GB: > <<I came across the word "ing" the other day, claimed to be the word for a meadow in East Anglia as late as the 17th Century. > > It was extremely common in the north of England, Gordon - if you look at any 1:50,000 map covering coastal, estuarine or riverine flood-plain areas in the north you'll probably find several flat low-lying areas with names incorporating Ing or Ings. > I'm interested to hear that it was also used in East Anglia, but not surprised, as the word is of Danish/Norse origin, from the Old Norse word 'eng', meaning meadow, especially low-lying frequently flooded meadow. > Matt Tompkins Sorry, Matt: my mistake. I misremembered the reference, which was to York and not East Anglia. I am intrigued by the possibility that the Norsemen might conceivably have called that country "Eng-land", as they later called North America "Vin-land" and Greenland "Green-land". Who knows? We all know - or have been assured, at least - that our England was named for the tribe called Angles and was originally Angle-land in southern Denmark, as was (reportedly) the Angles' homeland which must have been a bit confusing. Why wasn't East Anglia called West Anglia? Ah well... Thanks for the explanation, Matt. Do you happen to know if "eng/ing" is still used in Scandinavia? Gordon Barlow