old home of the Jutes, the Angles, and the Saxons. No written specimen of the language spoken by these Old-Saxons is extant, but there is, in a collateral dialect, a very fine poem, written in the ninth century, which is entitled _Heliand_, Healer or Saviour. While some of the Low-German race migrated to England, others passed to the lower Rhine and settled there. This poem being written in the dialect of these Rhenish Old-Saxons, and the latter being akin to the Anglo-Saxon, there can be no question as to its vast importance in the study of the language which is the foundation of our own. Recourse may then be had to other works in Low-German. High-German, Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish may then be consulted, and carried back to their Oriental source. None of the German or Scandinavian dialects have writings antedating those of the Anglo-Saxons, except the Germanic in the Moeso-Gothic Gospels of Ulphilas, published in 370, and some Icelandic. A zealous attempt, tracing the origin of the English, Germanic, and Scandinavian languages and nations, with a sketch of their early literature, and short chronological specimens of Anglo-Saxon, Friesic, Flemish, Dutch, German, from the Moeso-Goths to the present time, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish, and tracing the progress of these languages and their connection with the modern English, was made by Rev. Joseph Bosworth, in 1848. All interested in such knowledge will find themselves abundantly repaid by an examination of this learned scholar’s investigations, as shown in the work to which reference has just been made.

LESSONS IN ANGLO-SAXON.

ANGLO-SAXON LETTERS—THEIR NAMES.

The Anglo-Saxon alphabet has twenty-four letters, namely, _a_, _æ_, _b_, _d_, _dh_, _e_, _f_, _g_, _h_, _i_, _l_, _m_, _n_, _o_, _p_, _r_, _s_, _t_, _th_, _u_, _w_ (_vv_), _x_ and _y_. All but three, _dh_, _th_, _w_, are Roman characters, the variations from the common form being cacographic fancies.

No difficulty is experienced by German-speaking students in calling the letters by their proper appellations as their resemblance to the German names, excepting in three instances, is very intimate and striking. _Ah_, _ă_, _bay_, _cay_, _day_, _edh_, _ay_, _ef_, _gay_, _hah_, _ee_, _el_, _em_, _en_, _o_, _pay_, _er_, _es_, _tay_, _thorn_, _oo_, _wên_, _ex_, _ypsilon_, express very accurately their syllabic representation.

An accent is found in Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, but in none so regularly used as to become an objective feature of Anglo-Saxon text. It is found oftenest over a long vowel; sometimes over a vowel of peculiar sound, not long; seldom, except over syllables requiring a stress of voice. There are times, it seems, when nothing but stress is indicated. English editors represent it mostly by an acute accent, but the Germans generally print Anglo-Saxon with a circumflex over all single long sounds in the root of words, and an acute over the diphthongs; as _brôder_, _freónd_. In this book, an acute accent is used over all long vowels and diphthongs.

SOUNDS OF VOWELS.

_A_ short or unaccented is sounded like _a_ in _man_. It is often found in the final syllables of inflections, and generally appears in the radix before a doubled consonant, or two different consonants.

The radical short _a_ can only stand before a single consonant, and _st_, _sc_, when this single consonant and these double letters are followed in the inflections by _a_, _o_, _u_ in nouns; _a_, _o_, _u_, _e_ in adjectives; and _a_, _o_, _u_, and _ia_ in verbs.

Specially important are the remarks contained in the last paragraph in the declension of words, for, monosyllables, ending in a single consonant, in _st_, or _sc_, reject the _e_ from the short _æ_, and leave the short _a_ alone, whenever, in declining, the consonant or consonants happen to be followed by _a_, _o_, _u_ in nouns, and _a_, _o_, _u_, _e_ in adjectives.

It must be remembered, then, that a short _a_ cannot stand in a word. 1. When it ends in a single consonant, that is, when no inflection of _a_, _o_, _u_ in nouns follow, as in _stæf_. 2. When in nouns a single consonant is followed by _e_, as in _wæter_. 3. When the word has any other double consonants than _st_, _sc_, even though followed by _a_, _o_, _u_, as in _cræft_. 4. In contracted words, when _æ_ is not in the last syllable, as in _æcer_.

