| February 13th 2009 (Friday)
The word 'toft' I always thought was an equivalent to the word
'croft'. In my mind the word
'croft' is usually accompanied by the name Sutherland, and the word 'toft'
is usually accompanied by the word hill-fort. The two words probably
are the same. One from the Gael and one from the Norse.
The Duchess of Sutherland replaced people with sheep, and I have always
thought 'croft' a word lonely from the sadness associated with that
unwanted exile. 'Toft' on the other hand suggests a more living
heritage. Something landed and still devolving through a family. |
'Crofts' and 'Tofts' are
what I think of as 'tribal words' and their American equivalent is
something like 'eighty acres and a mule'.
Like 'self-sufficient', the 'tribal words' have a
smugness to them.
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