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Celtic Places: Heritage Sites and the Historical Roots of Six Nations
Celtic Places' are typified by some several hundred townships and villages whose names still bear the imprint of their earliest Celtic roots, but the scope of the book is not restricted to human settlements; it is also true of the many mountains and rivers that they named, and to several thousand sites of standing stone monuments, Celtic high crosses, henges, hill figures, funeral barrows and hillforts, which are all included in the book.
What they all have in common is that they reflect the rich cultural heritage that was implicit in the names of places in the British Isles and Ireland as it existed before the Romans arrived.
What they all have in common is that they reflect the rich cultural heritage that was implicit in the names of places in the British Isles and Ireland as it existed before the Romans arrived.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published September 8, 2022
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About the author
John Moss
97 books11 followersJohn Moss writes mysteries because nothing brings life into focus like the murder of strangers. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2006 in recognition of his career as a professor of Canadian literature with over a score of books in his field, John moved progressively away from literary criticism to creative writing, before settling comfortably into the Quin and Morgan series which now occupies his writing efforts full time. He and his wife, Beverley Haun, whose book, Inventing ‘Easter Island’, grew out of her work as a cultural theorist and their travel adventures as scuba divers, share a stone farmhouse with numerous ghosts in Peterborough, Ontario. Recently sidelined from his diving avocation (he was an instructor in both PADI and SDI programs), John and Bev have no intention of giving up whitewater canoeing and cross-country skiing with old friends, or taking long hikes in interesting places around the world.
John is professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa.
John is professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 30, 2022
In Celtic Places & Placenames, John Moss takes us on a journey through the British Isles to seek the origins of settlements and places of interest attributable to the Celtic era and sometimes beyond. In doing so, Moss finds echoes of a culture we often forget in the modern age.
Moss initially wriggles around the concept of a unified Celt people, who maintained many cultural connections while being distinct tribes. He describes where the term comes from and gives a potted history of how the Romans cast Celtic tribes into the dark corners of the British Isles and a wee part of France. His book is split into twelve parts grouping together place names with identifiable terrain features or regions. Moss sets off into his theme with a list of common Celtic places, of which there are many.
The first geographic region we encounter is Cornwall and the southeast of England. Moss starts with a brief overview and follows with an alphabetised list of places and names – that is, after all, what we are here for. The full island of Ireland comes next, in the same format, then the Isle of Man. Scotland and the English border region take up nearly a quarter of Moss’s book as you might expect given the relative size of Scotland within Britain. Likewise, Wales takes up forty pages, reflecting the undisturbed nature of many parts of the principality. Having taken us on a geographical tour, Moss switches to features, beginning with Celtic river names then mountains. The names of Bronze and Iron Age hillforts are given their own chapter, probably because Moss notes there were over 4,000 of them, though curiously, he includes some in his list that do not have Celtic names – Moss relies on descriptive paragraphs for those places. He does that too for some of the prehistoric structures that make up his next chapter. Moss is on more certain ground for those places identified by Celtic crosses even if some are of early medieval origin. Moss concludes his survey across the channel in Brittany where Celtic tribesmen fled when Britain suffered under periodic invasions. A useful bibliography and list of websites concludes the book.
Celtic Places & Placenames is a book that might struggle for a classification. I can see historically minded tourists thumbing through this as they travel around Britain. Conversely, local historians will appreciate knowing some of these place names. Moss doesn’t help himself in this regard because he omits to argue why we need this knowledge, which relegates his survey to the trivial in some ways. Yet a place name is important because it provides a starting point, a grounding, for that place, or a description long lost in the mists of time. That makes you see a place differently, through the eyes of those who named that place. This, therefore, could be a useful book for researchers as well as the merely curious.
Moss initially wriggles around the concept of a unified Celt people, who maintained many cultural connections while being distinct tribes. He describes where the term comes from and gives a potted history of how the Romans cast Celtic tribes into the dark corners of the British Isles and a wee part of France. His book is split into twelve parts grouping together place names with identifiable terrain features or regions. Moss sets off into his theme with a list of common Celtic places, of which there are many.
The first geographic region we encounter is Cornwall and the southeast of England. Moss starts with a brief overview and follows with an alphabetised list of places and names – that is, after all, what we are here for. The full island of Ireland comes next, in the same format, then the Isle of Man. Scotland and the English border region take up nearly a quarter of Moss’s book as you might expect given the relative size of Scotland within Britain. Likewise, Wales takes up forty pages, reflecting the undisturbed nature of many parts of the principality. Having taken us on a geographical tour, Moss switches to features, beginning with Celtic river names then mountains. The names of Bronze and Iron Age hillforts are given their own chapter, probably because Moss notes there were over 4,000 of them, though curiously, he includes some in his list that do not have Celtic names – Moss relies on descriptive paragraphs for those places. He does that too for some of the prehistoric structures that make up his next chapter. Moss is on more certain ground for those places identified by Celtic crosses even if some are of early medieval origin. Moss concludes his survey across the channel in Brittany where Celtic tribesmen fled when Britain suffered under periodic invasions. A useful bibliography and list of websites concludes the book.
