English Place-name Society

Survey of English Place-Names

A county-by-county guide to the linguistic origins of England’s place-names – a project of the English Place-Name Society, founded 1923.

Cotescue Park

Early-attested site in the Parish of Coverham

Historical Forms

  • Scotescogh, Scoteskew 15 VCHi.248 1610 NR
  • Cotescough, Cotescugh, Coteskewe 1606 NR 16 VCH

Etymology

v. skogr . The first element may be ON  skot 'shooting,' which occurs in several Norw  p.n.'s such as Skotsberg (NG i. 184), Skattebøl (ib. 120), Skotbu (NG ii. 35), etc. Professor Ekwall suggests the possibility of OE  Scotta , from some early encounter with the Scots. The loss of initial s - is late and probably arose from the difficulty of pronouncing the combination Scoteskew .