r CncjUs]^ Surnames. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/b2487243x_0001 A'N ESSAY ON FAMILY NOMENCLATURE, HISTOEICAL, ETYMOLOGICAL, AND HUMOROUS; WITH SEVERAL ILLUSTRATIVE APPENDICES. BY MARK ANTONY LOWER, M.A., F.S.A., OF NORMANDY, AMERICA, AND NEWCASTLE-ON-TY'NE, AND LATE OF LONDON ; MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF CAEN, &C.,&C. Jfutttth €iiitirrn, IN TWO VOLUMES.—VOL. I. LONDON : JOHN RUSSELL SMITH, 36, SOHO SQUARE. 1875. ’'A HISTORICAL \ \ MEDICAL j M/SR(,^y “WHAT’S IN A NAME?” ‘Imago aiiimi, vultus, vitae, Nomen est.”—Puteakus. niLLINO AND SONS, I-RIKTERS, OUILDKOUD, Sl’KUEY. TO BENJAMIN WARD RICHARDSON, M.D., F;R.S.^ ^hilosffphcr, IlhgsiciAn, anb ^liilanthraHist, THESE. M. A. L. ■January, 1875. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. PAGE Preface .... . . vii Chapter I. Of Proper Names of Persons in general . . . 1 Chapter II. Of Surnames . . . . . . .13 Chapter III. History of English Surnames—Anglo-Saxon Period . 21 Chapter IV History of English Surnames since the Norman Conquest. 31 Chapter V. Of Local Surnames . . . . . .43 Note to Chapter V. . . . . .98 Chapter VI. Of surnames derived from Occupations and Pursuits . 103 Note to Chapter VI. . . . . .130 Chapter VII. Of Surnames derived from Dignities and Offices . .132 PAGE Chapter VIIL Of SHrnames derived from Personal and Moral Qualities . 148 Chapter IX. Of Surnames derived from Baptismal Names , .158 Chapter X. Of Surnames derived from Natural Objects . .186 Chaptes XL Of Surnames derived from Heraldric Charges and from Traders’ Signs ...... 203 Chapter XII. Of Surnames derived from the Social Eelations, Periods of Time, Age, &c. &c. ..... 224 Chapter XIII. Of Surnames indicative of Contempt and Eidicule. . 232 Chapter XIV. Of Surnames derived from the Virtues, &c. . . 240 Chapter XV. Of Surnames derived from Oaths and Exclamations . 249 Chapter XVI. Of Surnames originally Sobriquets .... 252 Chapter XVII. Surnominal Puns . . . . . ,256 preface* F the oft-quoted sentiment of Terence : “ Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto,” which drew down thunders of ap- plause from the auditories of ancient Rome, he equally deserving of respect in our own days; and if the assertion of Puteanus he true, that, Sine Nomine, Homo non est,'’'''—that the name is essential to the man,—few apologies will he necessary for the publication of the following Prolusions, whose design is to illustrate the per- sonal and generic nomenclature of an important and influential section of the human race. The utilitarian, it is true, may regard my labours as of little value, and put in a ' Cui hono V hut my reply to him shall be a brief one.—‘^Whatever serves to gratify a laudable or even a merely harmless curiosity is useful, and therefore not to be despised.'^ * Diatr. De Erycio. That a curiosity as to the origin of proper names, and particularly of surnames, has pre- vailed to some extent is certain, from the num- ber of literary men in England who have written (however slightly and unsatisfactorily) upon the subject, within the last three centuries ; and that it still prevails is shown by the fact that since I undertook, a few years ago, more fully to illus- trate the history and signification of our Family Names, scarcely a single week has passed with- out my receiving communications on the subject, both from literary friends, and from total strangers, unconnected with literature. Hun- dreds of letters from all parts of this country, from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Belgium, and America, convince me, at least, that the in- quiry is not devoid of interest, while at the same time they afford a flattering testimony that my investigations have been well received and appreciated. The history of proper names not only affords a very curious chapter for the etymologist, but also illustrates the progress of society, and throws much light upon the customs and pur- suits of departed ages. With regard to English Surnames, there are two circumstances which demand remark in this Preface : namely, their great variety, and their extraordinary number. That they should exhibit the former feature is not surprising, since, in the words of an eminent antiquary,^' we have borrowed names from everything both good and bad.” As this variety will fully develope itself in the respective chapters of the present Essay, I shall merely insert here, by way of proof, two or three lists of the sur- names occurring among many others, in some of our public bodies. The first is from the humor- ous ‘ Heraldic Anomalies’ of Dr. Nares : “ I have seen what was called an ‘ Inventory of the Stock Exchange Articles,’ to be seen there every day (Sundays and holidays excepted) from ten till four o’clock. “ A Eaven, a Nightingale, two Daws, and a Swift. A Flight and a Fall ! Two Foxes, a Wolf, and two Shepherds. A Taylor, a Collier, a Mason, and a Tanner. Three Turners, four Smiths, three Wheelers. Two Barbers, a Paynter, a Cook, a Potter, and five Coopers. Two Greens, four Browns, and two Greys. A Pilgrim, a King, a Chapel, a Chaplain, a Parson, three Clerks, and a Pope. Three Baileys, two Dunns, a , and a Hussey ! A Hill, a Dale, and two Fields. A Eose, two Budds, a Cherry, a Flower, two Vines, a Birch, a Fearn, and two Peppercorns. A Steel, two Bells, a Pulley, and two Bannisters. “ Of towns: Sheffield, Dover, Lancaster, Wakefield, and Eoss. Of things : Barnes, Wood, Coles, Staples, Mills, Pickles, and, in fine, a Medley ! “ Our House of Commons has at different and no very dis- tant times numbered amongst its members— Camden. A Fox, A Hare, Two Drakes, A Finch, Three Cocks, A Hart, Two Lambs, A Leach, A Kooke, Two Martins,, Two Herons, A Swan, A Turner, A Farmer, A Falconer, Two Bakers, Two Taylors, A Plummer, A Miller, A Cooper, An Abbot, Nine Smiths ! ! ! A Porter, Three Pitts, Two Hills, Two Woods, An Orchard, and a Barne, Two Lemons with One Peel! Two Roses, One Ford, Two Brookes, One Flood and yet but one Fish ! A Forester, an Ambler, a Hunter, and only One Ryder. “ But what is the most surprising and melancholy thing of all, it has never had more than one Christian belonging to it,, and at present is without any !” From many other pieces of humour of the same kind I select the two following. The first is an impromptu occasioned by the proposed elevation of Alderman Wood to the office of Lord Mayor, some years since: “ In choice of Mayors ’twill be contest. Our citizens are prone to jest: Of late a gentle Flower they tried, November came, and check’d its pride. A Hunter next on palfrey grey Proudly pranced his year away. They next, good order’s foes to scare, Placed Birch upon the civic chair. Alas ! this year, ’tis understood. They mean to make a Mayor of Wood F The next is from a Methodist Almanack pub- lished a good many years since, and is entitled ^ Wesleyan Worthies, or Ministerial Misnomers/ “ If ^ union is strength/ or if aught’s in a name, The Wesleyan Connexion importance may claim; For where is another—or Church, or communion— That equals the following pastoral union : A Dean and a Deakin, a Noble, a Squire, An Officer, Constable, Sargeant, and Cryer, A Collier, a Carter, a Turner, a Tayler, A Barber, a Baker, a Miller, a Naylor, A Walker, a Wheeler, a Waller, a Eidler, A Fisher, a Slater, a Harpur, a Fidler, A Binder, a Palmer, a Shepherd, and Crook, A Smith, and a Mason, a Carver, and Cook ; An Abbott, an Usher, a Batcheler Gay, A Marshall, a Steward, a Knight, and a Day, A Meyer, an Alde-mann, Burgess, and Ward, A Wiseman, a Trueman, a Freeman, a Guard, A Bowman, a Cheeseman, a Colman, with Slack, A Britten, a Savage, a White, and a Black, French, English, and Scots—North, Southerne, and West, Meek, Moody, and Meysey, Wilde, Giddy, and Best, Brown, Hardy, and Ironsides, Manly, and Strong, Lowe, Little, and Talboys, Frank, Pretty, and Young, With Garretts, and Chambers, Halls, Temple, and Flowers, Groves, Brooks, Banks, and Levells, Parkes, Orchards, and Bowers, Woods, Warrens, and Burrows, Cloughs, Marshes, and Moss, A Vine, and a Garner, a Crozier, and Cross ; Furze, Hedges, and Hollis, a Broomfield, and Moor, Drake, Partridge, and Woodcock—a Beach, and a Shoar, Ash, Crabtree, and Hawthorn, Peach, Lemmon, and Box, A Lyon, a Badger, a Wolfe, and a Fox, Fish, Hare, Kidd, and Boebuck, a Steer, and a Kay, Cox, Ca’ts, and a Talbot, Strawe, Cattle, and Hay, Dawes, Nightingales, Buntings, and Martins, a Eowe, With Bustard, and Bobin, Dove, Swallow, and Crowe, Ham, Bacon, and Butters, Salt, Picldes, and Bice, A Draper, and Chapman, Booths, Byers, and Price, Sharp, Sheers, Cutting, Smallwood, a Cubitt, and Buie, Stones, Gravel, and Cannell, Clay, Potts, and a Poole, A Page, and a Beard, with Coates and a Button, A Webb, and a Cap—Lindsay, Woolsey, and Cotton, A Cloake, and a Satchell, a Snowball, and Baine, A Leech, and a Bolus, a Smart, and a Payne, A Stamp, and a Jewel, a Hill, and a Hole, A Peck, and a Possnet, a Slug, and a Mole, A^_Horn, and a Hunt, with a Bond, and a Barr, A Hussey, and Wedlock, a Driver, and Carr, A Cooper, and Adshead, a Bird, and a Fowler, A Key, and a Castle, a Bell, and a Towler, A Tarr, and a Shipman, with Quickfoot, and Toase, A Leek, and a Lilly, a Green, Budd, and Bowes, A^,Creed, and a Sunday, a Cousen, a Lord, A Dunn, and a Bailey, a Squarebridge, and Ford, A No-all, and Doolittle—Hopewell, and Sleep, And Kirks, Clarkes, and Parsons, a Grose, and a Pleap, With many such worthies, and others sublimer, Including a Homer, a Pope, and A BHYMEB.’^ If English Surnames are remarkable for their variety, they are no less so for their number. How great the latter may be, it would be a hopeless task to attempt to ascertain : it is suffi- cient to say with the Eev. Mark Noble, that it is almost beyond belief/’ A friend of that gen- tleman amused himself with collecting all such as began with the letter A : they amounted to more than one thousand five hundred. It is well known that some letters of the alphabet ure initials to more surnames than A : allowing* for others which have not so many, the whole number will be between thirty and forty thoU" sand !”^ The E,ev. E. Duke, in his valuable and ex- tremely curious ‘ italic of 3l0{)n starts the question, “ whether the English nomencla- ture is or is not on the increase f and he decides that, notwithstanding many of the older sur- names become extinct every century,t it is still * Hist. Coll. Arms, Prelim. Dissertation. My late learned and Eighly esteemed correspondent, E. J. Vernon, Esq., B.A., in some strictures on the second edition of this work, published in the Literary Gazette, expresses a douht as to this estimate. He says the surnames derived “ from Christian and Anglo-Saxon names and their modifica- tions, amount to about 700 ; names from trades and offices, &c., to be- tween 300 and 400; and 500 may be allowed for the other smaller classes ; making in all 1500 or 1600. If now we keep to the random, but we think most ample, guess, of as many thousand local surnames, the total, which may be called between 15,000 and 20,000, will, we think, be much nearer the mark than Mr, Noble’s estimate of ‘ between 30,000 and 40,000.’ ” I must beg, however, to state my conviction of the correctness of this estimate, or rather assert its falling short of the truth. There are thousands of names borrowed from places which are almost limited to the localities which gave them birth, and which would consequently •elude the notice of the name-hunter, unless he penetrated into every nook and corner of the kingdom. There are more than 10,000 parishes in England ; and topographical antiquaries will bear me out in the assertion, that a single parish often comprises six, ten, or even more manors, hamlets, and other subdivisions, each of which has sur- named its family. Besides, Mr. Noble’s calculation is formed upon a basis which would rather fall short of, than exceed, the truth. ■t I am disposed to doubt the utter extinction of any name, when it has once become widely spread. Families, it is true, may fail in the on the increase, and he accounts for this singular fact by the following arguments: “ Some [names] originated from the influx of foreigners caused by royal marriages—by refuge from per- secutions—by expatriations arising from revolu- tions—by the settlement of alien manufacturers ; and the names of many of these have often been altered and anglicised, and their posterity have in the bearing thereof become as genuine En- glishmen. At other times fictitious names have started up and been perpetuated within our own country, from their adoption, in the removal from one part of the kingdom to another, by the criminal and by the insolvent. Another incre- ment of names arises perhaps from the occasional settlement here of Americans and West Indians ; for it is a certain and curious fact that although America was originally peopled from this country, elder or wealtlaier line, and female heirs convey property into other names ; but in an overwhelming majority of cases there are descend- ants of other lines of the family left, and these often ramify and spread extensively in a more plebeian grade. Hundreds of our old patrician names have survived the wreck of that greatness with which they were once invested. Why, the illustrious names inscribed on the famous Battel-Abbey Boll nearly all exist at this day, after a lapse of eight centuries, if not in the peerage, at least in the cottages of the poor,, and often disguised in an orthography which almost defies identifica- tion. I have at this time a next-door neighbour named Glanville, and a servant rejoicing in the name of Melville, while a baker not very far distant is a Neville—all distinguished Norman surnames. The reader will find this subject more fully discussed hereafter. yet it varies very essentially in its nomenclature from that of England/’^ Our great antiquary, the illustrious Camden, was among the first who paid any considerable attention to the subject of English Surnames. He has an amusing and learned chapter on the subject in his ‘ Remaines/ occupying, in an early edition, about forty-eight pages of that work.. This forms the basis of all that can be said on English family names. After Camden comes Yerstegan, who, though less accurate in his knowledge of the subject, gives many useful hints which serve greatly for the purpose of amplification. Among more recent writers, four clergymen, the Rev. Dr. Pegge, the Rev. Mark Noble, the Rev. E. Duke, and the Rev. G. Oliver, have each added something new in illustration of the subject. It seems that various, other antiquaries, whose productions have never seen the light, have been labourers in the same field. In Collet’s ‘Relics of Literature,’ 1823, it is stated that, “ Mr. Cole, the antiquary, was very industrious in collecting names, and in one of his volumes of MSS. he says, he had the intention, some time or other, of making a list of such as were more particularly striking and odd, in order to form the founda- tion of an Essay upon the subject. A friend of the present writer has gone much farther, and has collected several thou- sand rare names, which he has partly classified.” * Vol. L, Notes, p. 404. One reason, among others, that might be assigned for this dissimilarity, is the large intermixture of Dutch, Ger- man, and French families •with those of English extraction. The late Mr. Haslewood also appears to have done something of the same kind. He had a most extensive collection, which was disposed of at the sale of his library, but which I have not been able to trace to its final destination. There are two manuscripts on Surnames in the Harleian collection. The first. No. 4056, ^ Origin of Surnames,’ is loosely written upon seven pages. It is a mere abstract from Camden, with scarcely anything additional, except a paragraph in which the writer differs from that author (as it will be seen that I also do), with respect to the precise date of the introduction of Surnames^ into England. The second MS., No. 4630, ‘ The original or beginning of Sur- names,’ is likewise from Camden, and has only a single original paragraph: of this I have availed myself at the proper place. Both MSS. form only portions of the volumes in which they occur. Some years since, the Bev. George Oliver, of Grimsby, announced that he was preparing for the press a work on Surnames. This intention has not, I believe, been carried into effect. Judging from his able communication on the subject to the ^ Gentleman’s Magazine,’* we cannot but regret the abandonment of his design. From that communication I shall take the liberty * For 1830, i. 298. of making an extract, which, while it expresses precisely my own views, will also serve as an apology for any incorrect conclusions that I may arrived at in the course of these volumes. “ To account for, and accurately to class, the whole circle of Surnames which at present abound in the wmrld, would probably exceed the capacity of the most talented individual, unless, his whole and undivided attention were devoted to its study and development; and it is to be feared that the effect might appear greatly dis- proportionate to the means employed. In this respect the theory of surnames bears an affinity to the doctrine of fluxions, without the advan- tage of equal utility ; for as a knowledge of' algebra, geometry, logarithms, and infinite series, is equally and indispensably necessary to a right understanding of fluxions ; so, to enter fully into, the theory of Surnames, an intimate acquaintance with history and antiquities,—dead and living languages,—the state of society and manners in all ages and nations,—localities and peculiarities,.. —national and family connexions,—the passions and prejudices of human nature,—the cant words and technical phrases of every description of men,—is absolutely essential; else the anxious^ theorist will be at a loss to comprehend the origin of many uncouth names, or the relation they bear to each other, diversified as they are by a succession of shades and tints which are almost imperceptible ; and he will find it diffi- cult to determine with undeviating accuracy whether many of the names he investigates be primitive, derivative, or contingent; or to trace them through all the devious and uncertain etymologies in which they are imbedded and entwined.” Having thus mentioned what my predecessors have done, it may be expected that I should give some account of my own humble labours. But as they are before the reader, I shall con- tent myself with borrowing the words of Ver- stegan : Because men are naturally desirous to know as much as they may, and are much pleased to understand of their own offspring [descent] which by their Surnames may well be discerned, if they be Surnames of continuance, I have, herein, as near as I can, endeavoured myself to give the courteous reader satisfaction” And, as I have been actuated by this desire, I deem it but justice to myself to state, that if I have assigned to any name a meaning that is little complimentary to the persons who happen to bear it, it has been the farthest from my in- tention to insult their feelings. So little has this been my wish or my endeavour, that I have^ on the contrary, made it one of my chief objects to investigate the etymology of many names ivliicli have generally been considered to imply something low or disgraceful, and have proved, satisfactorily I trust, that they mean nothing that their possessors have the slightest reason to be ashamed of.^ Thus, while I have filched’' no one of his good name,” I have, I hope, been so happy as to make many a person upon better terms with his own appellative—which he may hitherto have considered (etymologically) any- thing but a good one—than he has ever been before. After all, What’s in a name ?” for neither the good names do grace the bad, neither doe evill names disgrace the good. If names are to be accounted good or bad, in all countries both good and bad haue bin of the same Surnames which as they participate one with the other in glory, so sometimes in shame. Therefore for ancestors, parentage, and names, as Seneca said, let every man say, Vix ea nostra voco. Time hath intermingled and confused all, and wee are come all to this present by successive variable descents from high and low; or as hee saith more plainely, the low are descended from the high, and, contrariwise, the high from the low.”f * I have some knowledge of a family who call themselves Row- botham, with the theta pronunciation. They consider Rowbottom vulgar; but I explained to one of them that Roe-bottom^ ‘ a valley fre- quented by roes,’ was one of the most picturesque of surnames. t Camden. The present Edition of this work contains' almost three times as much matter as the first, and about double that of the second. The general arrangement is nearly that of the former editions, but every chapter has been materially enlarged, and several new chapters have been added. These additions, coupled with the rejection of whatever hypotheses formerly ad- vanced I have found untenable, almost consti- tute the present edition a new work. Proceeding upon the principle—facile est inventis addere,^^ my ‘lyttel boke’ has become a somewhat large one—the largest, I think I may say, that has yet appeared upon the subject of proper names. It is also the only one of any considerable extent exclusively devoted to family nomenclature. This extension will explain itself to those readers who have honoured my former editions^ with a perusal. I have not forgotten the venerable adage, that ' a great book is a great evil/ but the continual occurrence of names heretofore unknown or unnoticed, and the ex- tensive correspondence before alluded to, have almost inevitably conduced to this result. That my additional lucubrations may meet with the- same indulgent reception as the former ones have done, is all that I can reasonably expect or desire. I cannot but anticipate disappointment, oil the part of numerous readers, at the non-appear- ance of their names in these volumes. The immense scope of the subject must be my only apology. A vast multitude of names must necessarily have escaped my notice, and a large number have baffled all attempts on my part to give a reasonable account of their origin. Although it is quite true that he teaches well who teaches all,’’ yet is the sentiment of the Greek philosopher''" no less so : As it is the commendation of a good huntsman to find game in a wide wood, so it is no imputation if he hath not caught all.” In conclusion, I should be guilty of great in- gratitude were I to omit to offer my sincerest thanks to those gentlemen who have rendered me valuable assistance in the production of these, volumes. And first, my special acknowledg- ments are due to my intelligent and worthy publisher, Mr. John Hussell Smith, who has spared no pains in placing within my reach many valuable works, to which I could not otherwise have had convenient access. To Charles Clark, Esq., of Great-Totham Hall, I am indebted for a list of upwards of 1500 of the most singular surnames in existence, which were collected by that gentleman, and with many of which this publication is enriched. The reference VOL. I. * Plato. h to the two manuscripts in the British Museum T owe to the Bev. George C. Tomlinson, rector of Staughton, in Huntingdonshire, whose polite and unsolicited kindness entitles him to my warmest acknowledgments. Thus much as regards the original edition, which, on its publication in 1842, immediately attracted the attention of those directors of the public taste, the Beviewers, whose notices of my humble performance were, upon the whole, most flattering. My thanks were especially due to the conductors of the then existing ‘ Literary Gazette^ for the handsome manner in which they threw open the columns of their valuable Journal, in ten or twelve of its numbers, to the discussion of the subject of this volume. The letters bearing the signature of ‘B.A. Oxon.^ were of a peculiarly interesting character, and I was fortunately enabled to open a correspond- ence with the author, E. J. Vernon, Esq., a gentleman of extensive erudition and etymolo- gical skill. To him, as a trifling expression of my sense of the value of his communications, I had the pleasure of dedicating the second edi- tion. W ith him I took much ‘ sweet counsel" upon the subject of our common researches ; but alas! that remorseless Tyrant, who regards neither youth, nor virtue, nor talents, proved both the falsity and the truth of his own am- biguous motto—' YER-non semper viret’—and laid him low ere yet he had reached the summer of his days. He died in July, 1847, after a brief illness ; and in him society lost a member of unspeakable worth, and the world of letters a most promising labourer.^ To the Eeverend Stephen Isaacson, M.A., I was greatly indebted, both for numerous anec- dotes and suggestions, and for copious lists of surnames of remarkable character. I have likewise received considerable aid from the Eeverend F. 0. Morris, M.A., vicar of NalFerton, who has furnished me with several lists of names. George Monkland, Esq., of Bath, forwarded me a highly curious classified list of surnames made, like the others, with the most scrupulous attention to their authenticity. Of all these I have largely availed myself. Further names and illustrations have also been obligingly contributed by J. 0. Halliwell, Esq., F.E.S., F.S.A. ; E. Almack, Esq., F.S.A., of Mel ford ; E. Pretty, Esq., of Northampton ; W. H. Blaauw, Esq., M.A., &c. ; Jabez Allies, Esq., F.S.A. ; Clement Ferguson, Esq., of * His only published work is ‘ A Guide to the Anglo-Saxon Tongue* (London, 1846), one of the best treatises of the kind extant; but I can state that he was engaged for the last two or three years of his life in collecting materials for one or more volumes of a philological ■character. b—2 Dublin ; North Ludlow Beamish, Esq., F.B.S.,, &c., of Cork ; Miss Twynam ; John Sykes, Esq., of Doncaster ; J. H. Fennell, Esq., &c., &c., &c. The Hon. and Bev. C. w/ Bradley, M.A., of Connecticut, U.S., most politely transmitted me a copy of his privately-printed brochure mentioned below. The following works have been consulted : Camden’s “ Eemaines concerning Britaine, but especially Eng-^ land, and the Inhabitants thereof. The third Impression.” Printed in 1623. Verstegan’s “ Kestitution of decayed Intelligence in Antiqui- ties concerning Our Nation.” 1605. The AECHiEOLOGTA of the Society of Antiquaries, vol. xviii.. pp. 105-111, “Remarks on the Antiquity and Introduction of Surnames into England. By James H. Markland, Esq., E.S.A.” 1813. “ Peolusiones Histoeic^, or the Halle of John Halle; by the Rev. Edward Duke, M.A., F.S.A., &c.” Vol. L, Essay 1. “A Histoey of the College of Aems ; with a Preliminary Dissertation relative to the different Orders in England since the Norman Conquest. By the Rev. Mark Noble, E.A.S. of L. and E., Rector of Barming, in Kent, &c.” 1804. “ The Gentleman’s Magazine,” 1772. Several Essays, by Dr. Pegge, under the signature of T. Row (The Rector of Whittington) ; and many subsequent volumes of the same periodical. Dissertation on the Names of Persons. By J. H. Brady.” 12mo., London, 1822. With numerous manu- script additions by an unknown hand. ‘‘CuRiALiA Miscellanea, or Anecdotes of Old Times. By^ Samuel Pegge, Esq., F.S.A.” 1818. “ The Stranger in America. By F. H. Lieber.” An English Dictionary. ... By K Bailey, ^iXoXoyog.” 9th Edit. 1740. Jamieson^s “Scottish Dictionary.” “Buchanan ON Antient Scottish Surnames [or Clans].’^ —Beprint. 1820. “ Blount’s Law Dictionary.” Talbot’s “ English Etymologies.” 1847. 8vo. “ Patronomatology, an Essay on the Philosophy of Surnames. By C. W. Bradley, M.A., Kector of Christchurch, Con- necticut.” Baltimore, 1842. Pp. 16, 8vo. “ The Irish Penny Journal.” Dublin, 1841. A series of six articles on the ‘ Origin and Meanings of Irish Family Names.’ By Mr. John O’Donovan. P. 326 et seq. “ Bosworth’s Anglo-Saxon Dictionary.” New Edition. “Essai Historique et Philosophique sur les Noms d’Hommes, he Peuples, et he Lieux, &c. Par Eusebe Salverte.” Two vols. 8vo. Paris, 1824. “Traite he l’Origine hes Noms et des Surnoms. Par G. A. de la Boque.” Paris, 1681. “ On the Names, Surnames, and Nicknames of the Anglo- Saxons. By J. M. Kemble, Esq.” 8vo., pp. 22. 1846. “ A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial' Words, &c.. By J. O. Halliwell, Esq., F.B.S.” Two vols. 8vo. 1847. “ Three Letters on Norman Proper Names. By M. de Gerville.” In ‘M4moires de la Soc. des Antiquaires de Normandie,’ vol. xiii., p. 265 et seq. “ The Folks of Shields.” By William Brockie. 1857. “ The Norman People.” 1874. Since tlie appearance of the first edition of this work, numerous publications on the same, subject, either in the shape of small books or in periodicals, have seen the light; but there have been two distinct volumes of considerable size, and much research, given to the public, each hearing the same title as my own, viz., English Surnames! The first, published in 1858, is entitled English Surnames, and their place in the Teutonic Family, by Eobert Ferguson."' The second, a more erudite and researchful book, was published in 1873: '‘Our English Sur- names,"" the author being Charles Wareing Bardsley, M.A. I find no fault with either of those gentlemen, since they frankly acknowledge their obligations to me ; but, to avoid confusion of reference, they might both have chosen more distinctive titles. Another work bearing on the subject has also appeared within the present year, entitled, " The Norman People."" It is anonymous, but evidently the production of a scholar. It is divided into two parts. The former contains several learned chapters on the relation of the Normans, Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes with the English. The reasoning is generally good, though, I must confess, not always to me con- clusive. The second, and larger part of the volume, is entitled an " Alphabetical Series of Names and Families from the London Post- Office Directory.’^ The author’s fault, as it ap- pears to me, lies in Normanizing whatever he can, and in attributing to ^ our brethren over the water’ names and histories which do not belong to them, but which are certainly of indi- genous origin, whether Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, or what not. He appears -to me to put into his book more than his book ought to hold. He is, however, very frank, gives his reasons for every- thing, and is especially just in quoting his authorities. I, for one of them, feel duly thankful for his courtesy, for he quotes me many scores of times, with due acknowledgment. His work is sure to be popular; and I hope that, in future editions, he will see the necessity of retrenchment rather than of addition. AN ESSAY ON ENGLISH SURNAMES. CHAPTER I. OF PROPER NAMES OF PERSONS IN GENERAL. “ Notre nom propre c’est nous-m^mes,” K, proper name (observes the learned and elegant Salverte) is ourself—in our thoughts, and in the thoughts of those who know us ; and nothing can separate it from our ex- istence. A name, however apparently insignificant, instantly recalls to our remembrance the man, his personal ap- pearance, his moral attributes, or some remarkable event with which he is identified. The few syllables constituting it suffice to reopen the fountain of a be- reaved mother’s tears—to cover with blushes the fore- head of the maiden who believes her secret about to be revealed—to agitate the heart of the lover—to light up in the eyes of an enemy the fire of rage—and ta awaken in the breast of one separated by distance from his friend the liveliest emotions of hope or of regret.^ This energetic power,” remarks the same writer, distinguishes the Proper Noun from the common substantive.” It suggests no vague idea, but enforces one that is positive and distinct. Our proper name is ourself;”—without it we have not more than half an existence. Hence in the earliest and the rudest states of social life every human being received a name. I am aware that Herodotus and Pliny, and one or two modern writers, mention some barbarous races who bear no distinctive appellations; but a little reflection before making the statement would have convinced them of the impossibility of the existence of language without proper names; for in the most degraded condition of human existence, the occa- sional necessity of speaking of absent persons would involve the use of some epithet, and that epithet would be to all intents and purposes a Proper Name. The father of a family would impose a peculiar appel- lation upon each of his children, and they in return would give him a name by which to distinguish him from other men. In like manner, a name would be affixed to the superior power which was the object of their adoration or their superstitious dread; and all names so imposed must of necessity have been sig- nificant. As a principle so immediately connected with the design of this Essay, I repeat—that ALL names weee OEIGINALLY SIGNIFICANT; although in the course of ages the meaning of most of them may have lapsed from the memory of mankind. It is most unphiloso- phical to arrive at the opposite conclusion. Invention without motives and without principles is as difficult in relation to this subject as to any other. If the names of common objects were not dictated by mere caprice, how can we imagine that those of persons and of places had so vague a beginning ? Let any one call to remembrance the names of his nearest friends and neighbours, and he will immediately recog- nize in them an identity with the names of the most familiar objects, as Wood, Church, Hall, Tree ; while others are epithets, as Wise, Good, Long, Little; and a third class represent localities, as York, Chichester, Forest, Heath. He will then scarcely bring his mind to doubt that these, in their primitive application to persons, had some connexion with those objects, epi- thets, and localities respectively; and if he thinks wisely, he will hardly reject as destitute of sense or meaning the still larger number of personal appella- tives which convey no distinct idea to his mind. It is matter to me of no little surprise, that among civilized nations the generality even of educated persons should be so incurious as they are on this subject. They seem indeed in this respect behind many of the barbarous tribes of both continents, who evince a desire with respect to a stranger coming amongst them, either to ascertain the meaning of his name in his own lan- guage, and to translate it, or to apply to him a signifi- cant appellation borrowed from their own dialect. From numerous anecdotes which might be adduced to prove this remark I will select one or two. The Sultan of Muscat taking for his physician an 1—2 Italian gentleman, demanded by wliat name he was called. Vincenzo,” was the reply. “ I don’t under- stand you,” said the monarch; “ tell me the meaning of the word in Arabic.” The Italian translated it by ‘ Mansour/ victorious; and the prince, charmed with the happy prestige attached to this designation, uni- formly styled him CJieik Mansour. A chief of the Delaware tribe once asked the mean- ing of the name of Colonel Sprout, a gentleman of extraordinary stature. He was told that it signified a bud or sprig. “ No,” replied the Indian, “ he cannot be a sprig—he is the tree itself If any further arguments are necessary to prove that Proper Names were originally significant, let us refer to the uniform practice of nautical discoverers with respect to names of places. Do they ever give to a rock, an island, a promontory, or a river an appellation without a meaning ? It requires but a moderate share of ety- mological knowledge to ascertain the origin of the greater part of the names of localities in any given country with whose ancient and modern dialects the inquirer is acquainted. A learned German, M, Frederick Schlegel, has thus found in nearly all the proper names of the Hindoos significant epithets ; and any one tolerably skilled in Anglo-Saxon, old French, and the English of the Middle Ages, might in like manner explain probably two-thirds of our own proper appellatives both of places and persons. All the names of the Hebrews, as Salverte remarks, had a sense so marked that their influence is strongly felt in the lite- rature of that people. The same observation will apply with considerable force to the Arabs, the Greeks, and the Teutonic nations. Among uncivilized tribes the same significant force attaches to their personal nomen- clature ; and the American Indians, the Koriacs, the Marquesans, and the Kamtschatdales may be referred to as never imposing a name with the meaning of which they are unacquainted. It is an inquiry not devoid of some interest, What would the annals of mankind and the records of bio- graphy be if people had never borne proper names A mere chaos of undefined incidents, an unintelligible mass of facts, without symmetry or beauty, and without any interest for after ages: “ sine nomine homo non est.” Indeed, without names, mankind would have wanted what is perhaps the greatest stimulus of which the mind is susceptible, namely, the love of fame; and, consequently, many of the mightiest achievements in every department of human endeavour would have been lost to the world. In the first ages of the world a single name was sufficient for each individual—“ nomen olim apud omnes fere gentes simplex;” and that name was generally invented for the person, in allusion to the circumstances attending his birth, or to some personal quality he possessed, or which his parents fondly hoped he might in future possess. The writings of Moses and some other books of the Old Testament furnish many proofs of this remark. This rule seems to have uniformly prevailed in all the nations of antiquity concerning which we have any records, in the earliest periods of their history. In Egypt we find persons of distinction using only one name, as Pharaoh, Potiphar; in Canaan, Abraham, Isaac; in Greece, Diomedes, Ulysses; in Rome, Romulus, Remus; in Britain, Bran, Caradoc, &c. Among most nations the imposition of names has been connected with religious rites. Among the Jews circumcision was the rite, as baptism is in the Christian church. The Greeks commonly named their infants on the tenth day after birth, on which occasion a hos- pitable entertainment was given by the parents to their friends, and sacrifices were offered to the gods. Thus in the ‘ Birds’ of Aristophanes we read : Qvot rr)v SeKdrrjv ravrrjQ tyw, Kai Tovvofi u)(77rep Ttai^'up vvv de Beixrjv. “ On the tenth day I oIFered sacrifice, And as a child’s, her name imposed.” The Romans gave names to their male children on the ninth day, and to girls on the eiglith. The ninth day was called dies lustvicus, or the day of purification, when religious ceremonies were practised. When the Persians name a child a religious service is performed, and five names are written by the father upon as many slips of paper, and laid upon a copy of the Koran. The first chapter of that sacred book is then read, and the slip bearing the future name of the child is drawn at a venture. The SOURCES of Proper Names are exceedingly nu- merous as well as various. In very remote times per- sonal apjiellations marked some wish or prediction on the part of parents. To select fortunate names—the ‘ bona nomina’ of Cicero, and the ' fausta nomina’ of Tacitus—was ever a matter of solicitude, since it be- came a popular maxim, " Bonum nomen, bonum omen.' “ Plautus thought it quite enough to damn a man that he bore the name of Lyco, which is said to signify a greedy wolf, and Liv^y calls the name Atrius Umber ^abominandi ominis nomen,’ — a name of horrible portent.”* “Ex bono nomine oritur bona prsesumptio”—from a good name arises a good anticipation, says Panormitan; and Plato in the same spirit advises all people to select happy names,—a recommendation which our novelists and dramatists are ever ready to follow with respect to their heroes. Victor, Probus, Faustus, Felix, and all similar appellatives, must in the first instances have been employed to mark the wishes of affectionate pa- rents, though the subsequent lives of the objects of those wishes often gave the lie to their names. We can hardly suppose that had the parents of Alexander been gifted with prescience they would have honoured that ' murderer of millions ’ with a name signifying " the Helper of Mankind.’ Many of the earlier Hebrew names were composed of the first words uttered by the mother, the father, or some other person present at the instant of the birth. The dying Eachel called her infant ‘ Benoni,’ the Son of my Sorrow, but Jacob gave him the name of ^ Benjamin,’ the Son of my Strength. Incidents con- nected with the birth or early infancy of children also furnished many names, as the earlier books of the Old Testament sufliciently prove. Complexion and other personal qualities often gave rise to names, as Pyrrhus, ruddy ; Macros, tall; Niger, black; Paulus, little. The order of birth originated others, as Quintus, the fifth, Septimus, the seventh; while some had reference to the time of nativity, as Martins, Maius. Nares, Heraldic Anomalies. All the foregoing classes of names might have been appropriately bestowed by parents upon their offspring; but there is a very numerous class with the imposition of which they can have had nothing to do, and which we may suppose parental partiality would fain have prevented. I allude to those names which reflect upon personal blemishes or moral obliquities, and which we should now call nick-names or sobriquets, such as PpuTTo?, eagle-nose ; ^va/ccov, gorge-belly; Calvus, bald; Codes, one-eyed; Flaccus, flap-eared; Fronto, heavy- browed. These, from their very nature, must have been applied to adults, and by others than their parents or friends. Neither were the complimentary names, KaXkivLKo^iy ‘ renowned for victory,’ ^Ckdhek(po^y ‘ a lover of his brethren,’ Evepr^ervj^, ‘ a benefactor,’ &c. Ac., conferred in very early life. Thus much for single names: in process of time the love of imitation led persons to adopt names which had been, and were, borne by others ; and in order to obviate the inconvenience resulting from the difficulty of distinguishing contemporaries designated by a com- mon appellative, some second name was necessary. The most obvious mode of distinction would be by the use of the father’s name or fatronymiCy and this is the earliest approach to the modern system of nomencla- ture. Caleb the son of Jephunneh, Joshua the son of Nun, are early examples; so also //capo? tov AaihdXoVy Aai^dko^ TOV EviraXjjuov—Icarus the son of Daedalus, Daedalus the son of Eupalmus; and it is worthy of observation that this primitive practice has descended to modern times in such designations as William Fitz- Hugh, Stephen Isaacson. Sometimes the adjunct expressed the country or profession, sometimes some excellence or blemish of the bearer, as Herodotus of ‘ Halicarnassus,'’ Polycletes Hhe Sculptor,’ Diogenes Hhe Cynic,’ Dionysius "the Tyrant.’ The Romans had a very complete system of nomen- clature. The whole commonwealth was divided into various clans called " Gentes,’ each of which was sub- divided into several families (‘ Familise ’). Thus in the Gens Cornelia were included the families of the Scipi- ones, Lentuli,. Cethegi, Dolabellse, Cinnse, Syllse, &c. It is doubtful, however, whether these families were descended from a common ancestor, though they had religious rites in common. To mark the different gentes and familise, and to distinguish the individuals, of the same race, they had usually three names, viz. the " Prsenomen,” the " Nomen,’ and the " Cognomen.’"^ The Prsenomen denoted the individual, the Nomen marked the Gens, and the Cognomen distinguished the Familia. Thus in Publius Cornelius Scipio, Publius corresponded to our John, Thomas, William; Cornelius pointed out the ‘ clan ’ or " gens;’ and Scipio conveyed the information that the individual in question belonged to that particular family of the Cornelii which descended from the pious Scipio, who, from his practice of leading about his aged and blind father, thus figuratively be- came his scipio or staff. Persons of the highest eminence, particularly military commanders, sometimes received a fourth name, or ‘Agnomen,’ often commemorative of conquests, and. borrowed from the proper name of the hostile country, as Coriolanus, Africanus, Asiaticus, Germanicus, &c. In general, only two of the names were used—fre- * Adam’s Eom. Antiq. qnently but one. In addressing a person, the prseno- inen was generally employed, since it was peculiar to citizens, for slaves had no prsanomen.”^ Hence Horace says, ^‘ delicate ears love the praenomen”— Auriculae.f gaudent praenomine molles Sat. ii. 5, 32. Two brothers sometimes bore the same prsenomen. So in England, some centuries since, two brothers oc- casionally had the same Christian nameand Salverte mentions an enthusiastic Scot, a partisan of the fallen house of Stuart, who gave four of his sons the name of Charles-Edward! The Homans borrowed the form of their names from the older natives of Italy, and particularly from the Etruscans. In all those parts of Italy which the Greeks had not penetrated, the personages quoted in history anteriorly to the conquest of their country by the Homans bore family names, preceded or followed by an individual denomination; and, among the Etruscans, it is clear from Passeri,| that there existed the nomen, prsenomen, and cognomen, as among the Homans, who adopted not only their mode of nomenclature, but also a great number of their names themselves. Passeri found the names of Horatius, Livius, Aulus, Marcus, Publius, Severus, and many of a similar kind in Etrus- * Adam. + In Grermany at the present day the lower ranks of society are re- minded of their inferiority, by having the definite article prefixed to their Christian names : e.g. “ Wo ist mein bedienter der G-eorg ?” Where is my valet the George ?—Salverte. In Scotland and Ireland, on the other hand, the same prefix betokens respect, and is applied to the heads of clans, as ‘ the Chisholm,’ ‘ the O'Brien.’ t Salv., i. 189. can inscriptions. Hence the difficulty of finding a satisfactor}?- etymology for many of the Homan appella- tives—words of venerable antiquity, of which those who bore them knew as little the meaning as ourselves. It has been customary in nearly all ages to apply to monarchs some distinguishing epithet, usually termed a although that word may be fairly objected to as tending to confusion, by leading the uninformed to suppose it an actual ‘ nomen ’ or hereditary designation. Tarquinius Superbus, at Home, Ptolemy Philadelphos, in Egypt, Henry the Fowler, in Germany, William the Lion, in Scotland, Charles the Bald, in France, and our own Richard Coeur de Lion, may all have merited the -appellations bestowed upon them ; but they partake more of the character of sobriquets than of surnames, in the modern meaning of the term. In most cases, too, they were posthumously applied. Speaking of this- subject, the Rev. Dr. Hares, the humorous author of ^ Heraldic Anomalies,’ remarks: There are some significant titles, names, and attri- butes, to which I have no objection, as for instance, Alfred the Great, for great he was; but as to Canute the Great I doubt: his speech to his courtiers on the sea-shore had certainly something sublime in it, and seems to bespeak the union of royalty and wisdom, but Voltaire will not allow that he was great in any other respect than that he performed great acts of cruelty. Edmund Iron-side, I suppose, was correct enough, if we did but understand the figure properly (for as to his really having an iron side, I conclude no one fancies it to have been so, though there is no answering for vulgar credulity). Harold Harefoot betokened, no doubt, a personal blemish or some extraordinary swift- ness of foot. Among the kings of Norway there was a Bare-foot William Rufus was probably quite cor- rect, as indicative of his red head of hair, or rather head of red hair. Henry the First was, I dare say, for those times, a Beau Clerc, or able scholar. Richard the First might very properly be called, by a figure of speech, Coeur de Lion, and his brother John quite as properly, though to his shame literally, rather than figuratively, Laek-land. Edward Long-shanks cannot be disputed, since a sight was obtained of his body not very long ago, but at the least 467 years after his death, and which, from a letter in my possession, written by the President of the Antiquarian Society, who measured the body, appeared to be at that remote period six feet two inches long.”*]* The same writer, speaking of the adjunct used by the Norman William, assigns to it the definition of Spelman, which differs from that in general accepta- tion : “ Conquestor dicitur quia Anglia conquisivit, i.e., acquisivit (acquired) non quod subegit; . . . . here agreeing,” he humorously adds, “ with the good old women who attended William’s birth, and who having quite a struggle with the new-born brat to get out of his clenched fist a parcel of straws he happened ta catch hold of (his mother, perhaps, being literally in the straw), made them say in the way of prophecy, that he would be a great acquirer.” * King Harald Barefoot was probably so called from his having gone^ on some pilgrimage without shoes—a common practice in the early middle ages. A tradition, however, asserts that, when he spent much time in Scotland, he adopted the Celtic costume of that country. Thu absence of the nether garment excited so much surprise on his return to Norway that he acquired the sobriquet of ‘Barefoot.’ t Heraldic Anom.. vol. i. p. 107. OF SUKNAMES. “Nous affirmerons que I’etude des noms prop res n’est point sans int6rit pour la morale, I’organisation politique, la legislation, et I’his- toire mime de la civilisation.”—Salverte. the present brief chapter it is my intention to refer to the usages of several modern nations in relation to second or family names, usually designated Suknames. A remark or two on the definition and etymology of that term may be premised. Our great lexicographer, Dr. Johnson, gives the definition as follows: SuKNAME : The name of a family; the name which one has over and above the Christian name.” Until about the middle of the last century it was sometimes written ‘ SiEname.’ Whether this variation originated in the lax orthography of other times, or whether it was adopted to express a slight difference of meaning, I will not undertake to decide. Some writers have held the latter opinion, and defined ‘ 8ir- name ’ as nomen patris additum proprio,” and * Bur- name’ as nomen supra nomen additum.” Mac-Allan, Fitzherhert,Ap Evan,and Stephensonwonld accordingly be sir or ‘ sire’-names, equivalent to the son of Allan,, of Herbert, of Evan, and of Stephen. Of ‘ /Sur’-names, Du Cange says, they were at first written “ not in a direct line after the Christian name, but above it, between the lines,'' and hence they were called in Latin Supeanomina, in Italian SupeanDME, and in French SuENOMS,—“over-names.” Of this I have not met with an instance. Those who contend for the non-identity of the twa words, assert that although every Sir-name is a Sur- name, every Sur-name is not a Sir-name—a question which I shall not tarry to discuss.* The causes which led to the adoption of family names in the different countries of Europe are ably stated by Salverte, and T may have occasion to refer to them hereafter. For our present purpose, it will be sufficient to observe that their adoption has generally marked the arrival of ^ people at a certain point in civilization. We have seen that all names were origi- nally single, and that second names were imposed for the sake of distinguishing from each other the persons who bore a common appellative. After the gradual conversion of the European states to the Christian faith, the old Pagan names were generally laid aside. New names, borrowed from Scripture or from early church history, were imposed at the baptism of the converts. In particular localities, of which some saint was sup- posed to have the peculiar guardianship, great numbers of persons received his or her name ; and great incon- venience must have been the result. When, in 1387, * See on this subject the Literary Gazette for Nov., 1842, the corre- spondence of B.A. Oxon, and G-., arising out of a notice of the first edition of this work. Ladislaiis Jagellon, duke of Lithuania, became a Chris- tian, and king of Poland, he persuaded his ancient subjects to abjure, after his own example, their national faith. The nobles and the warriors were baptized separately ; but the plebeian candidates for the sacred rite were divided into many companies, and the priests conferred it at one time upon a whole company, and gave the same name to all the individuals composing that company. In the first baptism, all the men were designated Peter, and all the women Catherine; in the second, all became Pauls and Margarets !