American Reacts to How Did The Counties of England Get Their Names?

In this reaction I learn how the counties of England get their names and that the county names themselves may actually be the largest export in England's history. Seriously, everything from Worcestershire sauce to the state of New Hampshire gets its name from a county in England. Not only that but 24 of the 48 English counties end in the word Shire. This was an interesting topic, I look forward to checking out more videos on the counties of England in the near future.
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👉 Original Video:
• How Did The Counties O...

[@sampeeps3371]

Americans can pronounce New Hampshire correctly but for anything else they pronounce the shire as if its lotr

[@austinfallen]

That is a very fair point lol

[@katydaniels508]

I was just about to say the exact same thing 😁

[@elemar5]

@@austinfallen Yet they also say rout yet sing route 66.

[@B-A-L]

Don't ask me why they pronounce buoy as boo-ee!

[@user-tk4gr9zo7t]

@@B-A-L English is just dumb in general. Colonel is pronounced kernel wherever you go. Ghoti = Fish, Ghoughphtheighteau = potato, iewkngheaurrhpthewempeighghteaps = unfortunates, etc.

[@markrichardson3421]

Shire is where the word sheriff comes from. Originally a sheriff was a 'shire reeve'.

[@dukedex5043]

Counties weren't made in 1997. It was just some of them being designated as only ceremonial from then on.

[@MrBulky992]

To be clear, the county/shire structure we have today has its origins in the 10th and 11th centuries. The Anglo-Saxons called them shires. The Normans, who invaded in 1066, introduced the synonym 'county' to describe these administrative areas. 1997 was just the latest reorganisation.

[@jimbo6059]

They have been much changed and a few got abolished like Middlesex. Where the southern thames side has goone ti Surrey and the nothern side went ti greater london and berkshire.

[@SuperDebyO]

Yes, I still say Middlesex…

[@chrisholland7367]

Devon or Devonshire .The city /port of Plymouth has strong historical connections to the United States. In 1620 the pilgrim fathers set sail on the Mayflower for the new world.

[@lydiamichaels1976]

Plymouth has HUGE celtic and other history. Devonshire was the old official name but it got changed to devon though most of the locals still say devonshire. They did Devon so dirty with that picture tho. Our beaches are just as nice as cornwall and we have superior countryside and other natural beauty to Cornwall - that's not me being biased it's true. We're known for that. But yeah Devon and Cornwall are the only celtic parts of england. The rest is germanic

[@ianjackson1674]

The river in London is the Thames. "Avon" is a celtic word for river. A word which due to Celt- Saxon misunderstanding became applied to several different rivers in England.

[@JohnJones-cp4wh]

Afon, I think is the celtic word.

[@matthewclarke4246]

The biggest and most famous of which I believe is the one through Bristol

[@MackerelCat]

I thought it was the Romans, not the Saxons, but I could be wrong.

[@SevCaswell]

@@matthewclarke4246 The city and county of Bristol and large parts of southern Gloucestershire and northern Somerset were amalgamated into the 'county' of Avon in the 70's, and then it was dissolved in 1997. The name is still preserved in the police regional name of Avon and Somerset. The Avon is the river that runs through Bath and Bristol and then into the Bristol Channel. Avon was originally dissolved into 3 counties, the City and County of Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES), and South Gloucestershire although the latter two have now been adopted back into their 'home' county, more or less, however their exact nature is debated. Are they still counties or are they districts? It it likely their existence or not that the video alludes to as up for debate.

[@Penddraig7]

Avon is Welsh word not Celtic. And comes from the Welsh word Afon meaning River. The Welsh F is equivalent to English V, hence the anglicisation of Afon to Avon

[@vaudevillian7]

Check out Jay Foreman / Map Men ‘Why are British place names so hard to pronounce’ - they’re funny and informative

[@DraconimLt]

Seconded!

[@penname5766]

Immediately after you asked if it was the River Avon in London, the first word the narrator said when you pressed “Play” was the name of the river and you missed it 😂 - it’s the Thames (pronounced “Tems”).

[@josiecoote8975]

I noticed that, too.

[@roban28]

In the US lots the pronunciations are split into syllables - an easy example is the capital of Russia; in the US this is (commonly) pronounced as "Moss Cow" but in the UK as "Mosco". The city of Birmingham in Alabama is pronounced as "Burming Ham" where as the UK city is pronounced as "Bur-ming-gum". So Worcestershire is "Wus-ter-shear" spoken as a single word, rather than "War Cesster Shire".

