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SUMMARY OF THE NAMES OF PLACES in the Weald (within the Chalk escarpment), ENDING IN

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There are some deans and dens on the Sussex Chalk; the former are apparently always in valleys. Of the dens, there is one (Finden) in a broad valley north of Worthing. There are four Mardens near the western boundary of Sussex; they are partly on high ground, and are on that part of the Sussex Chalk which is now in great part wooded, and which was probably more wooded formerly. According to Lower, however, these places are misnamed. Finden is the vulgar pronunciation of Findon, its proper name; in "Domesday" it is written Findune. The Mardens are in "Domesday" Merdon.+ Very few of the Kentish dens are found in "Domesday," but what there are appear as den or dene. These places on the Sussex Chalk are therefore not dens at all.

With regard to such names, Mr. Kemble says, "In looking over a good county map we are surprised by seeing the systematic succession of places ending in den, holt, wood, hurst, fold, and other words which invariably denote forests and outlying pastures in the woods. These are all in the Mark, and within them we may trace with equal certainty the háms, túns, worðigs, and stedes, which imply settled habitations. . I will lay this down as a rule, that the ancient Mark is to be recognised by following the names of places ending in den (neut.), which always denotes cubile ferarum, or pasture, usually for swine."+

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It is doubtful if so much information as is here supposed, can be obtained from the study of local names alone; even in Kent, where the dens occur most frequently. There can be little doubt, however, that Mr. Kemble has here given the correct meaning of the termination den, whilst those who regard it as indicating a wooded valley are most certainly wrong. Many of the villages having such terminations are on the tops of hills. It should be noted that, whilst the villages of the Hastings Beds are generally on sand, some of these dens have Clayey sites, as Bennenden and Rolvenden; Tenderten is in great part built upon a Clay bed (Grinstead Clay), which occurs in the Tunbridge Wells Sand.

These dens, folds, and fields we then find to be especially characteristic of the interior of the country, which we suppose to have been the latest settled. But near the foot of the Chalk escarpment, and over the Chalk country of Sussex generally,

"History of Sussex;" vol. i, p. 177; vol. ii, p. 217; "The group of villages called the Mardens,' lies on the Downs, and its derivation from the Saxon mor, a waste heathy land, and dun, a hill, answers to the geographical position and ancient state."

+ Hussey prints it Meredone, "Churches of Kent," etc., p. 179. "The Saxons in England," vol. i, p. 480. Mr. Kemble's ingenious theory of the Court of Dens" at Aldington, is discussed and rejected by Mr. Furley, in his "History of the Weald of Kent." 1871.

there are names of another class, of even greater interest. These are the names containing ing, which are as abundant on and near the Chalk, as the dens and folds are in the central country.

Mr. Kemble regards these as indicating the family settlements of the Teutonic invaders. He also distinguishes between those names in which ing is the final syllable, and those in which it is supplemented by ham, ton, etc.; regarding the former as the original settlement of the family, the latter as offshoots from earlier settlements of the same family.* According to this theory the Folkingas would originally have settled at Folking, a hamlet at the foot of the Chalk escarpment, in the parish of Edburton; an offshoot from this would have settled at Folkington, near Eastbourne, also at the foot of the Chalk escarpment.

This theory fits perfectly with that advanced in this paper; that the settlements on and immediately surrounding the Chalk are the oldest. All along the foot of the Chalk escarpment, names in which ing is the final syllable abound; they also occur near the coast, but they are rare upon the Lower Greensand, and are almost unknown in the interior of the Weald.

Mr. Taylor adopts Mr. Kemble's theory, and illustrates it by tabulating the "original settlements," and the "filial colonies" in the various English counties. He shows that the proportion of the former to the latter is greatest in the east and south-east of England; whilst in the west, north-west, and north of England, original settlements are exceedingly rare.+

This is as it should be; but in order to establish this theory, it is necessary to show that the greater number of the filial colonies have names which are also found amongst the original settlements. This has not been done; and I doubt if the attempt to do so would be very successful. Certainly in the south-east of England there are a large number of filial colonies. which cannot be referred to any known original settlement; whilst, as of course follows from this, there are but few original settlements from which filial colonies can be traced.

Mr. Taylor has drawn attention to the fact that in that part of French Flanders which is nearest to the Weald, there is an abundance of English names; this he illustrates by a map, in which the position of each such name is marked. In this district, lying between Calais, St. Omer, and Boulogne, there are 22 names ending in ton; more than 100 ending ham, hem or hen; and also more than 100 containing the syllable ing. He also gives a list of names in that district which are likewise found in England; showing that "the same families which gave *Loc cit., p. 479.

