American Couple Reacts: The Origin of Every English City's Name! FIRST TIME REACTION! England, WOW!

[@TheNatashaDebbieShow]

This video has SO MUCH information! Some is hilarious, some shocking and some just fascinating! There is so much to the names of the cities in England. This video actually covers EVERY single City in England! We know the USA has stolen (we prefer taken) so many of these place names but what do they mean? The history alone in this video is incredibly cool but there's so much more. Let us know if you knew the origin of your own city. Did you learn something else new in this episode? And don't miss our special announcement at the beginning. Cheers to learning being fun and to Natasha's inner 12 year old of inappropriateness! Thank you SO much for watching! If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our channel, it is the BEST way to support our channel and it's FREE! Also, please click the Like button. Thank you for your support!

[@SJ-GodofGnomes21]

Annnd you focus on Ipswich, when you should be focusing on Norwich, by far the biggest city in the area, older and vastly more historically important.

[@shanewaterman4125]

@@SJ-GodofGnomes21 . and it's got some bloody good curry houses too! 🤣

[@TheNatashaDebbieShow]

We weren't focusing on anything, merely brought up a conversation we had earlier that day

[@TheNatashaDebbieShow]

Roger was born in Norfolk

[@rosalindyates7331]

Manchester

[@raymondhardy8468]

Natasha and Debbie Rob is great , his knowledge of laguages is remarkable. You need to watch his English origins videos. How german, latin etc languages are easy too be translated

[@chrismoule7242]

Agreed - I am subscribed to him - I am a classical & modern linguist and I learn huge amounts from his videos. He currently lives in Germany, so don't be fooled by the locations where he records.

[@catherinewhite8819]

I agree totally. I love the origins of the language and he does this so well

[@jonassundell9366]

❤!

[@eyeofthasky]

his time spend trying to research, u should say -- not knowledge. his knowledge of hostoric linguistics is lacking, and i dont can even count the occasions where is wrote long texts citing correcting the mess he is stating. my professor always said "etymology is no science, its esoterics", but i dont agree, as long as one does not forcefully try to have connections where there are non, i see no problem in it -- if u base urself on existing laws of soundchange and correct meaning of older forms of language/foreign language words

[@milnespetchristo1882]

@@eyeofthaskyI agree, the Rob isn't perfect, as he isn't, as far as l know, a trained linguist. Your point would be better received, if your English grammar was checked before you posted. And you didn't use sounds symbols instead of words.

[@iainsan]

British people still use the word 'ford' to speak of a shallow place in a river that you can walk across. There is even a triangular national road sign with the word on it to warn that cars may have to drive through a few inches of water.

[@PhilipPlace]

@@monkee1969 mmm... it's a generally accepted convention, especially in military term, that "fording a river" , "ford the river", "forded a/the river" are all valid terms and the meaning(s) are well understood even if the grammar is a bit sus...

[@ruthmeb]

Or feet. In a flash flood a few years ago near me, a postman's van was stranded at a suddenly deep ford; he got out and was swept away to his death...

[@iainsan]

@@ruthmeb Poor man!

[@MichaelBurggraf-gm8vl]

That's possibly of germanic origin since the German word "Furt" means exactly the same thing. Frankfurt is just the "Furt" of the Franks/Franconians crossing the river Main. Schweinfurt is the "Furt" of pigs also crossing the river Main. Erfurt is also a town at a river - the river Gera. There are many names of places citing "Furt" in Germany. And there's the town of Herford in North Rhine-Westfalia where the river Aa joins the river Werre.

[@iainsan]

@@MichaelBurggraf-gm8vl I'm sure you're right. Many words in English come from Old German.

[@diamonddave2622]

Gibraltar applied to be a city in 2022 and the application was refused. Until someone found in the archives that Gibraltar was granted city status by Queen Victoria in 1842 Its status was re-affirmed on 29 Aug 2022

[@MikeWellington-x9y]

They're great. A good sense of humour and the ability to put up with our British way of speech and humour, Go girls. I love you both!

[@guypainter]

I live in Lincoln and an American tourist recently asked me, with a straight face, why we named our city after one of your Presidents. I patiently pointed out that the city is a LOT older than the man and we ended up having a really nice conversation about Lincoln's fascinating and, to some surprisingly, ancient history. 😊

[@domramsey]

I think one of the most interesting aspects of the older names is that they're not really names at all, they're just descriptions. Going back a thousand or more years, most people would rarely if ever leave their own little village, but you might need to describe it to a traveller. Compare that to most American cities which were founded/incorporated and given the names of some place in England the founder happened to like. Rob's videos are great - please do more!

[@rogu3rooster]

Take Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch (actual place in Wales in Welsh) is basically St Mary's Church in the Hollow of the White Hazel near a Rapid Whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the Red Cave, in English. So the entire name of the place is literally a description of where the place is!

[@helenwood8482]

In Oxford, "New College" was built in 1240.

[@TheRealRodent]

Probably because even to this day it remains the most modern thing actually in Oxford.

