‘All this is preceded by an excellent introduction, again a model of concise
presentation of relevant information . . . it is a mine of fascinating information which
will illuminate any visit to Wales or many questions of Welsh place names and is warmly
welcomed and recommended by this interested layman.’ (Reference Reviews)
Much has been written recently about place-names. The media and popular press provide ample evidence of a current surge of interest in the names that surround us. This surely reflects a greater awareness of our environment, an appreciation of the wealth of local history and, in Wales, a more sophisticated response to the interplay of two languages. This book is an accessible work of reference for anyone who wishes to learn something about the place-names of Wales.
The bulk of the book is made up of what might be termed a dictionary of place-names. The Introduction deals briefly with what the study of place-names involves and how these names can reveal fascinating insights into the people, history, environment and language of places.
Hywel Wyn Owen is Head of the School of Community, Regional and Communication Studies, University of Wales Bangor.
Sample extracts from the book.
COMPETITION ANSWERS
See the fascinating The Place-names of Wales by Hywel Wyn
Owen for more details.
See the fascinating The Place-names of Wales by Hywel Wyn Owen for more details.
'mouth of the (river) Ystwyth'
aber 'river-mouth, estuary'
The river-name Ystwyth means 'winding' and is found in 1232-3 as Aberestuuth, and in the 14th century as aber ystwyth. The original Norman castle was built, as the name suggests, on the Ystwyth in 1110. However in 1211 another castle was built near the estuary of the river Rheidol a mile and a half to the north, taking the name with it; this became the site of the modern town. Quiz. See the fascinating The Place-names of Wales by Hywel Wyn Owen for more details.
'a wattled fence'
bangor 'the plaited cross-bar strengthening the top of a wattled fence'
The ecclesiastical settlement or monastic site at Bangor (Benchoer, 634) was protected by a wattled fence strengthened by a distinctive plaited top called a bangor. There is a Bangor in Ulster and another in Flintshire, both ecclesiastical sites, and it was commonly believed that both derived from the Caernarfonshire Bangor. However, there are in Wales other examples of Bangor which were not churches; the name also occurs in Brittany. The likely conclusion is that bangor became a common word for a site, ecclesiastical or secular, which was protected by such a plaited fence. Quiz. See the fascinating The Place-names of Wales by Hywel Wyn Owen for more details.
DEINIOLEN Caern
The original name of this village near the Dinorwig quarry was Ebeneser from the name of the Nonconformist chapel there. At the beginning of the 20th century Ebeneser was replaced by Deiniolen, a name coined from the parish name Llanddeiniolen, the llan commemorating the saint Deiniolen. He was the son of Deiniol of Bangor whom he succeeded as abbot. His name contains the diminutive ending -en, ‘little Deiniol’; he was also known as Deiniolfab, ‘son of Deiniol’. Two churches were founded by Deiniolen, one at Llanddaniel Fab in Anglesey, the other at Llanddeiniolen. Quiz. See the fascinating The Place-names of Wales by Hywel Wyn Owen for more details.
MONTGOMERY TREFALDWYN Mont
'the town of Baldwin'
tref 'town'
The Norman lord, Roger de Montgomery, built the first castle here and named it Montgomery (Montgomeri, 1086) after his other castle at Montgommery in Calvados, Normandy. This castle, built at the foot of Hen Domen or Castle Hill, passed into the hands of another Norman, Baldwin de Bollers, in 1102, and eventually in 1223-4 a new castle was built on the top of the hill and called Castell Baldwin (Kastell baldwin, 14th. cent.) ('the castle of Baldwin'). The emerging town also took its name from Baldwin as Trefaldwyn (recorded in 1440), which gave rise to the county Sir Drefaldwyn. The change to Faldwyn from Baldwin is a regular sound-change in Welsh. However, Faldwyn was mistakenly assumed to derive from a hitherto non-existent Maldwyn, which then became a personal name and in Welsh is frequently used for the county name. See the fascinating The Place-names of Wales by Hywel Wyn Owen for more details.
ABERGAFENNI (ABERGAVENNY) Y FENNI Monm
'mouth of the (river) Gafenni'
aber 'stream, confluence'
The name of the river can be traced back in records as far as the 4th century when the Latin documents referred to it as Gobannio(n). This is a version of an earlier Brythonic word Gobannia meaning 'river of the blacksmiths' or 'river of the iron-works' (rather like the modern Welsh word gof 'blacksmith'), a reference to the iron-workings which the Romans exploited. It is known that the Romans built a fort here in AD 50, so the Brythonic name and iron-workings are probably earlier than that. A later form of the river-name was Geuenni, c. 1150, while Abergevenni and Abergavenni also appear in the 12th century. The river-name came to be used of the town which stands where the rivers Gafenni and Usk meet. In Welsh the customary form is Y Fenni; the first syllable of Gafenni was lost (as in Bro Venni, 15th cent., 'the region of Venni') to be replaced by y 'the'. See the fascinating The Place-names of Wales by Hywel Wyn Owen for more details.
