OF ANGLO-SAXON DERIVATION. 151 



In former times, as we may perceive from tlie pages of Spenser, 

 Drayton, Stowe, and other authors, this word was as well-known 

 in the south of England as it now is in the northern counties; 

 though it must not be confounded with bourne, from the I'rench, 

 borne (la), a boundary. It is not generally known that the 

 important quarter of the metropolis, the name of which is vulgarly 

 written Mary-le-bone, by a most vicious spelling, was formerly 

 called either St. Mary-la-bourne or St. Mary-lez-bourne : bourne 

 signifying either a streamlet that ran there, or otherwise a 

 boundary. Clearly either the old orthography ought to be restored, 

 or otherwise, the name should be accurately contracted into Mary- 

 bourne, by omission of the article or preposition. 



In Domesday Booh, in the description of Dorsetshire, an estate 

 is named Ceseburn or Ceaselburn, which latter form supplies us 

 with the key to interpret the meaning of Cheseburn, in jXorthum- 

 berland ; for ceasel signifies gravel or sand, still sometimes called 

 chesel. 



Ea, the Anglo-Saxon word for water or a river, occurs in the 

 name of Pontealand, for so it would be more accurately spelt, and 

 in Eland (or Ealand) hall, close by. The Pont-ea, for the river 

 Pont, is pure Anglo-Saxon. At Lanchester v o have the Brown- 

 ea, or river Browney. 



Beck, A.S. bee, Old-Norse beckr, a small river, is rare in l^orth- 

 umberland, common in the Danish tracts of Durham, Yorkshire, 

 Cumberland, Westmoreland, and not unfrequent even in Nor- 

 mandy, as Caudebec, kc. 



Forse : Old -Norse fors, a cataract. Hence Iligh-forse, upon the 

 Tees, ought to be so written, and never with the letter c. In 

 modern Norse the word fos is extensively applied to the water- 

 falls that descend from the Scandinavian mountains, some of 

 which are so celebrated for their impetuosity or picturesque 

 attractions. 



Wood, A.S. wudu, enters into many names, and has been 

 applied in this manner, perhaps more extensively in modern, than 

 in earlier times. In Domesday Book we find it strangely dis- 

 guised in terminations, under the forms of ivith, ivit, weth, wid, 

 so as not to be easily recognized at first sight. In Danish, the 