* In the countries into which Christianity had been introduced many centuries earlier than the event just referred to, that civilization which is ever the conco- mitant or the consequence of it had rendered second names to a great extent necessary. In very early times, accordingly, sobriquets and other marks of distinction were frequently used; and towards the close of the tenth century and the commencement of the eleventh, when the number of persons bore a great disproportion to the number of personal names, it was found neces- sary to add in all public acts a distinctive appellation for the sake of identifying individuals. Such names figure in great numbers in the records of all the king- doms of Christendom up to the fourteenth century. By degrees, this means of remedying the confusion be- ca.me insufficient. Those sobriquets which described physical and moral qualities,habits, professions, the place of birth, &c., might be imposed upon many who bore the same name of baptism, and thus the inconvenience was rather augmented than diminished: a total change in the system of names became indispensable—and hereditary Surnames in most countries became general. We have seen that the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans in very early periods used the 'patronymic or Father- Name as a second designation, either with an appro- priate termination or with some prefix expressive of the filial relation. This has rdso been the practice of many modern nations. Thus in Spain, in the twelfth century, the son of Gon9ale, who is regarded as the founder of the principality of Castile, was called Fernand Gongalez, and his son, in turn, received the name of Garcia Fernandez. The Highlanders of Scotland employed the sire- name with Mac, and hence our Macdonalds and Macavtys, meaning respectively the son of Donald and of Arthur. The Irish had the practice (probably de- rived from the patriarchal ages) of prefixing Oy or O’, signifying grandson,"^ as O’Hara, O’Neale; a form still retained in many Hibernian surnames. Many of the Irish also use Mac. According to the following distich, the titles Mac and 0’ are not merely what the logicians call accidents, but altogether essential to the very being and substance of an Irishman:— “ Per Mac atque O, tu veros cognoscis Hibernos, His duobus demptis, nullus Hibernus adest.” which has been translated— “ By Mac and O, you’ll always know True Irishmen they say j For if they lack Both O and Mac, No Irishmen are they.”f * It is related in the Encyclopaedia Perthensis that an antiquated Scottish dame used to make it a matter of boasting that she had trod the world’s stage long enough to possess one hundred Oyes! t Notes of a Bookworm. Among the archives of the corporation of Galway is an order dated 1518, prohibiting any of the Burkes, McWilliams, Kellys, or any other sept, from coming into the town, which at that time was occupied by a race who prided themselves in not being Irishmen, and further declaring that “ neither O ne Mag shoulde strutte ne swagger through the sfcreetes of Galway.”* The old Normans prefixed to their names the word ' Fitz,' a corruption of Fils, and that derived from the Latin FiLius; as Fitz-Hamon, Fitz-Gllhert. The pea- santry of Russia, who are some centuries behind the same class in other countries, affix the termination ‘ WITZ ’ (which seems to have some affinity to the Norman Fitz) to their names; thus, Peter Faulowitz, for Peter the son of Paul. The Poles employ sky in the same sense, as James Petrowsky, James the son of Peter; and the Biscayans adopt a similar method.f Until a comparatively recent period no surnominal adjunct was used in Wales, beyond ap, or son, as David ap Howell, Evan ap Rhys, Griffith ap Roger, John ap Richard, now very naturally corrupted into Powell, Price, Prodger, and Pritchard. To a li ke origin may be referred a considerable number of the surnames beginning with P and B now in use in England, amongst which may be mentioned Price, Pumphrey, Parry, Prohert, Prohyn, Pugh, Penry ; Bevan, Bithell, Barry, Benyon, and Bowers. A more ancient form than AP is HAB. This or VAP constantly occurs in * Hardiman’s Gralway, quoted in tlie Journal of tlie Brit. Arch. Assoc, vol. i. p. 98. t The most singular deyiation from the general rule is found among the Arabians, who use their father’s name without a fore name, as Ayen Pace, Ayen Rois, the son of Pace, the son of Eois. 2 charters of the time of Henry the Sixth. It was not %inusual even hut a century hack, to hear of such coru- hinations as Evan-ap-Griffiih-ap-David-ap-JenJcin, and so on to the sevcQith or eighth generation, so that an individual carried his pedigree in his name. The following curious description of a Welshman occurs 15 Hen. VII.: “ Morgano Philip alias dicto Morgano vap David vap Philip.” The church of Llangollen in Wales is said to be dedicated to St. Collen-ap-Gwynnawg-ap- Clyndawg-ap-Cowrda-ap-Caradoc-Freichfras-ap-Llynn- Merim-ap-Einion-Yrth-ap-Cunedda-Wledig/^ a name that casts that of the Dutchman, Inhvervanlwdsdor- spanckinkadrachdern, into the shade. To burlesque this ridiculous species of nomenclature, some seventeenth-century wag described cheese as being “ Adam’s own covisin-german by its birth, Ap-Curds-ap-Milk-ap-Cow-ap-Grass-ap-Earth!” The following anecdote was related to me by a na- tive of Wales: “ An Englishman, riding one dark night among the mountains, heard a cry of distress, proceeding apparently from a man who had fallen into a ravine near the highway, and, on listening more at- tentively, heard the words, ‘ Help, master, help!’ in a voice truly Cambrian. ‘ Help! what, who are you f inquired the traveller. ' Jenkin-ap-Griffith-ap-Kobin- ap-William-ap-Eees-ap-Evan/ was the response. ‘ Lazy fellows that ye be,’ rejoined the Englishman, setting spurs to his horse, ' to lie rolling in that hole, half a dozen of ye; why, in the name of common sense, don’t ye help one another out T ” This story may have been suggested by a passage * Eecreative Eeview, vol. ii. p. 189. occurring in ^ Sir John Oidcastle/ a play, printed in 1600, and falsely attributed to Shakspeare: ' Judge. What bail ? What sureties ? Davy. Her cozen ap Rice, ap Evan, ap Morice, ap Morgan, ap Lluellyn, ap Madoc, ap Meredith, ap Giriffin, ap Davis, ap Owen, ap Shinkin Jones. Judge. Two of the most sufficient are enow. Sheriff. And’t please your Lordship, these are all but one ! In England, when the patronymic was used, the word son was usually affixed, as John Adamso?!,; in Wales, on the contrary, although the staple of the national nomenclature was of this kind, no affix was used, but the pa.ternal name was put in the genitive, as Griffith William^s, David John^s or Jones, Eees Harry’s or Harris. As the personal names were few in number, when they became hereditary surnames they were common to so many families, that they were almost useless for the purposes of generic distinction, and this still remains to a great extent the case. A friend, who remembers the Monmouth and Brecon militia about ninety years since, informs me that it had at that time no less than thirty-six John Joneses upon its muster-roll; and it was at a somewhat later period a matter of notoriety that a large Welsh village was, with the exception of some two or three indivi- duals, entirely populated with Williamses. Even the gentry of Wales bore no hereditary sur- names until the time of Henry the Eighth. That monarch, who paid great attention to heraldric matters, strongly recommended the heads of Welsh families to conform to the usage long before adopted by the English, as more consistent with their rank and dignity. Some families accordingly made their existing sirenames 2^2 stationary, while a few adopted the surnames of English families with whom they were allied, as the ancestors of Oliver Cromwell, who thus exchanged Williams for Cromwell, which thenceforward they uniformly xis©d ^ • Havincrthus glanced at the usages of various nations with respect to second names, let us next trace the history of family names in England. . Vide NoWa House of Cromwell. Other authentic instauees of the adoption of stationary surnames by great famdies may be found by referring to the following works : (W^illiams of Abercamlais.) Jones’s Brecon, in. 6 . (Herbert, Lord of Blealevenny.) Mon. Ang., 17, 134i {Herbert oilAsinoweW.) Coxe’s Monmouth, 421. It mav be observed that several Norman families who settled m Wales left their original surnames, and conformed to the mode of the country i thus the Boleyns took the name of Williams. CHAPTER III. HISTORY OF ENGLISH SURNAMES.*—ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. LTHOUGH our ancestors the Anglo- Saxons had no regular system of family nomenclature resembling that of the Romans, or that which we now possess, there was occasionally among them something like an attempt to show derivation and family relation- ships by the use of similar personal names. In one family,” observes Mr. Kemble (to whose able paper I am much indebted,)*f “ we shall find in succession or simultaneously, Wigmund, Wighelm, Wiglaf, Wih- stan; or Beornric, Beornmod, Beornheah, Beornhelm.” Among several other instances of this practice cited by Mr. Kemble are the following : " Of the seven sons of ^thelfrith, king of Northumberland, five bore names compounded with Os (semideus), thus Oslaf, Oslac, Oswald, Oswin, and Oswidu. In the succession of the same royal family we find the male names, Osfrith, Oswine_, Osric, Osraed, Oswulf, Osbald, and Osbeorht, * The word surname is here employed in a somewhat loose sense, implying in general nothing more than the name borne by an individ- ual, to distinguish him from other persons of the same forename or name of baptism. t On the Names, Surnames, and Nicknames of the Anglo-Saxons. By J. M. Kemble, Esq. 8vo. pp. 22, 1846. and the female name, Osthryth; and some of these are repeated several times. The subjoined genealogical table shows how strongly this practice was adhered to by the illj^strious progeny of Alfred the Great. -2ELFEED. Eadweard tlie Elder =EMgyfu. E^dwine. Eadmund I. Eadred (king). Eadburh. Eadwig (king). Eadgar (king). EMweard. Eadgyth. Eadmund. JEUhdrcEd. r 1 Eadmund. T Eadwig. ^ 1 Eadgyth. Eadweard. • 1 Eadmund. 1 Eadweard= 1 I Etidgar-^Etheling (the Unfortunate). The second names treated of by Mr. Kemble may be reduced to five general heads. I. Those borrowed from the father’s name. “In the year 804, we find, among several Eadberhts in the same court, that one is pointed out as Eadgaring, or the son of Eadgar \ among several ^thelhe^is, one is Esning, or the son of Esne.” In a certain grant we read this description of one— “ qui Leofwine nomine et Boudaa sunu appellatur cognomine^' ‘ whose name is Leofwine, and his surname Boudanson! In a genealogy of the West-Saxon kings, among the Cotton MSS., we find—“Eadgar Eadmundm^, Eadmund Eadwarding, Eadweard MlxTQding, Alfred Awolfm^,” &c., upwards, through W oden to “ Bedwig Sceafm^,” ' which Scef was Noah’s son,’ and thence to Adam.* Ing, inge, or inger, we may remark, is found in the sense of " progeny ’ or ‘ offspring,’ in most of the Teu- tonic languages. Ing, in modern German, is a young man, but in a more extended sense signifies a de- scendant. Wachter derives it from the British engi, to produce, bring forth.*f* Such names as Deringj Browning, Whiting, may owe their origin to this ex- pression, and so mean respectively dear, tawny, and fair offspring. II. Those indicative of title or office, as Princeps, Dux, Minister, or Pedissequus, in Latin records, and Pren (priest). Biscop (bishop) in the vernacular. III. Those from personal and other characteristics. Bede, speaking of the two missionary apostles of the old Saxons, says —' “ And as they were both of one devotion, so they both had one name, for each of them was called Hewald, yet with this distinction, taken from the colour of their hair, that one was styled Black Hewald, and the other White Hewald.”' White, Black, Bed, Bald, &c., were common as second or descriptive names, as were also Good, Cunning, Proud, &c. [ * Reliquiae Antiquae, ii. 172. f Yide Bosworth, A.S. Diet. In the Life of Hereward the Saxon, one of the last of his race who withstood the Norman despots, we find several such names as— Martin with the Light Foot, from his agility/' SiWARD THE Ked, from his complexion. Leofric the Mower, from his having overcome twenty men with a scythe. Leofric Prat, or the cunning. WuLRic THE Black, so named because on one oc- casion he had blackened his face with charcoal, and in that disguise penetrated unobserved among his enemies, ten of whom he killed with a spear before making his retreat.f Some of the names of this class were somewhat poetical, as Harald Haranfot (Harefoot), Eadgyfu Swanhals (Edith the Swan-Necked), Eadmund Iren- sida (Ironside). IV. Nicknames “ not used with, but IN place of baptismal names.” Several of these denote endear- ment and affection, and are equivalent to the modern English expressions ‘ Darling,’ ‘ Duck,’ &c. The mean- ing of others is so very obscure, as even to conquer the acumen of Mr. Kemble. Simeon of Durham, under the year 799, says— “ Eodem anno Brorda Merciorum princeps, qui et Hildegils vocatur, defunctus est.” Now Hildegils, it appears, was the baptismal name of the magnate, and Brorda only an alias or nickname, which had usurped its place, in consequence of the military prowess of the bearer, Brorda meaning ‘ One * LigJitfoot still exists as a surname. t Wright’s Essays on the Literature, &c,, of the Middle Ages, ii. 101, &c. that hath the Sword ’—a name belonging to the same category as the Longespee and Strongbow of more recent times. Another eminent Anglo-Saxon, distin- guished alike for greatness of stature and elevated qualities of mind, bore the sobriquet of Mucel or ^Great,’ which he employed in a legal way, as “Ego Mucel, dux, consensi, &c.” His baptismal name was jEthelred, and had he lived some ages later, he would probably have been known as Ethelred Michel, in the same way that the Norman Gilbert de Aquila, after the Conquest of 10G6, was designated by this very epithet in conjunction with his baptismal name. V. Those taken from the place of residence, with the particle (Bt or AT, as ‘ Eadmser set Burhham.’ The precise period at which such second names as those above enumerated first became stationary, or, in other words, began to descend hereditarily, it would at this distance of time be impossible to show. It is probable, however, that some of them passed through several generations, according to the practice of our own times, at a date considerably earlier than our antiquaries are disposed to admit. This remark would peculiarly apply to those of the fifth or local class, since the son, then as now, often became proprietor of the same estate as that from which his father borrowed his second name ; and it would, I think, be unreason- able to decide that surnames of the first or patrony- mical kind, such as Herdingson, Swainson,'^ Cerdicson, * This name is probably Danish, In the Confessor’s time it was written Sweynsen, but under the Normans it became Fitz-Swain, and, ultimately, in more English times, Swainson. ‘ Swain Eitz-Swain * occurs in Norman times as the grantor, to Sallay Abbey in Ribblesdale, of lands at ‘ Swainside.’ did not pass occasionally from father to son, as well as our more recent Thompson and Williamson. Camden and others concur in the opinion that hereditary sur- names were not known in England before the Norman Conquest; yet I hope I shall not be deemed guilty of presumption if, by-and-by, I offer a few suggestions in support of the opinion that they were not altogether unknown before that epoch. Camden says, “ About the year of our Lord 1000 (that we may not minute out the time) surnames be- came to be taken up in France; and in England about the time of the Conquest, or else a very little before, vnder King Edward the Confessor, who was all Frenchi- fied This will seem strange to some English- men and Scottishmen, whiche, like the Arcadiaus, thinke their surnames as antient as the moone, or at the least to reach many an age beyond the Conquest.* But they which thinke it most strange (I speake vnder correction), I doubt they will hardly finde any surname wJiieh descended to posterity before that time; neither haue they seene (I feare) any deede or donation BEFORE THE Conquest, hut suhsigned with crosses and single names without surnames in this manner: Ego Eadredus confirmaui. Ego Edmund us corroboraui. Ego Sigarius conclusi. Ego Olfstanus consoli- daui, &c.” Our great antiquary declares that both he and divers of his friends had “ pored and pusled vpon many an old record and evidence ” for the purpose of finding * Buclianan asserts that the family of Douglas have borne that name from the reign of Solvathius, king of Scotland, the year 770; and that one Sir William Douglas of Scotland entered into the service of Charlemagne. He settled in Tuscany, and was the great ancestor of the Douglasii of that country. hereditary surnames before the Conquest, without suc» cess; what then would he have said to a document like the following, containing the substance of a grant from Thorold of Buckenhale, sheriff of Lincolnshire, of the manor of Spalding, to Wulgate, abbot of Croyland,. dated 1051, the 10th year of Edward the Confessor, and fifteen years before the Conquest ? '' I have given to God and St. Guthlac of Croyland, &:c. all my manor situate near the parochial church of the same town, with all the lands and tenements, rents and services, &c. which I hold in the same manor, &c, with all the appendants ; viz. Colgrin, my reeve, (prae- positum meum,) and his whole sequell, with all the goods and chattels which he hath in the same town, fields, and marshes. Also Harding, the smith, (fabrum), and his whole sequell. Also Lefstan, the carpenter, (carpentarium,) and his whole sequell, &c. Also Ryngulf the first, (primum,) and his whole sequell, &c. Also Elstan the fisherman, (piscatorem,) and his whole sequell, &c. Also Gunter Liniet, and his whole sequell, &c. Also Onty Grimkelson, &c. Also Turstan Dubbe, &c. Also Algar, the black, (nigrum) &c. Also Edric, the son of Biward, (filium Siwardi,) &c. Also Osmund, the miller, (molendina- rium,) &c. Also Besi Tuk, &c. Also Elmer de PiNCEBECK, &c. Also GousE Gamelson, &c.”—with the same clauses to each as before.^' Now while the terms reeve, smith, carpenter, the first, fisher, the black, miller, &c., applied respectively to Colgrin, Harding, Lefstan, &c., are merely personal deseri'ptions; Liniet, Dubbe, Tuk, and de Pincebeck, * See the entii’e deed in Gough’s History of Croyland Abbey. (App. p. 29). have the appearance of settled surnames. The same dis- tinction is observable between * Edric, the son of Siward/ and Geimkelson and Gamelson. Indeed some of these surnames are yet remaining amongst us, as Dubbe, Tuk, Liniet, and Pincebeck—now spelt Dubb, Tuck, Linney, and Pinchbeck, a fact which I think goes far to prove that they were hereditary at the time when the deed of gift above recited was made. This document is also opposed to another opinion p>revalent among antiquaries, namely, that surnames were assumed by the nobles long before the commonalty took them. Here we see that the bondmen or churls of the Lincolnshire sheriff used them at a period when many of the landed proprietors had no other designa- tion than a Christian name. A great many surnames occur in Domesday book (Camden says, they first occur there). Some of these are LOCAL, as De Grey, de Vernon, d'Oily; some PA- TEONYMICAL, as Pichardus filius Gisleherti; and others OFFICIAL or PEOFESSIONAL, as Gulielmus Camerarius, (the chamberlain,) Padulphus Venator, (the hunter,) Gislebertus Cocus, (the cook,) &c., &c. “ But very many,” as Camden remarks, “ (occur) with their Christian names only, as Olaff, Nigellus, Eustaehius, Baldricus’' It is to be observed, that those with single names are “ noted last in every shire, as men of least account,” and as sub-tenants. Here a query arises. Are we to conclude that because many names are given in the single form, that the individuals to whom they belonged had only one ? I think not; and notwithstanding all that Camden and others assert on the subject, I am strongly of opinion that hereditary surnames were sometimes used before the Conquest. Camden’s remark, that these single-named persons come “ last in every shire,” strengthens my supposition. It is probable that their inferiority of rank was the cause of the non-insertion of the second, or sur-name. We must not forget that many of these “men of least account,” were of the conquered Saxon race, who would be treated with as little ceremony in their names as in anything else. Do not modern usages with respect to the nomenclature of inferiors support this idea ? We rarely speak of our superiors without the double or triple designation: Lord So-and-So, Sir John Such-a-one, or Mr. This-or-That, while the single names Smith, Brown, Jones, and Robinson, suffice for persons of lower grade. I will venture to say that one half of the masters and mistresses of houses in large O towns do not even know more than one of the two names borne by their servants, some accustoming them- selves to command them exclusively by their Christian names, others as exclusively using their Surnames. I know that many of my readers will regard all this as inconclusive gossip, but having hazarded an opinion, I am unwilling to leave anything unsaid that could be said in support of it. The manors of Ripe and Newtimber, in Sussex, are mentioned in Domesday as having been, before the Conquest, the estates, respectively, of Cane and jElfech. Now these names are still found in the county as sur- names ; the former under its ancient orthography, and the latter under that of Eljphich; but were these ever used as Christian names ? .^Ifech may be the same with Alphage, a Saxon fore-name; but Cane was cer- tainly never so used. By-the-way, it is an extraordi- nary fact that the name of Cane was lately borne by two respectable farmers at Ripe, in which neighbour- hood, I have scarcely a doubt, their ancestors, all bearing the same monosyllabic designation, have dwelt from the days of the Confessor: an honour which few of the mighty and noble of this land can boast! Mr. Grimaldi, in his ‘ Origines Genealogies,'’ speak- ing of the WiNTON Domesday, a survey of the lands belonging to Edward the Confessor, made on the oath of eighty-six burgesses of Winchester, in the reign of Henry I., says: “The most remarkable circumstance in this book is the quantity of Surnames among the tenants of Edward, as Alwinus Idessone, Edwinus Godeswale, Brumanus de la Forda, Leuret de Essewem, which occur in the first page.” It would however be preposterous to assert that sur- names universally prevailed so early as the eleventh century: we have overwhelming evidence that they did not; and must admit that although the Norman Con- quest did much to introduce the practice of using them, it was long before they became very common. All I am anxious to establish is, that the occasional use of family names in England dates beyond the ingress of the Normans. CHAPTER IV. HTSTOEY OF ENGLISH SUENAMES, SINCE THE NOEMAN CONQUEST. HATEVER may be advanced in favour of an earlier adoption of family designations or Surnames in particular cases, it is certain that the practice of making the second name of an individual stationary, and transmitting it to descendants, came gradually into common use during the eleventh and three following centuries. By the middle of the tTvelfth it began, in the estimation of some, to be essential that persons of rank should bear some designation in addition to the baptismal name. We have an instance of this in the wealthy heiress of the powerful Baron Fitz-Hamon’s making the want of a surname in Robert, natural son of King Henry the First, an objection to his marriage with her. The lady is represented as saying: it ki^re io me ^reat 0kame, ^0 habe a loxh b3ith0uRn Itt0 ttoa name when the monarch, to remedy the defect, gave him the surname of Fitz-Roy; a designation which has been * Eobert of Gloucester. Tbis -will remind the reader of Juvenal— “ tanquam habeas tria nomina*'—v. 127. given at several subsequent periods to the illegitimate progeny of our kings. The unsettled state of surnames in those early times renders it a difficult matter to trace the pedigree of any family beyond the thirteenth century. In Cheshire, a county remarkable for the number of its resident fami- lies of great antiquity, it was very usual for younger branches of a family, laying aside the name of their father, to take their name from the place of their resi- dence, and thus in three descents as many surnames are found in the same family. This remark may be forcibly illustrated by reference to the early pedigree of the family of Fitz-Hugh, which name did not settle down as a fixed appellative until the time of Edward IIL Thus we read in succession— Bardolph, Akaris Fitz-Bardolph, Hervey Fitz-Akaris, Henry Fitz-Hervey, Bandolph Fitz-Henry, Henry Fitz-Randolph, Bandolph Fitz-Henry, Hugh Fitz-Bandolph, Henry Fitz-Hugh, which last was created a baron, assuming that name as his title, and giving it permanence as a family appella- tive.* When there were several sons in one family, instances are found where each brother assumed a different surname. It has been asserted that an act of parliament was passed in the reign of Edward the Second for enforcing the practice of using family names ; but it seems more * Halle of John Halle, i, 10. probable that necessity led the common people to adopt them. Before the Conquest there was much greater variety in the baptismal names than at present, though, as we have seen, the Anglo-Saxons were frequently driven to the adoption of second names for the identi- fication of individuals. The ingress of the Normans introduced the use of Scripture names, and the Saxon names for the most part became obsolete after a cen- tury or two, while the Johns, Jameses, Thomases, and Peters became so numerous, that Surnames were indis- pensable. Tn the thirteenth century it is probable that most persons of ignoble rank bore a sobriquet instead of the Christian name. For example, in the Household Expenses of Eleanor, Countess of Montfort, 1265, all the menials in her service bear designations such as were never conferred at the font: e.g. Hand was her baker, Hicque her tailor, and Dobhe her shepherd. Her carriers or messengers were Diquon, Gohiihesty, Treubodi, and Slingawai Two or three generations later, the commonalty were generally distinguished by names like the following, taken principally from the Inquisitiones Nonarum, 1340 (13 Edw. III.). Johes over the Water William at Byshope Gate Johes o’ the Shephouse Johes q’dam s’viens Bog. Leneydeyman Johes vicarii eccl. Ste Nich. Agnes, the Pr’sts sisterf J ohes at the Castle Gate J ohes in the Lane Thom in Thelane * Blaauw’s Barons’ War. f Gent. Mag., June, 1821. VOL. I. . 3 Johes at See Eog’ atte Wodegateliouse Thom’ le Fytheler Joh’ ate Mouse Johes le Taillour Johes up the Pende Petr’ atte the Bell Johes of the Gutter Thomas in the Willows Steph’ de Portico William of London-bridge. About this time (to speak generally) the surnames of the middle and lower ranks began to descend from father to son ; but even at the commencement of the fifteenth century there was much confusion in family names. Sometimes, indeed, the same person bore dif- ferent surnames at different periods. Thus, a person who in 1406 describes himself as William, the son of Adam Emmotson, calls himself, in 1416, William Emmotson. Another person who is designated John, the son of William, the son of John de Hunshelfj ap- pears soon after as John Wilson. Other names, such as Willelmus - Johnson - Wilkinson, Willelmus - Adamson, Magotson, and Thomas-Henson-Magot, prevail about this period.* In the Battel Abbey Deeds the names John Hervy, John Fitz-Hervie de Sudwerk, and John de London are given to one and the same person. The following names from the same source occur in this and the preceding centuries, and it may be ob- served, en loassant, that they were borne, not by the * Penny Cyclopaedia. lowest of the vulgar, but by persons who either gave possessions to the Abbey, or witnessed the deeds by which such gifts were made. Henry le A.ssedTW/ifieTe (Ass-drummer !). Edelina Husewyf, late wife of Thomas Pet. Walter le Boeuf (the bullock). Peter le Cuckou. John God-me-fetch ! Reginald de la Chambre or He Camera. William at Bachuse (at the bakehouse). Richard Havedman (qu. headsman ?). Bartholomew le Swan. Coke Crul. Oral is an archaism for ‘curled’ or ‘crooked,’ and, presuming that the personal name and the sur-name have been transposed, this designation may mean ‘ the deformed cook !’ This maybe a Latinization of Vital Curteis. Ralph Yvegod. Giles Smith, son of Luke de Swineham. Thomas Gadregod (Gathergood). Roger le Bunch. Margery Domesday. Richard Grym, called Frend. John Couper, son of William atte Water. _ The foUowing address to the populace, at the begin- ning of one of the Coventry Mysteries, serves to illus- trate the state in which the family nomenclature of the humbler classes stood in the fifteenth century: ‘ IT A Toyd sers ! And lete me lord the bisohop come And sjt in the court, the laws for to doo ; And I schal gon in this place, them for to som'owne; The that ben in my book, the court ye must come to. 3—2 ^ I warne you her’, all abowte, That I somown you, all the rowte, Loke ye fayl, for no dowte. At the court to “ per” (appear). Both John Juedon’ and Geffrey Gyle Malkyn Mtlkedoke and payee Mabyle, Stevyn Stuedy, and Jack-AT-THE Style, And Sawdyr Sadelee. •IF Thom Tynkee and Betrys Belle Peyrs Pottee, and Whatt-AT-THE-WELLE, Symme Smal-feyth, and Kate Kelle, And Bertylmew the Bochee (butcher). Kytt Cakelee, and Colett Ceane, Gy lie Petyse and pa ye Jane Powle Powtee’, and P[ar]nel Peane, And Phelypp the good Plecchee. •[[ Cok Ceane, and Davy Dey-dttst Luce Lyee, and Letyce Lytyl-Teust, , Miles the Millee, and Colle Ceake-ceust Both Bette the Bakee, and Robyn Rede. And LOKE YE EYNGE WELE IN YOWE PEES Por ellys yowr cawse may spede the wurs, Thow that ye slynge goddys curs, Evy[n] at my hede. ^ Both Bontyng the Beowstee, and Sybyly Slynge, Megge Meey-wedye, and Sabyn Speynge Tyffany Twynkelee ffayle for no thynge, Pfast co’ a way The courte shall be this day.” In iSote, a satirical poem im- printed by Wynkyn de Worde, there is a similar rigmarole of names: “ The pardoner sayd I will rede my roll, And ye shall here the names poll by poll. Pees Pottee of brydge water, Satjndee Sely the mustard maker, With Jelyan Jangelee. Here is Jenxyne Beewaede of Barwycke, And Tom Tomblee of warwyke, With Phylypp Fletchee of ffernam (Faruham), Here is Wyll Wyly the myl pecker. And Pateycke Pevysshe heerbeter. With lusty Haey Hange man. Also Mathewe Tothe deawee of London, And Sybby Sole my Ike wyfe of Islyngton, With Davy Heawelache of rockyngame. X- stt Also Hycke Ceoeenec the rope maker, And Steven Mesyll-mottthe muskyll taker With Jacke Basket-selee of alwelay. Here is Gteoege of Podyng lane Caepentee, And Pateycke Pevysshe a conynge dyrte-dauber, Worshypfull wardayn of Sloven’s In; There is Maetyn Peke small fremason. And Pees Peijteeee that knocketh a basyn, With Gogle-eyed Tomson shepster of lyn” (Lynne). &c. &c. &c. That many persons in the fifteenth century carried on the trades from which either themselves or their ancestors had borrowed their family names, is proved by reference to various contemporary documents. The following entries were found by Mr. Thomas Wright among the municipal records of Southampton : “ Item, payd to Davy Bereirewere for a pyp of here that was dronke at the Barrgate, when the ffurst affray was of the ffrenshemen, vi. viij.” ‘ ‘ Item, payd to Sawndere LoKyere for the makyng of a band and ij boltes and cheyns, and viij fforlokkes to the gone [gun] that standeth in Godeshows yeate, xiid.” [1432.] Hereditary surnames can scarcely be said to have been permanently settled among the lower and middle classes before the era of the Reformation. The intro- duction of parish registers was probably more instru- mental than anything else in settling them; for if a person were entered under one surname at baptism, it is not likely that he would be married under another, and buried under a third. Exceptions to a generally established rule, however, occurred in some places. The Rev. Mark Noble affirms that “ it was late in the seven- teenth century that many families in Yorkshire, even of the more oimlent sort, took stationary names. Still later, about Halifax, surnames became in their dialect genealogical, as William a Bills, a Toms, a Luke,^ In the south of England the same irregularity pre- vailed to some extent. In the will of one Rafe Willard, of Ifield, Sussex, dated 1617, I find several persons in the household of the great family of Covert of Slaugham thus loosely described:—“Item, I give unto Mr. Efettyplace * * unto John white, unto Harry [the] post, unto James Jorden, unto Leonard the Huntsman, unto Christopher the Footman, and to olde Rycharde Havye the porter, to each and every of them ten shil- lings a peece.”‘[' In Scotland, designations were equally loose, down to the times of James Y. and Mary. Buchanan men- tions, that he has seen deeds of that date “ most confused and unexact in designations of persons inserted there- in,” persons being described as “ John, son of black William,” “ Thomas, son of long or tall Donald,” &c. Even so late as 1723, there were two gentlemen of Sir * Hist. Coll. Arms, Introd. p. 29. I am informed that this sort of nomenclature still prevails among the humbler classes in some parts of Westmoreland and Cumberland. t Regist. of Wills at Lewes. Donald Mac Donald’s family, who bore no other name than Donald Gorm, or Blue Donald.^ On the remark of Tyrwhitt, in his edition of Chaucer, that it is “ probable that the use of surnames was not in Chaucer’s time fully established among the lower class of people,” a more recent editor of the same poet says, Why, the truth is, that they are not now, even in the nineteenth century, fwlly established in some parts of England. There are very few, for instance, of the miners of Staffordshire who bear the names of their fathers. The Editor knows a pig-dealer, whose father’s name was Johnson, but the people call him Pigman, and Pigman he calls himself This name may be now seen over the door of a public-house which this man keeps in Staffordsnire.” But this is nothing to the practice of bearing a ■double set of names, which, we are assured, prevails among these colliers. Thus a man may at the same time bear the names of John Smith and Thomas Jones, without any sinister intention; but it must not be imagined that such regular names are in common use. These are a kind of best names, which, like their Sunday clothes, they only use on high-days and holidays, as at christenings and marriages. For every-day purposes they use no appellative, except a nickname, as Nosey, 8oiden-month,"\ Soaker, or some such elegant desig- ^ Scottish Surnames, p. 18. Such epithets were sometimes called To-Names. “ They call my kinsman ‘ Ludovic with the Scar,’ ” said Quentin. “ Our family names are so common in a Scottish house, that, where there is no land in the house we always give a to-name.’* “ A nom de guerre^ I suppose you mean,” answered his companion, “ and the man you speak of, we, I think, call Le Balafre, from that scar on his face, a proper man, and a good soldier.” {Quentin Durward^ Tol. i. 53.) With the mouth awry. nation; and tliis is employed, not by their neighbours alone, but by their wives and children, and even by themselves! A correspondent of Knight’s Quarterly Magazine,^ who is my authority for these statements, says, “ I knew an apothecary in the collieries, who, as a matter of decorum, always entered the real names of his patients in his books; that is, when he could ascer- tain them. But they stood there only for ornament; for use he found it necessary to append the sobriquet, which he did with true medical formality, as, for in- stance, ‘ Thomas Williams, vulgo diet, Old Puff.’ . . . Clergymen have been known to send home a wedding party in despair, after a vain essay to gain from the bride and bridegroom a sound by way of name, which any known alphabet had the power of committing to paper!” A story is told of an attorney’s clerk who was professionally employed to serve a process on one of these oddly-named persons, whose real name was en- tered in the instrument with legal accuracy. The clerk, after a great deal of inquiry as to the whereabouts of the person, was about to abandon the search as hopeless, when a young woman, who had witnessed his labours, kindly volunteered to assist him. “ Oy say, B%dlyed,'' cried she, to the first person they met, “ does thee know a mon neamed Adam Green ?” The bull-head was shaken in token of ignorance. Loy-a-hed, dost thee T Lie-a-bed’s opportunities of making acquaintances had been rather limited, and she could not resolve the- difficulty. Stumpy (a man with a wooden leg), Coivslcin, Spin- dleshanJcs, Cockeye, and Pigtail were severally invoked, * Vol. i. p. 297, et seq. but in vain; and the querist fell into a brown study, in which she remained for some time. At length, however, her eyes suddenly brightened, and slapping one of her companions on the shoulder, she exclaimed trium- phantly, “ Dash my wig! whoy he means moy feyther!” and then turning to the gentleman, added, “ Yo should’n ax’d for Ode Blackbird r I could adduce similar instances, where persons among the peasantry of my native county are much better known by sobriquets than by their proper sur- names ; and many only know them by the former. This is particularly the case where several families in one locality bear the same name. There were formerly living in the small town of Folkestone, fifteen persons, whose hereditary name was Hall ; but who, gratia distinctionis, bore the elegant designations of Doggy-Hall, Feathertoe, Bumper, Bubbles, Pierce-Eye, Faggots, CULA, JiGGERY, ' Pumble-Foot, Cold-Flip, Silver-Eye, Lumpy, SUTTY, Thick-Lips, and Old Hare ! It is not probable that advancing civilization will ever materially interfere with our present system of nomenclature, which admirably answers, in most cases,, the purposes for which it is designed. The greatest event in the history of English Sur- names, is a comparatively recent one. In 1685, the Edict of Nantes, which had placed the Protestants of France on an equality with the Roman Catholics, was revoked, and the old persecutions recommenced. In consequence of this shameful measure, seventy thousand (70,000!) refugees found an asylum in the United Kingdom. They had long been, as a class, the most earnest, enterprizing, and ingenious portion of the French population. The whole number exiled was 803,000; those who did not come hither went to Holland, Brandenburg, and other Protestant countries ; there and here they were remarkable for good morals and industry. They included persons of very numerous handicrafts, such as manufacturers of cloth, serges, crapes, and druggets, and particularly excelled in all sorts of dyeing. Others were goldsmiths, jewellers, op- ticians, watchmakers, carvers, and excellent apotheca- ries. 2576 of these “fortunate unfortunates” went to Dublin, Belfast, Sligo, and Londonderry; those who came to London settled chiefly around Soho and St. Giles’s. Of course this vast immigration of Frenchmen introduced family names that had never been known here before; and it would be beyond the scope of the present work to attempt a list or classification of them. Howbeit, they still dwell among uS’—many with Anglicized names—and they form a fine ingredient in the congeries of peoples and names which we call English. LOCAL SURNAMES. “Nomina locorum et prsediorum, quse ii incolerent, aut quorum ■domini erant.”—Dtjcange. “ Souvent empruutes d’idiomes veillis, leur sens est aujourd’hui perdu ; souvent tires des noms des lieux, leur signification est unique- ment relative a des localites.”—Salvekte. HE practice of assuming second names from the place of the person’s birth or residence is of very high antiquity: we have ex- amples in ‘ Herodotus of Halicarnassus ’ and ^Diodorus Siculus.’ The surname, Iscariot, borne by the betrayer of our Lord, is supposed to have been, derived from his patrimonial estate. Mr. Kemble has shown, that this practice prevailed to some extent among our Anglo-Saxon ancestors, who placed the preposition cet before the surname, as: Godwine set Fecham. Eadric set Ho. H]lfgar set Meapaham. Under the general head of local surnames are com- prised three classes: 1, Those which express the country of the original assumer; 2, Those which point to his estate or place of abode; and, 8, Those that describe the nature or situation of his residence. Such names as Scott and France belong to the first; Middleton and Winchester to the second; and Hill and Forest to the third. It is generally supposed that the practice of bor- rowing family names from patrimonial estates became usual about the close of the tenth century, or the com- mencement of the eleventh, particularly in Normandy and the contiguous parts of France. Chiefly of this kind are the names in that far-famed, though apocry- phal document, the (great UOll Of TBattOl a list of the principal commanders and companions in arms of William the Conqueror, to which hereafter the reader’s attention will be directed. Under the feudal system the great barons assumed as surnames the proper names of their seignories ; the knights who held under them did the like; and these in turn were imitated by all who possessed a landed estate, however small. Camden remarks, that there is not a single village in Normandy that has not surnamed some family in England.^ The French names introduced at the Con- quest may generally be known by the prefixes DE, DU, DES, DE LA, ST. or SAINCT, and by the suffixes font, ers, EANT, BEAU, AGE, MONT, ARD, AUX, BOIS, LY, EUX, ET, VAL, COURT, VAUX, LAY, FORT, OT, CHAMP, and VILLE ; most of which are component parts of proper names of places, as every one may convince himself by the slight- est glance at a map of northern France. * A tliorougli examination of the sources of those of our local surnames •which have been borrowed from towns and seignories in Normandy would furnish materials for a very interesting essay. The author of “ The Norman People,” published in 1874, has done much in elucidation of this subject. I shall here set down, from Camden, some of the principal surnames imported into England from the opposite side of the Channel in the eleventh century, which he classifies into those of Normandy, Bretagne, France, and the Netherlands. From Normandy. Mortimer, Warren, Albigny, Percy, Gournay, Devereux, Tankerville, St.-Lo, Argen- ton, Marmion, St.-Maure (corruptly Seymour), Bracy, Maigny, Nevill, Ferrers, Baskerville, Mortagne, Tracy, Beaufoy, Valoins (now Valance ?), Cayly, Lucy, Mont- fort,* Bonville, Bouil, Avranche, &c. From Brittany. St. Aubin, Morley, Dinant (cor- rupted to Dinham), Dole, Baiun, Conquest, Valletort, Lascelles, Bluet (now Blewitt), &c. From other parts of France. Courtenaye, Corby, Boleyn, St. Leger, Bohun, St. Andrew, Chaworth, St. Quintin, Gorges, Villiers, Cromar, Paris, Bheims, Cressy (now Greasy), Fynes, Beaumont, Coignac, Lyons, Chalons, Chaloner, Estampes or Stamps, and many more. From the Netherlands. Louvaine, Gaunt (Ghent), Ipres, Bruges (now Brydges), Malines, Odingsels, Tour- nay, Douay, Buers (now Byers), Beke*!* \ and, in latter ages, Daubridgcourt, Rosbert, Many, Grandison, &c. Many persons who bear names of French origin jump, without any evidence of the fact from historical records, to the conclusion, that they must needs be de- scended from some stalwart Norman, who hacked his way to eminence and fortune through the serried ranks * Hugh de Montfort, ancestor of the celebrated Simon, temp. Hen. III., was born at Montfort-sur-Hille, near Brionne in Normandy. + I think however that Beke is from Bee in Normandy. See my Historical Notices of the Pelham Family,” 1873. of the Saxons at Hastings. Such ambitious individuals ought to be reminded that, in the eight centuries that have elapsed since the Conquest, there have been nu- merous settlements of the French in this country; for instance. Queen Isabella of France, the consort of Edward II., introduced in her train many personages bearing surnames previously unknown in England, as Longchamp, Conyers, Devereux, D’Arcy, Henage, Savage, Molineux, and Danvers f to say nothing of the various settlements of merchants, mechanics, artists, and refugees of all kinds, who have sought and found an '' island home ” in Britain. Although the practice of adopting hereditary sur- names from manors and localities originated in Nor- mandy, we are not therefore to conclude that all those names that have DE, &c., prefixed were of Norman origin; for many families of Saxon lineage copied the example of their conquerors in this particular. If the Normans had their De Warrens, De Mortimers, and D’Evereuxes, the English likewise had their De Ash- burnhams, De Fords, De Newtons, &c,, ad infinitum. In some cases the Normans preferred the surname derived from their ancient patrimonies in Normandy; in others they substituted one taken from the estate given them by the Conqueror and his successors. In a few instances the particle de or d' is still retained; but, generally speaking, it was dropped from surnames about the time of Henry the Sixth, when the title armiger or esquiec among the heads of families, and generosus or gentglman among younger sons, began pretty generally to be substituted. Thus, instead of John de Alchorne, William de Catesby, &c., the landed gentry * Anglorum Speculum, 1684, p. 26. wrote themselves, John Alchorne of Alchorne, Esq., William Catesby of Catesby, Gent., &c. Our quaint old friend Yerstegan thinks this change began to take place when English men and English manners began to prevail unto the recovery of decayed credit or, in other words, when the native English began to breathe from the tyranny of their Norman conquerors. This may be true of the former, but it cannot apply to the latter. Brevity appears to have been the real motive for the omission of the DE, and other particles pre- viously used with surnames. Had euphony been regarded, it would never have occurred with the French particles; for, however much better Hall and Towers- may sound than Atte Halle and Atte Tower^ it cannot be denied that Be la Ghambre and Le Bespenser are shorn of all their beauty when curtailed to Chambers and Spencer. But to return; to bear the denomi- nation of one’s own estate—to write himself ^ of that Ilk’—was anciently, as it is still, considered a peculiar honour and a genuine mark of gentility: but sic transit gloria mundi, that I could name instances of persons having become absolutely pauperized on the very spot from which their ancestors had been surnamed.-[* From these observations, however, it must not be in- ferred that all families bearing local surnames were originally possessors of the localities from which those names were borrowed. In all probability a great num- ber of such names were never used with the de at all. * Eestitution, p. 311. t A correspondent remarking upon this passage says : “ At Allsop, co. Derby, there are numerous Allsops of every grade in society, and at Tissington the same remark applies.” I may add, that at Heathfield and Lindfield, co. Sussex, there have been peasants of those names re- spectively. In Gernicany and Poland they discriminate in this re- spect by using the word OF, when possessors of the place, and IN, when only born or dwelling there. The like, Camden tells us, was formerly done in Scotland, “ where you shall have Trotter of Folsham, and Trotter in Fogo; Haitley of Haitley, and Haitley in Haitley.” The foregoing remark is satisfactorily borne out by such names as these, occurring at an early period in the neighbourhood of Hull: Ralph le Taverner de Notting- ham de Kyngeston super Hull; Robert de Bripol de Kyngeston, &c.^ Salverte justly remarks, that “ the j)easant who re- moved from his native place was often sufficiently distinguished by the name of that place as a surname among the inhabitants of the town or village in which he took up his abode, and the designation passing to his children became hereditary. Hence, without having aspired to such an honour, the poor plebeian found him- self assimilated to the lord of his native hamlet.” Generally speaking, the practice of adopting sur- names from territorial possessions ceased at the period when that of making family appellatives stationary was introduced. John de Wilton might acquire an estate at Barham and fix his residence there, but he would not write himself John de Barham, but John de Wilton of Barham. In the county of Cornwall, how- ever, and perhaps in other districts, even so lately as the sixteenth century, gentlemen often left their ancient surnames on the purchase or inheritance of a new estate. Thus a member of the family of Lothon, buying the lands of Busvargus, near the Land’s End, about the year 1560, relinquished his ancestral denomination, * Frost’s History of Hull. and wrote himself Basvargus. In Scotland the practice is but recently extinct. There are several ancient baronial surnames to which our old genealogists assigned a false origin. Some of these may be called Crusading names, from the sup- position that they were derived from places visited by the founders of the families during the holy wars. Mortimer was, according to these etymologists, de Mortuo Mari, “ from the Dead Sea,” and Dacre, D'Acre, a town on the coast of Palestine ; but it is well known that the places from which these two are derived are situated, the one in Normandy, the other in Cumber- land. Jordan is reputed to have been borrowed from the famous river of that name in Palestine; and Mountjoy is said to have been adopted from a place near Jerusalem, which, according to that worthy old traveller. Sir John Maundevile,men clepen Mount- Joye, for it zevethe joy to pilgrymes hertes, be cause that there men seen first Jerusalem a full fair place and a delicyous.”* There is a vulgar error, that places borrowed their •designations from families instead of the contrary. On this subject Camden says,—“ Whereas therefore these locall denominations of families are of no great anti- quitie, I cannot yet see why men should thinke that their ancestors gave names to places, when the places bare those very names before any men did their sur- names. Yea, the very terminations of the names are * Some religious houses in England had their mountjoys, a name ;given to eminences where the first view of the sacred edifice was to be obtained. This name is still retained in a division of the hundred of Battel, not far from the remains of the majestic pile reared by William the Conqueror. Boyer defines ‘Mont-joie’ as “a heap of stones made by a French army as a monument of victory.” VOL. I. 4 such as are only proper and applicable to places, and not to persons in their significations, if any will marke the locall terminations which I lately specified. Who would suppose Hill, Wood, Field, Ford, Ditch, Poole, Pond, Town or Tun, and such like terminations, to be convenient for men to beare their names, vnlesse they could also dreame Hills, Woods, Fields, Ponds, &c., to have been metamorphosed into men by some super- natural! transformation ? “ And I doubt not but they will confesse that townes stand longer than families. “ It may also be prooued that many places which now haue Lords denominated of them had owners of other surnames and families not many hundred yeeres since. “ I know neverthelesse, that albeit most townes haue borrowed their names from their situation and other respects, yet some with apt terminations, have their names from men, as Edwardston, Alfredstone, Ubsford, Malmesbury (corruptly for Maidulphsbury). But these were from forenames or Christian names, and not from surnames. For Ingulphus plainly sheweth that Wib%ir- ton and Leffrington were so named, because two knights, Wiburt and Leofric, there sometime inha- bited. But if any one should affirme that the gentle- men named Leffrington, Wihnrton, Lancaster, Leicester^ Bossevill, or Skorclitch, gave the names to the places so named, I would humbly, without prejudice, craue re- spite for a further day before I beleeued them This error possibly originated either in the flattering tales of the genealogists,t or from the fact of surnames * Camd. Eem. p. 108. t Among other instances of this hind, I recollect that, in the pedi- having been occasionally appended to the proper names of towns and manors, for the sake of distinction ; or, as Camden says, to notifie the owner,” as Hurst-Pier- point, and Hurst-Monceux; Tarring-Neville, and Tarring-Peverell; Potherfield-Greys, and Rotherfield- Pypard. It is true that a vulgar ostentation has often induced the proprietors of mansions to give their own names to them, as HammoncVs-Place, Latimer's, Ca~ mois-Court, Mark's-Hall, Theobald's, &c., &c., “when as now they have possessors of other names ; and the old verse is, and alwayes will be, verified of them, which a right worshipfull friend of mine not long since writ upon his new house : ^unc mea, mo); ne^do While on this subject I would remind the reader, that the practice of borrowing the designations of places from personal names has prevailed in various ages and countries : history, both sacred and profane, furnishes us with innumerable instances. Canaan, Nineveh, Kome, Alexandria, Antioch, and Constanti- nople, are familiar ones. “ Eomulus excipiet gentem, et Maxortia condet Moenia, Komanosque suo de nomine dicet.” V jEn. i. 276-7. “ ^neadasque meo noinen de nomine fingo.” Ib. iii. 18. Among the Anglo-Saxons it was pretty usual up to» the period of the Norman Conquest to denominate places from their proprietors'’ personal names, and it is by no means improbable that in some instances the gree of Eoberts, anciently called Eookburst, (Hajley’s Sussex AJSS. Erit. Mus.), compiled in the reign of Elizabeth, it is asserted that a gentleman of Scotland, -named Eookburst, settling in Kent in the eleventh century, gaye that name to the manor so designated ! 