Ptolemy’s Map of Ireland – Part 70

Ptolemy’s Britain and Ireland

In his description of Ireland—Geography, Book 2, Chapter 2—Claudius Ptolemy records the names and coordinates of 15 river mouths, 5 promontories, 11 settlements, 16 tribes, and 9 islands. In the sixty preceding articles in this series, we have discussed every one of these pieces of data, as well as the names he gives to the surrounding seas. Before drawing some final conclusions, let us take a brief look at Ptolemy’s description of Ireland’s sister isle, Britain, or, as Ptolemy calls it, Alvion [Αλουιων].

Ptolemy’s description of Britain—Geography, Book 2, Chapter 3—is considerably more extensive than his description of Ireland. It comprises, all told, 165 pieces of data, compared to Ireland’s 60. This is partly due to the fact that Britain is larger than Ireland, but that is only half the story. When Ptolemy compiled his Geography—circa 150 CE—, much of Britain had been colonized by the Romans and formed an integral part of the Empire. Detailed, contemporary information was widely available for Britain. Ireland, however, was never incorporated into the Roman domains, so information about it was much more sparse. Ptolemy, as T F O’Rahilly has cogently argued, was probably obliged to draw on the out-of-date account by Pytheas of Massalia, who visited these islands around 325 BCE (O’Rahilly 39-42).

The identification of many of Ptolemy’s British landmarks—especially the cities or settlements—is still problematic, but what can be said about their names from a linguistic point of view? Rather than embark on another series of articles in which all 165 items are examined one by one, let’s instead try to appraise them all in a single glance, as it were. Fortunately, several scholars have undertaken comprehensive surveys of the data, so there is no shortage of material to draw on.

Roman Era Names

Roman Era Names

The expert contributors to the etymological website Roman Era Names have created an online database of Britain’s earliest geographical names with the aim of answering the following three questions:

What did each name mean?
Where does it belong on the map?
Where is the supporting evidence?

This is as good a place to start as anywhere. These scholars do not claim to have definitively answered all three questions in the case of every one of Ptolemy’s names, but they have offered plausible suggestions for the etymology of each of them. In the following tables, I have sometimes chosen one of several competing etymologies—the one favoured by Roman Era Names if it is clear which one is preferred.

PIE = Proto-Indo-European
Celt = Proto-Celtic
Gaul = Gaulish
Germ = Proto-Germanic
Goth = Gothic
Gk = Greek
Lat = Latin

2:3 §1 North Coast

Ptolemy	Etymology
Αλουιων	PIE: *albho-, white
Ωκεανος Δουηκαληδονιος	PIE: *dwís, two, *kal-, hard
Νοουαντων χερσονησος	PIE: *new-, new
Ῥεριγονιος κολπος	PIE: *sreu, to flow, *reig-, to reach
Ουινδογαρα κολπος	PIE: *wen-, love *ghaiso-, spear
Κλωτα	PIE: *kleuə-, to wash
Λεμαννονιος κολπος	PIE: *lama, depression filled with water
Ἐπιδιον ακρον	Gk: επι, on, δυο, two
Λογγος	Lat: longus, long
Ἰτυος	Lat: itus, going, departure, Gk: ιτυς, rim of wheel or shield
Οὐολσας κολπος	PIE: *wel-, to harm
Ναβαροσ	PIE: *naus, ship? *ar-, to fit together
Ταρουεδουμ (Ὀρκας) ακρον	PIE *der-, to split, *wed-, water

2:3 §2 West Coast

Ptolemy	Etymology
Ἀβραουαννος	Gk: αβρος, graceful, φανος, light, bright
Ἰηνα	Gk: ιαινω, to melt, warm, cheer
Δηουα	PIE: *dyeu-, to shine
Νοουιος	PIE *naus, ship?
Ἰτουνα	PIE: *wei-, to bend, wind
Μορικαμβη	Lat: *mori, marsh, Celt: *cambo, curved?
Σεταντιων λιμην	PIE: *sē-, to sow, spread out, *h₂enti-, opposite
Βελισαμα	Gaul: Belisama?
Σετηια	PIE: *sē-, to sow, spread out
Γαγγαννων ακρον	PIE: *ghengh-, to go, to walk
Τοισοβιος	PIE: *teus-, empty, *oba, water, river
Στουκκια	Gk: στοιχεω, to be drawn up in a line
Ὀκταπιταρον ακρον	Gk: οκτω, eight, απιτεον, one must go away
Τοβιοσ	PIE: *ta-, to thaw, dissolve, *oba, water, river
Ῥατοσταβιοσ	Lat: ratis, raft, Gk: σταθμος, standing place, PIE: *uba, water, river
Σαβρινα	PIE: *sab-, juice, *reiǝ-, to flow
Οὐξελλα	PIE: *aug-, to augment
Ἡρακλεους ακρον	Gk: Ἡρακλης, Hercules
Ἀντιοεσταιον (Βολεριον) ακρον	PIE: *wes-, evening
Δαμνονιον (Ὀκριον) ακρον	Lat: damno, to cause harm, ocris, stony mountain

