‘Linden’ is a word for ‘lime tree’, or ‘made from the wood of a lime-tree’ 1.

The names of the roads on the estate are a bit of a mystery to me – there’s no obvious relation between them. To use a favourite word of . . . → Read More: Linden Close, Laverstock]]> Linden Close is in Laverstock, at the eastern edge of the ‘pebbledash-ed’ estate.

‘Linden’ is a word for ‘lime tree’, or ‘made from the wood of a lime-tree’ ¹.

The names of the roads on the estate are a bit of a mystery to me – there’s no obvious relation between them. To use a favourite word of my daughter, the other road names on the estate (Napier Crescent, Vanessa Avenue etc) are fairly ‘random’. There are two possible reasons for the name of Linden Close that I could think of.

The first is that is a reference to the trees behind Linden Close i.e. between Linden Close and Duck Lane. I’m afraid I don’t know enough about trees to know one or another, but you could see this as fitting in with the adjacent road ‘Greenwood Avenue’.

The second is that Linden is somebody’s name. This would fit in with other roads on the estate which have named which are also either Christian names or surnames – Vanessa Avenue, Melvin Road and Napier Crescent.

Linden and Lime in music and art

Culture and religion

According to Wikipedia, the linden or lime tree has special cultural or even spiritual significance in much of Middle Europe. In Poland many villages have the name ‘Holy Lime’; Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic have the tree as a national emblem; the name Leipzig is derived from the tree ; icons are typically painted on lime wood; in Germany the tree was supposed to help determine truth; one of the most significant streets in Berlin is Unter den Linden.

William Barnes’ Linden Lea

A Dorset cleric, William Barnes, wrote a poem called ‘Linden Lea’ in 1856:

Within the woodlands, flowery gladed,
By the oak tree’s mossy moot,
The shining grass-blades, timber-shaded,
Now do quiver under foot;
And birds do whistle overhead,
And water’s bubbling in its bed,
And there for me the apple tree
Do lean down low in Linden Lea.

When leaves that lately were a-springing
Now do fade within the copse,
And painted birds do hush their singing
Up upon the timber tops;
And brown-leaved fruit’s a-turning red,
In cloudless sunshine, overhead,
With fruit for me, the apple tree
Do lean down low in Linden Lea.

Let other folk make money faster
In the air of dark-roomed towns,
I don’t dread a peevish master;
Though no man do heed my frowns,
I be free to go abroad,
Or take again my homeward road
To where, for me, the apple tree
Do lean down low in Linden Lea.

The poem was made famous when it was set to music by Vaughaun Williams in 1902. Williams wrote in 1925 that it was ‘horribly popular’.

The Linden here, presumably represents the tranquility of nature. ‘Lea’ means open space, or grove².

At the time of writing there is a recording of ‘Linden Lea’ on Youtube here:

• Linden Lea sung by Hendon St Mary’s Choir

Coleridge – ‘This Lime-tree Bower my Prison’

Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem ‘This Lime-tree Bower my Prison’ uses the Lime Tree, I think, as symbolizing the beauty of nature at all levels.

I’ve got a ‘tin ear’ for poetry, but my reading of the poem is that Coleridge begins by feeling very, very, sorry for himself. His friends are out enjoying water-falls, hill-top ledges, heaths and the sea – ‘Nature’ writ large, if you will.

Well, they are gone, and here must I remain,
This lime-tree bower my prison! I have lost
Beauties and feelings, such as would have been
Most sweet to my remembrance even when age
Had dimm’d mine eyes to blindness!

Coleridge however is in failing health – stuck in the Lime-Tree Bower, which he characterizes as ‘his Prison’:

Well, they are gone, and here must I remain,
This lime-tree bower my prison! I have lost
Beauties and feelings, such as would have been
Most sweet to my remembrance even when age
Had dimm’d mine eyes to blindness!