[@s1lkyxo]

Funnily there is a town called Moscow outside Kilmarnock in Scotland and it is pronounced Moss-cow. I believe it’s name used to be similar to Moss Cow or something like that, and to celebrate Napoleon leaving Russia it was renamed Moscow, and even has a river called Volga running through it. And it’s wuster-sher :P

[@s1lkyxo]

And “Brumm a jum” lol

[@janjordal9451]

In Sweden pronounce it Moskva = Moskwa

[@jonathanodude6660]

the english name for moscow was prescribed. the russians spell it Moskva and pronounce it like that as well. its like turkey for turkiye. the world wars especially required a standard english spelling/pronunciation (in latin script) for many places in the world to use in documentation and treaties, so historical names and translations were less important than how the country itself wanted to be called, especially in the different ways english was spoken throughout the british empire and US.

[@cenedra2143]

Jay Foreman is the best at maps in the UK plus he's hilarious.. mapmen.. very knowledgeable plus a bit addictive 🤣

[@alfresco8442]

The city of York (and hence Yorkshire) has an interesting history. It started off as Ancient British Ebrog, which means the place with the Yew tree. The Romans came along and changed it to Eboracum. Then along came the Anglo Saxons and thought that the Ebor bit was referring to a boar (Old English eofor, modern German Eber) so called it Eoforwic (Boar Town). Along come the Vikings and alter it to Jorvik, since when it's been gradually worn-down to York.

[@harrygreb8427]

@Dj O.B correct

[@alfresco8442]

@Dj O.B Yes, it was the capital of the Danelaw when the English capital was Winchester. Another boaring fact is that there was a Boar Farm in my neck of the woods (Old English Eofortun). They have a footy team that plays in blue not red, like their rivals.

[@lilyflower91]

Our history is so ancient it is almost impossible to comprehend

[@mikelitorous5570]

It’s weird because my surname is Everett, which was a modern English version of eofer meaning boar. So my name means as brave, hardy and strong as a boar. Wonder how my ancestors got that name

[@nolongerlistless]

@Dj O.B Hence the two Archbishoprics in the Church of England: Canterbury and York

[@MajorMagna]

The 1997 thing is just the latest changes to the borders, they officially existed for centuries, they just change from time to time. It bugs me that this guy is from England, and still mispronounces several county names.

[@geoffpoole483]

I was surprised at that. An American would have a genuine excuse.

[@cillianennis9921]

he speaks in a different accent he isn't misprononcing them he's just got a wee bit of a dialect don't ye see. sorry my inner Ulster-scot came out.

[@MrPaulMorris]

@@cillianennis9921 I'm sorry, but anyone outside the US who pronounces Berkshire as 'Birkshire' (rather than 'Barkshire') has more than a different dialect! That's to say nothing of 'Durbyshire' (Darbyshire') or 'Tyne and Ware' (Weir!).

[@cillianennis9921]

@@MrPaulMorris yeah the guy also has some problem with pronounciation i watch the channel he reacted to & know that from a video where he talked about it.. Also Ulster-scots is a dialect of Scots. what is a dialect a political term meaning a variatioin of a language seen as not a language. a language & dialect are decided by politics not real linguistics usually. like if the netherlands & germany were united dutch would be a dialect of german but politics protects it from that. the difference is the language has a standardised written form & a dialect usually does not.

[@jonathanodude6660]

@@cillianennis9921 the distinction between language and dialect is not how you described it. scots is debated between a dialect and a language because it is much further away from english than most dialects (american english, australian english) yet it does not have many unique features that make it unintelligible for an english speaker. a dialect of a dialect makes no sense. at most it is a variation of the dialect, in that it is a unique dialect of the main language, just very similar to another dialect. that is if you dont consider scots to be a language in itself. also language groups exist, and english is in the same group that german and dutch are. is english a dialect of german?

[@pabmusic1]

Why 'Burkshire'? It's 'Barkshire'. 'Er' used to be pronounced 'ar' before about 1600. Hertfordshire is pronounced correctly. But 'Derby' was wrong - it's 'Darby'. Oh - and the River Wear is 'Weer'.

[@alisonrandall3039]

Yes I noticed it that. Very irritating.

[@tmac160]

@@alisonrandall3039 That's artificial intelligence voicing for you. I prefer natural stupidity voicing.

[@JOEFABULOUS.]

Shire is also pronounced shu hard u

[@pabmusic1]

@@JOEFABULOUS. Yes. It's actually called a schwa (ə) and is the most common vowel sound in English.

[@claregale9011]

River through London is the Thames pronounced tems . Great video 🙂

[@KingOfSciliy]

Robin Hood is mostly a fictitious character but is thought to have been inspire by and collected from various bandits and highwaymen that operated in the area around that time. A lot of the added lore and characters were added in by later writers and poets who wanted to spice up the old folk legends.

[@davidstretch5614]

I think there’s evidence that the original Robin Hood was active mainly in South Yorkshire as well.

[@josiecoote8975]

Well they named an airport after him.

