DIVISION II.
GENERAL ELEMENT.
(A) WORDS SIGNIFYING WATER, RIVER, &c.
Ea.—This Anglo-Saxon word signifies (1) water in general, and (2) any running body of water, river, &c.—It occurs in the names of rivers, in the names of places near rivers, and in the names of marshes formed by rivers.
The rivers Medway and Stour were anciently written Meduw-ea, and Stur-ea. In the East Anglian counties the term is still preserved, for we meet with Popham’s ea, St. John’s ea, Hammond eau, &c.
Eye, Yeo, and Aye, are slightly altered forms of the same root, and ea is another name for the river Leven.
- E-hen, fowl river;
- Ea-mont (Ea-mot), water-meeting.
The following places near rivers contain some form of the Anglo-Saxon root, ea:—
- Chels-ea, the cold river-marsh;
- Batters-ea, St. Peter’s river-marsh;