The River-Names of Europe Part 20

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

1. _England._ The SID. Devons.h.i.+re.

2. _With the ending en._ _England._ The SEATON. Cornwall.

3. _With the ending rn, p. 34._ _Switzerland._ SITERUNA, 8th cent., now the SITTER or SITTERN.

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

_England._ The DERWENT. Four rivers.

TREONTA ant. The TRENT.

_France._ DRUENTIA ant., now the DURANCE.

_Germany._ The DREWENZ. Prussia.

_Italy._ TRUENTIUS ant., now the TRENTO.

_Russia._ TURUNTUS ant., now the DUNA.

In the sense of tortuousness I am inclined to bring in the following, referring them to Old Norse _meis_, 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 Welsh _mydu_, to arch, to vault. The other word which might put in a claim is _mos_, 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 Msia.

1. _England._ The MAESE. Derbys.h.i.+re.

_Scotland._ The MASIE. Aberdeen.

_France, &c._ MOSA, 1st cent. B.C. The MAAS, MAES, or MEUSE.

_Germany._ MISS(AHA), 8th cent. The MEISS(AU).

The MIES in Bohemia.

2. _With the ending en._ _Italy._ The MUSONE. Two rivers.

3. _With the ending el._ _Germany._ MOSELLA, 1st cent. The MOSELLE.

The only names which appear to contain an opposite sense to the foregoing are the BEINA of Norway, and the BANE of Lincolns.h.i.+re, which seem to be from Old Norse _beinn_, 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 Erida.n.u.s 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 ending _en_ is very clearly a contraction of _abon_ or _avon_, river.

CHAPTER VII.

QUALITY OF WATERS.

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 s.h.i.+ne, 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._ The CANN. Ess.e.x.

The KEN or KENT. Westmoreland.

The KENNE. Devons.h.i.+re.

_Scotland._ The KEN. Joins the Dee.

The CONN. CONA of Ossian.

CANDY burn. Lanarks.h.i.+re.

_Wales._ The CAIN. Merioneth.

_Germany._ CONE, 9th cent., now the COND.

_Russia._ The KANA. Gov. Yeniseisk.

_India._ The CANE or KEN--here?

2. _With the ending en._ _Scotland._ The CONAN. Dingwall.

_Italy._ The CANTIANO. Pont. States.

3. _With the ending er._ _England._ The CONDER. Lancas.h.i.+re.

The CONNER. Cornwall.

_Switzerland._ The KANDER.

4. _Compounded with vi, wy, river._ _Wales._ CONOVIUS ant. The CONWAY.

The Old Celtic word _vind_, found in many ancient names of persons and places, as Vindo, Vindus, Vinda.n.u.s,[59] Vindobona, Vindobala, &c., represents the present Welsh _gwyn_ (=_gwynd_), and the Ir. _finn_ (=_find_), white. "The Celt. _vind_," observes Gluck, "comes from the same root as the Goth. _hveit_; it stands for _cvind_ with an intrusive _n_; the root is _cvid_ = the Germ. root _hvit_." The meaning in river-names is bright, clear, pure.

1. _England._ The VENT. c.u.mberland.

The QUENNY. Shrops.h.i.+re.

_Wales._ The GWYNEDD (=GWYND?) _Ireland._ The FINN. Ulster.

_France._ The VENDeE. Dep. Vendee.

_Russia._ The VIND(AU) or WIND(AU).

2. _With the ending en._ _Scotland._ The FINNAN. Inverness.

3. _With the ending er._ _England._ The lake WINDER(MERE)?[60]

_Ireland._ WINDERIUS; _Ptolemy_, a river not identified.

4. _With the ending rn, p. 34._ _Scotland._ The FINDHORN. Inverness.

5. _With the ending el._ _England._ The WANDLE. Surrey.

_Germany._ FINOLA, 8th cent., now the VEHNE.

From the Welsh _llwys_, clear, pure, Gael. _las_, to s.h.i.+ne, Gael. and Ir. _leus_, light, cognate with Old Norse _lios_, clear, pure, Lat.

_luceo_, &c., I derive the following. The Gael. _la_, _lo_, day, must, I think, contain the root.

1. _England._ The LIZA. c.u.mberland.

_Scotland._ The LOSSIE. Elgin.

_France._ The LEZ. Dep. Herault.

_Belgium._ The LESSE.

_Germany._ The LOOSE. Pruss. Sax.

2. _With the ending en._ _France._ The LIZENA.

_Sweden._ The LJUSNE. Falls into the Gulf of Bothnia.

3. _With the ending er._ _Germany._ LESURA, 11th cent., now the LIESER.