(8vo. ed.) of the _Harleian Miscellany_.

P.C.S.S. {108}


_Origin of Adur_ (Vol. ii., p. 71.).--A, derived from the same root as
Aqua and the French _Eau_, is a frequent component of the names of
rivers: "A-dur, A-run, A-von, A-mon," the adjunct being supposed to
express the individual characteristic of the stream. _A-dur_ would then
mean the _river of oaks_, which its course from Horsham Forest through
the Weald of Sussex, of which "oak is the weed," would sufficiently
justify. It is called in ancient geography _Adurnus_, and is probably
from the same root as the French _Adour_.

C.


The river Adur, which passes by Shoreham, is the same name as the Adour,
a great river in the Western Pyrenees.

This coincidence seems to show that it is neither a Basque word, nor a
Saxon. Whether it is a mere expansion of _ydwr_, the water, in Welch, I
cannot pretend to say, but probably it includes it.

We have the Douro in Spain; and the Doire, or Doria, in Piedmont.
Pompadour is clearly derived from the above French river, or some other
of the same name.

C.B.