Part 8

In the mountainous district of Weardale, one of the most important North of England rivers is cradled, and into this isolated highland dale the Celtic name of the Durham river has penetrated. Almost all the English rivers have retained the names given to them by the Celts, and _avon_, _dur_, _esk_, _rhe_, and _don_, are Celtic roots repeated, over and over again, in names of streams, not only in England, but on the Continent. In the name Nent Water, in Cumberland, we have the simple name "water," and the Cymric _nant_, a hollow or valley formed by water--a common name in Wales. Writers mention Nant Lle as+ the vale of Lle; Nant Gwyrfai, the vale of fresh water; Nant Frangon, the beavers’ hollow or ravine; and Pennant, the head of the valley. The little village Nenthead, on the western slope of Killhope, is the head of the valley. From the root _dwr_, water, and the frequently occurring Celtic _gwent_, an open region, comes Derwent, the name of the stream on the north of Weardale, and of various other rivers in England. The local pronunciation, however, in the district of Derwent is _Darwen_, which suggests _dwr_ and _gwen_, the clear water.

The River Wear is formed by the joint streams of Killhope and Burnhope Burns, which meet at Wearhead village. Its course through the dale is rapid, receiving many tributaries from the hopes. On reaching Auckland it takes a north-easterly course. "And now," says Camden, "the river, as though it proposed to make an island, compasseth almost on every side the chief city of this province standing on an hill, whence the Saxons gave it the name _Dunholm_. For as you may gather out of Bede, they call an hill _dun_, and a river island _holme_." The Wear, which enters the sea at Sunderland, was called _Vedra_ by Ptolemy, _Wirus_ by Bede, and in Bishop Pudsey’s time (1153-94) the name was written _Were_, the same as we find in Hatfield, 1380, Holinshed 1577, and Camden 1604. The latter form is the proper modern spelling up to about the last century, when _Were_ became _Wear_, the present form of the name of St. Cuthbert’s stream. Ferguson, on the authority of Pott, gives the Sanscrit _ud_, _udon_, water, from which comes the German _wasser_, English _water_, as the root of Ptolemy’s _Vedra_.[8] _Wirus_ suggests the Celtic _gwyrhe_, rapid water. Perhaps _gwy_ or _wy_, water, and _garw_ or _arw_, rough, form the roots. The former root enters into the names of several rivers, as the Wye, Edwy, Elwy, and others. In all the forms of spelling the river-name of Durham the letter "r" is conspicuous. It is the principal one in _arw_, which enters into the names of several streams--the Ayr, Are, Aire, Arre, being variations of this widely diffused root. The Welsh _rhe_, rapid, with _gwy_, may show equal claim to notice as first mentioned--namely, _gwyrhe_. Omitting the initial _g_ in the first, and the middle letter in the second, root, we have _wyre_.

A _hope_ is a small opening running up to the mountain ridges as a tributary to a main stream. From the burns again branch out _grains_, which, fed by springs, issue from _brocs_. The _cleugh_, _gill_, and _sike_, contribute their waters generally to the burns, whilst a _well_ may come from a _dene_, and empty into the main stream. The western dales of Durham are pre-eminently dales of _hopes_. This word is the Celtic _hwpp_, a slope or hollow between hills--a little dale in which a stream of water gathers. These openings at the sides of the dale may very properly be termed places of refuge, places of shelter for animals, such as the deer, and in these days we find sheep located in the various _hopes_, where they have their _heft_--a locality to which they become attached; Anglo-Saxon _hæft_, from the having a holding or place. The Norse _hop_ is a place of shelter or refuge. An inquiry into the Bishop’s possessions of game in Weardale, nearly three hundred years ago, particularly mentioned forests, parks, _hopes_ and pastures. The place-name _hope_ is common throughout the hilly parts of Durham, Northumberland, Yorkshire, and Derbyshire. In the neighbouring parish of Wolsingham there are Harehope, Ouselhope, and Thornhope; in Allendale Swinhope, Sinderhope, Ellershope, and Mohope; the Boldon Buke records in the Bishopric, Ayleshope, Rokehope, Cazhope, Refhope, Horsleyhope, Histeshope, Baldingehope, Burnhop, and Roueleiehope; and in Teesdale we have Egleshope and Hudeshope. In Weardale we have the Hope, sometimes called Stanhope Hope, probably to distinguish it from the town of Stanhope.

In Weardale there are sixteen _hopes_, distinguished in name by some characteristic feature, as represented in their respective initial components.

