ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2987 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2987 ************************************ 22 Jun 2005 From: Ursula Whitcher Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked how early some form of the Welsh masculine name could have been used, and in what spellings. Before we begin, we'd like to apologize for the amount of time this letter has taken. We hope the following information will still be useful to you. In earlier correspondence, we recommended as a fifteenth- or sixteenth-century spelling. [1] We'll begin with some background on different languages used in Wales. Then we'll discuss earlier forms of and . Finally, after discussing the ways names were put together at different times and in various languages, we'll offer possible forms of the whole name. Introduction ------------ Forms of the names you're interested in first appear in the eighth or ninth centuries. A Welsh name from the eighth or ninth century might have been recorded in either Old Welsh or Latin; the majority of surviving records from that period are in Latin. By the twelfth century, a Welsh name might have been recorded in English as well. Welsh, Latin, and English were all used for documents written in Wales for several more centuries; however, by the fifteenth century Latin was falling out of fashion, so most of our evidence from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries is in Welsh or English. The spelling used by a writer in our period depended on the language he was using, the languages he spoke, and his familiarity with the names he was recording. Welsh and English writers used different systems for converting sounds to spelling, so certain spellings are characteristic of one linguistic context or the other. When English writers recorded a native Welsh name, they sometimes recorded it phonetically according to the English spelling system, sometimes used a conventional spelling of the name, and sometimes used an English name that was considered equivalent to the Welsh name. Similarly, documents written in Latin could use phonetic substitutions, conventional spellings, or "equivalent" Latin names; moreover, names in Latin contexts often included endings added to satisfy the requirements of Latin grammar. Rhys ---- Forms of appear in southern Wales by the eighth century. [2, 3] The name was spelled in documents written in both Latin and Welsh until the end of the twelfth century. [3, 4] In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the name spread into central and northern Wales. , , and were typical Welsh forms. [13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19] We found the spellings , , , and in English documents. [21, 22, 23] Documents written in Latin added the standard Latin masculine ending <-us>, so the usual Latin form was . By the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the name was common throughout Wales. The usual Welsh forms were and , while the usual English forms were and . [13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22] and may have appeared in Welsh documents as well. The modern Welsh spelling may have appeared by the end of the sixteenth century; though we don't have direct evidence, we have found the spelling used for other names, and we found in seventeenth-century documents. [20] The English forms , , , and are also appropriate at the end of the sixteenth century. [24] Rhydderch --------- A sixth-century British ruler used a form of ; his name appears in eleventh- and twelfth-century histories and genealogies written in Latin as , , and . [7, 11] We found forms of in Welsh documents by the ninth century. The spelling is appropriate between the ninth and twelfth centuries. [4, 5] The spelling appears in a fourteenth-century Welsh manuscript; we believe this form is possible in both Welsh and English contexts in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. [12] We found the form in a document written in Latin from 1303. [6] Sixteenth-century English spellings of include , , , and . We found the Welsh spelling in 1600. [1] Name Construction ----------------- The Welsh word for "son of" was spelled through the beginning of the twelfth century. By the end of the thirteenth century, the spelling had changed to . Thus, the same name might have appeared as between the ninth century and the beginning of the twelfth century, in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, and in the fifteenth or sixteenth century. [4, 9] The Latin word for "son" is . In Latin, words change their endings according to their grammatical function. In particular, the form of which means "of Rothericus" is ; this form is called the genitive case. Thus, a twelfth-century man named Rhys whose father was called Rhydderch could have had his name recorded as . Similarly, a fourteenth-century man named Rhys whose father was called Rhydderch could have had his name recorded as . [10] We found a thirteenth-century document written in Latin by English speakers which occasionally used the Welsh particle or instead of Latin . Thus, we believe that or is possible