WHAT’S IN A NAME?
The possible origins and meanings and correct spelling(s) of the place (and river) currently called
Kenfig or Cynffig
Most Likely Conclusion:
The name KENFIG is of Welsh origin. It is derived from the name of a person called CYNFFIG, who gave his name to the river, and thence the town. The name was first encountered in the records in the 12th Century.
Do you agree? Let’s join the Discussion
WHY MIGHT YOU DOUBT THAT KENFIG IS A WELSH-DERIVED NAME?
Doubt1: It sounds Norse/Viking: All around here we have ‘Norse’ names such as Sker (as in Sker Point), Swansea, Worms Head, Tenby. Kenfig looks a dead ringer for a Norse name. But the historical record suggests otherwise.
Doubt 2: It’s got a single ‘f’; so it seems more correct to pronounce it “KenVig”: A frequent mistake, by those who realise that single ‘f’ in Welsh is pronounced ‘v’. So ‘Araf’ on the roadsigns, ‘Llynfi’ on the Duffryn-Llynvi Railway, ‘Aberafan’ on the Port Talbot seafront, single Welsh ‘f’, therefore pronounced “v”.
But not when saying “Kenfig”! I’ve even heard BBC Wales reporters using the mispronunciation KenVig. So again I’d say this seems to hint at a non-Welsh origin of our name.
Doubt3: Cod-Welshing of the name: The very first publication of the Kenfig Society gave ‘Welsh’ origins of the name ‘Kenfig’ as Cen-y-Ffignen - Head of the Swamp, or Cefn-y-Figen - Ridge above the swamp. These as we shall see are incorrect, perhaps a form of retro-fitting some appropriate Welsh ‘translation’.
Barrie Griffiths would have none of this. Although, elsewhere, he admits in a TimeTrekker article that “let me say categorically that I am no expert on the origins of local placenames”, he goes on to dismiss any welshification of the name Kenfig. He notes the widespread local incidences of Norse names, such as Sker, Tusker, Worms Head but did not go on to specifically claim Kenfig as a Norse/Viking name.
Taken together, all these point towards a common-sense view that Kenfig is a name of Norse origin – but it ain’t!
LET’S HAVE THE OFFICIAL VERSION
KENFIG
Academic specialists and place names experts seem agreed that the name
KENFIG is taken from a small river: Kenfeg 12th century and Kenefeg 13th century. The river flowed from Mynydd Margam into the sea by Kenfig Sands. The river name according to Professor Hywel Wyn Owen and Richard Morgan ( Dictionary of Place Names of Wales) is almost certainly a personal name: Cynffig, or Cenffig (Conficc , Cinfic 12th century) . Cyn and Cen are inter-changeable. ( Cyncoed / Cencoed - posh suburb of Cardiff). Personal names used as river names is not that unusual.
“Forms like Kenefec, Kenefech, Kenfeck are found in documents from 12th century onwards, and seem genuine attempts by generations of non-Welsh speaking scribes to render the sound of the name as they heard it spoken”, says Professor Gwynedd Pierce (who has just died at the age of 100!) in his Place Names in Glamorgan. He also says there is no doubt that Cynffig was originally the name of a river.
References can be found, e.g. The aqua de Kenfeg of the early documents and John Leland’s ‘Kenfike ryver’ 1536- 9. Gwynedd Pierce also says that the prefix CYN is not Old Welsh Cefn - back- but an integral part of an old Welsh personal name - just like Cynfal, Cynwrig and Cynan.
(Thanks to Margaret Bird of Cardiff, member of Place-names Societies for this)
Comment from Dai Stephens: The personal name Cynfic can be found elsewhere:
Looking at your discussion on the origins of the name Kenfig, I wondered if there might be a connection to St Cinfic/Cynfig one of the four saints of Llangwm Uchaf near Usk. (Mirgint, Cinfic, Huni, Eruenen; sometimes Mirgint, Cywys or Cynfig, Huui and Eruen) described as the quattuor sancti de Lann Cum in the 12th Century Book of Llan Dau (Llandaff), reproduced as the Gwysaney Manuscript 11 by J Gwenoguren Evans (1893).
There is a chapel dedicated to Cynfic or Cywsr at Carmarthen as recorded in the Book of Llan Ddu of Carmarthen.
CONFUSION: SO MANY DIFFERENT SPELLINGS FOR OUR TOWN AND RIVER
WHEN DID THEY FIRST APPEAR?
Names for Kenfig that have been used
I (Conall Boyle) did a skim through all the records held in our Kenfig eArchive [link to Archiving above] and recorded the following versions. Also included is the first date noticed. This is not a full academic search, only a quick skim!
