520 ‘ Rev. Mr Witx1aMs on one Source of the 
The Cumrian name for a river, next in importance, is Avon, the 
same word as the Latin Amn-is. It must be remembered by 
etymologists, that the Latin M was not our strong labial conso- 
nant, but a vocal sound corresponding to our English w at the 
end of words. Without this explanation, it is impossible to ac- 
count for its perishable nature in verse at the end of words fol- 
lowed by vowels. In those terms which the provincial Cumrians 
originally borrowed from their conquerors the Romans, and have 
since retained, the M, especially in the middle of words, be- 
comes a v, thus— 
Animal Anivail. 
Numerus Niver. 
Romani Rhuveiniaid. 
Thus also Amn-is, Avn, then Aven and Avon. In its simple form 
we find in Italy only two,— 
among many others, may be quoted as a proof of the indestructibility of names, ex- 
cept by the absolute extermination of the inhabitants. The Dorians of Tarentum 
gave it the name of Eurotas, after their own Laconian stream; and, in the days of 
Potysius, it was, as we are informed by him, more generally termed the Eurotas. 
But as Greek influence declined, the original name prevailed, and the Galesus has 
been immortalized in many a poet’s verses. Assuredly, it is not owing to chance 
that the two words meant the same thing, the one in the Cumrian, the other in the 
Greek language. Ev-gai-as, the fair stream; Gal-wys, fair water. In Owen’s Dic- 
tionary, we find the following explanation: Gal, ‘‘ clear,” “ fair.” 
Avon reawg ai hynt hir mewn gwaiindir gal. 
A river running with its course long in meadow-land fair. 
Here, perhaps, I ought to add, that the Bradanus, the largest stream which falls 
into the Tarentine Gulf, still called the Bradano, has its representative in the 
Guildford river in Surrey, which bore both the generic name “‘ Wey,” and the spe- 
cific one Brad-an. The specific name has, however, I understand, perished among 
the people, although retained in history. 
