only have little relation to the Roman names (e.g. Chester - 'Deva', Winchester - 'Venta Belgarum' etc.). Many English places derive part of their name from the river upon which they were built, but in the 16th century many English rivers were renamed with back-formations from towns on their banks. Cambridge, perhaps uniquely, illustrates both effects: originally Grontabricc, a bridge on the Granta, the name became Cantebruge and then Cambrugge, from which the river was renamed Cam. The scholars of Oxford renamed the upper course of the River Thames running through Oxford to Dorchester-on-Thames as the "Isis", owing to an incorrect assumption that the Latin name of the river, Tamesis, represented a combination of "Thame" (a river that joins the Thames at Dorchester) and "Isis". Wales The vast majority of place names in Wales are Welsh by origin, containing elements such as Llan-, Aber-, Pen- etc. Along the south coast of Wales, where English has historically been more widely spoken, many place names are commonly anglicized, such as Pontypool, derived from Pont-y-Pŵl. Many places throughout Wales have alternative names in English unrelated to the name in Welsh, for example, Newport (where the Welsh name Casnewydd means "New Castle") and Swansea (derived from the Norse meaning "Svein's island") for the Welsh Abertawe (Mouth of the River Tawe. In some cases these are in fact related to their Welsh name, but disguised through linguistic processes of mutation, for example Monmouth and the Welsh Trefynwy both referring to the River Monnow (Mon- < Monnow < Mynwy > -fynwy). Welsh place names tend to be associated with natural features rather than people, hence elements describing rivers, hills and valleys are common. The exceptions are places with the prefix Llan, meaning 'Church', which often contain the name of the Saint the church is dedicated to, e.g. Llansantffraid - 'Church of St. Bridget'. Scotland In the islands of Scotland, particularly Orkney and Shetland, but also the Western Isles, there are many names of Norse origin; this is also true on Caithness and other coasts of the mainland. In the Highlands, the names are primarily in Scottish Gaelic, with emphasis on natural features; elements such as Glen- (valley) and Inver- (confluence, mouth) are common. These have replaced Pictish names that still occur on the east coast. In lowland Scotland, names are of more diverse origin. Many are Gaelic, but many are also from the Brythonic branch of