“Berw”is the South Welsh name for the effervescence in the deep receptacle in which a Cataract foams after its fall; it is applied also to the Cataract itself, as“Berw Rhondda,”the fall of the River Rhondda.Aber, in Cornish, means“a Confluence of Rivers,”also“a Gulf,”“a Whirlpool.”61In Breton or Armorican Aber means“a confluence of Rivers.”“Dans le diocese de Vannes,”says Bullet,“le mot[pg 072]a encore une autre signification, c'estcelle de torrent.”“In the diocese of Vannes this word has still another meaning, viz., that of‘a Torrent!’”Compare Torr-ens (Latin),“Torrent”(English), from Torreo (Latin),“To boil.”“Aber, in a deflected sense,”he says,“has been applied to a Harbour; hence Havre de Grace!”“It is a curious fact,”says Chalmers,“which we learn from the Charters of the twelfth century, that the Scoto-Irish people substituted Inver for the previous Aber of the Britons. David I. granted to the Monastery of MayInver-Inqui fuitAber-Inin Chart May.”62This remarkable place is at the“Influx of a small stream, called theIn, on the coast of Fife. Both appellations are now lost.”Among the names of ancient Celtic regions we have Abrin-catui, that is (without any change in the word) Aber-In-Catui; the name of a Tribe in Normandy, about Avranches, which is at the mouth of a River now called the See. (Another stream flows into the same Estuary.)Aber—In—Cattui.Literally,“Estuary (of the) River—Tribes or People,”i.e. The Tribes living at the Estuary of the River or Rivers.The name of the same place will also furnish an example of a corresponding term, primarily meaning“The Mouth,”in the modern Celtic.Genœ (Welsh), Ganau (Cornish), Gion (Irish), Genu (Armorican), mean“The Mouth.”The original name of“Avranches,”when the country was first subdued by the Romans, was In-“gena.”Here it is plain“Gena”was synonymous with Aber! The Town was afterwards called Aber-in-Catui by the Romans, who very generally gave the names of the Celtic tribes to their principal Towns.[pg 073]In D'Anville's Map we find, in the same part of Gaul,Aræ-genu-s given to Bayeux, (the capital of the Bajocasses,) at themouthof a river now called the“Ayr!”The following are very striking examples of the occurrence of the same word, Genœ or Ganau:“Gano-durum”(Dur water) Constance, at the spot where the Rhine issues out of Lake Constance.“Geneva.”(The Rhone issues here from the Lake, and is immediately afterwards joined by the Arve.)“Genua”(Genoa). At the mouth of a stream.“Albium In-gaun-um,”a town to the east of Genoa, where many streams from the Maritime Alps unite in one mouth.Beal or Bel (Irish), Buel (Manx),“A Mouth.”This is another word, applied in Wales and Ireland, in topographical names, in nearly the same sense as Aber, as in Bala, at the mouth of a lake, North Wales,Bally-shannon, Ireland. This word does not occur either in vernacular Welsh or in the Welsh of old MSS. But in Irish,BealorBelis still the common word for“A Mouth.”We shall find unequivocal proofs that this word also was used by the old Celts of Gaul, as in“Boulogne,”i.e. Bala (Beal, or Buel) Liane,“The mouth of the Liane.”The town is at the mouth of a small stream, of which Bullet, who does not appear to have suspected the derivation, says“La rivière qui passe à Boulogne s'appelleLiane.—The stream that runs by Boulogne is called Liane!”“Liane, Lune,”&c. is a common proper name for a stream in all countries of which the Celts formed the first population. Lliant (Llian-au,plur.) means a stream, a torrent, in Welsh; Llyn,“Water,”in Welsh; and Lean, Irish. Hence“The Lune”in Herefordshire, &c.A further example of words of this Class occurs in the Latin name of the“Humber.”This great receptacle of streams was generally called Ab-us;[pg 074]but Ptolomey, in Greek, gives the name more fully,“Abontrus!”63This word means in Welsh and Irish“The Outlet”, or literally“The Door”of the Rivers. Trus, A Door, (Drous,Welsh, Doros,Irish,) occurs in the same sense in Tura (Sanscrit), Der (Persian). Hence it appears that the Welsh word, which is nearer to the term preserved in this name, has not been borrowed from the English“Door!”“Aber,”however, was the greatest favorite with the ancient Celts, as with the modern Cymry! It would seem that this word“Aber”was as commonly applied in ancient Gaul, &c. as it still is in Wales, not merely to the mouths of large rivers, but to places situated at those ofvery small streams!64Britain.—York, Ebor-acum (Caer Eboranch,Welsh; Ever-wick,Saxon.) Is inclosed for the most part between the Ouse and the Foss, which unite close to the Town! The river Foss separatessome parts of the Townfrom the rest.Eburo-cass-um (Alnewick), at the mouth of the River Alne, Northumberland. Ever-wick is the name of an adjoining Village on the same river.Eburo-nes (Belgic. Gaul). About the junction of the Saba and the Mosa. Cæsar states in his account of them that this tribe had no Town.There was a prince of the Œduans65in Cæsar's time, named Eporo-dor-ix, apparently from Aber-Dour“Water,”and Rex. The Gaulish chiefs, like those of the Gaelic Scotch, seem to have frequently derived their names from their peculiar territories[pg 075]or patrimonies; in the same manner, for instance, as the chiefs“Lochiel, Glengarry,”&c.As before intimated, it appears pretty clear that the little nations into which Gaul was divided, such as the Ceno-mani, the Œdui, &c. consisted for the most part of a combination ofseveraldistinct septs or clans each under their respective princes. The name of the chief (Eporo-dor-ix) just mentioned may, therefore—and most probably must—have been derived from that of some place no longer capable of being identified, though the country of the Œdui, the source of many rivers, abounds in localities to which it would apply very appropriately!Gaul.—Eburo-dunum (now Embrun in Dauphiné.) At the confluence of a small stream with the Durance.Since writing the above I find this town in Hornius' map, marked“Epeb r-o-durû,”i.e.“Mouth of the Water,”(Welsh.)Eburo-briga, a Town. At the junction of one of the streams that feed the Seine above Sens.Ebro-lacum. A Town near the source of the Loire; precise situation apparently unknown. But the affinity of“Ebro”to the Celtic“Aber,”and the identity of Lac (um) with Loch66or Lach, the Gaelic for a Lake or Water, will be obvious.Avar-icum (Bourges), at the junction of the L'Evrette with the Evre, one of the branches of the Cher.Switzerland.—Ebro-dunum,“Yverdun,”at the mouth of the river Orbe, that flows there into the Lake of Neuf-chatel.Spain and Portugal.—Eburo-britz-ium, the modern Alco-baza or Alco-baca, on the Portuguese coast, between the[pg 076]Tagus and the Mondego, and not far from Torres Vedras. This town is at the mouth of the Alcoa river. The modern name, Alco-baca, (“The mouth of the Alcoa,”) is a guarantee of the correctness of the above construction of the ancient name!67In the North-east of Spain, on the Bay of Biscay, we meet with the word Aber itself in an undisguised form, as we do in Gaul in the word Abr-in-catui.There is a town, Uxam-aber, on a river called in Roman Maps the Uch-esia.68This is an unfortunate word for the advocates of the Spanish origin of the Irish, for here we have the Welsh Aber, in lieu of the Gaelic Inver, in the North of Spain—the very district from which the Colony is supposed to have come! Indeed the Local names in the Celtic regions of Spain generally approach much more nearly to the Welsh than to the Irish! This will be seen in some of the following examples.Glan or Lan,“a Sea shore or Margin,”(Welsh,) not extant in Irish.Glan a tuia (Glandeves), at the junction of a small stream with the Varus, that separates France and Italy.Glan-um, on the Puech River, near Embrun.Cat-a-laun-i. A tribe resident about Chalons on the Seine.Cat-a-laun-i.“People (of) the river bank.”The name originally given to this town by the Romans was Duro-Cat-a-laun-i, i.e. (The Town of)“the Tribe on the Bank of theRiverorWater.”Llanes, a place on the coast of Asturia. (The aspiratedLlof the Spaniards is very like the WelshLl, and is most[pg 077]probably a relic of Celtic pronunciation.) Lancia (Ciudad Rodrigo,) Lancia (Guarda.)Lan-dubr-is.“The Shore or Margin of the Sea or Water,”or a spot inclosed by the Sea.69An Island, in Latin Maps, on the coast of Portugal.“The Lan-des,”The well-known arid sandy deserts forming the South-eastern coast of France.Medio-lan-um.70Medd, the middle, (Celtic,) and Lan. Towns thus designated seem to have been situated either at the Curve or Winding of a stream, or inclosed between two streams.I may instance—in Cisalpine.Gaul. Medio-lan-um, Milan.Mediolanum (Santones), on the Loire.(Eburovices Aulerci), Evreux, Normandy.(Bituriges Cubi), inclosed between two winding streams, which are the sources of the Loire. Bi-tur-iges is from a synonyme, Bi, two, and Dour, Water.Dôl,“A wind, a bow, a turn, a meander, a dale or mead, through which a river runs,”(Welsh,)71as in Dol-Vorwyn and Dol-Vorgan, Montgomeryshire, North Wales;“Dôle,”the ancient capital of Franche Compté. (Compare the situation.)Lut-ecia,72Paris, seems clearly to have derived its name from its situation among marshes.“Située dans une isle de la Seine environnée de marais profonds, difficiles à traverser, qui communiquent à ce fleuve.”(Bullet, from Strabo.)Llath-ach,“Mud, Dirt,”(Irish,) Llaith, Moist, (Welsh.)Lug-dunum or Lau-dunum.73“Laon,”built on the Summit of a Rock divided into two branches. Lug, from Llech, a[pg 078]Stone. Clog, a detached rock, (Welsh.) Liag, a great Stone. Leagan Kloiche, a Rock, (Irish.)In the following instances the identity of the Gaulish and other Celtic names with the Welsh is remarkably clear, and will be vividly felt by persons vernacularly familiar with the Welsh language, and the most common local names in Wales.The“Bretons,”Ar-mor-ici. Ar,“On,”Mor,“the Sea.”The people of a Hilly Region in the South-east of France, Ar-e-com-ici.Coum,“a Hollow Circular Valley, or Depression,”(Welsh.) This word is the source of the numerous names of places in England ending in Combe. The Oriental origin of the word is clearly traceable. After describing the great Table-land of Central Asia as extending over the whole of Persia, Ritter adds:“Towards‘Koom,’(in Persia,) we find the greatest depression, in the Table-land; here the surface sinks to 2046 feet!”74There are also the“Com-oni,”above Toulon, and Com-us,“Como,”to which the word is peculiarly appropriate. (Bullet.)The People of Auvergne. Ar-vern-i,“On the Hills.”Veryn or Beryn is a Hill in Welsh. Thus“Cevn y Beryn,”is the name of a Hill in Montgomeryshire.By Plutarch the Ar-vern-i are called Ar-ben-i.“This is a very interesting addition to our information.‘Veryn’and‘Ben’are both synonymes extant in Welsh for‘a Hill.’”We have the same words repeated in the following instances, joined with Um (Irish), Am (Welsh),“About.”(Compare the Greek Amphi.)Um-benn i,“The People (living) about the Hills.”A Swiss Tribe.Um-bran-ici (from Beryn or Bron,Welsh,) a name of the Helvii mountaineers to the South-east of the Cevennes.