Lime Kiln Way is close to the Ridings Mead estate in Harnham. I think it’s part of a later development than Ridings Mead itself.

A lime kiln is an oven for converting . . . → Read More: Lime Kiln Way, Salisbury]]> Lime Kiln Way is at the Britford end of Harnham – close to the Ridings Mead estate, but I think perhaps part of a later development.

Lime Kiln Way is close to the Ridings Mead estate in Harnham. I think it’s part of a later development than Ridings Mead itself.

A lime kiln is an oven for converting chalk or limestone into lime. Lime is used in construction (historically it’s been a key component of cement), and many other industries¹.

The 1915 Kelly’s Directory has an entry for ‘The Harnham Lime Works’ ².

Lime Kiln Way is therefore probably named in reference to the Harnham Lime Works.

Footnotes

1. British Lime Association – The Trade Association for the UK Lime Industry
2. Kelly’s Directory, 1915, page 203 – the Directory is browsable on-line at the Historical Directories website

The roads on the estate are mainly named after birds. Typically with the name of the bird being joined to a word which is typically part of a road name. So other roads on the estate are Ravenscroft and . . . → Read More: Linnetsdene, Salisbury]]> Linnetsdene is to the south of Salisbury, on what I think is called the Ridings Mead estate.

The roads on the estate are mainly named after birds. Typically with the name of the bird being joined to a word which is typically part of a road name. So other roads on the estate are Ravenscroft and Swallowmead.

Etymology of the Linnet

Both the English and the Latin names for the Linnet are derived from its favourite foods.

The word ‘linnet’ has the same root as linen ¹ because linen flax seed is often part of the birds diet.

The second part of the Latin name ‘Carduelis cannabina is derived from the linnet’s fondness for hemp seeds².

The Linnet on the Curragh of Kildare

The linnet is mentioned in one of my favourite folk songs, the Curragh of Kildare. It’s known as an Irish folk song, but may have been written by Robbie Burns³. The Curragh of Kildare is the location both of an Irish Army camp and of the Irish Derby. The song is sung before the running of the Derby.

It’s been recorded by many artists, including Finbar and Eddie Furey, the Johnstons and Christy Moore. The Pogues used a speeded up version of the melody for their single ‘White City’.

Chorus:
And it’s straight I will repair
To the Curragh of Kildare
For it’s there I’ll find tidings of my dear

Ah the winter it is past and the summer’s come at last
And the birds they are singing in the trees
Their little hearts are glad, ah but mine is very sad
Since my true love is far away from me

The rose upon the briar and the waters running deep
Bring joy to the linnet and the bee
Their little hearts are blest, ah but mine can know no rest
Since my true love is far away from me

For those who are in love and cannot be denied
I pity the pains that you do endure
For experience lets me know that your hearts are full of woe
A woe that no mortal can cure

A livery I’ll wear, ah and I’ll tie back my hair
And in velvet so green I will appear
And it’s straight I will repair to the Curragh of Kildare
For it’s there I’ll find tidings of my dear

At the time of writing the Johnstons version of the song is on Youtube here:

The Johnstons – Curragh of Kildare

Green Linnet Records

Green Linnet is a folk music label, specializing in Celtic music. It was founded 30 years ago, and has published music by dozens of musicians. ⁴.

The ‘Green Linnet’ in the Irish folk tradition was a euphimism for Napoleon Bonaparte, who was seen as an ally against the English ⁵

A flighty bird

According to the RSPB, the linnet is a member of the finch family. They used to be kept as caged birds, because they both sing and look quite pretty.

In researching the linnet, I found that the RSPB website says that the linnet ‘can be flighty‘⁶. I’m sure this has some technical meaning which I’m unaware of but to a layman like me being ‘flighty’ seems part of the avian condition.

Wordsworth’s Green Linnet

William Wordsworth published his poem ‘The Green Linnet’ in 1803.

The Green Linnet

BENEATH these fruit-tree boughs that shed
Their snow-white blossoms on my head,
With brightest sunshine round me spread
Of Spring’s unclouded weather,

In this sequester’d nook how sweet
To sit upon my orchard-seat,
And flowers and birds once more to greet,
My last year’s friends together!

One have I mark’d, the happiest guest
In all this covert of the blest:—
Hail to thee, far above the rest
In joy of voice and pinion!

