211 
Gloucestershire, unless we count such names as meadow and 
vineyard.* But as enclosures became more frequent, names were 
a necessity. We have the Court Rolls of the manors of the parish 
dating from A.D. 1368, till the reign of Elizabeth and later, and in 
them a few names occur, such as Newclose, Holemed, Monkecroft, 
Longebene, Shortebene, Mondeysland, Denhulle, Pat Parrok, 
Wodecroft, Bondelench, Lemys, Myccalmede, Mores, Redfield, 
Durneville, Le Moses, Le Mooiet, Bull Hawes, Henze Mede, 
Barney Hey, Lanes Haye, Hurdman’s Croft, Great and Little 
Holke, Long Furlong, Beche Lawe, Syddgast, Hancliff, Haygast, 
Connigar, Gascon. A few of these still remain, and a few may be 
traced corrupted to their present shape, but this is a very small 
quantity compared with the present abundance of names. 
This process of naming of course still goes on, and so does the 
corruption. As owners change, and fields are divided or thrown 
together, the old names lose their meaning and are abolished. 
And some of the changes and corruptions are past explanation. 
Near the Village of Bitton is a large hilly field now always called 
Major’s Hill after a former owner, Major Ryners, but the curious 
thing is that the name was not given till at least forty years after 
the Major’s death; before that it was simply the Hill. Then 
between Bitton and the Station is a farm, which in a wonderful 
* On this point [ have been able to consult the Rev. C. T. Taylor, 
of St. Thomas’, Bristol, who is well acquainted with old English 
charters. He confirms what I say about Domesday, but he gives me 
a few instances of possible field names before the Conquest from the 
“ Land Charters” (Earle). They are, however, very doubtful. But ona 
grant from Cynewalf, King of the West Saxons, to his Earl Bica, of 
land of Bedwin, a.p. 778, there is an undoubted field name, “ Agellum 
qui dicitur tatanesdisc””=Tate’s Enclosure. Sweet’s “Oldest English 
Texts,” p. 427—In an exchange of land between St. Mary, of Salisbury, 
and St. Augustine’s, of Bristol, St. Mary gave “ quatuor acras ” é 
videlicet unam quee dicitur “ Esse acre,’et . . . dimidiam acramin 
“Rug Furlong.”—Register of St, Osmund—Rolls Series I., 264. 
ce) 