[pg 079]In the following names, again, we have Pen or Ben, and Beryn or Bron, alone.Ben-ones, a Mountain Tribe in Switzerland.Breun-i, on the borders of Bavaria and the Tyrol.Bern-enses, the people of Berne, in Switzerland, and also those of Bearne, in the South of France, adjoining the Pyrenees.A-Pen-inus Mons. Alpes Pen-inæ, the Alps immediately to the South of Geneva. Vallis Pen-ina, the Valley of the Rhone.The primary sense of Pen, in Welsh, is“the Head.”As observed at page 11, the names for Hills in that language are metaphors from“the Head, the Breast,”&c. Now it is observable that in ancient Celtic Europe a difference of application corresponding to the different primary meanings of the terms is discoverable. Alpes is the general name for the Alps. (Alpes) Pen-inæ, a term derived from the Head, are the lofty and abrupt Alps, as distinguished from Alpes Maritimæ, &c.In Spain and Portugal. Pena-s da Europa, (North of Spain.) Cape Pena-s, (in the Asturias.) Pen-a Longa, a Town adjoining the long ridge called the Sierra da St. Catherina in Portugal.Gebenn-a Mons, the Cevenn-es,“South of France.”Cevenn-es, (omitting“es,”French plural,) is identical with Cevn,“a Back,”“a Hill,”as in Cevn y Coed, the name of a hill in Montgomeryshire, (Welsh.)The Irish Gibhis,“a Valley,”is from the same source. Names of“Valleys and Hills”are generally composed of the same roots. (Similiter the Latin word“Altus”means both“High”and Deep!) A Valley is, in fact, formed by Hills!These various meanings and inflections are found united in the Hebrew.[pg 080]Hebrew.Hebrew.DerivativesGa.e, to rise.Gve, or Gou e, to be high, gibbous, or curved.Kub, a Mountain.75(Persian.)Kof. (Pehlwi.)Goun, or Gav.n, Swelling.Gb, the Back. Gbn, Hunch backed.Gev.n, or Cev.n, the Back, the Ridge of a Hill. (Welsh.)Gee a. Ga.oun, plur. A valley, or more properly a lawn rising to the top of the adjoining hill.G.b.oe, G.h.o.th, a Mountain. G.b.o.the, the Slope of a Mountain.Geib-his, Gibhis, a Valley. (Irish.) The Ghauts, Mountains in Asia. Gibb-osus. (Latin.)Goupp en, a chain of Hills in Switzerland. (Bullet.)Alp. Dr. Owen Pughe quotes many classical authors to show that the word meant in Gallish a lofty Mountain. In the mountains of Glamorganshire, he adds, it is still used for a craggy summit.Alp-es. Allo-bryges, from Alp- and (briga).76Brigi-cum was their only town. To the South-east of the Allobryges were the Hel-v-ii, (Albatheir capital.) To the North the Hel-v-etii, (Vod in Welsh, a Residence.) Both names were probably from Al-p.Nant, (Nan-au,plural,) a Mountain Valley,“a Mountain Stream,”(Welsh.) This word is still in use in Savoy. (See Dr. Prichard's remarks.)77Nannet-es, a Tribe in Britany, andNant-uates, a Tribe occupying the valley of the Rhine below its source.Nang-ates, the people of Connaught. This is one of numerous[pg 081]instances of local names in Ireland, of which the sense has been lost in the Irish and still preserved in the Welsh.Cori, or Corrie, means a hollow between hills. A glen or“Cleugh,”a small stream.78(A word ofCeltic origin. Jamieson's Etymological Dict. of the Scottish Language.)This word appears to be in use both in the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland; the first a Gaelic, the second originally a Cymraeg district. (See Chalmers's Caledonia.)Sir Walter Scott has very gracefully introduced this ancient word in the beautiful“Coronach,”or Funeral-song of the Clansman, in the“Lady of the Lake:”“He is gone from the mountain,He is gone from the forest,Like a summer-dried fountain,When our need was the sorest.“Fleet foot on thecorrieSage counsel in cumberRed hand in the foray,How sound is thy slumber!”To this passage Sir Walter Scott has added the following note:79“Corrie or Cori.”Thehollowside of the hill where game usually lies!I conceive a comparison of the following examples will serve to render it indisputable that this term may be accepted as a clue to a great number of the most important topographical names of Gaul and Britain, which have hitherto eluded the researches of Celtic scholars.[pg 082]Hebrew.Celtic.C.r. To surround, go round.Cor. A Circle, (Welsh.)A pasture or Circuit for Cattle.Cor-lan. A Sheepfold, (Welsh.)A Lamb.Ka ora, or Kyra. A Sheep, (Irish.)A“Cor.”A measure so called from its round form.C.eee.ou.r. A Round Pot, or Caldron.“Cori,”or Corrie.“Thehollow sideof the Hill where the game usually lies.”(Sir W. Scott.)C.r.e. To dig, as a Well or Pit.AHollowbetween Hills. A Cleugh. (Jamieson.)The Tri-Cori-i. From Tre and Cori. A tribe who inhabited the modern French Department of the“High Alps,”an Alpine region, the source of numerous streams which feed the Rhone and its branches.The Petro-Cori-i.80The inhabitants of the Departments of Dordogne and Correze. Dordogne is thus described by Malte Brun:“We may pass from the Department of Lot to that of Dordogne by descending the last river which traverses it on the South from East to West. It is also watered by the Ille, the Dronne, the Vezere, and by more thanfourteen hundred small riversand streams. Hills extend along this country in every direction, but with the exception of two vallies, those watered by the Ille and the Dordogne, they bound onlynarrow passes, almost all of which are desolated by torrents!”[pg 083]Correze. From the same authority we learn that two thirds of this department consists of a mountainous region, full of“ravines and precipices,”and that its scenery progressively assumes more of this wild and romantic character as you ascend the river Correze, which gives its name to the Department, and to its principal town. Correze is plainly derived from Cori.81The Cori-tan-i. A British tribe in Derbyshire, &c., from Cori and Tania, an addition frequently made by the Romans to the name of a province or district, as in Aqui-tania, Mauri-tania. Camden expresses himself totally unable to explain this term satisfactorily.The following are partly composed of ancient Celtic Topographical Names, of which the appropriate meanings have not been preserved82in the Welsh and Irish, &c., but are found in the Oriental and other languages.“Eryr-i,”the Welsh name of the Snowdon Mountains. This word has been variously explained by Welsh scholars, as meaning the“Snowy Mountain”(from Eira,“Snow”), the“Eagles' Mountain,”&c. None of these explanations are appropriate. Moreover“Eryr-i”is not the name of asinglepeak, but of the Snowdonrangeof mountains!“E.r.r”is a pure Hebrew word, signifying a very high mountain,83from which“Eryr-i,”the name of the Snowdon range, the highest in South Britain, is a plural regularly formed!Cimas da Our-ar-as, are high Mountains to the North of Lisbon.Ban-nau Brycheiniog,“the Brecon Beacons,”lofty hills in Brecknockshire. Ban de la Roche, the celebrated Pastor[pg 084]Oberlin's residence among the Vosges Mountains, in the East of France. Ban,“Lofty,”(Welsh,) Bian, a Hill, (Irish,) Boun-os, a Hill, (Greek,) Ban-k (English), a diminutive.Bal.“Applied in Wales to Mountains that terminate in a Peak. Balannu, to shoot or spring forth.”(Dr. W. Owen Pughe.) Belan is also applied to Hills, as“Nant y Belan,”near Wynnstay. Bala, Bulund (Persian), Beland (Pehlwi), Bulund (Zend),“High.”“The Don and the Dune,”Rivers in Scotland. Trev-i don, i.e.“the Town of, or on the River,”a place on the river Tarn, in the South of France. Don, Dun,“Water,”“a River,”(Ossetians, a people of the Caucasus).“The Don”River, in the country of the“Don Cossacks,”who are also considered to be a people of the Caucasus.“Donau”(German), the Danube.From Ar,“a River, a Stream,”(Hebrew.)“Ar-a,”now“the Ayr,”that enters the sea at Bayeux, (see before, p.73.)“The Ar-ar,”Gaul.“The Ayr,”Scotland.From Ee.a.ou.r,“a River, a Stream,”(Hebrew,) a modification of A.r. Wari,“Water,”(Sanscrit.)“The Evre”and“Evrette,”France.“The Wavre,”Belgium.“The Weaver”and“the Wear,”England.From Ee.a.r (Hebrew), and Iaro,“a River,”(Egyptian,)“The Yarrow,”Scotland. (See p.10.)From Ur,“Water,”(Jeniseians, in Siberia,) and Our-on (Greek), terms connected with the previous Hebrew words;“Ur-us,”the Ouse, Britain.Thus it will be seen that the various inflections of the Hebrew word A.r. have been completely preserved in the names of the different rivers in each of the Celtic countries of Britain and Gaul.Lamu,“the Sea,”(Tungusian.) Lam,“the Sea,”(Lamutian.) Limnē, a Lake,“Poetically, the Sea, the Ocean, which seems to be the most primitive sense; also anciently, as it would[pg 085]appear, the Estuary of a River,”Schneider (Greek). At the mouths of the rivers that flow into the Black Sea lakes are formed, which are called“Limans.”84Hence“Leman-us Lacus”in Switzerland.Lim-ēn, a Haven, (Greek,) connected apparently with the last word, Limnē (Greek).“Lemanæ”vel Portus“Leman-is.”Lyme, in Kent, where Cæsar first landed.Jura, a long Mountainous ridge in ancient Gaul. Jura, a long Mountainous Island (Scotland).“Jur-jura,”an important chain of Mountains in the North of Africa. Gora (Russian), Ghiri (Sanscrit), a Mountain.In the foregoing examples Celtic words having an affinity to the Latin frequently occur, employed in a manner that shows they could not have been borrowed by the Celts from the Romans. Thus we have the names Ar-mor-ici, Ebro-lacum, names in which terms like the Latin“Mare”and“Lacus”are naturally blended with other Celtic words which are quite unlike the Latin!I conceive the evidence adduced in the previous pages must serve to place beyond all doubt the truth of the propositions illustrated in this Section, viz., that the language of the primitive Celts of Europe and the British Isles originally consisted of a combination of the Welsh and Irish, and other living Celtic dialects, united with many words and forms preserved in none of those dialects, but traceable in the Hebrew, the Greek, and the languages of other ancient and distant nations.The uniformity that presents itself in the ancient local nomenclature of all the Celtic countries is a very remarkable and instructive feature, of which an adequate conception can be formed only by an examination of the Roman Maps. The identity of names, for example, is found to be as complete[pg 086]when the Roman Maps of Gaul and Britain are compared, as we meet with in examining the Maps of two English Counties! To this rule Ireland, as far as we can judge from the imperfect nature of the information transmitted to us, formed no exception. These facts lead to the inference that the Celts must have diffused themselves, within a comparatively short interval of time, over all the regions of Europe of which the Romans found them in possession! Had the process of diffusion occupied a great many ages, there must have been a commensurate change in the Celtic language, which would have displayed itself in the local names of the more distant regions. But no such difference occurs, the local nomenclature of Britain, for instance, being identical with that of Switzerland and Spain![pg 087]Section VI.
