342 MR. CARR ON COMPOSITE NAMES OF PLACES, 
and many other instances, is not to be regarded as a mere acci- 
dental and empty redundancy. It is the old termination of the 
dative and ablative case, which, in names of places, was of far 
more frequent occurrence than the nominative, being used after 
the prepositions at, in, to, from, and of. In all such familiar 
phrases as these,—I live at Bearle, my land is in Bearle, I am 
going to Bearle, I come from Bearle, I am of Bearle,—this da- 
tive-ablative ending would be both written and sounded by our 
forefathers: whilst, on the other hand, the nominative and accu- 
sative of this word, and many others like it, which would be 
without the e final, could only occur in more rare and formal 
propositions :—as, here is Bearl, Bearl is not far off, or show me 
Bearl. 
The final e of the Anglo-Saxon dative and ablative has, there- 
fore, if I mistake not, acquired in this manner a strong hold 
upon our orthography of such names; that is to say, in those 
where it is present according to the rules of inflection in that 
tongue, or where it seems to represent some other vowel which 
was so. Though now mute, it has been respected by modern 
usage in writing, because old forms find more who are willing to 
stand up for them, in proper names of men, and of places, than 
in common words, which are, as it were, the property of all the 
world, but of no man in particular. But this final e, where it 
thus represents an Anglo-Saxon inflection, will, I hope, now be 
seen to possess a certain historical title to respect. It may be 
said almost to have a legal and documentary title, for, in the 
legal formulas of early muniments, the names of places almost 
necessarily occur in connection with the prepositions above 
mentioned. 
The Township of Harl, near Wooler, was formerly Hard-hille, 
from eard, A.S., a habitation ; or geard, an onstead, or enclosure. 
It was subsequently written Earle, (or better Harlle,) retaining 
the final e, which appears to me useful to distinguish this name 
from a word with which it has no connection whatever. 
The oldest form of Budle is Bodehill; and it might still be 
written Budehill, without any violence to pronounciation. 
Thropple, in the Parish of Mitford, was Throp-hille, that is the 
