Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Selside 1443 Pat

• Selsheyd 1530 Visit

Etymology

Selside (Selside 1443 Pat, Selsheyd 1530 Visit), Selside Pike (1865 OS); Selside Brow in Longsleddale (i, 163supra ) is at the south end of the mountains of Selside Pike and is named from Selside; in view of the spellings of Selside Brow and of the mountainous craggy situation of this place high above the tree-level (grid 83–491111), as well as the ambiguity in the form of the second el., the name may not be of the same origin as Selside (i, 149 supra , from selja 'willow'); possibly it is 'headland, hillside, or pasture with a mountain hut', v. sel (gen.sg. sels , gen.plur. selja ) and either hēafod , sīde or sǽtr ; cf. Norw  Sæl (NG xii, 168), ON  sel-setr 'mountain hut'.The forms of Saile -, Sayl - for Selside Brow (i, 163) are probably inverted spellings for ME  Sēle - or Sāle (cf. YW vii, 82 §§11, 12 for parallels). There is also an Icel  seila 'hollow', Norw  dial. seil 'depression' which could be thought of for this and Catsayle (ii, 186 infra ); it occurs in Norw  p.ns. like Bakkaseila (Rogaland).