. Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society. T^-^xi/r !?^a^c(Xe4^. fA . ,.ii/..;i .,,1,1:1 i}A«> l|.|l/M,.lll,,,;....1. v^ C a ^^ i iC T OL.^ ^ Qyt Jb CyXA)y\^ Mi-yt^ y^^oyriy tyAx. Oro(/>vct/wc-fi,^Su/rve^| jiLcx^o-d, w I o p. Is %0 ckavyvsy4 rvxiXX ±lJ REPORT ON THE CUMBERLAND EXCAVATIONS. 429 With respect to the derivation of the word, certainty seems un-attainable. All the best authorities agree that the current etymology mai-dun, the high ridge, is absolutely impossible, but they cannotsuggest an etymology in its place. The word

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. Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society. T^-^xi/r !?^a^c(Xe4^. fA . ,.ii/..;i .,,1,1:1 i}A«> l|.|l/M,.lll,,,;....1. v^ C a ^^ i iC T OL.^ ^ Qyt Jb CyXA)y\^ Mi-yt^ y^^oyriy tyAx. Oro(/>vct/wc-fi,^Su/rve^| jiLcx^o-d, w I o p. Is %0 ckavyvsy4 rvxiXX ±lJ REPORT ON THE CUMBERLAND EXCAVATIONS. 429 With respect to the derivation of the word, certainty seems un-attainable. All the best authorities agree that the current etymology mai-dun, the high ridge, is absolutely impossible, but they cannotsuggest an etymology in its place. The word Maiden is no doubtthe same as the first half of Maiden Castle (Dorset, &c.). MaidenBower (Beds.), Maiden Cross, and similar names,■= and it is note-worthy that the actual combination Maiden Way is, or was, in usefor an old road in Aberdeenshire (Chalmers Caledonia, i., 149). Thegeographical area over which the prefix Maiden occurs, suggeststhat it is probably Teutonic, not Celtic, and it is possible that it mayembody some early English folk-lore about the miraculous works ofsome maiden. In ot

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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, bookidtransactionv, bookyear1866