American Reacts to How Did The Counties of England Get Their Names?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- In this reaction I learn how the counties of England get their names and that the county names themselves may actually be the largest export in England's history. Seriously, everything from Worcestershire sauce to the state of New Hampshire gets its name from a county in England. Not only that but 24 of the 48 English counties end in the word Shire. This was an interesting topic, I look forward to checking out more videos on the counties of England in the near future.
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Americans can pronounce New Hampshire correctly but for anything else they pronounce the shire as if its lotr
That is a very fair point lol
I was just about to say the exact same thing 😁
@@austinfallen Yet they also say rout yet sing route 66.
Don't ask me why they pronounce buoy as boo-ee!
@@B-A-L English is just dumb in general. Colonel is pronounced kernel wherever you go. Ghoti = Fish, Ghoughphtheighteau = potato, iewkngheaurrhpthewempeighghteaps = unfortunates, etc.
In the US lots the pronunciations are split into syllables - an easy example is the capital of Russia; in the US this is (commonly) pronounced as "Moss Cow" but in the UK as "Mosco". The city of Birmingham in Alabama is pronounced as "Burming Ham" where as the UK city is pronounced as "Bur-ming-gum". So Worcestershire is "Wus-ter-shear" spoken as a single word, rather than "War Cesster Shire".
Funnily there is a town called Moscow outside Kilmarnock in Scotland and it is pronounced Moss-cow.
I believe it’s name used to be similar to Moss Cow or something like that, and to celebrate Napoleon leaving Russia it was renamed Moscow, and even has a river called Volga running through it.
And it’s wuster-sher :P
And “Brumm a jum” lol
In Sweden pronounce it Moskva = Moskwa
the english name for moscow was prescribed. the russians spell it Moskva and pronounce it like that as well. its like turkey for turkiye. the world wars especially required a standard english spelling/pronunciation (in latin script) for many places in the world to use in documentation and treaties, so historical names and translations were less important than how the country itself wanted to be called, especially in the different ways english was spoken throughout the british empire and US.
Devon or Devonshire .The city /port of Plymouth has strong historical connections to the United States. In 1620 the pilgrim fathers set sail on the Mayflower for the new world.
Plymouth has HUGE celtic and other history. Devonshire was the old official name but it got changed to devon though most of the locals still say devonshire. They did Devon so dirty with that picture tho. Our beaches are just as nice as cornwall and we have superior countryside and other natural beauty to Cornwall - that's not me being biased it's true. We're known for that. But yeah Devon and Cornwall are the only celtic parts of england. The rest is germanic
I like how you are so enthusiastic about England but a lot of Americans think London is England but the beauty of our country is once you leave the country as a whole has some beautiful scenic places! Nothing wrong with London though a lot of history there! Keep your blogs coming 👍
London has fallen its now Londistan.
Sorry leave for the country side 😂😂🤣!
The UK is complicated in its area borders. We have county lines, town borders, Parish lines (referring to the areas the churches are responsible for). But at the same time we have 'Parish Councils) which usually cover smaller local government areas.
So church Parishes are often a lot larger than local council Parishes.
Natives of Shrewsbury tend to pronounce it SHROWs Bury.
Its older name is Salop
Shropshire (/ˈʃrɒpʃər, -ʃɪər/; historically Salop[3] and abbreviated Shrops) is a landlocked ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north, Staffordshire to the east, Worcestershire to the southeast, Herefordshire to the south, and the Welsh counties of Wrexham and Powys to the west. The largest settlement is Telford (155,570), and Shrewsbury (76,782) is the county town.
Wiki
Having moved some years ago from London to Telford this is a fascinating vid.
There are a lot of British Town names such as Birmingham, Manchester, Halifax etc located in the US & Canada, mostly to do with settlers naming towns.
Steve, the Latin word for a Roman Camp is "castra romana" .... the word castra became chester... so you know which town or city used to be a Roman encampment. E.g. Colchester, Manchester, Chichester, Cheshire etc.etc.
