THE COUNTIES OF ENGLAND AND WALES.
Northumberland originally denoted the land north of the Humber; Cumberland, the land occupied by the Cymri; and Westmoreland, the land of the Westmorings, or people of the Western moors. Durham is a corruption of Dunholm, signifying a hill-fort on an island in the river; dun being Celtic for a hill, or fort on a hill, and holm the Scandinavian for an island. The Shire, or County, of York, in common with the majority of the Midland and Welsh counties, is named after its chief town; or rather, in this case, the ancient city described in documents as Eurewic, but pronounced Yorric, from its position on the river Eure, now known as the Ouse.
Lancashire indicates the Shire of Lancaster, the caester, or camp-town, on the Lune. This Anglo-Saxon word Caester, derived from the Latin castra, a camp, fortress, appears also in the names of Cheshire, a contraction of Caestershire, the Shire of Chester, the town built on the site of the old Roman castra, or camp; in Leicestershire, the Shire of the camp-town on the river Leire, now called the Soar; in Worcestershire, the Shire of Hwic-ware-shire, or fortress-town, of the Huiccii; and in Gloucestershire, the Shire of the camp-town in which Gloi, a son of the Emperor Claudius, was born during the Roman occupation of Britain.
Lincoln is a contraction of the Latin Lindumcolonia, signifying the colony formed by the Romans on the Llyn-dun, literally “the fortified hill by the pool,” originally occupied and so called by the ancient Britons [see [London]]. The names Norfolk and Suffolk respectively indicate those portions of the eastern coast settled by the Angles, who separated into two distinct tribes, viz., the north folk and the south folk. Essex is a contraction of East-seaxe, denoting the territory occupied by the East Saxons; Sussex, of Suth-seaxe, or South Saxons; and Middlesex, of Middle-seaxe, or the inhabitants of the district between Essex and Wessex, the land of the West Saxons, which, under the Heptarchy, extended to the westward as far as Devon. Surrey is a modification of the Anglo-Saxon Suth-rey, south of the river, i.e., the Thames. Kent was formerly Cantium, indicating the land bestowed upon Canute, one of the companions of Brute, an early King of Britain, who, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, settled in England and eventually founded the Danish dynasty.
Hampshire, also written Hants, expresses the Shire of Hantone, or Hantune, now known as Southampton, the south town on the river Ant, or Southampton Water. Dorset was originally Dwrset, a compound of the Celtic dwr, water, and the Anglo-Saxon set, a settlement, alluding to the early settlement of this district by a tribe of Britons who styled themselves Dwr-trigs, or “water-dwellers.” Somerset is a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon Suthmorset, literally “the south-moor-settlement.” Devon is a modified form of Dwfuient, the Celtic for “the deep valleys.” An earlier name for this portion of Britain was Damnonia, the territory of the Damnonii, a Celtic tribe. Cornwall denotes the territory of the “foreigners in the horn,” agreeably to the Latin cornu, a horn, referring to its numerous promontories, and its inhabitants the Wahl, the Saxon term for “foreigners.” Like Wales, this portion of our island was never invaded by the Anglo-Saxons; consequently its people, the Cymri, a branch of the Celts, were left in undisturbed possession [see [Wales]]. The Duchy of Cornwall is still included in the Principality of Wales. Wiltshire only partly expresses the Shire of Wilton, a contraction of Willy-town, or the town on the river Willy. Berkshire is a modern spelling of the Anglo-Saxon Bearoc-scire, “forest shire,” in allusion to the forest districts of Bagshot and Windsor; while Buckingham was originally described as Boccenham, the Anglo-Saxon for “beech-tree-home,” this county being especially noted for its beeches.
Oxford derived its name from the Ox-ford over the Isis; Hertford, from the ford crossed by harts; Hereford, from the army ford; and Stafford, from the ford crossed by means of staves or stilts. Bedford is a contraction of Bedican ford, the Anglo-Saxon for “the protected ford.” Cambridge owes its name to the University town by the bridge over the Cam, or crooked river [see [Camberwell]]. Huntingdon was anciently a great deer forest, and therefore much resorted to for hunting. Northampton is a corruption of North-avon-town, alluding to its position north of the river Neu, in olden times known as the Avon. Rutland expresses the Anglo-Saxon for “red land,” referring to the colour of its soil. Warwick is the modern description of the Anglo-Saxon Waer-wic, signifying the garrison, or war town. Nottingham is a corruption of Snotingaham, “the place of caves,” so called on account of the soft sandstone which so greatly facilitated the formation of caverns during the early history of our country; as e.g., “Mortimer’s hole,” and the subterranean passage that led thereto from Nottingham Castle in the reign of Edward III. Derby is a contraction of the Saxon Deer-by, or “wild-beast village,” doubtless so designated from its frequent invasion by strange animals from the mountainous district of “The Peak” in search of prey. Shropshire denotes the Shire of Scrobbesburgh, the Anglo-Saxon for “shrub-town,” modified by the Normans into Sloppesburie (from which the present town of Salop derived its name), and corrupted in modern times into Shrewsbury. Monmouth indicates the county that includes the mouth of the Mon, originally described as the Mynwy, “the border river.”
Anglesea, properly Anglesey [see [Chelsea], &c.], is one of the three counties of Wales whose names are not essentially Welsh. Thus, Glamorgan signifies the Gwlad-Morgan, or territory of Morgan, a chieftain who lived in the tenth century; Brecknock is the hill of Brecon, or Brychan, a Welsh prince; Radnor is a modern spelling of Rhiadnwr-Gwy, meaning “the Cataract of the Wye”; Montgomery refers to the fortress built on the mont, or height, by Roger de Montgomerie, in 1093; Denbigh was originally Dinbach, the Celtic and Cymric for “a little fort”; Flint was so called from the quantity of quartz found in this county; Carnarvon owes its origin to Cær-yu-ar-Fon, the cær, or fortress, on the arfon, or water; Carmarthen denotes the fortress erected by Merlin; Merioneth was named after Merion, an early British saint; Cardigan indicates the territory of Ceredig, a Welsh chieftain; while Pembroke signifies the pen, or head of the broc, the Celtic and Cymric for a district, so called because this promontory was virtually the Land’s End.