THE COMBES 



F one ancient English word may specially 

 be cited as proper to the West Country, 

 perhaps "combe" is that word. It is pure 

 Saxon, according to most philologists, 

 though I learn that some derive the word from 

 the Welsh civm, which "combe" resembles both in 

 sound and significance. There are in Devon above 

 thirty " combes " or " coombes " without any other 

 designation ; more than twenty villages and hamlets 

 have the word as a prefix to their special appellation ; 

 and it is an affix to two hundred places in the 

 county. 



To me the use of Shakespeare commends a word 

 before all things. I am therefore sorry that " combe " 

 shall be found nowhere in his recorded work, but his 

 contemporary poet, our own William Browne, author 

 of Britannia s Pastorals, employs "combe" to proper 

 purpose, as becomes a Devon writer. 



The word is so much part of descriptive conversa- 

 tion in the West, and conveys a meaning so distinct, 

 that to display a combe for those who know it not 

 becomes at once a curious and a pleasant task. 



To make mystery of the matter, or pretend that 



17S 



