80 The Names of Places in Wiltshire. 
tary list, in which an account will be given of the names in which 
they occur. 
We have now to deal with the first member of such names—that 
which qualifies the generic term and limits its application to some 
particular locality. For convenience sake we will class them under 
four general heads. 
I.—Names derived from the general physical features of the 
country. 
It will be evident that among the first names imposed by any new 
settlers in a country would be those derived from the general physical 
Jeatures of the country itself. Many of such names, as we have 
already shown, were adopted from the language of the aborigines, 
the Anglo-Saxons in not a few instances adding their own Teutonic 
terminations to the Celtic words. But as soon as they were at all 
settled in the country they would begin to give names derived from 
their own language, and these would at first necessarily be descriptive 
of the natural features of a locality. Under this head, which may 
well include names derived from the productions of a place, whether 
from the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom, may be ranged a 
large number of words. Among such names we may place the 
following :— 
BraprorD means simply the broad ford over the Avon ;— 
Bravuueu is the broad legh ;—Bratton is the broad village, a name 
describing accurately enough the straggling village bearing that 
designation close by Westbury ;—Huinton (A.S. Hedntiéin) means 
the high village, or that which is situated on hilly ground ;—HEniry 
is the high legh, a fair description of the table-land which is to be 
seen in such large tracts on the tops of our downs ;—LanG zy is the 
long legh, a word of frequent occurrence in Wiltshire. 
Then again from the Anglo-Saxon wudu (or wude) meaning a 
wood, come many words. Wooprorp explains itself ;— Woorron, 
z.e., © village by the wood,” is a name given to several places in the 
vicinity of forests, e.g., Wootton Bassett by the large forest of 
Braden, Wootton Rivers by that of Savernake. 
In late Saxon you have sceaga, which signifies wood, wilderness. 

