2026 Dedh Dogens ha Seyth
De Lün, whetegves mis Whevrel
Monday, 16th February
Hedhyw my a venja mires orth dowrow en Kernow gen henwyn coth. Hedhyw en jedh thera nei ow ûsya "Dowr" rag hanow dowr. (Nag era nei ow ûsya "Ryvar" en henwyn.) Bes nanj ew termyn pur hir na veu "Dowr" ûsys. Ma gorfen ger "y" ow menya an keth tra, etho ma henwyn dowrow an cottha ow corfedna en "-y" (po "-i"). Radn aral an hanow ew descrifans. Radn a'n re ma ew dowrow ow jûnya Dowr Tamer.
Today I'd like to look at rivers/waters in Cornwall with old names. Nowadays we use "Dowr" for a river name. (We do not use "Ryvar".) But a very long time ago "Dowr" wasn't used. There is a suffix that means the same thing, so the oldest river names end in "-y" (or "-i"). The other part of the name is a description. Some of these are small rivers that join the River Tamar.
(Research and suggestions by the late great Craig Weatherhill.)
TIDDY (Tudi 1018) ?“people's river” Tudy (OC)
(Possibly "tud" in OC evolved into "tus" in MC and "teez" in LC, meaning men or people).
Tudi retained the d)
INNY (Eny c1160, 1328) “ash trees river” Eny
(ash trees = enwedh or onn)
KENSEY (Kensi 1229, c1250) (meaning?) Kensy
DEWEY (Duy 1230; Duwy 1241) “dark river” Duy
(dark, black = dû)
FOWEY (Fawy 1241-1339) “beeches river” Fowy
(beech trees = faw or fowwedh)
ST NEOT (Loneny 1238, Lonyn 1241) “river of small groves”
(grove = loon, pl. lonow) Lonyny
LUNEY (Lyveny 1318) “smooth river” Leveny
(smooth, flat, level = leven)
TREVILLETT (Tredewi water 1536) “dark river” Duy
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