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/    »IIKI1IT 

IIBRARY 

UNiveuirr  op 


ox 

Cngltsf)  Surnames. 

1 


C.    AND  .1.   ADLARD,  PttlNlEKS,     BARTHOLOMEW  CI.OSK. 


^^  Cngltsf)  Surnames. 

f  ESSAYS 

ON 

FAMILY  NOMENCLATURE, 

HISTORICAL,   ETYMOLOGICAL    AND    HUMOROUS: 


WITH    CHAPTERS    OF 


REBUSES    AND    CANTING    ARMS, 
C|)e  moll  tit  matttl  mht}), 

A    LIST    OF    LATINIZED    SURNAMES,    &c.  &c. 
BY 

MARK  ANTONY  LOWER. 


"  VVHArS   IN  A  NAME?" 
Imago  animi,  vultus;    vitae,   Nomen  est."— Puteanus. 


SECOND    EDITION. 


LONDON: 
JOHN  RUSSELL  SMITH, 
4,    OLD    COMPTON    STREET,    SOHO. 

MDCCCXIilV. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/englishsurnameseOOIowerich 


t  S43 


TO 

E.  J.   VERNON,   ESQ. 

As  a  slight  acknowledgment  of  his  many  valuable  Contributions, 
THIS    SECOND    EDITION 


ESSAYS, 


DESIGNED  TO  ILLUSTRATE  A  CURIOUS  BRANCH  OF 
PHILOLOGICAL    INQUIRY, 


IS  MOST  RESPECTFULLY  INSCRIBED, 


BY  HIS  MUCH  OBLIGED  AND   FAITHFUL  SERVANT, 


THE  AUTHOR. 


828 


iltrface. 


^ 


f^^ 


^ 


DOUBT  not  that  the  first  impression  of 
many  persons  casually  taking  up  this 
little  volume,  and  reading  the  title-page, 
will  be,  that  a  good  deal  of  valuable  time 
has  been  expended  on  a  very  useless  subject. 
Well,  it  may  seem  so;  but  I  trust  that  on 
further  consideration  it  will  be  found  to 
possess  quite  as  much  both  of  Utihty  and 
interest  as  many  others  with  much  greater 
pretensions  to  importance. 


Every  person,  even  the  most  incurious 
observer  of  words  and  things,  must  have 
remarked  the  great  variety  that  exists  in 
the  names  of  English  famihes.  He  cannot 
fail  to  notice  that  such  names  are  of  widely 
different  significations,  many  being  identical 
with  names  of  places,  offices,  professions,  trades,  qua- 
lities, familiar  natural  objects,    &c.      I   will   go   further. 


8  PREFACE. 

and  say,  there  is  probably  no  person  capable  of  the 
least  degree  of  reflection,  who  has  not,  in  an  idle  mo- 
ment, amused  himself  with  some  little  speculation  on  the 
probable  origin  of  his  own  name.  It  cannot,  then,  be 
a  matter  of  uninteresting  inquiry  to  investigate  both  the 
meaning  of  names  and  the  causes  of  their  appHcation  to 
individuals  and  famiUes.  It  is  not  sufficient  for  a  person 
of  inquisitive  mind  that  he  bears  such  and  such  a  surname 
because  his  father  and  his  grandfather  bore  it:  he  will 
naturally  feel  desirous  of  knowing  why  and  when  their 
ancestors  acquired  it.  And  should  he  be  successful  in 
arriving  at  some  probable  conclusion  respecting  his  own, 
the  same  or  perhaps  an  increased  degree  of  curiosity  will 
be  induced  in  his  mind  as  to  those  of  others.  This  feeling 
will  be  especially  excited  when  he  meets  with  names  of 
odd  or  unusual  sound.  If,  for  instance,  he  walk  through 
the  streets  of  a  town  he  has  never  before  visited,  and 
notice  the  names  of  the  inhabitants  on  their  doors  or  over 
their  shops,  differing  from  any  he  has  before  seen,  he  will 
derive  some  information,  and  probably  extract  no  little 
amusement  from  the  carrying  out  of  a  train  of  specula- 
tions on  the  origin  of  those  names.  To  persons  of  this 
class,  (and  a  very  numerous  class  I  think  they  form,)  my 
present  attempt  will  doubtless  be  acceptable,  and  I  venture 
to  hope  that  it  will  serve  to  gratify  all  reasonable  curiosity 
that  can  exist  on  the  subject. 

This  volume  is  necessarily  antiquarian  in  its  character, 
and  not  therefore  likely  to  interest  those  whose  pursuits 
are  of  the  strictly  utihtarian  kind,  and  who  seldom  spend 
a  thought  upon  the  past  unless  it  be  to  subserve  some  pre- 
sent interest.     "Whatever  the  objections  such  individuals 


PREFACE.  9 

may  raise  against  investigations  like  those  before  the 
reader,  they  would,  at  least  to  a  certain  extent,  apply  to 
the  study  of  history,  biography,  and  several  other  branches 
of  human  knowledge. 

It  is  an  inquiry  not  devoid  of  some  interest,  "What 
would  the  annals  of  mankind  and  the  records  of  biography 
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  in- 
terest 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. 
The  absolute  necessity  of  a  personal  nomenclature  being 
thus  proved,  we  are  led  to  a  further  consideration,  namely, 
that  as  names  were  given  to  men,  there  must  have  been 
some  meaning  in  them,  (for  it  is  most  unphilosophical  to 
imagine  that  it  could  have  been  otherwise,)  and  if  it  be 
admitted  that  they  signify  something,  it  cannot  be  useless 
to  ascertain  what  that  something  is.  Names  are  princi- 
pally of  two  kinds ;  those  of  individualsf  and  those  of 
families.  The  latter,  for  reasons  hereafter  assigned,  have 
been  denominated  Surnames,  and  it  is  the  origin  and 
application  of  these  we  have  to  discuss. 

*  Putean.  Diatr.— De  Erycio. 

^  The  names  of  individuals  are  termed,  in  legal  proceedings  and  in  common 
intercourse,  CHRiSTrAN-NAMES.  Camden  calls  them  foi-e  (that  is  firsl)-nome.», 
a  term  which  I  consider  far  preferable  to  the  other.  Perhaps  the  word  name, 
without  any  adjunct,  would  be  better  still.  We  should  then  use  name  and  sur- 
name as  distinctive  words,  whereas  we  now  often  regard  them  as  synonymes. 

1   § 


10  PREFACE. 

I  have  just  alluded  to  the  great  variety  in  English  sur- 
names. It  would  indeed  be  wonderful  if  it  did  not  exist, 
seeing  that,  in  the  words  of  an  eminent  antiquary,*  we 
**have  borrowed  names  from  everything,  both  good  and 
bad."  Almost  every  list  of  surnames  accidentally  thrown 
together  will,  on  examination,  be  found  to  yield  some  odd 
juxta-positions,  the  result  of  this  extensive  variety.  Who 
can  read  a  catalogue  like  the  following  without  a  smile,  or 
perhaps  a  hearty  laugh,  while  no  one  of  the  names  standing 
alone  could  produce  the  least  approximation  to  such  an 
effect? 

"  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  Raven,  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  Rose,  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  Ross. 
Of  things :  Barnes,  Wood,  Coles,  Staples,  Mills,  Pickles,  and,  in  fine, 
a  Medley ! 

*  Camden. 


PREFACE.  11 

"  Our  House  of  Commons  has  at  different  and  no  very  distant  times 
numbered  amongst  its  members — 

A  Fox,  A  Hare,  A  Rooke, 

Two  Drakes,  A  Finch,  Two  Martins, 

Three  Cocks,  A  Hart,  Two  Herons, 

Two  Lambs,  A  Leach,  A  Swan, 

Two  Bakers,  Two  Taylors,  A  Turner, 

A  Plummer,  A  Miller,  A  Farmer, 

A  Cooper,  An  Abbot,  A  Falconer. 

Nine  Smiths!  ! ! 

A  PoHer,  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  I 

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  species  of  humour  of  the  same  kind 
I  select  the  two  following.  The  first  is  an  impromptu 
occasioned  by  the  elevation  of  Alderman  Wood  to  the 
office  of  Lord  Mayor,  some  years  since : 

'*  In  choice  of  Mayors  'twill  be  confest, 
Our  citizens  are  prone  to  jest : 
Of  late  a  gentle  Flower  thej  tried, 
November  came,  and  check'd  its  pride. 
A  Hunter  next  on  palfrey  gray 
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  m  an  to  make  a  Mayor  of  Wo'jd  !^^ 

*  Nares's  Herald.  Anom. 


12  PREFACE. 

The  next  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  Ridler, 
A  Fisher,  a  Slater,  a  Harpur,  a  Fidler, 
A  Finder,  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  Scoits — North,  Southerne,  and  VVest, 
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  HoUis,  a  Broomfield,  and  Moor, 
Drake,  Partridge,  and  Woodcock — a  Beech,  and  a  Shoar, 
Ash,  Crabtree,  and  Hawthorn,  Peach,  Lemmon,  and  Box, 
A  Lyon,  a  Badger,  a  Wolfe,  and  a  Fox, 
Fish,  Hare,  Kidd,  and  Roebuck,  a  Steer,  and  a  Ray, 
Cox,  Ca'ts,  and  a  Talbot,  Strawe,  Cattle,  and  Hay, 
Dawes,  Nightingales,  Buntings,  and  Martins,  a  Rovve, 


PREFACE.  13 

With  Bustard,  and  Robin,  Dove,  Swallow,  and  Crowe, 

Ham,  Bacon,  and  Butters,  Salt,  Pickles,  and  Rice, 

A  Draper,  and  Chapman,  Booths,  Byers,  and  Price, 

Sharp,  Sheers,  Cutting,  Smallwood,  a  Cubitt,  and  Rule, 

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  Raine, 

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  Heap, 

With  many  such  worthies,  and  others  sublimer, 

Including  a  Homer,  a  Pope,  and  A  RHYMER.* 


If  English  Surnames  are  remarkable  for  tlieir  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  sufficient  to  say  with  the  Rev.  Mark  Noble  that  "  it 
is  almost  beyond  belief."  A  friend  of  that  gentleman 
'*  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  are  initials  to  more  surnames  than  A :  allowing 

»  From  the  Almanack  for  the  use  of  Methodists,  1843. 


14 


PREFACE. 


for  others  which  have  not  so  many,  the  whole  number  will 
be  between  thirty  and  forty  thousand  T''^ 

The  Rev.  E.  Duke,  in  his  valuable  and  extremely  curious 
"ilaltc  of  3Jot)n  ^alle,*'  starts  the  question,  "whether the 
English  nomenclature  is  or  is  not  on  the  increase?"  and  he 
decides  that,  notwithstanding  many  of  the  older  surnames 
become  extinct  every  century,  it  is  still  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  revolutions — 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 
Englishmen.  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. f  Another 
increment  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  origi- 
nally peopled  from  this  country,  yet  it  varies  very  essentially 
in  its  nomenclature  from  that  of  England." ;]: 

Our  great  master  of  antiquities,  the  illustrious  Camden, 
was  among  the  first  who  paid  much  attention  to  English 

•   Hist.  Coll.  Arms,  Prelim.  Diss. 

t  See  the  remarks  on  sobriquets  at  the  end  of  my  second  Essay,  for  another 
cause  of  the  multiplication  of  family  names. 

X  Vol.  i.  Notes,  p.  404.  One  reason,  among  others  that  might  be  assigned  for 
this  dissimilarity  is  the  large  intermixture  of  Dutch,  German,  and  French 
families  with  those  of  English  extraction. 


PREFACE.  15 

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  Verstegan,  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,  three  clergymen,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Pegge,  the  Rev.  Mark  Noble,  and  the  Rev.  E.  Duke, 
have  each  added  something  new  in  illustration  of  the 
subject.  It  seems  that  various  other  antiquaries  have  been 
labourers  in  the  same  field,  whose  productions  have  never 
seen  the  light.  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  foundation  of  an  Essay  upon 
the  subject.  A  friend  of  the  present  writer  has  gone  much  farther, 
and  has  collected  several  thousand  rare  names,  which  he  has  partly 
classified." 

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. 


16  PREFACE. 

(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 
Surnames/  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. 

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  content  myself  with  borrowing  the  words  of 
Verstegan :  "  Because  men  are  naturally  desirous  to  know 
as  much  as  they  may,  and  are  much  pleased  to  under- 
stand 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  intention  to  inflict  pain  in  the  mind  of  those 
individuals.  So  little  was  this  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  which 
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 


PREFACE.  17 

as  to  make  many  a  person  upon  better  terms  with  his  own 
appellative — which  he  may  hitherto  have  considered 
(etymologically)  anything  but  a  good  one — than  he  has 
ever  been  before. 

The  following  paragraph,  from  a  light  and  right  plea- 
sant article,  entitled  *  Sound  and  Sense,*  in  Chambers's 
Edinburgh  Journal,  I  am  loth  to  lose ;  and  as  a  more  ap- 
propriate place  for  its  introduction  has  not  occurred  in 
the  course  of  the  following  sheets,  I  give  it  room  here : 

"What  gives  pecuhar  force  to  the  theory  of  the  con- 
nexion of  sound  and  sense,  is  the  fact  that  where  mean 
things  are  represented  by  words  which  do  not  sound 
meanly,  those  words  may  be  employed  as  Proper  Names, 
or  as  parts  of  other  words,  without  conveying  a  mean  im- 
pression. On  a  similar  principle,  mean  things  may  be 
represented  by  words  of  grotesque  sound  in  our  own  lan- 
guage, but  not  in  another:  and  the  words  employed  in 
the  other  language  may  be  used  as  proper  names,  without 
appearing  to  us  at  all  ridiculous.  Booth  is  paltry  as  the 
designation  of  a  temporary  shop ;  but  as  a  name  it  is  felt 
to  be  so  elegant  as  to  be  frequently  chosen  for  fictitious 
heroes.  Brydges,  nothing  as  a  common  word,  is  one  of 
the  best  of  names.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Brewer  and 
Taylor.  When  a  slight  change  has  taken  place  in  the 
adaptation  of  the  word  to  its  purpose  as  a  proper  name, 
the  improvement  is  more  marked.  Stewardy  for  instance, 
rises  from  kitchen  to  hall  by  the  change  of  the  d  into  t. 
Durward,  apart  from  all  recollection  of  its  origin  in  door- 
ward,  or  door-keeper,  acquires  a  tinge  of  rude  fourteenth- 
century  grandeur.     Hume,  which  is  one  of  the  best  old 


18  PREFACE. 

Scottish  names,  takes  its  origin  from  a  holm  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Hume  Castle  in  Berwickshire ;  and  it  is  un- 
questionably improved  by  the  change  in  the  spelling  and 
pronunciation.  So  also  JPlantagenety  which  was  derived 
from  the  word  signifying  broom  in  French,  so  far  from 
depreciating  the  dignity  of  the  royal  race  who  bore  it, 
seems  absolutely  to  give  them  an  additional  grace.  Thus, 
also.  Sack,  who  by  himself  is  a  plain  man  enough,  becomes 
a  gentleman  with  ville  tagged  to  him ;  equally  so  is  Rat, 
with  cliffe.  The  syllables  on  diViA.  slow,  taken  separately, 
are  honest  decent  people;  but  they  seem  instinct  with 
Norman  blood  when  put  together.  Bray  is,  by  itself,  one 
of  the  most  despicable  of  verbs;  hrook  is  nothing  parti- 
cular: see,  however,  what  a  fine,  antique,  chivalrous  sound 
the  two  acquire  as  the  designation  of  Lord  Braybrooke. 
It  seems  to  be  only  necessary,  in  order  to  produce  respec- 
table proper  names,  that  the  original  words  should  not  be 
of  paltry  sound.  Nothing  can  reconcile  the  ear  to  Mr. 
Butter,  Miss  Bairnsfather,  Dr.  Peascod,  or  that  immortal 
firm  of  English  plebeianisms,  Messrs.  Mugs,  Snugs,  and 
Company." 

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  Sur- 
names 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  vari- 
able descents  from  high  and  low;   or  as  hee  saith  more 


PREFACE.  19 

plainely,  the  low  are  descended  from  the  high,  and,  con- 
trariwise, the  high  from  the  low."* 

It  only  remains  for  me  to  express  my  obligations  to 
those  gentlemen  who  have  rendered  me  assistance  in 
bringing  together  tTie  materials  out  of  which  this  little 
volume  has  been  composed;  and  first,  my  thanks  are 
especially  due  to  my  worthy  publisher,  Mr.  John  Eussell 
Smith,  who  has  spared  no  pains  in  placing  within  my 
reach  many  valuable  works  (some  of  them  of  considerable 
rarity),  to  which  I  could  not  otherwise  have  had  convenient 
access.  To  Charles  Clark,  Esq.,  of  Great-Totham  Hall,  I 
am  indebted  for  a  Hst  of  upwards  of  1500  of  the  most  sin- 
gular surnames  in  existence,  which  were  collected  by  that 
gentleman,  and  with  many  of  which  this  publication  is 
enriched.  The  reference  to  the  two  manuscripts  in  the 
British  Museum  I  owe  to  the  Rev.  George  C.  Tomlinson, 
rector  of  Staughton  in  Huntingdonshire,  whose  polite  and 
unsolicited  kindness  entitles  him  to  my  warmest  acknow- 
ledgments. 

The  following  works  have  been  consulted : 

Camden's  "Remaines  concerning  Britaine,  but  especially  England 
and  the  Inhabitants  thereof.  The  third  Impressioq."  Printed 
in  1623. 

Verstegan's  **  Restitution  of  Decayed  Intelligence  in  Antiquities 
concerning  Our  Nation."     1605. 

The  Arch^ologia  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.,  F.S.A.^'     1813. 

"  Prolusiones  Historic^,  or  the  Halle  of  John  Halle;  by  the 
Rev.  Edward  Duke,  M.A.,  F.S.A.,  &c."    Vol.  I.,  Essay  I. 

♦  Camden,  Remaines,  p.  133. 


20  PREFACE. 

*'  A  HisTORT  OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  Arms  ;  with  a  Preliminary  Dis- 
sertation relative  to  the  different  orders  in  England  since  the 
Norman  Conquest.  By  the  Rev.  Mark  Noble,  F.A.S.  of  L.  and  E., 
Rector  of  Barming  in  Kent,  &c."     1804. 

The  Gentleman's  Magazine,  1772.  Several  Essaj's,  by  Dr.  Pegge, 
under  the  signature  of  T.  Row  (The  Rector  Of  Whittington) ; 
and  many  subsequent  volumes  of  the  same  periodical. 

"A  Dissertation  on  the  Names  of  Persons.  By  J.  H.  Brady." 
]2mo.  London,  1822.  With  numerous  manuscript  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  N.  Bailey  (piXoXoyog."    9th 

Edit.     1740. 

The  *♦  Heraldry  of  Fish."     By  Thomas  Moule,  Esq.     1842. 

"  Jamieson's  Scottish  Dict." 

"Buchanan  on  Antient  Scottish  Surnames  [or  Clans."] — 
Reprint.     1820. 

"Blount's  Law  Dictionary." 
&c.  &c.  &c. 


LEWES  ;  15th  April,  MDCCCXLll. 


ADVERTISEMENT  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


The  first  Edition  of  this  little  work,  consisting  of 
nearly  nine  hundred  copies,  having  been  sold  in  a  few 
months,  the  Publisher  has  called  upon  me  to  revise  it 
for  a  second.  I  cannot  allow  this  opportunity  to  pass 
without  tendering  my  thanks  to  those  gentlemen  who 
have  favoured  me  with  communications,  and  of  whose 
valuable  hints  I  have  availed  myself  for  the  present 
Edition.  Nor  must  I  be  wanting  in  gratitude  to  those 
directors  of  the  public  taste,  the  Reviewers,  whose  notices 
of  my  humble  performance  have  been,  upon  the  whole, 
most  flattering.  My  thanks  are  especially  due  to  the 
conductors  of  the  *  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  corre- 
spondence bearing  the  signature  of  B.  A.  Oxon.  was  of  a 
peculiarly  interesting  character,  and  I  deem  it  the  most 
fortunate  circumstance  connected  with  the  production  of 
the  present  Edition,  that  I  have  been  enabled  to  open  a 
private  correspondence  with  the  author  of  those  letters, 
E.  J.  Vernon,  Esq.  a  gentleman  far  better  qualified  than 
myself  for  etymological  investigations,  and  who  has 
kindly  permitted  me  to   inscribe    his    name*   upon   my 

•  In  one  or  two  of  the  earlier  sheets  this  gentleman  is  referred  to  under  his 
rtom  de  guerre,  as  I  was  not  in  possession  of  his  name  when  they  went  to  press. 


22  ADVERTISEMENT. 

Dedication  page  as  a  trifling  expression  of  my  gratitude 
for  his  assistance.  I  am  likewise  under  great  obligations 
to  Geo.  Monkland,  Esq.  of  Bath,  who  forwarded  for  my 
use  a  very  curious  classified  list  of  English  Surnames, 
made  with  the  most  scrupulous  attention  to  their  authen- 
ticity, a  feature  of  the  utmost  importance  in  the  compilation 
of  such  a  catalogue;  to  R.  Almack,  Esq.  F.S.A.  of 
Melford;  to  John  Sykes,  Esq.  of  Doncaster;  to  J.  H. 
Fennell,  Esq. ;  and  to  several  other  gentlemen,  well 
known  in  the  literary  world,  who,  for  reasons  best  known 
to  themselves,  forbid  me  the  gratification  of  a  pubHc 
acknowledgment  of  their  favours. 

With  such  aid,  I  anticipate,  with  some  confidence,  for 
the  present  edition,  a  reception  on  the  part  of  the  public, 
at  least  as  gratifying  to  my  feelings  as  that  which  followed 
the  first  appearance  of  the  work.  As  the  Essays  appear 
in  a  considerably  augmented  form,  so  they  afford  additional 
scope  for  criticism.  I  am  far  from  considering  my  work 
complete,  or  all  that  could  be  desired  on  so  curious  a 
subject,  yet  as  "facile  est  inventis  addere,"  I  trust  that 
each  successive  edition  (should  others  be  called  for)  will 
be  a  closer  approximation  to  what  seems  to  me  to  have 
long  been  a  desideratum  in  the  circle  of  our  popular 
antiquarian  literature  —  a  standard  work  on  English 
Family  Nomenclature. 

M.  A.  L. 


Lewes;  Ist  July,  1843, 


CONTENTS. 


Dedication      ...... 

Preface         ....... 

Advertisement  to  the  Second  Edition 

Essay         I.    Introductory      .... 

II.     History  of  English  Surnames 

III.  Local  Surnames 

IV.  Names  derived  from  Occupations  and  Pursuits 
V.     Names  derived  from  Dignities,  Civil  and  Eccle 

siastical,  and  from  Offices 
VI.     Surnames  from  Personal  and  Mental  Qualities 
VII.     Surnames  derived  from  Christian-names 
VIII.     Surnames  from  Natural  Objects,  from  Signs  of 
Houses,  &c.  .  ... 

IX.     Surnames   from  Social  Relations,    Periods   of 

Age,  Time,  &c. 
X.    A  Cabinet  of  Oddities 
XI.     Surnames  of  Contempt ;  and  more  Oddities  in  the 

Nomenclature  of  Englishmen 
XII.     Names  derived  from  Virtues  and  other  Abstract 
Ideas     ..... 


PAGE 

5 
7 
21 
25 
35 
52 
86 

101 
114 
120 

140 

161 
166 

170 

180 


24  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


Essay  XIII.  Foreign  Names  naturalized  in  England,  and  the 
Corruptions  to  which  such  names  have  been 
exposed  .....       187 

XIV.     Changed  Surnames  .  .  .         .       193 

XV.     Historical  Surnames      .  .  .  .201 


A  Chapter  of  Rebuses       .  .  .'  .  .         .       216 

A  Chapter  of  Canting-Arms,  Puns,  Anagrams,  &c.      .  .      225 

Additions,  and  Illustrations  of  the  preceding  Essays  .       242 


APPENDIX. 

The  Roll  of  Battel  Abbey  :— 

Preliminary  Observations 253 

Leland'sCopy 257 

Holinshed's  Copy .        .  263 

John  Foxe's  Copy 271 

List  of  Latinized  Surnames 278 


ESSAYS 


ENGLISH   SURNAMES, 


ESSAY    I. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


Dr.  Johnson  has  the  following  definition  of  the  word 
Surname  :  "  The  name  of  the  family ;  the  name  which  one 
has  over  and  above  the  Christian  name."  Sirname  differed 
originally  from  Surname.  Simsime  has  been  defined  as 
"nomen  patris  additum  proprio  ;'*  and  iS'wrname  as  "no- 
men  supra  nomen  additum."  Mac-Allan,  Fitz-Hardingy 
Ap  Tudor  and  Stephenson  are  properly  sir-  or  sire- 
names,  and  are  equivalent  to  the  son  of  Allan,  of  Harding, 
of  Tudor,  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  Supranomina,  in  Italian 
Sopranome,  and  in  French  Sur-noms.  From  the  last 
the  English  term  is  immediately  derived.  A  SuRname  is, 
therefore,  a  name   superadded  to  the  first  or  Christian 

2 


26  INTRODUCTORY. 

name,  to  indicate  the  family  to  which  the  individual  bear- 
ing it  belongs,  as  Edmund  Spenser,  John  Milton,  Alexander 
Pope,  Hence  it  is  evident  that,  although  every  siRname 
is  a  suRname,  every  suRname  is  not  a  siRuame ;  a  dis- 
tinction which  is  now  scarcely  recognized,  and  the  two 
words  are  used  indiscriminately  by  our  best  writers.* 

In  the  first  ages  of  the  world  a  single  name  was  suffi- 
cient for  each  individual;  "nomen  olim  apud  omnes  fere 
gentes  simplex,"t  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  pos- 
sess. 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. 

Nares  says,  names  "were  in  remote  times  commonly 
given  to  mark  the  wishes  of  the  parents,  that  the  children 
so  named  might  live  to  enjoy  the  good  fortune  such  happy 
names  seemed  to  promise :  according  to  the  old  maxim, 
*  Bonum  nomen,  bonum  omen.*  Cicero  used  to  call  such 
names  *  bona  nomina,'  good  names;  Tacitus,  *fausta  no- 
mina,'  happy  names.     Plautus  thought  it  quite  enough  to 

*  In  several  of  the  notices  of  the  former  edition  of  this  volume  the  existence 
of  Sire-name,  as  a  word  of  distinct  meaning,  is  called  in  question.  In  the  Literary 
Gazette  much  is  said  on  this  point,  pro  and  con,  by  two  learned  correspondents, 
under  the  signatures  B.  A.  Oxon,  and  G.  (Lit.  Gaz.,  Sept.— Nov.  1842.)  Dr. 
Booth,  and  others,  support  my  opinion,  which  I  see  no  reason  for  retracting. 

t   Puteanus  De  Ervcio  Diatr. 


INTRODUCTORY.  27 

damn  a  man  that  he  bore  the  name  of  Lyco,  which  is  said 
to  signify,  a  greedy  wolf ;  *  and  Livy  calls  the  name  Atrius 
Umber  'abominandi  ominis  nomen,'  a  name  of  horrible 
portent.  Pius  ^neas  may  certainly  be  considered  one  of 
those  A«/9py  names  which  Plato  recommends  all  people  to 
be  careful  to  select,  f  and  ^neas  must  have  had  as  great  a 
right  to  call  himself  by  it  as  any  persons  since  to  call 
themselves  by  the  names  of  Victor,  Faustus,  Felix, 
Probus,  &c.,  which  were  certainly  chosen  as  names  of 
favorable  omen,  according  to  the  maxim  above,  and  the 
saying  of  Panormitan,  *  ex  bono  nomine  oritur  bona  prse- 
sumptio.' " 

The  first  approach  to  the  modern  system  of  nomencla- 
ture is  found  in  the  assumption  of  the  name  of  one's  sire 
in  addition  to  his  own  proper  name,  as  Caleb  the  son  of 
Jephunneh,  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  Melchi  ben  Addi  (that 
is,  Melchi  the  son  of  Addi),  I/copos  tov  AatSaXoi/,  AatSaXos 
rov  Ev7raX/4ov,  Icarus  the  son  of  Daedalus,  Daedalus  the 
son  of  Eupalmus.  Sometimes  the  adjunct  expressed  the 
country  or  profession  of  the  bearer,  sometimes  some  ex- 
cellence or  blemish  ;  as  Herodotus  of  HalicarnassuSi  Poly- 
cletes  the  Sculptor,  Diogenes  the  Cynic,  or  Dionysius  the 
Tyrant.X 

Another   early   species  of  surnominal   adjunct   is   the 

*  What  is  said  of  an  ill-favoured  visage,  "  His  face  would  hang  him,"  may 
also  be  said  of  an  unhappy  name ;  and  our  dramatists  and  novelists  are  well 
aware  of  this,  when  they  give  their  most  profligate  characters  such  names  as 
Fagin,  Squeers,  cum  multis  aliis,  which  will  at  once  arise  to  the  recollection  of  the 
reader. 

+  Had  the  parents  of  Alexander  been  blessed  with  the  gift  of  prescience,  they 
would  certainly  have  hesitated  before  giving  that  "murderer  of  millions"  a  name 
signifying  "  the  helper  of  mankind." 

I  Nares's  Heraldic  Anomalies. 


28  INTRODUCTORY. 

epithet  greats  as  Alexander  the  Great;  with  words  ex- 
pressive of  other  qualities — concerning  which  the  author 
just  quoted  says :  "  There  are  some  significant  titles, 
names,  and  attributes,  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  re- 
spect than  that  he  performed  great  acts  of  cruelty.  Edmund 
Iron-sidey  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  swiftness  of  foot.  Among  the  kings 
of  Norway  there  was  a  Bare-foot!  William.  Rufus  was 
probably  quite  correct,  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  lAoUy  and  his  brother  John  quite 
as  properly,  though  to  his  shame  literally,  rather  than 
figuratively,  Lack-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  Pre- 
sident of  the  Antiquarian  Society,  who  measured  the  body, 
appeared  to  be  at  that  remote  period  six  feet  two  inches 
long."*     I  fully  agree  with  the  facetious  author  of  this 

*  Heraldic  Anom.  vol.  i.  p.  107. 


INTRODUCTORY.  29 

passage,  that  these  should  be  denominated  nicknames 
rather  than  surnames.  The  same  writer,  speaking  of  the 
adjunct  used  by  the  Norman  WiUiam,  assigns  to  it  the 
definition  of  Spelman,  which  differs  from  that  in  general 
acceptation  :  "  Conquestor  dicitur  qui  Anglia  conquisivity 
i.  e.  acquisivit  (purchased)  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  to  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  ac- 
quirer."* 

While  thus  digressing  on  royal  surnames,  I  may  be  al- 
lowed to  remind  the  reader  that  more  antient  monarchs 
had  their  characteristic  epithets :  thus  in  Rome,  Tarquinius 
Superbus,  Antoninus  Pius  ;  and  in  Egypt,  Ptolemy  Phila- 
delphus,  Ptolemy  Epiphanes.  I  may  also  mention  that 
France  has  had  its  Charles  the  Bald,  Louis  the  Stutterer , 
Charles  the  Simple,  Louis  the  Sluggard,  Louis  the  Quarrel- 
some, and  Philip  the  Fair.  The  house  of  Valois  recounts 
among  its  sovereigns  the  favorable  names  of  the  Good,  the 
Wise,  the  Well-beloved,  the  Victorious,  &c.  The  Bourbons 
have  had  two  Great,  one  Just,  one  Well-beloved,  and  one 
Loyiged-for.-^- 

But  to  return  :  as  society  advanced  in  refinement,  partly 
for  euphony,  and  partly  for  the  sake  of  distinction,  |   other 

*  Heraldic  Anom.  p.  110.  ^  ibid. 

i  "  Cum  essent  duo  Terentii,  aut  plures,  discernendi  caussa,  ut  aliquid  singu- 
lare  haberent,  notabant  forsitan  ab  eo  qui  mane  natus  diceretur,  ut  is  Manius 
esset ;  qui  luci,  Lucius  ;  qui  post  patris  mortem,  Postliumus."  (Varro.  De 
Latins  lingu&,  lib.  viil.) 


30  INTRODUCTORY. 

names  came  into  common  use.  Thus  among  the  Romans, 
three  names,  and  sometimes  four  or  even  five,  were  used 
by  a  single  person.  The  first  of  these  was  called  the  prce- 
nomen,  answering  to  our  Christian  name.  This  name  ori- 
ginally characterized  the  individual ;  thus  the  first  Faber 
(like  the  French  le  Fevre,  and  our  own  Smith)  was  no 
doubt  an  artificer  in  iron  or  wood,  while  the  primitive 
Agricola  (like  the  first  of  the  French  FermierSy  and  of  our 
EngUsh  family  of  the  Farmers)  was,  in  like  manner,  a  cul- 
tivator of  the  soil.  Their  second  name,  called  nomeUy  had 
a  close  analogy  to  the  term  clan  as  used  in  Scotland,  and 
was  given  to  all  the  branches  of  a  common  stock.  The 
cognomeny  or  third  name,  indicated  that  particular  part  of 
the  race  or  tribe  to  which  the  person  belonged.  Thus  in 
PubHus  Cornelius  Scipio,  Publius  corresponded  to  our 
John,  Thomas,  William ;  Cornelius  was  the  generic  name 
or  term  of  clanship;  while  Scipio  conveyed  the  infor- 
mation that  that  particular  Publius  belonged  to  the 
family  of  one  Scipio,  who  acquired  his  name  from  his 
piety  in  leading  about  his  bUnd  and  crippled  father, 
to  whom  he  thus  became,  figuratively,  a  scipio  or 
sta^.  The  names  Africanus,  Germanicus,  &c.,  bestowed 
upon  military  magnates  for  conquests  in  Africa,  Germany, 
&c.,  became,  in  like  manner,  second  and  honorary  cog- 
nomina  or  agnomina. 

Modern  nations  have  adopted  various  methods  of  distin- 
guishing families.  The  Highlanders  of  Scotland  employed 
the  «z>ename  with  Mac,  and  hence  our  Macdonalds  and 
Macartys,  meaning  respectively  the  son  of  Donald  and  of 
Arthur.  The  Irish  had  the  practice  (probably  derived 
from  the  patriarchal  ages)  of  prefixing  Oy  or  0',  signifying 


INTRODUCTORY.  31 

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  Mae 
and  O'  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,  quIIus  Hibernus  adest." 

which  has  been  translated — 

"  By  Mac  and  O, 
You'll  always  know 

True  Irishmen  they  say  ; 
For  if  they  lack 
Both  O  and  Mac, 

No  Irishmen  are  they."t 

The  old  Normans  prefixed  to  their  names  the  word  Fitc, 
a  corruption  of  Fils,  and  that  derived  from  the  Latin 
FiLius ;  as  Fitz-Hamon,  Fits-Gilbert.  The  peasantry  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  Paulowitz,  for  Peter  the  son  of  Paul.  The 
Poles  employ  *%  in  the  same  sense,  as  James  Fetrowsky, 
James  the  son  of  Peter.  The  Biscayans  adopt  a  similar 
method,  and,  not  to  multiply  instances,  this  seems  to  have 
been  in  nearly  all  ages,  in  all  countries,  the  most  obvious, 
and  therefore  the  most  customary,  way  of  forming  second, 

*  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. 


32  INTRODUCTORY. 

or  sur-names.  The  most  singular  deviation  from  the 
general  rule  is  found  among  the  Arabians,  who  use  their 
father's  name  without  a  fore-name,  as  Aven  Pace,  Aven 
Rois,  the  son  of  Pace,  the  son  of  Rois. 

In  Sweden,  hereditary  surnames  are  said  to  have  been 
unknown  before  the  commencement  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. At  a  much  later  period  no  surnames  were  used  in 
Wales,  beyond  ap,  or  son,  as  David  ap  Howell,  Evan  ap 
Rhys,  Griffith  ap  Roger,  John  ap  Richard,  now  very  natu- 
rally corrupted  into  Powell,  Price,  Prodger,  and  Pritchard. 
To  a  Hke  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,  Pum- 
phrey.  Parry,  Probert,  Probyn,  Pugh,  Penry ;  Bevan, 
Bithell,  Barry,  Benyon,  and  Bowers.  A  more  antient  form 
than  AP  is  hab.  This  or  vap  constantly  occurs  in  char- 
ters of  the  time  of  Henry  the  Sixth.  It  w^as  not  unusual, 
even  but  a  century  back,  to  hear  of  such  combinations  as 
Evan-ap-Griffith-ap-David-ap-Jenkin,  and  so  on  to  the 
seventh  or  eighth  generation,  so  that  an  individual  carried 
his  pedigree  in  his  name.  The  following  curious  descrip- 
tion of  a  Welshman  occurs  15  Hen.  VII :  "  Morgano 
PhUip  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-Cara- 
doc-Freichfras-ap-Llynn-Merim-ap-  Einion-  Yrth-ap  -  Cuned- 
da-Wledig,*  a  name  that  casts  that  of  the  Dutchman, 
Inkvervankodsdorspanckinkadrachdern,  into  the  shade.  To 
burlesque  this  ridiculous  species  of  nomenclature,  some 
.wag  described  cheese  as  being 

*  Recreative  Review,  vol.  li.  p.  189. 


INTRODUCTORY.  33 

"Adam's  own  cousin- german  by  its  birth, 
Ap-Curds-ap-Milk-ap-Cow-ap-Grass-ap-Eartb!" 

The  following  anecdote  was  related  to  me  by  a  native 
of  Wales  :  "An  Englishman,  riding  one  dark  night  among 
the  mountains,  heard  a  cry  of  distress,  proceeding  appa- 
rently from  a  man  who  had  fallen  into  a  ravine  near  the 
highway,  and,  on  listening  more  attentively,  heard  the 
words,  *  Help,  master,  help !'  in  a  voice  truly  Cambrian. 
*Help!  what,  who  are  you?'  inquired  the  traveller. 
Jenkin-ap-Griffith-ap-Robin-ap-Wniiam-ap-Rees-ap-Evan," 
was  the  response.  *  Lslzj  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 !'  " 

The  frequency  of  such  names  as  Davies,  Harris,  Jones, 
and  Evans  has  often  been  remarked,  and  is  to  be  accounted 
for  by  the  use  of  the  father's  name  in  the  genitive  case,  the 
word  son  being  understood;  thus  David's  son  became  Davis , 
Harry's  son  Harris,  John's  son  Jones,  and  Evan's  son 
Evans.  It  is  a  well-attested  fact  that  about  forty  years 
since  the  Monmouth  and  Brecon  mihtia  contained  no  less 
than  thirty-six  John  Joneses. 

Even  the  gentry  of  Wales  bore  no  hereditary  surnames 
until  the  time  of  Henry  the  Eighth.  That  monarch,  who 
paid  great  attention  to  heraldic  matters,  strongly  recom- 
mended the  heads  of  Welsh  families  to  conform  to  the 
usage  long  before  adopted  by  the  English,  as  more  consis- 
tent with  their  rank  and  dignity.  Some  families  accord- 
ingly made  their  existing  stVenames  stationary,  while  a  few 
adopted  the  surnames  of  English  families  with  whom  they 
were  aUied,  as  the  ancestors  of  OHver  Cromwell,  who  thus 

9& 


34  INTRODUCTORY. 

exchanged  Williams  for  Cromwell,   which  thenceforward 
they  uniformly  used.* 

Having  thus  glanced  at  the  usages  of  various  nations 
with  respect  to  second  names,  let  us  next  trace  the  history 
of  the  practice  of  adopting  hereditary  or  family  names  in 
our  own  country. 

*  Vide  Noble's  House  of  Cromwell.  Other  authentic  instances  of  the  adoption 
of  stationary  surnames  by  great  families  may  be  found  by  referring  to  the  fol- 
lowing works : 

(Williams  of  Abercamlais.)    Jones's  Brecon,  iii.  696. 

(Her6er^  Lord  of  Blealevenny.)    Mon.  Ang.  17,  134. 

{Herbert  of  Llanowell.)     Coxe's  Monmouth,  421. 
It  may  be  observed  that  several  Norman  families  who  settled  in  Wales,  left  their 
original  surnames,  and  conformed  to  the  mode  of  the  country  ;  thus  the  Boleyns 
took  the  name  of  Williams. 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLISH  SURNAMES.  35 


ESSAY     II. 
HISTORY  OF  ENGLISH  SURNAMES. 

The  antient  Britons  generally  used  one  name  only : 
sometimes,  but  very  rarely,  they  added  another  in  the 
manner  of  a  Roman  cognomen,  as  Aurelius  Ambrosius, 
Uther  Pendragon. 

The  Saxons  had  a  peculiar  kind  of  surname — the  termi- 
nation ING,  signifying  oifspring,  as,  for  instance,  Bearing 
Atheling^  Browning,  Whiting,  meaning  respectively,  deart 
noble,  dark  or  tawny,  and  white  or  fair,  offspring.  More 
usually  this  termination  was  added  to  the  father's  name, 
"  as  Ceonred  Ceolwalding,  Ceolwald  Cuthing,  Cuth  Cuth- 
wining,  i.  e.  Ceonred  the  sonne  of  Ceolwald  ;  Ceolwald 
Sonne  of  Cuth ;  Cuth  sonne  of  Cuthwin.  William  of 
Malmsbury  notes  that  the  sonne  of  Edgar  was  called 
Edgaring,  and  the  sonne  of  Edmund,  Edmunding."* 
The  difference  between  this  species  of  names  and  the  sur- 
names now  in  use  is  great,  for  while  the  former  were 
restricted  to  the  immediate  issue  of  a  single  individual,  the 
latter  are  generic  terms,  including  all  the  ramifications  of  a 
family,  however  numerous  or  widely  spread.  The  antient 
practice  seems  (especially  in  such  names  as  denote  phy- 

*  Camden's  Remaines.  Sometimes  the  sire  or  paternal  name  with  the  simple 
suffix  -irtg  composed  the  name,  as  Bryning,  Bryn's  son.  Ing,  inge,  or  inger  is 
found  in  the  same  sense  in  most  of  the  Teutonic  languages.  In  modern  German 
ing  denotes  a  young  man,  and  in  a  more  extended  signification  a  son,  a  descen- 
dant, progeny,  offspring.  Wachter  derives  it  from  the  British  engi,  to  produce, 
bring  forth.     {Vide  Bosworth's  Sax.  Diet.) 


36  HISTORY  OF 

sical  or  mental  qualities)  preferable  to  the  modem,  because 
such  qualities  are  not  in  their  nature  hereditary.  Of  this 
latter  remark  (were  it  not  matter  of  common  observation) 
every  one  must  have  noticed  many  ludicrous  proofs  in  the 
most  familiar  surnames.  For  instance,  a  tall  man  bears, 
perad  venture,  the  name  of  Short ,  while  the  most  weakly 
person  of  your  acquaintance  is  called  Mr.  Strong.  Mr. 
Meek  is,  perhaps  from  his  passionate  temper,  the  terror  of 
his  family,  at  the  same  time  that  Mr.  Bright  is  the  dullest 
man  in  every  company.  In  like  manner  a  pale  visage  may 
accompany  the  name  of  Blackman,  and  the  complexion  of 
a  Spaniard,  that  of  Lillywhite.  Mr.  Friend  is  perchance 
your  deadliest  foe,  and  Miss  Pretty  the  plainest  personage 
in  your  neighbourhood.  Similar  instances  might  be  ad- 
duced almost  ad  infinitum^  did  the  occasion  require  it  ;* 
my  object  is  merely  to  show  the  absurdity  of  adopting, 
as  the  stationary  name  of  a  family,  a  designation,  which, 
however  apphcable  to  the  person  who  first  bore  it,  could 
not  in  the  nature  of  things  be  consistently  employed  by 
all  his  posterity.  In  point  of  convenience,  however,  the  here- 
ditary method  is  infinitely  superior  to  the  other. 

The  Saxons  sometimes  bestowed  honorable  appellations 
on  those  who  had  signalized  themselves  by  the  performance 
of  any  gallant  action,  like  the  Roman  Cognomina.  Every 
person  conversant  with  the  history  of  those  times  will  call 
to  mind  that  England  was  much  infested  with  wolves,  and 
that  large  rewards  were  given  to  such  as  were  able,  by 
force  or  stratagem,  to  subdue  them.  To  kill  a  wolf  was 
to  destroy  a  dangerous  enemy,  and  to  confer  a  benefit  on 

•  While  the  first  edition  of  this  work  was  passing  through  the  press,  the  public 
mind  was  horrified  by  one  of  the  most  inhuman  murders  on  record,  committed 
by  a  villain  named  Good  ! 


ENGLISH   SURNAMES.  37 

society.  Hence,  several  Saxon  proper  names,  ending  in 
ulph  dindiwolfy  as  Biddw/p^,  the  wolf- killer,*  or  more  pro- 
perly "wolf-compeller,"  and  some  others  ;f  but  these, 
among  the  common  people  at  least,  did  not  descend  from 
father  to  son  in  the  manner  of  modern  surnames. 

It  may  be  remarked  en  passanty  that  the  fore-names  of 
the  Anglo-Saxons  are  characterized  by  a  beautiful  signifi- 
cancy  and  simplicity.  As  many  of  these  were  afterwards 
adopted  as  family  names,  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  digress- 
ing a  little  to  give  a  list  of  some  of  them,  illustrative  of 
this  observation. 

Alwin,  all-victorious  or  winning  all.  Camd.  All-beloved. 
V erst  eg  an. 

Alfred i  all-peace. 

Aldredy  all-reverend  fear.  Camd. 

Bede,  he  that  prayeth  ;  a  devout  man.   Camd. 

Botolph,  help-ship. 

Cuthbert,  bright  in  knowledge. 

Edmund,  truth-mouth  ;  a  speaker  of  truth. 

Edward,  truth-keeper  ;  a  faithful  man. 

Frederick,  rich  in  peace. 

Goddard,  honored  of  God. 

Godwin,  beloved  of  God.  Versteg.  Victorious  in  God. 
Camd. 

Hengist,  horse,  and  by  a  figure  of  speech  horse-maw. 

Kenard,  kind  disposition.  Camd.  Elsewhere  I  have  as- 
signed a  widely  different  etymology. 

Leofwin,  win-love. 

*  Burke's  Commoners,  vol.  iii.  p.  280.  There  is  a  parish  called  Biddulph  in 
Stafifordshire. 

t  The  Saxon  termination  ulph  more  usually  means  help,  assistance,  aid,  de- 
fence ;  as  Athelulph  or  -wolf,  *  noble  help  ;'  Arnulph, «  defence  of  honour,'  &c. 


38  HISTORY  OF 

Osherny  (house-bairn,)  house-child.  Camd.  See  anecdote 

in  the  Essay  on  Historical  Surnames. 
Ranulphj  (now  Randall,)  fair-help. 
Richardy  richly  honored. 
RicheTy  powerful  in  the  army. — Herric^  says  Camden,  is 

the  same  name  reversed  ;  hence  our  modern  surname, 

Herrick, 
Rayniundy  quiet  peace. 
Thurstariy  most  true  and  trusty.   Camd.  (?) 
Walwiuy  (whence  our  modern  surnames,  Taldwin  and 

GaweUy)  a  conqueror. 


