Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 2.djvu/52

 DUBOBRIVAE. devuttioD), sre nnmenms; and where tbey oocnr ^ej are lemarkAble for the linear character of their di- rectioD. Thia makes any spot 30 Roman miles soath <^ Ancatter likely to have been Darobrivae. The boundary of the coonties of J7tm<r and North- ampUm^ at the spot where the river Nene (which divides them) flovra between ChetterUm^ on the ffuntm^donthire, and Castor ^ on the NortJuanpton' skir€, side of the river, suits this measurement^ — nearly, though not exactly. There is, however, consi- derable evidence of other kinds in fkvonr of one (or both) ofthese two places. The names originate in the word otuft-o. The village (probably the crossing of the river) is found in Camden and certain old maps as DouX'/ord ; and DoR-moiMsetuter is said to have been the Saxon name of it Boman renuuns, too, are numerous. Whether the Huntingdon or the Northamptonshire village was the true Dmvbrwaef is uncertain and unimportant. It may have been both, or neither, — the term Durobrivae applying to the passage (ford, ferry, or bridge) interjacent, rather than to the two easira which defended it The present diffsrence in the names is not unim- portant The distinction between the Danish and Anglo-Saxon nomenclature, in the case of geogra- phical terms, has of late years commanded the atten- tion of investigators; and it is well known, not only that certain words and forms are Danish, as opposed to Saxon (and vice verfd), but that the distribution of such words and forms as local names is remarkably regular. Thus, where one Danish form appears, ethers do so also; and, although there b no part of the ishmd where Saxon forms are excluded, there are vast tracts where there is nothing Danish. The Danish equivalent to the Saxon -tun ia-^; flo that Neuhby ss Ntw-toiu The Danish equivalent to the Saxon th is $h; so that ^p-ton and Fulsr^tonssSAipton and FijAtoft. The Danish C» the Anglo-Saxon eh, — Carlby, as opposed to Charlton. The Danish l»piksthe Anglo-Saxon eAircA, — the Danish form generally being initial, the Saxon final; as JSTcri-by, Dun-cAfircA. Lastly (though the list could easily be enlaiged), in the districts where the Saxon forms prevail, the metamorphosis of the Bonuin term eoBtra is 'Chester oit -cester (God-man- cAe«ter, CAefter-ton, Giren- eefter, &e.); whereas, where the Danish forms pre- vail, it is -caster (Tad-cewfer, An-oaster, Caster- ton, &c.). There is no exception to this rule of distribution. Kow, what takes place in the very spot under consideration? Even this, — that whilst Lincolnshire (on the borders of which Castor stands) is the most Danish of all the counties of EngUuod, — whilst Northampttmskirt (to which it bdiMigB) is largely Danish, — whilst Ca«<er-ton, An-c«wter, &&, are the northern transformations of cagtra, — whilst every otJier Danish shibboleth (<ib, cairl-^ -hify &c.) is rife and common as we advance towards York, — the moment we cross the JVene, and get into HmUmgdonshirOy Beds, and Cam- bridgeshire, the forms are Chester, in respect to the particnkr term castra, and exclusively Saxon in •U others. No trace of Danish occupancy can be found in HwUs ; so truly does the Nene seem to have been a boundary, and so abmpt was the transi- tion from the Danes who said castor, to the Saxons who spoke of the Chester (eeastre). More than this. At some time between the evacuation of the isle by the Bomans and the Nonnan Conquest) the northera DUBOCOBNOVIUM. 793 and southern defences — for such the castra of Chester-m and Ca«tor (details of the Durobrivae) were — may have constituted the opposed and hostile parts of a bilingual town ; and the analogue between the present Germano-Danish frtuitier in Sleswick- Holstein may thus have been exhibited in England. Just as the straight character of the remains of the Boman roads, now existing, between Lincoln and Castor induced us to draw our line as directly north and south as possible, the physical condition of the country south of Castor forbids us to assume any notable deviations either east or west On the east lie the fonny tracts of Whittlesea, Bohne, and /2am- sey; and on the west the Oxford- clay tracts oi Bunts, — tracts which probably were some of the last parts of the island to become occupied. This places Du- rolipons at God-man-cAe*^. " Durolipons," writes Honeley, ** has been generally settled at Godnum- Chester or BunOnffdon. The situation on the north side of the river, and on a gentle descent, favours the opinion of Buntingdon, — tiie name, that of Godhman- dtester; but I believe there has been no Itinerary station at either one or the other." The reasoning of Horseley is more unsatis&ctory here than in any other part of his work. He lays no stress whatever on the termination -Chester, Identifying Cambridge with Durolipons, ho writes that the *'name inti- mates a bridge over a river, to which the name Cambridge is not unsuitable." ' But he never adds that between Godmanchester and Buntingdon there is the river Ouse and the necessity of a bridge. He continues: ** Durobrivae ** (which he strenuously urges to have been either Castor or Chesterton) here is very exact From Durobrivae to Durolipons, in the Itinerary, is 35 miles, and therefore the num- ber of computed English miles should be nearly 26. For it is 5 miles from Castor on the Nene to Stilton, and 21 from Stilton to Cambridge, &c." Instead of this *' 21 miles," the real distance is 28. Hence, the numbers of Horseley, instead of coinciding, dis- agree. It should, however, be added that t£ey do not come out clear for Godinanchester, which is no more than 18 English miles from the Nene. Never- theless, Gcdmanchester, as the equivalent to Duro- Hpons, involves the fewest difficulties. [RG.L.] DUBOCASSES (Dreiftr). This name appears in the Antonine Itin. in the form Durocasis, and in the Table in the form Dnrocasio, on a road from Medio- lanum Aulercorum, the capital of the Anlerci Eburo- vices, in Gallia, to Durocasses. Mediolanum is Evreux. The Itin. makes 17 Gallic leagues be- tween Mediolanum and Durocasses, or 25| M. P. Lreux is in the department of Eure et Loir, on the Blaise, a branch of the Eure. The place may have been within the territory of the Camutes. If we compare the fonn of the word with Baiocasses, Viducasses, Velocasses, it seems probable that Duro- casses is properly the name of a tribe. The name Durocasses was shortened to Drocae, and then to Dreux. [G. L.] DUBOCATALAUNUM. [Catalauni.] DUBOCOBBIVAE, m Britain, mentioned in tiie second Itinerary as being 12 miles from Verulaminm (.51^. Albans), in the direction of Deva (Chester). Plt>bably Dunstable. [B. G. L.] DUBOCOBNOVIUM, in Britain, mentioned in the 13th Itinerary. The locality of Duro-comovium is that of Cirenchester, or the ancient Corm-eum. [CoRimtuM.] It is 14 miles distant from Glevnm ((rA>^cester), and the military road between the two
 * ^ia the station next to Durolipons. The distance