[@MattJMcDade]

Keep the videos coming: I enjoy watching your journey of discovery. I'm Anglo-Scots/Irish, and as far as I can tell, my family has always lived in these islands. Indeed, I managed to trace my English ancestry back to the 13th century!

[@reactingtomyroots]

Thanks Matthew. I appreciate it. That's awesome you've been able to trace your roots that far back. I plan on getting back to my tree soon.

[@frankripley6401]

Lots of pronunciation problems with this video. Two which stand out are Derby/Derbyshire, should be pronounced “Darby/Darbysher” and Tyne & Wear, where Wear is pronounced as Weer. Northumberland got short shift, as the Humber is not “ nearby” but about 100 miles and 5 major rivers south. The true derivation is from the Kingdom of Northumbria, which back in Anglo Saxon times stretched from the Humber into south Scotland. Northumberland was the core of this kingdom and is it’s rump. Keep on searching!

[@tonygreenfield7820]

Yes, these are not being pronounced by a native speaker are they....

[@judithhope8970]

I'm not sure where this guy is from. His accent is a bit odd. Berkshire is pronounced Barkshire. The river that runs through London is the Thames, pronounced Temmes. Derby is pronounced Darby. Its a shame he didn't show you Chester. Its a beautiful city with City walls. This wasn't bad and showing the reasons why places got their names helps you remember them. Good reaction.

[@johnaitken4725]

And the Wear of Tyne and Wear is prnounced Weer, not ware...

[@ShaneWalta]

In the video he said he was from East Sussex, but it sounds like he has a mild speech impediment too

[@tomcummin6801]

Two words for this subject. Map Men. Keep it up.

[@johnp8131]

Steve, Unless this is a very decent 'Bot', which I doubt! I'm pretty sure the guy that narrated this video has never been to quite a few of these places or even heard them pronounced correctly by people from that region? Take a good look at others comments who come from the areas concerned. BTW. I'm surprised you didn't know that the River Thames (Temz) is the main river that flows through London?

[@vaudevillian7]

A lot of these counties have historic connections to the old Kingdoms and territories

[@desmondjack6162]

The word "Avon" is an ancient Celtic word meaning "river", hence many rivers are called "Avon". The river running through London is the Thames (pronounced "Tems".

[@SeeDaRipper...]

Yes, but there is the river Avon (i live in Bristol and it runs past my window)😉

[@ganjiblobflankis6581]

This happens all over the world and gets quite excessive in some cases. Imagine some foreigner asking a local what that river is called and he shrugs and says The River in his dialect.

[@desmondjack6162]

@@SeeDaRipper... And the river running through my town of Warwick is also the River Avon, but not your Avon!

[@shushia1658]

Yes like Mount Maunganui (mount big mountain)

[@ShaneWalta]

@@shushia1658 Torpenhow = hill hill hill

[@Zentron]

Any place name that has 'chester' in it, is named after a Roman fort. Such as here in Manchester, the fort within the city is an interesting place to visit, but there's quite a few other Roman forts all over the place!

[@katydaniels508]

I live in the county of Leicestershire. You can pronounce this as Lester-sheer! 😁

[@aristocratic_fox25lovescheese]

Yoo. My home county

[@annemariefleming]

We always put the term "river" ahead of the name of the river...river Avon, river Thames, et cetera. Ever been to Wooster Ohio? That's how we pronounce Worcester.

[@johnp8131]

Or "Water", I believe "Ouse" means water in Brythonic?

[@keithfrost1190]

Some of us don't always use the word river. To us it's the Thames, the Avon, the Ouse, etc.

[@tonygreenfield7820]

Avon is the anglicised version of the Welsh word Afon, meaning river. So the river Avon is actually the river River.....

[@johndare3576]

Each county has a Lord Lieutenant who is the official representative of the monarch. Each county also has a High Sheriff who traditionally was responsible for law and order. Nowadays both these positions are ceremonial with no real powers.

[@Brian3989]

Counties of the United Kingdom have been around for many generations, but at times through the ages the border lines have changed. Sometimes counties included an isolated area within another county. There are several rivers called Avon in England or Afon in Wales. The name apparently is derived from older languages meaning river. Worcester is an easy name for me, as a resident. The West Midlands is a recent creation, taking in parts of Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

[@Michael-ln7us]

Interesting video, good to learn more about the reason behind the names. Although the narrator miss pronounced Derbyshire, it's pronounced Darbyshire. Just saying 😂

[@elemar5]

He also mispronounced three. It's not free. :p

[@caroleteare924]

Same with pronunciation of 'Barkshire' , even though it's spelt Berkshire.

