Mick Hartley

Palimpsests

Written by

Mick Hartley

in

ve to hear any more of that crap.

So – dammit – enough is enough. I’m here to assert that we in England do have something to be proud of nomenclature-wise – our village names!

Some areas are especially rich. Where are we here? Oughtershaw, Yockenthwaite, Sedbusk, Hubberholme. The Yorkshire Dales of course – just west of Low Borrowbridge, Newbiggin-on-Lune, Maulds Meaburn and Crosby Ravensworth.

Or let’s head south: Piddletrenthide, Haselbury Plucknett, Mappowder, Toller Porcorum, Fifehead Magdalen, Melcombe Bingham (just up from Bingham’s Melcombe), Dowlish Wake, Sutton Poyntz, Melbury Bubb, Sydling St Nicholas…. yes indeed, we’re in Dorset.

And not forgetting Cornwall: Muchlarnick, Propidnick, Towednack, Porthgwarra, Praze-an-Beeble, Nanquidno, Tredrizzick….

But really, anywhere’ll do. Open the atlas at random….Burstwick, Sproatley, Burton Pidsea, Skeffling, Sigglesthorne, Thorngumbald, Owstwick, Great Kelk and Little Kelk…Yorkshire again, near Hull.

I could go on. In fact I will go on. Glooston, Carlton Curlieu, Bruntingthorpe, Copston Magna, Willoughby Waterleys, Peatling Parva, Husbands Bosworth, Theddingworth, Marston Trussell…all just south of Leicester, another random choice.

I’ll spare you any more, but I hope I’ve made my point. We have our own anglo-saxon poetry – and without cheating by crossing over the Welsh border. What it is, it’s (do you hear the swelling strains of Elgar?) the rich palimpsest of our nation’s heritage, stretched out across the green sward of England. Oh yes.

Right, enough of that bollocks…all together now…”By the time I get to Bootle….”.

Comments

  1. dearieme Avatar
    dearieme

    Not forgetting Ms Wood’s joke: “Scotland, where everywhere is spelled Ecclefechan and pronounced Kirkcudbright.”

    Reply
  2. P. Froward Avatar
    P. Froward

    What’s prosaic about “Surrey”, “Essex”, and “Northamptonshire”?! Texas is just… Texas. Distance lends enchantment.
    I once told a friend from the Middle East how cool it would be to visit Damascus — I mean, Damascus, right?! — and she looked at me like I was retarded and said it was a dump. Or a “tip”, I think you guys call it, in your exotic foreign dialect.
    Norm’s absolutely right in romanticizing Texas; I’m just saying that from the right distance, Northamptonshire has a shimmering glamor of its own, too.

    Reply
  3. Dom Avatar
    Dom

    Froward’s right. When I read Norm’s post, I thought, “It must depend on where you live.” In America, most people think British cities have majestically ancient names.
    Here in Pennsylvania (once called New Wales, btw), everyone is proud of the Welsh heritage, like the towns of what was once called the Welsh Tract. Gwynedd, Gwyn-Nor, Pencader, Bala Cynwyd. The “Penney” names are originally Welsh, Penney-Eddy, Penneypack. The town of Galdwynne is faux Welsh, created just to make people think it has a Welsh history, which is doesn’t.
    The flip side? I think American place names are a little dull. The names Maryland and Virginia have trite origins. The best names have Indian histories. Compare Superior to Gitchi Gumi. I once lived in Moyamensing. We knew (or believed) it meant “horse outhouse” but it still sounded cool.

    Reply
  4. marc w Avatar
    marc w

    I like both – the US names that Norm seems to like all have Indian or Spanish roots, meaning they have all sorts of vowels to play with. Colorado as opposed to the equally cool but so-Anglo-Saxon-it-hurts Burstwick.
    There’s nothing like Walla Walla in the UK, but there’s also nothing like Upper Thong or Nether Wallop.

    Reply
  5. Fisking Central - 50 States in Song Avatar
    Fisking Central – 50 States in Song

    We have discovered on the link below that although all 50 American states have been mentioned in songs by ‘popular beat combos’, the names of roughly bugger all UK counties have been put to song. Which is a terrible shame.

    Reply
  6. dom Avatar
    dom

    Nice list at Fisking central, but some songs are not really about the state, such as Kansas City Blues.

    Reply
  7. a Avatar
    a

    Try the wonderfully named Marston Bigot in Somerset, or Druggers End in Worcestershire – not to mention Yorkshire, with great Norse names like Crackpot, Gunnerside, Blubberhouses.
    Scotland’s got some good uns too. Ecclefechan for starters.

    Reply
  8. P. Froward Avatar
    P. Froward

    It’s funny that Dom mentions Welsh names in Eastern PA: I grew up around there, so to my ears Bryn Mawr and Bala Cynwyd sound hideously boring. But just about every Welsh name I’ve heard that hasn’t been used in PA sounds magical to me.
    And how about Scilly? That’s a totally cool name. All I know about it is it’s 35 leagues from Ushant, but what a name, eh?
    Better than Gitchi Gumi is Denali, which sounds just a bit better than Mt. McKinley, doesn’t it?

    Reply
  9. marc w. Avatar
    marc w.

    Yeah, Dom – that list includes a few non-states, such as The Clash’s ‘Washington Bullets.’ I fervently wish that my home state was important enough to be immortalized by the clash, but I fear they’re talking about that other, lesser, Washington.
    Incidentally, a proposed name for Washington was ‘Columbia’ but that was scratched because they thought people would confuse it with the District of Columbia. So they chose Washington. Problem solved, I guess.

    Reply
  10. Sluggo Avatar
    Sluggo

    My grandparents lived in Colwynn-Darby, just outside of Philadelphia. Pennsylvania, of course, also has Intercourse, as well as Blue Ball and Bird in Hand. Out west you have Truth or Consequences in New Mexico. What could be more prosaic than Ordinary, Kentucky? Or Dry Prong, Lousiana? North Dakota has a Mott and a Hoople. A lot of American town names seem like the first thing that came to mind. Those English village names (most of which I’m certain you made up) seem like they were written there on a stone when people first arrived.

    Reply
  11. Moonhogg Avatar
    Moonhogg

    Woo Hoo!! I just wanted to say that I am amazed that Sproatley has actually made it into someone’s website!! Not a rare event.
    And for the record, “Sproatley” is translated as “Clearing between the trees”.

    Reply

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