When the _á_ is accented it is then _long_, and words containing this long or accented _á_ are now represented by English terms with the vowel sounded like _o_ in _no_ and in _bone_. Hám _home_, bán, _bone_, án, _one_, stán, _stone_, have either the same or an analogous meaning in English and Anglo-Saxon. Sometimes the accented or long _á_ is represented in English by _oa_, as ác, _an oak_, gád, _a goad_, lám, _lome_. Occasionally, _á_ becomes _oe_ in English, as dá, _a doe_, fá, _a foe_, rá, _a roe_, but the _ae_ in these words has the sound of _o_ in _no_. The same may be said of _oa_ in _boar_. Hence, it appears that the Anglo-Saxon _á_ is represented by the modern English _o_, _oa_, and _oe_, which have the sound of _o_ in _no_, or _bone_. The long _á_ is often changed into _æ_, as _lár_, lore, _lǽran_, to teach.

_-A_, added to words, denotes _a person_, _an agent_, _an actor_, hence,—All names ending in _a_ are masculine, and make the genitive in _an_, as from _cum_, come (thou), _cuma_, a person who comes, or a guest, is derived. Some words, denoting inanimate things, terminate in _a_, and these words, having the same declension as those which signify _persons_ or _actors_, are also masculine. _A-_ is an inseparable prefix, denoting negation, determination or opposition, as _from_, _out_, _away_. _A-_ does not always appear to alter the signification, but generally, however, it adds some little force or intensity to the original meaning of the word to which it is joined.

Anglo-Saxon words, containing the short or unaccented vowel _e_, are often represented by modern English words of the same meaning, having the sound of _e_ in _fed_, as _nett_, _bedd_, _webb_. Before a double consonant, two different consonants, or one or two consonants when followed by a long or final vowel, the short _e_ is most generally used.

Words containing the long or accented _é_ are very frequently represented by English terms of the same meaning, and have the sound of _e_ in _meet_. Long _é_ is used, as in _thé_, at the end of words, and before the consonants _l_, _m_, _n_, _r_, _s_, _t_, _d_, _dh_, _c_, _g_ and _f_.

_-E_, in the ending of nouns, denotes a person, as _hyrde_, a shepherd, from _hyrdan_, to guard. It is also used to form nouns denoting inanimate objects, as _cyle_, cold, but these are mostly derived from verbs, and hence are masculine; but, when they come from adjectives, they are feminine. Final _e_ is the termination of derivative adjectives, and is also the usual letter by which adjectives ending in a consonant become adverbs.

Unaccented _i_ has the sound of _i_ in _fin_, as is evidenced by the following Anglo-Saxon words which have the same meaning in English as in Saxon:—_tin_, _dim_, _scip_, _wit_, _ribb_, _milc_, etc.

_I_ long has the sound of _i_ in _fine_, as in the cognate words, _tíne_, _wín_, _díc_, _hwíl_.

The verbal termination _ian_, or with a consonant before the _i_—_cian_, _gian_, _nian_, _sian_—is the most simple and universal. It is joined to various parts of speech, but especially to nouns and pronouns. These verbs almost always make the perfect tense in _ode_, and the perfect

## participle in _od_. Verbs thus formed from adjectives are generally

neuter, but they become active by prefixing _ge_, as _lytl_, little, _lytlian_, to become little, _gelytlian_, to diminish.

_I_ and _ie_ are often used for _g_, _ge_, _y_, and _e_.

Short _o_, in Anglo-Saxon, has probably the sound of _o_ in _for_, as _corn_, _horn_, _loc_.

_O_, accented, was sounded in Saxon as _oo_ in _cook_, as proved by the cognate words _cóc_, _bóc_, _gód_, _cól_, _fót_, etc.

Final _o_ is chiefly used to form the names of qualities from adjectives, as _menigeo_, the many, multitude. Nouns ending in _o_ are feminine and indeclinable, but they often end in _u_, and in that case have a regular feminine declension.

A few nouns in final _o_ are neuter, and make the genitive in _ewes_, as _ealo_, ale, genitive _ealewes_.

The unaccented _u_ in Anglo-Saxon had most probably the sound of _u_ in _fun_, as testified to by _butt_, _dun_, _munc_, _up_, etc., which have the same meaning in English as in Saxon.

Long _ú_ had the sound of _ou_, or _ow_, in _about_, _foul_, _house_, _town_, as _fúl_, _hú_, _mús_, _nú_, _úre_, Saxon words which have the same signification, as their English representatives most plainly show.

