Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Tavelesbi 1086 DB

• Tauelesbi 1086 1136–40 Pat 1464 Gilb c.1150(1409),c.1160(1409) YChvi 1166–79 Gilb Hy2 P 1409 ChancR 1195 RAii 1196 Cur lHy2 P 1203 RBE 1204 Ass 1210–12 1218

• Tauelesbi hundred 1086 DB

• Tauelesbia 1100–8 YChvi 1356 Fees 1212

• Tawelesbi 1202 Ass

• Tauelsby Hy2 Gilb 1409

• Taulesbi 1206 Cur

• Tablesbeia 1094 France

• Tablesberiis (sic) 1090–1100 YChvi 1402 1100–8 17 1147–53 ib

• Tauellesbury lHy2 Gilb 1409

• Taflesb' 1185 Templar

• Tauelebi 1086 DB 1209 P

• Taueleby 1202 Ass

• Tauelby 1208 Cur 1210 FF 1220 Cur

• Tavelby 1589–90 Lanc 1707 Terrier

• Tafleby c.1190 RAiv

• Teflesbi c.1115 LS

• Teflesby a1168 Semp 1187 Gilb 1409

• Teuelsby c.1150 Gilb 1409

• Teuelesby Hy2 1409 RAiv a1183 P 1194,1195 FF 1219 Welles c.1221

• Teuelesb' 1235 IB

• Tevelesby 1254 ValNor

• Tevellesby 1206 OblR

• Tiuelesby 1201 Cur

• Tyuelesby 1226 FF

• Tefleby 1187 Gilb 1409

• Teuelebi 1219 Ass

• Teueleby 1220 Cur

• Teuleby 1250 FF

• Teuelby eHy3,1228–32(1409) Gilb 1242–32 Fees 1257 FF 1276 RH 1284 Fine 1298 Ass 1313 Ch 1316 FA 1481 AD

• Teuelbe 1507 Ipm

• Teuelbye 1610 Speed

• Teuylby 1310 Extent 1381 Peace

• Tevelby 1291 Tax 1299,1310 Pat 1311 Orig 1322 Pat 1723 SDL

• Tevelby als Teylby 1618 Td'E

• Tevelbie 1554 InstBen 1576 LER 1609,1631 VisitN

• Tevelbye 1557 Pat 1675 Ogilby

• Tevilby 1296 AD 1327 Pat 1534,1544,1646,1766,1811 Td'E

• Tevilby alias Tealby 1629 1702 Foster

• Tevilby otherwise Tealby 1757,1820 Td'E

• Tevilbye 1549 Pat 1538–39 Dugdvi 1552 Pat

• Tevilbie 1552 Td'E

• Tevilbe 1548 ib

• Tevylby 1529 Willsii 1546 LPxxi 1552 Pat

• Tevylbye 1539 LPxiv 1547 Pat

• Tewelby 1428 FA

• Tewylby 1436 Fine

• Tewilbie 1552 Td'E

• Teilebi 1210 P

• Teilby 1553 Td'E 1556 Mad

• Teylby 1504 LouthCA 1529 Willsii 1537–38 Dugdvi

• Teylebie 1551 Pat

• Taylebye 1551 ib

• Teleby 1252 FF 1385 Peace 1393 Works 1396 Peace 1462,1465 Pat 1535 VEiv Eliz ChancPii

• Telby 1384 Peace 1404 Pap 1507 Ipm 1529 Willsii

• Teelby 1375,1384 Peace

• Teelby “alias” Thelby 1395 Pat 1428 FA 1526 Sub

• Tealby 1526,1624,1649,1660 Td'E

• Tealby alias Teavelby 1667,1716 ib

• Tealby als Tevilby 1681 Td'E 1723 NW

• Tealby otherwise Teavelby 1742,1763,1765 1773 NW

• Tealby otherwise Tevelby 1770 NW 1783 Td'E

• Tealby otherwise Tevilby 1787 NW

• Tealby alias Teavilby 1806 Td'E

• Tealeby 1705 ib

• Tylby 1533 Td'E

• Tyvelbye 1561 Pat

• Teavelby 1622 Td'E 1625 Heneage 1634 Td'E 1638 VisitN 1652,1659 Td'E

• Teavelby als Tevylby 1626 ib

• Teavelby als Tealeby 1666 ib

• Teavelbie 1623 ib

• Thaueleby 1219 Cur

• Thevelbe 1252 Ch

• Thevelby 1281 QW 1285 RSu 1291 Tax 1295 Ipm 1296 RSu 1305 Pat 1312,1324 Cl

• Theuelby 1252 Pat 1389 RRGr 1261 Pat 1336

• Thewelby e13 Gilb 1409

• Theulby 1303 FA

• Theleby 1240 FF

Etymology

This is a difficult name. Ekwall, DEPN s.n., compares Tealby with Tellisford So, Thelsford PN Wa 250, and Tablehurst PN Sx 329, though the spellings for Thelsford suggest that it has a different etymology. A full list of forms for Tellisford is not yet available, while those for Tablehurst do not parallel the variants in the collection above. It is probably safest to take Tealby on its own.

Ekwall suggests that the first el. seems to be an OE  *tæfli , *tefli , derived from OE  tæfl 'a chess-board', probably in the sense 'a plateau', and compares Dutch  Tafelberg and German Zabelstein .Smith, EPN 2174–75 s.v. tæfl(e), notes Ekwall's comments and adds that “it may be recalled that ME  tavele , tevele 'to contend with dice, etc.' was also used in a more general sense 'to argue, strive' and some such application in p.ns. to 'land in dispute' (cf. þrēap), as proposed in Sx 329, is not out of the question”. Interestingly, he links Tablehurst and Tellisford and “possibly” Thelsford to the el. tæfl(e), tefle , but makes no mention of Tealby here. As an alternative meaning for the el., he suggests 'the flat stones forming the track of a ford', but goes on to say that it is in any case difficult to distinguish it from the “OE  pers.n. Theabul ”. This, as Dr John Insley points out, is a misconception, because the pers.n. form Theabul , which is contained in the witness list of an original charter of 697 (S 19), stands for OE  Þēoful , a pers.n. which is also attested in The Earliest Life of Gregory the Great (ed. B. Colgrave, Kansas 1968, 102) in the form Teoful . OE  Þēoful -ol is also the best explanation for the first el. of Thelsford, PN Wa 250, 319.

