E

Eardisland.

There seems no reason to doubt that this is, as tradition says, Earl's Lene from O.E. Eorl. The 16th and 17th century forms in Are- are due to assimilation with Arrow, the river on the banks of which Eardisland is situated. For the second element see Lene.

Eardisley.

'Meadow of Eard-red or -wulf ' (both very common).

Cf. Eardiston (Worcs.) which is Dom. Ardolvestone, 'tun of Eardwulf'.

Easthampton (Shobdon).

*Eastley [Bodenham].

Eastnor.

The first element may be the pers. name Ast (an Ast was 'Regulus Worc'. in 956), or it may be O.E. ast, 'oast' or 'kiln'. For the second element see App. -over.

Easton Court (Little Hereford).

Eastwood (Tarrington).

Eaton Bishop.

O.E. ea-tun, 'tun on the river'.

Eaton Hennor (Leominster).

See Hennor.

Eaton Hill (Leominster).

Hill of Eaton (Foy).

Eccles Green (Norton Canon).

Eccleswall.

Some have connected the first element with the Welsh eglwys, 'church'. The second element shows (as in Crasswall and often) the change from -welle, through M.E. -wale, into -wall.

Edvin Loach and Edvin Ralph.

No one has attempted a suggestion as to the meaning of the word Edvin. Nor do we know who was the Ralph, after whom one parish is called. The other was held by the De Loges family in the 13th century.

*Edwardestune ['in valle Stradelei'].

Egdon (Pencombe).

Eggleton (Stretton Grandison).

'Tun of Aegel'.

Eign (Hereford).

No one has ventured to guess at the meaning or origin of this name, which still persists as Eign Street, Eign Road, Eign Brook, Eign Mill, etc.

*Elburley [?].

'Aethelbeorht's meadow'.

Ellmorsend (Whitbourne).

No old forms. Probably 'Aylmer's End'. There is in 1355 an Aylmoresbrok near the Wye.

Elm Bridge (Ewyas Harold).

On the road leading to the next-mentioned farm (q.v.), and therefore evidently of the same derivation. The Glos. Elmbridge is circ. 1200 Telbrugge, or Thelbrugge, 'bridge made of deal' (later Thel- was read as Th'El). The Surrey Elmsbridge is Dom. Amelebrige, 'bridge of Aemele' (a personal name). The Worcs. Elmbridge is in 13th century Elmrugge, 'ridge with the elm-trees on it'.

The Elms (Ewyas Harold).

O. Fr. heaume, 'helmet'; gradually corrupted into the tree.

*Elnodestune ['in valle Stradelie'].

'Aelnoth's tun'. There is an unidentified Alnodestreu in the Shropshire Dom., and Elnod (i.e. Aelnoth) is a holder of lands under Earl Roger.

Cf. (in Warwcs.) 'terra quae dicitur Alnodestona', Glos. Cart.

*Elsedune [Domesday Hundred].

Probably 'hill of Ealhsige'. For second element see App. -don.

Elton.

It is possibly the Elvitheduna of the Leom. Cart. which is not identifiable with certainty. Elton is a wide-spread place- name, found in Derbs., Notts., Durham, Hunts., Lancs., and other counties. Some of these are 'Ella's tun'; Hunts. Elton (Dom. Adelintune) is from O.E. Aethelinga, 'Prince-town'. The form on Saxton's Map, which is undoubtedly Elton, is inexplicable. There is an Elton's Marsh in Burghill.

Elverstone or Elvastone (Harewood).

According to local legend 'Elfrida's town'. It might be 'Eof's tun', or from O.E. efes, 'the border or edge or end of anything', in which case it would be 'tun on the edge' (i.e. of the wood). Walter de Lacy gave to Gloucester Abbey the Church of Alwestone (unidentified).

Embages (Bromyard).

End.