[@mattheworford]

Please don't trust his pronunciation he was wrong many times

[@petercapon9878]

Look up the phrase gerrymandering this explains why the boundaries keep moving

[@alexmckee4683]

Not really because the counties are not parliamentary districts. The boundaries were set in '97 for the ceremonial counties more or less to restore things after lots of fiddling in the 70s, correcting monstrosities like "Hereford and Worcester" (Herefordshire and Worcestershire were merged for a time), "Avon" (a super-county in the West of England), and other such unnecessary fiddling that offended lots of people and caused plenty of additional irregularities (like "counties" with multiple water districts, complicating flood control measures and other water-related things).

[@philipcochran1972]

That was the River Thames (Tems) in London, showing Tower Bridge.

[@beeurd]

You should look at Jay Foreman's videos (if you haven't already), he has a couple in his Map Men series about British counties and place names. They are informative but also told with a very British sense of humour so aren't everybody's cup of tea. :)

[@Anglo_Saxon1]

The fact that this interests you says a lot mate!

[@dukedex5043]

Lots of places in the US get their name from the UK. Their's a wiki page on this called "Locations in the United States with an English name"

[@geoffpoole483]

Plenty of examples. Abraham Lincoln's ancestors came from a village in Norfolk called Hingham, and there's a town in Massachusetts bearing that name.

[@Paul-hl8yg]

@@geoffpoole483 Also many family surnames come from the town they originated. The name Lincoln comes from Lincoln. The name Washington comes from Washington etc.

[@tonygreenfield7820]

Boston in Lincolnshire (Pilgrim Father's were detained there before allowed to sail to the Americas). Lincoln, of course. But Lincolnshire also has a town called New York as well as Bunkers Hill (not Bunker, but close enough). Gotham is a village in Nottinghamshire (and the name translates as the home of the goat. No bats involved).

[@SevCaswell]

One of the things about the American use of English place names is the use of Bristol as a girls name. I guess it comes from the the Cockney rhyming slang term Bristol Cities, generally shortened to simply 'Bristols'. A girl with a 'nice pair o' Bristols', has a great pair of tits/breasts. Not really a great name for a woman, but I can understand why ignorant Americans might think it was a girls name.

[@jamespicker5776]

I like how you are so enthusiastic about England but a lot of Americans think London is England but the beauty of our country is once you leave the country as a whole has some beautiful scenic places! Nothing wrong with London though a lot of history there! Keep your blogs coming 👍

[@newton18311]

London has fallen its now Londistan.

[@jamespicker5776]

Sorry leave for the country side 😂😂🤣!

[@welshpete12]

Thank you for your kind comments about England . A little story that might interest you , is the name of Hereford . Today we say Hereeeford, as you know . But as he said in his video , it used to be pronounced Herr- ford . When you see the red and white cattle in cowboy moves. This is where they came from . Bulls were introduced to improve the blood stock in the nineteenth century . So what the cowboys are doing, when they call them Hereford's . They are really speaking old English , and that is for for army crossing ! 🤣

[@nolongerlistless]

Herr-ford is how Herford, the name of a town in Germany, is pronounced. I don’t say “Hereeford” for Hereford. I know it as “Her-uh-ford”.

[@billydonaldson6483]

The Wear is pronounced weir not ware. The monarch’s representative in a shire was called a Reave, the Shire Reave, as Shire is pronounced sher the name morphed into the word Sheriff.

[@maureenalder8905]

Learning so much about my country from you..keep posting love from London ❤ 🇬🇧

[@petermatten3315]

The historic county of Middlesex , was amalgamated into London , that was forgotten to be mentioned. ( Middlesex - the land of the middle Saxons ).

[@jimbo6059]

The 1997 counties were basically a reformation of the county map. Some conurbations were set up and some counties like Rutland were reinstated. Worcestershire for years was its own county but then got merged with Herefordshire and in 1997 got its country back.

[@SevCaswell]

It was also when Bristol got it's county status back as the county of Avon was dissolved.

[@stevethomas5849]

​@@SevCaswell1973 Bristol Celebrated 600 years as a county, the following the much hated County of Avon created which swalled up Northern Somerset including the City of Bath and over the River southern Gloucestershire. 1373 Bristol was granted County Status and Seperate of the county Somerset and Gloucestershire by the King FOREVER. So, whilst Avon was created in 1974 and finally dissolved in 1996 Bristol was and always be A City and County as decreed by the King back 1373. .

[@mattbentley9270]

Will help you Steve, people will probably say what county they are from if you ask, rather than a town you will never have heard of... see how many you remember, take a quiz one day, glad u did this

[@chrisnorton4382]

Several historic counties disappeared in the 1970s in local government reorganisation, and several boring names appeared. We lost Cumberland, Westmoreland, Huntingdonshire and Middlesex, swallowed up by neighbouring counties or merged and rebadged. The new West Midlands used to be mainly in Warwickshire, Manchester and Merseyside were Lancashire.

