betokens a friendly intention, and means, "I will keep the remembrance of thee alive." The ghost of the departed was supposed to haunt his Cairn; and few Highlanders would choose to pass it for the first time without adding to the heap, and thus keep on good terms with the spectre. This subject, which has of late received great attention, is admirably treated of in The Primeval Antiquities of Denmark, by J. J. A. Worsae; translated and applied to the illustration of similar remains in England, by William J. Thoms.

NAMES OF A FEW PLACES AND PERSONS.

Ab, in the beginning of the names of places, is generally a contraction of abbot, and denotes a monastery to have been formerly there, or else that it belonged to some abbey; as Abington, q. d., Abbey Town.

Aber, in Cornish, means a confluence of rivers; also a gulf, a whirlpool. Aber, in a deflected sense, has been applied to a harbour; hence, Havre de Grace.

Ac, Ak.

These initial syllables take their origin from the Saxon word ac, which signifies an oak; thus Acton is Oak-town, or a town environed with oaks.

Ad, Adel, signifies noble, famous, as Adelstan for Æthelstan, the termination stan being anciently a mark of the superlative degree; and it is worthy of remark here, that instead of our modern word gentleman, nobleman, &c., our ancestors used the word Aedleman.

Al, Ald, signifies old or ancient, as Aldborough, i. e., Old Borough; Aldgate, Old Gate, &c. Though many names have the initial al, from the Saxon el, as Albert, Allbright; Alfred, All-peace, &c.

All or hal comes from the Saxon hall or palace, and hence it became a common termination, as White-hall, Moor-hall, &c.

Bald signifies Bold, as Baldred, Baldwin, &c. Berth, brave, as Bertha. Brad comes from the Saxon broad; thus, Bradford is Broadford originally.

Bourn or Burn, is from the Saxon, signifying a river, hence several towns are simply called Bourne, which stand near a rivulet or stream. Others have it in their composition, as Wimbourne, &c.

Brig, Brix, from the Saxon, a bridge, as Stockbridge, Brixton, &c.

Burgh comes from the Saxon, a city, town, or castle; originally from the Gothic bairg, a rock, or mountain; for anciently most cities were built on rocky hills, and afterwards in vales, for the conveniency of water. Petersburgh, a town dedicated to St. Peter, is frequently written borough, and oftentimes bury, as Salisbury, Edmondsbury, &c.

Bye, Bee, are terminations from the Saxon, an habitation; thus Kettleby, i. e., a town where kettle-makers lived. So Derby, Appleby, &c.

Car, is derived from caer, a city, as Carlisle, Cardiff, &c.

Chester and Caster, signify a city or camp; hence Chichester was the town or city of Sissa, who built it.

Cheap, Chip, Chipping, all come from the Saxon to buy, and they denote market-towns; as Chippenham, Chipping Norton, &c.

Cliff, Clive, come from the Saxon, a rock, or steep place; hence Radcliffe, Redcliff, or Red Rock; so Whitecliff, for White Rock; Cleveland, for Rocky Land, &c. Still cliffs and rocks with us are synonymous terms. Comb at the end, and comp in the beginning of words, indicate the low situation of the place, from the Saxon comb, which signifies a valley. Hence those places called Compton, i. e., Valetown, and those which end in comb, as Wycomb, Winchcomb, &c.

Cot, Cot, a house, denotes a hut or cottage, or a village of such little houses to have been in the places bearing this syllable, as Coteswold, &c.

Croft, signifies a little plot of ground, which we call a close; hence sundry names, as Bancroft, Bearcroft, &c.

Cuth, known or famed, is found in several Saxon names, as Cuthbert, &c.

Dale, a little valley, is used in several names, as Greendale, Golborne-dale, Dibdale, for Deepdale.

Den, Dean, are from the Saxon, signifying both a vale and any woody place; hence Tenterden, Morden, &c.

Dun, Don, a mountain or ridge of hills, from whence our name for them, Downs; hence Heydon, Swindon, Dunstable, &c.

Ea, ee, ey, from the Saxon Ea, water; as Eaton, Water-town, Anglesey, Jersey, &c.

Ed, is from the Saxon, blessed, happy, as Ed-mund, &c.
Ethel, noble, as in Ethelbert, &c.

Ford, a shallow stream or rivulet, as Bradford, Guilford, Oxford, &c.

Fred, peace, hence Frederic is literally rich in peace.

Gate, a way or passage, as Highgate, a highway or road; and grave in Saxon, implies a grove, and sometimes a cave, as Norgrave, Waldgrave, &c.

Ham, a house, farm, or village, as Hamton, Wareham, &c. From this word comes our English word home, also Hamlet.

Holm comes from the Saxon Holm, a place surrounded by water, or a little island; hence we find several such places called the Holmes.

Hurst, from the Saxon, a wood or forest, as Midhurst, Sandhurst, &c.

Lade, in Saxon, signifies to unload or purge. It generally sig

nifies the mouth of a river, either where it empties itself into the sea, or some greater river, as at Cricklade, Leechlade, &c.

Marsh, from the Saxon, signifying fenny, watery, hence Marshfield, Saltmarsh, &c.; also Mere, a lake or pond, is found in many names of places, as Haslemere.

Rig, Ridge, seem to be derived from the Saxon, signifying the back; hence our phrase, a ridge of hills, and this is denoted in the names where it is found, as Lindridge, Eldridge, &c.

Sel, signifies good, large, or spacious, which it denotes in various names, as Selby, Selwood, i.e., a great wood.

Stead or Sted, signifies a place, and is in many names, Grimstead, Hampstead, &c.

Stan, a stone, and hence the names of many places and persons, Stanton, i. e., Stony-town, Stanley, Stony-field, Stanstead, Stonyplace, &c.

