Posted by Robert Hill on August 10, 2005 at 18:25:12 from 195.92.168.174 user eclrh.
In Reply to: HOW to RIGG a GHYLL posted by Ed Kiser on August 10, 2005 at 03:01:00:
A how or howe is a low hill. The word comes from the Norse and I think it is distantly related to "high". I think the first E in your example "Browne Howe" is apocryphal, though the spellings Brown and Browne both occur as surnames.
I don't believe there's any difference in meaning between the spellings "how" and "howe".
To confuse the issue, Chambers says that in Scotland, "how" or "howe" can also have pretty much the opposite meaning, being then a shortened form of "hollow".
"Rigg" (or "rig") is a variant of "ridge".
"Ghyll" is a variant of "gill", and means a small ravine or wooded glen, or a stream.
All these words are common as elements in placenames in Scotland and northern England, and in the case of "how(e)", possibly in southern England too.