There is a will and inventory of John Roberts (SA / 1748 / 74) of Maes y Fallen in the
Parish of Llanfawr. The inventory shows that he owed £10 to Magdalen Hughes (Hughes
deleted) Jones.
The will of Magdalen Jones (SA/1756/62) of Cefn y Meirch in the Parish of Llanfawr refers
to the children of her late son John Roberts of Maes Fallen. I don know a great deal about
Magdalen Jones, though some believe that she died in her 90's.
Basil Wolf
----Original message----
From : wls-merionethshire(a)rootsweb.com
Date : 09/02/2015 - 17:19
(UTC)
To : wls-merionethshire(a)rootsweb.com
Subject : Re: [MER] searchingffor clues to the origins of David Jones who migrated, aged
12, to Pennsylvania
>> <<Snipped>>
The place name "Maesyfallen" may be Maesyfelin which means meadow of the
mill. Others may offer their explanation.
Here are my notes on Maesyfallen (Parish of Llanfor, Township: Rhiwaedog uwch afon).Post
code: LL23 7EY for use of Streetmap.
1)Prior discussion in 2005:
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/WLS-MERIONETHSHIRE/2005-04/...
<
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/WLS-MERIONETHSHIRE/2005-04/...
2) Canolfan Bedwyr, University of Bangor. There are two references to “Maesafallen"
or “Maesyfallen” (Parish of Llanfor) in the Melville Richards database:
http://www.e-gymraeg.co.uk/enwaulleoedd/amr/
<
http://www.e-gymraeg.co.uk/enwaulleoedd/amr/>
In the database the first reference in time is Maesafallen (1795). The second reference is
Maes y Fallen (1868), then two references to the Royal Commission on Land in Wales:
Minutes of Evidence (ca.1896). Newspaper reports suggest that the spelling
“Maesyfallen" became more common during the late 19th century.
Six-inch Ordnance Survey map (1887 edition): “Maes yr afallen” in Cwm Hirnant.
3) Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru (Geiriadur) - the authoritative dictionary of the Welsh
language - notes that the word “affallen” occurs as an element in place names, e.g.
Afallenchwerw (farm) parish of Llanfihangel Brynpabuan, Brecon or Nant Afallen, North
Cardiganshire. Examples of “afallen" in Merioneth include Maes y Fallen near Parish
of Corwen, Pant y Fallen, Parish of Bettws Gwerfil Goch and Maesafallen, Parish of
Llanaber. There is also a reference to “afallennau” (medieval apple tree poems - some of
them bawdy) in History of Merioneth Volume 2.
4) Phonetics: the Welsh word “melin” (Eng.mill) mutates as”felin.” The Geiriadur does not
indicate further mutation of the word “melin” to something like “me-ll-in.” The
"-ll-" sound is clear in “afallen."
5) Location of mill in Cwm Hirnant. No record in Coflein (
http://www.coflein.gov.uk). A
stream next to the farm (Nant Bwlch y Foss or Fossle) suggests a ditch that might have
been used a millstream. On the other hand, it would have been more likely to locate a mill
further downstream, say at Rhos y Gwaliau, which would have been accessible to larger
group of people with arable plots of land, rather in an upland pastoral valley where
population was sparse.
6) The interpretation of place names in Wales is an evolving area of study. Recent work at
Canolfan Bedwyr at Bangor University was an important step forward which resulted in the
transcription and placement on line of the Melville Richards data base (see 2 above), and
the publication of The Dictionary of the Place Names of Wales in 2007. The Centre for
Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies is working on a guide to Welsh place names and personal
names as a first step to more extensive work on the place names of Wales:
http://www.wales.ac.uk/en/CentreforAdvancedWelshCelticStudies/ResearchPro...
The ongoing work of the Dating Old Welsh Houses Group is also relevant:
http://datingoldwelshhouses.co.uk/English2/
In other words, there’s a lot more systematic research work to be done before we have a
better understanding of what the place name such as “Maesafallen” or “Maesyfallen”
actually means at this particular location in Cwm Hirnant .
Ken Richards
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