FOOTNOTES:

1.England.TheIrt. Cumberland.Urtiusant., now theIrthing.Belgium.Urta, 9th cent., now theOurt.TheErens.Spain.TheIrati. Prov. Navarra.Asia.Irat, a name of the Euphrates.2.With the ending el.Germany.Urtella, 9th cent., now the Sensbach.

From the Sansc.bhuj, Goth.bjugan, Welshbwäu, Gael.bogh, Eng.bow, &c., in the sense of tortuousness, we may take the following.

1.England.TheBowe. Shropshire.Scotland.TheBogie. Aberdeen.Russia.TheBug. Joins the Dnieper.2.With the ending en.Germany.TheBogen. Joins the Danube.3.With the ending et.Scotland.TheBucket. Aberdeen.

From the Gael. and Welshcam, to bend, Sansc.kamp, Gr.καμπω, are the following.

England.TheCamby Cambridge.Germany.Camba, 8th cent. TheKamp.TheChamin Bavaria.Switzerland.TheKam.Norway.TheKam. Joins the Glommen.Russia.TheKama. Joins the Volga.TheKemi. Two rivers.

The Sansc. rootcar, to move, branches out into two different meanings, that of rapidity and that of circuitousness, the former of which I have included in the previous chapter. In the latter sense we have the Gael.carorchar, tortuous, the Ang.-Sax.cêrran, to turn or bend, &c., to which I place the following.

1.England.TheChar. Dorsetshire.TheChor. Lancashire.TheKerr. Middlesex.Scotland.Cor(abona)[58]ant. TheCarron.France.TheCher. Joins the Loire.Greece.Charesant. Colchis.Persia.Cyrusant., now theKur.2.With the ending en.England.Cirenusant. TheChurne(Gloucestershire).France.TheCharente.3.With the ending el.Greece.Corălisant. Bœotia.Curaliusant. Thessaly.Russia.TheKorol. Joins the Dnieper.

From the Old High Germ.crumb, Mod. Germankrumm, Danishkrumme, Gael. and Welshcrom, curving or bending, we may take the following. The root seems to be found in the Sansc.kram, to move, to go, which, as in other similar cases, may also diverge into the meaning of rapidity.

1.England.TheCrumm(ock), formerlyCrum(beck), which forms the lake of the same name.Germany.Crumb(aha), 10th cent., now theGrumb(ach).Russia.TheKroma. Gov. Orel.2.With the ending en.Germany.Chrumbin(bach), 8th cent., now theKrum(bach).3.With the ending er.Italy.Cremeraant. in Etruria.4.With the ending es.Germany.TheKrems. Joins the Danube.Sicily.Cremisusant.

For the rootsidwe have the Welshsid, winding, and the Anglo-Saxonsîd, broad, spreading. The former is, I think, the sense contained in the following, though both words may be from the same root.

1.England.TheSid. Devonshire.2.With the ending en.England.TheSeaton. Cornwall.3.With the ending rn, p.34.Switzerland.Siteruna, 8th cent., now theSitterorSittern.

Baxter's derivation of the Derwent from Welshderwyn, to wind, appears to me the most suitable. That of Zeuss (taking the form Druentia), fromdru, oak, seems insufficient; because the number of names, all in the same form, seem to indicate that the word contained must be something more thandru. That of Armstrong, fromdear, great,amhain, river, is founded upon a careless hypothesis that the Derwent of Cumberland is the largest river in the North of England, which is not by any means the case.

England.TheDerwent. Four rivers.Treontaant. TheTrent.France.Druentiaant., now theDurance.Germany.TheDrewenz. Prussia.Italy.Truentiusant., now theTrento.Russia.Turuntusant., now theDuna.

In the sense of tortuousness I am inclined to bring in the following, referring them to Old Norsemeis, curvatura, Eng.maze, &c. This seems most suitable to the character of the rivers, as the Maese or Meuse, and the Moselle. The word seems wanting in the Celtic, unless we think of the Welshmydu, to arch, to vault. The other word which might put in a claim ismos, which, in the sense of marsh, is to be traced both in the Celtic and German speech, and whence, as supposed, the name of the ancient Mysia or Mœsia.