[@Roz-y2d]

I found out the other day that Cambridge was founded because Oxford was crime ridden and chaotic. Who’d have thought that a place of learning would have such nefarious characters? 😂

[@Varksterable]

​@@TheRealRodentTrue. The Winnie-the-Pooh bear I bought at the Disney store there predates the A. A. Milne character by over 3932 years. And 4 months. He's not even musty. But very short of brain. (Yes, the "Disney" store in question was founded in 1432 BC, based on the Greek god of Desamae, and has changed little since.)

[@joyfulzero853]

Bloody upstart; it will never catch on!

[@millyjames7891]

Isn't that wonderful?

[@merribell]

The song from The Sound of Music that begins, “Climb every mountain. Ford every stream…” is the reason I know what ‘ford’ means 🎶😊

[@Varksterable]

And whatever you're typing into autocorrects to a capital 'F' too, right? I noticed it did that for me. That should definitely be changed. Does anyone fancy a class action? 🤓🤔

[@GeschichtenUndGedanken]

It’s so interesting… I like the way how history and humor are served and are brought “to the table”. Thank you Natasha&Debbie . 👋☀️

[@TheNatashaDebbieShow]

Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for the kind words!

[@thetrevor861]

Brit here. I used to live in Hornchurch. The local church had a bull's head on it. With horns. Now I live in Worthing, a seaside town on the South coast. When the tide is out, the sun beats down on the seaweed. In summer, it creates QUITE a stench. Or TANG. The name, I'm told, is from Whoa ! Tang ! Except, pronounced in Anglish, Nordish, Francish, Whatevish... Cheers, keep 'em coming !

[@ianharrison3662]

Liverpool is said to have been originally coined by Welsh traders with regard to a pool which abounded in a type of edible seaweed called larver (which is something of a delicacy in Wales) and they named the place Lyferpwl (the "modern" Welsh name for the city is Lerpwl). The small community around the pool grew and in 1207 was granted a Charter by King John which allowed a weekly market to be held in "Lyverpul" and, like a lot of other British cities, the township expander and absorbed local towns and hamlets, such as Everton, Garston, Walton - which are now just districts of the city of Liverpool.

[@tinap8227]

Yes, we use "to ford" as a verb! Thanks for reacting to this, as someone born in Borough but now in the New Castle, I knew about those two and a few others, endings like ton, ham, chester etc, but many of the prefixes of these places were completely new knowledge to me. Much love x.

[@jamielindsay1506]

Really enjoyed this one, thank you N&D! Your sense of humour shone bright today! I have my calendar marked for 8/8 👍

[@moodyblue2]

I live in Gillingham in Kent, "Gillingham comes from the Old English 'ham' meaning a 'village, homestead' with 'ingas' as the 'people of, people called after' combined with a personal name; therefore, a 'homestead/village of the people of Gylla' - a war lord who screamed and shouted as he led his men into battle." So Gillingham is known as The Home of Shouting Men!

[@AshleeR]

That was fun. I love Rob's channel. Great history and humour.

[@danny-smith77]

I suppose, logically, England should have two cities called Manchester. Possibly with one slightly bigger than the other.

[@nigelbundy4008]

Rob is great, he also does a podcast Words Unravelled with Rob and Jess Zafarris. Jess is an American language expert based in the US. Do watch it, they have a personal chemistry and are very funny. A lot of words have a sexual meaning or connection, and Rob is a serial blusher. People keep a count of how many times Jess makes Rob blush. Now my home town is Guildford. It is on a ford on the river Wey. The Guild means golden named after yellow flowers or a bank of sand running up to the top of the North Downs. One of my Grandfathers party tricks was to fill his pockets with pebbles and walk under the river at this point to the other side. This ford was important in the medieval ages as it was on the route of the pilgrims way route to Canterbury, as in Canterbury tales. The downs are a range of hills (Dun is hill in Old English) as Rob mentioned.

[@TerenceDixon-l6b]

I now live in a tiny village named 'Walcote' and there are at least 2 version of the reason it is so named. A 'cote' was originally a small thatched house or home, and we had quite a few of those, but only one now remains - that is nor contentious, but there are at least 2 explanations of the 'Wal' element. That word could be from Anglo-Saxon meaning water source or well (we have 2 large brooks running through the village) or it could be from the Celtic or Brythonic word 'Welsh' which originally meant foreigners or immigrants. So it could have one of two meanings, I prefer the first. Although the Black Death hit the area quite badly in the 12th century, and there are several Plague villages nearby which were wiped out by the disease, killing many workers, so the village could have been built to house imported or 'foreign' labourers - remember 'foreign' could mean people from the next town in those days.