“Berw”is the South Welsh name for the effervescence in the deep receptacle in which a Cataract foams after its fall; it is applied also to the Cataract itself, as“Berw Rhondda,”the fall of the River Rhondda.Aber, in Cornish, means“a Confluence of Rivers,”also“a Gulf,”“a Whirlpool.”61In Breton or Armorican Aber means“a confluence of Rivers.”“Dans le diocese de Vannes,”says Bullet,“le mot[pg 072]a encore une autre signification, c'estcelle de torrent.”“In the diocese of Vannes this word has still another meaning, viz., that of‘a Torrent!’”Compare Torr-ens (Latin),“Torrent”(English), from Torreo (Latin),“To boil.”“Aber, in a deflected sense,”he says,“has been applied to a Harbour; hence Havre de Grace!”“It is a curious fact,”says Chalmers,“which we learn from the Charters of the twelfth century, that the Scoto-Irish people substituted Inver for the previous Aber of the Britons. David I. granted to the Monastery of MayInver-Inqui fuitAber-Inin Chart May.”62This remarkable place is at the“Influx of a small stream, called theIn, on the coast of Fife. Both appellations are now lost.”Among the names of ancient Celtic regions we have Abrin-catui, that is (without any change in the word) Aber-In-Catui; the name of a Tribe in Normandy, about Avranches, which is at the mouth of a River now called the See. (Another stream flows into the same Estuary.)Aber—In—Cattui.Literally,“Estuary (of the) River—Tribes or People,”i.e. The Tribes living at the Estuary of the River or Rivers.The name of the same place will also furnish an example of a corresponding term, primarily meaning“The Mouth,”in the modern Celtic.Genœ (Welsh), Ganau (Cornish), Gion (Irish), Genu (Armorican), mean“The Mouth.”The original name of“Avranches,”when the country was first subdued by the Romans, was In-“gena.”Here it is plain“Gena”was synonymous with Aber! The Town was afterwards called Aber-in-Catui by the Romans, who very generally gave the names of the Celtic tribes to their principal Towns.[pg 073]In D'Anville's Map we find, in the same part of Gaul,Aræ-genu-s given to Bayeux, (the capital of the Bajocasses,) at themouthof a river now called the“Ayr!”The following are very striking examples of the occurrence of the same word, Genœ or Ganau:“Gano-durum”(Dur water) Constance, at the spot where the Rhine issues out of Lake Constance.“Geneva.”(The Rhone issues here from the Lake, and is immediately afterwards joined by the Arve.)“Genua”(Genoa). At the mouth of a stream.“Albium In-gaun-um,”a town to the east of Genoa, where many streams from the Maritime Alps unite in one mouth.Beal or Bel (Irish), Buel (Manx),“A Mouth.”This is another word, applied in Wales and Ireland, in topographical names, in nearly the same sense as Aber, as in Bala, at the mouth of a lake, North Wales,Bally-shannon, Ireland. This word does not occur either in vernacular Welsh or in the Welsh of old MSS. But in Irish,BealorBelis still the common word for“A Mouth.”We shall find unequivocal proofs that this word also was used by the old Celts of Gaul, as in“Boulogne,”i.e. Bala (Beal, or Buel) Liane,“The mouth of the Liane.”The town is at the mouth of a small stream, of which Bullet, who does not appear to have suspected the derivation, says“La rivière qui passe à Boulogne s'appelleLiane.—The stream that runs by Boulogne is called Liane!”“Liane, Lune,”&c. is a common proper name for a stream in all countries of which the Celts formed the first population. Lliant (Llian-au,plur.) means a stream, a torrent, in Welsh; Llyn,“Water,”in Welsh; and Lean, Irish. Hence“The Lune”in Herefordshire, &c.A further example of words of this Class occurs in the Latin name of the“Humber.”This great receptacle of streams was generally called Ab-us;[pg 074]but Ptolomey, in Greek, gives the name more fully,“Abontrus!”63This word means in Welsh and Irish“The Outlet”, or literally“The Door”of the Rivers. Trus, A Door, (Drous,Welsh, Doros,Irish,) occurs in the same sense in Tura (Sanscrit), Der (Persian). Hence it appears that the Welsh word, which is nearer to the term preserved in this name, has not been borrowed from the English“Door!”“Aber,”however, was the greatest favorite with the ancient Celts, as with the modern Cymry! It would seem that this word“Aber”was as commonly applied in ancient Gaul, &c. as it still is in Wales, not merely to the mouths of large rivers, but to places situated at those ofvery small streams!64Britain.—York, Ebor-acum (Caer Eboranch,Welsh; Ever-wick,Saxon.) Is inclosed for the most part between the Ouse and the Foss, which unite close to the Town! The river Foss separatessome parts of the Townfrom the rest.Eburo-cass-um (Alnewick), at the mouth of the River Alne, Northumberland. Ever-wick is the name of an adjoining Village on the same river.Eburo-nes (Belgic. Gaul). About the junction of the Saba and the Mosa. Cæsar states in his account of them that this tribe had no Town.There was a prince of the Œduans65in Cæsar's time, named Eporo-dor-ix, apparently from Aber-Dour“Water,”and Rex. The Gaulish chiefs, like those of the Gaelic Scotch, seem to have frequently derived their names from their peculiar territories[pg 075]or patrimonies; in the same manner, for instance, as the chiefs“Lochiel, Glengarry,”&c.As before intimated, it appears pretty clear that the little nations into which Gaul was divided, such as the Ceno-mani, the Œdui, &c. consisted for the most part of a combination ofseveraldistinct septs or clans each under their respective princes. The name of the chief (Eporo-dor-ix) just mentioned may, therefore—and most probably must—have been derived from that of some place no longer capable of being identified, though the country of the Œdui, the source of many rivers, abounds in localities to which it would apply very appropriately!Gaul.—Eburo-dunum (now Embrun in Dauphiné.) At the confluence of a small stream with the Durance.Since writing the above I find this town in Hornius' map, marked“Epeb r-o-durû,”i.e.“Mouth of the Water,”(Welsh.)Eburo-briga, a Town. At the junction of one of the streams that feed the Seine above Sens.Ebro-lacum. A Town near the source of the Loire; precise situation apparently unknown. But the affinity of“Ebro”to the Celtic“Aber,”and the identity of Lac (um) with Loch66or Lach, the Gaelic for a Lake or Water, will be obvious.Avar-icum (Bourges), at the junction of the L'Evrette with the Evre, one of the branches of the Cher.Switzerland.—Ebro-dunum,“Yverdun,”at the mouth of the river Orbe, that flows there into the Lake of Neuf-chatel.Spain and Portugal.—Eburo-britz-ium, the modern Alco-baza or Alco-baca, on the Portuguese coast, between the[pg 076]Tagus and the Mondego, and not far from Torres Vedras. This town is at the mouth of the Alcoa river. The modern name, Alco-baca, (“The mouth of the Alcoa,”) is a guarantee of the correctness of the above construction of the ancient name!67In the North-east of Spain, on the Bay of Biscay, we meet with the word Aber itself in an undisguised form, as we do in Gaul in the word Abr-in-catui.There is a town, Uxam-aber, on a river called in Roman Maps the Uch-esia.68This is an unfortunate word for the advocates of the Spanish origin of the Irish, for here we have the Welsh Aber, in lieu of the Gaelic Inver, in the North of Spain—the very district from which the Colony is supposed to have come! Indeed the Local names in the Celtic regions of Spain generally approach much more nearly to the Welsh than to the Irish! This will be seen in some of the following examples.Glan or Lan,“a Sea shore or Margin,”(Welsh,) not extant in Irish.Glan a tuia (Glandeves), at the junction of a small stream with the Varus, that separates France and Italy.Glan-um, on the Puech River, near Embrun.Cat-a-laun-i. A tribe resident about Chalons on the Seine.Cat-a-laun-i.“People (of) the river bank.”The name originally given to this town by the Romans was Duro-Cat-a-laun-i, i.e. (The Town of)“the Tribe on the Bank of theRiverorWater.”Llanes, a place on the coast of Asturia. (The aspiratedLlof the Spaniards is very like the WelshLl, and is most[pg 077]probably a relic of Celtic pronunciation.) Lancia (Ciudad Rodrigo,) Lancia (Guarda.)Lan-dubr-is.“The Shore or Margin of the Sea or Water,”or a spot inclosed by the Sea.69An Island, in Latin Maps, on the coast of Portugal.“The Lan-des,”The well-known arid sandy deserts forming the South-eastern coast of France.Medio-lan-um.70Medd, the middle, (Celtic,) and Lan. Towns thus designated seem to have been situated either at the Curve or Winding of a stream, or inclosed between two streams.I may instance—in Cisalpine.Gaul. Medio-lan-um, Milan.Mediolanum (Santones), on the Loire.(Eburovices Aulerci), Evreux, Normandy.(Bituriges Cubi), inclosed between two winding streams, which are the sources of the Loire. Bi-tur-iges is from a synonyme, Bi, two, and Dour, Water.Dôl,“A wind, a bow, a turn, a meander, a dale or mead, through which a river runs,”(Welsh,)71as in Dol-Vorwyn and Dol-Vorgan, Montgomeryshire, North Wales;“Dôle,”the ancient capital of Franche Compté. (Compare the situation.)Lut-ecia,72Paris, seems clearly to have derived its name from its situation among marshes.“Située dans une isle de la Seine environnée de marais profonds, difficiles à traverser, qui communiquent à ce fleuve.”(Bullet, from Strabo.)Llath-ach,“Mud, Dirt,”(Irish,) Llaith, Moist, (Welsh.)Lug-dunum or Lau-dunum.73“Laon,”built on the Summit of a Rock divided into two branches. Lug, from Llech, a[pg 078]Stone. Clog, a detached rock, (Welsh.) Liag, a great Stone. Leagan Kloiche, a Rock, (Irish.)In the following instances the identity of the Gaulish and other Celtic names with the Welsh is remarkably clear, and will be vividly felt by persons vernacularly familiar with the Welsh language, and the most common local names in Wales.The“Bretons,”Ar-mor-ici. Ar,“On,”Mor,“the Sea.”The people of a Hilly Region in the South-east of France, Ar-e-com-ici.Coum,“a Hollow Circular Valley, or Depression,”(Welsh.) This word is the source of the numerous names of places in England ending in Combe. The Oriental origin of the word is clearly traceable. After describing the great Table-land of Central Asia as extending over the whole of Persia, Ritter adds:“Towards‘Koom,’(in Persia,) we find the greatest depression, in the Table-land; here the surface sinks to 2046 feet!”74There are also the“Com-oni,”above Toulon, and Com-us,“Como,”to which the word is peculiarly appropriate. (Bullet.)The People of Auvergne. Ar-vern-i,“On the Hills.”Veryn or Beryn is a Hill in Welsh. Thus“Cevn y Beryn,”is the name of a Hill in Montgomeryshire.By Plutarch the Ar-vern-i are called Ar-ben-i.“This is a very interesting addition to our information.‘Veryn’and‘Ben’are both synonymes extant in Welsh for‘a Hill.’”We have the same words repeated in the following instances, joined with Um (Irish), Am (Welsh),“About.”(Compare the Greek Amphi.)Um-benn i,“The People (living) about the Hills.”A Swiss Tribe.Um-bran-ici (from Beryn or Bron,Welsh,) a name of the Helvii mountaineers to the South-east of the Cevennes.