4—2 locality gave back to the posterity of an individual, as a surname, the very designation vs^hich it had origi- nally assumed from his baptismal appellation. I am not prepared to support this remark by any better in- stance than the following, the doubtfulness of which I am willing to admit. The Featherstonhauglis of Northumberland are said to be descended from a Saxon chieftain named Frithestan, who denominated his estate Frithestanhaugh, or the hill of Frithestan; and his descendants, continuing in possession until the Norman period, are alleged to have adopted from it the hereditary surname of De Featherstonhaugh. The following interesting extract from Wright’s His- tory of Ludlow needs no apology: “ Many of the names of places, of which the mean- ing seems most difficult to explain, are compounded of those of Anglo-Saxon possessors or cultivators ; and the original forms of such words are readily discovered by a reference to Domesday book. Thus, on the Here- fordshire side of Ludlow we have Elmodes-treow or the tree of Elmod (now Aymestry); Widferdestune, or the enclosure of Widferd (Woofferton); Willaves-lage, or the lee (saltus) of Willaf (probably Willey); Edwardes- tune, or the enclosure of Edward (Adferton); Elnodes- tune, or the enclosure of Elnod (Elton); Bernoldune, or the hill of Bernold. In Shropshire there are Chin- baldescote, or the cot of Chinbald, a place mentioned as dependent upon Bromfield ; iElmundes-tune, or the enclosure of Elmund; Elmund-wic, or the dwelling of Elmund; Alnodes-treow, or the tree of Elnod, &c. Names of places having ing in the middle are generally formed from patronymics, which in Anglo-Saxon had this termination. Thus a son of Alfred was an ^Ifreding; his descendants in general were JElfredingas or Alfredings. These patronymics are generally com- pounded with ham, tun, &c., and whenever we can find the name of a place in pure Saxon documents, we have the patronymic in the genitive case plural. Thus Bir- mingham was Beorm-inga-ham, the home or residence of the sons or descendants of Beorm. There are not many names of this form in the neighbourhood of Ludlow; Berrington (Beoringatun) was perhaps the enclosure of the sons or family of Beor, and Culming- ton that of the family of Culm.^^ But enough of these preliminary observations. It is now time to classify the local surnames into their various kinds. Following the order just now laid down, let us first speak of patrial names—those de- rived from the country of the original bearers.^ They are more numerous than might be expected; and they usually occur in ancient records with the prefix Le. Alman, from Almany (Germany). Angevin, from Anjou. Camden. Beamish (Bohmisch) from Bohemia. This is the traditional origin of the name, but there is a township so called in the county of Durham. Bkaban, from Brabant. Vide Hanway, infra. Beet, Bketon, Bkitton, from Brittany. Buegoyne, from Burgundy. Champagne, ) _ COENISH, COENWALLIS, from Cornwall. DAlmaine (D’Allemagne), from Germany; also Dolman. * These are not of the same kind as the agnomina, Africanus, Ger- manicus, &c., of the ancients, wliich were conferred upon generals for great exploits against hostile nations. Dane, Denis, Dench, from Denmark. Estarling, awkwardly corrupted to Stradling. Estarling was a name given to the inhabitants of any country eastward of England, particularly to those of the Hanse Towns. The pure coinage introduced by tliem, temp. Richard I., gave rise to the expression ' easterling,’ or ‘ sterling’ money. In the course of ages, this epithet, at first metaphorically applied, has come to mean anything excellent or genuine. English, England. It is difficult to account for these. Inglis is the Scottish orthography. French, France. (Le) Franceys. Goth and Gaul occur among the freeholders of Yorkshire. These, if not corruptions of other words, were probably sobriquets. Flanders, Fleming, from Flanders. Gael or Gale, a Scot. Germaine, from Germany. Gascoyne, from Gascony; also Gaskoin, and Gaskin. Hanway. Hainault was so denominated in the time of Henry the Eighth. In Andrew Borde’s ‘ Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge,’ we are informed that the “ money, maners and fiishyons” of the inhabitants of Holland “ is lyke Flaunders, Hanway, and Braban, which be commodious and plentyful contreys.” Holland, Douche ; the latter is the ancient form of ‘ Dutch.’ Janeway, a Genoese. “There was one amonge the Jamvayes that the Frenche kyng liyred to make warre agaynst the Eng- lysshe men, whiche bare an oxe heed peynted in his shelde : the which shelde a noble man of France chal- lenged : and so longe they stroue, that they must nedes fyght for it. So at a day and place appointed, the frenche gallaunt came into the felde, rychely armed at all peces. The Janwayall vnarmed, came also in to the felde, and said to the frenche man, wherefore shall we this day fight ? Mary, said the frenche man, I wyll make good with my body, that these armes were myne anncetonrs before thyne. What were your auncetours armes ? quod the Jamoaye. Ail oxe heed, saydthe frenche man. Than sayde the Janwaye, here nedeth no batayle : For this that I beare is a cowes heedr {From 'Tales, and quiche Answeres, very mery, <ind pleasant to rede! written temp. Henry YIII.) Ireland, Irish. JEW. A bookseller at Gloucester. Lombard, Lombarde, from Lombardy. Lubbock, from Lubeck. Mayne, from the French province. Man, from the Island. Moore, Morris. The former may be, and probably is, derived from the topographical expression, as it occurs in the form otAtmoor, Amoore, &c., q. d. at the Moor, With respect to the latter name I may observe that it is variously spelt Morys, Moris, Morris, Morice, Morrice, Mawrice, &c., and compounded with various initial expressions. He, Mont, Fitz, Clan, &c. Some of the families bearing this name are of Welsh extraction, Mawrrwyce, being the Welsh form of Mavors (Mars), the god of war, anciently given to valorous chieftains of that country. One of the Welsh family mottoes has reference to this etymology, “ Marte et mari faventibus.” The other Morrices are supposed to be of Moorish blood; their progenitors having come over from Africa, by way of Spain, into various countries of western Europe at an early period. It is a well- known fact that the particular species of saltation, called the morrice-dance, and several branches of magic lore, were introduced into these regions many centuries since by natives of Morocco. The professors, of those arts, enriching themselves by their trade, seem in some instances to have embraced Christianity, and to have become founders of eminent families; certain it is that several magnates bearing the names ofMorice, Eitz-Morice, and Mont-morice, attended Wil- liam the Conqueror in his descent upon England, and, acquiring lands, settled in this country. The name Montmorris is said to signify “ from the Moorish mountains.”* Norman, from Normandy. Also a Christian name. Picard, from Picardy. PoiTEViN, from Poitou. Camel. I have not seen this name elsewhere ; Poitlerin, however, occurs. Poland. POLACK. PoMAYNE, from Pome. Phodes, 1‘rom the island in the Mediterranean. Scott, from Scotland.f Saxon. Spain. Wales, Walsh, Wallis, from Wales. Westphaling, from Westphalia, in Germany; also Westphal. * Burke’s Commoners, vol. iv. I “ Le celebre Walter Scott porte le nom de la tribu Scott, dont le Due de Buccleugh. est le chef; et ce qu’il y a de curieux, e’est que ce due cherche son nom en Normandie et pretend que le nom primitif etait VEscotV'—De Gerville. Wight, from the island of that name. To these may he added Payne/" (Latinized, Paganus,) probably given to some Paynim or Mussulman, who embraced the Christian faith during the Crusades;, and Gipsey, bestowed on some person who had left the mysterious nomadic tribe, so well known, and become naturalized as an Englishman. Be this as it may, it is now borne by a very respectable family, who take rank as gentry, and reside, if my recollection serves me,, somewhere in Kent. From names of Counties in the British dominions we derive the following family names : Cheshire, Kent, Essex,'\‘Surrey, Cornwall, Devonshire, Devon, Darhishire, Hampshire, Durham, Norfolk, Rutland, Wiltshire,. Dorset, Somerset, Cumberland, Renfrew, Westmoreland,. Denby, Montgomery (?), Clare (?), Down (?), Ross (?), &c. Also Kentish, Devenish, and Cornish, with which last I may add Londonish and Londonoys. The sin- gular name Bishoprick was probably given to a nativn of the county of Durham. The second class of local surnames consists of those derived from cities and towns ; as London, Yorke,. * Persons who wilfully remained unbaptized were anciently called Pagani, (Tide Posbroke’s Encyc. of Antiq.) Paganus is also a per- sonal name. + There is now living in the weald of Kent a person called Essex, from the circumstance of his father having migrated from that county. The cause of this change of the family appellation was the oddity of the original name, which the honest ‘ Wealdishers ’ found some diffi- culty in pronouncing. The surname Wildish (cognate with Cornish, Londonish, &c.) was probably given to its first bearer, not from any particular wildness of demeanour, but because he came from the wild’ or weald of Sussex. The peasants who go to the South-Down farms to assist in the labours of harvest, are still called by their hill-country brethren, ‘ Wildish men.’ Winchester, Chichester, Rochester, Oxford, Bristoive (Bristol), Warruiek, Buckingham, Bedford, Carlisle, Lan- caster, Hertford, Lincoln, Lester, Coventry, Portsmouth, Lewes, Hastings, Arundel, Rye, Blackburn, Hampton, Huntingdon, Grantham, Rugby, Hcdifax, Grimsby, Bath, Wells,Poole, Dartmouth, Hull, Llingston,Winchel- ■seaf and others far too numerous to mention. The town of Devizes is often called ‘ The Visehence, in all probability, we liave the name of Vyse. Thousands of English surnames are derived from villages and obscure towns. The following are selected from the county of Sussex alone, and the number might be greatly increased. Most of them are still borne by families in various conditions in life residing in the county. Alfriston, Arlington, Ashburnham. Brede, Battle, Bexle,‘[* Balcombe, Barwicke, Barnham, Bolney, Beckley, Buxted, Burwash. Compton, Coombs, Chailey, Crowhurst, Clayton. Denton, Deane, Dicker, Ditchling, Dallington. Eckington, Ernley, Echingham. Firle, Folkington. Glynde, Goring, Grinstead, Guestling. Hailsham, Heathlield, Hartfield, Hurst, Hellingly, Hoo. Iden, Icklesham, Ifield, Itchingfield, Jevington. Kingston. Lindfield, Lulham. * The names of Brighton, Devonport, and other modern towns, •which occasionally occur (in police reports, &c.), must be of recent assumption, and are probably adopted by delinquents for the purpose ■of concealment. + Hodie Bexhill. Mayfield, Madehurst, Mailing, Meecfiing. Mutley, My timber. Ore, Oxenbridge. Preston, Patching, Penhurst, Poynings, Pevensey, Patcham, Preston. Radmell. Stanmer, Sedlescombe, Sutton, Stedham, Shoreham, Seaford. Ticehurst, Trotton. Vineliall. Waldron, Wistonneston, Washington, Watlington, Wadhurst, Willingdon. Numerous as are the surnames derived from villages, those borrov^ed from manors, farms, and single houses, are very much more so. Old records prove that five, eight, or ten, local surnames have originated in a single parish of considerable extent, and a county of average dimensions yields hundreds of such names. It follows therefore that the local surnames of English origin must be many thousands in number. To collect a complete list of local names would require the labour and research of years. Well may M. de Gerville remark on this subject, ce cJiapitre est immense r The best sources for such a collection would be the indexes of places usually inserted in our larger county histories and other topographical works. -A careful examination of the ordnance surveys, and other similar documents, would convince the inquirer that thousands of family names of uncouth sound and orthography, and whose origin seemed to baffle his ingenuity, are in reality derived from obscure hamlets and insignificant landed properties ; but more on this subject in a future chapter. As we retain most of the names of places imposed hy our Anglo-Saxon ancestors, with their significant terminations, it is no wonder that— Hn dForsJ, in m anU STon, Che incst cf Cngh'sh .^uvnames; run/’ I am not quite sure, however, whether the proverb is sufficiently comprehensive, and I would therefore take the liberty of adding: iNa, IIuEST and Wood, W^ick, Sted and Field, Full many English surnames yield. These ten may perhaps be regarded as the principal terminations, but there are several others only second to them in frequency: With TnoEPE and Bourne, Cote, Caster, Oke, Combe, Bury, Don and Stowe, and Stoke ; With Er and Port, Shaw, Worth, and Wade, Hill, Gate, Well, Stone, are many made; Cliee, Marsh, and Mouth, and Down, and Sand, And Beck and Sea with numbers stand. Most of these also occur as distinct surnames. Identity of surname is not always proof of the consanguinity of the persons bearing it; for in some instances two families have derived their surname from one place, in other cases from two different places bearing the same designation. As nearly every county has its Norton, its Newton,^ its Stoke, or its Sutton,, * It is remarkable that many of the most antique places in the king- dom bear this name, which signifies New-town. This definition re- minds me of an epitaph in a churchyard in the north of England: “ Here lies (alas!) and more’s the pity, All that remains of John New-city.” To which the following somewhat important nota bene is attached: “ 1^" The man’s name was iVeic-ToWN, which would not rhyme.” there may be nearly as many distinct families of those names as there are counties. Much less are such names as Attwood, Waters, Wells, Banks, &c., peculiar to one family. ' “Rivers,” says Camden, “have imposed names to ■some men, as the old Baron Bnr-Teys (hodie Surtees), that is, upon the Tees . . . JDerwentwater, Eden, Troutheeh, Hartgill, Esgill, Wam^ull, Swale, Stour, Temes (and Tamys), Trent, Tamar, Grant, Tyne, Croc, Lone, Lund, ColderL To these I add Severn, Barret, Dee, Kennett,’\ Loddon, Yarrow, Mole, Lea, Cam, Dart, Dore, Welland, Sour, Don, Shannon, Ure, Wear, Yare. I think Piekersgill belongs to this class, as it signifies “ a stream inhabited by pike or pickerell.” Hitherto I have treated of surnames derived from the 'proper names of places : let us now turn to those of the third class, namely those which describe the nature or situation of the original hearer's residence, such as Hill, Dale, Wood. After the practice of adopting the name of one’s own estate had become pretty general amongst the landed families, men of the middle and lower classes (‘ ungentglmen,^ as the Boke of St. Alban’s has it), imitating their superiors, borrowed their family names from the situation of their residences; thus, if one dwelt upon a HILL, he would style himself Atte Hull; This reminds me of an epitaph said to exist in a church in Berk- shire : ‘^Underneath this ancient perr, Lieth the body of Jonathan Blue. N.B. His name was Blade, but that wouldn't do!” t If not from the Scottish personal name Keneth. if on a MOOB., Attmore, or Amove; if undee a hill, Underdoiun; if near some towee or gate, Atte Tower or Agate; if by some lake or shoee, By water or Bythesea ;* if near the public road, Bytlieway, &c. The prefix principally made use of was ATTE, which was varied to ATTEN when the name began with a vowel. An instance of this kind occurs in the sur- name of that celebrated personage in legal matters, Mr. John a-Nohe',w\iO^Q original appellation was John Atten Oah, as that of his constant antagonist was John Atte Style, That the letter N is apt to pass from the end of one Avord to the beginning of another, is shown in newt, which has certainly been formed by a corruption from an eiut or eft.f Noke is now seldom met with, but its corruption Noahes is one of the most common of surnames. The phrase, “ Jack Noakes and Tom Styles,” is familiarly employed to designate the rabble, and it is not, as to the former name at least, a thing of yesterday, for Skelton, who wrote in the early part of the sixteenth century, in his ‘ Colin Clout,’ a satire on the bishops of his time, says: - “ Their mules gold do eat, yiieir neighbours die for meat; What care they thougli Gill sweat Or Jack of the NoJce The singularly inelegant name of Boaks appears to be a contraction of ‘ By the Oaks,’ and Haynoke is * One family of Bythesea, who have been gentry for upwards of three centuries, have a tradition that the founder of their liouse was a found- ling, and that the name was given him (in reference to the situation where he was discovered) by a gentleman who bequeathed to him the whole of his estate. Names and dates, those useful verifiers of tradition, are wanting, I fear, in this case. The Dutch have their De Meer, and the Spaniards their Delmar, both signifying ‘ Of the sea.’ t Glossary to Chaucer’s Poems, edit. 1825. doubtless ^a’ Noke.’ Nash is, in like manner, a corruption of Atten-Ash,'^ and Nye of Atten-Eye, at the island. In the course of a few generations the prefixes atte, &c., were softened to A, and with the latter some few names have descended to our own times, as Agate, Amoore, Acourt, &c. Generally speaking, however, the A was dropped towards the end of the sixteenth or the beginning of the seventeenth century. Camden supposes the A to be a softening of of, as Adam a’Kerby for Adam of Kirby. 1 think it may be deducted from four different sources : ] . From At, as above—John a’Gate. 2. From Of, as in the case of Adam a’Kerby. • 3. From the Latin preposition a, signifying frora,, as ^ Thomas a’ Dover,’ equivalent to ‘ Thomas who came from. Dover.’ 4. From the same preposition in a genealogical sense, as ' Peter a’ James,’ for Peter the son of, or one- descended/rom, James. As a proof of the great frequency of names with the prefix at and its variations, the following are cited from the records of the county of Northampton alone,, and the number might be greatly increased : Athill. Atbrigge. Atte Holle. Atte-Kirk Atte-wall. Attegate. Atmere. Attechurch. Atte Hawe. Atte Mylle. Attewelle. Attercliffe. Atmore. Attediche. Atte Hall. Atte Mylne.. Attewind. Atwyk.f * Ade. atte Nascbe, 1296. t From Bridges’ Northamptonsliire. ‘ By ’ and ' undee ’ were sometimes used as prefixes, e.g.: Bygrove. Bytliesea. Bywater. Byfield. Byford. Bygate. Underhill. Underdown. Underwood. Under clifi". Since this kind of designations forms no inconsider- able portion of the family nomenclature of Englishmen, I must beg my indulgent reader to don his hat and gloves, and accompany me to inspect the places and objects from which our simple ancestors delighted to denominate themselves, and which, for the purpose of getting a better view, I shall digest into an alphabetical list, after the example, and with the aid of, my great predecessor in these matters. Master William Camden;"^ making, in the course of the perambulation, such ex- planatory observations as may be deemed necessary; and relating such anecdotes as may seem meet to en- liven a part of my subject which all but antiquaries and philologists will perchance consider excessively dull. A. Abbey. This name was probably conferred upon some menial attached to a monastery. Alehouse. Applegarth. An orchard. Ajpplegate, Appleyard. Armitage. A hermitage. Ash. See Tree. * Camden’s list contains 253 names, Verstegan has likewise a similar list. I have derived much assistance from Halliwell’s ‘ Archaic and Provincial Dictionary,’ and most of the illustrations from MS. sources are borrowed from that work. B. Back. In some places a ferry; at Bristol, a wharf in Cheshire ; synonymous with ^ Beck/ q. v. Baine (Fr.). A bath.^ Hence Baynes. Barrack. Bank, Banks. Barn, Barnes. Barrow (A.-S. bearw). A barrow; a high or hilly place; a wood or grove; a hill covered with wood. Barton. A curtilage. In Devonshire it is applied to any freehold estate not possessed of manorial privi- leges. Beacon, Becon. A beacon is any contrivance by which in- formation may be conveyed either by sea or land, generally by means of fire. At the pe- riod when family names were first generally adopted, it was a kind of fire-cage attached to a high pole, and was employed either for the purposes of the modern lighthouse or for alarm- ing the country in case of in- vasion by the enemy. In woody districts the beacon consisted of a huge pile of brush- wood or furze which was set fire to in such an emergency. Nearly every spot of unusual height in the county of * There is a remarkable coincidence as to the name of Banwell in- Somersetshire, -where a great deposit of fossil bones has been discovered, and from which the place might be supposed to be denominated—ban being the A.-S for bone ; but Collinson mentions a much esteemed sul- phureous spring there, which doubtless, as a former bain or bath, origi- nated the name. VOL. I. 5 Sussex is called a beacon, and was until a comparatively recent date crowned with its stack of fuel. Bech (A.-S. bee), a brook; and Beckett, a little brook."^ Bellchambers. Probably a church tower. Bent. A plain; a common; a field; a moor;, so called from those places being frequently covered with the bent-grass. Willan says bents are '' high pastures or shelving commons.” “ The term,” says Halliwell, “ is very common in early English poetry : ‘ Appone a ient without the borghe With scharpe arowes Je schote hyrn tlmrge.’ MS. Lincoln, A. i. 17.” Bearne. A wood. Biggin. A building; hence Neivhiggin is 'a new building.’ Borde. A cottage. In Domesday, ‘bordarii’ arc cottagers. Boys (A.-N.). A wood; hois. “ And bad them go betyme To the boys Seynt Martyne.” MS. Cantab,, f. ii. 38. Borstal!. Much discussion has been wasted on this word. In Sussex (where alone I have met with it as n surname!, it signifies a winding road up a hill, and only occurs on the northern escarpment of the South Downs. ' Robert atte Borstall.’ Sussex Subsidy Roll, 1296. Bourne. 1. A boundary or limit (Fr. borne). “The undiscovered country—from whose bourne no traveller returns.” 2. A stream (A.-S. burne). Such names * Parker, in his ‘ Glossary of Heraldry,’ mentions a bird of this name, and states, without however naming his authority, that Thomas A’ Eecket bore three of them in his arms. as Seaborn, Winterhorn, and Neivborn seem rather to have been derived from this local source than from the original bearers having been horn at sea, in winter, &c. Boroughs, Burg, Burke, Borroiu, Burrows, are synonymous. Bottle (A.-S. botl). A seat or chief mansion-house; more usually a village. The German huttel, in Wolf- enblittel and many other names, has the same significa- tion. It also occurs simply, and in composition, in many names of places in England, as Bootle, Newbottle,. Harbottle, &c. A sailor who had served on board a man-of-war called the Unity, and bore this surname, gave one of his sons the name of ‘ Unity Bottle.' The baptismal rite was performed at a village church in Sussex, and the minister hesitated some time before he would confer so truly ridiculous a name. Booth, in Cheshire, has the same meaning. Bottom (A.-S. botm). In Sussex the words dale, vale, and valley are rarely used; Bottom is the substi- tute. In some cases hills, or rather their summits, are called ‘Tops;’ e.g., Norton Top; IToundene Bottom. The term under consideration signifies any low ground or valley; hence Longhottom, Sidebottom, Winter- bottom, Bo%vbottom,"' Bosebottom, Shoebotham, Tar- hottam, and that elegant surname Shufflebottom, which, when understood to signify ‘ shaw-field-bottom,’ has nothing ridiculous in it. “ Bamsbottom,” observes an intelligent correspon- dent, “ is the name of a township in the parish of Bury, * I know a joung lady named Kowbotliam, in whicli she pro- nounces tlie th like a Grreek theta. I told her it was a mistake, and that the real name, Eowbotfcom, was highly poetical and picturesque meaning a bottom or vale frequented by deer (roes). 5—2 Lancashire. In the same locality is a place called ‘Ramsden.’ These places are vulgarly pronounced RoMshottom and RoMSden; their signification is, the Valley of Roms. Roms or Rhoms are the wild onions which abound in these two places, and nowhere else in the neighbourhood. In many parts of the North,” he continues, “ this word is compounded with names of trees, as Oahenhottom, Aslienhottom, Owler (that is Alder-) bottom. In Lancashire JiicJdn is the mountain ash, whence perhaps Higginhottom!’^ In another chapter, however, I have assigned a German etymology for this name. Boiver. Bridge {Briggs, Bridges, Attihridge). Brunne, v. Bourne. In some instances perhaps from * brun,’ Fr. and 0. E. for brown. Brough, Burgh, v. Borough. Bree (Celtic bre or brae), a declivit}^. Brooh, Ahrooh; Addenhrooke = Atten-brooke. Bury, SihiW, a barrow; a court, a house or castle. In Herefordshire and some other counties the chief house of a manor is still called a bury. Burne, a brook ; a northern pronunciation of Bourne, whence Burns, Aburne, &c. By (Danish), a habitation; hence the strange-look- ing surnames terminating in bee, as Ashbee, Holmbee^. Battersbee. * ‘ Whitford and Mitford ply your pumps; You, Clutterbuck, come, stir your stumps ; Why are you in such doleful dumps ? A fireman—and afraid of bumps What are they feared on_?^fools—od rot ’em!’ Were the last words of Hicjginlottom. Rejected Addresses. Biirtensliaw was anciently written ‘ Byrchenshaw/ that is, the little wood or thicket of birch-trees. Bush. Although it may seem exceedingly trivial that so insignificant an object should name one of the lords of the creation, there is little doubt of the fact. There was lately living in Scotland a peasant who, with his children, was called Funns, because his cot was surrounded by furze, called, in some parts of the country, by that name. This sobriquet had so com- pletely usurped the place of his hereditary surname that his neighbours called him by no other name."^ Butts, marks for archery. In the days when 0ngIanU bajs but a Sutg .^abe for the ‘Crookelj anU the ^@reg-Goose ramg/ most parishes had a place set apart for this necessary sport, and such place is still indicated in many of them by the name of ‘‘ the Butts.” A person resident near such an object would very naturally assume the name of “ John at the Butts.” c. Camp. Camps, an earthwork. Carr (caer, Brit.), frequently applied to elevations where castles have stood. '‘A wood or grove on a moist soil, generally of alders. A remarkable floating island nearly covered with willows, and called the Car, is mentioned in the Diversions of Burley, p. 443. Any hollow place or' marsh is also termed a car” * Yide an early Number of the Saturday Magazine. I may remark, however, that Bush was formerly the common denotement, and some- times the sign, of an inn. Bush sometimes means a thicket. (Halliwell). A pool (Bailey). In Lincolnshire it means a gutter; in Yorkshire, moist, boggy land. The word in Anglo-Saxon, on the contrary, signifies a rock. Came (cairn), a Druidical heap of stones. A plough- land. (Halliwell.) Cave. A good name for a person residing in, or near the mouth of a cavern. This name probably originated in Derbyshire, or some other mountain region. Castell, Castle. Chatto seems to be a corruption of the French chateau. Chantrey. In many instances the lands formerly given by persons to support a chantiy for their souls’" health in parish or other churches still bear such de- signations, as Chantry Land, Chantry Farm, &c. Chajyel. Chappie. Church. Churchyard. Channel. The Italians have a noble family of Canali, a name of the same import. A feud once happened between this family and that of Da Ponte (Bridge) on the subject of precedence. ‘'The bridges,”" said the latter, “ are higher than the canals !” “ The canals,” retorted the former, “are more ancient than the bridges !” The quarrel grew to so great a height,, and was of such long continuance, that the Venetian senate was compelled to interpose its authority; and hence it was said, that that august body had ‘ broken down the Bridges and filled up the Canals Chase, a forest or hunting-ground. The distinction between a chase and a forest seems to be this: the Salyerte. former generally belongs to a subject—tbe latter to the crown. Clive (A.-S.), a cliff. Cleave, Cleve, are other or- thographies of the same word. Clough, a ravine, or narrow glen, a deep descent between hills; sometimes a cliff. ' Clym of the Clough," a Cumberland ballad. Cloiv (whence Cloiues). In A.-S. a rock. “ Sende him to seche in clif and clowT (Halliwell.) In the North it means a floodgate. Close, an enclosure. Cohh, a harbour, as the Cobb of Lyme Regis, co. Dorset. Copj) or Cap, a mound or bank, the summit of a hill. Combe, a valley (A.-S.). Corner. Cot {Cote, Cotes), a cottage (A.-S. cote); a den; a salt-pit. Court, the principal house of a village; more pro- perly a manor-house. Cove, a cavern ; a harbour for boats. Covert. The coverts of a forest technically signify thickets full of trees touching each other, those places wherein they are scattered and stand apart being only termed woods.”—Thomsons Magna Charta, 340. Cowdray (Fr. coudraie), a grove of hazel trees. Cotter el, in Domesday, is a cottage; but in the Promptorium Parvulorum the inhabitant of one—a cottager. Cragg, Craig, a rock or precipice (Celtic); perhaps also a creek from the A.-S. crecca. Croft, a small enclosed field (A.-S.). Craft is a Northern pronunciation. - Cross, given to one who dwelt by a market-cross or near cross-roads. Crouch, a cross (from the Latin crux). That all •cross-roads formerly had a cross of wood or stone erected near the intersection, is pretty clear from the names still retained, as John’s Cross, Mark-Cross, Stone-Cross, High-Cross, Hand-Cross, New-Cross, Wych-Cross (perhaps so named in honour of St. Kichard de la Wych, bishop of Chichester). All these, and many others, occur in Sussex.'^ At Seaford such * These crosses served also for direction-posts. Probably this was their primary nse, the religious idea being an after-thought. The an- nexed cut is borrowed from one in Barclay’s “ Ship of Pooles.” (Vide Posbroke’s Encyc.) a spot bears tlie name of ' the Croucli.’ We find also High Crouch, Katty’s"^ Crouch, Fair Crouch, Crow Crouch, &c., &c. Crouched or Crutched Friars were an order of religious who wore a cross upon their robes. The name crutch applied to the supports used by cripples is evidently from the same root. A person dwelling near some wayside cross would feel proud of such an appellative as John atte Crouch, a form in which the name frequently occurs. Croucher is another form of the word. D. Bale, Dean, Dell. Nearly synonymous. Some- times,” as a friend observes, ''dean means a bushy dingle or vale; but, occasionally, something much greater, as Dean Forest, and Arden, co. Warwick.” The Sussex family of Atte Denne inverted the syllables of their name, and made it Denned or Dennett.* Derne, a solitary place (A.-S. dierna). Ditch. Dyke. In the South and East this word signifies a ditch; elsewhere an elevated ridge of earth serving as a barrier against water. Donne, Don, Dun (A.-S.), a down. E. Ey, Eye, a watery place ; an island (A.-S. Ig). Eruth, Rith, a ford, John i’ the Eruth,” Nona ;= John Ford. East, West, North, South. * Saint Ivatlierine’s. t Cartwright’s Eape of Bramher. F. Fcvrme. Fell, Fells, barren, stony bills. Mr. Halliwell says, a bill, moor, valley, or pasture; any unenclosed space witbout many trees (v. ' Fritb’). “ Moyses wente up ou that fell Fourty dayes there gon dwelle.”—Cursor Mundi. Fenn. Tbe old family of Atte Fenne of Sussex dropped tbe prefix, added an E, and became Fenner or Fenouv. Femes (A.-S.), a desert, wilderness: bence Fames. Field, Byfield, Attfield. Fleet, a tide creek; formerly any stream. Fold, In some places tbe enclosure for impounded cattle is so called. Forest. In Holland, Van Voorst; in France, La- foret. Forth, ford. Font, a spring. Fountain. Fossey (fosse-way). Foss, a ditcb. Foot, Foote, tbe bottom of a bill. Frith. In Scotland, an arm of tbe sea; elsewhere, a plain among woods; elsewbere, a hedge or coppice. ‘‘ Also there is difference between tbe frytli and the fell; tbe fels are understood tbe mountains, vallyes, and pastures, with come and such like; tbe frythes betoken tbe springs and coppyses.” Nohle Art of Venerie. “ Whersoeyer ye fall hy fry th or by fell, My deer chylde take heed how Tristom dooth you tell, How many maner beestys of venery ther were,” &c. BoJce of St. Albans. Furlong, a division in an unenclosed or tenantry field. Many fields after enclosure are thus called. Furnace. > G. Garden. “ The name of the grandson of Bocchoris, Tilgamus or Tilganus, signifies ‘ garden child.’ The fable is, that the infant having been cast from the top of a tower,, by the order of his unnatural grandfather, was caught in mid-air by an eagle, which safely deposited him in a garden.” Scdverte. Garth, a yard, a little close behind a house, a warren, a churchyard; in fact, almost any small enclosure. Also a garden, as in the following quotation: Tak a pen3^-weghte of ^ar^/ie-cresse sede, and gyff hym, at ete, and gare hym after a draghte of gude rede wyne.”—MS. Line. Med. f. 292. Garnett, a granary. Garrison. Gate, whence Agate, Gates, Bygate. Gate in Scot- land means a way or road. “ He followed thame thorowe the wod,^ Alle the gatis that they gode.” « MS. Lincoln, A. i. 17. Gill, a small pebbly rivulet, a ravine or dell. Glyn (Celtic), a glen. Goole, a canal. Gore, a word used in old records to describe a narrow slip of ground. Groove, Graves, a grove ; a cave. Grange, a large farm, kept in hand by a religious fraternity, with buildings and generally a chapel attached. Grove, Groves. A foundling, living at Tunbridge, bore this name, from his having been exposed in the Grove at Tunbridge Wells. Green, Greene. Gravett, a little grove. Giirnall, a granary. (Scot.) H. Hall, a great house. Halliivell, a hol}^ well. Hayeoch. Probably given to a foundling exposed in a hay-field. Ham (A.-S.), a dwelling, whence home. In the West, a rich level pasture; in Sussex, a plot of land near water; sometimes a small triangular field or croft. Harbour, Havens. Hatch, a fioodgate; in Cornwall, a dam or mound; in forest districts, the gateways on the verge of a forest across a public road, as Cooper’s Hatch, Mersham Hatch. Haugh (whence Halves), Hoiv, a green plot in a valley ; a hillock ; flat ground by a river. Hay, a hedge, an enclosure ; in medieval Latin, a minor park or enclosure in the forests for taking deer, Ac., is called a ‘ Haia.’ Haystack. Head, a foreland or promontory, as Peachy Head, St. Alban’s Head. Several names derived from locali- ties are identical in sound and orthography with parts of the person, as Head, Back, Foot. Hedgey Hedges. There is a great disposition among the illiterate to pluralize their names, as Woods for Wood, Holmes for Holme, Eeeves for Eeeve. Heath. Herne, a house (Bede). Hithe (A.-S. hyd), a haven, a wharf. Hide, an old law term for as much land as can ba cultivated with one plough. Sometimes a field; occa- sionally a common or unenclosed pasture, as Arlington Hide, in Sussex. Hill, Hull. From hill came ‘ At the hill,’ whence Thill. So also ‘ Nill,' from Atten-hill, which, lest they should appear to be nonentities, some who bear it have changed to Knill ! From the corresponding French term ‘ Dumont’ came our Dyraond and Diamond. Holme, Holmes, flat land, a meadow surrounded with water; other islands, like those in the Bristol Channel. Holt, a grove, or small forest (Halliw.); almost in- variably a small hanging wood, as Jevington Holt, Wilmington Holt, Box Holt; a grove of trees about a house (Howell) ; a peaked hill covered with wood (Brockett). Nolt = Atten-Holt. “ Ye that frequent the hilles, And highest holtes of all, Assist me with your skilful quilles, And listen when I call.” Tuherville's Songs and Sonnets (Percy Ant. Ret.). Hold, a fortress, a tenement. Holden is probably a corruption of' holding,’ in the latter sense. Hope, a valley ; a small field ; a mountain dingle ;. Camden says, “ the side of an hill.” Hoo, Holu, Hoe (A.-S. ‘How’)^ a high place, as the Hoe at Plymouth ; a hill. House. Tills seems a strange word to adopt as a name, since residence in a house was never so unusual a circumstance as to stamp any jieculiarity upon a person or a family. John at Tower and Roger at Church might well distinguish individuals from their neigh- bours, but William at House could scarcely be deemed a description at all. The same name occurs in other languages, as Las Casas in Spanish, Dellacasa in Italian. It may here be remarked that the termination us or hus is a corruption of house, as— .Btonnus from Stonehouse, Woodus Woodhouse, Du f as >> Hovehouse, Malthus Malthouse,'^ Hoippus Alchis and j Hophouse, Alldis Aid- (i.e., old) house. WDulus Windhouse (?), Loftus Lofthouse, and Bacchus Bakehouse or Backhouse. This last corruption took place in the sixteenth cen- tury. In 1551, the benefice of Addington-Magna was presented to Christopher Badlchouse, and only-seventeen years subsequently, George Bacchus and others present the same living to another Christopher Bacchus, evi- dently a family connection of the former.*!' To this elass may probably be referred such names as Tyas, Nyas, Dallas. Hole. In the south of England this word is fre- * Mine. D’Arblay’s Mem. f Yide Bridges’ NortbamptonsLire, ii. 204. quently applied to a house occupying a low site, as ‘ Hill ’ with some prefix is to one in an elevated situ- ation : sometimes both terms occur in immediate proximity to each other, as ^mghill and Burg/io^g, Thunder’s Hill and Thunder’s Hole, in Sussex. Hoohe and Hoivke. This word occurs in various places as the name of a trivial locality, but I cannot ascertain its meaning. Atte Hooke, which is found in the Nonse return, probably became ‘ Tooke! Holloway (the ‘ hollow-way ’), a deep road between high banks. Holyoak, some oak which a superstitious legend had rendered famous. - Hospital. I have not found this word used as a surname, but Spital and Spittle, its contractions, are not uncommon. Ashpital is probably a provincial form of it; while Spittlehouse is a somewhat pleonastic word of the same import. Hunt, a chase, as Foxhunt in Sussex. Hurne, Horne, a corner. Johes in le Hurne, that is, John in the Corner, occurs in the Nonrn, 1841. Chaucer spells it herne: “ Lurking in Jiernes and in lanes blinde, Whereof these robbours and these theves by kinde Holden hir privee fereful residence.” Chanones- Yemannes ProL Hurst (A.-S.), a wood. I. Ing, a meadow near a river. Inch, Ince, an island. Isle. An eminent family called Be VIsle, and after- wards Lisle, borrowed that name from the Isle of Wight ; another family derived the same 'surname from the Isle of Ely. K. Kay, a quay; sometimes Key, and thence Athey. Kirk, a church. Knapp (cn?ep, A.-S.), the top of a hill. “A hillocke or knap of a hill.” (Cotgrave.) Knoll, whence Knoiules, the top of a hill. Cnoll (A.-S.), a little round hill. L. Laiv, a hill or eminence (hiewe, A.-S.). Lade (A.-S.), a passage for water, a drain. Land (v. Launde). Lane. Ljath, a barn. Launde (whence belike Lovmdes), a plain place in a wood, a lawn. “ Now is Gy to a launde y-go Where the dragon duelled tho.”—Guy of Warwiclce, p. 262. “ For to hunt at the hartes in thas hye loundes.” Morte Arthure. Lee, Legh, Lea, Leigh, Lye, various spellings of one and the same word, meaning a pasture. In names of British origin, Lie, a place. Lie is a well-known name in Norway. (See my ‘‘ Wayside Notes in Scandi- navia.”) Lies is an old English surname; and the fol- lowing anecdote was sent to me by the Hon. and Bev. W. H. Lyttelton some years since. In an old account- book of tlie parish of Hagley, co. Worcester, under date of July 21, 1818, is the following entry : “It is ordered that Tell-no-Lies (sucli being the man’s name), be paid £1. in aid of an apothecary’s bill, incurred by the illness of his wife.” In a subsequent year further relief is granted to Teli-no-Lies. In the parish register of Elmley-Castle, the baptism of this person is thus entered :— “ 1767. Telno the son of John and Elizabeth Lize was baptized February 22nd.” “ It is quite apparent ” (adds Mr. Lyttelton) “ that there must have been some collusion (innocent enough) between the ‘ father of (this) Lies ’ and the clergy- man ; for while the former wished by the baptismal name to neutralize what he regarded as an odious sur- name, the latter aided him by a mis-spelling to dis- guise the family appellation, which in all earlier entries had been spelt Lyes or LiesL Lodge. Locke, a place where rivers meet with a partial ob- struction from a wooden dam; or Loch, a lake. Loppe, an uneven place. Lough, a lake. Lowe, a small round hill (A.-S. lowe), a tumulus or barrow. “ With oure sheep upon the lowe."—Cursor Mundi. Sometimes it signifies a farm, otherwhile a grove. Lynn (Celtic), a pool. Some families so surnamed may derive from the town in Norfolk. Lynch, a small hanging wood or thicket, on the South Downs called a ‘ linka strip of sward between VOL. I. 6 the ploughed lands in common fields. In Gloucester- shire, a hamlet. M. March, a boundary, as the Marches of Wales; a landmark. To march is to extend : so Sir John Maundevile: Arabye durethe fro the endes of the reme of Caldee unto the last ende of Afiryk, and marckethe ta the lond of Ydumee.” Market. Marsh. Mead, Meadow, Meadotvs, Mees. Syn. The French have Paquier, Pasi^uier, and Pasquet (which we have naturalized in Packet), meaning pasturage. Meer, Meeres, a lake, a shallow water (A.-S. mere); a boundary. Mill. Milne, and 3Iulne are ancient orthographies. From the Fr. Des Moulins comes our Midlins. 3Iinster (A.-S.), a monastery. 31ore, Moore, Attemore, Amoor, Amor.* 3Ioss, a moor or boggy plain. 3Iote, Moate. Mouth, a haven. Mount. Mountain. This name once gave occasion to a pun, which would have been excellent had the allusion been made to any other book than the Holy Scriptures. Dr. 3Iountain, chaplain to Charles II., was asked one day ^ A facetious correspondent of the Literary Grazette (B.A. Oxon, Sept., 1842) says he cannot pass 135, New Bond Street, without being reminded of the 10th Eclogue, “ Omnia yincit amor;” and he suggests a free translation of the passage, yiz. : “ Amor is the best wine-mer- chant in London!” by that monarch, to whom he should present a certain bishopric, just then vacant. “ If you had but faith, sire,” replied he, '' I could tell you who.” “ How so,” said Charles, ^'if I had but faith ?” “ Why, yes,” said the witty cleric, “ your majesty might then say to this Mountain, ^Be thou removed into that See’ ” N. NarroAvay, narrow-way. o. Ogle. .This name is said to be derived from the ancient estate of Oggehill or Ogill the hill of the hogs or young sheep ”); it is in Northumberland, and formerly had a castle, no remains of which now exist. —“ Folks of Shields.” Orchard. A correspondent of the Gentleman’s Magazine, Oct., 1820, suggests that such names as Townsend, Street, Churchyard, Stair, Barn, Lane, and Orchard, “ originated with foundlings, and that they possibly pointed out the places where they were ex- posed,”—a plausible suggestion, had we not abundant evidence of their having been first given to persons from their residing, when masters of families, in or near to such places. p. Park, Parkes (Celt. pare). Penn (Celt.), the top of a hill. Pende, an arch, generally one under which there is a roadway or passage. Peak. Pitt, Pitts. Beferriug to the remark above, I may 6—2 mention that surnames of this kind have, occasionally, been given to foundlings, and that even in recent times, I perfectly recollect the grim visage of a surly septuagenarian named Moses Pitt, who had been ex- posed in infancy in a marhpii^. “ Nobody likes you,” said this crabbed piece of humanity, in a quarrel with a neighbour. “Nor you,” replied the latter, “not even your motherr Moses was silent. Pinnoch or Pennock, in Sussex, is the little frame- work above an archway over a stream, like that repre- sented below. Pine, a pit (Bailey). Pinfold or Penfold, a pound for cattle or sheep. Thus, in the ' Two Gentlemen of Verona,’— Proteus. Nay, in that you stray : ’twere best pound you. Speed. Nay, sir! less than a pound shall serve me for carrying your letter. Pro. You mistake; I mean the pound—a pinfold. Speed. From a pound to a pin, fold it over and over, ’Tis threefold too little for carrying a letter to your lover.” Plaine. Plott, Platt, a little piece of ground ; a field of even surface. Place, a mansion. Peel (Celtic pil), primarily, perhaps, a pool; now, on the Scottish border, a moated fort. “Within my recollection,” says the Kev. A. Hedley, ^'almost every old lionse in the dales of Rede and Tyne was what is called a peel-house, built for securing the inhabitants and their cattle in moss-trooping times.”^' Pell, a deep standing water. Pollard, a cropped tree. Poole, Pole. Shakspeare plays with the name of De la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, in Henry VI., Part II., where he makes the captain who seizes him at sea tell him that he is the pool or puddle— “ Whose filth and dirt Troubles the silver spring where England drinks.” Pont, a bridge. The kindred names Pontius, Ponto, Dupont, Da Ponte, &c., occur in most of the ancient and modern languages of Europe. Playsted, Playstow, a place for sports; still found in many places. Port, a haven. Pond. Pound. Prindle, a croft. Q. Quarry. Quarel, Quarll, a quarry. E. Payne, Paynes, a bound or limit. Pick (whence Pix), a stack of hay or corn. Pidge, Attridge. Pigg, a ridge. By dropping A from At Bigg, we get Trigg and thence Triggs. Archseologia Uliana, i. p. 243. Rilly a small stream. John at the Rill would first become John Atterill, and afterwards John Trill. How subtle are the clues that guide us in etymological investigations ! River, Rivers. Rock. In French, roche, whence our Roach. Ring, a circular enclosure for bull-baiting, &c. Roacles, > ,. n ^ Rodes ^ road. Rodd, Rode, Royd, an obsolete participle of Hid,’ meaning a ' ridding,^ or forest grant. It sometimes occurs in the last form as an addition to the name of an early proprietor, or to the names of the trees cleared, as Ack-royd, Hol-royd, &c. Rowe, a street; in Scotland, a raw, whence Rawes. Ross, a heath (Brit, rhos), peat land, a morass; also a promontory. Rye, a bank, islet, or shore. Atte Rye became Try. Perhaps from the town of this name in Sussex, which was formerly insulated.^ S. Sanctuary. This name may have been borne, pri- marily, by a criminal who had ‘ taken sanctuary ’ in some privileged place. Sale, Sales, a hall (A.-S.). “ Sone they sembled in sale Both kynges and cardenale.” MS. Lincoln, A. i. Sand, whence Sands and Sandys. Sea, originally At Sea. ' Peckham Bye, Clapham Mise, and the two Rhies in the marsh below Lewes, Sussex, were all islands in prehistoric times. ^eal, a hall (A.-S.), hence the name of Sele or Seed- ing Priory, co. Sussex. Shaw, a small wood or copse. “ In somer when the shawes be sheyne, And leves be large and long, Hit is fulle mery in feyre foreste To here the foulys song.”—MS, Cantab. Ff. v. 48. Jj Shallow, a ford. Shank, the projecting point of a hill connecting it with the plain. Shiel, originally a temporary hut for shepherds (q. d. ^shield/ i.e., against wind and rain); afterwards applied to fixed habitations. Shore, the sea-side.—In London, and in the West of England, this is the vulgar pronunciation of sewer. Sike (whence Sykes), a small rill, a spring, a water- faU. Skell, “a well, in the old Northern English.” (Camd.) Slade. Many significations are attached to this word, viz., a valley, a ravine, a plain, a breadth of green land in plantations or ploughed fields, a small open hanging wood. ‘ ‘ It had been better of William a Trent To have been abed with sorrowe, Than to be that day in the greenwood slade, To meet with Little John’s arrowe.”—Robin Hood. “ And how he climheth up the bankis, And falleth into sladis depe.”—Gower. Slack, low ground, a gap or pass between two moun- tains or hills. ‘ ‘ They took the gallows from the slack, They set it in the glen, They hanged the proud sheriff on that, Heleas’d their own three men.”—Robin Hood. Sloiik, a liollow place (A.-S. slog). Applied on the South Downs to the little branch valleys commu- nicating with a combe. Slough. S'pence, a yard or enclosure; a buttery. Spring, a well. Spire, Spires, a steeple. Steele, locus, a place. Strand, the sea-shore, or the bank of a river. Street. The French have De-la-Rue, the Italians Strada. Stonestreet, Stanistreet. Strood, Stroud, the bank of a river, as some doe think.” (Camd.) Baxter makes it ‘ Strawd that is " Ys-trawd,’ the lower traject. Stable. Stead (A.-S.), a farm-house and offices; a standing- place. Steeple. Stile, Styles. ^ W. atte Stighele.’ Sussex, 1296. Stock—of a tree, I suppose, though its adoption as a name is not easily accounted for. There are similar names elsewhere. Zouch and Curzon (Fr.) mean, re- spectively, the trunk of a tree and the stem of a vine. Stowe, Stoke, Stokes, a place. Stone, Steane. Given first to some one whose resi- dence was near a Druidical, or other remarkable stone.* * Since the above was written, I find the following in M. de Gerville’s Essay on Norman Names. “ Les pierres meme n’echappent pas a nos nomenclatures. Le nom de La Pieeee, chez nous, remonteparfois aux pierres druidiques.'^ T. Tarn. A small lake. North. Temple. The preceptories of the knights-templars were often called Hemples.’ Hence this name, as well as Templeman. Tern or Bern, a standing pool. Thirlwall. I do not know if there is any place now so called; but a northern tradition asserts that a family originally called Wade, a descendant of Weda, a Saxon General in the eighth century (whom Camden styles “an ancient and famous family,”) were so surnamed from their chief stronghold, built near the spot where the Homan Wall was first thirled or broken through. The family afterwards again changed their name, and became Philipsons, a quo the late celebrated heraldrist, Nicholas John Philipson of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Thorn, the tree, or perhaps ‘ Thurn,’ a tower. Thorpe (A.-S.), a village. Thwaite, land reclaimed from a wood or forest; a rough marshy ground; a pasture. Toft, “ a piece of ground where there hath been a house.” (Camd.) Halliwell says, “ open ground; a plain; a hill.” Tree, whence Attree, &c. The following names of trees occur as surnames : Alder, Box, Hawthorne, Plumtree, Appletree, Cherry, Laurel, Sickelmore, Ashe, Ohesnut, Maple, Thorn, Aspen, Crabtree, Oakes, Vine, Beech, Elmes, Peartree, Willows, Birch, Hazel, Pine, Wych ; to which may be added Apps, a provincial name for the aspen, Lind, a lime-tree, and Holm, a holly or evergreen oak. The French have several names of the same kind, some of which have been introduced into England, as Coigners, a quince-tree, Cheyney, an oak. Toll, a small grove of lofty trees. Torr, a tower, or rather a castle-like, though uncas- tellated, hill or crag. Tourelle (Fr.), a diminutive of tower; a turret. This may be the origin of our names, Torell, Tourle, Tyrrel, &c., though most families of these names bear canting arms of bulls’ heads, allusive to ‘ taureau,’ a bull. Thorold, the old Scandinavian personal name, has however been suggested as the probable origin. Toiver, Toiuers. Town. Toiunsend, Toionshend. At the end of the town, ' Atte Tunishend.’ Tune (A.-S.), an enclosure. Trench. Tivitten is a southern provincialism for a narrow alley or entry. ‘ Ascelota atte Twytene ’ occurs in Sussex in 1296. V. Vcde. The French have Duval, Dellavalle, &c. Vennel, a gutter, a sink (Halliw.y Venella, accord- ing to Du Cange, is viculus, angiportus, via strictior, more properly speaking, a passage or alley that had a gate annexed.'" Venables. This name appears to be a slight modi- fication of the Fr. vignohles, vineyards. Gent. Mag., March, 1830. w. Wade, a meadow; a ford. Wall, Walls. Wake or Werk, some work or building. Warren, a colony of rabbits. This is also a Norman local name, whence De Warenne. Wawn is a well-known Northumbrian corruption of Warren. Water, Waters ; also Attiuater and By water. Way. Weir. In Scotland there is a family called Bur- hamweir. Weller. (A.