kimkat2102k
Handbook of the Origin of Place-names in Wales and Monmouthshire. Thomas
Morgan. 1887.
21-03-2022
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Gwefan Cymru-Catalonia
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(delwedd 6665) |
(Cymraeg, català, English, euskara,
Gàidhlig, Gaeilge, Frysk, Deutsch, Nederlands, français, galego, etc)
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llythrennau duon = testun wedi ei gywiro
llythrennau gwyrddion = testun heb
ei gywiro
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Sarn. — The name generally means
a road. Six roads meet at k certain
point in the village; hence the name.
English name — Roadham. Trefor.— A
compound of tref, place, town, and
fawr % large, great. English name— Bigton. Ty'nlon. — Ty, a house; yn, in; y f the;
I6n, a Northwalian word for a narrow
road. The name signifies a house in or
near the road, and the village
probably derived it from a farm-house of the name. English name —
Wayham Talsarn. — Tal, end ; sarn,
road ; the name signifies the end of
the Roman road. Sarny Cyfiawn, the high-
way of the righteous Sam Helen occurs frequently in Welsh history. Helen was a Welsh princess,
the daughter of Euddaf, that is, Octavius,
a Cambrian prince, and the wife of
Macsen Wledig, or Maximus, the
emperor. Sam Helen is an old Roman road, so
called by the emperor in honour of his wife. English name — Roadsend. Tydwaeliog. — Some are of opinion that the
church was originally dedicated to
Tydwal, a Welsh saint. English name —
Tydwal. Tremadog. — The derivation of
Portmadoc is almost equally applicable
to this name. The only difference lies
in the prefix. Tre means an abode, a
town. English name — Maddock's Town.
TALYCAFN. - 7tf/, front, end ; y, the; cafn, a tray or trough ; signifying the head or end of the
trough. The name faithfully represents
this isolated and encircled spot of
the parish. English name — Troughend.
Trefriw. — Tref, a place, a town ; rkiw, a slope, a brow of a hill. This pretty little village
is situated on a small eminence,
commanding an extensive view of the
beautiful Vale of Llanrwst. English name — Hillton. Waenfawr. — Waen or Waun, a meadow, a common ; fawr-uiawr, great ; the great meadow.
The site of the present straggling
village was once a large meadow,
covering one square mile, where the |
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IOI neighbouring farmers were wont to turn
their cattle in the summer to graze,
and quench their thirst in the river Gwyrfai.
English name— Great Meadow. Ynys
Enlli. — The name signifies an island in the
sea. The English called it Bardsey Island, the isle of the bards. It is said that the bards
resorted there, preferring solitude to
the intrusion of foreign invaders.
English name — Sealand.
DENBIGHSHIRE. Anglicized form
of Dinbych, which is variously de-
rived. Dimbach, according to some, is the right etymon, which means " no hook," in
allusion to the time when fishing
hooks were obtainable in the place. Dim beck, no sin, is another attempt. Very many favour
the mytho- logical derivation — Syr
John y Bodie and the formidable bych.
Having killed the bych, dragon, he shouted
victoriously dim bych, no dragon. One writer derives it from din, a hill, and pych, the enveloped
sin. Another suggests din, a hill, and
buck, live stock, cattle, or kine. Is
it not Dinbach ? Din, a hill ; bach, little or small. The last derivation is amply supported by the
geographical position of the place,
being a small hill in comparison with
the loftier eminences that tower above it. The county derives its name from the town.
English name — Hillock. Abergele. — This pleasant market town is so
called from its situation near the
mouth of the river Gele. The river,
according to some, derives its name from gele, leech. A considerable number of leeches
were seen at the estuary in olden
times. But we are inclined to think
the word is a contraction of geleu, ooze, so called from the very nature of the water. English
name — Oozmouth. Bontnewydd. — A compound of pont, a bridge,
and newydd, new. English name —
Newbridge. Brymbo. — Brym is a
corruption of brvn, hill. Bo,
according to some, is an abbreviation of the word boda, the kite, which is supposed to have made
this place a |
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102 favourite place of refuge at times of periL
We rather think the suffix to be a
contraction of bwa , a bow. The name
has special reference to a severe battle fought in the vicinity, when our forefathers used the
bow as the chief weapon of war.
English name — Bowhill. Brynkinallt.—
A compound of bryn, a hill; cyn f
prior ; gallt, a woody slope. The name implies that a mountain existed before the trees that grew
on it. English name — Hillwood. Bodrhychwyn.— Bod, a dwelling; Rhychwyn,
the name of the son of Ithel Hael, who
is supposed to have taken up his abode
here. English name — Furrowton.
Bwlchcynbryd. — Bwlck, a gap, breach, pass; Cynbryd, the name of a saint of the fifth
century, supposed to have been killed
by the Saxons at the place which bears
his name. English name — Model
Pass. Bangor-Iscoed. — For the
derivation of Bangor, see
Carnarvonshire. The place is considered to be the site of the most ancient and extensive monastery
founded in Britain, which afterwards
became a great centre-place of
learning. The differentia iscoed was evidently ap- pended to distinguish it from Bangor,
Carnarvonshire. English name —
Underwood. Cefn Mawr. — The name
signifies a high ridge, so called to
distinguish it from Cembychan, which is in
close proximity. English name — Highridge. Cristionydd. — The name means a worshipper
of Christ, a Christian. English name—
Christianham. Chirk. — Probably from
Ceiriog, its ancient name. The town is
in close proximity to the river Ceiriog.
Clog Caenog.— Clog, a detached rock; caenog, having a cover enclosed. Caenen, a
covering. There are some excellent
quarries of stone in this mountain-
ous district, and some parts of it abound with heaths. English name — Heathton. |
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X03 Ceryg-y-Drudion. — A corruption of
Ctryg-y- Dewrion, the stones of the
champions or warriors, so called from
a large heap of stones that stood, a century
or two ago, near the church in memory of some celebrated warriors. Some think drudion is
a corruption of druydion, druids ;
hence the interpretation would be
"stones of the Druids." English name— Warrior- stone.
Derwen.— The name means an oak, so called, probably, from the abundance of oaks in the
district. English name— Oakham. Dolwen. — Dol, a. meadow; wen, feminine
form of gwyn, white. English name —
White Meadow. Eglwys Bach. — Eglwys,
church ; Bach, the name of the son of
Corwel, who took refuge in North Wales
in the seventh century, devoted himself to religious life, and founded a church on the banks of
the Conwy ; hence the name of the
place. English name— Little-
church. Esgair Ebrill. — Esg, a
shank, a long ridge, that which
stretches out ; air, bright, clear ; Ebrill, April. English name— Aprilridge. Efenechtyd. — A corruption of y fyneichdyd,
the monk's land ; mynach, monk ; dyd
or dud, land. English name —
Monkland. Esclusham. — From esglyw,
protection, defence, and ham, a place.
The place is in close proximity to
Offa's Dyke. English name — Dykeham.
Fron.— An inflection of bron, a pointed or breast- shaped hill. English name — Pointhill. Ffrwd. — The name means a stream, a
torrent. " Ffrwd yr afon,"
the stream of the river. English name—
Streamton. Glynceiriog.— Glyn, a
narrow vale ; Ceiriog, the name of the
river that flows through the valley.
English name — Glenceiriog.
Digitized by LiOOQ l^g |
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io4 Garthen. — From gatrddin, fortified bill,
so called from an old British camp in the
place. In this place Owain Gyfeiliog
vanquished the Saxons in 1161. English
name— Forthill. Gresford. — A
corruption of Groesffordd, so called
from its close proximity to an old cross. English name— Crossway. Gwersyllt. — The name signifies a camp
or encampment. English name —
Campton. Gwytherin. — From Sant
Gwytherin, to whom the church was
dedicated. He flourished about the end
of the sixth century. Gwyth> vein ; ertn 9 gold. English name — Goldton. Gefailrhyd. — Gefail, smithy ; rhyd, ford.
English name — Smithford, Henllan. — Hen, old ; lion, church. A name
of frequent occurrence in Wales. The
old church, dedi- cated to St. Sadwrn,
was demolished, and re-built in 1806.
English name— Oldchurch. Holt. — The
Norse for wood, or hold of wild
animals. We find Berg-holt in Essex, which means the fortress in the wood. According to
Lewis's " Topographical
Dictionary," the ancient name was
Castell Lleon, the " castle of the legions," and the present name was probably derived from a
family of the name of Holt, who are
said to have held the castle in remote
times. English name — Woodby.
Llanrhaiadr-yn-Mochnant. — Rhaiadr, waterfall ; yn t the ; ntochnant, quick, swift-brook.
According to this interpretation, the
name signifies a church built near the
swift water. Others say that mock means
swine, and that the word nant is applied to the whole valley, inclusive of the brook that flows
through it, on the traditional belief
that the place was some time abounding
with wild hogs. The latter is the more
plausible and acceptible. English name — H ogham. Llanelian. — From Elian Geiniad, a saint of
the sixth century, to whom the church
was * dedicated. Elian's Well is near
the village. English name — 1
Elianschurch. |
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105 Llanegwestl. — From Egwestl, to whom the
old church was dedicated. Einion Waun
alludes to him in the following
couplet : — "Gwra wnair fel Gwair
fab G west I, Gwyr wawr yn llawr
Llanegwestl." . I.e. : — Like
Gwestyl's son, he lies in gloom profound
In Valle* Crucis Abbey's holy ground.
English name — Guestham.
Llanelidan. — The church is dedicated to St. Elidan. English name — Elidan. Llangollen. — From Collen, a saint of the
seventh century. A Welsh legend
recounts his martial deeds when he was
in the Roman army, and shows how he
became Abbot of Glastonbury, and spent the latter -end of his life in that delightful vale
which still bears his name. English
name — Hazelchurch. Llanfair Dyffryn
Clwyd.- -Llanfaify St. Mary's church ;
dyffryn, vale ; Clwyd, the name of the
picturesque and fertile vale in which the church is situated. Clwyd is probably a mutation of
llwyd, venerable, adorable. " Duw
lwyd," the adorable God. English
name — Holychurch. Llanrhaiadr Dyffryn
Clwyd. — Rhaiadr means cataract,
waterfall. Rhaiadru, to spout out. " Ffynon Ddyfrog," Dyvrog's well, a short
distance from the church, suddenly disappears
in the fissures of the rock. Dyffryn
Clwyd has been explained already. English
name — Wellchurch. Llanrhudd. —
A corruption of Llanrhyd, the church
by the ford. English name — Churchford. , Llansantffraid-glan-Conwy. — The church
was ■dedicated to St. Ffraid,
and the village stands on the banks of
the river Conway. The name of the rail-
way-station is Ccuog, to distinguish it from the other Llansantffraid. English name— St
Bride's-on-the- Conway. Llandyrnog. — From Dyrnog, a descendant of Seithenin, to whom the church is dedicated.
English name — Thrashton. |
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io6 Llansilin.— The church is dedicated to
Silin, a. descendant of Emyr Llydaw,
and a saint of the sixth century.
Eglwys Sulien, Cardigan, also bears his.
name. English name — Silinton.
Llangwyfen. From Cwyfen, a descendant of Caradog Breichfras.— English name —
Kwyven. Llandrillo. — From Trillo, son
of Ithel Hael, and a saint of the
sixth century. He was a member of the
Enlli seminary. This village is famous for being the residence of Maelgwyn Gwynedd in the fifth
century, and afterwards of Ednyfed
Fychan, chief of one of the royal
tribes of Wales. English name — Trillham.
Llanhychan. — From .Hychan, a descendant of Brychan, and a saint of the fifth century.
English name — Youngston. Llangynhafal. — The church is dedicated
to- Cytthafal, a descendant of Karadog
Freichfras, and a saint of the seventh
century. English name— KynhavaL
Llangernyw. — The church was founded by SU Digain in the fifth century, and probably
dedicated it to his father, Cystenyn
Gorneu, a British king, and son of
Cadwr, the prince of Cernyw (Cornwall) ; hence the name Llangernyw. English name —
Hornton. Llanrwst. — The old church
was built in 1170, and dedicated to
Crwst, a descendant of Urien Rheged, and
a saint of the seventh century. Lord Herbert burned the church in 1468, and the present one was
built in 1470. Pennant says the church
was dedicated to St. Rhystid, or
Restitutus, Archbishop of London, in 361.
English name — Manton.
Llangadwaladr. — The church is dedicated to- Cadwaladr the Blessed, who succeeded his
father, Cadwallawn, to the throne of
Britain in 634. He was the last of the
Welsh princes who assumed the title of
King of Britain. English name — Valiantton. Llangedwyn. — From Cedwyn, a descendant
of Gwrthefyr, the king, and a saint of
the sixth century^ It is supposed he
was buried in the church. English name
— Giftton. |
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107 Llandegla. — The church was probably
dedicated to Tegla^ who, according to
tradition, was' converted to
Christianity by the Apostle Paul, and suffered martyr- dom under Nero at Iconium. The celebrated
Tegla's- Well is about 200 yards from
the Church. English name — Teglaton
. Llanddulais. — From Dulais—du, black
; glas> blue — the river on which
the church is situated ►
Here the unfortunate Richard the Second was be- trayed into the hands of his formidable
rival to the throne. The cant rev is
called Is-Dulais. English name — Lividton. Llanferres. — The church was probably
dedi- cated, about the latter end of
the fourth century, to Berres, a
disciple of St. Martin, the Hungarian. Dr.
John Davies, the eminent antiquarian, and the author of the Welsh-Latin Dictionary, was a native
of this, parish. English name —
Berreston. Llangwm. — The name
signifies a church in the vale or
dingle. English name — Churchcombe.
Llanddoged. — The church was dedicated to- Doged, a descendant of Cunedda, and a saint
of the sixth century. " Bonedd y
Saint " calls him Doged the King.
English name — Shareton. Llanefydd. —
Nefydd, a descendant of Brychan,. and
a saint of the fifth century, founded the church. English name — Shipton. Llansannan. — SenaUy or Senanus, was a saint
and an Irish bishop of the sixth
century, and it is calcu- lated that
he lived in Wales from the fact that this
church was dedicated to him. English name — Senan- ton.
Llanfair-Talhaiarn. — The church is dedicated ta St. Mary. Talhaiarn was a celebrated bard
and saint of the sixth century. He was
also a chaplain to Emrys Wledig ; but
after the latter was killed, he became a
hermit, and founded the church which bears his name. English name — Talhaiarn, or
Ironfront. Llanarmon-yn-Ial. — The church
was dedicated to St. Garmon, bishop of
Auxerre. Ial, the name of the |
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io8 cantrev, means an open space or region. Tir
ial, open land. Yale, Derbyshire, is
derived from the same root. Ial is the
differentia added to distinguish the place
from the other Llanarmon. The " Topographical Dictionary of Wales " says that "
within a niche in the outer wall of
the church is the figure of a bishop, six
feet four inches in height, which is said to be that of St. Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, who, with
St. Lupus, .gained over the Picts and
Saxons, at Maesgarmon, near Mold, in
the year 420, the celebrated victory called by historians Victoria Alleluiatica. M English
name — Garmonton. Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog.— The village
is situated on the river Ceiriog ;
hence the differentia. The parish is
supposed to have been the burial-place
■of St. Germanus. English name — Garmonham. Moelfre. — Moel, bare, bald ;
fre-fryn, hill. English name — Baldhill. Minera. — The primitive name of
this place was Mwyn-y-Clawdd, the
mine-ditch, in allusion to Offa's
Dyke, which passes through it ; and the present name is probably derived from the abundance of
minerals it contains. English name —
Mineham. Mochdre. — Mock, quick, swift
; or, perhaps, it is the plural for
pigs ; dre-tref, a dwelling-place. English
name — S wineham. Marchwiail.—
MarcA, perhaps, is the same as mare, a
mark, and wiail is the plural of gwialen, a rod. Viewing the geographical position of this place,
being in close proximity to Wat's
Dyke, we are of opinion that the line
of demarcation was made of rods or
poles ; hence the origin of the name. English name — Markton.
Moss. — A corruption, perhaps, of ffds, a ditch or trench. Ffds is cognate with the Latin
fossa, a ditch. Moss is the Norse for
bog. English name — Bogton. Nantglyn.
— Nant, brook ; glyn, glen, vale. English
name — Brookvale. Oernant. —
Oer, cold ; nant, brook. English name
— Coldbrook. ion. TiriAVf om the same ioot- inguish the «b* ^Topographical thin a niche m the e of a bishops, said to be that of KowithSt.LuP* d victory called v, d English name- The village' 5 the differed- e^theb^
,eofthisP^ ndthePtJ ^ .undance ot
ieham- h ps.it* elling-P lace
- .as*"' 1 iame-
aps. °U glish na« |
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I09 Penrhos. — A compound of pen, head, end ;
ai rhos, a meadow, a moor. English
name — Moorsend. Pensarn. — The name
signifies the end of tl Roman road.
Castell-y-cawr, the giant's castle, whi<
is considered to be one of the most complete Rom« camps in the kingdom, is in this vicinity.
Englii name— Viaton. Pentrefoelas. — Pentre, village ; moel, a
pile, conical hill ; las-glas, blue.
Many of our mountai: and hills bear
the name moel, such as Moel Siabo Y
Foel (Cwmavon), Moelyfamau, Moelwyn, Y Fc
Goch, and the Foel Las. English name — Hillham. Pontllogell. — Pont, bridge ; llogell,
pocket, : called, probably, from the
pedestrians being obliged put their
hands into their pockets to pay a certain f< before crossing the bridge. English name —
Coinbridg Ponkey.— A corruption of
Poncyn, a small hilloc or it may be a
contraction of the plural ponciau. Englii
name— Littlebank. Pantygroes. —
Pant , small dingle ; y, the ; crot
>aid that the form of a cross w;
certain spot in the neighbourhoo
:>y Cromwell's soldiers, from whi< ace was called Pantygroes. Engli; |
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01 b
ci n 0*t,
br xvnijLwj.>t.N. — nhyd,
ford ; onen, the ash tree. Oi writer
thinks it is a corruption of Rhyd Hen, the o
ford ; but this is rather far-fetched. Hewers of woe in olden times might have conveyed the ash
tiees ov< the ford, near which a
bridge now stands. Engli* name—
Ashford. \obyn, pig. Yr H • word for swin of the wood safe ed the boar in tl house, the popuL > " was sung wil gmoor.
Digitize d by Kj O OQ IC
no Rhosllanerchrugog. — Rhos,
meadow ; llanerch, glade ; crugog,
abounding with tumps. English name —
Gladeham. Rhosymedre. — A
compound of Rhos amdyn, the, a
corruption of mhen-pen, and dre-trt, a dwelling-place, signifying a meadow at the end of the town.
Some say that medre is a mutation of
mydreu, measures or circles. The
former derivation is supported by the geographical position of the village. English name —
Town send. Rosset.— A corruption of
rhosydd, the plural of rhos. English
name— Meadows. Ruabon.— An Anglicized
form of Rhiw Mabon. Rhiw, slope,
ascending path ; Mabon, the name of a
Welsh saint who lived here and founded a church about the time of Llewelyn ab Iorwerth.
Some think the place took its name
from its physical aspect, being situate
on a rhiw, a slope, near a streamlet called Afon ;hence Rhiwafon. The former
is the more popular view. English name
— Boyhill. Ruthin. — This name is
variously derived. Some say that a
woman named Ruth once kept a large inn
near the (then) village, and, when the place began to develope into a town, the people began to
call it Ruth Inn Red is the prevailing
colour of the soil in the district.
The principal parts of the town are situated
on red sands or ashes ; hence the name was taken from the ruddy hue of the soil.
Rhuth-rhudd, ruddy, crimson, red ; in,
an abbreviation of din ; signifying a
ruddy town. English name — Redtown.
Rhufoniog. — This place was given to Rhufawn, son of Cunedda Wledig, for the gallantry
shown by him in driving the Picts from
North Wales ; hence the name. English
name — Redham. St. Asaph. — The Welsh
name is Llanelwy, from its situation
on the banks of the river Elwy. The English
name was bestowed upon it in honour of St. Asaph, who became the second bishop of the see in 560,
died in 596, and was interred in his
own cathedral. The township in which
it stands is called Bryn Paulin, in honour of
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Ill Paulinus, a Roman general, who made the
hill a place of encampment on his way
to Mona. Trefnant. — A compound of
tref, place, a town, and nant, brook.
English name — Brook ton. Trefor. —
Tref j town; for-fawr, great; in contra-
distinction to tre/an, a small hamlet or city. English name — Bigton. Tre'r Ynys. — Ynys Cyrys, to whom is
generally dedicated the honour of
having been the first to collect the
Welsh proverbs. The collection is called " Mad- waith hen Gyrys o Ial, '' the good work of
old Cyrys of Ial. English name — Cyrystown. Wig Fawr, or Wicwer. — Wig-gwig, a wood
or forest ; Mair, St. Mary, signifying
Mary's wood. There is also a well in
the place dedicated to St. Mary.
English name — Maryswood.
Wrexham. — Someone, more wittily than correctly, said that Gwrecsam means Gwraig Sam, Sam's
wife. " Such short-lived wits do
wither as they grow." The most
ancient forms of the name are Wrighesham
and Wrightelesham. Churchyard, the Elizabethan bard, described it as " trim Wricksam
town, a pearl in Denbighshire."
The name, we think, is a compound of
rex, king, and ham, signifying the king's hamlet. A few Latin words were introduced into the speech
of the Cymry in the middle ages. In
the elegy of Meilyr on " Gruffydd
ab Cynan " (twelfth century) we find the
epithet, " rex radau," king of gifts or graces. English name — Kingham. Ysbytty Ifan. — This village, situated on
the banks of the Conwy, took its name
from an ysbytty, hospital, that was
founded here in 1189, by Ifan ab Rhys. Tir
Ifan is another place in the parish. English name — John's Hospital. FLINTSHIRE.
The name of this county still remains an ety- mological puzzle. Mr. Jones, in his "
History of Wales," says of the
Cambrians : — " It is probable that
MS the national name of these settlers
was Flytwr-Flyndi* whence came
Flintshire." Others think it was named
after the castle, which was originally called Castellum- snpcr-Fltuntum y #.*., the castle near the
sea. The county is exceedingly rich in
minerals, especially lead and coal ;
but flintstones have not as yet been discovered- there ; therefore, we must seek elsewhere
for the origin of the name. Some think
the name refers to the oblong form of
the county, which, when looking on the
map, reminds one of the ancient Celtic knives which were made of flint. Adwy'r ClAwdd. — Adwy, gap, breach ; Clawdd
T dyke. The place is in close
proximity to OfFa's Dyke ; hence the
name. English name — Dykeham. Argoed.
— The name signifies a place on or above
the wood, and is cognate with Arghait in Scotland. English name — Woodham. Bodidris. — From Idris, the son of
Llewelyn Aurdorchog (the golden-
torqued), one of the lords of |
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141. English name —
Idriston. Bodfari. — The common
opinion is that the Roman station
called Varis was here, and recent discoveries, corroborate the theory ; hence the name.
English name — Variston . Bettesfield.— The general opinion is that
the field belonged to a woman called
Betty. A field below the Baily hill,
called Cat Owatn, Owen's field, is
supposed to be the place where Owen and his men encamped when they stormed the Baily
castle. There are several fields in
this district either affixed or
prefixed by proper names. The right wording would be Bettysfield. Baggilt. — This name is a perversion of
Bugeillt r which is a compound of bu,
a cow, an ox, and geillt, the plural
form of gallt, a cliff, an ascent. English name — Oxcliff.