[@jamiewulfyr4607]

Dorset Bois checking in. Today's wee fun fact. Your word "sheriff" for law enforcement comes from the Anglo-Saxon "shire-reeve" who was charged with keeping order and raising troops from individual counties. The counties were around long before 1997 but that year was the last rejiggling of county borders. The town I live in was the original capital of Wessex but this Kingdom became too big to be an individual county like Sussex or Essex so was broken down into smaller units. I'm still learning new things from your videos. There's always a few facts I didn't know despite living here for nearly five decades.

[@robmartin525]

Wahey! Dorset squad! I've been reading up on the history of Poole and I've found out that in the 1200s (iirc), Poole was set up as a corporation with 6 elected burges (basically an early council) and they would elect a 'port-reeve' who was effectively the harbour master!

[@adventussaxonum448]

What town was that? Are you living in Winchester, Dorchester on Thames, or possibly even Wilton? Don't think the Wessex capital was ever in Dorset. The area was a relatively late addition after the kingdom was founded. The old border between the Britons and the West Saxons was Bokerley Dyke, which makes up part of the current border of Hampshire and Dorset.

[@jamiewulfyr4607]

@@adventussaxonum448 Sherborne. It was the first capital of Wessex before it was moved to Winchester.

[@ryanfrancis827]

Berkshire is pronounced “barkshire”. Also, the Wear in Tyne and Wear is pronounced “Weir” as in weird. Source: Surrey

[@watcherzero5256]

The video pronounced Derbyshire wrong as well, its Darby-Sure not durby-shire

[@stephenlee5929]

The river shown in London is The Thames , it flows to the sea in the East, between Kent and Essex. The River Avon is on the West of the county it flows to the sea between Somerset and Wales at Bristol(ish).

[@JohnJones-cp4wh]

Another Avon flows through Wiltshire and Hampshire.

[@adventussaxonum448]

@@JohnJones-cp4wh The Hampshire Avon (which rises in Wiltshire)...My favourite...also, don't forget the Avon on which Stratford stands.

[@Brian3989]

There is also the Warwickshire Avon, flows through Stratford-upon-Avon home of William Shakespeare.

[@brianjones9345]

The river in London is the Thames , pronounced TEMS, the Avon is well known because William Shakespeare was from Stratford on Avon.

[@davemedhurst6220]

There are hundreds of places in the US named after their UK counterpart. Only when the settlers started moving west did more exotic and Red Indian names begin to emerge.

[@antoineduchamp4931]

Steve, the Latin word for a Roman Camp is "castra romana" .... the word castra became chester... so you know which town or city used to be a Roman encampment. E.g. Colchester, Manchester, Chichester, Cheshire etc.etc.

[@JustinJurazick]

Bucks County in Pennsylvania was named after Buckinghamshire but was ultimately shortened

[@MrBulky992]

Although 'Northumberland' means 'the land north of the river Humber', it should be pointed out that this county is the most northerly rump of a much larger area, formerly called Northumbria, once a kingdom (later an earldom) in its own right in Anglo- Saxon times and during the Viking invasions. Since that time, in the intervening 1000 years, the land between what is now Northumberland and the river Humber has been eaten away and divided into other counties, namely County Durham and Yorkshire. Hence, Northumberland is nowhere near the river Humber which gave it its name. They are about 100 miles apart at the nearest point.

[@tmac160]

Worcester is pronounced Wooster (it's that simple 😀). All the shire counties are pronounced 'sheer' or 'sha' and not 'shire'. The narrator manages to butcher most of his pronunciations so I suspect it's AI generated. Darby instead of Derby and River Weer instead of River Ware. Robin Hood is based on true stories passed down. Keep'em coming 👍🏻 PS. England has 5 River Avons, Scotland 3 and Wales 1. 'Avon' is a Celtic word meaning 'river' (Afon in Welsh).

[@pabmusic1]

@@neuralwarp To be really pedantic, it's Woostə (with a schwa - the most common vowel sound in English).

[@karenashworth5743]

As a Lancastrian, we pronounce it Lanca- shur !

[@tmac160]

@@karenashworth5743 As a Durham lad I always thought all southerners were odd 😉

[@karenashworth5743]

@@tmac160 that they are !

[@Salix631]

The narrator was unable to pronounce 'th', turning it into 'f' or 'v' every time. Probably an underlying London/Cockney accent.

[@terencecarroll1812]

The counties have been around for many hundreds of years but often change due to the government or postal region

[@jonathangoll2918]

We've been messing around with the counties for a thousand years. However, most of the counties date back at least to about 1016, or before. They therefore have strong identities. I believe many were defensive units against the Danes!