Thou, Linnet! in thy green array
Presiding spirit here to-day
Dost lead the revels of the May;
And this is thy dominion.

While birds, and butterflies, and flowers,
Make all one band of paramours,
Thou, ranging up and down the bowers,
Art sole in thy employment;

A life, a presence like the air,
Scattering thy gladness without care,
Too blest with any one to pair,
Thyself thy own enjoyment.

Amid yon tuft of hazel trees
That twinkle to the gusty breeze,
Behold him perch’d in ecstasies
Yet seeming still to hover;—

There! where the flutter of his wings
Upon his back and body flings
Shadows and sunny glimmerings,
That cover him all over.

My dazzled sight he oft deceives—
A brother of the dancing leaves;
Then flits, and from the cottage-eaves
Pours forth his song in gushes;

As if by that exulting strain
He mock’d and treated with disdain
The voiceless form he chose to feign,
While fluttering in the bushes.
⁷

Footnotes

1. Online Etymology Dictionary
2. BBC – Wildlife Finder – Linnet (video, facts and news)
3. The Curragh Of Kildare
4. Green Linnet
5. Green Linnet Records – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and also The Green Linnet
6. The RSPB: Linnet
7. 242. Green Linnet. W. Wordsworth. The Golden Treasury

This is my first attempt at creating a map annotated with what I think are the derivations of the road names.

It’s for a fairly small area of East Harnham. It would be great to create one for the whole of . . . → Read More: Annotated map of East Harnham]]> I visited the Ordnance Survey for a talk on their Open Space mapping tool last week.

This is my first attempt at creating a map annotated with what I think are the derivations of the road names.

It’s for a fairly small area of East Harnham. It would be great to create one for the whole of Salisbury – but that may take some time!

If you click on the blue dots, then you should get a short explanation of the road’s name.

Instructions for adding OpenSpace maps to WordPress are here if you’re interested. The OpenSpace product is really good – you can do much more with it than I have – but it needs a couple of tweaks to get it to ‘play nicely’ with WordPress.

If you need accommodation in Salisbury, have a look at my Hotels in . . . → Read More: Middle Street, Harnham]]> Middle Street is in Harnham, to the south of Salisbury. It has Upper Street and Lower Street at either end.

If you need accommodation in Salisbury, have a look at my Hotels in Salisbury page.

Milton Road is in the south of Salisbury, close to the Bournemouth Road. I’m not sure whether the area might be considered to be in Harnham or in Britford – perhaps it’s neither.

I think that Burford Road, which is in the same area, is named after the . . . → Read More: Milton Road, Salisbury]]>

John Milton

Milton Road is in the south of Salisbury, close to the Bournemouth Road. I’m not sure whether the area might be considered to be in Harnham or in Britford – perhaps it’s neither.

Milton Road, Salisbury is named after John Milton

I think that Burford Road, which is in the same area, is named after the developer of these roads, but I would be fairly sure that Milton Road is named after the 17th Century poet, John Milton, whose most famous work is Paradise Lost.

My reason for assuming that Milton Road is named after John Milton is that it adjoins Dryden Road and Butler Road. John Dryden ¹ and Samuel Butler ² were both also 17th Century poets.

John Milton – a controversial figure for the name of a road?

My personal view is that John Milton is one of the two most controversial people to have a road named after them in the Salisbury area. George Pullman is the other, although I feel that Pullman Drive is probably a reference to his railway carriages rather than the man.

Milton’s early religious views

Milton’s first polemical works were both radical and dangerous.

He published an anonymous work in 1641, ‘Of reformation touching church discipline in England and the causes that hitherto have hindered it’. In this tract, Milton attacks episcopacy – the existence of Bishops within the church.

Milton’s attack was strident – he called for the execution of all Bishops, and predicted that they would burn in hell.

There are three things that it might be worth pointing out here:

• this is somewhat more extreme than Karl Marx. Marx did write that the ‘religion is the opium of the people’, but followed this with ???
• there are many streets in Salisbury that would have different names if Milton had had his way!
• a few years earlier, three anti-episcopalians had been sentenced to ‘torture and mutilation on the scaffold and subsequent incarceration’ ³. Milton’s views were dangerous to express.

Milton was, then, a radical in his religious writings. He was to be radical too in his writings on censorship and on divorce. To a large extent, his views on these would now be more or less mainstream.

His role in the regicide, however, remains as radical and perhaps as shocking now as it was then.

