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. |
| The Cham in Bavaria. | |
| Switzerland. | The Kam. |
| Norway. | The Kam. Joins the Glommen. |
| Russia. | The Kama. Joins the Volga. |
| 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. | |
| 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.