Barnsdale (Exton): Difference between revisions

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{{#vardefine:Lat|52.670241}}{{#vardefine:Lon|-0.667667}}{{#vardefine:County|Rutland}}{{#vardefine:Riding|NONE}}{{#vardefine:PnClusterRef|Barnsdale (Rutland)}}__NOTOC__
__NOTOC__{{PnItemTop|Lat=52.670241|Lon=-0.667667|AdmDiv=Rutland|Vicinity=''c.'' 3.3 km SW of Exton|Type=Area|Interest=Miscellaneous|Status=Extant|Demonym=|Riding=|GreaterLondon=|Year=1579|Aka=|Century=|Cluster1=Barnsdale (Rutland)|Cluster2=|Cluster3=|Image=Barnsdale Hall Hotel Country Club 2xxxa-r.jpg|Postcards=Yes|ExtraCat1=Places named Barnsdale|ExtraCat2=|ExtraCat3=|ExtraCat4=|ExtraCat5=|ExtraLink1=From Beornsdale to Barnsdale|ExtraLink2=Gest of Robyn Hode|ExtraLink3=Sayles (Barnsdale)|ExtraLink4=|ExtraLink5=|ExtraLinkName1=|ExtraLinkName2=|ExtraLinkName3=|ExtraLinkName4=|ExtraLinkName5=|GeopointPrefix=|GeopointSuffix=|StatusSuffix=|DatePrefix=|DateSuffix=}}
{{Infobox
{{#display_map:{{#var:Coords}}~{{#replace:{{PAGENAME}}|&#39;|'}}|width=34%|service=leaflet|enablefullscreen=yes}}<div class="pnMapLegend">Barnsdale, formerly Bernard's Hill, near Exton, Rutland.</div>
|header1=Locality
[[File:Barnsdale Hall Hotel Country Club 2xxxa-r.jpg|thumb|right|500px|''Barnsdale Hall Hotel Country Club'' / Barnsdale Hall Hotel Country Club. ''Barnsdale, Nr Oakham, Rutland'', [2???]). Photo&shy;graphic post&shy;card / Private collection.]]
|label2=Coordinates
[[File:steve-fareham-barnsdale-rutland-bluebells-geograph.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Though its connection with Robin Hood is tenuous, Barnsdale in Rut&shy;land is an attractive area, especially when the bluebells are in bloom / [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1276510 Steve Fareham, 25 Apr. 2009, Creative Commons, via Geograph.]]]
|data2=[[Geopoint::{{#var:Lat}},{{#var:Lon}}]]
<p id="byline">By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-05-23. Revised by {{#realname:{{REVISIONUSER}}}}, {{REVISIONYEAR}}-{{REVISIONMONTH}}-{{REVISIONDAY2}}.</p>
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|data3=[[pnadmdiv::{{#var:County}}]]
|label4=Vicinity
|data4=[[pnvicinity::''c.'' 3.3 km SW of Exton]]
|label5=Type
|data5=[[pntype::Area]]
|label6=Interest
|data6=[[pninterest::Miscellaneous]]
|label7=Status
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|data8=[[pnfirstrecord::]]&ndash;
|label9=A.k.a.
|data9=[[pnaka::Bernard's Hill]]
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{{#display_map:{{#var:Lat}},{{#var:Lon}}|width=34%}}<div class="pnMapLegend">Barnsdale, formerly Bernard's Hill, near Exton, Rutland.</div>
[[File:Barnsdale Hall Hotel Country Club 2xxxa-r.jpg|thumb|right|500px|''Barnsdale Hall Hotel Country Club'' (Barnsdale Hall Hotel Country Club: Barnsdale, Nr Oakham, Rutland, [2???]). Photographic postcard / Private collection.]]
[[File:steve-fareham-barnsdale-rutland-bluebells-geograph.jpg|thumb|right|380px|Though its connection with Robin Hood is tenuous, Barnsdale in Rut&shy;land is an attractive area, especially when the bluebells are in bloom / Photo &copy; [http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/15341 Steve Fareham;] under [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ cc-by-sa/2.0] licence; via [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1276510 Geograph.]]]
<p id="byline">By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-05-23. Revised by {{#realname:{{REVISIONUSER}}}}, {{REVISIONYEAR}}-{{REVISIONMONTH}}-{{REVISIONDAY2}}.</p><div class="no-img">
Barnsdale near Exton in Rutland, a locality now largely covered by a large water reservoir known as Rutland Water, does not have any connection with Robin Hood except the quite indirect one that it may conceivably have been named, or rather renamed, after the [[Barnsdale (Doncaster)|area of the same name near Doncaster]], which is one of Robin Hood's chief haunts in the earliest tales.
Barnsdale near Exton in Rutland, a locality now largely covered by a large water reservoir known as Rutland Water, does not have any connection with Robin Hood except the quite indirect one that it may conceivably have been named, or rather renamed, after the [[Barnsdale (Doncaster)|area of the same name near Doncaster]], which is one of Robin Hood's chief haunts in the earliest tales.


