6 



of alien lords is recalled by the names of the castles they 

 erected at " Montacute " and at "Fleshy," at "Richmond" 

 and at " Belvoir." 



As to the method of the treatment to be adopted, I do not 

 propose to deal with it in detail, but rather to elicit from this 

 Congress an expression of opinion that the work ought to be 

 taken in hand. Should it be pleased to refer the subject to a 

 Special Committee, the whole matter could be carefully con- 

 sidered and a scheme of work drawn up for uniform adoption 

 throughout the country. For that such work should be uniform. 

 I need scarcely say, is essential. 



I referred at the outset to the lines adopted by the 

 Government in France as a guide to ourselves in the matter. 

 French scholars are justly proud of the Dictionnaire Topo- 

 graphique de la France compre?iant les noms de lieu anciens 

 et modernes. This great undertaking is printed at the national 

 expense, and describes itself as "published by order of the 

 Minister of Public Instruction and under the direction of the 

 Historical Works Commission." But the system is strictly a 

 local x>ne in practice, inasmuch as it is carried out department 

 by department. Moreover, the assistance of a local society, if 

 one exists, is secured, and the volume produced under its 

 auspices by some qualified Scholar. In this series an intro- 

 duction to the volume deals with the geography, geology, 

 history, and ancient divisions, ecclesiastical and administrative 

 divisions, and so forth of the department. But the body of 

 the work consists of its place-names in alphabetical order. 

 Hamlets, manors, fiefs, farms, streams, hills, and similar 

 objects are included, but not mere field-names.* The 

 essential feature, however, is that the date and the authority 

 for each form of the name cited is given, as is done with all 

 words in our New English Dictionary. Alphabetical lists are 

 given, for reference, of all the sources of information employed, 



* Genuinely ancient field-names are often of great interest, but the 

 modern one?, of little or no value, now swamp them. 