The 1997 counties were basically a reformation of the county map. Some conurbations were set up and some counties like Rutland were reinstated. Worcestershire for years was its own county but then got merged with Herefordshire and in 1997 got its country back.
It was also when Bristol got it's county status back as the county of Avon was dissolved.
@@SevCaswell1973 Bristol Celebrated 600 years as a county, the following the much hated County of Avon created which swalled up Northern Somerset including the City of Bath and over the River southern Gloucestershire.
1373 Bristol was granted County Status and Seperate of the county Somerset and Gloucestershire by the King FOREVER. So, whilst Avon was created in 1974 and finally dissolved in 1996 Bristol was and always be A City and County as decreed by the King back 1373.
.
Berkshire is pronounced “barkshire”.
Also, the Wear in Tyne and Wear is pronounced “Weir” as in weird.
Source: Surrey
The video pronounced Derbyshire wrong as well, its Darby-Sure not durby-shire
Shire came from Share. At one time the monarch gave shares of land to his friends. Eg The share given to Duke of Bedford became Bedfordshire and so on.
Living in Cambridgeshire I can honestly say it the most beautiful place ever
Merseyside and Greater Manchester were only formed in 1974 and used to be part of the historic county of Lancashire, the Wirral Peninsula used to be a part of Cheshire, but was merges into the newly formed ceremonial county of Merseyside along with the City of Liverpool, Knowsley, ST Helens and Sefton. Liverpool was founded in 1207 by King John who issued letters patent advertising the establishment of a new borough - 'Livpul'. Soon after, in 1235, the building of Liverpool Castle was completed, which unfortunately no longer exists, having been demolished in the early 18th century.
There are several rivers in the UK called the Avon. The name simply means river and is related to Afon, the modern Welsh word for river. The river that you asked about in the picture was the Thames.
Also, Jay Foreman's Map Men series does a much better job of explaining both counties and place names in the UK.
You're right. Similarly with the name Ouse. I believe there are four of them, Ouse meaning "Water" derived from the Brythonic "Usa". I live very close to the longest, the Great Ouse. Many are only aware of the Ouse that flows through York though?
The river Humber is at least 4 counties south of what is now Northumbria.
There are hundreds of places in the US named after their UK counterpart. Only when the settlers started moving west did more exotic and Red Indian names begin to emerge.
Will help you Steve, people will probably say what county they are from if you ask, rather than a town you will never have heard of... see how many you remember, take a quiz one day, glad u did this
something i'd like to point out is a lot of the southern counties are criminally unvisited and appreciated to foreigners. so many start in London and work their way north when pretty much every Sothern county has absolutely breath-taking views and is steeped in history. For an example Hampshire has rolling hills of rapeseed and one of the most architecturally stunning cities in England Winchester. It also Is the starting place of the pilgrims way a 120 mile long walking trail that ends in ken and dates back to 600-450BC
Dorset has the Jurassic coast, not to mention the south downs.
Historically, there are more than 24 shires, because counties like Somerset and Devon were originally Somersetshire and Devonshire, Dorsetshire etc.
The main river that flows through London is the Thames pronounced Tems. Avon is 'Celtic' for river.
I'm from Nottingham (Originally Snotingaham (Anglo-Saxon) meaning homestead of Snots people) in Nottinghamshire. Robin Hood is just a legendary character but thought to be loosely based around a real person. He was first mentioned in a ballad in the mid 14th century. Although Robin Hood is always linked to Nottingham because of his arch enemy 'The Sheriff of Nottingham' it is now widely accepted that if real, Robin was actually a Yorkshireman. And although Sherwood forest is in Nottinghamshire it was much larger at the time and expanded across several counties.
Avon is a Gaelic word for "river", which is why it's popular. The "River Avon" is a redundancy in a sense.
There are several rivers in the UK with the name Avon (Afon in Wales), plus several named Ouse, Tyne, and others. The river that passes through London is the Thames - which is pronounced like Tems - although it has alternate names such as Ibis, in and beyond Oxford!
