Folklore of Northamptonshire
Page 25
Spanhoe (Laxton) – hill covered with wood chippings.
Rooty Hill (Moulton)
Cobra, Cogboro (East Farndon) – limestone hill’, from the ON ‘kalk’
Firmity (Evenley), Furmenty Slade (Brafield) – spongy soil, named after the popular wheat dish frumenty, either as a reference to its consistency when cooked or suggesting that the fields grew the wheat for it.
Topographical features
Bandy Slade (Corby) – from the OE ‘beonet’, meaning ‘where bent grass grows’, a type that is not good for grazing
Grymstone Slade (Geddington) – green stone, i.e. one covered in moss or lichen
The Hassocks (Geddington) – tufts of grass
The Twitch (Clipston), Twitch Common (Hollowell), Squitch (Badby), Squitch Field (Syresham), Switchley (Bugbrooke) – these five names refer to a particularly troublesome type of grass flourishing in loose soil, hated by farmers though much valued in folk medicine for the treatment of kidney and urinary problems. It has long, creeping underground stems which quickly spread just beneath the surface and it is harmful to crops. The name is derived from the OE ‘civice’ meaning ‘vivacious’ and it is difficult to eradicate, the only traditional remedy being to leave the ground as pasture for a few years, during which time other grasses, of a close-growing nature, will destroy its growth
Hob End (Milton Malsor) – land covered with tussocks of grass
Morehay (Blatherwycke) – enclosure on marshy land
Piper’s Irons (Geddington) – shown on seventeenth-century maps of the Boughton House estate; it is believed that the ‘irons’ refer to a gibbet that stood there but this cannot be verified. An eponymous ballad tells the tale of one unfortunate who was chained up there for murdering his lover – dialect for ‘hernes’ (corners)
Sykiemore (Spratton) – from the OE ‘sike’, meaning ‘land by a stream’
Brickle Meadow (Spratton) – from ‘prickle’
Three Hills Field (Woodford) – refers to Bronze Age burial mounds
Everdon Stubbs (Everdon) – cleared land containing an ancient burial mound, now ploughed out
Worley (Overstone), Worledge (Brackley) – land by ancient burial mounds
Life (Holcot) – the hill, from the ME ‘le lyth’
Ostor Hill (West Haddon) – eastern hill, an ancient tumulus, from the ON ‘austr’
Warth/Wharf (Harrington) – fields with heaps of stones (cairns), from the ON ‘vartha’
Wild Ho (Syresham) – wooded hill, from the OE weald
Dane Hole (Catesby) – the name is derived from ‘dene’ or valley and has nothing to do with the Danish invaders but an association was made long ago and has passed into folklore!
Hells Closes (Deenethorpe) – hills
Position/order/features
Angulls (Little Houghton) – from ‘Hang Hills’ meaning on a slope
Windesarse (Hanging Houghton) – this was later changed to Windhouse, another example of later fashionable sensibility!
Cold Croft Leys (Wadenhoe)
Cracknuts (Little Houghton) – a swing gateway into an angled enclosure, similar to a kissing or ‘cuckoo’ gate
Modley Gate (Green Norton) – communal meeting place in a clearing, from the OE ‘mot’
Pudding Bag (Marston Trussell, Sibbertoft), Puddin’ End (Braybrooke) – a dead end
Waypost Close (Wadenhoe, Weldon)
Drake Stones Furlong (Woodford) – a corruption of ‘dragon’ and a reference to the thin flat stones used by children at play.
Buffton (Deenethorpe) – a field above the township or village
Boundary/status
Cut Throat Field (Great Doddington) – dialect ‘cut through’ (short cut).