Burnhope and Killhope, with Wellhope, are the three vales which contribute their streams to form the Wear at Wearhead. The initial components _burn_, _kil_ and _wel_, are all Anglo-Saxon, meaning water, and have been given according to the custom of the early settlers. From the head of the River Wear, the hopes, striking into the hills encircling the head of the dale, are those out of which come water. _Burn_hope is the hope of the burn, Anglo-Saxon _burne_, a stream; _Kill_hope is from Anglo-Saxon _keld_, a fountain; we have also Icelandic _keld_, Danish _kilde_, Norse _kill_, a fountain or brook; _Well_hope from Anglo-Saxon _wyl_, _wel_, a well or fountain--hence they are all the hopes of water. _Kil_ is the Scotch and Irish word denoting a church, and if the situation had been favourable, and had there been any evidence of a St. Godric having been located here, as at Wolsingham, we might have had the hope of the _kil_, kirk, or church, but in Camden we find _Kelhop_ and _Welhop_. Leland, at an earlier date, gives _Kelhope_ and _Welhop_, and Holinshed _Kellop_. Brocket says _keld_ is a word used in Yorkshire, Westmorland, and Cumberland, for a well or spring. Taylor gives _kell_ and _well_ as synonymous terms for a place from whence water flows. We read in Simeon of Durham of the Scots, in A.D. 1070, having marched through Cumberland and devastated Teesdale and the parts bordering; then they came to the place called in English, Hundredeskelde--that is, "the hundred springs." Barnard Castle water-supply comes from a place called Spring Keld.

One of the Bishopric knights at the Battle of Lewis was Sir Henry Merley, of Herkeld, in Witton; and Besanskeldes is a Boldon Buke place-name. We thus have, at the western confines of the county of Durham, the hopes of water, and which pour forth their streams to form the main river of the historic county of Durham.

Ireshope, Middlehope, and Westernhope, derive their initial components from their position. _Middle_hope occupies a central position in the forest. The first tributary burn to the Wear after its formation is, of course, the most western one, _Ire_shope, from Erse _iar_, the west. Snowhope, sheltered under the southern hills, retains patches of its winter covering long enough, no doubt, to have warranted its name--_Snawhope_, as it was formerly written, Anglo-Saxon _snaw_, Danish _snee_, German _schnee_, Belgic _sneeuw_--a name given to many mountains subject to being covered in winter, as Snafell in Iceland, Sneekoppe in Bohemia, Sneeuw Bergen at the Cape of Good Hope, Snee Hatten in Norway, Snafell in the Isle of Man, and Snowdon in Wales. In respect to Ireshope, there is the Anglo-Saxon _yrfe_, _erfe_, _irfe_, inheritance, from the root _ar_; Old English _ear_, _earth_, as the _Ar_yan races were the tillers of the ground. There is also a root _ar_ applied to rivers, as the _Ayr_, _Are_, and _Aire_: Welsh _araf_, gentle; Gaelic _ar_, slow; Celtic _arw_, violent--some of which might apply.

Stanhope and Rookhope are characteristic names in a district of stone and rock. In the Boldon Buke and Hatfield’s Survey we have Stanhope, Rokhop, and in the times of Bishop Beck, Stanehop, and Stanhop. The first components in these names are from Anglo-Saxon _stan_, German _stein_, Icelandic _sten_, Danish _steen_, a stone; and Gaelic _roc_, a mass of stone. The district is full of stones, as the many stone fences which net the whole of the inlands and the higher lands to the moors testify. From Boltsburn village the Rookhope stream runs over successive edges of limestone and freestone, and culminates in a grand display by leaping over several picturesque linns at Eastgate.

[Illustration: THE KEPIER HOSPITAL.]

Two of the place-names, Harthope and Swinhope, carry us back to the wild beasts of the forest. One was the lodging-ground or resort of the hart or stag, Anglo-Saxon _heort_; and the other gets its initial component from Anglo-Saxon _swin_, _swyn_, a swine; Old German _suin_, traceable back to the Sanskrit _su_. The boar tusks found in Heatheryburn Cave, and the Roman altar at Stanhope Rectory, testify to Weardale being the abode of boars. The local word _aswin_, obliquely, Welsh _asswyn_, does not apply to this place-name. A far more probable etymology is the Celtic _swyn_, holy. Charnock is of opinion that the several rivers named "swine" or "swin" may be from this root.