Broughton. — Pennant says that ere the Norman Conquest this place was held by Lovelot,
and after- wards by Brochetune. The
latter name was probably conferred
upon the place. |
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' "3 Cilowen. — Cil, a hidden place. This name
was given in honour of Owen Gwynedd,
who camped there in order to avoid the
intrigues of Henry II. English name —
Owenton. Caerwys. — Caer, a fortress,
a city ; wys-gwys, summons. Some think
that the Romans had a station here,
where they held their judicial courts. The
bards, in time of yore, frequently held their sessions here. An eisteddfod was held here by royal
commis- sion on the 2nd of July, in
the 15th year of Henry VIII. The last
royal summons for holding these national
festivals was issued in the ninth year of the reign of Elizabeth. English name — Courtton. Caerfallwch. — A corruption probably of
Caer, stronghold ; Afallech, proper
name. In the pedigree of Sir Owain
Tudor we find the name of " Afallech ap
Afflech, ap Beli Mawr." This Afallech is supposed to be a nephew of the renowned Caswallawn. On
an adjacent hill called "
Moel-y-gaer " there are some
remains of a British stronghold, which is supposed to have been under the command of Afallech
during the Roman incursions. Afallech,
or Afallach, means an orchard. English
name — Orchardton. Caergwrle. — Caer
is plain ; gwr, from cwr, a boundary ;
le-lle, a place, signifying the border fortress. An old castle bearing the name is situated
about a mile from the village called
Mope. It is supposed to have been a
Roman outpost to Deva. English name —
Borderfort. Cefn. — The name
signifies a ridge, which is quite
descriptive of the place, being situated on a high eminence on the left bank of the river
Alun. English name — Ridgeton. Coedmynydd. — A compound of coed, wood ;
and mynydd, mountain. English name —
Woodhill. Coed Talon. — Coed, wood,
trees ; talon, plural form of tdl,
towering, high, tall. English name — Highwood. Coleshill. — Literally, hill of coal. The
Welsh name is Cwnsyllt, which means
the anvil of a smith, and the other
English name, Englefield, means the
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ii4 field of the English, which was given to
it, perhaps, because the Earl of
Chester and his followers were
encamping there when Owain Gwynedd marched to meet him and impede his progress through
his territory. CiLCAiN.—CfV, a place
of retreat ; coin, probably an
abbreviation of Eurgain, the name of St. Asaph's niece. Pending the religious persecution that
raged at the time, Eurgain repaired to
a sequestered spot in this vicinity,
built a cell there, and became a religious
devotee. Shortly afterwards she built a church near the cell, which was dedicated to her
memory. English name- Fairnook. Coedllai.— Coed, wood ; llai t less. It is
generally called in English Leeswood,
taking llai to mean lees ; but the
proper English name is Lesswood. Owing to
the abundance of wood in the district, Edward, before his conquest of Wales, was obliged to cut a
passage through them ; hence there
were less trees than before. English
name — Lesswood. Dolffin. — A compound
of dol, a dale, a meadow ; and ffin,
boundary, limit. English name — Markdale.
Dyserth. — Dy, on, upon ; serth, a steep, a declivity. Dyserth also means a desert. The village
probably takes its name from the
ancient castle which occupied the
summit of the rock. In time of yore it was known by the names of Dincoiyn, Castell-y-Ffaidon,
and Castell Ceri, and is supposed to
have been the last of the chain of
British posts on the Clwydian hills. Pennant
calls it Dissarch. We have Dysart on the Firth of Forth, and Dyzard in Cornwall. English name
— Steepton. Ffrith. — The right wording, probably, is
ffridd, a forest, a plantation. Ffridd
Celyddon, the forest of Caledonia. The
old Welsh fruitk, and the modern Welsh
ffrwyth, fruit, belong to the same family of
words. English name — Woodland.
Garneddwen. — Carnedd, heap of stones, cairn ; wen, white. English name — Whitcairn. Gelli. — Celli, a grove, a bower, English
name — Groveham. |
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"5 Glanyrafon. — Glan, brink, side, bank ; yr,
the ; a/an, river. Glanytnor, the .
sea-shore. Glanydwr, the water-side.
Glanyrafon, the river side. English name —
Riverside. Gop. — So called
from its close proximity to Gop-ar-
Uni. It means the top, the summit. Copa'r pen, the crown of the head. English name —
Topton. Gwaenyscor. — A corruption of
gwaen, meadow ; is, below; catr, wall,
fortress. English name — Plainfort.
Gwespyr. — A compound of gwest, an inn, a place of accommodation ; and pyr, lords. English
name — Lords Inn. Gwernafield. — A compound of gwern, a
swamp, a bog ; and field. Perhaps
gwern here means the common alder
trees. English name — Alderfield.
Gronant. — Probably a compound of croyw, clear, sweet, fresh, and nant, a brook ; or
gro-nant, sandbrook. English name —
Clearbrook. Hanmer. — A mutation of
Handmere, with the d and the final e
omitted. Hand requires no comment ;
mere, from the Latin mare, sea, lake, or pool. The village is situated near a lake, which lies
between its banks in the form of a man's
hand. English name — Handlake. Hawarden. — A corruption of Haordine, which
is really a Welsh name ; haw, fixed ;
ar y upon ; den-din, hill ; signifying
a castle built on a hill. In " Dooms-
day " it is Haordin. The " Brut" calls it Penharddkch. Penard or Penarth Halawg is the Welsh name,
which means the headland above the
lake. Garth, hill, is forcibly expressed
in the word lluarth, an entrenchment
on the hill. Halawg comes from hal 9 salt marsh, referring to the Saltney and other marshes,
which were formerly covered by the
sea. This place is world- renowned for
being the residence of the Right Hon.
W. E. Gladstone, M.P. English name— Castle Hill Halkin. — A corruption of the Welsh name
Helygen, which means a willow, a
willow tree. At the time of the Norman
Conquest, the district was called Alchene,
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II* a contraction, probably, of Helygen. The
village lies at the base of a mountain
called Helygen. English name —
Willowton . Holywell. — A free
translation of Treffynon, so called
from St. Winifred's Well, of legendary renown. The original meaning of holy is healing.
The water of this fabulous well was
believed to be efficacious in the cure
of all corporeal infirmities. It discharges 21 tons of water in a minute. It is covered by a
beautiful Gothic building, supposed to
have been erected by Margaret,
Countess of Richmond, mother of Henry VI-
Wellstown would be the right English name. Hope. — The old name was Caergwrle,
previously explained. Edward I. took
possession of Castle Estyn June 1282,
and bestowed it upon Queen Eleanor when
on her journey to Carnarvon, where she gave birth to Edward II., the first Englishman that was
titled Prince of Wales, from which
circumstance the place was called
Queen's Hope, and sometimes East Hope,, to distinguish it from North Hope. Licswm. — A compound of Hug, from Greek
lyc)ws y and Latin lux, a light, a
gleam ; and cwm, a dingle, a vale,
signifying a luminous vale. English name —
Lightcombe. Llanasa.- Asa is an
abbreviation of Asaph, a popular saint
of the sixth century, who succeeded St-
Cyndeyrn in the see of Llanelwy in 560. The church, and hence the village, were named in honour
of him. Pantasaph took its name from
him. English name — Asaphton. Llangynfarch. — Cynfarch, a prince of the
North Britons, and a saint of the
sixth century, founded the church,
which was afterwards destroyed by the Saxons
in the battle of Bangor Orchard, 607. English name — Knighton.
Llancilcen. — Cily a hidden place ; Cen-cain, an abbreviation of Eurgain, niece to St. Asaph
She was the founder of the church.
Vide Cilcain. English name —
Fairton. |
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ii7 Llanerch-y-Mor. — Llanerch, a glade ; y,
the ; mdr, sea. This town, as its name
signifies, is situate near the sea.
English name — Seaton. Lloc. — The
word means a mound, a dam, a fold.
Lloc rhagy Llifeiriant, a dam against the flood. Llochi, to protect. Lloches, a covert, a refuge.
Lock-gates are employed on rivers and
canals for penning back the water and
forming locks. The word here probably implies
a sheepfold. English name — Foldham.
Llong. — Llong a ship. The village derives its name from a small inn which had the figure
of a ship in full sail on its
sign-board. English name — Shipton.
Meliden. — This place is supposed to derive its name from the dedication of the church to
St. Meliden or Melid. English name—
Melidton. Mancot. — A compound of man,
a place, a spot ; and coed, wood.
English name— Spotwood. Mostyn. — A
corruption, probably, of maes-ddin,
which signifies the fortress field. Thomas ap Richard ap Hywel ap Ithel Fychan, at the suggestion
of Rowland Lee, Bishop of Lichfield,
was the first to adopt the place-name
as a personal name — English name —
Fortfield. Mold. — Gwyddgrug is the
Welsh name, which means " the
conspicuous mount, or hill," so called
from the great heap (now known by the name Bryn Btili, Bailey hill, from the word ballium,
castle-yard), which is near the
principal road. The prevalent opinion
is, that this heap was once a tower of defence, which stood so conspicuously in the Vale of
Alun, that it was called Y Wyddgrug.
The Normans partially translated it
Mont Haut, or Mouthault, the high mount,
and some think it was ultimately reduced to Mold. Others think it may be a corruption of mod
iad, bald pate. The name is obviously
one of the few memorials left us of
the Norman Conquest. English name —
Highmound. Maesgarmon. — Named
in honour of St. Garmon, who, with
Bishop Lupus, led the Britons against, and
obtained a glorious victory over, the Pagan Saxons |
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n8 and Picts. This took place in Easter week,
440, and is to this day called the
" Hallelujah Victory."
Nehemiah Griffiths, Esq., of Rhual, erected an obelisk in 1736, with an inscription to com
nemorate the event. English name —
Garmon's Field. Maelor. — A corruption
of mael, mart, and llawr, ground,
signifying a place where trade could be carried on unmolested. Maelawr was a free trader,
who favoured importations, in
consequence of which he was slain.
Some think the name is a contraction of
max lawr, which signifies plain land. English name — Martham.
Newmarket. — The old Welsh name was Rhiwlyf- nwyd, but Pennant calls it Treflawnyd,
which signifies " a place full of
corn." About the beginning of the
1 8th century, John Wynn, Esq., of Gop, the then owner of the estate, succeeded in getting a
market here, which had been a
long-felt desideratum, and, probably,
from that circumstance, the place was
henceforth called Newmarket.
Northop. — An abbreviation of North Hope, so called to distinguish it from East Hope.
Llaneurgain is the ancient Welsh name.
The church was dedicated to Eur gain,
the daughter of Maelgwyn Gwynedd, and a
saint of the sixth century.
Nanerch. — A compound of nant, a brook, and erch, a dark colour. English name — Dunbrook. Nerquis. — A corruption of Nercwys ; ner,
a sovereign ; cwys, a furrow. Cwys
dir, a furrow of land. English name —
Lordton. Overton. — A corruption of
Owrtyn, which is probably a compound
of gowyro, to make a little oblique,
and din, a fortified hill. It was anciently
called Owrtyn Fadoc from Madoc ab Meredydd, the prince of Powys, who is supposed to have
built a castle here. The town is
situated on a rising eminence near the
river Dee. English name— Slanthill.
Pentre Hobyn. — Pentre, a village ; hobyn, a pig. Hanerkob, a flitch or side of a hog. This
place in ancient times was famous for
its abundance of wild |
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H9 boars. Vide Rhos-hobyn, Denbigh. English
name — Boarton. Penygelli. — Petty head, end ; y, the ;
gelli, grove. English name —
Grovesend. Penymynydd. — The name
signifies a place situated on a
mountain. — English name — Mountton.
Pontbleiddyn. — Pont, a bridge ; bleiddyn, a wolfs cub. English nane — Wolfbridge. Prestatyn. — A corruption of Prysgoed-ddin.
In ancient times there was a castle
here called Prysgoed- ddin, evidently
built by the Kymry, a few ruins of
which still remain. Prys, a covert ; coed, wocd ; din, fortress ; the name signifies a place of
resort. Some say it is a corruption of
Prys Tydain, Tydain's place of resort.
Prys form a part of many names, Prysaddfed,
Pryseddfod, Prystalyn, &c. English name— Covertham Rhuddlan. — This name is variously derived.
Some derive it from Robert de
Rothelan, a military chief, who
visited the place. Others derive it from rhudd, red ; and glan, bank, from the town being
situated on the red banks of the river
Clwyd. The castle was anciently called
Castell Cock yn Ngwernfar, i.e., the red
castle on the great plain. The most natural ,explana- tion is Rhyd-y-llan, the ford by the
church. The game is written even now
by the oldest inhabitants Rhydlan.
There are three fords in the district : Rhyd-y-ddau-ddwfr, the ford of the two waters, which is
fordable to this day ; For-tyd, the
ford by the sea ; and Rhyd-y-llan, the
ford by the church. To the north of this ford, on an eminence, there is a church dating back
many cen- turies; and the ford is
spanned by a bridge which dates back
to 1595. Ere the building of this bridge,
the church-goers, undoubtedly, were wont to cross the river by means of this ford, hence it was
called Rhyd-y- llan. It is spelt by
some Rhyddlan, perhaps from its having
been made a free borough by Edward I., whose
son was proclaimed here the Prince of Wales, the first English Prince of Wales, 1283. Morfa
Rhuddlan is the celebrated marsh where
that memorable battle was fought in
795 between the Saxons under Offa and the
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120 Welsh under the valiant Caradog, when the
last fell in the conflict. Many names
in the vicinity point to the sad
catastrophe, such as Bryny saeihau, hill of arrows ; Bryn y lladfa, hill of slaughter ; Pant y
gwae, the vale of woe ; Cat yr orsedd,
field of the throne or tribunal. We adopt
Rhyd-y-Uan as the correct wording. English
name — Fordchurch or Fordton.
Rhyl. — This beautiful watering-place is situated at the extremity of Saltney marsh, which is
called in Welsh Morfa yr Hal, or Yr
Halcg. We find the names Penarleg near
Chester, and Plas-yr-hal near Ruthin, and
an old mansion in the vicinity is called Tyn-y-Rhyl, which means a house in the salt marsh ;
hence we are induced to think that
Rhyl is a mutation of Yr Hal, or RhaL
English name — Saltton. Saltney. — An
abbreviation of Salteney, which is a
translation of the Welsh halenog, abounding with salt. The site of the present village was nothing
better than a marsh until the year
1778. Sealand. — Soon after the
incorporation of " The River Dee
Company," in 1740, six hundred acres of
the waste marsh land of this district were purchased from the lord and freeholders of the manor
of Hawarden, through which a new
channel was cut for the Dee, and soon
afterwards some thousands of acres of the sands were redeemed, which are now covered with
good crops of corn, &c. ; hence
the name — Sealand. Trallon. — A
compound of tra-Uwngc, a sinking
place, a quagmire. English name — Bogham. Trelan. — A compound of tref, a place, and
llan, a church. English name- -Church
ton. Tremeirchion. — Tref, place ;
meirchion, a plural form of march ; a
word denoting a line of demarcation,
made of rods or poles. Compare Marchwiail, Denbigh- shire. English name — Markton. Treuddyn. — The name is variously spelt.
Treuddyn, Tryddyn, and Treddyn. The
latter is the most acceptable. Tre, a
dwelling ; dyn, a man. English name — Manton.
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121 Talar. — The name means a headland in a
field. Tal, head or end; dr, land,
ploughed land. English name —
Headland. Threapwood. — Threap, perhaps
from throp, the meeting of
cross-roads. English name — Crosswood.
Wepre. — A corruption of Gwybre, its ancient name. Owy, water ; bre-bryn y a hill. The place
is situated on the river Dee. English
name — Waterhill. Ysceifiog. — A
corruption of Yscawog, abounding with
ysgaw, the elder wood. The correct name of the parish is Llanfair Ysceifiog, so called, it
is supposed, from its abundance of
elder wood. English name —
JElderham. GLAMORGANSHIRE. Morgan Mwynfawr, the Courteous, became the prince of Gwent, Essyllt, Gorwenydd, and
Rheged in ^543, and called them after
his own name, Morganwg. Taking the
postfix, wg, to be synonymous with the
Latin locus, Morganwg means Gwlad Morgan, which has been Anglicized into Glamorgan. Aberavon. — The right wording is Aberafan.
Avon is a general term for rivqr, but
afan or avan is a proper name,
denoting here the river at the mouth of which
this ancient town is situated. Ban is the root, which means height. The river receives its
contributory streams from high and
lofty mountains. English name —
Highmouth. Abercanaid. — The village
is situate near the spot where the
rivulet Canaid discharges itself into the Taff. Canaid means white, pure, bright. English
name — Brightmouth. Aberdulais. — The village stands near the
con- fluence of the rivers Dulas and
Nedd. Some spell it Dulas, black-blue.
English name — Lividham. Aberdar. — This
populous place lies at the con-
fluence of the rivulets Dar and Cynon. Ddr is a corruption of Dyar y which signifies sound,
noise, or |
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122 din, so called, probably, from its noisy
waterfalls in the upper part of the
valley. English name — Din* mouth. Aberaman. — The streamlet A man joins the
Cynon here;. .hence the name. Man is a
commutative form of ban, height.
English name — Highton. Aberthaw. — A
corruption of the Welsh Aber- ddawcn,
a place situate at the mouth of the river
Dawen. The root, probably, is taw, silent, quiet. English name — Stillmouth. Abertridwr. — Tridwr, three waters,
so-called from the situation of the
village at the confluence of three
brooks. English name — Watermouth.
Abernant. — A brook called Nantygroes flows through the place, and empties into the
Cynon near Tir-y-founder. English name
— Brookmouth. Aberfan. — Ban, high ;.
Banau Brycheiniog, the Brecknock
Beacons. Fan is a brook that falls into
the river Taff at the place. Two farmhouses also bear the name. The village is also called
Ynys Owen, from a farm of that name.
The railway station has been
designated Merthyr Vale, and henceforth, the
village will, doubtless, be known by the same name. Alltwen. — Allt, a cliff, the side of a
hill ; wen r feminine of gwyn, white.
The name is in correspond- ence with
the situation of the village, being on a hill
side. English name— Whitehill.
Abwrthin. — Perhaps a corruption of Aberihin, which implies a place of sacrifices, so
called, probably,, from the
supposition that Druidical sacrifices were
offered here. English name — Altarton.
Abercenffig. — Cenffig is a contraction of Cefn-y- Figy** so called from the situation of the
place on a ridge of ground above a
bog. It is generally believed that
this ancient town was inundated by the sea about the middle of the sixteenth century, and
that the present village was built
near or on the place of inundation.
English name — Bogton. |
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123 Abercwmboy. — Some think the name is a
corrup- tion of Abtrcwmybwci : cum, a.
dingle; y, the; bwci 9 bugbear,
hobgoblin. It was the vain belief of the
aborigines of this valley that a hobgoblin once haunted the place- Bwci was reduced to
bo> and ultimately y was added ;
hence the name in its present form.
Perhaps the right wording is Aber-cwm-bwdau.
Bwa is the Welsh 1 for bow. Bwa a saeth r bow andarrow. We find Cwmbwa
in Cardiganshire ; and Brynbo
(Bryn-bwa) and Cwm Bowydd (Cwra-bwa-
gwydd) in North Wales, where bo is a. contraction of bwa. Perhaps the place was once noted
for its abundance of trees of which
our forefathers made their bows. The village
is also called Cap Coch, red cap.
Tradition has it that an eccentric publican and cock-fighter in remote times always wore a
red cap on a cock-fighting day, and
that the place is so called from that
circumstance. English name — Bowcombe,
or Bocombe. Abergwyxfi. — From
a farm so named. It was once called
Trejenkin, in honour of Mr. Jenkins, Gelli
farm. It was also called Blaenavan, from its situation at the source of the river Avan. Gwynfi is
a corruption of gwyn-fai, white or
blessed plain. English name —
Whitmouth. Bedlikog. — From an
old farm so named. The word is
probably a compound of bedw, birch tree, and
llain, a slip, or long narrow place. Llain o dir, a slip of land, a small field. Or the right wording
may be Bcdw- Imyn, birchgrove. The
village is also called Cwmfelin, from
an old mill in the place. It is also popularly called Colly, from a farm so called ; col,
an)' projecting body, a sharp hillock
; and It-llc, place. English name —
Bircham. Black Pill. — Probably
from the blackened stumps of a
submerged forest, which are to be seen all along the shore.
Blaekgwrach. — The village is situated at the ex treme end of the Neath Vale, near the
source (blaen) o the rivulet Gwrach ;
hence the name. Gwrach may be a |
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124 compound of cwr, extremity, and dch, river,
signifying a river flowing at the
extreme end of a vale. English name —
Nookton. Broughton. — From barrow, a
sepulchral mound of great antiquity
formed of earth or stones. Stone bar-
rows are called cairns in Scotland. Several tumuli or barrows were found on each side of the
road from Lantwit Major to Ewenny ;
hence the name. English name —
Barrowton . Bodringallt. — Bod, a
dwelling-place ; ringallt is variously
derived. Some are of opinion it is a corruption of rhingyll, a summoner,
founding their reasons upon the
supposition that Cadwgan y Fwyall, the summoner, took up his abode here. We
rather think it is a corruption of
reynallt, a fox, a reynard. The valley was
noted in olden times for fox-hunting, as the following extract shows: — "1752, killing a fox
whelp, 2s. 6d. 1 819, paid for killing
a fox, 5s." English name —
Foxham. Blaen Rhondda. — So
called from a farmhouse bearing the
name, and also the village is situated near
the source of the river Rhondda. Blaen means the forepart of anything,
and here the spring of the river.
English name — Springton.
Blaenycwm. — So called from its situation at the extreme end of the Rhondda Valley. English
name — Comb's-end. Bargod. — The full name is
Pont-aber-Bargod, signifying the bridge near where the brook Bargod flows
into the river Rhymney. Bargod means a
springing out. English name — Springham. Brithdir. — The village takes its name from
Cefn Brithdir, the name of the
mountain that towers above it.
Brithdir means a land of medium quality. English name — Midland, or Mixland. Bag lan. — An abbreviation of Llanfaglan.
The church was dedicated to Baglan, a
Welsh saint of the sixth century. Blaenllechau.— From a farm of the same
name. Another farm in the
neighbourhood is called CefnlUchau* |
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"5 The lands of both were remarkable for
UecJiau y stones. Some call the place
Tre Rkondda, Rhondda town ; it is also
called Ferndale. English name— Stoneby.
Boverton. — A corruption of Boviutn, the name of a Roman station which stood near the road
called Julia Strata Maritana. There
are extensive remains of Roman camps
in the vicinity. In 1798 a considerable
number of Roman coins were discovered here. Briton Ferry. — In ancient MSS. the place
is- called Berton Ferry, and Brittane
Ferry, the ferry where the Britons
crossed the estuary of the Neath river.
Llansawel, the Welsh name, is derived by some from llan-is-awd, a church under the breeze.
Others think it was dedicated to
Sawyl. Barry. — Some think the place
derives its name from Baruch, a
disciple of Gilsach, who was buried
here in the year 700. Others think it is the Norse for bare island. Bridgend. — A translation of the Welsh
Penybont. The full name is
Penybont-ar-Ogwy , Bridgend-on-the
Ogmore. Birchgrove. — From a
farm of the name, whereon the village
is situated. Bishopston. — In olden
times the manor belonged to the see of
Llandaff, and, on account of that, the
parish received its ecclesiastical name. The Welsh name is Llandeilo Ferwallt. The church is
dedicated to Bishop Teilo. Berwallt is
a compound of berw, the water-cress,
and gallt, a wooded declivity. In the
" Liber Landavensis " it is called LanberugalL Blackmill. — A semi-translation of the
Welsh name, Melin Ifan Ddu. Ifan,
Evan, was the owner of the mill, and
he lived in a farm called D61 Ifan Ddu ;
hence the name. Bryncethin. —
Bryn, a hill ; cethin, dark, terrible*
frightful. English name— Frighthill.
Bonvilstone. — The Welsh name, Tresimwn, and the English name, Bonvilstone, were
bestowed in |
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126 honour of Simon Bonvile, the chief steward
of Sir Robert Fitzhamon. Bryntroedgam. — Bryn, a hill ; troed, foot
; gam-cam, crooked, signifying a place
at the crooked foot of a hill. English
name — Crookhill. Butetown. — This
isolated village, which is situated
near Rhymney. received its name in honour of the late Marquis of Bute. Cardiff. — An Anglicism of the Welsh name Caerdydd, or, more correctly, Caer Daf.
Opinions differ as to the right
wording of the postfix. Some derive
the name from Caer Didius, the city of Didius
{Aulus Didius), the Roman general, who -commanded in Britain from a.d. 53 to about 57. It is
supposed that he built a fortress on
the TafF, where, from its contiguity to the sea, he would have been much
less exposed to the onsets of the
warlike Silures. As the Romans
Latinized British names with increments,
such as Casivellaunus from Caswallon, so, on the contrary, the Britons rejected the final
syllable of Latin names and words, as
Iwl, from Julius : Aleg, from Alectus
; and here (a case in point) Dydd from
Didius, whence Caer Dydd. Despite the plausibility of the above derivation, we rather think
the right wording is Caer Daf, a
fortress on the TafF, which, it is
said, was originally built by Morgan ap Hywel ap Rhys. Close by we find Llandaf, the stately
edifice on the TafF, and in the
metropolis of Wales we find a fortress
on the TafF. Taf means spreading. Tafwys,
the Welsh for Thames, means the spreading or expanding water. English name —
Broadfort. Cerrvg Llwydion. — Cerryg,
stones; llwydion, plural form of
llwyd, grey ; from a number of grey
stones in the place. English name — Greystone. Cilffriw. — A compound of cil, a place of
retreat ; and ffriwy mien,
countenance, visage. " A gwaed ffrau
ar ffriw " — and streaming blood on a visage. Ffroen, nose, nostril, comes from the same root.
The name is applied to hill tops or
some kind of eminences. English name —
Phizton. |
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127 Clwydyfagwyr. — Clwyd, a hurdle, a wattled
gate ; y, the ; fagwyr-magwyr, a
structure, a wall, an enclosure.
English name — Wallgate.
Craigcefnparc. — Craig, rock ; cefn, ridge, back ; pare, a field, an enclosure. English name —
Rockfield. Cwmbwrla. — Bwrla is
probably a corruption of bwr-le; bwr,
an old Welsh word denoting a place of
defence ; le-lle, a place. " Ni sefis na thwr na bwr" — i.e., there stood nor tower nor wall.
