The Ninth Annual Conference of the Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland was held in the University of Wales Bangor, from 28 April to 1 May 2000, attracting some sixty-five attenders from all over the UK and Ireland. This is the third occasion that Bangor has hosted a Name Studies Conference, so many of the participants were renewing an acquaintance with the town and the university, although on this occasion, we were housed in a splendid new residence, Bryn Dinas, which afforded excellent views of the Menai Straits.
After a welcome by the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof Roy Evans, the opening lecture, on 'Language and History in Modern Wales' was given by Professor Emeritus J. Gwynn Williams. This was an erudite and stylish presentation by a master of his subject, and warmly received by the audience. Saturday consisted of a full programme of papers, varying from Prof. Richard Coates (University of Sussex), on 'Chit-Chat about Ched/Chad-' to Dr Mary Higham's fascinating paper on 'Harpers' Lands', which was well-illustrated as one always comes to expect with Mary's presentations. Of special interest to your reporter was Maggie Scott's paper on 'Privick - a Scottish place-name'. This was Maggie's first formal conference effort, and it was widely appreciated, with lots of useful feedback. Another particular of interest to the Scottish contingent was Peder Gammeltoft's paper on 'Some thoughts on the effect of Gaelic on place-names of Scandinavian origin in the Hebrides'. Those who have heard Peder lecture to the SPNS will be glad to hear that he has successfully defended his thesis on bólstadr names in the University of Copenhagen, where he is now a member of the staff of the Stadnamnavkiv.
The coach excursion on Sunday afternoon was a circular tour, round Snowdon (via Caernarfon), and was led by Mr Bob Morris, an experienced member of the University staff whose grasp of local history, landscape and geology was without parallel.
Overall, it was a brilliant conference, in comfortable surroundings, with first-class dining facilities and excellent papers. The Scottish contingent, consisting of Maggie Scott, Carole Hough, Doreen Waugh and Prof Bill & Mrs May Nicolaisen enjoyed the conference immensely.
For details of current and future events please go to the SNSBI website.