Talk:Dunstanburgh Castle

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Review: October 5, 2014. (Reviewed version).

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Nova / Novia Scotia[edit]

We've just flip-flopped between Nova Scotia and Novia Scotia for the name of the defunct settlement near the castle and it would be nice to nail it down.

The source for the sentence about NS (see what I did there?) is Middleton & Hardie 2009, p. 25, which is Middleton, Penny; Hardie, Caroline (2009). Historic Environment Survey for the National Trust Properties on the Northumberland Coast: Dunstanburgh and Embleton Bay, Report No: 0058/4-09. Barnard Castle, UK: Archaeo-Environment., which is - woo hoo! - here.

In that document, "Novia" gets about 6 outings and "Nova" gets about 18.

I find it particularly telling that on the page we reference (p. 25), Middleton & Hardie say Novia Scotia but as they do so they are referring to the Armstrong map of 1796. This is on the same page and clearly does NOT show this spelling, which I find damaging for its credibility here. In other places the authors switch, without comment and seemingly without noticing, from one to the other.

Is there more evidence somewhere to help us to a consensus? At the moment I lean towards Nova, despite the years for which it has been Novia, just because the Middleton & Hardie seems such a mess. But I would be very happy to see more evidence and discuss further. I'm going off now to try to read up more and would be very interested to see what others think.

Best wishes to all, DBaK (talk) 17:43, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

Update: The lovely EH Research Report (Oswald, Alastair; Ashbee, Jeremy; Porteous, Katrina; Huntley, Jacqui (2006). Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland: Archaeological, Architectural and Historical Investigations (PDF). London, UK: English Heritage. ISSN 1749-8775) has it about 10 times, all as Nova Scotia. Novia is absent from the document. DBaK (talk) 17:53, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

We could go for "Nova or Novia Scotia", recognising both variants? Hchc2009 (talk) 18:45, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

I'm honestly not sure. Is there any good evidence for Novia Scotia outside Middleton & Hardie? I had a bit of a look, but am rubbish at serious search, so it was not conclusive. I have also dropped a line to the company behind Middleton & Hardie, to ask if they can shed any light, but they'd have to be very very nice to bother with this - I think I'd probably tell me to get lost! :) DBaK (talk) 21:17, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

Ooh, a thought - I will try SANT and see if they have archival materials with both versions! Worth a go yesno? DBaK (talk) 21:19, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

Pastscape also use it... Given the age of the defunct settlement, the "novia" variant would make a certain degree of sense: it seems to be used as a variant of "nova" in older sources of around the same period. See [1] for example, [2], or [3]. Hchc2009 (talk) 21:38, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

Interesting - Pastscape actually do the same as Middleton & Hardie, using both without comment. I still find that difficult. Why would an author do this? The dictionary/gazetteer/whatever entries are very compelling, though - clearly we can at least accept that Novia has been used as a legit spelling in the past. This cheers me up, in that I now understand it wasn't just a recent invention by Middleton & Hardie or whoever! Meanwhile, I've had a go at SANT but I cannot get my head around search there. So actually, due to your diligent checking, I am leaning strongly towards your solution of simply having both - just treat them as straight alternatives. I like that! Cheers DBaK (talk) 22:28, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

Done! Hchc2009 (talk) 21:14, 7 March 2017 (UTC)

Lovely, thanks! Best wishes to all DBaK (talk) 23:20, 7 March 2017 (UTC)

Units[edit]

I was wanting to have a go (some time, no rush!) at sorting out units and convert templates and all that stuff here, a bit more consistently than it is at the moment. On a quick scan through for the flavour, it looks as it we mostly have imperial units first, then metric. This isn't without exception but is, I think, the broad picture. I have a slight personal preference for metric but I am unaware of anything that would force it that way, and I do value a peaceful quiet life. So I am quite tempted to just keep it all acres-first or, like, whatevs. What do you think? Best to all, DBaK (talk) 19:51, 13 June 2021 (UTC)

ANHDUC - WIKI 2

Friday, June 25, 2021