Relics

Relics
A Richardson & R Skelton

A further installment in a series of works which began with Wolf Notes (2011), concerning the upland environment around Devoke Water in south-west Cumbria, UK.

In the 1960s, samples from Devoke Water were taken and the embedded pollen grains were analysed, uncovering a fascinating narrative of plant succession over several millennia. Eleven tree genera were identified in a paper published by Winifred Pennington.

The material presented in Relics is a form of salvage; a dredging of the linguistic record for traces of these
lost genera. Each of the eleven trees is visually represented by a trunk cross-section: the innermost ring comprising its earliest linguistic form and the outermost its modern-day equivalent.

24pp pamphlet
Edition of 500

Forthcoming via Corbel Stone Press.

River byhts accumulate twite and skylark

“Settlements built upon rivers reflect the sound change o > u before ng, common in Lancashire dialects. Riverine and estuarine alluvium shows traces of discarded consonants. Land fringing upland is subject to word-flood, adversely affecting ground-nesting birds. River byhts often accumulate twite and skylark.”

Quoted from Moor Glisk, ISBN 978-0-9572121-2-1.

Ulpha Wheel

Wheel showing a partial toponymic history of Ulpha, encircling a list of animal names derived from specific place-names within its catchment.

134 Kestrels

DOMAIN. A pamphlet in which a poem about the kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) hovers over a landscape composed of folk-names for the bird in English, Welsh, Irish and Gaelic.

Kestrel populations are in decline in the UK. The reasons are as yet unknown, but it is thought that habitat loss is a key factor. The 134 folk-names gathered here are something of a linguistic population count. By no means complete, the list represents a historical, rather than contemporary, survey – a form of salvage, a shoring up, an attempt to stem the tide.

DOMAIN is forthcoming via Corbel Stone Press.

And the moor wheels…

Anglezarke Moor “Wheel”, detailing a partial toponymic narrative of the place-name Anglezarke, from 1202 to 1894.