No  precise  date  can  be  assigned  to  the  introduction  of 
hereditary  surnames  into  England,  as  personal  sobriquets 
were  known  from  an  early  period  of  the  Heptarchy.  That 
the  old  termination  ing  was  gradually  rejected  from  names, 
and  that  of  son  substituted  for  it  in  the  10th  and  11th 
centuries,  is  evident  from  documents  of  that  period ;  and 
I  see  no  valid  reason  why  such  names  as  Herdingson, 
Swainson,  Cerdicson,  were  not  hereditary,  as  well  as  our 
more  recent  Thompson  and  Williamson.  I  am  aware  that 
Camden  and  all  our  antiquaries  since  his  days  concur  in 
the  opinion  that  surnames,  of  the  hereditary  kind,  were 
not  known  in  England  before  the  Norman  Conquest ;  yet 
I  hope  I  shall  not  be  deemed  guilty  of  presumption  if,  by 
and  bye,  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  became  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  Frenchified This 


ENGLISH  SURNAMES.  39 

will  seeme  strange  to  some  Englishmen  and  Scottishmen, 
whiche,  like  the  Arcadians,  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  which  descended  to  posterity  hef ore  that  time: 
neither  haue  they  scene  (I  feare)  any  deede  or  donatioji 
BEFORE  THE  CoNQUEST,  but  suhsigned  with  crosses  and 
SINGLE  names  without  surnames,  in  this  manner ; 
>J<  Ego  Eadredus  confirmaui.  >J<  Ego  Edmundus  corro- 
boraui.  >J<  Ego  Sigarius  conclusi.  >J<  Ego  Olfstanus 
consolidaui,  &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  hereditary 
surnames  before  the  Conquest,  without  success ;  what  then 
would  he  have  said  to  a  document  hke  the  following,  con- 
taining the  substanceof  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 y  (prsepositum  meum,) 
and  his  whole  sequell,  with  all  the  goods  and  chattels  which 


*  Buchanan  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  Douglassii  of  that  country. 


40  HISTORY  OF 

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  Siward,  (filiura  Siwardi,)  &c. 
Also  Osmund,  the  miller,  (molendinarium,)  &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  descriptions; 
Liniet,  Dubbe,  Tuk,  de  Pincebeck,  have  the  appear- 
ance of  settled  surnames.  The  same  distinction  is  observable 
between  *  Edric,  the  son  of  Siward,*  and  Grimkelson  and 
Gamelson.  Indeed  some  of  these  surnames  are  yet  re- 
maining 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  pre- 
valent among  antiquaries,  namely,  that  surnames  were 
assumed  by  the  aristocracy  long  before  the  commonalty 
took  them.  Here  we  see  that  the  bondmen  or  churls  of 
the  Lincolnshire  sherifi"  used  them,  at  a  period  when  many 
of  the  landed  proprietors  had  no  other  designation  than  a 
Christian  name. 

*  See  the  entire  deei  in  Cough's  History  of  Croylantl  Abbey.    (A pp.  p.  29.) 


ENGLISH  SURNAMES.  41 

A  great  many  surnames  occur  in  Domesday  book  ; 
(Camden  says,  they^r*^  occur  there.)  Some  of  these  are 
LOCAL,  as  De  Grey^  de  Vernon^  cT  Oily ;  some  patrony- 
MiCAL,  as  Richardus^/m*  Gisleberti;  and  others  official 
or  PROFESSIONAL,  as  Guhelmus  CamerariuSj  (the  cham- 
berlain,) Radulphus  Venator,  (the  hunter,)  Gislebertus 
Coeus,  (the  cook,)  &c.  &c.  "But  very  many,"  as  Camden 
remarks,  "(occur)  with  their  Christian  names  only,  as 
Olq^,  Nigellus,  EustachiuSy  Baldricus.''  It  is  to  be  ob- 
served 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  indi- 
viduals 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  gentry  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  su- 
periors without  the  double  or  triple  designation :  Lord 
So-and'Soy  Sir  John  Such-a-oney  or  Mr.  This-or-Thaty 
while  the  single  names  Smithy  Brown,  JoneSy  and  RobinsoUy 
suffice  for  persons  of  lower  grade.  I  will  venture  to  say 
that  one  half  of  the  masters  and  mistresses  of  houses  in 
large  towns  do  not  even  know  more  than  one  of  the  two 


42  HISTORY  OF 

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  in- 
conclusive 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  men- 
tioned in  Domesday  as  having  been,  before  the  Conquest, 
the  estates,  respectively,  of  Cane  and  of  jElfech.  Now  these 
names  are  still  found  in  the  county  as  surnames;  the 
former  under  its  antient  orthography,  and  the  latter  under 
that  of  Elphick ;  but  were  these  ever  used  as  Christian 
names  ?  ^Ifech  may  be  the  same  with  Alphage,  a  Saxon 
fore-name  ;  but  Cane  was  certainly  never  so  used.  By  the 
bye,  it  is  an  extraordinary  fact  that  the  name  of  Cane  is 
still  borne  by  two  respectable  farmers  at  Ripe,  in  which 
neighbourhood,  I  have  scarcely  a  doubt,  their  ancestors  have 
dwelt  from  the  days  of  the  Confessor,  and  all  bearing  the 
same  monosyllabic  designation :  an  honour  which  few  of  the 
mighty  and  noble  of  this  land  can  boast ! 

It  would  however  be  preposterous  to  imagine  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  Conquest  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  surnames  in  England  dates 
beyond  the  ingress  of  the  Normans. 

Surnames  were  taken  up  in  a  very  gradual  manner  by 
the  great,  (both  of  Saxon  and  Norman  descent,)  during  the 
eleventh,  twelfth,  and  thirteenth  centuries.    By  the  middle 


ENGLISH  SURNAMES.  43 

of  the  twelfth,  howeyer,  it  appears  that  they  were  (in  the 
estimation  of  some)  necessary  appendages  to  famihes  of 
rank,  to  distinguish  them  from  those  of  meaner  extraction. 
We  have  an  instance  of  this  in  the  wealthy  heiress  of  the 
powerful  Baron  Fitz-Hamon's  making  the  want  of  a  sur- 
name in  Robert,  natural  son  of  King  Henry  the  First,  an 
objection  to  his  marriage  with  her.  The  lady  is  repre- 
sented as  saying : 

H  loert  to  me  great  iS^amtf 

Co  i^abe  a  laxti  biitiouUn  l)i^  tioa  name  !* 

when  the  monarch,  to  remedy  the  defect,  gave  him  the 
surname  of  Fitz-Roy  ;  a  designation  which  has  been  given 
at  several  subsequent  periods  to  the  illegitimate  progeny 
of  our  kings. 

The  unsettled  state  of  surnames  in  those  early  times  ren- 
ders it  a  difficult  matter  to  trace  the  pedigree  of  any  family 
beyond  the  thirteenth  century.  In  Cheshire,  a  county  re- 
markable for  the  number  of  its  resident  families  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  residence,  and  thus  in  three 
descents  as  many  surnames  are  found  in  the  same  family. f 
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  III.     Thus  we  read  in  succession — 


*  Robert  of  Gloucester. 

t  Vide  Lyson's  Cheshire,  p.  357,  and  the  Essay  on  Changed  Surnames  in  this 
work. 


44  HISTORY  OF 

Bardolph, 

Akaris  Fitz-Bardolph, 
Hervey  Fitz-Akaris, 
Henry  Fitz-Hervey, 
Randolph  Fitz-Henry, 
Henry  Fitz-Randolph, 
Randolph  Fitz-Henry, 
Hugh  Fitz-Randolph, 
Henry  Fitz-Hugh, 

which  last  was  created  a  baron,  assuming  that  name  as  his 
title,  and  giving  it  permanence  as  a  family  appellative.* 
When  there  were  several  sons  in  one  family,  instances  are 
found  where  each  brother  assumed  a  different  surname. 
There  is  another  great  difficulty  in  tracing  the  pedigrees  of 
families,  arising  from  the  loose  orthography  which  obtained 
up  to  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  and  even  later.  Mr.  Marklandf 
mentions  having  seen  a  document  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
in  which  four  brothers,  named  Rugely,  spell  their  names 
in  as  many  different  ways.  Dr.  Chandler  notices  the  name 
of  Waynflete  in  seventeen  modes  of  orthography,  and 
Dugdale,  in  his  MS.  Collections  respecting  the  family  of 
Main  waring,  of  Peover,  co.  Chester,  has  the  extraordi- 
nary number  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  variations  of 
that  single  name,  all  drawn  from  authorized  documents. 
It  might  be  conjectured  (adds  Mr.  Markland)  that  these 
variations  were  intentional,  could  any  probable  motive  be 
assigned  for  such  a  practice.^ 

*  Halle  of  John  Halle,  vol.  i.  p.  10.  t  Archaeologia,  vol.  xviii.  p.  108. 

t  I  have  little  doubt  that  what  we  now  regard  as  irregularities  in  the  ortho- 
graphy of  our  ancestors  were  by  them  considered  ornamental ;  a  species  of  taste 
♦♦  somewhat  akin  to  the  fastidiousness  in  modern  composition,  which  as  stu- 
diously rejects  the  repetition  of  words  and  phrases." 


ENGLISH  SURNAMES.  45 

It  has  been  asserted  that  an  act  of  parliament  was  passed 
in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Second  for  enforcing  the  prac- 
tice of  using  surnames,  but  it  seems  more  probable  that 
necessity  led  the  common  people  to  adopt  them.  Before 
the  Conquest  there  was,  in  most  cases,  sufficient  variety  in 
the  Christian  names ;  but  the  Normans,  giving  the  pre- 
ference to  scripture  names,  introduced  so  great  a  number 
of  Johns,  Jameses,  and  Peters,  that  in  the  course  of  two  or 
three  centuries  surnames  were  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
sake  of  distinction. 

These  surnames  were  of  a  very  loose  kind,  as  is  appa- 
rent from  the  following  list  of  persons  who  were  living  about 
the  year  1340,  (13  Edw.  III.)  taken  principally  from  the 
Inquisitio  Nonarum : 

Johes  over  the  Water 

William  at  Byshope  Gate 

Johes  o'  the  Shephouse 

Johes  q'dam  s'viens  Rog.  Leneydeyman 

Johis  vicarii  eccl'  Ste.  Nich. 

Agnes,  the  Pr'sts  sister* 

Johes  at  the  Castle  Gate 

Johes  in  the  Lane 

Johes  up  the  Pende 

Petr'  atte  the  Bell 

Johes  of  the  Gutter 

Thomas  in  the  Willows 

Steph'  de  Portico 

William  of  London-bridge. 


Gent.  Mag.  June  ]821. 


46  HISTORY  OF 

About  this  time  (to  speak  generally)  the  surnames  of  the 
middling  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  different  surnames  at  difierent 
periods.  Thus,  a  person  who  in  1406  describes  himself  as 
WiUiam,  the  son  of  Adam  Emmotson,  calls  himself,  in  1416, 
WilUam  Emmotson.  Another  person  who  is  designated 
John,  the  son  of  WiUiam,  the  son  of  John  de  Hunshelf, 
appears  soon  after  as  John  Wilson.  ,  Other  names,  such 
as  Willielmus-Johnson- Wilkinson,  Willielmus-Adamson- 
Magotson,  and  Thomas-Henson-Magot,  prevail  about  this 
period.* 

The  following  address  to  the  populace,  at  the  beginning 
of  one  of  the  Coventry  Mysteries,  serves  still  further  to 
illustrate  the  state  in  which  the  family  nomenclature  of 
the  humbler  classes  stood  in  the  fifteenth  century: 

*II  A  voj'd  sers !     And  lete  me  lord  the  bischop  come 

And  syt  in  the  court,  the  laws  for  to  doo  ; 
And  I  schal  gon  in  this  place,  them  for  to  somowne ; 

The  that  ben  in  my  book,  the  court  ye  must  come  to. 

TI  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  Jurdon'  and  Geffrey  Gyle 
Malkyn  Mylkedoke  and  fayre  Mabyle, 
Stevyn  Sturdy,  and  Jack-Ax-XHE  Style, 
And  Sawdyr  Sadeler. 

If  Thorn  Tvnker'  and  Betrys  Belle 
Peyrs  Potter,  and  Whatt-AT-THE-WELLE, 
Symme  Smal-feyth,  and  Kate  Kelle, 

And  Bertylmew  the  Bocher  (butcher). 

•  Penny  Cyclopaedia. 


ENGLISH    SURNAMES.  47 

KyttCAKELER,  and  Colett  Crane, 

Gylle  Fetyse  and  fayr  Jane 

Powle  Powter',  and  P[ar]nel  Prane, 

And  Phelypp  the  good  Fleccher. 

If  Cok  Crane,  and  Davy  Dry-dust 
Luce  Lyer,  and  Letyce  Lytyl-trust, 
Miles  the  Miller,  and  CoUe  Crake-crust 

Both  Bette  the  Baker,  and  Robyn  R^de, 

And  LOKE  ye  rynge  wele  in  yowr  purs 
For  ellys  yowr  cawse  may  spede  the  wurs, 
•  Thow  that  ye  slynge  goddys  curs , 
Evy[n]  at  my  hede. 

^  Both  BoNTYNG  the  Browster,  and  Sybyly  Slynge, 
Megge  Mery-wedyr,  and  Sabyn  Sprynge 
TyfFany  Twynkeler  fFayle  for  no  thynge, 

Ffast  co'  a  way 
The  courte  shall  be  this  day. 

Surnames  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  been  permanently 
settled  before  the  era  of  the  Reformation.*  The  keeping 
of  parish  registers  was  probably  more  instrumental  than 
anything  else  in  setthng  them ;  for  if  a  person  were  en- 
tered 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,  oc- 
curred in  some  places.  The  Rev.  Mark  Noblef  affirms 
that  "  it  was  late  in  the  seventeenth  century  that  many 
families  in  Yorkshire,  even  of  the  more  opulent  sort,  took 
stationary  names.  Still  later,  about  Hahfax,  surnames  be- 
came in  their  dialect  genealogical,  as  William  a  Bills,  a 
Toms,  a  Luke.** 

In  Scotland  the  same  irregularities  prevailed  down  to 
the  time  of  James  V.  and  Mary.    Buchanan  mentions  that 

*  Archaeologia,  vol.  xviii.  p.  108.         t  Hist.  Coll.  Arms,  Introduction,  p.  29. 


48  HISTORY    OF 

he  has  seen  deeds  of  that  date  'most  confused  and  un- 
exact  in  designations  of  persons  inserted  therein,'  parties 
being  described  as  '  John,  son  of  black  Wilham,'  *  Thomas, 
son  of  long  or  tall  Donald,'  &c.  Even  so  late  as  1723, 
there  were  two  gentlemen  of  Sir  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,  fully  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  pubHc-house  which  this  man  keeps  in  Staffordshire.'* 

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  intention 
of  concealment;  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  marri- 
ages. For  every-day  purposes  they  use  no  appellative, 
except  a  nickname,  as  Noseg,  Soiden-mouth,^  Soaker,  or 
some  such  elegant  designation;  and  this  is  employed,  not 
by  their  neighbours  alone,  but  by  their  wives  and  children, 

•  Scottish  Surnames,  p.  18,  +    With  the  mouth  awry. 


ENGLISH    SURNAMES.  49 

and  even  by  themselves !  A  correspondent  of  Knight's 
Quarterly  Magazine,*  who  is  my  authority  for  these  state- 
ments, 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  ascertain 
them.  But  they  stood  there  only  for  ornament;  for  use  he 
found  it  necessary  to  append  the  sobriquet,  which  he  did 
with  true  medical  formahty,  as,  for  instance,  '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  gentry,  whose  real  name  was 
entered  in  the  instrument  with  legal  accuracy.  The  clerk, 
after  a  great  deal  of  inquiry  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  the 
party,  was  about  to  abandon  the  search  as  hopeless,  when 
a  young  woman,  who  had  witnessed  his  labours,  kindly 
volunteered  to  assist  him. 

"  Oy  say.  Bully ed,""  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  ?" 

Lie-a-bed's  opportunities  of  making  acquaintance  had 
been  rather  limited,  and  she  could  not  resolve  the  dif- 
ficulty. 

Stumpy  (a  man  with  a  wooden  leg),  Cowskin,  Spindle- 
shanks,  Cockeye,  and  Pigtail  were  severally  invoked,  but  in 
vain ;  and  the  querist  fell  into  a  brown  study,  in  which  she 
remained  for  some  time.     At  length,  however,  her  eyes 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  297  et  seq. 

3 


50  HISTORY   OF 

suddenly  brightened,  and  slapping  one  of  her  companions 
on  the  shoulder,  she  exclaimed  triumphantly,  "  Dash  my 
wig  !  whoy  he  means  moy  feyther  !'*  and  then  turning  to 
the  gentleman,  she  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  surnames  ;  and  many 
only  know  them  by  the  former.  This  is  particularly  the 
case  where  several  families  in  one  locality  bear  the  same 
name.     A  friend  of  mine  informs  me,  that  he  lately  knew 

fifteen  persons  in  the   small  town   of  F ,   on  the 

coast  of  Kent,  whose  hereditary  name  was  Hally  but  who, 
gratia  distinctionis,  bore  the  elegant  designations  of — 
Doggy-Hall,  Pumble-Foot, 

Feathertoe,  Cold-Flip, 

Bumper,  Silver-Eye, 

Bubbles,  Lumpy, 

Pierce-Eye,  Sutty, 

Faggots,  Thick-Lips, 

CuLA,  and 

JiGGERY,  Old  Hare. 

But  it  is  high  time  to  end  this  "  duU,  dry,  and  desultory" 
Essay,  which  I  now  do,  with  a  guarantee  to  my  indulgent 
reader,  that  the  succeeding  ones  shall  be  made,  as  far  as 
the  nature  of  the  subject  will  admit,  more  interesting,  both 
as  regards  "  the  thing  to  be  said  and  the  manner  of  saying 
it."  Let  me  add  one  word  in  deprecation  of  the  wrath  of 
learned  antiquaries,  who  may  be  incHned  hastily  to  con- 
demn my  light  and  cursory  mode  of  handling  a  subject 
which  is  certainly  susceptible  and  worthy  of  a  more  grave 


ENGLISH   SURNAMES.  51 

and  profound  treatment.  It  must  be  recollected  that  I  am 
not  writing  for  the  instruction  of  persons  well  versed  in 
the  records  of  the  past,  but  for  the  information  and  amuse- 
ment of  that  greatly  preponderating  class  of  readers  who 
have  not  been  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  antiqua- 
rianism,  and  who,  as  yet,  have  to  learn  that 

"  Not  rude  and  barren  are  the  winding  ways 
Of  hoar  Antiquity,  but  strewn  with  flowers." 


52  LOCAL   SURNAMES. 


ESSAY  III. 


LOCAL    SURNAMES. 


Under  the  general  term  Local  Surnames,  I  include  all 
such  family  names  as  were  borrowed  from  places.  These 
may  be  divided  into  two  classes  :  first,  the  specific,  com- 
prising such  as  are  derived  from  the  proper  names  of 
places,  as  Torke,  Winchester,  Grantham ;  and  second,  the 
generic,  being  all  those  taken  from  common  names  expres- 
sive of  situation,  as  Wood,  Hill,  Greene. 

We  have  already  seen  that  some  second  names  were  bor- 
rowed from  places  in  antient  times.  These,  however,  were 
not  hereditary,  like  those  of  modern  date.  The  latter  ori- 
ginated, in  all  probabiUty,  in  Normandy  and  the  contiguous 
parts  of  France,  about  the  close  of  the  tenth  century,  or  the 
commencement  of  the  eleventh.  Possessors  of  land,  in  the 
first  instance,  borrowed  them  from  their  own  estates,  a 
practice  in  which  the  Normans  were  soon  imitated  by  the 
English,  particularly  after  the  Conquest.  Chiefly  of  this 
kind  are  the  names  occurring  in  that  far-famed  document, 
the  ^rtat  ^K-oIl  of  33attel  ^hhtv — a  list  of  the  principal 
commanders  and  companions  in  arms  of  WilUam  the  con- 
queror. *  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  Conquest  may 
generally  be  known  by  the  prefixes  de,  du,  des,  de  la, 
ST.  or  SAiNCT,  and  by  the  suffixes  font,  ers,  fant,  beau, 

*  See  Appendix. 


LOCAL    SURNAMES.  53 

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  slightest  glance  at  a  map 
of  northern  France. 

I  shall  here  set  down,  from  Camden,  some  of  the  princi- 
pal surnames  imported  into  England  from  the  opposite  side 
of  the  channel  in  or  about  the  year  1066,  which  he  classi- 
fies into  those  of  Normandy,  Bretagne,  France,  and  the 
Netherlands. 

From  Normandy.  Mortimer,  Warren,  Albigny,  Percy, 
Gournay,  Devereux,  TankerviQe,  St.-Lo,  Argenton,  Marmion, 
St.-Maure  (corruptly  Seymour),  Bracy,  Maigny,  Nevill, 
Ferrers,  Harcourt,  Baskerville,  Mortagne,  Tracy,  Beaufoy, 
Valoins  (now  Valance?)  Cayly,  Lucy,  Montfort,  Bonville, 
Bouil,  Avranche,  &c. 

From  Bretagne.  St.  Aubin,  Morley,  Dinant  (corrupted 
to  Dinham),  Dole,  Balun,  Conquest,  VaUetort,  Lascelles, 
Bluet,  &c. 

Fromother  parts  of  France.  Courtenaye,  Corby,  Boleyn, 
Crevequer,  St.  Leger,  Bohun,  St.  Andrew,  Chaworth, 
St.  Quintin,  Gorges,  VilHers,  Cromar,  Paris,  Rheims, 
Cressy  (now  Creasy),  Fynes,  Beaumont,  Coignac,  Lyons, 
Chalons,  Chaloner,  Estampes  or  Stamps,  and  many  more. 

From  the  Netherlands.  Louvaine,  Gaunt  (Ghent),  Ipres, 
Bruges  (now  Brydges),  Malines,  Odingsels,  Tournay, 
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  descended  from 
some  stalwart  Norman,  who  hacked  his  way  to  eminence 


54  LOCAL    SURNAMES. 

and  fortune  through  the  serried  ranks  of  the  Saxons  at 
Hastings.  Such  ambitious  individuals  ought  to  be  re- 
minded that,  in  the  eight  centuries  that  have  elapsed  since 
the  Conquest,  there  have  been  numerous  settlements  of  the 
French  in  our  nation ;  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,  MoHneux,  and  Danvers  ;*  to  say  nothing 
of  the  various  settlements  of  merchants,  artists,  and  re- 
fugees of  aU  kinds,  who  have  sought  and  found  an  '*  island 
home"  in  Britain. 

Although  the  practice  of  adopting  hereditary  surnames 
from  manors  and  locaUties  originated  in  Normandy,  we  are 
not  therefore  to  conclude  that  all  those  names  that  have  de, 
&c.  prefixed  were  of  Norman  origin ;  for  many  famiUes  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  Ashburnhams,  De  Fords,  De  Newtons,  &c.  ad 
infinitum.  In  some  cases  the  Normans  preferred  the  sur- 
name derived  from  their  antient  patrimonies  in  Normandy ; 
in  others  they  substituted  one  taken  from  the  estate  given 
them  by  the  Conqueror  and  his  successors.  In  a  few  in- 
stances 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  ejfqut'er  among 
the  heads  of  famihes,  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  wrote  themselves,  John  Alchorne  of 

♦  Anglorum  Speculum,  1684,  p.  26. 


LOCAL    SURNAMES.  56 

Alchorne,  Esq.,  William  Catesby  of  Catesby,  Gent.  &c. 
Our  quaint  old  friend  Verstegan  thinks  tbis  change  began 
to  take  place  "when  English  men  and  EngHsh  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 
Chambre  and  Le  Despencer  are  shorn  of  all  their  beauty 
when  transmogrified  to  Chambers  and  Spencer.  But  to 
return ;  to  bear  the  denomination  of  one's  own  estate  was 
antiently,  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 
pauperised  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  ori- 
ginally possessors  of  the  locaUties  from  which  those  names 
were  borrowed.  In  all  probability  a  great  number  of  such 
names  were  never  used  with  the  de  at  all.  In  Germany  and 
Poland  they  discriminate  in  this  respect  by  using  the  word 
IN,  when  possessors  of  the  place,  and  of,  when  only  born 
or  dwelling  there.  The  like,  Camden  tells  us,  was  formerly 
done  in  Scotland,  "where  you  shall  have  Trotter  ©/"Folsham, 
and  Trotter  in  Fogo ;  Haitley  of  Haitley,  and  Haitley  in 

•  Restitution,  p.  311, 


.56  LOCAL    SURNAMES. 

Haitley.  The  foregoing  remark  is  rendered  most  evident 
by  such  names  as  these,  occurring  at  an  early  period  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Hull :  Ralph  le  Taverner  de  Nottingham 
de  Kyngeston  super  Hull ;  Robert  de  Bripol  de  KyngestoUy 
&c.* 

There  are  several  antient  baronial  surnames  to  which  our 
old  genealogists  assigned  a  false  origin.  Some  of  these  may 
be  called  Crusading  names,  from  the  supposition  that  they 
were  derived  from  places  visited  by  the  founders  of  the 
famiUes  during  the  holy  wars.  Mortimer  was,  according 
to  these  etymologists,  de  Mortuo  Mart,  "  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  Cumberland.  Jordan,  however,  is  known  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."t 

There  is  a  "vulgar  error"  that  places  borrowed  their 
names  from  persons,  instead  of  the  contrary.  On  this  sub- 
ject Camden  says,  "Whereas  therefore  these  locall  deno- 
minations of  families  are  of  no  great  antiquitie,  I  cannot 
yet  see  why  men  should  thinke  that  their  ancestors  gave 

•  Vide  Frost's  History  of  Hull. 

t  Some  religious  houses  in  England  had  their  mountjoys,  a  name  given  to  emi- 
nences 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. 


LOCAL    SURNAMES.  VJ 

names  to  places,  when  the  places  bare  those  very  names 
before  any  men  did  their  surnames.  Yea,  the  very  termi- 
nations of  the  names  are  such  as  are  only  proper  and  ap- 
plicable to  places,  and  not  to  persons  in  their  significations, 
if  any  will  marke  the  locall  terminations  which  I  lately  spe- 
cified. Who  would  suppose  Hill,  Wood,  Field,  Ford, 
Ditch,  Poole,  Pond,  Town  or  Tun,  and  such  like  termi- 
nations, 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 
supernaturall  transformation. 

"  And  I  doubt  not  but  they  will  confesse  that  townes 
stand  longer  than  famihes. 

"  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 
frommen,  asEdwardston,  Alfredstone,  Ubsford,  Malmesbury 
(corruptly  for  Maidulphsbury).  But  these  were  from  fore- 
names or  Christian  names,  and  not  from  surnames.  For 
Ingulphus  plainly  sheweth  that  Wiburton  and  Leffrington 
were  so  named,  because  two  knights,  Wiburt  and  Leofric,* 

*  The  practice  of  borrowing  names  of  places  from  the  fore-names  of  men  ap- 
pears to  have  been  pretty  usual  among  the  Saxons,  and  tliat  even  almost  to  the 
period  of  the  Conquest. 

"  Many  of  the  names  of  places,  of  which  the  meaning  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  Domes- 
day book.  Thus,  on  the  Herefordshire  side  of  Ludlow  we  have  Elmodes-treow 
or   the  tree  of  Elmod  (now  Aymestry)  ;    Widferdestune,    or  the  enclosure  of 

3§ 


58  LOCAL    SURNAMES. 

there  sometime  inhabited.  But  if  any  should  affirme  that 
the  gentlemen  named  Leffrington,  WiburtoUf  Lancaster, 
Leicester,  Bossevill,  or  Shor ditch,  gave  the  names  to  the 
places  so  named,  I  would  humbly,  without  prejudice,  craue 

respite  for  a  further  day  before  I  beleeued  them " 

This  error  possibly  originated  either  in  the  flattering  tales 
of  old  genealogists,*  or  from  the  fact  of  surnames  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-Perpoint,  and 
Hurst-Monceux ;  Tarring-Neville,  and  Tarring-Peverell ; 
Rotherfield-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  Hammond^ s- 
Place,  Latimer's,  Camois-Court,  Mark's-Hall,  TheohaWs, 


Widfeid  (Wooffertoii) ;  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  Bemold.  In 
Shropshire  there  are  Chinbaldes-cote,  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  patro- 
nymics, which  in  Anglo-Saxon  had  this  termination.  Thus  a  son  of  Alfred  was 
an  vElfreding,  his  descendants  in  general  were  ^Ifredingas  or  Alfredings.  These 
patronymics  are  generally  compounded  with  ham,  tun,  &c.,  and  whenever  we 
can  find  the  name  of  a  place  in  pure  Saxon  documents,  we  have  the  patrony- 
mic in  the  genitive  case  plural.  Thus  Birmingham  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  Culmington  that  of 
the  family  of  Culm." — Vide  Wright's  History  of  Ludlow,  reviewed  In  the 
Arch^ologist,  March,  1842. 

•  Among  other  instances  of  this  kind,  I  recollect  that,  in  the  pedigree  of 
Roberts,  antiently  called  Rookhurst,  (Hayley's  Sussex  MSS.  Brit.  Mus.)  compiled 
in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  it  is  asserted  that  a  gentleman  of  Scotland,  named 
Rookhurst,  settling  in  Kent,  in,  the  eleventh  century,  gave  that  name  to  the 
manor  so  designated  ! 


LOCAL    SURNAMES.  59 

&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 : 

jSunc  mea,  mox  f)\ijvL&,  iSeU  po&tta  tit&cio  cujuj;/* 

But  enough  of  these  preliminary  observations.  It  is  now 
time  to  classify  the  local  surnames  into  their  various  kinds : 
and  first,  I  may  mention  those  of  the  patrial  description  or 
such  as  denote  the  country  out  of  which  the  founder  of  the 
family  originally  came.  These  are  more  numerous  than 
might  be  expected:  and  they  usually  occur  in  antient 
records  with  the  particle  le  prefixed. 

Alman,  from  Almany,  (Germany.) 

Angevin,  from  Anjou.  Camd.  I  have  not  met  with 
this  name. 

Braban,  from  Brabant. 

Bret,  Bretton,  Britton,  from  Bretagne,  a  province 
of  France. 

Burgoyne,  from  Burgundy. 

Cornish,  Cornwallis,  from  Cornwall. 

Champneis,  from  Champagne. 

Dane,  Denis,  Dench,  from  Denmark. 

EsTARLiNG,  corrupted  in  some  instances  to  Stradling, 
from  *  the  East,'  probably  Greece. 

English,  England.  I  can  only  account  for  these 
names  on  the  supposition  that  they  were  given  to  some 
Englishmen,  while  resident  abroad.    Inglis. 

French,  France. 

Flanders,  Fleming,  from  the  Netherlands. 

Gael  or  Gale,  a  Scot. 

♦  Camd.  Rem.  p.  108. 


60  LOCAL    SURNAMES. 

Germaine,  from  Germany. 
Gasgoyne,  from  the  French  province. 
Hanway,  from  the  old  name  of  Hainault,  which  was 
so  denominated  temp.  Hen.  VIII.  In  Andrew  Borde's 
"Boke  of  the  Introduction  of  Knowledge,"  we  are  in- 
formed that  the  *  money,  maners  and  fashyons'  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Holland  *  is  lyke  Flaunders,  Hanway y  and 
Braban,  which  be  commodious  and  plentyful  contreys.* 

Holland,  Douche.  The  latter  is  the  antient  form  of 
"Dutch." 

Janeway,  a  Genoese.  On  the  mention  of  this  name  an 
antient  anecdote  occurs  to  my  recollection,  which  I  know 
I  shall  be  pardoned  for  introducing  here. 

"  There  was  one  amonge  the  Janwayes  that  the  Frenche 
kyng  hyred  to  make  warre  agaynst  the  Englysshe  men, 
whiche  bare  an  oxe  heed  peynted  in  his  shelde :  the  which 
shelde  a  noble  man  of  France  challenged:  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  Janwaye,  all 
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  auncetours  before  thyne. 
What  were  your  auncetours  armes  ?  quod  the  Janwaye.  An 
oxe  heed,  sayd  the  frenche  man.  Than  sayde  the  Janwaye, 
here  nedeth  no  batayle :  For  this  that  I  beare  is  a  c<ywes 
heed  P'  (From  "  Tales,  and  quicke  Answeres,  very  mery, 
and  pleasant  to  rede,'*  written  about  temp.  Henry  VIII.) 
Ireland,  Irish. 

Lombard,  Lambarde,  from  Lombardy. 
Mayne,  from  the  French  province. 


LOCAL    SURNAMES.  61 

Man,  from  the  Island. 

Moore,  Morris.  The  former  may  be,  and  probably  is 
a  "generic"  name,  as  it  occurs  in  the  form  of  Atmoor, 
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  com- 
pounded with  various  initial  expressions,  De,  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,  antiently  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  famihes ;  certain 
it  is  that  several  magnates  bearing  the  names  of  Morice, 
Fitz-Morice  and  Montmorice,  attended  Wilham  the  Con- 
queror 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. 

Pi  card,  from  Picardy,  a  province  of  France. 

PoiTEviN,  from  Poitou.  Camd.  I  have  not  seen  this 
name  elsewhere  ;  Poit levin  however  occurs. 

•  Vide  Burke's  Commoners,  vol.  iv. 


62  LOCAL  SURNAMES. 

RoMAYNE,  from  Rome. 

Rhodes,  from  the  island  in  the  Mediterranean. 

Scott,  from  Scotland. 

Wales,  Walsh,  Wallis,  from  Wales. 

Westphaling,  from  Westphalia,  in  Germany;  also 
Westphal. 

Wight,  from  the  island  of  that  name. 

To  these  may  he  added  Payne,*  (latinized  Paganus,) 
probably  given  to  some  Paynim  or  Mussulman,  who  em- 
braced the  Christian  faith  during  the  Crusades;  and 
GiPSEY,  bestowed  on  some  person  who  had  left  the  myste- 
rious 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, -^ 
Cornwall,  Devonshire,  Devon,  Darbishire,  Hampshire, 
Wiltshire,  Dorset,  Somerset,  Cumberland,  Renfrew  (cor- 
rupted to  Romphrey),  Denby,  Montgomery  (?)  Clare  (?) 
Dmrni  (?)  Hoss  (?)  &c.  Also  Kentish,  Devenish,  and  Cornish, 
with  which  last  I  may  add  Londonish  and  Londonoys. 

From  Cities  and  Towns:  Torke,  Winchester,  Chichester, 

*  Persons  who  wilfully  remained  unbaptized  were  antiently  called  Pagani. 
(VideFosbroke's  Ency.  of  Antiq.) 

t  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  diflBculty  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.' 


LOCAL  SURNAMES.  63 

Rochester^  Oxford,  Bristowe  (Bristol),  London,  Warwick, 
Buckingham,  Bedford,  Carlisle,  Lancaster,  Hertford, 
Lester,  Coventry,  Portsmouth,  Lewes,  Hastings,  Arundel, 
Rye,  Blackburn,  Hampton,  Huntingdon,  Grantham,  Rugby, 
Halifax,  Grimsby,  Bath,  Wells,  Poole,  Dartmouth,  Hull, 
Kingston,  Winchelsea,*  and  others  far  too  numerous  to 
mention.  The  town  of  Devizes  is  often  called  "  The  Vise  ;" 
hence,  in  all  probability,  we  have  the  name  of  Fyse. 

From  Villages  :  as  for  instance,  from  Sussex  alone ; 
Heathfeld,  Hartfield,  Halsham,  Bicker,  Ernley,  Waldron, 
Ore,  Icklesham,  Kingston,  Balcomb,  Wistonneston,  Hurst, 
Ticehurst,  Crowhurst,  Westfield,  Clayton,  Patching, 
Preston,  Iden,  Mayfield,  Ashburnham,  Barnham,  Beckley, 
Barwike,  Bolney,  Compton,  Coombs,  Etchingham,  Glynde, 
Goring,  Grinstead,  Lindfield,  which,  with  numerous  others, 
are  still  borne  (some  few  excepted)  by  persons  resident  in 
the  county. 

From  Manors  and  smaller  estates  :  The  surnames  from 
these  sources  are  innumerable.  To  sum  up  the  whole 
matter,  I  may  observe  that  there  is  scarcely  a  city,  town, 
village,  manor,  hamlet,  or  estate  in  England,  that  has  not 
lent  its  name  to  swell  the  nomenclature  of  Englishmen. 
As  we  retain  most  of  the  names  of  places  given  them  by 
our  Saxon  ancestors,  with  their  significant  terminations,  it 
is  no  wonder  that — 

"  )ht  dfortr,  in  f^am,  in  Ecg  antl  Con 
C!)e  mosSt  of  (^^i^^  ^ummit^  run.** 

I  am  not  quite  sure,  however,  whether  the  proverb  is 

♦  The  names  of  Brighton,  Devonport,  and  other  very  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. 


64  LOCAL  SURNAMES. 

correct.  There  are  at  least  some  other  terminations  that 
are  as  numerous  as  the  four  selected  by  the  rhymester : 
FIELD,  for  instance  ;  ing,  hurst,  wood,  wick  andsTED. 
Other  terminations  of  less  frequent  occurrence  are  bury, 

BOURNE,  caster,  COTE,  OKE,  COMBE,  CROFT,  DUN,  EY, 
PORT,    SHAW,    WORTH,    THORPE,    WADE,    CLIFF,    MARSH, 

GATE,  HILL,  DOWN,  WELL,  &c.;  most  of  which  terminations 
also  stand  as  distinct  surnames. 

Some  counties  have  predominant  surnames  of  the  local 
kind ;  hence  in  Cornwall  the  old  proverbial  saying : 

"  33p  Cre,  3PciI,  aitti  J^tn, 

Camden  (or,  more  probably,  his  friend  "  R.  Carew  of 
Anthony,  Esquire,")  has  amplified  the  proverb  to 

"  33^  Ere,  mo^,  33oI,  Ean,  Caer,  ant)  3P«t, 
i^ou  mag  fenoii)  ^t  moilt  Corntslj^nten/* 

In  no  other  county  of  England  are  there  so  many  local 
surnames  as  in  Cornwall ;  and  as  the  names  of  places  are 
almost  exclusively  derived  from  British  roots,  the  family 
nomenclature  of  that  peninsula  differs  materially  from  that 
of  the  rest  of  England.  I  may  remark  that  Tre  signifies  a 
town  ;  Ros,  a  heath ;  Pol^  a  pool ;  Lan,  a  church  ;  Caer^  a 
castle  ;  and  Pen,  a  head. 

In  Kent  ?iwdi  Sussex,  Hurst,  signifying  "wood,"  is  a 
component  syllable  in  many  hundreds  of  names  of  places, 
from  many  of  which  surnames  have  been  borrowed,  as 
Ticehurstj  Crowhurst,  Bathursty  Hawkhurst,  Akehurst, 
Penkhurst,  Wilmshurst,  Askurst,  &c.  Field  and  Den  are 
likewise  very  usual  in  these  counties,  as  Chatjield,  Lindfieldy 
Hartjieldy  Streatjield ;    Cowden,  Horsrmnden,  Haffenden. 


LOCAL  SURNAMES.  65 

In   Devonshire,    combe  appears  to  be  a  favorite  termi- 
nation. 

The  frequency  of  two  family  names  in  a  northern  county 
led  to  this  proverbial  saying : 

**  hi  €f)t!ii}ivt  i^tvt  are  %tts  a«{  pUntp  afi  Utaa, 
^xits  as;  mang  iiabmport^  ai  tiog^a'^mUV** 

A  Cheshire  correspondent  informs  me  that  the  LeigJis 
are  the  persons  intended;  the  Lees,  a  distinct  family, 
having  never  been  numerous  in  the  county.  He  adds,  that 
the  more  modern  version  of  the  proverb  is — 

"f(iS  man|)  %tx^^  as;  flea^g,  f^di^^it^  asl  asljieig,  antj 
JBa^enporW  a^S  tlogjJ^tails;.** 

Identity  of  surname  is  not  always  proof  of  the  consan- 
guinity of  the  parties  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  de- 
signation. As  nearly  every  county  has  its  Norton,  its 
Newton,'^  its  Stoke,  or  its  Sutton,  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  Sur-Teys  (hodie  Surtees),  that 

•  Grose's  Proverbs. 

t  It  is  remarkable  that  many  of  the  most  antique  places  in  the  kingdom  bear 
this  name,  which  signifies  New-town.  This  definition  reminds  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 : 

"03'  The  man's  name  was  New-iows,  which  would  not  rhyme."  *: 


66  LOCAL  SURNAMES. 

is,  upon  the  Tees  .  .  .  Berwentwatery  Eden,  Troutbecky 
Hartgilly  Esgilly  Wampully  Swale,  Stour,  Temes,  Trent, 
Tamavy  Granty  Tyney  CroCy  Loney  Lundy  Calder"  To  these 
I  add  SeverUy  Parret,  Dee,  Kennetty*  Loddoriy  Yarrow y 
Mole.  I  think  Pickersgill  belongs  to  this  class,  as  it  sig- 
nifies '  a  stream  inhabited  by  pike  or  pickereU.* 


Hitherto  I  have  treated  of  names  derived  from  the  proper 
names  of  places ;  it  now  becomes  necessary  to  notice  those 
taken  from  the  common  or  generic  names  of  localities,  as 
HiUy  Daley  Woody  &c. 

After  the  practice  of  adopting  the  name  of  one's  own 
estate  had  become  pretty  general  amongst  the  landed  fami- 
lies, men  of  the  middle  and  lower  classes,  ("  ungentplmm," 
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;  if  on  a  moor,  Attmorey  or 
Amore ;  if  under  a  hill,  Underdown  ;  if  near  some  tower 
or  GATE,  Atte  Tower  or  Agate;  if  by  some  lake  or 
SHORE,  Bywater  or  Bythesea  ;f  if  near  the  public  road, 
Bythewayy  &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  surname  of  that  cele- 


*  Perhaps  from  the  Scottish  name  Keneth. 

t  One  family  of  Bythesea,  who  have  been  gentry  for  upwards  of  three  cen- 
turies at  least,  have  a  tradition  that  the  founder  of  their  house  was  a  foundling, 
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.' 


LOCAL  SURNAMES.  67 

brated  personage  in  legal  matters,  Mr.  John  a-Noke,  whose 
original  appellation  was  John  Atten  Oak^  as  that  of  his 
constant  antagonist  was  John  Atte  Style.  That  the  letter 
N  is  apt  to  pass  from  the  end  of  one  word  to  the  beginning 
of  another,  is  shown  in  newt^  which  has  certainly  been 
formed  by  a  corruption  from  an  ewt  or  eft."*  Noke  is 
now  seldom  met  with,  but  its  corruption  Noakes  is  one  of 
the  most  common  of  surnames.  The  phrase,  "Jack 
Noakes  and  Tom  Styles,"  is  familiarly  employed  to  desig- 
nate the  rabble.f  Nash  is,  in  Hke  manner,  a  corruption 
of  Atten-Ashy  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  o/ 
Kerby.  I  think  it  has  three  distinct  derivations :  1,  As 
just  stated,  a  mollification  of  of  ;  2,  It  had  the  force  of 
fronij  and  was,  in  fact,  the  Latin  preposition  (used  instead 
of  DE  for  of)  in  a  local  sense,  as  Thomas  a  Dover,  for 
Thomas  who  came  from  Dover ;  and,  3,  That  it  was  the 
same  preposition  in  a  genealogical  sense,  as  Peter  a  James, 
for  Peter  the  son  of,  or  one  descended /rom,  James. 

As  this  kind  of  surnames  forms  a  very  considerable  por- 
tion 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  from  which  our  ances- 


•  Glossary  to  Chaucer's  Poems.    Edit.  1825. 

^  The  inelegant  name  of  BoaTis  appears  to  be  a  contraction  of  '  By  the  oaks.' 


68  LOCAL   SURNAMES. 

tors  delighted  to  designate  themselves,  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 
explanatory  observations  as  may  be  deemed  necessary,  and 
relating  such  anecdotes  as  may  be  required  to  enliven  a 
part  of  my  subject  which  all  but  antiquaries  will  consider 
excessively  dull.* 

A. 

Ashy  and  other  generic  names  of  trees.     (See  Tree.) 

B. 

Beck,  (A.-S.  Becc,)  a  brook ;  Beckett,  a  httle  brook. 
How  inappropriate  a  name  for  that  furious  bigot  ^S*^.  Thomas 
of  Canterbury ! 

Back,  a  ferry.  At  Bristol  this  word  signifies  a  wharf, 
and  in  Cheshire  it  is  synonymous  with  Beck. 

Baine,  Baynes,  a  bath.  (Fr.)f 

Borde,  a  cottage.  The  term  *  bordarii*  of  Domesday  is 
understood  to  signify  cottagers. 

Bank,  Bankes. 

Barn,  Barnes. 

Barrow,  (A.-S.  Beajtp.)  A  barrow;  a  high  or  hilly  place ; 
a  wood,  a  grove  ;  a  hill  covered  with  wood.     Bosworth. 


*  The  basis  of  this  list  is  from  Camden's  Remaines,  (p.  99, 3d  edition,)  from 
which  I  take  the  liberty  of  expunging  whatever,  in  my  judgment,  is  trivial  or 
far-fetched  in  etymology. 

t  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 
CoUinson  mentions  a  much  esteemed  sulphureous  spring  there,  which  doubtless, 
as  a  former  hain  or  bath,  caused  the  name. 


LOCAL   SURNAMES.  69 

BiggiUi  a  building.     Newhiggiuy  a  new  building. 

Bent,  rush,  reed,  sedge. 

Bearne,  a  wood. 

Barton,  a  curtilage.  In  Devonshire  it  is  applied  to  any 
freehold  estate  not  possessed  of  manorial  privileges. 

Bury,  Berry,  a  court  (jCamd.),  a  hill,  a  barrow. 

By,  (A.-S.  By)  a  habitation.  The  shortest  surname  in  use. 

Boys  (Fr.  Bois),  a  wood.  The  French  have  their 
Dubois,  &c. 

Boroughs.     Burke  is  synonymous. 

Bourne,  1,  a  boundary,  (Fr.  Borne.)  "  The  undiscovered 
country — from  whose  bourne  no  traveller  returns."  2, 
a  stream,  (A.-S.  Bujane.)  The  last  is  probably  the  true 
derivation  of  the  surname.  Query;  is  the  termination 
-BORN  common  to  several  names,  as  Seaborn,  Winterborn, 
and  Newborn,  a  corruption  of  this  word ;  or  are  we  to 
understand  that  the  founders  of  those  families  were  born 
at  sea,  in  winter,  &c.  ? 

Bottle  (A.-S.  botl,  a  village).  The  German  buttel  in 
Wolfenbiittel  and  many  other  names  has  the  same  significa- 
tion. (JSarbottle  possibly  means  the  high-botl  or  village.) 
A  sailor  of  this  name,  who  had  served  on  board  the  Unity, 
man-of-war,  gave  one  of  his  children  the  ridiculous  name 
of  Unity  Bottle,  The  child  was  baptized  at  a  village  in 
Sussex  ;  the  minister  hesitated  some  time  before  he  would 
perform  the  rite.     Booth  in  Cheshire  has  the  same  meaning. 

Burne,  Burns,  a  brook. 

Bridge,  Briggs,  Bridges,  Attibridge. 

Bower. 

Brunne,  v.  Bourn. 

Brought 

y    r^'  Borough  or  Barrow. 


70  LOCAL    SURNAMES. 

Burtenshaw  was  antiently  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,  funns.  This  sobri- 
quet had  so  completely  usurped  the  place  of  his  hereditary 
surname  that  his  neighbours  called  him  by  no  other  name.* 

Butts,  marks  for  archery.     In  the  days  when 

dBnglanXr  iwaji  hut  a  flmg 

^abe  for  tjt  *Croofeetl  ^ticfe'  antf  tje  *  (^reg^i^oo^e  OTins,*t 

most  parishes  had  a  place  set  apart  for  this  necessary 
sport,  and  the  place  is  still  indicated  in  many  parishes  by 
the  name  of  "  the  Butts."  A  person  resident  near  such 
a  spot  would  very  naturally  assume  the  surname  of  "  John 
at  the  Butts." 

Brook,  A^  Brook. 

