Chevy Chase

I've occasionally wondered how it happened that there is a town, Chevy Chase, MD, with the same name as the comedian. But never remembered to look it up.

So then today I was writing an address for someone who lives on a Chevy Chase Lane, and figured I'd check Wikipedia.

Turns our both the town and the comedian are named after the Ballad of Chevy Chase:

The ballads tell the story of a large hunting party upon a parcel of hunting land (or chase) in the Cheviot Hills, hence the term, Chevy Chase. The hunt is led by Percy, the English Earl of Northumberland. The Scottish Earl of Douglas had forbidden this hunt and interpreted it as an invasion of Scotland. In response he attacked, causing a bloody battle after which only 110 people survived. Both ballads were collected in Thomas Percy's Reliques and the first of the ballads inFrancis James Child's Child Ballads.

So now I know. Thanks, Wikipedia!