Oxford, July 22. 1851.
_Meaning of "Deal"_ (Vol. iv., p. 88.).--I think the following may help
to throw a little light upon the use of the word _deal_ as meaning
_divide_. I was in Wensleydale about a month ago; and on inquiring where
the boundary between the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire ran, was
told, "On the top of Penhill, where God's water deals" (_i. e._ the rain
divides). I may further add, on my own knowledge, that in the north-west
corner of Suffolk, where the country is almost entirely open, the
boundaries of the different parishes are marked by earthen mounds, from
three to six feet high, which are known in the neighbourhood as _dools_
the word being probably derived from the same root. I have been told,
however, that it should be spelled _duals_, and that the derivation of
it was from the Latin _duo_ as marking two parishes; but I am sure that
it is always pronounced by the country-people at a monosyllable, and
therefore the chances are in favour of the former derivation being the
right one.
_A propos_ to Suffolk, another of your correspondents (Vol. iv., p. 55)
lately mentioned the fashion the people there have of leaving out the
_ve_ in the middle of the names of places. In this I can bear him
witness also; but I do not think it is confined to those letters only:
_e. g._ Eriswell, pronounced _Asel_; Wymondham (in Norfolk) _Wyndham_,
&c. Among those names of places in which the _ve_ is left out, your
correspondent has omitted Elved_e_n (commonly, though erroneously,
Elved_o_n), which is always called and often spelled _Elden_.