272 Mr. Robberds on theformei' Level of the German Ocean^ 



it is described as St. Mary of Weyhurgh* . But I will not ha- 

 zard even a conjecture upon so insecure a foundation as the 

 unsettled orthography of that period. 



I cannot understand the grounds upon which Mr. Taylor 

 objects to my etymology of Herringby and Herringfleet. His 

 quotation from Domesday Book of Haringbei, is decidedly 

 in favour of my opinion. The Anglo-Saxon for herrh)g was 

 haejiinj ; and at this time it is in Dutch har-ing, in German 

 hariiig, and in French hareng. The derivation is so obvious, 

 that no other either has been, or can be, offered; — how then 

 can it be said, that my explanation of it is strained, in order 

 " to favour a given theory?" With respect to Herringfleet, 

 the existing form of the name is a far better authority to as- 

 certain its origin, than that which was employed by the Nor- 

 man surveyors. Their register has but \'ew instances of the 

 same place having been twice entered precisely in the same 

 manner; and the variations of the spelling are such, that no- 

 thing can be inferred from the introduction or omission of 

 merely a single letter in any name. In cases of doubtful 

 etymology therefore, truth must be sought after by comparing 

 the ancient and modern appellations with those local or histo- 

 rical contingencies from which the designation was most pro- 

 bably taken. If we apply this rule to Herringfleet, we shall 

 find, that the early entry of Herlyngflete proves nothing in 

 opposition to that interpretation, which the present name so 

 obviously suggests. There can be no doubt with respect to 

 the meaning of the last syllable. It is evidently the Anglo- 

 Saxon Fleoc, the signification of which, according to Somner, 

 was " JEstuarium — aw arine of the sea ; a j^lace 'where the sea 

 cbbeth andfovoeth." Junius gives it the same meaning — ^^ Sinus 

 maris, JEstuarium" Under the Latinized form of Fleta or 

 Fletiim, Sir Heniy Spelman explains it as " ^stuariuvi, flu- 

 entum, seu canalis quern aquafiuens et refluens occuj^at" which 

 Dufresne, in his Glossary, has confirmed, by repeating this 

 passage verbatim after our Norfolk antiquary. Mr. Taylor's 

 scepticism has made me particular in citing these authorities; 

 for, after all, this syllable is the most important part of the 

 name to which it belongs, and must decide its character. It 

 denotes the situation of the place in question to have been upon 

 an aestuary, or arm of the sea ; and this will be found to be in- 

 variably the case, in every instance in which the terra occurs 

 throughout our maritime districts f. This is the only material 



circumstance 



* BIomeHeld and Parkins, 8vo. vol. ii. p. 92. 



•j- Fleet, at the mouth of the Arm, in Devonshire ; Fled, near Portland 

 Isle, in Dorsetshire; Northflcet and Sottthjleet, near Gravescnd ; Ebhxflcet, 



