Steve is well known author, broadcaster and lecturer on many aspects of early English culture and language. He regularly gives lectures for eductional institutions such as Dr Sam Newton's Wuffing Education (www.wuffing.co.uk), museums, historical societies and the Sutton Hoo Society.
Date: Monday, 27 January, 2003, 12:04 AM
Andy: ...here in Workington in West Cumbria, the council are building a new multi-million pound shopping complex in the centre of the old town. I support this ambitious project, but they wish to call the new complex WASHINGTON SQUARE, as it sounds more up-market than using the name WORKINGTON. There are NO historic links with Washington in the North East or an American President, but Washington St runs at the side of the site.
Andy : I have suggested that we name the square after WEORC (or WYRK) the man who gave his name to the WORK in Workington. BUT our town is a bit insular and some think people will have difficulty pronouncing the word. So, they are actually running away from identifying the town with Old English or Anglo-Saxon roots and looking for an up-market name.
Steve: Thanks for your mail.
I must say I find it very difficult to understand people who find something unattractive or shameful about either 'work' or the Anglo-Saxons. I suppose this is symptomatic of something in today's England, but I don't know what.
Andy: ...here in Workington in West Cumbria, the council are building a new multi-million pound shopping complex in the centre of the old town. I support this ambitious project, but they wish to call the new complex WASHINGTON SQUARE, as it sounds more up-market than using the name WORKINGTON. There are NO historic links with Washington in the North East or an American President, but Washington St runs at the side of the site.
Andy : I have suggested that we name the square after WEORC (or WYRK) the man who gave his name to the WORK in Workington. BUT our town is a bit insular and some think people will have difficulty pronouncing the word. So, they are actually running away from identifying the town with Old English or Anglo-Saxon roots and looking for an up-market name.
Steve: Thanks for your mail.
I must say I find it very difficult to understand people who find something unattractive or shameful about either 'work' or the Anglo-Saxons. I suppose this is symptomatic of something in today's England, but I don't know what.
Andy: How should we spell and pronounce the WORK in Old English.
Steve: I'm sure they have no difficulty pronouncing the name, as it's identical to the word 'work' in everyday use today. (The 'eo' spelling is something that can confuse people, but the 'o' can be ignored. Weorc is actually the West Saxon form of the name (and therefore the Old English form that most scholars would quote, because the centre of power and literacy was in the southwest during the Danish wars).
Steve: Your original settlers were a group of people whose leader called himself Werc. It's an unusual name but not unknown, Worksop is another place based on the same name. The people called themselves Wercingas (Werc-people) and the settlement Wercinga tun (estate of the Wercingas).
Steve: There are plenty of places in England with good Old English names that are trying to re-invent themselves as little pockets of Mediterranean or transatlantic culture. It doesn't change anything, and usually it looks rather ridiculous - especially when they go in for 'plaza del sol', and the rain hammers down 50 weeks of the year!
Steve: Your town's name must go back AT LEAST a thousand years, possibly much more. There are few towns worldwide that can say that - any town council in America would kill for a name going back half that timespan. I can't see any need to change, other than the passing whim of polite fashion - and if you start chasing that, you may as well give up now.
Steve: If I can help in any way, please let me know.
Wes þu hal (be thou hale, whole, lucky) as Werc would have said.
Kind regards
Steve Pollington
More on Steve:
* http://www.amazon.co.uk/Books/s?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A1025612%2Cp_27%3AStephen%20Pollington&field-author=Stephen%20Pollington&page=1
* http://www.tha-engliscan-gesithas.org.uk/index.html
* http://www.wuffings.co.uk/Education/programmes/2009/09_16_16-TreasuryofSutton%20Hoo.html
Steve: Your original settlers were a group of people whose leader called himself Werc. It's an unusual name but not unknown, Worksop is another place based on the same name. The people called themselves Wercingas (Werc-people) and the settlement Wercinga tun (estate of the Wercingas).
Steve: There are plenty of places in England with good Old English names that are trying to re-invent themselves as little pockets of Mediterranean or transatlantic culture. It doesn't change anything, and usually it looks rather ridiculous - especially when they go in for 'plaza del sol', and the rain hammers down 50 weeks of the year!
Steve: Your town's name must go back AT LEAST a thousand years, possibly much more. There are few towns worldwide that can say that - any town council in America would kill for a name going back half that timespan. I can't see any need to change, other than the passing whim of polite fashion - and if you start chasing that, you may as well give up now.
Steve: If I can help in any way, please let me know.
Wes þu hal (be thou hale, whole, lucky) as Werc would have said.
Kind regards
Steve Pollington
More on Steve:
* http://www.amazon.co.uk/Books/s?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A1025612%2Cp_27%3AStephen%20Pollington&field-author=Stephen%20Pollington&page=1
* http://www.tha-engliscan-gesithas.org.uk/index.html
* http://www.wuffings.co.uk/Education/programmes/2009/09_16_16-TreasuryofSutton%20Hoo.html
