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

English name - ???Chepstow. - An early market town, a seat of commercial activity, as Cheapside, Chippingham, &c. Chippingwas the old English term for a market-place, which in Wickliffe's time was spelt chepinge. " They ben likechildren sitting in chepinge and spekinge togidre." (Wickliffe's translation of Luke vii., 32.) Cheapside andEastcheap occupy the sites of the two chief centres of trade in London in olden times.Coed-duon. — Coed, wood; duon, plural of du, black. The English generally put the adjective before thenoun, hence we have Blackwood, but the Welsh usage is vice-versa; hence Coed-duon. A local gentlemanonce endeavoured to bestow his own name upon the place, and call it Moggridgeton. He persisted in callingit after the self-made name for some time, but the inhabitants clung tenaciously to the old name, and havedone so ever since.Cross Keys. — This village takes its name from a public-house so named. The " Cross Keys," common inthe mediaeval ages, is in allusion to St. Peter, or one of the bishops, whose cognomen it was— probably thelord of the manor, or the patron saint of the parish church.Crumlin. — A compound of crwm, bending, crooked; and llun, a. form, a shape; probably from themeandering course of the river in this picturesque part of the valley. Leland spells it Cremline, a little brook.Some derive it from crwm-lyn, crooked lake, from the configuration of the valley, in which, probably, therewas a lake in time of yore. English name — Crookton.Cwmavon. — Cwm, valley; of on, the river Llwyd, which runs through the place. English name — Rivervale.Cwmbran. — Cwm, valley; Bran, the name of the first British Christian. We find Bran in mountain and rivernames, as Dinas Bran, Brandon Hill, Aberbran, Glanbran, &c. The root is brean, which signifies the mountainbrook; bre, mountain; an-ain, brook. It remains intact in Brean Down, and we have variations Braintree,Brentford, Brentry, &c. English name - Brookdale.Ebbw Vale. — An Anglicized form of the Welsh Glan Ebbwy. Glyn, a deep vale through which a streamissues. Ebbwy, from eb, an issuing out; and gwy, water. English name — Exvale.Fleur-de-Lis. — The Welsh name of the place is given to a flower found on or near a lake, which wasbestowed as a mark of respect to the Welsh idiosyncratic ???dy Llanover. The present name was ????irewery which stands at the lower end of ????? and is a French name signifying " flower of the Royal insigniaof France. English name- - Lily Flower.Gelly Groes. — A compound of gelly, grove; and Groes, a cross. English name — Crossgrove.Glas Coed. — Glas, green ; coed, wood. Glasgow is a corruption of this name. Greenock is the port ofGlasgow, the prefix being a literal transform of that of the city. English name — Greenwood.?????f. — In this parish there is a peninsulated opening rising abruptly from the sea to the height of ??? . Itconsists of limestone lying horizontally interspersed with silicious crystallizations, above this is an immensebed of mica. The glistening of this substance when the sun shines upon it is supposed to have given it itspresent appellation.Govilon. — Several derivations are given to this place-name. Some derive it from " Gafael loan," John'sholding. Gafael means the share which each brother held in their father's land however numerous thebrothers were. Gafael cenedl, the hold or tenure of a family. There is a tradition in the neighbourhood that aconsiderable part of the district was owned at one time by twin-brothers, and that the part now called Govilonwas John's portion; hence Gafael loan. We rather think the name is derived from the plural form of gefail orgofail, smithy. In olden times, before the construction of railways and canals, when almost everything,especially coal and lime, was carried on pack horses and mules to Abergavenny, Hereford, Brecon, &c, therewere many " smithies " in the immediate locality, the chief work at which was shoeing horses and mules. Theplace is also called after that of the parish, Llanwenarth; Llan, church; gwen, feminine form of gwyn, white;arth-garth, a promontory, a ridge. English name — Smithby.Goytre. — A compound of coed, wood; tref, a dwelling; signifying either a dwelling in a wood, or a housebuilt of wood. English name — Woodham.Origin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 77