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.

Boscar

Early-attested site in the Parish of Easingwold

Historical Forms

  • Balschaw(e) 1142 Dugdv.352 13 BylE
  • Bal(e)schagh 1247 Ch c.1300 BylE
  • Balska 1301 LS
  • Baskaa 1541 Dugdv.355

Etymology

This must be the same name as the lost Balshaw (PN La 7), earlier Balghschae (1296) which Ekwall connects with ME  balgh , 'rounded,' used in Sir Gawayne in the phrase a balʒ berʒ (l. 2172), 'a rounded hill.' The second element is OE  sceaga, 'wood.' In the later forms this has been Scandinavianised.

Places in the same Parish