Bolihope, the name of a considerable subvalley on the south of Frosterley and Stanhope, is interesting, if not so easily explained. The name is evidently associated with the district of Frosterley, where the stream from Bolihope enters the Wear. At this village we have as place-names Bottlingham and Bot’s Well, and the ancient chapel is said to have been dedicated to St. Botolph. Bishop Beck granted to Walter Berington twenty-seven acres of land in Bothelinghopp. The initial component would suggest the Anglo-Saxon _botel_, _botl_, _botles_, an abode, mansion, or dwelling; also Norse _botl_, German _buttel_. Leo, however, says that very few Anglo-Saxon names of places are united with this word. Bolton was formerly written Bodeltune. This, however, does not appear to be the etymon of the name in question, as _botel_ and _ham_, both Saxon for a dwelling, would not be found in one name. A large number of names of places have the Saxon patronymic _ing_, which often forms the medial syllable, such as Wolsingham, Darlington, Easington, Washington, Heighington, and, if the medial syllable of the name under consideration be the Saxon patronymic, then it is an Anglo-Saxon place-name--the home of the sons of some Saxon named Bottel. Bot is a Scandinavian personal name, but we find the Saxon Byttingas and Potingas, _Liber Vitæ_, Bota, and Frisian Botte. The personal name Pottel--which by the law of interchange of initial letters might become Bottel--would explain that the _hope_ and the _ham_ were belonging to the son of some Saxon settler of this name, as elsewhere mentioned.

Boltshope is a small offshoot from Rookhope. Bolt, as an iron-door bolt, is from Anglo-Saxon and Danish _bolt_, German _bolgen_, from the root _bole_, round as the bole of a tree. The Anglo-Saxon _bold_, _bolt_, originally _búld_, _búlt_, means a house or dwelling, an abode; Danish _bolig_; and we have mention made in Hatfield of Bold Shell in Rookhope. Boltsburn is the village of the Rookhope Valley, and is situated at the foot of Boltshopeburn. At the top of the hope is Bolts Law, which is probably the place earliest named, and in all probability is from a personal name. Bold Shield would not be from the Anglo-Saxon _bold_, an abode, but is evidently Bold’s shield, the _shield_, or home, of Bold, as the eminence might be the _law_ of Bold or Bolt.

_Dene_ is from the Celto-Saxon _den_, a deep, wooded valley; Anglo-Saxon _den_, _dene_, _denn_. The best specimen of this kind of valley in the county of Durham is probably Castle Eden Dene, a wooded, narrow valley near the sea. Its name is interesting, and contains the ancient and modern spelling. Its earliest name was evidently Eden, from _ea_ or _e_, water, and _den_, a wooded valley; and this becoming a proper name, a second _den_ was added--namely, Eden Dene, which gives us water-dene-dene. We have also in the north Hesleden, Deneholm, and Hardwick Dene.

_Burn_, _grain_, _broc_, are allied. The first of these may be said to be as pure Weardale as Saxon. Whilst the Norse _beck_ crowds the banks of Teesdale, it does not exist in Weardale. _Burn_ spreads from this dale northward through Durham, Northumberland, and Scotland. _Beck_ is as foreign to Weardale as the Danish test-word _by_ and the Norwegian _thwaite_, though all the three names crowd around, close to the very hills on the south and west of the dale of the Wear. Within the bounds of Stanhope parish the Wear is fed by several tributary burns. These streams receive or are formed at the head by _grains_, and the grains are fed by springs from the _brocks_. _Brock_ is from Anglo-Saxon _broc_, _brece_, to break forth--the place where the water first breaks through the earth--hence _brook_, literally water running through the earth. A _brock_ is a little hollow a few feet wide, formed by water breaking through the ground, and washing out a miniature valley. The moors of Weardale and surrounding district abound with these broken places, which are mostly known to shepherds and game-shooters. They exist on the top of the fells, where they are the only natural shelters. Platey Brock, on Chapel Fell, receives its name from an exposed plate or shale bed. To show how numerous these places are, I will mention that on Burnhope Moor there are also Coldberry Brocks, Limestone Brocks, Highfield Brocks, Wester Langtayhead Brocks, Todsyke Brocks, Lodgegill Brocks, Scraith Head Brocks, Browngill Brock, Cocklake Brock, Sally-Grain Brocks, Lang Brock. To the above may be added the better-known names of Black Brocks, or Moss Brocks, in Burnhope, and Welhope Brocks.

_Grain_, Icelandic _grein_, is a division, a branch, as the grain of a fork; Danish _green_, a branch, a bough. Generally the branches at the head of a burn are distinguished by north and south, and east and west grains; and sometimes by name, as Sally Grain in Burnhope, and Jopla Grains in Bolihope. "East Graine under Craggs" is in Bolihope. At Harthope Head there are the east and west grains, which meet and form the burn. In addition to the sixteen hopes previously mentioned, from twelve of which flow the principal tributary burns to the Wear, there are some thirty secondary streams, named _burn_, Anglo-Saxon _burne_, a _bourn_, stream, brook, river, and which are distinguished by the names of the hope, or place, from which they flow, or from some other characteristic feature or condition.

