Archaic England Part 33

There is a river Rea in Shropshire and a second river Rea upon which stands _Bir_mingham: that this Rea was connected with the Candian Rhea is possible from the existence at Birmingham of a Canwell, or Canewell.

Near Cambourne, or Cam_bre_, is the _rhe druth_ (Redruth) which the authorities decode into stream of the Druids. Running through the village of _Ber_riew in Wales, is a rivulet named the Rhiw, and rising on _Bar_don Hill, Leicestershire, is "the bright and clear little river Sence". As the word _mens_, or _mind_, is usually a.s.signed to Minerva, Rhea was possibly the origin of _reason_, or St. Rhea, and to _Rhi Vera_ may be a.s.signed _river_ and _revere_; a _reverie_ is a _brown_ study.

According to Persian philosophy the soul of man was fivefold in its essence, one-fifth being "the Roun, or Rouan, the principle of practical judgment, imagination, volition":[470] another fifth, "the Okho or principle of conscience," seemingly corresponds to what western philosophers termed the _Ego_ or _I myself_.

In the neighbourhood of Brough in Westmorland is an ancient cross within an ancient camp, known as Rey Cross, and that Leicester or Ratae--which stands upon the antique _Via Devana_ or Divine Way--was intimately related with the Holy Rood is obvious from the modern Red Cross Street and High Cross Street.

The ruddy _Rood_ was no doubt radically the rolling four-spoked wheel, felloe, felly, periphery, or brim, and although perhaps Reading denoted as is officially supposed, "Town of the Children of Reada," the name Read, Reid, Rea, Wray, Ray, etc., did not only mean ruddy or red-haired.

I question whether Ripon really owes its t.i.tle as supposed to _ripa_, the Latin for bank of a stream.

The town hall of Reading is situated at Valpy Street in Forbury Gardens on what is known as The Forbury, seemingly the _Fire Barrow_ or prehistoric Forum, and doubtless a holy fire once burned ruddily at Rednal or Wredinhal near Bromsgrove. In Welsh _rhedyn_ means _fern_, whence the authorities translate Reddanick in Cornwall into the ferny place: the connection, however, is probably as remote and imaginary as that between Redesdale and reeds.

The place-name Rothwell, anciently Rodewelle, is no doubt with reason a.s.sumed to be "well of the rood or cross". Ruth means _pity_, and the ruddy cross of St. John, now (almost) universally sacrosanct to Pity, was, I think, probably the original Holy Rood. The knights of St. John possessed at Barrow in Leicester or Ratae a site now known as Rothley Temple, and as _th_, _t_, and _d_, are universally interchangeable it is likely that this Rothley was once _Roth lea_ or Rood Lea. Similarly Redruth, in view of the neighbouring Carn Bre, was probably not "Stream of the Druids," but an _abri_ of the Red Rood. The sacred rod or pole known generally as the Maypole was almost invariably surmounted by one or more _rotae_, or wheels, and the name "Radipole rood" at Fulham (nearly opposite Epple St.) renders it likely that the Maypole was once known alternatively as the Rood Pole. From the Maypoles flew frequently the ruddy cross of Christopher or George.

In British mythology there figures a G.o.ddess of great loveliness named Arianrod, which means in Welsh the "Silver Wheel": the Persians held that their Jupiter was the whole circuit of heaven, and Arianrhod, or "Silver Wheel," was undoubtedly the starry _welkin_, the Wheel Queen, or the Vulcan of Good Law. With Wayland Smith may be connoted the river Welland of Rutland and Rataeland.

Silver, a white metal,[471] was probably named after Sil Vera, the Princess of the Silvery Moon and Silvery Stars. Silver Street is a common name for _old_ roads in the south of England:[472] Aubrey Walk in Kensington, is at the summit of a Silver Street, and the prime Aubrey de Vere of this neighbourhood was, I suspect, the same ghost as originally walked Auber's Ridge in Picardy, and the famous French _Chemin des Dames_. France is the land of the Franks,[473] and near Frankton in Shropshire at Ellesmere, _i.e._, the Elle, Fairy, or Holy mere, are the remains of a so-called Ladies Walk. This extraordinary _Chemin des Dames_, the relic evidently of some old-time ceremony, is described as a paved causeway running far into the mere, with which more than forty years ago old swimmers were well acquainted. It could be traced by bathers until they got out of their depth. How much farther it might run they of course knew not. Its existence seems to have been almost forgotten until, in 1879, some divers searching for the body of a drowned man came upon it on the bottom of the mere, and this led to old inhabitants mentioning their knowledge of it.[474]

England abounds in Silverhills, Silverhowes, Silverleys, Silvertowns, Silverdales, and Perryvales. By Silverdale at Sydenham is Jews Walk, and on Branch Hill at Hampstead is a fine prospect known as Judges Walk: here is Holly Bush Hill and Holly Mound, and opposite is Mount Vernon, to be connoted with Dur_overnon_, the ancient name of Canterbury or Rodau's Town.

