Miscellaneous Words, 179 



In "Welsh we have criff (=a crack), and cripple (=a creek.) 

 I am inclined to think that it is after all the name of a stream, 

 of which there are a number here flowing into the Thames, 

 (though the name is now lost) corresponding- with the Crake, 

 in Lancashire, so termed it is said from crec (=a sharp noise). 

 A parallel instance may be quoted from the Saxon Chronicle. 

 There is another place in Kent called " Crecgan- ford " which 

 is the present Cray-ford, and is situated on what is now called 

 the Cray. The form of the name would seem to imply that 

 the river was originally called Crec and Creff. The ford at 

 Cricklade was a well known place, and a pass often disputed 

 by the inhabitants of the border-lands. 

 CuBKY-CoMBE. In Titherton near Chippenham. Pryce gives 

 carroff as the Cornish for a " brook.-"^ In Swedish we meet 

 with Karr, meaning a marsh. In ■ Gaelic and Irish we have 

 Currach, a marsh or fen, derived from Curr, a fountain or 

 pit. Hence the Curragh of Kildare (= marshy plain) . It 

 is from one of these sources probably that the name Curry- 

 Comb is derived, and, if so, it means the " marshy combe, or 

 dell.'-' 

 20. Dean. The name of two parishes, on the borders respectively of 

 Wilts and Hants. This word is Celtic in its origin. In 

 Gaelic dioriy or din, signifies any sheltered or quiet spot. 

 In Welsh we also have dien, still, undisturbed, &c. It is 

 written in Ango-Saxon dionu, or denu. It is common as a 

 termination, e.g., 'M.'&x-den (= boundary " dean.'' See Leo 

 on Anglo-Saxon Names, p. 106. 

 Dole. The name of one of the ancient Hundreds, often in old 

 documents spelt Boles-felt, or Boles-feld. If the word be not 

 a corrupt abbreviation of some personal name, it is possibly 

 from the Welsh Dol, which means a meadow in a valley, or 

 on a river-side. Bale (Germ. Thai), is a related word. 

 Enford The Enedford of the charters and of Domesday. A 

 derivation has been suggested from the Welsh ened, a wood- 

 lark, or the Anglo-Saxon ened, a duck, but neither seem sat- 

 isfactory — ^for either of these,^who would be thus supposed to 