Sowen Burn, near Stanhope, is a very characteristic specimen, the adjectival component being the Old English _sounen_, sound, the noisy burn, or, rather, the sounding burn.

Fine Burn, in Bolihope, is so named owing to the stream being a line of boundary. The words "fine," "confines," "finish," "finis," mark the end, and the above stream is the boundary between the parishes of Stanhope and Wolsingham. The Roman camp, _ad fines_ camps, is situated close to the border-line between England and Scotland.

In Rookhope Smails Burn implies the small burns--Anglo-Saxon _smala_, small--two little runners rendered somewhat historic in the days of Border broils, as we find in the old ballad of Rookhope Ryde. In the same district we have Red Burn, and Over Red Burn. _Red_ is from Anglo-Saxon _read_, _rud_; Danish _röd_, red, the red stream; or the Celtic _rhyd_, a ford; whilst _over_ is from the Anglo-Saxon _ofer_, a shore, or _ofer_, over, above or higher--hence High Redburn.

Yeky Burn is from Anglo-Saxon _æc_, _eac_, oak, the stream of the oaks. There are two Heathery Burns, one associated with the noted cave at Stanhope. Old spelling hetherie, hetherye, hethery, from heath, Anglo-Saxon _hæth_, Scotch heather.

The name _well_ is given to a large number of tiny streams in Weardale. Dutch _wellen_, Anglo-Saxon _wel_, a fountain of water, and in Saxon names of places, _wel_, _wyl_, and _well_ often occur.

Kelhope and Welhope are literally the hopes out of which water _wells_. The source of the latter is named Wellheads. At the head of smaller wells there are _springs_, places where water springs out--Anglo-Saxon _springan_--hence we have such names as Spring Wells, Whitewell Spring, White Wells, White Springs.

Ludwell is the people’s well, Anglo-Saxon _leod_, people. This water springs out of a cave in the great limestone, where, in olden times, the Weardale folks might have congregated, for the Saxon prefix shows it to have been the well of the people, like Ludlaw, the people’s hill, suggesting the days of village communities, and the days of superstition when wells were in many cases held sacred. These were generally iron wells--locally, _haliwells_. There are many wells known as holywells in this district, some of which are also termed _spa_-wells. This term is from the bath town, Spa, in Belgium, derived from _espa_.

Of other wells proper, we might mention Sunderland Well, Hunterley Well, Huntshield Well, Black Dene Well, Carrbrow Well, Earnwell; Anglo-Saxon _earn_, _ern_, an eagle--the eagle’s well. Several names of places in England are from the eagle. Toft Well, east of Stanhope, is the well in the toft or field, and the initial in Totley Well is probably from toft. Bot’s Well, at Frosterley, is supposed to be that of St. Botolph, to which saint, the old chapel, close by the well, was dedicated. Poppet Well is a curious name, and is probably "coppet," from _cop_, a head. The adjectival component in Duntert Well is evidently the same as in Dunter Linn, at Eastgate. Boutes Well is Bolts Well, as in Boltsburn. Berry Well is apparently the well of the mountain, Anglo-Saxon _beorg_, _beorh_, a hill, a mountain. At Newhouse there is a Bank Spring, and at Westgate a Spring Bank, indicating at each place a bank and a spring of water. Cuthbert’s Spring, near Westgate, is in honour of the patron saint of Durham, and it is no wonder that we find the name of St. Cuthbert associated with names of places. On Harthope Moor, and close to the road, is an excellent spring called Jenny’s Meggie, and at Frosterley a spring is called Meggie.

_Cleugh_, _gill_, and _sike_ are associated with water. We have in the parish of Stanhope, in round numbers, 30 _cleughs_, 10 _gills_, and 70 _sikes_. _Cleugh_ is from the Anglo-Saxon _clough_, a cleft down the side of a hill; Danish _kloft_; Norwegian _kliufa_, to split--a narrow ravine more like a cleft in the hill than a water-worn valley. Yearn Cleugh, written _earne_ in 1666, is the eagle’s haunt, or that of the falcon, the latter being once reared in Weardale for the purpose of the Bishop’s hunt.

In 1666 we find mention of Addercleugh, the adder being frequently found in Weardale. Whick Cleugh--in 1595 written Weekerclough--is probably from the Anglo-Saxon _wic_, a marsh, but more probably from _wice_, the mountain ash, or rowan-tree, well known in the dale, and also known as the wich-elm.

