The word FOWL, which occurs in numerous places, had originally a much wider meaning than at present. Any _flying_ creature, was a bird; and in this sense we find it in
FOULS-ham, FUL-ham, the _bird’s_ home; FULL-wood, the _bird’s_ wood; FOULN-ey, FUGL-oe, the _bird’s_ island; VOGELS-berg, the _bird’s_ hill.
The names of _Fish_ seem rather scarce; we find
FISH-bourn, the stream, abounding in _fish_; FISHER-gate, _fish_ street; FISHER-ton, _fish_ town; FISH-guard, _fish_ enclosure; FISH-toft, _fish_ field; FISH-field, _fish_ field; FISCH-back, _fish_ rivulet; FISK-um-foss, the waterfall of the _fish_ dwelling.
LAX-ey, LAX-field, LAX-ay, _salmon_ river; LAX-voe, _salmon_ bay; LAKE-fiord, _salmon_ firth.
TROUTS-dale, TROUT-beck, the _trout_ rivulet.
AAL-borg, _eel_ city; AAL-en, _eel_ island; AAL-st, _eel_ district; AAL-rust, _eel_ torrent.
The FROG and TOAD are perhaps the only _reptiles_ we find in place-names. They evidently give names to
FROG-hill, FROG-more, the _frog’s_ moor; FROX-feld, the _frog’s_ field; FROX-ton, the _frog’s_ town; FRISKN-ey, the _frog’s_ island; TAD-ley, TAD-low.
The Scandinavian term for the reptile is PADDA, which occurs in
PAD-gate, _frog_ street; PADDON-Beck, _frog_ stream; PADDY-gill, _frog_ rivulet; &c.
The _insect_ WIGGA, WIEGA, a _beetle_, is perhaps found in
WIG-more, the _beetle’s_ moor; WIGGEN-holt, the _beetle’s_ wood; WIG-sell, the _beetle’s_ seat; WIG-ton, WIGS-ton, WIGGIN-ton, the _beetle’s_ town; WIG-toft, the _beetle’s_ field.
In German, the name of the beetle is KAFER, cognate with the En-CHAFER, which occurs in
KAFER-loh, the _beetle’s_ meadow; KAFERN-burg, the _beetle’s_ city.
_Trees_ performed no unimportant part in the division of land among the Teutonic nations; they were used as land marks and boundaries, and county courts were held under them.
The word TREE occurs very often in the names of places, and is no doubt connected with some historical circumstance: _e.g._—
Oswes-TRY, Coven-TRY, Dodin-TREE, Web-TREE, Grey-TREE, Els-TREE, &c.
AC-ton, the _oak_ town; ACK-worth, the _oak_ farm; AUCK-land, the _oak_ district; AIKE-Beck-Mouth, the mouth of the _oak_ rivulet; OAK-leigh, OCK-ley, OAK-ley, WOK-ing, the _oak_ meadow; AS-kew (AKE-skeugh), the _oak_ knoll; AX-holme, the _oak_ island; EX-fold, the _oak_ enclosure; EX-twistle, the _oak_ borders; OKE-hanger-mere, the _oak_ meadow-lake; OAK-ham, the _oak_ dwelling; OCK-brook, the _oak_ brook; UCK-field, the _oak_ plain; Bald-OCK, the bare _oak_; Mart-OCK, the market _oak_; EICH-horn, the _oak_ height; EICHS-feld, the _oak_ field; EICH-stadt, the _oak_ town.