Ptolemy’s Britain: South Coast

2:3 §3 South Coast

Ptolemy	Etymology
Κενιωνος	Gk: κενεωνος, hollow
Ταμαρος	PIE: *ta-, to flow, *ar-, to fit together
Ἰσκα	PIE: *ei-, to go
Ἀλαυνος	PIE: *al-, to grow, nourish, *(s)nau-, to flow
Μεγας λιμην	Gk = Great Harbour
Τρισαντωνος	Gk: τρισ, triple, αντιος, opposite
Καινος λιμην	Gk = New Harbour
Καντιο ακρον	PIE: *kan-tho-, rim, edge, corner

2:3 §4 East Coast

Ptolemy	Etymology
Γερμανικος Ωκεανος	PIE: *g^hey-, to fling
Οὐιρουεδρουμ ακρον	PIE: *wer-, to turn, *wed-, water
Οὐερουβιουμ ακρον	PIE: *wer-, to turn, *uba, water, river
Ἰλα	Gk: ιλυς, mud, silt
Ὀχθη υψηλη	Gk = High Banks
Οὐαραρ	PIE: *wē-r-, to moisten
Λοξα	PIE: *leug-, to bend
Τουεσις	PIE: *teuǝ-, to swell
Κελνιος	PIE: *kel-, to cover, conceal
Ταιζαλων ακρον	Ger: tehswa, right, south
Δηουα	PIE: *dyeu-, to shine
Ταουα	PIE: *ta-, to melt, *ap-, water
Τινα	PIE: *ten-, to stretch
Βοδερια	PIYE: *bheid-, to split, pierce
Ἀλαυνος	PIE: *al-, to grow, nourish, *(s)nau-, to flow
Οὐεδρα	PIE: *wed-, water
Δουνον κολπος	Celt: dūnom, stronghold
Γαβραντουικων ευλιμενος κολπος	Goth: gabrannjaidau, burnt?, Lat: vicus, village
Ὀκελου ακρον	lat: ocellus, little eye
Ἀβος	PIE: *ab-, water, river
Μεταρις	Gk: μεταρρεω, to flow differently, ebb and flow
Γαριεννος	PIE: *ghaiso-, spear
Ἐξοχη	Gk = Prominence
Σιδουμανιος	PIE: *sē-, to sow, spread out, *ma-, damp
Ἰαμησα	PIE: *ta-, to flow

2:3 §5 Novantian Towns

Ptolemy	Etymology
Νοουανται	Lat: novare, to renew
Λουκοπιβια	Gk: λευκος, light, bright, επιβυω, to stop up
Ῥεριγονιον	PIE *sreu, to stream, to flow, *reig-, to reach, stretch out

2:3 §6 Selgovian Towns

Ptolemy	Etymology
Σελγοουαι	PIE *sel-, room, house, Germ: kubô, shed, hut
Καρβαντοριγον	Lat: carpentum, two-wheeled wagon, rigor, straight line or course
Οὐξελλον	PIE *aug-, to augment
Κορδα	Lat: corda, intestines
Τριμοντιον	Lat = of three hills

2:3 §7 Damnonian and Otalinian Towns

Ptolemy	Etymology
Δαμνονιοι	PIE *demə-, to tame
Κολανικα	Lat: collis, hill
Οὐανδογαρα	PIE: *wen-, love *ghaiso-, spear
Κορια	Lat: curia, court, tribal assembly
Ἀλαυνα	PIE: *al-, to grow, nourish, *(s)nau-, to flow
Λινδον	PIE: *lindo-, flowing
Οὐικτωρια	Lat: victoria, victory
Ὠταδινοι	PIE *upo-, under, up from under
Κορια	Lat: curia, court, tribal assembly
Ἀλαυνα	PIE: *al-, to grow, nourish, *(s)nau-, to flow
Βρεμενιον	PIE *bhrem-, ‘to project; brim, edge