However, in 1994 the ever prolific Stephen Knight advanced the novel idea that the Rutland Barnsdale was, if not the original, then at least an earlier scene of the outlaw's adventures or possibly one coeval with Barnsdale in South Yorkshire. It is not quite certain which of these hypotheses he favoured, but he believed his discovery was so significant that he must berate 'empiricist historians' &ndash; his favourite victims &ndash; for not already having made it.<ref>{{:Knight, Stephen Thomas 1994a}}, pp. 29-32; and see ''ibid.'' pp. 42, 112, 131.</ref> Had he done the kind of painstaking research in records that historians (empiricist or otherwise) and some philologists are wont to do, he might have found evidence that shows his wild speculation is unlikely to be correct. By an irony of fate the respected philologist Barrie Cox in fact did the research and published the results, quite without reference to Robin Hood studies, in the English Place Name Society's ''Rutland'' volume the very year Knight advanced his dubious hypothesis.  Yet as late as 2015, Knight was still touting the Rutland Barnsdale as Robin Hood's most authentic home.<ref>{{:Cox, Barrie 1994a}}, p. 20, and on Barnsdale also see pp. xv, xxix-xxx, xliv-xlv, lvi, 23. {{:Knight, Stephen Thomas 2015a}}, pp. 45-46.</ref>
However, in 1994 the ever prolific Stephen Knight advanced the novel idea that the Rutland Barnsdale was, if not the original, then at least an earlier scene of the outlaw's adventures or possibly one coeval with Barnsdale in South Yorkshire. It is not quite certain which of these hypotheses he favoured, but he believed his discovery was so significant that he must berate 'empiricist historians' &ndash; his favourite victims &ndash; for not already having made it.<ref>{{:Knight, Stephen Thomas 1994a}}, pp. 29-32; and see ''ibid.'' pp. 42, 112, 131.</ref> Had he done the kind of painstaking research in records that historians (empiricist or otherwise) and some philologists are wont to do, he might have found evidence that shows his wild speculation is unlikely to be correct. By an irony of fate the respected philologist Barrie Cox in fact did the research and published the results, quite without reference to Robin Hood studies, in the English Place Name Society's Rutland volume the very year Knight advanced his dubious hypothesis.  Yet as late as 2015, Knight was still touting the Rutland Barnsdale as Robin Hood's most authentic home.<ref>{{:Cox, Barrie 1994a}}, p. 20, and on Barnsdale also see pp. xv, xxix-xxx, xliv-xlv, lvi, 23. {{:Knight, Stephen Thomas 2015a}}, pp. 45-46.</ref>