[pg 079]In the following names, again, we have Pen or Ben, and Beryn or Bron, alone.Ben-ones, a Mountain Tribe in Switzerland.Breun-i, on the borders of Bavaria and the Tyrol.Bern-enses, the people of Berne, in Switzerland, and also those of Bearne, in the South of France, adjoining the Pyrenees.A-Pen-inus Mons. Alpes Pen-inæ, the Alps immediately to the South of Geneva. Vallis Pen-ina, the Valley of the Rhone.The primary sense of Pen, in Welsh, is“the Head.”As observed at page 11, the names for Hills in that language are metaphors from“the Head, the Breast,”&c. Now it is observable that in ancient Celtic Europe a difference of application corresponding to the different primary meanings of the terms is discoverable. Alpes is the general name for the Alps. (Alpes) Pen-inæ, a term derived from the Head, are the lofty and abrupt Alps, as distinguished from Alpes Maritimæ, &c.In Spain and Portugal. Pena-s da Europa, (North of Spain.) Cape Pena-s, (in the Asturias.) Pen-a Longa, a Town adjoining the long ridge called the Sierra da St. Catherina in Portugal.Gebenn-a Mons, the Cevenn-es,“South of France.”Cevenn-es, (omitting“es,”French plural,) is identical with Cevn,“a Back,”“a Hill,”as in Cevn y Coed, the name of a hill in Montgomeryshire, (Welsh.)The Irish Gibhis,“a Valley,”is from the same source. Names of“Valleys and Hills”are generally composed of the same roots. (Similiter the Latin word“Altus”means both“High”and Deep!) A Valley is, in fact, formed by Hills!These various meanings and inflections are found united in the Hebrew.[pg 080]Hebrew.Hebrew.DerivativesGa.e, to rise.Gve, or Gou e, to be high, gibbous, or curved.Kub, a Mountain.75(Persian.)Kof. (Pehlwi.)Goun, or Gav.n, Swelling.Gb, the Back. Gbn, Hunch backed.Gev.n, or Cev.n, the Back, the Ridge of a Hill. (Welsh.)Gee a. Ga.oun, plur. A valley, or more properly a lawn rising to the top of the adjoining hill.G.b.oe, G.h.o.th, a Mountain. G.b.o.the, the Slope of a Mountain.Geib-his, Gibhis, a Valley. (Irish.) The Ghauts, Mountains in Asia. Gibb-osus. (Latin.)Goupp en, a chain of Hills in Switzerland. (Bullet.)Alp. Dr. Owen Pughe quotes many classical authors to show that the word meant in Gallish a lofty Mountain. In the mountains of Glamorganshire, he adds, it is still used for a craggy summit.Alp-es. Allo-bryges, from Alp- and (briga).76Brigi-cum was their only town. To the South-east of the Allobryges were the Hel-v-ii, (Albatheir capital.) To the North the Hel-v-etii, (Vod in Welsh, a Residence.) Both names were probably from Al-p.Nant, (Nan-au,plural,) a Mountain Valley,“a Mountain Stream,”(Welsh.) This word is still in use in Savoy. (See Dr. Prichard's remarks.)77Nannet-es, a Tribe in Britany, andNant-uates, a Tribe occupying the valley of the Rhine below its source.Nang-ates, the people of Connaught. This is one of numerous[pg 081]instances of local names in Ireland, of which the sense has been lost in the Irish and still preserved in the Welsh.Cori, or Corrie, means a hollow between hills. A glen or“Cleugh,”a small stream.78(A word ofCeltic origin. Jamieson's Etymological Dict. of the Scottish Language.)This word appears to be in use both in the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland; the first a Gaelic, the second originally a Cymraeg district. (See Chalmers's Caledonia.)Sir Walter Scott has very gracefully introduced this ancient word in the beautiful“Coronach,”or Funeral-song of the Clansman, in the“Lady of the Lake:”“He is gone from the mountain,He is gone from the forest,Like a summer-dried fountain,When our need was the sorest.“Fleet foot on thecorrieSage counsel in cumberRed hand in the foray,How sound is thy slumber!”To this passage Sir Walter Scott has added the following note:79“Corrie or Cori.”Thehollowside of the hill where game usually lies!I conceive a comparison of the following examples will serve to render it indisputable that this term may be accepted as a clue to a great number of the most important topographical names of Gaul and Britain, which have hitherto eluded the researches of Celtic scholars.[pg 082]Hebrew.Celtic.C.r. To surround, go round.Cor. A Circle, (Welsh.)A pasture or Circuit for Cattle.Cor-lan. A Sheepfold, (Welsh.)A Lamb.Ka ora, or Kyra. A Sheep, (Irish.)A“Cor.”A measure so called from its round form.C.eee.ou.r. A Round Pot, or Caldron.“Cori,”or Corrie.“Thehollow sideof the Hill where the game usually lies.”(Sir W. Scott.)C.r.e. To dig, as a Well or Pit.AHollowbetween Hills. A Cleugh. (Jamieson.)The Tri-Cori-i. From Tre and Cori. A tribe who inhabited the modern French Department of the“High Alps,”an Alpine region, the source of numerous streams which feed the Rhone and its branches.The Petro-Cori-i.80The inhabitants of the Departments of Dordogne and Correze. Dordogne is thus described by Malte Brun:“We may pass from the Department of Lot to that of Dordogne by descending the last river which traverses it on the South from East to West. It is also watered by the Ille, the Dronne, the Vezere, and by more thanfourteen hundred small riversand streams. Hills extend along this country in every direction, but with the exception of two vallies, those watered by the Ille and the Dordogne, they bound onlynarrow passes, almost all of which are desolated by torrents!”[pg 083]Correze. From the same authority we learn that two thirds of this department consists of a mountainous region, full of“ravines and precipices,”and that its scenery progressively assumes more of this wild and romantic character as you ascend the river Correze, which gives its name to the Department, and to its principal town. Correze is plainly derived from Cori.81The Cori-tan-i. A British tribe in Derbyshire, &c., from Cori and Tania, an addition frequently made by the Romans to the name of a province or district, as in Aqui-tania, Mauri-tania. Camden expresses himself totally unable to explain this term satisfactorily.The following are partly composed of ancient Celtic Topographical Names, of which the appropriate meanings have not been preserved82in the Welsh and Irish, &c., but are found in the Oriental and other languages.“Eryr-i,”the Welsh name of the Snowdon Mountains. This word has been variously explained by Welsh scholars, as meaning the“Snowy Mountain”(from Eira,“Snow”), the“Eagles' Mountain,”&c. None of these explanations are appropriate. Moreover“Eryr-i”is not the name of asinglepeak, but of the Snowdonrangeof mountains!“E.r.r”is a pure Hebrew word, signifying a very high mountain,83from which“Eryr-i,”the name of the Snowdon range, the highest in South Britain, is a plural regularly formed!Cimas da Our-ar-as, are high Mountains to the North of Lisbon.Ban-nau Brycheiniog,“the Brecon Beacons,”lofty hills in Brecknockshire. Ban de la Roche, the celebrated Pastor[pg 084]Oberlin's residence among the Vosges Mountains, in the East of France. Ban,“Lofty,”(Welsh,) Bian, a Hill, (Irish,) Boun-os, a Hill, (Greek,) Ban-k (English), a diminutive.Bal.“Applied in Wales to Mountains that terminate in a Peak. Balannu, to shoot or spring forth.”(Dr. W. Owen Pughe.) Belan is also applied to Hills, as“Nant y Belan,”near Wynnstay. Bala, Bulund (Persian), Beland (Pehlwi), Bulund (Zend),“High.”“The Don and the Dune,”Rivers in Scotland. Trev-i don, i.e.“the Town of, or on the River,”a place on the river Tarn, in the South of France. Don, Dun,“Water,”“a River,”(Ossetians, a people of the Caucasus).“The Don”River, in the country of the“Don Cossacks,”who are also considered to be a people of the Caucasus.“Donau”(German), the Danube.From Ar,“a River, a Stream,”(Hebrew.)“Ar-a,”now“the Ayr,”that enters the sea at Bayeux, (see before, p.73.)“The Ar-ar,”Gaul.“The Ayr,”Scotland.From Ee.a.ou.r,“a River, a Stream,”(Hebrew,) a modification of A.r. Wari,“Water,”(Sanscrit.)“The Evre”and“Evrette,”France.“The Wavre,”Belgium.“The Weaver”and“the Wear,”England.From Ee.a.r (Hebrew), and Iaro,“a River,”(Egyptian,)“The Yarrow,”Scotland. (See p.10.)From Ur,“Water,”(Jeniseians, in Siberia,) and Our-on (Greek), terms connected with the previous Hebrew words;“Ur-us,”the Ouse, Britain.Thus it will be seen that the various inflections of the Hebrew word A.r. have been completely preserved in the names of the different rivers in each of the Celtic countries of Britain and Gaul.Lamu,“the Sea,”(Tungusian.) Lam,“the Sea,”(Lamutian.) Limnē, a Lake,“Poetically, the Sea, the Ocean, which seems to be the most primitive sense; also anciently, as it would[pg 085]appear, the Estuary of a River,”Schneider (Greek). At the mouths of the rivers that flow into the Black Sea lakes are formed, which are called“Limans.”84Hence“Leman-us Lacus”in Switzerland.Lim-ēn, a Haven, (Greek,) connected apparently with the last word, Limnē (Greek).“Lemanæ”vel Portus“Leman-is.”Lyme, in Kent, where Cæsar first landed.Jura, a long Mountainous ridge in ancient Gaul. Jura, a long Mountainous Island (Scotland).“Jur-jura,”an important chain of Mountains in the North of Africa. Gora (Russian), Ghiri (Sanscrit), a Mountain.In the foregoing examples Celtic words having an affinity to the Latin frequently occur, employed in a manner that shows they could not have been borrowed by the Celts from the Romans. Thus we have the names Ar-mor-ici, Ebro-lacum, names in which terms like the Latin“Mare”and“Lacus”are naturally blended with other Celtic words which are quite unlike the Latin!I conceive the evidence adduced in the previous pages must serve to place beyond all doubt the truth of the propositions illustrated in this Section, viz., that the language of the primitive Celts of Europe and the British Isles originally consisted of a combination of the Welsh and Irish, and other living Celtic dialects, united with many words and forms preserved in none of those dialects, but traceable in the Hebrew, the Greek, and the languages of other ancient and distant nations.The uniformity that presents itself in the ancient local nomenclature of all the Celtic countries is a very remarkable and instructive feature, of which an adequate conception can be formed only by an examination of the Roman Maps. The identity of names, for example, is found to be as complete[pg 086]when the Roman Maps of Gaul and Britain are compared, as we meet with in examining the Maps of two English Counties! To this rule Ireland, as far as we can judge from the imperfect nature of the information transmitted to us, formed no exception. These facts lead to the inference that the Celts must have diffused themselves, within a comparatively short interval of time, over all the regions of Europe of which the Romans found them in possession! Had the process of diffusion occupied a great many ages, there must have been a commensurate change in the Celtic language, which would have displayed itself in the local names of the more distant regions. But no such difference occurs, the local nomenclature of Britain, for instance, being identical with that of Switzerland and Spain![pg 087]Section VI.
