70 



ON ITER XVI. OF ANTONINUS. 



road. The Roman name of Durnovaria was set as an adjective 

 to Castra, and Castra Durnovaria would mean the camp of or 

 among the Dwrinwyr, or Dorset folk. 



But here arises a question, " By what way the Romans would 

 march from Dorchester to Old Sarum, or from Old Sarum to 

 Dorchester ; or would go from Dorchester to Hod-hill, or from 

 Hod-hill to Dorchester ? " Most men would most likely say, by 

 the Roman road called the " Icen way." I do not believe (for 

 reasons which I may give in another paper) that the Icen way 

 was made by the Romans, or was more a Roman than a British 

 way, and hold that wherever we find a " ford " by that name, 

 there was a British road, and that an old road which 

 thwarts the Stour at Blandford was a well beaten one of the 

 Britons, and that Blan-ford was a (trev) town of the Britons, so 

 called, " Blaenffordd," meaning "Tore the road." 



" Chronica Monasterii 8. Albani. JoJiannis de TroJcelowe et 

 Henrici de Blaneford, Honachorum S. Albani; necnon quorundam 

 anonymorum Chronica et Annales, regnantibus Henrico Tertio, 

 Edwardo Primo, Edwardo Secundo, Ricardo Secundo, et Henrico 

 Quarto. Edited by Henry T. Riley. A.D. 12591406 (Long- 

 mans & Co.)" 



The d in Blandford may have been put into the name in 

 later times by some folks to whom bland, as English, had some 

 kind of meaning, while blaen or blan had none. Fordd comes 

 often into the names of Welsh places, and is as life in Welsh 

 daily talk as is our word road. Bodffordd, Road home, in Anglesea. 

 Bwlch y ffordd, the Road-gap ; Tan y Ffordd, Below the road ; 

 ar ei ffordd i'r dinas, on her road to the town ; ffordd las, Green 

 road ; Pen ffordd, Road head. Blaen, a top or fore, is a word of very 

 common use in Welsh place-names, as meaning foreness or the 

 fore, or the fore end or fore space of a thing. Blaen ffos, Fore the 

 dike ; Blaen y ffynon, Fore the spring; Blaen avon, Before the river; 

 Blaen nant, Fore brook; Blaen porth, Before the harbour; Cfvlaen 

 yr ynadon, before the judges ; ar vlaenau ei traed, at the tips 

 of his feet, just before them. Blaen y ffordd, Blaen ffordd, 

 Blandford. So I fully believe that at Blandford (Blaenfford) 