_Eo_ are sometimes used for _u_, as _sweord_, _swurd_, and _y_ for _ú_, as _swytol_, _swútol_. In later times, _u_ was employed for _f_ and _v_, as _luue_, _lufe_, _Dauid_, _David_.

Some few names ending in _u_ are masculine or neuter, but they are mostly feminine, and form the names of qualities from adjectives.

Short _u_ or accented Anglo-Saxon _y_ had the _y_ sounded as in _mystery_, _duty_, as _tynder_, _hyp_, _syn_, _mynster_, which are represented by modern English words of like signification.

The long or accented _y_ had the sound of _y_ in _type_, _sky_, as will be evident from the following cognate words: _lýs_, _fýr_, _hýd_, _brýd_, and _lýf_.

Unaccented _i_ is often used for _y_, and long _i_ for _y_; as _lístan_, _litel_, _minster_ for _lystan_, _lytel_, _mynster_, and _fír_, _bríd_, _líf_, for _fýr_, _brýd_, _lýf_.

SOUNDS OF CONSONANTS.

The consonants have their common English sounds: _c_, like _k_, always; _ch_, like _kh_, in _work-house_; _cw_, like _qu_; _dh_, like English _th_ in a similar word, as _ódher_, other, _dódh_, doth; _g_, like _g_ in _go_, always; _h_, very distinct; _hw_, like _wh_ in New England; _i_ (= _j_), before a vowel, like _y_; _s_, like _s_ in _so_; _t_, like _t_ in _to_; _th_, like _th_ in _thin_; _w_, like _w_; _wl_, _wr_, and final _w_ nearly close the lips; _x_, like _ks_.

ACCENT—ITS USE.

The primary accent is on the first syllable of every word: as, _bródʹ-her_, brother; _unʹ-cúdh_, uncouth.

Proper prefixes in verbs and participles take no primary accent; such are _á_, _an_, _and_, _æt_, _be_, _bi_, _ed_, _far_, _ful_, _ge_, _geord_, _in_, _mis_, _ódh_, _of_, _ofer_, _on_, _or_, _tó_, _thurh_, _un_, _under_, _widh_, _widher_, _ymb_, _ymbe_: _an-ginʹ-nan_, begin; _on-geánʹ_, again. The syllable after the prefix assumes the accent.

Derivatives from nouns, pronouns, or adjectives, retain their accent. Such are all verbs in _and-_, _ed-_, _or-_, found in Anglo-Saxon poetry, and many adverbs in _un-_, etc.

Compounds, formed of adverbs and verbs, retain their accent. Such are these with _æfter_, _bí_, _bíg_, _efen_, _eft_, _fore_, _ford_, _from_, _fram_, _hider_, _mid_, _midher_, _gegn_, _geán_, _gén_, _tó_, _up_, _út_, _wel_.

The inseparable prefixes _á-_, _be-_ (_bi-_), _for-_, _ge-_, are unaccented; as, _á-lýsʹ-ing_, redemption.

A secondary accent may fall in the tone syllable of the lighter part of a compound or on a suffix; as, _ó-fer-cumʹ-an_, overcome.

EUPHONIC CHANGES.

_Gemination_ is the doubling of a letter. When final, or next to a consonant, it is simplified, _mm_ changing to _mb_, _nn_ to _nd_, _ss_ to _st_, _ii_ to _ig_, _un_ to _up_: as, _timbr_ for _timmr_, timber; _spindl_ for _spinnl_, spindle; _lufast_ for _lufass_, lovest; _lufige_ for _lufie_, love; _bearupes_ for _bearuues_, grove. Double _g_ is written _cg_, and double _f_, _bb_.

_Umlaut_ is the assimilation of a vowel by the vowel of the succeeding syllable: _a-umlaut_ changes _i_ to _e_ (_eo_), _u_ to _o_; _i-umlaut_, _a_ to _e_, _u_ to _y_, _ea_ to _y_, _eo_ to _y_, _á_ to _ǽ_, _ó_ to _é_, _ú_ to _ý_, _eá_ to _y_, _eó_ to _ý_; _u-umlaut_, _a_ to _ea_ (_o_), _i_ to _eo_. The _i_ which produces _i-umlaut_ is often changed to _e_ or dropped: as, _man_, plural _men_, from _meni_; _fót_, plural _fét_, feet, from _féti_.