[@Robbie1820]

Amazing, such an informative show. Thanks Natasha and Debbie

[@MrHws5mp]

"Ford" meaning to cross a river is still in common usage. The military talk about the "fording capability" of vehicles, meaning the depth of water they can drive through without stalling or floating away. There's a ford across the river Goyt behind my house, and traces of a Roman road that probably led down to it were found under our house when renovation work was done in the 1970s. "Goyt" is from Middle English "gote" (a watercourse or stream). My nearest town is Stockport (built on seven of those hills that so fascinate Tasha, just like Rome...🙄) Earliest recorded name is "Stokeport" in 1170, "Stoke" being from Old English "Stoc" (a hamlet) and "port" (a marketplace). Contrary to popular belief, the "port" can't mean sea port or river port because the river Mersey on which it's built has never be navigable at this point. Other variations on the name have been Stopford and Stockford, which might imply that the town was built at a ford over the Mersey. One of these survives in the term "Stopfordian" meaning anything or anyone from Stockport: ex-pupils of Stockport Grammar School call themslves Old Stopfordians. The river Mersey gets Its name from the Anglo-Saxon "mǣres" (relating to a boundary) and "ēa" ( river), so "boundary river", which it still is, since it marks the boundary between the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire, although these days it's within the administrative "county" of Greater Manchester (make your own "bigger hills" jokes, Tasha 😉 ) which only goes back to 1974. It's still in Cheshire in the postal system and in our hearts, mind you...

[@MeldersJnr]

.... we even had an information film / advert on the telly years ago warning about how to deal with the crossing of a ford by car ..... After one emerges - put one's foot gently on the brakes while moving to dry off the discs / shoes .... otherwise you could be involved in a deadly crash.. oe-er !

[@Varksterable]

My village has an ford. (Yes; that was diberate.) Has roadsigns, and it's even on some maps! Once, when it had been raining almost biblically, the road was entirely submerged. Almost 11 inches of water! The horror! (The road is completely avoidable, so no real problem. It's a small village. I find excitement wherever.)

[@PhilipPlace]

Hi from Britland again; I really enjoyed this reaction vid! I love the Viking period of our history (especially being a Yorkshireman!) Plus I learned an awful lot alongside you... great reaction, lots of fun...thanks.

[@TheNatashaDebbieShow]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@UoYoGoGO8U8]

The Anglo-Saxon, Jyder (Ytes), The Vikings, and The Normans all originated from the same 'place', the territory of The Danes (back then) and they brought Their Language, humour and play with words to 'The British Isles' - Old English ~ Old Norse.😉🇩🇰

[@rikmoran3963]

Rob is great. His video on how French words came into the English language and got altered is fascinating.

[@AngeDownie]

tis Ange this was really fun. That was a lot to unpack n yes Id probably have to rewatch it a few times for it to really sink in. Did love it though. cheers

[@Grumpy63uk]

This is Carlisle Cumbria 33.33 calling in to say hi . We have 1500 rivers ,22 of them are classed as major rivers 🤣🤣😍🩷🇬🇧

[@helenwood8482]

I never knew ford wasn't in use in America. We even have road signs telling us a ford is coming up.

[@stewartmackay]

Yes and when I lived over there, and in western Canada, they have a lot of places that say "creek" or "bluff", which we don't tend to use in the UK, even though they are English words.

[@johndent8813]

Yes, I was going to mention the road signs but you beat me to it.....

[@scotmark]

I can usually tell by the blue and silver badge... 😼

[@ThatgirlnamedJodie]

It is 15:55 Friday. Other than wash and dry my work uniform, I have done nothing all day other than watch a lot of your videos back to back - I did temporarily forget to eat 😅 - in a random order. I have fallen for your quick wit, bad puns and contagious laughter. I started following a few days ago and I am hooked on your content. The premiere this morning was the first I’ve seen, and I really enjoyed it. It’s a bonus that the time really works well for me because I work 07:00 - 17:30 Monday - Thursday, so I wake up Friday morning looking for some comic relief, and I’ve finally found my new staple.

[@TheNatashaDebbieShow]

That's wonderful!! Thank you so much!!

[@royhardy407]

I am Nottingham born and bred and it is still my home city. Yes, we were taught at secondary school (high school) the origin of Nottingham's name as well as a lot of other cities. In Nottingham there is an area called Sneinton - the home of Snayne another Norseman as well as Snot. Vikings navigated the river Trent from the area of Hull along to what is now Nottingham in their long ships.

[@sarahgreen653]

Ay up me duck from another Nottinghamian

[@royhardy407]

@@sarahgreen653 Ay up Sarah What part you from - me born in the owd Medduz now Bestwood Village. Tara duck

[@LilMonkeyFella87]

Rob is great. He did another video about old English letters no longer used that I've mentioned before. It explains the whole "ye olde" , for example "LOST LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET: 9 letters we stopped using"

[@BogusDudeGW]

I haven't seen it but always liked the old elongated f-shaped letter thats pronounced as a SS, or strong S, bit like the german B-shaped letter. But its still one of those letters you're likely to come across on old gravestones etc.

[@LilMonkeyFella87]

@@BogusDudeGW that is in the video 👍

[@garyloveridge7957]

There is a place in England that uses three old English words, all of which mean hill, it is called TORPENHOW HILL. It is just north of the LAKE DISTRICT.

[@georgeprout42]

Of course there's a Tom Scott video about that... and there's a bit of a debunk iirc.

[@mojojojo11811]

I live in Hertfordshire which comes from: Hart = deer ford = shallow river crossing shire = place It's so interesting.