English name — Fortcomb. Cwm am an. —Cwm, a narrow vale; Atnan, the
name of the rivulet that flows through
it ; hence the name. English name —
Highcombe. Castella. — Probably
contracted, from castellan, a form of
castell, a castle. English name— Castleby.
Caersalem Newydd. — A village near Llangyfelach. It was known by the
name Tirdeunaw until the Baptists
built their magnificent sacred edifice in
the place, and called it Caersalem Newydd, which means New Jerusalem. Cwmparc — The rivulet Pare flows through
the combe ; hence the name. English
name — Parkcombe. Cwmbach. — From an
old cottage bearing the name, which
signifies " small vale." English name — Pettycombe.
Cwmdar. — From an old cottage of the name, so called from its situation on the river Ddr,
or Dyar. English name — Dincombe. Cellywion. — Probably a corruption of
Celliwyn, which signifies the white
grove. Some think the right wording is
Celli Gwion, Gwion's grove. English
name — Whitegrove. Cadoxton. —
Cadog's town. The church was dedicated to Catwg the Wise; hence the Welsh
name Llangatwg. From its contiguity to
Neath, it is called
Cadoxton-juxta-Neath. The saint was called Catwg the Wise from his superior wisdom in all
councils. |
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128 Crynant.— Probably a corruption of croyw,
clear,, crystal ; and ftant, a brook.
The clear brook runs through the
place, and empties itself into the Dulais.
English name — Clearbrook.
Caerphili. — The prefix is clear, but opinions vary as to the origin of phily. Iago Emlyn says:
The probable root of phily is vallum,
the moat that surrounded it (the castle), the watermark of which is
still visible on the old outer wall.
Vallum could easily have become
"valley," and then " villy," and last "phily.'* There are other less plausible derivations,
but we incline to think it comes from
Ffili, the name of the son of Cenydd.
Its pristine name was Senghenydd (Saint Cenydd), in honour of Cenydd, who
founded a seminary here. When Cenydd
moved to Gower he left the seminary
under the auspices of his son Ffili*
who built a caev, fortress or defensive wall round it ; hence it was called Caer Ffili. If the old
name Senghenydd was given in honour of Cenydd, it is but natural that the new name was given in
honour of his son Ffili. English name
— Filfort. Cefnpenar. — Cefn, back,
ridge ; pcnar, a mutation oipenor,
bright, fair. English name — Fairridge.
Cowbridge. — A translation of the old Welsh name of the town, Pontyfon. Mon is an old Welsh
word for cow. In an old manuscript,
dated 1645, it is written Pontyfuwch,
the bridge of the cow. Its pristine name
was Y Dref Hir yn y Waun, the long town in the meadow, and its present name was derived
from the following incident. Soon
after the stone bridge was built
across the river Dawen, a cow, being chased by the dogs, ran under it, and her horns stuck
in the arch; the place being so
narrow, she could neither move onwards
or backwards, and ultimately the owner
had no alternative but to kill her on the spot. The town's coat of arms ever since is the
figure of a cow standing on a
bridge. Cheriton. — Probably a
corruption of Cherrytown, so called from its abundance of cherries in
olden times. |
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J 29 Cilbebvll. — Cil, a hidden place ; pebyll,
tents ; signifying the retreat of the
tents. It was customary in olden times
to repair to temporary tents in sequestered places in the summer. This
sequestered place commands a beautiful
view of the sea, and the surrounding
district. English name — Nookham.
Cymer. — From cym-mer, which literally means a confluence or junction. Several places in
Wales are called Cymer, from their
situation on the junction of rivers,
as Pontycymer, Cymer Glyn Corwg, &c. English name — Biwater. Cyfarthfa. — Cyfarthfa is the right name
according to some, signifying the
place of barking. It is said that it
was a general rendezvous for hunters. One writer thinks it is a corruption of Cyfarwydd-fa,
the place of Cwta Cyfarwydd, one of
the heroes of Welsh legend. English
name — Barkham. Colwinstone. — A
translation of the Welsh name,
Tregolwyn, Colwin's town.
Cadle. — Cad, battle ; lie, place ; signifying a battle field. Cad is derived from the Sanskrit
had, to hurt or kill. It is supposed
that a terrible battle was fought here
at some remote period. English name — Battleton. Clydach. — The village takes its name from
the rivulet Clydach, which discharges
itself into the river Tawy. Some trace
the name to the Gaelic clith, strong.
We have the Clyde in Scotland, the Clwyd in Wales, and the Glyde in Ireland. Others refer it
to cludo, to carry. We have the Cludan
in Scotland, and Strathclud, or the
kingdom of the Clyde. We offer the following : Clyd, sheltering, warm ; ach, a river ;
signifying a river flowing through a
sheltering place. English name —
Shelterham. Cabalfa. — A
corruption probably of ceubalfa, which
signifies a ferrying-place. English name — Ferryham. Crossvane. — An Anglicized form
oiCroesfaen, which signifies the cross
stone. English name — Cross-stone.
Coyty. — A corruption of coed, wood, and ty, a house, signifying a wood-house. English
name — Woodby. |
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130 Cors Einion. — Cors, a bog; Einion, the
name of a descendant of Howell the
Good. History tells us that he led an
army twice to Gower, and on his way thither
he probably encamped here. The name of Einion is borne down to us also in Port Eynion Bay.
It is a strange coincidence that the name
Einion signifies "our
leader." English name — Leaderham. Caerau. — The church was built on the ruins
of an old Roman fortress ; hence the
name. English name — Fort ham. Cwmgiedd. — Cwm, a narrow vale ; Giedd, the
name of the rivulet that runs through
it to the Tawy ; hence the name. We
are inclined to think Giedd is a contraction of gwy eidden, which signifies
noisy water, in contradistinction from
taw-wy, the smooth or silent water,
and llyfnell, the smooth water. English name — Dinvale.
Cwmtwrch. — The river Twrch rushes through the combe and empties into the Tawy near
Ystalyfera. Twrch , probably, is a
derivation of tyrchu, to turn up, to
burrow. The Welsh for a mole is twrch daear, from its burrowing nature. English name —
Boarcombe. Coychurch. — Coy, is,
probably, a corruption of coed, wood ;
the name signifying the church in the
wood. Pencoed is in the same parish. The Welsh name is Llangrallo, from Crallo, the
founder and patron saint of the
church, and a nephew to Illtyd. English
name — Woodchurch. Cenffig. —
Probably a compound of cefn, a ridge,
and tnignen, a bog, signifying a ridge above a bog, which answers to the position of the place.
English name — Bogridge. Cogan. — A corruption, perhaps, of Gwgan,
the name of a celebrated Welsh
personage. Cwmllynfell. — Cwm, a
narrow vale; llynfell, a mutation of
llyfnell, which means a smooth river.
Llyfn wy, the smooth water. " Ni bydd llyfn heb ei
anafi" there is nothing smooth
without its blemish. English name —
Smoothton. |
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131 Crwys. — This name is a mutation of croes,
a cross. A corpse lying in its shroud
is said to be dan ei grots, i.e.,
" under the cross," from the Popish usage of putting a cross on the bosom of the dead.
English name — Crosston. Dowlais. — Some derive the name from
Dwrlais, the supposed name of the
brook that flows through the old
ironworks, and joins the Morlais at the upper part of Penydaren. " Clais dwfr a glau,"
the water edge, was an ancient Welsh
expression. Dwr might be easily
changed into dow. Dowgate, London, was once called DwrgaU. Llandwr, a small parish in the Vale
of Glamorgan, is now called Llandow. Others think it is a corruption
oiDwylais, from the confluence of the two brooks in the place. Others derive it thus : du,
black ; clais, a little trench or
rivulet. We rather think the right
wording is Dulas : du, black ; glas, blue, signifying the livid water. Our forefathers were wont to
name the rivulets and rivers from the
respective hue of their waters. Dulas
is a very common appellation in Welsh
topography, and we find its cognate in
Douglas, Isle of Man. And, strange to say, Morlais or Morlas is in close proximity to Dulas in
several districts in Wales, and in
Brittany we find its cognate in
Morlaix. This coincidence inclines us to
think that glas, blue, is the suffix of both names. Morglas, sea-green
colour; Du-glas, black and blue. We
have five Dulas in Wales, three in Scotland, and one in Dorset; and the word appears in different
forms: — Douglas once in the Isle of Man,
twice in Scotland, once in Lancashire,
and twice in Ireland ; Doulas in
Radnor, Dowles in Salop, Dawlish in Devon, and Dowlais in Glamorgan. English name —
Lividton. Dinas Powis.— Dinas is a
corruption of Denis. When Iestyn ab
Gwrgant married Denis, the daughter of
Bleddyn ab Cynfyn, Prince of Powys, he built a castle in the place, and called it Denis
Powys, in honour of his wife. English
name — Denisham. Deri. — This place
adopted the name of a farmhouse called Deri, from its situation in a place abounding with oaks. Deri means oaks, and
it is |
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132 cognate with Derry and Kildare. It is also
called Darran from Darren Ysgwyddgwyn,
which towers above the village.
English name — Oakham. Dinas. — A
populous village in the Rhondda
Valley. It was first called Dims y Glo t the city of coal, on account of its wealth of coal.
English name — Coaltown. Dyffryn: — Dyffryn means a valley. The village
is situated near Dyffryn Goluch, the
valley of worship, or the hill of
adoration, where the largest cromlech in the
kingdom and other remarkable remains of ancient religious sanctuaries are visible. English
name — Worshipton. Ely. — The river Llai, which means a
dun-coloured water, flows through the
village. The Welsh name is Trelai, and
the English is a corruption of the same.
English name — Dunwater.
Ewenny. — A corruption of Ewyn-wy, the name of the river that flows through the place. It
means the frothy water. English name —
Foamton. Eglwys Ilan. — The church,
according to some, was dedicated to
Elian. Others think it was dedicated
to Elen Deg (the Fair), the daughter of Morgan Mwynfawr. Ilan,
therefore, is a corruption either of Elian or
Elen. ' English name — Ellenschurch.
Efailfach. — Gefail, a smithy; fach-back 9 small, little ; from a smitny in the place.
English name — Smithham. Flemingston. — This place was named in
honour of Sir John Fleming, Robert
Fitzhamon's knight, to whom he gave
the manors of St. George, Llanfaes, &c.
The ancient name was Llanfihangel-y-twyn, St. Michael's church-on-the-hill. Fforchdwm. — Fforck, fforcki, to fork, to
part into two ; and twnt, a round heap
; or, perhaps turn, fracture, splint. The
name, probably, signifies a hillock forming
a divergent point between two vales. English name — Forkhill.
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J33 Glanybad. — Glan, side, bank ; y 9 the ;
bad, boat. Before the present bridge
was built across the river Taff, the
people were wont to cross to the other side
by means of a boat, and the place where they disembarked was called
Glanybad, the shore of the boat; hence
the name of the village. English name — Boatside. Gower. — A corruption of the Welsh gwyr,
from gwyro, to deviate, to swerve.
This name was probably suggested by
the deviation of the peninsula from the
mainland. Its original Welsh name was Rheged, which implies a promontory running out into the
sea. English name — Swervington . Gower Road. — At a vestry meeting of the
ratepayers of the parish of Loughor, held October 15th, 1885, it was unanimously passed — "
That the name of this village be
changed from Gower-road to Gowerton."
A few gentlemen were appointed to communicate with the railway and postal authorities, with
the view of making the necessary
arrangements for the new name to be
adopted January 1st, 1886.
Gwaelodygarth. — Gwaelod, bottom, base ; y, the ; garth, a hill. The mountain that towers
above the village is called
Mynydd-y-Garth, and the village resting
humbly at its base is naturally called Gwaelodygarth. English name — Foothill. Garw Valley. — The river Garw runs through
it. Garw means rough. It is cognate
with the Gaelic garble. The river
Llyfnwy is not far from it, and the
Garw rushes fiercely through a wild and rugged valley. Garry in Perth and Inverness, Yarrow in
Selkirk, Gazelock in Ross, Garonne in
France, and Guer in Brittany, probably
come from the same root. English name—
Rough Vale. Glyncorwg. — Two rivulets,
called Corrwg Fawr and Corrwg Fach,
join in the glen, near the church of
Glyncorwg. Some derive Corrwg from Carrog, an obsolete term for brook. Others derive it
from corr, a Celtic name for sheep ;
and the affix wg, as already |
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134 explained, implies a place or locality ;
hence it means sheep-dale. English
name— Sheepton. Gellionen. — Gelliy
grove, an enclosure ; onen, ash tree ;
signifying the ash-grove. Gellionen Well is
celebrated tor its remediate waters. English name — Ashgrove.
Gadlys. — Gad-cad, battle, battle-field ; llys, court. The name is one of the traces left us of
that terrible battle fought in the
upper part of the Aberdare valley
between Rhys ab Tewdwr and Iestyn ab Gwrgant. The general opinion is that Iestyn's army
encamped in the Lower Gadlys, and
Rhys's army in the Upper Gadlys,
whence came the name. English name —
Battle Court. Gelligaer. — This
name is probably derived from Caer Castell,
the ruins of which still remain near the
village. It was built by Iorwerth ab Owen in 1140. English name — Castle Grove. Gellideg. — Gclli, grove; dig, teg, fair.
English name — Fairgrove. Glyn Neath. — Glyn, valley, glen ; neath, a
corruption of Nedd, the name of the river that runs through it. English name — Glenneath. Groeswen. — The name, literally, means
white cross, but, figuratively,
blessed cross. White in olden times
was an emblem of moral purity, and, therefore, a source of blessedness. English name —
White Cross. Gileston. — The Welsh
name is Llanfabon~y-Fro f from the
dedication of the church to Mabon, and its
situation in the Vale of Glamorgan. The English name was given to it by a Norman, named Giles,
who took up his abode here. Glais. — The village derives its name from
the word Clais, which implies a trench
through which a stream of water
rushes. English name — Glenbrook,
Goytre. — A compound of coed, wood, and tre, a dwelling-place. English name —
Woodham. |
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135 Gelli. — A rising village in the Rhondda
Valley, so called from a farm of the
same name. English name — Groveton. tV Gilfach Gocu.—Cilfach, a place of retreat,
a nook ; coch, red. The village
probably derives its name from a heap
of red cinders that remain as a memento of the ironworks that stood there in olden times.
English name — Rednook. Gwarycaeau. — Gwdr, the nape of the neck ;
y y the ; caeau, fields ; signifying a
place situated in the upper part of,
or above, certain hilly fields. English name — Highfield.
Hirwaun. The name signifies long meadow. The correct name is Hitwaun Gwrgant, Gwrgan's
long meadow, or mountain-plain. It
appears that this meadow in olden
times extended from Blaengwrach, near
Rhydgroes, to Mountain Ash, and so it was-
nearly ten miles long ; but in the eleventh century, Gwrgan ab lthel gave a portion of it,
called Y Waun Hir, the long meadow,
scot free; to his poor subje< ts
and all other Welshmen for raising corn, and breeding sheep and cattle. English name — Long
Meadow, or Longmoor. Heolyfelin. — Its English name is "
Mill-street, " so called from the
Llwydcoed mill that stood on the river
Cynon. In 1792 the first houses of this populous place were built by a Morgan Watkin. It is
also called Trecynon from its
situation on the bank of the Cynon.
Cynon is a compound of cyn, chief, and ain,
water or running brook ; signifying the chief brook. Hafod. — The name means a summer-house,
in contra-distinction from Gauafod,
winter-house. The village derived its
name from a farmhouse of the same
name. English name— Solham, or Summerham. Hendre. — A compound of hen, old, and tref,
a dwelling. In times of yore, the
people took up their abode for the
winter in the valleys, and these homesteads were called Hendref, in
contradistinction from Hafod, which
was only a temporary residence. English
name— Oldham.' |
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136 3N. — II is an abbreviation of Illtyd, or
Iltutus, i signifying Illtyd's town.
The Welsh name tyd. The church was
probably dedicated to descendant of
Emyr Llydaw, and a saint of:entury.
ay. — An Anglicized form oiCilfai; cil, a place t ; fai-mai, a plain. The name signifies
a ed place. English name —
Hidham. ifabon. — The church was
dedicated to Mabon, rother, who
founded it in the sixth century,
derived from tnapos, in Old Welsh map y now f, a youth, a son. English name —
Boychurch. iston. — So called in
honour of W. Lewis, itnewydd House, on
whose estate the village 1. gynwyd. — The church was dedicated to saint of the sixth century. Cynwyd
signifies vil or mischief. Gwlaw
cynwyd, a destructive glish name —
Primechurch. GYFELACH.— Cyfelach,
bishop of LlandafF in 1 century, is
supposed to have founded the ere,
which was dedicated to him. Cyfelach
le resembling his ancestors. English name — blethian. — The ancient church was
dedicated n or Bleddyn, a contemporary
of Garmon, who, founded it in the
sixth century. Bleddyn means
wolf-child. English name — Wolfton.
dough. — The church was dedicated to Dochwy, ican saint, who founded a seminary here
in 1 century. The Welsh name,
Llandochwy, is 1 into Llandough.
Dochwy is probably a 3f tawch-wy, the
hazy water. English name— illtyd
Faerdref. — The church is dedicated
Faerdref> a dairy hamlet. The Welsh princes men kept dairy-houses at a little distance
from es and courts. Two farmsteads in
the neigh- still retain the names of
Faerdrcf Fawft ~*"* rttr "1 ir
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i 3 7 or near the site of one of these
dairy-houses ; hence the name. English
name — Dairychurch. Landore. — From
the Welsh Glandwr, the name of an old
farmstead situated near the river Tawy. English name — Waterton. Lantwit-Major. — A semi-translation of
Llanilltyd Fawr. A religious seminary
was founded here at a very early
period, which, about the year 450, was
renovated by Garmon, who, together with Dyfrig, ■dedicated Illtyd to be
the head teacher thereof ; hence it
was called C6r Illtyd, Bangor Illtyd, and Llanilltyd Fawr. The differentia fawr was added to
distinguish it as par excellence above
every other institution bearing the
name Illtyd. English name — Illston Major.
Loughor. — A corruption of Llychwr, which forms a part of the Welsh name Castell Llychwr.
The castle was built on an eminence
above the estuary of the river
Llychwr. The name is a compound of llwck, an
inlet of water, a lake, a lough ; and dwr, water. The ancient name was Treafanc, from the great
number of beavers abounding in the contiguous
waters, afanc being the old Welsh name
of the beaver. Some sup- pose the
place to have been the Leucamm of Antonius.
English name — Castlelock.
Laleston. — A translation of the Welsh Trelalys, the town of Lales. The parish and village
were so called in honour of Lales, who
built the Neath and Margam Abbeys.
Having received a portion of land, lie
built a mansion here, demolished the old church, and, in 11 15, built a new one near his
mansion. Leckwith. — This name is one
of the many instances of the sad havoc
the Normans played with Welsh names
when they settled in Glamorgan in the ■eleventh century. It is a corruption of llechwedd, the steep of a hill, hill-side. English name —
Slopeton. Lavernock. — Another Norman
corruption oiLlan- wernog, which means
a church on a meadow. English name —
Meadow Church. Lisfane.— An Anglicized
form of the Welsh Llys- faen. Llys,
court ; ntaen, stone. It appears that there
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138 was a large stone in the vicinity, upon
which the law court was held in
ancient times; hence the name. English
name— Stonecourt. Llancarvan.—
"Bonedd y Saint" tells us the
church was dedicated to Carvan. Iolo MSS. inform us that here the first monastery was built
in Britain by Germ anus, from which
circumstance the learned editor thinks
that Llancarvan signifies the church of Germanus, Carfan being a corruption of the saint's
name. English name — Carvanton. Llanharan. — In some ancient MSS. it is
written Llanaron> from the church
being dedicated to Julius and Aaron.
English name — Aaronton. Llanharry.—
It appears that Llanarai was the ancient
name, and that Garai was the founder of the
church. English name— Garton. L
lan i lid. — The church was dedicated to Ilid f who, according to some, was the first to
introduce Christianity to the Celts in
the first century. English name—
Ilidton. Llanwonno. — The church was
dedicated to Gwyno y Gwyno having been
changed to Wonos English name —
Whitby. Llakfaes. — It was
anciently called Llan Ffagan Fach, in
honour of Ffagan, the founder of the church.
The present name implies that Ffagan*s Church was demolished, and the present one was built
on a spot where a memorable battle was
fought. Maes, a high field, is to be
understood here in a martial sense.
English name — Churchfield.
Llanedeyrn. — The church was dedicated to Edeyrn, the son of Gwrtheyrn, who
flourished in the fifteenth century.
He established a religious com- munity
of 300 members in this place. English name —
Rexton. Llandaff. — The name
signifies a church on the Taff. It was
built, according to the " Welsh
Chronicles," in the year 171 by Lleurwg (Lucius), and the see is reckoned to be the most ancient
in Britain. English name —
Taffchurch. |
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139 Llanddewi. — The church was dedicated to
Dewi, the patron saint of Wales.
English name — Davidston.
Llandeilo-Talybont. — The church was founded by Teilo, bishop of Llandaff, in the sixth
century. Taly- bont has been already
explained. English name —
Bridgechurch. Llanrhidian. —
From Rhidian, a student in Cen- ydd's
seminary at Gower, and the founder of the
church. English name — Rhidianton.
Llanmadog. — The church was dedicated to Madoc> the son of Gildas. English name —
Madocton. Llysworney. — A mutilation
of the Welsh Llysy- fronydd, which,
also, is a corruption of Llys Bro Nudd.
Bro means a cultivated region, a vale, and Nudd is supposed to have held a court (llys) here ;
hence the name. English name — Court
Vale. Llwydcoed. — Llwyd, grey; coed y
wood. In the sixteenth century the
forest of Llwydcoed was reckoned to be
one of the finest in the Principality. English name — Greywood. Llwynpia. — From a farmhouse so named.
Llwyn, bush, grove ; pia, a pie.
English name — Pieton. Llanishen. —
The church was dedicated to Isan, a
disciple of Illtyd. Isan has been corrupted to Ishen. English name — Isanton. Llansamlet. — " Bonedd y Saint "
tells us that the church was founded
by Samled, who flourished in the
seventh century. The place is sometimes called Llwynbrwydrau, grove of battles, which
probably refers to some battles that
were fought here. English name —
Samled. Llantrisant.- -Its
ancient name was Llangawrdaf, so
called in honour of Cawrdaf, who founded a seminary here. Llantrisant implies that the church
was dedicated to three saints, namely,
Illtyd, Tyfodwg, and Gwyno ; hence the
peculiar name. English name — Saintham.
Llanillteyrn. — Illtern is a corruption of Elldeyrn f the name of the saint who founded the
church in the fifth century. Elldeyrn
signifies a strange or foreign king.
English name — Kingschurch. |
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140 Melin Griffith. — This place derives its
name from a Mr. Griffith, who kept a
mill (melin) here to grind corn for
the farmers of the district. English
name —Griffith's Mill. Melin
Crythan. — So called from a mill situated
on the brook Crythan. Crythan means a little crooth, or it may come from the verb cryddu, to
stretch, or extend round. English name
— Croothmill. Michaelstone-super-Ely.
— A translation of the Welsh
Llanfihangel-ar-Elai, from the dedication of the church to St. Michael, and its situation on
the river Ely. Mumbles. — This place was anciently known
by the name Oystermouth, so called, it
is said, from its abundance of
oysters, of which even now considerable
quantities are yearly sent to London and other places. In "Y Cymrodor," vol. vi., part
II., page 149, one writer says that
" whether of Scandinavian origin, as a
local antiquary of repute would have it, or Celtic as is sometimes contended, it is certain the
village owes nothing to the oysters of
the neighbouring sea for its name, the
early form of writing which was * Ostre-
muere.' " The present name was probably derived from the perpetual mumbling of the
sea. Manselfield. — So called in
honour of the Mansel family. William
Mansel, Esq., Penrice Castle, was the
owner of the estate in the reign of Henry VI.
Maesteg. — The popular Welsh name was Llwyni, bushes, from a farmstead of the name, but
was changed to Llyfnwy by Nathan Dyfed
at an eisteddfod held here in 1839.
The present name is a compound of mats, a
field, which probably comes from the Sanskrit matrix terra ; and teg, fair ; so called from
another farmstead bearing the name.
English name — Fairfield. Merthyr
Tydfil. — The town takes its name from
the martyr Tydfil, daughter of Brychan Brycheiniog, who was brutally murdered here by the
heathen Picts, August 23rd, 420. Some
are of opinion that the Parish Church
is built on the scene of murder, and hence
dedicated to Tydfil. English name — Tydfilton. |
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141 Mawdlam — A corruption of Magdalen. An
old church in the parish was dedicated
to St. Mary- Magdalen. English name —
Magdalen. Morriston. — So called in
honour of Sir John Morris, Clasmont,
who built a large copper works here in
1768, and thereby rendered the largest quota to the growth of this populous place. Margam. — Morgan Mwynfawr, the
Courteous, founded Margam Abbey, which
was known for some centuries by the
name of Morgan, and ultimately it was
changed into Margam. Rees Meyric believed that " Robert (Consul) founded Morgan
(Margam) 1146, and was benefactor to
the Abbey of Neath seventeen years
before Morgan was founded." — " Morganie Arch- aiographioe," page 29. English name —
Morganton. Marcross. — Probably a
translation of Crocs Marc, Mark's cross.