Bottom,  (A.-S.  botm.)  In  Sussex  the  words  dale  and 
valley  are  rarely  used ;  Bottom  is  the  substitute.  In  some 
cases  hills,  or  rather  their  summits,  are  called  ^  Tops',  e.  g. 
Norton  Top  :  Houndene  Bottom.  A  low  ground,  a  valley: 
hence  Longbottom,  a  long  dale ;  Sidebottom,  Ramsbottom, 
and  that  elegant  surname,  Shuffiebottom,  which,  when 
understood  to  signify  "  shaw-field-bottom,"  has  nothing 
ridiculous  in  it. 

"  Ramsbottom,"  says  an  intelligent  correspondent,  "is  the 
name  of  a  township  in  the  parish  of  Bury,  Lancashire.     In 

•  See  an  early  No.  of  the  Saturday  Magazine.  t  Grose's  Proverbs. 


LOCAL    SURNAMES.  71 

the  same  neighbourliood  is  a  place  called  'Ramsden.' 
These  places  are  vulgarly  pronounced  RoMsbottom  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  this  word  is  compounded  with  names  of 
trees,  as  Oakenbottom,  Ashenbottom,  Owler  (that  is  Alder-) 
bottom.  In  Lancashire,  hickin  is  the  mountain-ash,  whence 
perhaps  Higginbottom.''* 


Camp. 

Chapel. 

CarVi  (Caer,  Brit.)  frequently  applied  to  elevations  where 
castles  have  stood. 

Came,  from  Cairn,  a  Druidical  heap  of  stones.  "  Wilham 
by  the  Came." 

Castell,  Castle.  Chatto  seems  to  be  a  corruption  of  the 
French  chateau. 

Cave.  A  good  name  for  a  person  residing  in,  or  at  the 
mouth  of  a  cave.     It  originated,  perhaps,  in  Derbyshire. 

Church,  and  Churchyard. 

Chantry. 

Channel. 

Chase,  a  forest.  The  distinction  between  a  chase  and  a 
forest  seems  to  be  this  :  the  former  generally  belongs  to  a 
subject — ^the  latter  to  the  crown. 

Cove,  a  creek. 

Clough,  Clowes,  a  deep  descent  between  hills,  or  rather 
a  cliff.     "  Clym  of  the  Clough,"  a  Cumberland  ballad. 

♦  Some  consider  this  name  to  be  Gennan.    Vide  Essay  xiii. 


72  LOCAL    SURNAMES. 

Clive,  a  cliff. 

Cobby  a  harbour,  as  the  Cobb  of  Lyme  Regis,  co.  Dorset. 

Combe,  a  valley,  (A.-S.  Comb.) 

Coty  Cote,  (A.-S.  Eote.)  A  cottage ;  also  a  den. 

Court. 

Cragg,  a  cliff  or  rock;  perhaps  also  (A.-S.  C;\ecca)  a  creek. 

Croft,  a  small  enclosed  field,  (A.-S.)   In  the  North,  Craft. 

Corner. 

Cross,  given  to  one  who  dwelt  near  a  market-cross,  or  by 
cross-roads. 

Cotterel,  in  Domesday,  signifies  a  cottage. 

Cowdray.  This  name  seems  to  be  another  spelling  of 
'  couldray,'  a  grove  of  hazel  trees.* 

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.  Richard  de  la  Wych,  bishop  of  Chichester). 
All  these,  and  many  others,  occur  in  Sussex.f  At  Seaford 
such  a  spot  bears  the  name  of  '  the  Crouch.'  We  find  also 
High  Crouch,  Katty'sJ  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  dweUing  near  some  way- 
side cross  would  feel  proud  of   such    an   appellative   as 

*  Bailey's  Diet. 

t  These  crosses  served  also  for  direction  posts.  Probably  this  was  their  pri- 
mary use,  the  religious  idea  being  an  after-thought.  The  annexed  cut  is  borrowed 
from  one  in  Barclay's  »*  Ship  of  Fooles."    (Vide  Fosbroke's  Ency.) 

%  Saint  Katherine's. 


LOCAL   SURNAMES. 


73 


John   atte    Crouch^    a    form    in   which    the    name    fre- 
quently occurs. 


[A   CROUCH.] 


Bale,  Dearly  Bell.  Nearly  synonymous.  "  Sometimes," 
as  a  friend  observes,  "  dean  means  a  bushy  dingle  or  vale  ; 
but,  occasionally,  something  much  greater,  as  Dean  Forest, 
and  kxden,  co.  Warwick."  The  Sussex  family  of  Atte 
Denne  inverted  the  syllables  of  their  name,  and  made  it 
Bennat  or  Dennett. 

4 


74  LOCAL    SURNAMES. 

Derne,  a  solitary  place.  (A.-S.  Diejina.) 

Bitch. 

Dyke. 

Dock. 

Donne,  Don,  Dun,  a  down.     (A.-S.  '©un.) 


JEy,  Eye,  a  watery  place  ;  an  island.     (A.-S.  ij.) 
Eruth,  Rith,  a  ford.     *'  John  i'  the  Eruth"  occurs  in  the 
Inq.  Nonar.  in  the  sense  of  John  Ford. 
East,  West,  North,  South. 

F. 

Farme. 

Field,  Byfield,  Attfield. 

Fell,  Fells,  barren  stony  hills. 

Fleet,  a  small  stream. 

Fold.  In  some  places  the  inclosure  for  impounded  cattle 
is  so  called. 

Ford. 

Forest.     In  Holland,  Van  Voorst,  in  Fr.  Lafor^t. 

Font,  a  spring. 

Frith,  a  plain  among  woods.  In  Scotland,  an  arm  of 
the  sea.     Mr.  Halliwell  says  "  an  inclosed  wood." 

Foote,  the  bottom  of  a  hill. 

Fenn.  The  old  family  ofAtte  Fenne  of  Sussex,  dropped 
the  prefix,  added  an  r,  and  became  Fenner  or  Fenour. 

G. 

Garden. 

Garth,  a  Httle  close,  or  yard  behind  a  house.  K  fish- 
garth  is  a  weir  or  dam  for  catching  fish. 


LOCAL   SURNAMES.  75 

Garnet i  a  granary. 

Gate,  Agate,  Gates,  Bygate.  Gate  in  Scotland  means 
a  road  or  way. 

Gill,  a  small  pebbly  rivulet. 

Glyn,  a  glen. 

Grange,  a  large  farm,  kept  in  hand  by  a  religious  fra- 
ternity, with  buildings  and  occasionally  a  chapel  attached. 

Grave,  Graves,  a  grove ;  a  cave.  (A.-S.  Djiaej:.) 

Gurnall,  a  granary.  (Scot.) 

Gravett,  a  little  grove. 

Greene. 

Grove,  Groves.  There  is  now  living  at  Tunbridge  a 
pauper  of  this  name,  who  was  picked  up  when  an  infant 
in  the  Grove  at  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Gore,  a  word  used  in  old  records  to  describe  a  narrow 
slip  of  ground. 


H. 

Hall,  a  great  house. 

Halliwell,  a  holy  well. 

Ham,  a  dwelling,  whence  home.  Often  appHed  in  the 
southern  counties  to  a  triangular  field  or  croft. 

Harbour. 

Hatch,  a  flood-gate. 

Haugh,  How,  a  green  plot  in  a  valley ;  a  hill. 

Hay,  in  mediaeval  Latin,  "  Haia,"  a  minor  park,  or  in- 
closure  in  the  forests,  for  taking  deer,  wild  goats,  &c. 

Haystack. 

Head,  a  foreland  or  promontory,  as  Beachy  Head,  St. 
Alban's  Head,  &c.  Several  names  derived  from  places  are 
the  same  in  sound  and  orthography  as  those  borrowed  from 


76  LOCAL    SURNAMES. 

parts  of  the  person,  of  which  hereafter.  (Vide  Back, 
Foot,  &c.) 

Hedge,  Hedges.  There  is  a  great  disposition  among  the 
illiterate  to  pluralize  surnames,  as  Woods  for  Wood,  Gibbs 
for  Gibb,  Reeves  for  Reeve.  .  . 

Heath. 

Hurst,  a  wood. 

Heme,  a  house.     Beda. 

Hithe,  a  haven.     (A.-S.  HytS.) 

Hide,  an  antient  law  term  for  as  much  land  as  can  be 
cultivated  with  one  plough. 

Hill,  Hull.  The  French  have  Bumont,  which  may  be 
the  same  with  our  Dymond.     *  At  the  hill'  became  Thill. 

Holme,  (A.-S.)  a  meadow  surrounded  by  water;  an 
island  (like  those  in  the  Bristol  Channel,  &c.) 

Holt,  a  small  hanging  wood.  Percy  says  this  word 
sometimes  means  a  hill,  and  he  cites  Tuberville's  Songs 
and  Sonnets  (1567,)  in  proof: — 

"  Ye  that  frequent  the  hilles 
And  highest  holtes  of  all, 
Assist  me  with  your  skilful  quilles, 
And  listen  when  I  call." 

I  do  not  consider  the  use  of  the  adjective  *  highest'  conclu- 
sive of  the  Bishop's  opinion  that  the  term  here  means  hills, 
although  holts  frequently,  indeed  almost  invariably,  occur 
upon  hilly  tracts  of  country.  It  may  refer  to  the  height 
of  the  trees. 

Hold,  a  tenement ;  a  fort. 

Hope,  "  the  side  of  an  hill."     Camd.     A  small  field. 

Hoo,  or  How,  a  high  place.     (Hop,  A.-S.,  a  mountain.) 

House.     In  Italy,  Dellacasa  ;  in  Spain,  Las  Casas. 


LOCAL    SURNAMES.  'J-^ 

Huntj  a  chase,  as  Foxhunt  in  Sussex.  Hont  occurs  in 
Chaucer  for  Huntsman. 

Hurne^  Homey  a  corner.  JoKes  in  le  Hurne^  that  is, 
John  in  the  Corner,  occurs  in  the  Inq.  Nonar,  1341,  parish 
of  Wyke,  county  of  Sussex. 

Holyoakcj  some  oak  which  a  superstitious  legend  had 
made  famous. 

Hole. 

Hookey  Howke.     Atte  Hooke  became  'Tooke. 

Hay-cock.     Given  first  perhaps  to  a  foundling. 

Hollow-way.     (Vide  Halle  of  John  Halle.) 


Ingy  a  meadow,  or  low  ground.     (A.-S.) 

Isle.  An  eminent  family  called  De  VlsUy  and  afterwards 
VlsUy  borrowed  their  name  from  the  Isle  of  Wight. 
Another  family  adopted  the  same  surname  from  the  Isle 
of  Ely. 

K. 

Kayy  a  quay.     Atkey. 
Knapp,  the  top  of  a  hill.     (Cnjep.  A.-S.) 
Knolly  KnowleSy  the  top  of  a  hill.     (Cnoll.  A.-S.) 
Kirky  a  church. 

L. 

Lynchy  a  strip  of  green-sward  between  the  ploughed 
lands  in  common  fields ;  a  small  hanging  wood. 
LaWy  a  hill  or  tumulus.     (Lope,  A.-S.) 
Ladey  a  passage  for  water.     (La*©,  A.-S.) 
Lake. 

Land;  also  Byland. 
Lane. 


78  LOCAL    SURNAMES. 

Lath,  a  barn. 

Laund,  Lowndes,  a  place  among  trees;  kodib  "lawn." 

Lee,  Legh,  Lea,  Leigh,  Lye,  various  spellings  of  one  and 
the  same  word,  meaning  a  pasture.  In  names  of  British 
origin,  Lie,  a  place. 

Locke,  a  place  where  rivers  receive  a  partial  obstruction 
from  a  wooden  dam.     Or,  Loch,  a  lake. 

Loppe,  an  uneven  place. 

Lodge. 

Low,  Loe,  a  barrow ;  a  farm ;  a  grove. 

M. 

March,  a  limit  or  frontier.  It  is  often  used  in  this  as 
well  as  in  a  verbal  sense  by  Sir  John  Maundevile  and  other 
antient  writers.  "Arabye  durethe  fro  the  endes  of  the 
reme  of  Caldee,  unto  the  laste  ende  of  Aifryk,  and 
marchethe  to  the  lond  of  Ydumee." 

Market. 

Mead,  Meadow,  Meadows,  Mees.  Syn.  Pratt,  a  very 
common  name,  seems  to  be  a  corruption  of  the  Latin 
*pratum,*  a  meadow. 

Meer,  Meeres,  a  shallow  water  ;  a  lake.     (A.-S.  CCejie.) 

Marsh. 

Mill,  Milne,  Mulne.      Syn.    Desmouhns  (Fr.)  =i)fMZ^tw«. 

Minster,  a  monastery.     (A.-S.  ODynj-tfie.) 

More,  Moore,  Atte-moore,  Amoor,  Amor.* 

Moss,  a  moor,  or  boggy  plain. 

Mote,  a  moat. 

Mouth,  a  haven. 

*  A  facetious  correspondent  of  the  Literary  Gazette  (B.  A.  Oxen,  Sept.  1842) 
says  he  cannot  pass  135,  New  Bond  Street,  without  being  reminded  of  the  10th 
Eclogue,  "  Omnia  vincit  amor;"  and  he  suggests  a  free  translation  of  the  pas- 
sage, viz. :  "  Amor  is  the  best  wine  merchant  in  London !" 


LOCAL    SURNAMES.  79 

Mountain.  This  name  once  gave  occasion  to  a  pun, 
which  would  have  been  excellent  had  the  aUusion  been 
made  to  any  other  book  than  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Dr. 
Mountain,  chaplain  to  Charles  II.,  was  asked  one  day  by 
that  monarch  to  whom  he  should  present  a  certain  bishop- 
ric, 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  Moun- 
tain '  Be  thou  removed  into  that  See.'  " 

o. 
Orchard.  A  correspondent  of  the  Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine, Oct.  1820,  suggests  that  such  names  as  Townsend, 
Street,  Churchyard,  Stair,  Barn,  Lane,  and  Orchard,. 
"  originated  with  foundhngs,  and  that  they  possibly  pointed 
out  the  places  where  they  were  exposed," — a  plausible 
suggestion,  had  we  not  abundant  evidence  of  their  having 
been  first  given  to  persons  from  their  residing,  when 
masters  of  famihes,  in  or  near  to  such  places. 

p. 

Park,  Parkes. 

Penn,  the  top  of  a  hill.     (Brit.) 

Pitt,  Pitts.  Referring  to  the  remark  above,  I  may  men- 
tion that  surnames  of  this  kind  have,  occasionally,  been 
given  to  foundlings,  and  that  even  in  recent  times.  I  per- 
fectly recoUect  the  grim  visage  of  a  surly  septuagenarian, 
named  Moses  Pitt,  who  had  been  exposed  in  infancy  in  a 
voMl-pit.  "Nobody  likes  you,"  said  this  crabbed  piece  of 
humanity,  in  a  quarrel  with  a  neighbour.  "Nor  you," 
replied  the  latter,  "not  even  your  mother. ^^  Moses  was 
silent. 


80 


LOCAL   SURNAMES. 


PlacCi  a  mansion. 

Plat,  Plotty  a  piece  of  plain  ground ;  a  little  field. 

Pinnock,  a  little  framework  bridge  over  a  stream. 

Pen/old,  a  place  where  cattle  are  shut  up. 

Peelj  a  pool ;  a  place  of  strength.     (Scot.) 

Pine,  a  pit.    (Bailey.) 

Plaine. 

Pende.  This  word  is  said  to  signify  an  arch,  and  gene- 
rally one  under  which  there  is  a  passage  or  road-way. 

Pole,  Poole. 

Pond, 

Port.    The  French  have  Duport  and  Laporte. 

Pound. 

Prindle,  a  croft. 

Plastow,  Playstead,  a  place  for  sports ;  still  found  in 
many  parts  of  the  kingdom. 


Quarry. 

Quarll,  a  quarry.    (Scot.) 

R. 

Ricks  (corruptly  Rix),  stacks  of  corn. 

Ridge,  Rigg.  By  dropping  a  from  At  Rigg,  we  have 
Trigg. 

Ring,  an  inclosure. 

Roades. 

Rodd,  Rode,  Roydes,  an  obsolete  participle  of  '  rid/  mean- 
ing a  *  ridding'  or  forest  grant.  It  sometimes  occurs  as  an 
addition  to  the  name  of  an  early  proprietor,  or  to  the 
names  of  the  trees  cleared,  as  Ack-royd,  Hol-royd,  &c. 

Row,  a  street ;  in  Scotland  called  a  raw,  whence  Rawes. 


LOCAL    SURNAMES.  81 

Ross,  a  heath  ;  peat  land.  (Brit.  Rhos.) 

Ri/e,  a  shore,  or  bank.  Perhaps  from  the  town  of  that 
name  in  Sussex.     Atte  Rye  became  Tri/. 

Rill,  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  inves- 
tigations ! 

Raynes,  a  bound  or  limit. 

s. 

Sanctuary. 

Sale,  Sales,  a  hall  or  entrance. 

Sand,  Sands,  Sandys. 

Shaw,  a  small  wood. 

Shallow,  a  fordable  place  in  a  river. 

Shore. 

Shell,  a  well  in  the  old  Northern  English.     Camd. 

Slade. 

Slough. 

Slack,  a  gap  or  narrow  pass  between  two  hills  or 
mountains. 

Spital,  Spittlehouse,  an  hospital. 

Spire,  Spires,  a  steeple.  At  the  time  when  the  com- 
monalty took  their  first  surnames  Church  Spires  were 
unusual.  They  were  introduced  in  a  very  gradual  manner 
during  the  12th,  13th,  and  14th  centuries. 

Spring,  a  well. 

Strand,  the  bank  of  a  river. 

Street.     Fr.  De-la-rue,  Ital.  Strada. 

Strood,  or  Stroud ;  "the  bank  of  a  river,  as  some  doe 
think."  Camd.  Baxter  makes  it  strawd,  that  is  Ys-trawd, 
*  the  lower  traject.' 

4§ 


82  LOCAL    SURNAMES. 

Stable. 

Stead,  a  standing  place  or  station. 

Steeple. 

Stile,  Styles, 

Stock — of  a  tree,  I  suppose  ;  an  odd  name  for  a  family, 
though  not  more  so  than  the  French,  Zouch,  meaning  the 
trunk  of  a  tree ;  or  than  Curzon,  the  stem  of  a  vine. 

Stoke,  Stokes,  Stow,  a  place. 

Stone,  Stean.  Given  first  to  some  one  whose  house 
stood  near  some  Druidical  or  other  remarkable  stone. 

Spence,  a  yard  or  inclosure. 

T. 

Temple.  This  may  be  one  of  those  I  have  designated 
crusading  names,  and  derived  from  the  temple  at  Jerusalem ; 
or  it  may  be  derived  from  the  residence  of  some  person 
near  one  of  the  preceptories  of  the  knights-templars,  of 
which  there  were  several  in  England.  We  have  also 
Templeman. 

Tern  or  Dern,  a  standing  pool. 

Thorn. 

Thorpe,  a  village.     (A.-S.  Dofip.) 

Thwaite,  a  pasture ;  a  piece  of  rough  marshy  ground. 

To/t,  "a  piece  of  ground  where  there  hath  been  a 
house."     Camd. 

Tree.  Under  this  head  may  be  mentioned  several  names 
originating  from  the  residence  of  their  first  bearers  near 
remarkable  trees,  as  Oakes,  Aspen,  Box,  Alder,  Pine,  Vine, 
Ash,  Plumtree,  Appletree,  Hawthorne,  Cherry,  Beech, 
Hazel,  Willows,  and  Elmes.  Apps  is  a  provincial  word 
for  Asp,  Lind  for  lime-tree,  and  Holme  for  an  evergreen 


LOCAL    SURNAMES.  83 

oak.  To  these  may  be  added,  from  the  French,  Coigners,  a 
quince  tree,  and  Cheyney,  an  oak. 

Torr,  a  tower,  or  rather  a  castle-Hke,  though  uncas- 
tellated,  hill  or  crag. 

Tower,  Towers. 

Towne,  Townsend.     "  Atte  Tunishende." 

V. 

Vale.     Fr.  Duval,  Dellavalle,  &c. 

w. 

Wade,  a  meadow ;  a  ford. 

Wall,  Walls. 

Wake  or  Werk,  some  work  or  building. 

Warren,  a  colony  of  rabbits, — also  a  Norman  name. 

Water,  Waters,  also  Attwater  and  Bywater. 

Way. 

Weir. 

Wick,  Wix,  a  hold  or  place  of  defence. 

Wyche,  a  salt  spring. 

Well,  Wells.     Atwell  became  Twell. 

Wold,  a  hill  destitute  of  wood. 

Wood,  Attwood,  Bywood,  Underwood,  and  Netherwood. 

Worth.  "  Who  shall  decide  when  etymologists  disagree  ?" 
No  less  than  six  origins  have  been  sought  for  this  word, 
which  has  been  made  to  stand  for  a  possession,  a  farm,  a 
court,  a  place,  a  fort,  and  an  island ! 

Whitaker.  To  this  word  Bailey  assigns  this  somewhat 
unintelligible  definition  :  "  The  north-east  part  of  a  flat  or 
shole ;  the  middle  ground." 

Y. 

Yarde. 

Fate,  Yates,  old  word  for  gate. 


84 


LOCAL   SURNAMES. 


From  such  places,  and  many  others  of  a  similar  kind, 
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  Nor- 
man oppressors  :  a  distinction  now  happily  merged,  so  that 
we  cannot  say  with  an  antient  poet  of  ours — 

*'(!^i  t'i)t^otmm^htt^  i^t^ti^i^  meniu,  tjatbe  of  t^v^  lontr, 
^nty  tt^t  Uiot  menne  of  ^axon^,** 

Some  names  of  this  class  had  the  termination  er  or 
MAN  attached  to  them  :  thus  from 


Church  were  formed  Churcher  and  Churchman 

Town           , 

,             Towner. 

Street        , 

Streeter. 

Hope            , 
Field           , 

,             Hoper. 
Fielder. 

Bourne       , 

,             Boumer. 

Well 

Weller. 

Pond            , 

,             Ponder. 

Hide             , 

Hider. 

Heath          , 
Grovc          , 
Rayne         , 
Ridge          , 
Holt            , 
Comb           , 

,             Heather  and  Hother. 

,              Grover. 

,             Rayner. 

,             Ridger  and  Ridgman. 

Holier. 
,              Comber. 

Lake            , 
Dean           , 

,             Laker. 
,             Denman. 

Pit 
Crouch       , 

J             Pitman. 
,              Croucher. 

LOCAL    SURNAMES.  85 

From  Bridge  were  formed  Bridger  and  Bridgman. 


Down 

j> 

Downer  and  Bownman, 

House 

}) 

H(mseman. 

Hill 

jj 

Hillman. 

Mill 

Si 

Milman. 

Stead 

a 

Steadman. 

Court 

ss 

Courtman. 

Rye 

» 

By  man. "^ 

Low 

»i 

Lower  (?)  &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  t'  the  Kitchen,  William 
atte  Chamber,  &c.  Besides  these  two  we  have  Garret, 
Buttery,  and  ^tair,  and  Camden  says  Sellar  and  Parler, 
which  I  have  never  seen.  Chalmers  is  the  Scottish  form 
of  Chambers;  amdHall  is  otherwise  accounted  for.  (p.  75.) 
Drawbridge  was  probably  given  to  the  porter  of  some  old 
moated  mansion. 

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  forbearance  with  me,  recollecting  that — 
"  De  gustibus  non  disputandum  est," — "  and  soe  I  bid  thee 
right  heartihe  farewel." 

*  Bollman  in  the  Orkney  dialect  signifies  a  cottager:  hence  probably  the 
English  name  Bulman. 


86  NAMES    DERIVED    FROM 


ESSAY  IV. 

NAMES  DERIVED  FROM  OCCUPATIONS  AND  PURSUITS. 

"After  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  Fourth  Essay.  And  as  some  perplexity 
might  arise  in  marshalUng  the  various  Surnames  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. 

The  practice  of  borrowing  names  from  the  various  avoca- 
tions of  Hfe  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,  Fabri- 
tius,  Scribonius,  Salinator,  Agricola,  &c.,  answering  to  the 
P otter Sy  PaynterSy  &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  Conquest.  There  was,  as  Camden  observes, 
no  employment  that  did  not  give  its  designation  to  one,  or 
to  many  families.  As  local  names  generally  had  the  prefix 
DE  or  AT,  so  these  frequently  had  le,  as  Stephen  le  Sjoicer, 
Walter  le  Boucher^  John  le  Bakere,  &c.  Concerning  these, 
Verstegan  remarks,  "  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  but  their  an- 
cestors have  first  gotten  them  by  using  such  trades,  and 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  PURSUITS.  87 

the  children  of  such  parents  being  contented  to  take  them 

upon  them,  after-coming  posterity  could  hardly  avoid  them." 

Pre-eminent  in  this  class  of  names  stands  Smith,  decidedly 

the  most  common  surname  amongst  us.    Verstegan  asks — 

*'  From  whence  comes  Smith,  all  be  he  Knight  or  Squire, 
But  from  the  Smith  ihhi  forgcth  at  the  fire  ?'' 

but  the  antiquary  should  have  been  aware  that  the  radix 
of  this  term  is  the  Saxon  Smiran,  to  smite ;  and  therefore 
it  was  originally  applied  to  artificers  in  wood,  as  well  as  to 
those  in  metal,  as  wheelwrights,  carpenters,  masons,  and 
smiters  in  general.*  Hence  the  frequency  of  the  name  is 
easily  accounted  for.  It  certainly  is  ridiculously  common, 
and  has,  on  that  account,  given  rise  to  many  jokes,  some 
of  which  I  shall  borrow.  Smith,  without  some  unusual 
christian  name,  is  scarcely  sufficient  to  distinguish  a 
person;  as  to  John  Smith,  it  is,  as  a  friend  of  mine  often 
observes,  no  name  at  all.  What  then  shall  we  say  of  the 
countryman  who  directed  a  letter  "  For  Mr.  John  Smith, 
at  London.  With  Spead"?  He  might  as  well  have  di- 
rected it  to  that  inaccessible  personage,  the  man  in  the 
moon.  What  better  device  could  the  wag  who  got  too  late 
to  the  theatre  have  employed  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  house  would  be  thinned 
at  the  rate  of  at  least  five  or  six  per  cent.  "  We  remember," 
says  the  editor  of  the  Literary  Gazette,  "a  bet  laid  and 
won  that  a  John  Smith  had  been  condemned  either  to 

*  It  is  rather  curious  that  although  the  appellations  of  the  blacksmith  and 
whitesmith  (both  very  common  avocations)  do  not  occur  as  surnames,  that  of 
Brownsmith,  an  obsolete  calling,  does.  The  brownsmith,  of  five  centuries  since, 
must  have  been  a  person  of  some  consideration,  when  the  far-famed  brown-bills 
of  our  warlike  ancestors  struck  terror  into  the  hearts  of  their  enemies.  Nasmyth 
is  probably  a  corruption  of  nail-smith. 


88  NAMES  DERIVED  FROM 

death  or  transportation  at  every  Old  Bailey  session  during 
(we  forget)  two  or  three  years !"  Perhaps  the  best  piece 
of  humour  relating  to  this  name  is  that  which  appeared 
some  three  or  four  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  Une  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  Gazettey  contends  for  the  uni- 
versality of  the  name  John  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  Christian  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;  Itahan,  Giovanni  Smithi;  Spanish,  Juan 
Smithas;  Dutch,  Hans  Schmidt;  French,  Jean  Smeets; 
Greek,     Ion    Skmiton;     Russian,    Jonloif    Skmittowski; 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  PURSUITS.  89 

Polish.  Ivan  Schmittiwciski ;  Chinese.  Jahon  Shimmit; 
Icelandic.  Jahne  Smithson;  Welsh.  lihon  Schmidd ; 
Tuscarora,  Ton  Qa  Smittia;  Mexican.  Jontli  F' Smith. 
And  then,  to  prove  the  antiquity  of  the  name,  the  same 
savant  observes  that  *  among  the  cartouches,  deciphered  by 
RosseHni,  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  Home  Tooke  to  establish  the  etymological  deduc- 
tion of  the  word  gerkin  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  professionally  derived  from  Tubal- 
Cain,  or  from  the  family  of  the  Fabricii,  so  celebrated  in 
Roman  history,  owes  its  origin,  in  point  of  fact,  to  the 
term  'Smintheus',  a  title  bestowed  upon  the  Phrygian 
Apollo!  Sir  Edward,  following  the  schoUast  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  consequence  of  his  having  destroyed  an  immense 
number  of  2/iiv0at,  or  rats,  with  which  the  country  was 
infested!" 

But  it  is  now  time  to  leave  this  widely-spread  and  suffi- 


90  NAMES  DERIVED  FROM 

ciently  celebrated  race  of  the  Smiths,  and  to  notice  the 
long  Ust  of  English  surnames  derived  from  other  trades  and 
professions.  We  have  then,  besides,  the  Masons  and 
Carpenters^  the  Bakers  and  Butchers^  the  Braziers  and 
Goldsmiths,  the  Butlers  and  Taverners,  the  Carters  and 
Wagners,^  the  Sadlers  and  Girdlers,  the  Tylers  and 
Slaters,  the  Cartwrights  and  Plowrights,  the  Wainwrights 
and  SievewrightSj  the  Colemans  and  Woodyers,  the  Boxers 
and  Siveyers,  the  Taylors  and  Drapers,  the  Plowmans  and 
Thatchers,f  the  Farmers  and  Shepherds,  the  Cappers  and 
Shoesmiths,  the  Chapmans  and  Grocers,  the  Cowpers  or 
Coopers,  the  Browkers  or  Brokers,  the  Cutlers  and  Jrow- 
mongers,  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 
Gardeners  and  Tollers,  the  Cardmakers  and  Bookers,  the 
Armorers  zxAFurhishers,  the  Shipwrights dindi  Goodwrights, 
the  Marchants  and  Brewers,  the  Pipers  and  Vidlers,  the 
Homers  and  Drummers,  the  Bellringers  and  Hornblowers, 
the  Marketmans  and  Fairmans,  the  Coo^5  and  Porters,  the 
Hosiers  and  Weavers,  the  Bakers  and  Cheesemans,  the 
Colliers  and  Sawyers,  the  Turners  and  Naylors  (nail- 
makers,)  the  Potters  and  Potmans,  the  Hoopers  and 
Hookers,  the  Portmans  and  Ferrimans,  the  Poticarys  and 
Farriers,  the  Sellers  and  Salemans,  the  Firemans  and 
Waterman^,  the  Plummers  and  Glaisyers,  the  Alemans  and 
Barleymans,  the  Skinners  and  Woolers,  the  Paynters  and 
Dyers,  the  Mercers  and  Ironmongers,  the  Workmans  and 
Drivers,  the  Boardmans  and  Innmans,  the  Chandlers  and 

*  This  is  from  the  German:  it  is  equivalent,  however,  to  our  '  waggoner.' 
t   Thacker,   and  the  German   Decker,   and  Dutch  Dekker,   have  the  same 
meaning. 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  PURSUITS.  91 

Pressmans,  the  Fiddlers  and  PlayerSi  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  not  I  cannot  say,  the  Quarreours, 
the  Swepers,  the  Waterleders,  the  Lymberners  and  the 
Candlemakers. 

A  very  great  number  of  words  obsolete  in  our  language, 
or  borrowed  from  other  languages,  and  therefore  unintelli- 
gible to  the  generahty  of  people,  are  retained  in  surnames 
which  thus  furnish  the  etymologist  with  many  an  agreeable 
reminiscence  of  the  pursuits  and  manners  of  our  ancestors. 
Thus  Sutor,*  is  the  Latin,  Old  English,  and  Saxon  (Sutene) 
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 
(laece)  for  physician,  is  still  partially  retained  in  some  parts 
of  the  country  in  "  cow-?eecA,"  a  business  usually  connected 
with  that  of  the  farrier.  Henry  the  First,  according  to 
Robert  of  Gloucester, 


-OTiUftJ  of  a  lamprcpe  to  ete, 


?3ut  i)t£;  Ittcl^eg  l)tm  berbetre,  bor  gt  iuaiS  a  feble  iitett.** 

Thwaytes,  according  to  Verstegan,  means  a  feller  of 
wood,  an  etymology  supported  by  the  A.-S.  verb  "  thweo- 
tan,''^  to  cut,  exsciudere.  Barker  is  synonymous  with 
Tanner.     In  the  dialogue  between  King  Edward  the  Fourth 

*  The  native  of  Lancashire  and  the  lover  of  Scottish  song  will  understand  the 
meaning  of  this  term  without  my  aid.  Soutar,  Sowter,  Shuter,  and  Suter  are  only 
variations  of  the  same  name. 


92  NAMES    DERIVED    FROM 

and  the  Tanner  of  Tamworth,  in  Percy's   Reliques   of 
Antient  Poetry,  we  have  the  following  lines  : 

"  What  craftsman  art  thou,  said  the  King, 

I  pray  thee  telle  me  trowe  ? 

I  am  a  Barkevy  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  Larimer  is  a  maker  of  bits  for  bridles, 
spurs,  &c.  There  is  or  was  a  "  Lorimers'  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.  Furner  is  an  anglicised  form  of 
Fournier  (French),  a  man  who  keeps  an  oven  or  foury  a 
baker;  Lavender  of  Lavandier,  a  washerman;  {Launder 
and  Lander  are  further  contractions  of  the  same  word);  and 
Pullinger  of  Boulanger  a  baker.  Webber  Webber,  (and 
Weber  from  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  designa- 
tion of  "  shermancraft  ;*  Banister  is  the  keeper  of  a  bath ; 
a  Pointer  was  a  maker  of  "points,"  an  obsolete  article  of 
dress ;  and  a  Pitcher  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.'H 

•  '«  As  for  the  cloth  of  my  ladies.  Hen.  Cloughe  putt  it  to  a  shereman  todight, 
and  he  sold  the  cloth  and  ran  away."    (Plumpton  Cor.,   Camd.  Soc.  p.  30.) 

t  The  A.-S.  pylche,  whence  Pilcher,  is  equivalent  to  our  (or  rather  to  the 
French)  pelisse,  which  Is  derived  immediately  from  the  Latin  pellia,  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  ?"    (Correspondence  of  B.  A.  Oxon,  in  the  Lit.  Gazette,  Sept.  1842.) 


OCCUPATIONS    AND    PURSUITS.  93 

Kidder  and  Kidman  are  obsolete  words  for  huxter,  (Goth, 
"kyta,"  to  deal,  hawk.)  Hellier  for  tyler,  slater,  or 
thatcher,  (A.-S.  helan,)  and  Crowther  for  one  who  plays 
upon  the  crowd,  an  antient  stringed  instrument,  the  pro- 
totype of  the  modern  viohn,  called  in  Welsh  crwthy  and  in 
Irish  cruit.     Spenser,  in  his  Epithalamion,  has 

"The  pipe,  the  tabor,  and  the  tremblinpf  croudJ' 

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  cer- 
tain understood  signals,  it  being,  singularly,  a  fact,  that 
those  migrations  cannot  be  perceived  at  sea,  although  from 
the  shore  they  appear  hterally  to  darken  the  deep.  In 
Cornwall  these  men  are  called  Hewers  (a  name  probably 
derived  from  the  A.-S.  eapian,  to  show),  and  hence  the  sur- 
names Hewer,  Huer,  and  Ewer.  A  Ridler  was  a  maker  of 
sieves. 

In  the  north  of  England  a  "  hack"  means  a  mattock  or 
axe ;  hence  Hackman  is  possibly  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  barrel- 
shaped  jar.  It  was  in  general  use  in  Chaucer's  days  : 
"  Spurn  not  as  doth  a  crucke  against  a  wall." 

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  linen;  hence 
Napper  probably  stands  for  a  manufacturer  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  *  for- 


94  NAMES   DERIVED   FROM 

tuny,'  a  tournament — the  issue  of  such  conflicts  being  very 
much  dependant  upon  fortune  or  chance.  Sanger  is  singer. 
Monger  (A.-S.  CDanc^ejie  and  oOon^eji)  is  merchant.  The 
monger  of  Saxon  times  was  a  much  more  important  personage 
than  those  who,  in  our  days,  bear  the  name.  He  was  the  pro- 
totype of  the  merchant-princes  of  the  nineteenth  century ; 
he  was  a  dealer  in  many  things  (unde  nomen)  which  his 
ship-men  brought  from  many  lands ;  but  our  modern  mon- 
gers, be  they  Ironmongers,  Cheesemongers,  Fellmongers 
WoodmongerSy  or  Icemongers  (?),  traffic  chiefly  in  a  single 
article.  All  these  compounds  stand,  I  believe,  as  surnames, 
but  Horsemonger,  Newsmonger,  Matchmonger,  and  Cos- 
tardmonger,  (i.  e.  a  dealer  in  apples,)  have  never  been  used 
as  such. 

As  a  general  rule,  all  names  terminating  with  er 
indicate  some  employment  or  profession.  er  is  un- 
questionably derived  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  '  pe;^'  or  'pejie' 
a  man;  hence  Salter  is  Salt-wian,  and  Miller,  Mill-m«w. 
These  terminations  er  and  man  are  often  used  interchange- 
ably, thus  we  have  Potter  and  Pottman,  Tiler  and  Tile- 
man,  Carter  and  Cartman,  Wooler  and  Woolman,  cum 
multis  aliis.  Besides  these,  we  have  Horseman,  Palfriman, 
Coltman,  Wainman  (corrupted  to  Wenman),  Carman, 
Coachman,  Boatman,  Clothman,  Seaman,  Tubman,  and 
Spelman,  which,  Camden  says,  means  *  learned  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. 

pa  onjunnon  leape  men  pyjican  '  spell.' 

Then  began  false  men  to  work  spells.     {Boet,  38,  i.) 

One  of  the  most  singular  features  in  this  department  of 
our  Family  Nomenclature  is  the  existence  of  several  sur- 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  PURSUITS.  95 

names  terminating  in  -ster,  which  is  the  regular  Anglo- 
Saxon  form  of  feminine  nouns  of  action,  as  er  is  of  mascu- 
line ones.  The  word  '  Spinster'  is  the  regular  feminine  of 
*  spinner'  and  not  of  bachelor,  as  Lindley  Murray  would 
have  us  suppose.  Bcecestre,  sangstre,  and  seamestre,  are 
the  regular  feminines  of  hcecere,  baker,  sangere,  singer,  and 
seamere  taUor ;  hence  it  is  evident  that — 

Tapster  is  the  feminine  of  Tapper. 

Brewster  „  Brewer. 

Baxter  and  Bagster  Baker. 

Whitster  „  Whiter. 

Webster  „  Webber  (Weaver.) 

Kempster  „  Kember  (Comber.) 

Sangster  „  Sanger. 

Fewster  „  Fewer  (A.  S.peoh-fee)  a  feofee. 

Dexter  also  appears  to  be  a  feminine  form — ^but  of  what? 
Although  no  such  word  as  saesertjie  occurs  in  the  Saxon 
dictionary,  may  it  not  be  a  compound  of  baeg,  baj,  day, 
and  the  feminine  termination,  and  so  signify  a  woman  that 
works  by  the  day— a  charwoman? 

The  formation  of  feminine  names  of  employment  in  the 
Dutch  language  is  precisely  similar,  where  brouster  is  a  fe- 
male maker  of  beer;  zangster  a  female  vocalist,  &c.  &c.* 
It  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  adoption  and  perpetuation 
of  names  derived  from  the  avocations  of  female  ancestors. 
Perhaps  widows,  carrying  on  the  trades  of  their  deceased 
partners,  conferred  them  on  their  children. 

There  is  a  string  of  names  derived  from  occupations 
which  sound  right  oddly  when  placed  in  juxta-position,  and 
which,  primd facie,  would  appear  to  be  fully  as  applicable 

♦  A.  B.  Oxon,  Lit.  Gaz.,  Sept.,  1842. 


yb  NAMES   DERIVED   FROM 

to  the  equine  as  to  the  human  species ;  namely.  Traveller^ 
Walker,  Ryder,  Ambler,  Trotter,  Hopper,  Skipper, 
Jumper,  and  Holler!  Of  these.  Traveller  was  pro- 
bably given  to  some  one  who  had  visited  *  straunge  contries 
andilands ;'  and  Trotter  I  am  unable  to  explain,  although 
it  seems  evidently  to  possess  the  same  meaning  with 
Trotman,  whatever  that  may  be.  To  the  remaining  seven, 
etymologies,  more  or  less  satisfactory,  may  be  assigned. 
ThusWALKER  signifies  either  (A.-S.  pealcefie)  a  fuller,*  or 
an  officer,  whose  duty  consisted  in  '  walking'  or  inspecting 
a  certain  space  of  forest-ground.  Rider  means  another 
forest   officer,    a   superintendent    (as   I   take   it)    of    the 

*  walkers' — a  ranger,  who  derived  his  name  from  the  circum- 
stance of  his  being  mounted,  as  having  a  larger  district  to 
supervise.  In  the  ballad  of  *  William  of  Cloudesley,'  &c. 
the  king,  rewarding  the  dexterity  of  the  archer  who  shot 
the  apple  from  his  child's  head,  says  :  — 

**  I  give  thee  eightene-pence  a  day, 
And  my  bowe  thoii  shalt  here, 
And  over  all  the  north  countre, 

I  make  thee  chyfe  rydere  /"f     {Percy's  Reliques.) 

Ambler,   antiently  le  Amhlour,   is   from  the   French, 

*  ambleur,'  an  officer  of  the  king's  stable.  Hopper  pro- 
bably signified  an  officer  who  had  the  care  of  swans.  By 
swan-*  hopping,'  or  '  upping,'  was  meant  the  searching  for 
and  marking  of  the  swans  belonging  to  particular  pro- 
prietors. It  must  not  be  forgotten  however  that  the  A.-S. 
Hoppefie  means  a  dancer.  Skipper  (A.-S.  Scipefie,  a  sailor) 
is  a  very  antient  term  for  the  captain  or  master  of  a  vessel ; 

•  In  the  North  of  England  a  fulling-mill  is  still  called  a  *  u;aZAf-mill.' 
t  JRyder  has  elsewhere  been  considered  as  the  equivalent  of  the  German 
"  Ritter,"  a  knight ;  but  there  seems  no  good  authority  for  such  a  supposition. 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  PURSUITS.  97 

Jumper  possibly  meant  a  maker  of  *jumps,'  that  is,  a 
kind  of  short  coats  or  boddices  for  women  ;*  while  Hobler 
is  most  unquestionably  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  countryf  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  sometimes  used  to  signify 
persons  of  an  equestrian  order,  lower  in  dignity  than  knights, 
and  probably  mounted  on  meaner  and  smaller  animals.  In 
an  antient  romance  we  read  of 

'*  Ten  thousand  knights  stout  and  fers,  (fierce) 
Withouten  hobelers  and  sqnyers  I" 

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  exer- 
cises to  which  at  first  sight  they  seem  to  refer. 

Massinger  is  an  evident  corruption  of  the  French  *  mas- 
sager,'  a  messenger,  a  bearer  of  dispatches,  &c.  Pottinger 
is  the  Scottish  for  apothecary,;];  and  Lardnerh  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  Salter  are,  or 
have  been,  in  the  British  peerage,  although  those  occupa- 
tions 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  ori- 

*  Bailey's  Diet.         t  Fenn's  Faston  Letters.       %  Jamieson's  Scottish  Diet. 

5 


98  NAMES   DERIVED   FROM 

ginal  meanness;  "mollified  ridiculously,"  as  Master  Camden 
hath  it,  "  lest  their  bearers  should  seem  vilified  by  them." 
Carteer,  Smeeth,  Tayler,  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  EngUsh  pronounce 
it,  but  Gardiner,  with  the  French  accent,  and  therefore  a 
gentleman,"** 

Some  names  have  reference  to  mihtary  pursuits,  as 
HarmaUy  Arblaster,'^  Hookmany  Billman,  Spearman,  Bow- 
man, Bannerman. 

The  number  and  variety  of  surnames  connected  with  the 
pleasures  of  the  chase  furnish  evidence  of  the  predilection 
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,  Stringers,  that  is  bow-string 
makers.  Arrow-smiths,  Fletchers  (from  the  Fr.  '  fleche'), 
that  is,  either  an  arrow-maker,  or  more  generally,  a  super- 
intendent of  archery.  But  some  of  these  may  be  official 
names,  and,  therefore,  more  properly  belong  to  my  next 
Essay.  Buckman  and  Hartman  were  probably  servants  to 
the  *  Parker,'  and  had  the  care  of  herds  of  venison.  Brock- 
Tnan  is  a  hunter  of  'brocks*  or  badgers.  A  *tod,'  in 
Scotland  and  the  North  of  England,  is  a  fox ;  hence  Tod- 
hunter  is  a  fox-hunter,  though  not  in  the  red-coated  sense 
of  that  term.  A  Northumberland  correspondent  informs 
me  that  he  knows  an  old  man,  a  destroyer  of  foxes,  who 
calls  himself,  and  is  caQed,  the  "Old  Tod-hunter  of 
Grapington,"  in  Craven.  The  expression  "wily  tod"  occurs 
in  the  writings  of  Wyclifie.:^     Burder  signifies  a  bird- 

*  Camden.  +  Vide  infra.  %  Todman  also  occurs  as  a  surname. 


OCCUPATIONS  AND   PURSUITS.  99 

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 
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  oule,  and  bade  him  say 
nothynge.  Whan  he  saw  the  byrdes  a  lyght  a  pace,  he 
sayde  :  There  be  many  byrdes  alyghted,  drawe  thy  nettes, 
where-with  the  byrdes  flewe  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,  Aves  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,  thynkest  thou,  foole,'  quoth 
the  doctour,  *  that  the  byrdes  do  vnderstand  Latin .?'  "* 

'Low'  is  the  Scottish  for  fire,  and  * low-bellers'  are, 
according  to  Blount,t  men  "  who  go  with  a  light  and  a 
bell,  by  the  sight  whereof  birds,  sitting  on  the  ground,  be- 
come somewhat  stupified,  and  so  are  covered  with  a  net 
and  taken."  Hence  Lower  is  probably  a  hird-catcher. 
The  Teutonic  word  *loer'  is  one  who  lays  snares,  and 
Lowrie  in  the  Scottish  dialect  signifies  a  crafty  person,  in 
allusion  probably  to  the  same  occupation. 

Most  European  languages,  as  has  already  been  intimated, 
possess  many  surnames  derived  from  manual  employments; 
but  in  no  country  are  they  so  various  and  abundant  as  in 
England. 

Before  leaving  this  division  of  my  subject  I  may  notice 
a  fact  which  is  Httle  known,  and  which  cannot  fail  to  ex- 

•  Tales  and  Quicke  Answeres,  very  mery,  &c.         +  Law  Diet. 


100  NAMES  FROM  OCCUPATIONS. 

cite  the  reader's  astonishment :  the  surname  Butcher  was 
given  as  a  title  of  honour.  "Le  Boucher,"  says  Saintfoix, 
"  was  antiently  a  noble  surname  given  to  a  general  after  a 
victory,  in  commemoration  of  his  having  slaughtered  some 
thirty  or  forty  thousand  men  !"*  Horribile  dictu  /—hence- 
forward let  all  lovers  of  peace  exclaim, 

"  One  murder  makes  a  villain  ;  millions  a  Butcher  V 


NOTE  TO  ESSAY  IV. 

With  respect  to  the  application  of  the  surnames  treated  of  in  the 
foregoing  Essay,  we  may  observe  that  there  was  much  greater  propriety 
in  making  the  names  of  occupations  stationary  family  names  than  ap- 
pears at  first  sight ;  for  the  same  trade  was  often  pursued  for  many 
generations  by  the  descendants  of  the  individual  w  ho  in  the,  first  in- 
stance used  it.  Sometimes  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  iron-founders  during  the 
long  period  of  250  years.  Most  of  the  Ades  of  the  same  county  have 
been  farmers  for  a  still  longer  period.  The  trade  of  weaving  has  been 
carried  on  by  another  Sussex  family  named  Webb  (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  century.  But  the  most  remarkable  instance  of  the  long 
retention  of  a  particular  avocation  by  one  man's  posterity  is  in  the 
family  of  Purkess,  of  the  New  Forest  in  Hampshire.  The  constant 
tradition  of  the  neighbourhood  states,  that  when  William  Rufus  met 
his  untimely  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  corpse  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 
antient  in  the  county.     (Vide  Gough^s  Camden,) 

*  Le  Boucher  ^toit  anciennement  un  surnom  glorieux,  qu'on  donnoit  k  un  g^- 
n^ral,  apr^s  une  victoire— en  reconnoisance  du  carnage  qu'il  avoit  fait  de  trente 
ou  quarante  mille  homraes.    (Saintfoix,  Historical  Essays.) 