'port of Madocks'
English port 'port', Welsh porth 'harbour, port'
Between 1800 and his death in 1828 William Alexander Madocks (the Member of Parliament for Boston, Lincolnshire) was responsible for enclosing a large area of the marsh and shore called Traeth Mawr (Trait mawr, 1194 'the great strand'). He developed the village of Tremadoc (Tre-madoc, 1810, tre 'large village, town'), constructed an embankment (the Cob), and built a harbour (Portmadoc, 1838) to export slate from the Blaenau Ffestiniog quarries. The two names which commemorate Madocks, Tremadoc and Portmadoc, later adopted Welsh versions as Tremadog and Porthmadog probably influenced by the Welsh personal name Madog. See the fascinating The Place-names of Wales by Hywel Wyn Owen for more details.
MILFORD HAVEN ABERDAUGLEDDAU Pemb
'harbour of the sandy fiord' 'the estuary of the two (rivers called) Cleddau'
Scandinavian melr 'sand-hill, sand bank', fjOrðr 'fiord, inlet', Welsh aber 'estuary', dau 'two'
Milford is a place-name which shows evidence of Scandinavian presence. The early references are to the harbour or haven not the modern town, as in de Milverdico portu (in a Latin document of 1191), Mellferth (1207) and Milford (1219). Somewhat later, when the significance of fjOrðr in the name had been lost, Haven was added as in Milford Haven (1394). In the Welsh name, the estuary at Aberdaugleddau (Aber Dav Gleddyf, Aber Dau Gleddau, 15th cent.) has two rivers coming together, the Eastern Cleddau (Cleddau Wen) and the Western Cleddau (Cleddau Ddu). Cleddau (Cledeu, 1191) or Cleddyf 'sword' is one of several Welsh river-names associated with weapons or tools because they cut through the earth or because their waters shine. See the fascinating The Place-names of Wales by Hywel Wyn Owen for more details.
'fort at Maridunum'
caer 'fort'
Maridunum 'the fort near the sea' was the name of the Roman camp here, a version of a British place-name comprising the elements which today give us môr 'sea' and din 'fort'. Maridunum developed into Myrddin by which time the din element was not recognized as the word meaning 'fort'; hence the addition of the tautologous caer 'fort'. In addition, Myrddin was wrongly perceived as a personal name, in particular that of a legendary 6th-century warrior whom Geoffrey of Monmouth incorporated into the Arthurian legend (after latinizing Myrddin to Merlinus). See the fascinating The Place-names of Wales by Hywel Wyn Owen for more details.
'fish yard, yard for catching or keeping fish' 'mouth of the river Gwaun'
Scandinavian fiskr 'fish', garthr 'yard', Welsh aber 'estuary'
The earliest form of Fishguard (Fissigart, 1200) points to the Scandinavians. Several place-names on the Pembrokeshire coast have Scandinavian origins and have survived partly because, as in this case, the Scandinavian words resembled English words in sound and meaning. However, the Welsh name Abergwaun was in parallel use (Fissegard, id est, Aber gweun, 1210). The river-name Gwaun means 'marsh, moor'. See the fascinating The Place-names of Wales by Hywel Wyn Owen for more details.
'fort on the (river) Taf'
caer 'fort'
The genitive singular of Taf was Tyf a form which possibly goes back to the 6th century. Hence 'Caer-Dyf' 'the fort of the Taf' (as in Kairdif, 1106). It was 'Caerdyf' which produced the anglicized form Cardiff, in much the same way that the river-name Taf was anglicized to Taff, and later the cathedral Llandaf became Llandaff (with the additional modification of the stress moving to the first syllable as happened in Cardiff). The Welsh pronunciation of 'Caerdyf' as Caerdydd (as in o gaer dydd, 1566; and Caer Didd, 1698) shows the colloquial alternation of Welsh -f and -dd. Taf is related to a group of Celtic river-names (such as Thames, Tame, Tamar and Tawe in Abertawe) meaning 'water' (or possibly 'dark'). Quiz. See the fascinating The Place-names of Wales by Hywel Wyn Owen for more details.
'island of Sveinn' 'mouth of the (river) Tawe'
Old Norse ey 'island', Welsh aber 'river-mouth, estuary'
Swansea is further evidence of the Scandinavian presence along the south Wales coast. The identity of the Viking Sveinn is not known, but he may be associated here with an island in the estuary referred to as Iselond in 1432, and as The Island in 1641. Over the centuries the spelling and meaning of the last syllable have been influenced by sea. The river Tawe (Tauuy, c. 1150) flows into the sea here (Aper Tyui, c. 1150; Abertawi, 12th cent.). Quiz. See the fascinating The Place-names of Wales by Hywel Wyn Owen for more details.