which wild animals and ancient Britons found shelter, Weardale
ultimately became an Anglo-Saxon district, influenced by the blending of
the Scandinavian element in dialect and names of places, owing to its
proximity to the Danelagh on the south, and the Norwegian settlement in
Cumberland on the west. The whole of the Palatinate appears to have
remained Saxon through the Danish rule except the northern banks of the
Tees. We know little of Weardale at this period. Situated amidst
mountains, and lying next the Strathclyde, it was probably as much
Celtic as Saxon; but the division of counties, however, was made in 953
by the Saxon Edred, or Eadred, and the Weardale people would know their
county, for, on the bleak and heather-clad fell of Burnhope, the limits
of the Palatinate is marked by a pile of stones, called "eade
stones"--evidently King Eadred’s stones--the boundary established by
that Saxon monarch. Weardale and Teesdale, however, under the power of
the Normans, were destined to be turned into desolate wastes; yet, as we
shall see, the Saxon names of places survived the desolation of fire and
sword.
If we examine the names of places in the Bishopric of Durham a century
or so after the Danish rule had ceased and the Norman rule had been
established, we shall find a large percentage of Saxon suffixes. In the
Boldon Buke, A.D. 1183, there are some 151 names of manors, wards,
vills, etc., in which, with a few other names in charters of about the
same period, we have 45 endings, or suffixes, in 175 names of places.
The Anglo-Saxon test-word, _ton_, figures in no less than 34 of these
principal names of places: as Darlington, a settlement of the Deorlings;
Stockton, the stockaded town; Haughton, the haugh town; Morton, the moor
town; Norton, the north town; Essington, the home or settlement of the
Essings, as the Herrings gave a name to Herrington. Of the other Saxon
suffices we have: _ley_ 25, _burn_ 14, _don_ 8, _worth_ 6, _ford_ and
_ham_ 5 each; and the Celtic _hope_, common in the Anglo-Saxon North,
occurs 8 times. Thus, 8 endings take up 105 of the names of places in
Boldon Buke, the remaining 70 names having 37 endings. The Danish
test-words, _by_ and _thorpe_, only occur once each--Killerby and Thorp.
These names do not show that the Vikings made permanent settlements
north of the Tees. In Teesdale we find in Domesday Book, A.D. 1086,
Lontune, Mickleton, Lertinton, and Codrestune, having the Saxon ending
_tun_ or _ton_; but though the names of these places were English, the
places themselves were, or had been, belonging to a Dane, for they were
then in the hands of Bodin, and had formerly been Torfin’s--a person
named from the Scandinavian god Thunder, or Thor. Hundredestoft and
Rochebi have the Danish _toft_ and _by_, and, like many other names,
such as Thorsgill and Balders Dale, point to the influence and power of
the Scandinavians and their heathen worship in the neighbouring dale of
the Tees.
In the five northern counties, Worsaae returns Danish-Norwegian
place-names in the following order: Westmorland 158, Cumberland 142,
Durham 23, Northumberland 22, and Yorkshire in its three Ridings 405.
The ending _by_ occurs 167 times in Yorkshire, and _thorpe_ 95 times;
whilst 7 of each are ascribed to Durham, and but 1 of the latter only to
Northumberland. Yorkshire, however, on a closer inquiry, shows over 250
names of places containing the element _by_, and over 160 of that of
_thorpe_, the former predominating in the North and West, and the latter
in the East and West Ridings. Of the 83 names ending in the Norwegian
test-word _thwaite_, as mentioned by Worsaae, 80 occur in the northern
district, Yorkshire 9, Lancashire 14, Westmorland 14, and in Norwegian
Cumberland 43, whilst there are no _thwaites_ in Durham or
Northumberland. The evidence adduced from names of places thus goes to
prove that the Angles of Durham and Northumberland, though under the
yoke of the Danes during the ascendancy of the Scandinavian power, have,
from their first settlement, continued on their adopted soil through all
the vicissitudes incident to the descents of the Britons from the
western mountains, the inroads of the Picts and Scots, the ravages of
the Vikings, and the subduing marches of the powerful William of
Normandy.
