THE county of Bucks is fortunate in having its place-names
thoroughly studied just as its Victoria History was being
completed. For, as Professors Mawer and Stenton show in this masterly volume, the place-names and the historical accounts illustrate one another. Thus the place-names confirm the statement in the Chronicle that Britons occupied the Vale of Aylesbury till late in the sixth century, and suggest, on the other hand, that the southern slopes of the Chilterns towards the Thames were settled somewhat earlier by Middle Saxons. The village of Fingest and the neighbour- ing hamlet of Skirmett assume importance when we find that their early names were Thing-hyrit—or assembly-hill —and Skiremote, for " scirgemot " or shire-meeting, and that such Scandinavian forms point to the presence of Danish settlers in the heart of the Chilterns. The persistence of local names is remarkable. Thus, Mantle's Farm in Missenden preserves the name of the thegn, Turstin Mantell, who held half a hide there in the days of Edward the Confessor. Fen- nell's Wood in Wycombe is named after the Fitz Neel who bought the land in 1282. Thus we may safely infer that the names which are older than the records preserve evidence of former land-holders. The study of place-names, taken together with the archaeologiCal material, is throwing entirely new light on the Saxon conquest of England. The English Place-Name Society deserves support in its work. Nothing could be better than its first. two volumes. If we might make a suggestion, it would be that the editors should not
depend exclusively on the Ordnance Survey. - We can think of one village or hamlet in Bucks whichhas some hundreds, of people and yei -does not appear on the map.
Previous page
