THE SOUTH KINGDOM
Sta,—With all deference to the authority of Professor Ekwall, quoted by Sir A. C. Grant-Duff, I suggest that he is wrong, and that your reviewer is right in his etymology of the name of this county. A common form of early spelling is Suthrige, the second half of the name signifying a kingdom, as in Sverige, the native name of Sweden. Since the g is pronounced as a y, the development to the present spelling and pro- nunciation of Surrey is simple, especially as the awkward th would be slurred to make the rr. More than that, the Early English name, signi- fying South Kingdom, accords with the early history of this region. Protected from invaders by the dense forest of the great North Wood and by the forest of the Weald, this district long remained unconquered, and the existence of such names as Wallington, Walton, Warlingham, &c., suggests that this was a British enclave when all the surrounding districts had been occupied by the English. When conquest eventually came, it was from Mercia, north of the Thames, so that Surrey was literally the Suthrige, or Southern District (or Kingdom).—Yours faithfully,
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