A frequent element in Herefordshire place-names. We have the hamlets of Harewood End, Sinton End (Acton Beauchamp), Ellmorsend (Whitbourne), Redding End, Hall End, and in 1547 Witocksyende (Much Marcle). In Acton Beauchamp is Tythingsend Farm; and in Cradley is Vinesend Farm. For the eight places or farms called Townend or Townsend see Town. Wallend is in Monkland, and in Stoke Prior. In Ledbury, of the long central street, about a mile and a half long, only some two hundred yards are High Street, the rest being 'The Homend' and 'The Southend'. Close by is Hope End. In Weston-Beggard are Hill End and Moor End, and in Yatton Westnor's End. Nash End is in Bosbury, Nupend in Munsley, Moorend, Millend, and Birchend in Castle Frome, New End in Canon Pyon, and Biblin's End in Goodrich. In Cowarne in 1538 (Val. Eccles.) are More Yende, Hyll Yende, Bridge Yende, and Wych Yende: this last is still called Red Witch End (a good instance of the results of popular etymology).

Endale (Kimbolton).

Enemore Fields (Yarpole).

Enna and Eni are pers. names in Onom. But without old forms it is unwise to guess.

England's Bridge (on river Leadon, near Bosbury).

I cannot trace it beyond the 1831 Ord. Map. Not far away is a hamlet and inn called England's Gate. One is tempted to see in these names an old frontier, as in Pensax further north, which is plausibly interpreted by Welsh scholars as Pen Sais, or Saeson, 'the Englishmen's end', or 'limit'.

*Erdishope [in or near Weobley].

The first element (as in Eardisley) is Eard-red or -wulf. For the second element see App. -hope.

Eskley (river, trib. of Monnow).

Wise students refuse to discuss river-names; but one is tempted to connect this word with the Celtic root from which come Exe, Usk, Ock, and Ax-ona (now the Aisne).

Etnam Street (Leominster).

Leading to the hamlet of Eaton, it is said locally to be Eaton-ham Street.

Eton Tregoz (Foy).

The Tregoz family held Ewyas (with which went Eton and Foy) for about a century, from before 1194 to 1300, when the male line died out.

Evendine (Colwall).

Evesbatch.

Esbatch is still the local pronunciation and on the pewter alms-dish in the church it is spelt Esbedg. Esa and Ese are pers. names in Onom. Or the first element may be Ash. (Ash Ingen is Esse is 1250. Shrop. Ashford is Dom. Esseford. See also various forms of Ash under Brom's Ash.) It cannot be efts, 'edge', since the v only appears in the middle of the 18th century. There is an Eastbatch Court in English Bicknor. In the Shropshire Dom. we find Stope for Easthope. For second element see Bache.

Ewyas Harold.

All authorities, English and Welsh, without hesitation pronounce the word Ewyas to be not of English origin, and the Welsh authorities believe it to be pre-Celtic. No serious student would even hazard a conjecture as to its derivation or meaning. The oldest form seems to be Euwias. Practically the only form in purely Welsh writings is Euas. In the year-books of Ed. I and Ed. III we find usually Ewyas (evidently due to Norman influence), and since that time the two spellings Ewias and Ewyas have existed side by side, the latter being the more commonly used. The modern pronunciation is something between the Welsh form Euas and Leland's Ewis. The Harold, after whom the village is called since at least 1303 (F.A. Euiwias Harraud), is not, as popular tradition insists, Harold the King, son of Godwine, but Harold of Ewias, son of that Earl Ralph, the Confessor's nephew, who fled before the Welsh, in the battle outside Hereford in 1055.

Eye.

O.E. ig, 'island'. The name was applied to any piece of land near water, or to a marsh: it does not, of necessity, signify 'island' in the modern sense. In compounds it is often confused with ea, 'river', and it is practically impossible to distinguish whether -ey in any given name represents ea or ig. Wyld thinks they were confused, certainly in form, and possibly in meaning, even in the O.E. period. There is in Eye parish an Eyecote, and an Eyewood in Titley.

Eyton.

J.H.R. gives this identification as probable, but not certain. Eyton (Salop) is Dom. Etune: and the Yorks. Aytons are Dom. Aton or Atune. It is doubtful whether to read Eyton as O.E. ea-tun, 'river town', or O.E. ig (later ey), 'islet-town' (ait-town). See Eye above. It is difficult to explain the difference in form of Eyton (Dom. Ettone), Eaton (Dom. Etune), and Eton (Dom. Edtune). In Shrops. Dom. Etone is now Hatton, while Etune has become Eyton.

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