“Berw”is the South Welsh name for the effervescence in the deep receptacle in which a Cataract foams after its fall; it is applied also to the Cataract itself, as“Berw Rhondda,”the fall of the River Rhondda.Aber, in Cornish, means“a Confluence of Rivers,”also“a Gulf,”“a Whirlpool.”61In Breton or Armorican Aber means“a confluence of Rivers.”“Dans le diocese de Vannes,”says Bullet,“le mot[pg 072]a encore une autre signification, c'estcelle de torrent.”“In the diocese of Vannes this word has still another meaning, viz., that of‘a Torrent!’”Compare Torr-ens (Latin),“Torrent”(English), from Torreo (Latin),“To boil.”“Aber, in a deflected sense,”he says,“has been applied to a Harbour; hence Havre de Grace!”“It is a curious fact,”says Chalmers,“which we learn from the Charters of the twelfth century, that the Scoto-Irish people substituted Inver for the previous Aber of the Britons. David I. granted to the Monastery of MayInver-Inqui fuitAber-Inin Chart May.”62This remarkable place is at the“Influx of a small stream, called theIn, on the coast of Fife. Both appellations are now lost.”Among the names of ancient Celtic regions we have Abrin-catui, that is (without any change in the word) Aber-In-Catui; the name of a Tribe in Normandy, about Avranches, which is at the mouth of a River now called the See. (Another stream flows into the same Estuary.)Aber—In—Cattui.Literally,“Estuary (of the) River—Tribes or People,”i.e. The Tribes living at the Estuary of the River or Rivers.The name of the same place will also furnish an example of a corresponding term, primarily meaning“The Mouth,”in the modern Celtic.Genœ (Welsh), Ganau (Cornish), Gion (Irish), Genu (Armorican), mean“The Mouth.”The original name of“Avranches,”when the country was first subdued by the Romans, was In-“gena.”Here it is plain“Gena”was synonymous with Aber! The Town was afterwards called Aber-in-Catui by the Romans, who very generally gave the names of the Celtic tribes to their principal Towns.[pg 073]In D'Anville's Map we find, in the same part of Gaul,Aræ-genu-s given to Bayeux, (the capital of the Bajocasses,) at themouthof a river now called the“Ayr!”The following are very striking examples of the occurrence of the same word, Genœ or Ganau:“Gano-durum”(Dur water) Constance, at the spot where the Rhine issues out of Lake Constance.“Geneva.”(The Rhone issues here from the Lake, and is immediately afterwards joined by the Arve.)“Genua”(Genoa). At the mouth of a stream.“Albium In-gaun-um,”a town to the east of Genoa, where many streams from the Maritime Alps unite in one mouth.Beal or Bel (Irish), Buel (Manx),“A Mouth.”This is another word, applied in Wales and Ireland, in topographical names, in nearly the same sense as Aber, as in Bala, at the mouth of a lake, North Wales,Bally-shannon, Ireland. This word does not occur either in vernacular Welsh or in the Welsh of old MSS. But in Irish,BealorBelis still the common word for“A Mouth.”We shall find unequivocal proofs that this word also was used by the old Celts of Gaul, as in“Boulogne,”i.e. Bala (Beal, or Buel) Liane,“The mouth of the Liane.”The town is at the mouth of a small stream, of which Bullet, who does not appear to have suspected the derivation, says“La rivière qui passe à Boulogne s'appelleLiane.—The stream that runs by Boulogne is called Liane!”“Liane, Lune,”&c. is a common proper name for a stream in all countries of which the Celts formed the first population. Lliant (Llian-au,plur.) means a stream, a torrent, in Welsh; Llyn,“Water,”in Welsh; and Lean, Irish. Hence“The Lune”in Herefordshire, &c.A further example of words of this Class occurs in the Latin name of the“Humber.”This great receptacle of streams was generally called Ab-us;[pg 074]but Ptolomey, in Greek, gives the name more fully,“Abontrus!”63This word means in Welsh and Irish“The Outlet”, or literally“The Door”of the Rivers. Trus, A Door, (Drous,Welsh, Doros,Irish,) occurs in the same sense in Tura (Sanscrit), Der (Persian). Hence it appears that the Welsh word, which is nearer to the term preserved in this name, has not been borrowed from the English“Door!”“Aber,”however, was the greatest favorite with the ancient Celts, as with the modern Cymry! It would seem that this word“Aber”was as commonly applied in ancient Gaul, &c. as it still is in Wales, not merely to the mouths of large rivers, but to places situated at those ofvery small streams!64Britain.—York, Ebor-acum (Caer Eboranch,Welsh; Ever-wick,Saxon.) Is inclosed for the most part between the Ouse and the Foss, which unite close to the Town! The river Foss separatessome parts of the Townfrom the rest.Eburo-cass-um (Alnewick), at the mouth of the River Alne, Northumberland. Ever-wick is the name of an adjoining Village on the same river.Eburo-nes (Belgic. Gaul). About the junction of the Saba and the Mosa. Cæsar states in his account of them that this tribe had no Town.There was a prince of the Œduans65in Cæsar's time, named Eporo-dor-ix, apparently from Aber-Dour“Water,”and Rex. The Gaulish chiefs, like those of the Gaelic Scotch, seem to have frequently derived their names from their peculiar territories[pg 075]or patrimonies; in the same manner, for instance, as the chiefs“Lochiel, Glengarry,”&c.As before intimated, it appears pretty clear that the little nations into which Gaul was divided, such as the Ceno-mani, the Œdui, &c. consisted for the most part of a combination ofseveraldistinct septs or clans each under their respective princes. The name of the chief (Eporo-dor-ix) just mentioned may, therefore—and most probably must—have been derived from that of some place no longer capable of being identified, though the country of the Œdui, the source of many rivers, abounds in localities to which it would apply very appropriately!Gaul.—Eburo-dunum (now Embrun in Dauphiné.) At the confluence of a small stream with the Durance.Since writing the above I find this town in Hornius' map, marked“Epeb r-o-durû,”i.e.“Mouth of the Water,”(Welsh.)Eburo-briga, a Town. At the junction of one of the streams that feed the Seine above Sens.Ebro-lacum. A Town near the source of the Loire; precise situation apparently unknown. But the affinity of“Ebro”to the Celtic“Aber,”and the identity of Lac (um) with Loch66or Lach, the Gaelic for a Lake or Water, will be obvious.Avar-icum (Bourges), at the junction of the L'Evrette with the Evre, one of the branches of the Cher.Switzerland.—Ebro-dunum,“Yverdun,”at the mouth of the river Orbe, that flows there into the Lake of Neuf-chatel.Spain and Portugal.—Eburo-britz-ium, the modern Alco-baza or Alco-baca, on the Portuguese coast, between the[pg 076]Tagus and the Mondego, and not far from Torres Vedras. This town is at the mouth of the Alcoa river. The modern name, Alco-baca, (“The mouth of the Alcoa,”) is a guarantee of the correctness of the above construction of the ancient name!67In the North-east of Spain, on the Bay of Biscay, we meet with the word Aber itself in an undisguised form, as we do in Gaul in the word Abr-in-catui.There is a town, Uxam-aber, on a river called in Roman Maps the Uch-esia.68This is an unfortunate word for the advocates of the Spanish origin of the Irish, for here we have the Welsh Aber, in lieu of the Gaelic Inver, in the North of Spain—the very district from which the Colony is supposed to have come! Indeed the Local names in the Celtic regions of Spain generally approach much more nearly to the Welsh than to the Irish! This will be seen in some of the following examples.Glan or Lan,“a Sea shore or Margin,”(Welsh,) not extant in Irish.Glan a tuia (Glandeves), at the junction of a small stream with the Varus, that separates France and Italy.Glan-um, on the Puech River, near Embrun.Cat-a-laun-i. A tribe resident about Chalons on the Seine.Cat-a-laun-i.“People (of) the river bank.”The name originally given to this town by the Romans was Duro-Cat-a-laun-i, i.e. (The Town of)“the Tribe on the Bank of theRiverorWater.”Llanes, a place on the coast of Asturia. (The aspiratedLlof the Spaniards is very like the WelshLl, and is most[pg 077]probably a relic of Celtic pronunciation.) Lancia (Ciudad Rodrigo,) Lancia (Guarda.)Lan-dubr-is.“The Shore or Margin of the Sea or Water,”or a spot inclosed by the Sea.69An Island, in Latin Maps, on the coast of Portugal.“The Lan-des,”The well-known arid sandy deserts forming the South-eastern coast of France.Medio-lan-um.70Medd, the middle, (Celtic,) and Lan. Towns thus designated seem to have been situated either at the Curve or Winding of a stream, or inclosed between two streams.I may instance—in Cisalpine.Gaul. Medio-lan-um, Milan.Mediolanum (Santones), on the Loire.(Eburovices Aulerci), Evreux, Normandy.(Bituriges Cubi), inclosed between two winding streams, which are the sources of the Loire. Bi-tur-iges is from a synonyme, Bi, two, and Dour, Water.Dôl,“A wind, a bow, a turn, a meander, a dale or mead, through which a river runs,”(Welsh,)71as in Dol-Vorwyn and Dol-Vorgan, Montgomeryshire, North Wales;“Dôle,”the ancient capital of Franche Compté. (Compare the situation.)Lut-ecia,72Paris, seems clearly to have derived its name from its situation among marshes.“Située dans une isle de la Seine environnée de marais profonds, difficiles à traverser, qui communiquent à ce fleuve.”(Bullet, from Strabo.)Llath-ach,“Mud, Dirt,”(Irish,) Llaith, Moist, (Welsh.)Lug-dunum or Lau-dunum.73“Laon,”built on the Summit of a Rock divided into two branches. Lug, from Llech, a[pg 078]Stone. Clog, a detached rock, (Welsh.) Liag, a great Stone. Leagan Kloiche, a Rock, (Irish.)In the following instances the identity of the Gaulish and other Celtic names with the Welsh is remarkably clear, and will be vividly felt by persons vernacularly familiar with the Welsh language, and the most common local names in Wales.The“Bretons,”Ar-mor-ici. Ar,“On,”Mor,“the Sea.”The people of a Hilly Region in the South-east of France, Ar-e-com-ici.Coum,“a Hollow Circular Valley, or Depression,”(Welsh.) This word is the source of the numerous names of places in England ending in Combe. The Oriental origin of the word is clearly traceable. After describing the great Table-land of Central Asia as extending over the whole of Persia, Ritter adds:“Towards‘Koom,’(in Persia,) we find the greatest depression, in the Table-land; here the surface sinks to 2046 feet!”74There are also the“Com-oni,”above Toulon, and Com-us,“Como,”to which the word is peculiarly appropriate. (Bullet.)The People of Auvergne. Ar-vern-i,“On the Hills.”Veryn or Beryn is a Hill in Welsh. Thus“Cevn y Beryn,”is the name of a Hill in Montgomeryshire.By Plutarch the Ar-vern-i are called Ar-ben-i.“This is a very interesting addition to our information.‘Veryn’and‘Ben’are both synonymes extant in Welsh for‘a Hill.’”We have the same words repeated in the following instances, joined with Um (Irish), Am (Welsh),“About.”(Compare the Greek Amphi.)Um-benn i,“The People (living) about the Hills.”A Swiss Tribe.Um-bran-ici (from Beryn or Bron,Welsh,) a name of the Helvii mountaineers to the South-east of the Cevennes.