2:3 §8 Scottish Tribes and Towns

Ptolemy	Etymology
Ἐπιδιοι	Gk: επι, on, δυο, two
Κερωνες	Gk: κρειων, ruler
Κρεωνες	Gk: κρειων, ruler
Καρνονακαι	Celt: *karnos, heap of stones, tumulus
Καιρηνοι	Gk: καρηνον, -head, mostly in plural, metaphorically of mountain peaks
Κορναουιοι	Lat: cornu, horn
Καληδονιοι	PIE *kal-, hard
Δεκανται	PIE *deyk, to point out
Λουγοι	PIE: *leugh, oath
Σμερται	PIE: smer, fat, grease
Οὐακομαγοι	PIE: *weg-, to be strong, *magh, to hawe power
Βαννατια	Celt: *bando-, peak, top
Ταμεια	PIE: *ta-, to melt, *mei-, to go
Πτερωτον στρατοπεδον	Gk = Feathered Camp
Τουεσις	PIE *teuə-, to swell

2:3 §9 Veniconian and Taezalian Towns

Ptolemy	Etymology
Οὐενικωνες	PIE: *wen-, to love, *kom-, beside, near
Ὀρρεα	PIE: *gher-, to grasp, to enclose
Ταιζαλοι	Ger: tehswa, right, south
Δηουανα	PIE: *dheu-, to flow

2:3 §10 Brigantian and Parisian Towns

Ptolemy	Etymology
Βριγαντες	PIE: *bhergh-, high, *bhergh-, to protect
Ἐπιακον	Gk: επι, upon, PIE: *ak-, sharp
Οὐινοουιον	PIE: *wen-, love, Lat: via, road
Κατουρακτονιον	Lat: cataracta, waterfall, drawbridge, floodgate
Καλαγον	Gk: χαλαω, to let down
Ἰσουριον	PIE: ei-, to go,
Ῥιγοδουνον	PIE: *reg-, to move in a straight line, Celt: dūnom, stronghold
Ὀλικανα	PIE: *el-, to bend, elbow, forearm’
Ἐβορακον	Lat: ebur, ivory
Καμουλοδουνον	PIE: *khem-, to bend, curve, Celt: dūnom, stronghold
Παρισοι	Gk = almost equal
Πετουαρια	Lat: peto, to travel to

2:3 §11 Ordovician, Cornavian, Coritanian, Catuvellaunian, Simenian and Trinovantian Towns

Ptolemy	Etymology
Ὀρδοουικες	Lat: ordo, governing council, vicus, town
Μεδιολανιον	PIE *medhyo-, middle, PIE: *lendh-, open land
Βραννογενιον	PIE: *bhren-, to bulge, to stick out, *genə-, to give birth
Κορναουιοι	Lat: cornu, horn
Δηουα	PIE: *dheu-, to flow
Οὐιροκονιον	PIE: *wiro-, man, Lat: *coneo, to come together
Κοριτανοι	Gk: χωριτης, rural
Λινδον	PIE: *lindo-, flowing
Ῥαται	Brit: *rātis, fortification?
Κατουελλαυνοι	PIE: *kaito-, basin, –vellaunus, ruling
Σαλιναι	Lat: salinae, salt works
Οὐρολανιον	PIE: *per-, to lead, pass over, *lama-, swamp, puddle
Σιμενοι	PIE: *heyg-, oak
Οὐεντα	PIE: *wen-, to desire, to strive for
Τρινοουαντες	Lat: trini, triple, PIE: *koym, village
Καμουλοδουον	PIE: *khem-, to bend, curve, Celt: dūnom, stronghold

2:3 §12 Demetian, Silurian, Dobunian, Atrebatian and Cantian Towns

Ptolemy	Etymology
Δημηται	PIE: *dhghem, earth, *méhtēr, mother
Λουεντιον	Gk: λουω, to wash
Μαριδουνον	PIE: *mori-, body of water
Σιλυρες	PIE: *sei-, to bind, *wiro-, man
Βουλλαιον	Gk: βουλειον, council chamber, senate
Δοβουνοι	PIE: *dwo, two, *bhudh-, bottom
Κορινιον	PIE: *(s)ker-, to bend, to turn
Ἀτρεβατιοι	PIE *héd-, near, at, *treb-, house, settlement
Καληουα	PIE: *kalw-, naked, bald
Καντιοι	PIE: *kan-tho-, rim, edge, corner
Λονδινιον	PIE: *lendh-, open land
Δαρουερνον	PIE: *dhwer-, door
Ῥουτουπιαι	PIE: *reudh-, red, rusty, *uba-, water, river

