The attacks of Vikings who were still Pagans continued, and many curious lights are shed by the chronicles of Pictish writers. The power of St. Cuthbert over the lands given for a sanctuary to Eadred the Abbot, is recorded in the legend of Olaf Ball (from 'ballr,' the stubborn), a Pagan who refused rent and service to St. Cuthbert, for lands granted to him by Ragnvald, between Castle Eden and the Wear. This Pagan came one day to the Church of St. Cuthbert at Chester-le-Street. He shouted to Bishop Cutheard and his congregation, "What can your dead man, Cuthbert, do to me? What is the use of threatening me with his anger? I swear by my strong gods, Thor and Uthan, that I will be the enemy of you all from this time forth." Then, when he tried to leave the Church, he could not lift his foot over the threshold, but fell down dead. "And St. Cuthbert, as was just, thus got his lands."
The succession of races which gave many of our place-names, and the order in which they came, has been pointed out in the following names by the late Canon Hume, of Liverpool: Maeshir, now called Mackerfield, was called Maeshir by the Britons, meaning longfield; to which the Saxons added field, which now becomes Longfield-field, Wansbeckwater is Danish, Saxon, and English, three words meaning water. Then we have Torpenhowhill, a hill in Cumberland, composed of four words, each meaning hill.
In addition to maritime terms, and terms of government, we derive from Danish sources titles of honour and dignity, such as king, queen, earl, knight, and sheriff.
The Danes have left us traces of their occupation in the word gate, which is of frequent occurrence, and used instead of street in many of our older towns. The Saxons, who were less civilised, left many terms, such as ton, ham, stead, and stock. But they had no word to denote a line of houses. "Gata" was therefore not the English word used for gate, but a street of houses. From the Norman we have row, from rue, a street.
The names of many of our streets and buildings are full of historical associations and information. In Bolton, Wigan, and Preston we find some streets bearing the name of gate, such as Bradshawgate, Wallgate, Standishgate, and Fishergate. In the towns of York, Ripon, Newcastle, and Carlisle many more of these gates are to be found. York has no less than twenty gates.
To the roads of the Romans, the Danes gave the name of "a braut," i.e., the broken course, or cleared way. (From this "a braut" comes the modern English word abroad, and the adjective broad.) The Anglo-Saxon took the name of street from the Roman strata. Thus we get the name of Broad Street, being two words of similar meaning.
Lone, lonely, and alone come from "i laun," which means banishment, and those thus outlawed formed the brigands of the hill districts. We thus get Lunesdale, Lune, and Lancaster, from which John of Gaunt took his English title.
Skipper was the Danish term for the master of a small vessel. In the game of bowls and curling the skipper is the leader or director.
"Hay," the Norse for headland, pronounced hoy, furnishes us with several local place-names, such as Huyton, Hoylake, Howick.