It is supposed that a large cross was
erected here at some remote period to St. Mark, or, perhaps, it is a corruption of Mer-groes,
the cross on the sea shore. Merthyr DyPan — Some ecclesiastical
historians think that Dyfan introduced
Christianity to this neigh- bourhood
as early as the second century, and that he
fell a martyr to his faith here. The parish church is dedicated to him. English name — Dy van
ton. Mountain Ash. — The ancient name
was Aber- pennar, and the present name
was bestowed upon it by John Bruce
Pryce, Esq., then owner of the estate. A
man named David John Rhys went to Mr. Pryce one day to ask him for a lease on a certain
piece of land, on which he purposed
building a public-house and a private
house. They went together to measure the
land, and, in reply to a question of Mr. Pryce with regard to the name of the new public-house
he was asked to name, seeing a
ccrdinen (mountain ash) close by, he
turned to Mrs. Pryce, and said — " We shall call this place Mountain Ash." Maerdy. — A name of frequent occurrence in
Wales. The Welsh tnaer is synonymous
with the English land agent, steward, and
bailiff. In ancient times maer |
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142 was the king's land agent ; but, in course
of time, the word became to signify any
land steward. Matt y biswail, the
keeper of the cowlair. Maerdy means a
dairy-house. The village derives its name from a farmhouse bearing the name. English name—
Dairyton. Miskin. — The name is spelt
Meisgun by old Welsh historians.
Meis-tnaes, field, land ; gun-cun, a leader, a chief, alord. Miskin, near Llantrisant,
formed a portion of the hereditary
estates of Iestyn ap Gwrgant, lord of
Glamorgan ; hence the name signifies " the lord's
land," or " the royal
land." English name — Kingsland. ' Monknash. — The prefix was derived on
account of Sir Richard de Grenville
having conferred this manor, together
with the castle and lordship of Neath, on the
monks of Neath Abbey. Nash is cognate with ness or naze, which means a nose or promontory of
land. Neath. — An Anglicised form
oiNcdd, the name of the river on which
the town is situated. Nedd means
turning, whirling ; the river was so called, probably, from its various meanderings. The Romans
had a station here called Nidium. The
Welsh popular name is Castell Nedd,
the castle on the Neath. Richard de
Grenville, a Norman knight, built a castle here early in the twelfth century, and the Neath Abbey
was founded by him in the year 11
11. Nelson. — The ancient name was
Ffos y Gerdinen, the mountain ash bog
; but, when the village began to
increase, a public-house was built and named " Lord Nelson," and, in course of time, the
gallant admiral's name, minus "
Lord," was bestowed upon the place.
Nantvmoel. — Nant, a streamlet ; y, the ; mod, a heap, a conical hill ; signifying a brook
rushing from a high hill. English name
— Brookhill. Nantgarw. — So called
from a violent brook that runs through
the place, called Nantgarw, the rough
brook. English name — Roughbrook.
Nicholaston. — The church was dedicated to a saint named Nicholas, of whom nothing more
is known. i* 4 3
Newton Nottage. — A semi-translation of the Welsh name, Trenewydd Ynottais. The y was
dropped ; hence Nottais and Nottage.
Ynottais, perhaps, comes from hynod,
noted, remarkable. Norton. — A
corruption of North-town, so called
after an ancient homestead bearing the name in the vicinity.
Ogmore. — An Anglicism of the Welsh Ogwy or Eogwy. Eog, salmon ; wy-gwy, river. We are
inclined to think the correct wording
is Ogwy ; og> apt to move, active ;
and gwy, water ; the moving or stirring water. Diog means not active, sluggish. English
name — Moveton Overton. — When a suffix, over seems to
mean a hill site ; when a prefix, it
indicates the higher of two places. Pontardawe. — Pont, bridge ; ar, on, upon ;
Tawy, the name of the river. The place
takes its name from a bridge built by
William Edwards about the year 1757.
Tawy means the still or silent water. English
name — Tawy Bridge.
Penrhiwfer.- Pen, head, top; rhiw, slope, moun- tain-side ; fir, feminine form of the
adjective byr, short, abrupt. English
name — Uphill. Pandy. — Several grinding
mills were in the Rhondda Valley
called Cwmsatrbren Mill, Tyle Coch
Mill, &c, and Pandy was the fulling mill. English name— Fulling Mill. Pentre. — A populous village near Treorky,
so called from a very ancient
farmstead bearing the name. It was
decided, at a meeting of the Rhondda Chamber
of Trade, April 8th, 1886, to petition the Postmaster- General for a town post-office at Pentre,
to be called Ystrad Rhondda. Pendoylan. — A corruption of Pcndeulwyn,
which means " the top of two groves."
The physical aspect of the district
probably suggested the name. English
name — Grovesend. Pantdu. —
Pant, a hollow; du, black, so called
from an old farmstead bearing the name, and it |
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i* 4 3 Newton Nottage. — A semi-translation of
the Welsh name, Trenewydd Ynottais.
The y was dropped ; hence Nottais and
Nottage. Ynottais, perhaps, comes from
hynod, noted, remarkable. Norton. — A
corruption of North-town, so called
after an ancient homestead bearing the name in the vicinity.
Ogmore. — An Anglicism of the Welsh Ogwy or Eogwy. Eog, salmon ; wy-gwy, river. We are
inclined to think the correct wording
is Ogwy ; og> apt to move, active ;
and gwy, water ; the moving or stirring water. Diog means not active, sluggish. English
name — Moveton Overton. — When a suffix, over seems to
mean a hill site ; when a prefix, it
indicates the higher of two places. Pontardawe. — Pont, bridge ; ar, on, upon ;
Tawy, the name of the river. The place
takes its name from a bridge built by
William Edwards about the year 1757.
Tawy means the still or silent water. English
name — Tawy Bridge.
Penrhiwfer.- Pen, head, top; rhiw, slope, moun- tain-side ; fir, feminine form of the
adjective byr, short, abrupt. English
name — Uphill. Pandy. — Several grinding
mills were in the Rhondda Valley
called Cwmsatrbren Mill, Tyle Coch
Mill, &c, and Pandy was the fulling mill. English name— Fulling Mill. Pentre. — A populous village near Treorky,
so called from a very ancient
farmstead bearing the name. It was decided,
at a meeting of the Rhondda Chamber of
Trade, April 8th, 1886, to petition the Postmaster- General for a town post-office at Pentre,
to be called Ystrad Rhondda. Pendoylan. — A corruption of Pcndeulwyn,
which means " the top of two
groves." The physical aspect of
the district probably suggested the name. English name — Grovesend. Pantdu. — Pant, a hollow; du, black, so
called from an old farmstead bearing
the name, and it |
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144 answers to the physical position of the
village, being* situated in a dreary
dingle between Cwmavon and Aberavon.
English name — Darkcomb. Pwllygwlaw. —
This village takes its name from a
farmhouse so called. Pwll, pool ; gwlaw, rain. English name — Rainpool. Pantcadifor. — So called, according to
some, in honour of Cadivor, son of
Cedrych, who is supposed to- have
lived here some time. Others think Cadifor is a corruption of cawd Ifor, signifying the place
where I for Back was found dead after
a terrible conflict with nis enemies.
A few refer the name to Coed Ifor, Ivor's
wood. English name- Ivor 1 s-place, or Ivorton. Pantscallog. — The village takes its name
from a farmhouse of the same
appellation. Sgallog is an abbre-
viation of y sgallog, abounding with thistles. English name — Thistleham . Penmarc— The name signifies the head of
St. Mark. We had occasion before to
refer to Mark's cross, but here we are
quite at sea as to the origin of Mark's
head. English name — Markshead. Pen
rice. — An Anglicism of the Welsh Pen Rhys y
Rhys' s head. Rhys, the son of Caradog ab Iestyn„ was beheaded here by the Normans in 1099,
from which circumstance the place took
its name. English name —
Reeshead. Penyfai. — Fai is a mutation
of mat, a. plain ; therefore, the name
signifies the head of the plain *
English name — Plainham.
Pentrebach. — The name signifies a small village. It is situate about a mile below Merthyr
Tydfil, and so called, evidently, to
distinguish it from the latter, which
is called colloquially Y Pentref, the village* English name — Smallham. Port Eynon. — Probably from Einion, a
descendant of Howell the Good. See
Cors Einion. Pentyrch. — The affix has
elicited many conjec- tures. An old
tradition has it that a parish wake was
wont to be held in the vicinity in olden times, during which very questionable pastimes were
carried on. A I |
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H5 few days previous to the festival a piece
of wood was fixed in the ground. Every
young woman that intended being
present in the wake was expected to make a
torch (torque or wreath), with her name on it, and the colour she purposed wearing on that day
plaited therein. This wreath was an
ornament worn by our forefathers round
the neck, formed of small rings of
metals interlaced in each other. One young woman produced a better torque than all her
rivals, and the bystanders unanimously
exclaimed, " Wei, dyma ben y
tyrch," i.e., " Well, this is the head of the torques,"
and so runs the traditional origin of
this place-name. " Mi dyna'r
dorch a chwi" ("I'll pluck the torques with you ") is a very common Welsh
expression. Some think the name is a
corruption of Pen-yr-ych, the head of
the ox. There is a combe hard by called Cwm-y-fuwch, the vale of the cow, the extreme end of
which bears striking resemblance to
the form of an ox's head. The right
wording is Pen Twrch, boar's head, from the
similarity of the brow of the Garth mountain, at the base of which the village quietly rests, to
a boar's head. A mountain in Wales is
called Moel-ben4wrch, boar's head
hill, obviously for the same reason. English
name — Boar's Head. Penprysg. —
Prysg means brushwood, or that which
extends. The appellation is given to some of our hills, as Prysg-du in Radnorshire, and Y Prysg in
Glamorgan. The name therefore
signifies either a place abounding
with brushwood, or a place situated near the Prysg mountain. English name — Brushwood. Pantyrid. — A corruption of Pant-y-rhyd,
which % means the hollow near the
ford. English name — Fordham. Pengarnddu. — A small village perched on
a hillock near Dowlais. Garn, heap of
stones ; ddu, black. The name is
derived from a black heap of stones that
was once in the place. English name — Blackheap. Pyle.— An Anglicism of the Welsh Pil,
which means a creek, a small inlet of
the sea filled by the tide, or perhaps
it is a corruption of pwll, pool, lake.
10 |
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146 It is supposed that the place was once
covered by the sea ; hence the name.
We have Pill in Milford Haven, and
Pill in Falmouth, and Pil Gwenlli in the
parish of St. Woolos, Monmouth. English name — Poolham.
Pontlottyn. — The bridge that crosses the Rhymney river, according to
some, was named in honour of a man
called in the vernacular Lottyn. Others think
the right name is Pontyplottyn, which means a bridge built on a dry plot between two streams of
the river. The name is derived from an
old farmstead of the name, which
existed long before the bridge was ever
built. English name — Bridgeton.
Portkerry. — Some think this quaint place takes its name from Ceri, the son of Caid, a
remarkably wise man, and a
shipbuilder, who, it is said, took up his
abode here. Professor Rhys (Welsh Saints) thinks that the church of Portkerry was dedicated
to Curig, but this derivation is
untenable. Font-de-Gety, Ceri's well,
is not far from this place.
Penydarren. — An old cottage was so called from its situation on a rising eminence, and at
the commencement of the ironworks the name was bestowed upon the place. Darren means a rocky hill.
English name- Rockham. Porthcawl. — Porth, port, harbour ; cawl, a
corruption of Gaul. It appears that the Gauls were wont to land here, and we have traces of their name
here, as well as in Galloway,
Scotland, and Galway and Donegal in
Ireland. English name — Gaulport.
Penarth. — Some think it is a compound of pen, head, end ; and arth, a bear ; signifying a
bear's head, in allusion to the
similarity of the promontory to that
animal's head. But the suffix arth is, more probably, an abbreviation of garth, a hill;
therefore, Penarth means headland,
which is quite descriptive of the
place. It was once called Cogawn Penardd. English name — Headland. Pencoed. — The name signifies a place
situated at the head of the wood. It
appears that the vicinity |
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H7 was richly wooded in olden times. English
name — Headwood. Penclawdd. — This place derives its name
from Pen Cat Clawdd, an old camp on
the Gaer mountain, near an old Roman
road. Clawdd is a derivative of
llawdd, which signifies gladness, or what causes joy or gladness. In ancient times a dyke (clawdd)
was considered as a sign of defence and safety; hence the reason for joy. English name —
Dykesend. Pontclown. — Pont, bridge ;
Clown, the name of a brook that flows
under the bridge, and empties itself
into the river Ely near Llantrisant station. Clown, perhaps, is a corruption of clowyn, which
implies a white swelling water.
English name — Whitebridge.
Pontypridd. — This town takes its name from the unique bridge that was built across the
TafF by William Edwards in 1755. The
name is an abbreviation of Pont-yr-hen-dy-pridd, which means "the
bridge near the old clay house."
English name — Claybridge.
Pontrhydyfen. — Pont is clear. Some say Rhyd-y- Waun, the meadow ford ; others think it is
Rhyd Ifan, Evan's ford; others think
it is Rhydyfon, cow's ford. We think
the original name was Pont-ar-rhyd-Afan, a
bridge on the ford of the A van. This huge bridge was built about the year 1826, and is 459 feet
long, 75 feet high, with four large
arches. English name — A vanbridge.
Pwll Cwm. — Pwll, a pit ; cwm, a valley ; so called from an old coal pit that was in the place.
English name — Pitcomb. Port Talbot. — So called in 1835 in honour
of C. R. M. Talbot, Esq., M.P., Margam
Park, who is the sole proprietor of
the harbour. The name is now being
applied to the whole district. Port
Tennant. — So named in honour of H. T.
Tennant, Esq., Cadoxton Lodge, who constructed it at his own expense in 1826. Penmaen. — The name signifies " the
head of the rock or stone," from
the situation of the place at the |
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148 extremity of a ridge of rocks overlooking
Oxwich Bay. English name —
Rocksend. Peterston-super-Montem. — A
translation of the Welsh
Llanbedr-ar-Fynydd. The church was probably
dedicated to Peter le Sorre, and is situated on the mountain.
Peterston-super-Ely. — The church was probably dedicated to Peter le Sorre, and is
situated on the river Ely. Pontlliw. — Pont, bridge ; Lliw, the name
of the rivulet that flows under the
bridge, and hastens to discharge
itself into the Loughor river. English
name — Huebridge. Pontardulais.
— The name means a bridge on the
Dulais. English name — Dulais Bridge.
Pontygwaith. — Gwaith means work. It appears that there was an ironworks here once, and
a smelting furnace was seen here as
late as the year 1850. A bridge was
probably built near the works ; hence the
name. — English name — Workbridge.
Penrhiwceiber. — Penrhiw, head of the slope; cciber-ceibr is probably either a
contraction of ceu bren f hollow tree
; or of ceibren, rafter, joist. Ceibren is
sometimes spelt cebr, the plural of which is ceibr or ceibrau. English name — Woodhill. Pantywaun. — Pant, hollow ; y, the ; waun,
mountain meadow. The place, as the name signifies, is situated on a low, isolated spot on a
mountain meadow. English name —
Dinglemoor. Penwaun. — The name signifies
the head or end of the moor or meadow.
The small village lies in the upper
part of the Aberdare valley, and, like Hirwaun, derives its name from Gwrgant's meadow.
English name — Moorsend. Quaker's Yard. — Lydia Fell, a wealthy
member of the Quaker fraternity, was
the owner of the northernportion of the Llanfaboft estate, and, when a
burial- place for the Quakers became a
desideratum, she gave |
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149 a piece of land tor the purpose, which was
made a suitable repository for the
dead about the year 1670 or 1680. The
village takes its name from this ancient
burial-place. Rudry. — A
corruption of Rhydri or Rhuddry, Some
think the original name w&syryw dre f the home of yew trees, from the abundance of yew trees in
the neighbourhood. English name — Yewham.
Rhydyboithan. — Rhyd, ford; boithan, a corruption of byddin, an army. Another attempt :
Boithan is a corruption, perhaps, of
bwthyn, a cottage ; the name
signifying the ford near the cottage. English name — Armyford.
Rhosily. — The right wording is Rhos Sulwy. Rhos means a dry meadow, a plain, which was
given by Fitzhamon to Reginald de
Sulwy; hence the name. Sily is a
corruption of Sulwy. English name — Sulton.
Radir. — A small parish in which the waters of the Taff form a cataract. Rhaiadr is the Welsh
for cataract or waterfall, and Radir,
according to some, is a corruption thereof. We rather think it is a
contraction of yr dr dir, the arable
land. Bar, the root of bara, bread,
signifies what grows from arable land. English name — Tillton.
Rhydfelen. — The right wording is Rhydyfelin, signifying the ford of the mill. English
name — Millford. Raven Hill. — The
village was once called F forest Fach,
from its situation near a forest. Raven puzzles us. Perhaps from Nraefn, a raven, the
Danish standard, indicating the place
as the abode of a Dane. There is a
farm in the vicinity called Penile 'rbrain, which signifies the chief rendezvous of the raven tribe in
the district, and the present name is,
doubtless, a translation of the same. Rhigos. — It is spelt Regoes in ancient
MSS. It may be a compound of grug,
heath, and rhos, mountain meadow. The
physical aspect of the place suggests
another derivation. Rhug, what has breaks or points ; Digitized by Googl^^
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150 rhos, meadow ; but we rather think it is a
contraction of grugos, heath, heather;
signifying a heathy place. The place 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 the village is
situated. Solvtn may be a compound of
siol, head, and maen 9 stone. Some think the name is a contraction of bre soften, which signifies
the hill of stubble, but, viewing the
physical aspect of the place, we
rather 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
said to 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
writers Glyn Rotheney, and Glyn Rothire. Some think Rhondda is a corruption of Yr Honddu; hoen,
complexion, hue; ddu t black. The valley received its name, probably, in 877, when Roderic the
Great divided the Principality into
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. The place was called
Is Ketti from its situation at the base
of the hill where Maen Ketti stands. Is means below or under. English name — Underbill. Skiwen.— A corruption of the Welsh Ysgawen,
the elderwood, so called from the
abundance of that wood in the
neighbourhood. English name — Elderwood.
St. Ffagan. — The parish was named in honour of Ffazan, who is recorded to have founded a
church here in the second
century. St. Bride. — Bride is
probably a clipped form of Ffraid, the
saint's name to whom the churcn was dedicated ; hence the right name is St.
Ffraid. According |
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i5i to Iolo Morganwg, the church was dedicated
to St. Bride, the nun, 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
pristine church was probably
dedicated. It was anciently called
Llanwerydd, the church being dedicated to
Gwerydd, a descendant of Bran the Blessed. Sf. 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 in the 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 the hissing 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. English
name— 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, a favourite name in the Bute family. English name — Herbertston . Treorky. — Orhy is probably a modification
of the Welsh Gorchwy, the name of the
rivulet on which this populous place
is situated. Gorch-wy signifies encompassing or overflowing water ; or, perhaps,
the root is orch, a limit, a border.
English name — Borderton. |
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152 Trealaw. — This appellation was given to
the place in honour of D. Williams,
Esq., whose nom-dt-plumc was A law
Goch, and on whose land the village stands.
A law here means a lily, a genus of plants and flowers of many species. Alaw gwyn, white lily ;
alaw glds, the blue water lily. English
name — Lilyton. Treforest. — This name
is derived from Craig y F forest, the
rock of the forest, near which the village
is situated. English name — Foreston.
Tondu. — Ton means a grassy plot of ground. Ithel Ddu, a grandson of Morgan Hen, had a summer-house here, 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 some time 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. Some call it Tongwyrddlas, which signifies
a green, grassy plot of ground. There
is a mansion near the village called
" Green Meadow," which is an approximate equivalent to the Welsh
name. English name — Green
Meadow. Taff's Well. — So called on
account of the celebrated well that springs from the bed of the river
Taff. The village 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 — Piacechurch. |
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wm-kfm
s and ftwas ran: ft^J :h die rukfe &d beard. name was ^fc came-
CDSses." so iat son* atcr-sfftt^
; £*?*^ f the soi a gn*&
near the appro*" name-
he cele- rerTa« /is an
^pread- ns the tap, a
iruO"» gy IS Treharris. — This rising place was
name honour of Mr. Harris, who opened
a large col here in 1873, and called
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 1
a green sward. A smithy has been here from unknown. English name — Smithham. TroedrhiwfIjwch. — Troedy foot ; rhiw,
slope, brow ; fuwch, the consonant /
was inserted betweer vowels w and u
for the sake of euphony ; the coi
affix is uwch, higher. There is an old farmhouse 1< down in the valley called Troedrhiw-isaf,
and the J higher up on the hill-side
is called Troedrhiw-ucJw distinguish
it from the former. We incline to t
the village takes its name from the latter ; hence right wording is Troedrhiw-uchaf. English
nar Highbrow. Troedyrhiw. — This place derives its name
frc farmhouse bearing the name. It means
a place sit at the base of a hill.
English name — Foothill. Tirphil. —
Tir, land ; Phil, an abbreviation
Philip, the name of the then owner of the land which the place is situated. The village
bran into two divisions, Tir Phil in
Glamorgan, and '. Tredegar in
Monmouth. The Monmouth side 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 its situation at the estuary
of the Tawy r Tawy is a contraction of
taw, silent, still, and water,
signifying the silent river. Opinions differ i the origin of Swansea. Hearne, in 1722,
record " King Swanus, his fleet,
drowned at Swenawick, Swanesey (i.e.,
Swanus-sea)." Edmunds thinks name
is derived from Sweyn, king of Denmark,
conqueror of the Saxons in England, and explair |
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154 thus : " Swans-ea, 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 of porpoises found in this part of the Bristol
Channel. The name has been variously
spelt from time to time : — In 1 1 88
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, Swan-
sea. Vochriw. — Some are of
opinion that it is the ancient
Bochrkiw-carn, which is translated in " The Lives of British Saints," " the
check on a stony road/' Others derive
it from mock, pigs; and rhiw, slope.
Viewing the physical aspect of the place, one may be induced to derive it from mbch, ready,
quick, swift and rhiw, slope;
signifying a steepy hill-side. Mbcu
ddwyreog, quickly rising. Some think the prefix is b6t,» cheek, from the geographical position of
the plac Bach-rhiw, the little slope,
is suggested by others as i 1 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 L which belonged
to the lord of the manor, from wl.
circumstance the place was called Waunarlwydd, lord's meadow. English name — Lord's
Meadow. Walnut Tree Bridge. — On a
well-known pL ground, in the place,
three walnut trees had gi near each
other, and in order to facilitate the
struction of the Taff Vale railway in the place, i 1 necessary to uproot these beautiful trees
and b bridge on the spot ; hence the
name. Wenvoe. — A corruption of
Gwynfa, which si, white or blessed
land. Gwyn, white ; fa-mai, region.
English name — Whitland. Wauntrodau. —
Waun, a meadow; trodau plexing. Some
think it is a corruption of Ty the
house of Rhoda. Others say it is a corruj.
trotian, to trot, to go on trot ; trodi, to journey. |
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155 think the name is a contraction of
Gwauntroedyda, which signifies the
meadow where traces of cows' feet were
visible. In support of the first derivation, it is certified that an old house called Castell Rhode,
Rhode's castle, once stood 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 great wood, 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 to
have been the founder of the place.
Ystrad Owen. — Prince Owen, the son of Morgan Hen, the king of Glamorgan, took up his
abode in this parish, 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 of
the 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
appears that 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 y tywod
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
dedi- cated to Tyfodwg ab Gwilfyw, a
saint of the sixth century. English
name — Tyvodwg. Ynysybwl. — A
corruption, perhaps, of Ynys-y-pwll 9
the island near the pit ; or, perhaps, the suffix is pwl, unprofitable. We are inclined to think the
right wording is Ynys-y-bel, which
signifies the ball-meadow. It was in
olden times a famous rendezvous for ball-
players. English name — Ballton.
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156 MERIONETHSHIRE. The county takes its name from the old
cantrev of rion y so called in honour
of Meirion, grandson of ledda Wledig.
The affix eth is a modification of the
lsh ydd, a particle denoting agency or personality, s the only Northern county that has kept
its original le. Aberdyfi. — So called from its situation at
the ith of the river Dyfi. Some think
Dyfi means >oth water, and that the
right wording is Dofwy, tame or smooth
water. Others think it is Dyfnwy,
English name — deep river. We
adopt the former xrthton. Arthog. — The right word is Garthog,
mountainous, r; the little village is
embosomed between rugged mtains.
