The ancient name of the station having been ascertained, the etymology of it may be inquired into. Whitaker says it means a creek. An authority acquainted with the Gaelic language suggests the following derivation; _caol_, narrow, probably pronounced by the Romans _kil_, and _doir_, water (in composition _dhoir_, the dh not sounded); so that _caol-oir_ is narrow stream; the _um_ is a usual Latin affix. Of course, this branch of the Tyne is narrow in comparison with the united floods. The word may have had an Italian origin; the Latin _celer_, swift, has some resemblance to it, and the river, when swollen by floods, very speedily discharges its superfluous water. Whatever be the origin of the word, the names of the neighbouring places, Chollerton and Chollerford, have had a similar derivation.
[Illustration: Statue of Cybele, Cilurnum]
The miscellaneous antiquities which have been found here, and are still preserved upon the spot, are of a very interesting character. Chief among them is a broken statue, which is here represented.
The fragment, consisting of a fine-grained sandstone, is six feet two inches long. Statues of so large a size are of very rare occurrence in Roman camps in Britain. It is generally supposed to have been meant for Cybele, the mother of the gods. The gracefulness of the design, and the excellence of the execution, show us that the state of the arts in Roman Britain was not so low as is sometimes supposed. The arrangement of the drapery, and the ornament placed upon its margins, are suggestive of the mode in which these details were managed in the statues of the early ecclesiastical architects. The ancient builders professedly followed the Roman modes.
[Illustration: Group of Carved Stones, Cilurnum]
The fine Corinthian capital, which is here shewn, enables us to judge of the beauty of some of the buildings which adorned the ancient CILURNUM. In the drawing, it rests upon one of the foundation stones of the bridge; on the right-hand side of the group are two centurial stones, inscribed—
C[ENTVRIA] VAL[ERII] MAXI[MI] [CENTVRIA] RVFI SABI NI
The century (or company) of Valerius Maximus The century of Rufus Sabi- nus.
On the top of these is a pipe of red earthenware.