5 



irresistible inference that at some earlier period the Anglo- 

 Saxons had been totemists."* 



I have tried to bring home to you, by actual instances, the 

 strange theories, historical and other, to wfrich students have 

 been led by the change and corruption in place-names ; and 

 in the Paper to which I have referred I have shown how, largely 

 through the influence of Kemble, their erroneous derivation has 

 affected our views on our early history. In doing this, it has 

 been my object to plead for their systematic treatment in the 

 belief that such treatment will not only save us from much 

 error but will enable students to arrive at conclusions of great 

 importance. They can hardly be expected at present to work 

 out for themselves the history of every name with which they 

 are called upon to deal. So brilliant a scholar as Professor 

 Maitland has observed, for instance, in his great work on 

 Domesday Book and Beyond, that Amport, Hants, derives its 

 suffix from having been at some early date a port or market 

 town. Now it can be shown that this place was in Domesday 

 simply Anne, and derived its suffix " port " from the Norman 

 family of de Port, which then held it, and which was itself 

 named from Port-en-Bessin. There are many other interesting 

 cases of English names incorporating those of foreign families 

 or individuals. If our place-names had received scientific 

 treatment as in France, scholars would have ready to their 

 hands the whole material in a trustworthy form instead of being 

 driven, as now, to guesswork, or to virtually prohibitive toil. 



The mere collection of local names on a scale as exhaustive 

 as possible, will prove that some of the oldest are now among 

 the least known. Manors of great antiquity have often vanished 

 from the map, while the names of others may only be preserved 

 by a farm, by a wood, or by a lane. The ancient names of 

 our Hundreds, often now obsolete, call for special attention, 

 representing as they sometimes do, the meeting place of 

 primitive settlers. And, to turn to a later time, the coming 



* Anglo-Saxon Britain, p. 81. 



vvuunoy, o. x., viiaiuwouu, uououuiv 



