Barnack
Major Settlement in the Parish of Barnack
Historical Forms
- (on) Beornican c.980 BCS1130 c.1200
- Bernak(e) 1052–65 Ramsey c.1350 ChronRams 1053 13th
- la Bernak 1210 Cur
- Bernakes 1151–4 France 1196 Cur
- Bernech(a) 1053 ChronRams 13th P 1166 BM 1176 Ord 12th Cur 1210
- Bernac 1086 DB 1200
- Bernec(a) 1162,1184 P 1200 Cur
- Bernek 1189 Ch 1332 Seld13 1209 Ch 1227 Seld13 1259
- Bernack(e) 1205 FineR 1209 WellsR
- Barneck 1284 FA
- Barnicke 1582 Cai
- Barnoak 1779 F
Etymology
The forms in BCS 1130 are not sufficiently good for us to lay great stress on them, but it is impossible to believe that an OE beornic (possibly for beornwic ) could have been so early and so persistently folk-etymologised to a form in ac , 'oak,' especially in view of the fact that wic is a common p.n. suffix, and ac is a rare one. More probably we must take it that the original form of the name was beorna -āc , 'warriors' oak,' with alternative form (in the dat. sg.) beorna -ǣce , which would account for the early forms in -ech , -ek . It is possible also that the ech , ek forms are due to the nom. pl. ǣc , rather than the dat. sg. That would perhaps explain better the fact that the OE form is apparently in the dat. pl. (? for beorn -ācum or -ǣcum ) with occasional later -akes . For the form eche cf. the field called benethen ye eches in Barnwell (1316Buccleuch ).