54 



Short Notes. 



Court shall award And humbly prayeth to be hence dismissed with^nis 

 reasonable costs and charges in this behalfe wrongfully susteyned. 



" J. Thaelett." 



Many names of fields and localities are handed down from generation to 

 generation ; whilst some can be traced to remote ages, others perpetuate the 

 names of owners in more recent times. Localities retain their original nomen- 

 clature more generally than fields, the latter no doubt ofttimes discarding the 

 names of former proprietors for those of more recent date. Of ancient names 

 in Mere are retained : — " Chadenwyche," which in Domesday Book is styled 

 " Chedelwich," from Coed el wych, or the wood village; " Conwich "r=the 

 habitation of the conies, or (?) the corn village ; Swincornbe, Sweyncombe= 

 the combe of Sweyn ; Chetcombe, originally Chatecombe=the combe of little 

 bushes (chats); Holcombe=the hollow combe; Smarcombe ? Mawrcombe— 

 great combe ; (query, Smarcombe=small combe) ; Whurr=Oare, a boundary ; 

 Gannage=gangway, or the roadway to the fields from the homestead ; Hayes 

 = Haie, a hedge, i.e., an enclosure (of this appellation we have several, viz., 

 Apshay, Bush Hayes, Cocker Hayes, Sharp Haye, Worm Hayes, Broad Haye, 

 Fisher's Hayes, Green Hayes, North Haye, Hay Croft, Washer Hayes) ; 

 Holwell=Holywell (there is no tradition as to the virtues of this particular 

 well, but the name is often found) ; Penend (pen is the extreme end of an 

 eminence) ; Stedham, the enclosure for horses (liam=home, sted=steed) ; Horse 

 crate, or Horse croft — croft is a home enclosure, or a small common field — the 

 second would be the meaning in this case, as it consisted of horse leases ; 

 Widnam=Widenham, the wide or large field enclosed ; Deverlingwood, Deverill 

 Long Wood — the wood of the Deverlings, or the family of the dwellers by | 

 the water valley ; Hurdles hearn — this word is corrupted into Hurle Seene, f 

 but ancient documents give the former — Hearn =horn, or a point of land (we 

 find land also called Hurdles, therefore this strip or point of land probably be- j 

 longed to the Hurdle family) ; Shoreland^the border land (shore= boundary) ; J 



(To be continued.) 



Additional Notes on Mere, by T, I. Baker. 



Field Nomenclature. 



