JUNE 139 



fix it irrevocably upon a given spot of ground, at all 

 events it is not done, and never was done, by any race 

 of men. To indicate a fixed rural locality, men have 

 recourse automatically to some feature, quality, or 

 incident, distinguishing that locality from another 

 the green meadow, the horse hill, the ash ridge, and so 

 on. In urban topography, of course, the case is 

 different ; streets and houses are named from historical, 

 literary, or personal association. 



Rural place-names are exceedingly interesting owing 

 to their permanence. Once a locality has acquired a 

 distinctive name, it is not worth anybody's while to 

 coin a new one for it ; probably if he did it would not 

 stick. In none of our populous centres have natural 

 features been more completely obliterated than in 

 Glasgow. Leigh Hunt once said of London that it was 

 impossible to find any street from some part of which 

 you could not see a tree. In Glasgow the difficulty 

 consists of finding any street whence a tree is visible ; 

 yet still, in the very heart of that grimy hive, the line 

 of wharves and quays below the bridge bears the 

 name Broomielaw the bank of broom recalling the 

 distant day when St. Kentigern built his cell on the 

 glas achadh now Glasgow the green meadow beside 

 the pellucid Clyde. 



Still more interesting are the names commemorating 

 wild animals long since extinct in these islands. Who 

 can tell how many centuries have passed since the 

 brook that flows between Wimbledon Common and 

 Richmond Park was haunted by beavers ? It is still 

 called the Beverley Brook, and doubtless the Anglo- 



