River-Names. 



163 



clearly the Anglo-Saxon pronunciation of the Welsh dwfr. 

 The termination el is probably the diminutive, as in the name 

 Eb-el, so that Dwfr-el (or Devrel as it is commonly written 

 in old documents) means the " little stream/'' In the name 

 Dover (the ancient Dubris, as Richard of Cirencester tells 

 us J you have the modern form of the word : the place being* 

 so called from the small stream which there falls into the sea. 

 The long walk by the strand at Ryde is called by the same 

 name, though pronounced Duv-ver. 



The following names of places are derived from one or other 

 of these words : — 



liONGBRIDGE->| 



Hill- These are the names of five villages that 



Monkton- VDeverel. are situated on various portions of the 

 Brixton- stream. 

 Kingston- J 



Dur-leigh (=the watered leigh), a small hamlet not far from Kennet. 

 D urn-ford (formerly Dur-en-ford), i.e., the river-ford. 

 Durrington (in Domesday Dur-en-ton), i.e., the town, or village 

 by the river. 



Idover. A village near Dauntsey. In an ancient charter 1 of 

 iEthelwulf to Malmesbury, " Ydouere,"" as it is there spelt, 

 is described as a brook. Originally the word was most 

 probably y-dwfr, that is literally "the water/'' Compare 

 with this example the Cornish, dour (=water). 



Wardour. Written in Domesday, Werdore, also spelt in ancient 

 records Verdure and Verdore. I think there can be little 

 doubt as to the latter portion of the word being dour{= 

 water) . The former may be the Cornish war or var which 

 means c< upon/'' or " against/'' and so the whole word signify 

 "on the water/' The Latin names that occur in various 

 portions of the Itinerary of Antoninus, or of Richard o^ 

 Cirencester, viz. — '•' Pontibus/' or "Ad pontes/' may be 

 adduced as paralled instances. Pryce in his Archaeol. Cornu- 

 Brittannica, gives as the name of a Cornish village, Gwar-der 

 x See Cod. Dipl., 2G3. 



