Talk:Haverfordwest

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LinguisticDemographer 01:07, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Name derivation

What ever became of the Hafna's ford in the west theory? If this has been thouroughly discredited, in recent years, perhaps the reasons for that would be worth recording? Theory had it that it may have begun as a Viking settlement (perhaps with some conflation of the word ford, as in river-crossing with fjord, as in sea-inlet). Belief in Viking descent seems to be quite fashionable at the moment (see BBC's Gene Detectives) and a peninsular-confined population would have a higher chance than most of success in using genetic testing to come up with the evidence to back up the theory. Had there been continuity of such a settlement as far as the 11th century, they might have practically welcomed the arrival of the Normans (former Vikings) with open arms. As well as the lack of pre-Norman archaeological evidence for it, the sheer number of castles within 30 miles of the town is indicative of quite the opposite kind of reception! EatYerGreens 22:40, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

It sounds fair enough to me. The derivation given is that of Charles' Placenames of Pembrokeshire, which is the normal reference work. Old forms of the name listed there do not bear out a "fjord" form. If you have alternative sources (with citations) by all means add these as an alternative.
P.S. the BBC gene project showed the Haverfordwest population to be pure, undiluted Iberian Celtic, a distinctly unfashionable result! Maybe they got the samples mixed up. See Capelli, C., et al, "A Y Chromosome Census of the British Isles", in "Current Biology", Vol 3, 2003, pp 979-984.

LinguisticDemographer 01:05, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Aha, so that's how you indent! (excuse the noob). Unfashionable result, maybe, but I'm sure they were all delighted to find out that they were all 'properly' Welsh. (Dispassionate Englishman, myself). I think they needed to be able to prove at least seven generations in the area, to qualify for the gene testing, so the potential sample size would be small (diligent genealogists only!) but that helps make the results uncontestable. I am unable to cite the 'Hafna' source and cannot even recall if it was a book about the town's history or a Western Telegraph article. I'd guess the publication date would be before 1980, if that helps. EatYerGreens 22:39, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
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