PLACE NAMES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 115, 18 May 1933, Page 6

PLACE NAMES.

ENGLISH AND NEW ZEALAND. ' (To tho Editor.) I found "Cyrano's" article in your' Supply ment of Saturday last most interesting. Eve» one colonial-born can appreciate the mellow ness and beauty of many English place nam*," though their derivation may often puzzle him It would be most interesting if "Cyrano" would throw some light on this subject, of derivation. I know that with the passin» of years names frequently become corrupted 8 as witness Charing Cross. This leaves one won. dcring if Hinton Admiral is a corruption of Hinting Admiral, though one usually a3SO . eiates an admiral with commands ratiicr than hints. Take Chipping Sodbury. I have seen chipped socU (a mass of twitch) built as * wall 18in in thickness, and when rotted thin made ail admirable topdressing for lawns Had the sods been "buried," the twitch in them would not have been killed, so whv Chipping Sodbury? Little Snoring would appear to be a place where one might eniov a night's repose without being unduly {lis. turbed by the'occupants of adjoining -bedrooms. "Cyrano" states that "curiosities are not transplanted overseas." This seems somewhat a matter for regret, as Windrush would have been a singularly suitable name for our capital, with the added merit of not bein» hackneyed. The nomenclature of our hotels certa/nly leaves much to be desired, Still as we have no Goat and Compasses, we 'are spared the explanation that it is a corruption of "God encompasses us." We might, haw. ever, name some hotel The Whistling Pi c k. axe, and tourists would be intrigued and possibly imagine that the name commemorated the rollicking days of Gabriel's Gully .when free fights were not infrequent. But as "Cyrano" truly says, our real beautv is i n our native names. With thfe wealth of these at our disposal, it is to be deplored that we have such place names as Bulls, Leeston Doyleston and Cowburn! '