280 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
in former times, the word "island" had a wider meaning, and
was applied, not only to a piece of land surrounded by the
waters of the sea or of a lake, but also to a piece of land
surrounded by inland streams or marshes. Now it will be seen
that each of the three small streamlets named forms, at its junc-
tion with the larger river into which it flows, an ey, or island, of
this latter kind—Crip's-ey, Dom's-ey, and Pin's-ey, respec-
tively; and I suggest that, from these three eys, each of the
three streams indicated derived the final element of its name.6
There are, however, various special difficulties which confront
anyone studying the origins of our Essex river-names.
In the first place, there is the fact that, as compared with
many other counties, there are extremely-few really-ancient
records in which river-names are mentioned. Thus, Royal
Charters of the Early-Saxon period relating to Essex are very
scarce; for the Kingdom of Essex (or, rather, of the East Saxons)
was comparatively small and its Kings, having reigned usually
under the suzerainty of the Kings of Mercia or other larger
Kingdoms, made few grants of land; and in none of these grants
does an Essex river happen to be mentioned, so far as I can find.
In the later Saxon period, when England had become one king-
dom, Essex rivers are mentioned occasionally in Royal Charters
and the like. In Domesday Book (1086), no single Essex river
is mentioned. This is natural enough; for Domesday Book is
not a topographical description of the country, but a catalogue
of lands with their taxable values.7 In grants, charters, and
other documents of the Mediaeval Period, rivers are alluded
to occasionally, almost always as forming boundaries, but
they are very seldom mentioned by name. For the Elizabethan
Period, however, we are fortunate in having two descriptions
of our Essex rivers and their courses, both being very detailed
for that date and both containing a fair number of river-names.
The earlier of these is that of the Rev. William Harrison, in
his "Description of Britain," published in 1587.8 The later
6 The parish of Tiltey (Tiltei in Domesday) seems to be another of these eys more or less
enclosed by streams; but, if any stream derived its name from that fact, its name has been
lost. Tilkey, adjoining Coggeshall, seems not to be another case, though it lies between Robin's
Brook and the Blackwater. Apparently, its name is a corruption of Tylkell, meaning Tile-
kiln (see Beaumont, Hist. of Coggeshall, p. 113: 1890).
7 Nevertheless, Domesday Book reveals, in several cases, that, even when it was compiled,
some of our smaller Essex streams were already known by descriptive epithets, and that these
had given names to manors which are mentioned: for instance, Birdbrook (Bridebroc =? the
bird-brook), Hassingbrook (Hassingebroc), Lambourne (Lamburn), and Stambourne (Stanburn
=? the stony-burn).
8 In Holinshed's Chronicles i, pp. 51-105 (1587). Harrison was an Essex man, having
been rector of Radwinter from 1559 to 1593, and he evidently knew the county well.