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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Rhiw. — The name means a slope, which is in correspondence with the physical aspect of the village, beingsituated on a rising eminence. English name — Slope.Rhiwaedog. — Rhiw, slope, brow of a hill; gwaedog, bloody; signifying the bloody brow. The place is notedfor a battle fought between Llywarch Hen and the Saxons, in which Cynddelw, his last son, felL Englishname — Bloodbrow.Roewen. — Probably a corruption of yr wy wen, the white river. A place called Gorswen is contiguous to it.English name — Whiteriver.Rhydgoch. — The name signifies the red ford. English name — Redford.Rhydclafdy. — Rhyd, a ford; clafdy, hospital; signifying a ford near the hospital. Several names in thisneighbourhood point to the probability that it was once a scene of war. English name — Sickford.Rhosfawr. — Rhos, a moor; fawr-mawr, great. English name — Bigmoor.Rhoslan. — Rhos, a moor; lan-llan, a sacred inclosure, a church. English name — Churchmoor.Rhostryfan. — Rhos, a moor; try fan, high place. The village is situated on a high elevated place. Englishname — Highmoor.Sarn. — The name generally means a road. Six roads meet at a certain point in the village; hence the name.English name — Roadham.Trefor. — A compound of tref, place, town, and fawr, large, great. English name— Bigton.Ty'nlon. — Ty, a house; yn, in; y f the; lan, a Northwalian word for a narrow road. The name signifies ahouse in or near the road, and the village probably derived it from a farm-house of the name. English name— WayhamTalsarn. — Tal, end; sarn, road; the name signifies the end of the Roman road. Sarny Cyfiawn, the highwayof the righteous Sarn Helen occurs frequently in Welsh history. Helen was a Welsh princess, the daughter ofEuddaf, that is, Octavius, a Cambrian prince, and the wife of Maesen Wledig, or Maximus, the emperor. SarnHelen is an old Roman road, so called by the emperor in honour of his wife. English name — Roadsend.Tydwaeliog. — Some are of opinion that the church was originally dedicated to Tydwal, a Welsh saint.English name — Tydwal.Tremadog. — The derivation of Portmadoc is almost equally applicable to this name. The only difference liesin the prefix. Tre means an abode, a town. English name — Maddock's Town.Talycafn. – Tal, front, end; y, the; cafn, a tray or trough; signifying the head or end of the trough. The namefaithfully represents this isolated and encircled spot of the parish. English name — Troughend.Trefriw. — Tref, a place, a town; rkiw, a slope, a brow of a hill. This pretty little village is situated on a smalleminence, commanding an extensive view of the beautiful Vale of Llanrwst. English name — Hillton.Waenfawr. — Waen or Waun, a meadow, a common; fawr-uiawr, great; the great meadow. The site of thepresent straggling village was once a large meadow, covering one square mile, where the neighbouringfarmers were wont to turn their cattle in the summer to graze, and quench their thirst in the river Gwyrfai.English name— Great Meadow.Ynys Enlli. — The name signifies an island in the sea. The English called it Bardsey Island, the isle of thebards. It is said that the bards resorted there, preferring solitude to the intrusion of foreign invaders. Englishname — Sealand.Origin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 45
DENBIGHSHIRE.Anglicized form of Dinbych, which is variously derived. Dimbach, according to some, is the right etymon,which means " no hook," in allusion to the time when fishing hooks were obtainable in the place. Dimbeck,no sin, is another attempt. Very many favour the mythological derivation — Syr John y Bodie and theformidable bych. Having killed the bych, dragon, he shouted victoriously dim bych, no dragon. One writerderives it from din, a hill, and pych, the enveloped sin. Another suggests din, a hill, and buck, live stock,cattle, or kine. Is it not Dinbach ? Din, a hill ; bach, little or small. The last derivation is amply supported bythe geographical position of the place, being a small hill in comparison with the loftier eminences that towerabove it. The county derives its name from the town. English name — Hillock.Abergele. — This pleasant market town is so called from its situation near the mouth of the river Gele. Theriver, according to some, derives its name from gele, leech. A considerable number of leeches were seen atthe estuary in olden times. But we are inclined to think the word is a contraction of geleu, ooze, so calledfrom the very nature of the water. English name — Oozemouth.Bontnewydd. — A compound of pont, a bridge, and newydd, new. English name — Newbridge.Brymbo. — Brym is a corruption of bryn, hill. Bo, according to some, is an abbreviation of the word boda, thekite, which is supposed to have made this place a favourite place of refuge at times of peril. We rather thinkthe suffix to be a contraction of bwa , a bow. The name has special reference to a severe battle fought in thevicinity, when our forefathers used the bow as the chief weapon of war. English name — Bowhill.Brynkinallt. — A compound of bryn, a hill; cyn f prior; gallt, a woody slope. The name implies that amountain existed before the trees that grew on it. English name — Hillwood.Bodrhychwyn. — Bod, a dwelling; Rhychwyn, the name of the son of Ithel Hael, who is supposed to havetaken up his abode here. English name — Furrowton.Bwlchcynbryd. — Bwlck, a gap, breach, pass; Cynbryd, the name of a saint of the fifth century, supposed tohave been killed by the Saxons at the place which bears his name. English name — Model Pass.Bangor-Iscoed. — For the derivation of Bangor, see Carnarvonshire. The place is considered to be the siteof the most ancient and extensive monastery founded in Britain, which afterwards became a great centreplaceof learning. The differentia iscoed was evidently appended to distinguish it from Bangor,Carnarvonshire. English name — Underwood.Cefn Mawr. — The name signifies a high ridge, so called to distinguish it from Cembychan, which is in closeproximity. English name — Highridge.Cristionydd. — The name means a worshipper of Christ, a Christian. English name— Christianham.Chirk. — Probably from Ceiriog, its ancient name. The town is in close proximity to the river Ceiriog.Clog Caenog. — Clog, a detached rock; caenog, having a cover enclosed. Caenen, a covering. There aresome excellent quarries of stone in this mountainous district, and some parts of it abound with heaths.English name — Heathton.Ceryg-y-Drudion. — A corruption of Ctryg-y-Dewrion, the stones of the champions or warriors, so calledfrom a large heap of stones that stood, a century or two ago, near the church in memory of some celebratedwarriors. Some think drudion is a corruption of druydion, druids; hence the interpretation would be "stones ofthe Druids." English name— Warrior-stone.Derwen. — The name means an oak, so called, probably, from the abundance of oaks in the district. Englishname— Oakham.Dolwen. — Dol, a. meadow; wen, feminine form of gwyn, white. English name — White Meadow.Eglwys Bach. — Eglwys, church; Bach, the name of the son of Corwel, who took refuge in North Wales inthe seventh century, devoted himself to religious life, and founded a church on the banks of the Conwy;Origin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 46
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 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: Nefyn. — The church was probably
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
show all

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

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?