I've just learnt of a town in the UK by that name. Where is it, and what's a marcle? How much is a little mackle, and how much is much?

I'd never heard of it, but I found this site on Google. It looks beautiful. It didn't discuss the name, but it did mention a manor house that has haunted rooms, including those prepared for "Bloody Mary" and Fetherston, her tutor. Now I have to look up the story behind the naming of Bloody Marys...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,

Here is a link about the Bloody Mary drink and here is a discussion about Bloody Mary the mirror witch. The drink name seems to have come from Queen Mary I of England, though it has been associated with a number of historical women. The inspiration for the cocktail, itself, seems to have come from Mary Pickford.

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In Hertfordshire are also situated:

Much Birch
Much Hadham
Much Cowarne
Much Dewchurch

We also have:

Much Hoole, Lancashire
Muchlarnick, Cornwall
Much Wenlock, Heredfordshire

Much to talk about, then.

Then, of course, in ITMA there was Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh.

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names: "Marcle, Much & Little Heref. & Worcs. Merchelai 1086 (DB). 'Wood or clearing on a boundary'. OE mearc + lēah. Affix Much is from OE mycel 'great'." Much Marcle is mentioned three times in the Domesday Book. OE mycel is the source of our much but its sense was 'great' and not 'much', mearc is the source of our word mark in the sense of 'limit, boundary' (it also appears in the title marquis, though this word comes in from French and not directly from OE, cf. German Markgraf), and lēah 'meadow, open space, untilled land' of lea (it appears in many place-names as -leigh, -ley, and -ly). There seems usually to be a pair of these towns, big and small. Other designations occur. When I visited Cornwall a couple of decades ago, I stayed in a pleasant village called St Columb Minor, which was hard by St Columb Major.

[Minor editing to correct for typo and improve rhythm. Caught another typo.]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

Some would take issue with that, arnie.

Here on the west side of the Pond, we have Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, a town formerly known as Mauch Chunk, before it was named for the famed Native American runner.

I wonder of Mauch and Much have a common ancestry. Of course I should have looked it all up before I posted this.

Edit: And here's a history of the town written, seemingly, for British visitors, but no explanation of the name.

2nd Edit: I now find that Mauch Chunk is Leni Lenape (the native tribe indigenous to that area) for "sleeping bear," so no connection to all the Much-ness in the U.K.

And here's a little bio on Jim Thorpe.

Wordmatic

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quote:

Then, of course, in ITMA there was Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh.

Post-ITMA as I recall. Stinker Murdoch and Kenneth Horne were two of the luminaries of the show.

quote:

ITMA

OK, what's ITMA?

WM

In the dark days of WW2 it was one of the shows that kept people's spirits up when Britain stood alone against Hitler's hordes. I am proud to say that I can remember both the times and the show. See here http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/radio/itma.htm

You have the years on me, Richard. I never heard ITMA, which finished when Tommy Handley died in 1949. I don't remember MBITM either, although it finished its run on the BBC when I'd have been 6-7. I had thought that it was a spin-off from ITMA, but I see that I was mistaken. It's nice to be able to plead youth sometimes.

quote:

In Hertfordshire are also situated:

Much Birch
Much Hadham
Much Cowarne
Much Dewchurch

We also have:

Much Hoole, Lancashire
Muchlarnick, Cornwall
Much Wenlock, Heredfordshire

A common mistake is that people mistake Her_E_fordshire for Her_T_fordshire. I quite often get people ringing me in Much Marcle Herefordshire asking if they can visit my business (Marcle Leisure), only to discover they misread our county. Another mistake in the above quote, is that 'Much Hadham' is not in Herefordshire. Or you could take it the other was and say Much Birch, Much Cowarne, and
Much Dewchurch are not in Hertfordshire.

Not sure where Heredfordshire is, but Much Wenlock is in Shropshire which is the next county Northwards.

Someone else referred to Much Marcle from 'Hereford and Worcester'. Hereford was only part of Worcester for a few years, and that was about thirty years a go!! As a Herefordian, I'm not keen to be partnered with another county.

Much Marcle and Little Marcle are neighbouring villages, whereas Much Birch and Much Cowarne are bout 10 miles from the Marcles and about 20miles apart. Interestingly, Much Birch is next to a village called Little Birch.

I've been a resident of Much Marcle for over 20 years, and yet to come across anyone who can give a definitive answer as to what a Marcle is and quite a few have researched the word to get an answer