Date of earliest use (K* = Kenfig Society publications, * = number)
K4 is ‘CHRONICLE OF KENFIG BOROUGH’ 1994 where Barrie Griffiths reviews all the early references to the Borough of Kenfig. In those pre-internet days this involved a trip to the National Library in Aberystwyth to view the Penrice and Margam estate records. Many of the originals were in Latin, but translated and presented in Walter De Gray Birch’s 1897 A History of Margam Abbey Derived from the original documents in the British Museum, H.M. Record Office, The Margam Muniments etc.
Warning! Many of these names have been translated and transcribed from originals, always a source of error!
Cefn y Figen (Carlisle 1811)
Cen-y-Ffignen (Gray 1909)
Cynfeg (Wynham 1775)(Moley 1848)
Cenffig (Gray 1909)
Cinfic (12th Century personal name)
Cunffig (1675 K4)
Cynffig (12th Century personal name)
Conficc (12th Century personal name)
Cynfig (Carlisle 1811)
NOTE: All these Welsh versions can be anglicised in the form Ken-Fic(g), without an intrusive middle ‘E’.
Kenefech , (12th Century scribes’ attempt to render Cynffig into Latin/English)
Kenefegh 1897 DeGrayBIRCH
Kenefit (1186 K4)
Kenefeck (less popular version of Irish surname)(‘feck’ is a mildly naughty word for Irish people)
Kenfeck (12th Century scribes’ attempt to render Cynffig into Latin/English)
Kenefeg (Gray, 1909 as frequently found in 1188 charters)
Kenfeg (12th Century name of the river, 1186 K4)
Kenefick (Standard version of the Irish surname. In 1911 there were 160 Keneficks (incl sound-alikes) in Ireland, 138 of whom lived in Co. Cork, within 20 miles or so of Cork City)
KENFIG (Version from 1183 in K4 in a charter in Latin “in territorio de Kenfig”
Kenfigg (Donovan 1805)
Kenffigge (1666 K4 survey of the Manor)
Kenfike Leland 1536
Kenfike ryver Leland 1536
Kynfig (Warner 1798)
Kynfige, (1533 K4)
Kenfygg (1596)
Kenvig (1849, Lewis, a directory of places, clearly a ‘weshifying’ invention. The entry reads “KENVIG (CEFN-Y-FIGYN),
LOWER”
A SIDENOTE: THE IRISH ‘KENFICKs’
From Barrie Griffith's K Folk pt 1 page 78 quotes:
"G.T.Clarke (1883: 57) found that a hundred or so families from Glamorgan either participated in the invasion of Ireland in 1169-71 or settled there soon afterwards. Amongst them was a family that adopted the surname ‘De Chenefeg’ whose descendants still survive today using the same surname, though in a variety of forms.
Note “These families seem to have originated from an area east of Cork, and have variations of the surname ‘Kenefig’ which is the name of the town in the earliest documents in which it is mentioned. There are also two locations in East Cork called Ballykenefick and Garranekenefeake respectively.”
If you Google these placenames, it leads to a wealth of information about the Kenefick family.
Plus a bit of whimsy: My Mammy The BBC comedy ‘Me Mammy’ (1968-70) where the main protagonist, played by the very Irish Milo O’Shea using the name ‘Bunjy Kennefick’. The action was based in London. Milo O’Shea, a serious and well-known actor, but great fun.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: SHOULD THE NAME OF KENFIG BE CHANGED?
How about Ken-e-fig, like so many anglisised usages in the records?
After all, the seal of the Borough shows it thus. If this is what they officially called themselves, shouldn’t we follow suit?
The possible origins and meanings and correct spelling(s) of the place (and river) currently called
Kenfig or Cynffig
Most Likely Conclusion:
The name KENFIG is of Welsh origin. It is derived from the name of a person called CYNFFIG, who gave his name to the river, and thence the town. The name was first encountered in the records in the 12th Century.
Do you agree? Let’s join the Discussion
WHY MIGHT YOU DOUBT THAT KENFIG IS A WELSH-DERIVED NAME?
Doubt1: It sounds Norse/Viking: All around here we have ‘Norse’ names such as Sker (as in Sker Point), Swansea, Worms Head, Tenby. Kenfig looks a dead ringer for a Norse name. But the historical record suggests otherwise.
Doubt 2: It’s got a single ‘f’; so it seems more correct to pronounce it “KenVig”: A frequent mistake, by those who realise that single ‘f’ in Welsh is pronounced ‘v’. So ‘Araf’ on the roadsigns, ‘Llynfi’ on the Duffryn-Llynvi Railway, ‘Aberafan’ on the Port Talbot seafront, single Welsh ‘f’, therefore pronounced “v”.
But not when saying “Kenfig”! I’ve even heard BBC Wales reporters using the mispronunciation KenVig. So again I’d say this seems to hint at a non-Welsh origin of our name.
