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Blackbird - OE osle, throstle

Both these names were probably used for the blackbird as well as other thrushes under different circumstances. In the Old English glossaries, osle (from which we get ouzel) does translate merula, but so does throstle, which was certainly used of the blackbird in the later Middle Ages. We find Old English thrush terms variously translating Latin thrush terms, so it is difficult to be sure. See also the page for thrush on this site for other early thrush names and their associated place-names.

Note: asterisks at the end of names denote ambiguity about the meaning, the bird referent in the name being just one possible interpretation).

Ossett (Yorks)*

Owslebury (Hants)

Ozleworth (Glos)*

Blackbirds (or other thrush species going by the name of osle and throstle) appear in charters relating to the following places: Bleadon, Som (10th cen.), Oldberrow, Warks (8th cen.), Ullenhall ,Warks (10th cen., same site as that referenced in the Oldberrow charter).

Sources (see ‘About’ page for the full bibliography): Watts, Cambridge Dictionary; Ekwall, Oxford Dictionary; epns.nottingham.ac.uk; Gelling and Cole, Landscape of Place-Names; landscape.org.uk.

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