Local Government has been reorganised several times in all part of the UK, though most of today's names date from the 1890s, which apart from the abolition of Middlesex in 1965 and its inclusion in an enlarged Greater London, lasted until 1974... This introduced a two-tier system of local governance of districts or boroughs within larger counties, including a number of so-called Metropolitan Counties that were largely abolished a dozen years later as their large populations often elected leaders that were politically opposed to Central Government! Wales, meanwhile, was reduced from 12 to 8 counties with districts in most but not all of them; Northern Ireland's six counties were abolished and replaced with 26 districts in a single tier arrangement; and Scotland's 33 counties were abolished and replaced with nine large regions with districts, plus three single tier island authorities... The heavily populated industrial south part of Wales has since acquired a hybrid single and two-tier system - for much the same reasons as England's Metropolitan Counties; while Scotland was changed again in 1994, back to 32 single tier "council areas" that are not the same as the pre-1975 counties... Confused yet? I should say!!
There are many "Avons" in Wales. As it's the Welsh for river, every river is an Afon. Afon Taf, Afon Teifi, Afon Tawe.
It's noticeable that the name Avon becomes more common in the west of England. It's where there was more interaction between Briton and Saxon, and a greater Celtic survival. It's also seen in a greater number of Coombes and Combes (Welsh Cwm) in West Country place names.
I grew up and went to school in Cheddar 😂 always find it funny when it gets mentioned in videos 😂
I hear it is gorgeous there! 😜😜😜
Leicestershire: This is the first time we've spotted a cester/chester in the name.
Worcestershire: Am I a joke to you?
The boundaries of most counties have changed many times over the centuries. They were previously changed in 1974. The proliferation of "shire" at the end of names is similar to the reason why many European nations end in "land", and Central Asian nations end in "stan".
Two words for this subject. Map Men. Keep it up.
The river in London is the Thames. Great videos, keep ‘em coming. ❤
in answer to your question about Robin Hood. many years ago they dug up land in Wakefield, West Yorkshire to build a new Bus station.apparently they found ruins of an old homestead and found out it belong to a hunter/game warden who opposed the laws of the land. they burnt his home down as reprisal so this guy was expert in hunting hiding and knew the landscapes well so he set out to get revenge somehow. they didn't know where he had gone to obviously not in same area probably further south like the vast expanse of forests there. by the way ..they found his name had been Robyn Hudd.
Just my opinion but we have some stunning scenery in the UK. Obviously haven't seen all of it, but Cornwall, Dorset and Cumbria would take some beating!! Respect from little old Berkshire England 🏴
I'm from Oxfordshire and the guy in this video said it really weird. His pronunciation of Ox sounds like Ux. Goes to show how dramatically our accents change only a few miles apart.
You should DEFINITELY check out the Map Men video on the Jay Foreman channel on that same topic! (If you haven't already by this time and upload is only pending, of course.)
Here's the link to said video (if YT let's me): th-cam.com/video/hCc0OsyMbQk/w-d-xo.html
Also, once again, let me invite you to check out some of the playlists I am sharing on my channel, compiling different videos on the same topic, mostly in order of publication, so as to learn more, know more. (I'm actually currently also building one on the subject of Monarchy, what it is, whether it's outdated, and especially looking at the British monarchy too. So keep an eye out for that playlist to come.)
Herefordshire incidentally is famous for hereford cattle and cider, we clame fame for cider, but so does Somerset, maybe!
Why not Devonshire, Dorsetshire and Somersetshire? That is how they have been known for most of their existence. Shire (scir) was the Saxon name for what the Normans called County (Fr. Compte) they were divided into "Hundreds" a name that still crops up.
I believe there are 9 river Avons in England, Scotland & Wales. The name is Celtic for river.
Most people in and around Manchester still say we are from Lancashire which it has been though history .
Nottingham was originally called Snottingham (named after a viking called Snot). How about the sheer amount of rude place names??