Fellows-Jensen, SSNEM 74, following Ekwall, notes that the “related ODan  tafl n. is apparently used of a square-shaped piece of land in Danish p.ns. … and it may be the Danish word that was originally found in T.” She adds that forms in Te - would then show the influence of an OE  *tefli .

The collection of forms here certainly suggests that Taveles -, Taueles -, with medial -s -, represent the earliest sequence from DB to the early 13th century, though these are represented only sporadically later. On the other hand, Tefles -, Teueles - appear first in c.1115 and these and subsequent developments are found till the mid 13th century. Forms in Th - can be ignored from an etymological point of view, occurring from the early 13th century to 1336, perhaps due to AN influence, v. Feilitzen 93–94.

It should be noted that forms with medial -s - predominate from DB to the mid 13th century, after which they cease to appear.An occasional spelling without medial -s - occurs in DB and in 1187 and c.1190, then frequently in the early 13th century, and after 1254 they alone are represented in this collection.

The forms in Tables -, however, are not easily explained, but the second el. in -beriis , which occurs three times is probably not significant, for in each of the documents in which they occur, similar spellings are found for the second els. of both Roxby and Scawby LWR. It may be significant that one of the three documents containing this form is of French  origin, as is also that with the spelling Tablesbeia . The unique Tauellesbury is hardly sufficient evidence to suggest that OE  burh 'a fortiflcation' has been replaced by ON  bȳ 'a farmstead, village'.

Dr John Insley comments “Ekwall's OE  *tæfli , *tefli is an unlikely formation. OE  tæfl is a feminine noun in the ō -declension, being a loan of Latin tabula . It merely denotes a gaming-board, not specifically a 'chess-board', as stated by Ekwall. Its genitive singular ending is -e , hence Ekwall has to invent the variant *tæfli , *tefli in order to explain what he presumably assumed to be genitival -es in the early forms of Tealby. Final -l of OE  tæfl is syllabic, and i -mutated side-form tefl occurs in early glosses (e.g. Erfurt: tefil ; Corpus, Leiden: tebl ). ODan  tafl 'a gaming board, board game' occurs in Danish p.ns. with the sense 'square or rectangular piece of land', though Lindroth, Ortnamn på -rum 79f.presumes that Tavl in the Danish p.ns. Tavlgaarde and Tavlov has the sense 'piece of raised ground, eminence', and is to be compared with Halland dialect tavel 'small bank' (v. Danmarks Stednavne iii.lx; viii.127–28; ix.174)”.

“None of these Danish p.ns. is a genitival compound. If Tealby contained OE  tæfl , tefl , we would expect it to be morphologically similar to Danish names of the type Tavlov, from ODan  *Taflh  gh , v. Danmarks Stednavne viii.127–28, and be uninflected.The medial -s - in the early forms of Tealby is an obstacle to parallels of this kind. If we interpret this medial -s - as having genitival significance, we come up against semantic questions, and a pers.n. * Tæfl , *Tefl lacks parallels in other Germanic languages and is semantically and etymologically implausible. It would seem therefore, necessary to re-think the etymology of Tealby and to get rid of the preconceptions engendered by Ekwall's discussion.”

Dr Insley continues “In Domesday Book, Tealby is a settlement of some consequence and has all the appearance of an ancient village in terms of its geld assessment and its importance as a jurisdictional and administrative centre. [It should be noted that it is referred to as Tauelesbi hundred in DB f.276a]. I would suggest that Tealby contains the name of the East Germanic Taifali , OE  *Tāflas /*Tǣflas . Detachments of Taifali are recorded in Britain by the early 5th century Notitia Dignitatum (ed. O. Seeck, reprinted 1962, 130), and it is possible that they retained their separate identity for some time in the post-Roman period. This was certainly the case in Gaul , where Gregory of Tours mentions an insurrection of the Taifali in the vicinity of Champtoceaux (Maineet-Loire) c.561, and where their name is contained in the p.ns. Tiffauges (Vendée) and Tivauges (Semur) (v. E. Schwarz, Germanische Stammeskunde , Heidelberg 1956, 104). Tealby would be a parallel formation to French names of this type, being originally merely the simplex of the tribal name, OE  *Tāflas /*Tǣflas . The second el. ODan  bȳ would have been added to the simplex form after the Scandinavian occupation of the area. Simplex tribal names as p.ns. are rare, but an exact parallel is provided by Wales from OE W (e )alas 'Welshmen', PN YW 1155–56. The alternation of mutated and unmutated forms * Tāflas /*Tǣflas reflects the fact that original uncertainty as to whether we are concerned with -il or -ul caused the emergence of parallel forms with and without i -mutation, cf. OE  tæfl /tefl. ” He goes on to point out that “in OHG  a parallel can be seen in the forms taken by the pers.n. el. *Wandil -, from the tribal name of the Vandals, cf. such forms as Uuentil (a ), Uuandalgarius , Uuentilger , Uuantalmar , Uuentilmar in the confraternity book of the Swabian abbey of Reichenau (p. 167).”

Clearly, Dr Insley's interpretation of the meaning of Tealby is easily the best so far offered.