NAMES  FROM  DIGNITIES  AND  OFFICES.  101 


ESSAY  V. 

NAMES    DERIVED    FROM    DIGNITIES,     CIVIL    AND    ECCLE- 
SIASTICAL;   AND    FROM    OFFICES. 

The  same  principle  which  introduced  surnames  bor- 
rowed from  trades  and  occupations  led  to  the  adoption  of 
the  names  of  dignities  and  offices,  which  also  became 
hereditary. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  EngUsh  surnames  derived  from 
civil  dignities,  according  to  the  rules  of  precedence  : 

Emperor. 

King.* 

Prince. 

Duke. 

Earle. 

Baron. 

Lord. 

Knight. 

SciUIRE.f 

Gentleman. 
Yeoman. 

♦  A  learned  correspondent  is  of  opinion  that  our  surnames  Canning,  Channing, 
and  Gunning  are  so  many  forms  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  cyninj,  king.  To  me 
they  have  the  appearance  of  local  names. 

t  Arminobr  appears  to  be  a  corruption  of  Armiger,  the  Latin  for  this 
title. 


102  NAMES    DERIVED    FROM 

The  following  are  from  Ecclesiastical  dignities  : 

Pope.  Deacon,  Deakin. 

Cardinal.  Clerk,  Clark,  Clarke.* 

Bishop,  Bysshopp.  Chaplin,  Caplin. 

Abbott.  Friar,     Fryer,     Freere, 

Prior,  Pryor.  Frere  (Chaucer,  passim.) 

Dean.  Monk. 

Archdeacon.  Nunn. 

Parsons.  Proctor. 

Vicar,  Vickers.  Saxton. 
Priest. 

The  following  offices  have  all  lent  their  designations  as 
names  of  families :  Stewart  (steward).  Constable,  Marshall, 
Chancellor,  Chamberlayne,  Sheriff,  Serjeant,  Castellan, 
Mayor,  Warden,  Burgess,  Porter,  Champion,  Beadle,  Page, 
Reeve,  Woodreeve,  Ranger,  Bailey  (bailiff),  Parker, 
Forester,  Botiler  (or  Butler),  Hunter,  Falconer,  &c. 
Many  offices,  &c.  now  obsolete,  have  also  conferred  surnames 
on  the  persons  who  bore  them,  as 

Le  Despencer,  corruptly  Spencer,  and  Horden,  a 
steward.  The  ancestor  of  the  family  of  Spencer,  dukes  of 
Marlborough,  was  dispenser  or  steward  of  the  household  to 
"William  the  Conqueror. 

Seneschal,  a  steward,  vilely  corrupted  to  SnashalL 

Staller,  a  standard-bearer.    Camd. 

Foster,  a  nourisher ;  one  who  had  the  care  of  the  children 
of  great  men.     We  have  also  Nurse  as  a  surname. 

Kemp,  a  soldier,  especially  one  who  engaged  in  single 

*  "  Adam  the  Clerk,  son  of  Philip  the  Scribe,"  occurs  in  an  antient  record, 
as  also  does  **  Alexander,  the  son  of  Glay  the  Seneschal." 


DIGNITIES  AND  OFFICES.  103 

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  ReUques : 

"  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  kemperye-men 

And  loud  they  gan  to  crye 
Ah  !  traytors,  you  have  slayne  our  kynge. 

And  therefore  you  shall  dye." 

A  kemper  is  stiU  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  Campj  Champa  and  Camper. 
Campion  and  Champion  have  come  to  us  through  the 
French,  from  the  same  root.  The  Swedish  Kempenfelt  and 
the  Spanish  Campeador  belong  to  this  family.  Kimber  is 
also  synonymous  ;  "  Kimher^  enim,  homo  beUicosus,  pugil 
robustus,  miles,  &c.  significat."* 

Segar  and  Seagar,  (Sax.  Sijejie,)  a  vanquisher.  So 
says  Verstegan ;  but  a  Northern  correspondent  informs 
me  that  this  is  a  provincialism  for  '  sawyer.' 

Latimer.  This  name  was  first  given  to  Wrenoe  ap 
Merrick,  a  learned  Welshman,  who  held  certain  lands  by 
the  service  of  being  latimer  or  interpreter  between  the 
Welsh  and  the  EngUsh ;  and  the  name  of  his  office  de- 
scended to  his  posterity,  who  were  afterwards  ennobled  as 
English  peers. f 

Valvasour,  (now  more  generally  written  Vavasour y)  an 
office  or  dignity  taking  rank  below  a  baron,  and  above  a 

•  Sheringham.  t  Vide  Burke's  Ext.  Peerage. 


104  NAMES  DERIVED  FROM 

knight.  Bfacton  says,  *'  there  are  for  the  civil  government 
of  mankind,  emperors,  kings,  and  princes,  magnates,  or 
valvasours  and  knights.'*  In  the  Norman  reigns  there 
was  a  king's  valvasour,  whose  duty  probably  consisted  in 
keeping  ward  ad  valvas  Regniy  at  the  entrances  and  borders 
of  the  realm  ;  whence  the  name. 

Arblastevy  a  corruption  of  Bahstarius,  one  who  directed 
the  great  engines  of  war  used  before  the  invention  of 
cannon,  a  cross-bow-man. 

Spigurnelly  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  avyries 
of  sparhawks,  falcons,  eagles,  and  herons.'*  But  there  is 
another  distinct  derivation  of  this  name,  for  Avery ^  accord- 
ing to  Bailey,  signifies  "  a  place  where  the  oats  (avence) 
or  provender  are  kept  for  the  King's  horses." 

Franklin,  a  dignity  next  to  the  esquires  and  gentlemen 
of  olden  times,  the  antient  representative  of  the  class  of 
superior  freeholders,  known  in  later  times  as  country 
'squires.  Fortescue  (de  Legibus  Angliae,  c.  29,)  describes 
a  franklein  as  *5  pater-familias — magnis  ditatus  possessi- 
onibus."  "  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 /mwA;Zem,  enriched  with  great  posses- 
sions, and  also  other  freeholders  and  many  yeomen,  able 
for  their  livelyhoodtomake  a  jury  in  form  aforementioned."  * 

*  Old  Translation  of  Fortescue  de  L.  L.  Ang. 


DIGNITIES  AND  OFFICES.  105 

Chaucer's  description   of  a   Franklin   is   everything  that 
could  be  wished : 

"  A  Frankelein  was  in  this  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  opinion  that  plein  delit 
Was  veraily  felicite  parfite. 
An  housholder,  and  that  a  grete  was  he ; 
Selnt  Julian,*  he  was  in  his  contree  ; 
His  brede,  his  ale,  was  alway  after  on  ; 
A  better  envynedi  man  was  no  wher  non, 
Withouten  bake-mete  never  was  his  hous, 
Of  fish  and  flesh,  and  that  so  plenteous, 
It  snewed  in  his  hous  of  mete  and  drinke, 
Of  alle  daintees  that  men  coud  of  thinke. 
After  the  sondry  sesons  of  the  yere. 
So  changed  he  his  mete  and  his  soupere. 
Ful  many  a  fat  partrich  hadde  he  in  mewe, 
And  many  a  breme,  and  many  a  luce  in  stewe. 
Wo  was  his  coke,  but  if  his  sauce  were 
Poinant  and  sharpe,  and  ready  all  his  gere. 
His  table  dormant  in  his  halle  alway 
Stode  redy  covered  alle  the  long^  day. 

At  sessions  ther  was  he  lord  and  sire, 
Ful  often  time  he  was  knight  of  the  shire  ; 
An  anelace,  and  a  gipciere  all  of  silk 
Heng  at  his  girdel,  white  as  morwe  milk. 
A  shereve  hadde  he  ben,  and  a  countour. 
Was  no  wher  swiche  a  worthy  vavasour. ''J 

Heriot,  a  provider  of  furniture  for  an  army.      Versteg. 
CoheUy  a  usual  name  amongst  the  Jews,  signifies  priest. 

*  St.  Julian  was  the  patron  of  hospitality. 

t  Envyned,  that  is,  stored  with  wine. 

X  Canterbury  Tales.     Prologue.    Vol.  i.  p.  44.    Edit.  1825. 

5§ 


106  NAMES  DERIVED  FROM 

SomneVj  one  whose  duty  consisted  in  citing  delinquents 
to  the  ecclesiastical  courts ;  an  apparitor.  The  office 
existed  in  Chaucer's  time  under  the  orthography  of  somp- 
noure,  literally  summoner,  sompne  being  then  the  mode  of 
speUing  the  verb.  In  the  Coventry  Mysteries  we  have  the 
following : 

"  Sim  SoMNOR,  in  hast  wend  thou  thi  way, 
Byd  Joseph,  and  his  wyfF,  be  name, 
At  the  coorte  to  upper  this  day, 
Hem  to  pourge  of  her  defame." 

Chaucer's  portrait  of  the  Sompnour  is  one  of  the  best  in 
his  inimitable  gallery.     He 

"  .  .  .  .  hffilde  a  fire-red  cherubinne's  face 

With  scalled  browes  blake  and  pllled  herd. 

Of  his  visage  children  were  sore  af^rd. 

[He  loved]  to  drinke  strong  win  as  rede  as  blood. 

Then  wolde  he  speke,  and  crie  as  he  were  wood. 

And  whan  that  he  wel  dronken  had  the  win, 

Than  wolde  he  speken  no  word  but  Latin. 

A  few 6  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  ^jay 

Can  clepen  watte,  as  wel  as  can  the  pope. 

But  who  so  wolde  in  other  thing  him  grope.t 

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  how 
the  word  Jwri/  became  the  name  of  a  single  person  I  do 
not  pretend  to  guess.    (On  reconsideration,  '  Jury'  appears 

♦  He  knew.  t  Examine.  %.  Cant.  Tales,  Prologue. 


DIGNITIES  AND  OFFICES.  107 

to  be  a  corrupt  spelling  of  Jewry y  and  is  therefore  a  local 
name.  That  part  of  a  city  or  town  inhabited  by  Jews  was 
formerly  styled  *the  Jewrie'.)  Foreman  was  probably 
adopted  by  some  one  who  had  served  on  a  jury  in  that 
capacity.  Association  of  ideas  reminds  me  of  another  im- 
portant functionary,  Dempster,  the  common  hangman,  un- 
less indeed  it  signify  a  judge  of  the  Isle  of  Man,  as  the 
judges  of  that  little  kingdom  formerly  bore  this  designa- 
tion. Lockman  is  a  Scottish  word  for  the  public  execu- 
tioner. 

Several  names  end  in  gravey  meaning  a  steward  or  dis- 
poser, 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  ^vaf  is  synonymous  with  count,  and 
'Pff^zgraf,'  whence  our  Palgrave,  is  a  count-palatine. 
Grave,  in  Lancashire,  especially  in  the  disafforested  dis- 
tricts, means  a  constable,  and  constables'  rates  are  called 
*  grave-leys.' 

Pilgrim  and  Palmer  are  neither  offices  nor  dignities,  yet 
they  may  find  a  place  here.  The  Palmer  differed  from  a 
common  pilgrim  in  making  a  profession  of  wandering.  The 
pilgrim  laid  aside  his  weed  and  cockle  when  his  pilgrimage 
was  done,  and  returned  to  the  world  ;  but  the  palmer  wan- 
dered about  incessantly  ;  his  pilgrimage  was  only  laid  aside 
at  death.  He  derived  his  name  from  the  palm-branch  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 


108  NAMES  DERIVED  FROM 

Palmer,  of  Otford,  Esq.  containing  several 

puns  or  allusions  to  this  name  and  profession. 

'*  3^almer5  all  otor  dFatferj}  torn, 
^  a  ^Palmer  liu^tr  i^ere, 
^ntr  trau^rtr  isttll,  till  toorne  hipt^  agt, 
If  entfptr  tjijs  hjorlti*^  pplgramage. 
•©n  tlje  bl^sit  ^si^mtton^Kap, 
Ifit  tl)e  cl)erM  nwnti^  of  ilHaj), 
^  tSoto£(ant(  h)|)t]&  fohjre  l)untrr^tl,  £iemn, 
^  ntJ  toofe  m»  tornej)  l^eniSe  to  Hcuen.* 

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  Rome, 

One  that  hath  kissed  the  blessed  tomb, 

And  visited  each  holy  shrine 

In  Araby  and  Palestine  ; 

On  hills  of  Armenie  bath  been,  . 

Where  Noah'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 ; 
And  of  that  Grot  where  olives  nod, 

Where,  darling  of  each  heart  and  eye, 

From  all  the  youth  of  Sicily 

Saint  Rosalie  retired  to  God. 
*  *  *  «  * 

His  sable  cowl  o'erhung  his  face  ; 

In  his  black  mantle  was  he  clad ; 

*  Weever's  Fun.  Mod. 


DIGNITIES  AND  OFFICES.  109 

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  fialm-branch  in.  his  hand 
Shewed  pilgrim  from  the  Holy  Land," 

The  origin  of  the  name  of  Gear  is  curious.  In  the 
'^  olden  tyme''  great  men  employed  an  officer  to  superin- 
tend the  provision  of  their  entertainments  and  the  equip- 
ment of  their  armed  retainers ;  and,  as  all  sorts  of  wearing 
apparel,  arms,*  utensils,  and  chattels  in  general,  were 
called  gere  or  gear^  this  person  would  very  naturally  ac- 
quire the  name  of  John-of-the-Gear,  John-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;) 
Kenwardy  the  dog-keeper,  or  more  properly  Kine-wardy 
cow-keeper ;  Aylward,  the  ale-keeper ;  Durwardy  the 
porter  or  door-keeper ;  Haywardy  the  keeper  of  a  common 
herd  of  cattle  belonging  to  some  town  ;  and  Woodwardy  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.*'f  Howard  certainly 
belongs  to  this  family  of  names,   but  antiquaries  are  not 

•  Thus  in  the  old  poem  of  Flodden  Field : 

«  Then  did  he  send  Sir  William  Bulmer, 
And  bad  hym  on  the  borders  lye. 
With  ordinance  and  other  gem-, 
•'  Each  fenced  house  to  fortify." 
t  Bailey's  Diet. 


110  NAMES  DERIVED  FROM 

agreed  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  first  syllable.  Camden 
makes  it  the  high-warden;  Spelman,  the  hall-keeper; 
Verstegan,  the  keeper  of  a  strong-hold;  and  Skinner,  a 
keeper  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  Guardy  which  have 
the  same  meaning. 

Granger,  the  superintendent  of  a  grange— a  great  farm 
pertaining  to  some  abbey  or  priory. 

Portmany  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  bailifi". 
Palliser,  a  person  who  had  the  care  of  the  pahngs  of  a 
park  or  forest. 

Poynder,  a  bailiff,  one  who  distrains. 
Having  given  this  long  hst  of  names  derived  from  titles 
and  offices,  I  shall  next  attempt  to  account  for  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  beUef. 
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  dignities  such  names  if  adopted  could  not 
have  been  perpetuated,  seeing  that  all  churchmen,  from 
his  hohness  of  Rome  down  to  the  meanest  curate,  led  a 


DIGNITIES  AND  OFFICES.  Ill 

life  of  celibacy,  and,  consequently,  had  no  recognized  pos- 
terity. 

It  has  been  conjectured,  however,  that  these  names  in- 
dicate bastardy,  and  that  the  persons  bearing  them  are  thus 
bona  fide  of  royal,  papal,  knightly,  squirely,  or  priestly 
descent — a  plausible  surmise,  but  the  proofs  are  wanting. 
Most  of  these  names,  particularly  of  the  secular  de- 
scription, were  probably  borrowed  from  the  first  users  of 
them  having  acted  or  personated  such  characters  in  myste- 
ries 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  reminds  us  that  the  classical 
antients  had  such  names  as  "  BasUius,  Archias,  Archelaus, 
Flaminius,  Csesarius,  Augustulus,  &c.,  who,  notwithstand- 
ing, were  neither  Kings,  Priests,  Dukes,  nor  Caesars." 

There  are  those  who  think  the  clerical  names  originated 
from  widowers y  who  had  gone  into  the  church  and  gained 
particular  offices  in  it,  having  given  the  designations  of 
such  offices  as  surnames  to  their  children.  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,  be- 
coming unexpectedly  entitled  to  the  seignories  of  Par- 
thenay,  Soubize,  &c.,  obtained  the  pope's  dispensation  to 
marry,   on  the  condition  that  his  posterity  should  take 


112  NAMES  DERIVED  FROM 

the  name  of  Archhishopy  and  bear  a  mitre  over  their  arms 
for  ever. 

None  of  the  objections  just  adduced  apply  to  surnames 
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  of  porter  of  Trematon 
Castle,  antiently  hereditary  in  the  family  under  the  Dukes 
of  Cornwall.  We  have  already  seen  that  the  name  of 
Spencer  originated  in  a  similar  manner;  but  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  steward  of  Scotland. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  remark  that  these  high-sounding 
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  dwelHng  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  essay : 

"  Ctue  Copg  of  a  jury  taken  before  Judge  Doddridge, 
at  the  assizes  holden  at  Huntingdon,  a.d.  1619."  [It  is 
necessary  to  remark  that  "the  judge  had,  in  the  preceding 
circuit,  censured  the  sheriff  for  empannehng  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  following-  names, 


DIGNITIES  AND  OFFICES.  113 

and  pausing  emphatically  at  the  end  of  the  Christian,  in- 
stead 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  MARauis  of  Stukeley, 

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  Stukeley, 

Robert  Baron  of  St.  Neots, 

WilUam  Dean  of  Old  Weston, 

John  Archdeacon  of  Paxton, 

Peter  EsauiRE  of  Easton, 

Edward  Fryer  of  Ellington, 

Henry  Monk  of  Stukeley, 

George  Gentleman  of  Spaldwick, 

George  Priest  of  GrafFham, 

Richard  Deacon  of  Catworth. 

"The  judge,  it  is  said,  was  highly  pleased  with  this 
practical  joke,  and  commended  the  sheriff  for  his  ingenuity. 
The  descendants  of  some  of  these  illustrious  jurors  still  re- 
side in  the  county,  and  bear  the  same  names  ;  in  particular, 
a  Maximilian  King,  we  are  informed,  still  presides  over 
Toseland."* 

*  History  of  Huntingdon,  12mo,  1824 ;  also  quoted  by  Nares. 


114  SURNAMES  DERIVED  FROM 


ESSAY     VI. 

SURNAMES  DERIVED  FROM  PERSONAL  AND  MENTAL 
QUALITIES. 

These  seem  to  form  one  of  the  most  obvious  sources 
of  surnames,  and  a  prolific  source  it  has  been.  Nothing 
would  be  more  natural,  at  the  first  assumption  of  sur- 
names, than  for  a  person  of  dark  complexion  to  take  the 
name  of  Black  or  BlackmaTif  a  tawny  one  that  of  Browne, 
and  a  pale  one  that  of  White  or  Whiteman.  So,  doubtless, 
originated  RufuSy  Rom,  Rousseau  (Fr.),  and  Russel  (which 
seem  only  modifications  of  one  word  signifying  red), 
Redman,  Pink,  Tawney,  Motley,  Whitesides,  Silversides, 
Ruddiman,  and  perhaps  Scarlett.*  As  no  person  ever  had 
a  green  face  (however  green  in  other  respects),  we  must 
refer  the  common  surname  that  represents  that  colour  to 
a  local  origin;  John  atte  the  Greene,  Roger  a^ Green,  &c., 
being  among  the  most  famihar  names  of  that  class.  The 
colour  of  the  hair  also  led  to  a  numerous  train  of  these 
hereditary  sobriquets  (for  they  certainly  are  nothing  else)  : 
hence  Hoare,  Grissel,  Grey,  Blackhcke,  Whitelocke, 
Silverlocke,  Fairhaire,  Whithair,  Blound  (Fr.),  fair- 
haired,  Fairfax  (A.-S.),  fair  locks,  Blackbeard,  Whitehead, 
Blackhead,  Redhead,  &c.  But  it  was  not  from  the  head 
alone  that  names  of  this  description  were  taken,  for  we 
have,  in  respect  of  other  personal  quahties,  our  Longs 
and     our     Shorts;      our     Langmans,     Longmans,     and 

•  Purple  occurs  in  America ! 


PERSONAL  AND  MENTAL  QUALITIES.  115 

Longfellows;  our  Pretty  mans  and  our  Tallmans; 
our  Biggs  and  our  Broads;  our  Greats  and  our 
Smalls;  our  Strongs  and  our  Weakly s ;  our  StrongmanSy 
Strongers,  Strongfellows,  StrongiHK  arms,  audi  Armstrongs  ; 
our  Littles  and  our  Lowes,  and  even  our  Little rs  and 
our  Lowers  (!)  our  Goodbodies  and  our  Freebodies ;  our 
Groses  and  our  Thynnes  ;J  our  Swifts  and  our  Slowmans 
Speeds,  Quicks,  and  Quickly s  ;  our  Plaines  and  our  Prettys 
our  Larges  and  our  Pettys  ;  our  Lovely s  and  our  Plainers 
our  i^«##5  and  our  Stouts ;  our  Darkmans  and  our  £2'%- 
whites;  our  Lightfoots  and  our  Heavisides,  with  many 
more  whose  meaning  is  less  obvious. 

Among  these  may  be  noticed,  Starkie,  strong  of  body ; 
F2>5#,  broad-footed;  Crumpe,  crooked;  Mewet,  one  who 
speaks  inwardly;  iiVar,  a  leprous  person;  Morphew,  a 
scrofulous  person ;  Michel  (A.-S),  great ;  <S/«eZZ,  agile.f  J5e4 
when  affixed  to  le,  is  from  the  French,  fair ;  Fleet,  swift ; 
JTttZe,  healthful;  Holder, ihrn-^X  Carr  and  ^er,  stout;  and 
Pigot,  from  the  French  'picot^,'  pitted  with  smallpox, 
speckled ;  with  its  variations,  Piggott,  Pickett,  &c. 

The  very  common  name  of  Reed,  Read  or  Reid,  is  an 
old  speUing  of  Red,  (a  name  given,  probably,  in  reference 
to  complexion),  thus  Chaucer : 

"  And  floures  both  white  and  rede ;" 
and  Sir  John  Maundevile,  speaking  of  the  Red  Sea,  says  : 
"  That  See  is  not  more  reed  than  another  see ;  but  in  some 

♦  This  name  (so  far  as  one  family  is  concerned)  has  a  different  origin.  John 
de  Botteville,  so  lately  as  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.,  resided  at  one  of  the  Inns  of 
court,  and  was  thence  named  John  ofth'Inne  (Thynne).   {Brady's  Diss.  p.  13.) 

t  **ea't>mun'&  cmj  Ifien-fi*©  paep  jeclypo^o  pofi  hif  &nell-fcipe. 
King  Edmund  was  called  Iron-side  for  his  hardihood,  agility."  {S(^.  Chron.) 
Snell  appears  to  have  been  a  Christian  name  before  the  Conquest,  when  the 
name  of  Snelson  sometimes  occurs. 

t  Camden. 


116  SURNAMES  DERIVED  FROM 

places  thereof  is  the  graveUe  reede:  and  therefore  men 
clepen  it  the  Rede  Sea." 

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  behke  Baynes),  white  or  fair  ;  Vaughan,  little ; 
Moel,  or  Mole,  bald;  Gam,  crooked;  Fane,  slender; 
Grimm,  strong ;  Gough,  red ;  Gwynne,  white ;  Greig  and 
Gregg,  hoarse ;  Gleg,  quick ;  Balloch,  spotted  in  the  face. 
Wight  is  strong,  and  Doughty,  formidable,  (A.-S. 
Sohti^.) 

"  Lordynges,  lysten,  and  you  shal  here, 
You  shall  well  heare  of  a  knight, 
That  was  in  warre  full  wyght, 
And  dougfitye  of  his  dede."    (Dowsabell.) . 

The  antients  had  names  of  cognate  significations,  as 
among  the  Greeks,  Pyrrhus,  Chlorus,  Chryses,  and  among 
the  Romans,  Candidus,  Rutilus,  Longus,  Paulus,  &c.  with 
many  others  indicative  of  personal  qualities  or  peculiarities. 

Among  the  names  indicative  of  mental  or  moral  qualities, 
we  have  our  Hardy s  and  our  Cowards;  our  Meeks  and  our 
Moodys ;  our  Bolds  and  our  Slyes ;  our  Lively s  and  our 
Sullens ;  our  Eagers  and  our  Dulman^ ;  our  Giffords  or 
liberal  ones,  and  our  Curteises.  Curteis  I  take  to  be  an 
antient  spelhng  of  the  adjective  courteous.  Chaucer  says 
of  his  "  yong  squier" — 

"  Curteis  he  was,  gentil  and  aflFable." 

So  in  Percy's  Rehques : 

"  And  as  the  lyoune,  which  is  of  bestis  kinge 
Unto  thy  subjectis  be  kurteis  and  benygne." 

Nor  must  we  overlook  our  Wilds  and  our  Sangwines ;  our 
Merry s  and  our  Sobers ;  our  Nobles  and  our  Willeys,  or 


PERSONAL  AND  MENTAL  QUALITIES.  117 

favorable  ones  ;  our  Blythes  and  our  Cleeres  j  our  Sternes 
and  our  Bonnys ;  our  Godmans  and  our  Godlimans ;  our 
Wakes  or  watchfuls ;  our  Terry s  or  tearful  ones;*  our 
Forwards  and  our  Wises,  our  Wooralls  or  worth-alls,f 
our  Ay  twins,  or  beloved  of  all;  our  Proudes  and  our 
Humbles;  our  Sharpes  and  our  Blunts;  our  Sweets  and 
our  Sweetmans ;  our  Illmans  and  our  Freemans ;%  our 
Wisemans  and  our  Booklesses  (!)  our  Stables  and  our 
Hasties  ;  our  Gentles  and  our  Lawlesses];  our  Giddys  and 
our  Carelesses ;  our  Sadds  and  our  Merryman^ ;  our 
Innocents  and  our  Peerlesses;  our  Luckies  and  our  Faithfuls; 
our  Gaudy s  and  our  Decents;  our  Gallants  and  our 
Trusty s ;  our  Dearloves  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 ,\\  Goodfellows, 
our  Thoroughgoods,  Allgoods,  Bests,  Perfects,  and  Good- 
enoughs ;  and,  what  is  very  extraordinary  indeed,  our 
Toogoods  ! 

To  these  (from  less  obvious  origins)  add,  if  you  will, 
jS^mw^  (Stunt,  A.-S.)  stupid,  foolish;  taken  substantively 
it  means  a  fool,  by  no  means  an  enviable  designation,  but 
far  from  applicable  to  all  who  bear  it.  In  a  Saxon  trans- 
lation of  the  book  of  Job,  that  patriarch  calls  his  wife 
"stunt   wif,"    i.  e.    a   foolish   woman.       Widmer    (py^, 

*  Verstegan ;  la  more  probable  derivation  is  from  the  Fr.  Thierry,  Theodoric. 

+  So  Verstegan,  Restit. 

:t  The  name  F?'y,  is  a  modernized  spelling  of  Frie,  free. 

§  Goad,  a  corrupt  spelling  of  the  O.  E.  gode,  good. 

Q  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  Buonfigluolo,  good  son. 


118  SURNAMES    DERIVED    FROM 

wide  and  ODeaji,  fame,  A.-S.)  widely  renowned ;  Huhhardy 
(Hu^hbejit,  A.-S.)  disposed  to  joy  and  gladness;  Joyce 
(Fr.),  the  same ;  Hogarth  (Dutch,)  high-natured,  generous ; 
Mire  (A.-S),  clear;  Baudy  pleasant ;  iJwsA,  subtle ;  Barraty 
cunning.  Bowne,  ready;  Bonner,  (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. 

Very  much  do  these  resemble  the  Agathias,  Andragathius, 
Sophocles,  Eubulus,  Prudentius,  Pius,  Constans,  &c.  of 
the  classical  antients.  Indeed  there  is  scarcely  any  kind 
of  names  now  in  use  that  has  not  its  prototype  among  the 
Greeks  and  Romans. 

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,  Langstaffy  Wagstaff, 
Shakestaff  and  Shakespeare y  or,  as  Mr.  C.  Knight  wiQ 
have  ity  •  Shakspere.  Also  Box-ally  Tirebucky  Turnbully^ 
and  Breakspear,  which  was  the  original  name  of  our 
countryman.  Pope  Hadrian  the  Fourth. 

^'Harmany^  observes  Verstegan,  "should  rightly  be 
Heartmany  to  wit,  a  man  of  heart  or  courage."  It  also 
signifies  a  soldier  or  constable,  in  both  which  avocations 
"heart,  or  courage"  is  necessary.  Holman  may  be  Whole- 
many  a  man  of  undeniable  valour — a  man,  every  inch  of 
him.  Analogous  to  this  etymology  is  that  of  the  patrial 
noun  Alman  or  German,  which,  according  to  Verstegan, 
"  is  as  much  to  say  as  all  or  wholly  a  man,"  attributed 


•  During  our  wars  with  the  Scotch  in  the  days  of  Edward  I.,  one  TurnbuU 
—a  man  of  gigantic  power — was  champion  of  the  Scottish  army. 


PERSONAL  AND  MENTAL  QUALITIES.  119 

to  that  nation  "in  regard  to  their  great  manliness  and 
valour.'* 

There  are  certain  surnames  which  I  have  the  greatest 
difficulty  in  assigning  to  any  particular  class.  Gladman 
probably  belongs  to  those  derived  from  mental  pecuharities, 
but  Beadman  is  a  complete  nondescript— the  most  absurd 
appellation  ever  given  to  living  creature.  I  know  several 
people  of  this  name.* 

*  Dudman  occurs  as  a  name  in  that  celebrated  burlesque  poem  the  "  Tourna- 
ment of  Tottenham"  in  Percy's  Reliques. 


120  SURNAMES    DERIVED    FROM 


ESSAY    VII. 

SURNAMES    DERIVED    FROM    CHRISTIAN    NAMES. 

Everybody  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  more 
common  than  at  first  sight  they  appear  to  be,  as  I  shall 
prove  before  I  arrive  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 

Many  of  the  christian  or  fore-names  of  our  ancestors 
were  taken  up  without  any  addition  or  change,  as  Anthony, 
AndreWy  Abel,  Allen,  Arnold,  Ambrose,  Amos,  Alexander, 
Baldwin,  Bartholomew,  Boniface,  Bryan,  Barnard,  Charles, 
Clement,  Cecil,  Cuthbert,  Dunstan,  Donald,  Dennis,  David, 
Daniel,  Edgar,  Ellis,  Everard,  Frederick,  Gregory,  Goddard, 
Godfrey,  Gervaise  (now  Jarvis),  Griffith,  Guy,  George, 
Gerard,  Gilbert,  Henry,  Howell,  Humphry,  Herbert, 
Hilary,  Isaac,  Ingram,  James,  Jeffrey,  Lawrence,  Leonard, 
Lambert,  Lewis,  Martin,  Matthew,  Miles,  Morgan,  Neale, 
Nicholas,  Oliver,  Osmond,  Owen,  Paul,  Percival,  Philip, 
Ralph  (usually  written  Relf),  Randal,  Reynold,  Rice, 
Sampson,  Silvanus,  Simeon,  Theobald,  Thomas,  Titus, 
Valentine,  Vincent,  Walter,  &c. 

Great  numbers  of  these  have  been  assumed  in  the  geni- 
tive case,  as  John  Reynolds,  for  John  the  son  of  Reynold, 
James  PhilHps,  for  James  the  son  of  PhiHp  ;  others  have 
been  corrupted  in  various  ways,  as  Bennet  from  Benedict, 


CHRISTIAN    NAMES.  121 

Cutheard  from  Cuthbert,  Emary  (whence  Emmerson)  from 
Almerie,  Errey  from  Eric,  Stace  from  Eustace,  &c. 

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  stationary  surname  of  the 
family.  In  Dr.  Fiddes'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  in- 
stances may  serve  to  show,  nevertheless,  with  what  facility 
christian  names  would  pass  into  surnames  in  cases  where 
there  were  children. 

Camden  has  a  hst  of  surnames,  formed  of  such  forenames 
as  are  now  obsolete,  and  only  occur  in  Doomsday  Book 
and  other  records  of  atitient  date.  From  this  list  and  from 
another  by  Dr.  Pegge  in  the  Gentleman's  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  (Anastasius). 

Ayscough,  Askew  (Asculphus).      Huskisson   = 
Askew's  son? 

AUCHER. 

Ansell  (Anselm). 

Baynard. 

Brand  {Sax.  Chron.) 

Bennet  (St.  Benedict). 

Brandon. 


122  surnames  derived  from 

Baldric. 

Bardolph. 

Barchard  (Belchard). 

Barringer  (Berengerius). 

Berners. 

Bryant  (Brient). 

Coleman  (Bede). 
Cadman  (Csedman). 
Christian. 
Calfe. 

Degory. 

Durrant  (Durandus). 

Drew  (Drogo), 

DoDD.     Whence  Dodson. 

Edolph  (Eadulph,  Sax.  Chron.) 

Ellis  (Elias).* 

Elmer  (^Imer). 

Everest,  Every,  Everett  and  Verry  (Everard). 

Eachard  (Achard,  Doomsday). 

Etty  (Eddy). 

Edlin  (Atheling). 

Eade,  Eades  (Eudo). 

FULKE  (Fulco). 

Farand,  Farrant  (Ferdinand). 
Folkard,  Folker  (Fulcher).t 

*  The  EUises  of  Yorkshire  consider  themselves  to  be  surnatned  from  Eliseux 
in  Normandy. 

^  FcLCHEB  is  evidently  the  origin  of  Fullagar  and  perhaps  of  Woolgar. 


CHRISTIAN  NAMES.  123 

Girth. 

Godwin,  Goodwin. 

Goodrich. 

Good  LUCK  {Doomsday). 

Grimes  (Grime). 

GuNTER  {Ingulphus). 

Gamble  (Gamel,  Sax.) 

Hassell  (Asceline). 

Hesketh  (Hascuith). 

Harman  {Sax.  Chron.) — See  page  118. 

HoDE,  HoAD,  Hood  (Odo). 

Hake  (Haco). 

Hamlin  (Hammeline) . 

Harding  {Ingulph). 

Hammond  (Hamon). 

Harvey  (Herve). 

Heward. 

Herward, 

Hubert. 

Ive. 

Jernegan. 
Jollande. 

Kettle  (Chetell,  Doomsday). 
KiLLiCK  (Calixtus). 

Lucy  (Lucius). 

Mervyn  (Merfin). 


124  SURNAMES  DERIVED  FROM 

Mallet  (Sax.  Chron.) 
Maynard. 

Massey  (Macey,  Doomsday). 

Orson  (Urso),  whence  Fitz-Urse. 

Ody  (Odo). 

Orme. 

Other. 

Reyner  (Reinardus). 
Raymond. 

Rothery  (Rodericus). 
Rolle  (Raoul). 

Stiggins  (Stigandus  or  Stigand.) 

Saer,  now  Sayers. 

Searle  (Serlo). 

Semar. 

Sewell  (Sewellus). 

Seaward  (Siwardus).* 

Swain  (Sweyn). 

Seabright  (Sigebert). 

Selwyn. 

Savery  (Savaricus). 

San  KEY  (Sancho). 

Semple,  Sampol  (St.  Paul). 

Sampiere  (St.  Peter). 

Stydolph  (St.  Edolph). 

Samand  (St.  Amado). 

SiMBERD  (St.  Barbe). 

*  This  was  also  a  name  of  office,  the  Anglo-Saxon  &£Bpeajl*&   was  a  high- 
admiral,  who  kept  the  sea  against  pirates. 


I 


CHRISTIAN  NAMES.  125 

Tipple  (Theobald). 
Tippet  (the  same). 
Toby  (St.  Olave). 
Terry  (Theodorie). 

TOVY. 

TuRROLD,  or  TuRREL  (Thorold). 
Tudor,  Welsh,  (Theodore.) 

Ulmer. 

Vivian. 

Wish  art  (Wiscard). 

Wade. 

Warner. 

Wimble,  Wimboll  (Winebald,  Doomsday). "^ 

From  this  enumeration  I  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  these  but  surnames  ?  Does  not 
the  fact  of  such  names  occurring  singly  in  Doomsday  Book, 
add  weight  to  the  opinion  I  expressed  at  page  41  ? 

We  have  a  few  surnames  from  Welsh  Christian  names, 
as  Cradock  (from  Caradoc),  Chowne  (from  Chun),  Merricks 
and  Meyrick  (from  Meirric),  Meredith  and  Madox,  cor- 
rupted to  Maddicks,  *  whereby  hangs  a  tale.'  "  Are  you 
acquainted  with,  mathematics  .'"*  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." 

*  Wimbledon,  in  Surrey,  is  probably  the  tun  or  enclosure  of  one  Winebald,  a 
Saxon. 


126  SURNAMES    DERIVED   FROM 

Next  in  order  come  the  names  terminating  with  son,  as 
AdamsoUy  Johnson^  Henryson^  Clementson,  Richardscm, 
Philipson,  &c.  whose  derivation  is  clear,  together  with 
Heardson,  Crowson,  Quilson,  Wigson,  &c.  from  corrupted 
names,  or  from  names  no  longer  in  use.  Many  of  these 
were  doubtless  assumed  before  the  Conquest,  as  we  find 
GrimkeUon,  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  con- 
quered Saxons  was  sometimes  adopted  instead ;  thus 
Waltersonne  and  Geroldsonne  became  Fits-Walter  and 
Fitz-Gerald  ;*  generally  however  the  fitz  denotes  a 
Norman  extraction.  Sometimes,  but  rarely,  son  was 
appended  to  a  profession,  trade,  title,  or  condition,  as 
Dukeson,  Clarkson,  Cookson,  WrightsoUy  Smithson, 
Masterson,  Stewardson,  Hindson,  and  Widowson. 

The  FITZ  or  son  conjoined  to  a  female  name  is  thought 
to  denote  illegitimacy,  as  Fitz-Parnell,  Fitz-Emma,  Anson; 
Fveson,  EmsoUy  and  Nelson,  from  Ann,  Eve,  Emma,  and 
Nel  or  Eleanor.f  So  also  Susans,  Maudlins  (Magdalene), 
Avis  (Hawisa),  Grace,  Hannah,  Fegge,  that  is  Margery, 
Mary,  Rachel,  Jane,  and  the  Hke.  But  it  should  be 
remembered  that  the  Romans  occasionally  used  their 
mother's  name,  when  born  in  wedlock,  and  that  our 
Henry  the  Second  called  himself  Fitz-Empress. 

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 

*  '*  The  use  of  the  prefix  fitz  has,  with  propriety,  been  revived  in  modem 
times.  The  eldest  son  of  Harris,  Earl  of  Malmesbury,  is,  by  title  of  courtesy, 
Viscount  Fitz-Harris." 

t  Some  of  these  apparently  female  names  are  possibly  corruptions  of  masculine 
ones  ;  thus  Anson  may  be  Hanson — Nelson,  Neilson,  &c. 


CHRISTIAN  NAMES.  127 

Nat  for  Nathaniel;  Bill  for  William,  Wat  for  Walter, 
"and  many  such  Uke,  which  you  may  learn  of  nurses P' 
Whether  these  odd  monosyllables  were  originally  applied 
to  children  as  terms  of  endearment,  and  thus  acquired  the 
appellation  of  nurse-names,  I  cannot  say.  However  they 
originated,  they  are  plentiful  enough,  and  of  considerable 
antiquity.  The  poet  Gower  has  the  following  verses  on 
the  occasion  of  Wat  Tyler's  insurrection,  which  are  curious 
as  containing  several  of  these  abbreviated  names  in  a 
Latin  dress  : 

'*  Watte  vocat,  cui  Thoma  venit,  neque  Symsie  retardat, 

BATque,  GiBBE  simul,  Hvkke  venire  subent: 
CoLLE  I'urit,  quem  Bobbe  juvat,  nocumenta  parantes 

Cum  quibus  ad  damnum  Wille  coire  volat, 
Gbigge  rapit,  dum  Davie  strepit,  comes  est  quibus  Hoebe, 

Larkin  et  in  medio  non  minor  esse  putat; 
HuDDE  ferit,  quem  Judde  terit,  dum  Tibbe  juvatur, 

Jacke  domosque  viros  vellit,  en  ense  necat,"  cfec. 

Andrews    has    rendered    thesfe   lines    in   the   following 
humorous  manner : 

"  Wat  cries,  Tom  flies,  nor  Symkin  stays  aside  ; 

And  Batt  and  Gibb  and  Hyke,  they  summon  loud  ; 
Collin  and  Bob  combustibles  provide, 

While  Will  the  mischief  forwards  in  the  crowd  ; 
Greg  hawls,  Hob  bawls,  and  Davy  joins  the  cry, 

With  LiiRKiM  not  the  least  among  the  throng; 
HoDD  drubs,  Judo  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 

•  Respecting  these  abbreviated  names,  Camden  remarks  that  they  "  seeme  to 
proceede  from  nurses  to  their  nurslings ;  or  from  fathers  and  maisters  to  their 
boyes  and  seruants  ;  for  as  according  to  the  old  prouerbe.  Omnia  herus  seruo 
monosyllabus,  in  respect  to  their  short  commands  ;  so  Omnia  aeruua  hero  mano- 
syllabua,  in  respect  of  the  curtolllng  their  names."  (Remaines,  p.  102.) 


128  SURNAMES  DERIVED  FROM 

exceedingly  numerous,  as  eight,  ten,  or  even  fifteen  sur- 
names are  sometimes  formed  upon  a  single  Christian  name. 
The  name  of  William,  indeed,  is  the  basis  of  no  less  than 
twenty-seven  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,  Wild, 
Hodge,  &c.  we  have  three  principal  terminations;  kin, 
OT,  and  COCK,  as  Simkin,  Wilmot,  Hedgcock.  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  ;  but,  so  far  as  I  am  acquainted 
with  our  provincial  dialects,  those  are  not  names  locally 
assigned  to  any  particular  species  of  birds,  as  some  others 
(shrillcock,  stormcock,  &c.)  are  well  known  to  be.  We 
must  therefore  look  elsewhere  for  the  derivation  of  the 
termination. 

Considerable  discussion  on  this  very  subject  took  place 
in  the  pages  of  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  not  long  since, 
the  substance  of  which  is  given  below.  A  correspondent, 
J.  A.  C.  K.,  in  an  article  pubhshed  in  that  periodical  in 
the  number  for  May  1837,  speaking  of  the  great  number 
of  surnames  of  which  cock  is  a  component  syllable,  ob- 

•  It  may  be  remarked  that  names  with  this  or  a  similar  termination  are  still 
very  numerous  in  Holland.  There  is  a  great  similarity  between  the  family  no- 
menclature 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,  dsc.  The  termination  -son  is  found  in  most  of  the  languages 
of  Gothic  origin. 


J 


CHRISTIAN  NAMES.  129 

serves,  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  Derbyshire  provin- 
cialism for  the  throstle.  Bocock  or  Bawcock  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  individual  (!)  With  respect  to  Hitch- 
cock, 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  seem 

highly  probable  that  Atcock  and  Alcock,  Hiccock  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,  Wilcock,  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  uamcs  Containing  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 :  Cockburn,  the  burn  by 
the  hiUock  ;  Cockham,  the  hamlet  by  the  hillock  :  so  also 
Cockfield,  Cocksedge,  Cockwood,  &c.  The  reader  will 
remark  that  in  this  article  the  examples  are  chosen  from 


130  SURNAMES  DERIVED  FROM 

such  names  as  have  cock  for  their  initial,  and  not  for  their 
final  syllable,  and  therefore  do  not  aid  our  inquiry;  although 
the  derivation  of  Cockburn,  &c.  is  probably  correct. 

J.  G.  N.  in  a  third  article  on  the  same  topic,  (Gent. 
Mag.  May  1838,)  remarks  that  the  word  "often  occurs 
in  the  records  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  antient 
professors  of  the  culinary  art  have  modified  their  ortho- 
graphy to  Coke,  or  Cooke,  or  Cook,  others  have  evidently 
retained  the  final  c,  and  thus  assimilated  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  Exchequer  for  25  Hen.  III.  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  Meacocky  the  meat- 
codk  (\) .  Salcock,  the  SALT-MEAT-cook  (! !)  Slocock^  the 
sLOw-cook  (! ! !)  and  Badcock,  the  iMPERFECT-cook  (!!!!) 

Grococke  is  the  gross  or  wholesale  cook  ...  or, 

perhaps,  le  gros  coc,  or  fat  cook  (! !)  and  those  com- 
pounded with  Christian  names  are  thus  readily  accounted 
for.  Wilcox,  will  be  WiUiam  the  Cook;  Hancock,  Johan 
the  Cook ;  Sandercock,  Alexander  the  Cook ;  Jeffcock, 
Jefl5y  the  Cook,  &c.*     The  Allcocks  may  be  descended 

*  If  Christian  names  were  ever  so  compounded  with  avocations,  how  is  it  we 
have  no  such  names  as  Han-SAiiTH  as  well  as  Hancock  ;  FTiW-MiLLER  as  well  as 
Wilcock;  Sander- TAILOR  as  well  as  Sandercock  ? 


CHRISTIAN  NAMES.  131 

from  Hal  the  Cook,  unless  their  great  ancestor  was  Aule- 
cocus,  the  Hall-Cook."  Some  others,  he  thinks,  have 
originated  from  names  o(  places,  as  Laycock  fromLacock, 
in  Wiltshire,  &c.  &c.  ;  others  from  the  bird,  from  their 
being  persons  of  noisy  or  pugnacious  dispositions,  or 
perhaps  from  their  practice  of  early  rising  (!)  Cockerell 
(he  justly  says)  is  derived  "  from  cockerel,  a  young  or 
dwarf  bird  of  that  species." 

That  Peacock,  Woodcock,  and  a  few  others,  are  derived 
from  birds,  is  unquestionable,  seeing  that  we  have  the 
congenerous  names  Raven,  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,  is  a  supposition 
perfectly  ridiculous.  As  to  J.  G.  N.'s  record  in  the  Exche- 
quer RoUs,  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 
skiU  beyond  what  is  required  in  the  construction  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  neces- 
sary 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  correspondence  just  noticed, 
and  it  is  supported  by  numerous  proofs.  I  do  not  profess 
to  assign  a  satisfactory  meaning  to  all  the  names  with  this 


132  SURNAMES  DERIVED  FROM 

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  ancestors. 
In  like  manner  we  may  account  for  Wilcocke  or  Wilcox^ 
"  Little  WilUam,"  Allcock,  "little  Hal  or  Harry,"  Luckock, 
"  little  Luke,"  and  the  rest.*  My  old  friend,  N.  Bailey, 
$iAo\oyos,  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  "  httle."f 
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  "Httle"  boys  with  "Well,  my  little  Cocky*  a 
piece  of  tautology  of  which  they  are  not  at  all  aware. 
Nor  must  we  forget  the  use  of  this  mysterious  syllable  in 
the  antient  nursery-rhyme  of — 

Ride  a  coe?c-horse 

To  Banbury  Cross,  &c. 

where  little  horse  is  evidently  intended.     I  was  long  puz- 

•  A  correspondent  reminds  me  that  "  ock  is  still  a  common  diminutive  in 
Scotland,  as  Willock,  Lassock,  Nannock."  This  sugrjestion  enables  us  to  ac- 
count for  Pollock,  Mattock,  and  Baldock,  which  are  evident  modifications  of 
Paul,  Matthew,  and  Baldwin. 

t  Bishop  Percy  is  of  opinion  that  the  much  debated  "  cocknei/"  is  a  "dimi- 
nutive of  cook  from  the  Lat.  coquinator  or  coquinarius,"— a  corruption  I  should 
rather  call  it. 