2:3 §13 Regnian, Belgian, Durotrigian and Damnonian Towns

Ptolemy	Etymology
Ῥηγνοι	Gk: ρηγνυω, to break asunder
Νοιομαγος	PIE: *néwos, new, *magh-, to have power
Βελγαι	PIE: *bhelgh-, to swell, bulge
Ἰσκαλις	PIE: *ei-, to go
Ὑδατα θερμα	Gk = Hot Waters
Οὐεντα	PIE: *wen-, to desire, to strive for
Δουροτριγες	PIE: *dhwer-, door, *tragh-, to draw, to drag
Δουνιον	Celt: dūnom, stronghold
Δαμνονιοι	PIE *demə-, to tame
Οὐολιβα	PIE: *wel-, to turn, wrap, wind, *uba-, water, river
Οὐξελλα	PIE: *aug-, to augment
Ταμαρα	PIE: *ta-, to flow, *ar-, to fit together
Ἰσκα	PIE: *ei-, to go

2:3 §14 Islands

Ptolemy	Etymology
Σκητις	PIE **skei-, to cut
Δουμνα	PIE: *dheu-, to rise in a cloud
Ὀρκαδες	Lat: orca, whale
Θουλη	PIE: *dhel-, hollow
Τολιατις	PIE: *ten-, to stretch, extend
Κωουνος	Lat: *co-unus, united in one
Οὐηκτις	PIE: *wegh-, to go

What is most striking about this analysis is the complete absence of non-Indo-European etymologies. The experts at Roman Era Names are satisfied that every single British name recorded by Ptolemy has an Indo-European origin. Even in those few cases where they are unconvinced by a popular etymology—eg Ῥαται—they are still satisfied that some Proto-Indo-European root underlies the true etymology.

Scotland

On 21 December 1892, the Scottish philologist Alexander MacBain read his paper on Ptolemy’s Geography of Scotland before the Gaelic Society of Inverness. In this disquisition, MacBain proposed to examine all the names in Ptolemy’s geography of Scotland with a double purpose:

first, to see if they, or the places they refer to, can be traced to modern times; second, to discover, if possible, what language or languages the names belonged to. This last point practically means that I am to discuss the Pictish question from a linguistic standpoint Professor Rhys, as is well known, maintains that the Picts were non-Celtic and non-Aryan, a view which he has lately expounded afresh in an extraordinary paper in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, on the language of the Northern Picts. We shall see whether Ptolemy’s names for the ancient Highlands and Isles involve necessarily non-Aryan or non-Celtic elements. Of the above names, fortunately about two-thirds of them belong to the region of the Northern Picts. (MacBain 271-272)

At the end of his talk, MacBain drew some conclusions:

In conclusion, I will now draw some inferences from these names given by Ptolemy for northern Scotland. Early Pictland, we may take it, was Scotland north of the Firths of Forth and Clyde—the part of the country never subdued by Roman arms, and called by Tacitus Caledonia. For this district north of the Firths up to the Orkneys, Ptolemy has given us some 44 names. Are the names Aryan by root and character? Are they Celtic? If Celtic, do they belong to the Brittonic or to the Gâdelic branch of Celtic? The first two questions are practically answered; we have only to summarise the results at which we arrived in discussing the names separately. Of the 44, three are translated names—Ripa Alta, Pinnata Castra, and Victoria; these cannot count in our argument. The following names we found (1) Celtic derivations for and (2) noted them as existent either on the Continent in Celtic regions or in England and Wales on Brittonic ground, viz.; — Lemannonius, Itis, Tarvedum (Tarvedunum), Deva, Devana, Tava, Cornavii, Decantæ, Lugi, Smertæ, Lindum, to which we may add Alauna. The root of Dumna and Dumnonii is common in Celtic lands, and the elements of Vaco-magi are easily paralleled in Gaul. Epidii is specially Brittonic, and good Celtic roots were found for Clota, Longos, Nabaros, Carnonacæ, Cæreni, Vernicones, Orcades; the Gaulish prefix ver appears in Vervedrum, and Verubium; we suggested probable roots for Volsas, Ila, Varar, Loxa, Cælis, Cerones (Creones), Sketis, and also for Bannatia and Tamia. Even should our derivation of Caledonia be disputed, the root cal may be fallen back upon, and it is quite common in Celtic names; but it is a root of several meanings. The Tvesis and Tina are doubtful as to form and origin (Spey and Eden ?); Bodotria, which is in a similar position, was referred to a Pictish comparative (vo-ter-); Orrea we referred to the root or, and Tæxali was left underived. Skene suggests for Orrea and Ila a Basque origin, a view that should commend itself to Professor Rhys.