-S wellere), a hollow or gulf (sinus). Wells. ‘ At Well ’ became Twell. Wick (whence Wicks and Wix), a hold or place of defence ; Halliwell says, ‘ a bay, small port, or village on the side of a river. Wold, a hill destitute of wood. Wood (Woods, Attwood, Bywood, Underwood, Ne^ therwood). Worth. Who shall decide when etymologists dis- agree ? No less than six origins have been found for this little word, which has been made to stand for a possession, a court, a farm, a place, a fort, and an island! A very worth-j subject for*the etymologist.* Whitaker. To this word Bailey assigns this some- what unintelligible definition : “ The north-east part of a flat or shore; the middle ground.” Qu. white-acre ? Wyche, a salt work, a salt spring. Y. Yarde. * The family of names ending in -with, as Beckwith, Sicipwith, Sand- with, &c., probably corrupt that syllable from worth. Yaie, Yates, Yeats, old word for gate. Before leaviog this subject I must observe—what the reader will probably have noted—that many of these names of locality bear very different acceptations in different districts. In proof of this remark I wdll cite a short passage from the late Dr. Hamilton’s (miscalled) “Nugce Literarise.”"'^ After expatiating upon the copiousness of the English language, the author says : “ The Saxon, which is the foundation of our language, often presented a great discrimination, and this is proved in the names which it gave to places. Combe, is a valley, or rather gorge, between two hills, and where there is a wood. Clough, is a wooded valley, or rather hollow, by the road-side. Slack, is a valley stretching beneath a precipitous range. Firth is a very retired, Shaiu, is a well-wooded, glen. Den, is a valley that is very deep. Here, with the appearances of synonyms, are real distinctions. Once more : Hope, is a small strea,m ; Thwaite, a rivulet; Fleet, an sestuary ; Cool, a canal; Wath, a ford; Burn, a runnel; Hithe, a landing-place; Sike, a waterfall; Holm, contiguity to water. Much circumlocution would be required to express these shades of meaning in any other tongue. A third series may be arranged: Holt, a hill; Fell, a wild upland; Wold, an undulating country; Knoll, a small but sudden rise; Ness, a head-land overhanging the sea, or a mountain near it.”“[* Dr. Hamilton’s field of observation is Yorkshire,— * On Correlates and Synonyms, p. 390. t !Not necessarily a head-land or clijf. Uungeness, in Kent, is a mere protrusion of sand and shingle below high-water mark. but the topographical terms there extant apply in other districts to places of a materially different character. For example, in Sussex, many of the Combes, with which the county abounds, have no wood near them. Out of Yorkshire, a Firth is often a %vater rather than a Yetired glenand in the south of England a "glen ’ is not a necessary feature in the Shaw. In many places a Hope is anything but a " stream,’ and a TInuaite any- thing but a " rivulet.’ The same remark applies, in a more limited sense, to several other expressions in the passage. From these trivial topographical words, and many others of a similar kind which must have escaped our notice, did numbers of our ancestors borrow their family names ; short, and generally monosyllabic, they were well suited to the plain, hardy Anglo-Saxon race who assumed them; and well adapted to distinguish that race from their Norman oppressors: a distinction now happily merged, so that we cannot say with an ancient poet of ours— ©f the iS^orntans heth these high tnetine, that he of thos lotth, the lotoe tnemte of Capons.” Some names of this class had the termination ER or MAN attached to them, thus :— From Beck was formed Beckman. Bourne Bourner. Bridge Bridger and Bridgman. Brook Brooker. Castle Castleman. Crouch Croucher and Crouchman. From Church was formed ChurchersbiidiChuTchnan.. Cot or Cottage Cotman and Cotter,^'' Dean Denman. Fenne n Fenner, formerly . Fenne. Field Fielder. Furlong yy Furlonger. Grove yy Grover. Heath yy Heather and Bother. Holt Hotter and Holtman. Hold yy Holder. Hope yy Hoper, Kirk yy Kirhnan. Knap yy Knapper. Lake yy Laker and Lakeman. Lowe yy Lower (?). Marsh yy Marshman. Moor yy M oorman. Plain yy Plainer. Park yy Parkman. Pit yy Pittman. Pond yy Ponder. Kayne yy Rayner. Eidge Ridger and Ridgman. Eoss yy Rosser. Eye yy Ryman. Slade yy Slader. Street yy Streeter. Stile yy Styleman. Stock yy Stocker. Stone yy Stoner. * Mr. jBardsley is of opinion that these represent the ‘ cotmanni ’ of Domesday-book. From Toll was formed . Toller. Town „ Toivner. Wych „ Wicker or Witcher. Of the very picturesque name Crosweller I do not know the origin, unless it has been derived from the residence of the first bearer, near such a spot as that described in Marmion— “ A little fountain-cell. Where water, clear as diamond spark. In a stone bason fell. Above, some half-worn letters say— ^ I9rmfe ♦ hjrarg ♦ pilgrim ; tm'nk ♦ ^ ♦ dTor ♦ the ♦ hmtJ ♦ soul ♦ of ♦ * #rew ♦ mu. built, this. . antj. AY ells of reputed sanctity were often ornamented with an image of the patron saint, and with a cross. The primitive Crosweller may have been the custodian of such a sacred fountain. Several other names similarly formed are referable to occupations, and will therefore be enumerated in a future chapter; such are Miller, Parker, Forester, &c. Before leaving local Surnames, I must mention such as are derived from apartments in houses, and which were, most likely, first given to menial servants who served in the respective rooms. Like the foregoing, they generally occur in old records in the form of John i'ihe Kitchen, AYilliam atte Chamber, &c. Jorden de la Sekestrie (sextry), and Eicard. diet’ atte Parlour, occur in the fourteenth century among the records of Lewes Priory. Besides these we have Garret,^ Buttery, and Stair, * A facetious correspondent suggests that ‘ Garret ’ may be a trans- lation of Atticus I and Camden says Sellar, which I have never seen. Chal- mers is the Scottish form of Chambers; and Hall is otherwise accounted for elsewhere. Drawbridge was probably given to the porter of some old moated man- sion, and Cullis may be an abbreviation of port-cullis. To these may be added Chimney. Thus, gentle reader, I have in humble sort set forth the origin, antiquity, and varieties of that branch of our family nomenclature borrowed from the names of places, and if thou hast found aught of gratification in my lucubrations, I am satisfied: if not, close the book : thy taste and mine concur not. I quarrel not with thee, and I trust that thou wilt exercise like forbear- ance with me, recollecting that—De gustibus non disputandum est,”—'‘and soe I bid thee right heartilie farewel.” NOTE TO CHAPTER Y. In the illustration of Local Surnames, in the fore- going chapter, I have confined myself to a few exam- ples, unwilling to encumber my pages, as I might have done, with many thousands of names taken from the towns, villages, and hamlets of England. No reader would thank me for presenting him with a transcript of the “ Villare Anglicanum,” which must have been the case had I achieved the laborious task of collecting a list of all the local surnames extant. When the name of a family coincides with that of a place, it will be safe, as a general rule, to conclude that the surname was borrowed from the locality, and a re- ference to a topographical dictionary of England will solve many a problem in regard to family nomencla- ture. It may not be amiss, however, to furnish a few observations to enable the general reader to trace the, origin of many names of this class. It will be necessary to premise, that as Britain has been successively occupied by various races of people, so each race has stamped upon its localities proper names borrowed from its own language. Hence the ex- isting local nomenclature, though derived for the most part from the Anglo-Saxon or primitive English tribes, comprises a few words from other sources, Celtic, Koman, Danish, and French. I speak, of course, of England, for Wales and the Highlands of Scotland borrow most of their names from the Celtic tongues, and with these we have very little to do. The earliest and most obvious mode of naming places, is the conferring upon them of appellations answering to their nature and situation in the lan- guage of the respective occupants. In the Celtic dialects, for instance, Glynde means a vale. Comb (cwm) a deep valley, and Coburn (caer-bryn) a forti- fied hill. All these occur close together in Sussex. In the Latin, Castrum is a fortified station : this word, corrupted by the Saxons to ceaster’ or Chester,’ is common as a termination to many English towns, In the Anglo-Saxon, Ley and Tun mean a field and an enclosure. In French, Malfosse stands for a dan- gerous ravine, and Beaulieu, for a pleasant situation. Sometimes the name of a place describes its situa- tion or some peculiarity, in a word or phrase taken VOL. I. 7 from the existing language, as Hull (hill), Poole,"^" Newhaven, Newcastle, Bishop’s Stoke. Another, but very limited number of places, bear names derived from some transaction which has occurred in them. Battel in Sussex is an eminent example of this species. Lichfield, ‘ the field of corses/ is another. Some places bear the names of ancient possessors, as ^Ifriches-tune, now Alfriston; Clappa-ham, now Clapham; Cissan-ceaster, now Chichester:—literally, H]lfriclCs enclosure, Clappa’s home, and Cissa’s fortress. So likewise in Normandy, Foucarville, Barneville, the town or residence of Fulcard, of Bernard, &c. Many take their designations from the rivers on which they stand, as Exeter, on the Exe, Plymouth, on the Plym, Yarmouth, on the Yare, Cambridge, on the Cam, Axminster, on the Axe. One very unim- portant little river in Dorsetshire, called the Piddle, gives names to the following parishes in its course, viz., Piddletrenthide, Piddlehinton, Piddletown, Tol- piddle, Alfpiddle, and Turner’s Piddle. Tivaddle is a A^ery unenviable surname ; but when we know, as I can prove, that it is a recent corruption of Tweeddale, it be- comes quite classical. The names affixed to places by the Anglo-Saxons are in general very descriptive, a circumstance which enables a person tolerably acquainted with their noble * M. de Gei’ville observes, that most of the original names of places in Normandy are simply words of description, often signifying merely rivers, mountains, or rocks, without addition: for example, Tire, the name of a town, and Yer, that of two communes, in Lower Normandy, mean ‘ river,’ or the ‘ water sideAbrant, the ancient name of Av- ranches, means nothing else but the embouchure of a river, from ‘Aber,’ mouth, and ‘ ant,’ river. lanOTao;e to arrive at an accurate idea of their situa- tion, or of some principal feature. The noun which denotes a locality is often com- bined with an epithet descriptive of some circum- stance, quality, or natural production of the place. For instance, innumerable places, on the first coloniza- tion by the Anglo-Saxons, received the generic name of tun, signifying an enclosure, or what the Americans would call a ' location.’ If such a place had a clayey soil, it would become Clayton) if it had been pre- viously unoccupied, it would be Newton; it it lay in a level, meadow country, it would be Leighton; if it occupied an eminence, it would be Hilton, In like manner a thorp, or village, would be styled A^c^thorpe, A"ewfchorpe, or Highttior^o, according to the attribute of antiquity, recency, or loftiness of situation proper to it. Again, Stanloj would describe a stony field; Horsloy, a field or district noted for horses; Ashley, a field favourable for the growth of ash-trees. The animal kingdom frequently furnishes the de- scription, thus:— QUADEUPEDS. The Ox. Oxley, Oxenden, Oxenham. Horse. Horsley, Horsfield, Horsebridge.* Cow. Cowley, Cowfold, Cowden. Sheep. Shipley, Shepscombe, Shepton. Ram. Ramsey, Ramslie, Ramscombe. Hare. Haredean, Hareford, Harewood. * While satisfied with the accuracy of the principal of these deriva- tions, I am probably in error in particular instances ; for example, the first syllable of this name, Horsebridge, may be the A.-S. ‘ hurst,’ a wood, rather than the quadruped. ^ 7—2 Goat Goatley, Gotham. Lamb. Lambton, Lamporte, Lambley. Fox. Foxhunt, Foxley, Foxcote. Boar. Boreham, Boresley, Boarswood. Hart. Hartford, Harthill, Hartfieid. Beer. Dereham, Deerhurst. Broch (a badger). Brockesley, Broxbourne. BIEDS. Bird. Birdbrook, Birdham, Birdsall. Stvan. Swanscombe,^' Swanbourne. Eagle. Eaglesfield, Eglesham, EaglesclifFe. Ern (A.-S. for eagle). Ernley, Earnsford. Crow. Crowham, Crawley, Crowhurst. Booh. Bokewood, Bookwith, Bookhurst. Raven. Bavensdaie, Bavenscroft, Bavensden. Finch. Finchley, Fincham, Finchdean. Haivk. Hawkhurst, Hawkesborough. Goose (A.-S. gos). Gosfield, Gosden, Gosford. Many names of places are compounded of one or other of the generic terms alluded to, with a specific word derived from the vegetable kingdom, as : Oah, Oakley, Ockham, Ockwood. Ac (A.-S. for oak). Acton, Acland, Ackworth. Beech. Beechland, Coldbeche, Holbeche. Buch (A.-S. for beech). Buckingham, Buxted, Starbuck. Box. Boxhill, Boxley, Boxgrove. Ash. Ashley, Ashcombe, Ashburnham. Elm. Elmingley, Elmgrove, Elmesley. * This, however, may be Suane’s combe, from Suane or Sweyn, an ■early proprietor. Thorn. Thornhill, Thornton, Thornham. Willow. Willoughby, Willowshed. Alder. Aldershaw, Alderton.* Fine. Pinehurst, Pine well, Pyneham. Birch. Bircham, Birchensty, Birche. Hazel. Haselgrove, Haslewood, Hazelden. Holm. Holmwood, Holmbush, Holmstye. Maple. Maplested, Maplesden, Mapledurham. Heath. Heathfield, Heathcote, Hetherington. Broom. Bromley, Bromfield, Bromsgrove. To enumerate the principal elements of names of places would be little more than to repeat the topo- graphical terms defined in the latter portion of the foregoing chapter, the majority of which not only stand as names of places (and consequently as we have seen as surnames), but are likewise used in com- position with other words. To show in what a variety of connections a single word of this class is found in the formation of place-names, I subjoin a list of those in which stone is a component syllable. Stone, Stondon, Stonebeck, Stonegrave, Stoneham or Stonham, Stonehouse, Stoneleigh, Stonesby, Stones- field, Stonton. The Anglo-Saxon orthography is Stan, whence Stanage, Stanborough, Stancil, Stanbridge, Standewick, Stanford, Stanground, Standish, Stanlake, Stanfield, Stanhoe, Stanhope, Stanion, Stanley, Stan- low, Stanmer, Stanmore, Stanney, Stanningfield, Stan- nington, Stansfield, Stansted, Stanthorne, Stanton, Stanway, Stanwell, Stanwich, Stanwix. The old English pronunciation was Stane, whence Staines, * Alderton may, however, be from Aldrington, a parish in Sussex formerly so pronounced, but which never produced the tree. Steyning, Stainborough, Stainburn, Stainly, Staincliff, Staincross, Staindross, Stainfield, Stainfortb, Stainland, Stainley, Stainmore, Stainton. Here are upwards of parishes, or larger districts (as hundreds, &c.), having stone in some one of its forms, for their initial syllable ; and the number might easily be increased twenty-fold, were all those places adduced which have it in the middle or as a termina- tion. CHAPTEE YL OF SUENAMES DERIVED FROM OCCUPATIONS AND PURSUITS. “ It is not to be doubted but tbeir ancestors have first gotten them by using trades, and the children of such parents being contented to take them upon them, after-coming posterity could hardly avoid them.”—Veestegan. 5 FTER these locall names/’ saith Master Camden, the most in number have been derived from Occupations or Professions for which reason I purpose to make these the subject of my Sixth Chapter. And as some per- plexity might arise in marshalling the various Sur- names according to right rules of precedence, I shall consider it no small advantage to follow so skilful a herald as Mr. Clarencieux throughout these pages.* * Since the above paragraph was written, I have been partly induced to believe that the surnames derived from individual, fore, or, as they are improperly called, Christian names, are more numerous than those which form the topic of the present chapter. Be this as it may, I bave not thought it worth while to disarrange the method adopted in my previous editions. M. de Glerville asserts that “ Le Christianisme a introduit la moitie de nos noms de famille,” but, ? The practice of borrowing names from the various avocations of life is of high antiquity. Thus the Romans had among them many persons, and those too of the highest rank, who bore such names as Figulus,. Pictor, Fabricius, Scribonius, Salinator, Agricola, &c., answering to the Fotters, Paynters, &c., of our own times. These names became hereditary, next in order after the local names, about the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Cocus, Dapifer, &c., we have already seen were borne by men of high rank soon after the Con« quest. There was, as Camden observes, no employ- ment that did not give its designation to one, or to many families. As local names generally had the prefix HE or AT, so these frequently had LE, as Stephen le Spicer, Walter le Boucher, John le Bahere, &c., in the records of the twelfth and two subsequent cen- turies.* Pre-eminent in this family of Surnames, and afford- ing well-nigh matter enough for a separate dissertation, stands Smith, unquestionably the commonest Surname in use. Yerstegan asks— * In the ‘ Chroiiicon Monasterii cle Bello’ is a list, drawn up about the year 1080, of the inhabitants of the then recently-built town of Battel, Here the tradesmen are entered only with their baptismal names, and the designations of their respective employments, as . . . ‘ Goduini coci’ . . . ‘ iEdvardi purgatoris’ . . . ‘Rotberti molen- dinarii,’ . . . ‘ Lamberti sutoris.’ These are mere descri]3tions—not surnames. In the course, however, of 100 or 150 years from that date, in the records of the same establishment, we meet with Surnames borrowed from trades written with capital initial letters, and either with the prefix ‘ Le,’ or without it, as in modern times, as Le Plomer, Le Corduainer, Le Vanner (basket-maker) ; Sanator (physician), Pes- soner (fishmonger), Teyntner (dyer), Bottoner (button-maker?), and Panetier (a server of bread). “From whence comes Smith, all he he Knight or Squire, But from the Smith, that forgeth at the fire ?” —but the antiquary should have been aware that the radix of this term is the Anglo-Saxon 'smitan/ to smite, and that it was therefore originally applied not merely to the Cyclopean fraternity, but also to wheel- wrights, carpenters, masons, and smiters^' in general. It was in fact precisely among our ancestors what ‘ faber ’ was among the Eomans—any smith, forger, hammerer, maker, or mechanical workman. Other- wise it would be difficult to account for the great frequency of the name. The prevalency of this Surname, common alike to country and to town, to the North, the South, the East, the West, to peer and to plebeian, to the Old World and the New, has given rise to a host of jokes and witticisms, good, bad, and indifferent. Some of these Smithiana, rescued from the ephemeral columns of the newspaper, may not be undeserving of a place in our more permanent page. John Smith is, par excellence, the binominal designa- tion most obnoxious to these sallies. Can any reader’s knowledge of his species be so limited as that he can- not immediately call to mind at least half a dozen individuals bearing it ? ‘‘We remember,” says the editor of the Literary Gazette, “ a bet laid and won, that a John Smith had been condemned either to death * The word occurs in the Saxon Chronicle in a w'arlike sense; “ Angles and Saxons came to land, o’er the broad seas, Britain sought; Mighty WAR-SMITHS the Welsh o’ercame!” or transportation at every Old Bailey session during (we forget) two or three years !” Smith, without some rather unusual forename, is scarcely sufficient to identify a person ; and J ohn being perhaps the commonest of Christian names, John Smith may safely be pronounced no name at all. What then shall we say of the coun- tryman who directed a letter, For Mr. John Smith at London,—with spead!” A missive addressed to Prester-John or the Man in the Moon would have been almost as likely to arrive at its destination. Might your name be John Smith T asked an inquisitive New Englander of a stranger. “ Well, yes, it might',' was the reply, “ but it ain't by a long chalk!” ‘ Kobson’s Com- mercial Directory,’ for 1839, comprises a catalogue of no less than nine hundred and sixty-seven traders, in London only, bearing this ubiquitous surname, consi- derably more than one hundred of whom are Johns I It is clear therefore that the wag who got too late to a crowded theatre, could not have adopted a better stra- tagem for obtaining a seat than that of shouting at the top of his voice, “ Mr. Smith’s house is on fire !” He well knew that the audience would at once undergo a discount of some three or four per cent. A late number of the Boston Post states that in March last there was to have been a great meeting of Smiths on Boston Common, to ascertain what branch of the family fell heir to a certain property in England—but the meeting was adjourned, as the common was found inadequate to the accommodation of the large number of the name anxious to attend I’’ Perhaps the best piece of humour relating to this name is that which appeared some years since in the newspapers, under the title of ‘'THE SMITHS. “ Some very learned disquisitions are just now going on among the American journals touching the origin and extraordinary extension of the family of the Smiths.’ Industrious explorers after derivatives and nominal roots, they say, would find in the name of John Smith a world of mystery ; and a philologist in the Providence Journal, after having^ written some, thirty columns for the enlightenment of the public thereanent, has thrown down his pen and declared the subject exhaustless. From what has hitherto been discovered, it appears that the great and formidable family of the Smiths are the veritable descendants in a direct line from Shem, the son of Noah, the father of the Shemitish tribe, or the tribe of Shem: and it is thus derived—Shem, Shemit, Shmit, Smith. Another learned pundit, in the Philadelphia Gazette, contends for the universality of the name J ohn Smith—not only in Great Britain and America, but among all kindreds and nations on the face of the earth. Beginning with the Hebrew, he says the Hebrews had no Christiarh names, consequently they had no Johns, and in Hebrew the name stood simply Shem or Shemit; but in the other nations the John Smith is found at full, one and indivisible. Thus: Latin, Johannes Smithius; Italian, Giovanni Smithi; Spanish, Juan Smithas; Dutch, Hans Schmidt; French, Jean Smeets; Greek, Ion Skmiton; Russian, Jonloff Skmittowski; Polish, Ivan Schmitti- weiski; Chinese, Jahon Shimmit; Icelandic, Jahne Smithson; Welsh, lihon Schmidd ; Tuscarora, Ton Qa Smittia; Mexican, Jontli F’Srnitli. And then, to prove the antiquity of the name, the same savant ob- serves that *■ among the cartouches, deciphered by Bosselini, on the temple of Osiris in Egypt, was found the name of Pharaoh Smithosis, being the 9th in the 18th dynasty of the Theban kings. He was the founder of the celebrated temple of Smithopolis Magna.’ We heartily congratulate the respectable multitude of the Smiths on these profound researches : researches which bid fair to explode the generally received opinion that the great family of the Smiths were the descendants of mere horse-shoers and hammer-men !” The following piece of banter, in the same style, is from a newspaper paragraph of July, 1842: “ By a chain of reasoning not less logical and conclusive than that which enabled Horne Tooke to establish the ety- mological deduction of the word gerhin from King Jeremiah, Sir Edward Bulwer proves, in his beautiful prose-poem of ‘ Zanoni,’ that the common surname of Smith which I had hitherto supposed to have been pro- fessionally derived from Tubal-Cain, or from the family of the Fabricii, so celebrated in Koman history, owes its origin, in point of fact, to the term ‘ Smintheus,’ a title bestowed upon the Phrygian Apollo ! Sir Edward, following the scholiast upon Homer, assigns the name to one of the god’s high priests : but Strabo assures us that it was bestowed upon the deity himself, in conse- quence of his having destroyed an immense number of ^fjuvdat, or rats, with v/hich the country was infested.” Smith is probably of more frequent use as an alias than any other name whatever. A couple of historical instances may be cited. At the begiuning of the reign of Henry IV., the head of the great family of Carring- ton, a partisan of Bichard II., forsook his paternal estate, and became a John Smith; and when the quondam King of the French, Louis-Philippe, abdicated his throne and fled for his life, he assumed the alias of Mr. William Smith! Some of the most unusual, as well as others of the most ordinary, Surnames, are compounds of Smith. It is rather curious, that although the appellations of the blacksmith and the whitesmith, both very common avocations, do not occur as Surnames, that of Brown- smith, an obsolete calling, does. The brownsmith of five centuries since must have been a person of some consideration, when the far-famed brown-hills of our warlike ancestors struck terror into the hearts of their enemies. Nasmyth is probably a corruption of ' nail- smith.’ The Spearsmiths and Shoesmiths were respec- tively makers of spears and of horseshoes. Knyfe- smyth, a name occurring in some records of the county of Derby, explains itself. Goldsmiths are numerous everywhere. Arrowsmith is not uncommon, but it must not be confounded with Arsmith, meaning in Anglo-Saxon, a brazier, from ‘ ar,’ brass. Bucksmith is doubtless a corruption of ‘ bucklesmith.’ “ Brydel bytters, blacke-smythes, and ferrars, Bokell-smythes, horse leches, and gold beters.” Cocke Lorelle’s Bote. In my “ Patronymica Britannica,” pp. 319—321, I have given a dissertation on this surname, with some curious anecdotes on the commonness of it. I may perhaps be pardoned for a little self-quotation here. “There is a German society at Albany, United States, in which the Smiths are so numerous that they are distinguished by descriptive epithets and phrases in the following manner : “ Big Smit. Little Smit. Smit from de hill. Smit from de holler (hollow). Smit mit de store. Smit de hlacksmit. Smit mit de lager bier shop. Smit without any ‘ vrow ’ (wife). Smit wot wants a ‘ vrow.’ Smit mit one leg. Smit mit two legs. Smit mit de pigs. Smit mit de pig head (big head). Smit mit de pig feet (big feet). Smit mit de brick-yard. Smit mit de junk-shop. Smit mit de bolognas. Smit mit one eye. Smit mit two eyes. Smit mit de bone-picker. Smit mit two ‘ vrows.’ Smit mit de swill-cart. Smit mit de segar stumps. Smit mit peach pits. Smit mit de whiskers. Smit mit de red hair. Smit mit no hair. ^ Smit.” In the north of England a socle means a plough- share ; hence ' socksmith/ ludicrously corrupted to Sucksmith and Sixsmiths ! I may further remark that Smith in Gaelic is Goiu : hence McGowan is Smithson. The Gows were once as numerous in Scotland as the Smiths in England, and would be so at this time had not many of them, at a very recent date, translated the name to Smith. But leaving the Smiths and their relatives, let us notice the long list of English Surnames derived from other trades and professions. We have then the Masons and Carpenters, the Bakers and Butchers, the Braziers and Ironmongers, the Butlers and Taverners, the Carters and Wagners^^ the Sadlers and Girdlers, the Tylers and Slaters, the Cartwrights and Plow- rights, thQ Wainwrights Sbnd Sievewrights, the Colemans. and Woodyers, the Boxers and Siveyers, the Taylors and Drapers, the Plowmans and Thatchers,the Far- mers and Shepherds, the Cappers and Shoewrights, the ChapmansX Grocers, the Gowpers or Coopers, the Browkers or Brokers, the Cutlers and Ironmongers^ the Wheelers and Millers, the Tanners and Glovers^ the Oxlads and Steermans, the Wrights and Joiners, the Salters and Spicers, the Grinders and Boulters, the Poets and Prophets, the Hedgers and Ditchers, the Stayners and Gilders, the Moulders and Callenders, the Miners and Mariners, the Spaders and Harrowers, the Thrashers and Mowers, the Pursers and Banckers,^ the Posts and Messengers, the Ensigns and Sargents, the Beemans and Honeymans, the Pilots and Caulkers, the Copperwrights and Stagders, the Drivers and Drovers, the Milliners and Collarmakers, the Bellmans and Paviours, the Trappers and Ginmans, the Lawyers. and Barristers, the Scholars and Preachers, the Jugglers and Praters, the Stonecutters and Day- laborers, the Stalkers and Challengers, the Talkers and Laughers, the Ashhurners and Mustardmakers, the * This is from the German ; it is equivalent, however, to our “ waggoner.” t Thacker, Thackeray, TkacTcwray, and the German Decker, and Delcker, have the same meaning. t “ Chapman was formerly a seller, a cheap-moxi, from ‘ chepe,’ a market, and it is still used in this sense legally, as when we say ‘ dealer and chapman.’”—Knight's Shalcspere. Eastcheap, Westcheap, and Cheapside indicate places of trade. Bards and Rhymers, the Gardeners and Tollers, the Gardmahers and Bookers, the Armorers and Furhishers, the Shipwrights and Goodivrights, the Marchants and Breivers, the Pijjers and Vidlers, the Horners and Drummers, the Bellringers and Hornhloiuers, the Mar- ketmans and Fairmans, the Cooks and Porters, the Hosiers and Weavers, the Caterers and Cheesemans, the Colliers and Saioyers, the Turners and Naylors (nail-makers), the Potters and Potmans, the Hoopers and Hookers, the Portmans and Ferrimans, the Poti- carys and Farriers, the Sellers and Salemans, the Fire- mans and Watermans, the Plummers and Glaisyers, the Alemans and Barleymans, the Skinners and Woolers, the Paynters and Dyers, the Mercers and Bucklers, the Workmans and Pedlars, the Boardmans undiInmans,i]iQ Chandlers und Pressmans, i\\Q Fiddlers and Players, the Rhymers and Readers,^' the Oastlers and Tappers, the Whiters and Blackers, the Grooms and Stallmans, the Ropers and Corders, the Twiners and Stringers, the Leadbeaters and Stonehewers, to which may be added from the Nona Rolls—whether extinct or nob I cannot say—the Quarreours, the Swepers, the Waterleders,'\ the Lymberners, and the Candlemakers. A very great number of words obsolete in our lan- guage, or borrowed from other languages, and there- fore unintelligible to all but philologists and antiqua- ries, are retained in surnames, which thus furnish the etymologist with many an agreeable reminiscence of * The medieval ‘ le Eedere ' was not a lover of books, but a thatcher, who covered buildings with reeds. t A ‘ water-leader ’ was a labourer who led the water into furrows or drains, and was what we should now call a drainer. tlie pursuits and manners of our ancestors. Thus Sutor,* is the Latin, Old English, and Saxon (sutere) for shoemaker; Latimer is a writer of Latin^ or as Camden has it an interpretour.” Chaucer, like Sutor, signifies a member of the gentle craft. Leech,. the Anglo-Saxon (Isece) for physician, is still partially retained in some parts of the country in “ cow-leech^ a business usually connected with that of the farrier. Henry the First, according to Robert of Gloucester, “ —^ ®illeb oi a lamprege to ete, ht0 Ecrlte0 htmberbebe, bargt a itbh mzizC Thwaytes, according to Yerstegan, means a feller of wood, an etymology supported by the A.-S. verb * thweotan,’ to cut, exscindere. Barker is synonymous with Tanner. In the dialogue between King Edward the Fourth and the Tanner of Tam worth, in Percy’s. Relii^ues, we have the following lines: “ What craftsman art thou, said the King, I pray thee telle me trowe ? I am a Barker, Sir, by my trade, Now tell me, what art thou ?” Jenner is an old form of joiner, Bowcher of butcher, and Milner of miller. A Lorimer or Loriner is a maker of bits for bridles, spurs, &c. There is a ' Lori- mers’ Company ’ in London. An Arkwright was in old times a maker of meal-chests, an article found in every house when families dressed their own flour. Burner is an Anglicized form of Fournier (French), a man who keeps an oven or four, a baker—(a baker is still called a fourner in some parts of Kent); Lavender- * The native of Lancashire and the lover of Scottish song will under-, stand the meaning of this term without my aid. Soutar, Sowter, Shufer,, and Suter are only variations of the same name. VOL. I. 8 of Lavandier, a washerman— {Launder and Lander are further contractions of the same word); and Fullinger of Boulanger a baker. A Fargiter is a plasterer; the terms ‘ pargetting ’ and ^ parge-work ’ are of common use in medieval documents in the sense of ornamental plastering: “ Some men wyll have their wallys plastered, some pergetted and whytlymed, some roughecaste.” Hormani Fulyaria, quoted in Gloss, of Architecture. A Dawher is also a plasterer, but probably for a plainer part of the trade. A ^ wimple ’ was a kind of tippet or kerchief for the neck and shoulders of four- teenth-century ladies; hence Wymf)ler. Wehhe, Webber, (and Weber fmm. the German,) are equivalent to weaver; a Sayer is an assayer of metals ; Tucker, a fuller ; and Shearman one who shears worsteds, fustians, &c.—an employment formerly known at Norwich by the designation of shermancraft Banister is the keeper of a bath ; a Fointer was a maker of points,” an obsolete article of dress; and a Filcher a maker of pilches, a warm kind of upper garment, the great-coat of the fourteenth century; hence Chaucer: “ After gret hete cometh cold, No man cast his pylch away.”f Kidder and Kidman are obsolete words for huxter (Goth. ' kyta,’ to deal, hawk), Hellier or Hillyer for * “ As for the cloth of my ladies, Hen. Cloughe putt it to a shereman to dight, and he sold the cloth and ran away.”—Plumpton Cor., Camd. Soc. p. 30. 1" The K.-^. pylche, whence Pilcher, is equivalent to our (or rather to the French) pelisse, which is derived immediately from the Latin pellis, pellicum, skin or fur. A pilcher was also a scabbard, as being made of hide or leather. Mercutio says to Tybalt, “ Will you pluck your sword out of the pilcher by the ears ?” tyler, slater, or thatcher, (A.-S. helan,) sometimes called Hetman or Heilman, and Crowther (and Crowder^ for one who plays upon the crowd, an ancient stringed instrument, the prototype of the modern violin, called in Welsh crwth, and in Irish cruit. Spencer, in his Epithalamion, has *‘The pipe, tlie tabor, and the trembling crouds* A Conder was a person stationed on the sea-shore to watch the approach of the immense shoals of pilchards and herrings, and give notice thereof to the fishermen by certain understood signals, it being singularly a fact, that those migrations cannot be perceived at sea, although from the shore they appear literally to darken the deep. In Cornwall these men are called Hewers (a name probably derived from the A.-S. eawian, to show), and hence the surnames Hewer, Huer, and Ewer, A Midler was a maker of sieves ; a Wait is a minstrel; a Fricker (A.-S. ^fricca ’), a crier or preacher; a Tranter, a carrier; and a Footman, a messenger. In the north of England a hack ” means a mattock or axe, hence Hackmanpossibly either the maker or the user of such an implement. Crocker (and perhaps Croker) means a maker of coarse pottery. The word 'crock,’ in the provincial dialects of the south, signifies a large barrehshaped jar. It was in general use in Chaucer’s days: Spurn not as doth a crocJce against a wal.” Maunder (from the Old Eng. verb ‘maund/ to beg) is beggar,* and Card, a word still in use in Scotland, means a travelling tinker! ‘Napery’ is household Imen; hence Nupper probably stands for a manufacturer * Hence ‘ Maunday Thursday,’ when our soTereigns bestow alms on 8—2 or seller of that article, Seamer is the A.-S. for tailor, and Lomer for a maker of' lomes ’ or tubs. Fortner is believed to mean a combatant in a tilting match, from the old English ‘fortuny,’’ a tournament—the issue of such conflicts being very much dependent upon fortune or chance. is singer. (A.-S. mancgere and monger) is merchant. The monger of Saxon times was a much more important personage than tho^e who, in our days, bear the name. He was the prototype of the merchant-princes of the nineteenth century; he was a dealer in things (unde nomen), which his ship- men brought from many lands ; but our modern mon- gers, be they Ironmongers, Cheesemongers, FellmongerSy Woodmongers, or IcemongersI^ traffic chiefly in a single article. All these compounds stand, I believe, as surnames, but Horsemonger, Newsmonger, Match- monger, and Costard monger (i.e., a dealer in apples), have never been used as such. Tyerman or Fireman probably means a maker of ornaments for the head; tire being, as Johnson sup- poses, a corruption either of ‘ tiara ’ or of ‘ attire.’ “ On her liead she wore a tire of gold. Adorned with gems and ouches.”—Spenser. “Round tires like the moow.’’—Isaiah, c. iii., Y. 18. ‘ Tirewoman,’ an obsolescent word, meaning one whose business it is to make dresses for the head, is retained by Johnson. Perhaps, however, the TyerWAi^ of olden times was no man-milliner, but followed the more masculine occupation of making ready the furni- ture of the battle-field : “ Immediate sieges and the tire of war, Rowl in thy eager mind.”—Thilips. * Icemon^er is a corruption and contraction of Aenmonger, A.-S. or /rowmonger. Lunhunter has cost me conjectures not a few. Art ingenious correspondent suggests the two following etymons : 1. Lone, solitary, having no companion—one who hunted by himself. 2. Loon, Icelandic ‘^lunde,’ a sea-fowl of the genus Colymbus—a hunter of that species of bird. I confess that it would have been more satisfactory had my correspondent identified Iwn or lund with some quadruped bearing such trivial or provincial appellation. Shipster is the Anglo-Saxon ' scip-styra,’ ship-steerer or pilot. “Grogle-eyed Tomson, shepsfer of Lyn.”—Cocke Lorelle’s Bote. Comber, Camber, and the feminine form Kempster^ are from ‘ came,’ and ‘ kembe,’ old forms of comb, and are synonymous with Coomber, a wool-comber. Carder, Towzer, and Tozer, point to another branch of the same craft: ‘ toze ’ and ' towse ’ are synonymous witli tease: “ Upon the stone His wife sat near him teasing matted wool, While from the twin cards tooth’d with glittering wire He fed the spindle of his youngest clhld.” To ‘ toom ’ is to take wool off the cards—hence Tooraer ; a ‘slay’ is an instrument belonging to a loom, whence tSlaymaher. A Blower, sometimes corrupted to Blore, was the man who superintended the blast at a furnace. A Raper is a ropemaker; a Tupman a breeder of rams, called in some places ‘ tups ;’ and a Tilman a farm-labourer. ‘Note’ in the North signifies oxen or neat cattle : hence Notman, which might appear to belong to a coward, really denotes a coi^erd ! Vacker is certainly a cow-keeper. Akerman is the A.-S. ‘aecer- mon,’ a heldman or husbandman; Flatman, ‘flot-mon/ a sailor; Firman, ‘ ferd-mon/ a soldier ; and Score is probably the ^sceawere/ beholder, spectator, or spy, of the same language. In the fourteenth century the jurats of Pevensey, co. Sussex, were called ‘skawers,' in the sense of overseers or superintendents of the marshes. A Tasker is a thrasher, and occurs in that sense in the fifteenth century,—‘ Triturator, a tasker.” (Halliw.) Tubman, Tupper, and Dubher are probably synony- mous with the Germ. 'Taubmann,’ a maker of tubs. " Daube ’ in that language is a stave used in making- tubs, and to ' dub,’ a piece of wood, in the language of our shipwrights and coopers, means to fashion it with an adze. Putter. Potter, and Poutter are the original and true forms of poulterer (to which, as in the cases of fruiterer, upholsterer, &c., an extra -EE has been most absurdly added). In the directions to the Lord Mayor of Lon- don for the reception of the suite of Charles V. when he visited Henry VIII., appears this: “ Item, to appoynt iiij pullers to serve for tlie said persons of all maner 2Jultrxy,'’ and the same king incorporated a ^‘Poutters’ Company.” Cramer is German (kramer), and signifies a retail dealer. A 'cade’ is a cask; hence Cadman is a maker of cades or kegs. Cade, in this sense, was used in Shakspeare’s days: “ Cade. We John Cade, so termed of our supposed father, Diclc. Or rather of stealing a cade of herrings !'' Hen. VI. Act iv. Sc. 2.. In the same play we have an illustration of the name Shearman, before mentioned (page 114). George Bevis loquitur; “ I tell thee, Jack Cade the clothier means to dress the common- wealth and turn it, and set a new nap upon it.” Act iv. Sc. 2. Stafford (to Cade). “ Villain, thy father was a plasterer, and thou thyself a shearman, art thou not ?” ' Aledraper/ a cant term applied to the keeper of an alehouse, is probably of too modern date to have become a family name, yet we have the equally ridiculous de- signation, Alefounder. A Satcher is a maker of sacks or satchells, and a Kilner is a man who attends a fur- nace or kiln. A ‘ slop ’ is a kind of cloak or mantle, also a buskin or boot much used in the fifteenth cen- tury—hence SloperA A Shingler was a man who covered buildings with ‘ shingles,’ or wooden tiles. The occupation is still known in many parts of the South of England, where tiles of oak usually cover the church spires. Mr. Bardsley has some interesting remarks on the wool trade in England as a source of family names (see p. 277, &c.). “ Our one chief staple,” he observes^ was wool, and to export this in a raw, unmanufac- tured state was the early practice. So general was the occupation, that even subsidies to the crown were paid in wool. In 1340, 30,000 sacks of wool were granted to Edward III. while engaged in the French war. ‘ The ribs of all nations throughout the world,’ wrote Matthew Paris, ‘ are kept warm by the fleeces of English wool.’ So early as 1056 we find the Count * The modern s/op-seller, or dealer in ready-made clothes, probably owes his designation to this soui’ce. ■of Cleves obtaining a certain jurisdiction over the burghers of Nimeguen upon condition of presenting to the emperor every year three pieces of scarlet cloth of English wool.” At a later date the colony of Flemings, encouraged by our monarcbs, and settled in the eastern counties, were great manufacturers of woollen goods; and we retain to this day, as familiar words, ( 1, Worsted, from Worstead in Norfolk. 2. Kerseymere, from Kersey in Suffolk. 3. Lindsey (Wolsey), from Lindsey, also in Suffolk; and 4. Hocking (a kind of baize or drugget), from the name of that place in Essex. From this colonization we doubtless get the name of Fleming; and, from other circumstances connected with this important manufacture, we have Woolmans and Woolers, Packers and Lanyers. Staple and Stapler, too, are common surnames. Then we have Card, Carder, Comber, Kemp (?), Toiuzer, or Tozer^ and to the same category, probably, belong WeevCr, Spinner, Fuller, Tucker, and Dyer. Cardmaker was the maker of the ^ cards,’ or combs, by which the wool was smoothed and prepared for the spinner. Webb, or Webberj a weaver, and its feminine Webster— (“ My w ife was a webbe. And woolen cloth made ”*) —may also come in here. Litster, now Lister, a dyer of cloth, and Tenter (le Teinturer) belong to this numerous family. Mr. Bardsley adds Wooder and Woodman; but these be- long, I think, to forestry. Piers Plowman’s Vision. It seems strange that the masculine form of the name should be thus applied to a woman. As a general rule, all names terminating with er indicate some employment or profession. ER is un- questionably derived from the Anglo-Saxon ^ wer ’ or ‘ were ’ a man; hence Salter is Salt-ma']^, and Miller, Mjll-man. These terminations er and man are often used interchangeably; thus we have Potter and Pottman, Tiler and Tilemau, Carter and Cartman, Wooler and Woolman, cum multis aliis. Besides these, we have Horseman, Palfriman, Coltman, Padman (a ‘pad’ was an easy-paced nag), Wainman (corrupted to Wenman), Carman, Coachman, Boatraan, Clothman, Seaman, Tub- man, and Spelman, which, Camden says, means Teamed man,’ but which, I should rather say, signifies a man who worked by ‘ spells ’ or turns with another, if indeed it be not intended for a necromancer, charmer, or worker of spells. Tha ongunnon lease men wyi’can ‘ spell.’ Then began false men to work spells. Boet. 38, i. I may add, however, that ‘ spelman ’ is the Swedish, and ‘speilmann’ the German, for a wandering musi- cian, while ‘ spielrnaii ’ in the Scottish dialect means a climbing man. A ‘ spill ’ is a spindle or a lath; hence Spiller, Speller, and Spillman may be makers of spindles or makers of laths. The latter business, it may be ob- served, still maintains its existence as a sejiarate branch of industry in some districts. One of the most singular features in this department of our family nomenclature is the existence of several surnames terminating in -ster, which is the regular Anglo-Saxon form of feminine nouns of action, as ER is of masculine ones. The word ‘ Spinster ’ is the regular feminine of ‘ spinner ’ and not of bachelor, as Bindley Murray would have us suppose. Bcecestre, sangstre, and seamestre, are the regular feminines of boecere^ baker, sangere, singer, and seamere, tailor; hence it is evident that— Tapster is the feminine of Tapper. Baxter and Bagster Whitster „ Webster „ Kempster „ Sangster „ Fewster „ Breivster Baker. Whiter (a fuller). Webber (weaver). Kember (comber).^' Sanger (singer). Fewer (A.-S. feoh-fee),afeofee. Brewer. That the business of brewing was anciently carried on by women is evident from the following authorities: In Sir John Skene’s Borough Laws, ‘ Browsters ’ are described as ^ Wemen quha brewes aill to be sauld.’ Gif she makes gude ail,” says an old Scottish statute, that is sufficient. Bot gif she makes evill ail she shall pay audit shillinges or sail be put upon the cock- stule, and the aill sail be distributed to the pure folke.” In the Custumal of the town of Rye we read, “ if a brfister, free, hath made ale, and sell it in the foreign, in fairs or in markets, and the lord of the soil will distress her against her will for the sale of the said ale, &c.”‘[‘ Mr. Ponlson, in his ^ History of Beverley,’ observes that “Artificers were by statute of 27 Edw. III. c. 5, 6. tied down to one occupation with an exception of female brewers, bakers, weavers, spinners and other women employed upon works in wool, linen, or silk * a ‘ kempster.’ Nominale MS. ^ t Hollowaj’s Eye, p. 155. embroidery, &c. If this act had been in the language of the country, the same terms would have been used as will frequently occur in these pages, namely Brewster, Baxter, Webster, &c., the termination ster signifying a woman (not a man) who brews, bakes, weaves, &c.” The same learned writer thus shows how these names of feminine employments could be- come hereditary surnames : When men began to in- vade those departments of industry by which women used to earn an honest livelihood, they retained the feminine appellations for some time, as men mid-wives and men-milliners do now; but afterwards masculine words drove the feminine ones out of the language, as men had driven the women out of the employments. ‘ Spinster ’ still retains its genuine termination ; and the language of the law seems to presume that every unmarried woman is employed in spinning.”^ Dexter appears to be a feminine form—but of what ? Although no such word as ^ daegestre’ occurs in the Saxon dictionary, may it not be a compound of ^ daeg,^ ‘ dag,’ day, and the feminine termination alluded to, and so signify a woman that works by the day—a charwoman ? Bewtress looks like the feminine of pewterer, but I * Beverlac, p. 128, This curious subject deserves further illustra- tion ; but it belongs rather to general etymology than to my special department. I cannot, however, pass unnoticed a singular fact in re- lation to the words younker and youngster, the former of which is the proper masculine, and the latter the correctIn the mutation which nearly the whole of this class of words has undergone, younker has been discarded from the vocabulary of polite persons, and degraded to a nautical vulgarism, while youngster has been transferred from the girl to the boy! •am not aware that this calling w^as ever carried on by women. There is a string of names derived from occupations which sound right oddly when placed in juxtaposition, and which, pvimd facie, would appear to be fully as applicable to the equine as to the human species; namely, Traveller, Walker, Ryder, Ambler, Trotter, Hopper, Skipper, Jumper, and Hohler! Of these, Traveller was probably given to some one who, like Maundevile, had visited ‘ straunge contries and ilands." A Trotter (synonymous with Trotman) was the run- ning-footman of the middle ages. So early as the thirteenth century we dnd the word Latinized ‘ Trot- tariusand in some monkish statutes of the date of 1218, mentioned by Fosbroke, it is enjoined that “every one be content with a horse and a trotter.” In the MS. romance of Aubrey, the hero’s valet is called his trotting servitor—son serjant trotier, and it is from this expression that Taylor, the water-poet, speaks of a trotting footman.* Walker signities either (A.-S. wealcere) a fuller, or an officer, whose duty consisted in ‘ walking’ or in- specting a certain space of forest-ground. HiDER means another forest officer, a superintendent (as I take it) of the ‘ walkers,’—a ranger, wlio derived his name from the circumstance of his being mounted, as having a larger district to supervise. In the ballad of 'William of Cloudesley,’ &c., the king, rewarding the * Encyclopaedia of Antiq., voc. Running footman, t In the Noith of England a fulling-mill is still called a * walk- mill,‘ and at Alfrich, co. Worcester, there are sou)e thin strata of unctuous clay of a wliitish hue, still called “ walker’s clay.” Ex inf. Jabez Allies, Esq., f.s.a. dexterity of the archer who shot the apple from his child’s head, says :— “ I give thee eightene-pence a day, And my bowe thou sha]t here, And over all the north contiA, I make thee chyfe rydere!’'*—Percy’s Reliques. Ambler, anciently le Amblour, is from the French, * amhleur,’ an officer of the king’s stable. Hopper probably signified an officer who had the care of swans. By swan-‘ hopping,^ or ^upping,’ was meant the search- ing for and marking of the swans belonging to parti- cular proprietors. It must not be forgotten, however, that the A.-S. hoppere means a dancer. Skipper (A-S-t scipere, a sailor) is a very ancient term for the captain or master of a vessel; Jumper possibly meant a maker of‘jumps,’ that is, a kind of short coats or boddices for women while Hohler is most unques- tionably a contraction of ‘hobbelar'’ or ‘hobiler,’ a person who by the tenure of his lands was obliged to keep a hobby or light horse, to maintain a watch by the side of a beacon, and to alarm the country§ in case of the enemy’s approach in the day-time, when the fire of the beacons would not be discernible from a distance. It would seem also that the term was some- times used to signify persons of the equestrian order,, lower in dignity than knights, and probably mounted on meaner and smaller animals. In an ancient ro- mance we read of * It is worthy of remark, however, that Ryder, Lord Harrowby, claims from Rjther in Yorkshire. t In Denmark the master of a vessel is now called a sMpper, i.e., shipper,” as in England. X Bailey’s Dictionary. [ § Eenn’s Paston Letters. , “ Ten thousand knights stout and fers (fierce) Withouten hohelers and squyers.” The etymology of Dancer is sufficiently obvious; the first of that name doubtless possessed peculiar skill in the art saltatory. Perhaps, after all, the names Hopper and Jumper were acquired by proficiency in the gymnastic exercises to which at first sight they seem to refer. Massenger is an evident corruption of the French " messager,’ a messenger, a, bearer of despatches, &c. Pottinger is the Scottish for apothecary,^'" and Lardner is an obsolete word for swine-herd, or rather a person who superintended the pannage of hogs in a forest. Names of the foregoing description, however mean in their origin, are now frequently found among the highest classes of society. The names Collier and Balter are, or have been, in the British peerage, although those occupations were once considered so menial and vile that none but bondmen would follow them. Some names of this sort have been changed in orthography to hide their original meanness ; ‘"molli- fied ridiculously,” as Master Camden hath it, “ lest their bearers should seem vilified by them.” Carteer, Smeeth, Tayleure,f Cuttlar, &c., are frequently met with as the substitutes of Carter, Smith, Tailor, and Cutler. “ Wise was the man that told my Lord Bishop that his name was not Gardener as the English pro- * Jamieson’s Scottish Dictionary. + A Mr. Taylor who had by “ ridiculous mollification” become Mr. TayZewre, once haughtily demanding of a farmer the name of his dog, the honest son of the soil replied, “Why, sir, his proper name is Jowler, but since he’s a consequential kind of puppy, we calls him JouleureT^ nounce it, but Gardiner, with the French accent, and therefore a gentleman!'