Flitlands (Yelvertoft), Flitwell (Clipston), Flitnill (Harpole), Flitnells (Gayton), Flitten Hills (Passenham), Flithills (Cottebrooke) – from the OE ‘flit’ meaning disputed land that is claimed by more than one parish or owner
Landymore (Spratton)
Bondage (Greatworth) – fields that have since lost their boundaries
Mere (Harpole) – from the OE for boundary
Jack Arthur (Great Oakley) – a piece of wasteland is a ‘jack’
Scotland (Evenley) – land subject to taxation, from the ON ‘skot’, meaning ‘tax’; a boundary field
Whorestone Furlong (Desborough) – from ‘hoarstone’ or greystone on a boundary
Studbough Hill (Staverton) – hill of contention, from the OE ‘stint beorg’; the field lies on the boundary with Catesby
Distance from settlement
Van Diemen’s Land (Brigstock)
Damons (Harpole) – a corruption of Van Diemen’s Land
Botany Bay (Moulton, Eydon, Yardley Gobion)
New Zealand (Eydon)
Manitoba (Eydon)
Scarborough (Harpole)
Canada (Bozeat)
Klondike (Earls Barton)
Type of cultivation
Stubby Stiles (Brigstock) – former woodland that has been ‘assarted’ or cleared of trees and roots
Stockings (Brackley, Little Oakley), Long Stockings (Duddington), Stocker (Corby), Stokewood Leys (Brigstock), Stoken Hill (Bozeat), Great and Little Stocking (Geddington) Stocking (Hartwell) – former woodland that has been cleared, usually with some vestiges of tree stumps remaining
Dibbings (Deene) – a field where acorns were once planted
Vink Dibing Furlong (Corby) – a strip of land where acorns have been or once planted; ‘vink’ comes from the ON ‘vengi’, meaning ‘field’
Winning Foot Hill (Lyveden area) – from the OE ‘whin’, meaning ‘to cultivate’ former woodland or marsh lying at the bottom of a slope
Specific crop grown
Lincroft (Brackley), Flaxlands (Gretton, Everdon, Grafton Underwood, Ecton), Flexland (Grendon) – flax
Wadcroft (Kettering), Wadells (Woad Hills), Wot Ground (Harlestone), Wodells (Spratton), Wad Ground (Culworth) – woad
Madcraft (Braybrooke) – madder
The Lusome (Piddington) – lucerne
Banhaw Closes (Benefield), Bangraves Close (Deene) Bandland (Brigstock, Brackley), Banlands (Brington), Bancroft, (Yelvertoft), Ballards (Ashby St Ledger), Ballands (Haselbech), Banlands (Brington), Bollands (Tiffield) – beans
Rugg Hole Field (Pipewell) – rye corner, from the ON ‘rugr’
Berrel (Woodford Halse, Maidford) – barley hill
Pesshills (Ecton) – peas
Sanfion Field (Falcutt) – a natural habitat of the plant sainfoin, which made excellent fodder for cattle and was also a good honey plant
Association with animals
Easter Hill (Rushton) – from the OE ‘eowestre’ meaning ‘sheepfolds’, from where we get our word for female sheep, ‘ewe’; no connection with Easter!
Dagmore Furlong (Woodford) – ‘dags’ were the mud and mire which accumulated on the wool of the sheep’s undersides; ‘dagging’ was the removal of the dirty wool
Luscotes (near Brigstock) – where pigsties were kept
Excellent (Corby) – from ‘exland’, land where oxen were kept
’Ug ’Ill (Wellingborough) – a corruption of Hog Hill
Uddermuster (Wadenhoe) – cows
Conigeer (Stanion), Conny Geer (Hemington) – rabbits
Studfall (Corby) – enclosure where horses were kept
Wormstalls (Great Oakley) – cow shelters
Cockerhead (Brigstock) – frequented by woodcock; it was originally known as Cockerode, from ‘roding’ to denote the bird circling its territory
Tickidy Field (Geddington) – probably where goats (OE ‘ticce’) were kept; a later name was Cid Field
Haver Hill (Twywell) – male goats (ON ‘haefer’)
Woolspit (Ashby St Ledger) – wolf snares
Wolfage (Brixworth) – hedged enclosure to keep wolves out
Sharrag Hill (Castle Ashby) – where ‘shearhogs’ (sheep) were kept
Horsley Hill (Everdon) – horses
Cathanger (Wo
odend) – wild cat slope
Markers
Christmas Hill (Litchborough) – hill with a cross as a boundary marker
White Cross Field (near Pipewell) – there was probably a signpost here as the Cistercian abbey of Pipewell was close by and the field, which belonged to the abbey, adjoins the only road which led to it
Waypost Close (Wadenhoe, Weldon)
Association with owner or tenant
Gunhole (Ashton, near Roade) – a corner of land belonging to Gunhild (an OE female first name)
Gunsex (Higham Ferrers) – Gunni’s land with streams
Grimble White (Deene) – Grimbold’s clearing (ON ‘thveit’)
Sulehay (near Yarwell) – clearing belonging to Serfa (an OE male first name)
Tottenhoe (Southwick) – spur of land belonging to Totta (an OE male first name)
Snatch Hill (Corby) – hill belonging to Snota (an OE male first name; ‘Nottingham’ is also derived from this name)
Parrot’s Ground (Falcutt) – surname of the nineteenth-century owner
Golden Slade (Armston) – Goldwine’s strip of land
Association with tragedy or burial
(either as a result of battle, murder or natural causes; some burials were on parish boundaries)
Deadman’s Grave (Kislingbury, Warmington), Deadman (Hollowell)
Dead Shells (Welton) – where a churl lay dead, from the ME ‘dedechurl’
Owner’s status
Hangman’s Barn (Spratton)
Presgrave, Prestoe (Deene) – priest
Parson’s Piece (Great Doddington), Parson’s Close (Grendon)
Anchor Terrace (Milton Malsor) – habitation of an anchorite/hermit
Hermitage Meadow (Braybrooke)
Purpose of income from land
Poor’s Lot (Weston by Weedon Lois), Poor Close (Sibbertoft), Poor’s Close (Greatworth), Poormans Sale (Deene), Poor’s Piece (Aynho)
Charity (Kislingbury)
Bellropes (Clipston) – church income from renting this field.
