Cardiff and district

CAESAR'S ARMS

Caesar's Arms is the name of a hostelry and restaurant in the village of Creigiau, Pentyrch parish. Here is the relevant recorded information:

Nant-y-cesair 2007

Caesar's Arms 2007

Name Occupant Date

Caesar Arms inn [William Collins] 1914

Caesar Arms (Tavern) [John Collins] 1901

Caeser Arms [John Thomas] 1891,

Cesar Arms [Martha Israel] 1881

Caesar Arms [Martha Israel] 1871

Ceasser Arms [Thomas Simon] 1861

Nant y Kessall [Thomas Hopkin (sic), farmer] 1851

Nantykessar [Thomas Hopkins, farmer] 1841

Nant y cesall 1833

Nantycessar 1824

Nant y Cessar 1796

nant y kessar 1570

The earliest names, nant y kessar, Nant y Cessar etc. are the names of a stream that flows near the village of Creigiau, in the parish of Pentyrch (pronounced pen-tirch rather than the recently usurped and maligned pen-turk). nant y kessar and Nant y Cessar etc. are scribal efforts at recording the Gwentian dialect form of the Welsh collective noun cesair ‘hailstones'.

Other streams named in similar fashion to reflect low water temperature include Nant yr Eira (snow), Odnant (snow), Nant Iaen (ice), Oernant (cold) along with Afon Genllysg (hailstones).

Nant y cesall is an example of the interchange of final -r and -l of some Welsh words e.g. corner > cornel, dresser > dresel, razor > rasel, mesur > mesul etc.

Nant-y-cesair stream gave its name to a smallholding located on its banks as indicated by the occupation of Thomas Hopkin(s), the occupant of the 1841 and 1851 census returns.

By 1861 however, the name and nature of the building had changed from the smallholding known as Nant y Cessar to a public house known as the Ceasser Arms. The final element of the stream-name had been retained as the first element of the inn name. The 1881 form of Cesar Arms is interesting and a key to the change of meaning.

As well as being the Gwentian dialect form of cesair, cesar is also the Welsh spelling for the Latin personal name Caesar as evidenced in the oft recited section of Mark 12, v. 17. ‘Rhoddwch yr eiddo Cesar i Cesar, a'r eiddo Duw i Dduw.' (‘render unto Caesar', etc.) It was only natural therefore to expect a change in the perceived meaning of the inn name over the years, along with the change in the language of the locality from being predominantly Welsh to predominantly English speaking.

It was well into the 20^th century before an apostrophe s was added to Caesar to make the transition complete.

Today the Caesar's Arms sign depicts the face of a Roman ruler. Perhaps it would not be out of place if the image was sheltering from a wintry shower with a caption written underneath stating ‘Hail Ceasar!'

Caesar's Arms is from Cesar Arms which was derived from the earlier Nantycesair 'the hailstones stream'.

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FAIRWATER TYLLGOED

Fairwater 1967 GWPN; 1799 Yates map;
1738-50, 1755 Kemys Tynte Estates NLW; 1677 Plymouth Estates NLW;
Tyllgoed 1967 GWPN;
Twll Coed 1910 MLlC;
Twll-côd 1910 ibid
Tull Coit c1150 LL;
Tollcoit c1150 LL;
bella aqua c1150 LL;

Tyllgoed is the modern Welsh form for the much earlier tollcoit and Tull Coit. The early forms appear in Liber Landavensis in a land grant to the early church there. The boundary of the land is “From the eye or spout of the spring toll coit as far as the foss of the marsh at the top, and from the west across as far as the hyacinthine stone, following the vallum or wall, to the stone of Onnbrit.” (Latin). This grant was made during the episcopate of Berthguin, the fourteenth bishop of Llandaf.
‘modo bella aqua’ is written in the manuscript’s marginalia to identify the site. Bella aqua translates into English as fair water. Tyllgoed is the name for a number of streams in Wales that burrow through woods.

The two elements are ‘tyll’ ( to hole, to burrow as in the verb ‘tyllu’) and ‘coed’ (woods, trees). The ‘eye or spout of the spring toll coit’ refers to the source or emergence above ground of that particular stream.
Although the charter is recorded in LL c1150 it mentions Berthguin as bishop at the time of the gift which indicates an earlier date prob. 9th or 10th century. The Fairwater name was adopted as the name for the Plymouth estates, later the Kemys Tynte estates in the parish of Llandaf, and then for the little village which in turn became part of a much larger suburban settlement. Fairwater, is the English translation of ‘bella aqua’ from the marginalia of the early land grant. The land known as ‘Toll coid’ named after the stream that burrowed through the woods, is modern day Tyllgoed.
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CARDIFF CAERDYDD

Located in the commote of CIBWR in the cantref of SENGHENNYDD [from pers. name SANGAN + territorial suffix -ydd c.f. EIFION-YDD, MEIRION-YDD]

Here are some early forms:
VILLA CARDIVIAE 1081
[villa = settlement/village]
KAIRDIF 1106
CAYRDIF 1126
KERDIF 1133-47
GAERDYDD 1566

CAER is 'FORT'
DYF is the mutated form of TYF and the adjectival/genetive form of TAF [river-name]. CAERDYF is 'FORT [of the river] TAF' --

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LLANDAFF LLANDAF

LANNTAF C1150
LANDAPH 1191
LLANNDAF 14TH Cent.