_Breaking_ is the change of one vowel to two by a consonant. _G_, _c_, and _ac_ may break a following _a_ to _ea_, _o_ to _eo_, _i_ to _ie_, _á_ to _eá_, _ó_ to _eó_; _l_, _r_ and _h_ may break a preceding _a_ to _ea_, _i_ to _eo_ (_io_), _ie_: as, _geaf_, gave; _sceó_, shoe; _sealm_, psalm; _hleator_, laughter; _meolc_, milk.

_Shifting_ is the weakening of a letter not produced by other letters: _a_ to _æ_, _ǽ_ to _é_, _eá_ and _eó_ to _é_, etc.; _dæg_, from _dag_, day.

NOUNS—THEIR DECLENSION.

There are two classes of declensions of Anglo-Saxon nouns:—_Strong_, those which have sprung from vowel stems, and _weak_, that which has sprung from stems in _an_. Of the four declensions, the first, second and third are distinguished by the genitive singular ending in _es_, _e_, and _a_, respectively, and the fourth by its termination in _an_.

_Strong nouns_ have all masculines of the first or third declension; all feminines of the second or third, and all neuters of the first.

_Abstract nouns_ have their gender controlled by the terminations. In derivatives, the feminine gender prevails, while compound nouns follow the gender of the last part.

Names of males, of the moon, and of many weeds, flowers, winds, are _masculine_. Nouns representing names of females, of the sun, and of many trees, rivers, and soft and low musical instruments, are _feminine_. _Neuter_ nouns are names of wife, child, as well as diminutives, many general names, and words made an object of thought.

_Epicene nouns_ have one grammatical gender, but are used for both sexes. Names of mammalia, except a few little timid ones, are masculine. Large and fierce birds are masculine; others, especially singing-birds, are feminine; large fishes are masculine, small, feminine; insects are feminine.

While in English there are but three cases, in Anglo-Saxon there are six. The nominative and vocative are always alike; the nominative, accusative, and vocative are alike in all plurals, and in the singular of all neuters and strong masculines. The genitive plural ends always in _á_ or _ená_, and the dative and instrumental always in _um_ (_on_).

Names of women in _u_ or a consonant are strong, those in _e_ or _a_ are weak; while those of men in _u_, _e_ or _a_ consonant are strong, and those in _a_ are weak.

ADJECTIVES.—THEIR DEGREES.

Adjectives, in Anglo-Saxon, have one set of strong and one set of weak endings for each gender. The latter are used when the adjective is preceded by the definite article or some word analogous thereto. Hence, there are two declensions: the _definite_ and the _indefinite_.

Degrees of quantity or quality in adjectives are shown by comparison. They are regularly compared by suffixing to the theme of the primitive _ir_, _er_ or _or_ for the theme of the comparative, and _ist_, _est_ or _ost_ for that of the superlative.

VERBS.—THEIR ATTRIBUTES.

Verbs have two voices. The _active_ represents the subject as acting, the _passive_ as affected by the action. The _active_ has inflective endings for many forms, the _passive_ only for a participle. Other passive forms help this participle with the auxiliary verbs _eom_ (_am_), _beón_, _wesan_, _weordhan_. There is, however, a middle voice, which represents the subject as affected by its own action; but, as this is expressed in Anglo-Saxon by adding pronouns, no paradigms are necessary.

There are six moods. The _indicative_ states or asks about a fact; the _subjunctive_ a possibility; the _imperative_ commands or entreats; the _infinitives_ (and _gerunds_) are substantives, and the _participles_ adjectives. Certain forms of possibility are expressed by auxiliary modal verbs with the infinitive, and these are conveniently called a _potential_ mode.

Five tenses, _present_, _imperfect_, _future_, _perfect_ and _pluperfect_, are found in the language. The present and imperfect have tense stems; the future is expressed by the present, or by the aid of _seal_ (shall) or _wille_ (will); the perfect by help of the present of _habban_ (have) or, with some intransitives, _beón_ (be), _wesan_ or _weordhan_ (be); the pluperfect by the aid of the imperfect of _habban_, _beón_, _wesan_, or _weordhan_.

