108 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 37. 



Origin of Adur (Vol. ii., p. 7 1 .). — A, derived from 

 the same root as Aqua and the French Eau, is a 

 frequent component of'tlie names of rivers : "A-dur, 

 A-run, A-von, A-ni(m," the adjunct being supposed 

 to express the individual characteristic of the 

 stream. A-dur woidd then mean the river of oaks, 

 wliich its course fmni Horsham Forest through 

 the Weald of Sussex, of which "oak is the weed," 

 would sufficiently justify. It is called in ancient 

 geography Adurnus, and is probably from the 

 same root as the French Adour. C. 



The river Adur, which passes by Shoreham, is 

 the same name as the Adour, a great river in the 

 AVestern Pyrenees. 



This coincidence seems to show that it is neither 

 a Basque word, nor a S:ixon. Whether it is a 

 mere expansion of ijdwr, the water, in Welch, I 

 cannot pretend to say, but jirobably it includes it. 



W^e have the Douro in Spain ; and the Doire, 

 or Doria, in Piedmont. Pompiidour is clearly de- 

 rived from the above French river, or some other 

 of the same name. C. B. 



Meaning of Steyne (Vol. ii., p. 71 ). — Steyne is 

 no doubt stone, and may have reference to the 

 original name of Brighthelm-«^f)He ; but what tlie 

 stone or " steyne" was, 1 do not conjecture ; but it 

 lay or stood probably on that little flat valley now 

 calleil the " Steyne." It is said that, so late as the 

 time of Elizabeth, the town was encompassed by 

 a high and strong stnne wall; but tliat could liave 

 no influence on tlie name, which, whether derived 

 from Bishop Brighthelin or not, is assuredly of 

 Saxon times. There is a sm.all town not far dis- 

 tant called Sleynirig, i. e. the meadow of the stone. 

 In my early days, the name was invariably pro- 

 nounced Brighthamstone. C. 



Sarum and Bariun (Vol. ii., p. 21.). — As a con- 

 jecture, I would suggest the derivation of Sarum 

 may have been this. Salisbury was as frequently 

 written Sarisbury. The contracted form of this 

 was Sap., the ordinary import of which is the termi- 

 nation of the Latin genitive plural rum. Thus an 

 imperfectly educated clerk winild be apt to read 

 Sarum instead of .Sarisburia ; and the error would 

 pass current, until one reading was accepted for 

 right as much as the other. In other instances we 

 adopt the Law Latin or Law French of media3val 

 times; as the county of Oxon for Oxfordshire, 

 Salop for Shropshire, &c., and Durham is generally 

 supposed to be French (^IJuresmni), substituted for 

 the Anglo-Saxon Dunh(jlm, in Latin Dunelmum. 

 I shall perhaps be adding a circumstance of which 

 few readers will be aware, in remarking that the 

 Bishops of Durham, down to the present day, take 

 alternately the Latin and French signatures, 

 Duresm. and Dunelm. J. G. N. 



" Epigrams on the Universities'''' (Vol. ii., p. 88.). 

 — The following extract from Hartshorne's Book- 



ra?-ities in the University of Cambridge'''' will fully 

 answer the Query of your Norwich correspondent. 

 After mentioning the donation to that Univer- 

 sity, by George I., of the valuable library of Dr. 

 IMoore, Bishop of Ely, which his Majesty had pur- 

 chased for 6,000 guineas, the author adds, — 



•' When George I. sent these books to the Univer- 

 sity, he sent at the same time a troop of horse to Ox- 

 ford, which gave occasion to the following well-known 

 epigram from Dr. frapp, smart in its way, but not so 

 clever as the answer from Sir William Browne: — 



" The King, observing, with judicious eyes, 

 The state of both his Universities, 

 To one he sent a regiment ; for why? 

 That learned body wanted loyalty: 

 To th' other he sent books, as well discerning 

 How much that loyal body wanted learning." 



The Answer. 

 " The King to Oxford sent his troop of horse, 

 For Tories hold no argument but force: 

 With equal care, to Cumbridge books he sent, 

 For Whigs allow no force but argument. 



" The books were received Nov. 19, 20, &c., 1715." 



G. A. S. 



[J. J. DiiEr.GE, V. (Belgravia), and many other cor- 

 respondents, have also kindly replied to this Query.] 



Dulcarnon(Vo\. i., p. 2.34.) — Urn/ says nothing, 

 but quotes Speght, and Skene, and Selden. 



" Diilcnrnon," says Speght, " is a proposition in Eu- 

 clid (\'ih. i. tlieor. ;?;?. prop. 47.), whicli was found out 

 by Pythagoras after a whole year's study, and much 

 beating of his brain; in thankfulness whereof he sacri- 

 ficed an ox to the gods, which .sacrifice he called Dul- 

 carnon." 



Neckam derived it from DuHa quasi sacrifcium 

 and carnis. 



Skene justly observes that the triumph itself 

 cannot be the point ; but the word might get as- 

 sociated with the problem, either considered before 

 its solution, puzzling to Pythagoi-as, or the demon- 

 stration, still difficult to us, — a Pons Asinorum, 

 like the 5th proposition. 



Mr. Selden, in his preface to Drayton s Poly- 

 olbion, says, — 



" I cannot but digresse to admonition of abuse which 

 this learned allusion, in his Troitus, by ignorance hath 

 indured. 



" ' I am till God mee better mind send. 

 At Ditlcarnoii, right at my wit's end.' 



" It's not Neckam, or any else, that can make mee 

 entertaine the least thought of tlie signification oi Dul- 

 carnoii to be Pythagonis his sacrifice after his geo- 

 metrical! theorem in finding the square of an orthogonall 

 triangle's sides, or tliat it is a word of Latiiie deduc- 

 tion; but, indeed, by easier pronunciation it was made 

 of D'hulkarnayn,* i. e. two-horned; which the Maho- 



* Speght gives it in English letters, but Stlden in 

 Arabic. 