English name — Hillyham. AberWynolwyn.
— Gwynolgwyn is probably a corrup- of
Gwernol-wy. The river is called Gwcrnol, and has lource in Gwernol's Well. Gwcrnol, swampy,
boggy ; wy, water. English name —
Bogmouth. Abercywarch. — A small place
situated at the th of the river
Cywarch. Perhaps cywarch is a ation of
cawerch ; caw, moveable, swift ; and erch,
ble, rushing ; signifying a swift and terrible water, lish name — Rushmouth. Abercorus. — The rivulet was called Corns
from its ing round excavations in the
angles of its banks, lish name —
Breakmouth. Aberdysyni. — Dr. Pughe
thinks the name of the et (Dysini)
means a sonorous water. We are ned to
think it has a contrary signification, and
the etymology is di-swn-wy, the noiseless water, lish name — Silenton. Bala. — The name seems to be derived from
balu, to . or issue forth. Bala coed,
the budding or blossom es. Bala llyn y
the outlet or efflux of a lake. It
late with Balloch, in Scotland. The town is situated at
Tegid. Th( circumstanc king and a
tions for liti had nearly bards and ]
^th his en trea cher\% ai from that c
Outlake. Barmou m °uthoftlH
^d mouth c expanding. me ansoverf| {** by th< English t,^
naa *-Bi 0a . Bry x y hook. E:1J
F^ \^ « / : *^r^ ^Z<£t
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157 situated at the effluence of Llyn Tegid,
the lake of Tegid. The lake was so
called from the following circumstance
:— " Tegid, the son of Baran, was a wise
king and a good bard. He enacted excellent regula- tions for literature ; restored ancient
learning, which had nearly become lost
; and instituted a council of bards
and Druids, as of old. He continued at war
with his enemies, but they took him at last, through treachery, and drowned him in the great
lake, called from that circumstance
Llyn Tegid (Tegid's lake), in
Gwynedd."—(" Iolo MSS.," p. 346.) English name— Outlake.
Barmouth. — An Anglicized form of the Welsh name, Abtrmaw, which signifies a place
situated at the mouth of 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 have an 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 name
is quite descriptive of this deep and solitary vale, in which the ruins of Castle Prysor are
still visible* English name —
Covertham. Ceinog. — The root is cain,
clear, bright, fair. The name was
given to the place, probably, on account of
the beautiful 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 Digitized by Google ^_
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158 for being the rendezvous where the Welsh
assembled about the year 1163, under
their valiant leader, Owen Gwynedd, against
Henry II., and also for being the
place of encampment of Owain Glyndwr when he defended his country against Henry IV. We
incline to think the name 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, the weather. 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 the rivers Erch and
Heli. English name — Biwater. Cynwyd.
— The name, which signifies primary evil,
or mischief, was probably derived from Cynwyd ah Cynwydion, once a very powerful prince in
Edeyrnion, but spent the latter end of
his life in hermitage. English name —
Primeill. Doldrewin. — Some are of
opinion that the name refers to the
druidical circles, remains of which are
now seen in the village. Dol, a meadow ; drewin, a corruption of derwydd, a druid. English
name — Druid's Meadow. Derwen L,AS. — Derwen, an oak; las-glas,
green. English name — Greenoak. Dolgelley. — Dol, a meadow, a plain, dale ;
gelley is derived by some from celli,
a grove. The name is quite in
correspondence with the physical aspect of the town, which is situate in a fertile vale
between the rivers Aran and Wnion, and
surrounded on all sides by lofty and
thickly- wooded mountains. We rather think
that gelley is a corruption of collen, hazel-tree, from the abundance of hazel-wood in the district.
English name — Hazeldale. Pin as Mawddwy. — A small place, although
digni- fied with the name dims, a
city. In olden times it was the
capital of an extensive lordship, preserving the |
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159 insignia of power, the stocks and
whipping-post, the feg fawr, or great
fetter, the mace, and standard
measure. Mawddwy, broad water. English name — Broadwater.
Dugoed. — Du, black; goed-coed, wood. English name — Blackwood. Ffestiniog. — Edmunds derives the name
from mesen, an acorn, and wg, a district.
Others derive it from the Latin
Festino, which, it is supposed, was
bestowed upon it by the Romans when they took up their abode here. Dr. O. Pughe traces it to
the Welsh ffestinio, to hasten. The
pedestrian was obliged to hasten
through the place if he destined to cross the
mountains and reach Bala or Ysbytty ere being enveloped in darkness. We rather think the
name is allied with penffestin, a
helmet. Penffcstiniog, wearing a
helmet. The name, therefore, implies a district possess- ing fortified places. English name —
Helmetton. Glyndyfrdwy. — Glyn, glen;
dyfrdwy, the name of the river that
flows through it. Various explanations
have been given of Dyfrdwy. Some derive it from dwfr-dwy-afon, the water of two rivers ;
others maintain it is a mutation of
dwfr-du, black water ; according to
others it is a corruption of Dwrdd~gwy, the roaring water. Another derivation is y drydedd wy,
the third river : Cynwy (Conway),
being the first river ; Elwy, the
second river ; and Drydwy, the third river from Arvon to England that emptied themselves into the
sea before reaching Chester. The most
popular derivation is dyfr-dwy (f),
the goddess' water, or the water of the
divinity, from the supposition that its waters were held in superstitious veneration by the
Kymry. English name — Glendee. Gwyddelwern. — Gwyddel, a man of the woods
; gwern y alder trees. Alder wood,
perchance, abounded in the district,
and the early inhabitants probably were
obliged to build their hut-homes in the woods. Or, perhaps, it means the alders of the Irish,
indicating the place where a band of
Irishmen were defeated. Dr. O. Pughe
translates the word thus: "A moor or
meadow overgrown with bushes," which signification |
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i6o tallies well with the bushy aspect of the
place* We also find Y Wern Ddu, black
moor, and Ty'nywern, the house on the
moor, in the district. English name —
Bushland. Harlech. — In ancient
times the castle was known by the
names of Twr Bronwen, Bronwen's Tower, from
Bronwen, the White-necked, sister to Bran ap Llyr, king of Britain; and Caer Collwyn, from
Collwyn ap Tango, one of the fifteen
tribes of North Wales, and lord of
Eifionydd, Ardudwy, and part of Lleyn. When
Edward I. built the present castle it was denominated, according to some, Arlech, from its
situation on the rock, or Harddlech,
the fair or fine rock or stone. The
county is exceedingly rich in cromlechs and fine stone monuments. A traveller, in climbing an
adjacent hill, may observe several
meini hirion, and circles formed of
large common pebble-stones. English name — Beau- rock.
Llandanwg. — From Tanwg, son of Ithel Hael, and a saint of the sixth century. Tanwg means
lowland- English name —
Downchurch. Llandecwyn. — From Tecwyn,
son of Ithel Hael, and a saint of the
sixth century. Two lakes in the
parish, Tecwyn Ucha and Tecwyn Isa, bear his name. Some derive tecwyn thus — teg, far; gwyn,
white, lovely. Llyn Tecwyn is near the
village, whose waters are of
crystalline clearness. English name — Fairchurch. Llandrinio. — Trinio y a descendant of
Emyr Llydaw, is supposed to have been
the founder of the church, Trinio
probably comes from trin, which means
a battle or combat ; trinio, to meddle, to manage. English name — Strifeton. Llanddwywe. — From Dwywau, a descendant
of Emyr Llydaw, and a saint of the
sixth century. English name —
Bichurch. Llanfihangel-y-Traethau. —
The Parish Church is dedicated to St.
Michael, and is situated near the two
beaches, called Y Traeth Bach and Traeth Mawr* English name — Beachton. place. We fnywm, the
Hsh name- nt of W U of the
trin, which ti to man^ pendant of
xth century. trish Church tednearthe
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161 Llanfor. — Some think the church is
dedicat Mor Meirion. The right
wording, perhaps, is Llai the great
church. English name — Bigchurch.
Llangar. — The right word probably is Lla\ which means the fortress church. The church
is near an ancient fortress called
Caerwern ; henc name. English name —
Forton. Llangower. — Gower is a
corruption of Gwaw\ mother of Llywarch
Hen, and a saint, to whon church is
dedicated. English name — Dawnton.
Llanuwchllyn. — The name indicates a cl above the lake. The village is situated on
the I short distance above Tegid lake.
English na Lakechurch. Llandderfel. —
From Derfel Gacmrn, a celeb warrior in
the sixth century. The church was rer
able for a vast wooden image of Derfel, which wa subject of much superstition in olden
times. Er name — Dervelton . Llandrillo. — From Trillo, son of Ithel
] Trillo's Well is near the village.
English na Trilchurch. Llanfrothen. — From Brothtn, son of
Ileli Glanawg, and a popular saint of
the sixth cer English name —
Brothenton. Llangelynin. — From
Celynin, son of Heli Glanawg. .English
name— Hollyton. Llanegryn. — Egryn, a.
saint of the seventh tury, is supposed
to have founded the church. En name —
Fearton. Llanwrin. — From Gwrhin, son
of Cynddil supposed saint of the sixth
century. English na Manby. Llanelltyd. — From Illtyd, one of the
most brated of the Welsh saints. English
name— Iltuti Llanferin. — Merin y a
descendant of Seithen; recorded to
have been the founder of the ch
English name — Merinton.
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1 62 Llanbedr. — The church is dedicated to St.
Peter. This neighbourhood, according
to some historians, forms a part
oiCantrtfy Gwaelod, the lowland hundred.
English name — Peterschurch.
Llanaber. — The church stands on the south extremity of the plain of Ardudwy, within
about a furlong from the sea. English
name — Seaton. Llanymawddwy. — The
church and village are situated at the
base of A ran Fawddwy. English name —
Broadwater. Llanycil. — The
name indicates a church built in a
sequestered place. English name — Nookchurch.
Llanerchfydda. — Fydda is probably a corruption of byda, a beehive. The name indicates a
noted place for bees. English name —
Beesham. Llwyn. — A village in the
parish of Llanegryn. The name means a
bush. English name — Bushton.
Llwyngwril. — Llwyn, bush ; gwril, perhaps an abbreviation of gwriah a heroic act, a
combat. Some remains of druidical
circles and of an old encampment are
still visible in the parish. English name — Braveton. Maentwrog. — So called from the memorial
stone of Twrogy a celebrated British
saint of the fifth century, which
still remains at one angle of the church. English name— Towerston. Mallwyd. — This place derives its name from
macn, a stone, and llwyd, grey. A
Druidic monument is supposed to have
been here ; whence came the name. Some
think the name is a compound of man-llwyd, the grey district ; so called probably from the
appearance of the mountains. English
name — Greystone. Nannau. — A compound
ofnant, a brook, and au, a. plural termination.
The t is dropped and n substituted for
the sake of euphony. English name — Brooks, or Brookton.
Penrhyndeudraeth. — Penrhytty headland ; dau, two ; traeth, beach, seashore. The headland
projects into the Tremadoc Bay,
between the Traeth Mawr and the Traeth
Bach. English name — Beachham. |
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163 Peniarth. — The right wording is probably
Petty- garth, which means hill-top,
from the village being situate on a part
of the Cader Idris range. English
name— Hilltop. Pandy'r Capel. —
Pandy means a fulling-mill, which was
situated near what is supposed to have been some- time a Roman Catholic Chapel. English name
— Mill- chapel. Pennal. — A compound of Pen, head, top, and
al, a partition, a fence, a defence.
The village lies on the old Roman road
called " Sarn Helen," Helen's cause- way, and it is supposed that the Romans had
a station here. English name —
Fenceton. Rhyderin. — Rhyd, a ford ;
erin, a corruption of gerwin, rough. The name is derived from a rough
and perilous ford across the Dysyni
river. The etymology of Dysyni is
di-swn-wy, noiseless water. English name —
Roughford. Rhydonen. — Rhyd, a
ford; otten, the ash tree, English
name — Ashford. Rhyduchaf.— The name
signifies the highest ford. English
name — Highford. Rhiwaedog. — Rhiw,
slope, the brow of a hill; gwaedog,
bloody ; so called from a battle that was
fought here at some remote period. A small lake in the district is called Pwll y Gelanedd, the
pool of slaughter. English name —
Battle Hill. Saeth Marchog. — In this
place Owen Gwynedd is supposed to have
surprised Reginald de Grey and seven
knights (Saith Marchog) in his train ; hence the right wording is Saith Marchog, and its
English name is Seven Knights. Towyn. — Edmunds derives the name from
twyn, a a curved hillock or bank ; but
we think the right word is Tywyn,
which is derived from tywodyn, sand ; hence
the name signifies a place of sands. The village is situate near the seashore, and is
celebrated as a beautiful
bathing-place. English name — Sandham.
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i65 river flows between the counties of
Monmouth and Hereford. We rather think
the right wording is mynw-wy ; mynw,
quick, active ; the name signifying
the brisk or lively water.
Aberbig. — Aber, estuary; big-pig, a slender, narrow thing ; or perhaps the suffix is a
contraction of pygwy, tar, a liquid
pitch, in allusion to the hue of the water.
We are inclined to think the name in its pristine form was A ber-byga ; byga, a point. The two
valleys, Ebbw and Nantyglo, meet here
in a point. English name —
Pointham. Abercarn. — The
river-name cam, a hoof, is a
descriptive term, showing the semi-circular turn of the river, like that of a horse's hoof. Cam
yr ebol, colt's foot. English name —
Hoofton. Abergavenny. — Flavel Edmunds
derives Gavenny, the river-name, from
gwy, water, and venny from fynydd,
mountain ; hence the mountain water. It is generally called by Welshmen Y Fenni, which induces
some to think the name in its original
form was men-wy, the active water. We
rather think the name is a compound of
cefn, ridge, and gwy, water, denoting a river having its source in high places. This etymology
is supported by the fact that this
small stream rises on a ridge where
some of the water runs in the direction of Crick- howell and some in the direction of
Abergavenny. The town is almost
encircled by ridges and mountains. English
name — Ridgeton. Abersychan. — Sychan
is the name of the rivulet that joins
the Afon Lwyd at the place. Sych, dry;
an-ain, a stream of water, a brook. We find a brook called Sychryd in Breconshire, and also
Hepste, which is probably a corruption
of Hesp-an, water that dries up. We
have also Havesp; haf, summer; hesp, dry. In
summer time the channels of these rivulets dry up; hence the name. English name —
Drymouth. Abertillery. — Tillery is
the name of {he river that flows
through the place. Til implies a small thing;
air, clear, bright ; gwy, water ; the name, according to this derivation, signifies the mouth of the
small clear Digitized by VjOOQIC |
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i66 river. Another attempt : Tel, implying
straight ; llerw, soft, smooth; gwy,
water. We are induced to think the
name is a compound of telor, warbler, and gwy, water ; signifying the warbling river.
English name — Warbleton. Argoed. — A contraction of ar-y-coed,
signifying a place situated on or
above a wood. Dr. O. Pughe says camps
were fortified, on emergencies, by felling
trees to surround them, and one so constructed was called Argoed. It is cognate with Arghait
in Scotland. English name —
Upwood. Bassaleg. — Many conjectures
have been pro- pounded as to the
origin of this name Nennius and others
think it means Maes Aleg, the field of Alectus, signifying elect-land, Aleg being a
Welshism of Alectus. It is supposed
that here the famous Myrddin was
discovered by the messengers of King Gwrtheyrn. About a mile from the village there is a
circular entrenchment supposed to have
been a Saxon camp. Some think the
correct wording is Bats- Aleg; baes-bais,
flats or shallows, a ford ; Aleg, a contraction of Alexander. It is, according to some, a
corruption of nuus-yr-helyg, the field
of the willows, from the abund- ance
of willow-trees in the vicinity. In the middle ages there was a priory here dedicated to
St. Basil, which was a cell in
connection with Glastonbury Abbey. The
name of the priory in full was probably
Basili Ecclisia, the church of Basil. The name was ultimately contracted into Basil-ecc, and
further cor- rupted into Bassilech and
Bassaleg. The parish church is
dedicated to St. Basil. Basil-ecc is identical in meaning with Llanbasil. English name —
Basilchurch or Basilton. Bedwas. — Some derive the name from 5/.
Bedwas, one of the twelve sons of
Helig ab Glanawg. We are inclined to
derive it from bedw, birch ; and as, a plain
surface ; signifying a place of birch-trees. English name — Birchton. Blaenavon. — Blaen here means the source of
the river; Avon, river. This place is
situated near the |
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source of the river
Lhvyd ; hence the name. English name —
Springton. Blaina. — A slight mutation
o{ Blaenau, plural form of blaen,
source. Blaenau afonydd, the sources of rivers. The name signifies a place where several
streams of water commence their
sea-ward journey. English name —
Springston. Bryngwyn. — The correct
wording, perhaps, is Brein Gwyn, the
supreme or royal tribunal. We do not
know of any vestige of this royal court, but a British camp called " The Camp Hill
" is in the parish. English name —
Rexhill. Bwlch Trewyn. — Bwlch, a
break or breach, a gap ; generally
applied to places where mountains
terminate, and form a pass ; Trewyn, leading away, persuasion. English name — Passton. Caergwent.— Caer, fortified wall, camp;
gwent, a fair or open region. The name
Gwent in ancient times comprehended
portions of the counties of Gloucester,
Hereford, and Monmouth ; and C cut gwent, or the Venta Silurum of the Romans, was the
capital ; but now it is confined to
the county of Monmouth. English name —
Campton. Caerleon. — Caer, already
explained; lleon, legion. It is
generally believed that the Roman station of the Second Augustan Legion was situated here,
which was then called Isca Silurum.
The Silures occupied the eastern half
of the country between the lower couise of
the Severn and Cardigan Bay, and Isca was the reputed seat of Caractacus when leader of
the Silures. Isca is the Latin for
Wysg or Usk. The Second Legion was
permanently posted here under the com-
mand of Vespasian, hence the name Caerlleon ar Wysg> the Camp of the Legion on the Usk. English
name — Legionton. Caldicot. — Some think the right wording is
Gal- digoed ; gal, a plain ; digoed,
woodless ; signifying a woodless
region. Others derive it from CH-dy-coed, a
house of retreat in the woods. Isaac Taylor derives it |
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parish. English name —
Rexhill. Bwlch Trewyn. — Bwlch, a
break or breach, a gap ; generally
applied to places where mountains
terminate, and form a pass ; Trewyn, leading away, persuasion. English name — Passton. Caergwent.— Caer, fortified wall, camp;
gwent, a fair or open region. The name
Gwent in ancient times comprehended
portions of the counties of Gloucester,
Hereford, and Monmouth ; and C cut gwent, or the Venta Silurum of the Romans, was the
capital ; but now it is confined to
the county of Monmouth. English name —
Campton. Caerleon. — Caer, already
explained; lleon, legion. It is
generally believed that the Roman station of the Second Augustan Legion was situated here,
which was then called Isca Silurum.
The Silures occupied the eastern half
of the country between the lower couise of
the Severn and Cardigan Bay, and Isca was the reputed seat of Caractacus when leader of
the Silures. Isca is the Latin for
Wysg or Usk. The Second Legion was
permanently posted here under the com-
mand of Vespasian, hence the name Caerlleon ar Wysg> the Camp of the Legion on the Usk. English
name — Legionton. Caldicot. — Some think the right wording is
Gal- digoed ; gal, a plain ; digoed,
woodless ; signifying a woodless
region. Others derive it from CH-dy-coed, a
house of retreat in the woods. Isaac Taylor derives it |
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seats of commercial
activity, as Cheapside, Chipping- ham,
&c. Chipping was the old English term for a market-place, which in WicklifFe's time was
spelt chepinge. " They ben like
children sitting in chepinge and
spekinge togidre." (Wickliffe's translation of Luke vii., 32.) Cheapside and Eastcheap
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 the
noun, hence we have Blackwood, but the Welsh usage is vice-versa ; hence Coed-duon. A local
gentleman once endeavoured to bestow
his own name upon the place, and call
it Moggridgeton. He persisted in calling it
after the self-made name for some time, but the inhabitants clung tenaciously to the old
name, and have done so ever
since. Cross Keys. — This village
takes its name from a public-house so
named. The " Cross Keys," common
in the mediaeval ages, is in allusion to St. Peter, or one of the bishops, whose cognomen it was—
probably the lord of the manor, or the
patron saint of the parish
church. C rum lin. — A compound
of crwm, bending, crooked ; and llun,
a. form, a shape ; probably from the meander-
ing 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 con- figuration
of the valley, in which, probably, there was
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 river names, as
Dinas Bran, Brandon Hill, Aberbran,
Glanbran, &c. The root is brean, which signifies the mountain brook ; bre, mountain ; an-ain,
brook. It remains intact in Brean
Down, and we have variations |
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i7o itree, Brentford, Brentry, &c.
English /ale. >g. — From a farm so called. Cwtn y
valley; ing with strawberries. English
name — J. — This name is the plural
form oicymcr. nion of two waters. The
confluence of Heli in Eifionydd is
called Cymmerau. — Waterby. le. — An Anglicized form of the Welsh bwy. Glyn, a deep vale through which a
bbwy, from eb, an issuing out ; and gwy,
Ebrill, April, from the springing up of •wers. Eppil, progeny ; eb efe, says
he. lame was Petty cae, the upper part
of the old farmhouse so named, upon
which the lilt. English name —
Exvale. -Lis. — The Welsh name of the
place is on or near a lake, which was
bestowed mark of respect to the Welsh
idiosyn- dy Llanover. The present name
was irewery which stands at the lower
end of is a French name signifying
" flower of oyal insignia of
France. English name- - >es. — A
compound of gelly, grove ; and English
name — Crossgrove. — A compound of
cil, a sequestered 'em, a bog, a
meadow. English name — d. — Glas,
green ; coed, wood. Glasgow is ruption
of this name. Greenock is the >rt
of Glasgow, the prefix being a literal
)m that of the city. English name —
f. — In this parish there is a peninsulated ng abruptly from the sea to the height
of it. It consists of limestone lying
horizon- ed with silicious
crystallizations, above an inn substai
to have G< place-r
John's rothei the br<
a fami that a one tii
called Wera form oi
the cor everytr horses
&c, tl locality andni
Parish of Englij
G dwelli] house
% G Mr. G b ya c
H a pal a times
the pi old CO K
compc si gnif) ttilitai
joogle |
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i7i an immense bed of mica. The glistening of
this substance when the sun shines
upon it is supposed to have given it
its present appellation. Govilon. — Several
derivations are given to this
place-name. Some derive it from " Gafael loan," John's holding. Gafael means the share
which each brother held in their
father's land however numerous the
brothers were. Gafael cenedl, the hold or tenure of a family. There is a tradition in the
neighbourhood that a considerable part
of the district was owned at one time
by twin-brotheis, and that the part now
called Govilon was John's portion ; hence Gafael loan. We rather think the name is derived from
tne plural form of gefail or gofail,
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,
there were many " smithies " in the immediate locality, the chief work at which was
shoeing horses and mules. The place 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 house built
of wood. English name — Woodham.
Griffithstown. — This village was named after a Mr. Griffiths, who now resides in the
place. Grosmont. — This name signifies
a mount marked by a cross. English
name — Crossmount. Henllys. — Hen,
old, ancient ; llys, a court, a hall,
a palace. Various courts (llysoedd) were held in olden times called Llys y brenin, the king's
court ; llys benadur, the principal
court ; llys breyr, a court baron ; henllys,
old court. English name — Oldcourt.
Kemeys. — A gross mutilation of Cemaes, which is a compound of cefn, ridge, high ; and maes, a
field ; signifying a high place
forming a vantage ground for military
operations. English name — Highfield. |
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172 Llanarth. — A compound of llan, church ;
and garth, a promontory, a ridge ;
signifying a church built on a high
place. English name — Hillchurch.
Llanbadoc. — A corruption of Llanfadog, from the dedication of the church to St. Madog.
Madog is derived from mad, a good, a
benefit. Madog, goodly. English name —
Goodchurch. Llandegfeth.— From the
church being dedicated to St. Tegwedd.
Tegwedd signifies one of a noble
appearance. English name - Nobleton.
