Continued Thirsk for Finkle knowledge

This is one of the questions that often come my way and on several occasions in the past I have made reference to Finkle in this column.

However, it is of enduring interest.

I believe my Thirsk contact knew that the town does have its own Finkle Street but the name also appears elsewhere in this region.

Malton, Richmond and Ripon can all claim a Finkle Street. All are market towns and I believe there are, or were, Finkle Streets in other localities including York, Leeds, Selby, Knaresborough, Newcastle and Kendal. I am not sure whether this name is peculiar to the North of England, but in the distant past all these locations would have been small market towns.

It does appear that Finkle Streets have ancient links with markets; indeed, some sources have suggested that all Finkle Streets begin in either a regular market place or perhaps a specialised one such as a fish market. Another common feature is that Finkle Streets, particularly those in the past, were all noted for their corners and bends. Some of these may have been eradicated in modernisation schemes designed to make those old narrow streets more amenable to modern-day traffic requirements. An old Yorkshireman once said: “All Finkle Streets are like dogs’ hind legs.” This is, or was, a very apt description.

The origin of the name appears to rest with our Nordic ancestors. The Danish language, along with the Old Norse tongue, contained words such as finkle or vincle which implied a corner, bend or angle, particularly one in a narrow, winding street. The word can also mean crooked as in bent, or a short winding street.

Interestingly, the Danes used a type of wheeled market stall from which they would sell almost anything from fish to fruit and clothing, and this was known as a vincle. Similarly, the Dutch word for a shop is winkle, pronounced vinkle, and I believe that the Thirsk Finkle Street was once known as Vinkle Street, but cannot place a date upon that alternative.

In this region, there are other indications of this word, albeit in differing forms. North of Durham there are the peaceful remains of Finchale Priory which appropriately stands near a stretch of the River Wear where it is known for its sharp bends. Locally, the name is pronounced Finkle Priory and we can only speculate that it was named after the bends in the river.

Finchale Priory dates to the 12th century when St Godric established a hermitage on this peaceful site, although foundation of the actual Benedictine priory did not follow until later in 1196.

Construction continued throughout the 13th century although it was never a large establishment. It housed only 15 monks and later served as a rest home for monks and priests who had retired from Durham Cathedral. It fell victim to the Reformation and is now a silent reminder of former days.

Another associated place name is in North Yorkshire’s Wensleydale between Bedale and Leyburn. This is the village of Finghall, sometimes pronounced Fingle.

This has enjoyed a variety of names since the 11th century, including Finegall, Fingala, Fynkall and Fynghall.

There is a suggestion that the name derives from the personal name of Finn or Fin, perhaps with Irish connections, and one source indicates it was called Finhalh which suggested it was the family nook or corner of Finn’s people.

As a final reference, I return to Finkle Street in Thirsk.

There is an ancient tale that one of the old houses in this Finkle Street was haunted by a ghost known as Peg Pennyworth. It is difficult to know why this supposed ghost is linked with Thirsk because ancient lore suggests she was a real person who lived in Skelton Castle near Saltburn-by-the-Sea.

She was known to be miserly in the extreme and bought all her food and other necessities a pennyworth at a time. She would never spend more than one penny at a time.

It does not sound as if she was the lady of the house at Skelton Castle or a ghost in Thirsk. In fact, the old castle at Skelton, which dated to the 12th century, was pulled down in 1788 to be replaced by a splendid new house that is still known as Skelton Castle. A former owner was John Hall Stephenson, who appears to have been rather eccentric, so much so that the Coxwold author, Laurence Sterne, with whom he was friendly, used him as the inspiration for Eugenius in his two novels, Tristram Shandy and Sentimental Journey.

But the real role played by Peg Pennyworth in Finkle Street remains a mystery.

SITTING in our conservatory on a summer evening, we are regularly entertained by both swifts and bats, each being superb aerial artistes. They speed around us in death-defying movements, and at times we can hear the swish of the swift’s wings as they pass by with astonishing speed. It’s almost as if they might collide with the surrounding buildings when flying low, but they always manage to avoid such disasters.

Swifts, one of the noisiest of birds when on the wing, seldom if ever stop flying. They are even said to sleep on the wing, snatching moments of sleep whilst airborne. They eat on the wing, gather their nesting materials in flight and even mate in the air.

The only time they cease flying is when they are on the nest. Quite literally, they spend a lifetime in the skies.

By comparison, bats are silent although you might hear them squeaking as they flitter around the skies.

If they lack the speed of the swifts, they more than compensate for that minor deficiency because they are blind. This makes their flight even more amazing than the swifts’, and as we watch they appear to be fluttering like butterflies but in fact they are chasing and catching insects despite their lack of vision.

To achieve that degree of skill is astonishing. They rely on an elaborate and highly sensitive echo-location system which has been likened to the radar used by our military services, but the speed and intricacy of their manoeuvres means their senses are ultra-alert.

With around a dozen species in this country, it is difficult to identify the bats that fly around at night, but most are likely to be pipistrelles.

These are the most common of our resident bats and they seem to prefer the proximity of buildings. They are also our smallest bat and it is during June they will be producing their youngsters.

We wish them well.