^ Some names have reference to military pursuits, as Arhlaster,-\ Hookman, Billman, Spearman, Bowman, Bannerman. The number and variety of surnames connected with the pleasures of the chase furnish evidence of the pre- dilection of our progenitors for field-sports. Thus we have in great abundance our Hunters, Fowlers, Fishers, Falconers, {Faulkners, and Fawkeners^ Hawkers, Anglers, Warreners, Bowyers, and Bowmakers, Strin- gers, that is bow-string makers. Arrow-smiths, Fletchers (from the Fr. ‘ fleche’), that is, either an arrow-maker, or more generally, a superintendent of archery. But some of these may be official names, and, therefore, more properly belong to my next chapter. Buck- master, Buckman, Hindman, Stagman, and Hartman were probably servants to the " Parker,’ ancFhad the care of herds of venison. Brockman is a hunter of "brocks’ or badgers. A "tod’ in Scotland and the north of England, is a fox; hence Todhunter is' a fox- hunter, though not in the red-coated sense of that term. A northern correspondent informs me that he knows an old man, a destroyer of foxes, who calls himself, and is called, the "" Old Tod-hunter of Grapington,” in Craven. The expression "" wily tod ” occurs in the writings of Wycliffe. Todman also occurs as a sur- name. Burder signifies a bird-catcher or fowler, as the following jest, written upwards of three centuries since, will prove ;— "" There was a doctour on a tyme, whiche desired a Camden. t Tide infra. fouler, that went to catche byrdes with an owle,"^' that he might go with hym. The hyrder was content, and dressed him with bows, and set hym by his onle, and bade him say nothynge. When he saw the byrdes alyght a pace, he sayde: There be many byrdes alyghted, drawe thy nettes, where-with the byrdes he we awaye. The hyrder was very angry, and blamed him greatly for his speakyng. Than he promysed to hold his peace. When the hyrder was in again, and many byrdes were alyghted, mayster Doctour said in Latyn, Ayes permulte adsunt : wherwith the byrdes flewe away. The hyrder came out ryghte angrye and sore displeased, and sayde, that by his bablynge he had twyse loste his pray. ‘ Why, thinkest thou, foole," quoth the doctour, ‘ that the byrdes do vnderstand Latin T 'Low’ is the Scottish for fire, and 'low-hellers’ are, according to Blount,J men " who go with a light and a bell, by the sight whereof birds, sitting on the ground, become somewhat stupified, and so are covered with a net and taken.” Hence Lower is perhaps a hird- catcher. The Teutonic ' loer ’ is one who lays snares ; and Lowrie in the Scottish dialect signifies a crafty person, in allusion probably to the same occupation. In the records of the Middle Ages, the surnames of individuals are generally Latinized, and the Latin ex- pressions seem occasionally to have superseded the ori- ginal English ones. Hence Mercator^ Tonsor, Faher, in this class are still found as family names. * Probably a peculiar kind of net. Halliwell does not give the •word in this sense. t Tales and Quicke Answers, very mery, &c. J Law Dictionary. Although the opinion of Verstegan, cited in the motto of the present chapter, is supported by the strongest possible evidence as to the vast majority of instances, it is equally certain that in a few cases names of trades have been given as cognomens to persons above plebeian rank. For example, Willelmus Faber, a Norman monk who enjoyed the favour of William the Conqueror, and assisted him in the foun- dation of Battel Abbey on the site of the conflict which had given him the crown, acquired his surname from the following circumstance. As he was engaged one day with his brethren in the not very ascetic pursuit of hunting, the party had exhausted their arrows, and were fain to apply to a neighbouring blacksmith for a new stock of these missiles; but the mechanic being unskilled in this kind of work, Wil- liam seized his tools and presently produced an arrow of excellent workmanship. Hence his companions jocularly called him Faber, or the smith, a name which he was unable afterwards to lay aside.^ The following somewhat analogous instance may well excite the reader’s astonishment: the surname Butcher was given as a title of honour. “Le Boucher,” says Saintfoix, “was anciently a noble surname given to a general after a victory, in commemoration of his having slaughtered some thirty or forty thousand men !”•[• * Quod cum sodalibus venatum aliquando profectus, sagittis forte deficieutibus, cum quendam fabrum liujuscemodi operis ignarum adissent, ipse malleis arreptis mox sagittam artificio iugenio compegit. Hinc Fabri nomen obtinuit.—Chronicon Monasterii de Bello. + Le Boucher etoit anciennement un surnom glorieux qu’on donnoit a un general, apres une victoire—en reconnoissance du carnage qu’il avoit fait de trente ou quarante mille hommes.—Saintfoix, Historical Essays. VOL. I. 9 Horribile dictu !—henceforward let all lovers of peace exclaim— One murder makes a villain : millions a Butchek !” NOTE TO CHAPTER VI. With respect to the application of the surnames treated of in the foregoing chapter, we may observe that there was much greater propriety in making the names of occupations stationary family names than appears at first sight; for the same trade was often pursued for many generations by the descendants of the individual who in the first instance used it. Some- times a particular trade is retained by most of the male branches of a family even for centuries. Thus the family of Oxley, in Sussex, were nearly all smiths or ironfounders during the long period of 280 years. Most of the Ades of the same county have been farmers for a still longer period. The trade of weav- ing has been carried on by another Sussex family named Wehh (weaver) as far back as the traditions of the family extend, and it is not improbable that this business has been exercised by them ever since the first assumption of the term as a surname, by some fabricator of cloth in the thirteenth or fourteenth cen- tury. But the most remarkable instance of the long retention of a particular avocation by one man’s pos- terity is in the family of Purkess, of the New Forest in Hampshire. The constant tradition of the neighbour- hood states, that when William Rufus met his un- timely end in that forest, there lived near the fatal oak a poor '^coleman,” or maker of charcoal, who lent his cart for the purpose of conveying the royal corse to Winchester, and was rewarded with an acre or two of land round his hut. His immediate descendants of the same name live there still, and yet carry on the same trade, without one being richer than another for it. This family is deemed the most ancient in the county. {Gough’s Camden) According to a recent newspaper paragraph, the last representative of this ancient plebeian line is lately deceased, though the name still exists elsewhere. 9—2 CHAPTER VII. OF SURNAMES DERIVED FROM CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTI- CAL DIGNITIES, AND FROM OFFICES. LOSELY allied to the Surnames discussed in the preceding chapter are those which were originally borrowed from dignities and offices. * The following lists of names of this class are arranged according to the rules of precedence. CIVIL DIGNITIES. Emperor, King, Prince, Duke, Marquis, Earle, Barron (sic), Lord, Knight, Chevalier, Squire, Gentleman, Yeoman ; to which may be added the corrupt Latinizations, Frinsep (princeps), and Arminger (armiger). ECCLESIASTICAL DIGNITIES. Pope, Cardinal, Bishop, Bysshopp, &c., Abbott, Prior, Pryor, Dean (qu. local ?), Archdeacon, Eector, Parsons, Vicar, Vickers, Vic ary. Priest, Deacon, Deakin, &c.. Clerk, Clarke, &c.,'^ Chaplin (Caplin ?), Friar, Fryer, Freere, Frere (Chaucer, passim). Monk, Nunn ! Saxton ; and the Latinized form, Pontifex; to which may be added, Benet (now Bennett), one of the orders of the Catholic church, the ‘exorcista,’ conjuror, or caster out of evil spirits, and Golet, an acolyte, the fourth of the minor orders of priests, Boniface V.,” says Becon, “ decreed that such as were but henet and colet should not touch the reliques of saints, but they only which are subdeacons, deacons, and priests.”*[* Noviss (novice) is likewise a surname, and Lister is in all probability the Anglo-Saxon ‘ listre,’ a person who read some part of the church service ; (but see a subsequent chapter). The following offices have lent their designations as surnames: Alderman, Bailey, Beadle, Botiler or Butler^ Burgess, Chancellor, Chamherlayne, Constable, Castellan, Champion (and Campion), Councilman, Catchpole, * Adam the clerk, son of Philip the scribe, occurs as the designation of a person mentioned in an ancient record at Newcastle. Clerk, clericus, a man of some learning, however small, has always bi’oadened into Clarke. Nowadays, some young men in lawyers’ and merchants’ offices style themselves clurks ! t Way’s Prompt. Parv. in voc. ‘ Benett.’ Forester, Falconer (often written Faleonar, and still oftener Fawhier and Faulkner), Groome, Henchman, Legatt (i.e., legate), Mayor (with its French form Le- maire, and the O. Eng. Meyer), Marshall, Provost (with its corruption Provis), Page, Proctor, Porter, Portman, Ranger, Reeve (pluralized to Reeves), Steivarcl (and Stewart or Stuart, by crasis Starts), Sizar, Sherif (with Shireff), Serjeant (corruptly Sargent), Tipstaff, Ussher, Warden and Woodreeve, with its various forms of Woodriff] Woodroafe, Woodruff, Woodrough, and (probably) Woodroiv. The names of many offices, obsolete either as to themselves or as to their ancient designations, are re- tained as family names, as— ; Chalmers (Scot.) = Camerarius, chamberlain. Le Despenser, corruptly Spencer, a steward. Horden has the same meaning. The ancestor of the family of Spencer, Duke of Marlborough, was ' dispensator ’ or steward to the household of William the Conqueror. Grosvenor, anciently held the office of le Gros Veneur, or great huntsman to the Dukes of Normandy. Bannerman, in Scotland, was a name of office borne by the king’s standard-bearer. It was an hereditary post, and existed temp. Malcolm IV., and William the Lion.* ^ Seneschal,’ a steward, is now vilely corrupted to Snashall! Staller, according to Camden, is a standard-bearer. Foster, a nourisher—one who had the care of the children of great men. We have also Nurse, as a sur- name. Foster, however, is sometimes a corruption of ' forester.’ * Nisbet, Syst. of Heraldry, vol. i. p. 405. Kempe, a soldier, especially one who engaged in single combat. In this sense it has been revived in the works of Sir Walter Scott. Kempes and kemperye-men for warriors or fighting-men occur in the ballad of King Estmere in Percy’s Keliques: “ They had not ridden scant a myle, A myle forthe of the towne, But in did come the kynge of Spayne, With kempes many a one. Up then rose the Jcemperye-men And loud they gan to crye Ah! traytors, you have slayne our kynge, And therefore you shall dye.” A kemper is still used in Norfolk in the sense of a stout, hearty, old man—a veteran. The A.-S. cempa has also supplied us with the surnames Gamp, Champ, and Camper. Campion and Champion have come to us through the French, from the same root. The Swedish Kempenfelt and the Spanish Campeaclor belong to this family. Kimber is also synonymous; “ kimher, enim, homo bellicosus, pugil robustus, miles, &c., significat.”* ' Bate ’ is conflict, contention; and hence Bateman is a member of the same belligerent tribe. Segar and Seagar (A.-S. sigere), a vanquisher. So says Verstegan; but a northern correspondent informs me that this is a provincialism for ‘ sawyer.’ Wardroper, a keeper of the royal wardrobe: the officer bore this designation temp. Hen. VIII. Latimer. This name was first given to Wrenoc ap Merrick, a learned Welshman, who held certain lands by the service of being latimer or interpreter between the Welsh and the English; and the name of his office Sheriugliam. descended to Lis posteritj^, who were afterwards ennobled as English peers5‘ The older and more correct form is latiner, one who understands Latin. Maundevile directs travellers to take with them “ Latyneres to go with hem into tyme (until) they conne the langage.” Valvasour (now more generally written Vavasour)^ an office or dignity taking rank below a baron and above a knight. Bracton says, “there are for the civil government of mankind, emperors, kings, and princes, magnates, or and knights.” In the Norman reigns there was a king’s valvasour, whose duty pro- bably consisted in keeping ward ad valvas Begni, at the entrances and borders of the realm; whence the name. Gilmour, Anglicized to Gilmore, was the designa- tion of the henchman or principal follower of a chief in Scotland. It appears to be derived from the Celtic “ gillie-mohr,” great servant. Arhlaster, a corruption of Balistarius, one who directed the great engines of war used before the invention of cannon, a crossbow-man. “ In the kernils (battlements) here and there, Of Arblastirs grete plentie were ; None armour might ther stroke withstonde, It were foly to prese to honde.”—Rom. of the Rose. From another form of the word—' Alblastere,’—comes the apparently absurd name Alabaster. Spigurnell, a sealer of writs. Avery. Camden places this among Christian names, but query, is it not the name of an office—Aviarius, a keeper of the birds ? The Charter of Forests (section 14) enacts that “every freeman may have in his woods * Burke’s Ext. Peerage. avyries of sparhawks, falcons, eagles, and herons.” But there is another distinct derivation of this nanae, for avery, according to Bailey, signifies “ a place where the oats (avenoe) or provender are kept for the king’s horses.” Franklin, a dignity next to the esquires and gentle- men of olden times, the ancient representative of the class of superior freeholders, known in later times as country ’squires. Fortescue (De Legibus Anglise, c. 29) describes sl franklein as “ pater-familias—magnis di- tatus possessionibus.” “ Moreover, the same country (namely England) is so filled and replenished with landed menne, that therein so small a thorpe cannot be found wherein dwelleth not a knight or an esquire, or such a householder as is there commonly called a franklein, enriched with great possessions, and also other freeholders and many yeomen, able for their live- lyhood to make a jury in form aforementioned.”* Chaucer’s description of a Franklin is everything that could be wished :— “A Feankelein was in tliis compagnie ; White was his herd, as is the dayesie. Of his complexion he was sanguin. Wei loved he by the morwe a sop in win[e] To liven in delit was ever his wone. For he was Epicure’s owen sone, That held opinidn that plein delit Was veraily felicite parfite. An householder, and that a grete was he ; Seint Julian,f he was in his contree; His brede, his ale, was always after on ; A better envyned t man was no wher non, * Old Translation of Fortescue de L. L. Ang. t St. Julian was the patron of hospitality. . X Envyned, that is, stored with wine. Witliouten bake-mete never was bis bous, Of fisb and flesb, and that so plenteous, It snewed in bis bous of mete and drinke, Of alle daintees that men coud of tbinke, After the sondry sesons of the yere, So changed be bis mete and his soupere. Eul many a fat partricb badde be in mewe, And many a breme, and many a luce in stewe. Wo was bis coke, but if bis sauce were Poinant and sbarpe, and ready all bis gere. His table dormant in bis balle alway Stode redy covered alle the longe day. At sessions tber was be lord and sire, Ful often time be was knight of tlie shire ; An anelace, and a gipciere all of silk Heng at bis girdel, white as morwe milk. A sbereve badde be ben, and a countour. Was no wber swicbe a worthy vavasour.”* Heviot, a provider of furniture for an army. Ver- steg. Cohen, a common name amonst the Jews, signifies priest. Somner, one whose duty consisted in citing delin- quents to the ecclesiastical courts; an apparitor. The ofiSce existed in Chaucer s time under the orthography of sompnoure, literally summoner—sompne being then, the mode of spelling the verb. In the Coventry Mys- teries we have the following :— “ Sim SoMNOB, in bast wend thou tbi way, Byd Joseph, and bis wyff be name, At the coorte to apper this day, Hem to pourge of her defame.” Chaucer’s portrait of the Sompnour is one of the best in his inimitable gallery. He * Canterbury Tales, Prologue. Vol. i. p. 44. Edit. 1825. . . . . liadde a fire-red clierubirmes face * * * • * With scalled browes blake and pilled herd, Of his visage children were sore aferd. [He loved] to drinke strong win as rede as blood. Then wolde he speke, and crie as he were wood [mad]. And whan that he wel dronken had the win, Than wolde he speken no word but Latin. Afewe termes coude* he^ two or three That he had lerned out of som decree ; No wonder is, he herd it all the day; And eke ye knowen wel, how that ajay Can clepen watte, as wel as can the pope. But who so wolde in other thing him grope,f Than hadde he spent all his philosophie. Ay, Questio quid juris, wolde he crie,” &c., &c. J To this list of official names I may add Judge ; but bow the word Jury became the name of a single per- son, I do not pretend to guess. [On reconsideration, ^Juvy! appears to be a corrupt spelling of Jewry, and is therefore a local name. That part of a city or town inhabited by Jews was formerly styled ‘the Jewrie,” as the Old Jewry in London. Chaucer, in his Prioress’s Tale (14,899), says: “There was in Acy (Asia) in a great citee, Amonges Cristen folk a Jewerye, Susteyned by a lord of that centre. For foul usure, and lucre of felonye. Hateful to Crist and to his compaigne : And thurgh the strete men might ride and wende, For it was free and open at everich ende.”] Foreman was probably adopted by some one who had served on a jury in that capacity. Association of ideas reminds me of another important functionary, * He knew. f Examine. X Cant. Tales, Prologue. Dempster, the common hangman, unless indeed it signifies a judge of the Isle of Man, as the judges of that little kingdom formerly bore this designation. Lochman is a Scottish word for the public execu- tioner. Several names end in grave, meaning a steward or disposer; as Waldegrave, a steward of the forest; Margrave, a steward or warden of the marches or frontiers; Hargrave, the provider of an army. I think, however, that these names were not indigenous to England, but brought from Germany, where is synonymous with count, and ‘ Pfalzgraf,’ whence our Palgrave, is a count-palatine. Grave, in Lancashire, especially in the disafibrested districts, means a con- stable, and constables’ rates are called ' grave-leys.’ A ‘ dikereeve ’ or ‘ dikegrave,’ in Lincolnshire, means one who has the care of dikes and drains. Dyheman and PicJcman probably signify the same official. Pilgrim and Palmer are neither offices nor dignities, yet they may find a place here. The Palmer diftered from a common pilgrim in making a profession of wan- dering. The pilgrim laid aside his weed and cockle when his pilgrimage was done, and returned to the world; but the palmer wandered about incessantly; his pilgrimage was only laid aside at death. He de- rived his name from the palm-hranch he constantly carried as a pledge of his having been in the Holy Land. In the church of Snodland, in the diocese of Rochester, was formerly an inscription to the memory of Palmer, of Otford, Esq., containing several puns or allusions to this name and profession. JJalmeris all obir J^aUers biere, jf a palmer Ittiiilj here. EtttJ trauwFlJ still, till borne b^tli age, If enUniJ this borlU^s |jnlgramage, Cn the hirst ^ssention^tyag, ]fn the cherful month of iilan, ^ thousand bgth fobre hunUrntj, seuen, Enlj tovh mg iorneg hence to f^euen/'^ Sir Walter Scott has given us a sketch of a palmer in “ Marmion “ Here is a holy Palmer come From Salem first, and last from Eome, One that hath kissed the blessed tomb, And visited each holy shrine In Araby and Palestine ; On hills of Armenie hath been, Where Noali’s ark may yet be seen ; By that Red Sea too hath he trod Which parted at the Prophet’s rod; In Sinai’s wilderness he saw The Mount where Israel heard the law, ’Mid thunder-dint and flashing levin,* And shadowy mists and darkness given. He shows St. James’s cockle shell; Of fair Montserrat too can tell; * Levin, lightning. I have a cordial hatred of the hypercritical spirit which delights in preferring the charge of plagiarism against any poet who happens to express a sentiment in words resembling those of some previous author; it is not therefore out of any such feeling that I beg to call the attention of the reader to the striking resemblance between Scott’s line— “ Mid thunder-dint and flashing levin,” and Chaucer’s (v. 5858, Wright,) “ With wilde thunder dynt and fuyry levene ”— which is probably purely accidental. And of that Grot wliere olives nod, Wliere, darling of each heart and eye, Erom all the youth of Sicily Saint Eosalie retired to God. •i:- * * -n- His sable cowl o’erhung liis face; In his black mantle was he clad ; With Peter’s keys in cloth of red On his broad shoulders wrought; The scallop-shell his cap did deck ; The crucifix around his neck Was from Loretto brought His sandals were with travel tore, Staff, budget, bottle, scrip he wore ; The faded palm-branch in his hand Shewed pilgrim from tlie Holy Land.” The origin of the name of Gear is curious. In the- olden tyme great men employed an officer to super- intend the provision of their entertainments and the equipment of their armed retainers ; and, as all sorts of wearing apparel, arins,"^ utensils, and chattels in general, were called geve or gear, this person would very naturally acquire the name of John-of-the-Gear, Jolm-o-Gear, and, at length, John Gear. The termination ward indicates some office, and is. equivalent to keeper or custos—thus Milward is the keeper of a mill (probably some manorial or monastic mill), and Milman the same; Kemvard, the dog- keeper, or more probably, Kinetvard, the cow-keeper ; Ayhuard, the ale-keeper; Durward, the porter or door-keeper; Hayward, the keeper of a common herd * Thus in the old poem of Flodden Field : “ Then did he send Sir William Buhner, And bad hym on the borders lye, With ordinance and other ^ear. Each fenced house to fortify.” of cattle belonging to some town; and Woodward, a forest-keeper, “ an officer that walks with a forest-bill, and takes cognizance of all offences committed, at the next swain>mote or court of attachments.”* Howard may belong to this family of names, but antiquaries are not agreed as to the meaning of the first syllable. Houard is still a surname in Normandy. Camden makes it the high-warden ; Spelman, the hall-heejper ; Verstegan, the keeper of a strong-hold ; and Skinner, a Jceeper of hospitality. What such great names cannot agree upon, I shall not attempt to decide. Ward also stands as a surname, as do Warden and Guard, which have the same meaning. Co^tomer, a collector of customs. Granger, the superintendent of a grange—a great farm pertaining to some abbey or priory. Portman, an officer, now called a portreeve, with duties similar to those of a mayor. The sessions of some of the older corporations were formerly called portmannimotes, or portman’s courts. Landseer, probably a land-steward or bailiff. Palliser, a person who had the care of the palings of a park or forest. Poynder, a bailiff, one who distrains. The singular name of Twentyman appears to be a translation of Vintenarius, a military officer who had the charge of twenty soldiers, as the Centenarius, his superior, had of a hundred. Both these terms occur in a muster-roll of temp. Edw. III., before me. Having given this long list of names derived from titles and offices, I shall next attempt to account for Bailey’s Diet. their having been adopted as the designations of families. That the first of the name of King, Prince, or Duke, held either of those dignities is too preposterous for belief Nor is it more likely that the inferior titles of Knight and Squire were so derived, for that would have been a mean kind of nomenclature. If a person were really a. knight or an esquire, he would prefer styling himself Sir Roger de Such-a-place, or John So- and-So, Esquire, to taking the simple designation of his rank as a surname. Again, in ecclesiastical digni- ties, such names if adopted could not have been perpe- tuated, seeing that all churchmen, from his holiness of Rome down to the meanest mass-priest, led a life of celibacy, and consequently had no recognized posterity. It has been conjectured, however, that these names indicate bastardy, and that the persons bearing them are thus bond fide of royal, papal, knightly, squirely, or priestly descent—a plausible surmise, but the proofs are wanting. Most of these names, particularly those of the secular description, were probably borrowed from the first users of them having acted or personated such characters in mysteries or dramatic representations; or from their having been chosen, as Camden supposes, leaders of the popular sports of the times, as Kings of the Bean, Christmas Lords, &c. The same high authority re- minds us that the classical ancients had such names as '' Basilius^ Archias, Archelaus, Flaminius, Csesarius, Augustulus, &c., who, notwithstanding, were neither Kings, Priests, Dukes, nor Csesarsthough Sigonius thinks the Flaminii and the Pontificii descendants of persons who held the sacerdotal office. There are those who think the clerical names ori- ginated from widowers, who had gone into the church and gained particular offices in it, having given the desiofnations of such offices as surnames to their chil- dren. The Rev. Mark Noble thinks that such as took these names held lands under those who really bore them. This may be true of some of them, both lay and clerical, but it does not account for the higher dignities, as Pope and Emperor, which have never existed in this country. Of all these conjectures, Camden’s, although the most humiliating, seems the most probable. The French name of Archevesque (Archbishop) is thus accounted for. Hugh de Lusignan, an archbishop, becoming unexpectedly entitled to the seignories of Parthenay, Soubize, &c., obtained the pope’s dispensa- tion to marry, on the condition that his posterity should take the name of Archbishop, and bear, for ever, a mitre over their arms. Mr. Kemble mentions an instance of an Anglo- Saxon, A.D. 653, who, according to Florence of Wor- cester, bore the name of Benedictus Biscop (bishop), but who certainly never enjoyed episcopal honours. And Eadberht, the last trueborn king of Kent, was surnamed ‘ Pren,’ or the priest: this personage, how- ever, had received ordination to the clerical office prior to his advancement to the regal dignity. None of the objections just adduced apply to sur- names borrowed from offices of the inferior kind, as .Steward, Reeve, Parker, &c.; and we have evidence that family names were borrowed from the offices held by the founders of houses. According to Carew, the Porters of Cornwall derived their name from the office 10 VOL. I. of porter of Trematon Castle, anciently hereditary in the family under the Dukes of Cornwall. We have already seen that the name of Spencer originated in a similar manner; hut there is a more illustrious instance. The name of Stuart, borne for centuries by the regal family of Scotland and England, descended to them from Walter, grandson of Banquo, who in the eleventh century was steivard of Scotland. In conclusion, I may remark that these high-sound- ing surnames are a very numerous class. Almost every village has its King or Prince, or at least its Knight or Squire. Bishops are, I think, rather more numerous than parish churches; and as for Popes, it is no unusual circumstance to find eight or ten dwelling together in perfect amity, a thing never heard of at Rome, where only two have been known to set Christendom in a blaze ! The following humorous morceau will form an appropriate tail-piece to my present Chapter. STtUC ffliOPP of a jury taken before Judge Dod- dridge, at the assizes holdenat Huntingdon, A.D. 1619.’^ [It is necessary to remark that “ the judge had, in the preceding circuit, censured the sheriff for empanneling men not qualified by rank for serving on the grand jury and the sheriff, being a humourist, resolved to fit the judge with sounds at least. On calling over the fol- lowing names, and pausing emphatically at the end of the Christian, instead of the surname, his lordship began to think he had indeed a jury of quality] : “ Maximilian King of Toseland, Henry Prince of Godmanchester, George Duke of Somersham, William Maequis of Sfcukeley, Edmund Earl of Hartford, Richard Baron of Bythorn, Stephen Pope of Newton, Stephen Cardinal of Kimbolton, Humphrey Bishop of Buckden, Robert Lord of Waresley, Robert Knight of Winwick, William Abbott of Stnkeley. Robert Baron of St. Neots, William Dean of Old Weston, John Archdeacon of Paxton, Peter Esquire of Easton, Edward Fryer of Ellington, Henry Monk of Stukeley, George Gentleman of Spaldwick, George Priest of Graff ham, Richard Deacon of Cat worth. The judge, it is said, was highly pleased with this- practical joke, and commended the sheriff for his in- genuity. The descendants of some of these illustrious jurors still reside in the coun^, and bear the same names; in particular, a Maximilian King, we are in- formed, still presides over Toseland.”^ * History of Huntingdon, 12mo., 1824, 10—2 CHAPTER VIII. OF SURNAMES DEDUCED FROM PERSONAL AND MORAL QUALITIES ATTRIBUTED TO THEIR ORIGINAL BEARERS. F all tlie modes of distinguishing an indi- vidual (observes Salverte), “ the most natural, and the one which best unites the identity and the name of the person, is that of giving a designation which relates to his most conspicuous qualities,”—and a truly prolific source of nomenclature it has been. In almost all countries, and in nearly every stage of civilization, individuals have been denominated from some physical quality or external peculiarity. The Greeks had their Pyrrhus, Chlorus, Strabo, Ohryses; the Romans their Candidas, Rutilus, Longus, Paulus; the French their Blond, Petit, Front-de-Boeuf; and the Anglo-Saxons their Micel, Swanhals, Irensida. So also of moral and mental peculiarities: the Greeks imposed such names as Agathias, Andragathius, Sophocles; the Romans, such as Pius, Prudentius, Constans ; the Anglo-Saxons, such as Prat, Alfred, Godard; and the French, such as Le Sage, Le Bon, Genereux, Prudent. These were all in their primary application strictly <peTsonal, tliongli in the course of time they became,, like the other classes already discussed, generic and hereditary designations among modern nations. Colour and Complexion have given rise to such surnames as Black, Blackman, Blaunkfrount (i.e,, white face), Browne, Dark, Darkman, Fair, Fairhairn (Scot.), Fairchild, Fagg (A.-S. faeg), discoloured, pale. Lily- white, Motley, Pink, Rufus, Rous, Russell (and the French Rousseau—these four mean ‘red’), Redman, Ruddiman, Silversides, Scarlett, White, Whiteman, and Whitesides. Purple, which occurs in America, may have been originally applied to a devotee of Bacchus ! As no person ever had a green face (how- ever green in other respects) we must refer the very common surname representing that colour to a local origin—‘John atte Greene,’ ‘Roger a’ Green,’ &c,, being among the most familiar designations of that class. The Colour of the Hair led to a numerous train of these hereditary sobriquets, for such they cer- tainly must be considered; hence Blackhead, Black- lock, Fairhaire, Grey, Gray, Grissel, Hoare and Hore, Redhead, Silverlock, Whitelock, Whithair sometimes corrupted to Whitear, Whitehead, and Yalowhaire. The Form of the Head has added a few; to wit. Longhead, Broadhead, Greathead, Halfhead. Gros- teste (great-head), a famous name in English eccle- siastical history, also belongs to this category. Even the beard originated some, as Langheard, Fairheard, Hevyherd (1296), Blackheard. But it was not from the head alone that names of this description were taken, for we have in respect of other personal qualities our Longs and out Shorts ; our Langmans, Longmans, and Longfellows; onr Tail- mans and our Prettymans; onr Biggs and our Broads; our Greats and our Smalls; our Strongs and our Weakleys; our Petits and Smallmans; our Strong- mans, Strong i' tP-arms, and Armstrongs ; our Plaines ■and our Hansoms; our Groses, our Littles, our Thynnes, our Thicks, and our Lowes. These names are of a pretty positive character, but we have a few comparatives; our Littlers and Shorters, to wit, our Plainers, our Strongers, and our Loiuers ! To avoid criticism on one hand, and misapprehen- sion on the other, it is right to state that some of the names in the last paragraph are derived with greater probability from other sources. Two or three at least are of the local kind, such as Plain, and probably also Plainer; Littler is known to be a corruption of Little- over, CO. Derby,—a manor whose lords originally wrote themselves De Littleover, but who afterwards became Litteler and Littler, until eventually they were quite extinct! Neither must we take the Thynnes as living witnesses of the meagreness of their original ancestor, who was no other than one John de Botteville. This gentleman, who flourished so recently as the reign of Edward IV., resided at one of the Inns of Court, and was thence named John of the Inn, John o’thynne, or John Thynne. We have, moreover, our Prettys and our Lovelys,^ our Larges and our Pettys, our Fatts and our Stouts, together with our Swifts, our Quicks, our Speeds, and Lightfoots, and Quicklys, well balanced by our less mercurial Slows and Slovjmans, and our more deliberate Heavisides. * ‘ Edltha la Lovelich.’ MS. Harl. 1708, fol. 217. There are otlier surnames no less characteristic; though less intelligible to ordinary observers. Among these may be noted StarJcie, strong-bodied; Fiest, broad-footed; Crumpe, crooked; Mewet, one who speaks inwardly; Lizar, a leprous person; Morpheiv, a scrofulous one; Michel (A.-S.), great, whence also Michell and Mitchell; Hale, healthful; Holder, thin (Camd.); and Fleet, swift. Bel, with le prefixed, is from the French, fair; and Pigot, with its varieties Piggott and Pickett (picote), in the same language means pitted with the smallpox. Car and Ker are synonymous, signifying stout. Wychals (A-S.), now Wiggles, means ^ bad neck.’ Lit and Lite are old English forms of ‘ little.’ Snell is from the Anglo-Saxon, and signifies agile or hardy. Gabmunb cinj Tpenyib psef jeclypob pop hip Snell-pcipe : King Eadmund was called Iron-side for his hardihood, agility,” says the Saxon Chronicle. Before the Conquest this epithet had become a proper name, as had also its compound, Snelson. Basset (Fr.) signifies low of stature. To dade, in some dialects, signifies to walk with short steps, whence the diminutive ‘ daddle,’ applied to the pace of infants. Dadd or Dade was probably given in the first instance to some person who had shorter legs than his neighbours. The very common surname Read, Reid, or Reed (sometimes pluralized to Reeds), is an old spelling of RED, and was primarily applied in reference to com- plexion. Chaucer speaks of “ Floures both white and rede .and Sir John Maundevile, describing the Ked Sea, says : That see is not more reed than another see; but in some places thereof is the gravelle reede ; and therefore men clepen it the Rede Sea.” Fairfax, from the Anglo-Saxon, and Blound, from the French, denote a light hair and complexion. The latter name has declined into Blount and Blunt. Camoys is an Old English word signifying turned upwards; and is generally applied to the nose in a sense identical with the French expression ^nez re- troussa’ Chaucer employs it in his quaint description of the daughter of the Miller of Trumpington : “ This wenche tliikke and well i-growen was, With camoys nose and eyghen gray as glas.” Wright's Chaucer, 3971. It is sometimes written ‘ camuse,’ and our surname- Kemyss may mean the same thing. Among the names indicative of mental or moral qualities, we have our Hardys and our Cowards ; our Meeks and our Moodys; our Bolds and our Slyes ; our Livelys and our Sullens ; our Eagers and our Duhnans ; our Giffords or liberal ones, and our Curteises. CuE- TEis appears to be an ancient spelling of the adjective courteous. Chaucer says of his “ yong squier”— “ Curteis he was, gentil and aflPable.” So in Percy’s Keliques : “ And as the lyoune, which is of bestis hinge, Unto thy subjectis be hurteis and benygne.” Nor must we overlook our Wilds and our Sanguines ; our Merrys and our Sobers; our Nobles and our Willeys, or favourable ones; our Blythes and our Cleeres ; our Sternes and our Bonnys ; our Godmans and our Goddimans; our Wakes or watchfuls; our Terrys or tearful ones f our Forwards and our Wises; our Wooralls or worth-alls,“f* our Aylwins, or beloved of all; our Proudes and our Humbles ; our Sharpes and our Blunts; our Sweets and om Sweetmans, not forgetting our Bitters; our Illmans and our Freemans ;J our Wisemans and our BooJdesses; our Stables and our Hasties ; our Gentles and our Lawlesses ; our Giddys and our Carelesses; our Berts, our Rechlesses, and our Peaceables ; our Stiffs and our Stills ; our Roughs and our Toughs; our Sadds and our Merrymans ; our In- nocents and our Peerlesses; our Luckies and our Faith- fuls ; our Tidys and our Tidymans; our Gaudys and our Decents ; our Gallants and our Trustys; our Dear- loves and our Trueloves; our Truemans and our Thankfuls; our Brisks and our Doolittles ; our Dears and our Darlings; our Closes and our Allfrees ; our Brightmans and our Flatmans; and, to close this long catalogue, our Goods,§ Goodmans, Goodchilds,\^ Good- fellows, our Thoroughgoods, Allgoods, Bests, Perfects, and Goodenoughs, our Conquer goods, and what is very extraordinary indeed, our Toogoods ! Idle, for the honour of the family bearing it, I would rather deduce from the river so designated, than in- sinuate that the founder of that name and lineage was deficient in industry. * Verstegan; a more probable derivation is from the Fr. Thierrj, Tlieodoric. t So Verstegan, Restit. ; but more probably from Wirral in Cbeslure. J The name Fry is a modernized spelling of Erie, free. Fryman, i.e., Freeman, is also found. § Goad, a corrupt spelling of the O. E. gode, good. II The French likewise have Goodman and Goodson—Bonhomme and Bonfils. The surname of Pope Gregory XIII. was Buoncompagno, good companion, and that of his secretary of the treasury Buonbgluolo, good son. Some names of this class, also, convey no meaning to the uninitiated observer, and others may even give rise to an erroneous impression ; for instance Gaylord (gaillard, Fr.; Gay lard, 0. E.) has no reference to aris- tocratical gaieties, but means simply jovial or jolly: “ A prentys dwelled whilom in cure citee, And of a craft of vitaillers was lie : Gaylard he was as goldfynch in the schawe, Brown as a bery, and a proper felawe.” Wright’s Chaucer, 4364. Ramage (A.-Norman) is wild, haggard, or homely. Mr. Halliwell says it was very often applied to an untaught liawk. “ So ramage as she would be re- claimed with no leave.” (Gwydonius, 1598.) LelJiome is probably true or leal man; and Follet, which is also French, signifies foolish. Leeny, according to Grose, is active, alert; hence Leaney and Leney. Stunt (A.-S.) means stupid, foolish ; taken substan- tively it means a fool, by no means an enviable desig- nation, but far from applicable to all who bear it. In a Saxon translation of the book of Job, that patriarch calls his wife “stunt wif,” i.e., a foolish woman. Widmer (‘wyd’ wide, and ‘mear’ fame, A.-S.), widely renowned; Hubbard (‘hughbert,’ A.-S.), disposed to joy and gladness; Joyce (Fr.), the same; Hogarth (Dutch), high-natured, generous; Shire (A.-S.), clear; Baud, pleasant; Rush, subtle; Barrat, cunning; Bowne, ready; Bonner, Bonar (Fr. bonaire, 0. E. boner), kind, gracious. Eldridge is defined by Percy as wild, hideous, ghostly. See a description of an “ Eldridge knight,” in the ballad of Sir Cauline. Joliffe is the 0. E. ^ jolif,’ jolly. “ Up r}'st this jolyfloyev Ahsolon.”—Chaucer, 3688. To this list of names from personal and mental qualities, I may appropriately adjoin such as had their origin in some feat of personal strength or courage, as Armstrong (already mentioned), All-fraye, Langstajf, Wagstaff, Hachstaff, Hurlhat,^ Winspear, Shakeshaft, Shakestaff, and Shakespeare, or, as Mr. C. Knight has it, Shakspere. Also Box-all, Tirehuck, Turnbull, and Breakspear, which last was the original name of our countryman. Pope Hadrian the Fourth. “ Harman,'' observes Verstegan, “ should rightly be Heartman, to wit, a man of heart or courage.” It also signifies a soldier or constable, in both which vocations ‘ heart, or courage,’ is, necessary. Holman may be ‘ Wholeman,’ a man of undenicible valour— a man, every inch of him.^f* ^Analogous to this etymology is that of the patrial noun A Iman or German, which, according to Verstegan, “is as much to say as ALL or WHOLLY MAN,” attributed to that nation “ in regard to their great manliness and valour.” In some of our provincial dialects a Dummerel or Bumhrell is a silent person, and Bunch means deaf or dull. The not very dissimilar name of Bench means, in the north of England, squeamish or dainty. Smelt, though the name of a fish, is more probably the A.-S. adjective signifying gentle, placid, mild. ‘ To coll,’ in the North, is to saunter, to idle; hence a Colter is an idler. Surnames of the descriptive class assume a very * Bat is an O. E. word still nsed in Sussex and elsewhere for any thick stick or bludgeon, whence cricket-ia^. t Ilolmen occurs in Denmark as a family name. ludicrous appearance when ranged in a list and fol- lowed by the baptismal name; for example : Black Barnabas, Brown Benjamin, Blunt Timothy, Bonny Simon, Careless Eliza, Godly Obadiah, Long Sarah, Perfect Lucy, Proud Fanny, Pretty Jane, Peerless Peter, Savage Solomon, Sterne Nicholas, Smart Isabella, Sharp Walter, Wild Caleb. Nor is the effect much less odd with such names as- the following: Bachelor Mary, Champion Anna, Duke Dorothy, Friend Jonathan, Fisher Anne, Farmer Laura, King Caroline, Pope Susannah, Squire Marmaduke, Wheeler Emma. But to return : Wight is strong, and Doughty for- midable (A.S. dohtig). “Lordynges, lysten,'’and you slial here. You shall well heare of a knight, That was in warre full wyght, And doughtye of his dede.”—Dowsabell. Many names of Welsh or Gaelic origin, common in England, have similar meanings : thus, More, great; Begg, little; Roy, red; Duff, Dove, Dow, Dee, black; Bane (whence belike Baynes), white or fair; Vaughan, little; Moel, or Mole, bald; 0am, crooked; Fane, slender; Grimm, strong; Gough, red ; Gwynne, white; Greig and Gregg, hoarse; Gleg, quick ; Balloch, spotted in the face. There are certain surnames which I have the greatest difficulty in assigning to any particular class. Gladman may have been the appropriate name originally applied to some jocund individual; though an esteemed cor- respondent suggests two other origins for it; namely, 1, that it is a corruption of (clad-man) clothman ; and 2, that as ‘gley’d’ or " gleed,’ in Scotland, means squinting as 'applied personally, or crooked as applied to things inanimate, a gledeman might be either a squinting man or a crooked man. What shall be said of Deadman, which must be acknowledged to be the most absurd name ever bestowed upon living creature ? The somewhat similar name of Dudman occurs in that celebrated burlesque poem, “ The Tournament of Tottenham,” and Bailey defines it as “a malkin or scare-crow, a hobgoblin or spright!” CHAPTEK IX. OF SURNAMES DERIVED FROM BAPTISMAL NAMES, “ Mais de ces denominations individuelles et fugitives, comment sc sont formes des nonis de famille permanents?”—Salverte. VERY one must have remarked the great number of names of this kind. Who is there among my readers who does not immediately call to mind some score or two of Edwardses, Johnsons, Stevenses, and Harrisons, in the circle of his acquaintance ? Yet such names are far mor^' common than at first sight they appear to be, as I shril prove before T arrive at the end of this Chapter; for in addition to all or nearly all the personal, Christian, or baptismal names anciently in use, a number truly surprising of modifications of such a} y‘<diations have become part and parcel of our here- ditary nomenclature. This feature is by no means peculiar to us. It obtains among the French, Germans, and other continental nations, and is nowhere more observable than in the nomenclature of ancient Rome- Salverte has remarked that there was scarcel}^ one :;amily name (nomen) which did not arise from either a prsenomen or a cognomen, by simply changing the te:^mination into ms, as Marcus, Marcius, Quintus, Quintius. He even goes so far as to say that all Roman names (nomina) terminated in ius originally: such names as Peducaeus, Annaeus, having been in their primitive form Peducaius, Annaius, &c.' That this iu» signifies ' son ’ must be admitted by all, but v^hether it is derived from the Greek uto?, as maintained by one or two writers, I leave to abler etymologists to deterniiae. Among the English surnames which have been do rived from baptismal names are the following : Abel, Abraham, Absolom, Adam, Adelard, Adolphus, Adrian, Aldred, Alexander, Allen, Ambrose, Amos, Andrew, Anthony, Arnold, Arthur, Aubrey, Bardolf, Baldwin, Barnard, Bartholomew, Basil, Benjamin, Boniface, Cecil, Charles, Christopher, Clement, Cuthbert, Damiel, David, Dennis, Derich, Donald, Dunstan, Edgar, Ellis, Evan, Everard, Eustace, Fabian, Francis, Frederick, George, Gerard, Gervaise, Gideon. Giles, Gilbert., Goddard Godfrey, Godwin, Gregory, Griffith, Guy, Henry, Herbert, Hilary^ HowgLj Huberi, Humphry, Isaac, James, Jeffrey, Lambert, Lawrence, Launcelot, Leonard, Lewis, j Madoc, I Malady, I Martin, I Matthew, .Maurice, Meredith, Meyrich, Miles., Morgan, Moses.. Ifathan, Neale, Nicholas, Noel, Oliver, Osbern, Osmond, Owen, Paul, Philip, Ralph, Randal, Raymond,. Beynard, Sampson, Sylvester, Vyvian, Reynold, Sa^Rl, Theobald, Walter, Rice, Silvanus, Thomas, &c. Richard, Simeon, Titus, Roger, Solomon, Valentine, Roland, Swithin, V incent, Great numbers of these have been assumed in the genitive case, as John Reynolds, for John the son of Reynold, James Phillips, for James the son of Philip ; others have been corrupted in various ways; thus, Bennet from Benedict, Cutheard from Cuthbert, Bryant from Brian, Emary (whence Emmerson) from Alrneric, Errey from Eric, &c. Others seem to be French cor- ruptions of Latin names, as Stace from Statius, Aurel from Aurelius, Gell from Gellius. Those who are conversant with documents belonging to the middle ages, are well aware of the disposition that then existed to make the father’s Christian name the surname of the child. Even at a much more recent date, the sire-name was frequently preferred to the sta- tionary surname of the family. In Dr. Eiddes’s 'Life of Cardinal Wolsey,’ Edmund Bonner, bishop of London, is called Dr. Edmunds, and Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, Dr. Stephens. These prelates, indeed, had no children ; but such instances may serve to show, nevertheless, with what facility Christian names would pass into surnames in cases where there were children.'^ Camden has a list of surnames, formed of such fore- names as are now obsolete, and only occur in Domesday Book and other records of ancient date. From this list, and from another by Dr. Pegge in the Gentleman^s * Notes of a Bookworm. Magazine for 1772, p. 318, I select such as I have myself met with, omitting from the Doctor’s catalogue those names which are still common as Christian names, and adding others.* Anstis I'Anastasius). Ayscough, Askew, (Asculphus). Huskisson = Askew’s son ? Aucher. Ansell (Anselm). Austin (Augustine). Baynard, Brand (Sax, Chron). Bennet (St. Benedict). Brandon. Baldric. Bardolph. Barchard (Belchard). Barringer (Berengerius). Berners. Bryant (Brient). Coleman (Bede). Cadman (Csedman). Christian. Calfe. Degory. * From this enumeration I also omit many of the names called by Camden “ Christian names in use about the time of the Conquest,” such as Hasting, Howard, Talbot, Pipard, Poyntz. What, I ask, are theso but surnames ? Does not the fact of such names occurring singly in Domesday Book, add weight to the opinion I have already expressed. VOL. I. 11 Dueeant (Diirandus). Deew (Drogo). Dodd, whence Dodson. Edolph (Eadulph, Sax. Ghron). Ellis (Elias) Elmee (tinier). Eveeest, Eveey, Eveeett, and Yeeey (Everard). Eachaed (Achard, Domesday). Etty (Eddy). Edlin (Atheling). Eade, Eades (Endo). Eulke (Fulco). Faeand, Faeeant (Ferdinand). Folkaed, Folkee (Fulclierf). Feeeman (Fremund). Gieth. Godwin, Goodwin. Goodeich. Goodluck {Domesday). Geimes (Grime). Guntee {Ingulphus). Gamble (Gamel, Sax.). Geimbell (Grimbald). Hassell (Asceline). Hesketh (Hascuith). Haeman (Sax. Ghron). Hode, Hoad, Hood (Odo). Hake (Haco). Hamlin (Hammeline). * The Ellises of Yorkshire consider themselves to be surnamed from Eliseux in Normandy. t Eulchee is evidently the origin of Fullagar. Haeding (Ingulph). Hammond (Hamon). Haevey (Herve). Hewaed. Heewaed. Hubeet. Ingeam (Ingelram). IVE. Jaevis (G-ervaise). Jeenegan. JOLLANDE. Kettle,and probably Catell {Chetell,Domesday). Killick (Calixtns). Lucy (Lucius). Mallet {Sax. Chron.). Maynaed. Massey (Macey, Domesday). Meevyn (Merlin). Oeso (Urso), whence Fitz-TJrse. Ody (Odo). Oeme.^ Othee. Relfe (Ralph). Reynee (Reinardus). Raymond. Rotheey (Rodericus). Rolle (Raoul), Stiggins (Stigandus or Stigand), whence Stiggson. * Orme in Danish signifies worm or serpent. 11—2 Saer, now Sayers. Searle (Serlo). Semar. Sewell (Sewallus). Seaward (Siwardus).^ Swain (Sweyn). Seabright (Sigebert). Selwyn. Savery (Savaricus). Sankey (Sancho). Semple, Sampol (St. Paul). Sampiere (St. Peter). Stydolph (St. Edolph). Samand (St. Amado). SiMBERB (St. Barbe). Tankard (Tancred). Tipple (Theobald). Tippet (the same). Toly (St. Olave). Terry (Theodoric). Tovy. Turrold, Tyrrel, or Turrel (Thorold). Tudor, Welsh (Theodore). Ulmer. Vivian. WiSHART (Wiscard). * This was also a name of office : the Anglo-Saxon Saeweard was a high admiral, who kept the sea against pirates. The surname is like" wise found in the forms of Saward and Seward. Wade. Warner. Wimble, Wimboll (Winebald, Domesday).^ In the remarkable discovery of Anglo-Saxon coins of the eleventh century some years ago made near Alfris- ton, Sussex, among the names of the moneyers occurring on the reverses, are several which are still extant as family names in this part of the country; e.g.— Bridd (of Hastings). A family of Breeds is still resident in that town. ^ Brid ’ is the A.-S. form of Bird. WuLGAR, now written Woolgar and Woollgar. Boge, hodie Bogue. WuLMER, now Woolmer. SwETMAN, now Sweatman and Sweetman. Elard, hodie Ellard. Dunning has preserved its original orthography for upwards of eight centuries.-[- We have a few surnames from Welsh names, as Cradoch (from Caradoc), Chowne (from Chun), Merrichs and Meyrick (from Meirric), Meredith^ and Madox, corrupted to Maddicks, ' whereby hangs a tale.’ “ Are you acquainted with mathematics V' asked a young pedant of a country acquaintance. “ No,” was the reply; “ I know Tom Maddicks and Will Maddicks, but as to Matthy, I never heard tell on him before.” Next in order come the names terminating with SON, as Adamson, Johnson, Henry son, Clementson, * Wimbledon, in Surrey, is probably tbe tun or enclosure of one Winebald, a Saxon. t It should be observed, however, that several of these names occur on coins not struck in this part of England. Richardson, Philipson, &c., whose derivation is clear, together with Heardson,^ Crowson, Quilson, Wigsooi, &c., from corrupted names, or from names no longer in use. Many of these were doubtless assumed before the Conquest, as we find Orimhelson, Gamelson, &c., in the time of Edward the Confessor, if not earlier. The Norman fitz, a corruption of fils, was used in the same way, and among the conquered Saxons was sometimes adopted instead; thus Sweynsonne and Hardingsonne became Fitz-Swain and Fitz-Harding generally however the fitz denotes a Norman ex- traction. Sometimes, but rarely, son was appended to a profession, trade, title, or condition, as Dukeson, Clarkson, Cookson, Wrightson, Smithson, Master son, Stewardson, Hindson, and Widoivson. In Scotland there are several names analogous to these, as McMaster, McKnight, McPriest, McQueen. McBride seems to perpetuate a scandal; but what shall be said of McCambridge and McQiiaker! It may well be supposed that some of these are cor- ruptions. McIntosh or Mackintosh is the son of the Leader; McFfahh, the son of the Abbot; and McPher- son the son of the Parson. The FITZ or son conjoined to a female name is thought to denote illegitimacy, as Fitz-Parnell, Fitz- Emma; Anson, Eveson, Emson, and Nelson, from Ann, Eve, Emma, and Nel or Eleanor.J So also * Heard may be from herd, a keeper of cattle or sbeep. t “ The use of the prefix pitz has, with propriety, been revived in modern times. The eldest son of Harris, Earl of Malmesbury, is, by title of courtesy, Yiscount Eitzharris.” X Some of these apparently female names are possibly corruptions of masculine ones; thus Anson may be Hanson—Nelson, Neilson, &c. Speaking of Neilson or Neilsen, I was informed at Copenhagen, where^ Susansj Maudlins (Magdalene), Anne, Avis (Hawisa), Grace, Hannah, Pegge, that is Margery, Betty, Sail, Nance, Mary, Rachel, Jane, and the like. But it should be remembered, that the Eomans occasionally used their mother’s name, when born in wedlock, and that our Henry the Second called himself Fitz- Emjyress, Other names are formed of, and upon, the cant or abbreviated Christian names; (“ pardon me,” saith Master Camden, “if I offend any, for it is but my coniecture,”) as Nat for Nathaniel, Bill for William, Wat for Walter, and many such like, which you may learn of nurses ! Whether these odd monosyllables were originally applied to children^' as terms of en- dearment, and thus acquired the appellation of nurse- Bob ; Robin, the redbreast. Jack-Hern, the heron. Will, the sea-gull. Reynard, the fox. the latter spelling is adopted, that the Danes admitted Lord Nelson to be one of their countrymen, notwithstanding his rough visit in 1802, See my “Wayside Notes in Scandinavia.” * How came such names as the following to he appropriated to birds, quadrupeds, and fishes ? Jack-Daw. Mag-Pie (Margaret). Chick-a-Biddy (Bridget). Hedge-Mike (Michael), the hedge- sparrow. Jack-Ass. Poll-Parrot. Dicky-Bird. Neddy-Ass. Tib, a cat (Theobald). Tom-Cat. Gib, a cat (Shakspeare, Henry IV. —Gilbert). Even inanimate things, as machines, bear similar appellations ness Roasting-Jack and Spinning - Jenny ! Tom-Tit, the titmouse. Jack, the pike. Dobbin, a horse (Robert). Billy- and Nanny Goat. PMpp (Philip), a sparrow. (Skelton.) Jack-Avil, a species of crab. Tabby-Cat (Tabitha). wit- names, I cannot say. Camden favours this opinion They “ seem,” says he, to proceede from nurses to their nurslings; or from fathers and maisters to their boyes and seruants: for as according to the old pro- verbe Omnis herns seruo monosyllabus, in respect to their short commands ; so Omnis sernns hero monosyl- lahus, in respect to the curtolling their names.” The Anglo-Saxons sometimes shortened proper names in this manner ; e.g., Saba for Saeborht; Totta for Torhthelm, Sicgga for Sigefrith or for Sigibed, Eda for EMwine, ^lle for ^Ifwine, &c. “We are led to believe,” observes Mr. Kemble, “in the gradual recep- tion by bodies of men of such misnomers as delight us in our nurseries, and to accept the ways of society in very early periods, not indeed as child-like but as childish.” In the fifteenth century these misnomers were so commonly applied that they were even introduced into legal documents. Personages of some distinction are called indifferently Roger and Hodgkyn, Walter and Watkyn, in the course of the same deed. Monarchs themselves deemed it no slight to be thus miscalled ; thus our later Henries were frequently designated Harry. The poet Gower has the following verses on the occasion of Wat Tyler’s insurrection, which are curious as containing several of these abbre- viated names in a Latin dress : “ Watte vocat, cui Thoma venit, neque Symme retardat, BATque, GtIBBE simul, Htkke venire subent: Coble furit, quern Bobbe jurat, nocumenta parantes Cum quibus ad damnum WiLLE coire volat, Geigge rapit, dum Davie strepit, comes est quibus Hobbe, Laekin et in medio non minor esse putat j IIedde ferit, quern Judee terit, dum Tibbe juvatur, ACKE domosque viros vellit, en ense necat,” &c. Andrews has rendered these lines in the following humorous manner: “ Wat cries, Tom flies, nor Stmein stays aside ; And Batt and Gibb and Htke, they summon loud ; Collin and Bob combustibles provide, While Will the mischief forwards in the crowd; Geeg bawls. Hob bawls, and Davy joins the cry. With Laekin not the least among the throng ; Hodd drubs, Jtjdd scrubs, while Tib stands grinning by, And Jack with sword and fire-brand madly strides along!” The names of the class of which I am now treating are exceedingly numerous, as eight, ten, or even fif- teen surnames are sometimes formed upon a single Christian name. The name of William, indeed, is the basis of no less than twenty-nine such names, as will be seen by referring to the list I am about to place before the reader. Besides the syllable SON, annexed to the cant names SiM, Will, Hodge, &c., we have three principal terminations; kin, ot, and COCK, as Simkin, Wilmot, Hedgecock. Of the first two it is only necessary to state that they are diminutives; '■kin being derived from the Flemish,* and -ot from the French. Thus Timpkin stands for “little Tim” or Timothy, and Adcot for “ little Ade,” or Adam. But the termination COCK is not so easily disposed of. Camden appears to derive it from the male of birds : hence among his names deduced from the “ winged nation,” he places Alcocke, Wilcocke, and Handcocke ; * It may be remarked that names with this or a similar termination are still very numerous in Holland. There is a great similarity be- tween the family nomenclature of that country and our own, especially in those names which have Christian names as their basis. Thus Symonds is Simmonds ; Huygens, Higgins ; Pieters, Peters, &c. The termination -son is found in most of the languages of Gothic origin. but, SO far as I am acquainted with our provincial dia- lects, these are not names locally assigned to any par- ticular species of birds, as some others (shrillcock, stormcock, &c.) are well known to be. We must therefore look elsewhere for the origin of the termina- tion. Considerable discussion on this subject took place in the pages of the Gentleman’s Magazine some years since, the substance of which is given below. A correspondent, J. A. C. K., in an article published in that periodical in May, 1837, speaking of the great number of sur- names of which COCK is a component syllable, observes, that “ many of them are evidently borrowed from the animal creation, as Peacock, employed to designate a. vain, showy fellow; Woodcock, applied to a silly coxcomb ; and Shilcock, that is shrillcock, a Derby- shire provincialism for the throstle. Bocock or Baw- COCK, is, of course, nothing more nor less than the French Beaucoq, fine fellow.’ Alcock, Badcock, Drawcock, Grocock, Slocock, this sapient scribbler casts aside as “indelicate;” “Luccock or Luckcock,” he continues, “ probably denotes some lucky indi- vidual (!). With respect to Hitchcock, it appears to have been synonymous with woodcock, and employed to signify a silly fellow GLASSCOCK, Adcock, Mulcock, bid defiance to all etymology, unless the termination be a corruption of cot. Thus Glasscock becomes Glas-cote, Adcock, At-cote, &c It seems highly probable that Atcock and Alcock, Hic- COCK and WiLCOCK, are but varieties of Atcot and Alket, Hickot and Wilkot, the familiar terms At and Hal, Hick and Will, for Arthur, Henry, Isaac, and William. As far as relates to the latter name, Wil- cock, I am decidedly of opinion that such has been its original form, corroborated as it is by the surnames of Wilcockes and Wilcoxon, still existing amongst us.” This communication led to a second (Gent. Mag, Sept. 1837), in which the writer observes, that only six out of the one hundred and fifty names contain- ing this mysterious syllable can be assigned to the animal creation; while he is inclined to think many of the names local, being derived from cock, a hillock: Cockhurn, the burn by the hillock; Cockham, the ham- let by the hillock: so also Gockfield, Cocksedge, Cock- wood, &c. The reader will remark that in this article the examples are chosen from such names as have COCK for their initial, and not for their final syllable, and therefore do not aid our inquiry; although the deriva- tion of Cockburn, &c., is probably correct. My friend the late Mr. John Gough Nichols, F.S.A., in a third article on the same topic (Gent. Mag. May, 1838), remarks that the word “ often occurs in the re- cords of this country under the various forms of Coc^ Koc, le Cok, le Coq, &c., answering, in fact, to the Latin Coquus, more usually, during the middle ages, written Cocus, and while the greater number of those ancient professors of the culinary art have modified their orthography to Coke, or Cooke, or Cook, others have evidently retained the final c, and thus assimi- lated their names to the victims instead of the lords of the kitchen. Hence we proceed to Cock, Cocks, and Cox.” He then quotes the Great Rolls of the Ex- chequer for 25 Hen. HI., 1241, in which one Adam Coc or Cok is commissioned by the king to superintend certain repairs at Clarendon palace, “and to instruct the workmen, so that the kitchen and stables might be enclosed within the outer wall.” Having hit upon this clue, he thinks it leads to an explanation of some of the names ending in COCK, as Meacock, the meat- cook (!) Salcock, the SALT-MEAT-cook (! !) Slocock, the SLOW-cook (!!!) and Badcock, the iMPERFECT-cook (Ml I) Grococke is the gross or wholesale cook . . . or, perhaps, le gros coc, or fat cook (!) and those compounded with Christian names are thus readily accounted for. Wilcox will be William the Cook; Hancock, Johan the Cook; Sandercock, Alexander the Cook ; Jeffcock, Jeffry the Cook, &c.* The Allcocks may be descended from Hal the Cook, unless their great ancestor was Aule cocus, the Hall-Cook.” Some others, he thinks, have originated from names of places, as Laycock from Lacock, in Wiltshire, &c., &c.; others from the bird, from their being persons of noisy or pugnacious dispositions, or perhaps from their prac- tice of early rising (!). Cockerell, he justty says, is derived from cockerel, a young or dwarf bird of that species.” “ Ariel. Which of he, or Adrian, for a good wager, first begins to crow ? Seb. The old cock. Ant. The cockrel. Seb. Done : the wager ?” Tempest, Act ii., Scene i. That Peacock, Woodcock, and a few others are derived from birds, is unquestionable, seeing that we have the congenerous names Eaven, Finch, Sparrow, &c. from that source; and that others are corruptions of cot, cannot, I think, be denied; but that COCK, as a termination, has aught to do with cocus, coq, or cook, * If Christian names were ever so compounded with vocations, how is it that we have no such names as //<m-SMiTH as well as Hancock ; ITtV/'MiLLEB, as well as Wilcock j Sander-Tailob as well as Sandercock is a supposition perfectly ridiculous. As to J. G. N.’s record in the Exchequer Rolls, it is a most amusing piece of nonsense to imagine that the said Adam Coc was the royal cook. Who indeed ever heard of a cook’s possessing any architectural skill beyond what is re- quired in the constructon of the walls of a gooseberry tart or a venison pasty ? Besides^ what had a cook to do with walling in the royal stables? We have just as much right to assume that he was the king’s farrier. But even admitting this same Adam’s surname to have been originally derived from that necessary office of the kitchen, does it at all explain Meacock, Salcock, &c. ? I do not consider the question deserving of a serious reply.* What then is the meaning of cock ? Why, it is^ simply a diminutive, the same as OT or KIN. This opinion I had formed long before I saw the correspond- ence just noticed, and it is supported by numerous proofs. I do not profess to assign a satisfactory mean- ing to all the names with this termination; yet I think I have been successful in affixing that of five-sixths of all such names as I have ever met with. And I doubt not that the remainder might be explained with equal facility were not the Christian names of which they are the diminutives extinct. Badcock and Salcock in J. G. N.’s list are evidently Little Bat,” that is, Bartholomew ; and “ Little Saul,” which, however unenviable a name, was sometimes used by our ances- tors. In like manner we may account for Wilcocke or Wilcox, “Little William,” Allcock, “little Hal or * Let me not be understood as entertaining tlie slightest disrespect for J. G-. N., who occupied a deservedly exalted station in English archaeological literature. Homer himself sometimes sleeps. Harry,” Luchoch, '' little Luke,” and the rest * My old friend, N. Bailey, whom I have found very useful in these matters, has not the word cock in this sense, but he has the low Latin terms Coca, a little boat, and Cocula, a small drinking cup, which I think help me a “ little.” The term, in its simple form, was probably never used except in a familiar colloquial manner, and in this way the lower orders in the south of England are still accustomed to address small boys with, “Well, my little Gocki' a piece of tautology of which they are not at all aware. In Lincolnshire a little fussy person is called a Cockmarall, and in other districts any diminutive per- son is designated Cock-o-my-Thumb, The true meaning of the much-debated expression Cockney seems to be a spoilt or effeminate hoy. “ Puer in deliciis matris nutritus—Anglice ^ In Scotland, a cock-lair cl is a landowner who culti- vates the whole of his estate—a little or minor laird. Nor must we forget the use of this mysterious syllable in the ancient nursery-rhyme of Eide a coc^-horse To Banbury Cross, &c. where little horse is evidently intended. I was long puzzled with the surname Coxe, which I have now no hesitation in calling a synonym of Little. Mr. Coxhead is probably Mr. Little-head, in contradistinction, I presume, to Mr. Greathead. What a pity it is the * A correspondent reminds me that “ OCK is still a common diminu- tive in Scotland, as Willock, Lassock, Nannock.” Tins suggestion enables us to account for Pollock, Mattock, and Baldock, which may be modifications of Paul, Matthew, and Baldwin, t MS. in Bibl. Reg. quoted by Halliwell. syllables of that gentleman’s name were not trans- posed, for he might then stand a fair chance of ob- taining the preferment of Head-Cook in J. G. N.’s kitchen But lest I should be accused of making “ much ado about nothing,” I proceed to set down my list of son- names, nurse-names, and diminutives, which may furnish some amusement to the reader :— From Adam are derived Adams, Adames, Adamson, Ade,t Adye, Adey, Addis, Addy, Addison, * I thought I had settled the true etymology of this termination— COCK; but from the correspondence of several literary friends I find that it still remains a moot point. It would be no difficult matter to gossip over an additional half-dozen of pages in a similar style to the preceding ; but as the tendency of such discussions is rather to darken than to elucidate the subject in hand, I deem it most prudent to leave the matter to the decision of the reader. I cannot however resist the temptation to quote a few observations with which I have been favoured by the secretary of the Graelic Society of London. “ Coch, the Welsh for red,” says that gentleman, “makes in English, Cox and . . . . “ They ”—namely, the surnames in Cock—“ are merely Graelic, Cornish, and Welsh terms (! !), expressive of personal qualities slightly modified into English, as “Gaelic. Algoch, great, Alcock, Stangoch, pettish, Stancock^ Magoch, clumsy or large-fisted, Macock and MeacocJc, Bacoch, lame, Bacock, Leacoch, high-cheeked, Zaycock^ Lucoch, bow-legged, Lucock, Peaeoch, gay, handsome. Peacock. Bochog, blob-cheeked, Pocock, Bachog, crooked, Bacock, &c., &c.” t Adam is usually abbreviated to Ade in the Nonarum Eolls, and other ancient records. Adcoclt, Addiscot, Addiscock, Adkins, and Addecott. Abraham, Abrahams, Abramson, Mabb, Mabbs, and Mabbot. Arthur, Atts, Atty, Atkins, Atkinson^ and Atcock ; perhaps also Aitkin and Aikin. Andrew, Andrews, Anderson, Henderson. Aldred, Alderson. Alexander, Sanders, Sanderson, Sandercock^ Sanson, Allix, Aiken, Alley. Ainulph, Haynes, Hainson. Alan, Allanson, Hallet, Elkins, Elkinson. Anthony, Tony, Tonson, Tonkin. Benjamin, Benn, Benson, Bancock, and Ben- hacock. Baldwin, Ball, Bawcock, Baldey, Baldock, Balderson, Bawson. Bartholomew, Batts, Bates, Batson, Bartlett, Batcock, Badcock, Batty, Batkin. Bernard, Bernards, Bernardson, Barnard, Barnet,* Berners, Barnes.*[* Christopher, Christopherson, Kister, Kitts, Kitson. CUTHBERT, Cuthbertson, Cutts. Clappa, an obs. Saxon name, Clapp, Clapps, Clapson.J Crispin, Crispe, Cripps. Clement, Clements, Climpson. * Often so corrupted. + Dame Juliana Berners, the authoress of the “ Boke of St. Alban’s,” though a known descendant of the Lords Berners, was often called Barnes, and that even by herself. J Clapham, in Surrey, is the ham or dwelling of “ Clappa,” a Saxon, who held the manor in the time of the Confessor. Trom Chaeles, Charley^ Kell, Kelson, Kelley. Digoey, Digg, Digges, Diggins, Digginson, Tegg? Deogo, Drew, Dray, Drayson, Drocock. Doda, an obsolete Saxon name, Dodd, Dodson. Donald, Donaldson, Donkin. Dennis, Denison, Tennison. Daniel, Dann,* Daniels, Tancoch, Dunstan, Dunn (if not from the colour). David, Davey, Daffy, Davison, Davis, Dawes,“|- Dawkins, Dawkinson, Dawson, Davidge (i.e., David’s), &c. Edwaed, Edwards, Ethards, Edes, Edkins, Edwardson, Tedd. Elias, Ellis, Ellison, Elliot, Elliotson, Elson, Elley, Ellet, Lelliot. Edmund, Edmunds, Edmundson, Munn, Mon- son. Eustace, Stace, Stacekyn. Feancts, Frank, Frankes. Feegus, Ferguson. Gideon, Gyde, Giddy, Giddings, Giddies, Geddes. * Unless it be from Dan, an ancient title of respect, from the Lat. Dominus. + A correspondent protests against the derivation of Dawes from David, and quotes the ‘ Glossaire ’ of Eoquefort: “ Awe; eau, riviere, fontaine, etang, aqtja adding that the name was spelt with an apos- trophe, D’Awes, so lately as 1724, by Sir William D’Awes, Archbishop of Canterbury. I still think, however, that in many instances Dawes is a simple ‘ nurse-name without it I do not see how we can get our Dawson, Dawkins, Dawkinson, &c., any more than we can get Hawkins and Hawkinson from Henry without the intermediate Hawes. VOL. I. 12 From Gilbert, Gill, Gillot, Gilpin, Gibb, Gibbs,. Gibbon, Gibbons, Gibson, Gubbins, Gibbings, Gipp, Gipps. Giles, Gillies, Gilkes,-^' Gilkin, Gilkinson. Gregory, Gregg, Gregson, Grococh, Gregorson, Griggs. Godard or Godfrey, Godkin, Goddin, Goad. Geoffry, JefFerson_, JefFson, Jepson, Jeff cock Jeffries, Jifkins. Henry, Henrison, Harry, Harris, Herries, Harrison, Hal, Halket, Hawes, Halse, Haw- kins, Hawkinson, Halkins, Allkins, Haskins^ Alcock, Hall (sometimes). Hugh, Hewson, Huggett, Huggins, Hugginson, Hewet. Joseph, Joskyn, Juggins, Jupp. John, Johnes, Jones, 3ohn^on, Johncock, Janson, Jennings, Jenks, Jenkins, Jenkinson, Jack, Jackson, Juxon, (Hans is from Johannes), Hanson, HaiicocA;,Hanks,Hankinson, Jockins., Jude, Judd, Judkin, Judson. Job, Jubb, Jobson. Jacob, Jacobs, Jacobson, Jeakes. James, Jamieson. Jeremy, Jerrison, Gerison, Jerkin. Isaac, Isaacs, Isaacson, Hyke, Hicks, Hixon,. Higson, Hickot, Hiscock (q. d. Isaack-OCK),, Hickox. Lawrence, Larry, Larkins, Law, Lawes, Law- son, Laurie. * When, the initial G is soft, those names above assigned to Gilbert probably belong to Giles. Trom Luke, Luckins, Luckock, Lucock, Locock, Lukin, Luckin, Luckings, Luckett. Matthew, Mathews, Matheson, Matson, Madison, Mathey, Matty, Maddy. Maukice, Morrison, Mockett, Moxon. Makk, Markcock, Marks. Nicholas, Nichol, Nicholls, Nicholson, Nickson,, Nixon, Cole, Colet, Colson, Collins,* Collison,. Glascock, Glasson. Neal or Nigell, Neale, Neilson, Nelkins. Nathaniel, Natkins. Oliver, Olliver, Oliverson, Olley, Nolls, Nolley,, Nollekins.-f- Peter, Peterson, Pierce, Pierson, Perkin, Per- kins, Purkiss, Perk, Parkins, Parkinson, Peters, Parr, Porson, Parson (sometimes). Philip, Phillips, Philps, Phelp, Phipson, Phipp, Phipps, Phippen, Philpot, Phillot, Philcox.^ Philippo, Phillopson, Philipson. Paul, Paulett, Pallet!, Pawson, Porson, Pocock, Palcock, Palk, Pollock, Polk.§ * ‘ Colline,’ Fr., a hill, may ba the origin of this name. t Oliver Cromwell was known among the royalists as “ Old Noll.” I have heard my late father say that in his youth, on “ Restoration-day,” , the boys used to sing a song, the refrain of which was :— “ Well hang a stone round Nolly’s neck ; And throw him in the river.” J “ Fillycock, PillycocJc, sate on a hill, If he’s not gone, he sits there still.” From the “Nursery Rhymes of England,” by Mr. Halliwell, who’ observes that this word also occurs in (MS. Harl. 913) a manuscript of the fourteenth century. It is probably an older form of Philcox. § Mr. Polk, once President of the United States, is the third in descent from a Mr. Pollock. Powell, generally regarded as a contraction of 12—2 Prom Pateick, Patrickson, Paterson, Patsori, Pattison* * Kalph, Rawes, Rawson, Rawlins, Rawlinson, Rason, Roaf/^ Randolph, Randalls, Rankin, Ranecoch Rhys (Welsh), Ap Rhys, Price, Apreece, Preece, Brice. Richaed, Richards, Richardson, Ritchie, Rick- ards, Hitchins, Hitchinson, Hitchcock, Dick, Dickson, Dixon, Dickens, Dickinson, Dicker- son. Robeet, Robins, Robinson, Roberts, Robertson, Robison, Robson, Roby, Dobbs, Dobbie, Dob- son, Dobbing, Dobinson,Hoby, Hobbs, Hobson, Hobkins, Hopkins. Rogee, Rogers, Rogerson, Hodges, Hodgson, Hodgkin, Hodgkinson, Hoskin (?), Hodd, Hodson (if not from Odo), Hudson. Reynold, Renolds, Reynoldson, Raincock. Samuel, Samson, Samkin, Samwell. SwEYNE, Swaine, Swainson, Swinson. Simon, Symons, Simmonds, Simpson, Simmes, Symes, Sims, Simcock, Simcoe, Simpkin, Simpkinson. Stephen, Stephens, Stephenson, Stercock (?), Steen, Steenson, Stimson, Stinson, Stiff (?). Stebbing, Stubbs, Tiffany. Silas or Silvestee, Silcock. the Welsh Ap-Howell, may with equal probability be deduced from Paul. Indeed, Powel is a common orthography of the latter name: “ After the text of Crist, and Powel and Ion.” Wright’s Chaucer, 7229. * See Paston Letters. From Timothy, Tim, Timbs, Timms, Timmings, Timp- son, Timpkins. Thomas, Thom, Tom, Thoms,Thompson, Thomlin, Thomlinsoii, Tompkins, Tampkins (a north- ern pronunciation), Thompkisson, Thompsett, Tampsett (northern). Tobit, Toby, Towes, Towson, Tobin, Tubbe, Tubbes. Tukchetil, Turke. Theobald, Tibbald, Tipple (a murderous cor- ruption),* Tipkins, Tibbs, Tippet, Tibbats. Walter, Walters, Watt, Watts_, Watson, Wat- kins, Watkinson, Watcoch. William, Williams, Williamson, Wills, Wilks, Wilkins, Wilkinson, Wickens, Wickeson, Bill, Bilson, Wilson, Woolcoch, Woolcot, Wilcockey and Wilcox, Wilcockson, Wilcoxon, Willet, Willmott, Willy, Wille, Willis, Wylie, Willott, Till, Tillot, Tilson, Tillotson, Tilly, Guilliam,t Guillim. APPARENTLY DERIVED FROM FEMALE NAMES. From Agatha, Agg. Alice, Alee and Alison. Agnes, Annis, Anson. Barbara, Babb. Catherine, Kates. * At Heatlifield, in Sussex, is a place called Tipple’s Green : in old writings it is spelled Theobald’s. t The baptismal name is so spelled by Leland. “ By the wich churche enhabited of old tyme a gentilman, Johannes de St. Winnoco. After, the lordes Hastinges wer owners of it, and they sold to GuilUam howre’a gret grandfather now lyving.”—Jiin. Cornwall. From Makgaeet, Marjory, Margerison, Margetts, Mar- getson, Margison, Maggs, Magson. Mary, Moll, Malkin, Makins, Makinson, Molson, Maycoch (?). Nib and Ib are French nurse-names for Isabel, whence Nibbs, Niblett, Ibson, Ibbotson. Such names as these are supposed to denote the illegitimacy of the original bearers. Natural children among the Romans took their mothers’ names, and our own laws sanction the same practice. In the Swiss canton of Appenzel, a law prevails compelling illegitimates to bear the name and bourgeoisie of their mother, and they accordingly use such designations as ‘‘ Pagan, fils de Marie,” or, more simply, ‘‘ Pierre, fils de sa mm-e,”—a name implying, according to Ducange, that the father’s name was unknown. On the other hand, and for the benefit of such as bear these names, but who object to this insinuation of the bend sinister into their pedigree, 1 would observe that the rule above alluded to does not always hold good. The Romans often gave their sons and daughters names representing those of their mothers: '' In many Roman inscriptions,” as Salverte remarks, “ it is seen that a son with equal respect and tenderness towards both the authors of his being, employed after his own name the maternal designation as well as the pater- nal/’* In the town of Montdoubleau, in France (dep. * Since the trianomina are becoming nearly as indispensable among us as they were in old Rome, I would suggest to parents the desirable- ness of making the mother’s maiden surname the second appellative, as ‘ John Russell Smith.’ Were such a practice general, how much assist- ance would be rendered to future genealogists ! And as I wish to promote by humble example what I recommend in words, I have given all my own children tlie maternal surname in this manner. de Loire-et-Cher), immemorial J^usage has given to a younger, or to the youngest child, the surname of the mother; and other instances might easily be adduced. The analogous practice of bearing the armorial ensigns of the mother when she was an heiress or belonged to a higher rank than the father, is familiar to the student of our medieval heraldry. We have already seen that the Romans frequently formed one name from another by elongation, as Constans, Constantins, Constantinus, a series of names exactly parallel to our Wilks, Wilkins, Wilkinson; and a still further analogy is observable in the names which end in POR, which is said to be a contraction of puer: hence Publipor, Marcipor, Lucipor; and our own Johnson, Wilson, and Richardson, originated in the same principle. There is no reason to suppose that the abbreviated or nurse-names implied any disrespect to the persons to whom they were given, or that the Dicks and Dicksons were less respectable than the Richards and Richardsons of olden times. The Lincolnshire inn- keeper mentioned by Camden laboured, therefore, under a mistake;—but let Mr. Clarencieux tell his own story:— “Daintie was the deuice of my host of Grantham, which would wisely make a difference of degrees in persons, by the termination of names in this word Son, as between Robertson, Robinson, Robson, Hobson; Richardson, Dickson, and Dickinson ; Wilson, William- son, and Wilkinson; Jackson, Johnson, Jenkinson, as though the one were more worshipfull than the other hy his degrees of comparison.” Some Christian names have been oddly compounded with other words to form surnames, as Goodhugh^ Matthewman, Marldove, Full James (perhaps Foljambe), Marryman, Cohhledick (on J. G. N.’s theory/Dick the Cobbler !’), Jackaman, and Dulhumiolirey! The name of John has at least seven of these strange prefixes, viz.: Little JOHN, Mickle JOHN, Up JOHN, Prette- JOHN, Apple JOHN, Proper JOHN, and Pro v/n JOHN!!! I cannot consider these last corruptions of other names,, as the prefixes seem to be all significant and descrip- tive. Indeed so common is the forename John, that before the invention of rep^ular surnames, these sobri- quets might have been given Avith great propriety, for the sake of distinction, to as many inhabitants of any little village. Thus the least John of the seven would be the Little John of the locality ; while Mickle (that is great) John, would be a very appropriate designa- tion for the most bulky of the number; John at the tiiyper end of the street might be called Up-John; Pretty John was, I suppose, the heau of the village while the goodman who had the best orchard was styled Apple-John;* Proper-John, no doubt, answered to his name, and was a model of propriety to all the youth of the parish ;*|- while, to complete the list, Brown-John possessed a complexion which would not have disgraced a mulatto. All this may be rejected * I may remark, in support of tins etymology, that I once knew a person who was famous for growing an excellent kind of potatoes, on, which account he was often spoken of by his rustic neighbours as Tater-John! Applejohn, in Shakspeare’s time, was the name of a species of apple. “ Do I not bate ? Do I not dwindle ?” says Fal- staff; “why my skin hangs about me like an old lady’s loose gown j I am withered like an old Apple John.”—Hen. IV., act hi. t Sometimes ‘proper’ signified handsome ; as “Moses was a proper' cliild.”—Hei.xi. 23. “A proper ^ouih. and tall.”—O/c? Ballad. by profound etymologists and grave and solemn anti- quaries as inconsiderate trifling, though to the good- natured ‘ gentle reader ’ it may appear quite as satis- factory as some of their more recondite speculations. The foregoing paragraph had been twice in print before the etymology of a very curious name, which I had often seen, occurred to me as being similar—I mean Grosjean, which literally signifles ‘Big or Fat John,’ and is still applied in France by way of sobri- quet to any self-important person. The occurrence of this name in another language seems a strong proof of my hypothesis. It is by no means uncommon in England. CHAPTER X. OF SUENAMES DERIVED FROM NATURAL OBJECTS. NE would suppose that when almost every description of locality, whether town, vil- lage, manor, park, hill, dale, bridge, river, pond, wood, or green ; every dignity, office, profession, and trade ; every peculiarity of body and of mind, and every imaginable modification of every Christian name, had contributed tlieir full quota to the nomenclature of Englishmen, the few millions of families inhabitino; our island would have all been supplied with surnames ; but no : the thirst for variety (that charming word !) was not yet satisfied ; and con- sequently recourse was had to “ objects celestial and things terrene, The wondrous glories of the firmament, And all the creatures of this nether scene. Beasts, fishes, birds, and trees, in beauteous green Yclad, and even stones Accordingly we find the names of the heavenly bodies, beasts, birds, fishes, insects, plants, fruits, flowers, metals, &c., &c., very frequently borne as sur- names. I shall first attempt a classification of these names under their various genera, and then offer some remarks on their probable origin. I. From the Heavenly Bodies. Sun, Moon, Star. II. From Quadeupeds : Bear, Buck, Badger, Bull, Bulloch, Boar, Beaver, Catt, Colt, Coney, Cattle (!), Cow, Calfe, Deer, Doe, Fox, Faiun, Goat, Goodsheep, Hart, Hogg, Hare, Hound, Heifer, Kine (!), Kitten, Kydd, Lyon, Leppard, Lambe,^ Leveret, Mare, Mule, Mole, Oxen (!), Otter, Oldhueh, Panther, Puss, Poodle (!), Palfrey, Pigg, Roe- buck, Ram, Rabbit, Roe, Setter, Steed, Stallion, Steere, Squirrel, Seal,X Stagg, Tiger, Wildbore, and Wetherhogg. Some names of animals now obsolete, or only used in our provincial dialects, are retained in surnames, as— Brock, a badger, in various dialects. In others it means an inferior horse, and “hence,” says Kennett, “the name of ‘ brockman’ in Kent, i.e., horseman.” The surname Brockman is still in use, but I think ‘analogy (see ante) is in favour of the ‘ brockman ’ of old having been a hunter of badgers. The Wicliffite version of the N. Test, renders Hebr. xi. 37, “ Thei wenten about in brock skynnes, and in skynnes of geet.”§ * This is mentioned as a surname by one or two authorities : I must confess I have never met with it. t Charles Lamb, in reply to the question, “ Who first imposed thee, gentle name ?” comes to the conclusion that his ancestors were shep- herds ! X Seal, however, is more likely the A.-S. sel or sele, a hall. § See more in Halliwell’s Diet, and Way’s Parv. Prompt, in voc. Broch. Both this word and ‘ stot ’ are employed by Chaucer to desig- nate beasts of draught. “ Thay seigh a cart, that chargid was with hay, Which that a carter drof forth in his way. Deep was the way, for which the cart stood; The carter smoot, and cryde as he wer wood ; 1S8 Todd, a fox. Talbot, a mastiff; a familiar heraldric term. Gray, another provincialism for the badger. (ChUterhucJc, which T have heretofore assigned tO' this class, is supposed by Mr. Talbot''" to be a local name from the A.-S. and German ' duttr,’ ‘ kluttr,’ clear, pure, transparent, and ' beck,’ a little stream.) Fitchett, a stoat or polecat. Stott, a young ox. Veal (in Anglo-Norman records, Le Yeal), a calf. Moyle is the 0. E. for any labouring beast; and Ca])el is an old word,signifying a strong horse; hence Chaucer, “ And gave him copies to his carte.” In an ancient “ ballade of Robyn Hood” we have, “Yonder I heare Syr Guy’s home blow. It blows so wel in tyde ; And yonder he comes, that wight yeoman, Clad in hys capul-hide.” I have not found the name of Mouse in modern times, but “le Mouse” occurs in the Nonarum Rolls. One of the most sin ocular desiAnations I ever met with is that of a gentleman of fortune in Kent. His family name was Bear, and as he had maternal relatives of the name of Savage, his parents gave him the Christian (or rather un-Christian) name of Savage ! Hence he enjoyed the pleasing and amiablej name of Savage Bear, Esquire I Not content with having appropriated the names of ‘ Hayt, hrok ; hayt, slot ; what spare ye for the stones ? The fend,’ quoth he, ‘ now fech body and bones!’ ” Wright’s Chauc. 7121, &c. English Etymol. the living animals, our ancestors sometimes, oddly enough, adopted the terms applied to their flesh, &c., when dead, as Mutton, Tripe, Pigfat, Gammon, Bravjn, Gihlets, Hogsflesli,^ and Bacon. These two last were once borne by two innkeepers at Worthing, then a very small town; whereupon a rustic poetaster penned the ensuing most elegant stanza; “ Worthing is a pretty place, And if I’na not mistaken, If you can’t get any butchers’ meat, There’s HogsflesJi and Bacon /” III. Surnames derived from Birds are fully as numerous as those from quadrupeds : Bird, Blackbird, Bunting, BulfincU, Buzzard, Bar- nacle, Bustard, Coote, Crane, Cock, Cuckoo, Crake, Chick, Chicken, Chaffinch, Crowe, Capon, Brake, Duck, Dove, Daw, Egles, Fowle, Finch, Falcon, Goshawk, Grouse, Gander, Goose, Gosling, Gull, Goldfinch, Hawke, Howlett, Heron, Herne, Jay, Kite, Linnet, Larke, Mallard, Nightingale, Peacock, Partridge, Pheasant, Pigeon, Parrot, Raven, Rooke, Ruff, Swan, Sparrow, Swallow, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stork, Swift, Turtle, Teale, Thrush, Throssel, Wildrake, Wild- goose, Woodcock,f Woodpecker, Wren! Obsolete or Provincial Names of Birds used as sur- names :— Culver (A.-S.), a pigeon, whence the local names Culverhouse (dove-cot), Culverwell, «Sz;c. * The mistress of a ladies’ seminary in a fashionable watering-place, who used to advertise her establishment under this name, now spells it Ho^flesh ! t Woodcock was an unfortunate name. It was often given by way of sobriquet to vain and silly people, from the vulgar notion that the bird designated by it was brainless ! Bisset (Fr.), a wild pigeon. Henshmv (0. E. ‘hernshaw;’ in blazon, ' heronsewe’)? a young heron. One family of this name bear the allusive coat of three herons.* Popjay (O. E. ‘ popinjay’), a parrot. Shooting at the popinjay was a favourite amusement among our ancient toxophilites. Carnell, a bird, but of what species I am not quite certain. Hone mentions a Christmas carol com- mencing, “ As I passed by a river side, And as I there did rein (ramble), In argument I chanced to hear A carnal and a crane.” A carchiell volant’ occurs in Bossewell’s ^ Workes of Armorie/ 1572. « Cf)gS Igttle tglDe IS fi'0urU), ge0antc a 0eaoe cf tfje tf)t0tle, for tfjat 01)0 Ipetf) tig tifie 0eaoe0 of tfiem, unde illi inditum nomen. ^{)0 fjatj) a r0DD0 {)0atI0, g0alotei0 iojng00, Di0tinct0 toitb totiit0 anD tilacfee,” In the margin is placed the word Carduelis (a linnet), but the description evidently refers to the goldfinch. It is not so likely that cardnell or carnell is derived from ‘ carduus,’ a thistle, as the old herald- “He don’t enow a hawk eeom a handsaw” is a proverb often applied to an ignoramus. For handsaw read Jiernshaw. The saying originally and primarily referred to ignorance of a favourite sport—that of falconry—vfhen the said ignoramus could not discriminate between the hawk and its prey. I cannot help just remarking here that several of our most vulgar proverbs had a worthier origin than would appear at first sight. For example, “ To be called over the coals,” in the sense of being questioned upon some alleged fault—apparently a meaningless expression—loses all its coarseness when w^e associate with it the ordeal, by fire, so much in use among our medieval ancestors. rist imaofines, as that it comes from cardinal, in allusion to the hood of red with which nature has invested this sprightly and beautiful little bird. Spink is a provincialism for chaffinch, probably bor- rowed from the peculiar note of the bird. Goldspink, a goldfinch. Guilliam, a provincial name for the sea-gull; it is. also an 0. E. orthography for William. (See ante.) Pocock is peacock. Chaucer’s ' Yeman’ was “ clad in coote and hood of grene A shef of pocoJc arwes bright and kene, Under his belte he bar full thriftily.” Hannah (A.-S. ‘hana’), a cock. Goss (A.-S ' gos ’), a goose. Laverock, a lark. Balchin in the midland and western counties means an unfiedged bird. Pye, which might be supposed to be derived from the bird so called, is a corruption from the Welsh Ap- Hugh—u in that language having sometimes the sound of Y. This name is exceedingly common in some dis- tricts of England and Wales, a fact that can excite no surprise in any one who marks the conclusion’^ of the following epitaph from Dev/church near Kevenol: “1550. Here lyeth the Body of John Pye of Minde, a travayler in far countryes, his life ended ; he left be- hind him "Walter, his son, heire of Minde ; a hundred and six yeares he was truly, and had sons and daughters two and forty /” Corbet, the name of more than one eminent family in the North of England, is raven. In Scotland, the name, both of the bird and the family, is varied to Corby. The reader who is versed in the old Scottish ballads will call to mind that of the Twa Corbies, which for tragic effect and wildness of diction is unequalled, and which, for the benefit of those to whom it may be new, I shall here take the liberty to introduce. “ Ctoa Coct)ie0. As I gaed doun by yon house-een’, wa Corbies there were sitting their lane; The ane unto the tother did say :— ‘ O where shall we gae dine to-day ?’ *0 doun beside yon new-faun birk, There, there lies a new-slain knicht; Nae livin’ kens that he lies there. But his horse, his hounds, and his ladye fair. ‘ His horse is to the hunting gane. His hounds to bring the wild deer hame ; His lady’s taen another mate; Sae we may mak our dinner sweet! ‘ O we’ll sit on his bonny breist-bane. And we’ll pyke out his bonny grey een ; Wi’ ae lock o’ his gowden hair We’ll theek our nest when it blaws bare! ‘ Many a ane for liim maks mane, But none sail ken where he is gane; Ower his banes when they are bare. The wind sail blaw for evermair” So numerous are the names derived from this source that in a small congregation of dissenters at Feversham, CO. Kent, there were lately no less than twenty-three names^taken from the “ feathered nation,” their pastor. a very worthy man, bearing the singularly appropriate name of Rooke ! be the JIarsouite T* IF,” quoth m I^oohe, ** OTttth m» littel boohe, Ettb Fll be ge J|arisomte^” Nurserie Romaunf of CocTce Rolyn / Many names of this sort have been the subjects of excellent puns, among which may be noticed the fol- lowing. “ When worthy master Hern, famous for his living, preaching, and writing, lay on his death-bed (rich only in goodness and children^) his wife made womanish lamentations what would become of her little ones % ‘ Peace, sweetheart,’ said he, ‘ that God who feedeth the ravens will not starve the kerns ;—a speech (says Fuller) censured as light by some, observed by others as prophetical; as indeed it came to pass they were all well disposed of” Akin to this were the words of John Huss at his burning ; who, fixing his eyes steadfastly upon the spectators, said with a solemn voice—‘‘ They burn a goose, but in a hundred years a swan will arise out of the asheswords which many have regarded as a prediction of the reformer of Eisleben; the name of Huss signifying a GOOSE, and that of Luther a SWAN. The following I have on good authority. As Mr. Jay, the eminent nonconformist divine of Bath, and his friend Mr. Fuller were taking an evening walk, an owl crossed their path, on which Mr. Fuller said to his companion, “ Pray, sir, is that bird a jay T “ No, sir,” was the prompt reply; “it’s not like a jay,—it’s VOL. I. 13 fuller in the eyes, and fuller in the head, and fuller all over /”* It is related in Collins’s Peerage that a certain un- married lady once dreamed of finding a nest containing seven jowTig finches, which in course of time was realized by her becoming the wife of a Mr. Finch, and mother of seven children. From one of these nestlings is de- scended the present Earl of Winchelsea, who still re- tains the surname of Finch. IV. From Fishes. Bream, Burt, Base, Cod, Crahhe, Cockle, Chubb, Dol- 2ohin, Eel, Flounders, Gudgeon, Grayling, Gurnard, Haddock, Herring, Jack, Ling, Lamjgrey, Mulletty Minnow, Pilchard, Plaice, Pij)er, Pike, Perch, Pikerelly Ray, Roach, Sharke, Sturgeon, Salmon, Sole, Scale,. Smelt, Sprat, Trout, Tench, Whiting, Whale; to which may be added Fish and Fisk, the latter being the true A.-S. form of the same word. V. From Insects and Reptiles. Bugg, Bee, Beetle, Cricket, Emmett, Flea, Fly, Grubb, Moth, Spider, Wasp, Worms, and Blackadder. Some of these again are probably corruptions, but the first, at least, is of ancient use as a second name, for Mr. Kemble mentions an Anglo-Saxon lady named Hrothwaru, who bore the sobriquet of ' Bucge ’ (cimex, bug,) “perhaps (as Mr. K. jocularly observes) upon the principle of that insect being ^ a familiar beast and a friend to man.’ ” * Since tlie above was written, a coiTespondent informs me that the same story is told “by that excellent old English classic, Miller, bight Joseph, reading however Woodcock for Jay.” VI From Vegetable Productions (omitting the names of some trees already mentioned). Ashplant, AImond,Bays, Barberry, Balsam, Bramble, Brier, Beet, Badd, Bean, Broome, Godlin, Clover, Gran-- berry. Cabbage, Glove, Cherry, GocJde, Darnell, Damson, Daisy, Feme, Fennel, Flower, Flowers, Flax, Furze, Grain, Garlich, Gourd, Grapes, Holyoah, Hip, Herbage, Hempe, Ivy,* Ivyleaf, Lily, Laurel, Leaf, Leeves, Leek, Millet, Medlar, Melon, Nutt, Nuts, Nettle, Oates, Onion, * Holly and Ivy were personated in the ancient holiday games. In Hone’s Mysteries is the following quotation from a MS. carol, called “A Song on the Holly and the Ivy ” (p. 94). “ Nay, Ivy, nay, hyt shal not be I wys. Let HOLT hafe the maystry, as the maner ys : Holy stand in the halle, fay re to behold. Ivy stond without the dore, she is ful sore acold. Nay, Ivy, nay, “Holy and hys mery men, they dawnsyn and they syng, Ivy and hur maydyns, they wepyn and they wryng. Nay, Ivy, nay, In the Gentleman’s Magazine for 1779, a correspondent, under the- name of Kitty Curious, describes an odd kind of sport which she wit- nessed in an obscure village in Kent on the festival of St. Valentine. The girls and young women were assembled in a crowd, burning an uncouth effigy which they called a Holly Boy, and which they had stolen from the boys ; while the boys revenged themselves in another part of the village by burning a similar figure taken from the girls, and called an Ivy Girl. The sport was carried on with great noise and much glee. Kitty inquired the meaning of the observance from th© most aged people of the place, but could only learn from them that it was a “ very old ancient custom.” That surnames were occasionally assumed from such and similar mummeries, is confirmed by the fol- lowing short extract from Kabyan’s Chronicle (edit. 1559), sub anno 1502 : “ About Mydsomer was taken a felow wych had renued (re^ newed) many of Robyn Hodes pagentes, which named hymself© Grenelef.’’ This name is not extinct, though spelled Greenleaf 13—2 Orange, Olive, Pejppev, Peppercorn,^ Peascod, Pease (lately among the M.P.^s), Primrose, Peach, Pippin, Plum, Plant, Poppy, Parsley, Quince, Quickset, Raisin, Rue, Row(a)ntree, Rose, Seed, Stock, Straw, Sorrell, Sage, Spinage, Spice, Savory, Sweetapple, Tares, Tulip, Thistle, Violets, Vetch, Weed, and Woodbine. Roser is an obsolete word for rose-bush or tree, (Fr. ‘ rosier,’) as the following true tale from our unsophisti- cated friend Sir John Maundevile^ will show: “ And betwene the cytee [of Bethlehem] and the chirche is the felde floridus; that is to seyne, the feld florisched: for als moche as a fayre mayden was blamed with wronff and sclaundred, for whiche cause sche was denied to the dethe, and to be brent in that place, to the whiche sche was ladd (led). And as the fyre began to brenne aboute hire, sche made hire preyeres to our Lord, that als wissely as sche was not gylty of that synne, that he wold help hire, and make it to be knowen to alle men of his mercyfulle grace. And whan sche hadde thus seyd, sche entred in to the fuyer; and anon was the fuyr quenched and oute; and the brondes that weren brennynge becomen rede Roseres ; and the brondes that weren not kyndled, becomen white Boseres fulle of roses. And theise weren the first Roseres and roses, both white and rede, that evere ony man saugh.” There are several other surnames which at first sight appear to belong to this class, but which really belong to others. Of these some are local, as Barley, a parish in Hertfordshire, Smallwood, in Cheshire, &c. Lemon * There were, some years ago, living in two adjacent houses in Deptford Broadway, Mr. PlucJcrose, a perfumer, and Mr. Peppercorn, a grocer. and Peel would look well enough in juxta-position among vegetable surnames, but the truth is that neither of them belongs to the category. Of Peel I have already spoken among local names, and Lemon is a cor- rupt spelling of the O. E. ^ lemman,’ a paramour or mistress, a word of frequent occurrence in Chaucer. Filbert and Pear, again, are corruptions of the French proper names Philibert and Pierre. Lis and Blanchjiower (Fr.), ‘ lily ’ and white-flower,' might be added to the foregoing list. VII. From Minerals. Alum,^ Amber, Brass,Corall,Chrystal, Coale, Copper, Diamond and Dymond, Freestone, Gold, Garnett, Gravel, Lrons, Jewell, Pewter,Silver, and Steele. Clay, Chalk, Flint, Stone, Sands, and Whetstone are local names, and therefore do not belong to this class. Hone is an old spelling of ‘ hand.^ Coke has nothing to do with charred coal: it is the old orthography of COOK:— “ A COKE they had den with hem for the nones, To boile the chickenes and the marie-bones ; He coud-e roste and sethe and boile and frie, Maken mortrew-es and wel bake a pie.” Chaucer, Prologue. Having thus classified the surnames which are iden- tical with names of natural objects, it is our next duty to * Perhaps local. Alum Bay, Isle of Wight. Allom is a nursename of Absolom. d Pewter and Pewtrer are found in the fourteenth century in the sense of one who made pewter vessels, and similar may have been the origin of other ‘ metallic ’ names. inquire in what manner they have got into our nomen- clature. After much research I have arrived at the conviction, that their assumption is traceable to at least four different causes. I. Some were given to, or assumed by, the original bearers, as emblematical of their characters, as Lyon, Fox, Lambe. II. Others were sobriquets in allusion to some inci- dent in their personal history. III. Some were borrowed from the blazonry of the warrior’s shield. IV. The majority were adopted from inn and traders’ Bigns. In this chapter I shall discuss the two former branches only. The third and fourth are connected with artificial objects, and to prevent confusion must be treated separately. The Greeks and Eomans frequently applied the names of animals to persons ,who were supposed to bear some resemblance to them in the main features of their cha- racter. Among the latter people such names as Leo, Ursinicus, Catullus, Leporius, Aper, Callus, Ficus, Falco, are sufficiently abundant. The Persian name Cyrus means a dog, and may possibly be related to our English word CUR. And it is a singular and humorous coincidence that the nurse of Cyrus bore a name sig- nifying BITCH! Among less civilized races the same practice prevailed. The ancient Germans, and the American Indians of the present day may be mentioned as instances. Yerstegan says, ‘'The pagan Germans, ESPECIALLY THE NOBLEMEN, did sometimes take the names of beasts, as one would be called a Lion, another a Bear another a Wolf, &c.” One of the most widely-spread names of this kind is Wolfe, which occurs in the classical, as well as in many modern, languages, as Avtco<^ (Or.), Lupus and Lupa (Lai),Loupe (Fr.), Wulf (Sax.), and Guelph (0. Germ.) —the surname of the existing royal family of Great Britain.'^ The old baronial name of Lovel is from the «ame source. The original name of that family was Perceval, from a place in Normandy; until Asceline, its nhief, who flourished in the early part of the twelfth century, acquired, from his violent temper, the sobriquet of Lupus. His son William, Earl of Yvery, was nick- named Lupellus, the little wolf, which designation was softened into Lupel, and thence to Luvel, and became the surname of most of his descendants.*!* Fosbroke mentions the name of Archembaldus Pejor-Lupo, Archibald Worse-than-a-Wolf! but does not give his * Siste Viator! and read the subjoined most veritable history. “It is iold in the chronicles, that as far hack as the days of Charlemagne, one Count Isenbrand, who resided near the Lake of Constance, met an old woman who had given birth to three children at once, a circumstance which appeared to him so portentous and unnatural, that he assailed her with a torrent of abuse. Stung to fury by his insidts, she cursed the Count, and wished that his wife, then enceinte, might bring at a birth as many children as there are months in the year. The imprecation was fulfilled, and the ountess became the mother of a dozen babes at once. Dreading the vengeance of her severe lord, she bade her abigail go drown eleven of the twelve. But whom should the girl meet, while on this horrible errand, but the Count himself, who, suspecting that all was not right, demanded to know the contents of the basket. “ Welfen,” was the intrepid reply, {i.e., the old G-erman term for puppies, and now traceable in our word whelps). Dissatisfied with this explanation, the Count lifted up the cloth, and found under it eleven bonny infants nestled together. Their unblemished forms reconciled the scrupulous knight, and he resolved to recognize them as his lawful progeny. Thenceforward their children ^nd their descendants went by the name of Guelph or Welf; and from one of these identical little innocents does our liege lady Victoria inherit her cognomen.” Burke’s Extinct Peerage. authority."^ A seal lately found at Colchester hears the figure of a wolf carrying off a ram, with the not very complimentary legend, s’ ROBERTI DICTI LVPI, " the seal of Robert called the Wolf! The female name ‘ Ursula ’ signifies little-she-hear— not a very good denomination for a saint! Ursula Sheheare, a name I have somewhere met with, is, m sound, rather agreeable than otherwise, but, etymologi- cally, how dreadful! The expression ' a bear,’ some- times applied to an unamiable specimen of the genus homo, is repulsive enough ; a ‘ she-bear ’ is still more odious: but when tivo she-bears unite in one of nature’s gentlest works, what w^ord is sufficiently strong to ex- press our abhorrence ? Liqxo was the name given as a sobriquet to the wife of Faustulus and the nurse of Romulus and Remus, on account of the rudeness of her temper. Hence the well-known fable of those illustrious twins having been suckled by a she-wolf Many of the classical tales of antiquity doubtless originated in similar misapprehen- sions ; so also, let us charitably hope, did some of the most incredible miracles of medieval times. The case of the virgin-martyr Undecerailla having given rise to the story of the eleven thousand virgins is generally known. “We should think Ass and Sow not very elegant names,” observes the witty author of Heraldic Anoma- lies, “ and yet there were persons of respectability at Rome who bore them—no less indeed than the Corne- lian and Tremellian families. The former got the name of Asinia by one of the family having agreed to buy a farm, who, being asked to give pledges for the fulfilment * Encyc. of Actiq., p. 429. of his engagement, caused an ass, loaded with money, to be led to the Forum as the only pledge that could be wanted. The Tremellian family got the name of Scropha or Sow, in a manner by no means reputable, but by what we should call, in these days, a hoax, and a very unfair one into the bargain. A sow having strayed from a neighbour’s yard into that of one of the Tremellii, the servants of the latter killed her. The master caused the carcass to be placed under some bed- clothes, where his lady was accustomed to lie, and, when his neighbour came to search for the pig, undertook to swear that there was no old soiv in his premises, except the one that was lying among those bed-clothes, which his neighbour very naturally concluded to be the lady herself. How the latter liked the compliment the his- tory does not relate, but from that time the Tremellii acquired the cognomen of Scropha or Sow, which became afterwards so fixed a family name as to make sows of all their progeny, both male and female.” One of the Fabian family received the name of BUZZAED (Buteo), because a bird of this species (always regarded as a good omen) happened to fall upon the vessel in which he was making a voyage. Gorvinus is an example, more generally known, to which I shall have occasion to refer in my next chapter. These instances illustrate the first and second causes of the use of such names in my classification, as far as relates to animals ; and the following remark is equally relevant of those belonging to the vegetable kingdom. In the early periods of the Eoman republic, when the plough was regarded as only second to the sword, and ‘ Bonus Agricola ’ was equivalent to ‘ Yir Bonus,’ some of the noblest families adopted their family names from their having cultivated particular kinds of vege- tables, as the Fabii, Pisones, Lentuli, and Cicerones, who were respectively famous for the excellence of their beans, peas^ lentils, and vetches.