Elden Hole

C

clarey

New member
That's an amazing magazine!  If you flick through a bit further there's an article titled "Some pig-sticking experiences in India" - what's not to like  :)
 
langcliffe

langcliffe

Well-known member
Very interesting - this is a much fuller account of the trips that Baker described in his "Caving - Episodes of Underground Exploration". The first trip, with ropes and no ladder, was in September 1900 but this article was published after the second trip which was at the beginning of 1901.
 
M

MarkC

Member
I can PM you the pdf of the 1770 article by Lloyd of the first descent of Eldon Hole if you haven't already got it..
 
D

dunc

New member
When did Elden become Eldon or is there two ways of spelling it (like the proper Gill and romantic Ghyll) and/or when/why did the E become an O?  (I'm only asking out of plain curiousity in naming of features, rather than any scientific or otherwise reasons)
 
langcliffe

langcliffe

Well-known member
I think that it was just Baker that spelt it 'Elden'.  I have a copy of the third edition of 'On Foot through the Peak' published in 1876 and it was spelt 'Eldon', as it was in the Ainsworth Magazine published in 1842, and 'Peak Scenery' in 1824.
 
langcliffe

langcliffe

Well-known member
Looking a little closer, I've noticed that Lloyd called it 'Elden' in 1770, as did Hassel in his 1799 aquatint engraving, and Valentine in 'Picturesque England' in 1880. So it looks as the spellings may have been interchangeable in the nineteenth century at least.

Wikipedia says that  'In 1285 the hill was called Elvedon'.
 
graham

graham

New member
The spelling of names like that varied enormously right up until the 20th century & nobody really thought much about it. However, modern search engines tend not to be that flexible unless someone has programmed all the alternatives in.

What you have just described would be quite sufficient for Wig to list the variants as alternative names in the Cave Registry, had this hole been on Mendip.
 
paul

paul

Moderator
graham said:
The spelling of names like that varied enormously right up until the 20th century & nobody really thought much about it.
Click to expand...

In addition, some places still have alternative spellings as, for example the village of Youlgreave or Youlgrave, also in Derbyshire.

Also, some places also still retain the original pronounciation despite a change in spelling, such as Derby which used to be spelled "Darby" or "Darbye" in the 17th Century.
 
Roger W

Roger W

Well-known member
Ah!  Paraffin torches and Bengal lights  -  those were the days!

But does this "Elden" business mean that a certain well-known caving club will have to change its name?
 
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