As Sue Howlett notes in a recommended publication on the Rutland Water area
As Sue Howlett notes in a recommended publication on the Rutland Water area
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Barnsdale Gardens, or to the events, meals or accommodation offered by Barnsdale Lodge Hotel and Barnsdale Hall Hotel. They may follow signs to the impressively landscaped Barnsdale car park on the shores of Rutland Water. From here, on a May evening, they may wander delightedly along the bluebell-lined path through Barnsdale Wood.</p>
Barnsdale Gardens, or to the events, meals or accommodation offered by Barnsdale Lodge Hotel and Barnsdale Hall Hotel. They may follow signs to the impressively landscaped Barnsdale car park on the shores of Rutland Water. From here, on a May evening, they may wander delightedly along the bluebell-lined path through Barnsdale Wood.</p>
<p>And yet, Rutland has no village or parish of Barnsdale. [...]<ref name="howlett45">{{:Howlett, Sue 2008a}}, p. 45.</ref></p></blockquote>
<p>And yet, Rutland has no village or parish of Barnsdale. [...]<ref name="howlett45">{{:Howlett, Sue 2008a}}, p. 45.</ref></p></blockquote>
<p style="margin-bottom:17px;">It never had. Stephen Knight's claim, with regard to Barnsdale in Rutland, that "the name has medieval status"<ref>{{:Knight, Stephen Thomas 1994a}}, p. 29.</ref> is simply not true. In fact, throughout the Middle Ages as far as we know, no locality of any description in Rutland was known as Barnsdale. However, there was a park, i.e. an enclosed hunting ground, named Bernard's Hill. Barrie Cox notes with regard to its etymology that it was "a deer park held by ''Bernard de Brus'' in 1280 [...] His predecessors may well have borne the same name". It is known under the name Bernard's Hill as early as 1201, a form that still held sway in the early 16th century, but from 1579 on another form, or rather another name appears in the records and maps: Barnsdale.<ref>{{:Cox, Barrie 1994a}}, p. 20; and see p. 18 for the field-name 'Bruselonde' (recorded 1387)  believed to have been named after the de Bruse family. Cox's italics in cited passage.</ref> It is quite instructive to see the evidence in tabular form:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:17px;">It never had. Stephen Knight's claim, with regard to Barnsdale in Rutland, that "the name has medieval status"<ref>{{:Knight, Stephen Thomas 1994a}}, p. 29.</ref> is simply not true. As far as we know, no locality of any description in Rutland was ever known as Barnsdale during the Middle Ages. However, there was a park, i.e. an enclosed hunting ground, named Bernard's Hill. Barrie Cox notes with regard to its etymology that it was "a deer park held by ''Bernard de Brus'' in 1280 [...] His predecessors may well have borne the same name". It is known under the name Bernard's Hill as early as 1201, a form that still held sway in the early 16th century, but from 1579 on another form, or rather another name, appears in the records and maps: Barnsdale.<ref>{{:Cox, Barrie 1994a}}, p. 20; and see p. 18 for the field-name 'Bruselonde' (recorded 1387)  believed to have been named after the de Bruse family. Cox's italics in cited passage.</ref> It is quite instructive to see the evidence in tabular form:</p>
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We must conclude from this sequence that the development Bernard's Hill &rarr; Barnsdale took place during the 16th century, it being first documented as late as 1579 while the original form is well attested in the records throughout the preceding centuries. On the other hand, Barnsdale as literary locale of the Robin Hood tradition has been Bern(e)sdale/Barn(e)sdale since  1420, its first occurrence in the surviving sources,<ref>See [[1420 - Wyntoun, Andrew of - Original Chronicle (1)]].</ref> at which time it must already have been well established. Never once does it appear in a form that is suggestive of 'Bernard's Hill'. [[Barnsdale (Doncaster)|Barnsdale near Doncaster]] appears in records from 1362 on in forms that match those of the literary locale.  
We must conclude from this sequence that the development Bernard's Hill &rarr; Barnsdale took place during the 16th century, it being first documented as late as 1579 while the original form is well attested in the records throughout the preceding centuries. On the other hand, Barnsdale as literary locale of the Robin Hood tradition has been Bern(e)sdale/Barn(e)sdale since  1420, its first occurrence in the surviving sources,<ref>See [[1420 - Wyntoun, Andrew of - Original Chronicle (1)]].</ref> at which time it must already have been well established. Never once does it appear in a form that is suggestive of 'Bernard's Hill'. [[Barnsdale (Doncaster)|Barnsdale near Doncaster]] appears in records from 1362 on in forms that match those of the name of the literary locale.  


