Books

Books : reviews

Margaret Gelling, Ann Cole.
The Landscape of Place-Names.
Shaun Tyas. 2000

This important book is a study of the type of settlement-name which defines the settlement by reference to a landscape feature, as found in Britain south of the Forth-Clyde line. It covers a large range of place-name elements, most of them English, but some in Welsh, Gaelic and Norse. At every point in this exhaustive study, the authors are concerned to elucidate the precise meanings of the names, and their importance as evidence for early activities such as subsistence farming and travel.

The book is a major rewrite of Margaret Ceiling’s previous work, Place-names in the Landscape, here substantially increased in size and illustrated with explanatory diagrams and maps by Ann Cole. It is issued with a full index and an introduction which places the material in its historical context.