CHRISTIAN    NAMES.  133 

zled  with  the  surname  Coxe,  which  I  have  now  no  hesita- 
tion in  calUng  a  synonyme  of  Little.  Mr.  Coxhead  is 
probably  Mr.  Little-head,  (in  contradistinction,  I  pre- 
sume, to  Mr.  Greathead.)  What  a  pity  it  is  the  sylla- 
bles of  that  gentleman's  name  were  not  transposed,  for  he 
might  then  stand  a  fair  chance  of  obtaining  the  prefer- 
ment 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  I  hope  will 
furnish  some  amusement  to  the  reader : — 


•  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  elucidate  the  subject  in  hand,  I  deem  it 
most  prudent  to  leave  the  matter  to  the  decision  of  the  reader.  I  cannot  how- 
ever resist  the  temptation  to  quote  a  few  observations  with  which  I  have  been 
favoured  by  the  secretary  of  the  Gaelic  Society  of  London.  «•  Coch,  the  Welsh 
for  red,"  says  that  gentleman,  "  makes  in  English,  Cox  and  Cocka." , . .  ."  They" 
—namely,  the  surnames  in  Cock — "are  merely  Gaelic,  Cornish,  and  Welsh 
terms  (!  !),  expressive  of  personal  qualities  slightly  modified  into  English,  as — 

Algoch,  great,  Alcock, 
Stangoch,  pettish,  Stancock, 
Magoch,  clumsy  or  large-fisted, 

Macock  and  Meacock, 
Bacoch,  lame,  Bacock, 
Leacoch,  high-cheeked.  Lay  cock, 
Lucoch,  bow-legged,  Lucock, 
Peacoch,  gay,  handsome.  Peacock. 

Bochog,  blob-cheeked,  Pocock, 
Bachog,  crooked,  Bacock,  &ic.  &c." 


134  SURNAMES  DERIVED  FROM 

From  Adam  are  derived  Adams,  Adamson,  Ade,*  Adye, 

Addison,    Adcock,     Addiscot,     Addiscock^    and 

Adkins. 
Abraham,  Abrahams,  Mabb,  Mabbs,  and  Mabbot. 
Arthur,  Atts,  Atty,  Atkins,  Atkinson,  and  Atcock; 

perhaps  also  Aitkin  and  Aikin. 
Andrew,  Andrews,  Anderson,  Henderson. 
Alexander,     Sanders,     Sanderson,     Sandercock, 

Allix,  Aiken,  Alley. 
AiNULPH,  Haynes,  Hainson. 
Allan,  Allanson,  Hallet,  Elkins,  Elkinson. 
Anthony,  Tony,  Tonson,  Tonkin. 
Benjamin,  Benn,  Benson,  Bancock,  and  Benhacock. 
Baldwin,  Ball,  Bawcock,  Baldey,  Baldock. 
Bartholomew,    Batts,    Bates,    Batson,    Bartlett, 

Batcocky  Badcock,  Batty,  Batkin. 
Bernard,  Bernards,  Bemardson,  Barnett.f 
Christopher,  Christopherson,  Kister,  Kitts,Kitson. 
CuTHBERT,  Cuthbertson,  Cutts. 
C LAPPA,    an   obs.    Saxon   name,    Clapp,     Clapps, 

Clapson.J 
Crispin,  Crispe,  Cripps. 
Clement,  Clements,  Climpson. 
Charles,  Kell,  Kelson,  Kelley. 
DiGGORY,  Digg,  Digges,  Diggins,  Digginson,  Tegg  ? 
Drogo,  Drew,  Dray,  Drayson,  Brocock. 
Donald,  Donaldson,  Donkin. 
Dennis,  Denison,  Tennison. 

*  Adam  is  usually  abbreviated  to  Ade  in  the  Nonarum  Rolls,  and  other  an- 
tient  records. 

t  Often  so  corrupted . 

t  Clapham,  in  Surrey,  is  the  ham  or  house  of  •  Clappa,'  a  Saxon,  who  held 
the  manor  temp.  Confessoria. 


CHRISTIAN    NAMES.  135 

From  Daniel,  Dann,*  Daniels,  Tancock. 

DuNSTAN,  Dunn,  (if  not  from  the  colour.) 
David,    Davey,    Da%,    Davison,    Davis,    Dawes, 

Dawkins,    Dawkinson,    Dawson,    Davidge,  (i.  e. 

David's,)  &c. 
Edward,     Edwards,     Ethards,     Edes,     Edkins, 

Edwardson,  Tedd. 
Elias,  Ellis,  Ellison,  Elliot,  Elliotson,  Elson,  Elley, 

Ellet,  Lelliot. 
Edmund,  Edmunds,  Edmundson,  Munn,  Monson. 
Francis,  Frank,  Frankes. 
Fergus,  Ferguson. 

Gideon,  Gyde,  Giddy,  Giddings,  Giddies,  Geddes. 
Gilbert,  Gill,  Gillot,  Gilpin,  Gibb,  Gibbs,  Gibbon, 

Gibbons,  Gibson,  Gubbins,  Gibbings,  Gipp,  Gipps. 
Giles,  Gillies,  Gilkes.f 
Gregory,   Gregg,  Gregson,    Grocock,   Gregorson, 

Griggs. 
GoDARD  or  Godfrey,  Godkin,  Goddin,  Goad. 
Geoffry,    Jefferson,     Jeffson,    Jepson,    Jeffcock, 

Jeffries,  Jifkins. 
Henry,   Henrison,   Harry,  Harris,  Harrison,  Hal, 

Halket,    Hawes,    Halse,    Hawkins,    Hawkinson, 

Haskins,  Alcock,  Hall  (sometimes),  Herries. 
Hugh,    Hewson,    Hugget,    Huggins,    Hugginson, 

Hewet. 
Joseph,  Joskyn,  Juggins. 
John,  Johnes,  Jones,  Johnson,  Janson,  Jennings, 

Jenks,  Jenkins,  Jenkinson,  Jack,  Jackson,  Juxon, 

Hanson,  Hancock,  Hanks,  Hankinson,  Jockins. 

*  Unless  it  be  from  Dan,  an  antient  title  of  respect  from  the  Lat.  Dominus. 
t  When  the  initial  G  is  soft,  those  names  above  assigned  to  Gilbert  probably 
belong  to  Giles. 


136  SURNAMES  DERIVED  FROM 

From  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.  Isaac-OCK,) 

Hickox, 
Lawrence,  Larry,  Larkins,  Lawes,  Lawson. 
Luke,  Luckins,  Luckock^  Lacock,  Locock,  Lukin, 

Luckin,  Luckings,  Luckett. 
Matthew,  Mathews,  Matheson,  Matson,  Madison, 

Mathey,  Matty,  Maddy. 
Maurice,  Morrison,  Mockett,  Moxon. 
Mark,  Markcock,  Marks. 
Nicholas,  Nicholls,   Nicholson,   Nickson, .  Nixon, 

Cole,  Colet,  Colson,  Collins,  CoUison,   Glascock, 

Glasson. 
Neal  or  NiGELL,  Neale,  Neilson,  Nelkins. 
Nathaniel,  Natkins. 
Oliver,   Olliver,  Oliverson,    OUey,    Nolls,  NoUey, 

NoUekins. 
Peter,  Peterson,  Pierce,  Pierson,  Perkin,  Parkins, 

Parkinson,  Peters,  Parr,  Porson,  Parson,  (some- 
times.) 
Philip,  Phillips,  Philps,  Phipps,  Phippen,  Philpot, 

Phillot,  Philcox* 


•  "  Pillycock,  Pillycock,  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. 


CHRISTIAN    NAMES.  137 

From  Paul,  Paulett,  Pawson,  Porson,  Pocock,  Palcocky 

Palk,  PoUock. 
Patrick,  Patrickson,  Paterson,  Patson. 
Ralph,    Rawes,    Rawson,     Rawlins,    Rawlinson, 

Rason. 
Randolph,  Randalls,  Rankin,  Ranecock. 
Rhys  (Welsh.)     Ap  Rhys,  Price,  Apreece,  Preece, 

Brice. 
Richard,  Richards,  Richardson,  Ritchie,  Rickards, 

Hitchins,  Hitchinson,  Hitchcock,  Dick,  Dickson, 

Dixon,  Dickens,  Dickinson. 
Robert,   Robins,    Robinson,  Roberts,  Robertson, 

Robison,  Robson,  Roby,  Dobbs,  Dobbie,  Dobson, 

Dobbin,     Dobinson,     Hoby,     Hobbs,     Hobson, 

Hobkins,  Hopkins. 
Roger,    Rogers,     Rogerson,    Hodges,     Hodgson, 

Hodgkin,  Hodgkinson,  Hoskin  (?),  Hodd,  Hodson 

(if  not  from  Odo,)  Hudson. 
Reynold,  Renolds,  Reynoldson,  Raincock. 
Simon,     Simmonds,    Simpson,     Simmes,    Symes, 

Simcock,  Simpkin,  Simpkinson. 
Stephen,    Stephens,    Stephenson,     Stercock  (?), 

Stimson,  Stinson,  Stiff  (?),  Stebbing,  Stubbs. 
Silas  or  Silvester,  Silcock. 
Timothy,  Timms,  Timmings,  Timpson,  Timpkins. 
Thomas,    Thorn,    Thorns,    Thompson,    Thomlin, 

Thomlinson,  Tompkins,   Tampkins   (a  northern 

pronunciation),  Thompkisson,  Thompsett,  Tamp- 

sett  (northern). 
ToBiT,    Toby,    Towes,    Towson,    Tobin,    Tubbe, 

Tubbes. 
TuRCHETiL,  Turke. 


138  SURNAMES  DERIVED  FROM 

From  Theobald,  Tibbald,  Tipple  (a  murderous  corrup- 
tion),* Tipkins,  Tibbs,  Tippet!    Tibbats. 

Walter,  Walters,  Watt,  Watts,  Watson,  Watkins, 
Watkinson,  Watcock. 

William,  Williams,  Williamson,  Wills,  Wilks, 
WiUdns,  Wilkinson,  Wickens,  Wickeson,  Bill, 
Bilson,  Wilson,  Woolcock,  Woolcot,  Wilcocke 
and  Wilcoxy  TFilcoxon,  WiLet,  WiUmot,  WiUy, 
WiUis,  Wylie,  WiUott,  Till,  TiUot,  Tilson, 
Tillotson,  Tilly. 

^pparnttlg  tleribttJ  from  female  namesi : 
From  Katherine,  Kates. 

Margaret,      Marjory,      Margerison,      Margetts, 

Margetson,  Margison,  Maggs,  Magson. 
Mary,  Moll,  Malkin,  Makins,  M.eikm&on,Maycock  (?) 

The  Latin  termination  por  is  said  to  stand  for  puer, 
the  son  of,  as  Publipor,  Marcipor,  Lucipor,  which  signify 
Publii  puer,  Marci  puer,  and  Lucii  puer.f  Nor  must  it  be 
forgotten  that  the  Romans  formed  one  name  upon  another, 
as  Constans,  Constantius,  and  Constantine,  somewhat  ana- 
logous to  our  own  mode,  in  Wilks,  Wilkins,  Wilkinson,  &c. 

Camden  tells  us  of  a  landlord  at  Grantham  who  used  to 
make  a  distinction  between  guests  as  they  bore  the  full 
name  or  the  nick-name.  Thus  he  was  accustomed  to  treat 
the  Robertsons,  Johnsons,  and  Wilhamsons  with  great 
respect,  while  the  Hobsons,  Jacksons,  and  Wilsons,  fared 
in  his  hostelry  as  best  they  could.  A  "dainty  deuice,*' 
truly! 

*  I  know  a  place  called  Tipplel  Green,  which    in  old  writings  is  called 
Theobald's  Green. 
+  Camden,  p.  116. 


CHRISTIAN    NAMES.  139 

Some  christian  names  have  been  oddly  connected  with 
other  words  to  form  surnames,  as  Goodhughy  FulljameSy  Mat- 
thewman,  MarklovCy  Jackaman  (!),  Cobbledicky  on  J.  G.  N/s 
theory,  *  Dick  the  Cobbler  !')  The  name  of  John  has  at  least 
seven  of  these  strange  appendages,  viz.:  LittlejOHN,  Mickle- 
JOHN,  UpjoHN,  PrettejoHN,  ApplejOHN,  ProperjOHN, 
and  BrownjoHN  ! ! !  I  cannot  consider  these  last  corrup- 
tions of  other  names,  as  the  prefixes  seem  to  be  all  signi- 
ficant and  descriptive.  Indeed  so  common  is  the  forename 
John,  that  before  the  invention  of  regular  surnames,  these 
sobriquets  might  have  been  given  with  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  designation  for  the 
most  bulky  of  the  number;  John  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
street  might  be  called  Up-John  j  Pretty  John  was,  I  sup- 
pose, the  beau  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  oi  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.  I  know  the  Oldenbucks  will  reject 
all  this  as  inconsiderate  trifling,  but  whether  it  has  less 
probability  than  some  of  the  graver  conjectures  and  more 
learned  hypotheses  of  F.S.A.'s,  I  leave  to  the  impartiahty 
of  my  reader  to  determine. 

*  I  may  remark,  in  support  of  this  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  ! 


140  SURNAMES  FROM  NATURAL  OBJECTS 


ESSAY    VIII. 

SURNAMES    FROM    NATURAL    OBJECTS,     FROM    SIGNS 
OF    HOUSES,    ETC. 

One  would  suppose  that  when  almost  every  description 
of  locality,  whether  town,  village,  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  their  full  quota  to  the  nomenclature 
of  Englishmen,  the  few  millions  of  families  inhabiting  our 
island  would  have  aU  been  supplied  with  surnames ;  but 
no :  the  thirst  for  variety  (that  charming  word !)  was  not 
yet  satisfied ;  and  consequently  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  surnames.  I  shall  first 
attempt  a  classification  of  these  names  under  their  various 
genertty  and  then  offer  some  remarks  on  their  probable 
origin. 

First,  from  the  heavenly  bodies.   Sun,  Moone,  Star. 

From   FOUR-FOOTED  creatures.     Ass,   Bear,  Buck, 


AND   SIGNS  OF  HOUSES.  141 

(with  its  compounds,  Oldbucky  Roebuck,  Clutterbuck*) 
Badger,  Bull,  Bullock,  Boar,  Beaver,  Brock  (a  local  name 
for  the  badger),  Coney,  Catt,  Colt,  Cattle  (!),  Cow,  Calfe, 
Beer,  Doe,  Fox,  Fawn,  Good-sheep,  Goat,  Gray  (another 
provincialism  for  badger).  Hart,  Hogge,  Hare,  Hound, 
Heifer,  Kitten,  Kidd,  Lyon,  Leppard,  Lamb,f  Leveret, 
Mare,  Mules,  Mole,  Oxen,  Otter,  Panther,  Pointer,  Puss, 
Poodle  (!),  Palfrey,  Pigg,  Rabbit,  Ram,  Roe,  Setter,  Steed, 
Steere,  Squirrel,  Seal,  Stagg,  Tiger,  Talbot,  (a  mastiff — 
familiar  as  an  heraldic  word),  Tod  (a  fox),  Wildbore,  and 
Wetherhogg.  Moyle  is  the  0.  E.  for  any  labouring  beast, 
and  Capel  is  an  old  word,  signifying  a  strong  horse ;  hence 
Chaucer, 

"  And  gave  him  caples  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  widely-spread  names  of  this  kind  is  Wolfe, 
which  occurs  in  the  classical,  as  well  as  in  many  modern, 
languages,  as  Avkos  (Gr.),  Lupus  and  Lupa  (Lat.), 
Loupe  (Fr.),  Wulf  (Sax.),  and  Guelph  (Germ.) 
— the  surname  of  the  existing  royal  family  of  Great 
Britain.      The  old  baronial  name  of  Lovel  is  from  the 

*  The  word  cluttered,  in  the  northern  counties,  signifies  stirred;  hence 
Cluttkrbuck  may  possibly  mean,  a  "  stirred  buck,"— a  buck  just  roused  or 
stirred  from  his  lair.  This  name  probably  had  its  origin  in  some  circumstance 
connected  with  the  chase. 

t  Charles  Lamb,  in  reply  to  the  question,  "  Who  first  imposed  thee,  gentle 
name?"  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  his  ancestors  were  shepherds  ! 


142  SURNAMES  FROM    NATURAL  OBJECTS 

same  source.  The  original  name  of  that  family  was 
Perceval,  from  a  place  in  Normandy ;  until  Asceline,  its 
chief,  who  flourished  in  the  early  part  of  the  twelfth  century, 
acquired,  from  his  violent  temper,  the  sobriquet  of  Lupus. 
His  son  WiUiam,  earl  of  Yvery,  was  nicknamed  Lupellus, 
the  little  wolf,  which  designation  was  softened  into 
LupEL,  and  thence  to  Luvely  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  authority.f 

One  of  the  most  singular  surnames  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  amiable  name  of  Savage  Bear,  Esquire  !  ! 

Long  prior  to  the  invention  of  surnames,  our  Saxon 
ancestors  were  accustomed  to  bear  the  names  of  animals ; 
the  names' Horsa  and  Hengist,  both  signifying  a  horse. 
"The  antient  pagan  Germans  too,  especially  the 
^roBLEMEN,  did  sometimes  take  the  names  of  Beasts,  as 
one  would  be  called  a  Lion,  another  a  Bear,  another  a 
Wolf,  &c/':t  And,  in  ages  much  more  remote,  the  Greeks 
and  Romans.  Among  the  latter  we  find  multitudes  of 
such  names  as  Leo,  Ursinicus,  Catullus,  Leporius,  Aper,  &c. 
The  Persian  name  Cyrus,  means  a  dog,  and  is  possibly 
the  etymon  of  our  EngUsh  word  cur  !  Speaking  of  such 
names  the  witty  author  of  Heraldic  Anomalies  §  says  : 

"  We  should  think  Ass  and  Sow  not  very  elegant  names, 
and  yet  there  were  persons  of  respectability  at  Rome  who 

•  Burke's  Extinct  Peerage.  t  Encycl.  of  Antiq.  p.  429. 

%  Verstegan  Restit.  p.  133.  §  Vol.  I.  p.  179. 


AND  SIGNS  OF  HOUSES,  143 

bore  them — no  less  indeed  than  the  Cornelian  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  of  his  en- 
gagement, caused  an  asSy  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  hoaXf  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  carcase  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  sow  in  his  pre- 
mises, 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  compUment 
the  history  does  not  relate,  but  from  that  time  the  TremeUii 
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." 

Not  content  with  having  appropriated  the  names  of  the 
living  animals,  our  ancestors  sometimes,  oddly  enough, 
adopted  the  terms  applied  to  their  flesh,  &c.  when  dead,  as 
Mutton,  Veal,  Tripe,  Pigfat,  Gammon,  Brawn,  Giblets, 
Hogsfiesh^  and  Bacon,  These  last  two  were  borne  by  two 
innkeepers  at  Worthing,  when  a  very  small  town ;  where- 
upon a  rustic  poetaster  penned  the  ensuing  most  elegant 
stanza : — 

*  The  mistress  of  a  ladies'  semiiiary  in  a  fashionable  watering  place,  who  used 
to  advertise  her  establishment  under  this  name,  now  spells  it  Ho'flesh  .' 


144  SURNAMES  FROM  NATURAL  OBJECTS 

"  Worthing  is  a  pretty  place, 
And  if  I'm  not  mistaken, 
If  you  can't  get  any  butcher's  meat, 
There's  Hogsflesh  and  Bacon  /" 

From  BIRDS  we  borrow  the  following  names :  Birdy 
Bisset,  (Fr.  a  wild  pigeon).  Blackbird,  Bunting,  Bulfinch, 
Buzzard,  Barnacle,  Bustard,  Coote,  Crane,  Cock,  Cuckoo, 
Chick,  Chicken,  Culver  (A.-S.  a  pigeon).  Chaffinch,  Crowe, 
Capon,  Brake,  Buck,  Dove,  Daw,  Egles,  Fowle,  Finch, 
Falcon,  Goshawk,  Grouse,  Gander,  Goose,  Gosling,*  Gull, 
Goldfinch,  Hawke,  Howlett,  Heron,  Heme,  Henshaw  (that 
is,  heronshaw,  a  young  heron).  Jay,  Kite,  Linnet,  Larke, 
Mallard,  Nightingale,  Peacock,  Partridge,  Pheasant, 
Pigeon,  Parrot,  Raven,  Rooke,  Swan,  Sparrow,  Swallow, 
Starling,  Stork,  Swift,  Teale,  Thrush,  Throssell,  Wildrake, 
Wildgoose,  Woodcock,  Woodpecker,  Wren !  Also  Popin- 
jay, more  usually  contracted  to  Popjay,  the  old. English 
for  Parrot  ;f  Carnell,  a  bird — but  of  what  species  I  know 
not.     Hone  mentions  a  Christmas  carol  commencing, 

"  As  I  passed  by  a  river  side. 

And  as  I  there  did  rein  (run). 
In  argument  I  chanced  to  hear 
A  Cbrwa/ and  a  crane." 

"As  good  names  these,"  says  Camden,  "as  [the  Roman 
names]  Corvinus,  Gallus,  Picus,  Falco,  and  Livia,  that  is, 
stockedoue.'* 

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 

•  Pegge's  derivation  of  this  name,  from  Josceline,  is  not  at  all  probable. 

t  I  have  not  met  with  Owl  as  a  surname,  but  '  Towle  looks  like  an  abbreviation 
of  "At  the  Owle,"  the  meaning  of  which  will  be  discovered  a  few  pages 
forward. 


AND  SIGNS  OF  HOUSES.  145 

names  taken  from  the  "feathered  nation,"  their  pastor,  a 
very  worthy  man,  bearing  the  singularly  appropriate  name 
of  Rooke  ! 

Many  names  of  this  sort  have  been  the  subjects  of 
excellent  puns,  among  which  may  be  noticed  the  following. 
"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  lamenta- 
tions what  would  become  of  her  little  ones  ?  *  Peace, 
sweetheart,'  said  he,  *that  God  who  feedeth  the  ravens 
will  not  starve  the  herns  ;  a  speech  (says  Fuller)  censured 
as  Hght  by  some,  observed  by  others  as  prophetical ;  as 
indeed  it  came  to  pass  they  were  all  weU  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  hun- 
dred years  a  sw«w  will  arise  out  of  the  ashes:"  words  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  is  of  a  more  humorous  cast.  As 
Mr.  Jay,  an  eminent  dissenting  minister  of  Bath,  and  his 
friend  Mr.  Fuller  were  taking  an  evening  walk,  an  owl 
crossed  their  path,  on  which  Mr.  Fuller  said  to  his  compa- 
nion, "Pray,  sir,  is  that  bird  9.  jay?"  "No,  sir,"  was 
the  prompt  reply ;  "it's  not  like  a  jay, — it's  fuller  in  the 
eyes,  and/wZZer  in  the  head,  £ind  fuller  all  over  f" 

It  is  related  in  Collins' s  Peerage  that  a  certain  unmarried 
lady  once  dreamed  of  finding  a  nest  containing  seven  young 
Jinches,  which  in  course  of  time  was  reahzed  by  her  becoming 
the  wife  of  a  Mr.  Finch,  and  mother  of  seven  children. 
From  one  of  these  nestlings  is  descended  the  present  earl 
of  Winchelsea,  who  still  retains  the  surname  of  Finch. 

7 


146  SURNAMES  FROM  NATURAL.  OBJECTS 

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  districts  of  England 
and  Wales,  a  fact  that  can  excite  no  surprise  in  any  one 
who  "marks  the  conclusion"  of  the  following  epitaph  from 
Dewchurch,  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. 

As  I  gaed  donn  by  yon  house-een', 
Twa  Corbies  there  were  sitting  their  lane  j 
The  ane  unto  the  tother  did  say : — 
'  O  where  shall  we  gae  dine  to-day?' 

O  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. 


AND  SIGNS  OF  HOUSES.  147 

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  ; 
WV  ae  lock  o'  his  gowden  hair. 
We'll  theek  our  nest  when  it  blaws  bare ! 

Many  a  ane  for  him  maks  mane, 
But  none  sail  ken  where  he  is  gane ; 
Ower  his  banes  when  they  are  bare, 
The  wind  sail  blaw  for  evermair  / " 

Next  from  fishes,  come  Bream,  Burt,  Base,  Cod,  Crab, 
Cockle,  Chubb,  Dolphin,  Eel,  Flounders,  Gudgeon,  Grayling, 
Gurnard,  Haddock,  Herring,  Jack,  Ling,  Lamprey,  Mullett, 
Pilchard,  Plaice,  Piper,  Pike,  Perch,  Pikerell,  Ray,  Roach, 
Sharke,  Sturgeon,  Salmon,  Sole,  Scale,  Smelt,  Sprat,  Seal, 
Trout,  Tench,  Whiting,  Whale;  to  which  may  be  added 
Fish  and  Fisk,  the  latter  being  the  true  A.-S.  form  of  the 
same  word.  The  Romans  had  their  cognates,  Murena, 
Phocas,  Grata,  &c.* 

From  INSECTS,  Bee,  Wasp,  Fly,  Bug,  Cricket.  I  do 
not  give  these  on  my  own  authority,  for  I  never  met  with 
any  of  them.  Mr.  Monkland's  list  contains  Moth,  Spider, 
and  Summerbee.  From  reptilia.  Leech,  Worms,  and 
Blackadder. 

Then  from  the  vegetable  world  (besides  the  names 
of  trees  to  which  I  have  already  referred  as  being  borrowed 
from  some  specific  tree  of  each  species,  and  therefore 
classed  among  local  names)  we  have  Myrtle,  Box,  Holly, 

*  Camden. 


148  SURNAMES  FROM  NATURAL  OBJECTS 

Jvy,*  Crabtreet  and  Gourde  (Reed  and  Rush  are  already 
accounted  for,)  Hay,  Straw,  Cabbage,  Sage  and  Spinage, 
Leek  and  Onion,  Pepper  and  Peppercorn,'^  Barley,  Oats, 
Bean,  Peascod,  and  Vetch.  Also  Pease,  (lately  among  the 
M.P's ;)  Budd,  Flowers,  and  Leeves,  Rose  and  Lily,  Lis 
and  Blanch/lower,  Daisy  and  Primrose,  Weed  and  Nettle, 
Peach  and  Pe«r,  Nutt  and  Filbert,  Grapes,  Cherry,  and 
Sweetapple,  Orange,  Lemon,  and  PeeZ.  I  place  this  last 
name  in  juxta-position  with  the  two  preceding,  for  juxta- 
position's sake,  for  it  is  probably  a  local  name.  Some 
others   are  possibly   corruptions    of    other   words;   thus 

*  Holly  and  Ivy  were  •personated  in  the  antient  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,  my  nay,hyt  shal  not  be  I  wys. 
Let  HOLY  hafe  the  maystry ;  as  the  maner  ys : 
Holy  stand  in  the  halle,  fayre  to  behold 
Ivy  stond  without  the  dore  she  is  ful  sore  acold. 

'Say,  my  nay,  Sfc. 
Holt  and  hys  mery  men,  they  dawnsyn  and  they  syng, 
Ivy  and  hur  maydyns,  they  wepyn  and  they  wryng. 

Nay,  my  nay,  Sfc. 
In  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  for  1779,  a  correspondent,  under  the  name  of 
Kitty  Curious,  describes  an  odd  kind  of  sport  which  she  witnessed  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  HoUy 
Boy,  and  which  they  had  stolen  from  the  boys  ;  while  the  boys  revenged  them- 
selves 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  the  most  aged 
people  of  the  place,  but  could  only  learn  from  them  that  it  was  a  "  very  old 
antient  custom."  That  surnames  were  occasionally  assumed  from  such  and 
similar  mummeries,  is  confirmed  by  the  following  short  extract  from  Fabyan's 
Chronicle  (edit.  1559),  sub  anno  1302 :  "  About  Mydsomer  was  taken  a  felow 
wych  had  renued  (renewed)  many  of  Robyn  Hodes  pagentes,  which  named 
hymselfe  Grenelef,"     This  name  is  not  extinct. 

t  There  were  formerly  living  in  two  adjacent  houses  in  Deptford  Broadway, 
Mr.  P/McA;ro5e,  a  perfumer  5  agd  Mr.  Peppercorn,  a  grocer. 


AND  SIGNS  OF  HOUSES.  149 

Filbert  and  Pear  very  probably  mean  the  two  French 
Christian  names,  Philibert  and  Pierre,  while  Lemon  is  a 
corrupt  spelling  of  the  old  English  word  leman,  a  para- 
mour or  mistress,  which  often  occurs  in  Chaucer  and 
elsewhere. 

Mr.  Monkland's  MS.  affords  the  following  additional 
names  borrowed  from  vegetables,  &c. :  Ashplant,  Bays, 
Laurel,  Pippin,  Codling,  Quince,  Plum,  Damson,  Olive, 
Almond,  Nuts  (!),  Raisin,  Barberry,  Cranberry,  Plant, 
Balsam,  Woodbine,  Tulip,  Stock,  Holy-oak,  Hemp,  Poppy, 
Lupin,  Violets,  Furze,  Leaf,  Ivyleaf,  Hawthorn,  Quickset, 
Grain,  Seed,  Clover,  Garlick,  Parsley,  Beet,  and  Thistle  I 

Roser  is  an  obsolete  word  for  rose-bush  or  tree,  (Fr. 
'rosier,')  as  the  following  true  tale  from  our  unsophisti- 
cated friend  Sir  John  MaundevUe,  wiU  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  wrong 

and  sclaundred, for  whiche  cause  sche  was  demed 

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 
mercyfuUe  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  Roseres  fulle  of  roses.  And  theise 
weren  the  first  Roseres  and  roses,  bothe  white  and  rede, 
that  evere  ony  man  saugh." 

Surnames  adopted  from  the  mineral  kingdom,  are  less 


150  SURNAMES  FROM  NATURAL  OBJECTS 

numerous:  hence,  however,  we  borrow  Clayy  Chalky  CoaUy 
Irons  J  and  Ccyppery  Gold,  Silver,*  Brass j  Jewell,  Diamond, 
or  Bymond,  Sands,  Whetstone,  Hone,f  Stone,  Flint,  and 
Steele.  Some  of  these  may  be  local  names,  particularly 
Clay,  Flint,  and  Stone,  there  being  places  so  called,  situ- 
ated respectively  in  Norfolk,  Flintshire,  and  Kent.  Coke 
is  not  derived  from  charred  coal ;  it  is,  as  we  have  seen  in 
a  former  Essay,  the  old  orthography  of  cook. 

"  A  COKE  they  hadden  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.'^J 

Now,  while  it  is  quite  likely  that  a  few  of  these  names, 
from  natural  objects,  may  have  originated  from  some 
fancied  resemblance  of  their  first  bearers  to  the  animals, 
&c.  whose  names  were  assigned  them  as  sobriquets,  we 
must,  as  I  apprehend,  look  elsewhere  for  the  application 
of  the  great  majority  of  them.  Those  names  to  which  the 
prefix  LE  occurs  in  old  records,  may  be  with  safety  assigned 
to  the  characteristic  class.  The  first  Adam  le  Fox  was 
doubtless  a  clever,  knowing  fellow,  a  Httle  too  sharp  for 
his  neighbours  in  matters  of  meum  and  tuum.  Roger  le 
Buck  and  Nicholas  le  Hart,  I  should  say,  were  capital 
fellows  for  a  foot-race ;  while  Richard  le  Stere  was,  with 
equal  probability,  a  hard-working  peasant.  Hare  would 
answer  nicely  for  a  person  of  small  prowess.  Pike  for  a 
gourmand,  and  Jay  for  a  chatter-box — but  let  us  be  serious. 


*  Ricardus  d'Argent.    {Ant.  Rec.) 

t  This  is  an  antient  spelling  (gratis  rythml)  of  hand.     (Vide  Gloss,  to  Percy's 
Ant.  Rel.) 
t  Chaucer.    Prologue. 


AND  SIGNS  OF  HOUSES.  151 

The  names  of  celestial  objects,  very  many  names  of  animals, 
and  all  names  of  vegetables,  would  be  inapplicable  in  this 
manner.  I  conclude,  therefore,  that  they  were  borrowed 
from  the  signs  of  inns  and  shops,  kept  by  the  parties 
who  first  used  them.*  This  opinion  was  original  with 
me  long  before  I  had  read  Camden's  "  Remaines"  :  a 
passage  in  that  work  fully  confirms  it : 

"Many  names  that  seeme  vnfitting  for  men,  as  of 
brutish  beasts,  &c.  come  from  the  very  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  Boljphirit  Will  at  the  Bully  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."f 

Hence  the  names  of  persons  derived  from  natural  objects 
may  be  most  satisfactorily  accounted  for — even  those  bor- 
rowed from  the  heavenly  bodies ;  for  the  Sun,  [Half-] 
Moon,  and  Star,  were  formerly  among  the  most  famiUar 
signs  of  shops,  as  they  still  continue  to  be  of  inns  and 
public-houses. 

Having  accounted  for  this  extensive  class  of  surnames, 

*  These  signs  were  not  the  least  curious  feature  of  "  London  in  the  Olden 
Tyme."  Every  quadruped,  from  the  lyon  and  hee-cow  (!)  down  to  the  hedgehogge 
—every  bird  from  the  eagle  to  the  wrenne— every  fysshe  of  the  sea—almost  every 
known  object  in  nature,  in  fact,  was  employed  by  the  good  citizens  to  excite  the 
attention  of  passers-by  to  the  various  wares  exhibited  for  sale.  The  numbering 
of  shops  and  houses  is  of  comparatively  recent  introduction,  although  it  is  as  su- 
perior in  point  of  convenience  to  the  antient  practice,  as  are  the  fine  modern 
buildings  to  the  round-about  timber  edifices  which  existed  before  the  great  con- 
flagration of  •«  sixty-six." 

t  Remaines,  p.  102. 


153  SURNAMES  FROM  NATURAL  OBJECTS 

it  becomes,  at  once,  an  easy  matter  to  dispose  of  another, 
and  not  less  remarkable  class.  I  mean  those  names  that 
are  derived  from  commodities,  articles  of  dress,  imple- 
ments, and  others  of  a  similar  kind,  which  bye  and  bye  I 
shall  mention.  They  are,  I  think,  almost  without  excep- 
tion, borrowed  from  signs  of  houses  and  inns.  Formerly 
every  tradesman  had  his  sign,  and  generally  it  bore  some 
reference  to  the  commodities  disposed  of  under  it.  This 
practice  is  still  retained  in  many  towns  on  the  continent. 
The  city  of  Malines  is  said  to  abound  with  them,  and  they 
add  much  to  the  picturesque  effect  of  the  streets  of  that 
remarkable  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  occa- 
sionally find  the  Golden  Fleece  at  the  Drapers',  the  Pestle 
and  Mortar  at  the  Apothecaries',  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  antient 
fashion,   and  are  certainly  preferable  to  such  names  as 

*  Commerce     House,'      *  Waterloo     Establishment,'     and 

*  Albion  House,'  by  which  enterprising  traders  dignify 
their  shops.  A  collection  of  antient  signs  in  any  given 
place  would  be  a  curious  and  not  uninteresting  document. 
A  great  number  of  them  might  be  collected  from  the 
imprints  of  old  books,  among  which  I  recoUect,  at  this 
moment,  the  Rose  and  Crown;  the  Angel,  the  Black  Raven, 
the  Hedgehog,  the  Bible,  (on  London  Bridge),  the  Star 
and  Garter,  &c. ;  being  the  signs  chosen  by  printers  of 
former  times. 

*  Vide  Gent.  Mag.    March,  1842. 


AND  SIGNS  OF  HOUSES.  153 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  names  adopted  from 
signs  generally  originated  in  towns,  as  such  names  as 
Field,  Wood,  and  Grove,  did  in  the  country;  a  consider- 
ation not  devoid  of  some  interest,  as  from  it  a  conclusion 
may  be  arrived  at  as  to  whether  one's  ancestors  were  citi- 
zens or  *  rusticall  men.' 

In  Pasquin's  "Night-Cap,"  printed  in  1612,  we  have 
the  following  lines,  which  show  that  at  that  comparatively 
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  man  ; 
Then  maister  Thomas  that  doth  stockings  sell ; 
A  nd  George  the  grocer  at  the  Frying-pan  ; 

And  maister  Timothie  the  woollen-draper; 

And  maister  Salamon  the  leather-scraper ; 

And  maister  Franke  ye  goldsmith  at  the  Rose  ; 

And  maister  Phillip  with  the  fiery  nose. 

And  maister  Miles  the  mercer*  at  the  Harrow  ; 
And  maister  Nicke  the  silkman  at  the  Ploiv  ; 
And  maister  Giles  the  sailer  at  the  Sparrow  ; 
And  maister  Dicke  the  vintner  at  the  Coiv  ; 

And  Harry  Haberdasher  at  the  Home; 

And  Oliver  the  dyer  at  the  Thome  ; 
And  Bernard,  barber-surgeon  at  the  Fiddle ; 
And  Moses,  merchant- tailor  at  the  Needlel'^f 

The  following  names  are  obviously  derived  from  this 
source :  Bullhead,  Silversj)oon,  Image,  Rainbow,  Bell, 
Posnet  (a  purse  or  money-bag).  Grapes,  Tankard,  Pitcher, 
Scales,  Crosskeys,  Fyrebrand,  Home,  Potts,  Hammer, 
Funnell,    Baskett,    Board,    Bowles,   Hamper,    Tabor    (or 

•  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  12th  century. 

t  Vide  Gent.  Mag.    Jan.  1842. 

7§ 


154  SURNAMES  FROM  NATURAL  OBJECTS 

drum),  Cowlstick,  Cade,  Cottrelly  Cresset.  Most  of  these 
are  quite  intelligible,  but  some  others  require  explanation, 
as,  for  instance,  Cowlstick  (often  refined  to  Costic.)  A 
cowl  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  cowlstick.  Cade  is  an 
old  word  for  a  barrel  or  cask,  and  hence  a  very  appro- 
priate sign  for  an  alehouse  or  tavern.*  Cottrell, 
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  most  probably  derived  from  a  very 
different  source.  A  Cresset  was  a  machine  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 

•  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  loca- 
lities 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  recklessness  of  this  villain's 
character  is  illustrated  by  the  tradition  of  the  district,  that  he  was  engaged  in 
the  rustic  game  of  bowls  in  the  garden  of  a  little  alehouse  at  Heathfield  when 
the  well-aimed  arrow  of  the  Kentish  sheriff  inflicted  the  fatal  wound. 


AND  SIGNS  OF  HOUSES. 


155 


materials  and  a  light.     Shakspeare  and  Milton  both  allude 
to  the  cresset  as  a  familiar  object: 

"  The  front  of  heaven  was  full  of  fiery  shapes 
Of  burning  cressets.'^  (  Henry  I V.  1 .) 

*'  Pendant  by  subtle  magic  many  a  row 
Of  starry  lamps  and  blazing  cressets."      (  Farad.  Lost.) 


I  have  made  the  annexed  sketch  of  a  cresset  from  a  de- 
scription in  Fosbroke's  Encyclopaedia:  I  cannot  answer 
for  its  being  very  correct.     A  "  cresset  with  burning  fire" 


156  SURNAMES  FROM  NATURAL  OBJECTS 

was  formerly  a  badge  of  the  Admiralty.     In  the  Coventry 
Mysteries,  p.  270,  we  read — 

This  name.  Cresset,  is  the  designation  of  at  least  one  family 
of  gentry ;  and  should  my  humble  lucubrations  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  signs  over  their 
doors — when  they  call  to  remembrance  that  all  families  of 
gentle  blood  must  have  been  amongst  the  plebeian  ranks  of 
society,  till  some  adventitious  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  necessarily  have  been  trades- 
men ;  and  it  is  probable  that  many  of  our  great  houses  of 
Norman  origin,  on  tracing  their  pedigrees  beyond  the 
Conquest  (were  such  a  thing  possible),  would  find  them- 
selves sprung  from  the  poor  and  servile  peasantry  of 
Normandy.  For  pride  of  ancestry  there  is  perhaps  no 
antidote  more  salutary  or  more  humiliating  than  a  calm 
consideration  of  the  question  proposed  by  the  jester  to 
the  Emperor  MaximiHan,  when  engaged,  one  day,  in  mak- 
ing out  his  pedigree : 

«i)m  ^am  ^tlhtti  ant»  (Bbt  ^pan, 
"W^txt  toais  ti^en  ti)t  gentltman? 

Bicher staff  (with  its  corruption  Bickersteth),  was  proba- 
bly 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  bickered  upon  the  bent 
With  their  broad  arrows  clear." 


AND  SIGNS  OF  HOUSES.  157 

Several  names  are  borrowed  from  habiliments  of  the 
person,  as  Copey  Mantell,  Coates,  Cloakcj  Meddlicote, 
(that  is,  a  coat  of  many  or  mixed  colours,  a  favorite  fashion 
of  our  ancestors,)  BooteSy  Sandally  Froche,  Hosey  Hat, 
Capp,  Peticotey  Freemantle,  GaicotCy*  and  Mapes.f  I  have 
no  doubt  that  aU  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  Southwerk  at  the  Tabard  as  I  lay, 
Redy  to  wenden  on  my  pilgrimage 
To  Canterbury  with  devout  corage, 
At  night  was  come  into  that  hostelrie, 
Wei  nine  and  twenty  in  a  compagnie. 
Of  sondry  folk,  by  aventure  yfalle 
In  felawship,  and  pilgrimes  were  they  alle, 
That  toward  Canterbury  wolden  ride."| 

Some  of  the  names  borrowed  from  habiliments,  how- 
ever, 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  Second,  given 
him  from  his  having  introduced  the  fashion  of  wearing 
shorter  mantles  than  had  been  previously  used.  This  rule 
was  reversed  in  later  days  by  one  Spencer,  who  gave  his 
surname  to  the  article  bearing  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  confi- 

*  Camden.  t  Vide  Archaeologist,  vol.  i.  p.  102. 

±  Chauc.  Cant.  Tales,  Prologue. 


158  SURNAMES  FROM  NATURAL  OBJECTS 

dent  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 ! 

Hugh  Capet,  the  founder  of  the  royal  line  of  France  in 
the  tenth  century,  is  said  to  have  acquired  that  surname 
from  a  freak  of  which,  in  his  boyhood,  he  was  very  fond ; 
that  of  snatching  off  the  caps  of  his  playfellows. 

The  names  derived  from  parts  of  armour,  as  Helme, 
Shield,  Greaves,  Swords,Buckler,  Gauntlett,Gunn,Muskett, 
Shotbolt,  and  Broadspear,  were  also,  in  all  probability, 
signs  of  inns  kept  by  those  who  first  bore  them.  Some 
similar  names,  however,  originated  from  fashions  in  war- 
like implements,  and  were  given  to  the  persons  who  first 
used  them.  Strongbow,  the  cognomen  of  the  famous  Earl 
of  Pembroke,  and  Fortescue,  that  is,  strong-shield,  are  of 
this  kind.  Longespee,  the  cognomen  of  WiUiam  first  Earl 
of  Salisbury,  and  son  of  Fair  Rosamond,  was  given  him 
from  his  using  a  longer  sword  than  usual ;  and  WilHam, 
son  of  Robert  de  Belesme,  earl  of  Shrewsbury,  gained  the 
name  of  Talvas  from  the  kind  of  shield  so  called.* 

This  hypothesis  respecting  signs  enables  us  to  account 
for  such  surnames  as  Angel,  Saint,  Apostles,  Martyr, 
which  could  never  have  been  applied  with  propriety  to 
any  living  person.  The  Angel  is  still  a  common  sign  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 

•  Camden. 


AND  SIGNS  OF  HOUSES.  159 

Catton  Wheel.  Indeed,  I  am  not  quite  sure  whether  it 
has  not  been  corrupted  still  further  to  the  Cat  and  Wheel ! 
There  are  some  other  names  of  a  religious  cast,  as  Crucifix, 
Hallowbready  Fix,  a  little  chest  for  the  reception  of  the 
consecrated  host;  Pascall,  another  utensil  used  in  the 
service  of  the  church ;  and  Porteus,  a  breviary  or  priest's 
office-book, to  which  I  am  disposed  to  assign  the  same  origin. 

Several  surnames  are  from  the  names  of  articles  of  diet  ; 
as  Figg  (a  most  excellent  name  for  a  grocer).  Buttery 
Dryhutter,  Salt,  Sugar,  Ale,  Suet,  Honey,  Pepper, 
Mustard,  Pickles,  Perry,  Syder,*  and  Beer.  This  last 
(and  perhaps  some  of  the  others)  may  be  of  the  local  class, 
there  being  two  towns  of  that  name  in  Devonshire,  namely, 
Beer-Ferris  and  Beer-Alston.  Salt,  Sugar,  and  Suet  could 
never  have  been  signs  of  houses,  whence  I  conclude  they 
were  first  given  as  sobriquets  to  persons  who  dealt  in  such 
articles. 

I  have  already  extended  the  present  Essay  beyond  due 
bounds,  but  I  must  not  close  it  without  adverting  to  one 
other  batch  of  names:  I  mean  those  derived  from  the 
heathen  divinities  and  celebrated  personages  of  antiquity, 
whose  names  and  portraitures  doubtless,  in  former  days, 
adorned  some  of  the  signs  of  which  I  have  already  said  so 
much.  Of  the  former  we  have  Venus,  Mars,  and  Bacchus,-f 
and   of  the   latter  Homer,    Tullsy,    Vergil,   Ccesar,   and 

*  A  friend  remarks,  "The  Italian  Peray  is  at  least  as  likely  a  derivation, 
and,  at  all  events,  a  more  costly  liquor."  Syder  is  probably  synonymous  with 
Sidesman,  the  name  of  an  office. 

t  I  am  rather  afraid  we  must  be  content  with  a  much  humbler  origin  for  this 
name,  viz.  '  Bakehouse.'  Backhouse  and  Bacus  are  similar  corruptions,  In 
some  districts,  house,  as  a  termination,  is  often  corrupted  to  us,  e.  g.  Stonehouse 
to  Stonnus,  Woodhouse  to  Woodus,  Dovehouse  to  Duffus,  and  Malthouse  to 
Malthus.    (Mad.  d'Arblay's  Mem.) 


160  SURNAMES  FROM  NATURAL  OBJECTS,  ETC. 

Horace. "^  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  dis- 
sertation, "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 !" 

The  failure  of  a  person  named  Homer  once  gave  rise  to 
the  following  admirable  puns  : 

"  That  Homer  should  a  bankrupt  be 
Is  not  so  very  odd-d'ye-see, 
If  it  be  true,  as  I'm  instructed. 
So  ILL-HE-HAD  his  books  conducted  !"t 

*  Had  we  not  evidence  that  such  names  as  Colbrand,  Gup,  and  Bevis  were 
antiently  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  myghtie  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  Southampton,  the  scene  of  his 
giantship's  adventures,  a  family  of  Bevis,  who  from  time  immemorial  have  been 
located  there ;  but  whether  they  are  lineally  or  collaterally  descended  from  this 
giant  (whose  effigies  still  adorn  the  Bar-gate  of  the  town,)  I  leave  to  the  proper 
authorities  at  the  Herald's  College  to  determine. 

The  name  of  Littlejohn  I  formerly  imagined  to  be  borrowed  from  the  far-famed 
compeer  of  that  most  redoubtable  deer-killing,  bishop-robbing,  and  sheriff-tor- 
menting  wight.  Master  Robyn  Hood  of  Nottinghamshire.  That  the  name  of  a 
person  so  popular,  so  courageous,  and  so  worthy  in  some  respects  as  this  antient 
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  circum- 
stance by  no  means  extraordinary. 

t  Heraldic  Anomalies. 


