Mungrisdale
Major Settlement in the Parish of Mungrisdale
Historical Forms
- Grisedal(e) 1285 For 1487 Ipm
- Crisdale 1290 Ipm
- Grysdale 1292 Ass 1359 Ipm
- Gris- ib.
- Grysdell 1559 PR(Greystoke)
- Greysdale 1348 Ipm
- Mounge Grieesdell 1600 CW(OS)vi
- Mungrisedale 1638 PR(Greystoke) 1656 CantWvii
- Mung Grisedale 1647 CWxxv
- Grisedale or Mungrisedale 1777 NB
- Mungrisdale 1781 PR(Skelton)
Etymology
The original name of this district was clearly Grísadalr , 'valley of the pigs,' from ON gríss and dalr , Mung and Moung being a late addition. The meaning of the addition is uncertain. The church of Mungrisdale is dedicated to St Kentigern alias Mungo (v. Introduction).The fact that there is no pre-Reformation evidence for this dedication does not disprove its antiquity, for the dedication may well have had a popular rather than an official character. In this remote part of England it is not impossible that respect for St Mungo survived the Reformation itself, and it would be unsafe to assume that an informal dedication of this type could not have arisen as late as the Elizabethan age. It is on the whole most probable that the first syllable of Mungrisdale contains the name of St Mungo. There is a bare possibility that the phrase Longe gill of Mungrane which occurs in 1589 (LRMB ), referring to Long Gill (6″) on the boundary of this parish and Bowscale, may contain the name of a hill or other natural feature which in the 16th century became attached to the name Grisedale.But if this were so, some other reference to this name should be discoverable, and until more is known about the situation of Mungrane it can hardly be taken seriously in this connection.