[@mandypotts9090]

So interesting to hear the origins and history of the names of places that are so familiar and take for granted ,without thinking too much about their names . Some l knew but many more l didn’t. Lots of information given in an entertaining way . Enjoyed this and would like the rest of the uk and the American one as well ( Manchester, Bristol)

[@VeritySnatch]

i saw Page and Plant at Glastonbury in 1995. far from my first gig i was already a burned out mess from half a decade of festivals, 90s partying and abusing my brain chemistry. it was 30 degrees, full sunlight when they played. they were still flawless

[@nickname6747]

Thanks for uploading, ladies. Learnt a lot from this one.

[@sarahyardley1923]

I live in Essex, we have Wickford, Chelmsford near us and several still existing fords that you can drive or 'ford' through except when they are flooding.

[@tonycasey3183]

There are still quite a few fords that are for vehicular use in the UK and we have road signs for them - it's literally just a triangle with the word "FORD" written on it. The road you are driving on will suddenly encounter a river that you drive through.

[@petecook1000]

Liverpool takes its name from old English - 'lifer' meaning thick or muddy, and 'pol' meaning pool or creek. The area of the Mersey on which the city stands, while very tidal, is also quite silted, with large sand banks that stretch from the river mouth up past Runcorn and Widnes, which are around 12 miles upstream. When the tide goes out, the sand banks are exposed and become a very thick consistency, interspersed with pools of water - hence 'thick/muddy pool'. The city has been built on much of what once was the river as the docks were expanded (one of the worlds oldest tidal locked docks, the Old Dock, can be found under what is now the Liverpool One shopping centre, which a half mile from the river and was built at the original pool).

[@davebox588]

Makes sense. Blackpool and Dublin were both on rivers that were joined by dark, peaty rivers.

[@andrewmerner7928]

Viking's named Widnes wide mouth

[@petecook1000]

@@andrewmerner7928 I thought it was 'wide nose'? There's another thought that it could have been 'wooded nose' as the 'nose' is not particularly wide. Runcorn gets its name from old-Saxon (as the Mersey formed the boundary between the Viking held lands to the north and the kingdom of Mercia to the south) meaning 'wide cove'.

[@ceanothus_bluemoon]

Not seen his channel before but thoroughly enjoyed that. I knew the origins of some of the names including my own city. There are fords allover the place. Drive, walk, ride your horse through! If you're interested in rivers, and underground rives, of which we also have many, so and look up the Megatron in Sheffield. Plenty of explores on here, and it's pretty impressive. There are now proper tours run down there, for the intrepid!

[@lisaclarke799]

Was at queen 1982 Milton Keynes bowl! Was the best experience ever! You would definitely have loved it! Been to lots of concerts after but this one was epic! ❤

[@TheRealRodent]

Rob Words is a great channel, dude knows his stuff. I think I may have been one of your recommenders for his channel :) Around 19:45 is interesting with local dialect changing the names. Bottuw instead of bottle... or dropped the t as well, to say boh-oo instead of bottle. Google becomes Googoo. Then ther's Sum Fink instead of Something. Nuffin instead of Nothing. Tur-ul instead of Turtle. I found that part of Rob's video fascinating to realise that speaking incorrectly actually changes the place names. Wonder how many of those unknown place name origins like London, are in fact a corruption caused by mispronunciation.

[@peckelhaze6934]

Nice to see my city mentioned as, in comparison to others, it is new city from a town. Whenever I hear Wells I instantly think of 'The Baby Eating Bishop of Bath and Wells' from Blackadder. I am English and most of this is new to me.

[@darrenjones5885]

Rob’s video on Anglish is good. English without the French, Latin and Greek infiltrations. In Lost Letters he tells of a letter that looked like Y but was pronounced TH. Still hanging round on pub signs such as Ye Olde Speckled Hen.

[@tonycasey3183]

The "sal" in Salford that comes from the sallow tree has another interesting etymological branch. Salicylic Acid was derived from the bark of the sallow tree, and Salicylic Acid is commonly known as Aspirin.

[@RichWoods23]

Aspirin is not salicylic acid, nor is it derived from willow bark. Aspirin is a synthetic acetosalicylic acid, more effective as a neuralgic/anti-inflammatory than salicylic acid and less risky to ingest.

[@tonycasey3183]

@@RichWoods23 I was simplifying it for brevity. Acetylsalicylic acid from which acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) was developed was derived from the willow tree, but, yes, well done, you look clever now.

[@paulfitzpatrick1365]

@@RichWoods23 I would say you are both, both right and wrong. :o) Salicylic Acid is derived from a number of plants but principly Willow Bark; "salicin" is the Latin word for Willow. It has been used for more than 4000 years as a medicine. Hippocrates is known to have used Willow bark for pain relief. In 1899 a modified version " actylsalicylic acid" was registered manufactured and sold by Bayer using the trade name Aspirin.

