154 
Oriental languages, letters were prefixed; 
wud augments, and diminutives were 
postfixed, as in the same languages; and 
#s at present in the Spanish and Italian 
languages. With these prefixes, and 
“posttixes, the original roots, or words, 
became proper names, were varied where- 
ever necessary, and yet easily known, 
from their roots, to imply hill. © In time, 
however ) these words were forgotten, 
even by the nations who adopted them, 
and, their significations have been now 
lost for ages. = & 
The sage must be said of the names 
of other féatures of nature: and it is par- 
ticularly to be noted, that in order to 
shorten names, it was necessary for every 
syllable to contain few letters, and to 
denote a word of itself. The common 
features of nature, to which we allude, 
are few, and the names of hills, vales, 
plains, rivers, &c, with those for their 
sides, or borders, are ail we ‘have toae- 
count for: they must therefore, in de- 
scription, be constantly rectirring; but 
on account of their prefixes, and post- 
fixes, they must eccur in various forms, 
‘heir translations also must be frequently 
ali! ke, and we must not expect, where 
only hills, plains, dales, and rivers, are 
described, to find: particulars, the im- 
bh of which refer natito them. A 
ettlement, named from an hill, must be 
translated -a height. in every situati 
and the augment, or diminutive, whet 
any, points out whether it be high or 
‘great, low or little. Thése names were 
originally land-marks, 
could not, ftom their brevity, desc cribe 
every particular form of the heights. 
Fn recent times wé! hare consideréd, 
that settlements must have taken n: ames” 
from the situations of our towns; but in- " 
this we have. greatly erred < settlements 
were forincd and named, “before towns 
“ere built; their whole territories were 
ea tae. gay their 
features gave naines to the ofner parts. » 
Vaindonum is a station, about. which, 
much difference of opinion hath taken 
place. Vin, im Vinoyium, is become 
Bin, in. Binchester; and Vin-in Vin- 
donum is now Si, ae but 
oN or Binn, is Gackt r By i; atid in| 
as ae ot die i Wy 
Silehester is double a aL 
donum. of im 
Vindomis, is anot oe name for this 
place. N, was often changed to MZ; 
Vindon and Vindom are therefore’ the 
same. The endmg its is derived the draw D part j frou th OWwR tog The 
2 ‘ a z ay 
3 ie a wos 
o oy z y2 “ap 
Derivation of the Names of To-vns. 
although they” 
principal natural 
dill ; aad \ / Un, 0 
Ry 
a pene 4 
[Sept. 1, 
pias _- 
an 
sane as it is in Ischalis, comes from. Ais, 
a camp, and answers to Chester. . [s- 
chalis, . as al is generally an augment, 
seems to be wrongly spelt: it was_ 
named, from lying on the stream, Tv-el. 
fv is a variation of Av water, and ela 
diminutive. sc is also water, and re- 
‘quires 2 to follow, as an appropriate 
name for a low situation ona snail 
FIVET.. iit 
Caleva, is another station: its site is 
unknown, and no translation of ité name 
seems to guide us to the original mean- 
ing. We must, therefore, have recourse 
to general terms. But_ in this we may 
encounter uncertainty. ~The different 
spellings of Caleva, may vary the import 
of the word. 
Durolevum, is as yet an unknown 
Station and antiquaries are much di- 
vided in opinion concerning its situa- 
tion; for the measuresin the copies of 
Atiton inns? not agreeing, and no other 
method, but of examining the remains, 
which has failed, liaving been. Baier 
to, we have been left totally in the dark, 
as to the place of this station. Bapcheld 
is considered the place by the Continu- 
ator of Camden: Lenham, by Camden, _ 
Lambarde, and Gale: Chariag, or Sit=. 
tingbourne, by ‘Talbot and: Stukeley: 
Sitdinebourne, by Horsley and Ba 
and Newington, by Sounner, Bu 
C) 
SiillingHeet, Battely, and T ho ree f 
Hested, ta whom much praised 7 3 
hisampartiality, seems to thin! Diriice * 
the place, although he hi ts,somuchhas = 
been said of Newington t his reader _ i 
should be left to. his option, » to place it — q 
at either of these places. ig o 
Tn another century, nothing ‘will sure 
prise men so much as ont old notions, 
that names of places are arbitrary, and 
‘describe not their situations; and they 
will in many €ases ecree, that it would 
have been! more rattonal to Have ex- 
amined, their “Original imports. trom lan-- 
guage, than to have measured them by 
the chain, or by the yard. But let us 
attend to the els idation of this point, 
and to fixity this ‘station, ‘T 
Dur, is water ae or Lei Matton oe 
written Lim, dia, aud Leo, is. Gaelic for 
‘an harboar, aispring, dc. and Am, or. 
ften mean border : the hame there- 
eS; ple Water-sprin Border 
which ruhs through 1 nt 
Sialeviethe Saxons, in “nang eases, 
translated old names by other. Gaelic 
wo rds 5 but in rendermg this, they have » 
