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Wales (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Wales => Carmarthenshire => Topic started by: cnwcywig on Friday 15 September 17 12:01 BST (UK)
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Our house is called Cnwc y wig, which I understand means "hillock in the wood".
But before about 1948 it was always simply called Cnwc, and is marked as that on older maps. I always assumed that the longer name was a modern addition to help the PO, as there a many Cnwcs in this part of Wales.
But I recently discovered that in the 1841 census the house is called "Cnwc y wing". I assumed this must have been an enumerator's mistake, writing wing for wig. However I now find that the field and house names in the Tithe Awards of that period also use the "wing" spelling.
Does it mean anything in Welsh? If English, what does it signify about the location?
That name was never used again in any maps or records, until the modern wig version appeared 100 years later.
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knoll the wing is what the translation is from the computer - perhaps it means a wing shaped knoll or hillock.
:)
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Interesting! Scots Gaelic for a hillock is Cnoc!
Skoosh.
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I'm not a Welsh speaker,but doing an internet search,it looks like it might be a mutation of "y gwig" for woodland,or,possibly,a contraction of "coedwig".There is Melyn y Wig ("Mill of the Woodland") near Corwen.
Regards
Roger
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I knew wig was a mutation of gwig, meaning wood. What puzzles me is the earlier "wing" version.
"wig" makes perfect sense and aptly describes the house's situation, but "wing" just seems nonsense.
Or does it have some significance in Welsh?
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I see this post is really old but am replying on the off chance you might see it. Is your house in Cenarth? if so, it once was lived in (and the farmed) by my x5 great grandfather Lazarus Jones.