Jews Walk, and the Grove at Upper Sydenham, are adjacent to Peak Hill, which, in all probability, was once upon a time Puck's Hill, and the wooded heights of Sydenham were in all likelihood a caer _sidi_, or seat of fairyland.

My chair is prepared in Caer Sidi The disease of old age afflicts none who is there.

About its peaks are the streams of ocean And above it is a fruitful fountain.

Sir John Morris-Jones points out that _sidi_ is the Welsh equivalent of the Irish _sid_, "fairyland"[475] and he connects the word with _seat_.

In view of this it is possible that St. Sidwell at Exeter was like the River Sid at Sidmouth, a _caer sidi_, or seat of the _shee_.

Sydenham, like the Phoenician Sidon, is probably connected with Poseidon, or Father Sidon, and Rhode the son of Poseidon may be connoted with Rhadamanthus, the supposed twin brother of Minos. Near Canterbury is Rhodesminnis, or Rhode Common,[476] and on this common Justice was doubtless once administered by the representatives of Rhadamanthus, who was praised by all men for his wisdom, piety, and equity. It is said that Rhode was driven to Crete by Minos, and was banished to an Asiatic island where he made his memory immortal by the wisdom of his laws: Rhode, whose name is _rhoda_, the rose or Eros, is further said to have instructed Hercules in virtue and wisdom, and according to Homer he dwells not in the underworld but in the Elysian Fields.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A. POSTERN GATE. B. DEc.u.mAN GATE. C. TOWER. D.

CIRCULAR TOWER. E. & F. TOWERS. G. SITE OF RETURN WALL. H. SITE OF TOWER. I. SURFACE OF SUBTERRANEAN BUILDING.

FIG. 261.--From _A Short Account of the Records of Richborough_ (W. D.).]

A rose coin of Rhoda was reproduced _ante_, page 339; the _rhoda_ or rose, like the _rood_, is a universal symbol of love, and with Rodau's Town, Canterbury, or Durovernon, which is permeated with the rose of St.

George, or _Oros_, _i.e._, _rose_, may be connoted the neighbouring _Rutu_piae, now Richborough. From the ground-plan of this impressive ruin it will be seen to be unlike anything else in Europe, inasmuch as it originally consisted of a quadrangle surrounding a ma.s.sive rood or cross imposed upon a t.i.tanic foundation.[477]

With Rutupiae, of which the _Rutu_ may be connoted with the _rood_ within its precincts, Mr. Roach Smith, in his _Antiquities of Richborough_, connotes the Gaulish people known as the Ruteni. The same authority quotes Malebranche as writing "all that part of the coast which lies between Calais and Dunkirk our seamen now call Ruthen,"

whence it is exceedingly likely that the Reading Street near Broadstairs, and the Rottingdean near Brighton were originally inhabited by children of Reada or Rota.

Apparently "Rotuna" was in some way identified in Italy with Britain, or _natione Britto_, for according to Thomas an inscription was discovered at Rome, near Santa Maria _Rotuna_, bearing in strange alphabetical characters NATIONE BRITTO, somewhat a.n.a.logous at first sight to Hebrew, Greek, or Phoenician letters.[478]

From the plan it will be seen that the northern arm of the Rutupian rood points directly to the high road, and Rutupiae itself const.i.tutes the root or radical of the great main route leading directly through Rodau's Town, and Rochester to London Stone. The arms of Rochester or _Duro_brivum--where, as will be remembered, is a Troy Town--are St.

Andrew on his _roue_ Or _rota_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 262.--Arms of Rochester.]

The name _Durobrivae_ was also applied by the Romans to the Icenian town of Caistor, where it is locally proverbial that,

Caister was a city when Norwich was none, And Norwich was built of Caistor stone.

