Birkby NY059373 just outside Maryport Brettebi 1163, Bretteby 1224, Bretby 1260. PNCu gives "the bȳ of the Britons". They give a similar etymology for Birkby near Muncaster SD119963 which is Bretteby 1215, Breteby 1279. They note that there has been a later misunderstanding of the element as being from birk "birch tree." (Armstrong et al., 1950). Ekwall notes a similar name in North Yorkshire Bretebi in the Domesday Book in 1088 and one in West Yorkshire Bretebi in the Domesday Book, all with the same meaning (Ekwall, 1960).
We also find Briscoe, outside Egremont which is Brethesco NY018114 in 1203, Bretscoh .c 1205, Bretscough in Edward III's time. Ekwall and PNCu both go with Bretaskóg(r) "the wood of the Britons", though other Briscoes Ekwall feels are Birkiskóg(r) "birch wood".
There is Brethstrette at Ambleside and Brettestreet above Broughton in Furness - droving roads used by the Britons (James, 2008) or perhaps roads so ancient that they were ascribed to the Britons by the Anglo-Norse in the way stone circles were ascribed to the Ancient Britons/Druids/Picts etc. James also notes Brethomor and Bretteroum near Claughton just east of Lancaster (SD564665)where Britons had some rights over the marginal land (James, 2008)
The general name for Britons/Welsh in Norse was bretar but Fiona Edmonds discusses the use of kumbrar to refer to Britons specifically from the northern kingdom of Strathclyde/Cumbria as opposed to the Britons of Wales or Cornwall (Edmonds, 2014). James discusses the native cömbröɣ which appears in English and Norse place-names such as Cummersdale near Carlisle, Cummertrees in Dumfriesshire, Great Cumbrae and possibly Camerton (James, 2016).
There are place names much further south such as Comberbach in Cheshire, Cumberworth in Lincolnshire, Cumberledge, and Comberton in Herefordshire, Cambridgeshire, Shropshire and Worecestershire. There is a good discussion of this in James (James, 2008) There is a view that these refer to Cumbrian or Stratchlyde Britons moving there as immigrants - or they could refer to men with the personal name Cumbra (I like to think this was a nick-name like all the Taffs and Jocks and Paddies that can be found in England these days).
Fiona Edmonds discusses the emergence of the term Cumbrian as representing an Anglo-Saxon (and Norse) recognition of the expansion of the Cumbrian polity under the Strathclyde kings in the 10th Century (Edmonds, 2014). I wonder then whether the names in Bretar reflect a more old-fashioned nomenclature? Alex Woolf speculates that Cumbrian was a Northumbrian English habit of talking about any Briton (Woolf, 2007) but Alan James suggests that the names in Cumber- further south represent migrants from Strathclyde/Cumbria (James, 2008). I wonder whether English ears would have been keen enough to detect the dialectal differences between a Welshman and a Cumbrian, or even a Cornishman, given they had traditionally referred to them all as Wealas - and even in Glasgow much later the bishops still made play that they were Welsh, but that's another topic - see Dauvit Broun (Broun, 2004).
We also find Briscoe, outside Egremont which is Brethesco NY018114 in 1203, Bretscoh .c 1205, Bretscough in Edward III's time. Ekwall and PNCu both go with Bretaskóg(r) "the wood of the Britons", though other Briscoes Ekwall feels are Birkiskóg(r) "birch wood".
There is Brethstrette at Ambleside and Brettestreet above Broughton in Furness - droving roads used by the Britons (James, 2008) or perhaps roads so ancient that they were ascribed to the Britons by the Anglo-Norse in the way stone circles were ascribed to the Ancient Britons/Druids/Picts etc. James also notes Brethomor and Bretteroum near Claughton just east of Lancaster (SD564665)where Britons had some rights over the marginal land (James, 2008)
The general name for Britons/Welsh in Norse was bretar but Fiona Edmonds discusses the use of kumbrar to refer to Britons specifically from the northern kingdom of Strathclyde/Cumbria as opposed to the Britons of Wales or Cornwall (Edmonds, 2014). James discusses the native cömbröɣ which appears in English and Norse place-names such as Cummersdale near Carlisle, Cummertrees in Dumfriesshire, Great Cumbrae and possibly Camerton (James, 2016).
There are place names much further south such as Comberbach in Cheshire, Cumberworth in Lincolnshire, Cumberledge, and Comberton in Herefordshire, Cambridgeshire, Shropshire and Worecestershire. There is a good discussion of this in James (James, 2008) There is a view that these refer to Cumbrian or Stratchlyde Britons moving there as immigrants - or they could refer to men with the personal name Cumbra (I like to think this was a nick-name like all the Taffs and Jocks and Paddies that can be found in England these days).
Fiona Edmonds discusses the emergence of the term Cumbrian as representing an Anglo-Saxon (and Norse) recognition of the expansion of the Cumbrian polity under the Strathclyde kings in the 10th Century (Edmonds, 2014). I wonder then whether the names in Bretar reflect a more old-fashioned nomenclature? Alex Woolf speculates that Cumbrian was a Northumbrian English habit of talking about any Briton (Woolf, 2007) but Alan James suggests that the names in Cumber- further south represent migrants from Strathclyde/Cumbria (James, 2008). I wonder whether English ears would have been keen enough to detect the dialectal differences between a Welshman and a Cumbrian, or even a Cornishman, given they had traditionally referred to them all as Wealas - and even in Glasgow much later the bishops still made play that they were Welsh, but that's another topic - see Dauvit Broun (Broun, 2004).
But maybe the English people in Cheshire and Shropshire, who were very
familiar with Welsh speakers did differentiate the Cumbrians because of where
they had immigrated from? Most English
people today couldn't differentiate Polish from Russian by ear, but they would
be able to tag a Pole or Russian because of their geographical origin. Anyway,
I muse on.
The point is that the (Anglo-) Norse called some settlements by the Britons/Cumbrians Bretby and some Cummersdale. These names would all date from the 10th Century or later.
The point is that the (Anglo-) Norse called some settlements by the Britons/Cumbrians Bretby and some Cummersdale. These names would all date from the 10th Century or later.
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