Page:Essays ethnological and linguistic.djvu/47

Rh than a river and in former times before the country was well drained as it is now must have been a lake. Well then, in Welsh you find that Llyn signifies a lake and also specifically a pool in a river.

Here I think it most appropinate to introduce a few observations on the two languages, the Cymric or Welsh, and the Gaelic or Scotch and Irish. These two languages are generally classed together under one designation as Celtic, but as it appears to me incorrectly so associated. They are in reality very dissimilar, as in their construction and inflexions they are very distinct, though their vocabularies have many words in common. In this respect then there seems to be much the same analogy between them as there is between the modern French and English. As with regard to these the verbs and essentials are very distinct, though the names are often very similar, with only a little different pronunciation, so it is with the Cymric and Gaelic, or if any thing more markedly distinct between them.

Under these circumstances we may naturally expect to meet some difficulty in tracing the seats of the different ancient tribes in this island, when we find names and words common to both languages so often as to render it perplexing to decide to which they are in the individual case to be ascribed. Hitherto however we have had no difficulty for the three names already given Cam, Trent, and Llyn, are not Gaelic any more than Saxon, but purely Cymric. The same with such words or names as the Ayre, signifying clearness, Nith, pureness, Clyde a common name for river or brook in Wales, whence the river by Glasgow may be claimed, and one or two others which might not perhaps be allowable to be so classed except in connexion with the others as a probability. Such are the rivers having names with the compound Dwr, water, which word though found in some Gaelic Dictionaries as Gaelic, is not in common acceptation a Gaelic word, though essentially Cymric. Of this compound are the rivers Adour, Calder, Stour (which is well known to be a corruption of Es Dwr) Duran, Derwent, Darent, and I may add the ancient names for other rivers Drinius, Druentia, Duba and perhaps some others.

The next important name to which I have to refer is that formed of the word Avon, the appropriate appellation in Cymric for a river or large body of water, and in Gaelic also, though in that language pronounced Avæ. In the old writers we find many rivers named Abonæ, which must have been taken from the ancient inhabitants, and there are several rivers in England yet bearing that name. But the