There is a second Caistor which the Romans termed Venta Icenorum: the neighbouring modern Ancaster, the Romans ent.i.tled Causeimei. It is always taken for granted that the numerous _chesters_, _casters_, _cesters_ of this country are the survivors of some Roman _castra_ or fort. Were this actually the case it is difficult to understand why the Romans called Chester _Deva_, Ancaster _Causeimei_, Caistor _Durobrivae_, and Rochester _Durobrivum_: in any case the word _castra_ has to be accounted for, and I think it will be found to be traceable to some prehistoric Judgment Tree, Cause Tree, Case Tree, or Juge Tree. No one knows exactly how "Zeus" was p.r.o.nounced, but in any case it cannot have been rigid, and in all probability the vocalisation varied from _juice_ to _sus_, and from _juge_ to _jack_ and _c.o.c.k_.[479]

The rider of a race-horse is called a _jockey_, and the child in the nursery is taught to

Ride a _c.o.c.k_ horse to Banbury Cross To see a white lady ride on a white horse.

An English CAC horse is ill.u.s.trated on page 453, and the White Lady of Banbury who careered to the music of her bells was very certainly the Fairy Queen whom Thomas the Rhymer describes as follows: "Her Steed was of the highest beauty and spirit, and at his mane hung thirty silver bells and nine, which made music to the wind as she paced along. Her saddle was of ivory, laid over with goldsmiths' work: her stirrups, her dress, all corresponded with her extreme beauty and the magnificence of her array. The fair huntress had her bow in hand, and her arrows at her belt. She led three greyhounds in a leash, and three hounds of scent followed her closely."

This description might have been written of Diana, in which connection it may be noted that at Doncaster (British Cair Daun), the hobby horse used to figure as "the Queen's Pony". Epona, the Celtic horse-G.o.ddess, may be equated with the Chanteur or Centaur ill.u.s.trated on so many of our "degraded" British coins, and Banstead Downs, upon which Ep's Home stands, may be a.s.sociated with _Epona_, and with the s.h.a.ggy little _ponies_[480] which ranged in _Epping_ Forest. Banstead, by Epsom (in Domesday Benestede), is supposed to have meant "bean-place or store": at Banwell in Somerset, supposed to have meant "pool of the bones," there is an earthwork cross which seemingly a.s.sociates this Banwell with Banbury Cross, and ultimately to the cross of Alban.

The bells on the fingers and bells on the White Lady's toes may be connoted with the silver bell of the value of 3s. 4d., which in 1571 was the prize awarded at Chester--a town of the Cangians or Cangi--to the horse "which with speede of runninge then should run before all others".[481]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 263.--Banwell Cross. From _Earthwork of England_ (A. Hadrian Allcroft).]

With this Chester Meeting may be noted Goodwood near Chichester.

Chichester is in Suss.e.x, and was anciently the seat of the Regni, a people whose name implies they were followers of _re gni_ or Regina, but the authorities imagine that Chichester, the county town of Suss.e.x, owes its name to a Saxon Cissa, who also bestowed his patronymic on Cissbury Ring, the famous oval entrenchment near Broadwater. At Cissbury Ring, the largest and finest on the South Downs, great numbers of Neolithic relics have been found, and the name may be connoted with Chisbury Camp near Avebury.

Near Stockport is Geecross, supposedly so named from "an ancient cross erected here by the Gee family". Presumably that Geecross was the _chi_ cross or the Greek _chi_: the British name for Chichester was Caer _Kei_,[482] which means the fortress of Kei, but at more modern Chichester the famous Market Cross was probably a jack, for the four main streets of Chichester still stand in the form of the jack or red rood. The curious surname Juxon is intimately connected with Chichester; there is an inscription at Goodwood relating to a British ruler named Cogidumnus[483]--apparently _Cogi dominus_ or _Cogi Lord_--whence it seems probable that Chichester or Chichestra (1297) was as it is to-day an _a.s.size_ or _juges_ tree, or even possibly a jockey's _tre_.

The adjacent Goodwood being equivalent to _Jude wood_, it is worthy of notice that Prof. Weekley connotes the name Judson with Juxon. His words are: "The administration of justice occupied a horde of officials from the Justice down to the Catchpole.[484] The official t.i.tle _Judge_ is rarely found, and this surname is usually from the female name Judge, which like Jug was used for Judith and later for Jane.

"Janette, Judge, Jennie; a woman's name (Cotgrave). The names Judson and Juxon sometimes belong to these."[485]

The word _Chester_ is probably the same as the neighbouring place-name _Goo_strey-_c.u.m_-Barnshaw in _Che_shire, and the Barn shaw or Barn hill here connected with Goostrey may be connoted with Loch Goosey near Barhill in Ayrshire.

