|
Traxula |
River Test |
10824 |
|
Axium |
Wareham? |
10824 |
|
Mauia |
River Axe |
10825 |
|
Sarna |
River Severn |
10825 |
|
Tamaris |
River Tamar |
10826 |
|
Naurum |
Isle of Lundy? |
10826 |
|
Abona |
River Avon |
10827 |
|
Isca |
River Usk |
10827 |
|
Tamion |
Cardiff |
10828 |
|
Auentio |
River Ewenni |
10828 |
|
Leuca |
River Llwchwr |
10829 |
|
Iuctius |
River Ystwyth |
10829 |
|
Leugo… |
River Llwchwr |
10830 |
|
…sena |
River Mersey |
10830 |
|
Coantia |
River Kent |
10830 |
|
Doruantium |
River Derwent |
10831 |
|
Anaua |
River Annan |
10831 |
|
Bdora |
River Forth |
10832 |
|
Nouitia |
River Nith |
10832 |
|
Adron |
River Ayr |
10833 |
The first name is probably for the River Test, although the form as it stands cannot be the origin of the modern name, which demands *Tresta or some similar form (Ekwall 1928, 401). The emendation *Trestula is easy, despite the reservations of Rivet and Smith (1979, 475). It is unfortunate that while they at first seem to have accepted the probable identification with the Test (1979, 212), by the time we reach the Alphabetic List of Names they have abandoned it. Instead they class it as ‘unknown, but apparently in southern Britain’, which is too pessimistic. Axium, which follows, does not look like a river-name (Rivet & Smith 1979, 261), and may be the name of a coastal settlement somewhere between the Test and the following name, probably the Axe. The only substantial settlement otherwise without a Romano-British name which fulfils these criteria is Wareham.
<Mauia> (or <Maina>), which follows, can be emended *Alauna with little difficulty and identified with Ptolemy’s Αλαυνου ποταμου εκβολαι (Geography II.3, 3), which must be the Axe. Rivet and Smith (1979, 419) prefer to emend *Moina, which they identify with the Meon (derived by Ekwall 1928, 288, from *Moeno-). This makes a nonsense of the Cosmographer’s ordering of names, which is otherwise relatively straightforward in this part of his list.
<Sarna> (for Sabrina) is obviously the River Severn, although misplaced as one of the few errors in the ordering of river-names, as Tamaris must be the Tamar. *Nabarum, which precedes Abona, the Avon, does not look like a river-name, with its apparently neuter form, and could either be a settlement name from Cornwall, North Devon or Somerset, or the name of the Isle of Lundy. Rivet and Smith (1979, 423) suggest that the name may be a corruption of Alauna, the Axe, but this is more likely to be hidden behind the <Maina> of 10825.
The next name, Isca, is clearly the Usk (Ekwall 1928, 155). *Tamio does not look like a river-name (Rivet & Smith 1979, 467), and is probably the name of the fort at Cardiff given in error for the River Taff, the Ρατοσταβιος ποταμου εκβολαι of Ptolemy (II.3, 2). The form of the name is not quite as great a problem as Rivet and Smith (1979, 467) make out: although both Ravenna’s *Tamio and Ptolemy’s <Ratos> Tabius are plausible British forms which include the name of the River Taff, the early Welsh forms of the river-name are always spelt Tam (Ekwall 1928, 391), confirming the accuracy of Ravenna’s form. The name Tampio on a statue-base from Thorigny (Normandy) appears to refer to a place in Britannia Inferior (Rivet & Smith 1979, 467) and cannot thus be equated with this name, as Cardiff was probably in Britannia Superior (Jones & Mattingly 1990, 143).
Auentiosurvives as the Ewenni (Ekwall 1928, lxxvii), Leuca as the Llwchwr and *Stuctia as the Ystwyth, this latter being the Στουκκια ποταμου εκβολαι of Ptolemy (II.3, 2). The next name appears to contain a misplaced repetition of Leuca conflated with *Segea, the Mersey. Ptolemy’s form is uncertain and, although usually quoted as Σετεια εισχυσις, (Geography II.3, 2), meaningless in Celtic, the form Σεγεια εισχυσις has equal authority and is a good Celtic name.
<Coantia> is clearly the Kent, derived from Ekwall (1928, 227) from British *Cunetiu, despite the comments of Rivet and Smith (1979, 310): the emendation *Cunetio is easy. *Deruentio survives as the Cumbria Derwent (Ekwall 1928, 123) and Anaua as the Annan (with a Gaelic genitive -ann ending: Watson 1926, 433), but the next name, <Bdora> (for *Bodotria) is clearly a River Forth misplaced, as *Nouius is the Nith (Watson 1926, 54) and Ptolemy’s Νοουιου ποταμου εκβολαι (II.3, 2). Adron is taken by Rivet and Smith (1979, 489) to be an error for Vedra, the Wear, but this is very distant and on the opposite coast of Britain. It is equally possibly a mistaken writing of Ptolemy’s ’Αδρου [νησος] ερημος (II.2, 10), Howth. However, it is much more likely to be an error for *Adrona or *Agrona, the River Ayr (Watson 1926, 342, although Ekwall 1928, 306, derives this from *Ara). Richmond and Crawford (1949, 22) point out that it appears to be the River Aeron of the Gododdin poems.