OS1/26/21/1
| List of names as written | Various modes of spelling | Authorities for spelling | Situation | Description remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RENFREW [parish] | Renfrew Parish Renfrew Parish Renfrew Parish Renfrew Parish Renfrew Parish |
New Statistical Account Old Statistical Account Chalmer's Caledonia Fullerton's Gazetteer County Directory |
008; 008 | "The name of the parish as well as the County appears to have belonged originally to the Site and neighbourhood of the present burgh. A town bearing the name existed here in the reign of David I, which commenced in 1124. We are from this and other evidence, carried back to a parish when some of the dialect of the Celtic must have been spoken in this part of the country; in this immediate neighbourhood, - most probably that of the Strath Clyde Britons, Clyde, Leven, Lomond,Dumbarton, and as we think Renfrew,are all british names. The author of the Caledonia derives the last of these names from Rhyn in Welsh, or Rinn, in Gaelic & Irish; - both meaning a point of land, and Frew or Fraw in Welsh, a flow of water; thus making Renfrew the point of land near the flow or conflux of the rivers Clyde and Gryfe. All who are acquainted with the localities of the burgh will recognise in this an apt description: yet it must have been much more so, when the rivers spread out as they formerly did, leaving the lands around the burgh literally as a point appearing amidst the waters. Assuming then, that this name was applied to the site of the burgh, it is easy to understand how it would afterwards be given to the burgh itself, and from it to the parish; and we know, that it was afterwards extended first to the barony, and then to the Sheriffdom or county. Hence the name of the burgh, the parish, and the county of Renfrew. This parish comprehends the whole of the burgh, and a landward district of. |
Continued entries/extra info
[Page] 1County of Renfre Parish of Renfrew
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DANIALSAN, macfam
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