Iff, Yff in Breton Place Names

The yew is an amazing tree. It can grow to heights of 20+ metres, its trunks can measure more than 2m in diameter and the trees can live for 400 years or more.

Estry Yew, Normandy

The Estry Yew in Normandy (above) is estimated to 1,600 years old and the Llangernyw Yew in Clwyd, Wales (below) is about 1,500 years old.

Llangernyw Yew, Clwyd (Wales)

The yew tree has a special significance for Celtic communities. In ancient times tribal leaders would take poison from the yew tree rather than surrender.

The yew tree also has powerful spiritual connotations. Churches have often been built around yew trees on ancient sacred sites.
The yew tree below, in Normandy, has actually got a chapel built into it!

Brittany has its fair share of ancient and sacred yews. In Breton 'yew/yews' is ivinen/ivin and in French it is if (cf. Welsh: ywen/yw in Llangernyw). Another source is the Gaulish: ivos.

The name can be found in Brittany place names such as: Les Iffs, Saint-Brieuc-des-Iffs, Kernivinen ('yew village' '), Kerivin ('farm/village of yews'),Rosnivinen ('yew hill'), Livinot (with the French article l'), Inguinel/An Ignel (from Old Breton: An Iviniel, 'the yews'), Yvignac and Iffniac (these last two have the classic Gaulish ending).

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What really links place names in Brittany, Cornwall and Wales (apart from a few hundred Celtic saints)?

Place Name Elements in Breton, Welsh and Cornish (with examples and English gloss) BRETON CORNISH WELSH ENGLISH EXAMPLES C=Cornwall; W= Wales aut , alt, aod alt, als, aulz allt hill, slope, cliff Duault (22), Nansalsa (C), Allt-golau (W) ael ael ael summit, brow, ridge Hirael (35), Aelbryn (W) aval aval, avallen afal, afallen apple Availles-sur-Seiche (35), Rosevallen (C), Dolafallen (W) aon, aven auon, awan afon river Pont-Aven (29); Arrowan (C), Aberavon (W) arcae - argae dam, embankment Erquy (22), Argae Alwen (W) ard, art, arz are, ard, arth ardd hill, elevation Arzon (56); Trenarth (C), Pennard (W) arz, arzh art, arth arth bear Île-d'Arz (56), Carn Arthen (C), Aber-arth (W) ascorn - asgwrn, esgyrn bone/s Coatascorn (

Why all the Ermine?

The ermine ( Mustela erminea ) a.k.a. stoat or short-tailed weasel is the national emblem of Brittany. Its much sought after white winter coat was used for the cloaks, crowns and caps of the aristocracy. Ermine The eleven 'ermine spots' which form the pattern in the top left corner of the Breton flag represent the way the black-tipped tails were hung on the white fur. This heraldic ermine canton was a feature of the arms of the Dukes of Brittany. Breton flag with ermine canton The story goes that Anne de Bretagne, the last independent Breton ruler and the wife of two successive French kings, saw a group of hunters chasing after an ermine. When the ermine reached the edge of a muddy lake the ermine decided to stand up to his attackers rather than risk soiling his beautiful white fur. ANNE DE BRETAGNE Anne, it appears, was so impressed that she saved the ermine and adopted it as the emblem of her dynasty along with the motto: Plutôt la mort que la

The legend of Saint Gwen of Brittany and Dorset

The church of Whitchurch-Canonicorum in Dorset is dedicated to Saint-Candida (a.k.a Saint-Wite). Below the east window there is an altar tomb with three openings which allowed devotees to reach inside the shrine in the hope of a miraculous cure for whatever ailed them. On the top of this there used to be a 14th century coffin built into a slab of local marble. When the local vicar opened it in 1848 he found a stone box. Inside the stone box he discovered a Saint's relics. When the coffin was examined again in 1899 another vicar found teeth, a lot of bones resembling those of small, forty year old woman and an inscription: Here lie the relics of Saint Wite What was even more extrordinary about this find was that all relics such as these had been destroyed during the Protestant Reformation. The only other collection of saint's remains still extant were those of St Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey. Perhaps this shrine looked more like a tomb then a

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