CHAPTER VIII.
THE SOUND OF THE WATERS.
The Greta in the English Lake District has been generally derived from Old Norse grâta, Scotch greet, to weep or mourn, in allusion to the wailing sound made by its waters. There is also a Greta in Westmoreland and a Greta beck in Yorkshire. In the Obs. Gael. and Ir., greath also signifies a noise or cry, so that it is quite possible that the original Celtic name may have been retained in the same sense.
Of an opposite meaning to the above is the name Blythe of several small rivers in England. I do not see how this can be otherwise derived than from the Ang.-Sax. blithe, merry. And how appropriate this is to many of our English streams we hardly need poetic illustration to tell us.
Of a corresponding meaning with the Saxon name Blythe may be the Avoca or Ovoca of Wicklow, the Oboka of Ptolemy. Baxter refers it to Welsh awchus, acer, a word of no very cheerful association for the spot where
"Nature has spread o'er the scene
Her purest of crystal, and brightest of green."
The Gael. abhach, blithe, sportive, would seem to give a better etymon for the bright waters of Avoca. Whether the Ocker of Germany (ant. Obocra, Ovocra, Ovokare), may be derived from the same word I do not know sufficient to judge.
From the Gr. βρέμω, Lat. fremo, Ang.-Sax. bremman, to roar, Old Norse brim, roaring or foaming of the sea, Welsh ffrom, fuming, Gael. faram, din, I take the following. The following description given by Strabo[62] of the Pyramus shews the appropriateness of the derivation. "There is also an extraordinary fissure in the mountain, (Taurus), through which the stream is carried.... On account of the winding of its course, the great contraction of the stream, and the depth of the ravine, a noise, like that of thunder, strikes at a distance on the ears of those who approach it."
| 1. | England. | The Frome. Five rivers. |
| The Frame. Dorsetshire. | ||
| Germany. | Bram(aha) or Brem(aha), 9th cent., a stream in Odenwald. | |
| Primma, 9th cent. Near Worms. | ||
| The Prüm in Prussia. | ||
| Denmark. | The Bram(aue) in Holstein. | |
| Italy. | Formio ant. in Venetia. | |
| Asia Minor. | Pyramus ant., now the Jihun. | |
| 2. | With the ending t. | |
| Germany. | The Pfreimt in Bavaria. | |
| 3. | With the ending nt. | |
| Germany. | Premantia, 9th cent., now the Prims. | |
| 4. | With the ending es. | |
| Greece. | Permessus ant. Bœotia. | |