I live in Shropshire my village is over 1000 years old
Im from Northampton in Northamptonshire. I can trace my family in this county for 700 years, so yes I think my DNA is Northamptonian (what people from my town are called). Princess Diana is buried here ( her family estate is here Althorp), Benjamin Franklins family is from here (yes that Benjamin Franklin). Alan Moore born and lives here(creator of The Watchmen and V for vendetta)
Americans pronouncing the "Peugeot" is the best though...
"Pee you gut" 😂😂😂😂
Robin Hood is based on the true story of Robin of Loxley. He was an outlaw that resided hidden in Sherwood forest.
THe river through London is the Thames pronounced Tems. Derby is pronounced D-ah-by not D-er-by though
You only leave the R out if you cant speak properly.
@@elemar5 My family come fom Derby, and I was trying to break it down phoentetically
He also pronounces Tyne and Wear incorrectly. It's said Weir like a dam in water, as opposed to Wear as in wearing clothing.
i'm from rutland or rutlandshire and legend has it the name came from vikings in the area,danes who noticed the soil had a red component to it so they called it roetland or redland
it's the smallest county in england,about 12 sq miles,easy to miss if you're in a hurry!
Robin Hood was a real person. Little John's grave is in Derbyshire.
Most County names are ancient. But for administrative purposes a few new County boundaries and names were 'reimagined' in 1997. Most people consider it a travesty. As an example, Liverpool was originally in Lancashire but now its in the administrative county of Merseyside. The town I live in was in Lancashire as well, but is now in Greater Manchester. I like to rebel, so still use Lancashire in my address.
Merseyside and Greater Manchester were created in 1974 not 1997. The Royal Mail did not accept Greater Manchester as an address so you are not really rebelling
@@pedanticradiator1491 I stand corrected!
Currently 33 counties in Scotland.
Counties change for political requirements.
You are looking at London Steve: this is our Thames river...
The Prime minister decided that East Yorkshire should be renamed as 'North Humberside' and part of Lincolnshire 'South Humberside' We hated it and were very angry and rebelled for years until is was changed back in 97
The E after the D in Derbyshire is pronounced as an A.
Watch the video "Map Men" made about the changes of the counties, and why they were changed at all. ALL the "Shire" names in the US came from England, plus the names that have the "New", like New York (that used to be called "New Amsterdam", before the Brits captured that territory...) Through London flows the river "Themes". Lose the first R when you pronounce "Worcestershire"...
Althought the commntator on this video sounds English, there are a few mis-pronunciations of counties. He refers to 'Berkshire' rather than the correct 'BARKshire', and 'Derby' as it's pronounced in the US. Here in Britain this is pronounced 'DARby'. He also says 'Shrewsbury' as it's written, but this is often (though not always) pronounced 'Shrows bury' (as in 'throw'). He also mispronounces 'Tyne and Wear' which should be pronounced 'Tyne and Weer' not 'wear' as in clothes.
I think Robin Hood is more an amalgamation of storeis of many real people, and woven into the legendary stories we have handed down about him.
Thank you for sharing this information. Ever since I was in Elementary School. Especially History, things didn't make sense to me, that We were taught. When it was time to do book reports /assignments, because things didn't make sense based on the school books, I would go to the Library and do research there. Then I would get a lower grade, because I didn't go by "the book". I too wonder how for instance who or how did the various States in America, get there names, and then how did the towns get there names, and how did streets get there names, so on. Like here's something that doesn't make sense to me. When I hear the word "Court", I think legal. So why in America do We call the place where Tennis is played, "the tennis Court, sometimes they just say "Court" and why especially near where there are several buildings, especially apartments and there's a space many times with a bench for People to sit around and just enjoy the outdoors or People playing ball or kids running around enjoying themselves is that area called "Court". In my opinion most People don't enjoy going to "Court, legal Court that is", regardless of the reason. So who abd why would Someone want to use the same word but for far different meanings? I hope you continue to share more videos like this one. Hopefully I will find more answers to my "dumb" questions, that others don't want or don't care about. There's several books that I read when I was younger, that especially now doesn't seem like it was based on fiction or a childhood made up story, as we were previously told. My Earthly Father use to say to Us, believe nothing that you hear, until you can verify and only partly what you see, and even if you saw it, believe only part of it, until you verify that's what you really saw. Thank you again. Stay Safe.
