Meaning of 'Reskadinnick', please

[vivian2008]

Does anyone know the meaning of 'Reskadinnick' - it is now a small village but used to be the name of my ancestors' home.

[davidkingmartin]

Reskadinnick: this does not answer your question, but if you Google the name and click on "Francis Frith" (photo.collection), you will find a map etc.
David.

[genie]

The link below show a number of Vivian's.
www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/Camborne/1856PO.html

[Deleted]

Hi

I found this which may be useful:

Tredinnick, an odd name !!! Good heavens, where have you been??? -- Kansas ?
Tredinnick is one of the most well known names in Cornwall. There must be hundreds of them.
I can't help a lot on this, all my archives are in Cornwall and Brittany, and I have to work from memory, but someone with a Cornish dictionary will be able to help better.
When I was young I grew up near a place called Reskadinnick. It was a sort of manor house in a coombe or small valley running north from Camborne to the North cliffs at Reskajeage.
The Res in Reskadinnick means "Ford"
The Tre in Tredinnick is equivalent to farm.
The Dinnick part of the name??? --
Dinas and Dyn (even the deen in Pendeen) means fortified. (Pendeen = fortified headland). And although Vince and Dave who live at Pendeen are fortifying themselves today to celebrate Dave's 33rd birthday, usually Dinas or Dyn refers to a neolithic, bronze age or iron age fortification, dated between say 3000 BC to about 100 AD.
My guess would be that Tredinnick meant something like "the farm on the site of the old defensive fortifications, but this is only one possibility. (Somebody out there must have some books -- Help!)
Reskadinnick could mean The ford at Tredinnick.
If there had been a mill there it might have been called Vellankadinnick and you would all think it was somewhere in Russia.
Originally there must have been several places called Tredinnick in Cornwall. How many today I don't know.
As to you thinking Tredinnick sounded odd, hang on a minute, see how harmoniously it fits in with the names of other places within a mile or two of Reskadinnick --
Reskadinnick, Reskajeage, Roseworthy, Roswarne, Roskear, Roscroggan, Menwinnion, Menandarva, Goonzoyle, Kehelland, Killivose, Treswithian, Treslothan, Pendarves, Pengegon, Carvannel, Gwealavellen, Godrevy, Nanterrow, Nancemellin, Tolvaddon, Tolcarne, Carnarthen, Carwynnen, Condurrow, Coswinsawsin.
All these are compounded from simple Celtic Cornish words like
Res = Ford, Ros = sloping land (eg on a cliff or moor), Goon = moor, Men = Rocks, Nan or Nance = valley, Tol = top, carn = carn or cairn, vellan = mill. They are no different to English compound names like Green orchard farm.
I use the words "probably" and "maybe" a lot because nobody can be really certain about the origin of these words -- maybe there was a man (or woman) called Dinnick so Tredinnick was really Dinnick's farm.
Take a word like "du". I know three meanings for it -- Sunday, two, and black.
So places called Men-Du in Cornwall and at Carnac in Brittany could mean Black Rocks, Two rocks, or Sunday rocks, You have to look at the place and make a guess.
Take the place already mentioned "Coswinsawson". Cos = wood, win = white, sawson = saxon. It is generally interpreted as The white wood of the Englishman. But unless win is used in the context of fair or beautiful in this case, maybe it makes more sense to assume the Saxon was very blond (or old) and interpret Coswinsawson as the Wood of the white Saxon, or the wood of Win (White) the Saxon

[vivian2008]

Thanks so much you guys. I have been there and know the house etc., but the name seems to baffle many, so I am specially grateful for the quote from Iannanta. Any other offerings will be as helpful, I'm sure.

[myghaelangof]

I asked a cousin of mine in Cornwall to research the name Rescadinnick and this is what he came up with:

Re: 'Reskadinnick'; according to Craig Weatherhill's, (a friend of Sandy's apparently), 'Place Names in Cornwall and Scilly' the meaning is: 'Ros Cadedhek' that is Cadedoc's roughland.


I'll leave this with you to mull over.
Mike

[vivian2008]

Thanks Mike. There seem to be several 'meanings' for the name. Now I'll have to find out who or what Cadedoc is/was!

[myghaelangof]

Nothing on google for Cadedoc, apart from the name cropping up on The Camelot Herald ( ) a gaming website. However I wonder if the name does relate to 'Dinnick'. It would seem logical to translate it as something like 'ford by Dinnick' or 'ford belonging to Dinnick'

Thank you lannanta for your post as the Dinnick name does crop up in different places including an associate of my Arundell Shakerley who was mentioned in the will of Michael Tredinnick of Penzance.
Mike

[tonymitch]

Hows about this one then.......Res = bank or more ususally 'row' (See the Welsh Rhes as found in Risca, the town in Gwent) and Dinnas = Fortification (See Dinnas Bran, castle near Llangollen, Dinnas Powys, town near Cardiff) This makes the compound name of Resdinnas,not a millon miles away from Reskadinnick. (note the 'ca' stuck onto the end and the removal of the 'h' in Risca)...just a suggestion but possibly more where that came from.

Tony M

[tonymitch]

OK...my laguage expert has come up with the definitive explanation...... He doesn't know! however he offers the following.....'Res' = ford ; Din = fortification (as in e-DIN- burgh) 'nick' = possibly a diminutive to 'din' as in the name Jannick = little Jan (in English we usually just add a 'y' sound as in Bill(y); Fredd(ie): The result is......."Fortification by the little ford "or "Little fortification by the ford".

It is often quite a problem translating only by using dictionaries etc. I recall thanking Polish relatives for their hospitality by pointing to the word 'hospitality' in a phrase book. Unfortunately, I had pointed to the next word listed and found myself thanking them for their 'hostility'. An international incident was averted by means of a bottle of Vodka.

Tony M

[vivian2008]

Well, I guess I'll have to make up a meaning that will run as long as a certain Welsh railway station! By the time I get to the end of the name, they'll have forgotten the start, as will I, I am sure.

But thanks so much for your help.

[newlyn]

Rescadinnick is given by Bannister as Cadonoc's heath or moor.
Its in a valley near Camborne and means 'the place where Cadonoc fell'

I have'nt been able to find out who Cadonoc is or which era Bannister comes from.

Newlyn

[Cornish Terrier]

Taking the easy way out (for now) I have been unable to find anything in the Index of any of my main Cornish books that might be of help.

If I looked thoroughly I might come up with something but it is more likely I think that I would be reverting to the Cornish Dictionaries and trying to make something fit.
Without actually seeing the place (or a photo of it) to see what the building and surrounding countryside is like it would be pure guess work.

But you all seem to have been doing quite well so I will let it rest for now and catch up on the rest of more than two months worth of messages I have missed.

But I will keep an eye out here.

When you come up with the name I intend to count every letter just to see if you can better that place in Wales. ;D

CT