John Milton and the regicide

Milton was not, in a technical sense, ‘a regicide’.

‘Regicide’ in general means the murder, or execution of a king or queen.

A ‘regicide’, in this context, is typically defined as somebody who either:

• signed King Charles I’s death warrant, for example John Carew or Cromwell himself or
• played some part in the execution, for example Daniel Axtell, who commanded the guards at the execution

Milton did neither of these things but he was an enthusiastic and important supporter of the execution of the King.

In February 1649, a book, purportedly written by the executed King was published called ‘Eikon Balilike‘ (‘image of the king’). The book was extremely popular, despite being banned by the Commonwealth.

Milton was commissioned to write a rebuttal. He called his book ‘Eikonklastes‘ (‘image breaker’ – I don’t know if this was the first use of the word which became ‘iconoclast’). It was published in October. In this book and in the later ‘Defensio prima‘, Milton explicitly defended the execution of King Charles.

He wrote:

it is lawful for any who have the power, to call to account a Tyrant or wicked King and after due conviction, to depose, and put him to death

It’s probably fair to say that he was the chief propagandist in favour of the killing of the King.

Milton was deeply unpopular with the royalists. A typical royalist response to Milton’s propaganda at the time was that of the Earl of Bridgewater. He had a copy of the ‘First Defence, and in it he wrote:

‘this book is most deserving of burning, its author of the gallows’

After the restoration of the monarchy, in June 1660, the new government issued a warrant for Milton’s arrest. In August, an order was made that copies of his books should be handed in for burning. The public executioner then burned his books outside the Old Bailey.

Milton was imprisoned in the Tower of London, but he was eventually pardoned. It seems that he owed his pardon to the pleading of influential friends, including Andrew Marvell, and to his infirmity – he was by this time blind.

Milton does seem to have been lucky to escape the gallows. The restored monarchy executed the preacher Hugh Peter for proclaiming his support for the regicide, even though he played no active part.

John Milton and the American and French revolutionaries

Milton’s ideas were embraced by revolutionaries in both France and America. The French revolution led to its own regicide, of course. The American revolution, on the other hand, was a revolt against the British crown. This legacy isn’t one which would make the man an obvious choice to have roads in Britain named after him.

The French Revolution and Milton

In 1789, a French pamphlet was published called ‘Théorie de la royauté, d’après la doctrine de Milton. The book quoted Milton’s Defensio. It was re-published in 1792 with a preface calling for Louis XVI’s trial and execution ⁴

The American Revolution and Milton

John Adams compared the British ruling class to Milton’s Satan.

He also quoted Milton:

For myself, I must beg you to keep my name out of sight, for this feeble attempt, if it should be known to be mine, would oblige me to apply to myself those lines of the immortal John Milton, in one of his sonnets,

“I did but teach the age to quit their cloggs By the plain rules of ancient Liberty, When lo! a barbarous noise surrounded me, Of owls and cuckoos, asses, apes and dogs.”⁵

Thomas Jefferson echoed Milton in his Inaugural Address.

In ‘Aeropagitica‘ Milton writes that

Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do ingloriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple: who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter?⁶

Jefferson declared

Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.⁷

Jefferson wrote a ‘Commonplace Book’, which quoted Milton 48 times ⁸

Benjamin Franklin said that Britain’s system of taxation was reminiscent of Milton’s description of chaos ⁹

Franklin quoted Milton at length in his ‘Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion’¹⁰

Why name a road after John Milton?

So, as I’ve hopefully outlined, John Milton was:

• a man of controversial, even extreme, religious views
• a chief proponent of the killing of King Charles I
• a writer who influenced the regicides of the French Revolution and the American revolt against Britain

So why name a residential road in a Salisbury suburb after him?

The work

The first answer to this question is obvious – his poetry.

The Dictionary of National Biography says that

Paradise Lost is widely and rightly regarded as the supreme poetic achievement in the English language, fit to sit alongside the poems of Homer, Virgil, and Dante ¹¹;20 Aug 2009]

I’ve got a ‘tin ear’ for poetry, but I was impressed by some lines that I heard quoted by Anna Beer in a podcast about Milton, in particular the way the last line switches to curt monosyllables. ¹²

Milton wrote a sonnet about his dead wife. By this time he was totally blind, although he has been sighted for much of their marriage. He writes about seeing her in a dream. She:

Came vested all in white, pure as her mind.
Her face was veiled; yet to my fancied sight
Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined
So clear as in no face with more delight.
But, oh! as to embrace me she inclined,
I waked, she fled, and day brought back my night.