[pg 079]In the following names, again, we have Pen or Ben, and Beryn or Bron, alone.Ben-ones, a Mountain Tribe in Switzerland.Breun-i, on the borders of Bavaria and the Tyrol.Bern-enses, the people of Berne, in Switzerland, and also those of Bearne, in the South of France, adjoining the Pyrenees.A-Pen-inus Mons. Alpes Pen-inæ, the Alps immediately to the South of Geneva. Vallis Pen-ina, the Valley of the Rhone.The primary sense of Pen, in Welsh, is“the Head.”As observed at page 11, the names for Hills in that language are metaphors from“the Head, the Breast,”&c. Now it is observable that in ancient Celtic Europe a difference of application corresponding to the different primary meanings of the terms is discoverable. Alpes is the general name for the Alps. (Alpes) Pen-inæ, a term derived from the Head, are the lofty and abrupt Alps, as distinguished from Alpes Maritimæ, &c.In Spain and Portugal. Pena-s da Europa, (North of Spain.) Cape Pena-s, (in the Asturias.) Pen-a Longa, a Town adjoining the long ridge called the Sierra da St. Catherina in Portugal.Gebenn-a Mons, the Cevenn-es,“South of France.”Cevenn-es, (omitting“es,”French plural,) is identical with Cevn,“a Back,”“a Hill,”as in Cevn y Coed, the name of a hill in Montgomeryshire, (Welsh.)The Irish Gibhis,“a Valley,”is from the same source. Names of“Valleys and Hills”are generally composed of the same roots. (Similiter the Latin word“Altus”means both“High”and Deep!) A Valley is, in fact, formed by Hills!These various meanings and inflections are found united in the Hebrew.[pg 080]Hebrew.Hebrew.DerivativesGa.e, to rise.Gve, or Gou e, to be high, gibbous, or curved.Kub, a Mountain.75(Persian.)Kof. (Pehlwi.)Goun, or Gav.n, Swelling.Gb, the Back. Gbn, Hunch backed.Gev.n, or Cev.n, the Back, the Ridge of a Hill. (Welsh.)Gee a. Ga.oun, plur. A valley, or more properly a lawn rising to the top of the adjoining hill.G.b.oe, G.h.o.th, a Mountain. G.b.o.the, the Slope of a Mountain.Geib-his, Gibhis, a Valley. (Irish.) The Ghauts, Mountains in Asia. Gibb-osus. (Latin.)Goupp en, a chain of Hills in Switzerland. (Bullet.)Alp. Dr. Owen Pughe quotes many classical authors to show that the word meant in Gallish a lofty Mountain. In the mountains of Glamorganshire, he adds, it is still used for a craggy summit.Alp-es. Allo-bryges, from Alp- and (briga).76Brigi-cum was their only town. To the South-east of the Allobryges were the Hel-v-ii, (Albatheir capital.) To the North the Hel-v-etii, (Vod in Welsh, a Residence.) Both names were probably from Al-p.Nant, (Nan-au,plural,) a Mountain Valley,“a Mountain Stream,”(Welsh.) This word is still in use in Savoy. (See Dr. Prichard's remarks.)77Nannet-es, a Tribe in Britany, andNant-uates, a Tribe occupying the valley of the Rhine below its source.Nang-ates, the people of Connaught. This is one of numerous[pg 081]instances of local names in Ireland, of which the sense has been lost in the Irish and still preserved in the Welsh.Cori, or Corrie, means a hollow between hills. A glen or“Cleugh,”a small stream.78(A word ofCeltic origin. Jamieson's Etymological Dict. of the Scottish Language.)This word appears to be in use both in the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland; the first a Gaelic, the second originally a Cymraeg district. (See Chalmers's Caledonia.)Sir Walter Scott has very gracefully introduced this ancient word in the beautiful“Coronach,”or Funeral-song of the Clansman, in the“Lady of the Lake:”“He is gone from the mountain,He is gone from the forest,Like a summer-dried fountain,When our need was the sorest.“Fleet foot on thecorrieSage counsel in cumberRed hand in the foray,How sound is thy slumber!”To this passage Sir Walter Scott has added the following note:79“Corrie or Cori.”Thehollowside of the hill where game usually lies!I conceive a comparison of the following examples will serve to render it indisputable that this term may be accepted as a clue to a great number of the most important topographical names of Gaul and Britain, which have hitherto eluded the researches of Celtic scholars.[pg 082]Hebrew.Celtic.C.r. To surround, go round.Cor. A Circle, (Welsh.)A pasture or Circuit for Cattle.Cor-lan. A Sheepfold, (Welsh.)A Lamb.Ka ora, or Kyra. A Sheep, (Irish.)A“Cor.”A measure so called from its round form.C.eee.ou.r. A Round Pot, or Caldron.“Cori,”or Corrie.“Thehollow sideof the Hill where the game usually lies.”(Sir W. Scott.)C.r.e. To dig, as a Well or Pit.AHollowbetween Hills. A Cleugh. (Jamieson.)The Tri-Cori-i. From Tre and Cori. A tribe who inhabited the modern French Department of the“High Alps,”an Alpine region, the source of numerous streams which feed the Rhone and its branches.The Petro-Cori-i.80The inhabitants of the Departments of Dordogne and Correze. Dordogne is thus described by Malte Brun:“We may pass from the Department of Lot to that of Dordogne by descending the last river which traverses it on the South from East to West. It is also watered by the Ille, the Dronne, the Vezere, and by more thanfourteen hundred small riversand streams. Hills extend along this country in every direction, but with the exception of two vallies, those watered by the Ille and the Dordogne, they bound onlynarrow passes, almost all of which are desolated by torrents!”[pg 083]Correze. From the same authority we learn that two thirds of this department consists of a mountainous region, full of“ravines and precipices,”and that its scenery progressively assumes more of this wild and romantic character as you ascend the river Correze, which gives its name to the Department, and to its principal town. Correze is plainly derived from Cori.81The Cori-tan-i. A British tribe in Derbyshire, &c., from Cori and Tania, an addition frequently made by the Romans to the name of a province or district, as in Aqui-tania, Mauri-tania. Camden expresses himself totally unable to explain this term satisfactorily.The following are partly composed of ancient Celtic Topographical Names, of which the appropriate meanings have not been preserved82in the Welsh and Irish, &c., but are found in the Oriental and other languages.“Eryr-i,”the Welsh name of the Snowdon Mountains. This word has been variously explained by Welsh scholars, as meaning the“Snowy Mountain”(from Eira,“Snow”), the“Eagles' Mountain,”&c. None of these explanations are appropriate. Moreover“Eryr-i”is not the name of asinglepeak, but of the Snowdonrangeof mountains!“E.r.r”is a pure Hebrew word, signifying a very high mountain,83from which“Eryr-i,”the name of the Snowdon range, the highest in South Britain, is a plural regularly formed!Cimas da Our-ar-as, are high Mountains to the North of Lisbon.Ban-nau Brycheiniog,“the Brecon Beacons,”lofty hills in Brecknockshire. Ban de la Roche, the celebrated Pastor[pg 084]Oberlin's residence among the Vosges Mountains, in the East of France. Ban,“Lofty,”(Welsh,) Bian, a Hill, (Irish,) Boun-os, a Hill, (Greek,) Ban-k (English), a diminutive.Bal.“Applied in Wales to Mountains that terminate in a Peak. Balannu, to shoot or spring forth.”(Dr. W. Owen Pughe.) Belan is also applied to Hills, as“Nant y Belan,”near Wynnstay. Bala, Bulund (Persian), Beland (Pehlwi), Bulund (Zend),“High.”“The Don and the Dune,”Rivers in Scotland. Trev-i don, i.e.“the Town of, or on the River,”a place on the river Tarn, in the South of France. Don, Dun,“Water,”“a River,”(Ossetians, a people of the Caucasus).“The Don”River, in the country of the“Don Cossacks,”who are also considered to be a people of the Caucasus.“Donau”(German), the Danube.From Ar,“a River, a Stream,”(Hebrew.)“Ar-a,”now“the Ayr,”that enters the sea at Bayeux, (see before, p.73.)“The Ar-ar,”Gaul.“The Ayr,”Scotland.From Ee.a.ou.r,“a River, a Stream,”(Hebrew,) a modification of A.r. Wari,“Water,”(Sanscrit.)“The Evre”and“Evrette,”France.“The Wavre,”Belgium.“The Weaver”and“the Wear,”England.From Ee.a.r (Hebrew), and Iaro,“a River,”(Egyptian,)“The Yarrow,”Scotland. (See p.10.)From Ur,“Water,”(Jeniseians, in Siberia,) and Our-on (Greek), terms connected with the previous Hebrew words;“Ur-us,”the Ouse, Britain.Thus it will be seen that the various inflections of the Hebrew word A.r. have been completely preserved in the names of the different rivers in each of the Celtic countries of Britain and Gaul.Lamu,“the Sea,”(Tungusian.) Lam,“the Sea,”(Lamutian.) Limnē, a Lake,“Poetically, the Sea, the Ocean, which seems to be the most primitive sense; also anciently, as it would[pg 085]appear, the Estuary of a River,”Schneider (Greek). At the mouths of the rivers that flow into the Black Sea lakes are formed, which are called“Limans.”84Hence“Leman-us Lacus”in Switzerland.Lim-ēn, a Haven, (Greek,) connected apparently with the last word, Limnē (Greek).“Lemanæ”vel Portus“Leman-is.”Lyme, in Kent, where Cæsar first landed.Jura, a long Mountainous ridge in ancient Gaul. Jura, a long Mountainous Island (Scotland).“Jur-jura,”an important chain of Mountains in the North of Africa. Gora (Russian), Ghiri (Sanscrit), a Mountain.In the foregoing examples Celtic words having an affinity to the Latin frequently occur, employed in a manner that shows they could not have been borrowed by the Celts from the Romans. Thus we have the names Ar-mor-ici, Ebro-lacum, names in which terms like the Latin“Mare”and“Lacus”are naturally blended with other Celtic words which are quite unlike the Latin!I conceive the evidence adduced in the previous pages must serve to place beyond all doubt the truth of the propositions illustrated in this Section, viz., that the language of the primitive Celts of Europe and the British Isles originally consisted of a combination of the Welsh and Irish, and other living Celtic dialects, united with many words and forms preserved in none of those dialects, but traceable in the Hebrew, the Greek, and the languages of other ancient and distant nations.The uniformity that presents itself in the ancient local nomenclature of all the Celtic countries is a very remarkable and instructive feature, of which an adequate conception can be formed only by an examination of the Roman Maps. The identity of names, for example, is found to be as complete[pg 086]when the Roman Maps of Gaul and Britain are compared, as we meet with in examining the Maps of two English Counties! To this rule Ireland, as far as we can judge from the imperfect nature of the information transmitted to us, formed no exception. These facts lead to the inference that the Celts must have diffused themselves, within a comparatively short interval of time, over all the regions of Europe of which the Romans found them in possession! Had the process of diffusion occupied a great many ages, there must have been a commensurate change in the Celtic language, which would have displayed itself in the local names of the more distant regions. But no such difference occurs, the local nomenclature of Britain, for instance, being identical with that of Switzerland and Spain![pg 087]Section VI.