1.England.TheMaese. Derbyshire.Scotland.TheMasie. Aberdeen.France, &c.Mosa, 1st cent.B.C.TheMaas,Maes, orMeuse.Germany.Miss(aha), 8th cent. TheMeiss(au).TheMiesin Bohemia.2.With the ending en.Italy.TheMusone. Two rivers.3.With the ending el.Germany.Mosella, 1st cent. TheMoselle.

The only names which appear to contain an opposite sense to the foregoing are theBeinaof Norway, and theBaneof Lincolnshire, which seem to be from Old Norsebeinn, North Eng.bain, straight, direct.

FOOTNOTES:[57]That is, if it be the name of any real river falling into the Baltic, (the Rhodaune by Dantzic is suggested by some); but according to Heeren and Sir G. Lewis the Eridanus was a purely poetical stream, without any geographical position or character.—See an article by Sir G. Lewis in Notes and Queries, July 3, 1858.[58]In this case the endingenis very clearly a contraction ofabonoravon, river.

[57]That is, if it be the name of any real river falling into the Baltic, (the Rhodaune by Dantzic is suggested by some); but according to Heeren and Sir G. Lewis the Eridanus was a purely poetical stream, without any geographical position or character.—See an article by Sir G. Lewis in Notes and Queries, July 3, 1858.

[58]In this case the endingenis very clearly a contraction ofabonoravon, river.

There are a number of river-names in which the sense of clearness, brightness, or transparency is to be traced. From the Sansc.cand, to shine, Lat.candeo, Welsh, Ir. Arm., and Obs. Gael.can, white, clear, pure, we get the following. But the Gael. and Ir.,caoin, soft, gentle, is a word liable to intermix.

1.England.TheCann. Essex.TheKenorKent. Westmoreland.TheKenne. Devonshire.Scotland.TheKen. Joins the Dee.TheConn.Conaof Ossian.Candyburn. Lanarkshire.Wales.TheCain. Merioneth.Germany.Cone, 9th cent., now theCond.Russia.TheKana. Gov. Yeniseisk.India.TheCaneorKen—here?2.With the ending en.Scotland.TheConan. Dingwall.Italy.TheCantiano. Pont. States.3.With the ending er.England.TheConder. Lancashire.TheConner. Cornwall.Switzerland.TheKander.4.Compounded with vi, wy, river.Wales.Conoviusant. TheConway.

The Old Celtic wordvind, found in many ancient names of persons and places, as Vindo, Vindus, Vindanus,[59]Vindobona, Vindobala, &c., represents the present Welshgwyn(=gwynd), and the Ir.finn(=find), white. "The Celt.vind," observes Gluck, "comes from the same root as the Goth.hveit; it stands forcvindwith an intrusiven; the root iscvid= the Germ. roothvit." The meaning in river-names is bright, clear, pure.

1.England.TheVent. Cumberland.TheQuenny. Shropshire.Wales.TheGwynedd(=Gwynd?)Ireland.TheFinn. Ulster.France.TheVendée. Dep. Vendée.Russia.TheVind(au)orWind(au).2.With the ending en.Scotland.TheFinnan. Inverness.3.With the ending er.England.The lakeWinder(mere)?[60]Ireland.Winderius;Ptolemy, a river not identified.4.With the ending rn, p.34.Scotland.TheFindhorn. Inverness.5.With the ending el.England.TheWandle. Surrey.Germany.Finola, 8th cent., now theVehne.

From the Welshllwys, clear, pure, Gael.las, to shine, Gael. and Ir.leus, light, cognate with Old Norselios, clear, pure, Lat.luceo, &c., I derive the following. The Gael.lâ,lo, day, must, I think, contain the root.

1.England.TheLiza. Cumberland.Scotland.TheLossie. Elgin.France.TheLez. Dep. Herault.Belgium.TheLesse.Germany.TheLoose. Pruss. Sax.2.With the ending en.France.TheLizena.Sweden.TheLjusne. Falls into the Gulf of Bothnia.3.With the ending er.Germany.Lesura, 11th cent., now theLieser.Lysera, 10th cent., now theLeiser.

