172 



The Names of Places in Wiltshire. 



highest point of the range of hills to the south of Wantage, 

 near the well-known White Horse which gives its name to 

 the vale in that part of Berkshire. 

 Penzelwood. This would seem to he Pen-sel-wuda, i.e., the head or 

 most prominent part of S el wood (= great wood). This is 

 close by what are called the Pen-pits (= hill-pits) near Stour- 

 ton. 



Clack. Close by Bradenstoke, I have little doubt that this is a 

 corruption of the ancient word cleg (=a hill) . In the name 

 Clegg, near Rochdale, we have the Celtic term almost in its 

 original form. The situation of the place in Wilts may 

 well be described as — " the hill." 



Clay-hill *") The one near Warminster, the other by Whiteparish. 



Clay-street j I am inclined to believe that in both eases the former 

 portion of the name is a corruption of the old Celtic word cleg. 

 Clay Hill, by Warminster, is one of the best known and highest 

 eminences in that part of the county, and far removed from 

 any clay, from which, at first sight, it might seem to derive its 

 designation. It is in truth simply a reduplicative word. 



Tory. The highest part of the town of Bradford-on-Avon. It is 

 from twr , a hill or tower, — a root, by the way, common both to 

 the Celtic and Teutonic class of languages. Tarver, in 

 Lancashire, was originally Twr-vawr (=great hill or tower) . 



Breamor, that is, brea-mawr (=great hill), Cornish brea, Welsh hri. 



III. Names denoting valleys : — 



14. The name for a place between hills, a dingle or deep valley, is, 

 in Anglo-Saxon, comb or cumb, which seems evidently to be the same 

 as the British word cwm. Words containing this term are abundant. 

 Thus we have Castle Combe, near Chippenham ; we have Comp-ton 

 Basset and Comp-ton Chamberlain ; we have CombreAsxsiiL, i.e., the 

 land of " combes ; " and we have Cumber-well, near Bradford, and 

 also near Compton Basset, (each held under the manor of Castle 

 Combe,) which, from its old spelling, Cumb' mil 3 , I should be 

 inclined to interpret as Combe Manor. We have also Bur-comb, 

 Tid-comb, and many other places formed in a similar manner. 