"Words and Places," 3rd edition, p. 86, 1873.

VOL. III.

.E

their names to our English villages, also made a settlement on that part of the French coast which lies within sight of the English shore." "Again, if any importance is to be attached to Mr. Kemble's theory of original and filial settlements, the Saxon villages in France must all have been filial settlements. We find that ing is never a mere suffix; in every case it forms the medial syllable of the name."*

Mr. Taylor shows that such names are absent along the coast north-east of Calais, and also in the inland country to the east. From these facts he infers that this part of France was settled by colonists from England. Whatever may be the value of this theory, I may mention, as additional evidence in its favour, that some of these Flemish names (all of which are of filial colonies) can be referred to original settlements in the south-east of England:-as Bazinghen, Berlinghen, and Halinghen, to Basing, Birling, and Halling. Others still survive amongst us as surnames:-as Hardinghem, Maninghen, and Waringzelle, in Harding, Manning, and Waring.

The district in question is geologically a continuation of our English Weald. It is divided by the Chalk escarpment into two areas: Le Bas Boulonnais, below the escarpment, which corresponds to the Weald; and Le Haut Boulonnais, which includes the Chalk country.

It is a curious circumstance that the boundaries of the Communes in the Bas Boulonnais have the same relation to the Chalk escarpment as have those of the parishes in England. There is a line of villages at the foot of the escarpment, and the Communes belonging to them extend up the escarpment; whilst the Communes whose villages stand above the escarpment, on the Chalk plateau, do not descend that escarp

ment.

This paper might be greatly prolonged by giving illustrations of other lines of English escarpments. We must, however, be content with the following remarks. First, it should be noticed that where the features of a country, from special geological causes, somewhat resemble escarpments, the village and parish boundaries act in regard to these features as they do with the escarpments.

The Mendip Hills rise steeply from the comparatively low ground around, and form a feature of even greater importance than many escarpments. The high land of the Mendips was always open land, like the Chalk; whilst much of the low

#Loc. cit., pp. 87-90.

+ Possibly also Pelinghen to Poling. I take the spelling of these names from the French Government Map; the boundaries of the Communes are marked on that.

ground around was covered with wood. Along the foot of the Mendips there is a line of villages whose parishes extend up the hill behind.

On the west of Basingstoke, the Chalk rises steeply from beneath the Tertiary beds which occupy the lower ground. At the foot of the Chalk hills there are villages which send their parishes up and beyond the hill.

The Oolitic range of Lincolnshire affords an example strictly parallel with that of the Chalk escarpment.* Lincoln Heath is a wide tract of sandy land overlying the Inferior Oolite. Sixty years ago it was nearly all waste land, but it is now one of the best tracts of arable land in the district. It runs in a due north and south direction, and is divided into two nearly equal parts by the river Witham. Nearly along the crest of the hill runs the Ermine Street. The ground falls gradually to the eastward, but on the west there is a steep-faced escarpment called the Cliffe or the Cliffe Row. This escarpment is breached by the River Witham, and at the gap stands the city of Lincoln. At the foot of the escarpment a long line of villages occurs. The parishes of these villages are long narrow slips of land, running generally into marsh land on the west, or over the pasture land of the Lias; but on the east they all mount the escarpment, most of them running right up to the Ermine Street and there abruptly ending. Here it is plain that the settlements were determined by the outcropping of a water-yielding stratum and land fit for arable culture along the foot of the escarpment. On the west there would be wood and pasture over the lias, on the east there would be rising open land.

The Cotteswold Hills (the Inferior Oolite escarpment) were probably, like the Chalk, always in great part open land. This escarpment resembles that of the Chalk, in its relation to the parish boundaries. Villages below send their parishes up the escarpment, and sometimes over the ground beyond. But in many cases the escarpment is the boundary; this happens where the crest is very steep, and sometimes it is almost inaccessible.

The Coral Rag, in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, etc., acts, as regards parishes, much as the Lower Greensand does in the Weald.

With regard to the date at which the settlements in the south-east of England occurred, there appears to be nothing

I have to thank my friend and former colleague, Mr. J. W. Judd, for calling my attention to this interesting case.

+ Roman roads are very frequently the boundaries of parishes in the south of England. In the north of England, where parishes are large, these roads are seldom parish boundaries, but they are sometimes the boundaries of townships.

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