Doubt3: Cod-Welshing of the name: The very first publication of the Kenfig Society gave ‘Welsh’ origins of the name ‘Kenfig’ as Cen-y-Ffignen - Head of the Swamp, or Cefn-y-Figen - Ridge above the swamp. These as we shall see are incorrect, perhaps a form of retro-fitting some appropriate Welsh ‘translation’.
Barrie Griffiths would have none of this. Although, elsewhere, he admits in a TimeTrekker article that “let me say categorically that I am no expert on the origins of local placenames”, he goes on to dismiss any welshification of the name Kenfig. He notes the widespread local incidences of Norse names, such as Sker, Tusker, Worms Head but did not go on to specifically claim Kenfig as a Norse/Viking name.
Taken together, all these point towards a common-sense view that Kenfig is a name of Norse origin – but it ain’t!
LET’S HAVE THE OFFICIAL VERSION
KENFIG
Academic specialists and place names experts seem agreed that the name
KENFIG is taken from a small river: Kenfeg 12th century and Kenefeg 13th century. The river flowed from Mynydd Margam into the sea by Kenfig Sands. The river name according to Professor Hywel Wyn Owen and Richard Morgan ( Dictionary of Place Names of Wales) is almost certainly a personal name: Cynffig, or Cenffig (Conficc , Cinfic 12th century) . Cyn and Cen are inter-changeable. ( Cyncoed / Cencoed - posh suburb of Cardiff). Personal names used as river names is not that unusual.
“Forms like Kenefec, Kenefech, Kenfeck are found in documents from 12th century onwards, and seem genuine attempts by generations of non-Welsh speaking scribes to render the sound of the name as they heard it spoken”, says Professor Gwynedd Pierce (who has just died at the age of 100!) in his Place Names in Glamorgan. He also says there is no doubt that Cynffig was originally the name of a river.
References can be found, e.g. The aqua de Kenfeg of the early documents and John Leland’s ‘Kenfike ryver’ 1536- 9. Gwynedd Pierce also says that the prefix CYN is not Old Welsh Cefn - back- but an integral part of an old Welsh personal name - just like Cynfal, Cynwrig and Cynan.
(Thanks to Margaret Bird of Cardiff, member of Place-names Societies for this)
Comment from Dai Stephens: The personal name Cynfic can be found elsewhere:
Looking at your discussion on the origins of the name Kenfig, I wondered if there might be a connection to St Cinfic/Cynfig one of the four saints of Llangwm Uchaf near Usk. (Mirgint, Cinfic, Huni, Eruenen; sometimes Mirgint, Cywys or Cynfig, Huui and Eruen) described as the quattuor sancti de Lann Cum in the 12th Century Book of Llan Dau (Llandaff), reproduced as the Gwysaney Manuscript 11 by J Gwenoguren Evans (1893).
There is a chapel dedicated to Cynfic or Cywsr at Carmarthen as recorded in the Book of Llan Ddu of Carmarthen.
CONFUSION: SO MANY DIFFERENT SPELLINGS FOR OUR TOWN AND RIVER
WHEN DID THEY FIRST APPEAR?
Names for Kenfig that have been used
I (Conall Boyle) did a skim through all the records held in our Kenfig eArchive [link to Archiving above] and recorded the following versions. Also included is the first date noticed. This is not a full academic search, only a quick skim!
Date of earliest use (K* = Kenfig Society publications, * = number)
K4 is ‘CHRONICLE OF KENFIG BOROUGH’ 1994 where Barrie Griffiths reviews all the early references to the Borough of Kenfig. In those pre-internet days this involved a trip to the National Library in Aberystwyth to view the Penrice and Margam estate records. Many of the originals were in Latin, but translated and presented in Walter De Gray Birch’s 1897 A History of Margam Abbey Derived from the original documents in the British Museum, H.M. Record Office, The Margam Muniments etc.
Warning! Many of these names have been translated and transcribed from originals, always a source of error!
Cefn y Figen (Carlisle 1811)
Cen-y-Ffignen (Gray 1909)
Cynfeg (Wynham 1775)(Moley 1848)
Cenffig (Gray 1909)
Cinfic (12th Century personal name)
Cunffig (1675 K4)
Cynffig (12th Century personal name)
Conficc (12th Century personal name)
Cynfig (Carlisle 1811)
NOTE: All these Welsh versions can be anglicised in the form Ken-Fic(g), without an intrusive middle ‘E’.
