The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-18

THE MON lprenx An was prsnxed to the fathers | name and to each preceding ancestor in the male line through the longest ped- igrees. So if . man named Llywelyn | ap-Teronwy ap- Teon had son Gruf- fydd, the latter would be Gruffydd ap- | LlyweIyn ap-Tegonwy ap-Teon. Gruf- | fydd's son Rhys would then De Rhys ap-Gruffydd ap-Llywelyn ap-Tesonwy | long as the owner of the name desired. This explains the point in Andrew Borde's description of Welshman. T am a gentylman and come of Bru- tus' blood.
 My name is ap-Ryce, ap-Davy. ap- Flood"
 The Welsh pedigrees did not always stop with the Flood but frequently ap- Adam appears as the ultimate goal in
 Henry VIII. did not like this cum bersome system of nomenclature and so he induced many of the Welsh gem try to adopt an hereditary surname from the single personal name of the father of an earlier ancestor. The new custom spread slowly but became com mon in time. Hence 1t comes about that almost all the family nanies of the Principality are derived from personal names.
 Ap-Rhye. ap-Rys, ap-faice. Apprise. Apryce. Appryce, Aprees. were six teenth century variants of the name in England. Pryce Is now rare and characteristic of Shropshirel Ap- Rice became Price. just as ap-Hugh became Pugh. ep-Richard became Prichard, ap- Roger became ProdEer. ap- Howell ah hAra Bevan, etc.
 The old personal name Rhys has be- come the parent of the surnames Rhys, Reece Reese. Rees, Rice, Ryce, etc. Brice, when of Welsh origin. is from ab-Rhys. in the form ab-Rice. and the surnames Breese and Breeze are but phonetic and photographic variants of it.
 The origin and meaning of Rhys have been very variously given. It seems most likely. however. that 1t appears in the base of the Welsh rhyswr, .-a combatant, warrior.'' Beyond this point the two most plausible theories diverge. the one running toward the Latin ruo trush," the other toward the German riese. Dutch reus, "a giant" Each of these has it's dificulties and neither is eminently satisfactory. 9th CT suggestions are palpably worse and usually demonstrably worthless.
 For the present, Rice, etc. must rest at the warrior" and Price must rest content with knowing that he is be- yond all question the son of Rice"
 Teller, TaIfaferre.
 The prosaic explanation of the name Taliaferro makes 1t an occupaf1ve sur name. sisnifying "one who cuts iron. an iron worker"
 Legend, however. Is not content with fhfa fd1la ho po thus; William. Count of Angouleme. in a battle against the Northmen, en- gagged their King storis, and. with single sroke of his sword, Durissina cut in two his cuirass and body. He. in consequence received the sobriquet Taillefer. of ''cut iron" and transmit ted it as surname to his family.
 The first of the name in England was the noble jougiere Taillefer." who accompanied the Conqueror and distin- guished himself at Hastings The old chroniclers tell how on the morning of the battle. this knight, mounted on swift horse. rode before the Duke. singing songs of Chsrlemagne, of Roland and oliver. and of the peers who fell at Roncesvalles. throwing his sword into the air, and catching 1t again as it fell. As they drew nigh. the English. he turned to the Duke and cried: "A boon, sire; have long served you and you owe me for all such service. Today, so please you, you shall repay 1t. I ask you as my guer-' don, and beseech you for it earnestly. that you will allow me to strike the, first blow in the battle." The Duke answered: T grant it." Then Taiile- fer put his horse to gallop, charging before all the rest. and struck an Eng Iishman dead, driving his lance into the body below the breast and stretching him upon the ground. Then he drew his sword and struck an- other, crying out: Come oni come ont what do yeu. sirs? Lay onl lay onF'. At the second blow he struck, the English pressed forward, surrounded and slew nim.
 The name survived and appears on the Hundred Rolls t1273) in that of William Tailefer, in Kent. In 1922 Taylfre is found as personal name in Hertfordshire. Tailzefer was a Scotch variant in the sixteenth century.
 The modernized Telfer now prevails in Northumberland, and beside 1t. in fewer numbers. the corrupted form Tel ford. This latter form is said to be due to Thomas Telford, the great en- gineer who, thinking his name Teller unmeaning. adopted the form Telford. A notable instance of the lamentabie and all too common ignorance that has played havoc with many Q sur same. Telford assumes a purely im- aginary local origin.
 The prototheme of Taliaferro is from the Old French verb taller. ''to cut" This in turn is from the Latin agricultural term talea, "a cutting. a slip" Thus Nonius ". 473, explains the term: "Taleas scissiones liquorum vel praesegmina varro dioit de re rustica lib I; nam etiam nunc rustica exscindere ramum.'S (Taleae are cut tings of wood or slips. Varro says in the first book of his ''Treatise on Country Affairs" that even now to di-