Verbs are classified for conjugation by the stems of the imperfect tense. _Strong verbs_ express tense by varying the root vowel; _weak verbs_ by composition. Strong verbs in the imperfect indicative singular first person have the root vowel _unchanged_, or changed by accent, which is called _progression_, or by _contraction_ with old reduplication. There are six conjugations. No change is manifest in the root vowel in the first conjugation; the second, third and fourth are varied by accent or progression; the fifth by contraction, and the sixth by composition.

Since all the names derivable from verbs, with which we have to deal in the present work, are concerned with the present infinitive, present indicative of the first person, and perfect participle, it is unnecessary to enter into any elaboration of the verbal inflections. What is needful to be said will appear in its proper place in the derivations.

NAMES—THEIR DERIVATION.

A.

_Abbott._ _Abbud_, an abbot, chief governor, father, or superior of an abbey, convent, or monastery.

_Adkin._ _Eard_, earth; _cyn_, kin, kind. Earth-relative. Akin, contraction of the name.

_Albert._ _Eal_, all; _beorht_, bright. All bright; illustrious.

_Alder._ _Aldor_, life.

_Alice._ _Ætheling_, corrupted into Adeline, thence into Alice. A princess.

_Alison._ _Alice_, a princess; _sun_, a son. Son of Alice; son of a princess.

_All._ _Eal_, all, every, whole.

_Allingham._ _Alling-hám_, from _All_; _ing_, descendant; _hám_, home. Home of Alling; home of the offspring of All.

_Apgar._ _Abgar_, Irish _ab_, a father; _gár_, a spear, a dart. Defender of the father.

_Appleton._ _Æppel-tún_, from _æppel_, an apple; _tún_, town. An apple garden; an orchard.

_Askin._ _Æscwine_, from _æsc_, an ash-tree, ash, ash-spear, a ship, a man; _wine_, a friend. Boats were made of ash, hence a small ship, a skiff. Among the northern nations it was supposed that the first man was made out of ash: hence the word came to signify a man, the chief of men, a leader. Æsc, the name of Hengist’s son, was a leader.

_Ashton._ _Æsc_, Æsc; _tún_, town. The town of Æsc.

_Asquith._ _Æsc_, Æsc; _cýth_, home. The home of Æsc; the home of the ash.

B.

_Bancroft._ _Bán_, pronounced _bawn_, bone; _croft_, a level tract of country, an enclosed field. A graveyard.

_Bald._ _Báld_, bold, courageous, honorable.

_Baldwin._ _Báld_, pronounced _bawld_, bold; _win_, a contest, battle. Bold in battle. Baldewin, Boldwin, less ancient forms of the name.

_Banham._ _Bán_, bone; _hám_, home. The bone-home; the grave.

_Barton._ _Bere_, corn; _tún_, town. A corn-farm; a corn-village; a grange.

_Beal._ _Beal_, evil. Beale, identical in derivation.

_Beda._ _Beada_, counsellor, persuader, exhorter.

_Bedell._ _Bædel_, a beadle. A messenger belonging to a court, or public body; a petty officer in a church.

_Beck._ _Béc_, or _bóc_, a book. Beck, Bock, Bok, analogous names.

_Beckingham._ _Beck_, Beck; _ing_, a son; _hám_, home. The home of the son of Beck.

_Bishop._ _Bisceop_, a bishop, a high-priest, a prelate.

_Blake._ _Blæc_, black. Black, of like parentage.

_Boardman._ _Bórd_, a shield; _man_, a man. A warrior; a knight.

_Brice._ _Brice_, fragment, rupture, violation, use, service. Bryce, only another spelling of the same.

_Brock._ _Bróc_, a brook, a rivulet. Brook, Brooke, from the same root.

_Brooks._ _Brook_, Brook; _s_ for _sun_, son. Son of Brook.

_Bronson._ _Brown_, from _brún_, brown, and _sun_, son. Son of Brown.

_Bront._ _Bront_, raging, streaming. Brunt, doubtless, from the same source. Some, perhaps, would consider it a corruption of _burnt_, made brown.

_Browning._ _Brown_, Brown; _ing_, a descendant. Descendant of Brown.

_Burn._ _Byrne_, burning, a coat of mail, a corselet.

_Burr._ _Búr_, a chamber, a bower. Perhaps, from _beorg_, or _beorh_, a hill.

_Burwick._ _Búr_, a chamber; _wic_, a dwelling, village, camp. The guest-chamber.