Perhaps some readers who do not know the late medieval Robin Hood tradition well or have little experience with Middle English might wonder whether the (first) "e" in Berns(e)dale might not after all suggest a connection with "Bernard", but this is not the case. The etymology of "Barnsdale" is "Beorn's valley" (dale), Beorn being an Old English personal name, which occurs also in other place-names, for instance Barnsley (c. 18 km WSW of Barnsdale).<ref>{{:Smith, Albert Hugh 1961a}}, pt. II, p. 37.</ref> Here is in outline the process by which "Beorn" became "Barn":
Readers who do not know the late medieval Robin Hood tradition well or have little experience with Middle English might wonder whether the (first) "e" in Berns(e)dale might not after all suggest a connection with "Bernard", but this is not the case. See the page [[From Beornsdale to Barnsdale]].
# Through an isolative sound change &ndash; a change that a sound undergoes irrespective of the phonetic environment in which it occurs &ndash; the Old English diphthong <span class="nobreak">/eo/</span><ref>See [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English_phonology Wikipedia: Old English Phonology.] For simplicity's sake I ignore the distinction between short and long Old English diphthongs which is not relevant here. Since it does no harm here, I also do not uphold a terminological distinction between 'phoneme' and 'sound'. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoneme Phonemes] are put between slashes, for instance <span class="nobreak">/e/.</span></ref> developed into the Early Middle English semi-closed, front-rounded monophthong <span class="nobreak">/ø/.</span><ref name="svc">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English_phonology#Middle_English_stressed_vowel_changes Wikipedia: Middle English phonology: Middle English stressed vowel changes.] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English Wikipedia: Phonological history of English.]</ref>
# Except in the southwest of England, where it persisted for a couple of centuries and was represented in the written language by the letter "o", <span class="nobreak">/ø/</span> soon underwent another isolative sound change and was unrounded to <span class="nobreak">/e/.<ref name="svc"/></span> This is the sound unit represented by the first "e" in Bernesdale.
# During the Late Middle English period, more particularly the 15th century, a combinative &ndash; phonetically context dependent &ndash; sound change took place: the sequence /er/ developed into /ar/.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English Wikipedia: Phonological history of English.]</ref> This is reflected in the change of spelling from Bern(e)sdale to Barn(e)sdale.<ref>For the loss of <span class="nobreak">/r/</span> after vowels in most dialects of English spoken in England, which happened much later and of course also affected the pronunciation of the place-name 'Barnsdale', see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoticity_in_English Wikipedia: Rhoticity in English.]</ref>


 
It is not difficult to imagine pronunciations of 'Bernard's Hill" that would sound rather similar to "Barnsdale", and assuming such a development in local pronunciation of the place-name is perhaps the most natural way to account for the change. When the resulting sound sequence had to be represented in writing it was then 'interpreted' as 'Barnsdale'. Although I have no direct supporting evidence of this, it would seem likely that such a reinterpretation might have been influenced by writers'/speakers' knowledge of Barnsdale in South Yorkshire through its then longstanding association with Robin Hood. Note that especially in the 1579 compound "Barnesdalep[ar]k" the middle part would tend to lose distinct vowel quality as it would be unstressed.
It is not difficult to imagine pronunciations of 'Bernard's Hill" that would sound rather similar to that of "Barnsdale", and assuming such a development in local pronunciation of the place-name is perhaps the most natural way to account for the change. When the resulting sound sequence had to be represented in writing it was then 'interpreted' as 'Barnsdale'. Although I have no direct supporting evidence of this, it would seem likely that such a reinterpretation might have been influenced by writers'/speakers' knowledge of Barnsdale in South Yorkshire through its then longstanding association with Robin Hood.  