^' Our Anglo-Saxon ancestors sometimes gave as sobriquets to individuals the names of birds. Mr. Kemble mentions two ladies of those times who bore the appellations of Croiv and Duck (Crawe and Enede). With respect to the latter, Mr. K. most gallantly ob- serves, “ I would rather believe that modern slang had an ancient foundation, than suggest that the lady’s walk or gait had anything to do with the appellation.” With respect to the more modern and regular sur- names of this sort, I would remark, that they generally occur in medieval records with the Norman-French prefix ‘LE,’ as Eoger le Buck, Nicholas le Hart, Eichard le Stere, Adam le Fox, Peter le Hogge. In their primary application they were sobriquets, allusive, as in the cases above cited, either to the characteristic qualities of the persons, or to some incident of their lives. Of the latter class various instances will be found in the course of these volumes. A few have been Latinized, as Leo, Avis, Mus, and Aries, and still retain that form. Adam’s Roman Hist. CHAPTER XL OF SURNAMES DERIVED FROM HERALDRIC CHARGES AND FROM traders’ SIGNS. may appear somewhat incongruous to com- bine in one chapter Surnames derived from such opposite sources as those indi- cated above, and thus to associate the armorial shield of the patrician warrior with the sign- post of the plebeian innholder or shopkeeper. However infra dignitatem such a procedure may appear, it is quite necessary for the development of my subject, though I cannot here give my reasons for it, without unduly anticipating certain matters and conclusions which will occur before this chapter is brought to a close. I have already in another place partially discussed this subject, and must therefore be guilty of a little self-plagiarism here.* I would also premise that this chapter, although in the main supplementary to the preceding one, will necessarily embrace some surnames not borrowed from the kingdoms of Nature. Armorial ensigns and family nomenclature possess * Curiosities of Heraldry, p. 130. several features in common. They originated about tho same period, and in part from the same causes; and they serve alike to distinguish one race from another. The most incurious observer must have noticed that very many heraldic bearings coincide with the sur- names of the families to which they appertain. Thus the Herons bear herons, the Beevors a beaver, the Corhets a raven, and the Hogges a boar. In all cases either the coat of arms or the surname must have originated first. When the surname was first adopted the arms are a mere play or pun upon it; and in a. great majority of instances this is the case. A series of illustrations of these allusive or canting arms will be given in the Appendix. At present we have only to inquire into the fact of certain families having bor- rowed their names from the insignia of heraldry. Salverte is of opinion that many of the chiefs wha engaged in the Crusades assumed and handed down to their posterity names allusive to the devices which-de- corated their banners of war. He also notices the fact that there were in Poland, in the twelfth century, two families called respectively Rose and Griffin, because those objects formed their ensigns or armorial devices. Hereditary surnames were not established in Poland for some ages subsequently, and those two names do not now exist there, though the descendants of those who adopted them probably do. In Sweden, also, there is proof that the nobles followed such a practice: “ One who bore in his arms the head of an ox assumed the name of Oxenstiern (front-de-boeuf), and another adopted that of Sparr from the cheveron which formed the principal feature of his coat.”^' * Salverte, i. 240. “ A particular instance of the armorial ensign being metonymically put for the bearer of it, occurs in the history of the Troubadours, the first of whom was nailed the Dauphin, or knight of the Dolphin, because he bore this figure on his shield. In the person of one of his successors the name Dauphin became a title of sovereign dignity. Many other surnames %vere in this manner taken from arras, as may be inferred from the ordinary phraseology of romance, where many of the warriors are styled knights of the Lion, of the Eagle, of the Dose, &c., according to the armorial figures they bore on their shields.”^ To this we may add that at tournaments the combatants usually bore the title of knights of the Swan, Dragon, Star, or whatever charge was most conspicuous in their arms.*[- “ In the tournament and in the battle-field,” observes Salverte, a knight presented himself with the vizor of his helmet down, and he was only known by the symbol he affected to bear. The designation of this symbol, associated as it was with every one of his glorious exploits, became a veritable surname.” Before proceeding to more special instances in this country, I would refer to the classical story of the origin of the cognomen Corvinus, assumed by M. Valerius the Homan tribune, which is not wholly irre- levant of our subject. According to Eutropius, “ Qui- dam ex Gallis unum e Romanis, qui esset optimus, provocavit. Turn se Marcus Valerius, tribunus militum, obtulit, et cum processit armatus, Corvus ei supra dex- trum brachium sedit mox, commissa adversus Galium pugna, idem corvus alis et unguibus Galli oculos ver- * Brydson’s Summary View of Heraldry, pp. 98, 9. f Menestrier. beravit, ne rectum posset aspicere, ita ut a Tribuno Valerio interfectus, non solum victoriam ei, sed etiam nomen dederit. Nam postea idem Gorvinus est dictus, ac propter hoc meritum, annorum trium et viginti consul est factus.”^' Eutropius is by no means an imaginative writer, and he doubtless delivers the story as he received it; but Salverte rejects it as fabulous, and observes that the name may be traced witli much greater probability ta a figure of the bird which Valerius placed upon his helmet as a crest. The distinction of a crest was pecu- liar to commanders,'!' and some occult virtue may have been ascribed to this of the tribune, as was often done to the swords of the heroes of romance, and thus the tale became current that he had achieved his victory by the help of a raven. The illustrious line of Plantagenet derived their surname from the broom-plant, the badge of their founder. The great English family of Septvans or ‘Seven- fans’ are said to have borrowed their name from their singular armorials, which were wicker baskets used for winnowing corn. It may be objected that the num- ber of these objects borne by Sir Robert Septvans, as. represented upon his tomb in Chartharn church, co. * Rom. Hist., lib. ii., cap. 6. “A certain Gaul challenged one of the Romans to a single combat, which Marcus Valerius, a military tribune, accepted. And as he went forth armed, a raven presently settled upon his right arm, and, after the combat commenced, so beat about the eyes of the Gaul with^ its wings and claws, that he could not see before him ; in consequence of which he lost his life, and the tribune Valerius gained the victory’and a name. For thenceforth he was called Corvinus; and on account of this service he was made consul for three-and-twenty years.” t The crests of ancient heroes were personal, not hereditary. 2or Kent (1306) is but three. This does not prove, how- ever, that the number may not originally have been seven, as there are several instances of the diminution of a greater number of charges to tJiTee in those times; wit- ness the royal arms of France, which were originally semee-de-lis, but reduced in this cen- tury to three. The arms of Trusbut are three water- bowgets, ‘ tres boutz,’ and Mr. Montagu thinks the name was taken from the bearings.* The six swallows (in French hirondelles) in the arms, of the eminent Cornish family of Arundel, furnish one of the most familiar instances of the agreement between the surname and the heraldric insignia of a family. In a poem by William de Brito, written in the twelfth century (an early age, be it remembered, in the history both of heraldry and of hereditary surnames), the Arundel of that period (about the year 1170) is asserted to have derived his name from the charge of his shield. He is represented as attacking William de Barr, a French knight. “ Yidit hirundela velocior alite quse dat Hoc agnomen e\,fert cujus in cegide signum, Se rapit agminibus mediis clypeoque nitenti, Quern sibi Guillelmus Iseva prsetenderat ulna, Immergit validam prseacutse cuspidis hastam.” Camden's Remaines. “Swift as the swallow, whence his arms’ device And his own name are took, enraged he flies Through gazing troops, the wonder of the fleld. And sticks his lance in William’s glittering shield.” C. S. Gilbert's Cornwall, vol. i. p. 470. To this the genealogist will object that there is histo- rical evidence that the Arundels took their surname from the town of that name in Sussex; and this is really the case. Still our extract is not the less valu- able, as proving from contemporary evidence that the practice of assuming a surname from the devices of the warrior’s shield was not unknown. Of the name Griffi^nlioof, Mr. Talbot observes, that it is a literal translation of the German family name Griefen-klau, or the Griffin’s-claw, which I conceive must have taken its origin from some armorial bearings or device assumed by that family.” Mr. Talbot then quotes an old Latin poem of the tenth or eleventh century, in which the hero is represented as sallying forth in quest of adventures accompanied by a single esquire, and bearing suspended from his neck a griffin's daw adorned with polished brass by way of a hunting- horn.'^ It was probably made of some foreign material of unknown origin, and, upon the principle omne ig- notiim pro mirifico, ascribed to the fabulous creature half lion, half eagle, so familiar in heraldry. Mr. Way, in his edition of the ' Promptorium Parvulorum,’ men- tions several griffins’ claws which were formerly pre- served in various public collections. The one in the museum of the Koyal Society, Dr. Grew pronounced to be the horn of a roebuck or of the Ibex mas. We may fairly conclude, I think, that sometimes such surnames as Lyon, Buck, Tiger, Leppard, Ha%uke, Raven, Heron, and some others which indicate courage or agility, have been borrowed from the shields and banners of war; but let no man glorify himself with the notion that he is sprung from some stalwart Crusader who fought under his own banner at Aeon; * Vide English Etymologies, p. 302. or descended from some doughty champion of the tournament, until he can show proof that the founder of his race was not a craftsman or an innholder who borrowed his name from his own sign ! I have only to add on this part of the subject, that there are a few surnames which can have no other than an heraldric source, such as Gheveron and Barr, in whose arms the ^cheveron’ and ‘bar’ are the principal features. The names of Saltire, Canton, Pile, Paly, Billet, Mascle, are found among us, although the arms attached to them do not consist of the charges from which they seem to have been originally borrowed; while in some other cases, where the surname and arms agree, as in Cross, Gore, and Delves, the former may, with greater probability, be derived from other sources. To turn to the more plebeian part of our subject— I will quote from Camden^ a passage which will at once enable the reader to understand the origin of a vast multitude of our family names : “Many names that seem vnfitting for men, as of brutish beasts, &c., come fkom the veey signes of the houses where they inhabited; for I have heard of them which sayd they spake of knowledge, that some in late time dwelling at the signe of the Dolphin, Bull, White- horse, Racket, Peacocke, &c., were commonly called Thomas at the Dolphin^, Will at the Bull, George at the Whitehorse, Robin at the Racket, which names, as many other of like sort, with omitting AT, became afterward hereditary to their children.” To this may be added the testimony of Salverte, whose aid is always valuable: “ Some traders,” says he^ * Eemaines, p. 102. VOL. I. 14 derived their names from the emblems they had adopted as the signs of their establishments, in the same manner as the nobles had taken theirs from armorial bearings.” Such signs, though now almost exclusively confined to inns, were formerly exhibited over the shop-doors of tradesmen. They formed one of the most curious features of our towns and cities in the ' olden tyme.' Ever}^ quadruped, from the lyon and hee-coiu (!) down to the hedgehogge,—every bird from the eagle to the sparroive,—eYeiy fysshe of the sea, almost every object, in fact, artificial, natural, prseternatural, and super- natural, good, bad, and indifferent, from the a7igel to the devil, lent its aid in those days to excite the atten- tion of passers-by to the various articles of commerce exhibited for sale. This practice has long since given way to the more convenient one of numbering the houses of every street. It is still retained in many towns on the Continent. The city of Malines is said to abound with signs, and they add much to the picturesque effect of the streets of that particular place.* Even in England some faint traces of the practice remain, particularly in the more antique portions of old cities and country towns, where we occasionally find the Golden Fleece ^t the Drapers’, the Pestle and Mortar at the Apothe- caries’, the Sugar-loaf at the Grocers’, &c. The Red Hat, the Golden Boot, the Silver Canister, and others of that kind, which are everywhere pretty numerous, are modern imitations of the ancient fashion, and are oertainly preferable to such names as‘Commerce House,’ Waterloo Establishment,’ and ‘Albion House,’ by Gent. Mag. March, 1842. which enterprising traders dignify their shops. A col- lection of ancient signs still retained in use would be n curious and not uninteresting document. A great number of them might be collected from the imprints of old books. A famous bridge built at Paris in 1609 was called le Pont aux Oiseaux: it was covered with houses uni- formly built, painted with oil-colours, and distinguished by signs representing different birds.* We may fairly conclude that the names adopted from signs generally originated in towns, as such names as Field, Wood, and Grove did in the country; a con- sideration not devoid of some interest, as from it a conclusion may be arrived at as to whether one’s ancestors were citizens or ^ rusticall men.’ In Pasquin’s * Night-Cap,’ printed in 1612, we have the following lines, which show that at that compara- tively recent date, individuals were recognizable by the signs of their shops : “ First there is maister Peter at the Bell, A linen-draper and a wealthy naan ; Then maister Thomas that doth stockings sell; And George the grocer at the Frying-pan ; And maister Timothie the woollen-draper; And maister Salamon the leather-scraper; And maister Frank ye goldsmith at the Rose ; And maister Philip with the fiery nose. And maister Miles the mercer at the Harrow And maister Nicke the silkman at the Flow ; ^ Salverte. + The word Mercer is now exclusively applied to dealers in silk; but its original and true meaning is a general dealer. Gospatric Mercenarius occurs in this sense among the burgesses of Clithero, co. Lancaster,in the twelfth century. 14—2 And maister Giles the salter at the Sparroiv ; And maister Dike the vintner at the Cow ; And Harry haberdasher at the Horne ; And Oliver tlie dyer at the Thorne ; And Bernard, barber-surgeon at the Fiddle ; And Moses, merchant-tailor at the NeedleF The following names are probably derived from this source : Arrow, Axe, Barrell, Bullhead, Bell, Block, Ban- ner, Bowles, Baskett, Cann, Coulter, Chisel, Clogg, Crosskeys, Crosier, Funnell, Forge, Fyrehrand, Grapes, Griffin, Horne, Hammer, Hamper, Hodd, Harrow, Image (the sign originally in honour of some saint, perhaps), Jugg, Kettle, Knife, Lance, Mallet, Maul, Mattock (T),Keedle,Pail,Pott,Potts, Plowe, Plane,Pipes, Pottle, Patten, Posnet (a purse or money-bag), Pitcher, Rule, Rainbow, Sack, Saw, Shears ,Silverspoon, Swords, Tankard, Tabor (a drum) Trowel, Tubb, and Wedge. I would have wound up this catalogue with a Winch ! but that name is more probably derived from a place so called in the county of Norfolk. Shovel might be added here, but it is known as a corruption of the Fr. Cheval, still an English surname. Most of these were inn signs, particularly those which are denominations of vessels for containing liquors, as Barrell, Potts, Tankard, &c. In villages, in our own times, the trade of the innkeeper is often united to that of some handicraft. Hence come the names of tools, &c. Particular houses were formerly, as now, the resort of a particular class of artisans: thus the bricklayers would resort to the Trowell or the Hodd, the master of which would himself be a bricklayer; the carpenters to the Chisel or the Mallet; the black- smiths to the Hammer or the Forge; the tailors to the Needle, Phenix s^ndiSpinhs (sphinx) might probably be added in this connection. As in the other classes of surnames, certain words which have become obsolete as to general use are re- tained; I would in particular notice Cowlstick (often refined to Costic), Cade,'\‘ Cottrell, and Cresset. A cowl * Nowadays the more pretending innkeeping artificers give the armorials of their respective crafts as signs, e.g., the Blacksmiths’ Arms, the Carpenters’ Arms, &c.; those of a less ambitious grade give the Jolly Tanner, the Jolly Butcher, the Jolly Blacksmith, &c. ^ Arms^ are occasionally ^ found’ for callings hitherto unwarranted to bear them, as the Sawyers’ Arms, the Navigators’ Arms! There is some very queer heraldry recently sprung up, especially in the vicinity of railways, as the Railway Arms and the Tunnel Aems !! Both these occur at Lewes, as does also the Mount-Pleasant Arms !!! t As I intend “ to put into my book as much as my book will hold,” I take an opportunity here, on mentioning the name of Cade, to correct an error into which most of our historians have fallen relative to that arch-traitor Jack Cade, temp. Hen. VI. They uniformly state that he was an Irishman by birth, but there is strong presumptive evidence that to Sussex belongs the unenviable claim of his nativity. Speed states that “he had bin seruant to Sir Thomas Dagre.” Now this Sir Thomas Dagre or Dacre was a Sussex knight of great eminence, who had seats at Hurstmonceux and Heathfield, in this county. Cade has for several centuries been a common name about Mayfield and Heathfield, as is proved both by numerous entries in the parish registers and by lands and localities designated from the family. After the defeat and dispersion of his rabble-rout of retainers. Cade is stated to have fled into the woods of Sussex, where, a price being set upon his head, he was slain by Sir Alexander Iden, sheriff of Kent. Nothing seems more probable than that he should have sought shelter from the vindictive fury of his enemies among the woods of his native county, with whose secret retreats he was doubtless well acquainted, and where he would have been likely to meet with friends. The daring reckless- ness of this villain’s character is illustrated by the tradition of th0 >district, that he was engaged in the rustic game of bowls in the garden. is a vessel with two ears, generally made of wood, and for the sake of convenience carried between two, on a staff, thence called a cowl-staff or cowl-stick. Cade is an old word for a barrel or cask, and hence a very appro- priate sign for an alehouse or tavern. Cotteell, according to Grose, is a provincial word for a trammel for hanging an iron pot over the fire; but this name, as I have elsewhere shown, is as probably derived from a very different source. A Ceesset was an article used during the middle ages by soldiers; it was a kind of portable beacon made of wires in the shape of an inverted cone, and filled with match or rope steeped in pitch, tallow, resin, and other inflammable matters. One man carried it upon a pole, another attending with a bag to supply materials and a light, Shakspere and Milton both allude to the cresset as a familiar object: “ The front of heaven vras full of fiery shapes Of burning cressets."—Henry IV. I. “ Pendent by subtle magic many a row Of starry lamps and blazing cressets.”—Parad. Lost. I have made the annexed sketch of a cresset from a description in Fosbroke’s Encyclopaedia; I cannot answer for its being very correct. A “ cresset with burning fire” was formerly a badge of the Admiralty. In the Coventry Mysteries, p. 270, we read— Cressctiis, latttertttts, anB torches This name Cresset is the designation of at least ono family of gentry; and should my humble lucubrations of a little alehouse at Heathfiill, when the well-aimed arrow of the Kentish sherifi* inflicted the faLl wound. The place is still called Cade Street j and the present writer once occupied for a short time the identical garden in which the rebel fell. meet the eyes of any who happen to bear it, I trust they will pardon my insinuation that they are descended from tradesmen—vulgar persons who had great flaring sio*ns over their doors—when they call to remembrance o that all families of gentle bloodj must have been •amongst the plebeian ranks of society till some adven- titious circumstance raised them to eminence and wealth. A large number of our peerage families|are proud to record their descent from Lord Mayors of London, who must almost necessarily have been traders; and it is probable that many of our great houses of Norman origin, on tracing their pedigrees beyond the Conquest (were such a thing generally possible), would find themselves sprung from the poor and servile peasantry of Normandy. For pride of ancestry there is perhaps no antidote more salutary or more humi- liating than a calm consideration of the question pro- posed by the jester to the Emperor Maximilian, when engaged one day in making out his pedigree : ©Ehm Eijam autj (Bbe s^jatt, ^here boas then the gentleman Bickerstaff (with its corruption Bickersteth) was pro- bably the sign of an inn. It seems to mean a staff for tilting or skirmishing. (Vide Bailey’s Diet., voce ‘ Bicker.’) In the old ballad of Chevy Chase we read— “ Bowmen bieJeer’d upon the bent With their broad arrows clear.” A Brandretli was an iron tripod fixed over the fire, on which the pot or kettle is placed (Halliw.); but the very similar word Brandrith means a fence placed for safety round a well. A Hassell was an instrument formerly used for breaking flax and hemp. Elsewhere I have deduced Juhh from the personal name. Job; but it may be from ' jubbe,’ a medieval term for a vessel to hold wine or ale. “ With liim brought he ^juhhe of Malvesie, And eek another ful of wjn vernage.” Wright's Chaucer^ 14,481. The singular name of Burden is probably a corruption of ‘ bourdon,’ a pilgrim’s staff—a very appropriate sign for a wayside hostelrie. Several names are borrowed from habiliments of the person, as Cope, Mantell, Coates, Cloahe, Meddlicote, (that is, a coat of many^or mixed colours, a favourite fashion of our ancestors,) Bootes, Sandall, Slipper, Froche,Hose, Hat, Bodicoate, Capp, Peticote, Freemantle, i.e., a mantle of frieze, Gaicote, and Mapesp I have no doubt that all these have been used as signs of houses, perhaps of inns; certain it is that there was a tavern in Southwark called the Tabard (a herald’s coat), and a very famous tavern it was too, which will never be forgotten so long as the name of Chaucer survives. “ Befelle, that in that season on a day In Soutliwerk at the Tabaed as I lay, Redy to wenden on my pilgrimage To Canterbury with devout eorage, At night was come into that hostelrie, Wei nine and twenty in a compagnie, Of sondry folk, by aventui’e yfalie In felawship, and pilgrimes were they alle, That toward Canterbury wolden ride.”f Startup is an obsolete name for rough country boots with high tops. “ A payre of startuppes had he on his feete, That lased were up to the small of the legge; Homelie they were, and easier than ineete, And in their soles full many a wooden pegge.” Thynne’s Debate (Halliwell). Barrette (Fr.) is a cap or bonnet, and a Capelin (Fr. ‘ capeline ’) is another species of female head-dress. Some of the names borrowed from habiliments, however, were given as sobriquets to those who first set the fashion of wearing them. Of this we have an instance in Curtmantle, the surname of our Henry the * Vide Archaeologist, vol. i. p. 102. t Cant. Tales, Prologue. Second, given him from his having introduced the fashion of weariug shorter mantles than had been pre- viously used. This rule was reversed in later days by one Spencer, who gave his surname to the article bear- ing that name; which is said to have originated in the following manner. Spencer was a celebrated exquisite, who stood so high in these matters that he had only to don any particular fashion of garment, to be imitated by all the dandies of the day; and so confident was he of his influence in this respect, that he once declared that he verily believed, that if he wore a coat without tails, others would do the same. He assumed this ridiculous vestment—so did they! The surname Tabherer was in all probability first applied to some wearer of the garment so called. Ac- cording to Nares, the name of Habarder’ is still given at Queen’s College, Oxon, to the scholars, whose ori- ginal dress, the tabard, was not peculiar to heralds. Hugh Capet, the founder of the royal line of France in the tenth century, is said to have acquired that sur- name from a freak of which, in his boyhood, he was very fond ; that of snatching off the caps of his play- fellows. De la Eoque, however, gives a different origin for this name, deriving it from ‘ le bon sens et esprit qui residoit a sa teste !’ The names derived from parts of armour, as Helme, Shield, Greaves, Swords, Buckler, Gauntlett, Gunn, Muskett, Brownhill, Brownsword, Shotbolt, and Broad- spear, were also, in all probability, signs of inns kept by those who first bore them. Some similar names, however, originated from fashions in warlike imple- ments, and were given to the persons who first used them. Stronghow, the cognomen of the famous Earl of Pembroke, and Fortescue, that is, strong-shield, are of this kind. Longes2:)ee, the cognomen of William first Earl of Salisbury, and son of Fair Rosamond, was given him from his using a longer SWORD than usual; and William, son of Robert de Belesme, Earl of Shrewsbury, gained the name of Talvas from the kind of shield so called. The French name Beauharnois is literally ‘ fine- harness,’ and was originally applied to a person who took pride in splendid armour. To return to Signs, there is another class of surnames referable to this origin, such as Angel, Virgin, Saint,. Aj^ostles, Martyr,—names quite inapplicable to any living man, unless through the medium referred to. The Angel is still a common sio;n for inns, as Saints doubtless were before the Reformation. St. George and the Dragon still retain their post at the doors of some country alehouses. Martyrs, too, I dare say, were plentiful enough in those days ; but the only vestige of them remaining, so far as I am aware, is St. Catherine on her Wheel, now usually termed the Catton Wheel. Indeed, I am not quite sure whether it has not been corrupted still further to the Cat and Wheel 1 There are some other names of a religious cast, as Crucifix, Challis, Paten, Hallowhread, Pix, a little chest for the reception of the consecrated host, Pascall, an- other article used in the service of the church ; and Porteus, a breviary* or priest’s oifice-book; to which I am disposed to assign the same origin.^ * “ Item, I bequeath to the cliappel of Richborough one Fortuys printed, rrith a Mass-book which was Sir Thomas, the old Priest’s.” —Will of Sir Jno. Saunder, parson of Dymchurch, &c. 1509. Somner’s Ports of. Kent. “ By Gfod and by this portus wil I swere.”—Wright’s Chaucer, 14,546. Several family names represent articles of DIET, as Butter, Dryhutter, Figg (an excellent name for a grocer*), Ho7ieg,f Milk,I Mustard, Fichtes, Pepper,Salt, Sugar, Suet. Others correspond with beverages, as Ale, Beer, Claret, Ginn, Portwine, Perry, Negus, Rum, Sider,^ SJiei^ry. Some of these may have been given to persons who traded in the respective commodities, but the majority might probably have a more satisfactory origin. For instance, the name Earle is pronounced Ale in some districts, and Beer is the name of two small towns in the county of Devon, while Rum is the designation of one of the Hebrides. I must not close this Chapter without adverting to one further batch of names connected with the fore- going ; namely, those corresponding with the designa- tions of the di\dnities and celebrated persons of classi- cal antiquity, such as Venus,\\ Mars, Bacchus, Homer, Tidley, Horace, Vergil, Cccsar. These are doubtless derived from traders’ signs. The former three would be appropriate for inns, the remainder for the shops of medieval dealers in books or their materials. So re- cently as the last generation, a celebrated publisher gave his establishment the name of the ‘‘ Cicero’s Head.” “ Johnny Eigg was a green and white grocer.”—Old Sovg. f The number of Surnames of which Honey forms a component part is remarkable : Honey man, Honey sell, Honey church, Honywood, Honey- ball, Honeywill, Honeybone, and Hunnybum! J There is or was a dairyman bearing this appropriate name near Dorset Square. § Sider or Syder may be synonymous with Sidesman, the name of a petty civil office. II The name of Steph. de Veuuse, miles, occurs 31 Edw. I., a quo, .perhaps, Yenus. It is sometimes amusing to find these immortal names in the oddest possible associations: '‘Many years have not elapsed,” says Mr. Brady, in his humorous dissertation, " since Horace drew beer at Wapping; Homer was particularly famous for curing sore legs; and C^SAR was unambitious of any other post than that of shopman to a mercer !”^ "Pan” I am assured by a correspondent, keeps a village inn.”f Hector was the champion of Petersfield and an M.P. Cato is a wire-worker on Holborn Hill. Such surnames do not belong exclusively to England,, for Victor HugoJ assures us that— M. Janus is a baker at Namur ! M. Marius a hairdresser at Arles!! and M. Nero a confectioner at Paris !! I Of Mr. Sylvius, one of the courtiers of Charles 11.^ * Since the above paragraph was written, a Julius Csesarwas found' JigMing in the forum or market-place of a town in Surrey with one ' Colpus ’ and others. Csesar, on this occasion, sustained a defeat, for a body of “ cserulei Britanni,” in the shape of policemen, made him their prisoner, and brought him before the local bench, in petty sessions assembled. A detailed Commentary of this ‘ Civil War ’ was given in the Sussex Express in December, 1848; and future editors of the war- rior classic can do as they please about consulting it. + Several Roman families bore names which as they fondly believed furnished proof of their descent from Gods and Heroes. Halesus passed as the descendant of Neptune, and the Antonia family derived them- selves from Anton, the competnion of Hercules. Virgil makes Cluen- tiuS a descendant of the hero Cloanthes— “ Cloanthus . , . , genus unde tibi Romane Cluenti.”—y. 123. And Julius Csesar is deduced from liilus (Ascanius) : “Julius k magno dimissum nomen lulo.”—jEn. i. 288. X The Rhine, vol. i. p. 76. we are told that he was “ a man who had nothing of a Roman in him except the name.”^ The failure of a person named Homer once gave rise to the following admirable (or execrable ?) puns : “ That Homer should a bankrupt be, Is not so very odd-d’te-see, If it be true, as I’m instructed, So ILL-HE-HAD his books conducted !”f Mr. Potiphar would probably experience some diffi- culty in tracing up to his Egyptian namesake. Had we not evidence that such names as Colhrand, Guy, and Bevis were anciently used as Christian names, I should not hesitate to add them to this catalogue of celebrated persons as being derived respectively from the Danish Giant, from the famous Earl of Warwick, and from the no less doughty, if less illustrious, Bevis of Southampton: “ Which geaunt was mjghtie and strong, And full fourty feet was long ; A foote he had betwene each brow, His head was bristled like a sowe!” Romance of Syr Bevis, It is remarkable that there is still living at South- ampton—the scene of his giantship’s adventures—a Jamily of Bevis, who from time immemorial have been located there; but whether they are lineally or collate- rally descended from this giant (whose effigies still adorn the Bar-gate of the town), I leave to the proper authorities at the Heralds’ College to determine. The name of Littlejohn may be imagined to have been borrowed from the far-famed compeer of that most Gramm cut’s Memoirs. t Herald. Anom. redoubtable deer-killing, bishop-robbing, and sheriff- tormenting wight. Master Robyn Hood of Nottingham- shire. That the name of a person so popular, so courageous, and so worthy as in some respects this ancient forester was, should be adopted as a surname - by some lover of “ hunting craft and the green-wood glade,” in the next generation, would have been a cir- cumstance by no means extraordinary. Lord Abinger’s family may be descended from a representative of the no less renowned Will Scarlett, another of the worthies of ‘ merrie Sherwood.’ OF SUENAMES BOEROWED FROM THE SOCIAL RELATIONS, PERIODS OF TIME, AGE, ETC. HERE are several English Surnames derived from consanguinity, alliance, and other social relations which, Camden thinks, have originated from the necessity of a second appellative, when two persons bearing the same baptismal name resided in close proximity to each other. This is a feasible derivation for several of them, but for others it is extremely difficult, if not impos- sible, to account. The following are more or less usual in many parts of England : Father, Brothers, Brotherson, and Cousins; Oldson and Youngson; Batchelor, Lover, Paramour, Bride- groom, and Bride; Neighbour, Gossip, and Guest; Hus- band, Younghusband,"^ and Goodhusband; Masters and Servant; Masterman, Prentice, and Nurse ; Friend and Foe; Kinsman, Quaintance, and Stranger. From obsolete words or forms : Fader, father. Waller, from the A.-S.' waller-wente,’ foreign men, strangers. * W. le Youngeliusbande.—Subsidy Roll, Sussex, 1296. “ Elies or Ellis, in British/’ says Hals, ‘‘ is a son-in- law by the wife, and Els or Ells, a son-in-law by the husband.”'^ Beldam (beldame) formerly meant grandmother, and was a respectful term. In course of time it has become synonymous with hag or witch. Keniiett applies it to *‘an old woman that lives to see a sixth generation descended from her.” Spenser uses it in its original French signification, which is ‘fair lady.’ How it became an hereditary surname, is not very obvious. The same observation applies to another female name, which, however, does not exactly belong to this class —I mean Rigmaiden. A ‘ Rig ’ is deduced by Bailey from the Latin ridendo, and defined as ‘ a wanton, romping girl,’ and this appellation was probably first affixed to some fourteenth-century hoyden. There were at least two families of our gentry who bore this name with dissimilar coats of arms.*[* Bellamy, Dr. Giles, in his Notes on the Saxon Chronicle, considers this a corruption of the Norman name ‘ Belesme,’ but Halliwell produces a host of authorities for the Old English, or rather French ‘Bel- Amy/ fair friend: “ Belamy, he seyde, how longe Shal thy folye y-laste ?”—MS. Coll. Trin. Oxon., 57. Robert of Gloucester and Chaucer employ this word. Farehrother, father-brother, is a Scottish term for uncle, and a much more rational appellative than Bairnsfather, also a Scottish surname. Leif child. ‘ Lefe ’ is an archaism for love; and ‘ love-child ’ a provincialism for an illegitimate; still * D. Gilbert’s Cornwall, vol. iii. p. 429. t Gent. Mag., 1830, i. 305. VOL. I. 15 this name may mean no more than ‘ dear,’ or * beloved child,’ an opinion which is supported by the use of the phrase in the following lines, quoted by Halliwell, from a poem of the fifteenth century : “ Therfor my leffe chyld, T scballe teche the, Herken me "welle the maner and the gyse, How thi sowle inward schalle aqueyntyd be With thewis* good, and vertw in alle wysse.” Filiol, a Norman name of high degree, is probably the French ‘filleul,’ equivalent to our own Godson. From periods of age, or the phases of human exist- ence, we have Infant, Bahy,-\ and Budding; Little- child ; Child, Children (!); Boys and Littlehoys ; Good- hoys and Tallboys ; Stripling and Youngman,— “ The diapason closing full in Mann /” To these may be added Maiden, and its Latinization, Virgo. Gasson looks like a corruption of the French * gar9on,’ a boy. Littlepage speaks for itself. That some of these are corruptions, or words having a double meaning, is, I think, unquestionable. Mann, for instance, as I have already surmised, may be from the island in the Irish Sea; Batchelor is applicable otherwise as well as to an unmarried man; and Boys, with its compounds, is, in all likelihood, a mis-spelling and false pronunciation of the French BOis, a wood. The French surname Dubois, naturalized amongst us, is equivalent to our Attwood, &c. Child is frequently used by our old writers as a title. It seems to be equivalent to Knight. In the ‘ Faerie Queen ’ it is applied to the son of a king. Child Waters, the Child of File, and Gil or Child-YLoxioo, are personages well * Manners, deportment. t I have three or four authorities for this name. known to the readers of Percy’s Reliques. The word sometimes occurs in its plural form as Children, Thus in the ballad of Sir Cauline : “ The Eldridge kniglit he pricked his steed; Sjr Cauline bold abode : Then either shooke his trustye speare, And the timber these two children bare Soe soone in sunder slode ! (split)” Perc. Rel., Ed. 1839, p. 12. In former times the cognomen Childe was prefixed to the family name of the eldest son; and the appel- lation was continued until he succeeded to the title of his ancestors, or gained new honours by his prowess. To such names of distinction also belong Rich and Poore, Vassail, Bond, Freeman, Freeborn, and Burrell. PoREL is used in Chaucer in the sense of LAY, as Borel-clerks, lay-clerks; Borel-folk, laymen. Faunt- Zeroy has been ingeniously derived from “ enfaunt-le- roi,” the-infant-king. Had it been Fauntduroy, it would have been equivalent to our kingson. The surname of Wardedieu, or War deux, formerly borne by the feudal lords of Bodiam, co. Sussex, is of very singular origin. Henry, a younger son of the house of Monceux, was a WARD OF the Earl of Eu in the thirteenth century, from which circumstance he left his ancient patronymic and assumed that of WARD DE Ou. This Henry Wardeou or Wardedeu was knight of the shire for Sussex in 1802.* Harmer, a name of rather dangerous sound, is really very harmZess if its origin be traced, as I rather suspect it may, to the German poor. Closely connected with some of the foregoing, are • See my “ Bodiam and its Lords,” p. 7. 15—2 the names derived from periods of AGE, as Young, Younger, Eld, and Senior. Rathhone, from the Saxon/ signifies ‘ an early gift.’ This class of surnames presents some very strange anomalies; for instance, though Eld or Senior might serve very well to designate a man in the decline of life, how could it apply to his children ? “ Yong,'" says Verstegan, “was derived from one’s fewness of yearesif so, every day of his life must have made the absurdity of the name increasingly apparent. How oddly do such announcements as the following sound: “Died, on Tuesday week, Mr. Young, of Newton, aged 97.” “ The late Mr. Cousins, the opulent banker, of Kingston, is said to liave left the whole of his pro- perty to public charities, as he could not ascertain that he had a single relative in the world!” “ Died, on the 10th inst., Miss Bridget Younghushand, spinster, aged 84.” “ Birth : Mrs. A. Batchelor, of a son, being her thirteenth!' &c. &c. From periods of time we have such names as Spring, Summer, Winter. The writer of the article “Names,” in the ‘Penny Cyclopaedia,’ thinks these three corruptions of other words, because the remain- ing season. Autumn, does not stand as a surname. Thus, he says. Spring signifies a hill; Summer, som- ner; and Winter, vintner.* This is far-fetched; besides, I would not undertake to say that we have no Autumns in our family nomenclature. It is a word easily corrupted to the more natural spelling of Otham or Hotham, although I am quite aware that some families bearing that designation take it from places * In ray “ Patronymica Britannica ” I have modified this view, and the writer of tlie article alluded to is, perhaps, correct. where they were originally settled.* Moreover, it is no greater matter of surprise that names should be borrowed from the seasons than from the months, the days of the week, and festivals of the Church, like the following: Day, with its compounds Goodday, Singleday, and Doubleday; Evening, Mattin, Vesper, Dawn, Eoon, Eve, Morrow, Weekes; March, May, August; Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Friday; Christ- mas (and Noel, Fr.), Easter, Paschall, Pentecost, Har- vest, Middlemiss, that is, if I mistake not, Michaelmas; Holiday, Midwinter, &c. Domesday seems to be a corruption of “ domus Dei,'’ a name given to some re- ligious houses. We are not singular in the possession of such names : the Romans had their Januarii, Martii, Maii, Festi, and Virgilii—the last so named from hav- ing been “ borne at the rising of the Virgiliae or seven stars, as Pontanus learnedly writeth against them which write the name Virgilius.”‘f* Varro says that when two or more persons among the Romans bore the same appellative—Terentius, for example—they were distinguished from each other by an additional name ; thus, if one was born early in the morning, he would be called Manius; if in the day- time, Lucius; if after the death of his father, Post- humus.J In Cambodia, at the present time, a child is fre- quently named from the day on which he was born, * “ The non-existence of Autumn as a surname may be accounted for by the recent introduction of that word into English: ‘fall’ was the old name for the season, and is still retained in America. Fall occurs .as a surname, though not so frequently as Spring, probably because not ^f such good augury.”—From a Correspondent. t Remaines, p. 111. X De Latin^ Lingu§., lib. viii. and in some parts of Abyssinia, according to Salt, tbe father often gives his infants names allusive to the circumstances under which they came into the world, as ' Night-born,’ ‘ Born-on-the-Dust,’ &c. On the name of Day it should be remarked that it may signify one of the humblest class of husbandry ser- vants, or, as we now call them, day-labourers. In a statute of Bich. II., regulating wages, we have “a swine- herd, a female labourer, and a deye,’' put down at six shillings per annum.* Deye is an Old English term for a dairymaid, and as such is used by Shakspeare. It is probable that most of these names originated from the period of the birth of the persons to whom they were first assigned, or from some notable event which occurred to those persons on the particular day or month. The name Friday, which Be Foe makes Eobinson Crusoe give to his savage, is extremely natural. Perhaps they were occasionally applied to foundlings, after the fashion mentioned in Crabbe’s ‘ Parish Kegister ’: “ Some hardened knaves that roved the country round, Had left a babe within the parish bound. * * * * But bj what name th’ unwelcome guest to call Was long a question, and it ‘ posed ’ them all; For he who lent it to a babe unknown, Censorious men might take it for his own. They look’d about, they gravely spoke to all, And not one Richard answered to the call. Next they enquired the day when, passing by, Th’ unlucky peasant heard the stranger’s cry. Knight’s Pictorial Shakspere. This known, how food and raiment they might give’ Was next debated, for the rogue would live ! At last, with all tlieir words and work content. Back to their homes the prudent vestry went. And Richaed Monday to the workhouse sent.” I shall close this short Chapter with a few names, without offering a single conjecture as to their origin, viz., Quickly, Soone, Quarterly, Sudden, Later, Latter, and Last. Well may Master Camden remark of such: “To FIND OUT THE TRUE ORIGINALL OF SURNAMES IS FULL OF DIFFICULTY an observation which also applies with equal if nob greater force to many others which will occur in subsequent chapters. OF SURNAMES INDICATIVE OF CONTEMPT AND RIDICULE. “ J’ai ete tousjours fort etonne, queles Families qui portent unNoM ODIETJX ou KIDICULE, lie le quitteiit pas.”>—Bayle. HE LeatherTieads and Shufflebottoms, the Higginses and Huggenses, the Scroggses and Scraggses, the Sheepshanks and Hams- hottoms,^ the Woodheads and Addleheads, the Hytches and the Huddles, seem for the most part to have entertained no such dislike to their surnames, because, perhaps, having examined them etymolo- gically, they have found nothiug in them which ought to be taken in maid parte. But it is indeed remark- able, that many surnames really expressive of bodily deformity or of moral obliquit}^, should have descended to the posterity of those who perhaps well deserved, and so could not escape them ; particularly when we reflect how easily such names might have been avoided in almost every state of society by the adoption of others; for although in our days it is considered an The Doctor. act of villany, or at least a ‘ suspicious affair/ to change one’s name unless in compliance with the will of a deceased friend, when an act of the senate or the royal sign-manual is required, the case was widely different fou;’ or five centuries ago, and we know from ancient records that names were frequently changed at the caprice of their owners. The law seems originally to have regarded such changes, even in the most solemn acts, with great* indifterence. Lord Coke observes: “ It is requisite that a purchaser be named by the name of baptism and his surname, and that special heed be taken to the name of baptism, for that a man cannot have two names of baptism as he may have divers surnames.” And again : “ It is holden in our antient books that a man may have divers names at divers times, but not divers Christian names.” “ The question how far it is lawful for an individual to assume a surname at pleasure came before Sir Joseph Jekyll, when Master of the Kolis in 1730, who, in giving judgment upon the case (Barlow u Bateman), remarked: ‘lam satisfied the usage of passing Acts of Parliament for the taking upon one a surname is but modern, and that any one may take upon him what surname, and as many surnames, as he pleases, without an Act of Parliament.’ It is right, however, to add, that the above decision was reversed by the House of Lords.”^ Names of this unenviable description are not very numerous; still we have Bad, Trollope, that is slattern, Stunt, that is fool. Wanton, Outlaw, Lawless, Parnell, that is a woman of stained character, Puttoch, the same, Bastard, Silly, Silliman, Harlott, Hussey, Trash, * Archseologia, vol. xviii. p. 110. Guhbins, the refuse parts of a fish, and Gallows, which strongly implies that the founder of that family attained a station more exalted than enviable before he left the world! Bene or Bean is an expression of contempt, the meaning of which is obscure.* Sometimes, however, it means good, and sometimes, obedient. Coe is a Norfolk provincialism, employed to designate " an odd old fellow.' Cokin (whence Cocking) is the Anglo' Norman for ‘rascal.’ “ Quoth Arthour, thou hethen colcin, Wende to tlii devel Apolin.” (Apollyon.) Arthour and Merlin.\ Penny father is a penurious person: “ Rich mysers andpennyfathers” TopselVs Beasts, 1607. “ 'B,QX\c\e penyfathers scud, with their half harames Shadowing their calves, to save their silver dammes.” Morgan's Phoenix Britan. (Halliwell.) Kennard, anciently Kaynard, from ‘caignard’ (Fr.), literally means “ you dog.” It also signifies a sordid fellow, a rascal. “ A Tcaynard and an old folte. That thryfte hath loste, and boghte a bolte." MS. Harl. 1701. Lenny or Lennie has been derived from the French I’aine, the ass. Cheale, in the southern dialect, is probably the samo with chiel in the northern, where it is applied to per- * Percy’s Bel. Ant. Poet. t In some instances this name may be from Cockayne, or from Cocking, a parish in West Sussex. sons in a slighting, contemptuous manner. The A.-S. ' ceorl,’ whence our modern English ‘ churl/ is probably the root. Goff means fool.* Craven, the surname of a noble family, might be thought to belong to the same class,*|* but this is a local name derived from a district in Yorkshire. The surname Devil is found in many countries. ^Wilielmus cognomento Diabolus’ was an English monk. In France we meet with Eogerius Diabolus, lord of Montresor, and Hughes le Diable^ lord of Lusignan, nob to mention Robert the Devil, duke of Normandy, who had this delicate cognomen as a ^nom de nique.’ In Norway and Sweden there were two families of the name of Trolle (devil), and every branch of these families had a figure of the Evil One for their coat of arms. Diable occurs in Brittany, and Teufels (or devils) in Holland.J In the rage for applying opprobrious epithets in- dulged by our ancestors, even the infernal regions, supplied a surname. A priory of Dominicans was founded at King’s Langley, co. Herts, by Roger Helle, an English baron, presumed to be of the Lucy family, who lived at the beginning of the thirteenth century, and was so called because he had ‘ played the devil’ with the Welsh : “d Vallensihus ita cognominatus, eo * * To give a goff’ is a phrase used among the vulgar in the South, meaning to exhibit a peculiar contortion of the face indicative of extreme stupidity. t Ceaven, antiently a term of disgrace, when the party that waa overcome in single combat yielded and cried Cravent, &c.