its standing in what St. Jerome calls an "illustrious vale," in which were large forests of evergreen oaks. LXXXVII. In the Welch language, after the same manner, Dolgelly denotes a town, situated in a vale of hazels: Aber invariably means a confluence; thus Aber-Glassllyn, the scenery of which is stupendous, means "the confluence of the Bluewater;" Aber-Conway, Aber-Gavenny, Aber-Honddy, and Aber-Tawe denote, that the towns so called, are situated at the confluences of the Tawe, the Gavenny, the Honddy, and the Conway. The name of Bala, in the county of Merioneth, proves it to be situated at the outlet of a lake:-Moel-y-Don, on the banks of the Menai, means the "Town of the Waters;" the name of Penmachno, near the falls of the Conway, proves it to be a village at the head of the Machno; while Llan-rhaiadr derives its appellative from being situated near a fountain, in the same manner as Capernaum acquired its name from a clear and limpid spring. - LXXXVIII. Much after the same manner, may we trace the names of men and women.-Barbara from berberis, the barberry-tree; Rosa from the rose; Laura* from the laurel; Lucy, from lucus, a grove; Rosamond, from rosa mundi, the flower of the world; Agnes, from agnus, a lamb; Melissa from a Greek word, signifying a bee; Aurelia means a cotton-weed; Margaret, a pearl; Cecil, a hartwort; Chloe, a green herb; Deborah is Hebrew for a bee; Dorcas, a roe; Phillis, a leaf; Rachel, a sheep; and Susannah, a lily.— Galatea is milk; Cynthia, the moon; Jacintha, a hyacinth; Saccharissa, a peculiar kind of honey; Althaa, a field mallow; and Jesse, an engraft of a tree. - LXXXIX. The names of men have similar derivations:-Valentine means a strong bay-tree; Vincent, a small willow; Oliver, a field of olives; Otho, an herb, whose leaves are full of holes ; Rupert, a rock; Sylvester, a forest; Cyrus, in Persian, signifies the sun; Neanthes, in Greek, a young flower; Cleanthes, the glory of flowers; and Alcibiades derived his name from the Greek word alcibion, an herb, which operates as an antidote to the bite of a serpent. * Note 28. But if men have derived many of their names from the smaller creations of nature, they have returned the obligation, and given to mountains, rivers, and forests, the names of the greatest and wisest of their kings, heroes, and statesmen.— XC. And here, my Lelius, I request your patience, while I lead you through the deserts of etymology. You frown!—and yet the subject is not so barren of entertainment, as you may be inclined to suppose; neither can I forget how often I have heard you ridicule, with all the point and poison of your wit, one of the most distinguished orators of the age, for being totally ignorant of the etymology of a single word he uses. Thus, rill, valley, ocean, lake and harbour are from the Latin; river, cascade, vale, rock, forest, and fountain are from the French; lawn from the Danish; dale from the Gothic; garden from the Welch; glen from the Erse; alcove from the Spanish, and cataract from the Greek: -while dingle, hill, field, meadow, orchard, stream, flood, sea, spring, bower, and wood, are from the Saxon.-Of TREES, poplar, peach, osier, cherry, pear, jasmine, and lilac, are French: arbute, cedar, juniper, vine, sallow, laurel, myrtle, rose, pine, alder, acacia, larch, and cypress, are from the Latin:-the oak, ash, elm, beech, apple, plum, elder, bramble, nut, birch, box, broom, honeysuckle, chesnut, walnut, holly, yew, mulberry, aspen, lime, and ivy, are from the Saxon-thorn, from the Gothic; horn-beam, from the Dutch; willow and fir, from the Welch; while the general name of tree is derived from the Danish. Of those artificial objects, which contribute to embellish scenery, such as bridge, house, cottage, and church, most of them are from the Saxon. Of the colours, which contribute to adorn all those objects, blue, red, white, and yellow, are Saxon; purple, French; indigo, Latin; and green, German. And it is curious to observe with what care the fathers of our language selected from the various tongues, when we perceive, that, of the synonymies of these objects combined, scenery and prospect we trace to the Latin, landscape to the Dutch, and view to the French * Note 29. Of the days of the week, five are derived from the Saxon, one from the Danish, and one from the Greek*.-The several periods of the day, morning, evening, and night, are of Saxon origin: -our months are from the Latin: and of our seasons, autumn, summer, and winter are Saxon, while spring we trace to the Dutch. Week is also Dutch; day, month, and year are Saron; hour, Latin. Of the natural appearances of the heavens, moon is Greek, star Dutch, and sun Saxon; as are rain, wind, snow, and hail; frost, lightning, and thunder. Of the elements, earth and fire are of Saxon, air of Latin, and water of Dutch pedigree. XCI. It would have been natural to have supposed, that the above subjects, as well as those objects, which form the component parts of landscape, derived their appellations from one primary root, since they are all primitives, and all the natural products, if we may so express ourselves, of the soil. And yet, though our organs of sensation are from one source, we borrow the names of * Monday, Greek. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Saxon. Thursday, Danish. |