handbook of the origin of place-names in wales and monmouthshire

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Rhos means a moor. Some think the Latin rus is a cognate word, signifying undrained moorland. The Cymricrhos is frequently confused with the Gaelic ros, which signifies a promontory. Ross, the name of a town inHerefordshire, is probably a corruption of the former.Rhyd in its primary sense means a ford, but its secondary meaning - a stream, is frequently given to it. Rhyderwinmeans the rough, dangerous ford, whereas Rhydfelin designates a stream of water that turns a mill.Sakn is the Welsh for the old Roman paved road, and wherever it occurs one may almost certainly findtraces of a Roman road. Unlike almost every other road the Roman strata was distinguished for itsstraightness. It ran from fortress to fortress, as straight as an arrow course, in order to facilitatecommunications between those who were stationed in the chief strategic positions of Britain. It was generallyabout 15 feet wide, the sides being fenced by huge stones, and the middle well paved. Remains of it are stilldiscernible in many parts of the Principality, such as the neighbourhood of Caersws, Montgomery; Gaer,Brecon; Neath, Glamorgan; and many other places.Tal when applied to places means end, but when applied to persons it denotes front. Taliesin means radiantfront or luminous head, but Talybont signifies the end of the bridge. From this comes the English tall.Ton originally meant a piece of unploughed or uncultivated land, perhaps from twn, which implies a piece ofland taken for the purpose of cultivation. It is used in Glamorgan to denote a green. sward.Tref was the primitive Welsh appellative for a homestead, a dwelling-house. Myned tua thref going home, isstill a common expression in South Wales. In course of time the term was extended to indicate a group ofhomesteads. Having built a house for himself the lord would proceed to build dwellings for his people and hiscattle, and these formed what was called tref. The word gradually became to be applied to an aggregate ofhouses, hence the reason why it is used so frequently in village as well as in town-names.The root is widely distributed over Britain and Europe. The Norse by, the Danish thorpe, the German dorf,and the English ham and ton may be considered as its equivalents. It is spelt treu in Domesday Book, hencewe have Treuddyn for Treddyn.- Hendref forms the names of many old mansions, and is synonymous with the English Aldham and Oldham.Hydref (October) was the harvest season - the time to gather the produce of the fields to the barns, andleave the hafod, summer-house, to spend the winter months in the hendref, the older establishment. Theoriginal meaning of cantref (canton or hundred) is supposed to have been a hundred homesteads.Troed is the Welsh for foot, base. The Irish traig signifies the same, both of which, Professor Rhys thinks, areof the same origin as the Greek trecho, " I run." The English tread means to set the foot. The word isfrequently applied to places situated at the foot of a mountain. The Welsh Troedyrhiw and the Italian pie dimonte are almost synonymous terms.Ty generally means a house, a dwelling-place, but in Welsh nomenclature it is occasionally used to denote achurch or place of worship, as. Ty Ddewi, St. David's. The house of God is considered by many as equivalentto the church of God. Ty has an inferior meaning to bod ; the latter was the residence of a superior, and theformer is of a later date, signifying an ordinary house, a cottage.WrY — Gwy is an obsolete Celtic word for water, mostly used as a suffix in river-names, as Elwy, Tawy; andsometimes "as a prefix, as gwyach, a water- fowl; gwylan, sea-gull; gwydd, goose. Gwysg is related to it,which means a tendency to a level, as of a fluid or stream. We find the root in various forms, as Wysg task,uisge, usk, esh, ex, is-ca, &c.Ynys anciently signified, a quasi-island in the marshes, answering to inch in Scotland, Inch Keith; and inis orennis is Ireland, Ennis Killen, Ennis Corthy, Inniskea, &c„ The word is applied to some places with no river orwater near them, nor anything suggesting the probability that they had, in remote times, been islands.Ystrad is a general term for a low or flat valley through which a river flows. The Latin strata, the Scotchstrath, and the English street are supposed to be of the same origin. The term ystrad was used sometimes todenote a paved road.Origin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 11
PLACE-NAMES IN WALES.Wales. — The real and correct name is Cymru, or as the late Mr. T. Stephens invariably spelt it, Kymru, fromcym-bro, the compatriot, the native of the country, in contradistinction to ail-fro, the foreign invader who cameto dispossess him of his native land.Professor Sylvan Evans derives it from cyd, the d being changed to m for assimilation with the following b ;and bro, a vale, a country. Some think it is a compound of cyn, first, prior ; and bru, matrix, hence implyingPrimitive Mother, an expression signifying that the aboriginal Brythons, to sustain their inalienable claim tothe country, considered themselves as descended from the direct offspring of their native soil. According tosome the name is synonymous with the Cimmerrii and Gomari.A few derive the name from Camber, the son of Brutus, whilst others insist upon a remoter origin, and trace itback to Gomer, the eldest son of Japhet. In the laws of Hywel Dda the name is spelt Cybru, and in G. apArthur's Chronicle the names Kymry and Kymraec are respectively given to the nation and the language.Mr. Stephens derives Kymry from Homer's Kim meroi and Germania's Cimbri. These people gave their nameto Cumberland, and subsequently they settled in their