Chi or Jou, who may be equated with the mysterious but important St.

Chei of Cornwall, was probably also once seated at Chee Dale in Derbyshire, at Chew Magna, and Chewton, as well as at the already mentioned Jews Walk and Judges Walk near London.

In Devonshire is a river Shobrook which is authoritatively explained as Old English for "brook of _Sceocca_, _i.e._, the devil, Satan! _cf._ Shuckburgh": on referring we find Shuckburgh meant--"Nook and castle of the Devil, _i.e._, Scucca, Satan, a Demon, Evil Spirit; _cf._ Shugborough". I have not pursued any inquiries at Shugborough, but it is quite likely that the Saxons regarded the British Shug or Shuck with disfavour: there is little doubt he was closely related to "Old Shock,"

the phantom-dog, and the equally unpopular "Jack up the Orchard". In some parts of England Royal Oak Day is known as Shick Shack Day,[486]

and in Surrey children play a game of giant's stride, known as Merritot or Shuggy Shaw.[487]

Merrie Tot was probably once Merrie Tod or Tad, and Shuggy Shaw may reasonably be modernised as s.h.a.ggy Jew or s.h.a.ggy Joy. It will be remembered that the Wandering Jew, _alias_ Elijah, wore a s.h.a.g gown (_ante_, p. 148): this s.h.a.gginess no doubt typified the radiating beams of the Sun-G.o.d, and it may be connoted with the s.h.a.ggy raiment and long hair of John the Baptist. As s.h.a.ggy Pan, "the President of the Mountains," almost certainly gave his name to _pen_, meaning a hill, it may be surmised that _shaw_, meaning a wooded hill, is allied to Shuggy Shaw. The surname Bagshaw implies a place-name which originated from Bog or Bogie Shaw: but Bagshawes Cavern at Bradwell, near Buxton,[488] is suggestive of a cave or Canhole[489] attributed to Big Shaw, and the neighbouring _Tide_swell is agreeably reminiscent of Merrie _Tot_ or Shuggy Shaw.

In connection with _jeu_, a game, may be connoted _gewgaw_, in Mediaeval English _giuegoue_: the p.r.o.nunciation of this word, according to Skeat, is uncertain, and the origin unknown; he adds, "one sense of _gewgaw_ is a Jew's Harp; _cf._ Burgundian _gawe_, a Jew's Harp".

Virgil, in his description of a Trojan _jeu_ or _show_, observes--

This contest o'er, the good aeneas sought, A gra.s.sy plain, with waving forests crowned And sloping hills--fit theatre for sport, Where in the middle of the vale was found A circus. Hither comes he, ringed around With thousands, here, amidst them, throned on high In rustic state, he seats him on a mound, And all who in the footrace list to vie, With proffered gifts invites, and tempts their souls to try.[490]

It will be noted that the _juge_ or showman seats himself amid shaws, upon a toothill or barrow, and doubtless just such eager crowds as collected round aeneas gathered in the ancient hippodrome which once occupied the surroundings of St. John's Church by Aubrey Walk, Kensington. "St John's Church," says Mitton, "stands on a hill, once a gra.s.sy mound within the hippodrome enclosure, which is marked in a contemporary map 'Hill for pedestrians,' apparently a sort of natural grand-stand."[491] A large tract of this district was formerly covered by a race-course known as the hippodrome. "It stretched," continues Mitton, "northward in a great ellipse, and then trended north-west and ended up roughly where is now the Triangle at the west-end of St.

Quintin Avenue. It was used for both flat-racing and steeplechasing, and the steeplechase course was more than 2 miles in length. The place was very popular being within easy reach of London, but the ground was never very good for the purpose as it was marshy."[492]

That the gra.s.sy mound or natural grand-stand of St. John was once sacred to the divine Ecne, Chinea, or Hackney, and that this King John or King Han was symbolised by an Invictus or prancing courser is implied from the lines of a Bardic poet: "Lo, he is brought from the firm enclosure with his light-coloured bounding steeds--even the sovereign ON, the ancient, the generous Feeder".[493] We have seen that in Ireland Sengann meant Old Gann, and that "Saint" John of Kensington was originally Sinjohn, Holy John, or Elgin, seems to be somewhat further implied from the neighbouring Elgin Crescent, Elgin Avenue, and Howley Street.

The Fulham place almost immediately adjacent, considered in conjunction with Fowell Street, suggests that here, as at the more western Fulham, was a home of Foals or wild Fowl, or perhaps of Fal, the Irish Centaur-G.o.d.