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

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Bonedd y Saint. Its proximity to the river Irvon, where, in times of yore, there was a ford, which is nowspanned by a stone bridge, induces us to think the right wording is Llan-wrth-y-rhyd t the church by the ford.A place in Herefordshire is called Byford from the situation of the church by a ford. The ancient name of thevillage was Pontrkydybere, which is a compound of pont, bridge; rkyd, ford; y, the; fferau, ankles; signifying abridge spanning a ford which one could wade without going over his ankles. Irfon, or Irfawn, signifies theoozings from the turbary, which is very descriptive of the river. English name — Churchford.Llanywern. — Gwern means a bog or swamp; gwernen, the alder tree; the alder grows in wet swampyplaces. The name signifies the church in the swamp or alderwood. English name — Alderchurch.Llechfaen. — The ancient etymology of this name means the " upright or lofty stone." There was a chapel ofease here sometime to the mother church of Llanatnlech. English name — Stoneham.Llechryd. — From a farm of the name, but it is now called Rhymney Bridge from the railway station. ForRhymney, see Monmouthshire.Llwynegrog. — The right wording is Llwyn-y-grog, which means the bush of the cross. English name —Bushcross.Llyswen. — The name signifies a white court. A Welsh prince resided in the parish at some period, andprobably held a court here ; hence the name. Some think it is Llys Owen, Owen's court ; but who this Owenwas we are not informed. English name — Whitecourt.Llywel. — Sometimes spelt Lliwel, which, according to some is a mutation of Llu-lle, the residence of thearmy, in allusion to the soldiers of Rhys ab Tewdwr making this place one of their stations to resist theattacks of the Norman invaders. It is derived by some from Lie Wyllt y a nephew of Rhys ab Tewdwr. Weoffer the following: Lly, what is manifest; wel-gwel, see; signifying a conspicuous place. Trecastell mountainis 2,596 feet high. English name — Highton.Maesygwarthaf. — Maes, a field; gwarthaf, the upper part, the summit. The village lies in the upper part ofthe parish; hence its descriptive name. Some of the inhabitants think the name is a corruption ofMaesygwartheg, cattle field. English name — Highfield.Maesymynys. — Ym,yn, in; ynys, island; therefore, it literally means a field in the island. This derivation issupported by the fact that Llanynys is the name of the contiguous parish. English name — Plotfield.Merthyr Cynog. — Merthyr, martyr; Cynog, the eldest son of Brychan. He was murdered by the Saxonpagans on a mountain called Y Fan, where a church was built on his grave in commemoration of hismartyrdom, which was called Merthyr Cynog. English name — Cynogton.Nantgaen. — A compound of nant, a brook, and waen, a meadow, a common. English name — Brookmoor.Nantyffin. — The name signifies the boundary brook. The bounds of a parish or county are frequentlydefined by certain marks or boundaries, such as heaps of stones, dikes, hedges, ditches, rivers, streams,rivulets, &c. English name — Markbrook.Nantyrarian. — It signifies the silver brook. English name — Silverbrook.Newchurch. — The ancient name of this church was Llan-ddulas-tir-yr-Abbad. It was presented by Rhys abGruffydd to the monastery of Strata Florida, on account of which it was called Tir-yr-Abbad, abbot's land. In1716 a new church was built here; hence the new name.Onllwyn. — This appears like a transposition of Llwyn On, the ash grove. English Name — Ashton.Pantycelyn. — Pant, a hollow, a low place; celyn, holly wood. English name — Hollyton.Patrishow. — The name is a corruption, either of Parthau yr Ishow, the territory of I show, the patron saint ofthe parish, or of Merthyr Ishow. It appears that Bishop Herewald, in the eleventh century, dedicated thechurch to Ishow, and named it Merthyr Yssui. English name — Ishow.Pencelli. — This is a compound of pen, head, and celli, grove. English name — Grovetop.Origin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 23
Penderyn. — A corruption probably of Penydaren, which is a very frequent term in South Wales, signifying arocky cliff, a rocky tump. The church is situated on the very summit of a rock. Pen-mailard is close by, whichis a corruption of Pen-moel-arth, the summit of the bare cliff. English name — Cliff by.Pentrefelin. — Pentre, village; felin, mill. English name — Millham.Pentre Solers. — From the Solers or de Solariis, Norman conquerors, who settled in the neighbourhood,and continued to be very wealthy and influential here until the middle of the seventeenth century. Anotherbranch of the house of Solers settled at Pauntley and Shipton Solers, in Gloucestershire. English name—Solerston.Pontbrenllwyd. — Pont, bridge; pren, wood; Uwydy grey, adorable. In olden times a very ancient oak-treewas thrown across the rivulet in the place, which was a very good specimen of the unadorned woodenbridges of our forefathers. In course of time this old much-worn oak became a kind of a trough, for which itwas called Pontbrenllwyd. English name— Woodbridge.Pontneddfechan. — Nedd fechan, the lesser Neath, is a tributary emptying itself into the greater Neathriver, and spanned by a bridge in the village, hence the name. English name — Neath Bridge.Pontsarn. — Sam, Roman paved road. The common opinion is that the Romans constructed a road fromMerthyr Tydfil over the site of the present Cyfarthfa Park to the place now called Pontsarn. English name —Bridge-road.Pontsenny. — The name signifies a bridge across the Senny river. Senny is derived by some from san, afishery, nets; and gwy, water; signifying a river abounding in fishes. Mr. Jones (" History of Brecknock ")derives it from the Celtic seanaidd, to drop or ooze forth, the name, accordingly, signifying the oozing orflowing water. It might be a corruption of swn-wy, the noisy water. English name — Dinwater Bridge.Pontsticyll. — A compound of pont, bridge; and ystigl, a stile, from the Anglo-Saxon stigel, a step. Stigan, toascend. About the beginning of this century there was an old bridge, a little below the village, with a stile ateach end of it, from which the place received its name. English name — Bridgestile.Princetown. — From an old public house in the place called " Prince of Wales."Pwllgwrach. — Pwll, a pool; gwrach, a hag; literally, the hag's pool. The village lies in a deep valley at thebase of Talgarth Hill. English name — Hag's Pool.Rhosferrig. — Rhos, moor, meadow; Ferrig from Ferreg, an extensive district situate between the riversWye and Severn. The suffix is probably a corruption of Meurig. English name — Moorton.Seven Sisters. — Mr. Bevan, when he opened his colliery in the place, called it Seven Sisters in honour ofhis seven daughters.Tafarnau Bach. — The ancient name of this place was Twyn-aber-dwynant, a hillock where two brooksembrace each other. Some derive the present name from tafarn a bach, a public house with a hook attachedto the outer wall, whereto the rider, having dismounted his steed, could fasten it. Others derive it from thegreat number of small taverns in the place. English name — Tavernton.Talachddu. — Achddu is the name of a small brook. Ach, a stem, a pedigree, a river; ddu, inflection of du,black. We find ach in Clydach, Mawddach, &c. The river Ach has its source in the Black Mountain; hence it iscalled Achddu. English name- Blackbrook.Talgarth. — Garth mear denotes the end or head of hill. English name — BrowhTalybont. — Tal, when applied to bont means end; but when applied to Taliesin means radiant front c ???and means Bridgend.Talyllyn. — Llyn, lake. The name signifies the end of a lake. Safaddan Lake is close by. English name —Lake's End.Origin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 24
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 and 14: Llwyn in its primary' sense means a
Page 15 and 16: PLACE-NAMES IN WALES.Wales. — The
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: Cam cnwir ef Cwmdu,Cwm gwyn yw & n
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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