What makes me spend hours following arcane links to track down something that niggles? The amazing sensation of succeeding in solving a mystery that others have let slide for centuries! Today I tracked down the place recorded in a settlement charter of William the Conqueror as "Ala Chocha"and a manor of William of Eu. There is no place with this name in any other English or Norman record. No English historian has ever located a place that matches the name, despite efforts.
After the conquest William d'Eu, Count of Eu, was made lord of the Honour of Hastings, which included the manors of Hastings and Bretda possessed of Fecamp Abbey and the greatest estuarine port in the southeast of England. The Brede Valley was then a huge fluvial port and the principal heavy cargo port between England and Normandy and known to the Normans as Hastinge port. The Udimore ridge from Sedlescombe to Rye is named after William of Eu.
Google is my friend. When I put Ala-Chocha into Google what I discovered is that chocha is Spanish slang for vagina. [Don't try this as you'll be offered a lot of links you probably don't want to follow.] Look at the map at the top of this page. It is a massive chocha! In classical styling, a long, narrow, estuarine port was often described as a vagina, and defending it was a matter of great honour and importance to the security of the realm. Chocha may have been used a thousand years ago without the sexual connotation, as vagina also meant a sheath or scabbard in medieval times.
This cannot be coincidence. William of Eu gave his manorial seat a name that literally means 'on the vagina' or 'on the estuarine port'. Ala Chocha may well correspond to the modern settlement of Udimore. St Mary's Church at Udimore was built by Fecamp Abbey, and there may have been a Roman or Norman signal beacon as on a fine day you can see Cape Griz Nez on the French coast opposite. The projecting ham strategically overlooked the entrance to the port near the mouth. It would have been a very important site when the port was at its height, with huge treasure, trade and immigration flowing between England and Normandy.
Tracing the etymology is a bit more fruitful. There is no entry for chocha in the glosbe.com Old French online dictionary and similarly no matches for Frankish or Norman when I search for those. MyEtymology suggests the Spanish chocha may be a cognate of the Latin word salsus, which would also match to the Brede Valley, recorded in Domesday as having extensive salt pans. Alternatively Ala Chocha may be a cognate of the Portuguese chucha, which would also fit as the port sucked in ships waiting at anchor at the mouth on the shingle of the ness during the tide's flood.
If the Normans picked up chocha from Iberian trade, and then realised its connotation was rather rude, that would explain why it is unique to this instance and did not persist as an English or Norman place name.
The Portuguese chucha is now equally rude in meaning vagina, slut or bitch, but its derivation is attributed to a different root.
The Carmen describes the Norman fleet navigating into a fluvial port three hours from the sea:
Whether Udimore or somewhere else, Ala Chocha almost certainly means 'at the port of Hastings' in the medieval Brede Valley, three hours above the sea-ford on the Channel where the Rye Camber met the sea.
William of Hastings, Count of Eu, would later rebel and be blinded, mutilated and executed in 1097. He was buried at Hastings Castle, the great coastal edifice built under his supervision.
After the conquest William d'Eu, Count of Eu, was made lord of the Honour of Hastings, which included the manors of Hastings and Bretda possessed of Fecamp Abbey and the greatest estuarine port in the southeast of England. The Brede Valley was then a huge fluvial port and the principal heavy cargo port between England and Normandy and known to the Normans as Hastinge port. The Udimore ridge from Sedlescombe to Rye is named after William of Eu.
Google is my friend. When I put Ala-Chocha into Google what I discovered is that chocha is Spanish slang for vagina. [Don't try this as you'll be offered a lot of links you probably don't want to follow.] Look at the map at the top of this page. It is a massive chocha! In classical styling, a long, narrow, estuarine port was often described as a vagina, and defending it was a matter of great honour and importance to the security of the realm. Chocha may have been used a thousand years ago without the sexual connotation, as vagina also meant a sheath or scabbard in medieval times.
This cannot be coincidence. William of Eu gave his manorial seat a name that literally means 'on the vagina' or 'on the estuarine port'. Ala Chocha may well correspond to the modern settlement of Udimore. St Mary's Church at Udimore was built by Fecamp Abbey, and there may have been a Roman or Norman signal beacon as on a fine day you can see Cape Griz Nez on the French coast opposite. The projecting ham strategically overlooked the entrance to the port near the mouth. It would have been a very important site when the port was at its height, with huge treasure, trade and immigration flowing between England and Normandy.
Tracing the etymology is a bit more fruitful. There is no entry for chocha in the glosbe.com Old French online dictionary and similarly no matches for Frankish or Norman when I search for those. MyEtymology suggests the Spanish chocha may be a cognate of the Latin word salsus, which would also match to the Brede Valley, recorded in Domesday as having extensive salt pans. Alternatively Ala Chocha may be a cognate of the Portuguese chucha, which would also fit as the port sucked in ships waiting at anchor at the mouth on the shingle of the ness during the tide's flood.
If the Normans picked up chocha from Iberian trade, and then realised its connotation was rather rude, that would explain why it is unique to this instance and did not persist as an English or Norman place name.
Etymology of the Spanish word chocha
The Portuguese chucha is now equally rude in meaning vagina, slut or bitch, but its derivation is attributed to a different root.
Etymology of the Portuguese word chucha
the Portuguese word chucha
The Carmen describes the Norman fleet navigating into a fluvial port three hours from the sea:
113. Sed veritus ne dampna tuis nox inferat atra•
But cautious lest dark night impose losses,
114. Ventus et adverso flamina turbet aquas•
And contrary wind and current disturb the sea,
115. Sistere curva jubes compellat ut anchora puppes•
You order the fleet to halt course, form up and drop anchor.
116. In medio pelagi litus adesse facis•
117. Ponere vela mones• exspectans mane futurum•
You caution to take in the sails, awaiting the morning to come,
118. Ut lassata nimis gens habeat requiem•
When the exhausted men will have had enough rest.
119. At postquam terris rutilans aurora refulsit•
But when the dawn had spread red over the land,
120. Et Phebus radios sparsit in orbe suos•
And the sun cast its rays over the horizon,
121. Praecipis ire viam committere carbasa ventis•
You order the sails set to the wind to make way
122. Praecipis ut solvat anchora fixa rates•
While the ships weigh anchor.
123. Tertia telluri supereminet hora diei•
The third hour of the day overspread the earth
124. Cum mare postponens littora tuta tenes•
Since leaving the sea behind when you seize a sheltered strand.
The Bayeux Tapestry illustrates the landing at the estuarine strand. Unlike Harold's landing in Normandy, there are no anchors. The boats are poled to shore, masts are lowered, oarports are opened, and horses are walked off without ramps onto firm strand. This is not a coastal port!
Whether Udimore or somewhere else, Ala Chocha almost certainly means 'at the port of Hastings' in the medieval Brede Valley, three hours above the sea-ford on the Channel where the Rye Camber met the sea.
William of Hastings, Count of Eu, would later rebel and be blinded, mutilated and executed in 1097. He was buried at Hastings Castle, the great coastal edifice built under his supervision.