Celtic Places & Placenames is a book that might struggle for a classification. I can see historically minded tourists thumbing through this as they travel around Britain. Conversely, local historians will appreciate knowing some of these place names. Moss doesn’t help himself in this regard because he omits to argue why we need this knowledge, which relegates his survey to the trivial in some ways. Yet a place name is important because it provides a starting point, a grounding, for that place, or a description long lost in the mists of time. That makes you see a place differently, through the eyes of those who named that place. This, therefore, could be a useful book for researchers as well as the merely curious.
September 12, 2022
A very thorough reference book, this looks at all the places around Britain, Ireland and Brittany with names derived from the Gaelic tongues, and describes and defines them all. So, starting with Advent (barely three hamlets strung around a church) on Bodmin Moor, and ending with Vannes in Morbihan we can check up on all the historical derivations. In between, separate chapters break down into looking at mountain names, lists of hill forts, and a select few cairns, barrows and henges that always fascinate the lucky visitor.
And this is pretty deep stuff. Just turning briefly to the Manx section you find talk of the “sheading of Rushen”, which itself is a very archaic term, to us on the Mainland at least. Places like Castletown are here, too – just because the name seems as plainly English as you can get, that doesn’t mean it’s the only name it’s ever had. Many places in Scotland have swapped about – some becoming English at times, and others with names heavily taken over by Viking influence and replacements; we get mini-essays about all these movements of peoples that influence what we have on our signposts and maps today.
If anything is lacking here it is a pronunciation guide, but this is more for the geography than the linguistics. That said, it does go its own small step to protecting and recording what to some extent were languages in much peril at one time or another, from official English laws banning Welsh, say, or Tartans for the Scots, up to the deaths of the last few native, fluent Manx speakers. Any shortfall in how comprehensive it is is rectified at the first step, where we see the key sections of words that identify Gaelic language, and Celtic users of it, in much the same way “-by” in a place name is a strong indication of it being Norse. All told, I don’t really see where this fell down short of its intentions, which means five stars to me.
And this is pretty deep stuff. Just turning briefly to the Manx section you find talk of the “sheading of Rushen”, which itself is a very archaic term, to us on the Mainland at least. Places like Castletown are here, too – just because the name seems as plainly English as you can get, that doesn’t mean it’s the only name it’s ever had. Many places in Scotland have swapped about – some becoming English at times, and others with names heavily taken over by Viking influence and replacements; we get mini-essays about all these movements of peoples that influence what we have on our signposts and maps today.
If anything is lacking here it is a pronunciation guide, but this is more for the geography than the linguistics. That said, it does go its own small step to protecting and recording what to some extent were languages in much peril at one time or another, from official English laws banning Welsh, say, or Tartans for the Scots, up to the deaths of the last few native, fluent Manx speakers. Any shortfall in how comprehensive it is is rectified at the first step, where we see the key sections of words that identify Gaelic language, and Celtic users of it, in much the same way “-by” in a place name is a strong indication of it being Norse. All told, I don’t really see where this fell down short of its intentions, which means five stars to me.
September 26, 2022
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. This was interesting to read about the meanings of various towns,rivers and other places that have Celtic names. It was great reading that several of the older languages are making a comeback and it’s being taught in schools.
December 29, 2024
When I opened the book for the first time, I understood that this work should be in each household in the United Kingdom because Celtic places are everywhere. Literally. The structure of this book is helpful in organising the trips or it can also serve as a handy assistant. You open the relevant chapter and see the Celtic places around you.
In the beginning, the author introduced the common Celtic place name elements. Some of them are generally known thanks to the fascination of Outlander such as GLENN – valley. Another seems to be a tongue twister (CWM – narrow valley). We can also see the similarities with the other languages (PONT – bridge – le pont). These place name elements can be read many times and it never bores.
The following chapters have always the same structure. A short historical introduction to the topic (Cornwall, Ireland, The Isle of Man, Scotland and the English Borders, Wales and the Marches, rivers, mountains, bronze and iron age hillforts, stone circles, Celtic crosses and Britanny) and the exhaustive list of all Celtic names related to it.
The book contains only black-and-white illustrations and maps of the described locations. It can be a disadvantage for some people, but in my opinion, it provides a fantastic opportunity to visit all these places personally.
To summarize – this book provides what it promises. The overview of Celtic places. The biggest advantage is that it can be read many times.
Thank you to NetGalley and Pen and Swords History for a free digital review copy. This is my honest review.
In the beginning, the author introduced the common Celtic place name elements. Some of them are generally known thanks to the fascination of Outlander such as GLENN – valley. Another seems to be a tongue twister (CWM – narrow valley). We can also see the similarities with the other languages (PONT – bridge – le pont). These place name elements can be read many times and it never bores.
The following chapters have always the same structure. A short historical introduction to the topic (Cornwall, Ireland, The Isle of Man, Scotland and the English Borders, Wales and the Marches, rivers, mountains, bronze and iron age hillforts, stone circles, Celtic crosses and Britanny) and the exhaustive list of all Celtic names related to it.
The book contains only black-and-white illustrations and maps of the described locations. It can be a disadvantage for some people, but in my opinion, it provides a fantastic opportunity to visit all these places personally.
To summarize – this book provides what it promises. The overview of Celtic places. The biggest advantage is that it can be read many times.
Thank you to NetGalley and Pen and Swords History for a free digital review copy. This is my honest review.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews