Mellow Purgess alias Malpergis Fm
Early-attested site in the Parish of Stondon Massey
Etymology
Mellow Purgess (6″) alias Malpergis Fm (local) [mɔlipɑˑdʒis].Cf. Malapardus wood 1550, Malipardus , Maliperdis 1589, 1595, Mal(e)perdus 1586, 1623, Maleperdas 1689, Mal y perdu 1848, Mal Pervis 1922 ParlReg. This is probably a manorial name from a family Maupertuis from the place of that name in Calvados (Malopertuso 1077, Malum Foramen 1234, Malpertus 1554Dict Top ). The theory that this was a foxes' paradise, named by the owner of the covert in allusion to the Castel of Maleperduys of Caxton's Reynard the Fox (EAS ix, Reeve 163), can scarcely be other than a pleasant fiction.