Posted by John Nichols on September 21, 2003 at 19:15:00 from 165.91.196.181 user Mcneacail.
In Reply to: sprit posted by Ed Kiser on September 21, 2003 at 13:21:13:
Fells
Ed,
Actually fells represents along with a lot of the words Ransome uses a northern variant of English that has its roots in Scandanavia rather than the more "Latinized" for want of a better word southern English. Beck, tarn are such words that come from this dialect. So are the names with components such as thwaite.
For a good look at such names the Wainwraight books on the Lake District fells are excellent. My favourite is Throstlegorse where throstle is a form of thrush and the word can be traced back beyond the old Norse. Gorse is a prickly type of bush.
Of course in reading Ramsome one ends up with a broader grasp of these terms than the average human. Ask your friends how many know what Tarn is?
John