Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Dracton(e), Dractona 1086 DB 12 YDx 1175–95 YChvii 13 YDix 1487 YDvi

• Drachton 13 YDvi 1276 YI 1295 Ebor

• Drauthona a.1207 YChvii

• Drahton 1275 Ebor

• Draython 1285 KI

• Drayhtton 1299 BltComp46

• Draghton 1276 RH 1293 1303 KF 1587 FF

• Draghton in Craven 1297,1360 YDvi

• Draughton 1423 Baild 1597 PRSk 1605 FF 1705 PRBl

• Drawghton 1550 YD vi, FF

Etymology

The forms of this p.n. are paralleled exactly by those of Draughton Nth lii, 112, and represent a compound of ON  drag 'a gentle slope or valley, a portage', ODan  dragh 'a narrow tongue of land con- necting two larger pieces of land' (cf. Dragstrup , Draaby in DaSN(F) 50, 135) and tūn . But the occurrence in both p.ns. of Drait (h )on , Drayt (h )on spellings suggests that ON  drag merely replaces OE  dræg 'portage, track down which things could be dragged', and both are further examples of the common Drayton, which has various inter- pretations. Here it is most probably 'farmstead on a slope or track down which timber and the like could be dragged', cf. EPN i, 134–6.The phonetic history of the presumed OE  dræg -tūn is first the substitution of ON  drag which was assimilated to drac - before the voiceless -t -, and then the change of -ct - to ME  -ght - (cf. Phonol. § 38), and the normal diphthongisation of dragh - to draugh -.