Place Names and Customs
Devon's place names include many with the endings "coombe/combe" and "tor" – both 'coombe' ("valley" or hollow cf. Welsh cwm) valley or hollow and 'tor' (Old Welsh twrr and Scots Gaelic tòrr from Latin turris ; 'tower') used for granite formations, particularly found on Dartmoor, are rare Celtic loan-words in English and their frequency is greatest in Devon, where they are very common place name components. Ruined medieval settlements of Dartmoor longhouses indicate that dispersed rural settlement (OE tun, now often -ton) was very similar to that found in Cornish 'tre-' settlements, however these are generally described with the local placename -(a)cott, from the OE for homestead, cf. cottage.
Devon has a variety of festivals and traditional practices, including the traditional orchard-visiting Wassail in Whimple every 17 January and the carrying of flaming tar barrels in Ottery St. Mary, where people who have lived in Ottery for long enough are called upon to celebrate Bonfire Night by running through the village (and the gathered crowds) with flaming barrels of tar on their backs. Berry Pomeroy still celebrates "Queen's Day" for Elizabeth I.
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