44 



lEESDALE PLACE-NAMES. 



It appears from the above that cop^ cup, signify indiilerently 

 hill, top, and hollow, cup, similarly as dylce means either an 

 excavation as a fence, or the heap thrown up out of it. See also 

 combe, dene, dyke, hope, lioio and loiv. 



Cop is not confined to an elevated thing, nor cup to anything 

 hollow, as might have been expected tliey would be. 



These are without doubt very ancient words originally from 

 Sanskrit, and have been transmitted to Greek and nearly all the 

 European languages. The Fr. has cap for head, cap a pie, and 

 coupe for cup, and many nouns and adjectives beginning with 

 cap, as capitaine, capital, &c., from caput. 



The opinion of Junius given above, that cup, can and pot, are 

 only the first syllables of the corresponding Greek words is very 

 ingenious and probably correct ; the northern barbarians coming 

 into contact with the Greeks would not like long words, and 

 might content themselves with first syllables, not hearing dis- 

 tinctly, or disregarding, those which followed. 



Cap, cape, cope ; cop, cup, are closely allied in meaning as well 

 as in orthography. 



Examples : — 



" "Warcop — from A.-S. war, caution, or war, adj. aware, or 

 wary, cautious, provident ; 2. prepared, ready." Bosworth. 



Edmunds' Vocab. has " War cop (Westmorland), a hill," from 

 A.-S. wer, wae, a place enclosed ; and cop, a hill or elevated 

 place, enclosed, perhaps with a ditch, for retreat, or defence, or 

 as a signalling station. 



High Cup Gill — gill at or near to the cup or cop. 



High Cup Mck; — " There exists at this place a pass, or nick, 

 a deep and long gap or cleugh, between two high hills {cop) 

 leading upwards towards the south ; from the summit of the 

 nick, or from the hills above, is an extensive and fine view into 

 "Westmorland." Watson. 



The term nich occurs also in Northumberland ; for instance, 

 " The nine nicks o' Thirl wall," on the Roman Wall above 

 Haltwhistle. 



