A dreich day, so decided to do a little exploring.
I’ve been into this lovely secluded little valley only once before, its name implying a broken rocky cliff but there seems an absence of bare rock.
It appears a natural place to graze cattle, hidden away from passing travellers and prying eyes, hemmed in by steep sides with a narrow entrance.
That has inspired me to provide a couple of onomastic clues, purely speculation on my part.
In his play “Timon of Athens” Shakespeare wrote:
“It is the pasture lards the rother’s sides,
The want that makes him lean.”
Rother is an old name for a horned beast such as oxen or cows. Could the first element of this valley’s name be a corruption of rother?
As for the second element, the Old Norse word skartð means a notch, which would certainly match the topography, or a harelip. The name of a seaside town that does derive indeed from this word will be familiar. Its founder is identified in old chronicles as Thorgils Skarthi, literally Thorgils Harelip.
I’m in the North York Moors of course but where was I?
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