Page:Lancashire Legends, Traditions, Pageants, Sports, Etc., with an Appendix Containing a Rare Tract.djvu/71

 was over, a fugitive is said to have been decapitated at the third, and another to have been shot at the latter. The probable etymology, however (adds Mr Higson), is "dane, dene, or den," a valley with a stream running through the midst of it. The formation of the Nicker Ditch was apparently anterior to the general cultivation of the land through which it passes, as it forms the meare or boundary of various townships. He says this is known in the locality as "Th' Nickoditch," and thinks its etymology is of Danish origin; for according to Scandinavian mythology Odin assumes the name of Nickar, or Hnickar, when he acts as the destroying or evil principle. In this character, and under this name, he inhabits the lakes and rivers of Scandinavia.

[The editor has felt bound to give the ancient traditions and those still current in the neighbourhood, with the interpretation suggested by an intelligent resident well acquainted with the localities and their present names. But he must add that he sees no sufficient authority or reason for these traditional etymologies of the local names at the head of this parish. As to Gorton, Whitaker is probably right in deriving its name from the brook; but Gor (Anglo-Saxon) not only means gore or blood, but also, and with more probable significance here, dirt or mud. It also denotes a triangular plot of land; and either of these meanings is more likely to be the true one than that of a supposed bloody battle with the Danes. Mr Higson has correctly given the more probable etymology for the places pronounced Dane and Danes; for in Lancashire generally, dean or dene is pronounced dane, and these places are denes or hollow places, some of which are to be found in Worsley (the Deans or Danes Brow, &c.) The wood, the head, and the shut or shoot (A.S. sceot, pronounced sheot), are all