Re: About the same time that ...
Devil's Dike can be found on the moors of Derbyshire. But it's more of a ditch. And ditch has the same etymology as dike, which has the same origins in low Netherlandish languages as the Dutch word dijk.... Amazing how 30 seconds research can help in a web debate. And prevent ranty stuff about malign foreign influences ruining what's "ours", however ironic.
Also just discovered that the 19th century American kids book that the story comes from has a happy ending where the boy's father has a hole drilled in his head. (search for Hans Brinker if you don't believe me).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
