What’s in an English Name?

pity-me, England—Yes, the name of this town is enough to write home about. But then England is full of such places with huh?-names that titillate thousands of travelers every year. Breathes there a tourist-cum-camera who wouldn’t snap at the opportunity of taking a photo of the signpost pointing toward Ham and Sandwich, which are within hiking distance of each other in Kent?

Some people travel to this country to enjoy the English scenery—and others to enjoy the English signery. There is doubtless no other country whose town and village names provide such merriment, and such conversation back home later on. You almost get the impression that Britain’s counties are entered in a contest to see which has the highest concentration of original town names. If you’re spending a few days in Kent, say, you can come across, all within 15 miles, Daniel’s Water, Loose, Snail- wood, Blindgrooms, Frogs, Priestland, Rat’s Castle, Rumwood, and Great Love.

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pity-me, England—Yes, the name of this town is enough to write home about. But then England is full of such places with huh?-names that titillate thousands of travelers every year. Breathes there a tourist-cum-camera who wouldn’t snap at the opportunity of taking a photo of the signpost pointing toward Ham and Sandwich, which are within hiking distance of each other in Kent?

Some people travel to this country to enjoy the English scenery—and others to enjoy the English signery. There is doubtless no other country whose town and village names provide such merriment, and such conversation back home later on. You almost get the impression that Britain’s counties are entered in a contest to see which has the highest concentration of original town names. If you’re spending a few days in Kent, say, you can come across, all within 15 miles, Daniel’s Water, Loose, Snail- wood, Blindgrooms, Frogs, Priestland, Rat’s Castle, Rumwood, and Great Love.