Then he comes to realize the beauty of Nature ‘writ small’, in the:

Comes sudden on my heart, and I am glad
As I myself were there! Nor in this bower,
This little lime-tree bower, have I not mark’d
Much that has sooth’d me. Pale beneath the blaze
Hung the transparent foliage; and I watch’d
Some broad and sunny leaf, and lov’d to see
The shadow of the leaf and stem above
Dappling its sunshine! And that walnut-tree
Was richly ting’d, and a deep radiance lay
Full on the ancient ivy, which usurps
Those fronting elms, and now, with blackest mass
Makes their dark branches gleam a lighter hue
Through the late twilight: and though now the bat
Wheels silent by, and not a swallow twitters,
Yet still the solitary humble-bee
Sings in the bean-flower! Henceforth I shall know
That Nature ne’er deserts the wise and pure;
No plot so narrow, be but Nature there,
No waste so vacant, but may well employ
Each faculty of sense, and keep the heart
Awake to Love and Beauty!

Nick Cave

Nick Cave is presumably referencing Coleridge in his song ‘The Lime Tree Arbour’ which is on his LP ‘The Boatmans Call’³

The boatman calls from the lake
a lone loon dives upon the water
I put my hand over her
down in the lime tree arbour

The wind in the trees is whispering
whispering low that I love her
She puts her hand over mine
down in the lime tree arbour⁴

Cave uses the word ‘Linden’ in the song ‘There She Goes, My Beautiful World’:

The elm, the ash and the linden tree,
The dark and deep, enchanted sea,
The trembling moon and the stars unfurled,
There she goes, my beautiful world ⁵

A critic on Pitchfork.com wrote that:

Cave [sings] extensively of linden trees and cornflowers, red-breasted robins, and gamboling lambs⁶

…but these are the only two references I could find. I don’t believe that the ‘linden’ has any particular spiritual or religious significance in either case. In the latter, the Linden is just one tree in a list. In the Lime Tree Arbour, Cave must be referencing Coleridge – ‘Lime Tree Bower’ and ‘Lime Tree Arbour’ are too close for it to be otherwise. Perhaps the intention is to reflect the small miracle of ‘her hand over mine’ with Coleridge’s view of the beauty of the smallest elements of nature.

O-zone

More popular recently than either Nick Cave, Coleridge or Vaughaun Williams is the song ‘Dragostea din tei‘ by the Moldovan band O-Zone.

It’s possible, even probable, that you might know the song without recognizing the title. It’s also known as the ‘Miya Hee‘ song or the ‘Numa Numa song. It was a big hit across Europe in 2004. At the time of writing there is a video on Youtube here:

• YouTube – O-Zone – Dragostea Din Tei

The most obvious translation for this is ‘Love out of the linden trees’.

There is a full translation of the song here Romania – Dragostea Din Tei – Miya Hee – Numa Numa – Lyrics in Romanian and English , and the Wikipedia page is very good.

According to Wikipedia, ‘linden’ in the song is one of the following:

• a reference to Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu .
• a reference to a Romanian children’s book “The Hoopoe in the linden tree” by Ion Creang?
• a use of the Russian sense of Linden, meaning ‘not strong’ or ‘poor quality’
• a reference to ‘Tei’ in Bucharest, which is a popular area for student accommodation
• a corruption of the Romanian ‘dintai’, meaning ‘first one’

I think it’s fair to say that the rest of the words of the song don’t give much away, so the listener is free to choose their own interpretation.

Linden and Lyndon as names

Finally on the word ‘Linden’, it’s also been used as a name – either spelt as Linden or Lyndon. The most famous ‘Lyndon’ is probably Lyndon B Johnson the 36th President of the United States, who succeeded John F. Kennedy in 1963⁷

According to the ‘Behind the Name’ website, the surname ‘Lyndon’ is

From an English surname which was derived from a place name meaning “lime tree hill” in Old English ⁸

The given name ‘Linden’ is:

Derived from German Linde meaning “lime tree”.⁹

Footnotes

1. Online Etymology Dictionary
2. Online Etymology Dictionary
3. The Boatman’s Call
4. – the link is to an Amazon mp3 of the song
5. Nick Cave – There She Goes, My Beautiful World – the link is to an Amazon mp3 of the song
6. Pitchfork: Album Reviews: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
7. The Presidents | The White House
8. Behind the Name: Meaning, Origin and History of the Name Lyndon
9. Behind the Name: View Surname: Linden

I can’t see any reason for it’s being called Mayfair Road. I can’t see any thematic link with any of the adjoining roads (Napier Crescent,, Beechcroft Avenue, or Greenwood Avenue). This is particularly irritating because I’ve lived in both Napier Crescent and Mayfair Road.