Llandogo. — Dogo is a corruption of Odoceus, the name of the saint to whom the church is
dedicated. English name —
Odoceus. Llanddewi Rhydderch. — The
church was built or founded by
Rhydderch, Richard, one of the three
generous princes of Britain/ and dedicated to St. David. English name — Richardston. Llanellen. — From the church being dedicated
to St. Ellen. English name —
Ellenston. Llan f aches. — From
Maches, a saint of the sixth century,
and a daughter of Gwynlliw Filwr, who
suffered martyrdom here at the hands of the Saxons. Mach means a bail, a surety. English name —
Bailton. Llanfair Discoed. — The
church is dedicated to St. Mary, and
is situated is-y-coed, below the wood ;
hence the name. Dis, as a prefix, sometimes implies privation or negation, and is equivalent to
the English im and un ; so if discoed
be the right wording, the name
signifies the church of St. Mary in a woodless place. English name — Maryston. Llanfapley. — The name signifies a church
dedi- cated to Fabiali, son of Brychan
Brycheiniog. English name —
Fabialton. Llanfethrin. — A corruption
of Llan-Gwytherin, the church being
dedicated to St. Gwytherin. Gwytherin
means golden vein, or the bright or splendid vein. English name — Brightchurch. |
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173 Llanfihangel Crucorney. — Llanfihangel,
St. Michael's church ; crug-craig,
rock ; corn, horn ; and gwy, water ;
the name signifying a church' built on
an elevated place on the horn of the water. The village is situated on the river Monnow,
overshadowed by the mountain Skyrrid
Fawr. English name — Cragton. Llanfihangel - near - Usk. — Llanfihangel,
St. Michael's church. The place is
situated about six miles north-west
from the town of Usk. The river Usk
forms the boundary of the parish on the south. English name — St. Michael-near- Usk. Llan foist. — Foist is probably a
corruption of Faith* Llanfey,
Pembroke, according to some, is Llanyffydd,
Fanum Fidei, the church of the Faith. It is spelt in some ancient documents Llanfaith and
Llanfeth. Iago- Emlyn thinks that the
Normans translated it into Llanfoi,
foi being French for faith. If so, it may easily have been changed into Llanfey, Lamphey,
and Llan- foist. English name —
Faithchurch. Llangattwg-Llingoed. —
The church is dedicated St. Cattwg.
Llingoed may be a compound of Hi, stream ;
yn, the ; coed, wood ; signifying a stream in the wood. Or the prefix may be llain, a slip or long
narrow place ; llain o dir, a slip of
land ; the name, therefore, signify-
ing St. Cadoc's church on a narrow field near the wood. We adopt the former. English name
— St ream wood. Llangwm. — The name signifies a church in
the combe or vale. English name —
Churchvale. 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 was slain in battle in 846;
but we rather think that Hiddel is a
barbaric transposition of Elltyd or Illtyd,
Iltutus, the patron 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. |
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74 Llanover. — The correct spelling of the
suffix is govety which means a small
current, a stream that runs out of a
spring. Gofer ffynon, the rivulet of a well.
There are nine springs in the park called Ffynon Ofor, Gover Well. English name — Streamton. Llantarnam. — Tarnam is a corrupted form
of Torfaen, breaker of stones, the
original name it is said of the river
Llwyd. The church, situated not far
from the banks of this torrent, was called from its geographical position, Llantorfaen,
afterwards corrupted into Llantarnam.
Some derive it from Llan-tor-Nonn, the
church on the hill dedicated to Nonn, the mother of St. David. We adopt the former. English
name — Breakstone. Llantillio-Crosseny. — Tillio is a
corruption of Teilb, the celebrated
saint to whom the church is dedicated.
Crossenny or Croes-senw, means a cross of
honour. " Enw heb scnw," a name without dignity. English name— Crossby. Llanthony. — A contracted form of Llanddewi
Nant Honddu. The ancient chapel or
church was dedicated to St. David, and
erected near the brook Honddu. The
monastery was established here in 1107 under the patronage 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 tnack, a high ridge, a
barrier, a place of defence ; and ain, water. We find magh as a prefix in more than a hundred
Irish names, as Magh-Era, &c, and
as a suffix in Armagh, &c. If we
take mach as signifying a place of defence or surety, the verb mechnio, to become surety,
strengthens the above derivation. 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 any
kind of a bridge to cross the river. " Myn'd dros y |
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175 cwmmwr," crossing by means of the
wooden bridge. The correct wording
probably is Maes-y-cymmer. Maes, a
field ; y, the* ; cymmer, a confluence of waters. English name — Waterfield. Magor. — A corruption of Magwyr, which
signifies the remains or ruins of a
demolished or decayed build- ing,
fortress, &c. Hen fagwyr 9 an old building or toft of a house. "A byddwch fel magwyr
ogwyddedig," "As a bowing
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 it is a
compound of maen, stone ; and ty, house j
signifying a house made of stones, in contradistinction from coed~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 bad
frontier pass, from mains, bad ; and passiis, step. Marshfield. — Marsh, a derivative of mare,
the sea, Anglicized into marish, then
shortened into marsh ; and field,
signifying a tract of land on the sea-coast. The suffix means a forest clearing or place
where the trees have been felled,
hence field. Mathern. — This place is
supposed to derive its name from
Merthyr Tewdrig, who died here in the sixth
century from the effects of a wound he received in battle against the Saxons. A church was
built on the spot where his remains
were interred, and dedicated to him.
English name — Martyrton. Mitch
el-Troy. — Mitchel is a corruption of St.
Michael, the patron saint of the church. Troy is a contraction of Trothy, the name of the
river on which it is situated. The suffix
is a compound of troth, what tends
through ; and gwy, water. Treiddicd 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. |
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176 Mounton. — A corruption of the old name of
the place, Monckton, the monk's town,
probably so called from the monks of
Chepstow, who for some centuries held
the tithes and provided a priest for the church. English name — Monkton. Nantyglo. — Natf, brook ; y, the ; glo,
coal ; signi- fying the coal brook,
from the fact, it is said, that in
tnis place coal 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 are fre- quently 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. Pan teg. —
Pant, hollow ; teg, fair ; signifying a
beautiful vale, a name quite descriptive of the place. English name — Beauvale. Pengam. — It was anciently called Pont-maen-pen- gam, which signifies a bridge built on a
bended rock, or on the river Pengam.
Pengam means wry-headed. English name
— Wry ton or Twistton. Pen main. — 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. When the Tin
Works were first erected here, that
is, prior to the erection of the bridge, the place was called Gwaith Newydd, New Works, but
within the past sixty years Gwaith
Newydd has given place to Ponthir.
English name — Longbridge. |
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177 Pontllanfraith. — Pont, bridge ; llan,
church fraitk, a mutation, perhaps, of
ffridd, a forest, a plan- tation. Or
perhaps 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 nine mountains are
visible, but we cannct find so many
mountains to support this derivation. It is more probably, says the Rev. J. Williams,
Pontypool, derived from pcnt-dewinydd,
the bridge of the divine. Dewinydd is
the old Welsh form of duwinydd, divine,
theologian. The bridge is supposed to have been built by a parson, a divine, called Sir
Dafydd, vicar of Trevethin, in the
reign of James or Charles I. Close to
the bridge there are remains of his residence, whilst the narrow meadow . adjoining is called
Waun Sir Dafydd, Sir David's meadow.
English name— Priest- bridge. Pontrhydyrun. — A compound of pont,
bridge; rkyd, ford ; yr, the ; ynn,
ash tree ; signifying the bridge
across the ash-tree ford. English name—
Ashford Bridge. Pontrilas. —
The name probably means the bridge of
the three rivers. Lais is an old British word, standing for water, or stream, and here we
have three rivers meeting, and just
below the confluence a bridge is thrown
across; 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 form of the Latin monasttrium, and is a
frequent com- ponent in English and
European place-names, as Leominster,
Westminster, Monstiers, &c It is sup-
posed 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
called Moel. English name — Bridgehill. 12 |
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i 7 8 Pontypool. — Some derive the name from
Ponty- pwll, which signifies a bridge
thrown over a pool in the river Llwyd.
The correct wording is Pont-ap- Howel,
the bridge of the son of Howell, from the bridge having been built by Ap Howel. It is difficult to
determine who this Ap Howel was. Some
maintain that he was Dafydd ap Howel,
a parson of Trevethin, probably the Sir
Dafydd of Pontnewynydd. It appears that there was in the reign of Queen Elizabeth a certain
Lord Howell living somewhere in this
neighbourhood, who left a deep impress
on this vicinity, and Sir Dafydd might
have been Ap Howel, the son of Howell. The patronymic ap or ab, son, was used very
frequently in personal names in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. We
meet the clipped form of it in Prichard, from Ap Richard ; Pugh, from Ap Hugh ; Prys or
Price, from Ap Rhys ; Powell, from Ap
Howell, &c. ; hence we may call
this ancient town Powell's Bridge.
Pontywain.— Pont, bridge ; y, the ; wain, meadow, down. English name — Downbridge. Ports kewett. — A corrupted form of
porth-is-coed, the port by or below
the wood. In ancient times this port
is said to have been the chief port of Gwent.
English name — Portwood.
Raglan. — Some think it is a contraction of rhagor llan, which means the supreme or excellent
church. It is spelt in ancient books
Ragland, perhaps from rag, a fragment,
a patch ; and land. Or perhaps the latter
part is a clipped form of llanerch, as it is in Penlan ; therefore meaning a flat piece of land
stretching forward in opposition to
Penylan. This derivation is supported
by the physical aspect of the district.
Rhiwderin. — A compound of rhiw, slope ; and taren, tump, knoll. English name —
Tumphill. Rhydymerc — A compound
probably of rhyd-y- march, the horse's
ford. English name — Horseford.
Rhymney. — This place takes its name from the river that flows through it. The root is
rhytn, what stretches round, what extends.
It is cognate with the |
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179 Gaelic word ruimne, marsh. Romney Marsh is
now a large fertile tract of land
situate at the most southern part of
the county, but in olden times it was a worth- less marsh overflowed at every tide.
Ramsey, Old Romney, New Romney, and
Rimina (Italy) are probably derived
from the same source. The name Romney
Marsh is one of the many instances we have
of reduplication of synonyms. When we say Romney Marsh we say in effect Marsh Marsh, and are
guilty of such tautology as the
Englishman is when he says River Avon,
which is in effect River River. English
name — Marshton. Risca.— The
root, according to some, is rhisg,
bark. Yr hesg-gae, the sedgy field, is another deriva- tion. Others derive it from is-y-cae, below
the field. We rather think it is a
contraction of Yr Isca, the Latin form
of Yr Wysg. Caerleon was called Isca
Silurum. Rogerston. — This
place derives its name from Roger de
Berkerolles, a Norman lord, who built a
small castle in the place, of which very few remains are now discernible. Scenfrith. — Some derive it from hesg-gae-
ffridd, the sedgy place in the wood.
We are inclined to think it is a
clipped form of ys-gaw (n)-ffrith, which
means a plantation of elder wood. English name — Elderwood.
Shire Newton. — The ancient Welsh name was Tre-newydd-gelli-fach, the new town near
the small grove. Perhaps shire was
prefixed on account of the place
having been in ancient times a detached portion of the lordship of Caldicot. Shire is derived
from the Norse skera, to shear, or cut
asunder. A division of land is called
a shire, that which divides land from sea
is called a shore. Sirhowy. — A
compound of star, an articulate sound
; hoyw, sprightly, lively ; and gwy, water. English name— Sprightwater. Six Bells. — From a public-house so called.
" The Bell" is a common
tavern sign, selected from its
Digitiz-ed by VjOOQlC |
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i8o allusion to races, a silver bell having
been the winner* s prize up to the
reign of Charles II. St. Mellons. —
The Welsh name is Llaneurwg, or more correctly
Llan-Lleurwg, from Lleurwg ab Coel ab
Gyffin Sunt, who, according to the " Welsh Chronicles/* was the first to devise means to introduce
Christianity to the Isle of Britain.
He is recorded to have established a
church here. The present name is
derived from the dedication of the church to St. Mrtlans.
Tintern Abbey. — A ruined abbey of that name stands here. It is supposed a Cistertian
abbey was founded here May gth, 1131,
by Walter de Clare, dedicated to the
Virgin Mary, and colonised from
L'Aumone. Some derive Tintern from din, fortified hill, a camp ; and Teyron, or Tegernacus,
the grandson of Gwladys. We rather
think the correct wording is Din-
Teytn. The prefix is quite clear, as the ruined abbey occupies a gentle eminence in the middle of
a circular valley. The suffix teytn
means a king, a supreme ruler, in
allusion here probably to the royal founder of the abbey, who was a scion of Gilbert, Earl of
Brionne. Tintern Parva, or Little
Tintern, takes its name from this
celebrated abbey. English name— Rexhill Abbey. Tredegar. — Troedygaer, say some, is the
right wording, which signifies a place
at the foot of the fort. Others think
it is Tre-deg-aradr, the town of ten
ploughs, or Tre-deg-erw, the town of ten acres. A very plausible derivation is the following :
tre, abode ; deg- teg, fair ; and
dr> land ; signifying an abode situated on
a fair land, or a fine abode situated on arable land. Mr. Octavius Morgan in the "
Archaeological Cam- brensis "
offers the following derivation : — The earliest mention of this name is in an old copy of a
poem by a Welsh poet who • •
flourished between 1430 and 1470, and
presided at a gorsedd in Glamorgan in 1460,
about which time he wrote a poem in praise of Sir John Morgan, whom in the title he styles
" Syr Sion ap forgan o Dre-Degyr
(t and d being interchangeable
consonants in the Welsh language). The Tre and Degyr in both instances are separated by a
hyphen, |
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i8i and Degyr in both instances has a capital
D, indicating a proper name. In a MS.
of the seventeenth century, in the
possession of the late Mr. S. R. Bosanquet, is this statement, "The house of
Trefddigr, holden by inheritance of
blood from time to time, is the most
ancient in Wales ;" " Teigr ap Tegonwy was an ancient prince in King Arthur's time."
The t is changed into d for the sake
of euphony. The place, again, is
called Tref-Dcigr, and though Teigr may be as
mythical as King Arthur, this is strong presumptive evidence that there was such a traditionary
personage connected with this place, at
whatever time he may have lived.
Again, in a pedigree by Robert Vaughan,
of Hengwrt, made about 1660, and now among the Hengwrt MSS. at Peniarth, the name is
written " Thomas Morgan de
Dref-deg-yr, Esq." From this
evidence it seems to me clear that Tredegar received its name from its early possessor, whose
name was Teigr, though when he lived
and who he was is not known, but his
name was attached to his tref or home-
stead, and has continued to this day, as is the case with an adjoining hamlet in the same
parish, which now retains its name of
Tre-Gwilym, derived from being the
tref, residence or homestead, of William de
Berkerolles, a Norman who came over at the Conquest, and was father to Roger de Berkerolles, who
built a small castle adjoining it,
which after the Norman usage he called
Rogerstone, and both names are
retained at the present day ; the one being the Welsh name of the tref and hamlet, and the other
the name of the manor founded by
Roger, the builder of the small
castle, a scanty fragment of the wall of which still exists." We have a few instances
in which tref has been changed to troed.
Troedyraur was anciently called
Tredeyrn, the king's abode ; but we cannot find a single instance of troed being changed to
tref Troed- rhiwgwair is in the
immediate neighbourhood of Tredegar,
but we can find no etymological reason to think the one is allied with the other. The rendering
of the name into Tre-deg-erw f the
town of ten acres, is too wide of the
mark, because the territory is immensely
more than ten acres. Tri-deg-erw, sixtjr acres, would* |
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i8a be more feasible from the numerical point
of view, but this mode of counting is
far too modern to be applied to this
ancient place-name. Wc were once inclined to
derive it thus : tre, abode ; deg, fair ; gwar, the nape of the neck, a ridge ; signifying a fair abode
on an elevated place ; but since we
saw Mr. Octavius Morgan's exposition
of the name we adopt his in preference
to all others. Many Welsh personal names
contain the word teyrn, a king, a monarch, the Irish form of which is tigcrn, tighearna; and in
our early inscriptions we have
tigirn-i and tcgcrn-o. Tegyrn was the
Brythonic for Teyrn. From Cornwall we have
Tcgtrnomaliy which means king-like or lord-like, hence we are induced to think .that Tcgyr is an
ancient form of Teyrn. English name —
Kington. Trefethin. — Some derive it
from Tref-y-din, camp town ; but we
rather think it is a compound of tref,
abode, and eithin, furze, gorse ; signifying an abode situated on furzy land. English name —
Gbrseton. Trelleck. — A corruption of
Trelech % place of stones ; so called
from three stone pillars which stand
in a small field in the place. Tradition says that they were erected by Harold in commemoration of
a victory over the Britons. It is more
probable that they are relics of
Druidism, and the spot whereon they stand
was included within the precincts of a consecrated grove. English name — Stoneham. Twyngwyn. — A compound of twyn, a hillock,
and gwyn, white. Ar dwyn, on an
eminence. The name is quite
descriptive of the position of this place. English name — Whitehill. Tydee. — A corruption of Ty-du, which means
black house, probably from an ancient
homestead of the name. English name —
Blackham. Usk. — The Welsh name is
Bryn-biga ; bryn, a hill, and pig-byga
9 a point. The English peak specifically
means the sharp top of a hill or mountain, which is quite descriptive of the hill in the place,
which termi- nates in a point or peak.
The present name, Usk, is an |
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i8 3 Anglicized form of Wysg, water, the name of
the river upon which the town is
situated. It assumes various forms —
Exe, Ax, Ux, and Ox, &c. The Exe has given its name to Exeter ; the Ax to Axbridge ;
and the Ux joins the Thames near
Oxford. We have an Esk in Donegal ; an
Esky in Sligo ; and a Wisk in Yorkshire.
The Gaelic and Erse word for water is uisgc, of which whiskey is probably a corruption. English
name — Waterton. Victoria. — The place was anciently called
Troed- rhiw'r-clawdd, which signifies
a place near a dyke at the foot of the
hill. The present name is derived from the
street that leads to the place from Ebbw Vale. Waun Avon. — A compound of waun,
meadow, moor ; and afon, river, from
its proximity to the source of the
river Llwyd. English name — Rivermoor.
MONTGOMERYSHIRE. The Welsh name
is Trefaldwyn, Baldwin's town, so called
in honour of Baldwin, a Norman general, who
built a castle on the border of the county. In 1090, the castle was taken by Roger Montgomery,
and the Saxons called the place
afterwards Montgomery. Some seem to
think the English name is a Norman corrup-
tion of Mynyddy Cymry, the mount of the Kymry. Aberhavesp. — The place is situate at the
con- fluence of the rivers Havesp and
Severn ; hence the name. Havesp
signifies a river whose channel is dry
in the summer. English name— Hespmouth. Aberrhosan. — Abet, estuary; rhosan, the
name of the river, which signifies the
meadow brook. English name—
Moorbrook. Abermule. — The village is
situated near the point where the
river Mule discharges itself into the Severn.
Mule is probably a contraction of mudliw, changing colour, from which we have the English
motley, English name — Motleyton. swer-Tinw, xiic iivci iviuw iiuwt) uiruugu
me pansii and empties itself into the
Severn. Rhiw, perhaps, from rhw, what
breaks out. English name — Break-
mouth. Blarnglesyrch. — A place
situate on the rivulet Ghsyrch, from
which it takes its name. Glesyrch is a
corruption of glas-erch, dusky blue. English name- Dusky ham.
Buttington. — The Welsh name is Talybont, x bridgend, from a bridge crossing the Severn
near iff Offa's Dyke passes through
the parish, and here-, separates
England from Wales. During the Saxon
period it was called Butdigingtune ; hence Buttington. The name signifies Archer's town. Bwlchyffridd. — Bwlch, pass, breach ; y,
the ; ffridd, plantation, forest.
English name — Passwood. Carno. — From
cam, cairn, heap. Pennant says: "
The mountains of Carno, like those of Gilboa, are celebrated for the fall of the mighty. ,,
On a mountain called Mynydd y Garn %
or Garnedd, a huge heap of stones was
raised to commemorate the death of a
celebrated warrior. English name — Moundham. |
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Cann Office. — An
abbreviation of Cannon Office, so
called from the cannons used by Cromwell's soldiers during their encampment in the place. Ceri. — A corruption of Caerau, fortresses
or walls, according to some ; but some
derive it from Cm Hir Lyngwyv, the
name of Caradog's grandfather, who was
the owner of the estate, which, as it was customary then, was called after his name. Others
derive it from ceri, the medlar tree,
which, it is supposed, abounded in the
district in time of yore. We adopt the
latter derivation. English name — Medlarton.
Cemmaes.— A compound of cefn, back, ridge, and maes, a field. English name —
Highfield. Clitterwood. — Perhaps from
glitter and wood. Crigion. — A
corruption of crugiau, heaps. English
name— Heapham. Digitized byGoogljp
C of On of th
Mere toget] C
statio called discei
called perpe Engli.
and |
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i8 5 Church Stoke. — From stoc, or stocce, the
stem or main part of a tree.
Woodstock, woody place. Cyfeiliog. —
This pleasant vale is named in honour of
Owen Cyfeiliog, who, in 1130, became the sole owner of the estate through the death of his
grandfather, Meredyth, the prince. The
name, means "compact
together." English name — Jointon. Caersws. — It appears that the Romans had
a station and a road in this place.
The latter was called Sam Swsan,
Susan's road, portions of which are
discernible to this day. The station was probably called after the same name, and the Britons
decided to perpetuate it, reducing
Swsan to Sws; hence Caersws. English name
— Susfort. Croesllwybir. — Croes,
cross, over; llwybir, a cor- ruption
of llwybr, a way, path. English name — Cross-
way. Cyfronydd. — A compound of
cyd, with, united, and bronydd,
sloping hills. Cyfronydd Hall is situated on a rising eminence, commanding the beautiful
sceneries of the valley below, through
which the river Manw flows. English
name — Slopeton. * Polarddin.— Some are
of opinion that this place was named
in honour of Arddun, daughter of Pabo Post
Prydain, and a saint of the sixth century. Arddun means sublime, grand. English name —
Grandmoor. Darowen. — A corruption of
dar or deri, oaks, and O wain y name
of a man. English name — Owen's Oak.
Derllwyn. — From deri, oaks, and llwyn, bush, grove. English name — Oakbush. Dolfor. — A compound of dol, a meadow or
plain, and fawr, large, great. English
name- Big Meadow, Dolwen. — A compound
of dol, meadow, and wen, feminine form
of gwyn, white. English name — White
Meadow. Doll. — A corruption of
dol, a meadow. For the sake of variety
we assign to this the following English
name— Plainham. |
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1 86 Dwyriw. — A compound of dwy t feminine of
dau* two ; and rhiw, slope, ascending
path. English name— Bislope. Dwynant. — Dwy, two ; nant, brook ;
signifying a place situated between
two brooks that flow into the river
Bachog. English name — Bibrook.
Dylifau. — Some think the name is the plural form of dylif, a warp. Dylif go ton, a cotton
warp. It is sometimes spelt Dylife,
which is probably a contraction of
dylif-le, which means a high place whence water flows to different directions. English name
— Flowhill. Dolyfelin. — Dol, meadow,
dale ; y 9 the ; melin, mill. Near
this place is the site of an ancient British
smelt ing-hearth, where numerous pieces of lead-ore have been found. English name —
Milldale. Dyffryn. — A village in the
parish of Meifod. English name —
Valley. Esgair-Geiliog. — Esgair means
a conspicuous promontory.
Geilioe-geilig, hunting, exploring. The
name signifies a hunting-ground. English name— Hunthill.
Esgair Maen. — Maen, a stone. The name signi- fies a stony or rocky ridge. English name —
Stoneham. Forden.— Perhaps an
Anglo-Saxon word, meaning a shallow
part of a river where a road crosses. The
use of the Anglo-Saxon verbal plural en is very common, in some parts of this county. English name
— Ford* ham. Gaer. — From eaer, a fortress. This place
is in the parish of Caereinion. English
name — Fort. Garth Mill. — Garth, an
enclosure, a ness, a promontory.
English name — Millyard. Garthbeibio.
— Peibio is a modification of Peibiaw,
the name of a king recorded in many of the Welsh legends. English name — RexhilL Garth Gellin. — Gellin, perhaps, is a
corruption of collen, hazel-tree.
English name — Hazelham. |
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i8 7 Glanynant. — The name signifies the bank of
the brook. English name —
Brookside. Glyn Trefnant. — Glyn, a
glen, a narrow vale; Trefnant is a
corruption of tri-nant, three brook6, so
called from the confluence of three brooks in the place. English name — Glenbrooks. Gribbin.— A compound of crib, crest, summit
; y, the ; bryn, hill ; signifying a
place situated high on the hill. Crib
mynydd, the summit of a mountain. English
name — Cresthill. Guilsfield.—
The Welsh name is Cegidfa, signi-
fying a place of hemlock, or, perhaps, it is a compound oicegid, the bird witwal; and fan-man,
place. Some derive Guilsfield from St.
Gulan's field. Perhaps it is a
compound of guild, an incorporation, and field. Gungrog. — A corruption of Gwaun-y-grog,
the meadow of the cross, so called
from the supposition that a cross was
erected here in the middle ages in
connection with the Ystrad Farchell monastery. Eng- lish name — Crossmeadow. Gwestydd. — From gwest*ty-ddin, the camp
resting- place. English name —
Campham. Gwern-y-Bwlch. — Gwern, a
swamp, a bog ; y, the; bwlch, a pass,
a gap. The name is derived from a moun-
tain-pass in the district, from which a distant view of Cader Idris is obtained. English name —
Passmeadow. Gwern Esgob. — Gwern, a
swamp, a meadow ; Esgob, a bishop.
