56 DERBYSHIRE PLiCE-NAMES. 



farmhouse with its buildings ; and afterwards a collection of huts 

 round the ton of a chief as in Ravenstone, the town of Raefn. 

 This termination is often misleading, as many people imagine that 

 the old spelling, " stone," means stone, whereas the presence of the 

 " s " marks the possessive case common to all Teutonic languages. 



Well; N. vellir ; fields, from vollr. 



Wick; A.S. ivic ; F. 7vik ; from the Latin vicus ; a village or 

 town. Nothing akin to the Norse vik, a bay, as found in the 

 names on the coast. 



With; N. vi^r ; D. ved ; S. viid ; A.S. wudii ; wood, a tree, a 

 wood, forest of timber. 



Wold ; A.S. wold, weald ; G. wald, a forest. 



Worth; A.S. tvorth, yrlh ; O. Fris. ivirde, wurih, wurd ; G. 

 uorih: Old G. ivarid, an island; D.B. uurde or vvrde. Land, 

 especially upland, sloping from water or marsh, an estate. 



Derb^sblre BMacC'IRames. 



There are fewer marks of the Britons to be found than would 

 be supposed from the hilly nature of the county. The Saxons, 

 and after them the Norse invaders, drove back the aborigines 

 further west ; still they must have lingered long enough to teach 

 their new masters the names of some of the hills — as loiv, spink, 

 tor, etc. ; of rivers — as Derwent, Dove, Erewash, Rother, Wye, etc.; 

 and perhaps of places — as Brough, Clown, Coneygree, Crich, 

 Curbar, Hoon, Matlock, and Quarndon. 



The termination ton occurs in one hundred and thirteen cases, 

 by in five, low in eleven, borough in two, with in two, holme in 

 three, toft in one, thorpe in thirteen, and ham in four. These 

 are all Scandinavian root words (with perhaps the exception of 

 loiv, which may be O.H.G. Ibh, A.S. Icah, a woodland pasturage, 

 or the Celtic high, a hill), and indicate plainly the rapid occupa- 

 tion of the shire. 



It seems as if the Norsemen made an easy conquest, for the 

 settlers were left to make their own defensive arrangements for 

 the most part. The large number of Danish personal names as 

 distinct from Norwegian and Frisian is significant. 



