I used to live at Ankerdine Crescent, Shooters Hill, Woolwich - how do
we explain that?
John Briggs
On 21/11/2013 12:16, Nick Corbett wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I was going to get round to claiming Ankerdine Hill WOR as a pre-English name using Elephant Theory (the Teme makes a 90-degree turn round A. Hill, which is a most substantial one)
> And I'm sure I can't be the 1st person to do this, as the name looks Celtic.
>
> But maybe I am the first person to point out that there could very well be 2 pre-English names associated with
> the landscape feature - I've just spotted this in PN WOR - & this of course strengthens the case.
>
> Ankerdine is a minor name (tho' a major feature) & not mentioned in DEPN or VW or CVEP.
>
> From PN WOR p.46
> Ancredham c. 1200 (c. 1240)
> Ancredeham, Aucredeham c. 1220 (c.1240)
> Oncredham 1240
>
> "Profs Ekwall and Zachrisson agree in suggesting that this is a triple compound from OE ancor "anchorite", hreod and
> hamm, hence "reedy ham frequented by an anchorite"...... it s.b. noted that side by side with this place there was, close
> at hand, a place called brocredeham, Broccerdham, Brochardham.... (maybe) another "reedy ham" haunted by the
> brocc or badger."
>
> I would call that re-interpretation by pop. etym. with OE anchorite & badger (underwhelming/off-the-wall in terms of topographic description .
>
> X. Delamarre has an entry in his "Dict. Langue Gauloise" (Errance) for
> ANCORAGO (attested as VL noun 6th cent)= ? un poisson
> further instancing medieval Latin ANCORA: "Hakenlachs" ("hook lox") or Rhine Salmon
> He discusses Celtic *anco "crochet, courbe, gekruemmt" (hook, bend, crooked) and cites Angedair (Austrian Tyrol) as a modern PN containing this element.
> (I think VW is sceptical about the el. when discussing the R. Anker STF)
>
> I would suggest this very confidently for the the 1st el. of Ankerdine.
> 2nd el. could be ritu "ford, watercourse" (or several other things of course).
>
> For the 1st el. of Brocredeham, I'd suggest Celtic *broccos - or (less likely) the Latin adj. broccus (which may well be
> borrowed from Celtic *broccos - and is in the same semantic area).
> From Mr Delamarre's entry for *broccos (in his DLG)
> "blaireau (badger) ...... il existe en France des lieux-dits (minor PNs) Broc, le Broc caracterises par une arete rocheuse (rocky spine)". (?Barnersbrook maybe?)
> From J-P Savignac's remarks in his "Dict. Francais-Gaulois" (La Difference) s.v. broche
> "(the Lat. adj.) broccus .... dont la bouche avance, en pointe, saillant (projecting)".
>
> There are a lot of British names in S. Worcestershire, and I'll come back next week regarding them.
> Ankerdine is on the NW. extremity of the zone of British (as opposed to Welsh) substratal names.
> Why do we get lots of British names here and in Dorset (try looking at sheet 118 of the 1:25,000 OS maps)?
> The obvious answer might be right - these were the last lowland areas to switch from British to VL & hence the
> British names are better preserved.
>
> Thanks as always for reading this post
> keep warm everyone!
> Nick
> .
>
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