Mainstone
Early-attested site in the Parish of Egg Buckland
Historical Forms
- Mainston 1201 FF
- la Maynstane 1256 Ass
- la Maynston 1298 Ass
- Meynston 1392 IpmR
- Maynstoncrossa, Maynstonkvilla 1291 Dartmoor 1408
Etymology
This may be a hybrid name, the first part being a British word corresponding to W , Co maen , 'stone,' cf. to þæm mægen stane BCS 723, a Devon charter, to mægen stanes dene BCS 1072 (Wiltshire), oð þone mægen stan BCS 491 (Berkshire), also Mainstone supra 45. In that case we must take the OE spelling mægen to be a pseudoetymological spelling due to association with mægen , 'strength.'Professor Ekwall would take it to have been mægen -stan , 'mighty rock,' from the first. In the metres of the OE Boethius mægenstan renders the micel stan , i .e. great-stone, of the prose version. The kvilla of the 1408 form may be a transcription error for Knilla , v. s. n. Kneela supra 170.