English name — Bishop's Meadow.
Hirnant.— Hir, long; nant, a brook. The village is situated in a narrow valley, and watered
by an inconsiderable stream, tributary
to the Tanat. English name —
Longstream. Llangadfan. — The church
was dedicated to St. Cadfan. The
" Myvyrian " says: — " This Cadvan, being a nobleman and son-in-law of the king of
Armorica, came over with Uthr
Bendragon, or his son king Arthur, and
a great number of pious and learned men
in his retinue, and chose for his residence Ynys Enlli (that is the monastery in the Isle of
Bardsey), where he |
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i88 was an abbot, and many of his followers had
churches dedicated to them/' Some of
his followers were Cynon, Padarn,
Tydecho, Dochtwy, Mael, &c. Cadvan means
the battle-place. English name — Warriorston. Llangurig. — A village near Plinlimmon.
The church was dedicated to Curig, an
eminent saint of the seventh century.
EisUddfa Curig, Moel Gurig, in the
same vicinity, bear his name. Curig-curiog means bearing pain or affliction. English name —
Painton. Llanfyllin. — From Myllin, to
whom the church was dedicated. Myllin
is an old Welsh word implying a
violet. English name — Violaton.
Llanwyddelen. — From Gwyddclan, the patron saint of the church. Gwyddclan is probably a
compound of gwydd, wood, and elain, a
young hind, a fawn. English name —
Fawnwood. Llanidloes.— Ji/0*s, a saint
of the seventh century, is the patron
saint of the church. Professor Rhys refers
the prefix id to the Skr. yudh, " to fight ;" and Iocs
is probably a mutation of glwys, full
of love, signifying one eager to fight
; or perhaps the suffix is gloes, a pang, a
pain. We adopt the former. English name — Mileston. Llandinam. — Dinam is referred by some to
the Roman Dinutn, a frequent
termination in place-names in Gaul and
Britain, equivalent to the English Tune,
now ton, town, &c. English name — Churchton. Llangynog.— The church is dedicated to
Cynog t the eldest son of Brychan.
English name — Kynogton. Llanwynog. —
Gwynog, son of Gildas, a saint of the
sixth century, is the patron saint of the church. English name — Whitham. Llandysilio. — The church is dedicated to
Tysilio, the son of Brochwel
Ysgythrog. English name —
Tysilton. Llanfair Caereinion.
— Llanfair, a church dedi- cated to
St. Mary. Caer, fortress ; Einion, the name
of the river near which the town is situated. Thelatter part of the
name is derived from an old British
189 encampment, about three
miles from the town, parts of which
are discernible to this day. English name —
Eynon's Fort. Llanerfyl. — The
church is dedicated to Erfyl, in
memory of whom a large stone is erected in the churchyard. English name — Ervylton. |
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Llanymechain. — Mechain
is a compound of ma, a place ; and
cain, fair, the name of the river on which
the church is situate. This parish is famous for being the birth-place of Gwallter Mechain, in
1761. English name — Fairchurch. Llanfihangel-yn-Ngwynfa. — The church is
dedi- cated to St. Michael, and the
village is situated in that part of
Powys called Gwynfa, the blessed place ; hence the name. English name — Blisston. Llanymynach. — Mynach here is probably a
corrup- tion of mwnau, mines. The ch
is frequently added to plural nouns ending
with au. Mwnau is the right word, but
it is colloquially pronounced mwnach. The place probably derives its name from the mines in
which the district formerly abounded,
and which were worked so early as the
Roman period. Some think the word is
mynach, monk, from the supposition that a monk lived some time in the vicinity. English name —
Mines- church. Llansantffraid. — From St. Ffraid, to whom
the church is dedicated. English name
— Fraidham. Llanwddyn. — The church
was probably dedicated to a monk named
Wddyn, who, according to tradition,,
lived in a sequestered spot in the neighbourhood. English name — Monkchurch. Llanwrin. — From Gwrin, to whom the church
is dedicated. English name —
Heroton. Llandrinio. — Trinio is the
patron saint of the church. English
name — Bustleton. Llanllwchhaiarn. —
From Llwchhaiarn, to whom the church
is dedicated. English name — Ironchurch.
Llanbrynmair. — Bryn, a hill; Matt, the Virgia Mary. The church is dedicated to St. Mary,
and pleasantly situated on an eminence
; hence the name. |
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English name —
Hillchurch. Machynlleth.— Some derive
the name thus : Ma, a place ; chyn,
from cain, fair, beautiful ; llcth, an abbre-
viation of llethr, a slope. Another derivation : Mack, a high ridge, a barrier ; yn, in or on ;
lletk-llethr, a slope. Edmunds thinks
llcth is a contraction of llaith, dead,
and that the name signifies " the field of the dead by the wayside." Viewing the situation of
the town, we offer the following
derivation : Mack, a dam, an em-
bankment, a place ; yn, the ; lleth, corruption of llaith, moist, humid, wet. English name —
Moistham. Mochnant. — Mock, quick,
swift ; nant, brook ; the name of the
swift stream that flows through the place.
English name — Runbrook.
Meifod. — Mai, a plain, or campaign country ; bod, a dwelling. The parish consists of an
open and extensive tract of land. Or,
perhaps, it is a compound of maes, a
field ; and bod, a dwelling ; signifying a
dwelling in a field. English name — Plainham. Moughtre.— A corruption of Mochdre.
English name— Swineham. Newchapel. — So called from the chapel
which is situated on the confines of
the parishes of Guilsfield,
Llansantffraid, and Meifod, for the accommodation of those who reside at a distance from the
parish church. Newtown. — A
translation of the Welsh name
Trefnewydd. Its ancient name was Llanfair-yn-Nghyd- ewain ; but, in consequence of the large
flannel manufactories that were built
here, the place grew so rapidly that,
in 1832, the privileges of corporation
were bestowed upon it, and henceforth it was called Newtown.
Pool Quay. — A village near Welshpool, whence it derives its name. Pennant Melangell. — Pen, head or end ;
nant t brook ; Melangell, called in a
Latin saint book St* Monacella. Her
remains were interred in Pennant
Church, which, henceforth, was called Pennant Melan^ gelL English name — Brookton. |
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I 9 I Penstrowed. — Pen, termination, head ; sir
owed, perhaps from ystref-wydd, a
dwelling among trees ; or from pen
strata, the termination of a Roman road.
Compare Stroud (Gloucestershire). English name — Wayton.
Penybont Fawr. — A village in the parish of Pennant. English name — Bridgend
Major. Penygelli. — The name signifies
the head or termi- nation of the
grove. English name — Grovesend.
Pont-Dolgoch. — This name signifies a bridge on the red meadow. English name — Meadow
Bridge. Pontrobert. — English name —
Robert's Bridge. Pentref Heilyn. —
Thispentref (village) derives its name
from a family named Heilyn, who flourished here in the time of " Llewelyn, the Last
Prince." Heilyn means a
cup-bearer, a waiter, a butler. Heilio gwin, to serve wine. English name — Butlerton. Penegoes. — A corruption of Penegwest. The
place derives its name from a
supposition that a Welsh chief named
Egwest was beheaded near the church. English
name — Feaston. Pontdolanog. —
A compound probably of pont, bridge,
and dolenog, having curves or bows. English
name — Bowbridge. Pentre
Cilcwm. — Pentre, village ; Cil-cwm, a.
sequestered place in a valley. English name — Nookham.
Rhiw Saeson. — Rhiw, slope ; S arson, Saxons, English. We find the name Saeson introduced
into many names in the district :
Nantysaeson, Saxons' brook ;
Plas-rhiw-Saeson, and Rhiw Saeson. About 300
years ago a number of Saxon soldiers were stationed in the place, which is now called Rhiw
Saeson. English name —
Saxonshill. Snead. — From the English
snad, a piece of land separated from a
manor. Staylittle". — The ancient
name was Penfforddlas, the head or end
of the green way. The present name |
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192 is derived from a public- house in the
place bearing the name. Tylwch. — From ty, a house ; and llwch, a
lake, or inlet of water. English name-
-Lakeham. Tregynon. — From the
dedication of the church to St. Cynan.
English name — Gynonton. Tafolog. —
The name implies a place abounding in
dock plants ; dail tafol, dock .leaves. English name — Dockham.
Trefeglwys. — The name means a hamlet or a district privileged with a church. English
name — Churchham. Tir-y-Mynach. — T#>, ground, territory;
y, the; mynach, monk; so called from
the township having some time formed a
portion of the possessions of the Abbey
of Strata Marcella. English name — Monkton.
Welshpool. — The Welsh name is Trallwm, or Trallwng. Tra, extreme, very; llwng, a
corruption of llwnga, so called from
the great depth of the lake below
Powys Castle. The name signifies a greedy
swallow. It has been prophesied that the pool is some day to swallow up the whole of the town of
Welshpool. It was called Welshpool by
the English to distinguish it from a
town in Dorsetshire called Poole. English
name— Deep-pool. PEMBROKESHIRE. Some Welsh scholars think that the Old
Welsh form of the name was Peiibrog or
Pcnbrogh, and the Latinized form
Petnbrochia, whence probably the
English Pembroke. The roots are pen, head, end; and bro t a country, or extensive tract of
land, signi- fying a headland, which
is a very proper appellation, since
the county forms the west end of Wales. The
name Dyved was once applied to the whole county, from which the Roman Dimeto was derived,
but in the time of Giraldus
Cambrensis, the small peninsula of
Castlemartin, lying between Milford Haven, on the north, and the Bristol Channel on the
south, consti- |
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i 9 3 tuted the province of Pembroke. The name
was also extended to the town and
fortress built there by Arnulph de Montgomery,
in the reign of Henry I., and
ultimately it was given to the whole county. Angle. — Probably from the angle-like form
of the district. It lies in
angulo. Ambleston. — This place was
named in honour of Hamill, one of the
Vikings who founded the Welsh colony.
English name — Hamillston. Amroth. —
Atn, about, encircling ; roth, a corrupted
form of rhath, a mound or hill, and rhath is used to denote a plain or moorland. Roatk, Cardiff,
comes from the latter root. In
"Liber Landavensis " it is
called Radk and Llanrath. English name — Roundhill. Brawdy. — Fenton thinks it is a mutation of
Broad- way. We incline to think it has
a more ancient deri- vation. Brawd is
an ancient Welsh word for judgment.
Dydd brawd, the day of judgment. Dy-ty, house. The remains of an old British encampment
that are discernible near a farmhouse
called Brawdy points to the
probability that a judgment court was held here ; hence the name Brawdy or Brawd-dy. English
name — Courtham. Butter Hill. — In an ancient deed it is
called " the Grange of Butter
Hill," supposed to have been a
grange to the Priory of Pill, settled by the founder, Adam de Rupe. Butter, perhaps, is a
corruption of Buthar, the name of
another Viking who visited these
shores, Brimston. — From
Britni, the name of a Norse settler.
Brimi is the Norse for flame, and the name of
a magical sword mentioned in Norse poetry. Brimi has left his name in Brimscomb,
Somerset. Buckston. — Named in honour
of Bakki, a Norse settler. Burton. — An old Saxon form of Briton.
Briton Ferry was once called Burton
Ferry. Brynberian. — Bryn, a hill ;
berian, according to some, comes from
Beran, the name of a rivulet, signify-
ing a short river ; but we incline to derive berian from 13 |
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i 9 4 beri, a kite or glede. Beri Farm, near
Newport, Pem., was so called probably
from the visit of the kite to this
district. English name— Gledeland.
Boncath. — Named after another of the bird species, the buzzard. English name —
Buzzardton. Bugely. — Bu, an ox ;
gely, a corruption of gtlly, a grove,
signifying the buffalo of the forest. English
name— Oxgrpve. Blaenffos. — The
village takes its name from a
farmhouse so called, signifying the head of the ditch. We have Penyfoes, or, as it should be
written, Penyffos, near St. David's,
so named from the tenement of Mynydd
Din, bounded by a deep ditch. English
name —Boghead. Blaenconin. —
The name signifies a place situate at
the source of the river Conin. English name —
Coninton. Barry. — The name
means bare island. Colby. — A compound
of cold and the Norse by, an abode ;
signifying a cold place. Caldy. — The
name is Norse, signifying cold island.
Cilgeran. — This name has been, more wittily than correctly, derived thus: Cil yw dy gaerau,
Ann — narrow are thy walls, Ann. Cil
or kit forms a part of a large number
of Welsh, Irish, and Scottish names of places. It means a hidden place, a place of
retreat. Cil haul, the shade, or where
the sun does not shine. Geran is an
abbreviation of Geraint, son of Erbin, and a prince of Devon. Before the castle was built the
spot was known by the name Dingeraint,
Geraint's fortress. The prefix din was
changed into cil s and now the name signi-
fies the place of retreat of Geraint. English name — Gerainton.
Cilfowyr. — The right wording is Cil Ofwyr, signifying Ovates' place of retreat.
English name — Ovateston. Castle Martin. — So named in honour of
Martin, a descendant of Martin de
Tours. The family built a |
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195 castle here in time of yore, of which
Leland remarks : ■" Towards this
extreme part of Pembrokeshire be the
vestigia of Martin Castle."
Creamston. — Cream is a corruption of Grim, the name of a Norse settler. English name —
Grimston. Camrose. — An Anglicized
form of Camrhos ; cam, crooked, and
rhos, heather. English name — Crook-
heath. Castle Morris. — So
called in honour of a man named Morris. Cylch Bychan. — The parish is divided into
four •districts, of which this is the
smallest ; hence the name. Cylch
Bychan, the small district. English
name — Smallton . Capel Newydd.
— A small village not far from Castell
Newydd. English name — Newchapel.
Cilymaenllwyd. — Cil, hidden place ; y t the ; maen, stone ; llwyd, grey. English name —
Greystone. Clydey. — So named in
honour oiClydai, a daughter of
Brychan, to whom the church is dedicated.
Crymych. — The popular explanation of the name is ych yn crymu, the ox stooping or
bending. We find the root crwm in
crymlin and cromlech. The name may be
a contraction of crwm-rhych; crwm, bending, con- cave, crooked; rhych, ditch, trench.
English name — Ditchham. Creselly. — The roots are cres, a heating
or parching, and gelly, a grove, so
called probably from the abundance of
culm and coal in the district. English
name — Heatgrove. Carew. — A
corruption of caerau, walls, or fortifica-
tions. The castle was built by Nest, the daughter of Rhys ab Tewdwr, Prince of South Wales.
English name — Castlefort. Dale. — A Norse name, signifying a broad
valley, answering to the Saxon "
vale, M and to the Welsh cum. One
writer thinks it is a contraction of De Vale, the name of one of its ancient lords, in whose
time it was dignified with the title
of a borough. |
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ig6 Dinas. — This place derives its name from
Pendtnas, the promontory that forms a
part of the Fishguard anchorage.
Fortified walls were once built on the
headland; hence it was called Pen dinas. English name — Forthill. Drewson. — A corruption of Druid's town.
Near the village there is an enclosure
of nearly one acre called Drewson
chapel. The stones which formed the
Druidical circle were removed in 1740. English name — Druidston . Eglwyswrw. — Eglwyseirw is the right
wording, the church being dedicated to
Eirw, whose remains are supposed to
have been interred here. English name —
Eirooton. Estington. — A
translation of Tre Iestyn, Iestyn's
town. Iestyn was a Welsh prince.
Freysthorp.— The prefix refers to the goddess Frtya (Friday), and the affix thorp is the
Norse word for village, and the
equivalent of the Saxon hanu English
name — Freyham. Felindre. — This place
has probably taken its name from an
old mill that was in the vicinity. English
name — Millton. Fishguard. —
Abergwaun is the Welsh name, from its
situation at the mouth of the river Gwaen or Gwain, which implies a river taking a level or
straight course. It bore the name of
Fiskgarth as far back as the time of
Richard II. The Welsh garth and the Norse gardr, originally meant an enclosure or yard. The
name occurs in Normandy, as Fisigard,
Auppegard, and Epegard, the former of
which may be compared with Fishguard,
which means a fishing wear or fishing
enclosure. English name — Fishton.
Flatholm. — A large body of Danes took refuge here in the year 918, and left their mark
in the above name, which was
originally Fladholmene, signifying a
flat island. Holm is the Danish word for a grassy bank near water,' or an island. Stockholm,
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197 Swedish capital, is situated on two grassy
hills near the water. Flemingston. — This name is a conclusive
ethno- logical evidence of the Flemish
settlement. Gellyswick. — Another
hybrid. Gelly, a grove ; wick, a creek
or bay. English name— Groveham.
Gresholm. — A compound of grass and holm, signi- fying a grassy island. English name —
Grassey. Gomfreston. — So called in
honour of Gortn or Gomfre, a Norse
settler. Glynderwen. — A compound of
clyn, a place covered with brakes, and
derwen, oak. English name —
Oakton. Goodwick. — Some say it is a
corrupted form of the Welsh cotdwig, a
forest ; but we are inclined to think it
is a hybrid name, made up of good, and the Norse wick, a creek or bay. Isaac Taylor is of opinion
that the Vikings, or "
creekers," derived their name from the
wics or creeks in which they anchored. In the ninth and tenth centuries the creeks and islands
along the Welsh coast, especially
those of Pembrokeshire, were infested
with these marauders. The Anglo-Saxon verb
wician means to run a ship on shore, to take up a station, and finally it became to mean a
village. Haverfordwest. — The Welsh is
Hwlffordd, from hwyl, a sail, and
ffordd, a way, a striking appellation to
a place where the sea makes its way into it. Edmunds derives the English name from
Gafr-ffordd-gwest, the inn on the
goat's road. Haver is rather perplexing. It may be a modification either of the Norse hofn
or of the Welsh aber ; ford, perhaps,
from fjord; and west is probably a
differentia added to distinguish it from
Hereford East. Hakin. — Also
called Hagin, which is probably a
modification of the Danish kagen, a port. Compare Copenhagen. English name — Port. Harroldston. — So called in honour of
Harold, a Norse settler, who became
the lord of the manor. |
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198 Henllan. — The name signifies an old
church, so called from the supposition
that an old chapel of ease stood here
in ancient times, but whose ruins are not
now discernible. English name— Oldchurch. Henry's Moat. — There is a mound called
Castell Hendref, the castle of the old
town, in the parish, sur- rounded by a
moat, and when the English settled here
they attempted a translation of the name, reducing Hendref to Henry, and Castell to moat ;
hence Henry's Moat. English name — Old
Castleton. Harburston. — From
Herbrandt, the name of a Fleming, who,
soon after the Conquest, fixed his
abode at that place.
Honeyborough. — Honey is probably a corruption of Hogni, the name of a Viking, who settled
here soon after the Conquest ; or,
perhaps, it is from Hunna, a chiefs
name. We find Honeybourne, Hunna's Brook,
in Worcestershire. Some think it was so called because honey was so largely made here in olden
times. Hearston.— So called in honour
of Hearn, a Norse settler. Hodgeston. — A modification of Oggeston or
Hogges- ton % probably from some Norse
chief called Ugga. Hubberston. — So
called in honour of Rubber, or Hubba,
a Norman warrior, who, with his brother
Hingua, led the Norsemen in that great invasion of 866. His name is also preserved in
Hubberst, Derby- shire ; and probably
in Ubbeston, Somerset. Hungerston. —
From Hingwar,' the companion of Ubba,
866. Jameston.— So named in honour of
James, a Fleming who took refuge here
after the submersion of Flanders in
the year 11 10. Jeffreston. — From
Jeffrey, another of the settlers of
Anglia Transwallia. Jeffrey or Geoffrey is probably a Norman corruption of God f red, the good
peace, or God's peace. |
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199 Johnstown. — Named in honour of John,
an English nobleman, it is supposed,
of the twelfth century. Keston.— Probably from Kessa or Cissa, a
Norman. Keswick (Cumberland), Cissa's
dwelling. Lawrenny. — Some think it is
a corruption oillaw- reni, plural of llawren,
or llawr, floor, ground. Others think
it is a corruption of Llan-yr-ynys, a church in the island. This accords with the topographical
situation of the place, as it is an
island surrounded by water, forming
two creeks, one running to Carew and the
other to Langum. We prefer the following : Llawr, ground ; yn, the ; wy, water ; signifying
land in the water, an island. English
name — Islet. Langum. — A corruption
of Llangwm, signifying a church in the
valley. English name— Church vale.
Ludchurch. — The Welsh name is Eglwys Lwyd. Lud is an Anglicism of lwyd~llwyd,
adorable, blessed. English name —
Holychurch. Lambstone. — So called in
honour of Lambi or Lamba, one of the
settlers of the Welsh colon}', whose
name is also preserved in Lambeth, Lambourne, and in the surname Lambe. Lamphey. — A corruption of Llanyffydd,
Fanum Fidei, the church of the faith.
It is spelt in some old documents
Llanfaith and Llanfeth ; then it was cor-
rupted into Llanfey and Lamphey. The consonant n is frequently substituted in Welsh place-names
in lieu of the letter m. English name
— Faithchurch. Lanteague. — Probably a
corruption of Llan-deg* signifying a
fair church. English name — Fairchurch.
Letterston. — A translation of the Welsh name, Trelettert, from Lettard, the ancient owner
of the land, who gave the advowson of
the church, with the chapel of L Ian
fair annexed, to the commandery of Slebech.
Llaniaden.— laden is a corruption of Aeddan, the name of the patron saint of the parish
church. Pro- fessor Rhys refers the
name Aedd to the word udd, which is
explained in Dr. Davis's dictionary as mean-
ing dominus, master. " It would seem," he says, " to
be |
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200 matched in O. Irish by Oeda, the genitive
of Oed, later Aedh, Aodh y Haodli,
Anglicized Hugh, and the late Mr.
Stephens, of Merthyr Tydfil, was probably right in regarding the Aedd of modern Welsh
tradition as a Goidelic importation
from North Britain." English name
— Masterchurch. Llanfrynach or
Llanfyrnach. — From Brynach, a popular
Irish saint, who accompanied Brychan Brych-
eimog to Britain in the fifth century. English name — Waterhill.
Llangloffan. — The church is dedicated to Cloffan. English name — Cloffan. LLANGOLMAN. - From Coltnan, supposed to be
an Irish saint. English name —
Colman. Llanwnda. — Wnda is a
corruption of Gwyndaf, a descendant of
Emyr Llydaw, and a saint of the sixth
century, who is supposed to have been the founder of the church. Llanwnda Point is celebrated
for the surrender, in 1797, of the
French troops under General Tate.
English name — Fairby. Llantyd. — Tyd
is an abbreviation of Illtyd, to whom
the church is dedicated. It is also called
Llantwd. English name — Iltutus.
Llandeloy. — A corruption of Llandeilo ; the parish church is dedicated to Ttilo. English name
— Teilo. Llanrhian. — Rhian is
supposed to have been the founder of
the church. English name — Ladychurch.
Llanstinan. — Stinan or Justinian, a saint of the sixth century, was the founder of the
church. English name— Justinian. Milford Haven. — Some are of opinion that
this is a translation of Rhyd-y-milwr,
the name of a brook ; taking mil from
milwr, a soldier, and translating rhyd
into ford, then Milford. Others think it is an Angli- cized form of Myl fdr, or ymyl mdr,
bordering the sea. Within a mile of
the present town a streamlet was wont
to turn a mill that belonged to the Priory, and, before the bridge-period had dawned in the
district, the |
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201 people were obliged to cross the brook over
the mill's ford, called in Welsh
Rhydyfelin, and we incline to think Milford
is a translation of Rhydyfelin. The Welsh
name is Aber-dau-gleddyf, from the fact that the two rivers, Cleddau Fawr and Cleddau Fach,
discharge them- selves into the haven.
Dan Gleddyf means two swords. It
appears that the two rivers in their flowing course | resemble two swords ; hence the name.
English j name — The old one, with I
inserted between / and f; hence
Millford. Haven is an Anglicized form of hafn, a flat, still place ; hence a refuge for
ships. Moleston. — The place was once
remarkable for its numbers of moles,
on account of which it was called
Moleston, moles' town. Compare Molton (Devon) and Molesworth (Hants), &c. Manorbier. — Very many of the inhabitants
think the name was derived from an
expression made by the eye-witnesses
of a conflict that took place between a
man and a bear. When the combatants met vis-a-vis, the people shouted " Man or
bear," hence Manorbier. We
dismiss the derivation as an outcome of vain con- jecture. Some derive Pyrr from Barri, a
Norman lord. Others think it is the
plural of por, a lord. One writer
derives it from beyr, the Norse for farm-
stead. Evidently the English name is a modification of the Welsh Maenor Pyrr. Maenor is the
Welsh for manor, and Giraldus
Cambrensis (who was born here about
the year 1146) thought it was called after Pyrrus, who took up his abode here ; hence Maenor
Pyrr, Mansio Pyrr, or the residence of
Pyr. Had we not better call it Manor
Pyr ? Maenclochog. — Maen, a stone ;
clochog, bell-like, ringing. It appears
the place derived its name from a
large stone that lay on the roadside near the church, which, on being struck, gave a bell-like
sound. English name — Ringstone. Mynwere. — This name seems like a
corruption of Mwyn aur t gold mine,
which was supposed to have been here
in olden times; 'but we rather think it is
derived from a weir on the Eastern Cleddy, on the |
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202 banks of which river the parish is
situated, which was noted for the
abundance of fish caught there during
the season. English name — Weirton.
