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

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Llangybi. — From the dedication of the church to St. Cybi. English name — Kybi's Church.Llanhiddel. — Some are of the opinion that the church takes its name from Ithel, King of Gwent, who wasslain in battle in 846; but we rather think that Hiddel is a barbaric transposition of Elltyd or Illtyd, Iltutus, thepatron saint of the church. Elltyd means an alien, a stranger. English name — Alienton.Llanmartin. — From the dedication of the church to St. Martin. English name — Martinton.Llanover. — The correct spelling of the suffix is govety which means a small current, a stream that runs outof a spring. Gofer ffynon, the rivulet of a well. There are nine springs in the park called Ffynon Ofor, GoverWell. English name — Streamton.Llantarnam. — Tarnam is a corrupted form of Torfaen, breaker of stones, the original name it is said of theriver Llwyd. The church, situated not far from the banks of this torrent, was called from its geographicalposition, Llantorfaen, afterwards corrupted into Llantarnam. Some derive it from Llan-tor-Nonn, the church onthe hill dedicated to Nonn, the mother of St. David. We adopt the former. English name — Breakstone.Llantillio-Crosseny. — Tillio is a corruption of Teilo, the celebrated saint to whom the church is dedicated.Crossenny or Croes-senw, means a cross of honour. " Enw heb senw," a name without dignity. English name— Crossby.Llanthony. — A contracted form of Llanddewi Nant Honddu. The ancient chapel or church was dedicated toSt. David, and erected near the brook Honddu. The monastery was established here in 1107 under thepatronage of Walter de Lacey, Earl of Hereford, Henry I., Empress Maude, and others. English name —Blackbrook.Llanwern. — The name signifies a church among the alder-trees. English name — Alderchurch.Machen. — A compound of tnach, a high ridge, a barrier, a place of defence; and ain, water. We find maghas a prefix in more than a hundred Irish names, as Magh-Era, &c, and as a suffix in Armagh, &c. If we takemach as signifying a place of defence or surety, the verb mechnio, to become surety, strengthens the abovederivation. The name, therefore, signifies a place of safety near or on the water. English name — Safeton.Maesycwmmer. — Some spell the latter portion of the name as cwmmwr, which in this district means anykind of a bridge to cross the river. " Myn'd dros y cwmmwr," crossing by means of the wooden bridge. Thecorrect wording probably is Maes-y-cymmer. Maes, a field; y, the*; cymmer, a confluence of waters. Englishname — Waterfield.Magor. — A corruption of Magwyr, which signifies the remains or ruins of a demolished or decayed building,fortress, &c. Hen fagwyr being an old building or toft of a house. "A byddwch fel magwyr ogwyddedig," "As abowing wall shall ye be." The place takes its name from an old ruin covered with ivy. English name —Wallham.Maindy. — Some derive the name from maen-du, which signifies the black stone or rock. We rather think itis a compound of maen, stone; and ty, house, signifying a house made of stones, in contradistinction fromcoed-dy, wood-house. English name — Stoneham.Malpas. — This is one of the few Norman-French names that remind us of the conquest. It signifies a badfrontier pass, from mains, bad; and passiis, step.Marshfield. — Marsh, a derivative of mare, the sea, Anglicized into marish, then shortened into marsh; andfield, signifying a tract of land on the sea-coast. The suffix means a forest clearing or place where the treeshave been felled, hence field.Mathern. — This place is supposed to derive its name from Merthyr Tewdrig, who died here in the sixthcentury from the effects of a wound he received in battle against the Saxons. A church was built on the spotwhere his remains were interred, and dedicated to him. English name — Martyrton.Mitchel-Troy. — Mitchel is a corruption of St. Michael, the patron saint of the church. Troy is a contraction ofTrothy, the name of the river on which it is situated. The suffix is a compound of troth, what tends through;Origin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 79
