Blair Collection > Surnames & place-names of the Isle of Man

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an example. The mountain now called South Barrule
was formerly called Wardfell, so that a portion of it is
still known by that name, modified into Warfield.
Thus the actual forms in use are Barrule and Warfield,
and these can be shown to be two forms of one and the
same Norse name Vor^fjall, meaning ' Beacon Fell.'
Such a name is connected with the institution of
' Watch and Ward,' which was constantly enjoined on
the inhabitants. From the statutes respecting this
duty one finds that each parish had its warden, who
was responsible for ' the dutifuU and carefull observance
of watch and ward,' and this went on till the year 1815.
The day-watch came to his post at sunrise, and the
night-watch at sunset ; the former is supposed to be
commemorated by the hill name Cronk-ny-arrcy-Lhaa,
believed to mean the ' Hill of the Watch by Day.'
Such were also, probably, the watch and ward held on the
mountain-tops called South Barrule and North Barrule.
But how, it will be asked, could such a word as
Vor'Sfjall become Barrule ? It went through a series
of changes, the chief of which were the following :
according to Goidelic tendency, the stress would be laid
on the first syllable with the effect of curtailing the
second, so that the name became approximately ' Varfl,'
Similarly Snjofjall, which is now called Snsefell, mean-
ing * Snow Mountain,' became, probably Snjofl ; and,
as Sartel is supposed to represent a Norse Svartfjall,
' Black Mountain,' here also a contraction to ' Sartfl '
probably happened. Then a further change took
place, resulting in 'f being represented in modern
Manx by u, as in lout, ' a loft,' in carroo, a carp,'
from Norse karf-i, and in Calloo, the islet called the