[@lydiamichaels1976]

devon and cornwall go far far back. Very celtic

[@Rosiecrossley1]

And there are 12 Bristols in the us Bristol actually means “brigstowe” but because of our accent it was changed to the city you know now

[@gemmarussell-roberts]

Living in Cambridgeshire I can honestly say it the most beautiful place ever

[@Trekon2]

The County of Cumbria used to be two counties, Cumberland, and Westmoreland

[@pabmusic1]

London is on the River Thames. There is more than one River Avon - 'afon' is the Celtic word for 'river'. So River (Anglo-Saxon) Avon (Celtic).

[@shelleyphilcox4743]

That shot was the Thames in London, with Tower Bridge in the frame.

[@neilgayleard3842]

Derby/ Derbyshire is pronounced Darby.

[@0KiteEatingTree0]

The UK is complicated in its area borders. We have county lines, town borders, Parish lines (referring to the areas the churches are responsible for). But at the same time we have 'Parish Councils) which usually cover smaller local government areas. So church Parishes are often a lot larger than local council Parishes. Natives of Shrewsbury tend to pronounce it SHROWs Bury. Its older name is Salop Shropshire (/ˈʃrɒpʃər, -ʃɪər/; historically Salop[3] and abbreviated Shrops) is a landlocked ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north, Staffordshire to the east, Worcestershire to the southeast, Herefordshire to the south, and the Welsh counties of Wrexham and Powys to the west. The largest settlement is Telford (155,570), and Shrewsbury (76,782) is the county town. Wiki Having moved some years ago from London to Telford this is a fascinating vid. There are a lot of British Town names such as Birmingham, Manchester, Halifax etc located in the US & Canada, mostly to do with settlers naming towns.

[@frankparsons1629]

Devon isn't just Devon, its Devonshire. Somerset in full is Somersetshire; Wiltshire is often shortened by omitting the wilts suffix but it is named after the once important town of Wilton, hence Wiltonshire. And so on. As the chap narrating this video mentioned the CEREMONIAL County boundaries were "adjusted" - formalised in 1997 as thought necessary. Many of the actual names go back as far as circa 650AD.

[@smogthehorse9409]

At last someone who acknowledges Devon as Devonshire, interestingly so called cornish language was spoken in Devonshire at least as far as Exeter some accounts claim as recently as 150 years ago.

[@canterbree]

Hello from a native of Southampton. You could be right about New Hampshire. The Pilgrim Fathers originally set sail from Southampton so perhaps those who settled north of Massachusetts decided to name their new land after the old one. Before people from Plymouth come for me 😉they set sail a second time from Plymouth in Devon having anchored there for repairs.

[@BillySugger1965]

England really is a beautiful place Steve, and so are the other nations of the British Isles. And to really appreciate its beauty, you have to get out of the cities. When you visit, you either need to rent a car and brave driving over here, or you need people to take you around to see the sights. I would definitely be up for that around central Southern England which includes the Jurassic Coast, Salisbury, Stonehenge and their surroundings.

[@johnp8131]

Steve, please take a look at Jay Foreman's videos like "Map Men" etc.......They are very factually informative whilst being amusing. Give him a try?

[@orwellboy1958]

I second that..👍

[@MsCheesemonster13]

@@orwellboy1958 I third it 👍

[@cr10001]

Counties have been in existence for many centuries. Sometimes borders moved for administrative purposes, for example the village I grew up in, which was in Hampshire, is now in Dorset. The 1997 the video refers to would be a recent official consolidation of the boundaries. Most of the counties are of considerable antiquity, but West Midlands, Greater London, Manchester, Merseyside and Tyne and Wear are recent creations. The river through London is the Thames. There are at least three well-known River Avons - the 'Wiltshire Avon' that flows through Salisbury and reaches the sea in Christchurch, Dorset; the one that runs through Stratford-upon-Avon south-westwards to join the River Severn; and the 'Bristol Avon' that flows through Bath and Bristol and that Brunel built the Clifton Suspension Bridge over (seen at 4:36 in this video). There are half a dozen others, too, but one of those 3 is the most likely you're thinking of.

[@timrobertson1597]

London was originally called trinovantum, till king lud took it over then it was called kaerlud, then karelundein, in the Roman empire they called it londinium.

[@puressenceuk35]

The river that flows through London is the river Thames

[@MrPaulMorris]

18:40 The river seen here is the Thames (pronounced 'Tems') that flows through London.

[@samanthahadwin]

The county I live in is Cumbria! The Lake District National Park is here! It’s very beautiful!! Lots of outdoor stuff to do!! I love getting out rambling used to go camping all the time!

[@chazk7530]

River Avon opens at the bristol channel in the south west of england, though the word "Avon" just means "river". So "river avon" means "river river".

[@yvonnephillips9710]

The river in London is the Thames. Great videos, keep ‘em coming. ❤

[@stevefrost64]

The Thames (pronounced Tems) runs through London.