As many have remarked before me, Mario, there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers.
Regarding ''belief'': believe NOTHING until it's officially denied.
I can answer your questions regarding Court. It is short for Courtyard, the open area in the Bailey of a castle where troops could be marshalled and inspected, amongst other things. From there it was applied to other open spaces surrounded by buildings. Originally legal proceedings would take place in these outdoor areas, but over time the name was kept but used to apply to indoor spaces used for legal proceedings.
Tennis courts, and squash courts, get their names from Courtyard too. The original sport was Royal, or Real, Tennis, a sport for Nobility (most famously played by Henry VIII as well as the Kings of France) that was played in a small courtyard that may or may not have had a roof. Real Tennis is still played by a small number of people and the courts at Hampton Court Palace are the only ones I know of.
And to think not one county in England is pronounced 'SHY-ER'!
Some of this guys pronunciation was off.
Tyne and Wear is pronounced Tyne and wee-er/weir and Derby is Dar-by. I know you've watched history videos so you'll know Northumberland used to be far larger and basically include a good chunk of Yorkshire too. The River Humber is right down there in Yorkshire as opposed to anywhere near the current Northumberland boundary.
Also, it's not just the US that took place names from the UK. Australia has them too.
As a Devonian, I was sad to see they used a really boring picture. It’s a stunningly beautiful county, with two coastlines and wild moors. Although Devon is now named as such, it is also known by its slightly older name, Devonshire.
Robin Hood (pronounced as two distinct words btw, not as Robinhood, as Americans seem to always say), is a legend but there are a few real people who he could have been based on.
Oh and Tyne and Wear is pronounced weer, not wear.
The Local Government Act 1888 created new areas for organising local government that it called administrative counties and county boroughs.
The division of England into shires, later known as counties, began in the Kingdom of Wessex in the mid-Saxon period, many of the Wessex shires representing previously independent kingdoms. With the Wessex conquest of Mercia in the 9th and 10th centuries, the system was extended to central England.
Wessex is one of the seven original kingdoms of England prior to unification.
A county is the same sort of idea as a state.
The USA has New York. We have York.
New Hampshire, we have Hampshire.
New Zealand, and there is actually a place called Zealand…
Somerset, Devon and Dorset were called Somersetshire, Devonshire and Dorsetshire...... but the Shires were dropped from the names.
The river that goes through London it the river Thames.
The Avon is to the west and flows though Bristol, the Thames is th Eastern River and starts in the cotswolds and flows through Oxford then London to the North Sea
Closer to home for you is the origin of a Sherrif it comes from the anglo-saxon name for the Knight who administered the Kings Laws & Justce in a county the Shire Reive there was also a Port-Reive in towns like Dover,Bristol,Chester,ect London being the largest & most Important had both, over time both became called Sherrif today it is a ceremonial role no longer anything to do with law enforcement,their is some truth in Robin hood but It has been stretched & added to over time if you believe it all he would have been about 300 years old when he eventualy died ? Basically it is a tale of Normans Userping the old Saxon Nobility.
River Avon runs through Bristol. River Thames runs through London.
3:18 - what me means is that 1997 was the last time the counties were still as they had always been for 100s of years. So no didn't start in 1997, was going on a long time. But for example in 1997 some of Essex was swallowed up into London and renamed greater London and Middlesex disappeared all together to be part of greater London.. I believe silimar happened with Manchester but could be wrong. It always involves expending cities. all other counties stay the same except for a couple of examples like Yorkshire was one absolutely huge massive county. But now it's North, East, South and West Yorkshire split into 4 👍
Greater London was formed in 1965. The last major change to county boundaries in England was in 1974. In 1996 the administrative divisions of Scotland and Wales were redrawn and since the 1990s some English counties have changed
River Thames flows through London
Liverpool and Manchester are new counties some people don't still wish to be part of Lancashire
By the way , his pronunciation gets worse the further north he goes. Derby is pronounced darby. Tyne and Wear is tine and weer. Also the word riding comes from the viking word thridding - a third.
The early settlers in your country did of course come from England: most of them were escaping religious persecution from differing faiths. As you say, they brought the names of their homeland and repeated them in the new world... hence New Hampshire to name but one.
I’m sure Kent comes from Cantoni a Celtic tribe
As in Canterbury, too...
Please watch & react to MAP MEN .. they are funny & tell you everything about places.. counties.. etc in the UK x
Are shires are a bit like your county's but a bit smaller in size.
London's River is the Thames...pronouced as the river temms. and if you say wuss..tess..shire..you have got it..lol
There are a number of River Avons in England. Avon is old English for river. Confusing.
northern ireland has 6, i'm not sure on the other two i think wales has like 22 & scotland has a bunch more.
The guys pronunciation is a little wonky in places but it was an interesting video.
Berkshire is mispronounced in the video. It is correctly pronounced BARK shire.
Derbyshire is pronounced Darby shire!
Please don't trust his pronunciation he was wrong many times
Shire is where the word sheriff comes from. Originally a sheriff was a 'shire reeve'.
Steve, Unless this is a very decent 'Bot', which I doubt! I'm pretty sure the guy that narrated this video has never been to quite a few of these places or even heard them pronounced correctly by people from that region? Take a good look at others comments who come from the areas concerned.
BTW. I'm surprised you didn't know that the River Thames (Temz) is the main river that flows through London?
Why 'Burkshire'? It's 'Barkshire'. 'Er' used to be pronounced 'ar' before about 1600. Hertfordshire is pronounced correctly. But 'Derby' was wrong - it's 'Darby'.
Oh - and the River Wear is 'Weer'.
Yes I noticed it that. Very irritating.
@@alisonrandall3039 That's artificial intelligence voicing for you. I prefer natural stupidity voicing.
Shire is also pronounced shu hard u
@@JOEFABULOUS. Yes. It's actually called a schwa (ə) and is the most common vowel sound in English.
Lots of pronunciation problems with this video. Two which stand out are Derby/Derbyshire, should be pronounced “Darby/Darbysher” and Tyne & Wear, where Wear is pronounced as Weer. Northumberland got short shift, as the Humber is not “ nearby” but about 100 miles and 5 major rivers south. The true derivation is from the Kingdom of Northumbria, which back in Anglo Saxon times stretched from the Humber into south Scotland. Northumberland was the core of this kingdom and is it’s rump. Keep on searching!
Yes, these are not being pronounced by a native speaker are they....
The 1997 thing is just the latest changes to the borders, they officially existed for centuries, they just change from time to time.
It bugs me that this guy is from England, and still mispronounces several county names.
I was surprised at that. An American would have a genuine excuse.
he speaks in a different accent he isn't misprononcing them he's just got a wee bit of a dialect don't ye see. sorry my inner Ulster-scot came out.
@@cillianennis9921 I'm sorry, but anyone outside the US who pronounces Berkshire as 'Birkshire' (rather than 'Barkshire') has more than a different dialect! That's to say nothing of 'Durbyshire' (Darbyshire') or 'Tyne and Ware' (Weir!).
@@MrPaulMorris yeah the guy also has some problem with pronounciation i watch the channel he reacted to & know that from a video where he talked about it.. Also Ulster-scots is a dialect of Scots. what is a dialect a political term meaning a variatioin of a language seen as not a language. a language & dialect are decided by politics not real linguistics usually. like if the netherlands & germany were united dutch would be a dialect of german but politics protects it from that. the difference is the language has a standardised written form & a dialect usually does not.
