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

C0mp0uu& Barnes. 261
valds-vagr), ' Reginald's bay.' [Stornoway, Heb-
rides ; Scalloway, Shetlands.]
Va^ (N), 'a wading-place, a ford;' as in Santvvat
(Sand-va^), ' Sandford,' near Jurby Point, the scene
of an internecine struggle between the Manx in
A.D. 1098. It should be noted that in the Chronkon
MannicE, Ronald sway (see above) appears in the
forms Ragnaldswath, Rogxalwath and Ronald-
WATH, so that it may possibly be derived from va"^.
[Holta-vaS, Iceland.] Compare English wade.
Vik (F), 'a small creek, inlet, bay,' as in Garwick
(Geir-vik), 'Spear Creek,' is very common in the
Isle of Man, which shows how frequent the visits
of the Vtkingr, or Creekmen, must have been
to its shores. In Islay vik is corrupted into aig
and ag, and agg is found in the Shetlands ; so it is
possible that the same corruption may appear in
Shellag, ' Shell Creek,' on the east side of the
Point of Ayre.
Vollr (M), 'a field ;' found only in the compound term
TiNWALD or Tynwald {fing-vollr), which was ex-
plained as follows by the late Dr. Vigfusson :*
' In the Isle of Man, as in any ancient Norse
Moot-place, three things are to be noticed : a plain
[voll], whereon there were to be found the hillock,
brink or mound, and the court. The court is due
west of the hill. The procession on the 24th of
June [5th July, N.S.] proceeds from the court to
the mound. The king, seated on the hill, had to
turn his " visage unto the east." The Manx Tin-
* Manx Note Book. vol. xii., p. 174.