Cylchgronau Cymru

He tells us that 'Cross Foot' comes from the Welsh croesfforM meaning a crossroads,39 and that Bryn-y-garth certainly belies its name being in a hollow rather than on a hillside.40 He explains that Ty yr deol, or more correctly Ty'r dial, near Capel-y-ffin, meant 'the house of vengeance'.41 He also understood that the place-name Rhayader referred to the waterfall of the river Wye in that town.42 Sometimes these explanations are woven into the narrative, such as 'Pwlldwrgi, the Pool of the water dog or water beast, the Otter's Pool';43 or again, Kilvert's explanation of Tirmynach as 'the white monks' house' rather than the more probable 'Monk's land'.44 We are given an elaborate explanation of the meaning of the name Cwm Ceilo where the Solitary of Llanbedr Painscastle had lived. The Solitary, we are told, was Welshman enough to know that there was no such word in Welsh as 'Cello', but in a dictionary which he took up one day in a farmhouse, he found that the word 'Ceilio' meant a retreat, enclosure, shelter or pen for cattle.45 Another explanation is given courtesy of David Price of Capel-y-ffin, who thought that Bwlch y Fingel meant not 'the Gospel Pass' (Bwlch yr Efengyl) as some would have it, but a narrow notch between two hills.46 Kilvert's knowledge of Welsh is not simply confined to place-names, indeed his diary entries contain a V/elsh word here and there without further explanation. In the entry for 26 March 1872 we read 'I was in a transport of delight and enthusiasm. The "awen" [the muse] was upon me and I composed a poem on that "Dingle of the Cwm"47 Again in the realm of poetry, he calls himself 'Eos Gwynddwr', eos being the word for a nightingale and Gwynddwr the name of a local Clyro stream, together forming a bardic nom de plume in true Welsh fashion.48 Kilvert shows familiarity with the Welsh names for certain plants and animals, e.g. stitchwort ('tafod-yr-edn'),49 the wild cherry tree ('y pren y crogodd y Diawl ei fam,),50 and he also uses the Welsh word for 'birch'.51 At one juncture in the Sandford diary, he uses the term 'Glas Ynys' without further explanation when referring to the return of his sister 39 Plomer I. 55. 40 Aberystwyth I, 85 and 106. 41 Plomer I, 279-80. 42 Plomer II, 104. 43 Plomer II, 128. 44 Aberystwyth I, 68 and 104. 45 Plomer II, 227-8. 46 Plomer I, 280. Other Welsh forms of place-names used by Kilvert are Aberllynwy or Aberllynfi being the original name for Three Cocks, and Llyn Syfaddan the Welsh name for Llangorse Lake, see Aberystwyth II, 30. 47 Plomer II. 161. 48 Hereford Times, 20 March 1875, quoted in Plomer III, 459-61. 49 Aberystwyth I, 90 and 106. 50 Aberystwyth I. 36 and 100. 51 Aberystwyth I, 7 and 97.