South, Sut, and Suth, are all from the Saxon South, as Sutton, South-town, Suthwell, South-well, &c. So also Sus in Sussex, i. e., South Saxony; hence also Suffolk, or the South Folk, in opposition to Norfolk, or the North Folk.

Thorp, a village, some villages and small towns are called so yet, as Thorp, near Chertsey, in Surrey. Adlestrop seems to be contracted from Adelsthorp; also the surname Longthorp, Colthorpe, &c., denotes such families as had originally the lordship of some one or more of those thorps.

Ton, signifies a town. This is one of the most common terminations of the names of places, as Hampton, Boston, Taunton, &c. Weald, Wald, Walt, are all derived from a forest or wood, and imply the same thing in places which have these words in their names, as Walton, Waltham, Walden, &c.

Wie, Wich, signify sometimes a village, sometimes a port or harbour, and often a castle; hence Harwich, Norwich, Warwick, Wycomb, &c.

Win, a battle; hence this syllable in the names of places imports some battle to have been fought there, or victory obtained, as Winborn, Winchester, &c., and in the names of persons it implies that some of the ancestors of the family had been great warriors and victorious, as Edwin, Baldwin, Godwin.

Worth, signifies a court or forum, which is implied to have been in those places, the names of which are terminated herewith, as Wandsworth, Petworth, &c.

The reader who would wish to investigate more fully the various parts which serve to form our local names, is referred to a very learned little book upon the subject, which has recently been translated from the German. It is entitled, A Treatise on the Local Nomenclature of the Anglo-Saxons, as exhibited in the "Codes Diplomaticus Evo Saxonici," and will be found full of interesting information.

ADDITIONAL.

Such towns, cities, or villages, whose terminations are chester, caster, or cester, show that the Romans, in their stay among us, made fortifications about the places where they are now situated. In the Latin tongue, castra is the name of these fortifications. Such are Castor, Tadcaster, Chester, Doncaster, Leicester. Don* signifies a mountain, and ley, or lei, ground widely overgrown, in our ancient tongue. Wye, wick, or wich, means a place of refuge, as in the termination of Warwick, Sandwich, Greenwich, Woolwich. Thorp, before the word village was borrowed from the French, was used in its stead, and is found at the end of many towns' names; for instance, Bishopthorpe, Middlethorpe, Saddlethorpe, Thorpe-arch. Bury, burgh, bery, signifies metaphorically a town, having a wall about it; sometimes a high or chief place, likewise a place of burial: see Bury St. Edmunds. Wold means a plain open country, but is in many instances applied to hills; take for instance, the Yorkshire Wolds. Combe, a valley between two hills; knock, a hill, for instance, Knock lofty; hurst signifies a woody place, such as Mid-hurst, Chisel-hurst. Magh, a field, innes, an island; worth, a place situated between two rivers; and ing or ings, a track of meadows. The word win, at the beginning or ending of the names of places, implies, that some great battle was fought, or a victory gained there. The word is from the Saxon winnan, to win, or overcome. Bourn, or bourne, signifies a brook, stream, or rivulet, and terminates the names of many towns and places, such as Mary-le-bourne,† Hol-bourn, or Old-bourne, Eastbourne, Sitting-bourne, &c.

ADDITIONAL.

Waltham, from Wealdnam.
Worcester, from Wireceaster.

Wolverhampton, from Vulfrene's-hampton.
Farnham, from Fernham, a bed of Ferns.
Surrey, from Suthrey, the south side the river.

Seymour, from Saint Maur.

Selvedge, Salvedge, or safe edge.

Rosemary, from Ros-mare.

Rosamond, from Rosa Mundi.

Gibraltar, from Ghibal Tariff.

To cabbage, should be kabage, a northern word for steal.

*It must here be observed, that Doncaster derives its name from the river Don, therefore the above is not an invariable rule.

† See Mary-le-bone.

EPITHETS AND PHRASES.

EPITHETS.

The meaning of the word Wretch is one not generally understood. It was originally, and is now, in some parts of England, used as a term of the softest and fondest tenderness. This is not the only instance in which words in their present general acceptation bear a very opposite meaning to what they did in Shakspeare's time. The word Wench, formerly, was not used in that low and vulgar acceptation it is at present. Damsel was the appellation of young ladies of quality, and Dame a title of distinction. Knave once signified a servant; and in an early translation of the New Testament, instead of " Paul the Servant," we read "Paul the Knave of Jesus Christ." On the other hand, the word Companion, instead of being the honourable synonyme of Associate, occurs in the play of Othello, with the same contemptuous meaning which we now affix, in its abusive sense, to the word "Fellow" for Emilia, perceiving that some secret villain had aspersed the character of the virtuous Desdemona, thus indignantly exclaims:

"O, Heaven! that such Companions thou'dst unfold,
And put in every honest hand a whip,

To lash the rascal naked through the world!"

SPINSTER.

Formerly it was a maxim, that a young woman should never be married till she had spun herself a set of body, table, and bed linen. From this custom all unmarried women were termed spinsters, an appellation they still retain in all deeds and law proceedings.

ROUNDHEAD.

The first origin of this party epithet, well known as being used during the troubles in the reign of Charles I., was introduced by Captain Hyde, drawing his sword amidst the mob at Westminster, on 28th December, 1641, and saying, he would crop the ears of those round-headed dogs that bawled against the bishops. The apprentices wore their hair cut round. From this trifling circumstance originated the distinction of “Roundheads” and “Čavaliers." Others, however, state, that it originated with the fanatics in the time of Charles I. ignorantly applying the text, " Ye know that it is a shame for men to have long hair," cut theirs very short. It is said, the queen once seeing Pym, a celebrated patriot thus cropped, inquired who that round-headed man was; from