m 



cli'ases, and belonged to Earl Lacy, a Normau lord, theu to' the 

 Boyal family and others, and now to the Duchy of Lancaster. A 

 Royal forest was put under the guard of men paid by the State, 

 called the chief men of the Forest. If any one offered violence to 

 these men, if the offender was a freeman, he lost his freedom and 

 all his property, and became a serf, if a serf, his right hand was 

 cut off for the first offence, and whether a freeman or serf, for a 

 second offence the penalty was death. The difference between a 

 forest and a chase was this, that a forest belonged to the king, 

 and was under the cruel forest laws, whilst the chase belonged to 

 a subject and was under the common law. A Palatine County 

 is a county over which an Earl, Bishop or Duke had a royal 

 jurisdiction ; there were formerly three counties Palatine, Chester, 

 Durham and Lancaster, owned by the Earl of Chester, Bishop 

 of Durham, and Duke of Lancaster. If we cast our eyes over 

 the district comprised in the Forest of Pen'dle, and remember 

 that it was a hunting ground owned by a powerful Earl (Earl 

 Lacy and Duke of Lancaster,) we shall understand that it must 

 have been the home of many of the lord's servants. There would 

 be a manor house, a park keeper, a forest ranger, a farm bailiff 

 or steward, and many other subordinate servants. The homes 

 of these servants would be dispersed over the domain, and as pop- 

 ulation increased some village must exist where rents and tenures 

 could be liquidated, trees must be felled, homesteads made, names 

 must be given to the various localities, and the business of a 

 great estate managed and conducted. In the primitive times 

 under the ancient Britons, names would be given to prominent 

 hills, rivers and fastnesses, the different kinds of trees would be 

 known because their qualities differ, the haunts of wild animals 

 would be noticed, marshy land would be distinguished from dry. 

 Under the Danes and Saxons, clearings, homesteads and localities 

 would be differentiated, and names given to them, the names of 

 owners would be given to some, we should expect the names of 

 trees, birds and beasts would be given to others, slopes, flats, 

 marshes, river crossings, contiguity to hills and rivers, places 

 where religious rites were held, places where well-known incidents 

 of chase or battle occurred, contour of lands or colour of the 

 soil, springs and peculiar vegetation, all those would be likely to 

 give names appropriate to the circumstances. In solving 



The Problem of Place Names 



it is well to look at the names in different ways just as you do- 

 in finding out those card puzzles which tradesmen are so fond of 

 bringing to your notice ; you must turn them this way and that, • 

 and stare at them, get familiar with the locality represented by 

 the name if you can, and then you will find bye and bye that the 

 proper (may be improper) meaning will dawn on your mind, and 