SURNAMES  FROM  SOCIAL  RELATIONS,  ETC.  161 


ESSAY    IX. 

SURNAMES   FROM   THE    SOCIAL   RELATIONS,    PERIODS  OF 
AGE,  TIME,  ETC. 

There  are  several  English  surnames  derived  from  con- 
sanguinity, alliance,  and  other  social  relations,  originating, 
as  Camden  thinks,  from  there  having  been  two  or  more 
persons  bearing  the  same  Christian  name  in  the  same 
neighbourhood;  as  Fader y  Brothers^  CotmnSj  Husband, 
Young-husbandj  Batchelor,  Kinsman,  Lover,  Paramour,* 
Guest,  Stranger,  Prentice,  Master,  Masterman,  Friend,f 
and  Foe.  Here,  for  want  of  a  more  appropriate  place,  I 
may  add  Mann,  Boys,  Goodboys,  Littleboys,  Littlechild, 
Stripling,  Suckling,  Baby  (^\),X   Child,^   Children  (I),  and 

*  Lei/child  seems  to  be  the  old  English  form  of  love-child,  1.  e  an  ille- 
gitimate. 

t  The  common  surname  BeUamj/  is  derived,  according  to  Bailey,  from  the 
French  Bbl-Ami,  fair  Friend ;  while  Farebrother  is  probably  a  corruption  of 
father-brother,  a  Scottish  term  for  uncle. 
i^  I  have  three  authorities  for  this  name. 

§  CJiild  is  frequently  used  by  our  old  writers  as  a  title.  It  seems  to  be  equiva< 
lent  to  Knight.  In  the  "  Faerie  Queen"  it  is  applied  to  the  son  of  a  king.  Child 
Waters,  the  Child  of  Rile  and  Gil  or  CAzVd-Morice,  are  personages  well  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  knight  he  pricked  his  steed  ; 
Syr  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  by  the 
eldest  son ;  and  the  appellation  was  continued  until  he  succeeded  to  the  title  of 
his  ancestors,  or  gained  new  honours  by  his  prowess."    {Lond.  Encyc.  1836.) 


162  SURNAMES  FROM  SOCIAL  RELATIONS, 

Gasson,  which  looks  like  a  corruption  of  GAR90N  (Fr.),  a 
boy.  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  com- 
pounds, is,  in  all  Hkelihood,  a  mis-spelling  and  false  pro- 
nunciation of  the  French  bois,  a  wood.  The  French 
surname  Du  Bois,  naturalized  amongst  us,  is  equivalent  to 
our  Attwood,  &c.  To  such  names  of  distinction  also  be- 
long Rich  and  Poorer  Fassall,  Bond,  FreemaUy  Freeborn, 
and  Burr  ell.  Borel  is  used  in  Chaucer  in  the  sense  of 
LAY,  as  Borel-clerks,  lay  clerks,  Borel-folk,  laymen. 

The.  surname  of  Wardedu  or  War  deux,  formerly  borne 
by  the  feudal  lords  of  Bodiham,  co.  Sussex,  is  of  very 
singular  origin.  Henry,  a  younger  son  of  the  house  of 
Monceux,  was  a  ward  of  the  Earl  of  Ou  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  from  which  circumstance  he  left  his  antient  patro- 
nymic, and  assumed  that  of  "Ward  de  Ou.  This  Henry 
Wardeou  or  Wardedu  was  knight  of  the  shire  for  Sussex 
in  1302.* 

Closely  connected  with  the  foregoing  are  the  names  de- 
rived from  periods  of  age,  as  Young,  Younger,  Youngman, 
Eld,  and  Senior,  Rathbone  is  from  the  Saxon,  and  signi- 
fies "an  early  gift."  This  class  of  surnames  presents 
some  very  strange  anomalies  ;  for  instance,  though  Eld  or 
Senior  might  serve  very  weU  to  designate  a  man  in  the 
decline  of  life,  how  could  it  apply  to  his  children? 
"Yong,"   says  Verstegan,  was  derived  from  one's  "few- 


*  See  a  very  interesting  little  work,  lately  published,  called  •*  Gleanings  re- 
specting Battel  and  its  Abbey,"  p.  63. 


AND  PERIODS  OF  AGE  AND  TIME.  163 

ness  of  yeares ;"  if  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  have  left  the  whole  of  his  property 
to  pubUc  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  several  names,  as  Spring, 
Summer,  Winter.  The  writer  of  the  article  "  Names,"  in 
the  Penny  Cyclopaedia,  thinks  these  three  corruptions  of 
other  words,  because  the  remaining  season.  Autumn,  does 
not  stand  as  a  surname.  Thus,  he  says.  Spring  signifies  a 
hill;  Summer,  somner ;*  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  speUing  of 
Otham  or  Hotham,  although  I  am  quite  aware  that  some 
famiUes  bearing  that  designation  take  it  from  places 
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 :  Dai/, 
with  its  compounds  Goodday  and  Doubleday ;  Evening, 
Weekes ;  March,  May;  Sunday,  Monday,  Friday; 
Christmas  (and  Noel,  Fr.),  Easter,  Paschall,  Pentecost, 
Middlemiss,    that    is,    if    I    mistake    not,    Michaelmas; 

*  See  p.  106. 


164  SURNAMES  FROM   SOCIAL  RELATIONS, 

Holidayy  Midwinter,*  &c.  Domesday  seems  to  be  a  cor- 
ruption of  "  domus  dei,"  a  name  given  to  some  religious 
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  having  been  "  borne 
at  the  rising  of  the  VirgiHse  or  seven  stars,  as  Pontanus 
learnedly  writeth  against  them  which  write  the  name 
VirgiHus."t 

Perhaps  most  of  these  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 
De  Foe  makes  Robinson  Crusoe  give  to  his  savage  is  ex- 
tremely natural.  Perhaps  they  were  occasionally  given  to 
foundlings  :  thus,  in  Crabbe's  "  Parish  Register  :" 

"  Some  hardened  knaves  that  roved  the  country  round, 
Had  left  a  babe  within  the  parish  bound, 

Hi  Hi  :ki  ^  Hi  'Hfi 

But  by  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. 
This  known,  how  food  and  raiment  they  might  give 
Was  next  debated,  for  the  rogue  would  live! 
At  last,  with  all  their  words  and  work  content, 
Back  to  their  homes  the  prudent  vestry  went, 
And  Richard  Monday  to  the  workhouse  sent." 


*  Mr.  Monkland's  MS.  contains  the  additional  names  of  Thursday,  Harvest, 
August,  Dawn,  Noon,  Eve,  and  Morrow. 
^  Remaines,  p.  111. 


AND  PERIODS  OF  AGE  AND  TIME.  165 

The  following  surnames  may  find  a  place  here :  Soone, 
Later  J  Latter,  Last,  and  Quickly.  Well  may  Master 
Camden  say  of  such,  "  To  find  out  the  true  originall  of 
Surnames  is  full  of  difficulty ;"  and  I  shall  not  waste  good 
time  and  paper  by  any  attempt  to  guess  at  their  origin. 
There  is  also  another  commodity  of  which  I  should  regret 
the  loss  still  more  :  to  wit,  the  patience  of  the  reader.  I 
shall  therefore  close  this  short  Essay  by  thanking  him  for 
his  indulgence,  and  announcing  a  shorter. 


166  A  CABINET  OF  ODDITIES. 


Eg"SAY    X. 

A  CABINET  OF  ODDITIES. 

"  Odd,  very  odd !" 

Old  Play* 

There  are  a  good  many  surnames  which  seem  to  have 
originated  in  sheer  caprice,  as  no  satisfactory  reason  for 
their  assumption  can  be  assigned.  I  doubt,  indeed,  if 
they  were  ever  assumed  at  all,  for  they  have  very  much 
the  appearance  of  what,  in  these  days,  we  are  accustomed 
to  call  nicknames  or  sobriquets^  and  were  probably  given 
by  others  to  the  persons  who  were  first  known  by  them, 
and  so  identified  with  those  persons  that  neither  they  nor 
their  immediate  posterity  could  well  avoid  them. 

To  this  family  belong  the  names  borrowed  from  parts 
OF  THE  HUMAN  FIGURE,  which  are  somewhat  numerous. 
There  were  lately  living,  in  a  very  small  village  about  ten 
miles  from  Lewes,  three  cottagers  bearing  the  singular 
names  of  Head,  Body,  and  Shoulders  I  It  may  not  be 
unamusing  to  classify  this  description  of  names  according 
to  their  proper  position  in  the  human  frame,  thus  : 

Head,  with  its  numerous  compounds,  which  are  already 
accounted  for,  with  Pate,  and  Skull,  Face  and  Fore- 
head ! 

Haire,  and  that  of  various  colours. 

Cheeke. 

♦  At  least  I  dare  say  so,  for  I  am  not  a  reader  of  old  plays.  I  believe  it  is 
generally  understood  that  authors  are  at  full  liberty  to  coin  a  motto,  and  to  as- 
cribe it  to  any  imaginary  source  that  may  strike  their  fancy. 


A  CABINET  OF  ODDITIES.  167 

Mouth,  Tongue,  Tooth,  Gum  and  Gumboil  ! 

Chin  and  Beard. 

It  must  not  be  imagined  that  I  have  overlooked  the 
nose :  that  was  too  prominent  a  feature  to  be  forgotten. 
It  generally  occurs  in  composition  with  other  words,  how- 
ever, and  in  its  antient  form  of  nesse ;  as  Thicknesse, 
thick-nose  ;  Bednesse,  red-nose  ;  Longnesse,  long-nose  ;  and 
Filtnessey  which,  if  I  may  be  allowed  a  jocular  etymology, 
is  no  other  than  "  fcedus  nasus,"  or,  in  plain  EngUsh,  foul- 
nose  f     Having  thus  disposed  of  the  head,  I  proceed  to  the 

Neck  and  Shoulders,  and  thence  to  the 

Body  (with  its  compounds  Goodbody,  Freebody,  which 
are  mental  rather  than  personal  epithets). 

Side,  Back,  Bones,  and  Skin,*  with  Joint  and 
Blood  and  Marrow. 

Heart  (with  Great-heart,  &c.) 

Belly,  Bowell,  and  Kidney,  with  its  Fat. 

Arms,  Hands,  Fist,  and  Nailes  !  Next,  in  respect  of 
the  "  nether  man," 

Shanks  and  LEGGE,f  with  its  Knee-bone.  In  our 
downward  progress  we  pass  the  Shin  and  the 

Foote,  with  its 

Toe,  Heele,  and  Sole,  where  having  reached  "terra 
firma,"  we  remain  as  much  in  the  dark  as  ever  as  to  the 

•  Skin  and  Bone  were  the  namea  of  two  millers  at  Manchester  on  whom  Dr. 
Byrom  wrote:— 

*'  Bone  and  Skin,  two  millers  thin. 
Would  starve  us  all  or  near  it ; 
But  be  it  known  to  Skin  and  Bone, 
That  yiesh  and  blood  can't  bear  it." 
t  Some  of  these  names  may  have  been  borrowed  from  signs  of  houses.    Vide 
Essay  VIII.    In  an  old  ballad  called  *  London's  Ordinary,'  we  read  :— 
"  The  hosiers  will  dine  at  the  Leg, 
The  drapers  at  the  sign  of  the  Brush,  &c." 


168  A  CABINET  OF  ODDITIES. 

motives  which  led  our  whimsical  ancestors  to  the  adoption 
of  such  very  absurd  and  extraordinary  surnames. 

Names  of  this  sort  are  not  confined  to  the  human  body, 
for  we  have  several  that  seem  to  have  been  borrowed  from 
parts  of  the  inferior  animals,  as  MaWy  HorUj  Wing, 
Feathery  Scutty  Beaky  Crowfooty  and  Shell. 

Then  there  is  another  set  of  names  not  much  less  ridi- 
culous, namely,  those  borrowed  from  coins  and  denomi- 
nations of  money;  as  Farthing y  Halfpenny y  Penny y'^ 
Twopenny,  Thickpennyy  Moneypennyy  Manypennyy  Fenny- 
morey  GrotCy  Tester y  and  Pound;  also  Pringle  and  Bodle, 
two  obsolete  Scottish  coins.  The  last,  however,  may  be  a 
corruption  of  Bothwell,  as  the  name  of  the  coin  was  taken 
from  that  of  the  person.  Angely  NobUy  and  Marky  although 
names  of  coins,  are  referrible  to  other  classes  of  names  al- 
ready discussed.     Besides  these  we  have 

From  the  weather,  &c.  Frosty  SnoWy  Haily  and 
Hailstoney  Rainy y  Thundery  Tempesty  Foggy  Fairday,  and 
Fairweathery  GaUy  Breezey  ShowerSy  Sunshiney  FineweatheVy 
Misty  and  Dew  I 

From  sports  and  amusements.  Bowles,  Bally  Byce, 
Dodd,  Cards,  &c.  ;  to  which  may  be  added  Fairplay  and 
Playfair. 

From  VESSELS  and  their  parts,  &c..  Ship,  Cutter 
(inn  signs),  Barge,  Boat,  Wherry,  Beck,  Forecastle,  Keel, 
Locker,  Tackle,  Rope,  Cable,  Anchor  (an  inn  sign).  Mast, 
Helm,  and  Rudder. 

From  PACES.     Trot,  Gallop,  Canter  (?). 


*  Upon  a  person  of  this  name  some  one  wrote  the  following  distich  by  way  of 

epitaph : 

**  Reader,  If  cash  thou  art  in  want  of  any. 

Dig  four  feet  deep,  and  thou  shalt  find  a  Penny  !" 


A    CABINET    OF    ODDITIES.  169 

From  MEASURES.  Gill,  Gallon,  Peck,  Bushell,  Bagg, 
Measures,  Cuhitt,  Yard,  Hal/yard,  Furlong,  and  Inches. 

From  PREDILECTIONS.  Loveday,  Loveland,  Lovethorpe 
(thojip,  A.-S.,  a  village),  Lovegrove,  &c. 

From  NUMBERS.  Six,  Ten,  Eighteen,  Forty e  ;'^  also 
Once  and  Twice  !  and 

From  DISEASES.  Cramp,  Akinside,  Headache,  Akin- 
head,  and  Ague  !  !  !  f 

Is  our  motto  realized  ? 

*  These  names  seem  so  absurd,  that  one  would  be  induced  to  pronounce  them 
corruptions  of  others,  had  we  not  similar  names  from  various  countries ;  for 
Instance,  there  were  lately  at  Rome  two  Cardinals,  Settantadue  and  Quarantotto, 
the  Italian  for  *  seventy-two'  and  '  forty-eight.'  The  name  of  the  eminent 
sculptor  Trentanove  signifies  'thirty-nine!'  In  Belgium  there  is  a  family 
called  Vilain  Quatorze  or  '  fourteen-rascal  !' 

+  ^feinside.  Headache,  y4/finhead  and  ^^ue  may  be  local  from  the  A.-S.  ac, 
an  oak. 


170  SURNAMES   OF  CONTEMPT. 


ESSAY  XL 

SURNAMES  OF    CONTEMPT;    AND  MORE  ODDITIES  IN  THE 
NOMENCLATURE  OF  ENGLISHMEN. 

It  is  really  remarkable  that  many  surnames  expressive 
of  bodily  deformity  or  moral  turpitude  should  have  de- 
scended to  the  posterity  of  those  who  perhaps  well  deserved 
and  so  could  not  escape  them,  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  act  of  villany,  or  at  least  a  '  suspi- 
cious 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  four  or  five  centuries  ago,  and  we  know 
from  antient  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  indifference.  Lord  Coke  observes  :  "  It  is 
requisite  that  a  purchaser  be  named  by  the  name  of  bap- 
tism 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  rolls  in  1730, 
who,  in  giving  judgment  upon  the  case  (Barlow  v.  Bateman),  remarked,  'I  am 


SURNAMES  OF  CONTEMPT.  171 

Names  of  this  kind  are  not  very  numerous  in  England  ; 
still  we  have  Bad,  TrollopCy  that  is,  slattern  ;  Stunt,  that 
is,  fool;  Outlaw,  Wanton,  Silly,  Silliman ;  Parnell  (an 
immodest  woman).  Bastard,  Trash,  Harlott,  Hussey, 
Gubbins  (the  refuse  parts  of  a  fish),  and  Gallows,  which 
strongly  implies  that  the  founder  of  that  family  attained  a 
very  exalted,  though  at  the  same  time  unenviable,  station 
in  the  world !  Kennard,  antiently  Kaynard,  from  caignard 
(Fr.),  literally  signifies  "you  dog!"  which  assuredly 
merits  a  place  among  surnames  of  contempt.  The  same 
word,  in  a  figurative  sense,  means  a  sordid  fellow,  a  miser. 
Dudman,  according  to  Bailey,  means  '  a  malkin,  or  scare- 
crow, a  hobgoblin,  a  spright !'  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  place  in  Yorkshire.* 
Bene  or  Bean  is  an  expression  of  contempt,  the  meaning 
of  which  is  not  ascertained. f  Cheale  in  the  southern  dia- 
lect is  probably  the  same  with  chield  in  the  north,  where 
it  is  applied  to  persons  in  a  shght,  contemptuous  manner.;]: 
The  A.-S.  Eeoj\le,  whence  our  modern  English  *  churl,'  is 
probably  the  root. 

Many  of  the  names  mentioned  in  former  Essays  might 
be  placed  among  these  surnames  of  contempt.  Such,  also, 
are  a  variety  of  those  indicative  of  ill-formed  Hmbs  or  fea- 
tures, as  Crookshanks,  Longshanks,  Sheepshanks,  Greathead, 


satisfied  the  usage  of  passing  acts  of  parliament  for  the  taking  upon  one  a  sur- 
name 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." 
(Archceologia,  vol.  xviii,  p.  110.) 

*  Craven,  antiently  a  term  of  disgrace  when  the  party  that  was  overcome  in 
a  single  combat  yielded  and  cried  Cravent,  &c.     {Bailey's  Bictionaj-y.) 

t  Vide  Percy's  Ant.  Rel.  X  lb.  Gloss,  voc.  Chield. 


172  SURNAMES  OF  CONTEMPT. 

Longnesse,  &c.  The  antient  Romans,  like  ourselves,  had 
many  family  names  implying  something  defective  or  dis- 
graceful. 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 !  Tlie 
meanness  of  the  origin  of  some  of  the  patrician  families 
was  hinted  at  in  their  names.  The  illustrious  Fahii  de- 
rived their  name  from  being  excellent  cultivators  of  beans, 
and  the  Pisones  theirs  from  their  having  improved  the 
growth  of  pease.  The  Suilli  were  descended  and  denomi- 
nated from  a  swine-herd,  the  Bubulci  from  a  cow-herd, 
and  the  Porci  from  a  hog-butcher !  Strabo  would  have 
been  with  us  a  Mr.  Squintum,  Naso  (Ovid)  a  Mr.  Bignose, 
and  Publius,  the  propraetor,  a  Mr.  Snubnose.  Cincinnatus, 
and  the  curly  poll  of  the  Dainty  Davie  of  Scottish  song, 
are,  strange  to  say,  identical  ideas.*  The  modern  Itahans 
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  If 

To  this  place  may  also  be  referred  the  by-names  of 
kings,  as  Unready,  Shorthose,  Sans-terre,  Crookback. 
"William  the  Conqueror  was  so  little  ashamed  of  the  ille- 
gitimacy of  his  birth  that  he  sometimes  commenced  his 
charters  with  William  the  Bastard,  &c.  ! 

Among  other  names  not  yet  mentioned  may  be  noticed 
Whalebelly  (for  which,  with  all  the  rest  that  follow,  I 
have  authority),  the  designation,  probably,  of  some  cor- 
pulent person ;  Rotteuy  Bubblejaw,  and  Bottenherym/,  a 
»ame  which  occurs  in  some  antient  records  of  the  town 

♦  Chambers's  Edinburgh  Journal,  t  Ibid, 


MORE    ODDITIES.  1/3 

of  Hall,  and  was  most  likely  gWen,  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 
Save-all  designate  a  miserly  fellow  !  and  Scrape-skin  would 
answer  the  same  purpose  admirably.  Doubleman  would 
be  odious  if  it  related  to  duplicity  of  character,  but  humo- 
rous if  it  originated  in  some  person's  being  double  the  size 
of  ordinary  people.  Stabback  and  KUlmaster  are  really 
horrible. 

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  dili- 
gent search  into  our  own  antient  dialects,  as  well  as  into 
those  foreign  ones  from  whence  we  receive  so  many  recruits, 
would  doubtless  rescue  some  of  them  from  unmerited  op- 
probrium." Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  in  the  muta- 
tions to  which  a  living  language  is  ever  exposed  many  ex- 
pressions 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 
names  in  the  thirteenth  century.  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  other- 

*  The  following  anecdote  will  serve  to  show  how  easily,  even  in  modem 
times,  a  nick-name  may  usurp  the  place  of  a  true  family  name.  •♦  The  parish 
clerk  of  Langford  near  Wellington,  was  called  Red  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  ! 
the  family  are  called  Redcock  to  this  day."  {LackingtorCa Life.)  This  anecdote 
forms  an  appropriate  appendage  to  what  has  been  said  in  Essay  VII. 


1/4  MORE    ODDITIES PUNS. 

wise  called  Bubulcus,  q.  d.  Cow-ward,  whence  the  re- 
proachful term  Coward. "^'^  With  respect  to  the  term  nick- 
name I  may  observe  that  it  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. 


I  trust  that  the  gentle  reader  will  do  me  the  justice  to 
acknowledge  that  I  have  been  tolerably  successful  in  the 
appropriation  of  surnames  to  the  various  classes  to  which 
they  belong ;  but  he  really  must  excuse  me  if  I  do  not  so 
much  as  attempt  either  to  classify  or  explain  such  names 
as  Overhead,  Challenge,  Pennyfeather,  Merrywether, 
Starkwether,  Hayday,  Broivnsword,  Physic,  Wigg,  Sus- 
tenance, and  Nothing  !  Snare,  Need,  Stilfox,  Brace,  Hazard, 
Horsenail,  and  Music!  Emblem,  Mummery,  Portwine, 
Doors,  Theme,  Tomb,  and  Vesper !  Chataway,  Sermon, 
Coffin,  Fancy,  and  Pickfat !  Quickfall,  Parcel,  Casement, 
Window,  and  Fudge !  What  can  we  say  to  compounds 
such  as  these :  Look-up,  Standfast,  Small-page,  God-me- 
fetch,  and  Weed-all?  Good-year,  Twice-a-day,  Small-shoe, 
Good-lad,  May-powder,  and  Pay-body  ?  Small-piece,  Still- 
weU,f  Ride-out,  and  Quick-fall?  Good-be-here,  Full-away, 
God-helpe,  Gay-lord,  Twelve-trees,  dindi  Twenty-man  ?  Rue- 
gain,  Pop-kiss,  Tram-pleasure,  Doo-little,  Tread-away, % 
Clap-shoe,  Gather-c&al,  and  Shake-lady  ?  Rush-out,  Well- 
fit,  Met-calf,  Go-lightly,  Tip-lady,  Tap-lady,  9xATop-lady? 
Gather-good  and  Scatter-good  have  some  propriety,  but 
what  shall  be   said  of  Lady-man,    Go-to-bed,   Hearsay, 

*  Rees's  Cyclopedia. 

t  There  is  a  physician  of  this  name. 

%  The  name  of  a  shoemaker  at  Springfield,  co.  Essex. 


MORE    ODDITIES PUNS.  175 

Thick-hroom,  and  Leather-barrow  ?  House-go,  Crownin- 
shieldy  Hood-less,  Cheese-wright,  and  Honey-loom?  Small- 
boneSf  Bean-bulk,  White-leg,  and  Buck-thought  ?  Bean- 
shop,  Dip-rose,  Spar-shot,  Hugg-up,  and  Middle-stitch  ? 
Strange-ways,  Bird-whistle,  Drink-water,^  Brink-milk, 
Brink-dregs,  and,  to  conclude,  that  ne  plus  ultra  of  all  that 
is  odd,  ludicrous,   and  polysyllabic  in  English  surnames, 

GOD-LOVE-MI-LADY  ? 

For  aught  I  know,  we  have  the  name  of  Go-and-see ; 
our  neighbours  over  the  water  certainly  have  it,  as  one 
poor  fellow  proved  to  his  cost.  An  officer  under  the 
command  of  the  celebrated  Turenne,  one  Count  Falavoir, 
(Anglice  as  above,)  walking  round  the  camp  after  night- 
fall, passed  the  post  of  a  sentinel,  who,  as  in  duty  bound, 
challenged  him  with  the  usual  "  Who  goes  there  ?"  to 
which  the  officer  replied,  Va-la-voir.  The  soldier  doubting 
if  he  heard  right,  twice  repeated  the  question,  and  was 
twice  again  answered  in  the  same  manner.  Enraged,  at 
length,  by  what  he  considered  an  insolent  response,  the 
sentinel  levelled  his  musket,  and,  horribile  dictu,  shot  the 
bearer  of  this  unfortunate  cognomen  dead  upon  the  spot.f 

I  cannot  conclude  this  Essay  without  introducing  the 
following  jeux  d* esprit  in  the  shape  of  puns  upon  a  few 
of  these  humour-exciting  names. 

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  asked  in 
company  whether  he  was  to  be  present  at  it.  "To  be 
sure,"  said  a  gentleman  who  heard  it;  "how  should  a 
canon-ball  go  o-^  without  Noys  ?"" 

*  Camden  has  this  among  local  names ;  but  query,  where  is  the  place  situated  ? 
t  Smollett's  Adv.  of  an  Atom. 


176  MORE    ODDITIES— PUNS. 

A  person  whose  name  was  Gunn  complaining  to  a  friend 
that  his  attorney  in  his  bill  had  not  let  him  off  easily y 
"  That  is  no  wonder,"  said  his  friend,  "  as  he  charged  you 
too  high  /"  But  this  is  not  so  good  as  an  entry  in  the 
custom-house  books  of  Edinburgh,  where  it  appears  that 
A,  meaning  Alexander — "^.  Gunn  was  discharged  for 
making  a  false  report  /'* 

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  by  fire."  "Yes,"  repHed  the  prisoner,  "but  you 
know,  my  Lord,  that  Quick  Silver  cannot  abide  the  fire  !'* 
Pleased  with  the  answer.  Sir  Thomas  suffered  the  man  to 
depart. 

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  !" 

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." 

The  late  Mr.  I.  Came,  the  wealthy  shoe-maker  of  Liver- 
pool, who  left  his  immense  property  to  pubUc  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  from  over  the  way." 


MORE    ODDITIES PUNS.  177 

A  paragraph  to  the  following  effect  went  the  round  of 
the  papers  not  many  months  since:  Two  attorneys  in 
partnership  in  a  town  in  the  United  States  had  the  name 
of  the  firm,  which  was  "  Catcham  and  ChetuMy'  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  at- 
tempted to  destroy,  in  part,  the  effect  of  the  odd  associa- 
tion by  the  insertion  of  the  initials  of  their  Christian 
names,  which  happened  to  be  Isaiah  and  Uriah ;  but 
this  made  the  afiair  ten  times  worse,  for  the  inscription 
then  ran 

"I.  CATCHAM  AND  U.  CHETUM."  ! !  !* 

While  on  the  subject  of  puns,  I  may  remark  that  very 
few  persons  like  to  have  their  names  made  use  of  in  this 
manner.  Shenstone  is  said  to  have  comforted  himself  with 
the  consciousness  that  his  name  was  not  obnoxious  to  a 
pun.  "  I  was  once,"  says  F.  Leiber,  "  in  company  with 
a  Mr.  Short,  in  whose  presence  a  Mr.  Shortei'  was  men- 
tioned. '  Your  son  V  said  a  bystander  quite  gravely  to 
Mr.  Short,  who,  like  most  people,  disrehshed  the  joke  on 
his  name  very  much."f 

,  Names  sometimes  form  a  singular  association  or  contrast, 
as  we  have  already  seen  in  the  case  of  Messrs.  Peppercorn 
and  Pluckrose,  and  especially  in  that  of  Messrs.  Catcham 
and  Chetum.    Take,  if  you  will,  a  few  additional  specimens. 

♦  Chetum  is  probably  a  corruption  of  Chetham,  the  name  of  an  antient  family 
in  Lancashire,  of  which  the  munificent  founder  of  Manchester  College  was  a 
member. 

f  Stranger  in  America,  vol.  ii. ;  a  work  which  contains  a  very  curious  letter 
on  American  names. 

8§ 


178  MORE    ODDITIES PUNS. 

"  The  duke  of  Wellington  in  a  visit  to  some  place  in  the 
country  was  conducted  by  a  Mr.  Coward.  In  partnerships 
we  often  discover  a  singular  junction  of  names  ;  for  in- 
stance, '  Bowyer  and  Fletcher ;'  '  Carpenter  and  Wood  ;' 
*  Spinage  and  Lamb ;'  *  Sage  and  Gosling  ;'  *  Rumfit  and 
Cutwell,  tailors/  &c.  The  occupation  sometimes  asso- 
ciates very  peculiarly  with  the  name;  we  have  known 
apothecaries  and  surgeons  of  the  names  of  Littlefear, 
Butcher,  Death,  and  Coffin  ;  Pie,  a  pastry-cook ;  Rideout, 
a  stable-keeper  ;  Tugwell,  a  dentist,  [another  a  shoemaker]  ; 
Light-foot,  a  dancing-master :  Mix-well,  a  publican  ;  and 
two  hosiers  of  the  names  of  Foote  and  Stocking.  We  also 
recollect  a  sign  with  *  Write,  late  Read  and  Write,"  in- 
scribed upon  it  ...  .  Hymen,  too,  plays  sad  vagaries  with 
names.  We  have  seen  Mr.  Good  married  to  Miss  JS'mY; 
Mr.  Bean  to  Miss  Pease ;  Mr.  Brass  to  Miss  Mould ;  and 
Mr.  Gladdish  to  Miss  Cleverly."'^  "In  the  neighbour- 
hood of  one  of  the  squares  in  London  there  are  now  living 
surgeons  whose  names  are  the  appropriate  ones  of  Church- 
yard, Death,  Blood,  and  Slaughter. ""'\  On  the  Eastern 
side  of  Regent  street  there  were,  some  few  years  since, 
only  three  pastry-cooks,  whose  names,  singularly  enough, 
were 

VERRY 

LONG 

BEARD! 

Fogg  and  Mist  were  china-men  in  Warwick  street.  The 
firm  afterwards  became  Fogg  and  Son,  on  which  it  was 
said  that  *  the  Sun  had  driven  away  the  Mist  !* 

•  Collet's  Relics  of  Literature,  p.  395.         f  Daily  Paper,  Oct.  1838. 


MORE    ODDITIES PUNS.  179 

A  most  respectable  firm  of  London  attorneys  not  long 
since  bore  the  very  ominous  names  of  Stilly  Strong,  and 
Rackham. 

An  ancestor  of  my  own,  by  trade  a  carpenter,  used 
often  facetiously  to  remark,  that  he  should  never  want 
timbevy  as  two  of  his  workmen  bore  the  names  of  Seven- 
oaks  and  Tree  ! 

In  the  1 7th  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 : 

**  Noy-s  flood  is  gone, 
The  Banks  appear ; 
Heath  is  stiorn  down, 
And  Finch  sings  there  !'' 

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.''* 

But  I  am  forgetting  the  adage,  "  Play  when  your  work's 
done,"  and  must,  for  the  present  at  least,  dispense  with 
puns  and  punsters,  and  proceed  in  another  Essay  to  the 
consideration  of  several  classes  of  English  Surnames, 
which  yet  require  explanation  and  illustration. 

*  Churchyard,  however,  was  buried  not  hi  the  church-porch,  but  in  the  choir 
of  St.  Margaret's,  Westminster,     (Weever's  Fun.  Mou.  p.  271.) 


180  NAMES  DERIVED  FROM  VIRTUES 


ESSAY   XII. 

NAMES  DERIVED  FROM  VIRTUES  AND  OTHER 
ABSTRACT  IDEAS. 

My  business  here  is  first  to  name — and  then  to  account 
for — such  names  as  Justice y  Virtue y  Prudence^  Wisdom, 
Liberty y  HopCy  Peace,  Joy,  Anguish^  Comfort,  Want,  Pride, 
Grace,  Laughter,  Luck,  Peace,  Power,  Warr,  Ransom, 
Reason,  Love,  Verity,  Vice,  Patience,  &c. 

To  these  may  be  added  Bale,  sorrow  or  misery,*  and  a 
few  other  obsolete  terms  of  a  similar  character. 

It  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  these  names  were  assumed 
by  persons  who  thought  themselves  pre-eminent  for  the 
possession  of  those  attributes ;  as  such  arrogance  would 
certainly  fail  of  its  object,  and  expose  the  parties  to  con- 
tempt ;  although  I  am  aware  that  something  of  a  similar 
kind  was  attempted  by  the  Puritans  of  the  1 6th  and  1 7th 
centuries  with  regard  to  Christian  names.  "  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  : 

•  Coventry  Myst.  p.  30. 


AND  OTHER  ABSTRACT  IDEAS.  181 

"  Accepted  Trevor  of  Norsham. 
Redeemed  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  Warbleton. 
Called  Lower  of  the  same. 
Kill-sin  Pimple  of  Witham. 
Return  Spelman  of  Watling. 
Be-faithful  Joiner  of  Britling. 
Fly-debate  Roberts  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  sub- 
ject, he  might  have  saved  himself  the  reiteration  of  Brome's 
sneer  about  the  '^pretended  saints,"  for  we  have  indu- 
bitable evidence  that  such  names  were  not  assumed  by  the 
parties  who  bore  them,  but  imposed  as  baptismal  names. 
Take,  in  corroboration  of  this  remark,  a  few  instances  from 
the  parochial  register  of  Warbleton  : 

1617,  Bestedfast  Elyarde. 

Goodgift  Gynninges. 

1622,  Lament  Willard. 

1624,  Depend  Outered. 

1625,  Faint-not  Dighurst. 

Fere-not  Rhodes. 

1677,  Replenish  French. 

*  Minister  of  Heathfield  (1608.) 


182  NAMES  DERIVED  FROM  VIRTUES 

Hence  it  will  be  seen  that  fully  as  much  of  blame  (if 
any  exists)  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  pretended  saintship. 
I  do  not  for  a  moment  wish  to  extenuate  the  folly  of  the 
parties  who  gave  such  absurd  names  to  their  children,  but 
I  deem  it  an  act  of  justice  to  the  much-maligned,  though, 
in  many  respects,  misguided,  and  even  fanatical  Puritans 
of  that  period,  to  show  that  the  sarcasm  of  the  illiberal  his- 
torian 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  1 6th  century  for  parents  to  choose  such  fore- 
names 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  particularly  remarkable 
for  the  number  of  such  names,  long  before  the  unhappy 
dissentions  which  disgraced  the  middle  portion  of  the  1 7th 
century.  There  is  another  jury-list  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  saints."*  I  know  that  I  am  disgressing 

*  Since  the  above  was  written,  I  have  observed  a  passage  in  Camden  which 
had  previously  escaped  my  notice,  in  which  he  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  close  of  Elizabeth's  reign]  beeti  given  hy 
some  to  their  children  with  no  evil  meaning,  but  upon  some  singular  and  precise 
conceit  "  The  names  •  Remedium  amoris,'  *  Imago  sasculi,'  are  mentioned  by 
this  author,  among  the  oddities  of  personal  nomenclature  at  the  same  date. 


AND  OTHER  ABSTRACT  IDEAS.  183 

from  the  subject  of  surnames,  yet  as  I  am  upon  a  kindred 
topic,  I  think  I  shall  be  pardoned  for  the  introduction  of 
this  Ust  also,  which  will  probably  be  quite  new  to  the  ma- 
jority of  my  readers : 

"  Approved  Frewen  of  Northiam.* 
"    Bethankful  Maynard  of  Brightling. 
Be-courteous  Cole  of  Pevensey. 
Safety-on-High  Snat  of  Uckfield. 
Search-the-Scriptures  Moreton  of  Salehurst. 
More-fruit  Fowler  of  East-Hothly. 
Free-gift  Mabbs  of  Chiddingly.f 
Increase  Weeks  of  Cuckfield. 
Restore  Weeks  of  the  same. 
Kni-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  Warbleton. 
Repentance  Avis  of  Shoreham. 
The-peace-of-God  Knight  of  Burwash.*';}: 

*  A  near  relative  of  Archbishop  Frewen. 

t  He  was  living  at  Chiddingly  in  1616,  I  make  these  notes  because  the  au- 
thenticity of  these  lists  has  been  called  in  question. 

t  Horsfield's  Lewes,  vol.  i.  p.  202.  Some  of  the  names  in  this  list  are  the 
same  as  those  in  the  preceding. 


184  NAMES  DERIVED  FROM  VIRTUES 

To  return  to  the  names  which  stand  at  the  head  of  this 
Essay;  I  am  inclined  to  think  they  originated  in  the 
allegorical  characters  who  performed  in  the  antient  mys- 
teries 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  characters  in  these  performances 
were  Charity,  Faith,  Prudence,  Discretion,  Good-doctrine, 
Death,  Vice,  Folly  and  Iniquity,*  who  strutted  upon  the 
stage  in  grotesque  costume,  and,  I  fear,  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  lan- 
guage neutraUzed  their  attemps  to  improve  the  moral 
feelings  of  their  audiences,  and  eventually  brought  them 
into  disrepute.  It  is  probable  that  the  actors  in  these 
performances  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  name  of  Woodhouse  may  be  either  a  local  name,  or 
the  designation  of  a  favourite  character  in  the  mummings 
and  Christmas  festivities  of  our  ancestors — if  the  latter,  it 
may  find  a  place  here.  The  Wodehouse,  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  famihar  in 
heraldic  bearings.  I  am  inclined  to  think  he  was  ori- 
ginally derived  from  the  Woden  of  the  Saxon  mythology. 

*  Strutt's  Sports  and  Pastimes. 


AND  OTHER  ABSTRACT  IDEAS.  185 

The  etymon  of  Woden  appears  to  be  pobe,  mad,  wild, 
furious,  which  agrees  well  enough  with  the  assumed  cha- 
racter of  the  "Wodehouse  straunge*'  of  the  olden  days 
of  merrie  England.  As  the  Wodehouse  was  distinct  from 
the  rehgious  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 


186  NAMES  DERIVED  FROM  VIRTUES,  ETC. 

previous  notice,  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-Ught, 
there  came  suddenly  out  of  the  wood  by  the  road-side,  a 
man  habited  Hke  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  discourse 
with  a  counterfeit  echo,  repeated  a  poetical  oration  in  her 
praise,  which  was  well  received.  This  man  was  Thomas 
Gascoyne  the  poet ;  and  the  verses  he  spoke  on  the  occasion 
were  of  his  own  composition."*  As  an  accompaniment 
to  this  Essay  I  have  presented  the  *' lively  effigies"  of  a 
Wodehouse,  *'set  down,"  as  old  Verstegan  would  say,  "in 
picture." 

*  NichoU's  Progresses,  vol.  i.  quoted  in  Hone's  Strutt's  Sports  and  Pastimes, 
p.  253. 


FOREIGN    NAMES    AND    CORRUPTIONS.  187 


ESSAY    XIII. 

FOREIGN  NAMES  NATURALIZED  IN  ENGLAND,  AND  THE 
CORRUPTIONS  TO  WHICH  SUCH  NAMES  HAVE  BEEN 
EXPOSED. 

Various  causes  might  be  assigned  for  the  great  variety 
that  exists  in  the  nomenclature  of  Englishmen.  Probably 
the  principal  cause  is  to  be  found  in  the  peculiar  facilities 
•which  our  island  has  for  many  ages  presented  to  the 
settlement  of  foreigners.  War,  royal  matches  with  foreign 
princesses,  the  introduction  of  manufactures  from  the  con- 
tinent, and  the  patronage  which  our  country  has  always 
extended  to  every  kind  of  foreign  talent — all  have  of 
course  tended  to  the  introduction  of  new  names.  It  would 
be  a  vain  and  hopeless  task  to  attempt  anything  like  a 
classification  of  these  names  by  the  various  countries 
whence  we  have  received  them.  I  shall  therefore  confine 
myself  to  the  mention  of  a  few,  my  principal  object  in  the 
present  Essay  being  to  show  that  many  very  usual  names, 
generally  supposed  to  be  English,  are  merely  corruptions 
of  foreign  words,  and  therefore  unintelligible  even  to  the 
famiUes  who  are  designated  by  them. 

Of  French  names  I  have  already  incidentally  said  much. 
The  proximity  of  Normandy,  and  the  fact  of  our  country 
having  been  poHtically  subjected  to  that  duchy  at  a  period 
when  surnames  were  of  recent  introduction,  sufficiently 
account  for  the  vast  number  of  French  names  which  have 
become  naturahzed  in  England.     The  names  already  men- 


188  FOREIGN    NAMES 

tioned,  and  those  included  in  the  Roll  of  Battel  Abbey, 
given  in  the  Appendix  to  this  volume,  must  suffice  for 
French  surnames.  I  shall  therefore  only  allude  to  names 
corrupted  from  the  French,  which  are  sufficiently  numerous. 
I  may  quote,  by  way  of  example,  Molineux,  La-Ville, 
De-Ath,  and  De-Ville,  which  have  been  scandalously  trans- 
formed to  iUfw/ZmcA;*,*  Larwill,  Death,  and  Devil!  St.  Leger, 
has  become  Sellenger  !  Scardeville  has  fared  still  worse ; 
for  while  on  one  hand  it  has  been  Anglicised  to  Skarfield, 
on  the  other  it  has  been  demonized  (shall  I  say?)  to 
Scaredevil !  !  The  Americans  are,  if  possible,  worse  than 
ourselves  in  respect  of  this  torturing  of  names,  for  F.  Lieber 
tells  us  that  "in  Salem,  Massachusetts,  there  is  now 
living  a  family  of  the  [vile]  name  of  Blumpay,  a  corrup- 
tion of  Blancpied  (Whitefoot),  their  original  name ;"  but 
more  of  the  Americans  presently. 

The  readiest  corruption  from  the  French  is  that 
which  turns  ville  into  field,  as  Blomfield  for  Blondeville, 
Summerfield  for  Somerville,  Baskerfield  for  Baskerville. 
**  The  late  Lord  Orford  used  to  relate  that  a  dispute  once 
arose  in  his  presence,  in  the  way  of  raillery,  between  the 
late  Earl  Temple  and  the  first  Lord  Lyttleton,  on  the 
comparative  antiquity  of  their  families.  Lord  Lyttleton 
concluded  that  the  name  of  Grenville  was  originally  green- 
field;  Earl  Temple  insisted  that  it  was  derived  from 
Grand-ville.  "Well,  then,"  said  Lord  Lyttleton,  "if  you 
wDl  have  it  so,  my  family  may  boast  of  the  higher  anti- 
quity, for  Little  Towns  were  certainly  antecedent  to  Great 
Cities  ;  but  if  you  wiU  be  content  with  the  more  humble 
derivation,  I  will  give  up  the  point,  for  Green  Fields  were 

*  In  some  families  the  true  orthography  is  retained. 


AND    CORRUPTIONS.  189 

certainly  more  antient  than  either."*  In  some  cases 
VIX.LE  has  been  changed  to  well,  as  Rosseville  to 
Roswell,  Bosseville  to  Boswell,  Freshville  to  FretweU! 
Among  other  corruptions  may  be  given  Darcy  from 
Adrecy,  Mungey  from  Mountjoy,  Knevett  from  Duvenet, 
Davers  from  Danvers,  Troublefield  from  Tuberville, 
Frogmorton  from  Throckmorton,  Manwaring  and 
Mannering  from  Mesnilwarin,  Dabridgecourt  and  Dabscot 
from  Damprecourt,  Barringer  from  Beranger,  Tall-boys  (!) 
from  Taille-bois. 

Many  of  our  family  names  came  from  Germany,  a  cir- 
cumstance not  to  be  wondered  at  when  we  recollect  that 
our  present  royal  family  are  of  German  blood ;  others  from 
Holland,  between  which  country  and  our  own  the  most 
friendly  relations  have  for  a  long  time  subsisted.  The 
famihar  names  of  Rickman,  Bunk,  Shurmariy  Boorman,f 
Hickman,  Vanneck,  and  Vansittart,  are  all  probably  from 
those  countries.  The  ludicrous  names  of  Higginhottom 
and  Bomgarson  are  corruptions  of  the  German,  Ickenbaum, 
an  oak-tree,  and  of  Baumgarten,  a  tree-garden,  or 
orchard.^ 

The  names  of  Denis,  Scrase,  and  Isted,  are  said  to  be  of 
Danish  original,  while  Boffey,  Caesar,  Castilian,  Fussell, 
and  Bassano  are  derived  from  Italy.  Names  in  an  denote 
an  Irish  extraction,  as  Egan,  Skogan,  Flanagan,  Dor  an,  &c. 

*  Brady's  Dissertation. 

t  Among  corruptions  may  be  noticed  the  changing  of  the  syllable  man  into 
mer.  In  the  parish  in  which  I  was  born  there  are  living  persons  of  the  names 
of  Heasman,  Hickman,  and  Holman,  who  are  usually  called  Heasmer,  Hickmer, 
and  Hiimerd.  This  is  interesting,  as  it  seems  to  indicate  something  like  a  re- 
membrance of  the  meaning  of  the  original  Saxon  termination  er,  and  its 
identity  with  man,    (Vide  p.  94.) 

i  Vide  Gent.'s  Mag.  Oct.  1820. 


190  FOREIGN    NAMES 

If  foreign  names  have  been  liable  to  corruptions,  it  must 
not  be  imagined  that  names  originally  English  have  escaped 
deterioration.  Such  corruptions  were  excusable  in  times 
when  few  besides  learned  clerks  could  write  their  own 
names,  and  when  the  spelhng  of  words  was  governed  by 
the  sound,  whether  truly  pronounced  or  not;  but  that 
they  should  be  perpetrated  now,  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
when  the  schoolmaster  professes  to  be  everywhere  abroad, 
is  a  sad  disgrace  to  that  personage.  I  know  a  family  of 
farmers  who  are  descended  from  a  younger  branch  of  the 
antient  family  of  Alchorne  of  Alchorne,  and  who  always 
spelt  their  name  properly  until  about  twenty  years  since, 
when  a  new  schoolmaster  settling  in  the  village,  informed 
them  that  their  proper  designation  was  All-corn^  which 
name  they  are  now  contented  to  bear!  Another  family 
who  antiently  bore  the  name  of  De  Hoghstepe,  a  local 
appellative,  signifying  *  of  the  high  steep,'  have  laid  aside 
that  line  old  Teutonic  designation,  and  adopted  in  its 
stead  the  thrice-barbarous  cognomen  of  Huckstepp  !  What 
can  be  more  barbarous  than  Wilbraham  for  Wilburgham, 
Wilberforce  for  Wilburghfoss,  Sapsford  for  Sabridgeworth, 
Hoad  for  Howard,  or  Gurr  for  Gower?  Alas  for  such 
"  contracting,  syncopating,  curtelUng,  and  moUifying"  as 
this! 

Who  would  think  of  looking  for  the  origin  of  the  name 
o^  Lewknor  va.  Levechenora,  the  name  of  one  of  the  hun- 
dreds of  Lincolnshire?*  Who  but  a  patient  antiquary 
could  find  Buppa  in  D'Uphaugh?f  The  Italian  name 
Hugezun  has  been  corrupted  to  Hugh-son  I  This  reminds 
me  of  an  anecdote  in  Lieber's  Stranger  in  America,  which 

♦  Pegge's  Curial,  Miscel.  p.  208.  f  Ibid.  p.  209. 


