Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Aburne 1086 DB

• Haburne 1086 DB

• Haburn' 1196 ChancR

• Haburn 1218 FF

• Haburc c.1115 LS c.1150,1150–60,eHy3 Dane 1159–81 NCot e13 Dane c.1160 P 1165,1166,1167,1168,1169 HarlCh Hy3 Cl 1252

• Aburc' 1219 Fees

• Haburk Hy3 HarlCh

• Haburch 1143–47 Dane c.1150 NCot e13 Dane c.1150,a1155 NCot eHy2 Dane e13 Ch 1157–63,1160–66 RI 1318

• Haburg(') eHy2,a1180,1180(e13) NCot 1187 P 1190,l12(e13) NCot 1202 Ass 1205 ChR 1219 Fees 1300 NCot

• Haburga 1190–95 Dane

• Haburge 1235 Dugdvi

• Aburg' 1242–43 Fees 1280 RSu

• Haburh Hy2 Dane

• Haburgh(') 1259 RRGr 1281 QW 1281 Tax 1298 Ass 1303 Orig 1303 FA 1303 Pat 1305 1817 Yarb

• Habur 1159–81 NCot e13 Ass 1271–2 Dugdvi 1536–7

• Haber 1554 Anc 1690 Terrier 1729 BT

• Hauburc 1197 P

• Hauburg(') 1255 Cl 1268 Pat

• Hauburgh 1298 1316 FA 1399 Cl

• Alta Bargta (sic) 1303 FA

• Haltbaroc 1338 Pat

• Heyburgh 1409 Pat 1409 Fine 1429 Cl 1507 Pat 1536 AOMB 1539 LPxiv 1539 AOMB 1639 Foster

• Heybrughe 1551 Pat 1599 Yarb 1634 Foster

• Hayburgh 1535 VEiv 1536–7 Dugdvi

• Hayburghe 1539 LPxiv Hy8 Rental 1552 Pat

• Haybur 1539 LPxiv 1569 Pat

• Haybur alias Haybrugh 1570 ib

• Haeboroughe 1596–7 MinAcct

• Harburgh 1548 Pat

• Harbrough 1587 Yarb

• Habrough 1569 Pat 1602 Terrier 1610 Speed 1697,1703,1706 Terrier

• Habroughe 1586 Yarb

• Habrowgh 1573 Anc

• Aborough 1554 Pat

Etymology

This name is discussed by Kristensson (SMETT 30), who ad- duces an ON  *hár in some such sense as 'a slope, a slight elevation' as first el. This is, however, based on a misinterpretation of the form del Ha (p) in the Subsidy Rolls of 1327 and 1332 for Somercotes. The actual source of Ha here is ON  á 'a river, a stream', as numerous forms in the Lincolnshire collection clearly show. He is right, however, in considering Ekwall's suggestion (DEPN) that the name is derived from hēah 'high' in the sense 'chief' and burh 'a fortification, a fortified place' “not unobjectionable”. OE  hēah would normally give ME  spellings in He - and none is found for Habrough. Kristensson also finds Lindkvist's suggestion (Lindkvist 180) that the first el. is ON  há(r) 'high' similarly open to question, since he claims that this word is Old West Scandinavian in origin, whereas Scandinavian borrowings in Lincolnshire are generally OEScand in character. It may be pointed out that Gillian Fellows-Jensen notes the occurrence of ON  ǽrgi 'a lower lying shieling here JEPN x, 20), while examples of Old West Scandinavian slakki 'a small shallow valley' and skáli 'a temporary hut or shed' are also found in north Lincolnshire, as in e.g. Elbrough Slack in Goxhill f.ns. (b) and Walgerscales in Immingham f.ns. (b) and Aldescales in Brocklesby f.ns. (b). Mr Stanley Ellis draws my attention to the fact that a local pronunciation [ɛəbrə] or [heibrə] presupposes a ME ā or ai in this area, and he believes we should look to ON  há(r) as the source of the vast majority of the ME  spellings for Harbrough in Ha -, as does also Professor Raymond Page. It is at least possible that the original name was *Hēahburh 'the high fortified place', as suggested by Ekwall, and that the first el. hēah has been replaced by its cognate ON  há(r), a possibility already noted by Smith (EPNE i, 234). The spellings in Alta - and Halt - suggest that twice the first el. was in fact interpreted as meaning 'high'. The DB form in -burne , though supported by the 1196 and 1218 spellings, is presumably an error or just possibly a weakened form.

So far as the topography of Habrough is concerned, through the good offices of Dr Rod Ambler, Mrs Bettie Watkinson has prepared a map of the immediate environs of the village from which it is clear that Habrough stands on an island of relatively high ground marked by the 15 metre contour, rising to greater heights within it, with the church lying on a northern spur. A meaning 'the high fortified place' would, therefore, seem topographically appropriate.