Northumbria, as of old, may be divided into two provinces in respect to
its place-names--Deira, the district of the Danes, and Bernicia, the
district of the Angles, the central boundary-line being the River Tees.
The Norse _beck_ and Anglo-Saxon _burn_ distinctively mark this line
between these districts in the upper reaches of the valleys of the Wear
and Tees. The mountain-range from Burnhope Seat, at the western confines
of Durham, eastward to Paw Law Pike, forms the south division between
the parishes of Stanhope in Weardale and Middleton in Teesdale. The
principal tributaries of the Tees, on the south of this ridge, are
_becks_, whilst those on the Wear side are _burns_. In Weardale, at the
north-western extremity, Scraith _Burn_ and Langtay _Burn_ contribute to
Burnhope _Burn_. On the Tees side, rising within half a mile or so of
the above burns, Ashgill _Beck_ contributes its waters to Harewood
_Beck_. Farther eastward we have Harthope _Burn_ on the Weardale side,
and Harthope _Beck_, which runs into Langdon _Beck_, on the Teesdale
side, both streams rising on Harthope Fell, and within a few yards of
each other.
Continuing eastward, we find several _becks_ on the southern border of
the county of Durham. In 1672 a Teesdale stream was named Raygill Burn,
having the Celtic _ray_, the Norse _gill_, and the Saxon _burn_. In the
adjoining parish of Wolsingham, in the Wear valley, nearly all the
tributaries are named _becks_ in the Ordnance map, but these are, with
one or two exceptions, originally all _burns_. In an old document of
Queen Elizabeth’s time we find in this parish, Wascrow _Burn_,
Westerharehope _Burn_, Hadderly Clough _Burn_, Houselop _Burn_, Bradley
_Burn_, Collier _Beck_ and Ells _Beck_. There do not appear to be more
than two _becks_ in this parish, Ells Beck and Holbeck, the latter a
small runner near Holbeck House, the home of the Craggs family, one of
whom was the Right Hon. James Craggs, Secretary of State.
In the Wolsingham names of streams that of Wascrow is generally now
called Waskerley; its real name, however, appears to be Westcrau, from
_crau_, a crag or rock, and _west_; or its adjectival component might be
_wæs_, water. Houselop is Ouselhope, the hope of the _Ousel_ or _Ouse_,
Welsh _wysg_, Erse _uisge_, water. Ouse is a common river name.
Having so many Anglo-Saxon names of places in the eastern part of the
Bishopric of Durham, it is natural to suppose that the settled families
of the Angles would send offshoots along the banks of the Wear, up into
the dale where the river had its source. Wolsingham--the Saxon
metropolis of Weardale, for its ancient manor included the whole of the
Wear valley westward--is the _ham_ or home of the sons or descendants of
a family of Franks, represented in Kemble’s English settlement names in
Wælsingas, and in the German Walasingas, a family who probably settled
in the South of England and sent their sons to the North, for Durham,
according to Taylor, contained no original Anglo-Saxon settlements.
East of Wolsingham but a few miles is Witton, the _ton_, or town of
witness, Anglo-Saxon _witena-gemot_. North of Weardale lie Hunstanworth
and Edmundbyres, so the dale of the Wear is surrounded by towns having
the Anglo-Saxon suffixes, _ton_, _ham_, and _worth_, except the Danish
_byre_ of St. Edmund.
Along the banks of the Wear, three miles west of Wolsingham, is situated
the village of Frosterley. Here early settlers appear to have had an
abode on the banks of the river. The present name of the village is
evidently derived from the forest or foresters of the Bishops of Durham,
who resided here to manage the great forest westward, but the
Scandinavian personal name, Frosti, is worthy of consideration. There
appears, however, to have been a far earlier settlement here. A very
small enclosure near the river-side is named Bottlingham, but not a
vestige of a settlement remains, and the name of the small plot of
ground is all that is now left. Bolihope, a tributary valley to the
Wear, and which empties its burn into the river a hundred yards or two
below the place under consideration, was called, in Bishop Bec’s time,
Bothelinghopp. In these two names we have the _hope_ and the _ham_ of
some Anglo-Saxon settlers, named Pottel, which by the law of interchange
might become Bottel. Bodvulf, who died in 655, was canonized, having
founded the monastery of Ikano. This saint’s relics were dispersed,
hence several churches are dedicated to St. Botolph, and Bottlebridge is
St. Botolph’s bridge. The old chapel at Frosterley was, according to
tradition, dedicated to St. Botolph, and close to the chapel site there
is Bot’s Well, a name which would appear to confirm the local tradition
in respect to the dedication.