@@cillianennis9921 the distinction between language and dialect is not how you described it. scots is debated between a dialect and a language because it is much further away from english than most dialects (american english, australian english) yet it does not have many unique features that make it unintelligible for an english speaker. a dialect of a dialect makes no sense. at most it is a variation of the dialect, in that it is a unique dialect of the main language, just very similar to another dialect. that is if you dont consider scots to be a language in itself. also language groups exist, and english is in the same group that german and dutch are. is english a dialect of german?
Counties weren't made in 1997. It was just some of them being designated as only ceremonial from then on.
To be clear, the county/shire structure we have today has its origins in the 10th and 11th centuries. The Anglo-Saxons called them shires. The Normans, who invaded in 1066, introduced the synonym 'county' to describe these administrative areas. 1997 was just the latest reorganisation.
They have been much changed and a few got abolished like Middlesex. Where the southern thames side has goone ti Surrey and the nothern side went ti greater london and berkshire.
Yes, I still say Middlesex…
I'm not sure where this guy is from. His accent is a bit odd. Berkshire is pronounced Barkshire. The river that runs through London is the Thames, pronounced Temmes. Derby is pronounced Darby. Its a shame he didn't show you Chester. Its a beautiful city with City walls. This wasn't bad and showing the reasons why places got their names helps you remember them. Good reaction.
And the Wear of Tyne and Wear is prnounced Weer, not ware...
In the video he said he was from East Sussex, but it sounds like he has a mild speech impediment too
Check out Jay Foreman / Map Men ‘Why are British place names so hard to pronounce’ - they’re funny and informative
Seconded!
Worcester is pronounced Wooster (it's that simple 😀). All the shire counties are pronounced 'sheer' or 'sha' and not 'shire'. The narrator manages to butcher most of his pronunciations so I suspect it's AI generated. Darby instead of Derby and River Weer instead of River Ware. Robin Hood is based on true stories passed down. Keep'em coming 👍🏻
PS. England has 5 River Avons, Scotland 3 and Wales 1. 'Avon' is a Celtic word meaning 'river' (Afon in Welsh).
@@neuralwarp To be really pedantic, it's Woostə (with a schwa - the most common vowel sound in English).
As a Lancastrian, we pronounce it Lanca- shur !
@@karenashworth5743 As a Durham lad I always thought all southerners were odd 😉
@@tmac160 that they are !
The narrator was unable to pronounce 'th', turning it into 'f' or 'v' every time. Probably an underlying London/Cockney accent.
The city of York (and hence Yorkshire) has an interesting history. It started off as Ancient British Ebrog, which means the place with the Yew tree. The Romans came along and changed it to Eboracum. Then along came the Anglo Saxons and thought that the Ebor bit was referring to a boar (Old English eofor, modern German Eber) so called it Eoforwic (Boar Town). Along come the Vikings and alter it to Jorvik, since when it's been gradually worn-down to York.
@Dj O.B correct
@Dj O.B Yes, it was the capital of the Danelaw when the English capital was Winchester.
Another boaring fact is that there was a Boar Farm in my neck of the woods (Old English Eofortun). They have a footy team that plays in blue not red, like their rivals.
Our history is so ancient it is almost impossible to comprehend
It’s weird because my surname is Everett, which was a modern English version of eofer meaning boar. So my name means as brave, hardy and strong as a boar. Wonder how my ancestors got that name
@Dj O.B Hence the two Archbishoprics in the Church of England: Canterbury and York
Derby/ Derbyshire is pronounced Darby.
Interesting video, good to learn more about the reason behind the names.
Although the narrator miss pronounced Derbyshire, it's pronounced Darbyshire.
Just saying 😂
He also mispronounced three. It's not free. :p
Same with pronunciation of 'Barkshire' , even though it's spelt Berkshire.
River through London is the Thames pronounced tems . Great video 🙂
Immediately after you asked if it was the River Avon in London, the first word the narrator said when you pressed “Play” was the name of the river and you missed it 😂 - it’s the Thames (pronounced “Tems”).
I noticed that, too.
Steve, please take a look at Jay Foreman's videos like "Map Men" etc.......They are very factually informative whilst being amusing. Give him a try?