What is clear from the evidence is that this development happened long after the South Yorkshire locality had become established as one of Robin Hood's two major stamping grounds, which must have happened by the late 14th century, for the prior of Lochleven, writing in the first quarter of the 15th century, knew the latter as one of the outlaw's haunts.<ref>See [[1420 - Wyntoun, Andrew of - Original Chronicle (1)]].</ref> Until Knight can present a slew of early 'Barnsdale'-type forms of the name of the Rutland locality, there is no reason to take his attempt to teleport Robin Hood to Rutland seriously.  
What is clear from the evidence is that this development happened long after the South Yorkshire locality had become established as one of Robin Hood's two major stamping grounds, which must have happened by the late 14th century, for the prior of Lochleven, writing in the first quarter of the 15th century, knew the latter as one of the outlaw's haunts.<ref>See [[1420 - Wyntoun, Andrew of - Original Chronicle (1)]].</ref> Until Knight can present a slew of early 'Barnsdale'-type forms of the name of the Rutland locality, there is no reason to take his attempt to teleport Robin Hood to Rutland seriously.  
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This conclusion is not affected by the presence in the area, as early as 1284, of a field (or other minor locality) referred to in the records as 'de la Sale", whose etymology could be either that of 'a hall' or 'sallow' (willow)<ref>{{:Cox, Barrie 1994a}}, p. 24.</ref> and which might of course conceivably have been the original of the [[Sayles (Barnsdale)|Sayles]] figuring in the [[Gest of Robyn Hode|''Gest'']], for [[Barnsdale (Doncaster)|Barnsdale in South Yorkshire]] also had such a locality. In fact there may have been two there.
This conclusion is not affected by the presence in the area, as early as 1284, of a field (or other minor locality) referred to in the records as 'de la Sale", whose etymology could be either that of 'a hall' or 'sallow' (willow)<ref>{{:Cox, Barrie 1994a}}, p. 24.</ref> and which might of course conceivably have been the original of the [[Sayles (Barnsdale)|Sayles]] figuring in the [[Gest of Robyn Hode|''Gest'']], for [[Barnsdale (Doncaster)|Barnsdale in South Yorkshire]] also had such a locality. In fact there may have been two there.


=== Gazetteers ===
If one wanted &ndash; though this is a dubious proposition &ndash; to suggest that Robin Hood's stamping ground of Barnsdale had originally been another locality of that name than that in South Yorkshire, the [[Barnsdale (Great Easton)|Barnsdale]] located between Great Easton and Bringhurst in the southeast of Leicestershire would be a rather better candidate than the locality near Exton. First recorded in 1505, this at least has not been shown to have been called something else in the medieval period.
 
== Gazetteers ==
* Not included in {{:Dobson, Richard Barrie 1976a}}, pp. 293-311.
* Not included in {{:Dobson, Richard Barrie 1976a}}, pp. 293-311.


=== Sources ===
== Sources ==
* {{:Cox, Barrie 1994a}}, pp. xv, xxix-xxx, xliv-xlv, lvi, 20, 23.
* {{:Cox, Barrie 1994a}}, pp. xv, xxix-xxx, xliv-xlv, lvi, 20, 23.
* {{:Howlett, Sue 2008a}}, see p. 45 ([[Howlett, Sue 2007a|first published 2007]])
* {{:Howlett, Sue 2008a}}, see p. 45 ([[Howlett, Sue 2007a|first published 2007]])
** [http://www.rutlandhistory.org/hrw-online.htm Web version] (PDFs).
** [http://www.rutlandhistory.org/hrw-online.htm Web version] (PDFs).


=== Maps ===
== Maps ==
* [https://maps.nls.uk/view/115400198#zoom=3&lat=9448&lon=12910&layers=BT 25" O.S. map ''Rutland'' IX.3 (Published 1885; surveyed 1884)]
* [https://maps.nls.uk/view/115400201#zoom=3&lat=9710&lon=13716&layers=BT 25" O.S. map ''Rutland'' IX.3 (Revised 1904; surveyed 1903)]
* [https://maps.nls.uk/view/115400216#zoom=4&lat=10165&lon=14892&layers=BT 25" O.S. map ''Rutland'' IX.3 (Revised 1930; surveyed 1928)]
* 25" O.S. map ''Rutland'' IX.4 (''c.'' 1885; surveyed ''c.'' 1884). No Copy in NLS
* [https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=52.6690&lon=-0.6544&layers=168&b=5 25" O.S. map ''Rutland'' IX.4 (Published 1904; rev. 1903)] (georeferenced)
* [https://maps.nls.uk/view/115400231#zoom=2&lat=5769&lon=7483&layers=BT 25" O.S. map ''Rutland'' IX.4 (Revised 1904; surveyed 1903)]
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/101599727#zoom=4&lat=5023&lon=5248&layers=BT 6" O.S. map ''Rutland'' IX.NE (1885; surveyed 1884)]
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/101599727#zoom=4&lat=5023&lon=5248&layers=BT 6" O.S. map ''Rutland'' IX.NE (1885; surveyed 1884)]
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/101599724#zoom=4&lat=5214&lon=5444&layers=BT 6" O.S. map ''Rutland'' IX.NE (1905; rev. 1903)]
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/101599724#zoom=4&lat=5214&lon=5444&layers=BT 6" O.S. map ''Rutland'' IX.NE (1905; rev. 1903)]
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* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/101599718#zoom=4&lat=5264&lon=5437&layers=BT 6" O.S. map ''Rutland'' IX.NE (1952; rev. 1949).]
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/101599718#zoom=4&lat=5264&lon=5437&layers=BT 6" O.S. map ''Rutland'' IX.NE (1952; rev. 1949).]


