Holmside, in the county of Durham, and Midge Holm, Holmwath, and Yallow Holm, are names of places by the river in Teesdale.
By the Wear, at the west end of Rogerley Park, is situated Burry Holm. In the year 1583 Thomas Blacket, Esq., of Woodcroft, demised to Peter Maddison, gent., three closes of land being part of Woodcroft estate; one close was on the west side of the low pasture, and another close of meadow was called "Buiri Holme." It might be the holm of the burdock (Arctium Lappa), or the berry holm from Anglo-Saxon berie, berige, a berry, or the bere holm or place where barley grew, Anglo-Saxon bere, barley. Again, the spear plume-thistle (Cnicus lanceolatus), called in Scotland the bur-thrissil, might flourish here, or the burtree, the common elder (Sambucus nigra).
The names flask, swang, bog, and wass, indicate wet land, and are kindred terms to a certain extent. Those accustomed to travel on the highlands of Weardale will be familiar with lands denominated boggy, swampy, swangy, marshy. The term wass may be considered obsolete, and that of flask nearly so.
In Hatfield’s Survey there were in Bolihope lands called the Wasses and Seggefeldland. Wass is from the Anglo-Saxon wæs, water, and segg from the Anglo-Saxon segg, seeg, a reed or sedge, which commonly grows on wet land.
A pasture in Killhope, between Low Moss and the Rush, was some thirty years ago called the Flask. Langtay Flask is in Burnhope, and a lead-mine here was known by that name 200 years ago. In the bailiffs’ roll under Queryndon, we find in Hatfield, lands called fennes, flasskes, and a place called Atthillswang. In Quesshowe there was le Flaske. At Framwelgate, Broom cum le Flassh, at Cotam les flaskes.
Bog, Gaelic bog, Irish bogach, marsh, morass, quagmire, needs little explanation. Riggy Bogs, Boghouse, White Bog, and Bog Hole, are amongst names of places in the dales.
Den, from the Celto-Saxon, is a deep wooded valley, and has already been considered under valleys. The most important denes are Easter Black Dene and Wester Black Dene.
Hot Hill is no doubt the wooded hill, but Hotts has another derivation, and appears to be from hut, an abode or sheltered place. Another name, hurst, pure German, a thick wood, is confined, as far as Weardale is concerned, to Shield Hurst.
The termination shaw, a thicket or small wood, is frequently met with in place-names. The Danish skov is a wood or forest, Icelandic skogr; the Anglo-Saxon scua, scuwa is a shade, the same as the Swedish skugga. Anglo-Saxon sceaga seems to mean shaggy wood. In the Hatfield’s Survey, a place in Bolihope is called Watteshawe—a wet wooded place. Near Allergill we have Birkshaw, the place shaded by birch-trees. In Shittlehope there are two places on the expanding moorlands called Bashaw and Mogshaw. The former was probably the badger shaw or wood. In the latter we have an important root, the Erse magh, Welsh maes, a plain. Taylor gives magh as a Gadhelic test word, and says that it is found in more than a hundred Irish names of places.
The various place-names embracing mea, may, are from the same root, and probably Migg Clos, held by the parson of Stanhope in 1380, is a kindred name. A place on the south side of Bolihope is named Harnshaw—written in 1614 Hornyshawe, and in 1666 Harnshaw—from Anglo-Saxon hyrne, hirne, an angle or corner, a resemblance to a horn—hence the hyrne shaw would be the horn-shaped wood. Ramshaw, particularly known for its well, is evidently the ram wood, Anglo-Saxon ram, ramm, a ram; but some authorities derive ram from raven. These etymological conclusions give us a broad birch, a horn-shaped and a wet wood, a wood on a plain, and a wood frequented by the ram and the badger.