The last line describing Milton waking from his sighted dream into his reality of blindness.

The reconciliation after the Civil War – some anecdotal comparisons

The second answer to the question of why a road is named after a regicide is, I think, that the divisions and strife of the English Civil War seem to me to have been left behind fairly quickly.

I should say here that I am speaking of a period of history that I know little about – please take this with several pinches of salt.

American Civil War

My first moderately interesting point of comparison is with the American Civil War. I’m not an expert at all, but I *think* that there are still traces of the conflict today in America.

It’s been argued that the Ku Klux Klan had it’s roots in the defeat and perceived humiliation of the American South. Margaret Mitchell memorably makes this case in ‘Gone With the Wind’. As far as I’m aware there was no comparable anti-royalist movement after the restoration.

At a more civilized level, the Confederate flag is still flown in the Southern states. The comparison here is worthwhile – I don’t know if the parliamentarians had a flag, and if they did I would be surprised if one person in ten would recognize it.

Ireland

My second point of comparison is with Ireland, where Cromwell is still justifiably viewed with bitterness. I’ll quote one of my favourite songs by one of my favourite bands, ‘Young Ned of the Hill’ by the Pogues

A curse upon you Oliver Cromwell
You who raped our Motherland
I hope you’re rotting down in hell
For the horrors that you sent
To our misfortunate forefathers
Whom you robbed of their birthright
“To hell or Connaught” may you burn in hell tonight ¹³

England

My third point of comparison is a newspaper article I came across ‘google-ing’ Milton.

It’s about the unveiling of a statue of John Milton in the town of Milton, Delaware. The article, and a picture of the statue, are on Delaware Online”.

Speaking at the ceremony, British Consul Oliver St. Clair Franklin said he recently dined with Prince Andrew. When the young royal asked him, “What’s going on in your patch?” Franklin told him of the coming statue dedication in Delaware. “Milton, Delaware?” the prince asked. “They have a city named after John Milton in America?” Over after-dinner port, as the pair talked of Miltons — the poet and the town — Franklin said he was to relay the queen’s greetings at the statue dedication. But the prince asked, “Why don’t you bring greetings from me?” ¹⁴

This is a member of the royal family talking about a man involved with the execution of a king.

You could argue that the regicide was a long time ago, and of course, Charles I isn’t a direct ancestor of Prince Andrew. However having read through some of the literature on Milton and the execution, the account of Prince Andrew’s sending ‘greetings’ for the dedication of the statue does seem quite striking.

My point

I’m not making any sort of claim about ‘the English character’ here, and I’m certainly not saying that English people are any more civilized or conciliatory than either the Irish or the Americans. It is just that for a variety of reasons, the Civil War, monarchy and the regicide aren’t issues which much excite the English imagination.

If the monarchy and the regicide were still ‘live issues’, then I suspect the road would not be named after Milton, no matter how important a literary figure he was.

What do you think?

Footnotes

1. John Dryden – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2. Samuel Butler (poet) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
3. Oxford DNB article: Milton, John
4. The life of John Milton: a critical biography By Barbara Kiefer Lewalski
5. The Founders’ Constitution Volume 1, Chapter 4, Document 5 The University of Chicago Press Papers of John Adams. Edited by Robert J. Taylor et al. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1977–.
6. John Milton Quotes
7. John Milton Quotes
8. The life of John Milton: a critical biography By Barbara Kiefer Lewalski
9. The life of John Milton: a critical biography By Barbara Kiefer Lewalski
10. The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, Volume II: Philadelphia, 1726 – 1757 — Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion
11. Gordon Campbell, Milton, John (1608-1674), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2009 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18800, accessed document.write(printCitationDate(
12. Books podcast: Anna Beer on her new biography of Milton | Books | guardian.co.uk
13. Young Ned of the Hill. By the way, if you’ve come here because of the Pogues reference, then I’d recommend the Dub Version of ‘Young Ned of The Hill’ on the Pogues’ box set
14. Delaware Online”

I’m afraid I don’t know why it is called Munks Close – it could perhaps be named after someone called Munk.

If you have a better idea, please leave a comment.

