In the

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

of eastern United States, a vlaie, vly or fly is a

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

. It also applies to creeks and areas in the vicinities. The term appears in place names in areas of Dutch influence, formerly

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...

Etymology

The terms are from a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

al form of the

Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarch ...

word ' ("

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

", spelled ' in

Modern Dutch Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. ''Afrikaans'' i ...

). Unabridged : "from obsolete Dutch dialect (Hudson valley) ''vlei'', from Middle Dutch ''valeye''" However, the meaning shifted to "

" when used by

New Netherlander New Netherlanders were residents of New Netherland, the seventeenth-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the northeastern coast of North America, centered on the Hudson River and New York Bay, and in the Del ...

s. Variants such as ''vley'' and ''vlei'' are also found. The English spelling of ''vleigh'' is probably under influence of rhymes like ''sleigh'' and ''weigh''. The

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

word ' ("shallow lake") is a

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

, descended from the same Middle Dutch word. The ''

Vlie The Vlie or Vliestroom is the seaway between the Dutch islands of Vlieland, to its southwest, and Terschelling, to its northeast. The Vlie was the estuary of the river IJssel in medieval times. In 1666 the English Admiral Robert Holmes burnt a ...

'', a channel in

Frisia Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Ger ...

, may not be related, as it is likely from the Latin '' Flevo''.

Place names

Examples of names of swamps, streams, lakes, and mountains which contain ''vlaie'' or other variant spellings:

New York

; ''V'': *

Franklinton Vlaie Franklinton Vlaie or "The Vlaie" is a tributary of Catskill Creek in Broome, Schoharie County, New York in the United States. Vlaie In the Hudson Valley of eastern United States, a vlaie, vly or fly is a swamp or marsh. It also applies to cr ...

: a swamp in Schoharie County which feeds the

Catskill Creek Catskill Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed October 3, 2011 tributary of the Hudson River that drains the northeastern Catskill Mountains of the U.S. State of New ...

. * The Vlaie: the area surrounding the Franklington Vlaie. *

Vly Mountain Vly Mountain is a mountain located in the town of Halcott, New York, United States in Greene County. The mountain is part of the Catskill Mountains. Vly Mountain is flanked to the northwest by Bearpen Mountain, to the east by Vinegar Hill, to t ...

, one of the

Catskill High Peaks The Catskill High Peaks are all of the mountains in New York's Catskill Mountains above in elevation whose summits are separated either by ''or'' a vertical drop of at least between it and the next nearest separate summit. By usual standards, ...

, in Greene County. *Gayhead Vly: a swamp in Greene County near Leeds. *Great Vly: a swamp in Greene County which feeds the

Sawyer Kill The Sawyer Kill or Sawyer's Kill is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 tributary stream of the Hudson River in New York state. The source is at the Great Vl ...

. *Vly Creek: a stream in Delaware County. *Vly Creek: a stream in Albany County. *Vly Road: a road in Albany County. *Vleigh Place: a street in

Kew Gardens Hills Kew Gardens Hills is a neighborhood in the middle of the New York City borough of Queens. The borders are Flushing Meadows-Corona Park to the west, the Long Island Expressway to the north, Union Turnpike to the south, and Parsons Boulevard to t ...

in Queens County. *Vly Swamp: a swamp in Ulster County. *Consalus Vly: a swamp in Saratoga County. *Ireland Vly: previously a swamp in Saratoga County, now a reservoir. *Miner Mill Vly: a beaver flow in Saratoga County. *Burnt Vly: a swamp in Fulton County near Stratford. *Racker Vly: a beaver flow in Fulton County. *Fifteen typonyms for swamps in Hamilton County. ; ''F'' : *Fly Creek, Fly Summit, and Fly Swamp (also known as Vly Creek, Vly Summit, and Vly Swamp), Washington County. * Fly Creek: A creek in Otsego County, New York. *

Fly Market The Fly Market or Fly Market was an outdoor market located at the base of Maiden Lane, off the East River in Manhattan, New York City. The market ran from 1699 until the early 1800s, selling meat, country produce and fish under its covered roofs. ...

in New York City: may be the source of ''

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously-owned (second-hand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

''. *Fly Creek, Fly Pond, and Fly Brook in Broome County. *Fly Swamp, or Vly Swamp, or "The Vly": a swamp in Washington County. *The Fly: a swamp in Otsego County. *Rossman Fly: another name for Rossman Pond. Also Rossman Fly Road. *The Old Fly: a swamp in Washington County. *Shaw Fly: a swamp in Washington County.

New Jersey

*Bog and Vly Meadows: a swamp near Pompton Plains in

Pequannock Township Pequannock Township is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 15,420, reflecting an increase of 1,652 (+11.9%) from the 13,888 counted in the 2000 Census, whi ...

. *The town of

Tenafly Tenafly () is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the borough had a population of 15,409,Burnt Fly Bog: a swamp on the border of Middlesex and Monmouth Counties, New Jersey. *Polifly (meaning "top of the meadow/atop the swamp"), the name by which Hasbrouck Heights was known during the colonial period., Polifly Road is a major thoroughfare connecting Hackensack and Hasbrouck Heights.

Out of use

*Sacandaga Vlaie: marshland now flooded by the

Great Sacandaga Lake The Great Sacandaga Lake (formerly the Sacandaga Reservoir) is a large lake situated in the Adirondack Park in northern New York in the United States. The lake has a surface area of about at capacity, and the length is about . The word ''Sacandag ...

by the building of the

Conklingville Dam The Conklingville Dam, in Hadley, Saratoga County, New York, is an earthen dam which holds back the Great Sacandaga Lake (in the town of Day, New York). The dam, completed in 1930, is owned by the Hudson River–Black River Regulating District. ...

. *The Vlaie or "Great Marsh": south of Oneida Lake in

Madison County, New York Madison County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 68,016. Its county seat is Wampsville. The county is named after James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, and was fir ...

. Also known as

Canaseraga Lake Canaseraga is a village in Allegany County, New York, United States. The population was 550 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from a creek that flows past the village, which is reportedly a Seneca term for "lying among milkweeds" or " slip ...

and was more than fifteen thousand acres before it was drained by pioneers in the 1800s by the digging of the Douglass Ditch to

Lake Oneida Oneida Lake is the largest lake entirely within New York state, with a surface area of . The lake is located northeast of Syracuse and near the Great Lakes. It feeds the Oneida River, a tributary of the Oswego River, which flows into Lake Ontario ...

. *Head of the Fly: is the area in southern Flushing, Queens, New York, Historical Map Collection
1853 Map of Flushing
/ref> now known as Kew Gardens Hills. A road through the neighborhood, is still called Vleigh Place.

References

{{reflist New Netherland

Vlaie In the Hudson Valley of eastern United States, a vlaie, vly or fly is a swamp or marsh. It also applies to creeks and areas in the vicinities. The term appears in place names in areas of Dutch influence, formerly New Netherland. Etymology The ...