[@TheOnlyGazzLam]

We not only have a lot of rivers, we also have a lot of canals, with kind boke riders opening locks for the canalboats to go through. If you are curious, Here's a map of the canals/rivers and streams... Most were built to facilitate the industrial revolution to get raw/manufactured materials to inland factories where they were [further] refined into final products and then moved to sale points or other factories for further production. I guess now they are used by introverts and alcoholics to move their home from one pub to another. 30:53: Is it not common on USA wedding vows to use the phrase "let no [man/one] [put/tear] asunder"? Genuinely curious.

[@OnASeasideMission]

Romans did a lot of abbreviation as writing with styli and waxed tablets was hard graft. Hence inscriptions like C. JUL CAESAR. So Lindum Colonia. And that's why there are two L's in Lincoln.

[@carolynhaywood7701]

Hi Natasha and Debbie, we have 1500 rivers throughout the United Kingdom and quite a lot of cities, towns and even villages are named after them, like mine Burton upon Trent ( Trent being the River ) I love how both of you are so interested in my country, it would be lovely for you to come here and see it all for yourselves. There used to be a lot of different tribes ( similar to Scotland with the different Clans ) so many of the names come from the name of the leader or the owner of the land plus Britain has been occupied by quite a few different foreign people over the centuries hence the differences. Love your channel and your humour too. ❤️❤️

[@helenwood8482]

That was a fascinating video. Place names are a lifelong obsession of mine, but I still learnt a lot from that.

[@geraldinemccashin1804]

Proud to be from Milton Keynes 🇬🇧 my first concert I saw was Queen at our MK Bowl in 1982 then in 1985 I saw U2 both were amazing

[@catherinewhite8819]

Me too and I was also at The Bowl for the Queen concert! Saw Bowie and Genesis as well.

[@catherinewhite8819]

Milton Keynes is a new town designed on the American grid system., started in the 70’s. Within the designated area was a small and old village called Milton Keynes and it retained its name for a few decades. Interestingly it is now known as Middleton.

[@AnOldEnglishBloke]

I don't live near any city, but we have a working monastery 2 miles away, and at 3am every morning I can, if I'm awake, hear the bells ringing. Reminds me I live in an ancient country. The village is 1200 years old. Let's just look at how Great Britain looks on the map. It's geographically gorgeous. No wonder everyone wants a piece.

[@kevinmurray7789]

I'm firmly of the belief that London's name is of Celtic origin, the latter part,-"don", coming from "dùn", the word for "fort" that still in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, and the "Lon" part from the Celtic word for "pool" that also constituted the origin of the name of Ireland's capital, Dublin. That name, originally "Dubh-linn", came from a black-looking pool in the river meaning "black pool", bedide which was built an Iron Age fort and subsequently a Norman Castle. This view is reinforced by the fact that the Thames has a reach called the "Pool of London", beside which was built a Norman castle called the Tower, propably on top of an earlier fortification.

[@DonnaDakin]

I loved this i learned so much about my own country. Im from Nottingham I did actually know it used to be called Snottingham. Most people born in Nottingham have been to Nottingham Castle at sometime or run over and there is always been a map of old England with Nottingham called Snottingham on there so it’s something a lot of us learn as children when going to the castle with School or parents. Thanks for another great show. ❤Xx

[@sunscream4525]

The Domesday book, created by the Normans to audit the country they had just taken over, is really useful as it gives placenames as they were 1000 years ago and we can see the evolution. On the subject of the Normans, there may not of have been castles before them, but there were plenty of hill forts, such as Old Sarum.

[@mattwainwright9198]

I am from Hull and am an amateur history. Recently I have been researching the origins of the city. The settlement was founded by the monks of the nearby Abbey of Meaux as a port for them to export wool; a small village grew up next to this port called Wyke. Incidentally, there is a college in Hull called Wyke. Edward I used the port of Wyke as the place to bring in and assemble his supplies and troops for his campaigns against the Scots (see Braveheart) and it was this use of the port and his attachment to it that meant he renamed it King's Town. The upon Hull bit was probably just added to distinguish from other Kingstons like the one in London. The reason it is almost always known as Hull these days seems to come from the Civil War. In the White Harte Inn in the city, a number of noblemen and parliamentarians met and decided to depose the monarch and establish a Republic. You can still go into the room where this happened now, there is quite an atmosphere in there... so the Kingston part of the name was probably dropped at this time to show the city's defiance of the monarch. The first actions of the Civil War took place in the city as well when King Charles I approached the Beverley Gate, the main entrance to the city, because he needed to enter and access his armoury which was in the city. The symbolic beginning of the war, and the city's defiance, could be seen when the gates were slammed in the King's face and he was forced to lay siege to the city now known, albeit unofficially, as just Hull!

[@anthonycutt]

We live in herefordshire and had no idea! Great watch, so maybe wye [!] the 'SAS' are based at Hereford, fun fact!

[@anthonycutt]

More to do with the proximity with the 'Brecon Beacons' probably, their training ground, Herefordshire is to die for, it's beautiful, check it out girls? Love the content! x Just a UK 'x' the kiss!

