THE ORIGIN OF " OXFORD " AND " CAMBRIDGE."
[TO THE EDITOR Or THY "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Is not your correspondent " Oxoniensis " in error in his derivation of the names Cam-bridge and Ox-ford ? Cam is, of course, "crooked," as Cam-bell and Cam-eron, two Scottish names for the crooked mouths and noses of the original owners of these names. " Bridge " is a pavement going into water—not an erection over. In Iona one of the monks was called the "Bridge Master "; there is no stream in the island, but there is a small "lochan " and a pavement through it, which was under the Bridge Master's care. Then we have Ferry-Bridge and Bridge-Ford in the North, and, which is the best interpretation of the meaning of the word, Filey-Brig, which is a ledge of flat rock jutting into the sea. Ox-ford is really Water-lane. Ford, like forth, means merely a road. In Yorkshire, close together, are Brad-ford and Horse-forth. At Bradford there is an insignificant little brook which a boy can jump over, not wade through. Ford and Forth mean merely a road—nothing more.—I am, Creskeld, Arthingfon, Leeds.
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