Lamp Acre (Little Oakley) – income from renting this field went towards the support of a light for the altar
Supernatural associations
Puckwell Hill Field (Glapthorn)
Harrow Hill (Brington) OE ‘hears’, heathen.
Grimsland (Benefield-Oundle), Grymsfielde (Glapthorn)
Scratland (near Deenethorpe) ON ‘skratti’, demon.
Ghostly Leys (Brigstock)
Devil’s Hole (Wellingborough)
Seasonal or Festival use
The Merrymaking (Pury End)
Midsummer Meadow (Northampton)
Maze Green (Woodford)
Shewters Hill (Great Oakley), Shooters Hill (Great Addington, Easton Neston) – used for practice with the longbow
Lamas Ground (Deenethorpe) – a field used from Lammas Day (1 August) until the following spring specifically for the grazing of cattle or pasturing of sheep
Lamas Ground, Midsummer Holm, Whit Sunday Holm, Feast Day Holm (Woodford) – these four meadows were used seasonally in rotation; as one season finished, the animals were moved into the next designated field
The Tilting Ground (Rockingham) – a field belonging to the castle and used for jousting during a royal stay; the castle was a popular residence for medieval kings when hunting in Rockingham Forest
Ankers (Higham Ferrers) – the handcross carried during the ‘beating the bounds’ custom
Former use or association
Oven (Farthinghoe) – where a kiln or furnace once stood; it can also mean a rubbish tip Irons Corner (Greatworth) – ironstone quarrying
Bloom Field (Southwick) – named after the vast scatterings of iron bloom from the former smelting site
Gallows Hill (Gretton), Gallows Hill (Rushden), Gallows Bank (Kilsby)
Gallow Field (Stuchbury) – originally the site of Anglo-Saxon moots for the Alboldstow hundred.
Gib Hill (Hollowell) – so-named after the execution of a murderer in 1764
Stunpit (Litchborough), Lung Stunny (Spratton) – stone quarrying
The Dale (Cottingham) – a former stone quarry
Halefield (Apethorpe) – site of a deserted medieval village called Hale
Milne Field (Gayton, Great Oakley) – mill
The Falls (Harrington) – earthworks of the former manor house, gardens and fishponds
Castle Hill (Wadenhoe) – site of a former Saxon manor house
Toot Hill Field (Barnwell), Tuthill (Towcester, Barnwell, Fineshade), Tootle (West Halse, Paulerspury), Tottenhoe (Southwick) – lookout hill
Swag Close (Weldon) – used by poachers
Spellow Close (Cottingham) – possibly from ‘speech hill’, a meeting place for important decisions
Commemorative
Spion Kop (Braybrooke) – named after a Boer War battle
Cromwell Corner (Sibbertoft) – near the site of the Battle of Naseby
Bunker’s Hill (Spratton) – a battle during the American War of Independence
Canada (Moreton Pinkney) – named in the nineteenth century when Dr Oxendon, who was associated with the village, became Bishop of Montreal
Danes Moor (Edgcote) – the site of a 1467 battle during the Wars of the Roses; like other names in the county, it has no connection with the Danish invaders but the name has passed into folklore
Battle Green Pitt Meadow (Kingscliffe) – the supposed site of a battle between the forces of Ethelred, King of Northumbria, and Adelbald and Heardbert, who were in rebellion against him
WOOD NAMES
Bangrave (Deene) – grove by the beanfields
Banhaw Wood (Benefield) – wood adjoining a slope where beans are grown
Barrowdykes Wood (Wilbarston) – with mounds and ditches
Bearshank Wood (Lyveden) – the wood was owned by Robert de Bareschanke of Castor in the thirteenth century
Benty Coppice (Great Oakley) – contains bent grass
Bird’s Grave (Biggin Hall, near Glapthorn/Oundle) – grove inhabited by many birds
Blackmore Thick (Kingscliffe area) – the name means ‘dark pool thicket’
Bradshaw (Lyveden) – ‘broad wood’
