Area of origin
Scotland, NW England
Area of use
Scotland, NW England
A shallow place to ford a river or the sea.
The “Sandy Wath” in George MacDonald Frazer’s The Steel Bonnets which is the definitive history of the Border Reivers. Solway was originally Sulwathe possibly meaning in Old English muddy ford. King Edward I of England died on Burgh Marsh nr Carlisle in 1307 as he attempted to cross one of the waths (fords) across the Solway. There was the Sandy Wath and the Stoney Wath plus one other. [C.F.]
Etymology
Unknown
Example locations
- Sandy Wath/Bowness wath
Bowness, Solway - Longwath
Wigton, Cumbria
Entry contributors:
Chester Forster