present country, and called themselves Kymry orCymry, and the country Cymru.Professor Rhys thinks the ties of union between the Brythons of Upper Britain proved so strong and closethat the word Kymry, which meant merely fellow-countrymen, acquired the force and charm of a nationalname, which it still retains among the natives of the Principality. It is also popularly called Gwalia, of whichWales is a Saxonized form.Very many favour the German derivation wal, foreign; wallet, foreigner. The general name given by theTeutonic races to their neighbours is Walsch, foreigners or strangers. " The word Dutch is an adjectivesignifying national, and was the name by which the old Teutons called themselves in contradistinction toother people, whose language they were unable to understand. They styled themselves the (intelligible)people, but called others, as the Romans, and the Kelts in Britain, Walsch and Welsh.** (Morris* Hist.Gram.).Walsch-land is the German name of Italy, and Weal-land is the name given by the Saxon Chronicle toBrittany. Cornwales was the original form of Cornwall which signifies the country inhabited by the Welsh ofthe Horn. Some derive the name from Gal, the ancient Gal, whilst others give the preference to gal, an open,cultivated Country. " Le Prince de Galles " is the name given to the Prince of Wales in France. The people ofGalatia in the time of St. Paul possessed some characteristic features of the Celtic race. Mr. Jacob Grimtraces the name back to Galli (Gaules, Fr.), which was taken by the Germans from the neighbouring Gauls. Itis generally supposed that when the Saxons settled among the Britannic Loegrians (the Kymry of England)they called them Vealls, Weala, or Weal has, from which the name Wales probably originated.Cambria. — Some derive it from Camber of fabulous record, but we rather think it is a distorted Latinizedform of Kymry.We shall now proceed to deal with the names of the ancient territories of Wales, namely, Gwynedd, Powys,Dyfed, and Gwent.Gwynedd, or Venedocia. — This territory comprised the counties of Anglesey, Carnarfon, and Denbigh, orGwynedd is Gonwy, Venedocia below Conway, and Gwynedd uch Gonwy, Venedocia above Conway. It wassometimes applied to all North Wales. The root of the word evidently is Celtic, gwy, water; nedd, a dingle, aresting place, an abode. The Welsh for a dwelling is an-nedd.Professor Rhys thinks " the word Veneti is most likely of the same origin as the Anglo-Saxon wine, a friend,and meant allies; the Irish fine, a tribe or sect, is most likely related, and so may be the Welsh Gwytudd. TheVeneti have left their name to the part of Brittany called by the Bretons Guened, Vannes, and it is this nameprobably that laid the foundation for the tales which trace an army of Kymry from Gwynedd to Guened."(Celtic Britain, p. 307.)Powys. — This included the counties of Meirioneth, Flint, and Montgomery. The word, according to Dr.Pughe, means a state of rest. Pwyso means to lean; gorphwyso, to rest. It is said that Ceridwen placedOrigin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 12
Page 1 and 2: HANDBOOK OF THE ORIGIN OF PLACE-NAM
Page 3 and 4: § § § § §The Author begs to st
Page 5 and 6: pitiful cries of the railway offici
Page 7 and 8: Bishop Percy says that "in England,
Page 9 and 10: The city of Chester is still popula
Page 11 and 12: There's Cumwhitton, Cumwhinton, Cum
Page 13: Llwyn in its primary' sense means a
Page 17 and 18: Church are generally dedicated to e
Page 19 and 20: think he was a contemporary of St.
Page 21 and 22: Rhosbeirio. — Rhos, a moor, a dry
Page 23 and 24: of Brecknock," states that this vic
Page 25 and 26: Cam cnwir ef Cwmdu,Cwm gwyn yw & n
Page 27 and 28: Penderyn. — A corruption probably
Page 29 and 30: Ardudwy. — Ar, upon or above; tud
Page 31 and 32: to mark its pre-eminence over the o
Page 33 and 34: Some think that eirw is a corruptio
Page 35 and 36: present form — Caerfyrddin.Abergw
Page 37 and 38: place of refuge; hence the name. En
Page 39 and 40: Llansawyl. — The church was dedic
Page 41 and 42: eject. The village took its name fr
Page 43 and 44: house, and attempted to kill an inf
Page 45 and 46: Gwydir. — Prima facie one may tak
Page 47 and 48: Nefyn. — The church was probably
Page 49 and 50: DENBIGHSHIRE.Anglicized form of Din
Page 51 and 52: Llangollen. — From Collen, a sain
Page 53 and 54: hands into their pockets to pay a c
Page 55 and 56: Cefn. — The name signifies a ridg
Page 57 and 58: Maesgarmon. — Named in honour of
Page 59 and 60: Abertridwr. — Tridwr, three water
Page 61 and 62: it is said, was originally built by
Page 63 and 64: Cwmllynfell. — Cwm, a narrow vale
Page 65 and 66:
Gwarycaeau. — Gwdr, the nape of t
Page 67 and 68:
means a cultivated region, a vale,
Page 69 and 70:
Penrhiwfer.- Pen, head, top; rhiw,
Page 71 and 72:
Port Talbot. — So called in 1835
Page 73 and 74:
Trealaw. — This appellation was g
Page 75 and 76:
Aberdyfi. — So called from its si
Page 77 and 78:
Llanddwywe. — From Dwywau, a desc
Page 79 and 80:
Crickhowell and some in the directi
Page 81 and 82:
Griffithstown. — This village was
Page 83 and 84:
and gwy, water. Treiddiod troth tna
Page 85 and 86:
derive Tintern from din, fortified
Page 87 and 88:
Caersws. — It appears that the Ro
Page 89 and 90:
English name — Ervylton.Llanymech
Page 91 and 92:
Angle. — Probably from the angle-
Page 93 and 94:
Gellyswick. — Another hybrid. Gel
Page 95 and 96:
that the two rivers in their flowin
Page 97 and 98:
ecame the bishop of the see, and wa
Page 99 and 100:
earth formerly stood on a summit on
Page 101 and 102:
Pilleth. — A corruption of pwll,
Page 103 and 104:
Howells, Rev. J., Mountain AshHowel
Page 105 and 106:
Williams, D., PenywernWilliams, Rev
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