Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Scatclyff, Skatclyff, Scatcliff(e) 1565,1596 HAS

• Scatecliffe 1575 La

• Scaitcliff 1783 Tod

Etymology

Scaitcliffe (La), Scatclyff , Skatclyff , Scatcliff (e )1565, 1596 HAS 7, 218 (Stansf), Scatecliffe 1575 La 59, Scaitcliff 1783 Tod. There is another Scaitcliffe in Whalley (La 90) and Ekwall, on the basis of the spellings for the latter (Sclateclyff 1527, Scaitclyff 1535), derives both names from ME  sclate (OFr  esclate ) 'slate', and clif , with -l - lost through dissimilation (La 59). Whitehall in Michigan Essays and Studies in English xiii, 73 ff discusses these names in detail and rejects Ekwall's interpretation on the grounds that there is only a single Sclate - spelling and that this is more likely to be an occasional spelling based on folk-etymology for an earlier Scaitclyffe ; instead he proposes to derive these names from skeið and clif with the meaning 'separating cliff' or 'boundary cliff', which divided the main part of Cross Lee (supra ) from a part which lay in Lancashire. But there is no need to introduce this somewhat doubtful matter of a detached portion of an estate, as the cliff or steep bank to which the name refers is that overlooking the R. Calder which long formed the county boundary.The forms, however, still offer difficulty, since skeið , in stressed syllables at least, could be expected to retain the form Scaith - rather than Scait - (Skate Beck YN 144 with its ME  spellings Skayte , Skeyte is certainly not to be derived from skeið as Whitehall 79 suggests); there is a much later parallel to the interchange of skate and slate in the f.ns. Skate and Slate Delves in Sowerby 157supra . The evidence of spellings would rather support Ekwall's suggestion for the Whalley name at least. The present name may be of similar origin, but could possibly be skeið -clif 'boundary cliff' chiefly on topographical grounds or indeed ON  skøyti in some such derivative sense as 'nook, bend'. The final decision remains open in the absence of earlier material.