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Graham Jones wrote: >Alongside Martin's St Shotts, I offer from Gloucestershire in England the >delectable St Cloe. > >Who? St Cloe, as in 'a clearing made by burning'. The Old English >_senget_/_senged_, from which we get the modern English word 'singed', produced >_Sengetlege_ in the tenth century (the _lege_ represents _leah_, 'clearing'), >which by 1368 had become _Seintcleye_. > >As they say in Gloucestershire, 'Don't 'ee mess wi' Saint Cloe. Her'll turn 'ee >to cinders' :-) [That's when they've got their smocks on, and straw between >their teeth.] > >The same garbling (scorched-earth policy of saintly retribution?) was perhaps >responsible for St Clair's appearance in neighbouring Worcestershire at St >Clair's Barn near a place called Syntley. Now I understand why the grand Lord(?) St. John of Fawsley(? or some such), who gives his opinions on buildings and art on telly sometimes, pronounces his name in such a peculiar (to me, anyhow) manner. But what was it that was singed in his case? Ingegerd H. P.S.: Thanks for the newsletter - I will try to get back to you shortly! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%