‘Mayfair’ usually refers to an . . . → Read More: Mayfair Road, Laverstock]]> Mayfair Road is on the pebble-dashed estate in Laverstock.

I can’t see any reason for it’s being called Mayfair Road. I can’t see any thematic link with any of the adjoining roads (Napier Crescent,, Beechcroft Avenue, or Greenwood Avenue). This is particularly irritating because I’ve lived in both Napier Crescent and Mayfair Road.

Mayfair

‘Mayfair’ usually refers to an area of the West End of London, to the north of Oxford Street. The name is derived from a fair that was held every May.(¹)

Mayfair is, of course, the most expensive point on the traditional London Monopoly board. Perhaps this influenced the choice of the name ‘Mayfair Road’. It’s still a desirable part of London – but whether it would still be the most expensive area on the Monopoly board, I don’t know.

A few years ago I read an interesting book by Tim Moore called Do Not Pass Go(². It was about the the game of Monopoly, and why each area of London might have been chosen. I’d recommend the book if you’re interested in London.

Footnotes

1. Mayfair – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2. This is an affilate link. If you used this link to buy the book I’d get a few coppers…but probably not enough to buy a flat in Mayfair

It’s on what is usually referred to as ‘the pebbledash estate’ for the obvious reason that the houses are nearly all pebble-dashed. The effect of this is increased by the roads being made of some sort of concrete. It always feels like there’s . . . → Read More: Melvin Close, Laverstock]]> Melvin Close is in Laverstock, which is a village to the east of Salisbury.

It’s on what is usually referred to as ‘the pebbledash estate’ for the obvious reason that the houses are nearly all pebble-dashed. The effect of this is increased by the roads being made of some sort of concrete. It always feels like there’s a lot of light.

I’ve never been able to see any theme or reason for the road names on the estate, which is particularly frustrating because I grew up there.

‘Melvin’ is a ‘Christian’ or fore name. The etymology of the name doesn’t seem to be certain.

The ‘BabyNamesPedia’ website says that it could be:

From the element ‘wine’ meaning ‘friend’(¹)

The ‘Baby Name Wizard’ site adds that:

Melvin might be an evolution of the obsolete Old English Maethelwine, Maeoelwine, a compound name composed of the elements maethel, maeoel (council, meeting) and wine (friend, protector): hence, “council protector.”(²)

The latter website says that the usage of the name, for babies, peaked in the 1920s. The pebble-dash estate was built in the early 1960s.

If you need accommodation in Salisbury, see the Hotels in Salisbury page.

Footnotes

1. Melvin – Origin and Meaning of the boy name Melvin at Baby Names Pedia
2. Melvin: Meaning, Popularity, Origin of Name Melvin | Namipedia | The Baby Name Wizard

I’m not sure whether it was a bridge over the River Bourne or the River Avon, since the Bourne joins the Avon in this area.

The bridge seems . . . → Read More: Mutton Bridge, Milford]]> Mutton Bridge is, as far as I know, a name that is no longer used. Mutton Bridge was close to the Southampton Road, to the South East of Salisbury.

I’m not sure whether it was a bridge over the River Bourne or the River Avon, since the Bourne joins the Avon in this area.

The bridge seems to be alternatively know as ‘Dairyhouse Bridge’. A Salisbury District Council Document has a reference to ‘A quantity of coarse hand-made pottery including a grass tempered ware bowl was found at a point to the south of Dairyhouse Bridge (Muttons Bridge) in 1860

Visiting Salisbury?

For accommodation, see the Hotels in Salisbury page.

I have no idea why it’s called Napier Crescent. This is particularly irritating because I . . . → Read More: Napier Crescent, Laverstock]]> Napier Crescent is in Laverstock, which is a village a mile to the west of Salisbury city centre. It’s on an estate built by a developer called Ford, or perhaps Fforde, in about 1964. It’s often referred to as ‘the pebbledash estate’.

