There's a book by Robert MacFarlane called Landmarks. It echoes Orwell's 1984 in its proposition that the loss of specific words leads to the loss of specific ways of thinking. If there is no word for Freedom then there is no concept of freedom - so how can you object to the government taking away your liberty?
MacFarlane argues that the removal of a word like Kingfisher from the Oxford Junior Dictionary removes the concept of kingfisher - all that avian splendour and variety is reduced to "bird". Landmarks tries to rescue some archaic words and phrases and create a glossary that will help preserve some of those words and the concepts behind them.
If there is no word to describe the sun shining through a dew covered spider's web then how can we appreciate it?
If there is no word to describe the twinkling of an eye (shallidh in Manx Gaelic) how will we notice it? If we can not describe things how can we celebrate them?
Where do names come from in the first place? Did god give names to all the animals? And places? Or were they given by the locals - or the neighbours . . . Wales means enemy, Clywd means friend.
Here's a few place names of UK towns and villages. Each one of them has a name which defines the topography, or memorialises the early founders or landowners, or hints at the the history of an individual settlement. Any attempts at the etymology of the names is pure guesswork, so your interpretation is as good as anyone's. Have some fun, give each place name a reason, find the poetry, hide the history behind some mystery.
Where do names come from in the first place? Did god give names to all the animals? And places? Or were they given by the locals - or the neighbours . . . Wales means enemy, Clywd means friend.
Here's a few place names of UK towns and villages. Each one of them has a name which defines the topography, or memorialises the early founders or landowners, or hints at the the history of an individual settlement. Any attempts at the etymology of the names is pure guesswork, so your interpretation is as good as anyone's. Have some fun, give each place name a reason, find the poetry, hide the history behind some mystery.
Buckden in Cambridgeshire
Bucklesham in Suffolk
Buckskin in Hampshire
Buckton in Herefordshire and Worcestershire
Buerton in Cheshire
Bufton in Leicestershire
Buglawton in Cheshire
Bugle in Cornwall
Bugley in Dorset
Bulley in Gloucestershire
Bullington in Lincolnshire
Bullo in Gloucestershire
Bullwood in Strathclyde
Bulphan in Essex
Bulverton in Devon
Bunessan in Strathclyde
Burcot in Oxfordshire
Burdon in Durham
Burdrop in Oxfordshire
Bures in Essex
Burford in Oxfordshire
Burgedin in Mid Wales
Buriton in Hampshire
Burland in Cheshire
Burlawn in Cornwall
Burleigh in Gloucestershire
Burlescombe in Devon
Burleston in Dorset
Burlestone in Devon
Burley in Hampshire
Burleydam in Shropshire
Burlinch in Somerset
Burlow in East Sussex
Burlton in Shropshire
Burmington in Gloucestershire
Burn in North Yorkshire
Burnaston in Derbyshire
Burneside in Cumbria
Burneston in North Yorkshire
Burnett in Somerset
Burnfoot in Dumfries and Galloway
Burnhead in Dumfries and Galloway
Burniston in North Yorkshire
Burnley in Lancashire
Burnsall in North Yorkshire
Burnside in Durham
Burnton in Strathclyde
Burntwood in Staffordshire
Burradon in Northumberland
Burras in Cornwall
Burraton in Cornwall
Burrells in Cumbria
Burrelton in Tayside
Burridge in Devon
Burrington in Devon
Burrow in Somerset
Bursea in North Yorkshire
Bursledon in Hampshire
Burslem in Staffordshire
Burstock in Dorset
Burston in Norfolk
Burtersett in North Yorkshire
Burtle in Somerset
Burton in Dorset
Burwarton in Shropshire
Burwash in East Sussex
Burwell in Cambridgeshire
Burwen in North Wales
Burwood in Shropshire
Bury End in Bedfordshire
Buscot in Oxfordshire
Bushton in Wiltshire
Bute Town in South Wales
Butetown in South Wales
Butleigh in Somerset
Butley Town in Cheshire
Butterton in Staffordshire
Buxley in Borders
Buxted in East Sussex
Buxton in Derbyshire
