Hew Morrison Collection > Adhamh agus Eubh, no Craobh Sheanachais nan Gàël

CELTIC LANGUAGE. 129
coming divinity ? The characters V and U \ve
knowareeven to thisdayinterchangeable,and^Mbin
is the name of a water in Jersey. Au\à. also, is a
well-known term for a river in Celtic: for instance,
Aiàà-^nn, the name of the Moray Frith ; Aule/,
the nartie of a viUage upon the river Parrot ; Aiv,
a river in Argyleshire faUing into Bonaw {Aub-ain-
aw ?) ; Awin-Buy, i.e. the yellovv river, in Ireland ;
transposed and contracted Boyne. Awin-heag, or
Uttle river, another river of Ireland ; Awin-yorm,
the Blue river ; Aun-giWich, Niagara, — aU which
names, to a CeU, echo back the water-worship of
antiquity ! The writer was not more pleased than
surprised, when, after writing the above, he opened
Bryant, aud found in Vol. i. p. 62, the foUowing
apposite etymological remarks, viz.,
" Ain, An, En, On, for so it is at times expressed, signifies
a fountain, and was prefixed to the names of many places
wliich were situated near fountains,and were denominated from
them. In Canaan (Can-Aun, or Dogriver), near the fords of
Jordan, were some celebrated waters, which, from their name,
appear to have been of old sacred to the sun. The name of the
place was Acnon (rather Ad/uv, Ain-On), or the fountain of the
sun ; the same to which the people resorted to be baptized by
John Many places were stylcd An-ait, An-Ab-Or,
An-Opus, An-Orus. Some of these were so called from their
situation ; others from the ivorship there estabUshed."
Right good ! venerable sire : we have been once
laughed at for asserting that Owasimus, a sophist
of Athens ; 0/^chestus, a town of Boeotia, 0«chos-
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