From the root of the above, by the prefixg, is formed Gael. and Welshglas, blue or green, (perhaps originally rather transparent), and the Old Norsegladr, Old High Germ.glatt, shining.

Scotland.TheGlass. Inverness.Glass. A lake, Rosshire.Germany.TheGlatt. Hohenzollern Sig.Switzerland.Glata, 8th cent. TheGlatt.

Also from the same root come Gael., Ir., and Arm.glan, Welshglain, pure, clear, Eng.clean.

England.TheGlen. Northumberland.TheGlen. Lincolnshire.TheClun. Shropshire.France.TheGlane.Germany.Glana, 8th cent. TheGlan, two rivers, and theGlon, three rivers.Switzerland.TheKlön, a small but beautiful lake in the Klönthal—here, or toklein, little?Italy.Clanisant., now theChiana.Claniusant., in Campania.Illyria.TheGlan, in Carinthia.

From the Old High Germ.hlutar, Mod.Germ.lauter, pure, Förstemann derives the following rivers of Germany. Hence also the name of Lauterbrunnen (brunnen, fountain), in Switzerland.

Germany.Hlutr(aha), 7th cent. TheLauter, theLuder, theLutter.TheSommerlauterin Wirtemberg seems to merit the title of pureness only in summer.

The following names I think can hardly be referred to the same origin as the above, though according to Lhuyd, who derives them from Welshgloew, clear, anddwr, water, they would have the same meaning.

England.TheLowther. Westmoreland.Scotland.TheLauder. Berwickshire.France.TheLauter.

In the Gael. and Ir.ban, white, we may probably find the meaning of the following.

Ireland.TheBann. Three rivers.Scotland.TheBann(ock)by Bannockburn.Bohemia.TheBan(itz).

Of the two following names the former may be referred to the Welshclaer, and thelatter to the Swed.klar, both same as Eng.clear.

Ireland.TheClare. Connaught.Sweden.TheKlara(â, river).

From the Welshtêr, pure, clear, we may get the following. The root is found in Sansc.tar, to penetrate, whencetaras, transparent.

1.Italy.TheTaro. Joins the Po.Siberia.TheTara. Joins the Tobol.2.With the ending en.England.TheTearne. Shropshire.TheDearne. Yorkshire.France.TheTarn. Joins the Garonne.3.With the ending es.Hungary.TheTarisa.

The following two rivers of Germany may, as suggested by Förstemann, be referred to Old High Germ.flât, pure, bright.

1.Germany.Flad(aha), 8th cent. Not identified.2.With the ending enz.Germany.Fladinz, 11th cent., now theFladnitz.

The rootbilI have, in river-names generally, referred at p.84to the Celticbiol, water. But in the Slavonic districts we mayalso think of the Slav.biala, white, though we cannot say but that even there the Celtic word may intermix.

Germany.TheBilain Bohemia.TheBialain Silesia.Russia.TheBielaya. Joins the Kama.TheBialy. Joins the Narew.

From the Old High Germ.swarz, Mod. Germ.schwarz, black, are the names of several rivers of Germany, as theSchwarza, theSchwarzau, theSchwarzbach, &c. Also in Norway we have two rivers calledSvart Elv, and in Sweden theSvart An, which falls into the Mälar Lake. From the Old Norsedoeckr, dark, may be theDokkain Norway, but for theDockerof Lancashire the Gael.doich, swift, may be more suitable.

The Welshdu, Gael.dubh, black, probably occurs in river-names, but I have taken, p.36, the meaning of water, as found in Obs. Gael.dob, to be the general one. The Welshdulas, dark or blackish blue, is found in theDowlesof Shropshire, and in severalstreams of Wales. TheDouglasof Lanarkshire shews the original form of the word, fromdu, black, andglas, blue.

The rootsalI have taken at p.76to have in some cases the simple meaning of water. But in the following the quality of saltness comes before us as a known characteristic.

Germany.Salz(aha), 8th cent. TheSalzaby Salzburg.Salisus, 8th cent., now theSelse.TheSalze. Joins the Werre.Hungary.TheSzala.[61]Falls into Lake Balaton.

