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

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Vochriw. — Some are of opinion that it is the ancient Bochrkiw-carn, which is translated in " The Lives ofBritish Saints," " the check on a stony road ' Others derive it from mock, pigs; and rhiw, slope. Viewing thephysical aspect of the place, one may be induced to derive it from moch, ready, quick, swift and rhiw, slope;signifying a steepy hill-side. Mocu ddwyreog, quickly rising. Some think the prefix is bat, cheek, from thegeographical position of the place, Bach-rhiw, the little slope, is suggested by others as the right etymology.English name — Steephill.Waunarlwydd. — Waun, meadow; arlwydd, modt Welsh arglwydd, a lord, a lord of the manor. I Griffiths,Bryn Dafydd, purchased a piece of land which belonged to the lord of the manor, from wl. In thecircumstance the place was called Waunarlwydd, the lord's meadow. English name — Lord's Meadow.Walnut Tree Bridge. — On a well-known plot of ground, in the place, three walnut trees had grown neareach other, and in order to facilitate the construction of the Taff Vale railway in the place, it was necessary touproot these beautiful trees and build a bridge on the spot; hence the name.Wenvoe. — A corruption of Gwynfa, which signifies white or blessed land. Gwyn, white; fa-mai, a region.English name — Whitland.Wauntrodau. — Waun, a meadow; trodau, per lexing. Some think it is a corruption of Ty Rhoda, the houseof Rhoda. Others say it is a corruption of trotian, to trot, to go on trot; trodi, to journey. Others think the nameis a contraction of Gwauntroedyda, which signifies the meadow where traces of cows' feet were visible. Insupport of the first derivation, it is certified that an old house called Castell Rhode, Rhode's castle, oncestood in the place. English name — Moorton.Wick. — An Anglicized form of the Welsh Wig, a wood. The place was once called Y Wig Fawt, the greatwood, which implies that the locality was some time thickly wooded. English name — Woodham.Walterston. — So called in honour of Walter de Mapres, son of Blondel de Mapres, who is supposed tohave been the founder of the place.Ystrad Owen. — Prince Owen, the son of Morgan Hen, the king of Glamorgan, took up his abode in thisparish, and his remains were consigned to their last resting-place here in the year 987; hence the name.English name — Owenston.Ystalyfera. — Ys, the; tal, front, end; y, the; few-beta, a pyramid, a stack of corn or hay; signifying the end ofthe rick. Or, perhaps the prefix is ystdl, a stock or produce, a stall. English name — Stallton.Ynyspenllwch. — Ynys, island; pen, head; llwch, lake; signifying a place at the head of a lake. It appearsthat the vale was once studded with many lakes. English name — Lakesend.Ynyslwyd. — So called from a cottage bearing the name, situate on the river Cynon. Some say it is Ynys ytywod llwyd, an island on grey sands. English name — Greyham.Ynyshir. — So named after a farmstead of the name. It means long island. English name — Longtown.Ystradyfodwg. — The Parish Church was dedicated to Tyfodwg ab Gwilfyw, a saint of the sixth century.English name — Tyvodwg.Ynysybwl. — A corruption, perhaps, of Ynys-y-pwll, the island near the pit; or, perhaps, the suffix is pwl,meaning unprofitable. We are inclined to think the right wording is Ynys-y-bel, which signifies the ballmeadow.It was in olden times a famous rendezvous for ball-players. English name — Ballton.MERIONETHSHIRE.The county takes its name from the old cantrev of rion y so called in honour of Meirion, grandson of leddaWledig. The affix eth is a modification of the lsh ydd, a particle denoting agency or personality, it's the onlyNorthern county that has kept its original title.Origin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 71
Aberdyfi. — So called from its situation at the mouth of the river Dyfi. Some think Dyfi means smooth water,and that the right wording is Dofwy, tame or smooth water. Others think it is Dyfnwy, deep water. Englishname — Deep river. We adopt the former Explanation.Arthog. — The right word is Garthog, mountainous, the little village is embosomed between ruggedmountains. English name — Hillyham.Abergynolwyn. — Gwynolgwyn is probably a corruption of Gwernol-wy. The river is called Gwernol, and hasits source in Gwernol's Well. Gwernol, swampy, boggy; wy, water. English name — Bogmouth.Abercywarch. — A small place situated at the th of the river Cywarch. Perhaps cywarch is a variation ofcawerch; caw, moveable, swift; and erch, nimble, rushing; signifying a swift and terrible water, English name— Rushmouth.Abercorus. — The rivulet was called Corus from its possessing round excavations in the angles of its banks.English name — Breakmouth.Aberdysyni. — Dr. Pughe thinks the name of the rivulet (Dysini) means a sonorous water. We are inclined tothink it has a contrary signification, and the etymology is di-swn-wy, the noiseless water. The English name— Silenton.Bala. — The name seems to be derived from balu, to spurt or issue forth. Bala coed, the budding or blossomissues. Bala llyn y the outlet or efflux of a lake. It is cognate with Balloch, in Scotland. The town is situated atTegid. It lies at the effluence of Llyn Tegid, the lake of Tegid. The lake was so called from the followingcircumstance :— " Tegid, the son of Baran, was a wise king and a good bard. He enacted excellentregulations for literature; restored ancient learning, which had nearly become lost; and instituted a council ofbards and Druids, as of old. He continued at war with his enemies, but they took him at last, throughtreachery, and drowned him in the great lake, called from that circumstance Llyn Tegid (Tegid's lake), inGwynedd."—(" Iolo MSS.," p. 346.) English name— Outlake.Barmouth. — An Anglicized form of the Welsh name, Abermaw, which signifies a place situated at the mouthof the river Maw. Bar is a modification of Aber, and mouth of Maw, or Mawddwy. Maw means broad,expanding. Mawddach, according to Dr. Owen Pughe, means overflowing water. " Oedd maw ei rhydau,"broad were its fords. The Anglicized name was adopted in 1768 by the seafaring fraternity in order to havean English name inscribed upon the vessels. English name — Broadmouth.Bryn y Crug. — Bryn, a hill; y, the; crug, a heap; signifying a heap on a hill. English name — Heaphill.Carrog. — From carog, which signifies a torrent or brook. English name — Brookby.Cwm Prysor. — Cwm, valley; Prysor seems to be derived from prysu, to form a resort or covert. The nameis quite descriptive of this deep and solitary vale, in which the ruins of Castle Prysor are still visible. Englishname — Covertham.Ceinog. — The root is cain, clear, bright, fair. The name was given to the place, probably, on account of thebeautiful views it commands. English name— Brightham.Corwen. — Some derive the name from Corwena the name of the mother of Bran and Belli, twin brothers.Others derive it from Corvaen, which implies a stone in a circle. Others think it is a mutation of Caer Owain.History tells us that the place is famous for being the rendezvous where the Welsh assembled about the year1163, under their valiant leader, Owen Gwynedd, against Henry II., and also for being the place ofencampment of Owain Glyndwr when he defended his country against Henry IV. We incline to think thename retains its primitive form; hence it means the white choir or church. English name — Whitchurch.Cwmorthin. — A corruption probably of Cwm-certh-hin. Cwm, valley; cert A, awful, dangerous; kin, theweather. The name is quite descriptive of the physical aspect of this deep valley. English name — Perilton.Cymerau. — The root is cymer, the union of two rivers. The place is situated near the confluence of therivers Erch and Heli. English name — Biwater.Cynwyd. — The name, which signifies primary evil, or mischief, was probably derived from Cynwyd ahOrigin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 72
Page 1 and 2:
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
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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
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 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: Trealaw. — This appellation was g
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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