Of course such tales as these deceive nobody. There are, however, others which are really misleading. Barber Stones, on the moors between Ringinglow and Fox House, is said to have been so called because a man called Barber was lost in the snow there; Silver Hill in Ecclesall is said to have derived its name from a discovery of silver coins. Now neither of these accounts is absolutely improbable, for people have perished on the moors, and silver coins have been found on the tops of hills. But no living person can remember the unfortunate Mr. Barber, and nobody can produce one of the aforesaid silver coins, or any contemporary account either of the accident in the snow or of the coins. When I hear that treasures of gold have been discovered at Gold Hill in Fulwood, and have seen those treasures with the eyes that now guide my pen, then, and not till then, shall I believe these stories about Silver Hill and the unhappy Mr. Barber.
The etymology of local names is a subject full of pitfalls and difficulties, but the fact that it is so should not be a hindrance to inquiry. So long as a guess is offered as such, or so long as the weight which the opinion ought to have, or the degree of probability is indicated by the etymologist, the cause of exact science will not suffer. Unless advances of this kind are made we shall never be any nearer to the truth. Many of the derivations of the local names given in the glossary are unquestionably right, whilst others are necessarily matters of greater or less degrees of doubt. It is hoped that the evidence offered, and the opinions or comments given, in this volume have done something to advance the little knowledge that we possess on this obscure and interesting subject.
It will be noticed that I have treated many of the oldest local names as the names of barrows, circles, and memorials of the dead. Thus words composed of low, how, ring, carter, hope (hoop), and even tom (toom), have been explained on this basis.[1] Such a hilly district as Hallamshire would be sure to contain, on high and prominent positions, many such memorials. They would strike the
- ↑ The local names Whildon (pronounces Wheeldon) and Whirlow (formerly Whorlow) appear to be derived from the circles (wheels or whorls) surrounding barrows and hill forts. The word carter in 'Carter Stones Ridge' on the very top of Bradfield moors evidently means 'circle,' as will be seen under the word Quarter in the Addenda.