_Gill_ is from the Norse _gil_, a mountain chasm, a glen or fissure in the hillside. For this name we are indebted to the Norwegians, who peopled the neighbouring county of Cumberland. The best-known places of this class are Aller Gill, Lodge Gill, and Dry Gill, as being associated with habitations and lead mines. The first is the _gill_ of the alders. In Burnhope there is Lodge Gill, a well-known name owing to a once famous lead-mine being there situated. The name very probably originated from some forest animal lodging there, as we find Lodge Field, Anglo-Saxon _logian_, to place, put, lodge--the field where probably deer were lodged in the forest-hunting days of the princely Bishops of Durham.

In Burnhope, a lead-mine in 1666 was called Hesley Gill--the hazel gill. In Witton Gill we may have a very important place-name, for here may be the gill of the witness--the spot where the inhabitants met, similar to the meetings held in primitive times at particular stones. Leo says: "By the names Wittan-ig, Wittan-mor, Wittan-mær, and Readan-stan, we are informed of those national and provincial meetings for self-government which have always characterized our race." Anglo-Saxon _witan_, to know; Icelandic _vita_; German _wissen_, to know. The _Witena gemot_ Bosworth explains as "the assembly of the wise, the supreme council of the nation." Edred the Saxon King held a witan at Ginge, in the parish of West Hendred, Berks, and there is a Witan Dyke at Worthe in Hants, whilst in our valley there is the village of Witton-le-Wear. Mirke Gill in Bolihope is the dark gill from the Anglo-Saxon _myrc_, Icelandic _myrk_, dark. It is curious to notice how the Danish and Saxon _cleugh_, the Norwegian _gill_, and the Anglo-Saxon _burn_, are intermixed in Rogerley-Gill-Burn, Willowgreen-Burn-Gill, and Stock-Gill-Cleugh; but such are many names of places, for if the term _burn_ was not understood by a Norwegian settler, he would add his own term, _gill_; if this was not sufficiently clear to a Saxon, _burn_ would be added to convey his own meaning of a mountain-stream, and in a similar manner the various races of mankind have stratified and built one upon another the various components of place-names which are ethnological and historical landmarks too invaluable not to be closely investigated.

_Sike_ or _syke_ is a very common local name. It is from Anglo-Saxon _sic_, _sich_, Icelandic _sikje_, Norse _siki_. Sullivan says a _sike_ is the drainage of a marsh, and that all sikes were once marshes. Natural productions have given names to several sikes, as the marshy hollows were the homes of trees, grasses, and animals; hence we have Rowantree Sike, where there is an excellent ironstone mine; Saugh Sike, two Aller Sikes, Rushy Sike, Bents Sike, Moss Sike, and Birk Sike. Where we find trees we find birds, so we have Hawk Sike, Hawk Sikes near Stanhope, and Snipe Sike. Todd Sike is where the fox haunted, and Goat Sike wants no explanation. Chisholm Sike, Anglo-Saxon _ceosel_, _ceosl_, gravel, sand, the sike by the gravelly or sandy holm. In Teesdale there is a Whey Sike, in Burnhope a Whoe Sike, and in Ireshope a Hoe Sike. In Middlehope there is Scar Sike, the sike of the rock. Anglo-Saxon _carr_, Danish _skær_, Swedish _skar_, a projecting or prominent rock, a cliff--as Scarborough, Scarthwaite, Scarcliff, and Scarsdale, written in Doomsday Book, Scarnesdele. At Middleton on the Tees there is a place called Skears, and _scarr_, _skarr_, _skire_, are forms found in place-names. Whetstone Sike is where the whetstone sill is exposed.

A _linn_ is a deep or still pool, from the Celtic _llyn_, water, a lake, flood; Anglo-Saxon _hlynna_, a brook. In the North of England, however, a _linn_ is understood to be a cascade or cataract, evidently owing to the waterfall being a more attractive feature in a river scene than the linn or pool, which is always found at the bottom of a fall. In Scotland a _lin_, _lyn_, is described as a cataract, and in a secondary sense the pool below. In Ireland _lin_ is a pool; and the Icelandic form of the word is _lind_. The most attractive _linns_ in Weardale are Linnkirk, on Shittlehope Burn, near Stanhope--a romantic spot where there is a tiny waterfall and a cave close by in the great limestone; the Dunter Linn and Holm Linn at Eastgate; and the Linny--a waterfall on the Harthope Burn, near St. John’s Chapel. The Danish _dundre_ is to make a noise like thunder, and the Scotch _dunder_ has the same meaning. The Saxon Donar is the god of thunder, hence Dunter Linn is that which makes a great noise.