I second that..👍
@@orwellboy1958 I third it 👍
This vid is quite annoying as person claims to be British yet doesn't know how to pronounce British place names
The river in London is the Thames. "Avon" is a celtic word for river. A word which due to Celt- Saxon misunderstanding became applied to several different rivers in England.
Afon, I think is the celtic word.
The biggest and most famous of which I believe is the one through Bristol
I thought it was the Romans, not the Saxons, but I could be wrong.
@@matthewclarke4246 The city and county of Bristol and large parts of southern Gloucestershire and northern Somerset were amalgamated into the 'county' of Avon in the 70's, and then it was dissolved in 1997. The name is still preserved in the police regional name of Avon and Somerset. The Avon is the river that runs through Bath and Bristol and then into the Bristol Channel.
Avon was originally dissolved into 3 counties, the City and County of Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES), and South Gloucestershire although the latter two have now been adopted back into their 'home' county, more or less, however their exact nature is debated. Are they still counties or are they districts? It it likely their existence or not that the video alludes to as up for debate.
Avon is Welsh word not Celtic. And comes from the Welsh word Afon meaning River. The Welsh F is equivalent to English V, hence the anglicisation of Afon to Avon
Jay Foreman is the best at maps in the UK plus he's hilarious.. mapmen.. very knowledgeable plus a bit addictive 🤣
Ceremonial counties in 1997? This is rubbish. The county system is about 1000 years old and still exists. There was some reorganisation in 1974 when the County Palatine of Lancashire was split up for local government purposes into Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire. The narrative is superficial. Kent comes from the British tribe of the Cantii, one of the first places overrun by the Romans in 43AD. I suggest you read some proper books on the subject not depending on questionable videos. You seem to have the forgotten the Isle of Man, in the middle of The Irish Sea, a Viking settlement still with its own Parliament comprising 3 houses.
Keep the videos coming: I enjoy watching your journey of discovery. I'm Anglo-Scots/Irish, and as far as I can tell, my family has always lived in these islands. Indeed, I managed to trace my English ancestry back to the 13th century!
Thanks Matthew. I appreciate it. That's awesome you've been able to trace your roots that far back. I plan on getting back to my tree soon.
The word "Avon" is an ancient Celtic word meaning "river", hence many rivers are called "Avon". The river running through London is the Thames (pronounced "Tems".
Yes, but there is the river Avon (i live in Bristol and it runs past my window)😉
This happens all over the world and gets quite excessive in some cases. Imagine some foreigner asking a local what that river is called and he shrugs and says The River in his dialect.
@@SeeDaRipper... And the river running through my town of Warwick is also the River Avon, but not your Avon!
Yes like Mount Maunganui (mount big mountain)
@@shushia1658 Torpenhow = hill hill hill
Robin Hood is mostly a fictitious character but is thought to have been inspire by and collected from various bandits and highwaymen that operated in the area around that time. A lot of the added lore and characters were added in by later writers and poets who wanted to spice up the old folk legends.
I think there’s evidence that the original Robin Hood was active mainly in South Yorkshire as well.
Well they named an airport after him.
Any place name that has 'chester' in it, is named after a Roman fort. Such as here in Manchester, the fort within the city is an interesting place to visit, but there's quite a few other Roman forts all over the place!
You should look at Jay Foreman's videos (if you haven't already), he has a couple in his Map Men series about British counties and place names. They are informative but also told with a very British sense of humour so aren't everybody's cup of tea. :)
Don't pronounce Shire as a suffix to a county, pronounce it as Sher! Only pronounce it as Shire in its singularity, "this is the Shire of Leicester (Pronounced as Lester) Lestersher!
To get your tongue around Worcestershire, pronounce it as Worstersher.
I know you didn't mean to insult a Londoner by pointing to the mighty river that runs through London as the Avon, you stopped the Video at 08:26 showing Tower Bridge in all its magnificence, with the River Thames (pronounced Tems) running under it, he actually said this at 08:48 in relation to the Thames (Tems).