I have no idea why it’s called Napier Crescent. This is particularly irritating because I grew up in Napier Crescent!

There are at least two people in history possibly prominent enough to have had the road named after them:

• General Sir Charles James Napier, who was a one of Wellington’s generals in the Napoleonic Wars
• John Napier, the inventor of logarithms

The word Napier is quite interesting. I think it derives from the same root as ‘napkin’ and ‘nappy’. It means something like ‘linen keeper’, from the old French ‘nappe meaning ‘table cloth’. ¹

Planning a short break in Salisbury?

For accommodation, see the Hotels page.

Footnotes

1. ???

The names of the roads on the estate have a rural theme – the other roads are Silverwood Drive, Westfield Close, and Woodland Way.

The word ‘paddock’ usually means: A small enclosure or field of grassland, especially for horses.1

…but it is also an . . . → Read More: Paddock Way, Laverstock]]> Paddock Way is on a small estate in Laverstock, a village to the East of Salisbury.

The names of the roads on the estate have a rural theme – the other roads are Silverwood Drive, Westfield Close, and Woodland Way.

The word ‘paddock’ usually means:

A small enclosure or field of grassland, especially for horses.¹

…but it is also an Old English word for frog or toad ², as at the start of Shakespeare’s Macbeth ³, where one of the witch’s familiars is a toad called ‘Paddock’⁴.

Visiting Salisbury?

For accommodation, see the Hotels in Salisbury page.

Footnotes

1. paddock – Wiktionary
2. Online Etymology Dictionary
3. Macbeth: Entire Play
4. In “Macbeth,” who are Greymalkin and Paddock? – Macbeth – Questions & Answers

Victoria Park is, I presume, named after Queen Victoria, as is the . . . → Read More: Park Lane, Park Close, Park Street, Park Road]]> Park Lane skirts Salisbury’s Victoria Park. Park Close if just off from Park Lane. Park Street runs between Estcourt Road and Queens Road. Park Road is in Laverstock, adjoining Duck Lane. Park Lane in Britford is parallel to the A338 to Bournemouth.

Victoria Park

Victoria Park is, I presume, named after Queen Victoria, as is the nearby Victoria Road.

The park contains a statue of somebody called Sidney Herbert.

There were two Sidney Herberts who held the title of Earl of Pembroke. It could be that the statue is one of these men, but there was another Sidney Herbert who inherited Wilton House but not the title of Earl of Pembroke

Longford Park

I think Park Lane in Britford would be a reference to Longford Park – the grounds of Longford House. Longford House and Park have been owned, for the last few centuries, by the Pleydell-Bouverie family who hold the title of Earl of Radnor.

Wyndham Park

Whereas Longford Park is still very much in existence, Park Street refers to an estate that no longer exists. Wyndham Park was owned by the Wyndham family. Their house was what is now the Council House in Bourne Hill. I believe their grounds stretched at one time from there as far a Bishopdown. There is still some ‘park land’ left – the space where the old swimming pool was, next to the Council Grounds, and the Council Grounds themselves.

Laverstock Park

I think Park Street refers to Laverstock Park, which was the grounds of one of the four big houses in Laverstock.

Looking for a hotel in Salisbury?

See the Hotels in Salisbury page.

The Avenue, Laverstock

In some cities in the United States (most notably in Manhattan, New York City), there is a convention that “avenues” run in a north-south direction, while “streets” run in an east-west direction, or vice versa.

Both of the roads known as just ‘The Avenue’ in Salisbury run broadly East to . . . → Read More: The Avenue Salisbury SP1]]>

The Avenue, Laverstock

In some cities in the United States (most notably in Manhattan, New York City), there is a convention that “avenues” run in a north-south direction, while “streets” run in an east-west direction, or vice versa.

Both of the roads known as just ‘The Avenue’ in Salisbury run broadly East to West, but no convention is being followed, since ‘The Avenue’ in Laverstock is actually perpendicular to Vanessa Avenue

There is also an earthworks known as ‘The Avenue’ at Stonehenge ²

Footnotes

1. Avenue (landscape) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2. Stonehenge World Heritage Site – Avenue – Ceremonial route to Stonehenge