{"id":42,"date":"2020-01-19T21:42:36","date_gmt":"2020-01-19T21:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/old-north.co.uk\/wordpress\/?page_id=42"},"modified":"2022-04-18T08:13:28","modified_gmt":"2022-04-18T08:13:28","slug":"british-river-names-of-the-north","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/old-north.co.uk\/wordpress\/?page_id=42","title":{"rendered":"British River Names of The North"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Ale Water<\/strong><\/td>(Borders) Alne<\/strong> (Northumberland), Ayle Burn<\/strong> (Northumberland) Br. *Al\u00fcn\u0101<\/em>, often rendered as Alauna <\/em>in British Latin, with an uncertain meaning, perhaps from PIE. *ala <\/em>‘water’.<\/td><\/tr>
Blackadder<\/strong><\/td>(Borders) Nicolaisen derives this name from *Adar\u0101\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0*Adarj\u0101\u00a0<\/em>from a PIE. root meaning ‘water course’.<\/td><\/tr>
Calder<\/strong><\/td>A common name in Cumbria and Scotland from Br. *caleto- <\/em>‘hard’ and *dubro- <\/em>‘water’ (W. caletwr<\/em>).<\/td><\/tr>
Cam Beck<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Br. *camb\u0101co- <\/em>‘crooked’, changed by later association with ON. bekkr <\/em>‘stream’.<\/td><\/tr>
Cocker<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Br. *cucr\u0101 <\/em>‘crooked’ (G. cuar <\/em>‘crooked’).<\/td><\/tr>
Crake<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Br. *cracjo- <\/em>‘rocky’ (W. craig <\/em>‘rock’). Also Crayke <\/em>in Yorkshire.<\/td><\/tr>
Dacre Beck<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Br. *dacr\u016b <\/em>‘tear’ (W. deigr<\/em>).<\/td><\/tr>
Derwent<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Br. *Derwentj\u014d <\/em>‘oak river’ (W. derw<\/em>). There was a Roman fort called Derventioat Papcastle. Possibly the Derwenydd <\/em>mentioned in the early poem Pais Dinogad<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr>
Eden<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria), Eden Water<\/strong> (Borders) Br. *Itun\u0101<\/em>, written Itouna <\/em>by Ptolemy. The meaning is obscure, but the name occurs elsewhere in northern England, in Scotland and in Wales as Afon Eden<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr>
Ehen<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Uncertain, but the equivalent of C. yeyn<\/em>, B. yen<\/em> ‘cold’ has been suggested.<\/td><\/tr>
Ellen<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) See  Ale Water<\/a>. The Roman fort of Alauna was situated above the river at Maryport.<\/td><\/tr>
Esk<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Br. *isc\u0101 <\/em>‘water’. There are several rivers of this name in Cumbria and Scotland.<\/td><\/tr>
Gelt<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Ekwall refers this to O.I. geilt <\/em>‘mad, wild’ or W. gwyllt <\/em>(fem. gwellt<\/em>), which are both from PC. *g\u02b7eltis<\/em> (: E. wild<\/em>). The first is probably preferable, since Br. w-<\/em> does not usually appear as g-<\/em> in early records.<\/td><\/tr>
Glen<\/strong><\/td>(Northumberland) From Br. *Glanjo<\/em>, Glanj\u0101 <\/em>from the stem meaning ‘clean, pure, sacred’ (W. glan <\/em>‘clean, pure’).<\/td><\/tr>
Glenderamackin<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) See Glenderaterra Beck<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Glenderaterra Beck<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) The first elements are probably Br. *glinnos, glennos <\/em>‘valley’ (W. glyn<\/em>) and *dubro- <\/em>‘water’ (W. d\u0175r<\/em>). The latter elements are obscure.<\/td><\/tr>
Irt<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Possible British, Ekwall suggests a connection with W. ir <\/em>‘fresh, green’, but also O.E. gyr <\/em>‘mud’.<\/td><\/tr>
Irthing<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Ekwall calls this ‘a Brit[ish] river-name, but offers no explanation. Early forms are Irthin, Irthing, Erthina <\/em>and Erthing<\/em>. Perhaps related to the R. Irt.<\/td><\/tr>