=== Studies and criticism ===
== Discussion ==
* {{:Knight, Stephen Thomas 1994a}}, pp. 29-32, 42, 112, 131
* {{:Knight, Stephen Thomas 1994a}}, pp. 29-32, 42, 112, 131
* {{:Knight, Stephen Thomas 2015a}}, pp. 45-46
* {{:Knight, Stephen Thomas 2015a}}, pp. 45-46
* [http://www.rutland-times.co.uk/news/was-national-legend-robin-hood-the-outlaw-of-the-forest-of-rutland-1-6525523 Waites, Bryan. 'Was national legend Robin Hood the outlaw of the Forest of Rutland?, ''Rutland Times'', published 21 January 2015.]
* [http://www.rutland-times.co.uk/news/was-national-legend-robin-hood-the-outlaw-of-the-forest-of-rutland-1-6525523 Waites, Bryan. 'Was national legend Robin Hood the outlaw of the Forest of Rutland?, ''Rutland Times'', published 21 January 2015.]


=== Background ===
== Background ==
* {{:Smith, Albert Hugh 1961a}}, pt. II, p. 37.
* {{:Smith, Albert Hugh 1961a}}, pt. II, p. 37.
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English_phonology#Middle_English_stressed_vowel_changes Wikipedia: Middle English phonology: Middle English stressed vowel changes]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English_phonology#Middle_English_stressed_vowel_changes Wikipedia: Middle English phonology: Middle English stressed vowel changes]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English_phonology Wikipedia: Old English Phonology]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English_phonology Wikipedia: Old English Phonology]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoneme Wikipedia: Phoneme]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoneme Wikipedia: Phoneme]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English Wikipedia: Phonological history of English]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English Wikipedia: Phonological history of English]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English Wikipedia: Phonological history of English]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutland_Water Wikipedia: Rutland Water]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutland_Water Wikipedia: Rutland Water]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoticity_in_English Wikipedia: Rhoticity in English.]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoticity_in_English Wikipedia: Rhoticity in English.]
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=== Also see ===
== Notes ==
* [[{{#var:PnClusterRef}} place-name cluster]]
* [[Barnsdale (Doncaster)]]
* [[Gest of Robyn Hode]]
* [[Sayles (Barnsdale)]].
 
=== Notes ===
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File:Barnsdale Hall Hotel Country Club 2xxxa-r.jpg|''Barnsdale Hall Hotel Country Club'' / Barnsdale Hall Hotel Country Club. ''Barnsdale, Nr Oakham, Rutland'', [2???]). Photo&shy;graphic post&shy;card / Private collection.
File:steve-fareham-barnsdale-rutland-bluebells-geograph.jpg|Though its connection with Robin Hood is tenuous, Barnsdale in Rut&shy;land is an attractive area, especially when the bluebells are in bloom / [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1276510 Steve Fareham, 25 Apr. 2009, Creative Commons, via Geograph.]
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Barnsdale, formerly Bernard's Hill, near Exton, Rutland.
Barnsdale Hall Hotel Country Club / Barnsdale Hall Hotel Country Club. Barnsdale, Nr Oakham, Rutland, [2???]). Photo­graphic post­card / Private collection.
Though its connection with Robin Hood is tenuous, Barnsdale in Rut­land is an attractive area, especially when the bluebells are in bloom / Steve Fareham, 25 Apr. 2009, Creative Commons, via Geograph.

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-05-23. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2020-01-25.

