Note 6 — Chapter I · LEGENDARY ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSITY

“The old spelling is Bernewell, in the time of Henry III. and later. Somewhat earlier is Beornewelle, in a late copy of a charter dated 1060 (Thorpe, Diplom., p. 383). So also in the Ramsey Cartulary. The prefix has nothing to do with the Anglo-Saxon bearn, ‘a child,’ as has often, I believe, been suggested; but represents Beornan, gen. of Beorna, a pet name for a name beginning with Beorn-.... The difference between the words, which are quite distinct, is admirably illustrated in the New Eng. Dict. under the words berne and bairn.”—Skeat’s Place-Names of Cambridgeshire, p. 35.