- Anglicised versions beginning with K - - -
Kenefech , (12th Century scribes’ attempt to render Cynffig into Latin/English)
Kenefegh 1897 DeGrayBIRCH
Kenefit (1186 K4)
Kenefeck (less popular version of Irish surname)(‘feck’ is a mildly naughty word for Irish people)
Kenfeck (12th Century scribes’ attempt to render Cynffig into Latin/English)
Kenefeg (Gray, 1909 as frequently found in 1188 charters)
Kenfeg (12th Century name of the river, 1186 K4)
Kenefick (Standard version of the Irish surname. In 1911 there were 160 Keneficks (incl sound-alikes) in Ireland, 138 of whom lived in Co. Cork, within 20 miles or so of Cork City)
KENFIG (Version from 1183 in K4 in a charter in Latin “in territorio de Kenfig”
Kenfigg (Donovan 1805)
Kenffigge (1666 K4 survey of the Manor)
Kenfike Leland 1536
Kenfike ryver Leland 1536
Kynfig (Warner 1798)
Kynfige, (1533 K4)
Kenfygg (1596)
Kenvig (1849, Lewis, a directory of places, clearly a ‘weshifying’ invention. The entry reads “KENVIG (CEFN-Y-FIGYN),
LOWER”
A SIDENOTE: THE IRISH ‘KENFICKs’
From Barrie Griffith's K Folk pt 1 page 78 quotes:
"G.T.Clarke (1883: 57) found that a hundred or so families from Glamorgan either participated in the invasion of Ireland in 1169-71 or settled there soon afterwards. Amongst them was a family that adopted the surname ‘De Chenefeg’ whose descendants still survive today using the same surname, though in a variety of forms.
Note “These families seem to have originated from an area east of Cork, and have variations of the surname ‘Kenefig’ which is the name of the town in the earliest documents in which it is mentioned. There are also two locations in East Cork called Ballykenefick and Garranekenefeake respectively.”
If you Google these placenames, it leads to a wealth of information about the Kenefick family.
Plus a bit of whimsy: My Mammy The BBC comedy ‘Me Mammy’ (1968-70) where the main protagonist, played by the very Irish Milo O’Shea using the name ‘Bunjy Kennefick’. The action was based in London. Milo O’Shea, a serious and well-known actor, but great fun.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: SHOULD THE NAME OF KENFIG BE CHANGED?
How about Ken-e-fig, like so many anglisised usages in the records?
After all, the seal of the Borough shows it thus. If this is what they officially called themselves, shouldn’t we follow suit?
|
|
On the left a fuzzy version of the actual seal (from Birch). On the right is an artist’s version of the seal, (artist unknown) showing the outline more clearly. This, with the addition of the words around the outside, is the official logo of Kenfig Society/Cymdeithas Cynnfig.
(Sharp-eyed readers will notice that we mis-spelled the welsh modern version of our own society -- the Kenfig Society’s name! This same logo adorns the three-volume series of Barrie Griffiths’ Kenfig Folk. So far no-one apart from me (CB) seems to have noticed!!)
Both the seals have the KENEF+ clearly emblazoned. So should we accept this intrusive ‘E’ on the grounds that that was what they wanted?
NO! This was a corrupted anglicized (or latinized) sound-alike transcription. Nevertheless we’ll accept that that was what the Irish Keneficks remembered what the place was called.
How about Kenf-f-ig to signal to ‘correct Welsh’ speakers that it’s Welsh?
I think there is a good case to be made to render this as the modern version of the area. It should apply equally to the name of the river ‘Kenffig’. For consistency, this should apply to Kenffig Hill and Aberkenffig as well.
Of course applying such hyper-rationality would require umpteen sign changes, notepaper scrapping etc., so is very unlikely to happen!
Informal (not academic) Notes prepared by Conall Boyle, July 2022
(I’m Chair and Publications Secretary of The Kenfig Society, although we have had no meetings, committee meetings etc. for over two years)
(Sharp-eyed readers will notice that we mis-spelled the welsh modern version of our own society -- the Kenfig Society’s name! This same logo adorns the three-volume series of Barrie Griffiths’ Kenfig Folk. So far no-one apart from me (CB) seems to have noticed!!)
Both the seals have the KENEF+ clearly emblazoned. So should we accept this intrusive ‘E’ on the grounds that that was what they wanted?
NO! This was a corrupted anglicized (or latinized) sound-alike transcription. Nevertheless we’ll accept that that was what the Irish Keneficks remembered what the place was called.
How about Kenf-f-ig to signal to ‘correct Welsh’ speakers that it’s Welsh?
I think there is a good case to be made to render this as the modern version of the area. It should apply equally to the name of the river ‘Kenffig’. For consistency, this should apply to Kenffig Hill and Aberkenffig as well.
Of course applying such hyper-rationality would require umpteen sign changes, notepaper scrapping etc., so is very unlikely to happen!
Informal (not academic) Notes prepared by Conall Boyle, July 2022
(I’m Chair and Publications Secretary of The Kenfig Society, although we have had no meetings, committee meetings etc. for over two years)