and gwy, water. Treiddiod troth tnaen — let it burst through the rock. Trwydded means a passage through.This river-name implies a violent or furious water. Or it may be a contraction of tre-wy, the town by the water.We adopt the former. English name — Borewater or Passwater.Mounton. — A corruption of the old name of the place, Monckton, the monk's town, probably so called fromthe monks of Chepstow, who for some centuries held the tithes and provided a priest for the church. Englishname — Monkton.Nantyglo. — Nant, brook; y, the; glo, coal; signifying the coal brook, from the fact, it is said, that in this placecoal was first used to make iron, about the middle of the eighteenth century. English name — Coalbrook.Nash. — From the Norse ness or naze, which means a nose or promontory of land. Norse names arefrequently found on places fringing our coasts, such as Stack Rocks, Penyholt Stack, Stockholm Island,Nash, &c. This place is situated on the coast of the Bristol Channel.Newbridge. — A translation of the Welsh name, Pontnewydd.Newcastle. — From the fortress which anciently stood here, surrounded by a moat.Panteg. — Pant, hollow; teg, fair; signifying a beautiful vale, a name quite descriptive of the place. Englishname — Beauvale.Pengam. — It was anciently called Pont-maen-pen-gam, which signifies a bridge built on a bended rock, oron the river Pengam. Pengam means wry-headed. English name — Wryton or Twistton.Penmain. — A compound of pen, head, top ; and maen, a stone, a rock. English name — Topstone.Peterston. — From the dedication of the church to St. Peter.Ponthir. — Pont, bridge; hir, long; from a long bridge built over the river Llwyd about ninety years ago. Whenthe Tin Works were first erected here, that is, prior to the erection of the bridge, the place was called GwaithNewydd, New Works, but within the past sixty years Gwaith Newydd has given place to Ponthir. Englishname — Longbridge.Pontllanfraith. — Pont, bridge; llan, church fraith, a mutation, perhaps, of ffridd, a forest, a plantation. Orperhaps the church was dedicated to St. Ffraid or St. Faith. English name — Brideschurch.Pontnewynydd. — Some say this is a contraction of Pont-y-naw-mynydd, the bridge from which ninemountains are visible, but we cannot find so many mountains to support this derivation. It is more probably,says the Rev. J. Williams, Pontypool, derived from pont-dewinydd, the bridge of the divine. Dewinydd is theold Welsh form of duwinydd, divine, theologian. The bridge is supposed to have been built by a parson, adivine, called Sir Dafydd, vicar of Trevethin, in the reign of James or Charles I. Close to the bridge there areremains of his residence, whilst the narrow meadow, adjoining, is called Waun Sir Dafydd, Sir David'smeadow. English name— Priestbridge.Pontrhydyrun. — A compound of pont, bridge; rhyd, ford; yr, the; ynn, ash tree; signifying the bridge acrossthe ash-tree ford. English name— Ashford Bridge.Pontrilas. — The name probably means the bridge of the three rivers. Lais is an old British word, standingfor water, or stream, and here we have three rivers meeting, and just below the confluence a bridge is thrownacross; hence Pont-tri-lais. Some say it is the Pont-tri-llais, the bridge of the three murmuring streams.Others think it is a clipped form of Pont-rhyd- Dulas, the bridge on the ford of Dulas. English name —Bridgewater.Pontymistr. — A corruption of Pont-y-minster, the cloister or abbey bridge. Minster is the Anglo-Saxon formof the Latin monasttrium, and is a frequent component in English and European place-names, as Leominster,Westminster, Monstiers, &c It is supposed that a Conventual church once existed in this neighbourhood.English name — Abbey Bridge.Pontymoil. — A compound of pont, bridge; and moel, a conical hill. The place lies at the foot of a hill calledMoel. English name — Bridgehill.Origin of Place-names in Wales & Monmouthshire Page 80
Page 1 and 2:
HANDBOOK OF THE ORIGIN OF PLACE-NAM
Page 3 and 4:
§ § § § §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,
Page 9 and 10:
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 and 74: Trealaw. — This appellation was g
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: Griffithstown. — This village was
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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