Of an opposite character are the following, which we may refer to Welshmelus, Gael. and Ir.milis, sweet,millse, sweetness. Some other rivers, as the ancientMelasin Asia Minor, now the Kara-su (Black river), and three rivers of the same name in Greece, must be referred to Gr.μελας, black.

Germany.Milzissa, 8th cent., now the Mülmisch.Milsibach, 11th cent.Portugal.Melsusant. (Strabo).

FOOTNOTES:[59]The three first are names of persons, and to them we might perhaps refer the present family namesWindow,Windus,Vindin; though Windo and Winidin were also ancient German names.—(Förstemann's Altdeutsches Namenbuch.) The Welsh nameGwynand the IrishFinnrepresent the later form of the word.[60]Or, as I have elsewhere derived it, from the man's name Winder, still found in the district.[61]The waters of Lake Balaton are described as "slightly salt," and I assume from the name that the Szala is the river from which its saltness is derived.

[59]The three first are names of persons, and to them we might perhaps refer the present family namesWindow,Windus,Vindin; though Windo and Winidin were also ancient German names.—(Förstemann's Altdeutsches Namenbuch.) The Welsh nameGwynand the IrishFinnrepresent the later form of the word.

[60]Or, as I have elsewhere derived it, from the man's name Winder, still found in the district.

[61]The waters of Lake Balaton are described as "slightly salt," and I assume from the name that the Szala is the river from which its saltness is derived.

TheGretain the English Lake District has been generally derived from Old Norsegrâta, Scotchgreet, to weep or mourn, in allusion to the wailing sound made by its waters. There is also aGretain Westmoreland and aGreta beckin Yorkshire. In the Obs. Gael. and Ir.,greathalso signifies a noise or cry, so that it is quite possible that the original Celtic name may have been retained in the same sense.

Of an opposite meaning to the above is the nameBlytheof several small rivers in England. I do not see how this can be otherwise derived than from the Ang.-Sax.blithe, merry. And how appropriate this is to many of our English streams we hardly need poetic illustration to tell us.

Of a corresponding meaning with the Saxon name Blythe may be theAvocaorOvocaof Wicklow, theObokaof Ptolemy. Baxter refers it to Welshawchus, acer, a word of no very cheerful association for the spot where

"Nature has spread o'er the sceneHer purest of crystal, and brightest of green."

The Gael.abhach, blithe, sportive, would seem to give a better etymon for the bright waters of Avoca. Whether theOckerof Germany (ant.Obocra,Ovocra,Ovokare), may be derived from the same word I do not know sufficient to judge.

From the Gr.βρέμω, Lat.fremo, Ang.-Sax.bremman, to roar, Old Norsebrim, roaring or foaming of the sea, Welshffrom, fuming, Gael.faram, din, I take the following. The following description given by Strabo[62]of the Pyramus shews the appropriateness of the derivation. "There is also an extraordinary fissure in the mountain,(Taurus), through which the stream is carried.... On account of the winding of its course, the great contraction of the stream, and the depth of the ravine,a noise, like that of thunder, strikes at a distance on the ears of those who approach it."

1.England.TheFrome. Five rivers.TheFrame. Dorsetshire.Germany.Bram(aha)orBrem(aha), 9th cent., a stream in Odenwald.Primma, 9th cent. Near Worms.ThePrümin Prussia.Denmark.TheBram(aue)in Holstein.Italy.Formioant. in Venetia.Asia Minor.Pyramusant., now the Jihun.2.With the ending t.Germany.ThePfreimtin Bavaria.3.With the ending nt.Germany.Premantia, 9th cent., now thePrims.4.With the ending es.Greece.Permessusant. Bœotia.

In the Gael.fuair, sound,faoi, a noisy stream, we may perhaps find the origin of theFoweyin Cornwall, and of theFoyersin Inverness, the latter of which is noted as forming one of the finest falls in Britain.From the Gael.gaoir, din, we may derive theGauirin Perthshire; and fromtoirmof the same meaning, perhaps theTermonin Ulster. Hence might also be theTromeand theTruim, elsewhere derived at p.70.

