home or residence of the Birms; and there can be little question that this is its true meaning."[1] We have here a rational etymology and meaning of the name of the town.
My friend, Mr. Sebastian Evans, has supplied me with the following remarks on the word Brummagem:—"The vernacular 'Brummagem' is," he says, "a variation of the word Birmingham, which seems to have most unnecessarily puzzled the etymologists. Bermingeham is the spelling of Domesday, and there can be little doubt that the e following the g signifies that the g was pronounced soft, as was frequently the case in the Midlands in words in which the g was elsewhere pronounced hard. The entire word would, therefore, be sounded as Bérminjam, which swiftly spoken, slides naturally in the mouth of a Midlander into Bremijam or 'Brummagem.' Precisely the same phenomenon presents itself in the case of the name Bagot. One branch of the family, whether Midland or not I know not, thought fit to pronounce the g soft, and still writes itself Bagelhot, sounded Bajot. A vast number of words were in the same way pronounced with the g hard or soft, according to the dialect prevalent in the district. Thus, springs are, in some parts of England, called springes, and hinges hings, and fifty more instances might easily be quoted. It is observable that the name Edgbaston presents another instance in point. Originally Edgbaston was 'Egbald's tun' or town, the g being pronounced soft according to Midland wont, giving rise to the modern form of the word.
"The literal meaning of the word Birmingham is the homestead of the sons of Birm' or Beorm, the Saxon form of the name which appears in the Norse Sagas as Biorn. Like Æsc, and several other names, Beorm seems to have been that of a mythic or semi-mythic personage, from whom a tribe of Saxons traced their descent. The Norse Sagas mention several such half deified Biorns, one of whom may perhaps have been identical with the Saxon Beorm from whom our forefathers traced their pedigree—the very one, perhaps, who makes no inconsiderable figure in Scandinavian tradition as Biorn the Merchant.'"
- ↑ The whole of this interesting letter is printed in the Appendix.
