a western offshoot of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria." 

 Thus the ijiames of both these two counties assist to establish 

 certain points of their ancient history. 



In considering the local nomenclature of a district, we shall 

 invariably find that the objects which most tenaciously retain their 

 ancient names are, first, the rivers ; and, secondly, the mountains. 

 With regard to the rivers, the reason is apparent. A river is not 

 localized like anything else ; it passes in its course by many places 

 where men have settled, none of which have perhaps any clairn 

 more than another to give it a name, and therefore it is allowed as 

 a matter of common convenience to retain its ancient name. 

 Indeed, very much perhaps for this reason, many rivers, both in 

 England and elsewhere, seem never to have had a proper name of 

 their own at all, and to have been known simply as " the water." 

 Of these we have one, the Esk, a word which in its various forms 

 of Esk, Exe, Ash, and Usk, signifying simply water, is found all 

 over the kingdom, and in kindred forms, in France, Germany, and 

 elsewhere. The rivers, then, in Cumberland and Westmorland, 

 may be said, with very few exceptions, to retain their original 

 Celtic names. But we have two or three which do not seem to 

 be Celtic, and which are more probably Scandinavian. " The 

 Danes," observes Mr. Bradley, " unlike the Anglo-Saxons, some- 

 what frequently, invented river-names of their own." Of these he 

 has quoted four in our district, the Greta, Rotha, Brathay, and the 

 Caldew. This was in fact originally my own suggestion, though 

 he has proposed in some cases a different, perhaps a better 

 derivation. The Greta has been derived from O.N. grdta, Sco. 

 greit, to weep, in reference to the wailing sound of its waters. 

 But greit means, I think, rather to weep silently than to wail, and 

 Mr. Bradley's derivation from O.N. grj'ot, stone, Eng. grii, is 

 perhaps better, giving it the meaning of " rocky river." But there 

 is another suggestion which it may be worth while to make, that 

 of " grinding river." As there are mills on the Greta at present, 

 so there may have been, though of a rude kind, in ancient days. 

 I am not, however, sure about the corresponding O.N. word, 

 whether it was used otherwise than poetically. The Brathay, in 