“Berw”is the South Welsh name for the effervescence in the deep receptacle in which a Cataract foams after its fall; it is applied also to the Cataract itself, as“Berw Rhondda,”the fall of the River Rhondda.
Aber, in Cornish, means“a Confluence of Rivers,”also“a Gulf,”“a Whirlpool.”61
In Breton or Armorican Aber means“a confluence of Rivers.”“Dans le diocese de Vannes,”says Bullet,“le mot[pg 072]a encore une autre signification, c'estcelle de torrent.”“In the diocese of Vannes this word has still another meaning, viz., that of‘a Torrent!’”Compare Torr-ens (Latin),“Torrent”(English), from Torreo (Latin),“To boil.”“Aber, in a deflected sense,”he says,“has been applied to a Harbour; hence Havre de Grace!”
“It is a curious fact,”says Chalmers,“which we learn from the Charters of the twelfth century, that the Scoto-Irish people substituted Inver for the previous Aber of the Britons. David I. granted to the Monastery of MayInver-Inqui fuitAber-Inin Chart May.”62This remarkable place is at the“Influx of a small stream, called theIn, on the coast of Fife. Both appellations are now lost.”
Among the names of ancient Celtic regions we have Abrin-catui, that is (without any change in the word) Aber-In-Catui; the name of a Tribe in Normandy, about Avranches, which is at the mouth of a River now called the See. (Another stream flows into the same Estuary.)
Aber—In—Cattui.
Literally,
“Estuary (of the) River—Tribes or People,”i.e. The Tribes living at the Estuary of the River or Rivers.
The name of the same place will also furnish an example of a corresponding term, primarily meaning“The Mouth,”in the modern Celtic.
Genœ (Welsh), Ganau (Cornish), Gion (Irish), Genu (Armorican), mean“The Mouth.”
The original name of“Avranches,”when the country was first subdued by the Romans, was In-“gena.”Here it is plain“Gena”was synonymous with Aber! The Town was afterwards called Aber-in-Catui by the Romans, who very generally gave the names of the Celtic tribes to their principal Towns.
In D'Anville's Map we find, in the same part of Gaul,Aræ-genu-s given to Bayeux, (the capital of the Bajocasses,) at themouthof a river now called the“Ayr!”
The following are very striking examples of the occurrence of the same word, Genœ or Ganau:
“Gano-durum”(Dur water) Constance, at the spot where the Rhine issues out of Lake Constance.
“Geneva.”(The Rhone issues here from the Lake, and is immediately afterwards joined by the Arve.)
“Genua”(Genoa). At the mouth of a stream.
“Albium In-gaun-um,”a town to the east of Genoa, where many streams from the Maritime Alps unite in one mouth.
Beal or Bel (Irish), Buel (Manx),“A Mouth.”This is another word, applied in Wales and Ireland, in topographical names, in nearly the same sense as Aber, as in Bala, at the mouth of a lake, North Wales,Bally-shannon, Ireland. This word does not occur either in vernacular Welsh or in the Welsh of old MSS. But in Irish,BealorBelis still the common word for“A Mouth.”
We shall find unequivocal proofs that this word also was used by the old Celts of Gaul, as in“Boulogne,”i.e. Bala (Beal, or Buel) Liane,“The mouth of the Liane.”The town is at the mouth of a small stream, of which Bullet, who does not appear to have suspected the derivation, says“La rivière qui passe à Boulogne s'appelleLiane.—The stream that runs by Boulogne is called Liane!”“Liane, Lune,”&c. is a common proper name for a stream in all countries of which the Celts formed the first population. Lliant (Llian-au,plur.) means a stream, a torrent, in Welsh; Llyn,“Water,”in Welsh; and Lean, Irish. Hence“The Lune”in Herefordshire, &c.
A further example of words of this Class occurs in the Latin name of the“Humber.”
This great receptacle of streams was generally called Ab-us;[pg 074]but Ptolomey, in Greek, gives the name more fully,“Abontrus!”63This word means in Welsh and Irish“The Outlet”, or literally“The Door”of the Rivers. Trus, A Door, (Drous,Welsh, Doros,Irish,) occurs in the same sense in Tura (Sanscrit), Der (Persian). Hence it appears that the Welsh word, which is nearer to the term preserved in this name, has not been borrowed from the English“Door!”
“Aber,”however, was the greatest favorite with the ancient Celts, as with the modern Cymry! It would seem that this word“Aber”was as commonly applied in ancient Gaul, &c. as it still is in Wales, not merely to the mouths of large rivers, but to places situated at those ofvery small streams!64
Britain.—York, Ebor-acum (Caer Eboranch,Welsh; Ever-wick,Saxon.) Is inclosed for the most part between the Ouse and the Foss, which unite close to the Town! The river Foss separatessome parts of the Townfrom the rest.
Eburo-cass-um (Alnewick), at the mouth of the River Alne, Northumberland. Ever-wick is the name of an adjoining Village on the same river.
Eburo-nes (Belgic. Gaul). About the junction of the Saba and the Mosa. Cæsar states in his account of them that this tribe had no Town.
There was a prince of the Œduans65in Cæsar's time, named Eporo-dor-ix, apparently from Aber-Dour“Water,”and Rex. The Gaulish chiefs, like those of the Gaelic Scotch, seem to have frequently derived their names from their peculiar territories[pg 075]or patrimonies; in the same manner, for instance, as the chiefs“Lochiel, Glengarry,”&c.
As before intimated, it appears pretty clear that the little nations into which Gaul was divided, such as the Ceno-mani, the Œdui, &c. consisted for the most part of a combination ofseveraldistinct septs or clans each under their respective princes. The name of the chief (Eporo-dor-ix) just mentioned may, therefore—and most probably must—have been derived from that of some place no longer capable of being identified, though the country of the Œdui, the source of many rivers, abounds in localities to which it would apply very appropriately!
Gaul.—Eburo-dunum (now Embrun in Dauphiné.) At the confluence of a small stream with the Durance.
Since writing the above I find this town in Hornius' map, marked“Epeb r-o-durû,”i.e.“Mouth of the Water,”(Welsh.)
Eburo-briga, a Town. At the junction of one of the streams that feed the Seine above Sens.
Ebro-lacum. A Town near the source of the Loire; precise situation apparently unknown. But the affinity of“Ebro”to the Celtic“Aber,”and the identity of Lac (um) with Loch66or Lach, the Gaelic for a Lake or Water, will be obvious.
Avar-icum (Bourges), at the junction of the L'Evrette with the Evre, one of the branches of the Cher.
Switzerland.—Ebro-dunum,“Yverdun,”at the mouth of the river Orbe, that flows there into the Lake of Neuf-chatel.
Spain and Portugal.—Eburo-britz-ium, the modern Alco-baza or Alco-baca, on the Portuguese coast, between the[pg 076]Tagus and the Mondego, and not far from Torres Vedras. This town is at the mouth of the Alcoa river. The modern name, Alco-baca, (“The mouth of the Alcoa,”) is a guarantee of the correctness of the above construction of the ancient name!67
In the North-east of Spain, on the Bay of Biscay, we meet with the word Aber itself in an undisguised form, as we do in Gaul in the word Abr-in-catui.
There is a town, Uxam-aber, on a river called in Roman Maps the Uch-esia.68This is an unfortunate word for the advocates of the Spanish origin of the Irish, for here we have the Welsh Aber, in lieu of the Gaelic Inver, in the North of Spain—the very district from which the Colony is supposed to have come! Indeed the Local names in the Celtic regions of Spain generally approach much more nearly to the Welsh than to the Irish! This will be seen in some of the following examples.
Glan or Lan,“a Sea shore or Margin,”(Welsh,) not extant in Irish.
Glan a tuia (Glandeves), at the junction of a small stream with the Varus, that separates France and Italy.
Glan-um, on the Puech River, near Embrun.
Cat-a-laun-i. A tribe resident about Chalons on the Seine.
Cat-a-laun-i.“People (of) the river bank.”The name originally given to this town by the Romans was Duro-Cat-a-laun-i, i.e. (The Town of)“the Tribe on the Bank of theRiverorWater.”
Llanes, a place on the coast of Asturia. (The aspiratedLlof the Spaniards is very like the WelshLl, and is most[pg 077]probably a relic of Celtic pronunciation.) Lancia (Ciudad Rodrigo,) Lancia (Guarda.)
Lan-dubr-is.“The Shore or Margin of the Sea or Water,”or a spot inclosed by the Sea.69An Island, in Latin Maps, on the coast of Portugal.
“The Lan-des,”The well-known arid sandy deserts forming the South-eastern coast of France.
Medio-lan-um.70Medd, the middle, (Celtic,) and Lan. Towns thus designated seem to have been situated either at the Curve or Winding of a stream, or inclosed between two streams.
I may instance—in Cisalpine.
Gaul. Medio-lan-um, Milan.
Mediolanum (Santones), on the Loire.(Eburovices Aulerci), Evreux, Normandy.(Bituriges Cubi), inclosed between two winding streams, which are the sources of the Loire. Bi-tur-iges is from a synonyme, Bi, two, and Dour, Water.
Dôl,“A wind, a bow, a turn, a meander, a dale or mead, through which a river runs,”(Welsh,)71as in Dol-Vorwyn and Dol-Vorgan, Montgomeryshire, North Wales;“Dôle,”the ancient capital of Franche Compté. (Compare the situation.)
Lut-ecia,72Paris, seems clearly to have derived its name from its situation among marshes.“Située dans une isle de la Seine environnée de marais profonds, difficiles à traverser, qui communiquent à ce fleuve.”(Bullet, from Strabo.)
Llath-ach,“Mud, Dirt,”(Irish,) Llaith, Moist, (Welsh.)
Lug-dunum or Lau-dunum.73“Laon,”built on the Summit of a Rock divided into two branches. Lug, from Llech, a[pg 078]Stone. Clog, a detached rock, (Welsh.) Liag, a great Stone. Leagan Kloiche, a Rock, (Irish.)
In the following instances the identity of the Gaulish and other Celtic names with the Welsh is remarkably clear, and will be vividly felt by persons vernacularly familiar with the Welsh language, and the most common local names in Wales.
The“Bretons,”Ar-mor-ici. Ar,“On,”Mor,“the Sea.”
The people of a Hilly Region in the South-east of France, Ar-e-com-ici.
Coum,“a Hollow Circular Valley, or Depression,”(Welsh.) This word is the source of the numerous names of places in England ending in Combe. The Oriental origin of the word is clearly traceable. After describing the great Table-land of Central Asia as extending over the whole of Persia, Ritter adds:“Towards‘Koom,’(in Persia,) we find the greatest depression, in the Table-land; here the surface sinks to 2046 feet!”74
There are also the“Com-oni,”above Toulon, and Com-us,“Como,”to which the word is peculiarly appropriate. (Bullet.)
