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

name — Springton.Blaenycwm. — So called from its situation at the extreme end of the Rhondda Valley. English name —Comb's-end.Bargod. — The full name is Pont-aber-Bargod, signifying the bridge near where the brook Bargod flows intothe river Rhymney. Bargod means a springing out. English name — Springham.Brithdir. — The village takes its name from Cefn Brithdir, the name of the mountain that towers above it.Brithdir means a land of medium quality. English name — Midland, or Minland.Baglan. — An abbreviation of Llanfaglan. The church was dedicated to Baglan, a Welsh saint of the sixthcentury.Blaenllechau. — From a farm of the same name. Another farm in the neighbourhood is called CefnlUchau*The lands of both were remarkable for Llechiau y stones. Some call the place Tre Rhondda, Rhondda townit is also called Ferndale. English name— Stoneby.Boverton. — A corruption of Boviutn, the name of a Roman station which stood near the road called JuliaStrata Maritana. There are extensive remains of Roman camps in the vicinity. In 1798 a considerable numberof Roman coins were discovered here.Briton Ferry. — In ancient MSS. the place is called Berton Ferry, and Brittane Ferry, the ferry where theBritons crossed the estuary of the Neath river. Llansawel, the Welsh name, is derived by some from llan-isawd,a church under the breeze. Others think it was dedicated to Sawyl.Barry. — Some think the place derives its name from Baruch, a disciple of Gilsach, who was buried here inthe year 700. Others think it is the Norse for bare island.Bridgend. — A translation of the Welsh Penybont. The full name is Penybont-ar-Ogwy, Bridgend-on-theOgmore.Birchgrove. — From a farm of the name, whereon the village is situated.Bishopston. — In olden times the manor belonged to the see of Llandaff, and, on account of that, the parishreceived its ecclesiastical name. The Welsh name is Llandeilo Ferwallt. The church is dedicated to BishopTeilo. Berwallt is a compound of berw, the water-cress, and gallt, a wooded declivity. In the " LiberLandavensis " it is called Lanberugall.Blackmill. — A semi-translation of the Welsh name, Melin Ifan Ddu. Ifan, Evan, was the owner of the mill,and he lived in a farm called Dai Ifan Ddu hence the name.Bryncethin. — Bryn, a hill; cethin, dark, terrible frightful. English name— Frighthill.Bonvilstone. — The Welsh name, Tresimwn, and the English name, Bonvilstone, were bestowed in honourof Simon Bonvile, the chief steward of Sir Robert Fitzhamon.Bryntroedgam. — Bryn, a hill; troed, foot; gam-cam, crooked, signifying a place at the crooked foot of a hill.English name — Crookhill.Butetown. — This isolated village, which is situated near Rhymney. received its name in honour of the lateMarquis of Bute.Cardiff. — An Anglicism of the Welsh name Caerdydd, or, more correctly, Caer Daf. Opinions differ as to theright wording of the postfix. Some derive the name from Caer Didius, the city of Didius {Aulus Didius), theRoman general, who -commanded in Britain from a.d. 53 to about 57. It is supposed that he built a fortresson the Taff, where, from its contiguity to the sea, he would have been much less exposed to the onsets of thewarlike Silures. As the Romans Latinized British names with increments, such as Casivellaunus fromCaswallon, so, on the contrary, the Britons rejected the final syllable of Latin names and words, as Iwl, fromJulius: Aleg, from Alectus; and here (a case in point) Dydd from Didius, whence Caer Dydd. Despite theplausibility of the above derivation, we rather think the right wording is Caer Daf, a fortress on the Taff, which,Origin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 57