Nene and croquet.

[Jdsk]

We know someone who hails from Shrewsbury.

He'll tell you it's to do with what side of the River Severn you're from.
Shrows-bury or Shrews-bury.

Just call it Salop!

(Or Amwythig.)

I'm familiar with Salop for Shropshire (and have used it on envelopes). Was it ever used for Shrewsbury?

Jonathan

[Mick F]

Modern ham and -ham seems to have two different origins: ham meaning village and hamm meaning meadow in the bend of a river.

The second looks right for Morwellham... was it originally -hamm?

Dunno about that.

If there's Morwell, Morwell Rocks, Morwell Barton and the area is referred to as Morwell, it stands to reason that the quay on the river bank is also at Morwell. It's the quay at Morwell ........... ie Morwell Quay. The Ham bit is referring to the river bend.

On the attached map top left, you'll see there's even a place in Cornwall called Morwell View.
However, on the right, you'll see Morwelldown.
The mapmakers couldn't make their minds up.

[PDQ Mobile]

We know someone who hails from Shrewsbury.

He'll tell you it's to do with what side of the River Severn you're from.
Shrows-bury or Shrews-bury.

Just call it Salop!

(Or Amwythig.)

I'm familiar with Salop for Shropshire (and have used it on envelopes). Was it ever used for Shrewsbury?

Jonathan

Yes. I do it all the time!
And everybody understands.

(Amwythig on the other hand! )

[Jdsk]

Thanks

Jonathan

[PDQ Mobile]

Modern ham and -ham seems to have two different origins: ham meaning village and hamm meaning meadow in the bend of a river.

The second looks right for Morwellham... was it originally -hamm?

Dunno about that.

If there's Morwell, Morwell Rocks, Morwell Barton and the area is referred to as Morwell, it stands to reason that the quay on the river bank is also at Morwell. It's the quay at Morwell ........... ie Morwell Quay. The Ham bit is referring to the river bend.

On the attached map top left, you'll see there's even a place in Cornwall called Morwell View.
However, on the right, you'll see Morwelldown.
The mapmakers couldn't make their minds up.Screen Shot 2021-05-18 at 09.37.28.png

"Mor" is sea in Cornish?
As it is in Welsh.

[Jdsk]

Modern ham and -ham seems to have two different origins: ham meaning village and hamm meaning meadow in the bend of a river.

The second looks right for Morwellham... was it originally -hamm?

Dunno about that.

If there's Morwell, Morwell Rocks, Morwell Barton and the area is referred to as Morwell, it stands to reason that the quay on the river bank is also at Morwell. It's the quay at Morwell ........... ie Morwell Quay. The Ham bit is referring to the river bend.

On the attached map top left, you'll see there's even a place in Cornwall called Morwell View.
However, on the right, you'll see Morwelldown.
The mapmakers couldn't make their minds up.Screen Shot 2021-05-18 at 09.37.28.png

"Mor" is sea in Cornish?
As it is in Welsh.

Yes. And, not surprisingly, in Breton, eg Morbihan.

But not to be confused with mór in Irish, which means great.

Jonathan

[RickH]

Well, not being too familiar with the area, I always thought it was "Neen". But English place-names are full of surprises.

Perhaps the next croquet match should be held in the village of Leigh (near Reigate). Or the other Leigh, near Tonbridge.

Looking up "Leigh" in my OS mapping app gives 18 results, of which 6 are in Devon & 3 in Cornwall. I'm most familiar with the one near Wigan, & wasn't previously aware of the others.

[pete75]

Several place names in the Fens incorporate the word "eau".

1 Eau or Ee?
The stream that winds through the centre of the village of Bicker was once a small, navigable river that connected to an inlet of The Wash called Bicker Haven. It is called the Old Eau. How is “Eau” pronounced? Anyone who has learned a little French will usually say “ow” as in “slow” or “glow” because they recognise the word as the French for “water” and that is approximately how “eau” is pronounced in French. Many people who were born in the Bicker use that pronunciation too, as do most people who have moved here from elsewhere. But not all. Some say “oo” and a few say “ee”. Where have these variations come from?

An entry in “A Dictionary of Lincolnshire Place-Names” by Kenneth Cameron (pub. English Place-Name Society, 1998) suggests that the word and pronunciation “eau” is a “spurious Frenchified form” that occurs in the Fens. The writer argues that this word has grown from the Old English “ea” (pronounced as in “bead”), a word meaning stream or river, and that this is the original pronunciation. The fact that Quadring Eaudike was written Quaderyng Eee in 1343 and Quadryngedyk in 1403 lends strength to that point of view since it is a name taken from the same water-course that flows through Bicker.

https://bickerparishcouncil.wordpress.c ... riosities/

This site also discusses other dialect names, like "kek" for cow parsley, which I remember from childhood.

At primary school most of our teachers had grown up in the area so spoke correctly. We did get a new one who was decidedly posh in her speech - you know the sort of person who thinks grass is spelt grarss etc. She started talking about cow parsley once and none of knew what the keck she was on about. She didn't even know what tates were or that ewe is actually pronounced yow.
There's an Eau in born, the Bourne Eau. It's usually called the O. In times past it was the Bourne Ea or Ee. Bourne also means stream so it was the stream stream. The railway bridge which crossed it down the fen was called Bonnor bridge.