The River Coquet has a remarkably long history, with its earliest recorded mention appearing in the 7th-century Ravenna Cosmography as "Coccuveda", while the Anglo-Saxon monk Bede referred to it as "Cocuedi" in his writings. The spelling "Coket" dominated in late medieval documents, likely influenced by French-trained scribes, before the more French-looking "Coquet" emerged as the standard modern spelling despite its distinctly northern pronunciation. A river running through NorthumberlandThe Coquet rises in the Cheviot Hills near the Scottish border and winds around 40 miles across Northumberland before reaching the North Sea at Amble. Not the only tricky Northumberland nameThe River Coquet joins a long list of Northumberland place names that regularly catch out newcomers, alongside Cambois ("Cam-iss"), Alnwick ("An-ick"), and Prudhoe ("Prudder"), all of which diverge from how they're spelled. Getting the Coquet's pronunciation right is a small but useful piece of local knowledge for anyone exploring Coquetdale or the Northumberland coast.