Marloes. — A mutation of Marlais ; mar, an exten- sive tract of land ; lais, a corruption of
dais, a trench or rivulet. English
name — Trencham.Mazebridge. — The prefix may be the Anglo-Saxon- maze, signifying a place or passage full of
windings and! turnings, which is very
often spanned by a bridge. Marthrey or
Marthri, which is a corruption of
fncrthyr, martyr. The place suffered very heavily from the Danish onslaughts, and the church is
dedicated to- the holy martyrs.
English name — Marty rham. Middlemill.
— A translation of Felinganol. A
Baptist Chapel was built here in 1756, and called Felinganol, from its situation near a mill
of that name, which intervened between
two other mills. Muzzlewick. — From
Moussel, a Norse settler ; and wick, a
creek or bay. Mynachlog Ddu. — Black
monastery ; i.e., a monastery
belonging to the Black Friars. English
name— Blackfriars Place.
Moylgrove. — A compound of moel, a bare pointed hill, and grove. English name —
Grovehill. Neyland. — The old Norman
name was Nayland > signifying nigh
land, the land near the sea. We find
Nayland in Suffolk and Nyland in Somerset. The inhabitants, aspiring hard to compete with
their neighbours in Milford, abandoned
the old name, and called the place New
Milford. Narberth. — In the Mabinogion
it is called Yr Arber'h, which
signifies a place situated on a sloping
hill, abounding with peithi, bushes. The name answers to the physical aspect of the town. The
preposition yn, in, was generally used
before Arberth ; hence the consonant n
adhered to the name, and thence we have-
N arberth. English name — Bushton.
Nevern. — The parish derives its name from the rivulet Nevern, which flows through it.
Lewis, in the 44 Topographical
Dictionary," thinks the word is. |
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203 derived from nifer, a number, on account of
the numerous streamlets that run
through the parish into- the sea.
Tegid spelt it Nanhyfer ; if so, the roots are nant, a brook ; and hyf, bold, daring.
English name — Boldbrook. Nash. — A modification of the Norse ness, a
cape* or promontory. Nash, Point,
Naze, and Nazeby, come from the same
root. Nash village is situated near
Milford Bay. Nolton. — Nol is
supposed to be a contraction of Oliver
; hence the name means Oliver's town.
New Moat. — So called from the Flemings having constructed a new moat here in the time of
Henry II- Newport. — The Welsh name is
Trefdraeth, which, signifies " a
town on the sands," from its situation-
near a sandy beach of considerable extent. Six or seven places in the United Kingdom bear the
name Newport. It was wisely proposed
sometime ago to change Newport,
Monmouth, to Uskport. We would
strongly advise the corporation of Trefdraeth to abandon the name Newport, and give it the right
English name — Beach ton . Newcastle. — There is an ancient mound near
the church called " the
Castle," which was called " new " to distinguish it from a much older one,
which is at a short distance from the
village. Pelcwm. — From Pela, the
titmouse ; and ciwm> valley.
English name — Titcombe. Penybryn. —
The name signifies a place on the top
of the hill. English name — Tophill.
Pope Hill. — The lower part of the county was- once designated Pebydiog, popedom, because
St. David was considered as the pope
of the district. Pater, or Pembroke
Dock. — This place once consisted only
of a farm, one house, and a church,
then designated Paterchurch. In 1812 surveys were |
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204 made, and in two years after the nucleus of
the present Government was formed,
when it was called Pembroke Dock. Penally. — Pen, head; ally, a corruption of
gelly, a .grove ; signifying the head
of the grove. The church is situated
in a thickly-wooded place. English name —
Groveshead. Pontfaen. — Pont j
bridge ; faen-maen, stone. Per- haps
faen is a corruption of Gwaen, the name of the river that flows through the parish ; /
being changed into g for the sake of
euphony. English name — Stone-
bridge. Prendergast. — This
place derives its name from a Demetian
family of the name, who were the owners of
the land in olden times. Maurice de Prendergast was the last member of the family that lived
here. Some think the name is a
Saxonized form of Bryn y Gest. Bryn, a
hill ; y, the ; gest-cest, a deep glen between two mountains having but one opening. Others
say it is Pren-dwr-gwest, the inn by the
tree near the water. The right wording
is probably Pen-dre-gast. The suffix is
Druidic. Llech-yr-ast, in Cardiganshire, consists of five -cist faen, stone chests or cells, enclosed
within a circle of rude stone
pillars. Puncheston. — Camael, the Welsh
name, is a compound of Castell, castle
; and Maelog, or more probably
Maelgwyn — Maelgwm Fychan. The " Myvy-
rian " calls it Castell Mdl. Some derive the English name from pincan, pine tree ; Pincanes-tun,
then Pun- •cheston, the town of the
pine trees. Others derive it from
Pcyntz, a proper name, pronounced Punches.
Roach. — A mutation of rock, from the castle being perched on a solitary rock standing out of
the plain. The first possessor of the
castle is supposed to have been Adam
de Rupe, or Adam of the Rock, in the reign
of Henry I. The Roche family held possession of the castle until the reign of Henry VI., when
their exten- sive estates were divided
between two co-heiresses, since which
time it is supposed to have been abandoned
as a residence. English name— Rockby.
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205 Rhosmarket. — Rhos, the name of the
cantrev. A market was once held here ;
hence the market for Rhos.. Rhos is
spelt Roos, Roose, and Rouse by English writers. Rhydgwilym. — The Rev. William Jones was
the first Baptist minister of the
place, and having per- formed the rite
of Baptism for the first time in the
river, the spot was called after him Rhydgwilym. English name — Williamsford. Reynoldston.— So called in honour of
Reynold, a Fleming, who probably settled
here in the reign of Henry I. Rogeston.— From Roger, another Fleming,
who took up his abode here. St. David's. — A free trinslation of the
Welsh Tyddewi, so called in honour of
Dewi, David, the patron saint of
Wales. Its ancient name was Mynyw y ,
jutting, peninsulated ; but after St. David removed there, and became the bishop of the see,
and was buried, the old name was
abandoned, and his honour- able name
was bestowed upon it. St. David was
grandson of Ceredig, who gave his name to Ceredig- ion, and was son of Cunedda. It is supposed
that he was the first who
systematically undertook to
Christianise the people of Demetia.
St. Dogmell's. — The Welsh name is Llandudoch. Tud t a surface, a region ; oich, the
Celtic for water, a name quite
descriptive of the physical aspect of the
place. The church was dedicated to Dogfael, son of Ithel, son of Ceredig. Dogmell is an
Anglicism of Dogfael. St. Ismael. — This village derives its name
from Ismael, a saint of the sixth
century, and supposed to have been the
founder of the church. St. Florence. —
Called in Welsh Tregoyr, which is
probably a corruption of Tregaer, walled town or place. We have no reason to suppose that this
place was fortified by a caer ; but it
may be so called from its contiguity
to a large wall that belonged to the extensive |
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206 f the Earls of Pembroke. The church was
dedi to St. Florence ; hence its
present name. r. Nicholas. — The place
was once called Monk om the church
being granted by Arnulph d ornery, in
1088, to the Abbey of St. Seyes 11
tndy. In a short time aiter this a priory of the Benedictine order, dedicated to
St s, was founded at this place, and
made a eel foreign abbey. '. Lawrence. — This parish derives its
nam< tie church, which is dedicated
to St. Lawrence. '. Petrox. — A free
translation of Llanbedrog lurch was
dedicated to St. Pedrog, or Petrox
ourished about the beginning of the seventr. 7.
lva.— This beautiful little village derives its rom the river Solfach. Sol may be a
corruption to hiss, whiz ; and lli, a
stream, signifying the stream, or it
may be derived from silod, seed- oung
fish. Or, perhaps, sol is the feminine form
adjective swl, which signifies dirty or muddy, ng ach, water ; hence solach, the muddy
stream, hink the name is an Anglicism
of Cilfach, giving sing sound to c ;
hence Silfach, then Solfach, It
appears that the name was once spelt Ctlfach
Ifach ; hence it might be easily changed to Solfa. We adopt the latter. English
name— »n. ttal. — This name is a modification of the
Latin 1. An ysbytty, hospital, is
recorded to have been in olden times
near Roach encampment. synton.— This
village probably was so called in of
Adam de Stainton. Some derive it from stean,
sometimes a boundary stone.
[ton. — An .abbreviation, of South-town.^ It is us with Surrey, the south realm, and
Suffolk, hern division of the
East-Anglian folk. fNDERSFOOT.— The
prefix is a contraction of r. The name
signifies Alexander's place at of the
hill. |
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207 Silver Hill. — Perhaps the burial-place of
a Viking called Solvar. South Dairy. — So called to distinguish it
from the north and west dairies. Skokholm. — A Norse name signifying a
wooded island. Tafarn Spite. — Tafarn, inn, public-house ;
Spite, a corruption of ysbytty,
hospital ; the name is derived from an
inn raised from the* ruins of an hospitium, which had been founded there for the accommodation
of the pilgrim traveller to the shrine
of St. David's. Spital Square, London,
derives its name from the church of
the priory and hospital of St. Mary, which stood in Spitalfiields. English name —
Hospeston. Tier's Cross. — Perhaps
from Thor, one of the Vikings who
founded the Welsh colony. Trefgarn. —
Tref, place, town ; cam, heap, cairn ;
•signifying, literally, the town on the heap. There are great masses of rock contiguous to the
village, which from a distance appear
like extensive ruins oi build- ings.
English name — Cairnton. Templeton. —
This village is so called from the
fact that the Knights of the Temple in olden times made it a special place of resort. Trefin. — A corruption probably of Trejfin,
a boundary-place. English name —
Markton. Tenby. — Called in Welsh
Dinbych y Pysgod. The word pysgod,
fish, is the differentia added to distinguish
It from its namesake in North Wales. Some maintain it is a corrupt Anglicism of the original
name, dinbychan, the little fortification
or camp. The English name .affords an
ethnological evidence of the temporary
occupation of the Danes. Ten is a mutation of Dane, and by is Norse for a dwelling, a
residence, an abode ; hence the name*
signifies the dwelling-place of the
Danes. Danesby would be the correct name. We have Danby, the Dane's abode in Yorkshire,
and sixteen places in the north-east
counties of England called Denton, the
Dane's town. |
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2og RADNORSHIRE. The Welsh name, Maesyfcd, is variously
derived. In some ancient MSS. it is
written Maeshyfaidd, which signifies a
land of boldness, or a martial region. We
are informed in the British " Triads " that three exiled princes, Gwrgai, CadafaeU and Hyfaidd Hir,
the son of Caradog Freichfras, were on
account of their military prowess made
kings ; the former two in the north, and
Hyfaidd Hir in the south. Some are of opinion that the latter was made king of Radnor, and
hence his name was bestowed upon it.
Others adhere to the |
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present orthography,
Maesyfed, which signifies " the imbibing
meadow," or " the drinking land," from the fact that the little river Somergill
suddenly sinks into the earth in the
vicinity of New Radnor, and then
follows a subterranean course for a considerable dis- tance. The popular derivation among the
inhabitants is Maesyfedw, from the
abundance of birch-groves in the
county. The English name, Radnor, was given to it in the reign of Henry VIII., and
signifies the red district. We find
Radford in Notts, Radlow in Here-
ford, Redcliff in Gloucester, &c.
Aberedwy. — From the river Edwy that flows through the place. Edwy is probably a
derivative of eddu, to press on, to
go. Or, perhaps, the right wording is
aidwy, signifying the lively water. We
adopt the latter. English name — Briskmouth. Abbey Cwm Hir. — Cwm Hir, long vale.
Cad- wallon ab Madoc built an abbey
here in the year 1 143; hence the
name. English name— Longton Abbey. Beguildy. — A corruption probably of
BugeiUdy y the shepherd's house, a
very appropriate name in a
sheep-rearing district. English name — Swainham. Bettws-Clyro. — Bettws has been explained
already. Clyro is a corruption
oiclear-wy, the clear water. English
name — Waterby. |
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2IO Blethfa. — Some derive it from blitk, milk
; and man, a place; signifying a dairy
place. It is some- times spelt BUddfa
as a contraction of Blcddyn-fan,
Bleddyn's place. Bleddyn was the name of several bards in the years 1090- 1260. We incline
to think it is a compound of blaidd,
wolf ; and man, place. English name —
Wolfham . Bough rood.— Edmunds thinks
it is a corruption otbuwchffrwd, the
cow's brook. We rather think it is an
Anglicised form of Backrhyd, which is a compound of bachog, crooked, having many turnings or
windings ; and rkyd, a ford. A
streamlet that discharges itself into
the Wye, near the village, is called Bachwy, the meandering water. The Wye makes a sharp
turning here. Maiandros, a river in
Phrygia, is proverbial for its many
windings, whence came the word meander.
Some think the right wording is Bach-rhyd, signifying •* the little ford " on the Wye, where
a boat and horse were in constant
attendance. English name- Mean -
derford. Croesfeilig. — Croes,
cross ; Meilig, the name of the son of
Caw, and a saint of the fifth century.
English name — Meilig* s Cross.
Cregrina. — A mutilation of Crugynau, heaps. English name — Heapton. Colfa. — A corruption of Collfa, which
means the. place of the hazel-wood.
English name — Hazel ton. Cascob. — In
" Doomsday Book " it is called
Cascope, which, according to some, is a compound of cask and hope. Mr. Williams, in his "
History of Radnorshire," derives
it thus : " Cas, a fortress ; and
ccpe, an eminence. The justness of this etymology is confirmed by tradition, which reports that
a small fortification of earth
formerly stood on a summit on which
the church is erected; or, perhaps, the name
casgob might mean the eminence impending over the brook Cas, which runs through the parish,
and dis- charges itself into the river
Lug." |
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211 Cefnllys. — Cefn, back, ridge; llys, court,
halL Ralph Mortimer built a castle
here in the year 1242, which suggests
the probability of the place being
•defended against the incursions of the Saxons.. The name might have been derived from a martial
court that was held here. Camden says
that there were ruins of an ancient
fortress upon the spot when he wrote,
almost surrounding the Court House, except on one side, where it lies open to the common.
English name — Courthill. Cenarth.— Cen is Gaelic for pen, head; arth
is an abbreviation of garth, a hi:l.
The place forms the lower end of the
parish. English name — Upton. Cilgil,
or Kilgil. — Cil, a hidden place, a nook;
gil, probably a corruption of coll, the plural of collen, hazel-tree ; so called from the abundance
of hazel wood in the district. English
name— Hazelham. Coed-glassen.— Coed,
wood ; glassen, a corruption of gleision,
the plural of glas, green ; so named from the
abundance of green trees that beautified the district in olden times. English name — Greenwood. Cwm-gellau, or Cwm-gilla. — Cwtn, a vale;
gellau, a corruption of collen,
hazel-tree. The place lies in a
beautiful valley, abounding with hazel wood* English name — Hazel Vale. Cwmdauddwr.— Dauddwr, two streams of water,
so •called from the situation of the
parish church near the confluence of
the rivers Elain and Wye. The parish
adjoins the counties of Brecon, Cardigan, and Mont- gomery, and is the only one in Radnorshire
where Welsh is understood and spoken.
According to collo- quial
pronunciation it is Cwmwd Douddwr, the commote of the two waters. English name —
Watercomb. Clas Garmon. — Clas, a
green spot of enclosure, a cloister;
Garmon, perhaps the memorable German us.
English name — Garmon's Cloister.
Dyffryn Elan. — Dyffryn, a long vale; Elan, the name of the river that runs though it.
English name — Elan Vale. |
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212 Evenjobb. — The popular opinion in the
neighbour- hood anent the name is that
a man named Job lived here at some
remote period, and was proverbial, as
the prototype Job, for patience and evenness of temper, and hence the place was called in honour of
him. The name is, perhaps, a compound
of efes, brink or margin ; and hwpp, a
slope. Burlinjobb, in the same county,
means Brechla's hwpp or slope. It was anciently spelt JZvanckobb, Evan's cop, i.e., Evan's
hill-top. Felindre. — A compound
oitnelin, mill; and tref, a place. English
name — Million. Glascomb. — A compound
of glas, green ; and comb, an
Anglicism of cwm, a valley, a dingle. The village lies in a beautiful and verdant valley,
where also stands the fine mansion of
Glascomb. English name—
Greencomb. Golon. — A corruption
probably of colwyn, a sharp hillock, a
promontory. English name — Hillton.
Harpton.— A translation of the Welsh name, Trefydelyn.
Heyop. — A compound of haye, a grove, and cope, an eminence. English name— Grovehill. Kinnerton. — A corruption of Cenarth,
headland, and town, signifying a place
at the headland. Knighton. — The Welsh
name is Trefyclawdd* Dykestown, so
called from its contiguity to Offa's
Dyke, traces of which are discernible to this i^ay. The English name means knight-town, which,
after the Norman Conquest, was
probably held on the tenure of
knightly service, and is one of those names
that illustrate the old law phrase, " a knight's fee." Knucklas. — A corrupted form of cnwc, a
slight eniinence, and glas, green.
Cnwc has been corrupted in a few
English place-names, such as Knocklin (Salop), Knock-holt (Kent), and Knook (Wilts) ; and
in Ireland w e find Knockglass,
Knockdow, &c. English name—
<3reenbanlc Llananno.— The
church is dedicated to Wonno, or
jlntto. English name— Annoton.
L Padarn Fawr i
badari L a We!
oicyn fessor hpus,
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213 Llanbadarn Fawr. — The church is dedicated
to Tadarn, a descendant of Emyr
Llydaw, and it is called Fawr in
distinction from Llanbadarn- Fynydd and Llan-
badarn-y-Gareg. English name — Padarn Major. Llandegley. — The church was probably
dedicated to Tegwel, a Welsh saint.
Tegwel means a fair coun- tenance or
aspect. English name-rFairchurch.
Llangunllo. — The church is dedicated to Cunllo, a Welsh saint. Cunllo, or Cynllo, is
probably made up of cyn, the first or
chief, and llo or lo, referred by Pro-
fessor Rhys to a word of the same origin as the Latin lupus, a wolf. English name — Wolfton. Llandrindod. — Its ancient name was Ffynon
Llwyn y Gdg, the well of the cuckoo's
bush ; but in 1603 the church was
dedicated to the Drindod (Trinity) ; hence
the name. English name — Trichurch.
Llanddewi-Ystradenni. — The church is dedicated to St. Dewi. Ystrad, a flat, a vale ;
enni-yn-wy, on or near the water. The
village is situated in a low vale on the
river Ithion. English name — Ithonton.
Llanfareth. — The church is situated near the confluence of the rivers Mareth and Wye;
hence the name. Mareth signifies
lively or active water. English name—
Sprighton. Llanfihangel Rhydithon. —
The church is dedi- cated to St.
Michael. Rhyd, a ford ; Ithon, the name of
the river that flows through the parish. English name — Ithonford. Llanyre. — Yre is an abbreviation of Llyre.
The ■church is dedicated to
Llyr, & descendant of Cunedda W 7
ledig, and a saint of the fifth century. English name — Lyrton. Meisty-Rhos-Lowry. — Meisty is, probably, a
cor- ruption of maes, a field, and
ty> a house ; rhos, a dry meadow, a
plain. Lowry perplexes us ; the root,
perhaps, is llawr, ground ; or, perhaps, it is a gross mutilation of loyw-ddu, reddish black, in
allusion to the hue of the boggy
ground. English name— Plainton. |
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214 Monoghty. — A corruption of mynach-dy, a
monas- tery. It is supposed that a
monastery stood here in olden times.
Monaughty Poydd (Salop) is said to be
Monachty Posth, the hot monastery. English name — Monkton.
Nantmel. — Nant t a brook ; mil, according to some* is an abbreviation of Mael, a personal name
; but we rather think it is the Welsh
for honey ; hence the name means
honey-brook, so called, perhaps, from its
hue, or from the hives of wild bees in the neighbouring; rocks. English name — Honeybrook. Norton. — The name probably means
north-town,, or, perhaps, Norman town.
The British name was supplanted by
that of the Norman Castle. Painscastle.
— A castle was built here during the
Norman period by the De Pain family, whose name was conferred upon it and the village which
lies at the base of the hill. Pain was
a Norman knight, and his name is also
preserved in Paignton (Devon) and Pains-
wick (Gloucester). Presteign. —
It was anciently known as Llanan-
dras, so called from the dedication of the church to St. Andrew. The English name means the priest's
town. It is the solitary instance of
Prest occurring in Welsh place-names.
We have *hirty-six Prestons y two Prest-
burys, and two Prestwolds, in the nomenclature of England ; but we have only one in Wales,
and that occurs in the more than half
English county of Radnor. Who was this
priest ? Probably David Martin, bishop
of St. David's, about the end of the thirteenth century. He was an extraordinary benefactor to this
place having obtained for the
inhabitants many privileges, and among
others, those of holding a weekly market on
Saturday, and fairs three times a year. English name — Prieston.
Pantydwr. — The name signifies the hollow of the water. English name — Dalewater. Penybont. — The end of the bridge;
hence Bridgend. |
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215 Pilleth.— A corruption of pwll, pool; and
llaitk, moist, humid. The vale is very
narrow and well- watered, which
probably suggested the name. English
name— Glenwater. Rhaiadr. —
This town derives its j\%nie from a
Rhaiadr, a waterfall, that, is .contiguous to it. The Welsh call it Rhaiadr Gwy, from its
situation on the eastern bank of the
river Wye. The word rhaiadr is derived,
perhaps, from rhuo, to roar, bluster, in allusion to the din of the water in its fallen
stale. English name— Din water. Salford. — A compound of sath, a willow,
and ford ; signifying the willow
ford. St. Harmon. — From St. Gartnon,
to whom the parish church is
dedicated. Trefonen. — Tref, an abode,
a place ; onen, ash tree. English name
— Ashtown. Weythel — A corruption of
Gwyddel, a man of the wood, an
Irishman. English name — Woodby. |
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Sumbolau:
a A / æ Æ / e E / ɛ Ɛ / i I / o O / u U / w W / y Y /
MACRON: ā Ā / ǣ Ǣ
/ ē Ē
/ ɛ̄ Ɛ̄
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MACRON + ACEN DDYRCHAFEDIG: Ā̀ ā̀ , Ḗ
ḗ, Ī́ ī́ , Ṓ ṓ , Ū́
ū́, (w), Ȳ́ ȳ́
MACRON + ACEN DDISGYNEDIG: Ǟ ǟ , Ḕ ḕ, Ī̀
ī̀, Ṑ ṑ, Ū̀ ū̀, (w), Ȳ̀ ȳ̀
MACRON ISOD: A̱ a̱ , E̱ e̱ , I̱ i̱ , O̱ o̱,
U̱ u̱, (w), Y̱ y̱
BREF: ă Ă / ĕ Ĕ / ĭ
Ĭ / ŏ Ŏ / ŭ Ŭ / B5236: 
B5237: 
BREF GWRTHDRO ISOD: i̯,
u̯
CROMFACHAU: ⟨ ⟩ deiamwnt
ˡ ɑ ɑˑ aˑ a: / æ æ: / e eˑe: / ɛ ɛ: / ɪ
iˑ i: / ɔ oˑ o: / ʊ uˑ u: / ə / ʌ /
ẅ Ẅ / ẃ Ẃ / ẁ Ẁ / ŵ Ŵ /
ŷ Ŷ / ỳ Ỳ / ý Ý / ɥ
ˡ ð ɬ ŋ ʃ ʧ θ ʒ ʤ / aɪ ɔɪ
əɪ uɪ ɪʊ aʊ ɛʊ əʊ / £
ә
ʌ
ẃ ă ĕ ĭ ŏ ŭ ẅ ẃ
ẁ Ẁ ŵ ŷ ỳ Ỳ
Hungarumlaut:
A̋ a̋
U+1EA0 Ạ U+1EA1 ạ
U+1EB8 Ẹ U+1EB9 ẹ
U+1ECA Ị U+1ECB ị
U+1ECC Ọ U+1ECD ọ
U+1EE4 Ụ U+1EE5 ụ
U+1E88 Ẉ U+1E89 ẉ
U+1EF4 Ỵ U+1EF5 ỵ
g
yn 
aith δ δ £
wikipedia, scriptsource. org
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ǣ
---------------------------------------
Y TUDALEN HWN: www.kimkat.org/amryw/1_testunau/testun_103_handbook-place-names_thomas-morgan_1887_rhan-2_2100k.htm
---------------------------------------
Creuwyd: 18-10-2018
Ffynhonell: archive.org
Adolygiad diweddaraf : 18-10-2018
Delweddau:
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