One word about inversions of the order of words in poetry. This should be done very sparingly, and it is not easy to lay down very definite rules as to what is allowable and what not. It is best not to deviate from the usual order of words unless one can find a precedent in one of the Dramas. Some inversions, however, are quite allowable. Thus one may put the complement of a predicate, e.g. an infinitive, an accusative, or a participle, at the beginning of a phrase:—
_bewa ythesaf pub eare_ (_Creation_, 1667), living I am always.
_banna ny allaf gwelas_ (_Creation_, 1622), a drop I cannot see.
_defalebys os ha cabm_ (_Creation_, 1603), deformed thou art, and crooked.
_yn bushes ow crowetha_ (_Creation_, 1606), in bushes lying.
_gans dean pen vo convethys_ (_Creation_, 1618), by man when it is discovered.
_worthaf ve sertan ny dale_ (_Creation_, 1619), with me, certainly, ought not.
_determys ove dha un dra_ (_Creation_, 236), determined I am of one thing.
_mos then menythe me a vyn_ (_Creation_, 1082), go to the mountain I will.
These are all taken from Jordan’s _Creation_, and mostly at random from the same page. Still, the less one inverts the normal order of words the better.
CHAPTER XVI—NOTE ON THE INTERPRETATION OF CORNISH NAMES
One of the practical interests in the study of Cornish is in the interpretation of place-names. As quite ninety per cent. of the place-names of Cornwall are Celtic, and as a very large proportion of these are descriptive names, usually in a fairly uncorrupted state, this gives much opportunity of research. There are, however, certain considerations, grammatical and topographical, which should be kept carefully in mind in attempting to discover the meanings of these names, and it is a disregard of these considerations that has made most of the published works on the subject so singularly valueless. The great majority of Cornish names are composed of epithets suffixed to certain nouns, such as _tre_, _trev_, a town; _pol_, a pool; _pen_ or _pedn_, head or top; _rôs_, often written _rose_, a heath; _car_, a fort or camp; _lan_, an enclosure, or a church; _eglos_, a church; _bal_, a mine; _whêl_ or _wheal_, a work (_i.e._ a mine); _chy_, _ty_, a house; _park_, a field; _forth_, a creek or harbour; _nans_, a valley; _carn_, a cairn or heap of rocks; _hal_, a moor; _gûn_, _goon_, a down; _gwêl_, _gweal_, a field; _bod_, _bos_, _be_, a dwelling; _les_, a court, a palace; _carrack_, a rock; _creeg_, a tumulus; _crows_, a cross; _din_, _dun_, a hill-fort; _fenton_ or _venton_, a spring; _kelly_, _killy_, a grove; _cos_, _coose_, a wood; _mên_, a stone; _tol_, a hole; _triga_, _trigva_, a dwelling-place; _melan_, _mellan_, _vellan_, a mill; _zawn_, _zawns_, a cove; _bron_, _bryn_, a hill; _bar_, _bor_, _bur_, a summit; _tor_, a hill. These are the commonest of the nouns. The epithets may be:—