We thus see that only three or four words cannot be satisfactorily accounted for; and these, in two cases, are badly recorded forms; we are not sure that we are dealing with the genuine forms of the words. One-third of the names can easily be paralleled elsewhere on Celtic ground—Gaulish and Brittonic, but not, however, on Gadelic ground; a fourth more show good Celtic roots, and another fourth can be satisfactorily analysed into either Aryan or Celtic radicals. Hence we may justly conclude that the Picts or Caledonians spoke not only an Aryan, but also a Celtic language in the first century of our era. (MacBain 287-288)

Scotland was never fully incorporated into the Roman domains. The native inhabitants—the Picts—were probably the descendants of the earliest and most primitive Celtic settlers of these islands, the Priteni Celts. If any part of Britain retained pre-Celtic or pre-Indo-European toponyms, it was surely the remoter regions of Scotland. But MacBain found no convincing evidence for any such toponyms. Only four names presented him with any difficulty:

Tvesis
Tina
Bodotria
Tæxali

But, as we have seen above, the expert contributors to Roman Era Names had no trouble finding plausible Celtic and Indo-European etymologies for these four items.

Eilert Ekwall

In his classic study, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names, the Swedish philologist traced the origins of over 10,000 place-names in England. In the introduction, Ekwall discusses several Indo-European languages that underlie the toponyms in his dictionary: Celtic, English, Scandinavian, Latin, and French. He then writes:

Place-names from Other Sources.
There are very few English place-names from other sources than those already accounted for. An interesting case is BALDOCK, which comes from an earlier form of Bagdad. It commemorates the Crusades, particularly the part taken in them by the Knights Templars. SYON HOUSE, a monastery founded in 1414-15, was clearly named from Sion in the Bible.

In later times, of course, names from all sorts of sources have been given to manors or country houses, but these fall outside the scope of the present study. BLENHEIM PARK near Oxford is the only one mentioned in the dictionary. (Ekwall xxvii)

Once again, therefore, we find a complete absence of pre-Celtic or pre-Indo-European etymologies.

Conclusion

Ptolemy’s geography of Britain contains absolutely no evidence for pre-Celtic or pre-Indo-European languages. Eilert Ekwall’s more recent study of English toponyms also failed to turn up any trace of pre-Celtic etymologies.

References

Alexander MacBain, Ptolemy’s Geography of Scotland, Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, Volume 18, pp 267-288, The Gaelic Society of Inverness, Inverness (1894)
Eilert Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names, Third Edition, Clarendon Press, Oxford (1947)
Karl Wilhelm Ludwig Müller (editor & translator), Klaudiou Ptolemaiou Geographike Hyphegesis (Claudii Ptolemæi Geographia), Volume 1, Alfredo Firmin Didot, Paris (1883)
Karl Friedrich August Nobbe, Claudii Ptolemaei Geographia, Volume 1, Karl Tauchnitz, Leipzig (1845)
Karl Friedrich August Nobbe, Claudii Ptolemaei Geographia, Volume 2, Karl Tauchnitz, Leipzig (1845)
Thomas F O’Rahilly, Early Irish History and Mythology, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin (1946, 1984)
Claudius Ptolemaeus, Geography, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat Gr 191, fol 127-172 (Britain: 139r–140r)
Friedrich Wilhelm Wilberg, Claudii Ptolemaei Geographiae, Libri Octo: Graece et Latine ad Codicum Manu Scriptorum Fidem Edidit Frid. Guil. Wilberg, Essendiae Sumptibus et Typis G.D. Baedeker, Essen (1838)

Image Credits

Ptolemy’s Map of Ireland: Wikimedia Commons, Nicholaus Germanus (cartographer), Public Domain
Greek Letters: Wikimedia Commons, Future Perfect at Sunrise (artist), Public Domain
Roman Era Names: Homepage Screenshot, Fair Use
Ptolemy’s Britain: South Coast: Reginald Lane Poole, Historical Atlas of Modern Europe, Public Domain
Ptolemy’s Map of Scotland (After Müller): William F Skene, Alexander MacBain (editor), The Highlanders of Scotland, Eneas MacKay, Stirling (1902), Public Domain

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