Kale Water<\/strong><\/td>(Borders) From the Br. *kal- <\/em>‘hard’ (W. caled <\/em>‘hard’).<\/td><\/tr>
Kent<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Br. *Cun\u0113tj\u014d<\/em>, which occurs elsewhere in England (e.g. the Kennet) and in Wales as Cynwyd<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr>
Leven, Lyne<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Br. *limn\u0101 <\/em>‘smooth’ (W. llyfn<\/em>). Another relatively common name in the region.<\/td><\/tr>
Lowther<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Probably Br. *lowatro-<\/em>, related to B. laouer <\/em>‘trough’, OI l\u00f3athar <\/em>‘trough’ and Gaulish lautro <\/em>‘bath’.<\/td><\/tr>
Lyvennet<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Identified with Llwyfenydd<\/em>, the courtly home of the kings of Rheged in the hengerdd <\/em>of Taliesin. If this is correct, the origin would be Br. *l\u0113manj\u014d <\/em>‘elm river’ (W. llwyf, cf<\/em>. Derwent).<\/td><\/tr>
Marron<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Ekwall equates the River, recorded as Meran <\/em>in 1282, with nearby Mockerkin Tarn, which was called Ternmeran <\/em>in 1343. The latter is apparently an inversion compound with the Br. male name *Mari\u0101nos <\/em>< L. Mari\u0101nus (cf. W. Meirion <\/em>in Meirionydd <\/em>‘Merioneth’).<\/td><\/tr>
Mint<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) A British name from the PIE. root *mim- <\/em>‘to make a sound’<\/td><\/tr>
Mite<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Ekwall says this is a British name, but gives no explanation.<\/td><\/tr>
Pow Beck<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Pow <\/em>occurs in Cumbria and Scotland and refers to a stream, particularly a slow-moving one. It may come directly from British (cf. W. pwll, <\/em>C. poll<\/em>, B. poull <\/em>‘pool’), but O.E. p\u014dl <\/em>‘pool’ has side forms poll <\/em>and pull<\/em>, perhaps influenced by British *pull <\/em>and Gaelic poll<\/em>.<\/td><\/tr>
Tweed<\/strong><\/td>(Borders) An ancient name, perhaps related to Ptolemy’s Tou\u00e9sis <\/em>‘the Spey’ which is derived from the PIE. root *tev\u0101 <\/em>‘to swell, be powerful’. There is apparently a PC. root *tew(j)o-<\/em> ‘strength’. <\/td><\/tr>
Wampool<\/strong><\/td>(Cumbria) Gospatric’s Writ (c.1060) has poll Wa\u00f0oen,<\/em> a Celtic inversion compoundwith O.N. va\u00f0ill <\/em>‘ford’. Poll<\/em> may be British or Gaelic. <\/td><\/tr>
Whiteadder<\/strong><\/td>(East Lothian, Borders) (see Blackadder<\/a>)<\/td><\/tr>
Yarrow Water<\/strong><\/td>(Borders), Yarrow <\/strong>(Lancashire) Br. garwo- <\/em>‘rough’ (W. garw<\/em>).<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ale Water (Borders) Alne (Northumberland), Ayle Burn (Northumberland) Br. *Al\u00fcn\u0101, often rendered as Alauna in British Latin, with an uncertain meaning, perhaps from PIE. *ala ‘water’. Blackadder (Borders) Nicolaisen…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":25,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/old-north.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/42"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/old-north.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/old-north.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/old-north.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/old-north.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/old-north.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/42\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155,"href":"http:\/\/old-north.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/42\/revisions\/155"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/old-north.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/old-north.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}