[@stevefrost64]

There are also a number of other rivers that run through London, but you won't see them and are mainly forgotten as they now run through subterranean culverts. It might be interesting to do some reactions to those lost rivers. I'm sure there must be loads of videos about it to react to.

[@rachaelgungor]

I grew up on the Isle of wight, such a beautiful place to live. Full of lots of little villages in-between a huge amount of farmland. You can see the sea at most places. It has a castle with a mote and many beaches, not caught up still the the rest of the UK. Definitely a place I would recommend!

[@thefacultyoffunk]

The counties have existed for hundreds of years, as you can tell from their names. There is occasionally an adjustment to county borders and/or designation, the last being in 1997.

[@helenjacobs8059]

I was born and raised Windsor, this comes up in the town of “ The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Berkshire“ till I was 18yrs old and since then called “ Somerset “ home ever since . The Theames Barrier was built during the years my late dad worked for the company it’s owned or managed by.

[@robbiemcneil34]

Merseyside and Greater Manchester were only formed in 1974 and used to be part of the historic county of Lancashire, the Wirral Peninsula used to be a part of Cheshire, but was merges into the newly formed ceremonial county of Merseyside along with the City of Liverpool, Knowsley, ST Helens and Sefton. Liverpool was founded in 1207 by King John who issued letters patent advertising the establishment of a new borough - 'Livpul'. Soon after, in 1235, the building of Liverpool Castle was completed, which unfortunately no longer exists, having been demolished in the early 18th century.

[@cmcculloch1]

its spelled tyne and wear but pronounced tyne and were - Im from county durham but they are a close neighbor. Robin Hood is a folk lore person much like King Arthur, but may be based on someone or an amalgamation of people

[@tgsgardenmaintenance4627]

Just my opinion but we have some stunning scenery in the UK. Obviously haven't seen all of it, but Cornwall, Dorset and Cumbria would take some beating!! Respect from little old Berkshire England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@mattsmith5421]

About robin hood it's neither known or not known there are people who it could of been which makes it feasible I've watched a few documentaries on it

[@zeroone5097]

Hello , glad you like our country and find it interesting , with so much history dating way back its a never ending source of culture and diversity , i saw your video on the city of Bath where i was born actually on the Royal Crescent . The County or Shires as we call them separate the different areas like you have states we have shires Lincolnshire where i live now is massive and has some of the most varied countryside and towns , well worth a visit not to mention the Home of the Battle of Britain memorial flight at RAF Coningsby . Great video's many thanks for sharing .

[@j0hnf_uk]

The boundaries commission only changed some of the county names and areas in 1997. One particular change was to do with the county known as Humberside, which came into existence only 23 years earlier in 1974, that consisted of a North Humberside, (which, unsurprisingly was part of the East Riding of Yorkshire, north of the River Humber), and South Humberside that was the most northern part of Lincolnshire, closest to the south of the Humber. The reasons for it's dissolvement was almost entirely political. The truth is, neither on the north or south sides of the Humber actually wanted it, but it was decided to try and make an identity of it's own between Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. There was obviously some rivalry that went on. The largest population in North Humberside was that of Kingston Upon Hull. A relatively small city compared to some, but big enough to be considered a centre for commerce, etc. The south of the Humber didn't have any cities to speak of, however, they did have some major towns, particularly Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Cleethorpes. Grimsby, of course, having once been the largest fishing port in the world, but was in major decline, thanks largely to the Cod Wars with Iceland and the Common Market regulations on fishing that had been introduced when the UK joined what was then the EEC, (European Economic Community), that later became the EU, or European Union. Unsurprisingly, a good portion of the wealth and local governmental control went through Hull, with the towns in the south being seen more as poor relations. They did try to build bridges between the 2, (quite literally, as in an actual physical bridge between north and south), but things never really improved. So, eventually the county was separated, with the north becoming the historic East Riding of Yorkshire and the south, rather than re-joining Lincolnshire as a whole, became North and North East Lincolnshire, with the major towns within becoming, more or less, self-governing. The only 2 institutions that still bare the name of Humberside are now the Police and the Fire Brigade.

[@stevelknievel4183]

There are several rivers in the UK called the Avon. The name simply means river and is related to Afon, the modern Welsh word for river. The river that you asked about in the picture was the Thames.

[@stevelknievel4183]

Also, Jay Foreman's Map Men series does a much better job of explaining both counties and place names in the UK.

[@johnp8131]

You're right. Similarly with the name Ouse. I believe there are four of them, Ouse meaning "Water" derived from the Brythonic "Usa". I live very close to the longest, the Great Ouse. Many are only aware of the Ouse that flows through York though?

[@iankeel7914]

That is the River Thames, there are several rivers called Avon in England as it means a large natural stream. Robin Hood is a combination of flok stories although there was a knobleman connected to Richard the Lionheart who was knowen as Robin of the hood.

