222 HISTORY OF HARTING. 



that seems to be almost identical with "Nytimber," 

 a hamlet of Pagham, near Chichester, also mis-called, 

 " New timber." 



"Great Rivals" and "Little Rivals," the current 

 names of fields and farm at Lower West Harting, 

 near the course of the Midhurst and Petersfield Rail- 

 way, have no connection with strife or rivalry ; but 

 are corruptions of peaceful " Ryefield." The word 

 " Rye" anciently meant a ridge, heap, or mound. 

 Hence, Rye the town in the East of Sussex, and with 

 us the greater and lesser Ryefields, or fields of the 

 ridge, and Black Rye or " Blackery" Pond, near Down 

 Park, so named from a mound of peat. 



The termination "Putt" or "Pit," meant a place 

 dug out for shelter. So Lambput signified the place 

 dug out for Lambs, now Lamputts, near the Down, 

 East Harting. " Poppetts" variously called " Pouke- 

 put" (1349), "Pokeput" (1370), "Pulpitts" (1632), 

 may possibly signify the Black Pit from Norman 

 French Poch6e. In addition to its mysterious name, 

 Poppetts is singular in its localisation, and belongs to 

 the Manor of South Harting, though firmly embedded 

 in the West. 



To judge of some of our names, one might think 

 that Harting was laid out by our forbears as a map 

 of the world. South Harting itself being the Me- 

 tropolis, had its " Billingsgate," a venerable pleasantry 

 for " Barn's gate," from the old Tithe Barn that once 

 held 400 quarters of wheat per annum. 



The rest of the parish contained other rude lessons 

 in Geography. Thus, in West Harting, we have 

 " Canada," " Clayhill," or " Quebec," now by a smash 

 of both names (well known to the readers of the 

 Author of "Alice in Wonderland"), " Claybeck :" on 

 the North of the Downs the "Nores" or "Noahs," 

 and at Huxholt Farm, "Northumberland:"* in the 

 vale, "Bohemia" or " Bohemy hollow," sacred to 

 gipsies : near our station and the Rogate sand, " The 

 * So called with reference to Huxholt or Ladyholt. 



