Origins of The Name
Pronunciation of the river's name varies with the locality. In Northamptonshire it is usually /ˈnɛn/, and around Peterborough usually /ˈniːn/. The spelling was "Nenn" (as seen in Cole-Roper's 1810 engraving) or "Nyn" until the beginning of the 20th century, and the point at which the pronunciation changes has been moving further inland for many years; the current edition of the Imray "Map Of The River Nene" suggests that the cut-off point is Thrapston.
There is no certain etymology for the name. It has been suggested that it is Celtic: certainly many major rivers in England show pre-Anglo-Saxon origins, such as the Ouse and Avon; the same name appears in the 'Neen', the former name of the river Rea in Shropshire, which is retained in the hamlet of Neen Savage. A.D. Mills however considers the name 'obscure' and suggests that it may even be pre-Celtic.
The river gave its name to the former Nene College of Higher Education in Northampton, now the University of Northampton, and also to the Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet engine, Rolls-Royce's practice being to name their gas turbine designs after British rivers. This may also be linked to the fact that Sir Henry Royce was born in Alwalton, a village which is by the river Nene near Peterborough.
Read more about this topic: River Nene
Famous quotes containing the words the name, origins of and/or origins:
“You remind me of a child-friend who once wrote to tell me about her sister being married. “Now I will tell you all about Bessie’s wedding.” Then came a long account of bridesmaids, and breakfast, and everything else, except the name of the bride-groom! That of course didn’t matter: the great thing was to get married somehow.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“Grown onto every inch of plate, except
Where the hinges let it move, were living things,
Barnacles, mussels, water weeds—and one
Blue bit of polished glass, glued there by time:
The origins of art.”
—Howard Moss (b. 1922)
“Compare the history of the novel to that of rock ‘n’ roll. Both started out a minority taste, became a mass taste, and then splintered into several subgenres. Both have been the typical cultural expressions of classes and epochs. Both started out aggressively fighting for their share of attention, novels attacking the drama, the tract, and the poem, rock attacking jazz and pop and rolling over classical music.”
—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. “Material Differences,” Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)