58 



NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



[No. 194. 



believe it was about 1849 ; but I have not been 

 able to ascertain the exact date. A. Z. 



[Dr. Harwood died 23rd December, 1842, aged 75. 

 For a biographical notice of him, see Gent. Mag. for 

 February, 1843, p. 202.] 



NAMES OF PLACES. 



(Vol. vii., p. 536.) 



I have been travelling so much about in the 

 country since I left England, that I have not al- 

 ways the opportunity of seeing your " N. & Q." 

 ■until long after the publication of the different 

 Numbers. I have in this way seen some Queries 

 put to me about matters connected with the his- 

 tory of the Danish settlements in England. But 

 as I have had no particular information to give, I 

 have not thought it worth while to write to say 

 that I know nothing of any great consequence. 



Just when I left Copenhagen, some days ago, a 

 friend of mine showed me that Mr. Taylor, of 

 Ormesby in Norfolk, asked some questions re- 

 garding the Danish names of places in Norfolk. 



In answer to them I beg to state, that all the 

 names terminating in -by unquestionably are of 

 Danish origin. Mb. Taylor is perfectly right in 

 supposing that several of these names of places 

 contain the names of the old Danish conquerors. 

 But I do not think that Ormesby originally has 

 been Gormsby. Gorm certainly is the same as 

 Guthrum ; but both of these names are distinctly 

 different from the name " Orme " or " Orm," 

 which, in our old language, signifies a serpent, 

 and also a worm. (The famous ship, on board of 

 which King Olaf Tryggveson was killed in the 

 year 1000, was called " Ormen hin lange," i.e. the 

 long serpent.) I have observed that several En- 

 glish families (undoubtedly of old Scandinavian 

 descent) at this day have the family -name "Orm" 

 or "Orme." 



Among the other names of places quoted by 

 Mr. Taylor, Rollesby most probably must be de- 

 rived from the name " Rollo " or "Rolf;" but I 

 regard the origin of the other names as being 

 much more doubtful. If we had the original 

 forms of these names, it might have been easier to 

 decide upon it. As the names are now, I do not 

 see anything purely Scandinavian in them, except 

 the termination -hy. It is not at all unlikely that 

 the name Ashby or Askeby might have been called 

 so from "Ash-trees" (Danish "Ask eller Esk"), 

 but I dare not venture into conjectures of this 

 kind. 



I should be very happy if I in any other way 

 could be of any service to Mr. Taylor in his re- 

 searches about the Danish settlements in East 

 Anglia. His remarks upon the situation of the 

 tillages with Danish names are most interesting 



and instructive. I always sincerely wish that in- 

 habitants of the different old Danish districts in 

 the North and East of England would, in the 

 same way, take up the question about the Danish 

 influence, as I feel fully convinced that very re- 

 markable and important elucidations might be 

 gained to the history of England during a long 

 and hitherto very little known period. 



J. J. A. WOESAAE. 



CLEANING OLD OAK. 



(Vol. vii., p. 620. ; Vol. viii., p. 45.) 



Having been so frequently benefited by the in- 

 struction, especially photographic, issuing from 

 your most useful periodical, I feel myself almost 

 bound to contribute my mite of information when- 

 ever I may chance to have the power of doing so ; 

 consequently, should you not get a better method 

 of assisting Mr. F. M. Middleton out of his diffi- 

 culty of softening old paint, as described in the 

 "N. & Q.," No. 191., I beg to offer him the fol- 

 lowing, and from experience I can vouch for its 

 certainty of leading him to the desired result. 



Some years since, having had occasion to enter 

 a lumber-room of an old building, I was struck 

 with the antiquated appearance of an arm-chair, 

 which had, in days long gone by, been daubed 

 over with a dirty bluish paint. Finding, on in- 

 quiry, that its owner set no particular value on it, 

 I met with but little difficulty in inducing him to 

 make an exchange with me for a good mahogany 

 one. Soon after its being brought into my house, 

 one of my domestics discovered that it positively 

 swarmed with a species of lice, issuing from innu- 

 merable minute worm-holes and crevices, which of 

 course rendered it in its present state worse than 

 useless. Determined not to be deprived of my 

 prize, I resolved on attempting to rid it of this 

 troublesome pest by washing it over with a strong 

 solution of caustic soda, made by mixing some 

 quick-lime with a very strong solution of the 

 common washing soda (impure carbonate of soda), 

 and pouring off the clear supernatant liquid for 

 use. This proceeding, much to my satisfaction, 

 not only succeeded in entirely getting rid of the 

 vermin, but on my servant's scrubbing the chair 

 with a hard brush and hot soap and water, I found 

 that the caustic soda had formed a kind of soap, 

 by chemically uniting with the oil contained in 

 the old paint, thereby reducing it to such a state 

 of softness, that by a few vigorous applications and 

 soakings of the above-named solution, and subse- 

 quent scrubbings, my new favourite was also freed 

 from its ugly time-worn jacket of dirty paint, dis- 

 covering underneath a beautifully carved and 

 darkly coloured oaken surface. 



After being perfectly dried and saturated with 

 linseed oil, it was frequently well rubbed, and the 



