Posted by Robert Dilley on January 18, 1999 at 16:40:41:
In Reply to: Re: Un-Lake Windermere posted by Adam Quinan on January 15, 1999 at 19:13:41:
On the other hand, Adam, consider Gare Loch (Scotland), Belfast Lough and Strangford Lough (Ireland). I can't think offhand of a Welsh "Llyn" coming after the specific, but you have close to each other Lake Vyrnwy and Bala Lake. I suspect that in most cases it comes down to local practice (often culturally based) and simply euphony. This debate could easily be extended to river/stream names. Why, amid all those Lake District becks, is there a Wyth Burn? When does a beck become a gill (or, for that matter a ghyll), a dub or a sike? Also, why are some tarns waters? And why is there a tarn called Tarn Hows, which sounds like heights of land named after a tarn, not the name of the tarn itself. Apart from the long-disappeared Tarn Wadling between Penrith and Carlisle, is there any other example of the Tarn coming first? Topnyms are LOTS of fun.