A long trailing chain of thought coming on folks - hope if all hangs together. I shall start and see how it goes:
An old, well known local farmer has died - he has lived here all his life, done very well and his sons now are the most successful employers in the area. At his funeral earlier this week his cortege went through the town with his coffin on a farm trailer, pulled by a tractor - I have no doubt that - just like my farmer's, the church would be full to overflowing and the food would be good and plentiful at the reception afterwards. Because that is how it always has been. In fact my carer, who showed me the photograph this morning (and who has herself lived here all her life) tells me that there is a bit of a tradition of (especially men) folk in the village who live alone going to funerals of folk they hardly know, just for the food afterwards.
Is all this going to gradually change as we get more and more incomers and fewer and fewer 'locals' - the farmer once did a count of the locals in his village and there were only eleven left. Less now I'm sure.
Surely this makes for other changes. To quote Ronald Blythe again (sorry but I am eagerly reading his book) he wasborn thereabouts and never moved far in his whole life,) He speaks of field names and one in particular which is called Constables and has been since it was owned by the Constable family (John Constable the famous artist) since before the time of the Napoleonic wars.
And that made me think of the field names on our farm (now owned by several people as it was split up when the farmer died (small farms are no longer profitable)between several farms). When I first married into the family I used to listen to my farmer and his father talking almost another language as they spoke of the fields, which all had names (the only one I remember was Matt's (I think named after the man years back who had once owned the field.) Maybe the field still exists but I am sure the name doesn' t - maybe the hedge has been grubbed out to make two small fields into one larger one. But surely the name has died - forever
Does it matter? Maybe not in the giant scheme of things. Housing estates cover acres and the names disappear. Maybe people call it progress, And in many ways it is. But in other ways it is sad. I think. Do you?
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41 comments:
It's always sad when the things that we have been used to and that have sustained us with warm memories through our lives, change, but life has to evolve otherwise what would be the point of us having brains in order to create progress. Most parishes used to have a tithe map that covered the whole parish with the names of each field marked on it and the tithes payable according to it's acreage and owner. I have one for some of the farmland where I live and the list of field names are quite amazing - none of the names used now of course.
tithes by the way were one tenth of annual produce earnings taken as a kind of tax in order to support the church and clergy.
I come from that sort of area, and again, there are very few locals left.
Change is inevitable. But that doesn't mean one should just shrug one's shoulders and give in to the thought-stopping cliche, 'you can't stop progress'. One can actively try to ensure that change is positive.
People being 'incomers' is a real non-issue. People are always moving about. Everyone was an incomer at some time or another. You stop being one when there aren't any people older than yourself left to remember that you are. It doesn't matter if you're crossing the channel in a dinghy, or moving into the Dales -- sadly, there will always be people afraid of change, or of people who are different to them, who are reluctant to welcome you.
Well I guess big farming funerals will continue around Norfolk because farming is big here and well respected and hopefully not every field will be taken for housing and farming will remain. As long as farming remains then so will people to farm and to be buried whoever they may be and whatever their surname be they old families or new families. All the fields on our farm had names and when the new people bought it they changed the names, that was fine by us. For Defra official paperwork all fields have numbers which are always used and constant.
I am an incomer here, or a comeover in local parlance, but have tried hard to learn about, understand and appreciate local history and culture. I feel it would be a great loss to allow the rich cultural heritage of this small island to disappear but I can see how quickly it can slip away across the water there.
You have many wonderful memories to share and keep the past alive for the rest of us.
I think that the whole way of life now is sad. I'm sad that my children and Grandchildren are not going to enjoy things as I did.
Maybe it's just things evolving as they always have but we have known a lovely way of life and been very lucky to have lived without war.
I share your thoughts.
Briony
x
I so agree with Briony. (you have a beautiful name) It seems like we are moving, living so fast that traditions are just falling away with out a thought. We have lost so much.
"Maybe people call it progress. And in many ways it is. But in other ways it is sad."
With those words you spoke for me about experiences that are bittersweet. You can see both sides. I appreciate your perspective, Weaver.
Living in the United States, I am reminded of how many place names have remained as named who knows how long ago by the indigenous people who still live here. I live in Whatcom County. Whatcom is a word from the Lummi language which means noisy rumbling water. There is a narrow strip of land up near the U.S./Canada border in Whatcom County that is called Semiahmoo Spit. Semiahmoo historian Jack Brown writes that, according to Chief James “Jimmy” Charles (1867-1952), chief of the Semiahmoo from 1909 to 1952, the word Semiahmoo means “half-moon,” and describes the shape of Semiahmoo Bay.
I am an incomer to Whatcom County, having been born in Northern California and having lived there until I was 24 years old. I am 73 years old now. There are many more incomers here than locals and incomers continue to arrive. Of course, the true locals are the indigenous people, the Coast Salish people who have been here close to forever.
So grateful to you for your chains of thought!
The estate I currently live on is what was previously farm land. Two of the road names are 'Fallowfield' and 'Longacre'.I've lived here for nearly 40 years, and didn't realise the significance of the names.
I understand your sentiment. I often think of the past and all the people I've known, places I lived and the places I travelled. I find comfort from these mental trips to the past. But, I would not go back, nor do I long for it. I am actually glad that things change. Had they not changed, I would not be where I am. I am happy for that. Happy New Year, Weaver.
As for the names of places changing over the years - For me names of places is like the humans they were named after - they come and they go. It seems natural to me that they should change. Life renews and changes again and again.
Progress has both positive and negative aspects. it is important to address the negative aspects of it when it is to the detriment of a community or saddens the soul. - Pam.
