ISBN 0-620-24965-X

138pp, soft cover, black and white sketches.

In 1999 an overseas visitor, John Beazley of Uttoxeter, England, complained to Ed that he could not find any information about the origins, meanings or pronunciation of all the peculiar South African names he encountered here. We found that the last book on Cape place names had been published in 1926 ... and so ‘Beard Shaver’s Bush’ was born. The name was meant to be a joke ... a quite incorrect translation of the real name ‘Baardskeerdersbos’ ... but we’ve been quite amazed at how many emails we’ve received that say something like “By the way, the proper name is ‘Baardskeerdersbos’.” Sad, hey.

Beard Shaver’s Bush – Place Names in the Cape by Ed Coombe and Peter Slingsby lists the origins, meanings and pronunciation (of non-English names) of nearly 2000 Western Cape place names. Arranged in regions and categories, the book is comprehensively indexed and has very few mistakes. We say that because so many ‘origins’ of place names are very controversial.

A typical entry reads:

Masiphumelele let us succeed      (MUSSI-POOMER-LEH-LEH) [Xhosa]
                             A settlement near Ocean View.

The book is illustrated with black and white sketches.
These are available in TrueType font form as a free download here

“... an hilarious, informative and hugely entertaining guide...” – Cape Argus

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>> Click here to see a list of names in this book.
   

Many tourist maps available in South Africa are printed and produced overseas.
They are drawn by people who have never stepped on African soil, who would not know Cape Town from Calitzdorp or Nyanga from Knysna.
Baardskeerder cc is rooted right here, the twenty-third proudly signed-up member of the Proudly South African Campaign.
Baardskeerder cc, PO Box 303, Muizenberg 7950 South Africa  •  Tel: +27 21 788-4545 Fax +27 86 508 2817

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