[@user-ky6vw5up9m]

Shire came from Share. At one time the monarch gave shares of land to his friends. Eg The share given to Duke of Bedford became Bedfordshire and so on.

[@MrIaninuk]

There used to be far fewer. Yorkshire for instance used to be a county on its own - the largest at the time. But politicians being politicians wanted to create more layers of bureaucracy to get their mates on the taxpayer's payroll, so Yorkshire was divided up in order to create more civil service penpushers....and so on.

[@doubleplusgoodthinker9434]

Did you know that every shire had an official called the Shire Reeve which came be pronounced sheriff such as the Sheriff of Nottingham(shire), not to be confused with the Sheriff of Dodge City!

[@ianjardine7324]

The ceremonial counties are based largely on historical differences that have always existed but were never codified officially everyone just knew which the belonged to they are mostly useless for modern administrative purposes which is why we have a separate set of modern regions based on population density for electoral registration and local government.

[@Ali-ps8rm]

Perhaps because “shire” literally means “ county” !

[@stevejamesf2610]

Check out my county Shropshire. Its one of the largest and least populated and most rural of England's counties. Beautiful!

[@cdeford]

Historically, there are more than 24 shires, because counties like Somerset and Devon were originally Somersetshire and Devonshire, Dorsetshire etc.

[@user-lv7te3ll2n]

There are several rivers in Britain called Avon. the thing being the name Avon is from the celtic word for river which gives the Welsh word aflon. Hope this was of some interest.

[@stevethomas5849]

River Avon starts at Avonmouth literally the mouth of the Avon, at estuary of the River Severn through Bristol, Bath up to Stratford-upon-Avon. Avon means River from the Welsh Afon - River, so it's the River River.

[@zebraforceone]

Avon is a Gaelic word for "river", which is why it's popular. The "River Avon" is a redundancy in a sense.

[@tonygreenfield7820]

Lincolnshire is also split into three districts Lindsey (north of the country) Kesteven (south west) and Holland (south east) so named because in a county known for being flat Holland is like it's namesake very flat and has been reclaimed from the sea.

[@mariacurtis9247]

London has the river Thames which was in the picture

[@axeami1354]

something i'd like to point out is a lot of the southern counties are criminally unvisited and appreciated to foreigners. so many start in London and work their way north when pretty much every Sothern county has absolutely breath-taking views and is steeped in history. For an example Hampshire has rolling hills of rapeseed and one of the most architecturally stunning cities in England Winchester. It also Is the starting place of the pilgrims way a 120 mile long walking trail that ends in ken and dates back to 600-450BC Dorset has the Jurassic coast, not to mention the south downs.

[@trevorveail]

The river Humber is at least 4 counties south of what is now Northumbria.

[@shspurs1342]

I live in Lancashire, with used to cover most of England.

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

The counties have existed for a thousand years or more, but they've changed over time. In was born in Hertfordshire, but by the time I was five I was living in greater London without having changed address. Most of the time it's only minor tinkering with the borders, like in 1997. The last big changes were in about 1974 when they split out some of the big urban areas like Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

[@davidstretch5614]

There are some who refuse to recognise the changed boundaries. The original county boundaries are said to define the “ancient counties” of England. Lancashire is reckoned to be the last ancient county to be established (sometime in the 13th century). In the Domesday Book, a large part of it was referred to as “inter marshal et ripam” (between the Mersey and Ribble) and it was included in the returns for Cheshire, though it was clearly separate from it. By the way, the name “Mersey” does mean “boundary river”, but it referred to the boundary between two kingdoms that were two predecessor kingdoms of England: Mercia and Northumbria. A bit of research would have easily found this fact out - it was nothing to do with the boundary between England and Wales. To find out about pre-England kingdoms, you could try searching for “The Heptarchy”

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

@@davidstretch5614 The old boundaries are difficult to erase from the public's mind. Even I find it hard to think of Liverpool as not being in Lancashire, or that the Lakes District isn't in Westmorland. And I still think of myself as a "home counties boy" even though Barnet's been in London since 1967.

[@TheScunneredMan]

Northumberland used to be bigger. But now it is nowhere near the River Humber.

[@sarahgreen653]

I'm from Nottingham (Originally Snotingaham (Anglo-Saxon) meaning homestead of Snots people) in Nottinghamshire. Robin Hood is just a legendary character but thought to be loosely based around a real person. He was first mentioned in a ballad in the mid 14th century. Although Robin Hood is always linked to Nottingham because of his arch enemy 'The Sheriff of Nottingham' it is now widely accepted that if real, Robin was actually a Yorkshireman. And although Sherwood forest is in Nottinghamshire it was much larger at the time and expanded across several counties.