[@milnespetchristo1882]

Rob, was reasonably correct, about mo castles before Willy The B. Invaded. As most walled fortifications were Burghs, i.e. fortified towns. But 4 deceased castles had been built prior to him turning up, claiming the throne. "The term pre-Conquest castles refers to the castles built in Norman style in England before the 1066 Norman conquest of England. There are only four such castles known, all of them constructed in the 11th century and now ruined. "Castles in England built before 1066" The following 4 pages are in this category, out of 4 total. This list may not reflect recent changes: Wikipedia Clavering Castle, Ewyas Harold Castle, Hereford Castle, Richard's Castle"

[@pabmusic1]

Derby is pronounced Darby simply because that's how 'er' was pronounced before the Great Vowel Shift. Rob's Words has a good video on the GVS. So, words that had become 'fixed' before the GVS - such as most place names - usually kept their old spelling (the pronunciation didn't change). Sometimes the pronunciation did change - in 'merchant' for instance, even though the surname was respelled - Marchant (note the er/ar thing). It is likely that early map-makers were just as confused (more so?) as we are. There are still a few -er words that even Americans pronounce -ar - sergeant, for instance.. But note that the surname is Sargent.

[@peterbrazier7107]

I enjoy watching these early morning shows, Wake up take meds, and open a can of Monster while still in bed.

[@madabbafan]

Lancaster - my home city. If you haven't already the Pendle Witches are worth a look. I may have used the aquiduct bridge rather than Carlisle bridge but each to their own.

[@joyfulzero853]

When he said there was no castles in England before the Normans, he might have given a little more information on his definitions. Close to where I live is Pevensey, East Sussex, which was where the Normans landed in 1066. There was a still extant major 'Roman' (294 ad) 'fort' there and the Normans built a 'castle' in the much larger area within the curtain walls of it.

[@stevewareing8525]

Hi Natasha & Debbie. Preston is my birthplace, in fact I was born right in the centre of it at the Mount Street Hospital a Catholic Hospital run by the Sisters of Charity of our Lady Mother of Mercy. The hospital opened in 1877 and remained a hospital till 2003.

[@michaelstamper5604]

If etymology (history of word development, etc) interests you, Rob and Jess Zafarris do a podcast/video series about this kind of thing. "Words unravelled" I think it's called. Jess is American, so there are often comparisons between American English and British English.

[@scotmark]

I bought her book Words from Hell. I hope she updates it some day to include more Brit words...

[@timglennon6814]

My town where I live in England is called Oldham. It’s believed to be derived from the Old English aid combined with the Old Norse hoimi or holmr, meaning promontory or outcrop, possibly describing the town’s hilltop position.

[@G1NZOU]

I live in Milton Keynes, it's one of the newest cities named by the Queen the year she passed away, and I got to see the King arrive to officially declare city status. We still have an area in Milton Keynes called Middleton, and the original Milton Keynes Village still looks like a village, a nice little quiet area hidden amongst the more modern city. We have a couple of other old areas which still have their charm in Bradwell, Woolstone, and Woughton.

[@marybull3715]

Loved this video, he has a great style for this presentation. I was bourn in Sittingbourne in Kent, the name apparently to some at leas, comes from pilgrims traveling from London to Canterbury to visit the tomb of St Thomas Becket would stop to bathe their feet in the bourne or stream. Now long since disappeared underground. Now live in North Devon so heading towards Cornwall where my father's family came from so was eagerly waiting for Turro.

[@RCassinello]

I'm excited for this, as I've watched the original video. :)

[@grievousangel7742]

I live in Ripon (and I'm from York). I know that Ripon is a city, although a very small one, but it's wild when it's mentioned by people who don't live here! Most people have never heard of it.

[@tribaltalker1608]

Ripon was very nice when I visited in the 1980s. I lived in York for a decade and regret not visiting more of the surrounding areas when I had the opportunity.

[@andrewhWTL]

I have only lived in one city (Leeds) but went to the grammar school in Lancaster (I recall learning the school was founded in 1472, but now its history has been found to go back to between 1235 and 1256). I'm currently in west Cumbria and the nearest city is Carlisle. There are still some small roads that cross streams without a bridge, and we still call them fords - sometimes they become impassable in floods.

[@christinecurran1732]

Meaning of 'Ford' If you've ever seen The Sound of Music, you might know the song 'Climb every mountain, ford every stream...' Love your show

[@MarkmanOTW]

Love the etymology of place names. I happen to live in Surrey, the neighbouring county South West of Greater London. The name Surrey is derived from Sūþrīge (or Suthrige), meaning "southern region" (while Bede refers to it as Sudergeona) and this may originate in its status as the southern portion of the Middle Saxon territory.

[@AlBarzUK]

Yes we say “ford” as in a place to cross a brook. There are places where you drive through a shallow stream.

[@garethking5866]

I saw this video yesterday. Always enjoy finding out about history of words. Check out his video on origin of the alphabet!

[@bodizmoner2838]

The name Mamucium that gave origin to the name of the city of Manchester is thought to derive from a Celtic language name meaning "breast-shaped hill", referring to the sandstone bluff on which the fort stood; this later evolved into the name Manchester

[@mark240862]

That was very interesting to watch. British born and bred and i didnt know any of this.😊

[@helenwood8482]

The number of hills in the UK and Ireland named after breasts would shock you. Both Saxons and Celts seem to have been obsessed.

