SAGA-BOOK - Viking Society Web Publications

Book Reviews 2°5
younger than DB in Cambridge, Hunts, Lanes, Westmorland and
Yorks West. but even in Lanes, where there are 6 instances, and
Yorks West, where there are 5, they are greatly outnumbered
by the place-names with 0 spellings. Even accounting for ME
levelling under 0, it is strange that more spellings in u are not
found in Lines and Yorks East and North. The fact that u
spellings are most common in Lanes and Yorks West and. to judge
from the figures from Macclesfield hundred. eastern Cheshire.
suggests that the hulm spelling might be a Norwegian side-form.
There are two objections to this theory, however. No forms
with u are recorded in West Scandinavian sources and it would
be difficult to attribute the spellings in. u which occur throughout
England. often for place-names with DB spellings in 0, to a
Norwegian influence that can hardly have been strong to the
south and east of the Pennines. On the whole it would seem most
satisfactory to attribute the variation of spelling in English
place-names to scribal conventions. This would not, however,
solve the problem as to why holme became the standard spelling
in ME and the form adopted in young field-names in practically
every county in England, including Lanes, while hulme is the
regular form in young place-names in east Cheshire and the form
under which place-names such as Kettleshulme, with early
spellings in both 0 and u, have been levelled. Perhaps the material
from the whole of the county will enable this problem to be
solved.
Part Two contains the place-names of the Hundreds of Bucklow
and Northwich, the northern and central districts of east
Cheshire. There are rather more place-names containing
Scandinavian elements than in Macclesfield Hundred and the
elements themselves are more varied. The two elements found
most frequently in Macclesfield Hundred, both and holmrjhulm
reappear here. bOth is again only found with 0 spellings (pp. 14,
37, 50, 71. 75, 76), while holmr/hulm shows variation between 0
and u. u forms, however, are earlier, predominant and more
persistent in both township names (pp. 236, 278, 302) and minor
names (pp. 41, 49, 53, 63, 72, 217, 275. 314), although a few minor
names are only recorded with 0 spellings (pp. 12. 14, 55, 164, 221),
and note Holmes Chapel. a village in the township of Church
Hulme (p. 279). Mr Dodgson records the association of Strettle
(p. 52) with the Hulme family and shows that there was variation
between 0 and u in the family name, too. Quite an
interesting selection of Scandinavian personal names is found in
the place-names, namely Hdsteinn (p. 49), Rauer (p. 56), Steinulfr
(p. 65), Knutr (p. 73). .P6raldr (p. 101), Kolsveinn (p. III),