76 PAPERS, ETC. 
undoubtedly occurred, the names of places in the distriet 
have been retained, though they evidently had their origin 
in, and literally describe, a state of things which does not 
now exist. Striking instances of this present themselves 
in the names of Ched-zoy; Middle-zoy; and Weston- 
zoyland ;—places which now stand on red-marl prominences 
slightly elevated above the alluvial deposit of the Bridg- 
water levels, but which, during the early period of Saxon 
occupation, were evidently surrounded by water. These 
names, as well as that of Langport, contain in themselves 
the physical history of the places they stand for; and the 
use made of them and other words of the same character, 
in the paper on Langport, the Llongborth of Llywarch 
H£n’s Elegy,* amply justifies the claim of philology to be 
regarded as the hand-maid of archxology. 
There can be no doubt, that the different races 
which, one after the other, have had possession of this 
country, have left behind them, in the names given to 
their settlements, distinet traces of their successive oecupa- 
tion : and it would be very interesting, and likewise 
instructive, to have the names of places in the county, 
whether Celtic, or Roman, or Danish, or Saxon, classified 
according to their origin. Such a classification is, no 
doubt, practicable; but it will necessarily involve great 
research, and lengthened investigation, to make it complete. 
It cannot, perhaps, be expected as the work of one man; 
but rather as the result of accumulated observations made 
at different times, and in different localities, by those who 
are interested in antiquarian pursuits in the county. The 
following explanation of names which seem to me to be of 
Celtic origin, I now submit to the members of the Society, 
as a contribution towards this object, in the hope that 
* See Proceedings 1853, p. 44. 