Stanhope, too, with its Anglo-Saxon initial syllable _stan_, a stone,
and Celtic _hope_, had an older settlement in all probability than the
present town, which takes its name from the adjoining Hope, which is
full of rocks or stones. At the west end of Stanhope town there is a
small stream called Allerton Burn, which gathers its waters near
Allerton Riggs, lying north-west of Stanhope. The stream joins the Hope
Burn, near Stanhope Hall, but where is Allerton? which is, or was, the
_ton_ or town beside the allers or alders, or more probably the enclosed
place of some Saxon named Alder or Ealder, from Anglo-Saxon _ald_, old,
and _hari_, warrior. The site of this place was most likely near
Allerton Bridge at Stanhope Hall, and this old hall residence--the seat
of the Fetherston-halghs, from the days of King Stephen--probably
represents the spot which we are in search of; it occupies a tongue of
land between the confluence of the Allerton and Stanhope Burns.
Seven hundred years ago, persons bearing the Saxon names of Osbert,
Ethelred, Meldred, Goda, Aldred, Collan, and others, held lands at
Stanhope, and did service under the Bishops of Durham.
Considering the close proximity of the principal Danish settlement in
England, that of Yorkshire, it would not be surprising if an inquiry
into local names of places revealed the fact that the followers of
Odin’s prophetic raven had left a footprint of some value in the Durham
dales. The most remarkable, if not unique, footprint of the adventurous
Northmen is preserved in the word _thing_, pronounced _ting_, which in
names of parishes and places points out the localities where the
Vikings, in their days of rule, held their outdoor national assemblies,
and promulgated their national laws.
When the daring Northmen touched the shores of England, subdued in the
year 867 Northumbria, and set up Inguar, the first Danish King, as
ruler, they brought with them, and implanted, their traditions and
customs.
In Weardale there is a Thimbleby Hill, on the south side of the Wear,
opposite Stanhope, and if the Danes were in this dale for the purpose
of assembling a _thing_ or council, this hill is the one above all
others which they would have chosen. It has on the top a considerable
flat, and it overlooks Stanhope Town on the north, commands a most
excellent view down the valley eastward, and up the valley westward,
whilst to the south lies a rising heath-covered ridge. The position of
the hill would at once recommend itself to the Danes, who always took
care to have their national courts held in places which would be free
from surprise; and it is possible that Shield Ash represents the
shealings of ash bows, erected for the accommodation of those attending
the court. Stanhope is in Darlington _Wapentake_, which word is Danish,
and each wapentake had its court or _thing_. Presuming that the Danes
held a council at Stanhope, they do not appear to have established
themselves to any extent; but, as we find the Danish _toft_, as in Toft
Well, and a place in Bolihope, named in Hatfield’s Survey Turpenstanes,
the boundary stones of _Thorfinn_, a Danish personal name, and that in
A.D. 1183 persons holding the Scandinavian names of Russell, Thore,
Arkil, and a son of Turkill, held lands at Stanhope, it would not be a
matter of surprise if a Danish council did take place in Weardale, which
is situated so close to the Danish district, and which was under the
rule of the first Danish King in England.
One of the most striking instances of the Norwegian element in Weardale,
is what was fifty or sixty years ago the "national" winter sport of the
dale. This was _skeeing_, the national sport of Norway. Within the
memory of a few of the oldest inhabitants no snowy winter passed in
Weardale without this sport being practised to its full extent.
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.