Barnsdale near Exton in Rutland, a locality now largely covered by a large water reservoir known as Rutland Water, does not have any connection with Robin Hood except the quite indirect one that it may conceivably have been named, or rather renamed, after the area of the same name near Doncaster, which is one of Robin Hood's chief haunts in the earliest tales.

However, in 1994 the ever prolific Stephen Knight advanced the novel idea that the Rutland Barnsdale was, if not the original, then at least an earlier scene of the outlaw's adventures or possibly one coeval with Barnsdale in South Yorkshire. It is not quite certain which of these hypotheses he favoured, but he believed his discovery was so significant that he must berate 'empiricist historians' – his favourite victims – for not already having made it.[1] Had he done the kind of painstaking research in records that historians (empiricist or otherwise) and some philologists are wont to do, he might have found evidence that shows his wild speculation is unlikely to be correct. By an irony of fate the respected philologist Barrie Cox in fact did the research and published the results, quite without reference to Robin Hood studies, in the English Place Name Society's Rutland volume the very year Knight advanced his dubious hypothesis. Yet as late as 2015, Knight was still touting the Rutland Barnsdale as Robin Hood's most authentic home.[2]

As Sue Howlett notes in a recommended publication on the Rutland Water area

For modern visitors to Rutland, the name of Barnsdale provides a regular source of confusion. Tourist information draws their attention to the horti­cultural pleasures of Barnsdale Gardens, or to the events, meals or accommodation offered by Barnsdale Lodge Hotel and Barnsdale Hall Hotel. They may follow signs to the impressively landscaped Barnsdale car park on the shores of Rutland Water. From here, on a May evening, they may wander delightedly along the bluebell-lined path through Barnsdale Wood.

And yet, Rutland has no village or parish of Barnsdale. [...][3]

It never had. Stephen Knight's claim, with regard to Barnsdale in Rutland, that "the name has medieval status"[4] is simply not true. As far as we know, no locality of any description in Rutland was ever known as Barnsdale during the Middle Ages. However, there was a park, i.e. an enclosed hunting ground, named Bernard's Hill. Barrie Cox notes with regard to its etymology that it was "a deer park held by Bernard de Brus in 1280 [...] His predecessors may well have borne the same name". It is known under the name Bernard's Hill as early as 1201, a form that still held sway in the early 16th century, but from 1579 on another form, or rather another name, appears in the records and maps: Barnsdale.[5] It is quite instructive to see the evidence in tabular form:

Year Bernard's Hill Barnsdale
1201 Bernardishill'[6]
1202 Bernardeshull(e)[6]
1202 Barnardeshull'[6]
1207 Bernardshill'[3]
1208 Bernardeshull(e)[6]
1256 Bernardeshull(e)[6]
1263 Bernardeshull(e)[6]
1280 Bernardeshull(e)[6]
1283 Bernardyshill'[3]
1286 Bernardishill'[6]
1294 Bernardeshull(e)[6]
1298 Bernerdishil'[6]
1329 Bernardeshul[3]
1421 Bernardeshilpark[3]
1518-20 Bernardeshell[6]
1579 Barnesdalep[ar]k[3]
1602 Barnsdale Park[6]
1607 Barnsdale Park[6]
1610 Barinsdale[6]
1634 Barndalle[6]
1695 Barnsdale[6]
1710 Barnsdale Park[6]
c. 1800 Barndale Wood[6]
1806 Barnshill Lodge[6]
1806 Barndale Wood[6]
1806 Barnsdale Hill[6]
1846 Barnsdale Lodge[6]
1943 Godfeed's Barnsdale[7]


We must conclude from this sequence that the development Bernard's Hill → Barnsdale took place during the 16th century, it being first documented as late as 1579 while the original form is well attested in the records throughout the preceding centuries. On the other hand, Barnsdale as literary locale of the Robin Hood tradition has been Bern(e)sdale/Barn(e)sdale since 1420, its first occurrence in the surviving sources,[8] at which time it must already have been well established. Never once does it appear in a form that is suggestive of 'Bernard's Hill'. Barnsdale near Doncaster appears in records from 1362 on in forms that match those of the name of the literary locale.

Readers who do not know the late medieval Robin Hood tradition well or have little experience with Middle English might wonder whether the (first) "e" in Berns(e)dale might not after all suggest a connection with "Bernard", but this is not the case. See the page From Beornsdale to Barnsdale.

