Δ.
Nao, a Ship (Vol. iii., p. 477.).
—A. N. is informed that naw is a Celtic name for a ship (the w is sometimes sounded like oo); though the word is obsolete, authority for its application may be found in Davies' Mythology, &c. of the Druids. In the appendix to this work there is a poem (No. 6.) by Taliesin, containing the following example:—
"Ymsawdd yn llyn, heb naw."
"Sinking in the lake, without a ship."
The Britons consequently had a name for a ship, independent of Roman influence. Can A. N. produce any evidence that the Britons in pre-Roman times did not possess any vessels superior to the cwrygl? Is it probable that the warlike aid which the Britons constantly rendered the Gauls, was conveyed across the channel in mere "osier baskets?" Had the "water-dwellers" (Dwr-trig-wys) of Dorsetshire (Durotriges) attained no higher grade in navigation than that simple mode of water conveyance?
I am almost inclined to exclaim, "Mi dynaf y torch a thi" ("I will pull the torque with thee") in respect to the position claimed for the Latin longa; but passing this, I will advance the opinion that the Celtic naw is the root of the Latin navis.
Birth of Spenser (Vol. i., pp. 489. 482.).
—Is not 1510 a mistake for 1550? The figures 1 and 5 are often confounded in manuscripts of Spenser's age. The mistake was probably that of the sculptor.