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

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Rhigos. — It is spelt Regoes in ancient MSS. It may be a compound of grug, heath, and rhos, mountainmeadow. The physical aspect of the place suggests another derivation. Rhug, what has breaks or points;rhos, meadow; but we rather think it is a contraction of grugos, heath, heather; signifying a heathy place. Theplace is noted for its small batches of heath. English name — Heathham.Resolven. — Re, a corruption of rhiw, a slope, the brow of a hill; Solven, the name of the hill near which thevillage is situated. Solven may be a compound of siol, head, and maen a stone. Some think the name is acontraction of bre soften, which signifies the hill of stubble, but, viewing the physical aspect of the place, werather think it is a corruption of rhiw sylfan; rhiw, slope; sylfan, a place to gaze. English name — Hillview.Reynoldston. — So named in honour of Reginald de Breos, who was once the lord of the manor, and is saidto have been the founder of the church; Reginald, for the sake of euphony, being changed to Reynold.Rhondda. — In some old documents it is called Glyn Rhondda, Glyn Rhodneu, and by some English writersGlyn Rotheney, and Glyn Rothire. Some think Rhondda is a corruption of Yr Honddu; hoen, complexion, hue;ddu black. The valley received its name, probably, in 877, when Roderic the Great divided the Principalityinto three provinces, which were afterwards sub-divided into cantrevs and commots. English name —Blackvale.Sketty. — An Anglicized form probably of Is Ketti. Maen Ketti signifies the stone of the Arkite power. Theplace was called Is Ketti from its situation at the base of the hill where Maen Ketti stands. Is means below orunder. English name — Underhill.Skiwen. — A corruption of the Welsh Ysgawen, the elderwood, so called from the abundance of that wood inthe neighbourhood. English name — Elderwood.St. Ffagan. — The parish was named in honour of Ffazan, who is recorded to have founded a church here inthe second century.St. Bride. — Bride is probably a clipped form of Ffraid, the saint's name to whom the church was dedicated;hence the right name is St. Ffraid. According to Iolo Morganwg, the church was dedicated to St. Bride, thenun, the daughter of Dwpdagws, an Irish saint.St. Athan. — The church was built by Tathan, son of Amwn Ddu, in the sixth century, and, according to the "Welsh Chronicles," his remains were interred here.St. Donnatt's. — Donnatt is a modification of the Welsh Dunawd, the saint's name to whom the pristinechurch was probably dedicated. It was anciently called Llanwerydd, the church being dedicated to Gwerydd,a descendant of Bran the Blessed.St. Hilary. — Hilary is a modified form of Elari y the saint's name, to whom the church was dedicated.St. Nicholas. — The Welsh name is Llaneinydd, so called after Einydd, the son of Morgan the Courteous,who, it is said, built the church. Pope Nicholas Brekspere, according to Iolo Morganwg, lived in the vicinity inthe twelfth century, when probably the present name was given to the place.Sully. — Abersili is the Welsh name, from its situation at the mouth of the rivulet Silt, which means thehissing water. Sully is a corruption of Silt. English name — Hissmouth.Skerry. — From the Norse scar, a precipitous bank of earth, a cliff, as Scarborough and the Skerries. Englishname— Cliffham.Ton. — From a farmstead so named. Ton means unploughed land, a grassy plot of ground. English name —Plotham.Treherbert. — The name was bestowed on the place in 1851 by the Marquis of Bute in honour of Herbert, afavourite name in the Bute family. English name — Herbertston.Treorchy. — Orhy is probably a modification of the Welsh Gorchwy, the name of the rivulet on which thispopulous place is situated. Gorch-wy signifies encompassing or overflowing water; or, perhaps, the root isorch, a limit, a border. English name — Borderton.Origin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 69
