What's in a name?

There have been comments made that the name Cor Gawr is not, strictly speaking, a correct use of the Welsh language. I'm not certain where the name originated. I've been told it came from the fertile mind of Philip Shallcrass back when the BDO had care of the Gorsedd but I don't know for sure. However, seeing as I am now in the process of learning both Middle Welsh and Modern Welsh, I took the opportunity to do a little research.

'Brut Dingestow' (c. 1300) is a Middle Welsh translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's 'History of the Kings of Britain' ('Historia Regum Britanniae'), which was written originally in Latin. It is also the earliest manuscript in which I have found a name for Stonehenge in the Welsh language.

In Sebastian Evans' English translation (Everyman 1903) of Geoffrey's 'Historia' (Book VIII, 10) we find Merlin speaking to the King known to history as Ambrose Aurelian who Evans refers to as Aurelius and the author of 'Brut Dingestow' as Emreis, Emrys being the Welsh for Ambrose. He is outlining the plan to erect the stones at Stonehenge by bringing them from Ireland. (Ok, I know the bluestones came from Wales and the sarsens from Salisbury Plain but Geoffrey clearly didn't know this.)

Sebastian Evan’s English translation:
"If thou be fain to grace the burial-place of these men with a work that shall endure for ever, send for the Dance of the Giants that is in Killare, a mountain in Ireland."

Brut Dingestow's Middle Welsh translation:
"Arglvyd," heb ef, "o mynny di teccau bedravt y guyr hyn o dragywydavl weithret, anuon hyt yn Iwerdon y gyrchu cor y keuri y syd yno y mynyd Kilara."

As you can see, the word order is quite different between the two translations.

I don't have a copy of Geoffrey's original Latin text but Christopher Chippindale in a footnote to his 'Stonehenge Complete' (Thames and Hudson, Revised Ed. 1994, p.22) says "'Chorea gigantum', the medieval Latin name for Stonehenge, is generally translated as 'Giants' Ring' or 'Giants' Dance'. I prefer 'Giants' Round', which expresses both its shape and the idea of dancing."

'Côr' means a choir or a circle. The word dance isn't listed as a translation for 'côr' in any dictionary I can find. However the Middle Welsh is clear, being 'Cor y keuri', which would become 'Côr y Cewri' in modern Welsh.

It has to be 'Cewri' (plural) because 'Cawr' (the unmutated form of 'Gawr') is only one giant and you need more than one for a choir or a circle and you need the 'y' because it's a specific reference and not a general one.

'Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru' ('University of Wales Dictionary') lists 'Côr y Cewri' (meaning 'The Giants' Circle') as the words used commonly in Modern Welsh (since the eighteenth century) for Stonehenge and, by extension, for other prehistoric stone circles.

So the critics of the name are quite right. It should be 'Gorsedd Côr y Cewri'. The next question will be that, now we know it's wrong, what do we do about it, if anything? Change is difficult and we are used to 'The Gorsedd of Cor Gawr'. I suppose we're stuck with it but it makes me cringe, ever so slightly, every time I hear it...

Bendithion yr Awen,
Kestrel /|\ Y Genlli Goch
Mawrth (March) 2005.

Note:
Since writing this I have acquired a copy of 'Sieffre o Fynwy' / 'Geoffrey of Monmouth' by AOH Jarman. This is a bilingual summary (rather than translation) of Geoffrey's Historia. Jarman also uses 'Côr y Cewri' as the Welsh name for Stonehenge.
Kestrel /|\
Gorffenaf (July) 2005.

Recently I have had a chance to speak with Philip Shallcrass and to do some more research of my own. It appears that the error has a long history and, like many errors, once made it has been repeated a number of times, ad infinitum. John Wood in his 1747 book on Stonehenge, which is admirable for the detailed survey he made, used the name 'Choir Gaur' meaning allegedly 'Choir of Giants'. The earliest use of 'Cor Gawr' I could find was in Charles Hulbert's 1825 book 'Religions of Britain' (p.37) and it continued to be copied by a series of English writers down to the 20th century. Some of them thought it meant 'great circle', which is equally wrong. Philip thought he may have got it from Godfrey Higgins' book 'Anacalypsis' (vol.2 p.411).
It has also been pointed out to me that Cor Gawr could mean in Welsh either 'dwarf giant' or 'choir of shout'. I leave you with that thought!
Kestrel /|\
Mehefin (June) 2008.

Bibliography:
Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, a Dictionary of the Welsh Language, Cyfrol (Volume) I, A-Ffysur, Caerdydd (Cardiff), Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru (University of Wales Press), 2002, p.555
Jarman, A O H, Sieffre o Fynwy / Geoffrey of Monmouth, Caerdydd / Cardiff, Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru / University of Wales Press, 1966, p.60
Lewis, Henry (Gol. (Ed.)), Brut Dingestow, Caerdydd, Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 1974 (Reprint of 1942 edition), p.126
Monmouth, Geoffrey of, History of the Kings of Britain, translated by Sebastian Evans, revised by Charles W Dunn, London, Everyman, 1963, p.164