T«i;SDALE PLACE-IfAJIJiS. 57 



proper names — are spread over the Cheviot and Lammermoor 

 ranges, and the country round. jS'orthumberland contains a great 

 many." Brockie. The Folks of Shields, p. 41. 



There is the French dodjU^ and Littre says, " It means well- 

 fleshed, in good condition ; and that Scheler points out the Fri- 

 sian dodd^ block, mass, or else the radical which is in dodliner, 

 dodiner, balancer, to dandle, as the possible etymology." This 

 dod must refer to the baby who is dandled, and who is a little 

 rounded fat mass, or ought to be such. 



The Dodo, the extinct bird of the Mauritius, is a short- legged, 

 stumpy, bulky, rounded creature, related to the pigeons, and 

 may therefore be regarded as a Dodd, but in Herbert's Travels 

 the name dodo is said to be a Portuguese name, and "has refer- 

 ence to her simpleness. The Portuguese word is doudo, mad, 

 foolish, funny." Skeat. 



Does our word dowdy come from this ? 



These two last quotations are, perhaps, not much to the point. 



Bodd, then, means a round topped hill, a rounded mass or 

 creature denuded of appendages or excrescences, such as horn, 

 hair, branches. 



It is a North English, Scotch, and Frisian word, and the 

 French dodu is related to it. 



It is also a common personal name in the North, and was 

 once in Mercia ; pos>3ibly the Earl of Mercia was un gros dodu. 



Examples : — 



^°^t^^°^<^-l rounded hills. 

 Brown Dodd — j 



Dogbee. 



Perhaps from Icel. dogg, a pillow, or hcer, a house — a place 

 for rest or repose. 



Dtjfion. 



From Icel. diifa (Goth, dubo ; A.-S., duva ; Dan. due; Sw. 

 dufva; 0. H. G. till a ; Ger. taube), a dove, and tim, a house or 

 town. 



