back

Red kite - OE glida, gleoda, cyta

As with other raptor species, the early names for kite were probably interchangeable with other species too in some circumstances or places, so it’s hard to know for sure which names definitely refer to kite, but we do know because of early glossary entries that Milvus milvus was definitely known as glida (cyta, from which we get modern ‘kite’, is not applied to Milvus milvus, but frequently to buteo, buzzard; see also the page for buzzard on this website). The use of the names in written sources, these being formal and literary, does not mean that they were not used differently in vernacular settings, however.

The ‘glider’, famously, was nearly pushed to extinction in Britain and Ireland in the 20th century by egg collecting and persecution, and has only become a (relatively) common bird again in the decades of the 21st century through reintroduction. It is one of the joys of seeing this bird in many counties now that we are able to experience them more as our ancient ancestors would have done, which it would be very nice to say of other species we’ve pushed to the brink as well, such as turtle dove and corncrake.

Gleadless Valley (Yorks)

Gleadsmoss (Ches)

Gleadthorpe (Notts)

Gledholt (Yorks)

Gledhow (Yorks)

Gledwish (E Ssx)

Kidbrooke (London)

Kidbrooke, (lost, E Sussex)

Kithurst Hill (W Ssx)

Kitley (Dev)

Kitnor (now Culbone, Som)

Kitwood (Hants)

Kites (or buzzards) appear in charters relating to the following places: Isle Abbots, Som (10th cen.), North Stoneham, Hants (10th cen.), Thames Ditton, Sy (10th cen.), Welford, Berks (10th cen.), Whitchurch Canonicorum, Dor (10th cen.), Wytham, Oxon (11th cen.).

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

Back to search page