in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century English and Latin contexts, as well as Welsh. [10] Sixteenth-century English documents usually include a given name followed by the father's name. For example, Rhys the son of Rhydderch could have been described as . Occasionally, the documents include the Welsh particle , so Rhys son of Rhydderch could also have been called in English documents. [8] Table of Names -------------- Time Language Name ---- -------- ---- 800-1200 Welsh Ris map Riderch 800-1200 Latin Ris filius Rodarchi Ris filius Roderci 1200-1400 Welsh Rys ap Ryderch Res ap Ryderch Rees ap Ryderch 1200-1400 Latin Risus filius Rotherici Risus ap Rothericus 1200-1400 English Res ap Ryderch Rees ap Ryderch Reis ap Ryderch Reys ap Ryderch 1400-1600 Welsh Rys ap Rydderch Rrys ap Rydderch 1400-1600 English Res Rudderch Rees Rudderch Res Rydderch Rees Rydderch Res Ritharche Rees Ritharche Res Reddererch Rees Reddererch We hope this letter has been useful to you. If you have any questions or would like further information, please don't hesitate to write to us again. In particular, we'd be happy to give you pronunciations of particular forms of your name. Talan Gwynek, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Arval Benicoeur, Gunnvor Silfraharr, and Aryanhwy merch Catmael helped to research and write this letter. For the Academy, Ursula Georges 22 June 2005 References: [1] Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 2951. http://www.s-gabriel.org/2951 [2] Bartrum, Peter C., _A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in history and legend up to about A.D. 1000_ Aberystwyth: The National Library of Wales, 1993. [3] Evans, J. Gwenogvryn, _The Text of the Book of Llan Dav_ Aberystwyth: National Library of Wales, 1979 (Facsimile of the 1893 Oxford edition). [4] Bartrum, P.C., _Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1966). Harleian genealogies: (Section 6) and (Section 29). The genealogies from Harleian MS. 3859 use consistently. [5] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "The First Thousand Years of British Names", WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1998, Appendices 3 and 5. http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/british1000/ [6] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988, s.n. Roderick. "Rothericus son of Gryfin is mentioned in FA 1303." [7] Morgan, T.J. and Prys Morgan, _Welsh Surnames_ Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1985, s.n. Rhydderch. [8] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "A Simple Guide to Constructing 16th Century Welsh Names (in English Contexts)" WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996. http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/welsh16.html [9] Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 2799. http://www.s-gabriel.org/2799 [10] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names" WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996. http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/welsh13.html [11] Jackson, Kenneth, _Language and history in early Britain; a chronological survey of the Brittonic languages, first to twelfth century A.D._ Edinburgh, University Press, 1953. 662, 710. [12] Bartrum 1966, 50. Jesus College MS. 20, written in the mid to late 14th c., but whose orthography 'indicate[s] that the source ... was written in Old Welsh orthography prior to 1200' has an instance of . [13] Bartrum 1966. Mostyn Genealogies. [14] Jones, Francis, "Welsh Bonds for Keeping the Peace, 1283 and 1295" in Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies 13: 142-144, 1950. [15] Jones, Thomas ed., _Brut y Tywysogyon_ (Peniarth Ms. 20). Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1941. [16] Dwnn, Lewys, ed. By Samuel Rush Meyrick. _Heraldic Visitations of Wales and Part of the Marches_ (vols I & II). Llandovery: Welsh Manuscripts Society, 1846. [17] Willis-Bund, J.W. _The Black Book of St. David's_ (British Museum Additional Mss., No. 34,125.). London: The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1902. [18] Seebohm, Frederic, _Tribal System in Wales_. London: Longmans, Green & Co, 1895. [19] Bartrum 1966. Jesus College MS. genealogies [20] Bartrum 1966. HL, ABT. [21] Bullock-Davies, Constance, _A Register of Royal and Baronial Domestic Minstrels 1272 1327_. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1986. [22] Rees, William, "Ministers' Accounts (General Series), Bundle 1158, No. 3 (Public Record Office -- Accounts of the Ministers for the Lands of the Crown in West Wales for the financial year 1352-3" in Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies 10:60-83,139-156, 156-271. 1941. [23] Roderick, A.J., & William Rees, "Ministers' Accounts for the Lordships of Abergavenny, Grosmont, Skenfrith and White Castle: PRO, Ministers' Accounts Bundle 1094, No. 11; Part I -- The Lordship of Abergavenny" in South Wales and Monmouth Record Society Publications: No. 2. 1950. [24] Lewis, E.A., "The Toll Books of Some North Pembrokeshire Fairs (1599-1603)" in Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies vol. 7. 1934.