LLAN is 'CHURCH' from earlier 'enclosed land'
TAF is a RIVER-NAME LLANDAF is 'CHURCH [of the river] TAF' NB. CAERDYF was formed probably in the late 6th century, at a time when genetive endings were customary in the language, but LLANDAF was formed at a later time when the genetive endings had become redundant.
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CANTON TREGANNA

CANETON 1247
KANETONE 1263 TON/TUN is 'farm/estate'
CANNA is a Personal Name OR Stream Name CF. PONTCANNA is 'Canna Bridge' OR 'Canna's Bridge'
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SPLOTT, Y SBLOT
was a 13th cent. name for part of the estate of the bishop of Llandaf.
By 1536 it was recorded as a manor house and
later it became the name of two farms - Splot higher and lower
and a late 19th cent housing development Splott is Old English 'a plot of land; a small patch of ground'. Splot appears many times as the name of
farms and fields in the Vale, Gower and Pembs.
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LISVANE is the name of distict to the north of Cardiff – Lleesvaen 1729
It is Welsh - llys + maen (mutated to faen) meaning 'stone court', - possibly referring to a stone court house where the commote court of Cibwr may have assembled. Welsh LLYSFAEN Anglicised pronunciation LISVANE
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RHIWBINA is the name of another area near Cardiff. [Rubina 1799] The two elements are Rhiw + Beina [pers. name] giving 'Beina's hill.'
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BARRY
is the name of town and island on the coast of Glamorgan and is of uncertain etymology.
Barren 13th cent.,
Isle of Barre 1510,
Barrye Island 1610. Possibly a stream-name meaning 'hill stream' from Welsh 'bar', [as in Crug-y-bar]
but also poss. Scand. meaning 'barley island' or 'border island'.
In addition, there's a suggestion of links with a saint Barruc.
It is not named after the de Barri family as it pre-dates them.
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SULLY is the name of a village and island near Barry.
Again with an obscure etymology.
It is not established whether the family of de Sully who held the manor in the 12th cent. derived their name from the place, or whether the place was named after them. Gwynedd Pierce states that the place is not evidenced before them, and it does not seem to be a place of native Welsh origin. There were de Sully families in Gloucester and Devon who might have been linked with this place who, in turn may have ties with the Sully place-names of northern France. Circumstantial evidence suggests a French connection but it's best to remain open minded. The Welsh form Sili is probably based on the Welsh pronunciation of Sully. For a more thorough discussion of the place-name, see Gwynedd O. Pierce, The Place-names of Dinas Powys Hundred, pp. 290-293.
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TREMORFA
is an area of Cardiff next to Splott and the East Moors. The marsh was drained in the last quarter of the 19th cent. & East Moors works built on the land TREMORFA was the name given to the settlement that grew alongside the EastMoors works
modern name - Welsh Tref and morfa giving 'marsh town.'
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GABALFA

GABALVA UCHA 1527 CABALVA YESSA 1542
GABALFA HAMLET 1767 was the name of a crossing place/ferry [across the river Taf] Ceubal is 'boat' and ma mutated to fa is 'a place'
Ceubalfa is the'place of the boat' i.e.a ferry crossing.
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RADUR Y RADUR c. 1569

RADER 1587 YR RADYR 1592 Welsh RADUR is from Latin ORATORIUM meaning a prayer house or chapel.
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COGAN
is the name of parish next to Penarth. Place-names of Dinas Powys Hundred suggests a topographical etymology with
cogan Welsh for a 'bowl shaped hollow'.
It is generally accepted that the 12th cent. de Cogan family of Glam. took their name from this place.
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COLD KNAP Also known as THE KNAP near the harbour in BARRY
KNAP. a knap is an 'incline, hill, or hillock.' COLDE KNAPP 1622
FARM called THE COALE 1622;
THE COLE FARM 1705
COAL FFARM 1789 COLE FARM 1812 COAL-PITS on a Wenvoe Estate Map of 1762
COAL PITS can be Pits to burn coal or charcoal. Popular etymology caused COAL KNAP to become COLD KNAP
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PENCISELY
is the name of a ROAD, AVENUE, CRESCENT and RISE near Victoria Park
It has nothing to do with ELY. PENCYSLE YSSA 1543 is a FARM NAME
PEN-SISLI HOUSE 1886 OS PEN is 'HILL' and CICELY is another form of CECELIA, CECILY,
and was probably the name of an early female landowner.
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CULVERHOUSE CROSS, CROES Y CWRLWYS

CROSS here is a CROSSROADS on the roads from ST. FAGANS to WENVOE and CARDIFF to COWBRIDGE.
CULVERHOUSE 1533 was the NAME OF a FARMHOUSE CULVER is a 'PIGEON' CWRLWYS is a CYMERICISATION of CULVERHOUSE
The farm-name CWRLWYS was recorded in 1776.
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WOMANBY is a Cardiff street name leading from QUAY STREET to CASTLE STREET. HUNDEMANBY c. 1270
HOUNDEMANNEBY 1310
HOMANDESBY 1432
WHOMANBY 1550 It is HUNDEMAN and BY giving 'Home' or 'dwelling of the HOUNDMAN'. Old Eng. HUNDE, MAN, and -BY were derived from Old Norse.
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HAYES, THE
The HEYES 1550
The HAYES 1557
The HEYS 1596 mean the ENCLOSURES from Norman-French HAIE A HEDGE
Mid.Eng. HEYE is an 'ENCLOSED SPACE'. CATHAYS
YE CATE HAYES 1682
CATT HAYS 1715 have a meaning of 'ENCLOSURE OF THE CAT'
Either a PERS. NAME or more prob.
A PLACE HAUNTED BY THE WILD CAT.
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