[afraidfortherepublic]

I have a small, brass, door knocker that pictures a woman in traditional Welsh costume (tall hat, long skirt) and says “Bettws-y-coed” across the top and “Wales” across the bottom. Can anybody translate?

[Last of the Mohicans]

Betws-y-coed is a lovely little village in the hills of north Wales. I was there in 1988.

[Myrddin]

Betws is nominally "chapel". Coed is "trees". The meaning is roughly the chapel in the trees. Most Welsh places names have a descriptive element. The word "Aber" means "mouth" as in the mouth of a river. The cities Aberystwyth (mouth of the Ystwyth river), Abertawe (mouth of the Towy river) and Aberaeron (mouth of the river Aeron). Pen-y-bont desribes a village and the "end of the bridge". Pont-y-Pridd describes a bridge made of an earthen dam. Pontrhyygroes describes a bridge that fords a river at a cross roads. My great grandfather came from Ysbty Ystwyth which is a village where hospital was located along the Ystwyth river.