Brigomono
Attested: Brigomono at position 174 in the Ravenna Cosmography
Where: Glenluce, where a Roman camp at NX198566 guarded a crossing of the river Luce. Or else further west, somewhere around NW9759 and Larbrax or the Knock and Maize standing stone, where beaches on Broadsea Bay and Knock Bay would have suited currach-type boats sailing the shortest route to Ireland, as explained by Brooke (1996), who likened Brigomono to Lapasperi, mentioned by Bernard of Clervaux in the 1100s, and to Menybrig, a name recorded in the AD 1400s.
Name Origin: If one supposes that Brigomono was named by Roman troops its natural meaning is ‘bridge hill’, because all the Germanic languages have cognates of the word bridge (though what exactly they would have signified in Roman times is debatable; see under Brige) and because the –mono part obviously resembles Latin mons ‘mount’. This interpretation is a perfect fit to Mote Hill, a natural hill with steep slopes, at NX194573, next to the river crossing. If the name was created by local people, its natural meaning might be more like ‘great stone’, with first element related to Celto-Germanic *briga/*berg ‘hill, hill-fort’ and second element related to Welsh maen ‘stone’.
Notes: Nearby is Dunragit, which has attracted great interest as possibly an important place in the later kingdom of Rheged. Archaeology at Glenluce Sands suggests a trading place (wic) active in the date range AD 500-900. Ptolemy's Αβραουαννου river mouth was there too. See here for a discussion of all Roman names in this area north of the Solway.
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Last edited 30 May 2023 to main Menu