It is not difficult to imagine pronunciations of 'Bernard's Hill" that would sound rather similar to "Barnsdale", and assuming such a development in local pronunciation of the place-name is perhaps the most natural way to account for the change. When the resulting sound sequence had to be represented in writing it was then 'interpreted' as 'Barnsdale'. Although I have no direct supporting evidence of this, it would seem likely that such a reinterpretation might have been influenced by writers'/speakers' knowledge of Barnsdale in South Yorkshire through its then longstanding association with Robin Hood. Note that especially in the 1579 compound "Barnesdalep[ar]k" the middle part would tend to lose distinct vowel quality as it would be unstressed.

What is clear from the evidence is that this development happened long after the South Yorkshire locality had become established as one of Robin Hood's two major stamping grounds, which must have happened by the late 14th century, for the prior of Lochleven, writing in the first quarter of the 15th century, knew the latter as one of the outlaw's haunts.[9] Until Knight can present a slew of early 'Barnsdale'-type forms of the name of the Rutland locality, there is no reason to take his attempt to teleport Robin Hood to Rutland seriously.

This conclusion is not affected by the presence in the area, as early as 1284, of a field (or other minor locality) referred to in the records as 'de la Sale", whose etymology could be either that of 'a hall' or 'sallow' (willow)[10] and which might of course conceivably have been the original of the Sayles figuring in the Gest, for Barnsdale in South Yorkshire also had such a locality. In fact there may have been two there.

If one wanted – though this is a dubious proposition – to suggest that Robin Hood's stamping ground of Barnsdale had originally been another locality of that name than that in South Yorkshire, the Barnsdale located between Great Easton and Bringhurst in the southeast of Leicestershire would be a rather better candidate than the locality near Exton. First recorded in 1505, this at least has not been shown to have been called something else in the medieval period.

Gazetteers

Sources

Maps

Discussion

Background

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Notes

  1. Knight, Stephen. Robin Hood: A Complete Study of the English Outlaw (Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1994), pp. 29-32; and see ibid. pp. 42, 112, 131.
  2. Cox, Barrie. The Place-Names of Rutland (English Place-Name Society, vols. LXVII/LXVIII/LXIX) ([s.l.], 1994), p. 20, and on Barnsdale also see pp. xv, xxix-xxx, xliv-xlv, lvi, 23. Knight, Stephen; Bernbau, Anke, ser. ed.; Ashton, Gail, ser. ed. Reading Robin Hood: Content, Form and Reception in the Outlaw Myth (Manchester Medieval Literature and Culture) (Manchester, 2015), pp. 45-46.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Howlett, Sue. 'Barnsdale', in: Ovens, Robert, compil. & ed.; Sleath, Sheila, compil. & ed.; Clough, T.H. McK, ed. The Heritage of Rutland Water. Reprinted with minor corrections (Rutland Local History & Record Society, Rutland Record Series, No. 5) (Oakham, Rutland, 2008), pp. 45-54, p. 45.
  4. Knight, Stephen. Robin Hood: A Complete Study of the English Outlaw (Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1994), p. 29.
  5. Cox, Barrie. The Place-Names of Rutland (English Place-Name Society, vols. LXVII/LXVIII/LXIX) ([s.l.], 1994), p. 20; and see p. 18 for the field-name 'Bruselonde' (recorded 1387) believed to have been named after the de Bruse family. Cox's italics in cited passage.
  6. 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 Cox, Barrie. The Place-Names of Rutland (English Place-Name Society, vols. LXVII/LXVIII/LXIX) ([s.l.], 1994), p. 20.
  7. Cox, Barrie. The Place-Names of Rutland (English Place-Name Society, vols. LXVII/LXVIII/LXIX) ([s.l.], 1994), p. 23.
  8. See 1420 - Wyntoun, Andrew of - Original Chronicle (1).
  9. See 1420 - Wyntoun, Andrew of - Original Chronicle (1).
  10. Cox, Barrie. The Place-Names of Rutland (English Place-Name Society, vols. LXVII/LXVIII/LXIX) ([s.l.], 1994), p. 24.


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