AND    CORRUPTIONS.  191 

forms  so  good  an  illustration  of  the  manner  in  which 
names  are  often  corrupted,  that  I  give  it  as  it  stands : 

"  The  plain  EngUsh  Christian  name  and  surname  of 
Benjamin  Eaton,  borne  by  a  Spanish  boy,  was  derived 
from  his  single  Spanish  Christian  name  of  Benito  or 
Benedict ;  and  this  by  a  very  natural  process,  though  one 
which  would  have  defied  the  acuteness  of  Tooke  and  the 
wit  of  Swift.  When  the  boy  was  taken  on  board  ship, 
the  sailors,  who  are  not  apt  to  be  fastidious  in  their  atten- 
tion to  the  niceties  of  language,  hearing  him  called  Benito 
(pronounced  Benee^o),  made  the  nearest  approximation  to 
the  Spanish  sound  which  the  case  required,  and  which 
would  give  an  intelligible  sailor's  name,  by  saluting  their 
new  shipmate  as  ^  Ben  Eaton,''  which  the  boy  probably 
supposed  was  the  corresponding  English  name,  and  ac- 
cordingly conformed  to  it  himself  when  asked  for  his 
name.  The  next  process  in  the  etymological  transforma- 
tion was,  that  when  he  was  sent  to  one  of  our  schools,  the 
master  of  course  inquired  his  name,  and  being  answered 
that  it  was  Ben  Eaton,  and  presuming  that  to  be  his  true 
name  abbreviated  as  usual  in  the  famihar  style,  directed 
him,  as  grammatical  propriety  required,  to  write  it  at  full 
length,  Benjamin  Eaton .-'" 

Sometimes  the  speUing  of  names  is  so  changed  that  the 
various  branches  of  one  family  lose  sight  of  their  consan- 
guinity. I  think  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  Goring Sy 
Gorrings,  and  Gorringes  of  Sussex  proceed  from  a  common 
ancestor,  and  that  he  borrowed  his  designation  from  the 
village  of  Goring.  Similar  instances  might  be  adduced 
from  many  other  districts  in  the  kingdom. 

There  are  many  surnames  that  have  the  appearance  of 
nicknames,  but  which  in  reahty  are  from  names  of  places. 


192  CHANGED    SURNAMES. 

as  Wormewoodi  Ink-pen^  Allchin,  Tiptow,  Moone,  Maners, 
Cuckold,  Go-dolphin,  Hurl-stone,  Small-back,  Bellows, 
Filpot,  Waddle,  &c. ;  from  Ormond,  Ingepen,  Alchorne, 
Tiptoft,  Mohun,  Manors,  Cokswold,  Godolchan,  Hudle- 
stone,  Smalbach,  Phillipot,  Waliiill,  &c.  Also  Task,  Toke, 
Tabbey,  from  At  Ash,  At  Oke,  At  Abbey ;  and  Toly,  Tabbe, 
Tows,  from  St.  Olye,  St.  Ebbe,  St.  Osyth.  The  following 
are  taken  from  places  without  change :  Spittle-house, 
Whitegift,  Alshop,  Antrobus,  Hartshorn,  Wood-head, 
All-wood,  Gardening,  and  Killingback  ! 

We  are  not  to  suppose  that  all  families  bearing  Enghsh 
names  are  of  English  extraction.  "  Sometimes,"  says  the 
author  of  the  Stranger  in  America,  and  the  remark  applies 
equally  well  to  England,  **  Sometimes  they  are  positively 
translated;  thus  I  know  of  a  Mr.  Bridgebuilder,  whose 
ancestors  came  from  Germany  under  the  name  of  Brucken- 
bauer.*  I  have  met  with  many  instances  of  this  kind. 
There  is  a  family  now  in  Pennsylvania  whose  original 
name  was  Klein;  at  present  they  have  branched  out 
into  three  chief  ramifications,  called  Klein,  Small,  and 
Little ;  and  if  they  continue  to  have  many  *  little  ones,' 
they  may,  for  aught  I  know,  branch  out  into  Short,  Less, 

and  Lesser,  down  to  the  most  Lilliputian  names 

A  German  called  Feuerstein  (fire-stone,  the  German  for 
flint,)  settled  in  the  west  when  French  population  pre- 
vailed in  that  quarter.  His  name,  therefore,  was  changed 
into  Pierre  h  Fusil ;  but  in  the  course  of  time  the  Anglo- 
American  race  became  the  prevalent  one,  and  Pierre  a 
Fusil  was  again  changed  into  Peter  Gun  !"  So  much  for 
corruptions. 

*  Our  English  Pontifex  has  the  same  meaning.    Query  —how  liave  we  come  by 
the  Latinized  forms  of  several  names,  as  Pontifex,  Princeps,  Virgo, Magnus,  &c.  ? 


CHANGED    SURNAMES.  193 


ESSAY   XIV. 


CHANGED    SURNAMES. 


I  HAVE  already  hinted  at  the  changes  which  frequently 
took  place  in  the  nomenclature  of  English  families  from 
the  substitution  of  one  name  for  another ;  but  I  consider 
those  changes  sufficiently  interesting  to  form  the  subject 
of  a  short  separate  Essay. 

The  practice  of  altering  one's  name  upon  the  occurrence 
of  any  remarkable  event  in  one's  personal  history,  seems 
to  have  been  known  in  times  of  very  remote  antiquity. 
The  substitution  of  Abraham  for  Abram,  Sarah  for  Sarai, 
Israel  for  Jacob,  Paul  for  Saul,  &c.  are  matters  of  sacred 
history;  but  the  custom  prevailed  in  other  nations  as  well 
as  among  the  Jews.  Codomarus,  on  coming  to  the  king- 
dom of  Persia,  took  the  princely  name  of  Darius.* 
Romulus,  after  his  deification,  was  called  Quirinus.  Some 
persons  adopted  into  noble  famiUes  substituted  the  name 
of  the  latter  for  their  own  original  appellations.  The 
practice  of  changing  names  in  compliance  with  testamen- 
tary injunctions  is  also  of  antient  date ;  thus  Augustus, 
who  was  at  first  called  Thureon,  took  the  name  of  Octavian. 
Others  received  a  new  name  when  they  were  made  free  of 
certain  cities,  as  Demetrius  Mega,  who  on  becoming  a  free 
citizen  of  Rome  was  designated  Publius  Cornelius.f  Slaves, 
who  prior  to  manumission  had  only  one  name,  received,  on 

•  Camden.  +  Ibid. 


L94  CHANGED    SURNAMES. 

becoming  free,  the  addition  of  their  master's.  Among  the 
primitive  Christians  it  was  customary  to  change  the  names 
of  persons  who  left  Paganism  to  embrace  the  true  faith. 
The  popes,  as  all  know,  change  their  names  on  coming  to 
"  the  holy  apostolical  see"  of  Rome ;  a  practice  said  to 
have  originated  with  Sergius  the  Second,  because  his  pre- 
vious name  was  Hogs-mouth  !  One  pope,  Marcellus,  re- 
fused to  change  his  name,  saying,  "  Marcellus  I  was,  and 
Marcellus  I  will  be;  I  will  neither  change  name  nor 
manners."* 

In  France  it  was  formerly  customary  for  eldest  sons  to 
take  their  fathers'  surnames,  while  the  younger  branches 
assumed  the  names  of  the  estates  allotted  them.  This 
plan  also  prevailed  in  England  some  time  after  the  Norman 
Conquest.  Camden  gives  several  instances.  "If  Hugh 
of  Suddington  gaue  to  his  .second  sonne  his  mannour  of 
Fridon,  to  his  third  sonne  his  mannour  of  Pantley,  to  his 
fourth  his  wood  of  Albdy,  the  sonnes  called  themselves  De 
Frydon,  De  Pantley,  De  Albdy,  and  their  posterity  re- 
mooued  Be.  So  Hugh  Montforte's  second  sonne,  called 
Richard,  being  Lord  of  Hatton  in  Warwickeshire,  tooke 
the  name  of  Hatton.  So  the  yongest  sonne  of  Simon  de 
Montfort,  Earle  of  Leicester,  staying  in  England  when  his 
father  was  slaine  and  brethren  fled,  tooke  the  name  of 
Welshorne,  as  some  of  that  name  haue  reported.  So  the 
name  of  Euer  came  from  the  mannour  of  Euer,  neare 
Uxbridge,  to  yonger  sonnes  of  L.  John  Fitz-Robert  de 
Clauering,  from  whom  the  Lord  Euers,  and  Sir  Peter 
Euers  of  Axholme  are  descended.  So  Sir  John  Cradocke, 
knight,  great  grandfather  of  Sir  Henry  Newton  of  Somerset- 

•  Camden. 


CHANGED    SURNAMES.  195 

shire,  tooke  first  the  name  of  Newton,  which  was  the  name 
of  his  habitation ;  as  the  issue  of  Huddard  in  Cheshire 
tooke  the  name  of  Button  their  chief  mansion."* 

The  annexed  little  pedigree  of  a  family  in  Cheshire  soon 
after  the  Conquest  affords  a  most  striking  illustration  of 
the  changes  which  occurred  in  family  names  before  here- 
ditary surnames  were  fully  established,  and  the  difficulty 
which  must  be  experienced  in  tracing  pedigrees  in  those 
early  times.  It  was  taken  by  Camden  "  out  of  an  antient 
Roule  belonging  to  Sir  William  Brereton  of  Brereton, 
knight." 

♦   Camd.  Rem,  p.  123. 


196 


CHANGED    SURNAMES. 


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CHANGED    SURNAMES.  197 

From  this  table  it  will  be  seen  that  in  four  descents,  and 
among  about  fifteen  persons  descended  from  one  and  the 
same  individual,  there  were  no  less  than  thirteen  surnames. 
Well  may  our  antiquary  say,  "Verily  the  gentlemen  of  those  so 
different  names  in  Cheshire  would  not  easily  be  induced  to  be- 
lieve they  were  descended  from  one  house,  if  it  were  not  war- 
ranted by  so  ancient  a  proofe."  *  It  is  also  worthy  of  remark 
that  we  have  here  in  one  family,  within  the  compass  probably 
of  a  single  century.  Jive  descriptions  of  surnames,  namely, 
FOREIGN,  as  Bel  ward ;  local,  as  De  Malpas,  De  Cotgrave  ; 
from  PERSONAL  QUALITIES,  as  Gogh  or  red,  and  Little;  from 

MENTAL   QUALITIES  AND  ATTAINMENTS,  aS  GoodmaU  and 

Ken-Clarke;  and  from  the  paternal  name,  as  Richardson. 
Another  of  Camden's  instances : — A  young  gentleman 
of  the  family  of  Preux,  an  attendant  on  Lord  Hungerford, 
Lord  Treasurer  of  England,  being  of  remarkably  tall  sta- 
ture, acquired  among  his  companions  the  sobriquet  of 
Long  Henry.  Marrying  afterwards  a  lady  of  quality  he 
transposed  his  names  to  Henry  Long,  and  became  the 
founder   of    an   eminent   family,    who    bore   Long   as   a 

*  A  correspondent  has  called  my  attention  to  a  curious  point;  namely,  the 
similarity  or  identity  of  armorial  bearings  between  families  beaiing  the  name  of 
a  place,  and  other  families  originally  located  in  the  same  place.  For  instance,  the 
Stanleys  were  of  Lathom — the  arms  of  Lathom  and  of  Stanley  are  alike. 
Freschvile,  Foljambe,  and  Daniel,  were  all  antiently  connected  with  Tidswell  in 
Derbyshire :  accordingly  the  arms  of  all  these  families  and  those  of  Tidswell 
vary  principally  in  their  colours  only.  The  arms  of  Middleham  and  of  Glanville 
are  very  similar,  Glanville  having  been  possessed  of  property  at  Middleham. 
This  similarity  or  identity  of  arms  seems  to  point  out  an  original  connexion  be- 
tween the  families.  In  the  first  case  mentioned  we  have  proof  of  such  connexion, 
for  Sir  John  Stanley,  k.g.,  in  the  14th  century,  married  the  heiress  of  Lathom 
of  Lathom,  and  so  acquired  that  estate.  But  it  must  be  recollected  that  tenants 
in  fee  often  assumed  the  bearings  of  their  lords,  differenced  only  by  colour  or 
the  addition  of  some  new  charge. — (Vide  Chapter  of  Canting  Arms.) 

Another  correspondent  remarking  upon  the  above  note,  says,  •'  the  arms  of 
Stanley  and  Latham  are  by  no  means  alike." — Sir  John  Stanley's  descendants 
used  the  crest  of  Latham  (the  eagle  and  child),  but  retained  their  paternal  arms. 


198  CHANGED    SURNAMES. 

surname.  The  original  name  of  the  most  renowned  of  the 
compeers  of  Robin  Hood  was  John  Little,  (a  sobriquet 
acquired  from  his  being  a  foot  taller  than  ordinary  men,) 
but  on  his  joining  Robin's  party  he  was  re-baptized,  and 
his  names  were  reversed.     Will  Stukeley  loquitur : 

"  This  infant  was  called  John  Little,  (quoth  he,) 
Which  name  shall  be  changed  anon  ; 
The  words  we'll  transpose ;  so  wherever  he  goes. 
His  name  shall  be  called  Little  John." 

{Vide  Ritson.) 

There  are  many  cases  on  record  of  the  sons  of  great 
heiresses  having  left  their  paternal  surnames  for  those  of 
their  mothers  :  this  was  done  by  the  Stanleys,  Nevilles, 
Percies,  Carews,  Cavendishes,  Braybrookes,  &c.  &c.  Others 
took  the  names  of  attainted  lords,  whose  property  fell  into 
their  possession :  this  was  the  case  with  the  Mowbrays. 

Some  changed  their  names  by  the  royal  command,  as  we 
have  seen  in  the  case  of  the  Cromwells.  "  I  love  you," 
said  Edward  the  Fourth  to  some  of  the  family  of  Picardy 
"  but  not  your  name ;"  whereupon  they  adopted  others : 
one  took  that  of  Ruddle,  from  the  place  of  his  birth* — no 
improvement,  certainly,  so  far  as  euphony  goes. 

During  the  civil  wars  in  the  time  of  Henry  the  Fourth, 
several  antient  families  totally  changed  their  names  for  the 
purpose  of  concealment,  as  the  Blunts  of  Buckinghamshire, 
who  took  that  of  Croke ;  and  the  Carringtons  of  Warwick- 
shire, who  took  that  of  Smith.f 

Ralph  Brooke,  York  Herald  in  1594,  says,  "If  a  man 
had  three  sonns,  the  one  dwelling  at  the  Towns-end,  the 
other  at  y*"  Woode,  and  the  thyrde  at  the  Parke,  they  all 
took  theyr  surnames  of  theire  dweUinge,  and  left  their 
aunciente  surnames ;  which  errour  hath  overthrowen  and 

*  Camden.  t  Fuller's  Worthies,  p.  51. 


CHANGED    SURNAMES.  199 

brought  into  oblyvion  manye  aunciente  houses  in  this 
realme  of  England."* 

With  respect  to  ecclesiastics,  or  as  they  are  styled  by 
Holinshed,  "  spiritual  men,"  it  was,  according  to  that  his- 
torian, an  almost  invariable  "fashion  to  take  awaie  the 
father's  surname  (were  it  never  so  worshipful  or  antient), 
and  give  him  for  it  the  name  of  the  towne  he  was  born  in." 

Of  this  practice  amongst  the  clergy,  especially  upon  their 
entering  into  holy  orders,  innumerable  instances  occur,  but 
it  may  be  sufficient  to  quote  the  two  celebrated  prelates, 
William  of  Wykeham,  whose  father's  name  was  Longe,  and 
William  Waynflete,  who,  as  an  unbeneficed  acolyte,  is  found 
in  the  episcopal  register  of  Lincoln  (as  Dr.  Chandler  con- 
jectures) under  the  name  of  Barbor,  and  which  he  dropped 
on  becoming  a  sub-deacon.  Waynflete' s  father  was  called 
indifferently  Richard  Patten  or  Barbour.f 

There  is  one  other  circumstance  under  which,  according 
to  Camden,  names  were  changed ;  namely,  when  servants 
took  the  surnames  of  their  masters.  I  much  question  if 
ever  this  was  of  very  usual  occurrence  ;|:  if  it  was,  the  know- 

•  From  a  MS.  quoted  in  Blore's  Monumental  Remains. 

t  Archaeologia,  vol.  xviii.  p.  109.  "  It  was  the  use  in  old  time  upon  entrye 
into  religion  to  alter  the  name  and  take  it  from  the  place,  for  that  by  their 
taking  religious  habits  they  were  dead  persons  in  law,  as  to  the  world,  and  the 
next  heire  should  inherite  and  enter  upon  their  lande  as  if  they  were  ded  indeed; 
and  professing  themselves  of  an  order,  they  were  revived  to  a  spiritual  life,  and 
so  assumed  a  new  name."  (Harl.  MS.,  No.  463Q.) 

:j:  On  further  consideration  I  do  not  believe  it  ever  took  place,  and  my  reason 
is  founded  on  the  pride  which  characterizes  great  and  antient  houses.  This  would 
have  prohibited  the  adoption  of  the  cherished  family  appellative — which  had 
been  for  ages  regarded  as  a  distinctive  mark  of  the  high-born  and  noble— by 
humble  dependants  and  neighbours.  An  excellent  illustration  of  this  feeling 
occurs  in  a  recent  publication  on  Esthonia,  where  it  is  mentioned  that  on  the 
enfranchisement  of  the  serfs  on  a  certain  estate,  which  took  place  two  or  three 
years  since,  the  nobleman,  their  former  proprietor,  advised  them  to  assume 
surnames;  but  would  not,  on  any  account,  allow  them  to  bear  that  of  his  own 
family,  notwithstanding  their  earnest  and  oft  reiterated  entreaties.    The  system 


200  CHANGED    SURNAMES. 

ledge  of  the  fact  inflicts  a  sad  blow  on  our  plebeian 
Seymours,  and  Lovells,  and  Pierpoints,  and  Sinclairs,  and 
Spencers,  and  Tyrrells,  who  fancy  themselves  to  be  de- 
scended from  noble  blood;  for  they  may,  after  all,  be 
nothing  but  genuine  Smiths,  and  Browns,  and  Joneses, 
and  Robinsons,  with  changed  names.  Alack-a-day  for 
such  pretensions ! 

Finally,  women,  at  marriage,  change  their  surnames. 
How  many  wish  in  this  manner  to  change  them:  how 
many  regret  they  have  ever  done  so!* 

of  clanship  in  Scotland  may  be  urged  in  defence  of  Camden's  assertion,  as  the 
members  of  the  clans  generally  assumed  the  surnames  of  their  lords  and  pro- 
tectors ;  but  the  circumstances  under  which  clans  were  originally  formed  had  no 
parallel  in  feudal  England.  We  have  not  space  to  enter  minutely  into  the  ques- 
tion how  the  most  illustrious  and  aristocratic  of  names  have  come  to  be  diffused 
among  all  classes  of  the  community;  but  it  may  suffice  generally  to  remark, 
that  the  fact  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  mutations  to  which  families  as  well  as 
individuals  are  subject  in  the  common  course  of  events.  Families  seldom  remain 
at  a  stationary  point  in  worldly  prosperity  for  many  successive  generations;  and 
instances  of  the  rapid  advancement  of  some  families  to  fortune,  and  of  the 
equally  speedy  decay  of  others,  must  be  familiar  to  all.  Hence  it  is  that  the  near 
kindred  of  the  most  exalted  individuals  are  often  found  in  stations  compara- 
tively humble.  The  story  of  Lord  Audley  and  shoemaker  Touchet  is  well 
known :  and  the  claim  of  a  trunk-maker  to  the  earldom  of  Northumberland,  and 
the  honours  of  the  illustrious  house  of  Percy,  is  a  matter  of  history.  There  is 
now  living  in  a  southern  county,  a  rat-catcher,  whose  near  consanguinity  to  a 
noble  earl  representing  one  of  the  most  antient  houses  in  England,  would  not  be 
questioned,  on  investigation,  by  the  most  fastidious  member  of  the  Heralds' 
College.  With  such  instances  before  us,  it  ceases  to  be  a  matter  of  surprise  that 
the  proudest  names  of  English  history  have,  in  the  lapse  of  ages,  descended  to  the 
very  "  basement  story"  of  society. 

Suetonius  mentions  "  that  it  was  thought  a  capital  crime  in  Pomposianus  for 
calling  his  base  bond-slaves  by  the  name  of  grand  captaines." 

•  In  Spain,  the  wife  does  not  change  her  name  at  marriage.  The  son  uses  the 
paternal  or  maternal  name,  as  he  thinks  proper.  The  choice  generally  falls 
upon  that  of  the  best  family,  in  accordance  with  the  proverb : 

"  El  hijo  de  ruyn  Padre 
Toma  el  appelido  de  la  Madre." 


HISTORICAL    SURNAMES.  201 


ESSAY    XV. 


HISTORICAL    SURNAMES. 


I  HAVE  reserved  this  subject  for  my  last  Essay,  because 
it  would  have  been  difficult  to  find  a  place  for  it  under  any 
of  the  respective  heads  to  which  I  have  undertaken  to  re- 
duce our  English  family  names. 

By  an  historical  surname  I  mean  a  name  which  has  an 
allusion  to  some  circumstance  in  the  life  of  the  person  who 
primarily  bore  it.  Thus  Sans-terre  or  Lack-land,  the  bye- 
name  of  King  John,  as  having  relation  to  one  incident  in 
that  monarch's  life,  might  be  designated  an  historical  sur- 
name. Of  a  similar  character  were  the  names  Scropha  and 
Asinia,  borne  by  the  famihes  of  the  Tremellii  and  the 
Cornehi.*  To  this  class  of  surnames,  also,  belongs  that  of 
Nestling,  borne  by  a  Saxon  earl,  who  in  his  infancy,  ac- 
cording to  Verstegan,  had  been  rescued  from  an  eagle's 
nest.  Perhaps  the  term  "  accidental"  would  be  more 
proper  as  applied  to  such  names  than  that  which  I  have 
adopted,  as  they  generally  had  their  origin  in  some  acci- 
dent which  befel  the  persons  who  first  bore  them. 

Many  examples  of  historical  or  accidental  surnames 
might  be  given  from  antient  and  mediaeval  history,  but  I 
shall  confine  myself  chiefly  to  such  as  have  become  here- 

*  Vide  Essay  VIII.  Most  modern  nations  have  surnames  of  the  historical 
kind ;  for  instance,  the  Italian  family  of  Santa-Croce  (i.e.  Holy  Cross)  were 
so  denominated  from  one  of  their  ancestors  who  brought  the  wood  of  the  true 
cross  into  Italy.  {Dr.  Adam  Clarke.) 

9§ 


202  HISTORICAL    SURNAMES. 

ditary  within  the  last  eight  centurieSy  and  which  I  have 
either  met  with  in  genealogical  records,  or  gleaned  from 
oral  family  traditions. 

Several  of  these  belong  to  the  period  of  the  Norman 
Conquest  and  the  times  of  the  Crusades.  Thus  the  name 
of  FoRTEScuE  is  Said  to  have  been  bestowed  on  Sir  Richard 
le  Forte,  (that  is  "  the  strong,")  one  of  the  leaders  in  the 
Conqueror's  array,  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  protect 
his  chief  at  the  battle  of  Hastings,  by  bearing  before  him  a 
massive  escue  or  shield.  The  noble  family  descended  from 
this  personage  use,  in  allusion  to  this  circumstance  and  to 
their  name,  the  punning  motto, — iffaxiZf^cvitVixa  i^alu^ 
ISucum — "  A  strong  shield  is  the  safety  of  commanders." 

The  following  traditionary  anecdote  belongs  to  the  same 
date,  and  accounts  for  the  name  of  Eyre  : 

"The  first  of  this  family  was  named  Truelove,  but  at  the 
battle  of  Hastings,  Oct.  14,  1066,  William  was  flung  from 
his  horse  and  his  helmet  beaten  into  his  face,  which 
Truelove  observing,  pulled  off,  and  horsed  him  again.  The 
duke  told  him,  "Thou  shalt  hereafter  from  Truelove  be 
called  Fyre  (or  Air),  because  thou  hast  given  me  the  air  I 
breathe."  After  the  battle,  the  duke,  on  inquiry  respect- 
ing him,  found  him  severely  wounded  (his  leg  and  thigh 
having  been  struck  off),  ordered  him  the  utmost  care,  and, 
on  his  recovery,  gave  him  lands  in  Derby  in  reward  for  his 
services,  and  the  leg  and  thigh  in  armour,  cut  off,  for  his 
crest,  an  honorary  badge  yet  worn  by  all  the  Eyres  in 
England."* 

There  is  more  of  romance  than  truth  in  this  story,  for  it 
must  strike  the  reader  as  very  remarkable,  that  the  per- 

*  Thorpe's  Catalogue  of  the  Deeds  of  Battel  Abbey,  p.  106,  note. 


HISTORICAL   SURNAMES.  203 

sonage  of  whom  it  is  related,  a  Norman  born  and  bred, 
should  bear  a  cognomen  so  very  English  as  True-love. 
The  singular  crest  borne  by  his  descendants  must  have  ori- 
ginated from  some  more  recent  occurrence,  as  armorial 
bearings  were  not  used  fo.  many  years  after  the  battle  of 
Hastings.  Still  there  may  be  some  foundation  for  the  tra- 
dition. The  following  has  more  appearance  of  credibility ; 
while  it  is  unfortunate  that  the  name  to  which  it  refers  was 
borne  as  a  Christian  name  (teste  Camden)  much  earlier 
than  the  date  of  the  occurrence. 

"Walter,  a  Norman  knight,  and  a  great  favourite  of  the 
king  (WiUiam  the  First),  playing  at  chess  on  a  summer's 
evening,  on  the  banks  of  the  Ouse,  with  that  king,  won 
all  he  played  for.  The  king  thtew  down  the  board,  saying 
he  had  nothing  more  to  play  for.  *  Sir,'  said  Sir  Walter, 
*here  is  land.'  *  There  is  so,'  replied  the  king,  *  and 
if  thou  beatest  me  this  game  also,  thine  be  all  the  land  on 
this  side  the  bourne  or  river,  which  thou  canst  see  as  thou 
sittest.'  He  had  the  good  fortune  to  win ;  and  the  king, 
clapping  him  on  the  shoulder,  said,  *  Henceforth  thou 
shalt  be  called  Ousebourne.'  Hence  it  is  supposed  came 
the  name  of  Osborne."* 

The  thrice  illustrious  surname  of  Plantagenet,  borne 
by  eight  successive  kings  of  England,  originated  with 
Foulques  or  Fulke,  count  of  Anjou,  who  flourished  in  the 
twelfth  century.  This  personage,  to  expiate  some  enormous 
crimes  of  which  he  had  been  guilty,  went  on  a  pilgrimage  to 
Jerusalem,  and  wore  in  his  cap  as  a  mark  of  his  humility,  a 
piece  of  planta  genista  or  broom  (which  was  sometimes 
used  by  his  descendants  as  a  crest),  and  on  that  account 

•  Life  of  Corinna.    Pegge's  Curialia  Miscellanea,  p.  319, 


204  HISTORICAL    SURNAMES. 

was  surnamed  Plantagenet.  The  antient  English  family  of 
Broome  are  said  to  be  lineal  descendants  of  this  nobleman. 

The  following  is  said  to  be  the  origin  of  the  surname  of 
Tynte:  In  the  year  1192,  at  the  battle  of  Ascalon,  a 
young  knight  of  the  noble  house  of  Arundel,  clad  all  in 
white,  with  his  horse's  howsings  of  the  same  colour,  so 
gallantly  distinguished  himself  on  that  memorable  field 
that  Richard  Coeur  de  Leon  remarked  publicly,  after  the 
victory,  "  that  the  maiden  knight  had  borne  himself  as  a 
lion,  and  done  deeds  equal  to  those  of  six  croises  [crusaders], 
whereupon  he  conferred  on  him  for  arms,  "  a  lion  gules  on 
a  field  argent i  between  six  crosslets  of  the  first ^''^  and  for 
motto,  Tynctus  cruore  Saraceno  ;  that  is,  "  Tinged  with 
Saracen  blood."  His  descendants  thence  assumed  the 
surname  of  Tynte,  and  settled  in  Somersetshire.* 

WilUam  de  Albini,  earl  of  Arundel,  received  the  surname 
of  Strongimanus,  or  Strong-hand,f  from  the  following 
circumstance,  as  related  by  Dugdale : 

*'  It  happened  that  the  Queen  of  France  being  then  a 
widow,  and  a  very  beautiful  woman,  became  much  in  love 
with  a  knight  of  that  country,  who  was  a  comely  person, 
and  in  the  flower  of  his  youth :  and  because  she  thought 
that  no  man  excelled  him  in  valour,  she  caused  a  tourna- 
ment to  be  proclaimed  throughout  her  dominions,  promising 
to  reward  those  who  should  exercise  themselves  therein 
according  to  their  respective  demerits ;  and  concluding, 
that  if  the  person  whom  she  so  well  affected,  should  act 
his  part  better  than  others  in  those  mihtary  exercises,  she 
might  marry  him  without  any  dishonour  to  herself.  Here- 
upon divers  gallant  men  from   forrain  parts   hasting  to 

*  Burke's  Commoners,  vol.  iv. 
t  In  this  instance  the  surname  did  not  become  heredit.ary. 


HISTORICAL    SURNAMES.  205 

Paris,  amongst  others  came  this  our  William  de  Albini, 
bravely  accoutred,  and  in  the  tournament  excelled  all 
others,  overcoming  many,  and  wounding  one  mortally 
with  his  lance,  which  being  observed  by  the  queen,  shee 
became  exceedingly  enamoured  of  him,  and  forthwith  in- 
vited him  to  a  costly  banquet,  and  afterwards  bestowing 
certain  jewels  upon  him,  offered  him  marriage  ;  but  having 
plighted  his  troth  to  the  Queen  of  England,  then  a  widow, 
he  refused  her,  whereat  she  grew  so  much  discontented, 
that  she  consulted  with  her  maids  how  she  might  take 
away  his  life,  and  in  pursuance  of  that  design  enticed  him 
into  a  garden,  where  there  was  a  secret  cave,  and  in  it  a 
lion,  unto  which  she  descended  by  divers  steps,  under 
colour  of  showing  him  the  beast ;  and  when  she  told  him 
of  his  fierceness,  he  answered,  that  it  was  a  womanish  and 
not  a  manly  quality  to  be  afraid  thereof.  But  having  him 
there,  by  the  advantage  of  a  folding  door,  she  thrust  him 
in  to  the  lion ;  being  therefore  in  this  danger,  he  rolled  his 
mantle  about  his  arm,  and  putting  his  hand  into  the  mouth 
of  the  beast,  pulled  out  his  tongue  by  the  root;  which 
done,  he  followed  the  queen  to  her  palace,  and  gave  it  to 
one  of  her  maids  to  present  unto  her.  Returning  there- 
upon to  England,  with  the  fame  of  this  glorious  exploit, 
he  was  forthwith  advanced  to  the  earldome  of  Arundel, 
and  for  his  arms  the  lion  given  him."  He  subsequently 
obtained  the  hand  of  Queen  Adeliza,  relict  of  King  Henry  I., 
and  daughter  of  Godfrey  Duke  of  Lorraine,  which  Adeliza 
had  the  castle  of  Arundel  in  dowry  from  the  deceased 
monarch,  and  thus  her  new  lord  became  its  feudal  earl. 

The  Scottish  surname  of  Dalzell  originated,  according 
to  Nisbet,  from  the  following  incident.  "  A  favourite  of 
Kenneth  II.  having  been  hanged  by  the  Picts,  and  the 


206  HISTORICAL    SURNAMES. 

king  being  much  concerned  that  the  body  should  be  ex- 
posed in  so  disgraceful  a  situation,   offered  a  large  reward 

to  him  who  should  rescue  it This  being  an 

enterprize  of  great  danger,  no  one  was  found  bold  enough 
to  undertake  it,  till  a  gentleman  came  to  the  king  and  said 
*  Dal  zieli  that  is  *  I  dare/  and  accordingly  performed  the 
hazardous  exploit."*  In  memory  of  this  circumstance  his 
descendants  assumed  for  their  arms  a  man  hanging  on  a 
gallows,  and  the  motto  I  dare.  The  Dalziels  at  length  be- 
came Earls  of  Carnwath. — Another  eminent  Scottish  sur- 
name, that  of  BuccLEUCH,  is  derived,  on  the  authority  of 
Sir  "Walter  Scott,  from  a  very  trifling  incident.  "  A  king 
of  Scotland  being  *on  hontynge,'  in  company  with  his 
courtiers,  a  fine  buck  of  which  he  was  in  pursuit  being 
hard  pressed  by  the  hounds  fell  into  a  clough  or  ravine, 
Scottic^,  ^  cleuch.^  The  sports  being  thus  interrupted,  the 
royal  hunter  requested  one  of  his  attendants  to  extricate 
the  game  in  order  that  the  sport  might  be  renewed.  This, 
although  no  slight  task  for  a  single  arm,  he  accomplished 
to  the  king's  liking,  and  the  athletic  courtier  received  from 
the  king's  own  mouth  the  name  of  Buck-cleuchy  which  is 
still  borne  by  his  descendant,  the  Duke  of  Buccleuch." 

The  old  Norman  Malvoisin  or  Mauvesyn  is,  strictly 
speaking,  a  local  surname,  but  its  origin  is  so  singular  that 
it  deserves  a  place  among  these  anecdotes.  Our  old  histo- 
rians inform  us  that  when  a  besieging  army  erected  a  tower 
or  castle  near  the  place  besieged,  such  castle  was  called,  in 
French,  a  Malvoisin  or  'dangerous  neighbour'  to  the 
enemy,  because  it  threatened  to  cut  him  off  from  all  possi- 
bility of  relief.      In  the  northern  district  of  the  Isle  of 

•  Peggs's  Curial.  Miscel.  p.  233. 


HISTORICAL    SURNAMES.  207 

France,  not  far  from  the  banks  of  the  Seine,  some  time 
stood  one  of  those  awful  bulwarks,  from  which  the  great 
ancestor  of  the  English  family,  who  was  Lord  of  the  neigh- 
bouring domain  of  Rosny,  received  his  surname.* 

The  name  Mauleverer  was  antiently  written  Maliis- 
Leporarius  or  Malevorer,  the  "  bad  hare  hunter,"  and  tra- 
dition states  that  a  Yorkshire  gentleman  being  to  let  slip  a 
brace  of  greyhounds  to  run  for  a  stake  of  considerable 
value,  held  them  with  so  unskilful  a  hand  as  rather  to  en- 
danger .their  necks  than  to  expedite  the  capture  of  the 
hare.  This  deficiency  of  skill  brought  down  upon  him 
the  nickname  above  mentioned,  which  thenceforward  de- 
scended to  his  posterity,  an  everlasting  memorial  of  his 
ignorance  of  hunting-craft.  But  that  learned  student  in 
matters  genealogical,  Peter  le  Neve,  Norry  king  of  arms, 
more  rationally  supposes  it  to  be  Malus-operarius,  (in 
French  Mal-ouvrievy)  because  that  in  Domesday  Book 
(Essex,  p.  94)  Occurs  the  following  entry:  "Terra  Adamis, 
filii  Durandi  de  Malis  Operibus,"  which  I  translate,  the 
land  of  Adam  the  son  of  Burand  of  the  Evil  Deeds  !  no 
enviable  surname,  in  truth,  if  it  corresponded  to  the  cha- 
racter of  the  original  bearer.  The  arms  of  the  family  how- 
ever seem  to  support  the  tradition  :  they  are  *  Sable,  three 
greyhounds  courant  in  pale,  argent.' 

The  next  anecdote  has  often  appeared  under  various 
forms  .  I  give  it  on  the  authority  of  a  famous  genealogist. 
'^  One  of  the  antient  Earls  of  Lennox  in  Scotland  had  issue 
three  sons,  the  eldest  succeeded  him  in  the  earldom ;  the 
second,  whose  name  was  Donald ;  and  the  third  named 
Sillcrist.     The  then  king  of  Scots,  having  wars,  did  con- 

*  Burke's  Commoners. 


208  HISTORICAL    SURNAMES. 

vocate  his  lieges  to  the  battle.  Amongst  them  that  were 
commanded  was  the  Earl  of  Lennox,  who  keeping  his 
eldest  son  at  home,  sent  his  second  son  to  serve  for  him 
with  the  forces  under  his  command.  The  battle  went  hard 
with  the  Scots,  for  the  enemy  pressing  furiously  upon 
them,  forced  them  to  lose  ground,  until  at  last  they  fell 
to  flat  running  away,  which  being  perceived  by  Donald,  he 
pulled  his  father's  standard  from  the  bearer  thereof,  and 
valiantly  encountering  the  foe,  (being  well  followed  up  by 
the  Earl  of  Lennox  his  men,)  he  repulsed  the  enemy  and 
changed  the  fortune  of  the  day,  whereby  a  great  victory 
was  got.  After  the  battle,  as  the  manner  is,  every  one 
advancing  and  setting  forth  his  own  acts,  the  king  said 
unto  them,  *  Ye  have  all  done  valiantly,  but  there  is  one 
amongst  you  who  hath  NA  PIER  !'  (no  equal,)  and  calling 
Donald  into  his  presence,  commanded  him  in  regard  of  his 
worth,  service,  and  augmentation  of  his  honour,  to  change 
his  name  from  Lennox  to  Napier,  and  gave  him  lands  in 
Fife,  and  the  lands  of  GofFurd,  and  made  him  his  own 
servant."* 

Some  of  the  Scottish  surnames  originated  in  the  slog- 
gans,  slug-horns,  or  war-cries  used  by  the  clans ;  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Hallidays,  an  old  family  of  the  genuine  Celtic 
blood,  who  settled  in  Annandale,  and  made  frequent  raids 
or  marauding  excursions  on  the  English  border.  On  these 
occasions  they  employed  the  war-cry  of  "  A  Holy  Day  ;" 
every  day  in  their  estimation  being  holy  that  was  spent  in 
ravaging  the  enemy's  country :  hence  the  surname. 

Tradition  is,  at  best,  but  "an  uncertain  voice,"  and 
many  of  the  little  tales  I  am  now  telling,  seem  to  be  only 

*  From  a  MS,  temp.  Charles  I.  written  by  Sir  W.  Segar,  Garter  king  of  arms, 
quoted  in  Burke's  Commoners. 


HISTORICAL    SURNAMES.  209 

"figments  of  fanciful  brains."  Such,  doubtless,  is  that 
which  follows,  as  Tyrwhitt  is  a  local  name.  A  knight  of 
Northumberland,  who  lived  in  the  time  of  Henry  I.  being 
severely  wounded  in  defending  a  bridge,  single-handed, 
against  a  host  of  assailants,  fell,  exhausted,  the  moment  he 
had  forced  them  to  retire,  amongst  the  flags  and  rushes  of 
an  adjacent  swamp,  where  he  would  probably  have  perished 
had  not  the  attention  of  his  party,  who  in  the  mean  time 
had  rallied,  been  directed  to  the  spot  where  he  lay  by  the 
vociferations  of  a  flock  of  tyrwhitts  or  lapwings,  which  had 
been  disturbed  by  his  fall.  Hence,  says  the  story,  the 
wounded  Sir  Hercules  received  his  surname.  This  tradi- 
tion possibly  originated  in  the  canting  arms  borne  by  the 
family,  which  are  Gules,  three  tyrwhitts  or  lapwings  or, 
and  the  crest,  which  represents  an  athletic  human  figure 
defending  himself  with  a  club. 

The  next  anecdote  is  about  as  true  as  the  foregoing,  with 
less  point  in  it.  At  a  remote  period  (that  is  to  say,  "  once 
upon  a  time,")  the  head  of  a  certain  family  having  quar- 
relled with  another  gentleman,  they  agreed,  as  was  the 
fashion,  to  settle  the  dispute  by  single  combat  in  the 
pound-fold  at  Alnwick ;  and  such  was  the  deadly  hate  that 
influenced  them  both,  that  having  procured  the  key  of  the 
inclosure  they  locked  themselves  in,  determined  not  to 
quit  the  spot  until  one  should  have  slain  the  other.  The 
gentleman  first  referred  to  having  come  ofi"  victorious,  to 
escape  the  vengeance  of  his  enemy's  partisans,  leaped  over 
the  wall  of  the  fold,  and  escaped  to  Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 
From  the  affair  of  the  key  he  was  afterwards  called  Key  or 
Cay,  the  name  still  borne  by  his  descendants.  A  lame 
story  truly ! 

Some  of  these  historical  surnames  originated  from  absurd 


210  HISTORICAL    SURNAMES. 

and  servile  tenures  under  the  Norman  kings.  Thierry 
says,  "  Those  among  the  Saxons  who  after  much  servile 
crouching  succeeded  in  preserving  some  slender  portion  of 
their  patrimony,  were  obliged  to  pay  for  this  favour  by 
degrading  and  fantastic  services.  .  .  .  One  woman  is  left 
in  the  enjoyment  of  the  estate  of  her  husband  on  condition 
of  feeding  the  king's  dogs.  And  a  mother  and  son  receive 
their  antient  inheritance  as  a  gifty  on  condition  of  their 
offering  up  daily  prayers  for  the  king's  son  Richard. 
"Hoc  manerium  tenuit  Aldene  teignus  R.  E.  et  vendere 
potuit  sed  W.  rex  dedit  hoc  m.  huic  Aldene  et  matri  ejus 
pro  anima  Ricardi  filii  sui."*  From  a  similar  tenure  origi- 
nated the  name  of  Paternoster.  In  the  time  of  Edward 
the  First  Alyce  Paternoster  held  lands  at  Pusey  in  Berk- 
shire by  the  service  of  saying  the  paternoster,  or  Lord's 
prayer,  five  times  a  day^  iov  the  souls  of  the  king's  ances- 
tors ;  and  Richard  Paternoster,  on  succeeding  to  the  same 
estate,  did  not  present  the  fee  usual  on  such  occasions — a 
red  rose,  a  gilt  spur,  a  pound  of  pepper,  or  a  silver  arrow — 
but  went  upon  his  knees  before  the  baronial  court  and 
devoutly  repeated  the  *  Pater  noster  qui  es  in  coelis,'  &c. 
for  the  manes  of  the  illustrious  dead  before  mentioned  ;  and 
the  like,  we  are  told,  had  previously  been  done  by  his 
brother,  John  Paternoster  of  Pusey. f — Among  the  surnames 
of  this  kind  we  have  that  of  Amen,  which  I  suppose  ori- 
ginated in  some  equally  absurd,  (and  query,  irreligious  ?) 
custom.  Delicacy  almost  forbids  the  mention  of  another 
name,  Pettour,  which  was  given  to  Baldwin  le  Pettour, 
who  held  his  lands  in  Suflfolk   "  per  saltum,  sufflum,  and 


•  Thierry  Norm.  Conq.  Edit.  Whitaker,  p.  123.     Domesday,  1  fol.  141  ver. 
r  Vide  Blount's  Tenures. 


HISTORICAL    SURNAMES.  211 

pettum,  sine  bumbulum,"  that  is,  as  Camden  translates  it, 
**  for  dancing,  pout-puffing,  and  doing  that  before  the  king 
ofEnglandin  ChristmassehoHdayes  which  the  word  *  *  * 
signifieth  in  French." 

In  a  royal  wardrobe  account,  made  towards  the  termina- 
tion of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  preserved  in  the  British 
Museum,*  is  the  following  curious  entry :  "  1297,  Dec.  26. 
To  Maud  Makejoy  for  dancing  before  Edward,  prince  of 
Wales,  in  the  King's  Hall,  at  Ipswich,  2«."  Here  the  sur- 
name evidently  took  its  rise  from  the  pleasure  which  the 
saltations  of  this  antient  figurante  afforded  the  royal  per- 
sonage. As  this  name  does  not  occur  in  modern  times  it 
is  probable  that  the  lady  lost  it  in  marriage. 

Camden  relates  that  a  certain  frenchman  who  had 
craftily  smuggled  one  T.  CrioU,  a  great  feudal  lord  of  Kent 
about  the  time  of  Edward  II.  out  of  France  into  his  own 
country,  received  from  the  grateful  nobleman  a  good  estate 
called  Swinfield,  and  (in  commemoration  of  the  finesse  he 
had  displayed  on  the  occasion)  the  name  of  Fineux  ; 
which  became  the  surname  of  his  descendants — a  family 
who  attained  considerable  eminence  in  England. f 

In  the  late  Mr.  Davies  Gilbert's^  History  of  Cornwall, 
is  an  anecdote  of  a  pretty  Cornish  maiden,  the  daughter 
of  a  shepherd,  who  by  a  concatenation  of  fortunate  cir- 
cumstances, almost  without  parallel,  became  (by  three 
several  marriages)  the  richest  woman  in  England,  and  a 
connexion   of  several  of  its  most  dignified  families.     On 

*  /Vddit.  MSS.  7965.  t  Remaines,  p.  117. 

t  This  venerable,  talented,  and  much-lamented  gentleman  paid  considerable 
attention  to  surnames.  Among  other  conversations  which  the  humble  writer  of 
these  pages  had  the  honour  of  enjoying  with  him,  within  a  week  of  his  some- 
what unexpected  demise,  these  formed  the  topic  of  a  very  agreeable  colloquy. 


212 


HISTORICAL    SURNAMES. 


this  account  she  received  the  appropriate  surname  of 
BoNAVENTURA  or  Goodluck. 

The  great  and  widely-spread  Scottish  family  of  Arm- 
strong derive  their  surname  from  the  following  circum- 
stance :  "An  antient  king  of  Scotland  having  his  horse 
killed  under  him  in  battle  was  immediately  remounted  by 
Fairbairn,  his  armour-bearer.  For  this  timely  assistance 
the  king  amply  rewarded  him  with  lands  on  the  borders, 
and  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  so  important  a  service,  as 
well  as  the  manner  in  which  it  was  performed,  (for  Fair- 
bairn took  the  king  by  the  thigh  and  set  him  on  his 
saddle,)  his  royal  master  gave  him  the  appellation  of  Arm- 
strong,  and  assigned  him  for  crest — '  an  armed  hand  and 
arm  ;  in  the  left  hand  a  leg  and  foot  in  armour,  couped  at 
the  thigh  all  proper.'  "* 

The  family  traditions  of  Scotland  abound  in  anecdotes  of 
this  kind.  "  The  Skenes  of  that  kingdom  obtained  this 
name,"  says  Buchanan,  "  for  killing  a  very  big  and  fierce 
wolf  at  a  hunting  in  company  with  the  king  in  Stocket 
forest  in  Athole ;  having  killed  the  wolf  with  a  dagger  or 
ahene.^''  His  original  name  was  Strowan.  The  Colliers, 
according  to  the  same  authority,  borrow  that  appellative 
from  an  ancestor,  having,  when  hotly  pursued  by  his  ene- 
mies, concealed  himself  in  a  coal-pit. 

Alfray  (or  Fright-all)  was  the  surname  of  a  Sussex 
worthy,  who  died  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  As  he  was  in 
point  of  rank  a  gentleman,  and  no  mention  occurs  in  the 
pedigree  of  any  progenitor  bearing  the  same  name,  it  seems 
probable  that  the  surname  was  adopted  by  him  in  reference 
to  some  extraordinary  strength  of  limb  he  possessed  :  a 

*  Burke's  Commoners,  vo\  iv. 


HISTORICAL    SURNAMES.  213 

supposition  that  receives  support  from  his  epitaph,  which 
may  still  be  seen  on  a  brass  plate  in  the  choir  of  Battel 
church.     The  whole  inscription  is  worth  copying  : 

"  Thomas  Alfraye,  good  courteous  frend, 

Interred  lyeth  heere, 
Who  so  in  actiue  strength  did  passe 

jIs  none  was  found  his  peere ! 
And  Elizabeth  did  take  to  wjfe, 

One  Ambrose  Comfort's  child, 
Who  with  him  thyrtie  one  yeares  lyvid 

A  virtuous  spouse  and  mild  ; 
By  whom  a  sonne  and  daughter  eke. 