The People of Auvergne. Ar-vern-i,“On the Hills.”Veryn or Beryn is a Hill in Welsh. Thus“Cevn y Beryn,”is the name of a Hill in Montgomeryshire.
By Plutarch the Ar-vern-i are called Ar-ben-i.“This is a very interesting addition to our information.‘Veryn’and‘Ben’are both synonymes extant in Welsh for‘a Hill.’”
We have the same words repeated in the following instances, joined with Um (Irish), Am (Welsh),“About.”(Compare the Greek Amphi.)
Um-benn i,“The People (living) about the Hills.”A Swiss Tribe.
Um-bran-ici (from Beryn or Bron,Welsh,) a name of the Helvii mountaineers to the South-east of the Cevennes.
In the following names, again, we have Pen or Ben, and Beryn or Bron, alone.
Ben-ones, a Mountain Tribe in Switzerland.
Breun-i, on the borders of Bavaria and the Tyrol.
Bern-enses, the people of Berne, in Switzerland, and also those of Bearne, in the South of France, adjoining the Pyrenees.
A-Pen-inus Mons. Alpes Pen-inæ, the Alps immediately to the South of Geneva. Vallis Pen-ina, the Valley of the Rhone.
The primary sense of Pen, in Welsh, is“the Head.”As observed at page 11, the names for Hills in that language are metaphors from“the Head, the Breast,”&c. Now it is observable that in ancient Celtic Europe a difference of application corresponding to the different primary meanings of the terms is discoverable. Alpes is the general name for the Alps. (Alpes) Pen-inæ, a term derived from the Head, are the lofty and abrupt Alps, as distinguished from Alpes Maritimæ, &c.
In Spain and Portugal. Pena-s da Europa, (North of Spain.) Cape Pena-s, (in the Asturias.) Pen-a Longa, a Town adjoining the long ridge called the Sierra da St. Catherina in Portugal.
Gebenn-a Mons, the Cevenn-es,“South of France.”Cevenn-es, (omitting“es,”French plural,) is identical with Cevn,“a Back,”“a Hill,”as in Cevn y Coed, the name of a hill in Montgomeryshire, (Welsh.)
The Irish Gibhis,“a Valley,”is from the same source. Names of“Valleys and Hills”are generally composed of the same roots. (Similiter the Latin word“Altus”means both“High”and Deep!) A Valley is, in fact, formed by Hills!
These various meanings and inflections are found united in the Hebrew.
Goupp en, a chain of Hills in Switzerland. (Bullet.)
Alp. Dr. Owen Pughe quotes many classical authors to show that the word meant in Gallish a lofty Mountain. In the mountains of Glamorganshire, he adds, it is still used for a craggy summit.
Alp-es. Allo-bryges, from Alp- and (briga).76Brigi-cum was their only town. To the South-east of the Allobryges were the Hel-v-ii, (Albatheir capital.) To the North the Hel-v-etii, (Vod in Welsh, a Residence.) Both names were probably from Al-p.
Nant, (Nan-au,plural,) a Mountain Valley,“a Mountain Stream,”(Welsh.) This word is still in use in Savoy. (See Dr. Prichard's remarks.)77
Nannet-es, a Tribe in Britany, and
Nant-uates, a Tribe occupying the valley of the Rhine below its source.
Nang-ates, the people of Connaught. This is one of numerous[pg 081]instances of local names in Ireland, of which the sense has been lost in the Irish and still preserved in the Welsh.
Cori, or Corrie, means a hollow between hills. A glen or“Cleugh,”a small stream.78(A word ofCeltic origin. Jamieson's Etymological Dict. of the Scottish Language.)
This word appears to be in use both in the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland; the first a Gaelic, the second originally a Cymraeg district. (See Chalmers's Caledonia.)
Sir Walter Scott has very gracefully introduced this ancient word in the beautiful“Coronach,”or Funeral-song of the Clansman, in the“Lady of the Lake:”
“He is gone from the mountain,He is gone from the forest,Like a summer-dried fountain,When our need was the sorest.“Fleet foot on thecorrieSage counsel in cumberRed hand in the foray,How sound is thy slumber!”
“He is gone from the mountain,He is gone from the forest,Like a summer-dried fountain,When our need was the sorest.
“He is gone from the mountain,
He is gone from the forest,
Like a summer-dried fountain,
When our need was the sorest.
“Fleet foot on thecorrieSage counsel in cumberRed hand in the foray,How sound is thy slumber!”
“Fleet foot on thecorrie
Sage counsel in cumber
Red hand in the foray,
How sound is thy slumber!”
To this passage Sir Walter Scott has added the following note:79“Corrie or Cori.”Thehollowside of the hill where game usually lies!
I conceive a comparison of the following examples will serve to render it indisputable that this term may be accepted as a clue to a great number of the most important topographical names of Gaul and Britain, which have hitherto eluded the researches of Celtic scholars.
The Tri-Cori-i. From Tre and Cori. A tribe who inhabited the modern French Department of the“High Alps,”an Alpine region, the source of numerous streams which feed the Rhone and its branches.
The Petro-Cori-i.80The inhabitants of the Departments of Dordogne and Correze. Dordogne is thus described by Malte Brun:
“We may pass from the Department of Lot to that of Dordogne by descending the last river which traverses it on the South from East to West. It is also watered by the Ille, the Dronne, the Vezere, and by more thanfourteen hundred small riversand streams. Hills extend along this country in every direction, but with the exception of two vallies, those watered by the Ille and the Dordogne, they bound onlynarrow passes, almost all of which are desolated by torrents!”
Correze. From the same authority we learn that two thirds of this department consists of a mountainous region, full of“ravines and precipices,”and that its scenery progressively assumes more of this wild and romantic character as you ascend the river Correze, which gives its name to the Department, and to its principal town. Correze is plainly derived from Cori.81
The Cori-tan-i. A British tribe in Derbyshire, &c., from Cori and Tania, an addition frequently made by the Romans to the name of a province or district, as in Aqui-tania, Mauri-tania. Camden expresses himself totally unable to explain this term satisfactorily.
The following are partly composed of ancient Celtic Topographical Names, of which the appropriate meanings have not been preserved82in the Welsh and Irish, &c., but are found in the Oriental and other languages.
“Eryr-i,”the Welsh name of the Snowdon Mountains. This word has been variously explained by Welsh scholars, as meaning the“Snowy Mountain”(from Eira,“Snow”), the“Eagles' Mountain,”&c. None of these explanations are appropriate. Moreover“Eryr-i”is not the name of asinglepeak, but of the Snowdonrangeof mountains!“E.r.r”is a pure Hebrew word, signifying a very high mountain,83from which“Eryr-i,”the name of the Snowdon range, the highest in South Britain, is a plural regularly formed!
Cimas da Our-ar-as, are high Mountains to the North of Lisbon.
Ban-nau Brycheiniog,“the Brecon Beacons,”lofty hills in Brecknockshire. Ban de la Roche, the celebrated Pastor[pg 084]Oberlin's residence among the Vosges Mountains, in the East of France. Ban,“Lofty,”(Welsh,) Bian, a Hill, (Irish,) Boun-os, a Hill, (Greek,) Ban-k (English), a diminutive.
Bal.“Applied in Wales to Mountains that terminate in a Peak. Balannu, to shoot or spring forth.”(Dr. W. Owen Pughe.) Belan is also applied to Hills, as“Nant y Belan,”near Wynnstay. Bala, Bulund (Persian), Beland (Pehlwi), Bulund (Zend),“High.”
“The Don and the Dune,”Rivers in Scotland. Trev-i don, i.e.“the Town of, or on the River,”a place on the river Tarn, in the South of France. Don, Dun,“Water,”“a River,”(Ossetians, a people of the Caucasus).“The Don”River, in the country of the“Don Cossacks,”who are also considered to be a people of the Caucasus.“Donau”(German), the Danube.
From Ar,“a River, a Stream,”(Hebrew.)“Ar-a,”now“the Ayr,”that enters the sea at Bayeux, (see before, p.73.)“The Ar-ar,”Gaul.“The Ayr,”Scotland.
From Ee.a.ou.r,“a River, a Stream,”(Hebrew,) a modification of A.r. Wari,“Water,”(Sanscrit.)“The Evre”and“Evrette,”France.“The Wavre,”Belgium.“The Weaver”and“the Wear,”England.
From Ee.a.r (Hebrew), and Iaro,“a River,”(Egyptian,)“The Yarrow,”Scotland. (See p.10.)
From Ur,“Water,”(Jeniseians, in Siberia,) and Our-on (Greek), terms connected with the previous Hebrew words;“Ur-us,”the Ouse, Britain.
Thus it will be seen that the various inflections of the Hebrew word A.r. have been completely preserved in the names of the different rivers in each of the Celtic countries of Britain and Gaul.
Lamu,“the Sea,”(Tungusian.) Lam,“the Sea,”(Lamutian.) Limnē, a Lake,“Poetically, the Sea, the Ocean, which seems to be the most primitive sense; also anciently, as it would[pg 085]appear, the Estuary of a River,”Schneider (Greek). At the mouths of the rivers that flow into the Black Sea lakes are formed, which are called“Limans.”84Hence“Leman-us Lacus”in Switzerland.
Lim-ēn, a Haven, (Greek,) connected apparently with the last word, Limnē (Greek).“Lemanæ”vel Portus“Leman-is.”Lyme, in Kent, where Cæsar first landed.
Jura, a long Mountainous ridge in ancient Gaul. Jura, a long Mountainous Island (Scotland).“Jur-jura,”an important chain of Mountains in the North of Africa. Gora (Russian), Ghiri (Sanscrit), a Mountain.
In the foregoing examples Celtic words having an affinity to the Latin frequently occur, employed in a manner that shows they could not have been borrowed by the Celts from the Romans. Thus we have the names Ar-mor-ici, Ebro-lacum, names in which terms like the Latin“Mare”and“Lacus”are naturally blended with other Celtic words which are quite unlike the Latin!
I conceive the evidence adduced in the previous pages must serve to place beyond all doubt the truth of the propositions illustrated in this Section, viz., that the language of the primitive Celts of Europe and the British Isles originally consisted of a combination of the Welsh and Irish, and other living Celtic dialects, united with many words and forms preserved in none of those dialects, but traceable in the Hebrew, the Greek, and the languages of other ancient and distant nations.
The uniformity that presents itself in the ancient local nomenclature of all the Celtic countries is a very remarkable and instructive feature, of which an adequate conception can be formed only by an examination of the Roman Maps. The identity of names, for example, is found to be as complete[pg 086]when the Roman Maps of Gaul and Britain are compared, as we meet with in examining the Maps of two English Counties! To this rule Ireland, as far as we can judge from the imperfect nature of the information transmitted to us, formed no exception. These facts lead to the inference that the Celts must have diffused themselves, within a comparatively short interval of time, over all the regions of Europe of which the Romans found them in possession! Had the process of diffusion occupied a great many ages, there must have been a commensurate change in the Celtic language, which would have displayed itself in the local names of the more distant regions. But no such difference occurs, the local nomenclature of Britain, for instance, being identical with that of Switzerland and Spain!
Section VI.