The Stranger in Shrewsbury / or, an historical and descriptive view of Shrewsbury and its environs

Transcribed from the 1824 (second) edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org
BY THOMAS HOWELL .
SECOND EDITION . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A lovely spot For all that life can ask! Salubrious! mild! Its hills are green: its woods and prospects fair! Its meadows fertile! And to crown the whole In one delightful word—it is our Home— Our Native Place. COTTLE’S ALFRED . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shrewsbury: PRINTED AND SOLD BY THE AUTHOR , And by the Booksellers in the County.
1824.
THE author cannot permit a second edition of the Stranger to issue from the press, without acknowledging the lasting obligation he is under to his fellow-townsmen, for the friendly patronage bestowed on its first appearance.
Shrewsbury, May 18, 1824.
The carelessness which in many instances is evident in the orthography of our ancestors, frequently renders it matter of extreme difficulty to fix, with accuracy and precision, the etymology of places which in early times were conspicuous for the parts they bore in our national transactions.
This is in some measure the situation of Shrewsbury, which by the ancient Welsh was called Ymwithig, or “the Delight;” by the Britons Pengwern; and by the Saxons Scrobbesbyrig; the two latter names signifying nearly the same, “the Head of the Alder Groves.” But it is probable that the Normans after their conquest of the Island, either from inability to pronounce the harsher Saxon words, or from the spirit of innovation on the names and manners of the inhabitants, generally possessed by conquerors, were induced to soften the term into Shrobbesburie and Sloppesburie, from whence were derived the modern names of Shrewsbury and Salop, in latin Salopia. Some are inclined to think the latter name was formed from the two Saxon words sel , signifying pleasant, and hope , the side of a hill, which certainly accords with its situation.
Leland, the antiquary and poet, in his description of the town, thus accounts for its name:—
Built on a hill, fair Salop greets the eye, While Severn forms a crescent gliding by; Two bridges cross the navigable stream, And British Alders gave the town a name.