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

Ar signifies " ploughed land." Arddu, to plough. The Greek word for a plough is arotron, the Latin is ardtrum,the Norse is ardr, the Irish is arathar, and the Welsh is aradr. The English " harrow " was originally a rudeinstrument drawn over ploughed land to level it and break the clods, and to cover seed when sown.Ploughing and reaping are called " earing and harvest." Compare Gen. xlv., 6. ; Ex. xxxiv.,-21.When at is used as a suffix it generally has an agricultural signification, but when used as a prefix it is apreposition, meaning on, upon: Ardwr, on the water; Argoed, on or above a wood.Bettws forms a part of a large number of our local names. Some think it is a Welshified form of the Latinbeatus, blessed, and that it refers to the religious institutions of St. Beuno. Others derive it from abbatis, anappendage to a monastery or an abbey, taking it as one of the few Latin words which found a permanentplace in the Welsh language.It is derived by some from bod-cwys, a place of shelter, but the most prevalent opinion is that the word is aWelshified form of bead-house, an ecclesiastical term signifying a hospital or alms-house, where the poorprayed for their founders and benefactors." Beads are used by Roman Catholics to keep them right as to the number of their prayers, one bead of theirrosary being dropped every time a prayer is said; - hence the transference of the name from that which iscounted (the prayers) to that which is used to count them. The old phrase to 'bid one's beads' means to sayone's prayers (Imp. Diet)." In a recent communication to us, Professor Rhys says " Bettws would bephonologically accounted for exactly by supposing it to be the English bed-Ms or house of prayer, but if thatorigin be the correct one to assume there is the historical difficulty: where is there any account of thisinstitution bearing an English name? " There is the rub. We cannot find a single instance of the name beingperpetuated in England. The Rev. J. Davies, F.S.A., Pandy, is of opinion that "Bettws was never an institutionproperly speaking, and it never existed as a distinct religious house, but undoubtedly it did exist in someinstances as a cell in connection with large Abbeys. Soon after the principal Abbeys had been founded in thiscountry, and their fame as seats of piety and learning had spread far and wide, pilgrims began to flock tothem, many of whom had long distances to travel, on account of which houses of prayer, called ead-houses,were erected at long intervals along their course into which the ' wearied pilgrims ' entered to offer prayers ontheir way to and from the Abbey. I believe we never have a Bead-house (Bettws) but on the way to an Abbey.When the Abbeys were suppressed, most of these Bead-houses fell into ruin, as a matter of course, while afew of them may have developed into parish Churches and Chapels of Ease, after the Reformation. I do notthink it has a Welsh origin, for the reason that the thing itself was imported from Normandy, and I am ofopinion that Bettws as a place-name was not in existence prior to the Norman Survey."Blaen means extremity, the top of anything. It is frequently used as a prefix in the names of places that aresituated at the extreme end of a valley or near the sources of brooks and rivers. Blaenau afonydd, thesources of rivers. Dwfry blaenau, water or stream from the height.Bod originally meant a lord's residence. Having fixed upon a certain spot of land, he would build a dwellinghousethereon, which was called bod, and the name of the builder or owner was added to distinguish it fromother dwelling-houses, hence we have Bodowain, Bodedeyrn, &c. He had two residences— _yr Hafod, thesummer residence, and Gauafod, the winter residence. But in course of time bod was used to designate anyhouse or dwelling-place. Compare the English " abode."Bron means a round protuberance, and is equivalent to the English breast. In place-names it signifies thebreast of a hill. Ar frest y mynydd, is a very common expression, meaning on the breast of the mountain.Bryn seems to be a compound of bre, a mountain, and the diminutive yn; hence breyn, afterwards contractedinto bryn, a small mountain, a hill. It enters largely into Welsh place-names, and we find it also Anglicized inBreandown, a high ridge near Weston-super-Mare; Brendon, a part of the great ridge of Exmoor; Brinsop,Hereford, &c.Bwlch signifies a break or breach. It is generally found in names of places where there is a narrow pass inthe mountains.Caer is one of our enchorial names for a wall or mound for defence, the wall of a city or castle, a fortress.Perhaps the root is cau, to shut up, to fence, to enclose with a hedge. Cae means a field enclosed withhedges. Caerau were the most ancient military earthworks in the Principality, and when the Britons began tobuild cities they surrounded them by a fortified wall called caer.Origin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 5