Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Suallai(ker) 13 YDviii

• Scoleiker 1323 MinAcct

• Squallay 1374 Ipm

• Swallay, Swalley 1374,1418 Wentw

Etymology

The Swallows, Suallai (ker )13 YD viii, Scoleiker 1323MinAcct , Squallay 1374 Ipm, Swallay , Swalley 1374, 1418Wentw 61, 81. The name refers to one of the banks in a narrow low-lying loop of an old course of the R. Aire (cf. Old Hee infra ). It may well be a compound of OE  swalg 'pit, pool' and lēah 'clearing', but if the two spellings Scolei - and Squallay are correct the first el. is doubtless a very early example of Midland dial. squall 'a boggy piece of ground' (from 1784 NED), which may also occur in Cu dial. squaw-hole 'a shallow muddy pond' (EDD s.v.). The latter seems preferable, as Squallay is more likely to become Swallay than the reverse (cf. Phonol. § 39).