Visiting Salisbury? For accommodation, see the Hotels in . . . → Read More: Munks Close, Harnham]]> Munks Close is in Harnham, which is a village to the south of Salisbury.

I’m afraid I don’t know why it is called Munks Close – it could perhaps be named after someone called Munk.

If you have a better idea, please leave a comment.

Visiting Salisbury?

For accommodation, see the Hotels in Salisbury page.

The word ‘Netherhampton’ is derived from two Old English ‘neotherra‘, meaning lower and ‘hamtun‘ meaning settlement 1. I have also read 2 that the ‘ham‘ means a ‘bend in the river’, but I’m not not sure this fits the geography.

There’s an interesting account . . . → Read More: Netherhampton Road, Salisbury]]> Netherhampton Road is to the south of Salisbury, running between Harnham and Netherhampton itself.

The word ‘Netherhampton’ is derived from two Old English ‘neotherra‘, meaning lower and ‘hamtun‘ meaning settlement ¹. I have also read ² that the ‘ham‘ means a ‘bend in the river’, but I’m not not sure this fits the geography.

There’s an interesting account of the history of Netherhampton House here: Netherhampton House – History

The web page recounts how the house was probably built on the proceeds from the tobacco pipe business of the Gauntlett family. Famous visitors have included Virginia Woolf and Walter de la Mare.

View Larger Map

Visiting Salisbury?

For accommodation, see the Hotels in Salisbury page.

Footnotes

1. Netherhampton – Origin of Netherhampton | Encyclopedia.com: Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names
2. Wikipedia

The New Harnham Road joins runs from the junction of the Bournmouth Road (the A338) and the Coombe Road (the A354) to the older ‘Harnham Road’.

It is also known as the A3094.

Planning a short break in Salisbury? For accommodation, see the Hotels in . . . → Read More: New Harnham Road, Harnham]]> The New Harnham Road is in Harnham, to the south of Salisbury.

The New Harnham Road joins runs from the junction of the Bournmouth Road (the A338) and the Coombe Road (the A354) to the older ‘Harnham Road’.

It is also known as the A3094.

Planning a short break in Salisbury?

For accommodation, see the Hotels in Salisbury page.

Norfolk Road is on an estate which features all of the counties on the coastline from Norfolk itself, through Suffolk, Essex, Kent and Sussex.

The word ‘Norfolk’ is derived from ‘Northern people’ 1 or, I guess, ‘Northern Folk’ – Suffolk being ‘Southern Folk’.

There is . . . → Read More: Norfolk Road, Harnham]]> Norfolk Road is in Harnham, a village on the southern side of Salisbury.

Norfolk Road is on an estate which features all of the counties on the coastline from Norfolk itself, through Suffolk, Essex, Kent and Sussex.

The word ‘Norfolk’ is derived from ‘Northern people’ ¹ or, I guess, ‘Northern Folk’ – Suffolk being ‘Southern Folk’.

There is a famous city of Norfolk, in Virginia in the United States, whose website strapline is, rather wonderfully in my view’, ‘Life. Celebrated Daily’.

The ‘Northern Folk’ and ‘Southern Folk’ are shown on an etymological map which is discussed on the ‘Strange Maps’ website.

Visiting Salisbury?

For accommodation, see the Hotels in Salisbury page.

Footnotes

1. Online Etymology Dictionary

‘Old Meadows’ is probably a reference to the ‘water meadows’ between Salisbury and Harnham.

The Water Meadows are the fields which are either side of ‘Town Path’ – the path which runs from Elizabeth Gardens to the Old Mill at Harnham.

The meadows are ‘part of a Site . . . → Read More: Old Meadows Walk, Harnham]]> Old Meadows Walk is in Harnham, to the south of Salisbury.

‘Old Meadows’ is probably a reference to the ‘water meadows’ between Salisbury and Harnham.

The Water Meadows are the fields which are either side of ‘Town Path’ – the path which runs from Elizabeth Gardens to the Old Mill at Harnham.

The meadows are ‘part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest and are an Enviromentally Sensitive Area.’¹

The meadows feature an irrigation system which was once widespread but has since largely disappeared from the area. They also feature a llama called ‘Leroy’.

There’s much more detail on the history of the water meadows, the irrigation system and Leroy at the Harnham Water Meadows website.

Planning a short break in Salisbury?

Have a look at my Hotels in Salisbury page.

Footnotes

1. Harnham Water Meadows website