It is sad, but it has ever been so...that the old things, the old names, the old places fade into the mists of time, to be replaced by new things, and new names and new places. My children were upset when I told them that I wanted to have my ashes dumped in a hole with a lilac bush plunked on top of them. They were upset that there would be no tombstone. I tried to explain that after a generation, there would be no one to remember me anyway.
Yes I think it matters. I'm in the US and here we have housing developments on large parcels where the land is contoured for drainage and roads and looks nothing like it did before. They all look the same, the land looks artificial. I much prefer the old homes where a foundation was dug in a suitable spot and the land maintained its original appearance. It looks so much more comfortable and it's setting. Pat
Yes it is sad Pat, like the new road names for housing estates built on precious countryside or once historic sites. I know of Kestrel Close, Kingfisher Close, Nightingale Way. Not to mention Bishop's Meadow, Cathedral Close, and so on. I know we all have a right of a home to live in, but it is still sad to think of what has gone to make room for us all.
But it has always been that way. Even you were an incomer when you married your farmer as you weren't a farmer before that. Nothing stays the same - time is not frozen but always evolving.
Yes, it's sad in a way for me. Here we don't hear of field names, at least outside the farming community, but I like the idea. I first heard of English field names of course, from John.
At my age I find changes happening ever more quickly, some good and some negative. I grew up before cell phones and even my kids did; now cell phones are ubiquitous, for good and for bad. I am unhappy that a local college is going to have its name changed because it is named after a Portuguese explorer who is not liked by some people. Whenever possible I say keep the old names, it is our history.
I hope a local historical society is recording these things where you are. I live in an area of California that was important during the Gold Rush, and am fascinated to find out that the place I live was once a thriving settlement called Barley Flat. Three miles down the road was a town that was larger then than our county seat is today, yet nothing remains of it at all. Things change, but don't necessarily need to be forgotten.
Long ago I wrote an article for the township web site: Every Township Road has a First Name. I named all the road; there were just a few, and explained the name was the first name of the farmer or his descendants who still lived there.
Sad and beautiful at the same time. There is nothing we can do to stop the changing world, except to share our memories when ever we can. Thanks for sharing.
Most of our farmland has unofficial names. I also wonder how long these names will be used.
Local people are often priced out of living in the rural villages their families came from nowadays
When I sold a one hectare field to a neighbour in France, I asked if they would give it my name. I wonder if they did?
On the farm where my father used to work there was a ditch that was always known as Dickie's Ditch. Many people knew that a man called Dickie had fallen into it from his horse, but no one could any longer recall just who Dickie was or how long ago it had happened.
Even here in my highly industrialised part of Germany (this is Porsche and Mercedes country) the fields still have names. Where the outskirts of my town were built on previous farmland, the street names pick up on those old field names and other features that have long gone. There is a Waterfall Street in one of the areas where I often walk, and indeed there used to be a small waterfall there before the houses were built.
We would all want to keep open spaces to enjoy, and they are essential for the survival of so many species, but we keep having babies left, right and centre and needing more and more houses.
As for "incomers", I have been born in the town where I still live, but in the eight flats of this building, there is just one other German-born person apart from me. Everyone else is from Turkey, Italy or Syria. I've grown up with a steady influx of folks from other countries and can only wonder at how my downstairs neighbour believes he is the "better" foreigner because he is from Italy, and looks down his nose at anyone who comes from Turkey or other countries.
I think for me Carruthers says it all about incomers, we are all incomers in the end. How many fields were called 'starvation field' the irony hits us still. The old names are still recorded on old maps, they are not lost just subsumed into bigger lots of fields sadly. But then where would the annual harvest come from to feed us all?
Your thoughts are overall amusing to me in that they don't fit your political persuasion of let every bugger into the country.
Thank you all so much for your information - I have learned much from it. Also all your varied opinions- another blog where I would love to have had you all sitting around with a drink in my sitting room - we could have exchanged information and all learned so much.
Happy New Year to you all. x
Happy New Year to you dear Pat and your readers. May 2023 be happy and healthy for all.
Yes, it is sad. Round here we have fields named (probably) after events or topography. 'Hanging Hill' for one, but it may not to be to do with executions. It is close by to a place called 'Freezing Lane'. A large tract of land is called 'Dead Maids'. It took a while for me to find out that it used to belong to two unmarried sisters who died intestate.
Happy New Year, Pat! May it be filled with peace, joy, and good health!
Many thanks
Some of our fields are named for previous owners and some for a physical characteristic such as First Culvert. One is called Spooky woods for a term the boys called it when going there for a fire and cookout with their dad. He also refers to the roads by their old names which confuses others when he is talking to them.
Loved this post and your chain of thoughts, Pat!
An intersection near us is called 5 Points and five roads used to intersect there. Now there is an interstate highway with on/off ramps so its name makes no sense ... unless you remember how it was and I do.
May the coming year bring you good health and joy. Happy New Year!
Hugs!
HAPPY NEW YEAR. I like your blog so much. I do not read blogs that are antagonistic...don't need that at my age. For those writers, they have their own following. Thank you for your insights...your dedication...your caring of others. I love learning about your history.
From FLORIDA
Happy New Year Pat. Jackie from Georgia USA
About 15 years ago the 9-1-1 project renamed many roads as they tried to standardize and make every home findable by emergency vehicles. 911 is the number we call in emergencies so I understood the need, but most of the new names have no meaning to anyone local. I shudder to think of the struggles future historians have trying to match a place to a name in old documents.
MANY MANY GOOD WISHES FOR THE HEW YEAR TO EVERYONE.
In the village where I was born and spent most of my childhood there was a field called Dick Riddings. I never came across anyone who knew who Dick Riddings was but it was a great field for sledging!
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