From the Gael.durd,durdan, Welshdwrdd, humming or murmur, Lhuyd derives the nameDourdwy, of some brawling streams in Wales; but quoting the derivations of some other writers, he adds, with more humility than authors generally possess—"Eligat Lector quod maxime placet." To the same origin may probably also be referred theDourdonin France, Dep. Seine-Inf.

FOOTNOTES:[62]Bohn's Translation.

[62]Bohn's Translation.

There are several river-names which contain the idea, either of the junction of two streams, or of the separation of a river into two branches. The Vistula, Visula, or Wysla, (for in these various forms it appears in ancient records), is referred by Müller,[63]rightly as I think, to Old Norsequisl, Germ.zwiesel, branch, as of a river. A simpler form ofquislis contained in Old Norsequistr, ramus, and the root is to be found in Sansc.dwis, to separate, Gael. and Ir.dis, two. The Old Norse name of the Tanais or Don, according to Grimm (Deutsch. Gramm. 3, 385), was Vana-quisl. The wordwhistle, found as the ending of some of our local names, as Haltwhistle in Northumberland, and Osbaldwhistlein Lancashire, I take to be = the Old Norsequisl: the sense might be that of the branching off of two roads or two streams. In an account of the hydrography of Lanarkshire, for which I am indebted to the kindness of a Friend, there is a burn called Galawhistle, which compares with the above Old Norse Vana-quisl. In connection with the Vistula Jornandes introduces a river Viscla, which has been generally considered to be merely another form of the same word—Reichard[64]being, as I believe, the only writer who considers it to be a different river. It seems to me a curious thing that it has never occurred to any one to identify it with the Wisloka, which joins the Vistula near Baranov. The modern name must contain the correct form, for Wisloka = an Old High Germ. Wisilacha, fromachaoraha, river, and is the same as the Wisilaffa or Wislauf, fromafaorapa, river. The following names I take to be all variations of the same word.

1.France.TheOust. Dep. Côtes-du-Nord.Germany.TheTwiste. Joins the Diemel.TheQueiss. Pruss. Silesia.Russia.TheUist. Joins the Tobol.TheUste. Joins the Dwina.2.With the ending en.Germany.Quistina, 11th cent., now theKösten.3.With the ending er.France.TheVistre. Dep. Gard.Belgium.TheVesdre. Joins the Ourt.Germany.TheVeistr(itz). Pruss. Silesia.4.With the ending rn.Germany.Quistirna, 8th cent., now theTwiste, joins the Oste.5.With the ending el = O. N. quisl.Germany, &c.Vistula, 1st cent., Germ.Weichsel.Wisl(oka), joins the Vistula. (See above.)TheWisl(ok). Joins the San.Wisil(affa), 11th cent., now theWisl(auf).France.TheVesle. Joins the Aisne.

The following seem also to contain the Germ.zwei, Eng.two, and to have something of a similar meaning to the foregoing.

1.Germany.TheZwitt(awa)orZwitt(au)in Moravia.2.With the ending el.Germany.TheZwettelin Austria.

I include also here theScheldtorSchelde, (theScaldisof Cæsar), which I think is to be explained by the Old Norseskildr, Dan.skilt, separated, in allusion to the two mouths by which it enters the North Sea. And to the same origin may be also placed theSchilt(ach)of Baden, which falls into the Kinzig.

From the Gael.caraid, duplex, may probably be the twoCartsin the County of Renfrew, the united stream of which enters the Firth of Clyde near Glasgow.

FOOTNOTES:[63]Die marken des Vaterlandes.[64]Germanien unter den Römern.

[63]Die marken des Vaterlandes.

[64]Germanien unter den Römern.

The idea of a river as a protection or as a boundary seems to indicate a more settled state of society, and therefore not to belong to the earliest order of nomenclature. And consequently, though this chapter is not quite so bad as the well-known one "Concerning Owls," in Horrebow's Natural History of Iceland, the sum and substance of which is that "There are no owls of any kind in the whole Island"—it will be seen that the number of names is very small in which such a meaning is to be traced.

The wordgard, which in the Celtic, Teutonic, Slavonic, and other tongues has the meaning of protection or defence, must, I think, have something of the same meaning in river-names. Or it may perhaps ratherbe that of boundary, for the two senses run very much into each other.

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