1810.]- 
except to show, that authors and critics 
have misunderstood it. I must therefore 
examine this term; and this,’ because 
other words for Hill come in the same 
questionable shape. 
The words In, En, An, On, and Un, 
in the Janguage which gave names to the 
features of nature, imply Land; neither 
of which, 1t must be observed, are roots 
for Hill. They often take D and Tas 
prefixes, and mean Land: and if D and 
T imply Inclosed, as some authors have 
asserted, they will then imply Inclosed 
Land only. In Devon there is some 
hili land named Haldon. The term 
Hal is Hill; and Don the Land. On one 
side of the hill lies Child’ey, written in 
Doomsday Book Chiderleia; derived 
from Ceide, or Cheide,.a Hill, Er, Bor- 
der, and Ley, Land. . On_an end of this 
hiil,is Penhitl. The old name of ths parish 
on which it ltes, is Dunchidic ; in which 
Chid, is also hill; Ic, is a diminutive; and 
Dun, the land: and the little Hill Laxd 
describes exactly the district, In these 
words then, as wellas in Dunhill, Dun- 
ald, Dunbury, Dunbar, Dunkeld, Dun- 
kellin, and other names, the words Don 
and Dun may be reckoned Land only. 
But when Dun is written for Hill, which 
it often is, Dun-a, or Dun-ais, is, I con- 
ceive, understood: the first, as in Dun- 
acombe, Dunaford, &c.: the second, as 
contracted in Duns, in Scotland, a ter- 
ritory which stands on rising ground, in 
the midst. of the county of Mers. But 
Dun, asa contraction, is often put for 
Fill; and as U was often pronounced as 
I in old terms, Din has been rendered 
Hijl also. Further, hills were often for- 
tified, and tle names for hills were often 
adopted for the names of forts, Din, 
and Dua, have therefore been’ rendered 
fort, -or fortified hiil, Thus Duz, in 
Dunbarton, is applied as a fort; Bar, is 
head or hill; and ton, the land. Cam- 
den says, that this place was called 
Dunbritton ; and he derives it from the 
Britons, because, he says, ‘The’ Bri- 
tons held it longer than any other place 
against the Scots, Picts, and Saxons: 
for both by nature and situation, it is the 
strongest castle in all Scotland,” &c, 
Thus far I quote Camden; but he mis- 
took: for Briand Bar are svynonymes, 
and each means hill or head. It were 
an easy matter to prove, that Britain also- 
“implies the Hill Land. General Val- 
Jancey says, that in the Eastern languages, 
islands are termed hill lands. In the 
Gaelic, I is an island, or elevated sur- 
face; and Az is a hill: .and this last 
Word impliesnearly perhaps the sameas I, 
/ 
Derwation of Nanies in cintoninus. 
229 
-In-like manner Mon has, in composi- 
tion of names, been supposed to imply 
hall; but in this too, Mon-adh, or Mone: 
ais, lilliand, or great hill, is understood, 
The first of these is often written Mona 3 
the second is contracted in Mons, On 
the contrary, Col, in Collis, implies hill, 
or head; but Js being a diminutive, 
Collis implies the little Head, or little 
Hill, 
Moreover, Pen, or Pin, is said to 
imply hill; and if P mean convexity, 
elevation, &c. as some authors have as- 
, serted, this may find claim thereto; and 
yet the ancients added, even to this 
word, A, the Gaelic for a hill, in Pinna. 
The Saxons pronounced and wrote. this 
word Pinhau, Pinhou, and Piahoe : their 
word Hoe being derived from A, the 
Gaelic for hill, pronounced Au; and writ= 
ten as pronounced with the aspirate 
h, Hau: hence Hau, Hou, How, and 
Hoe, for hill. To this we may add, that 
we have the name Penhill in various 
places, all of which’show, that Pen was 
not considered as generally implying 
hill; but only head, point, or end: and 
that hill was added to distinguish it from 
lower grounds, forming points or ends of 
lands. . 
Having spoken of the word Dun, I 
will now compare Durccobrius with 
Danstable ; and here must observe, that 
Bri was translaied Dun, or Duns; and 
Duroc, Stable, or Table ; you will, Mr. 
Editor, judge which. 
A market, or a place for the public 
exposure of goods, was, by a northern 
nation, named a Stapel; and the Saxons 
are supposed to have used the word in 
this sense, in translating names of places 
ending in Stable, or Staple. But in old 
names, I know not of amore ridiculous 
supposition; and yet it hath passed as 
truth for ages. “It is my fortune, Mr. 
Editor, to attack vulgar errors; and 
whatever Ihave written on this subject, 
may well be accounted disquisitions 
upon them. <A stable for a horse is. 
derived trom Sta, astand, and Peall, a 
horse; and it literally implies a Horse 
Stand, or a Horse House. In like man- 
ner Baile, a tribe, a town, a place, a 
station, or settlement; or Balla, a wall, 
rampart, or fort; and Sta,astand; may 
imply the tribe habitation, the town, or 
the station; or the walled place, or fort. 
‘ But further, Tabh, Tad, or Tab, may 
imply the ocean, or water; and by a 
comparison of surfaces, a level, or plain, 
may be inferred. ‘Tisis obtains also in 
the word’ Ayuor, whereit: from a level 
the sea is inferred. In my last, I showed 
thar 
eae eee pa 
a = 
=e 
a= camel 
oo 
ware 
fae 
ee ee 
J 
it 
u 
- 
