water, an element in many river names; e.g. the Bere, in Dorset; Ver, Hereford; Bervie, in Mearns. The town of Lifford, in Donegal, was originally Leith-bhearr (the gray water); Berra, a lake in France; the Ebura or Eure, in Normandy; and in Yorkshire, the Ebro, anc. Iberus; Ivry, in Normandy, anc. Ebarovicus (the town on the Ebura).
BIRCE, BIRKE (Teut.),
BERK, (Lat.) BETULA,
BEORC (A.S.),
the birch-tree; e.g. Birkenhead (the head of the birches); Birchholt (birch wood); Berkeley (birch field); Birchington, Birkhoff (the birch-tree dwelling and court); Birkhampstead (the home place among the birches); Oberbirchen (the upper birches); but Berkshire is not from this root; it was called by the Anglo-Saxons Berroc-shyre, supposed to be named from the abundance of berroc (boxwood), or the bare-oak-shire, from a certain polled oak in Windsor Forest, where the Britons were wont to hold their provincial meetings.
BLAEN (Cym.-Cel.),
the source of a stream; e.g. Blaene-Avon, Blaen-Ayron, Blaen-Hounddu (river sources in Wales); Blaen-porth (the head of the harbour); Blaen-nant (of the brook); Blaen-Bylan, abbreviated from Blaen-pwll-glan (the top of pool bank); Blaen-Sillt, at the top of a small stream, the Sillt, in Wales; Blaen-afon (of the river).
BLAIR, BLAR (Gadhelic),
a plain, originally a battle-field; e.g. Blair-Athole, Blair-Logie, Blair-Gowrie (the battle-field in these districts); Blairmore (the great); Blaircreen (the little plain); Blairdaff (the plain of the oxen, daimh); Blair-burn (of the stream); Blair-craig (of the rock); Blair-linne (of the pool); Blair-beth (of birches); Blair-ingone (the field of spears), in Perthshire; Blair-glass (gray plain); Blarney (little field), in Ireland; Blair-Drummond, Blair-Adam, modern places named after persons.
BLANC (Fr.),
BLANCO (Span.),
BIANCO (It.),
BRANCO (Port.),
BLANC (A.S.),
BLANK (Ger.),
white; e.g. Mont-Blanc, Cape-blanco, Sierra-blanca (white mountain-ridge); Castella-bianca (white castle); Villa-bianca (white town); Blankenburg (white town); Blankenham (white dwelling); Blankenhavn, Blankenloch, Blankenrath, Blankenese (white haven, place, wood-clearing, cape), in Germany; Bianchi-mandri (white sheep-folds), in Sicily; Branco (the white stream), in Brazil; Los-Brancos (the white mountains); Cata-branca (the white cove); Casa-branca (the white house), in Brazil.
BLISKO (Sclav.),