BoAr:FNQ:C19Bourne

http://boar.org.uk/ariwxo3FNQ444.htm Latest edit 2 Sep 2007.

The Bourne Archive

FNQ

Fenland Notes and Queries. Edited by Rev. W.D. Sweeting, Rector of Maxey.

Part 21. April 1894.

This quarterly periodical took the form of a forum in which people sent in questions about the history, ecology and so on of the Fens and the region’s environs and others replied with some sort of answer. Some ‘answers’ seem to have been spontaneous, so qualifying as ‘notes’.

Nineteenth Century Bourne

444 – Bourne. – A meeting of the inhabitants of this Fenland town was held a short time ago for the purpose of obtaining a uniform way of spelling the name, it being spelt both Bourn and Bourne. The Ordnance Surveyors have adopted the former, as have the Railway Company, and some of the local authorities, from a practical point of view. In the Post Office Guide it is Bourne, as also in Salter’s directory of Lincolnshire, 1849. In White’s and Kelly’s Directories of modern date the [e] is omitted. The omission of the final [e] was objected to as leading to error, especially in the case of letters sent through the Post Office, which if the final [e] is not added, are liable to be sent to Bourn in Cambridgeshire.

A similar proceeding took place at Wisbech a few years ago, in consequence of which the letter[a], which had been erroneously interpolated, became discarded, and at the request of the inhabitants the Railway Companies and Postal authorities changed the name to its correct spelling of Wisbech. Holbeach is still incorrectly spelt, with the added [a], and there is no doubt if the inhabitants would take the trouble this could soon be remedied.

In Domesday Book the name is spelt Brvne and Brune. At a later period Brunne was used. Thus Robert Manning, who went from this town to Cambridge about the year 1300, where he wrote the famous poem Handlyng Synne, (or Handbook of Sins,) which marked an era in English literature and gave it that pure Saxon stamp which it still retains, was known as Robert of Brunne. Dugdale, who wrote about the middle of the 17^th century, spells the word most frequently as Brunne, referring to “the town of Brunne,” the “Abbot of Brunne” : also he describes Bourne Eau as Brunne Ea. In one of two places he has Burne, and in two Bourne, but in no case Bourn. He also refers to a Bourne in Sussex. The variation in his spelling is due to the way in which the word was spelt in the different documents relating to the Court of Sewers, from which he quotes. Leland also spells the word Bourne. In the parish registers the word is spelt both ways. In the Black Sluice Drainage Act of 1765 the word is spelt Bourn in the title, but throughout the rest of the Act Bourne. In the Act of 1770 the [e] is added throughout. In the Acts of 1846, 1849 and 1880, the [e] is dropped. In the Bourne Fen Acts of 1841 and 1843, the name is also spelt without the [e]. In the Bourne Eau Act of 1781 the [e] is omitted. By the inhabitants at the present time the [e] is more frequently added than omitted ; thus it was stated by the postmaster at the meeting previously referred to, that out of 716 letters received in one morning 637 were spelt with the [e],

As to the derivation of the word, it is generally considered to have arisen from the Anglo Saxon Burne, a stream, rising from a spring. Leland, in his itinerary, states ; “Bourne is a bubbling stream ; Bourne is a running stream.” As parallel cases Eastbourne and Bournemouth have been quoted. The intermittent streams which break out only occasionally from the chalk or limestone strata are known as “Bournes.” Here, at Bourne, are very strong springs which break out from the Oolite strata. It is just possible however, that looking at the original way of spelling the word, and the situation of the place on the edge of what at one time was a large Mere, and surrounded as it is by streams, the origin of the word was Burn Ea or Brun Island.

I think there can be no doubt that the correct way of spelling the name is with the final [e].

W. H. Wheeler. M.I.C.E.

Boston.

[This correspondent is the same man as he who wrote A History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire. He supplied several contributions to FNQ, on the subject of rainfall in the Fens. He was the Boston’s Borough and Harbour Engineer from 1861 to 1905 and added a good deal of honorary work for the town besides. See Brian Simmons’ introduction to the facsimile edition of the above work.]

FNQ