—Bailey's Dictionary. X Hone’s Table Book, vol. i. p. 699. quod eosdem Wallicos, regi Anglice rebelles, tanquam inferni (sic) undique devastavit”'^ Many of the names mentioned in former chapters might be placed among these surnames of contempt. Such also are many of those indicative of ill-formed limbs or features, as Cruickshank, or Grookshanks, Longshanks, Legless, Hunchback, Greathead, Long- nesse, &c. The ancient Romans, like ourselves, had many family names implying something defective or disgraceful. Their Plauti, Pandi, Vari, Scauri, and Tuditani would have been with us the Splay-foots, the Bandy-legs, the In-knees, the Club-foots, and the Hammer-heads ! The meanness of the origin of some of the Patrician families is hinted at in their names. The Suilli were descended and denominated from a swineherd, the Bubulci from a cow-herd, and the Ford from a liog-butcher ! Strabo would have been with us a Mr. Squintum, Naso (Ovid) a Mr. Bignose, and Publius, the propraetor, a Mr. Snubnose. Cincin- natus, and the curly poll of the Dainty Davie of Scot- tish song, are, strange to say, identical ideas.f There is no doubt, I think, that such names as Servus (slave) and Spurius (illegitimate) originally in- dicated the real condition of their primitive owners, though Salverte very ingeniously attempts to disprove it.J The modern Italians are not more courteous than their ancestors of “ old Rome” in the names they give to some families ; as, for instance, Malatesta, chuckle- headed ; Boccanigras, black-muzzled; Porcina, a hog; and Gozzi, chubby-chops! To this place may also be referred the by-names of * Weever’s Fun. Mon. edit. 1631, p. 583. Grough, i. 349. t CHambers’s Edinburgh Jourual. J Essai, i. 162. king?, as Unready, Short hose, Sans-terre, Crookback. William the Conqueror was so little ashamed of the illegitimacy of his birth, that he sometimes commenced his charters with William the Bastard. Among other names not yet mentioned may be noticed Whalebelly (for which, with all the rest that follow, I have good authority), the designation, pro- bably, of some corpulent person; Rotten, BwbhlejaWf and Rottenheryng, a name which occurs in some ancient records of the town of Hull, and was most likely given, in the first instance, to a dishonest dealer in fish. Indeed, I have little doubt that these odd appellations all applied with great propriety to those who primarily bore them. How well might 8ave~all designate a miserly fellow ! and Sorape-sJcin would , answer the same purpose admirably. Douhleman would be odious if it related to duplicity of character, but humorous if it originated in some person’s being double the size of ordinary people. Stahback and Killmaster, though really horrible in sound, are not so in sense, as they are corruptions of local names. Ugly and Badman are not desirable appellatives, though of very honourable extraction : the former is the name of a village in Essex, and the latter a slight contraction of ‘ headman,’ one who prays for another, —certainly no bad man would do that! Blachmonstev again does not bespeak our admiration, though it is a natural and not very distant departure from Blanch- minster the white monastery’), a local name. Opprobrious surnames have certainly diminished in number within the last four centuries. Our old records, both civil and ecclesiastical, abound with them. Dr, Whitaker says, “ if any antiquary should think fit to write a dissertation on the antiquity of nicknames in England, he may meet with ample materials in the Compotus of Bolton Abbey; for here are found Adam Blunder, Simon Paunche, Richard Drunken, Tom Kogkt, and Whirls the carter—the last, I suppose, by an antiphrasis, from the slowness of his rotatory motions.” The records of Lewes Priory afford many names of this kind. Oculus Ferreus (‘iron eye’) was a donor of ty thes; Moper was an excellent name for a recluse; and William Cakepen was literally a baker (pistor); Mange- fer (‘eat-iron’) might have given an ostrich for his crest; Ylbod (ill-bode) and Malfeythe, if there be any truth in names, were men to be avoided ; while William de Toto Mundo must have travelled very extensively. Pympe, Scoldecok, Greyhaster, Takepaine, Burdenbars, and Sikelfot (sickle-foot?—a friend suggests ^ siker/ that is sure, foot, as a better etymon) also occur in these documents. It is perhaps scarcely fair to take many of the above names au pied de la lettre, as they may not be really what they appear at the first sight or sound; and a more diligent search into our own ancient dialects, as well as into those foreign ones from whence we receive so many recruits, would doubtless rescue some of them from unmerited opprobrium. Nor should it be for- gotten that in the mutations to which a living language is ever exposed, many expressions which now bear a bad sense had originally a very different meaning: the words knave, villain, and rascal, for instance, would not have been regarded as opprobrious in the thirteenth cen- tury. The name Coward may be adduced in support of these remarks. The Argillarius or Hayward of a town or village was one whose duty it was to supervise the greater cattle, or common herd of beasts, and keep them within due bounds. He was otherwise called Bubulcus, q. d. Cow-ward, whence the reproachful term Coward.”^ With respect to the term nickname, I may observe that ib comes to us from the French {nom de nique), in which language nique is a movement of the head to mark a contempt for any person or thing. The following anecdote will serve to show how easily, even in modern times, a nickname may usurp the place of a true family name. “ The parish clerk of Lang- ford near Wellington, was called Eed Cock for many years before his death; for having one Sunday slept in church, and dreaming that he was at a cock-fighting, he bawled out: ' A shilling upon the red cock !’ And behold,” says Lackington, “ the family are called Red- cock to this day !”f Rees’s Enclyclopaedia. t Lackington’s Life. CHAPTER Xiy. OF SURNAMES DERIVED FROM THE VIRTUES^ AND OTHER ABSTRACT IDEAS ; WITH SOME OTHERS EELA.TED TO THESE. business, here, is first to name—and then to endeavour to account for—such names as Hope, Peace,Joy, Love, Anguish, Bliss, Conscience, Comfort, Death, Grace, Justice. Liberty, Luch, Laughter, Mercy, Pardon, Piety, Power, Pride, Patience, Prudence, Reason, Ransom, Verity, Virtue, War, Want, and Wisd^om. To these may be added Bale, sorrow or misery, and a few other obsolete terms of similar character. It can hardly be supposed that these names were assumed by persons who fancied themselves pre-eminent for the possession of such attributes. Such arrogance would certainly have failed of its object, and have ex- posed the assumers to the contempt they deserved. To this remark it may be objected that the Puritans of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries adopted a no- menclature precisely similar in the personal or Christian names, which they are asserted to have taken up in lieu of the more ordinary and long-established appella- tives of general society. * The name Peace-of-Heart, Paix-dU' Coeur, occurs among the mer- chants of Rouen. It was usual/’ says Hume, (quoting Brome’s Travels,) “ for the pretended saints of that time [A.D. 1653] to change their names from Henry, Edward, Anthony, William, which they regarded as heathenish and ungodly, into others more sanctified and godly. Sometimes a whole godly sentence was adopted as a name. Here are the names of a jury inclosed in Sussex about this time : “ Accepted Trevor of Horsham. Kedeemed Compton of Battle.* Faint-not Hewett of Heathfield. Make-peace Heaton of Hare. God-reward Smart of Fivehurst. Stand fast-on-high Stringer of Crowhurst. Earth Adams of Warble ton. Called Lower of the same. Kill-sin Pimple of Witham. Eeturn Spelman of Watling. Be-faithful Joiner of Britling. Fly-debate Boberts of the same. Fight-the-good-fight-of-faith White of Emer. More-fruite Fowler of East-Hadley. Hope-for Bending of the same. Graceful Harding of Lewes. Weep-not Billing of the same. Meek Brewer of Okeham.” Had Hume taken a little pains to investigate this subject he might have saved himself the reiteration of Brome’s sneer about the pretended saints,” for we have indubitable evidence that such names were not assi{,med by the persons who bore them, but imposed * Minister of Heathfield (1608)» VOL. I. 16 as baptismal names. Take, in corroboration of this remark, a few instances from the parochial register of Warbleton : 16l7j Bestedfast Elyarde. Goodgift Gynninges. 1622, Lament Willard. 1624, Depend Outered. 1625, Faint-not Dighurst, Fere-not Rhodes. 1677, Replenish French. Hence it will be seen that fully as much of blame (if any exist) rests with the clergy who performed the rite of baptism in these cases as with the “ sanctified and godly” parents who proposed such names of pre- tended saintship. I do not for a moment wish to ex- tenuate the folly of the persons who gave such absurd names to their children, but I deem it an act of justice to the much-maligned, though, in many respects, mis- guided and even fanatical Puritans of that period, to show that the sarcasm of the illiberal historian falls pointless to the ground, because, generally speaking at least, the bearers of such names had nothing at all to do with their imposition, and could no more get rid of them than any persons now living can dispense with the Christian names they have borne from their infancy. Indeed it seems to have become fashionable towards the close of the sixteenth century for parents to choose such forenames for their offspring, and scarcely any of the parish registers of the period that I have examined are free from them. It seems that Sussex was parti- <iularly remarkable for the number of such names, long before the unhappy dissensions which disgraced the middle portion of the seventeenth century. There is another jury-list of the same kind for the county in the Burrell Manuscripts, Brit. Mus., without date, but which I have good reason for assigning to about the year 1610, many years, be it remarked, prior to the era of Barebones and his “ pretended saintsand Camden, who wrote about the same time, alludes to these '‘new names, Free-gift, Reformation, Earth, Dust, Ashes, Delivery, More-fruit, Tribulation, The Lord-is neare, More-tryall, Discipline, Joy-againe, From-above, which have lately [that is probably about the middle of Elizabeth’s reign] been given by some to their children with no evil meaning, but upon some singular and precise conceit.” The names ' Remedium amoris,’ ' Imago syeculi,’ are mentioned by this author, among the oddities of personal nomenclature of the same date. While upon this subject, I am sure I shall be par- doned for the introduction of the other Sussex jury- list just referred to, particularly as it will probably be new to most readers. “Approved Frewen of Northiam.* Be thankful Maynard of Brightling. Be-courteous Cole of Pevensey. Safety-on-High Snat of Uckfield. Search-the-Scriptures Moreton of Salehurst. * He was a near relative of Archbishop AcceptedYvev^en; and, since the authenticity of these lists has been questioned, I would add, that ray somewhat intimate acquaintance with the parish registers of Eastern Sussex enables me to state that many of the names they contain, besides hundreds of others, are to be found in those documents. The following extract from the register of Waldron may serve as a specimen of many entries I have met with : “ Flie-fornication, the bace some of Catren Andrewes^ bapt. ye V7th Desemb. 1609.” 16^2 More-fruit Fowler of East-HotLly. Free-gift Mabbs of Chiddingly. Increase Weeks of Cuckfield. Restore Weeks of the same. Kill-sin Pemble of Westham. Elected Mitchell of Heathfield. Faint-not Hurst of the same. Renewed Wisberry of Hailsham. Return Milward of Hellingly. Fly-debate Smart of Waldron. Fly-fornication Richardson of the same. Seek-wisdom Wood of the same. Much-mercy Cryer of the same. Fight-the-good-fight-of-Faith White of Ewhurst.’^ Small-hope Biggs of Rye. Earth Adams of Warble ton. Repentance Avis of Shoreham. The-peace-of-God Knight of Burwash. This species of nomenclature, then, appears to have been extensively fashionable at the periods above re- ferred to ; and although I entirely concur with those who object to it on the ground oi taste, we should do well to recollect that many well-accepted baptismal names are equally objectionable for the same reason. Rejoice Newton is not more puritanical than Letitia Smith; nor Lovegod Jones than Theophilus Brown; nor Pure Robinson than Catherine Styles; nor Good Noakes than Agatha Sutton.^ In Beverston church, * One Deodatus was Arclibishop of Canterbury; and in the list of African primates we find ‘ Deo-datus,’ ‘ Deo-gratias,’ ‘ Quid-vult-Deus,” ‘ Habet-Deum while ‘ Pius ’ and ‘ Innocent ’ have frequently been assumed by tenants of the holy see. Of Puritan bishops we have read; of Puritan popes, never! CO. Gloucester, is the following curious P'K,Wtan memorial ; “Imlieththe hohg oi the toife ot ^urjjr, minister oi the tonrh in this ^rlaee, toha hieh the I hag of Peeemh: in the geare of the Sorhe X604, anh of her life the 67th, “ Quae defuncfca jacet saxo tumulata sub illo ■Bis Ca'.hara, Laud ficto nomine, dicta fuit. Nomen utrumque sonat mundam, puram, piamq.: Et Tere nomen quod refei’ebat, erat. Nam puram puro degebat pectore vitam, Pura fuit mundo, nunc mage pura Deo. “ Tldvra KaSrapd toIlq KaSrapolg. Omnia pura puris. Tit. i., ver. 15.” “ She whom this stone doth quietly immure In no feign’d way had twice the name of Pure; Pure, piuu^, clean, each name did signify. And truly was she wliat those names imply ; For in pure patlis, wliile yet she lived, she trod ; Pure was she in this world, and now more pure with God.”* To return from this long, though not perhaps irrele- vant digression, to the names which stand at the head of this chapter : I am inclined to think they originated in the allegorical characters who performed in the ancient mysteries or moralities; a species of dramatic pieces, which before the rise of the genuine drama served to amuse, under the pretext of instructing, the play-goers of the “ olden tyme.” The favourite cha- racters in these performances were Charity, Faith, Pru- * Eelton’s Sketches of Churches, B. 2. dence, Discretion, Good-doctrine, Death, Vice, Folly, and Iniquity,* who strutted upon the stage in gro- tesque costume, and did far more to injure than promote good morals. The humour of these performers was of the broadest kind, and their acting irresistibly droll, but indecencies both in gesture and language neutralized their attempts to improve the moral feelings of their audiences, and eventually brought them into disrepute. It is probable that the actors in these per- formances acquired the names of the characters they personated, which thus became surnames, and descended to their posterity. We have already seen that the names King, Lord, Knight, &c., originated in a manner very similar. The not very uncommon name Yice is doubtless borrowed from a cliaracter in the mysteries and pa- geants of the middle ages. “ He appears/’ says Gifford, to have been a perfect counterpart of the Harlequin of the modern stage, and had a twofold office ; to instigate the hero of the piece to wickedness, and, at the same time, to protect him from the Devil, whom he was permitted to buffet and baffle with his wooden sword, till the process of the story required that both the protector and the protected should be carried off by the fiend, or the latter driven roaring from the stage by some miraculous interposition in favour of the repentant offender.” The name seems also to have been applied generally to any impersonation of wickedness. In Ben Jonson’s ' The Devil is an Ass/ we read:— “ Sat. What Yice ? What kind wouldst thou have it of * Strutt’s Sports and Pastimes. Pug. Why, any: Fraud, Or Covetousness, or Lady Vanity, Or old Iniquity.”*" The name of Woodhouse may be either a local one, or the designation of a favourite character in the mum- mings and Christmas festivities of our ancestors—if the latter, it may find a place here. The Wodehousey or Wild Man of the Woods, was usually represented as a hairy monster wreathed about the temples and loins with holly and ivy, and much resembling the “ wild man,” so familiar in heraldric bearings. I am inclined to think he was originally derived from the Woden of the Saxon mythology. The etymon of Woden appears to be pohe, mad, wild, furious, which agrees well enough with the assumed character of the “ Wodehouse straunge ” of the olden days of merrie England. As the Wodehouse was distinct from the religious cast of the characters who performed in the Mysteries just referred to, he survived the Reformation, and continued to be a favourite till a comparatively recent period. When Queen Elizabeth was entertained at Kenilworth Castle, various spectacles were contrived for her amusement, and some of them produced, without any previous no- tice, to take her, as it were, by surprise. It happened about nine o’clock one evening, as her majesty returned from hunting, and was riding by torch-light, there came suddenly out of the wood by the road-side, a man habited like a savage, covered with ivy, holding in one of his hands an oaken plant torn up by the roots, who placed himself before her, and after holding some dis- course with a counterfeit echo, repeated a poetical oration in her praise, which was well received. This Knight’s Piet. Shakspere. man was Thomas Gascoyne the poet; and the verses he spoke on the occasion were of his own composition.”* As an accompaniment to this chapter I here present the “lively effigies” of a Wodehouse, “set down,” as old Verstegan would say, “ in picture.” * Nicholl’s Progresses, vol. i. quoted iii Hone’s Strutt’s Sports and Pastimes, p. 253. OF SURNAMES DERIVED FROM OATHS AND EXCLAMATIONS. is highly probable that not a few of the family names which baffle the etymologist, and seem to have no manner of propriety in them, were originally applied to persons who habitually employed some oath or other exclama- tion, and so interlarded their conversation with it, that it was associated with all their neighbours’recollections of them. In a rude state of society these expressions would become the sobriquets by which such persons would be known; and upon the establishment of an hereditary nomenclature they would descend as verit- ^ible surnames. How readily any habitual expression of a person may be turned against him by his neighbours, and be- come a nickname, must be familiar to all who have had some experience of village life. We have known a stammerer acquire a sobriquet from the broken syl- lables of his rapid speech. Say-Say was the established appellation of an old gentleman whose address in con- versation was uniformly, “ I say-say, old boywhile another was constantly called By George, from his use of that expression on all occasions. In the same maimer the whole nation of the Scandinavian Normans, after their settlement in Nenstria, acquired from the French the sobriquet oiBigod, because (as Camden says) “at every other word they would swear ^By God.’ Thus ‘ Norman ’ and ‘ Bigod ’ became synonymous ex- pressions. Hence our old English baronial surname Bigod, and hence, as philologists assure us, the English word ‘ bigot,’ which was anciently equivalent to super- stitious. And it is not a little curious that the equi- valent French oath,' Par-Dieu,’ has become naturalized among us under the various modifications of Pardew, Pardoe, Pardow, and Pardee. The singular name of Parcel, sometimes written Parscdl, is probably corrupted from 'Par-Ciel,’ and corresponds with the indigenous one of Heaven. Profane swearing was one of the commonest vices of early times. To make asseverations by the soul or the body of the Creator was thought little of. Edward the Third had the motto— ‘‘ flai), tljc irrtlje ^luait; T6g 0OUl If ‘'RR tljp man,^^ wrought upon his shield and surcoat. I think the family names of Godsall and Godhody are from this source. * The occasion when the sobriquet was given was as follows:— “ When Eollo had Normandy made over to him by Carolus Stultus, with his daughter Giisla, he would not submit to kiss Charles’s foot. And when his friends urged him by all means to kiss the king’s foot, in gratitude for so great a favour, he made answer in the English tongue St bg ©xrb, that is, Not so by God. Upon which the king and his courtiers deriding him, and corruptly repeating his answer, called him Bigod; from whence the Normans are to this day termed Bigodi.” (Camd. Britannia, edit. 1722, vol. i. p. ccix.) Eollo’s an- swer, however, was not English, but the old language of his ancestors. Body and Soul, with their corruptions Sowle and Boddy, may have the same origin. Godhelpe, Godhehere, Godmefetch were probably habitual expressions of the persons who first acquired those names. These are all names of great antiquity so also are Olyfader (Holy Father) and Heliowsgod, occurring in the Sussex Subsidy Kolls for 1296. Many of the names of Saints may have become sur- names in this manner; and hence we may account for the various names of which ‘ Lady’ forms a part. In Catholic times, ‘ By our Lady ’ was a common oath. Among the names referred to are Ladyman, Shake- lady, Tijplady, Taplady, and Tojplady, and that most odd and most'polysyllabic of English Surnames— God-love-mi-lady! Godkin, Blood, and Sacre (Fr.) may be regarded as ^clipped oaths,’whileis, perhaps, a contraction of the medieval oath, ‘ Ods bodikins.’ I shall close this short Chapter with a list of names of very doubtful origin, but which may have been de- rived in each case from some expression much used in conversation by the person to whom it was originally given: Truly, Fudge, Hayday, So (T), Heigho, Hum, Well- . done, Goodlad, Farewell, Goodsir, Godsalve, Goodluck. Goodday, Godden (good-even), still used in the North. Belcher is, perhaps, the O. French bel chere, good company: “ For cosynage and eek for bele cTieerT—Chaucer, 14,820. OF OTHER SURNAMES ORIGINALLY SOBRIQUETS. GREAT proportion of nearly all the prece- ding classes of Surnames were in their primary application merely nicknames or sobriquets; but there are many others which do not admit of classification with any of the kinds already reviewed. I shall proceed to give a few of these, with their probable derivations. Some seem to have been imposed on account of peculiarities of gait, as Steptoe, Standfast, Golightlyy Bushout, Treadaivay, Dance, Dancey, Standeven, Skyp. Others on account of a gossipping propensity, as Earwhisper, Chataway, Hearsay, Cant, and Lip~trot! Some indicate industry in various useful callings, as Clapshoe, Gccthercoal, Gathergood, Tugivell, Clink- scales (!). Others, on the contrary, denote indolence, as Doo- little, Timeslow.^ Some seem to refer to poverty; as Houseless, Hunger, Drought, Need, Dearth. * This is a name of no modern origin. Katherine Swinford, third wife of John of Gaunt, had a waiting chambermaid so called. Her tomb, formerly in St. Andrew’s church, Hertford, was thus inscribed : “ Hie jacet Alice Tyme-slow, quondam domiuella Ducissae Lancastrise, ^ui obiit XVI Sept. Mcccxcvi.” Others to some habit, as Whistler, Eativell, Cram (!), Rideout, Chew, Drawwater, Twiceaday or Twisaday, Gotohed, Daily, Go-cum. Some seem appropriate to braggarts, as Challenge, Boast, Brag, Lustyhlood; and some to mischievous persons, as Scattergood. Swindles and Bilke would be unfortunate names for a couple of honest tradesmen; but I cannot guess at their origin. Some appear to refer to character and disposition, as Dudgeon, Wagg, Raw, Smoothman. A few may refer to accidents which befell the original bearers, as Failover, Qaickfall,'^ Crusheye. Others may indicate cowardice, as Chick, Faint. Drinkwater, Drinkmilk, Drinksop, and Drinkdregs form a queer quartette of names, and seem to refer to fondness of the respective beverages, though Camden places the first among local names. Brownsword, Dagger, Pistol, Trigger, Warholt, ShothoU, if not nicknames, may have been inn-signs. Payhody was perhaps a very honest trader; Ruegain was certainly a very foolish one, if honest! Such names as Window, Doors, Pillar, Porch, Tomh, Coffin, Casement, Treasure, Ring, Rope, Bridle, Latch, Lintell, Sheath, Goldring, doubtless refer to some forgotten incident in the life of the first bearer. In the wardrobe accounts of Edward I., the follow- ing sobriquets, become surnames, appear.*}* Thomas Thousandpound; Robert Snowball (Snouball), by * “ Died on the 7th inst. at Came, co. Dorset, Mrs. Ann Quick-fall, aged 90 !”—Lady's Newspaper, June 17, 1848. She did not fall very quickly ! t Ex inf. W. H. Blaauw, Esq. antiphrasis perliaps for a dark complexion; Nicholas Malemeyns (bad hands). Dulcia ffynamour Sweet Fine-love’) was a dealer in beer, and supplied the king at Westminster with 450 gallons of that refreshing fluid, which, if it possessed the same excellent qualities as the name of its vendor, must have been the ' superior XXX ’ of the thirteenth century. Some appear to have been given on account of pe- culiarity of costume, as High-hat, Slipshoe, Gaicote. In a Sussex subsidy roll for 1296 occur the follow- ing names: J. Kleneivater, Roger Sexapple, Walter Pudding, R. Pluchrose, J. Pullerose, R. Slytbody W. Bromvere (‘ brown-ware’), T. Spendelove, — Moke- trot, W. Storm, Nic. Trusselove, and W. Wolfheryng .^*f* Symon Knave, in the same list, was not opprobrious in those early times, but still retained its primitive mean- inor of servant. O An accidental mispronunciation of a word, or an inane and silly remark, has often been cast back, as a sobriquet, upon the person using it; from this con- temptible source may spring such names as Sayce, GtippyX Maingy, T%oigger, Wools, Agg, Digmeed, Buhh and Grubb (all on the books of Pemb. Coll. Oxford in 1832), Twithy, Nutchy, Jowsy, Snarry, Yitty, Thruttles, Jagger, Wox, Fligg, Jibb, Ragg, Lutt, and Brabbs. (It is but right to add that these last names have been selected from a list compiled from such authorities as Police Reports and the Newgate Calendar. * Probably for Slight-ho^j. f The same. William le Hog, and Roger le Waps, occur in this roll. Waps is still a provincialism for wasp. X This may, however, be a corruption of Goupil, an obsolete French word for/or, which is still retained as a siirname in Normandy. Hence probably many of them are modern sobriquets and aliases.) Biggie, Bultitude, Stubhin, Bihhy, Buddy, Kehhy, Pilley, Guppies, Hoppy, Twiddy, Humpage, Guydickens, Buddy, Quelly, Repuhe {sic !), Quomman, Killildlly, and Bospidnick! Boo, Bait, Budge, Prigg, Bhikes, Bole, Jeve, Twinks, Pupp, Tilt, Hext, Fake, Wodge, Fooks, Baa, Goggs, Snigg, Snagg, Smouch, Bhick, Bhum, Bum, Lush, Gagg, Bmy, Voak, and Ghout, seem to set all etymology at defiance. Several of them might probably be found in a ‘slang dictionary/ and others would in all likelihood prove, on investiga- tion, to have originated within the last century. SURNOMINAL PUNS.—A HALF-CENTURY OF FACETIAE. R BENE VOLE ! Lovest tbou a Pun ? irfc thou of like opinion with that most and profound Doctor, that severe xx^v^xalist, Johnson, hight Samuel, to wit, that he who would make a pun would pick a pocket?* If so, turn, I pray thee, to another chapter, and be thou no partaker of the evil deeds of those who idly play with words, and waste their breath to tickle their ears; for be it known that this chapter is to be devoted to Puns. It is not my intention to dissertate upon puns and punning, but only to set down at random such of these “conceits, quirks, quibbles, jests, and repartees” as relate to family names. I would, however, premise a word or two in defence of the practice. The Great Author of man’s redemption, addressing one of his disciples, says : “ Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock (pointing to himself) will I build my church.” Thus the sublimest Teacher of the sublimest morality saw no impropriety in an allusion in the nature of a pun. * And yet this very Samuel, once at least in his lifetime, perpetrated a pun. When Mrs. Barbauld was introduced to him, he growled (suo more), Bare-bald ! why that’s the yerj pleonasm of baldness P* Sophocles, whom no one will suspect of false taste, making allusion to the name of Pyrrhus, calls him, ‘ 0 Pur’—O fire! Philoctet., act iv. sc. 2, When the defender of a certain extortioner, whom Lutatius Catulus accused, thought he could by a sar- casm disconcert his too vehement adversary : “ Why,” said he, do you bark, little dog ?” (Quid latras, Catule ?) “ Because I saw a thief 1” replied Catulus. .^schylus and Horace occasionally pun. Thus punning has the sanction of antiquity. Much of the piquancy of modern dramatists results from their employment of this species of wit. Shak- spere abounds in puns on names. Punning was much affected in Germany in the six- teenth century, not only in literature, but in affairs of the most serious nature. Many of our old divines of a later period frequently indulge in a pun. Of Hudibras we are informed that— “ he scarce could ope Eis mouth, but out there flew a trope and I have known some, equally fecund in puns, who, nevertheless, would not pick a pocket ” for the world. I. Sir Thomas More enjoyed a pun and a repartee. On one occasion his fondness for this species of humour got the better of his persecuting zeal. A man named Silver being brought before him, he said: “ Silver, you must be tried hy fire^ ‘^Yes,” replied the prisoner, “but you know, my lord, that Quick Silver cannot abide VOL. I. 17 the fire !” Pleased with this answer, Sir Thomas suf- fered the man to depart. II. In the seventeenth century, Attorney-General Noy was succeeded by Sir John Bankes, and Chief- justice Heath being found guilty of bribery. Sir John Finch obtained the office : hence it was said: “ Nay’s flood is gone. The Banks appear; Heath is shorn down, And Finch sings there 1” III. Camden closes his curious collection of Epitaphs with the following, on Thomas Churchyard, the poore Court-Poet.” “ Come, Alecto, and lend me thy torch. To finde a Church-yard in the Church-porch, Pouerty and Poetry this Tombe doth inclose. Therefore, Gentlemen, be merry in Prose.”* lY. Dr, Lettsom, a famous physician of the last century, used to sign his prescriptions “ I. Lettsom.” which gave rise to the following: When any patients calls in haste, I physics, bleeds, and sweats ^em; If after that they choose to die. Why, what cares I ?— I Lets’em.” V. A PERSON whose name was Gunn complained to ' * There is a little mistake here, for Churchyard was buried in the ■choir of St. Margaret’s, Westminster.— Weever’s Fun. Mon. p. 271. a friend that his attorney in his bill had not let him off easily. “ That is no wonder,” said his friend, “ as he charged you too high r But this is not so good as an entry in the custom-house books of Edinburgh, where it appears that. A, meaning Alexander—“A. Gunn was discharged for making a false report!” VI. The late Mr. I. Came, the wealthy shoemaker of Liverpool, who left his immense property to public charities, opened his first shop on the opposite side of the street to that in which he had been a servant, and inscribed its front with—“ I Came feom over the WAY.” VII. A FRIEND of mine on being introduced to a Bev. Canon of St. Paul’s, named Wodsworth, remarked {aside) that the latter was non verho dignus—not Wordsworth! VIII. On the failure of two bankers in Ireland, named Gonne and Going, some one wrote: ‘'Going and Gonne are now both one, For Gonne is Going, and Going’s gone !” IX. A PARAGRAPH to the following effect went the round of the papers not many years since: Two attorneys in partnership in a town in the United States had the name of the firm, which was “ Gatcham and Chetumf inscribed in the usual manner upon their office door; but as the singularity and ominous juxta-position of the words led to many a coarse joke from passers-by, the men of law attempted to destroy, in part, the effect of the odd association by the insertion of the initials of their Christian names, which happened to be Isaiah and 17—2 Uriali; but this made the affair ten times worse, for the inscription then ran— “I CATCHAM AND U. CHETUM,” ! ! !* X. Most persons object to having their names made the subjects of a pun. “ I was once,” says F. Leiber, ‘^in company with a Mr. Short, in whose presence a Mr. Shorter mentioned. ‘Your son?’ said a by- stander quite gravely to Mr. Short, who, like most people, disrelished the joke on his name very much.”t Shenstone is said to have comforted himself with the consciousness that his name v/as not obnoxious to a pun. XL The following epitaph on Constance Lucy (one of the Shaksperean Lucys), who died in 1596, aged 10, is in the church of the Holy Trinity, Minories. — “ Et quondam hicida, luce caret. Ante annos Constans, humilis, mansueta, modesta.” XII. In 1818, a person named Danger kept a pub- lic-house near Cambridge, on the Huntingdon road. On being compelled to quit his house, he built an inn on the opposite side of the road, and placed beneath his sign, Danger from over the way,” whereupon his successor in the old hostel inscribed over his door, “There is no Danger here now,”—a fair measure of vintner’s wit- * Chetum is probably a corruption of Chetham, the name of an ancient family in Lancashire, of which the munificent founder of Man- chester College was a member. t “Stranger in America,” rol. ii.; a work which contains a very curious letter on American names. XIII. Fogg and Mist were cliina-men in Warwick Street. The firm afterwards became Fogg and Son, on which it was remarked that the Sun had driven away the Mist!” XIV. At Thund ridge, co. Herts, is an inscription to the memory of Koger Gardiner, son of Edward Gardiner, Esq., who died in 1558, aged 21. IxzQ here befarr lti0 hont, hath the ^arhiner la^e hi0 fiatoar.” XV. The senior churchwarden of Hackney some years since was Mr. Dunn, and his junior, Mr. Welldone. which involved a paradox, for by this arrangement Mr. Welldone was under-Dunn I XVI. Within the precincts of one of our cathedrals, a ball being about to take place at the house of one of the canons, a gentleman of the name of Noys was £tsked, in company, whether he was to be present at it. “ To be sure,” said a gentleman who heard it; “how should a canon-hall go off without Noys r XVII. In All-Saints, Hertford, is the following somewhat contradictory epitaph: “ Here sleeps Mr. Wake, Who gave four small beUs.” XVIII. Shin and Bone were the names of two millers at Manchester, on whom Dr. Byrom wrote:— “ Bone and Shin, two millers thin. Would starve us all or near it; But be it known to Skin and Bone, That flesh and hlood can’t bear it." XIX. One of Curran’s wittiest repartees was made at the expense of Egan, an Irish barrister. Entering^ court one day, Egan saw a certain nameless intruder on his friend^s wig, and tapping him on the shoulder, ex- claimed, with a knowino^ shrug— “ Cujum pecus ? an Meliboei V to which, with admirable promptitude, Curran replied— “ Non, verum ^gonis : nuper mihi tradidit Egan E XX. A COUNTRYMAN reading upon a wagon the names of John Fell and Richard Fell, exclaimed with a horse-laugh, “ Ho, ho ! Then I s’pose they both toombled together!” XXL Lord Norbury was asking the reason of the delay that happened in a cause, and was answered it was because Mr. Serjeant Joy, who was to lead, was absent, but Mr. Hoi^e, the solicitor, had said he would return immediately; upon which his lordship humo- rously repeated the well-known lines: “ Hope told a flattering tale That Joy would soon return.” XXII. An Irishman saw the sign of the Rising- Sun near Seven Dials, beneath which the name of the landlord, Aaron Moon, was written with only the initial letter of the Christian name, whereupon he exclaimed to a friend, “ Och ! Phelim, dear, see here. They talk of Irish bulls : why here’s a fellow now, who puts up the Rising Sun and calls it A. Moon!” XXIII. Nicholson, whose portrait by Reinagle adorns the University Library at Cambridge, originally hawked prints and maps round the colleges for sale,, and it was his custom to bawl at the foot of the stair- case, “Maps.” This at length became his sobriquet, and elicited from a learned Cantab the following wittv hexameter: “ Mdyjr dvTOv KaXeovai Qkoi; dvBpe<; N l')(p\crov* “ Snobs call him Nicholson, plebeian name. Which ne’er could hand a snobite down to fame; But to posterity he’ll go—perhaps. Since Granta’s classic sons have dubbed him Ma^sP XXIV. An epitaph on Mr. John Beeey. “ How ! how ! who’s buried here ? John Beeey : Is’t the younger ? No, it is the A’ZcZer-BsEEY. An Eldee-Beeey buried surely must Bather spring up and live than turn to dust: So may our Beeey, whom stern Death has slain. Be only buried to rise up again.” Heraldic Anomalies. XXV. On the worthy Dr. Fuller: “ Here lies Fullee’s Eaeth !”. XXVI. On Dr. Walker, who wrote a book on the- English particles: “ Here lie Walkee’s Paeticles.” XXVII. Who has not read, in the Prolusiones Phi- losophicse of the venerable Josephus Millerius, the sex- ton’s bill for making Mr. Button’s grave ?— “ To making a Button-hole^ 4s. 6cZ.” Here is a variorum edition of ttie same pun: Which is the deepest, the longest, the broadest, and the smallest grave in Esher churchyard ? Ans. That in which Miles Button lies buried ; for it contains Miles below the sod, Miles in length, and Miles in breadth— and yet is only a Button-hole !” XXVIII. Giraldus Cambrensis tells a curious anecdote of three persons travelling together, of whom the first was an archdeacon named Peche (LatinizedPec- catum), the second a rural dean called Deville, and the third, a Jew. When they arrived at Illstreet, on the borders of Wales, the archdeacon remarked to his sub- ordinate that their jurisdiction began there and extended to Ma^^as. “ Ah I” said their companion, “ is it even so ? a great marvel be it if I escape with a whole skin out of this jurisdiction, where the arch- deacon is Sin, the dean a Devil, and the boundaries Ill-street and Mal-jpasse XXIX. The name of the celebrated Alexander Nequam (Anglice ‘ Bad ’) furnished the wits of his age with food for merriment. Wishing to devote himself to a monastic life in the abbey of St. Albans (his na- tive town) he applied to the ruler of that establishment for admission. The abbot’s reply was thus laconically expressed: <Si tonus sis, ttnias, si j;tquam, nequuriuam.” If you be good you may come; if Wicked, by no means! He changed his name to Neckham, and was received into the fraternity. Camd. Eem. p. 141. Philip, bishop of Lincoln, once sent Nequam this challenge: “ Et niger et nequam, cum sis cognomine Nequam, Nigrior esse potes, nequior esse nequis.” ‘Both black and bad, whilst Bad the name to thee, Blacker thou mayst, but worse thou canst not be.’ To this nominal compliment Alexander retorted— Phi, nota fsetoris, lippus malus omnibus horis ; Phi malus et lippus, totus malus ergo Philippus’' ‘ Stinks are branded with a Phi, Lippus Latin for blear eye; Phi and lippus, bad though either. What must they be both together Neckham died in 1227. XXX. Cupran’s hon-mot on a brother barrister named Going is quite worthy of him. This gentleman fully verified the time-honoured adage, that ‘ a story never loses in the telling,’ and took care to add to every anecdote all the graces that could be derived from his own embellishment. An instance of this was once re- marked to Curran, who scarcely knew one of his own stories, it had so grown by the carriage. “I see,” said he, “the proverb is quite applicable, ‘Vires acqnirit eundo'—It gathers by Going!” XXXI. Curran’s ready wit never failed him. A gentleman named jEneas Macdonnell had been con- ducted to the watch-house in a state of great ‘ incapa- bility,’ as he was returning from the enjoyment of the * Fuller’s Worthies, p. 25. hospitality of Archbishop Troy, and was charged with the offence the following morning; when Curran re- marked, that the patrol had been guilty of a great blunder as well as a stress libel, since the gentleman was no less a person than “Pkis JEneas escaping from Troys sack!” XXXII. “Sir,” said a guest to his host one day at dinner, “this is a most excellent sirloin—pray what is the name of your purveyor?” Addisonf was the reply. “Any relation to the Spectator T added the guest. “Most probably,” was the prompt rejoinder, “ for I often see steel by his side!” XXXIII. On Mr. Aire, in St. Giles’s, Cripplegate: “Methinks this was a wondrous death, That Aire should die for want of breath !” XXXIV. Dr. Hawes was a physician in full prac- tice. His name, one Christmas, called forth the following epigram: “Perpetual freezings, and perpetual thaws. Though bad for hips, are special good for Hawes P XXXV. “Inscription on my bed-maker at Cam- bridge, by J. M., Nov. 1789. “ Homini qui hie jacet Nomen erat Mus; Licet igitur viatori exclamare eras-mus.” * Poor Mus when here a gyp of lowly house, Might wantonly be called a man or mouse; But dead, he seems by virtue of his name. To be a man of an immortal fame !’ XXXYI. Theee celebrated physicians of Cambridge bore the names of Short, Long, and Askew. In Dyer’s History of Cambridge is the following punning conun- drum on this trio : “ What’s Doctor, and Dr., and writ so ?—” Doctor Long, Doctor Short, and Doctor Askew !” XXXYIT. Mr. Flower, formerly rector of St. Mar- garet’s, Lothbury, for nearly half a century, had the following quaint inscription, probably written by him- self, inscribed on his tomb: “I came up like a Flower, anno 1622, and was cut down anno 1698, but shall flourish again.” “ Nunc nihil suave superest, prseter nomen.” ^XXXYIII. Many years since a tradesman named James Fell migrated from Ludgate Hill to Fleet Street, and announced the event in the following manner: "I FELL from Ludgate Hill;” under which a wag wrote— “Oh ! what a fall was there, my countryman!” . XXXIX. An old lady, who was very anxious re- specting a favourite nephew, a student at Catherine Hall, inquired of his tutor how he conducted himself. “ Oh/’ replied the latter, ‘‘ very well indeed, madam ; he sticks to Catherine Hall.” “ Sticks to Catherine Hall, does he ? the young reprobate—but his father was just like him, always fond of the girls !” XL. Sir John Manners, who was created Earl of Rutland, told Sir Thomas More that he was too much elated by his preferment, and really verified the old proverb, ' Honores mutant Mores! “ Nay, my lord,” retorted Sir Thomas, “ the proverb does much better in English : Honours change Manners !” XLI. A GENTLEMAN, named Page, picked up a lady's glove, and presented it to her with the following im- promptu : “ If that from Glove you take the letter G, Then glove is love, and that I give to thee.” To which she wittily responded: “ If that from Page you take the letter P, Then Page is age, and that %vorit do for me !” This small anecdote may probably be not very new to the readers of Josephus (Millerius, I mean) ; the fol- lowing better one is an acknowledged extract from that classical writer: “It being proved in a trial at Guild- hall that a man’s name was really Inch, who pretended it was Linch: ‘1 see,’ said the judge, Hhe proverb is verified in this man, who, being allowed an inch, has taken an L F ” “ Out of this,” adds a learned editor of our venerable author, “ comes the jeu d!esprit fathered upon Liston and his fascinating and petite spouse. Some one having addressed the lovely little lady as “ Mrs. L./’ “ Mrs. L r repeated the comedian, “ I call her Mrs. Inch.'' XLII. Epitaph : ‘^Here lieth Jack Meadow, Whose dayes passed away like a shadow.” N.B. His proper name was Field, but it is changed here for the sake of the rhyme ! !" XLITI. The following jeu d’esprit appeared in the newspapers in 1841 : “ The ‘ Logue ’ Family. “ The crier of a neighbouring county-court was upon a certain occasion required to go to the court-house door, and, as is usual in the absence of a witness, call out for Philip Logue, one of the sons of Erin, who had been summoned in a certain case then pending. The man of the baton accordingly stepping to the door, sang out at the top of his voice, Philip Logue! Philip Logue! A wag of a lawyer happening to pass the door at the time, whispered in his ear, ‘ Epilogue ’ also. Eppy Logue! bawled the crier. ‘Decalogue,’ too, prompted the lawyer, sotto voce. Dicky Logue! vociferated the crier. ‘ Apologue,’ suggested the man of law. Apo Logue! reiterated the official, at the same time expostulating with the lawyer,—‘Surely, you want the whole family of ’em, sir !’ ‘ Prologue,’ said the persevering lawyer, with assumed indifference. Pro Logue! rang through the hall, attracting the attention of everybody in court, and shocking the tympana of the dignitaries on the bench themselves, who not understanding the cause of all this vocifera- tion, dispatched a tipstaff with all haste to order the crier to desist from any further invocation of the nu- merous family of the Logues /” So much, at present, for direct puns. Let us now turn for awhile to the odd and curious associations in the nature of puns to he met with in every-day life. Marriage, commercial partnerships, and similar rela- tions, frequently exhibit very humorous combinations^ and sometimes the name of a person suits admirably to, or differs toto coelo from, his office or vocation. XLIV. Hymen plays sad vagaries with the nomen- clature of his votaries. We have seen Mr. Good married to Miss Evil; Mr. Bean to Miss Pease ; Mr. Brass to Mould; and Mr. Gladdish to WiBS. Cle- verly* “ Two Messrs. Lamb, of Salisbury Square, London,” writes a facetious correspondent, ^‘married the two Misses Wolfe, of Ewell, thus fulfilling an ancient prophecy, si ita dicam P' In Edinburgh, lately, the following ornithological match took place, which set the whole neighbourhood in a flutter. Miss H’enrietta Peacock was espoused to Mr. Robin Spar- roiv, by the Rev. Mr. Bow, the bridesman being Mr. Philip Hawk, and the brideswoman Miss Larkins. The marriage lines were extracted by Mr. John Crow, session clerk. It is worthy of further remark that the sexton’s name is Raven, one of the pew-openers is a Gull, and the assistant-sexton, not of course in holy orders, is a Henry Luy-cock ! *[* Mr. Goose, according to a provincial paper, lately married a Miss Flock. Hence a troop of goslings may result; while from the union of Mr. Dun6ar, iron- ^ Collet’s Relics of Literature, p. 395. t Newspaper paragraph. founder, to Miss Link, a long chain of posterity may be expected. XLV. In partnerships we often discover a singular junction of names, as 'Bowyerand Fletcher/ ^Carpenter and Wood/ ‘ Spinage and Lamb/ ‘ Sage and Gosling,' ‘ Eumfit and Cutwell, tailors / ' Pipe and Tabor/ ' Greengoose and Measure,’ another firm of tailors; * Single and Double,’ ‘Evans and Liberty’ (Piccadilly, —a political cry); ‘Foot and Stocking, hosiers/ and ‘Wright, late Bead and Wright.’ 'Adam and Eve^ were surgeons in partnership in Paradise Row ! In Holborn, ‘ Byers’ and ‘Sellers ’ live in fortunate proxi- mity on opposite sides of the street. XLVI. Sometimes, as I have said, the occupation of persons harmonizes admirably with their surnames. I have noticed this fact particularly in relation to inn- keepers. Gin and Ginman are publicans; so is Alehouse. Seaman is landlord of the ‘ Ship ’ Hotel, and A King holds the ‘Crown and Sceptre’ in City Road ! Port- wine and (his poor relative V) Negus are very properly licensed victuallers, one in Westminster, the other in Bishopsgate Street. Corker is a pot-boy, whose name affords a happy omen of his one day rising to the rank of a butler. Mixwell keeps a country inn. Again, Tugiuell is a shoemaker; so are Fitall and Treadaway ; so is Pinch (bad in to-to). Another Tugwell is a dentist; Bird an egg-merchant; Hemp a sheriff’s officer; Isaac Paddle commands a steam- boat ; and Mr. Punt is a member of the Surrey wherry club ! Laid-man was a pugilist; and Smooker (qu. ‘ smoker ?’) a lime-burner! Brand-ram is the name of an excellent episcopalian pastor; Nigh-font is a clergyman; and Order-son, a Catholic priest. “Major Dives,'' says a correspondent, “lives next door to me, and Lazarus picks up his crumbs as a hawker round the corner.” A Sacheverel, according to Mr. Halliwell, means ^ the iron door or blower at the mouth of a stove.’ What an appropriate designation for the only his- torical person bearing it, who was a most successful blower of the fires of discord ! Pop-ham is a general in the army; Dun-man is the toll-taker upon Waterloo Bridge; Light-foot was a dancing-master; Ride-out a stable-keeper; and Pye a pastrycook. XLVII. Sometimes, however, the name assorts very badly with the occupation. For instance, Littlefear, Butcher, Death, and Coffin were the names of so many apothecaries and surgeons ; and Mrs. Despair was a monthly nurse ! Grind-all was an archbishop—should have been a miller. “ In the neighbourhood of a fashionable square in London,” deponeth a late newspaper paragraph, ^‘'are now living surgeons whose names are Churchyard, Deadh, Blood, and Slaughter." A correspondent sends me the following list of gen- tlemen of the medical profession known to him : Doctors. Physich, Galen, Butcher, Slaughter, Cofin, and Tomb. Surgeons. Blood, Bone, Braine, Cutler, Cutting, Cannon (in the Artillery), Rawbone, Stabb, Burns Hurt, and Smart! Three butchers in Sussex bear the singularly ro- mantic, but wholly inappropriate, surnames of Venus, Love, and Myrtle! A ‘long beard’ does not seem an appropriate ap- pendage to the chin of a pastry-cook. It is, however, no less strange than true, that some years since there were on the eastern side of Kegent Street only three confectioners, whose surnames were— ‘ VERRY’ LONG BEARD ! With such names before him, Horace Smith asserts that “ Surnames ever go by contraries.” “ Mr. Oldcastle dwells in a modern-built hut, Miss Sage is of Mad-caps the archest, Of all the queer bachelors Cupid e’er cut, Old Mr. Younghusband’s the starchest. *•»•»** Mr. Swift hobbles onward, no mortal knows how. He moves as though cords had entwined him; Mr. Metcalfe ran off upon meeting a cow. With pale Mr. Turnbull behind him! • 4^ * « « Mr. Barkers as mute as a fish in the sea, Mr. Miles never moves on a journey Mr. Gotobed sits up till half-after three, Mr. Makepeace was bred an attorney. Mr. Gardener can’t tell a flower from a root, Mr. Wild with timidity draws back ; Mr. Rider performs all his travels on foot, Mr. Foote all his journeys on horseback !’* XLVIII. “ What a name,” the Doctor would say “is Lamb for a soldier; Joy for an undertaker; Rich for a pauper, or Noble for a tailor; Big for a lean or little person; and Bmall for one who is broad in the rear and abdominous in the van; Bhort for a fellow six VOL. I. 18 feet without his shoes; or Long for him whose high heels hardly elevate him to the height of five; Sweet for one who has either a vinegar face or a foxy com- plexion ; Younghusband for an old bachelor; Merry- weather for any one in November, or February, a black spring, a cold summer, or a wet autumn : Goodenougk for a person no better than he should be; Toogood for any human creature; and Best for a subject who is perhaps too bad to be endured.”"^ XLIX. Our painters of sign-boards are seldom very learned in punctuation. They generally either pre- sent us with a redundancy of stops, or totally omit them. In the latter case we sometimes meet with such inscriptions as—' A Wood Smith,’ ' Lion Butcher/ ^ Clay Baker/ ‘ Winch Turner/ ' Peacock Builder/ ‘ Gay Painter,’ ' Church Saddler,’ ‘ Moon Gilder f L. The godfathers of one Jeremiah Ekins were James Nott and John Butt, after whom he was baptized with both their Christian and surnames. The effect of his name, when heightened with a comma or two, is very singular : James, Nott John, Butt Jeremiah, Ekins ! LI. A huxter or market-gardener in Middlesex was brought before a magistrate for not having com- plied with the Act of Parliament which required that every owner of a cart should have his name, and that of his place of residence, with the words ‘ a taxed cart,’ legibly painted thereon. In reply to the charge, the man asserted that he had done what the law demanded, as the magistrate might easily convince himself; * Southey’s Doctor, yoI. rii. whereupon, a ^view’ of the cart being taken, the following words were read : A MOST ODD ACT ON A TAXED CAET. This looked strange, not to say contumacious, until it was explained to mean— AMOS TODD, ACTON, A TAXED CAET ! LII. A MAN of the name of Nohis having opened a a public ' accommodation ’ on the high road leading from Pappenburg, his neighbours caused him no little vexation by their opposition, &c.; but this, and other difficulties, he overcame by industry and perseverance, and after he had established himself, he made the following addition to his sign-board: “ Si Deus pro Nohis, quis contra nos ?” If God be for us, who can be against us ? LIII. Southey tells a story of a lady who ordered a book entitled ' An Essay on Burns,’ thinking it was a dissertation on the genius of her favourite Scottish bard, but found to her disappointment that its' subject- matter’ was hums and scalds, and that the author was a surgeon.* I might add what would be a new ' fact for the faculty,’ and contend that Burns and Scalds were synonymous, for the latter, among the old Scandi- navians, were poets. LIV. William III., and his followers, landed at Tor- bay, on Nov. 5,1688. A Mr. John Duke (of Otterton), a man of wealth and influence in Sidmouth, joined the hero on his arrival. Being presented to the king, who * The Doctor. I once happened to be in a bookseller’s shop when a rustic messenger who had been desired to order a copy of a well-known poem for his young mistress, asked—“ Please, sir, have you got one of them ’ere books about Young Knight’s Thoughts .P” 18—2 asked him for liis name, he replied, with a timid hesi- tation, “John Duke of Otterton.” The prince ex- pressed his surprise, and taking from his pocket a list of the nobility, which he had been led to suppose was correct, looked over it, and then declared that no such duke was to be found there ! The gentleman, how- ever, soon rectified the mistake, by repeating his name with an accelerated pronunciation,—John Duke, of Otterton. The mistake being thus corrected, William smiled at it, and embraced John Duke with joy. LV. Bacon and Hogg. Sir Nicholas Bacon was one day trying a criminal, one Hogg, who importuned the learned judge to spare his life, on account of his kindred to him. “ How so asked Sir Nicholas. “ Because my name is Hogg, and your lordship’s is Bacon. Now hog and bacon are so near akin that they cannot be separated.” “ Ay,” replied the judge, “ but you and I cannot be kindred except ye be hanged : for hog is not bacon until it be well hanged!” LVI. WooDEN-WAEE, OT new furniture for the Mansion House. (On Alderman Wood succeeding Alderman Birch in the civic chair.) “ So then Wood’s mayor.” “ What sort of wood ?” Said one who loved research ; “ He’s English oak, I’ye understood ; The last was only Birch END OF VOL. I. ' BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD, SURREY. 1 K.