The Etymology of Local Names

Book excerpt: This book explains in depth the etymology of English local names, which is with a short introduction to the relationship of languages. This is a pictorial history of England. As the preface says: "Such old names of places often long outlive both the people that bestowed them, and nearly all the material monuments of their occupancy. The language, as a vehicle of oral communication, may gradually be forgotten and be heard no more where it was once in universal use, and the old topographical nomenclature may still remain unchanged."