[@chrissouthgate4554]

I immediately thought of the "Paps of Jura" on an island off the West coast of Scotland.

[@scotmark]

CIII (without the PO) should celebrate his new reign by granting titty status to the best of them. 🙊

[@jacquelineperry1960]

😂😂😂

[@xenialafleur]

We've got the Grand Teton mountains in the US. They were named such by the French-Canadian explorers who thought that they looked like breasts.

[@alundavies1016]

There is a hill called Lord Herefords Knob (Twmpa to give its Welsh name) in South Wales.

[@rs1884]

I was born, raised and still live in Nottingham. I've known since the 1960's that the original spelling was Snotingahaem. The Normans came and built a Castle on a sandstone hill to the west of the original settlement (which is roughly where St. Mary's Church is). The place inbetween the Anglo-Saxon settlement and the Norman one is The Old Market Square (still there to this day) which was divided in two to allow for peaceful trading. Near to St Mary's Church is the district of Sneinton (still called that and is pronounced without the I) which harks back to Snot's people. The Normans, who found the Sn combination difficult dropped the S in both cases, Nottingham stuck but Notintone didn't. There is a Square in Sneinton called Notintone Place where the founder of the Salvation Army was born, William Booth. Before Snot's people arrived, the place was called 'Tig Guocobauc' meaning in the Celtic language (Brythonic) 'Cave Dwellers' and is still refered to as the City of Caves. The Sandstone that underlays Nottingham is easily dug out, and the way that it formed meant it had structural strength, and to this day there are about 800 man made caves in Nottingham.

[@tonycasey3183]

There's probably about 1500 rivers in the UK but most are tiny compared to Continental USA and would probably be considered Creeks over there. Why so many? GB is an island with a long mountain ranges running up its spine, bulging up in the West and dominating the North and West - it also rains a lot. That rainwater has to go somewhere and gravity tells it to head for the sea. Hills often have accompanying valleys which make convenient ducts for gravity-crazed water - hence fifteen hundred rivers. If you like rivers and etymology, Country Life has a great article on their website called "From the Box to the Yox - how did our rivers get their names?"

[@ThomasGarside-g5q]

I'm from Bolton in Lancashire. This is from the old English bothl-tun, meaning settlement with a dwelling. Although most locals call it "Bouten" which is Lancashire dialect. We are have the river Croal running through the town, and yes the UK has lots of rivers. My wife is from Cwm Bran in South Wales, this means Valley of the Crows.

[@ConnieBoo20]

CHELMSFORD MENTIONED!!! I live in a town just outside, so it always surprises me when it's mentioned, so i wasn't surprised you hadn't heard of it before 😂

[@F11BAR84]

This was great and excellent brain food today, learning with Natasha and Debbie 😊

[@davidrichardson9839]

I have a privately printed book from the Thoresby Society, published in 1910, called The Place Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire. I used to live in a small village called Hooton Pagnell, which was originally Painel, Panell or Paynell. The Pagnell is the same Norman family as Newport Pagnell (a site of many a rock concert and drag race). "The Yorkshire Hootons are probably derived from Old English hó, a projecting ridge of land, a promontory, with the addition of tún, an enclosure. The Old English hó is preserved as a separate work in Plymouth Hoe." It definitely fits Hooton Pagnell - the village is high up on a ridge, looking out over mining villages like Frickley and towns like South Elmsall.

[@andreazippy1722]

Hi Ladies Kingston upon Hull is to us Hullians as we are called is just called ULL 😂.

[@garytyme9384]

I must add that Kingston-Upon-Hull also housed the Kings Armory at the citadel near the river Hull. Hull at the time had 5 gates to protect the whole city.

[@lauraburnett9320]

YAAAY !!!!..I`m also from Derby, geologically interesting as the hill at the top of my road is the last `bump' in the `Pennine chain.' also known as Englands `backbone', a visual geological formation down the centre of the country.

[@Elistone]

according to google "Almost 1500 discrete river systems, comprising over 200,000 km of watercourses may be identified across the UK* but, in a global context, our rivers are mere streams - being characteristically short, shallow and subject to considerable man-made disturbance."

[@rayjennings3637]

It's not particularly easy to break out the number of rivers in England alone because some of them begin, flow through in part or end in Scotland and the same again for Wales. However, what is known id that there are almost 1500 discreet rivers in the UK, with a combined length of close to 124,000 miles or 200,000km!

[@Hrunowulfaz]

I believe we have around 1500 river systems in the UK. The Liver in Liverpool means "Rush/Reed" from Old English Lifer/Læfer meaning the same. Equivalent to the Latin word "Laver" and the "laver" in "Laverbread", so I don't know how he couldn't find that. Depending on your definition of Castle, he may also be wrong about there not being any castles before the Normans, as Burghs were walled fortress towns which could be argued as a castle as they were defensive, though not a single home like most Castles. There was also a development of towered churches that could function much like a castle, using the tower as a fortress, they more closely fit the definition of a Castle, as it was used as a home by the priests, was defensive, and was similar to the Donjon of most early Norman castles. But again, it all depends on the definition of Castle you use. Ewyas Harold Castle is an example of one that seems to be considered a Castle, as it was built before the Normans in a Motte and Bailey style: "The first castle on the site is believed to be one of the very few which were built under the Saxons before the Norman conquest. This structure was likely raised in 1048, possibly by Osbern Pentecost, on the site of an earlier fortification, likely a Saxon burg built during the 10th century. It was a motte and bailey castle overlooking the Dulas Brook. In 1052 the original castle was destroyed, either on the orders of Earl Godwin or by the Welsh in a raid."

