CHARACTER OF COURSE.

In the inscription of Pul found at Nineveh, as deciphered in the Proceedings of the Asiatic Society, vol. 19, pt. 2, the Euphrates is called the Irat, which is conjectured by the translator to have been a local name. It seems to be from the Sansc. irat (=Latin errans, Eng. errant), from the verb ir, Lat. erro, to wander. The same word seems to be found in the Irati of Spain—perhaps also in the Orontes (=Irantes=Irates), of Syria. Possibly also in the Erid-anus or Po, though I am rather inclined to agree with Latham that the word contained therein is only ridan.[57] Perhaps then the form Irt or Urt in river-names may be a contracted form of irat, as we find it in the Germ. irrthum, a mistake.

1.	England.	The Irt. Cumberland.
		Urtius ant., now the Irthing.
	Belgium.	Urta, 9th cent., now the Ourt.
		The Erens.
	Spain.	The Irati. Prov. Navarra.
	Asia.	Irat, a name of the Euphrates.
2.	With the ending el.
	Germany.	Urtella, 9th cent., now the Sensbach.

From the Sansc. bhuj, Goth. bjugan, Welsh bwäu, Gael. bogh, Eng. bow, &c., in the sense of tortuousness, we may take the following.

1.	England.	The Bowe. Shropshire.
	Scotland.	The Bogie. Aberdeen.
	Russia.	The Bug. Joins the Dnieper.
2.	With the ending en.
	Germany.	The Bogen. Joins the Danube.
3.	With the ending et.
	Scotland.	The Bucket. Aberdeen.

From the Gael. and Welsh cam, to bend, Sansc. kamp, Gr. καμπω, are the following.

England.	The Cam by Cambridge.
Germany.	Camba, 8th cent. The Kamp.
Germany.	The Cham in Bavaria.
Switzerland.	The Kam.
Norway.	The Kam. Joins the Glommen.
Russia.	The Kama. Joins the Volga.
Russia.	The Kemi. Two rivers.

The Sansc. root car, to move, branches out into two different meanings, that of rapidity and that of circuitousness, the former of which I have included in the previous chapter. In the latter sense we have the Gael. car or char, tortuous, the Ang.-Sax. cêrran, to turn or bend, &c., to which I place the following.

1.	England.	The Char. Dorsetshire.
		The Chor. Lancashire.
		The Kerr. Middlesex.
	Scotland.	Cor(abona)[58] ant. The Carron.
	France.	The Cher. Joins the Loire.
	Greece.	Chares ant. Colchis.
	Persia.	Cyrus ant., now the Kur.
2.	With the ending en.
	England.	Cirenus ant. The Churne (Gloucestershire).
	France.	The Charente.
3.	With the ending el.
	Greece.	Corălis ant. Bœotia.
	Greece.	Curalius ant. Thessaly.
	Russia.	The Korol. Joins the Dnieper.

From the Old High Germ. crumb, Mod. German krumm, Danish krumme, Gael. and Welsh crom, curving or bending, we may take the following. The root seems to be found in the Sansc. kram, to move, to go, which, as in other similar cases, may also diverge into the meaning of rapidity.

1.	England.	The Crumm(ock), formerly Crum(beck), which forms the lake of the same name.
	Germany.	Crumb(aha), 10th cent., now the Grumb(ach).
	Russia.	The Kroma. Gov. Orel.
2.	With the ending en.
	Germany.	Chrumbin(bach), 8th cent., now the Krum(bach).
3.	With the ending er.
	Italy.	Cremera ant. in Etruria.
4.	With the ending es.
	Germany.	The Krems. Joins the Danube.
	Sicily.	Cremisus ant.

For the root sid we have the Welsh sid, winding, and the Anglo-Saxon sîd, broad, spreading. The former is, I think, the sense contained in the following, though both words may be from the same root.

1.	England.	The Sid. Devonshire.
2.	With the ending en.
	England.	The Seaton. Cornwall.
3.	With the ending rn, p. [34].
	Switzerland.	Siteruna, 8th cent., now the Sitter or Sittern.

Baxter's derivation of the Derwent from Welsh derwyn, to wind, appears to me the most suitable. That of Zeuss (taking the form Druentia), from dru, oak, seems insufficient; because the number of names, all in the same form, seem to indicate that the word contained must be something more than dru. That of Armstrong, from dear, great, amhain, river, is founded upon a careless hypothesis that the Derwent of Cumberland is the largest river in the North of England, which is not by any means the case.

England.	The Derwent. Four rivers.
England.	Treonta ant. The Trent.
France.	Druentia ant., now the Durance.
Germany.	The Drewenz. Prussia.
Italy.	Truentius ant., now the Trento.
Russia.	Turuntus ant., now the Duna.

In the sense of tortuousness I am inclined to bring in the following, referring them to Old Norse meis, curvatura, Eng. maze, &c. This seems most suitable to the character of the rivers, as the Maese or Meuse, and the Moselle. The word seems wanting in the Celtic, unless we think of the Welsh mydu, to arch, to vault. The other word which might put in a claim is mos, which, in the sense of marsh, is to be traced both in the Celtic and German speech, and whence, as supposed, the name of the ancient Mysia or Mœsia.

1.	England.	The Maese. Derbyshire.
	Scotland.	The Masie. Aberdeen.
	France, &c.	Mosa, 1st cent. B.C. The Maas, Maes, or Meuse.
	Germany.	Miss(aha), 8th cent. The Meiss(au).
		The Mies in Bohemia.
2.	With the ending en.
	Italy.	The Musone. Two rivers.
3.	With the ending el.
	Germany.	Mosella, 1st cent. The Moselle.

The only names which appear to contain an opposite sense to the foregoing are the Beina of Norway, and the Bane of Lincolnshire, which seem to be from Old Norse beinn, North Eng. bain, straight, direct.