Trealaw. — This appellation was given to the place in honour of D. Williams, Esq., whose nom-de-plumewas Alaw Goch, and on whose land the village stands. A law here means a lily, a genus of plants and flowersof many species. Alaw gwyn, white lily; alaw glas, the blue water lily. English name — Lilyton.Treforest. — This name is derived from Craig y Fforest, the rock of the forest, near which the village issituated. English name — Foreston.Tondu. — Ton means a grassy plot of ground. Ithel Ddu, a grandson of Morgan Hen, had a summer-househere, called Ton Ithel Ddu. He was called Ithel ddu, Ithel the dark, from his very black hair and beard.Eventually Ithel was omitted, and then the name was contracted to Tonddu and Tondu. English name —Blacksward.Taibach. — The name signifies " small houses," so called from the four small thatched houses that sometime stood at the bottom of the present Water-street. English name — Smallham or Smallton.Tongwynlais. — Ton, already explained; gwynlas, white and green, so called from the hue of the soil. Somecall it Tongwyrddlas, which signifies a green, grassy plot of ground. There is a mansion near the villagecalled " Green Meadow," which is an approximate equivalent to the Welsh name. English name — GreenMeadow.Taff's Well. — So called on account of the celebrated well that springs from the bed of the river Taff. Thevillage takes its name from the well. Taff is an Anglicism of the Welsh Taf, which signifies " spreading."Tafwysy the Welsh for Thames, means the spreading or expanding water.Talygarn. — Tal, front, end; earn, a heap, a prominence. English name — Browhill.Tythegston. — Tytheg is a modification of Tudwg, the name of a saint who flourished in the sixth century,and to whom the church is dedicated. Llandudwg is the Welsh name. English name — Placechurch.Treharris. — This rising place was name honour of Mr. Harris, who opened a large col here in 1873, andcalled it Harris's Navigation Coll. English name — Harriston.Tylorstown. — So called in honour of Mr. A Tylor, who opened the first colliery here about year 1872.Tonyrefail. -.Ton, a green sward; yr, the; gefail, smithy. The name signifies a smithy built on a green sward. Asmithy has been here from a time unknown. English name — Smithham.TroedrhiwfIywch. — Troedy foot; rhiw, slope, brow; fuwch, the consonant f was inserted between vowels wand u for the sake of euphony; the coi affix is uwch, higher. There is an old farmhouse down in the valleycalled Troedrhiw-isaf, and the h higher up on the hill-side is called Troedrhiw-uchw distinguish it from theformer. We incline to think the village takes its name from the latter; hence right wording is Troedrhiw-uchaf.English name - Highbrow.Troedyrhiw. — This place derives its name from a farmhouse bearing the name. It means a place situate atthe base of a hill. English name — Foothill.Tirphil. — Tir, land; Phil, an abbreviation for Philip, the name of the then owner of the land in which the placeis situated. The village branches into two divisions, Tir Phil in Glamorgan, and 'Tir Tredegar in Monmouth.The Monmouth side is called in honour of Lord Tredegar, the owner of land. English name — Phillipston.Swansea. — Caer Wyr, the fortress of Gower, the original name of the town. It is called Abet from itssituation at the estuary of the Tawy. Tawy is a contraction of taw, silent, still, and water, signifying the silentriver. Opinions differ as to the origin of Swansea. Hearne, in 1722, records that " King Swanus, his fleet,drowned at Swenawick, Swanesey (i.e., Swanus-sea)." Edmunds thinks name is derived from Sweyn, king ofDenmark, conqueror of the Saxons in England, and explains it thus: " Swansea, Sweyn's water or harbour."The prevalent opinion is that the name is a modification of swine-sea, so called on account of the number ofporpoises found in this part of the Bristol Channel. The name has been variously spelt from time to time: —In 1188 it was spelt Sweynsei; in 1234, Sweineshie; in 1278, Sweynesheie; in 1313, Sweyneseye; in 1433,Sweynesey; in 1463, Swaynesey; in 1553, Swahnesey; in 1569, Swanesey; in 1585, Swansey; in 1738,Swansea.Origin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 70
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HANDBOOK OF THE ORIGIN OF PLACE-NAM
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§ § § § §The Author begs to st
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pitiful cries of the railway offici
Page 7 and 8:
Bishop Percy says that "in England,
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The city of Chester is still popula
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There's Cumwhitton, Cumwhinton, Cum
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Llwyn in its primary' sense means a
Page 15 and 16:
PLACE-NAMES IN WALES.Wales. — The
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Church are generally dedicated to e
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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: Port Talbot. — So called in 1835
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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