QUIMPER-VANNES

Welsh place names to attract tourists   This article looks at how Chinese  (Mandarin)  names have been given to Welsh place names to attract tourists. Why has Llanfairpwll been rebranded Healthy-lung Village? Rhossili Bay a.k.a. 'Sun Rise Beach' Snowdon a.k.a. 'Silver Peak'

I was researching possible origins for the name Douarnenez (see Douarnenez and the Two Islands ) in Finistère (Brittany) when  I happened upon a  video story called 'Dwy Ynys/Dau Hanes'  ( 'Two Islands/Two Histories')  on BBC Wales written by Marian Delyth.  BARDSEY ROBBEN ISLAND The story is written and narrated in Welsh (the script and translation is below).  The two islands in the story are Bardsey - Isle of Bards / Ynys Enlli - Isle of Currents [Wales] and Robben Island -Dutch: robben, ' s eal' [South Africa].                                 This little story speaks for itself. If you've never heard spoken Welsh before here's your chance.                         Dwy Ynys / Dau Hanes Peth rhyfedd yw'r ysfa ynom i gasglu cregyn. I hel, i gadw atgofion am ennyd a dreulwyd ar dr...

When I was researching the origin of the name Douarnenez I was particularly interested in whether it might be derived from the Breton: daou , ‘two’ [in Welsh: dau/dwy ] and Breton: (an) enez , ‘(the) island’ [Welsh: ynys ; Cornish: ennis/enys ; Irish: ennis ; Scottish: innis/inch ]. The second part of the name is the most obvious. This ancient place name element can refer to a peninsula (a 'quasi'-island) as well as a real island and this matched the topography of Douarnenez. The element Ynys/Ennis/Innis can be found in the names Anglesey/Ynys Mon, the Isle of Bardsey/Ynys Enlli, Enniskillen (N. Ireland) and Inchmarnock (Scotland). The daou/ 'two' element was pushing it a bit, but conceivably we could view the peninsula ( or even both 'banks')  and the Isle of Tristram to the north as the two 'islands' in the name. If you are looking for myth it is interesting to note that another island may have existed off the coast at Douarnenez. Breton myt...

                               S quiffiec has always been one of my favourite place names in Brittany. It conjures up  squiffy -  a place where people are   'slightly drunk'; and maybe their eyes are slightly skewiff -  they've had enough (Breton cider) to make them  ' awry,  wonky' .  The Breton name for Squiffiec is   Skinvieg;  this suggests they've actually had a lot more than that: perhaps more like a skinful -  ' enough ( calvados) to make one drunk'. The name actually comes from the Old Breton:  skaw/ieg,   ' (place with) elder trees’. This is equivalent to the  Welsh ysgeifiog   found in place names such as  Ysgeifiog and  Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog.  In Cornish  scaw   is found in place names like Boscawen and Tresco/Trescau (Scilly Islands). It was believed in Britain at on...