Britain Sale (Blatherwycke) – named after Ranulf Brito, who was granted the wood in 1277
Broil (Earls Barton) – from the Latin for ‘a wood or park stocked with beasts of the chase’
Cadge Wood (Blatherwycke) – where falcons were sold
Catshead Wood (near Brigstock) – named after the original unique shape of the wood
Cattage Wood (near Middleton) – wood with a homestead or cottage
Chequer Hill Coppice (Titchmarsh) – refers to the pattern of the soil
Cherry Lap (Brigstock and Wadenhoe) – bright clearing in a wood
Cockborow (Brigstock) – frequented by woodcocks; ‘borow’ comes from the OE ‘bearu’, meaning ‘wood’
Colsters (Kingscliffe area) – where charcoal was burned
Crayley (Blatherwycke) – the name means ‘grey wood’
Cuckoo Pen Wood (Barnwell All Saints)
Cut Throat Spinney (Aynho)
Earlstrees (Corby) – belonging to the Earl (of Cardigan)
Ellens Bower (Little Oakley), Ellens (Hemington) – elder tree bower
Fougill Wood (Daventry) – bird wood, from the OE ‘fugol’
Friar’s Sale – belonging to the the monks of Fineshade Abbey
Hollow Wood (Deene) – wood at a corner of land
Horsehoes (Blatherwycke) – dirty wood, from the OE ‘horsc’
Hornstocks (Duddington) – strangely shaped stumps
Hostage Wood (Blatherwycke) – hedges fastened with a hesp (lock), that is, a wood protected against intruders.
Laundimer Woods (Brigstock) – on a parish boundary, from the OE ‘gemaere’
Linches (Achurch), Lynches (Church Brampton) – a slope formed by ancient ploughing; Linches is now covered in woodland
Mawkin Hedges (Geddington Woods) – frequented b
y hares, from the ME ‘malkin’
Mazedale Spinney (Norton) – wooded valley on the boundary, from the OE ‘maeresdael’; also called Marsdale
Pest House Wood (Aynho) – where a building for the isolation of those with a contagious disease once stood
Plum Cake Spinney (Wellingborough) – the name refers to the waterlogged soil
Presgrave (Corby) – priest’s grove
Priors Haw (Weldon), Priors Hall (Woodnewton) – both connected with nearby Fineshade Abbey. The latter site should also read ‘Haw’ but it became ‘Hall’ after a clerical misreading or copying of a document, when two upward strokes of the handwritten ‘w’ were interpreted as ‘ll’. Consequently, for many years there was local speculation as to whether a building ever existed there. A similar situation happened with nearby Corby Haw, which appeared on some maps as Corby Hall
Ratling Irons Plantation (Achurch) – it was here that French prisoners were chained overnight on their way to Norman Cross
Rawhaw (Pipewell) – roe deer coppice, from the ON ‘rå’
Ringhaw (Nassington) – from the ON ‘dreng’ meaning ‘boy’; the name means ‘coppice maintained by a young man’
Rising Wood (Little Oakley) – ‘brushwood’
Salcey Forest – willow wood, from the old French ‘salceia’
Sart Wood (Little Oakley) – land cleared (ME ‘assart’)of trees for farming; this has now reverted back to woodland
Scotland Wood (Maidwell) – subject to taxation, from the ON ‘skot’, meaning ‘tax’
Silley Coppice (Churchfield Farm, near Lyveden/Oundle) – from the ON ‘selja’ for ‘willow’
Skulking Dudley Coppice (Clopton) – named after a local ghost
Thoroughsale Wood (Corby) – from the ME ‘thursall’, an area of woodland under special management for fencing, marking and other purposes, for future sale
Thrift (Glapthorn), Thrift Close (Harringworth) – woodland, from the OE ‘fyrhth’
Waterloo Gorse (near Ashley) – covert of the Pytchley Hunt a commemorative name (after the famous battle).
Yokewood (Great Oakley) – named after ‘ye Oke’, a spectacular oak tree shown and named on old maps of the area
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary sources
Baker, Anne Elizabeth, Glossary of Northamptonshire Words & Phrases, J.R. Smith, 1854