[@williambailey344]

I live near Lancaster a town called Morecambe, i don't know if you know the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise Eric was born here and he changed his name from Bartholemew to Morecambe 😊

[@johnbowman7389]

You asked how many rivers there are....we have 1500 in England and the combined UK watercourse length is around 200,000 kilometres. Many of these rivers are mere streams in comparison to the largest rivers like the Thames, Severn and Trent. Nice for Ashby de la zouch to get a mention it is my nearest town....3 miles away. I live in a large village called Measham or in the spirit of this video MEASE-HAM or HAMLET ON THE MEASE (the MEASE being a river) according to the Doomsday Book. Excellent video ladies, thank you.!!

[@IanDarley]

I've heard some American off-roaders talking about fording rivers in their 4x4s, so it is a term used there. There are 1490 rivers in the UK with a total length (including tributaries) of 124,000 miles.

[@DamianIbberson]

Plus another 4,700 miles of navigable canals!

[@helenwood8482]

I live near Oxford. Recently, various different lofesize ox statues have appeared all over the city. There is one outside the hospital I go to every week.

[@berlindude75]

The word "ford" for a shallow river crossing also exists in other Germanic languages. For instance, in German it is spelled "Furt", hence the name of the city of Frankfurt in central Germany means "ford of the Franks", which was a former shallow river crossing of the river Main (pronounced MINE) there in the historic lands of the Franks. Many towns and later cities developed around these strategic river locations.

[@andybryson8008]

My much maligned home town of Milton Keynes has a pub, the name of which is a play on the name of the town. The pub is called the Eager Poet, the poet in question being John Milton (Paradise Lost etc.), and to be eager is to be keen. Hence, the Eager Poet would be 'Keen Milton', or Milton Keynes.

[@debbie8674]

Let us know what city you're from! We are so much smarter now. 😊

[@glennwhittaker197]

@@debbie8674 I was born in Beverly just outside “ULL” ( that’s Hull but we drop our”h”) Kingston Upon Hull’s coat of arms has 3 crowns on it as the City has always been loyal to the monarchy (especially during the English Civil War & King Charles 1st)

[@3rd_Rock]

I live in a village called Lowton. The “ton” appertains to farm, the “Low” does not mean a low point, it conversely means a “mound” or small hill. So therefore Lowton means Farm on the mound.

[@felonmarmer]

I'm one of Beorma's people but I was born on the hilly island of Dunholm.

[@sandrahughes8645]

Muddy tidal creek shaped like a liver!!!! 12th century newbie Liverpool! ❤

[@calumdowse864]

Lincolnshire! Lots of flat land for farming or RAF bases. Home of the Red Arrows, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and Eurofighter Typhoon QRA.

[@l.a.f.4421]

You Two are quite the blast. Personality pays. but I really like your sympatico. Yours truly, Portland, Oregon.

[@dee2251]

Speaking of Saints, you might be interested to know that Cornwall is also known as ‘The land of the Saints’ as there are so many places there named after saints. St Ives, St Dennis, St Austell, St Piran, St Geraint and many more and I’m off there on holiday on Sunday for two weeks, as I’ve done for many years. Can’t wait! 🥰

[@supremefankai5480]

As a guy born and raised and raised in Milton Keynes, I feel a bit insulted you only know us for the arena, which is quite new but still happy you did know of us. We actually do still have an area within the city called Middleton for the record.

[@dougmorris2134]

I really enjoy Rob’s videos, and those of Natasha and Debbie. Best wishes from the British county where Oxen crossed the River Thames, Oxfordshire.

[@michelletrudgill4573]

Well done girlies that was so so interesting, don't think I can remember any of it apart from londinium 😅. I grew up in Ilford, it appears in the domesday book of 1086 as Ilefort which means Ford over the Hyle, an old Celtic name. I love finding these things and makes me realise we are not who we think we are with so many countries invading us. Great video girlies fantastic. ❤❤👏👏

[@littlejogger95]

Lincoln resident here!! Enjoyed the video, hopefully more to come 😊 xx

[@guypainter]

And now you know why anything to do with construction/civil engineering etc in the region has the "Lindum" logo on it. 😊

[@dianeknight4839]

There are 1500 rivers in the UK. I am from Leeds and yes I did know its origin, although he did miss out the Roman name Leodis. Come to Yorkshire and visit Bolton Abbey, the Ford that the monks built across the river is still there and yes you can ford it, it is part of a day out at the Abbey to cross the river on the huge stepping stones, without falling in. In summer it is a great place for a family day out.