348 TOPOGRAPHY OF CORNWALL. 



The first thing to be settled is the phiee at which we are to 

 begin. This is one of the two keys to the solution of a problem 

 which has always appeared more difficult than it really is. The 

 name with which we start is Giano. Mr. Kerslake, whose 

 critical acumen in questions of this kind is so remarkable, identi- 

 fies this place, as do others, with Ptolemy's Cenion. And this 

 would be a very natural conclusion if the Gr had the hard sound. 

 But the Eavennat, using the Italian pronunciation, would sound 

 the G soft. Directly I recognised this fact I saw that we had 

 here the earliest name, apart from Iktis, recorded for a Mount's 

 Bay port, for the second syllable of JJ^x(\.gvan was at ouce sug- 

 gested. This was my first step. The second was taken when 

 the identity of the Eavennat's Giano, with the Jew which closes 

 the popular name of Marazion, flashed upon me. The rest was 

 easy. The Gian of the old chorographer turned out to be both 

 the gvan of Ludgvan, and the %ion of Marazion, and Lud and 

 Mara stood confessed as in all probability distinctive prefixes. 

 It is quite possible, whatever the Lu or Lud may mean, that the 

 Mara may equal Marhas, " market " — as commonly interpreted. 

 I am more concerned, however, about the root word. This is 

 variously written — gon, syowe, gou, ysowe, ju, deythyow, iewe, 

 slew, diow, iu, sion, &c., showing a far wider range of difference 

 between these undoubted attempts to express one and the same 

 word, than between either and our Giano. I do not see how the 

 identity can be resisted, but the discovery, while naturally aiding 

 the Iktis tradition, is against the rival theories that interpret 

 Marazion either as Jew's Market, or Thursday Market, to say 

 nothing of "bitterness of Zion ! " The original word which 

 Gian is intended to represent is probably the Kornu sian or zian 

 "sea-shore" or "strand." If Mara represent marhas we have 

 therefore evidence of ancient commerce at Marazion, curiously 

 reproduced in name at the well-known "Market Strand" of 

 Falmouth. The old Cornish tongue had no j ; its g almost 

 universally had the hard sound ; nor is it easy to see how the 

 Eavennat could have rendered the sian or zian otherwise than 

 he did. The o is of course redundant and inflexional. 



An omission of the Mount's Bay district in ancient lists of 

 British towns or ports is really inexplicable, and the identifica- 

 tion of Giano, by removing this obstacle, satisfied me I was on 

 the right track. 