Behind  alyue  he  left. 
And  eare  he  fiftie  yeares  had  rune 

Death  hym  of  lyfe  bereft. 
On  Neweyeares  day  of  Christe  his  birth 

Which  was  just  eighty-nine, 
One  thousand  and  fiue  hundreth  eke, 

Loe  here  of  flesh  the  fine. 
But  then  his  wooful  wyfe,  of  God 

With  piteous  praiers  gann  crave. 
That  her  own  corps  with  husbande  hers 

Mi,u:ht  ioine  in  darksome  graue. 
And  that  her  soule  his  soule  might  seek 

Amongst  the  saints  aboue, 
And  there  in  endless  blysseenjoye 

Her  long  desired  loue  ; 
The  whiche  her  gratious  God  did  graunt. 

To  her  of  Marche  the  last. 
When  after  that  deuorcement  sower 

One  yere  and  more  was  past.'' 

There  is  a  tradition  that  a  certain  gentleman  was  com- 
pelled, during  some  popular  commotion,  to  quit  his  resi- 
dence in  the  north  of  England  and  to  seek  safety  in  flight ; 
but  so  sudden  was  his  departure  that  he  was  unable  to  pro- 
vide himself  with  money,  for  want  of  which,  in  his  journey 
southward,  he  might  have  perished  had  he  not  fortunately 


214  HISTORICAL    SURNAMES. 

found  on  the  highway  a  glove  containing  a  purse  well 
stored  with  gold.  How  the  purse  came  there,  or  how  the 
finder  satisfied  his  conscience  in  keeping  its  contents,  the 
tradition  does  not  state.  It  merely  adds  that  deeming  an 
alias  to  his  name  necessary,  he,  in  allusion  to  the  circum- 
stance, adopted  the  surname  of  Purseglove  ;  a  name 
which  is  not  yet  extinct.  What  credit  can  be  attached  to 
this  story  I  know  not :  certain  it  is  that  many  years  before 
the  event  is  supposed  to  have  occurred  there  was  a  Thomas 
Pursglove,  (or  Purslow,  as  his  name  was  sometimes  spelt,) 
bishop  of  Hull. 

Many  of  the  names  given  to  foundlings  might  be  classed 
with  historical  surnames.  A  poor  child  picked  up  at  the 
town  of  Newark-upon-Trent,  received  from  the  inhabitants 
the  whimsical  name  of  Tom  Among  us.  Becoming  a  man 
of  eminence  he  changed  his  name  for  the  more  euphonious 
one  of  Dr.  Thomas  Magnus.  He  was  employed  in 
several  embassies,  and,  in  gratitude  to  the  good  people  of 
Newark,  he  erected  a  grammar-school  there,  which  still 
exists.* 

The  following  was  related  to  me  by  a  gentleman,  one  of 
whose  friends  witnessed  the  occurrence.  A  poor  child  who 
had  been  found  in  the  high-road  and  conveyed  to  the  village 
workhouse,  being  brought  before  the  parish  vestry  to  receive 
a  name,  much  sage  discussion  took  place,  and  many  brains 
were  racked  for  an  appropriate  cognomen.  As  the  cir- 
cumstance happened  in  the  "  month  of  flowers  and  song," 
a  good-natured  farmer  suggested  that  the  poor  child  should 
be  christened  John  May  ;  an  idea  in  which  several  of  the 
vestrymen  concurred.     One  of  the  clique,  however,  more 

*  Camd.  Rem    p.  128. 


HISTORICAL    SURNAMES.  215 

aristocratic  than  his  neighbours,  was  of  opinion  that  that 
was  far  too  good  a  name  for  the  ill-starred  brat,  and  pro- 
posed in  lieu  of  it  that  of  Jack  Parish — the  designation 
that  was  eventually  adopted  ! 

I  shall  conclude  these  anecdotes  with  another  on  the 
name  of  a  foundling.  There  now  resides  at  no  great  dis- 
tance from  Lewes  a  farmer  whose  family  name  is  Brooker, 
to  which  the  odd  dissyllable  of  Napkin  is  prefixed  as  a 
Christian  name.  Both  these  names  he  inherits  from  his 
grandfather,  a  foundling,  who  was  exposed  at  some  place 
in  Surrey,  tied  up  in  a  napkin  and  laid  on  the  margin  of  a 
brook  ;  and  who — as  no  traces  of  his  unnatural  parents 
could  be  found — received  the  very  appropriate,  though 
somewhat  cacophonious  name  of  Napkin  Brooker  ! 


2h6 


A  CHAPTER  OF  REBUSES. 


"This  for   Rebus  may  suffice,  and  yet  if  there  were  more  I  think 
some  lippes  would  like  such  kind  of  Lettuce.''  Camden. 


The  word  Rebus  (from  the  ablative  plural  of  the  Latin 
res)  is  accurately  defined  by  Dr.  Johnson  as  "a  word 
represented  by  a  picture."  Camden  says  that  this  whim- 
sical mode  of  representing  proper  names  by  objects  whose 
designations  separately  or  conjointly  bear  the  required 
sound,  (and  which  he  calls  "  painted  poesies,")  was  intro- 
duced into  England  from  Picardy,  after  the  wars  between 
Edward  the  Third  and  the  French. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  pueriUty  of  hunting 
out  a  fanciful  picture  or  device  to  answer  a  purpose  which 
the  letters  of  one's  name  would  answer  much  better,  the 
practice  has  the  sanction  of  some  eminent  names  in  antient 
as  well  as  in  modern  days.  Even  the  great-minded  Cicero 
was  not  too  proud  to  represent  his  name  by  the  paltry 
species  of  pulse  called  by  us  vetches  or  chick-pease,  and  by 
the  Romans  Cicer  ;  and  that  too  in  a  dedication  to  the 
gods.  Many  of  the  coins  of  Juhus  Csesar  bear  the  impress 
of  an  ELEPHANT,  as  the  word  cesar  signifies  that  animal 
in  the  antient  language  of  Mauritania.*  In  Mke  manner 
the  sculptors  Saurus  and  Batrachus  carved  upon  their 
works,  the  one  the  figure  of  a  lizard,  and  the  other  a 

*  Camden. 


REBUSES. 


217 


FROG,  as  their  names  implied;*  and  two  Roman  mint- 
masters  distinguished  themselves  upon  the  coins  struck  by 
them,  Florus  by  a  flower,  and  Vitulus  by  a  calf. 

Having  thus  seen  that  there  exists  classical  authority  for 
the  use  of  rebuses,  I  shall  proceed  to  set  before  my  reader 
a  dish  of  "lettuce"  culled  from  the  fruitful  garden  of 
Master  Camden  and  elsewhere,  and  which  I  hope  he  will 
find  salted  and  sugared  to  his  palate. 

"  Sir  Thomas  Cavall,  whereas  caval  signifieth  a 
horse,  engraved  a  galloping  horse  in  his  scale,  with  this 
limping  verse  : 

**  Cj^omae  txttiHz  cwm  axmti^  t)Vii  (ilEqtmm.^* 

Trust  Thomas  when  you  see  his  Horse. 


Gilbert  de  Aquila,  alias 
Gislebertus  Magnus,  alias  Gilbert 
Michel,  founder  of  the  priory  of 
Michelham,  temp.  Henry  III., 
was  sometimes  styled  Dominus 
Aquilse,  Lord  of  the  Eagle,  and 
his  rebus  occurs  in  the  shape  of 
an  eagle  on  the  corporate  seal  of 
the  town  of  Seaford,  where  he 
had  great  possessions. 


John  Eagleshead  used  as  his  rebus  an  eagle's  head, 
surrounded  with 

'*f^oc  aqttilae  caput  t^t,  sugnumque  figura  3lo]^amiisi/* 

This  is  the  head  of  an  eagle,  the  seal  and  badge  of  John. 


*  Vide  Donaldson's  Connexion  between  Heraldry  and  Gothic  Architecture,  a 
work  to  which  I  am  indebted  for  some  other  hints  concerning  rebuses. 

10 


218  REBUSES. 

The  Abbot  of  Ramsay  bore  on  his  seal  a  ram  in  the  sea, 
with  this  verse : 

"  Cwjus;  jgigna  gcro  t>ux  gr^ffisl  iit  ego  !  *' 

He  whose  signs  I  bear  is  leader  of  the  flock,  as  T  am. 

Abbots,  priors,  and  churchmen  generally,  were  famous 
fellows  for  these  name  devices,  which,  like  oral  puns,  may 
be  either  apt  and  good,  like  those  already  mentioned,  or 
forced  and  bad,  like  the  following  : 

"  William  Chaundler,  warden  of  New  College,  Oxford, 
playing  with  his  owne  name,  so  fiUed  the  hall-windowes 
with  candles  and  these  words,  ^iTiat  llux,  [Let  there  be 
light,]  that  he  darkened  the  hall;  whereupon  Vidam  of 
Chartres,  when  he  was  there,  said  it  should  have  been 
FiANT  Tenebr^,  [Let  there  be  darkness!]"  Here  the 
rebus,  to  be  correct,  should  have  been  a  candle-maker 
"  drawing  his  dips,"  like  that  of  old  Barker,  a  printer 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  which  represents  a  man  with  an 
axe  stripping  hark  from  the  trunk  of  a  tree. 

Some  rebuses 
were  defective, 
representing    only   part   of 
the  name ;  as  that  of  Abbot 
Ramridge  on  his  tomb  in 
St.  Alban's  Abbey  Church,  which  gives  only 
a  ram,  as  in  the  annexed  engraving.    Still 
more  defective  is  that  of 
Abbot  Wheathampsted,  who 
presided  over  the  same  monas- 
tery,  and  spent  six  thousand 
pounds   (an  immense  sum  in 
those  days,)  in  adorning  the 


REBUSES.  219 

church,  in  which  his  device  many  times  occurs :  it  is  three 
wheat-ears  fastened  together  with  a  wreath.  The  rebus 
of  Peter  Rams  am,  abbot  of  Sherborne,  was  a  text  or 
old  Enghsh  ^  inclosing  a  ram  and  an  abbot's  crosier. 
This  still  remains  in  Sherborne  Church,  as  also  another, 
namely,  a  ram  holding  a  scroll  inscribed  3^tttx  3^am£iam. 

This  last  instance,  among  others,  induces  one  to  believe 
that  the  ecclesiastics  had  a  motive  in  employing  these  de- 
vices which  lay  deeper  than  a  mere  playing  upon  words. 
It  must  be  recollected  that  the  majority  of  the  persons 
who  frequented  the  splendid  edifices  their  piety  or  their 
vanity  had  adorned  were  unable  to  read  any  inscription 
that  might  have  recorded  the  benefaction  ;  but  these  pic- 
torial representations  were  intelligible  to  the  most  illiterate, 
and  served  to  commemorate  to  the  populace  the  names  of 
the  reverend  fathers  to  whom  they  stood  indebted  for  the 
sculptured  glories  of  their  houses  of  worship.  Perhaps 
the  general  ignorance  of  the  common  people  accounts  for 
the  absence  of  inscriptions  on  the  sepulchral  monuments 
of  early  date.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  motive,  this 
omission  is  very  much  to  be  regretted,  as  all  the  acumen 
of  learned  antiquaries  very  often  fails  to  assign  them  to 
their  proper  tenants.  Very  probable  conclusions  are  some- 
times arrived  at  from  the  heraldic  achievements,  the  cos- 
tume of  the  statues  with  which  tombs  are  adorned,  and 
the  posture  of  those  figures  ;*  but  the  parties  commemo- 
rated are  seldom  satisfactorily  ascertained. 

•  Thus  an  abbot  may  be  distinguished  from  a  bishop,  and  common  warriors 
from  crusaders,  which  latter  usually 

«« lie. 

The  vow  performed,  in  cross-legged  effigy. 
Devoutly  stretched  upon  their  chancel  floors." 


220  REBUSES. 

Sometimes  the  whole  range  of  visible  objects  could  not 
furnish    a  full  rebus.      In   such  cases 

®       single  letters  or  even  whole  words  were 
adjoined  to  complete  the  device.     Thus 
a  capital  A  in  a  roundlet  or  rundle  was 
made  to  do  duty  for  the  name  of  Thomas, 
Earl  of  Arundel. 
Sir  Anthony  Wingfeld  devised  a  wing  with  the  letters 
F.  E.  L.  D.  quarterly  about  it,    "and  over    the  wing   a 
crosse  to  shew  he  was  a  Christian,  and  on  the  crosse  a 
red  rose  to  shew  that  he  followed  the  house  of  Lancaster." 
In   like  manner  the  old  Surrey  family 
of  Newdigate  used  for  their  seal  an  an- 
tient   portcullised   gate   with   nu   at  the 
top,  and  a  capital  D  in  the  centre,  thus  : 
Nu-D-gate. 

Camden  tells  us  of  an  amorous  youth  who,  in  order  to 
express  his  love  for  a  certain  fair  damsel  named  Rose 
Hill,  painted  on  the  border  of  his  garment  lively  repre- 
sentations of  a  rosBy  a  hill^  an  eye,  a  loaf,  and  a  well, 
"  that  is,  if  you  will  spell  it, 


ROSE    HILL    I    LOVE    WELL 


f" 


Ton  being  a  common  termination  to  names  of  places, 
and  consequently  to  those  of  persons,  has  rendered  a  tun 
a  favorite  ingredient  in  rebuses,  as  the  following  list  will 
show : 

Archbishop  Thurston.  A  thrush  upon  a  tun.  This 
device  still  remains  on  the  ruins  of  Fountain's  Abbey, 
which  that  prelate  founded. 


REBUSES. 


221 


Archbishop  Moreton.  The  letters  mor  upon  a 
tun,  and  sometimes  a  mulberry-tree  (in  Latin  morus) 
issuing  out  of  a  tun. 

Luton.     A  lute  upon  a  tun. 

Thornton.     A  thorn  upon  a  tun. 

AsHTON.     An  ash-tree  issuing  out  of  a  tun. 

Bolton,  prior  of  St.  Bartholomew's,  in  Smithfield.  A 
\mdi-bolt  through  a  tun. 

Huntington  (John),  Rector  of  Assheton  under  Lyme. 
"  An  huntsman  with  dogges  whereby  hee  thought  to  ex- 
presse  the  two  former  syllables  of  his  name.  Hunting  ;  on 
the  other  syde,  a  vesseU  called  a  Tonne,  which  being  ioined 
together  makes  Huntington.* 

Rebuses  are  occasionally  of  great  use  in  determining  the 
dates  and  founders  of  build- 
Thus  the  parsonage- 


ings. 

house  at  Great  Snoring,  in 
Norfolk,  is  only  known  to 
have  been  bmlt  by  one  of 
the  family  of  Shelton  by 
the  device  upon  it  repre- 
senting a  shell  upon  a  tun. 

Many  of  the  seals  of  antient  corporations  exhibit  rebuses 
on  the  names  of  the  towns,  as  that  of  Camelford,  a  camel ; 
Gateshead,  an  antient  gate ;  Kingston-upon-HuU,  a  king 
between  two  lions  rampant  and  another  couchant;  Hertford, 
a  hart  statant  in  a  ford :  Maidenhead,  a  maiderHs  head ; 
Lancaster  (antiently  Lun-ceastre),  a  lion  couchant  before  a 
castle,  &c.  &c. 

Sometimes  rebuses  occur   as  signs  of  inns,    as  at  the 


Hollingworth,  his  Chronicle  of  Manchester. 


222  REBUSES. 

antique  little  village  of  Warbleton,  co.  Sussex,  where  the 
device  is  a  battle-axe  or  war-bill  thrust  into  the  bung-hole 
of  a  tun  of  foaming  ale.  In  the  neighbouring  hamlet  of 
Runtington,  there  was  a  similar  rebus,  namely,  a  runt,  or 
young  cow,  and  a  tun. 

Quaint  was  the  conceit  of  Robert  Langton,  who  gave 
new  windows  to  Queen's  CoUege,  Oxford,  (where  he  re- 
ceived his  education,)  and  placed  in  each  of  them  the 
letters  ton  drawn  out  to  a  most  extraordinary  length,  or 
rather  breadth,  for  Lang-  (that  is  Long-)  tun  ;  thus  : 

TT  OINJ 

"You  may  imagine,"  says  Master  Camden,  "that 
Francis  Cornfield  did  scratch  his  elbow  when  he  had 
sweetly  inuented,  to  signifie  his  name.  Saint  Francis,  with 
his  Frierly  kowle  in  a  corne-field  T** 

A  hare  upon  a  bottle,  for  Hare  bottle,  forms  one  of 
the  best  of  these  speechless  puns.  A  mag-pie  upon  a  goat, 
for  Pigot,  is  very  tolerable.  As  for  a  hare  in  a  sheaf  of 
rye  standing  in  the  sun,  for  Harrison,  it  is  barely  pass- 
able, but  a  chest  surmounted  with  a  star,  for  Chester, 
is  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  wretched  punning. 

Lionel  Bucket  gave  as  his  rebus  a  Lion  with  an  l  upon 
his  head,  "  whereas,"  says  Camden,  "  it  should  have  been 
in  his  taile." — "  If  the  Lyon  had  beene  eating  a  ducke  it 
had  beene  a  rare  deuice  worth  a  duckat  or  a  ducke-eggeV 

The  rebus  of  Ralph  Hoge  or  Hogge,  (who  in  con- 
junction with  Peter  Baud,   a  Frenchman,  was  the  first 

*  Remaines,  p.  145. 


REBUSES.  223 

person  who  cast  iron  ordnance  in  England — at  the  village 
of  Buxted,  in  Sussex,)  was  a  hog.  On  the  front  of  his 
residence  at  that  place  this  device  remains  carved  on 
stone,  with  the  date  1591 ;  from  which  circumstance  the 
dwelling  is  caUed  the  "Hog-house."  The  rebus  of  one 
Medcalf  was  a  ca^ inscribed  with  the  letters  m.  e.  d. 

Our  old  printers  were  as  fond  of  name-devices  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  as  the  abbots  and  priors  of  the  fifteenth 
had  been.  Thus  WiUiam  Norton  gave,  on  the  title-pages 
of  the  books  printed  by  him,  a  sweet-William  growing  out 
of  the  bung-hole  of  a  turij  labelled  with  the  syllable  nor  ; 
John  OxENBRiDGE  gavc  an  ox  with  the  letter  N  on  his 
back  going  over  a  bridge  ;  Hewe  Goes,  the  first  printer 
in  the  city  of  York,  a  great  f|  and  a  goose!  WiUiam 
MiDDLETON  gave  a  capital  M  in  the  middle  of  a 
tun  ;  Richard  Grafton,  the  graft  of  an  apple-tree  issuing 
from  a  tun ;  and  Garret  Dews,  two  fellows  in  a  garret 
playing  at  dice  and  casting  deux  !  John  Day  used  the 
figure  of  a  sleeping  boy,  whom  another  boy  was  awakening, 
and,  pointing  to  the  sun,  exclaiming,  "Arise  for  it  is 
day  ;*'*  a  clumsy  invention,  scarcely  deserving  the  name 
of  a  rebus.  Perhaps  the  most  far-fetched  device  ever  used 
was  that  of  another  printer,  one  Master  Jugge,  who 
"  took  to  express  his  name  a  nightingale  sitting  in  a  bush 
with  a  scrole  in  her  mouth,  wherein  was  written  "jugge, 
jugge,  jugge  !"t 

Some  printers  in  recent  times  have  imitated  their 
typographical  ancestors  by  the  introduction  of  their  rebus 
on  title-pages.    The  late  Mr.  Talboys,  of  Oxford,  ensigned 

•  Vide  a  plate  in  Ames's  Typogr.  Antiq.,  and  in  Fosbroke's  Encyc.  of  Antiq. 
t  Peacham  («'  Compleat  Gentleman,"  I  presume,)  cited  in  Johnson's  Diet, 
voc.  Rkbus. 


224 


REBUSES. 


all  his  publications  with  an  axe  struck  into  the  stem  of 
a  tree,  and  the  motto  taille  bois!  Some  of  Mr. 
Pickering's  books  have  an  antique  device,  representing  a 
pike  and  a  ring. 

I  have  reserved  for  the  last,  as  being  the  best  I  have 
seen,  the  celebrated  rebus  of 
IsLip,  Abbot  of  Westminster, 
which  occurs  in  several  forms  in 
that  chapel  of  the  abbey  which 
bears  his  name.  Two  copies  of 
this  rebus  are  now  before  the 
reader:  a  description  of  the  one  forming  our  tail-piece  will 
suffice  for  both.  It  may  be  read  three  ways :  first,  a  human 
EYE  and  a  slip  of  a  tree ;  second,  a  man  sliding  from  the 
branches  of  a  tree  and  of  course  exclaiming  "  i  slip  !" 
and  third,  a  hand  rending  off  one  of  the  boughs  of  the 
same  tree  and  again  re-echoing,  "J  slip!"  Camden, 
who  mentions  this  quaint  device,  gives  a  fourth  reading 
of  it,  namely,  the  letter  %  placed  beside  the  sHp,  thus 
again  producing  the  name — Islip.  Reader,  our  Lettuce 
is  exhausted! 


225 


A  CHAPTER  OF  CANTING  ARMS, 

tfec.  tfec. 


When  Rebuses  are  borne  by  families  as  coats  of  arms, 
they  are  called,  in  the  language  of  heraldry,  Arma  Can- 
TANTiA,  Armes  Parlantes,  or  Canting  Arms.  They 
seem  to  be  in  use  in  most  countries  where  heraldry  is 
known;  thus  among  the  French,  du  Poirier  bears  'Or  a 
Pear  tree,  argent;'  among  the  Italians,  Colonna  bears 
*  Gules,  a  column  argent ;'  among  the  Germans,  Schilsted 
bears  *  Argent,  a  sledge,  sable.'*  The  arms  of  the  united 
houses  of  Castile  and  Leon  are  quarterly,  a  castle  and 
a  lion,  and  those  of  the  province  of  Dauphin^,  a  Dolphin.f 

English  Heraldry  delights  in  these  punning  devices. 
The  arms  of  Arundel  are  six  swaUows,  in  allusion  to  the 
French  word  hirondelle ;  and  those  of  Corbet,  a  raven, 
referring  to  the  French  corbeau,  from  which  the  surname 
is  derived. 

The  arms  of  Towers  are  'Azure,  a  tower,  or;'  those  of 
De  la  Chambre,   'Argent,  a  chevron,  &c.  between  three 


*  Porny's  Heraldry,  p.  12,  note. 

t  Louis  VII.  of  France  (or  as  the  name  was  then  spelt  Loys)  used  for  his 
signet  a  fleur-de-Zw,  evidently  a  play  upon  his  name.  This  was  the  origin  of  the 
royal  arms  of  that  kingdom. 

10  § 


226 


CANTING   ARMS. 


chamber-pieces^  proper;'*  those  of  Brand,  Lord  Dacre, 

*  two  brands  (or  swords)  in  saltire  argent  ;*  those  of  Coote, 

*  Argent,  a  chevron  between  three  cootSt  sable;'  those  of 
Heron,  *  Azure,  three  heronsy  proper;'  those  of  Colt, 
'  Argent,  a  fesse  between  three  colts,  current,  sable ;'  those 
of  OxENDEN,   'Argent,  a  chevron,  between  three  oxen, 


sable;*  those  of  Blackmore,  'Argent,  a  fesse  between 
three  blackmoor's  heads  erased,  sable ;  those  of  Coningsby, 
'  Gules,  three  conies,  sejant  argent ;'  those  of  Starkey,  a 
stork ;  those  of  Urson,  a  bear  (in  Latin  ursa)  ;  those  of 
Laroche,  *  Or,  a  rook,  sable ;'  those  of  Shelley,  *  Sable, 
a  fesse  engrailed  between  three  whelk  shells,  or ;'  those  of 


*  Chamber-pieces,  a  species  of  small  cannons.  The  various  kinds  of  artillery 
in  use  amongst  our  ancestors  bore  the  most  singular  names.  There  were  can- 
nons and  demy-cannons^  curtall-cannons  and  robinets,  culverins  and  demy- 
culverins,  calivers  and  fowlers,  fawcons  and  fawconets,  dragons  and  basilisks, 
sakers  and  petronels,  chambets  and  jakers,  harquebusses,  dags,  and  pistols ! 
"  This,"  says  a  writer  of  the  age  of  Elizabeth,  «« is  the  artillerie  which  is  now 
in  most  estimation."  How  many  more  kinds  there  might  be  I  am  unable  to  say, 
but  the  above  catalogue  seems  sufficiently  numerous.  Most  of  the  above  terms 
are  calculated  to  inspire  a  degree  of  terror,  being  derived  from  the  names  of 
monsters,  serpents,  and  birds  of  prey.  Culverin  is  from  the  Fr.  Couleuvrine,  a 
snake— and  faucons,  fauconnets,  sakers,  were  various  species  of  birds  used  in 
hawking.    Dragons,  basilisks,  &c.  need  no  explanation. 


CANTING   ARMS.  227 

Wood,  *  Argent,  Sitree,  proper  ;'^  those  of  Dolfin,  *  Azure, 
three  dolphins  naiant,  or  ;'  those  of  Whalley,  '  Argent, 
three  whales'  heads  erased  sable ;'  those  of  Maunsell, 
*Argent,  a  chevron  between  three  maunches  (antient 
sleeves,)  sable ;'  those  of  Dobell,  '  Sable,  a  doe  passant, 
between  three  hells,  argent ;'  and  last,  though  not  the  least 
remarkable,  those  of  Trebarefoot,  *  sable  a  cheveron, 
or,  between  three  hears^  feet.'' 

Porny  seems  inclined  to  place  arms  of  this  description 
amongst  what  are  called  Assumptive  Arms,  that  is,  such  as 
have  been  assumed  at  the  caprice  of  parties  to  gratify 
personal  vanity,  without  any  authority  from  the  heralds.* 
It  is  perhaps  impossible  to  place  any  limits  to  the  class 
of  coats  that  come  under  this  designation.  It  is  certain 
that  comparatively  few  families  of  antient  gentry  have 
any  record  of  the  exact  date  of  their  arms,  or  of  their 
having  been  conferred  in  a  legal  manner.  The  college  of 
arms  is  of  no  older  date  than  the  reign  of  Richard  the 
Third.  Prior  to  that  time  coat-armour  was  sometimes  the 
immediate  gift  of  royalty,  but  oftener  conferred  by  com- 
manders on  such  as  had  earned  it  by  valour  on  the  battle- 
field ;  or  given  by  noblemen  to  those  who  held  estates  under 
them  and  followed  their  banners.  Camden  says  *' Whereas 
the  carles  of  Chester  bare  garhes  or  wheat-sheaf es,  many 
gentlemen  of  that  countrey  tooke  wheat-sheaf  es.  Whereas 
the  old  carles  of  Warwicke  bare  chequy  or  and  azure, 
a  cheueron  ermin,  many  thereabout  tooke  ermine  and 
chequie.      In  Leicestershire  and  the  countrey  confining 

*  Heraldry,  p.  12,  note.  Menestrier  of  Lyons,  a  better  authority  than  Porny, 
states  that  Armes  Parlantes  are  as  antient  as  any  other  heraldic  device.  (Vide 
Moule's  Heraldry  of  Fish,  p.  47.) 


228  CANTING   ARMS. 

diuers  bare  cinqaefoyles,  for  that  the  antient  earles  of 
Leicester  bare  geules,  a  cinquefoyle,  ermine.  In  Cumber- 
land and  thereabouts,  where  the  old  barons  of  Kendall  bare 
argent  two  barres  geules,  and  a  lyon  passant  or,  in  a  can- 
ton of  the  second ;  many  gentlemen  thereabout  tooke  the 
same  in  different  colours  and  charges  in  the  canton."*  All 
this  shows  that  many  of  our  antient  families  had  no  good 
authority  for  their  arms,  which  were  taken  up  without  the 
warrant  of  the  officers  of  arms,  if  any  such  in  the  modern 
sense  of  the  term,  then  existed.  But  if  Porny  means  to 
insinuate  that  canting  arms  ha\e  been  generally  assumed 
by  upstarts  within  a  comparatively  recent  period,  he  is 
certainly  mistaken,  as  vcL2i!a.j grants  of  such  bearings,  devised 
by  the  heralds  themselves,  are  duly  registered  in  the 
College  of  Arms.  I  recollect  one  instance  of  the  grant  of  a 
coat  containing  a  canting  charge  within  the  last  few  years. 
King  William  IV.  on  visiting  his  antient  borough  of  Lewes, 
10th  Oct.  1830,  was  pleased  to  use  the  mansion  called 
'The  Friars,'  belonging  to  Mr.  Nehemiah  Wimble,  on 


*  It  would  seem  that  the  practice  of  borrowing  the  arms  of  other  families  is 
not  quite  extinct,  for  a  certain  plebeian  high-sheriff  of  Sussex  not  many  years 
since,  on  being  asked  by  his  coach-maker  what  arms  he  would  have  painted  on 
his  carriage,  replied,  "Oh  I  don't  care — suppose  we  have  Lord  Chichester's — I 
think  they're  as  pretty  as  any  !!"  Nor  is  it  altogether  confined  to  our  eastern 
hemisphere,  if  the  following  anecdote  is  correct.  An  English  gentleman 
at  New  York  sent  his  carriage  to  a  certain  coach-maker  for  repairs,  with 
a  promise  that  he  would  call  in  a  few  days  to  view  the  progress  of  the  work. 
Judge  of  his  surprise  on  entering  the  coach- maker's  workshop  to  find  some  half- 
dozen  other  carriages  besides  his  own  bedizened  with  his  family  arms.  When  he 
asked  the  coach-maker  for  an  explanation  of  this  "  heraldic  anomaly,"  that 
worthy  replied  with  genuine  simplicity  :  "  Why  you  see.  Mister,  several  of  my 
customers  who  have  been  in  to  look  at  their  carriages  have  ordered  me  to  copy 
the  arms  from  yours,  for  let  me  tell  you,"  he  added,  in  a  patronizing  manner, 
"  it's  a  pattern  that's  very  much  liked  !" 


CANTING   ARMS.  229 

which  occasion  His  Majesty  gave  that  gentleman  a  coat  of 
arms,  containing  among  other  charges,  a  wimble."^ 

But  to  give  some  other  instances  of  heraldic  rebuses : 
the  family  of  Oakes  bear  acorns,  (very  natural  that  they 
should !)  the  Butlers,  of  Ireland,  bear  three  covered  cups, 
(very  proper  again!)  the  Lambs,  three 
lambs;  the  Roaches,  three  roaches; 
the  Bacons,  a  boar  ;  the  Pines,  2^  fir- 
tree  ov  pine ;  the  Parkers,  a  stag's 
head;  the  Calls,  three  trumpets;  and 
the  Featherstones,  three  feathers. 
Sometimes  the  crest  cants  when  the 
arms  do  not ;  this  is  the  case  in  the  family  of  Beevor,  a 
beaver;  Ashburnham,  an  ash  tree;  Beckford,  a  heron's 
head  holding  in  his  strong  beak  (Bee  fort)  a  fish  ;  Fisher, 
a  kingfisher,  &c. 

Canting  arms  are  common  in  Scotland  as  well  as  in 
England.  "  The  Arms  of  Matthias  are  three  dice  (sixes, 
as  the  highest  throw),  having,  no  doubt,  a  reference  to  the 
Election  of  St.  Matthias  to  the  apostleship ;  "  and  the  lot 
fell  upon  Matthias."  "The  arms  of  Lockhart  are  *A 
man's  heart,  proper,  within  a  padlock,  sable,'  in  perpetua- 
tion, as  they  tell  you,  that  one  of  the  name  accompanied 
the  good  Sir  James  Douglas  to  Jerusalem  with  the  heart  of 
king  Robert  the  Bruce."t  The  following  are  also  from 
Scottish  heraldry:  Craw,  three  crows;  Fraser,  three 
/rases  or  cinquefoils  ;  Falconer,  a /aZcow;  Forester, 
three  bugle-horns ;  Heart,  three  human  hearts ;  Hogg, 

•  Ermine,  on  a  pile  gules,  a  Lion  of  England  in  chief  and  a  wimble  in  base 
over  all  a  fesse  chequy  or  and  azure,  thereon  two  escallops  sable, 
f  Pegge's  Curial.  Miscel.  p.  229. 


230 


CANTING   ARMS. 


three  hoars^  heads  j  Justice,  a  sword  in  pale,  supporting 
a  balance  ;  Peacock,  2^  peacock ;  Skene,  three  daggers, 
called  in  Scotland  skenes ;  and  Bannerman,  'd^  banner 
displayed  argent ;  on  a  canton  azure,  St.  Andrew's  cross.* 

The  Lucys  of  War- 
wickshire bore  luces  or 
pike;  three  however — 
not  twelve,  as  might  be 
inferred  from  Shakspeare, 
whose  Justice  Shallow  is 
supposed  to  be  a  carica- 
ture of  a  knight  of  that 
family.  "Merry  Wives  of 
Windsor,"  Act  I.  Scene  1 


Shallow.  Sir  Hugh,  persuade  me  not;  I  will  make  a  Star-chamber 
matter  of  it:  if  he  were  twenty  Sir  John  Falstaffs,  he  shall  not  abuse 
Robert  Shallow,  esquire. 

Slender.    In  the  county  of  Gloster,  justice  of  peace  and  coram. 

Shal.     Ay,  cousin  Slender,  and  Custalorum. 

Slen,  Ay,  and  ratolorum  too;  and  a  gentleman  born,  master  par- 
son ;  who  writes  himself  armigero  ;  in  any  bill,  warrant,  quittance,  or 
obligation,  armigero. 

Shal.  Ay  that  we  do  ;  and  have  done  any  time  these  three  hundred 
years. 

Slen.  All  his  successors,  gone  before  him,  have  done't;  and  all  his 
ancestors,  that  come  after  him,  may:  ihey  mscy  gi\eX\iQ  dozen  white 
luces  in  their  coat. 

Shal.    It  is  an  old  coat. 

Evans,  The  dozen  white  louses  do  become  an  old  coat  well ;  it  agrees 
well,  passant :  it  is  a  familiar  beast  to  man  and  signifies  —  love. 

Shal.     The  luce  is  the  fresh  fish  ;  the  salt  fish  is  an  old  coat. 


CANTING   ARMS.  231 

The  arms  of  Sir  William  Sevenoke  or  Sennocke 
were  seven  acorns,  3,  3,  and 
1 .  This  remarkable  person 
was  deserted  by  his  parents 
in  infancy,  and  found  either 
in  the  hollow  of  a  tree,  or  in 
the  street,  at  Sevenoaks,  co. 
Kent,  towards  the  end  of 
the  reign  of  Edw.  III.  By 
the  charitable  assistance  of 
Sir  William  Rumpstead(the 
person  who  found  him)  and 
others,  he  was  brought  up,  and  apprenticed  in  London, 
where  being  admitted  to  the  freedom  of  the  Grocers'  Com- 
pany, he  gradually  rose  in  eminence,  until  at  length  he 
became  Lord  Mayor,  which  office  he  served  with  great 
honour  in  the  6th  year  of  Henry  V.,  and  received  from 
that  monarch  the  honour  of  knighthood.  Three  years 
afterwards  he  served  in  parliament  for  the  city  of  London . 
He  was  a  benefactor  to  the  parish  of  St.  Dunstan  in  the 
East,  and  also  to  the  place  whence  he  received  his  name, 
for  "  calling  to  minde  the  goodness  of  Almightie  God,  and 
the  favour  of  the  Townesmen  extended  towards  him,  he 
determined  to  make  an  everlasting  monument  of  his  thank- 
full  minde  for  the  same.  And  therefore  of  his  owne  charge 
builded  both  an  Hospitall  for  reliefe  of  the  poor,  and  a 
free  Schoole  for  the  education  of  youthe  within  this  towne, 
&c."*  He  made  his  will  in  1432,  and  was  buried  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Martin,  Ludgate. 

*  Lambarde's  Perambulation  of  Kent,  p.  520.  Quibbling  old  Fuller  says 
"he  gave  Seven  Acorns  for  his  armes,  which  if  they  grow  as  fast  in  the  Field  of 
Heraldry  as  in  the  common  field,  may  be  presumed  to  be  oaks  at  this  day." 
(Worthies,  vol.  i.  p.  509.) 


232  PUNNING    MOTTOES. 

Punning  mottoes  were  at  one  time  much  the  fashion. 
The  motto  of  the  family  of  Piereponte  (Duke  of  Kingston) 
is  PIE  RE  PONE  TE,  a  Capital  A^Y,  as  the  three  words  make 
the  name  almost  exactly.  FoRTE-Scu^wm  Salus  Bucum, 
the  motto  of  the  Fortescues,  has  already  been  mentioned. 
The  family  of  Onslow  use  Festina  lente,  "On  slow !"  or 
"  Hasten  slowly."  The  windows  at  Chiddingly  Place,  co. 
Sussex,  the  seat  of  the  Jefferays,  formerly  contained  their 
arms  and  motto, 

*'  %tf^x^y>  tt  que  tiiraj)/* 
I  shall  do  what  I  say  ! 

Sir  John  Jefferay,  lord  chief  baron  (temp.  Eliz.)  who 
was  of  this  family,  used  the  shorter  motto, 

"(©uetra^jefra.'*'* 

The  Cavendishes  use  Cavendo  tutus,  "  Safety  in  cau- 
tion ;"  the  Fanes,  Ne  vilefano,  "  Bring  nothing  base  to  the 
fane,  or  temple;"  the  Maynards,  MAnusjusta  nardw*, 
"A  just  hand  is  a  precious  ointment ;"  the  Courthopes, 
Court  hope ;  the  Fairfaxes,  Fare,  fac,  "  Speak,  do  ;" 
the  Vernons,  Fer  non  semper  viret,  "  The  spring  does  not 
always  flourish,"  or  "  Vernon  always  flourishes ;"  the 
FiTTONS,  *'  Fiffht  on  quoth  Fitton ;"  the  Smiths,  "Smite 
on  quoth  Smith ;"  and  the  Manns,  Homo  sum,  "  I  am  a 
man !"  the  Nevilles,  Ne  vile  velis,  "  Incline  to  nothing 
base ;"  the  Agardes,  Dieu  me  garde,  "  God  defend  me ;" 
and  the  Lockharts,  Corda  serat a  pando,  "  I  lay  open 
the  locked  hearts."  The  antient  family  of  Morrice,  of 
Betshanger,  co.  Kent,  who  trace  their  genealogy  to  Brut, 

*  Hearne's  Curious  Discourses,  vol.  ii.  p.  270. 


PUNNING  MOTTOES,   ETC.  233 

the  first  king  of  Britain  (!)  have  for  their  motto  "  Antiqui 
Mores."  Many  of  the  Scottish  mottoes  originated  in  the 
slug-horn,  slogan,  or  war-cry  of  the  clan  of  which  the 
bearer  was  chief.  Thus  the  motto  of  Seton,  earl  of 
Wintoun,  is  Set-on  !  being  at  once,  an  exhortation  to  the 
retainers  to  set  upon  the  enemy,  and  a  play  upon  the 
name. 

The  motto  of  John  Wells,  last  abbot  of  Croyland, 
engraved  upon  his  chair,  which  is  still  extant,  is, 

"  33metKtcite  ^(B§,%e^  IBomim.*'* 
Bless  the  Wells  O  Lord  I 

Thus  much  for  canting  arms  and  punning  mottoes :  a 
few  additional  allusions,  or  puns  upon  surnames,  with  a 
word  or  two  upon  anagrams^  will  conclude  this  chapter  and 
my  lucubrations. 

Giraldus  Cambrensis  tells  a  curious  anecdote  of  three 
persons  travelling  together,  of  whom  the  first  was  an  arch- 
deacon named  Peche  (latinized  Peccatum,)  the  second,  a 
rural  dean  called  Beville,  and  the  third,  a  Jew.  When  they 
arrived  at  Illstreet,  on  the  borders  of  Wales,  the  archdeacon 
remarked  to  his  subordinate  that  their  jurisdiction  began 
there  and  extended  to  Malpas.  "  Ah  !'*  said  their  com- 
panion, "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-passe  F'f 

One  Alexander  Nequam,  a  man  of  great  learning, 
wrote  to  the  abbot  of  St.  Albans  for  leave  to  enter  his 


*  There  is  an  engraving  of  this  Chair  in  Cough's  Croyland  Abbey,  p.  98. 
t  Camd.  Rem.  p.  141. 


234  PUNS. 

monastery,  to  whom  the  abbot  returned  this  laconic  note  : 

"  ^i  ijonuj;  iSisl,  beniasi,  ^i  ^eijuam,  nequaquam/* 
If  you  be  good  you  may ;    if  Wicked,  by  no  means  ! 

The  applicant  changed  his  name  to  Neckham,  and  was 
received  into  the  fraternity.* 

Gilbert  Folioth,  bishop  of  Hereford,  having  incurred 
the  hatred  of  the  partisans  of  Archbishop  Beckett,  one  of 
the  latter  went  to  the  prelate's  window  at  midnight  and 
vociferated, 

"  Folioth,  Folioth,  FoHoth, 
Thy  God  is  the  goddess  Azaroth  /"  [Venus.J 

To  which  he  promptly  replied — 

"  Thou  lyest  fowle  fiend. 
My  God  is  the  God  of  Sabaoth  !"t 

An  epitaph  on  Mr.  John  Berry. 

"  How !  how  !  who's  buried  here  ? 
John  Berry,  Is't  the  younger? 
No,  it  is  the  Elder-'QY.'R.B.Y. 
An  EldiSr-Berry  buried  surely  must 
Rather  spring  up  and  live  than  turn  to  dust : 
So  may  our  Berry,  whom  stern  death  has  slain. 
Be  only  buried  to  rise  up  again." 

On  the  worthy  Dr.  Fuller : 

"  Here  lies  Fuller's  Earth  !" 

On  Dr.  Walker,  who  wrote  a  book  on  the  English 
particles  : 

"Here  lie  Walker's  Particles!" 


*  Camd.  Rem.  p.  141. 

^  Ibid.    This  is  not  a  pun,  but  rather  what  our  antiquary  calls  an  allusion. 


ANAGRAMS.  235 

On  Mr.  Aire,  in  St.  Giles's  Cripplegate  : 

"  Methinks  this  was  a  wondrous  death. 
That  Aire  should  die  for  want  of  breath !" 

Perhaps  the  oddest  mode  of  expressing  a  name  ever  seen 
was  that  made  use  of  by  one  of  the  family  of  Noel : 

"  ABCDEFGHIJKMNOPaRSTUVWXYZ." No-*  L.* 


As  my  motto  is,  "What's  in  a  Name  ?"  a  few  words  on 
Anagrams  cannot  be  out  of  place  here.  Few  people  are 
aware  of  what  their  names  really  include ;  for  they  most 
probably  contain  a  deal  of  mysterious  wisdom  did  we  but 
know  how  to  extract  it.  As  for  myself  I  am  one  of  those 
"duU  wyttes"  who  might  as  well  hunt  for  a  statue  of 
ApoUo  in  a  block  of  marble,  as  try  to  extract  what  Camden 
calls  the  *  quintessence'  of  names.  I  must  therefore  rest 
content  to  be  a  compiler^  that  is  to  say,  literally,  a  robber* 
of  the  produce  of  more  fertile  geniuses. 

"  Anagrammatisme  or  metagrammatisme,"  (forgive  me 
*  shade  of  the  venerable  Camden,'  if  I,  for  the  hundredth 
time,  again  rob  you,)  "  is  a  dissolution  of  a  name  truely 
written  into  his  Letters,  as  his  Elements,  and  a  new  con- 
nexion of  it  by  artificial!  transposition,  without  addition, 
substraction,  or  change  of  any  letter  into  different  words, 
making  some  perfect  sense  applyable  to  the  person 
named."f 

"  Some  of  the  sowre  sort  wiU  say  it  (namely  the  search- 
ing out  of  anagrams)  is  nothing  but  a  troublous  ioy,  and 


*  Compile,  v.  a.  to  rob,  pillage,  plunder,  filch,  steal !    How  truly  honorable, 
therefore,  is  the  office  of  a  compiler, 
t  Remaines,  Anagrammes,  p.  147. 


236  ANAGRAMS. 

because  they  cannot  attaine  to  it  will  condemne  it,  least  by 
commending  it,  they  should  discommend  themselues. 
Others  more  milde,  will  grant  it  to  bee  a  dainty  deuise  and 
disport  of  wit  not  without  pleasure,  if  it  be  not  wrested  out 
of  the  name  to  the  reproach  of  the  person.  And  such  will 
not  deny  but  that  as  good  names  may  bee  ominous,  so  also 
good  Anagrammes,  with  a  dehghtfull  comfort  and  pleasant 
motion  in  honest  minds,  in  no  point  yeelding  to  any  vaine 
pleasures  of  the  body.  They  will  also  afford  it  some  com- 
mendations in  respect  of  the  difficulty ;  {Bifficilia  quce 
pulchra  ;)  as  also  that  it  is  the  whetstone  of  patience  to 
them  that  shall  practice  it.  For  some  haue  beene  scene 
to  bite  their  pen,  scratch  their  head,  bend  their  browes, 
bite  their  Hps,  beate  the  boord,  teare  their  paper,  when 
they  were  faire  for  somewhat,  and  caught  nothing  therein.'* 
The  invention  of  anagrams  is  ascribed  to  a  Greek  poet 
called  Lycophron,  who  flourished  about  B.C.  380,  in  the 
time  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  king  of  Egypt,  whose  name 
he  proved  to  be  full  of  sweetness, 

nTOAEMAIOS, 

Atto  fxeXiTos — Made  of  honey  I 

Nor  was  he  less  successful  upon  that  of  Arsinoe,  Ptolemy's 
wife,  which  he  thus  read : 

APSINOH, 
*Hpa$  \ov — Juno's  violet  ! 

The  practice  of  making  anagrams  was  first  used  in 
modern  times  in  France,  upon  the  revival  of  learning  in 
that  country  under  Francis  the  First.     Not  long  after,  the 


ANAGRAMS.  237 

following  transpositions  were  made  of  the  name  of  the  un- 
fortunate Mary  Stuart,  Queen  of  Scotland. 
Maria  Stuarta, 
VtxitH^  ^rmata, 
Armed  Truth. 

This,  however,  does  not  come  up  to  Camden's  rule  of 
"  making  a  perfect  sense  applyable  to  the  person  named." 
The  next  is  much  better : 

iHaria  ^tetoartfa,  ^cotorum  i^egina. 

TRUSA  VI  REGNIS,  MORTE  AMARA  CADO, 

Thrust  by  force  from  my  kingdoms^  I  fall  by  a  hitter  death! 

It  is  to  the  French  also,  we  are  indebted  for  the  beautiful 
anagram  on  the  name  of  Christ,  which  has  an  allusion  to 
the  passage  in  Isaiah  lviii,  "  He  is  brought  as  a  sheep  to 
the  slaughter." 

IHSOYS; 
2v  17  oh — Thou  art  that  sheep. 

Anagrams,  on  their  introduction  into  this  country,  were 
often  employed  for  the  purposes  of  flattery.  Camden  cites 
several,  made  in  his  own  times,  on  the  names  of  James  the 
First  and  his  family,  which  do  not,  according  to  my  view 
of  that  race,  conform  to  his  own  rule.  I  shall  pass  by 
these  and  many  others  my  author  has  given,  and  come  at 
once  to  notice  a  few  of  the  best  I  have  met  with  upon 
English  names.     Among  these  is  that  upon 

"  Dorothy,  Vicountesse  Lisle. 
Christ  joins  true  love's  knot. 
Where  hands  and  hearts  in  sacred  Hnke  of  love 
Are  joyn'd  in  Christ,  that  match  doth  happy  prove." 


238  ANAGRAMS. 

Of  the  name  of  Sir  Francis  Bacon,  Lord  Keeper, 

one  Mr.  Tash,  *  an  especial  man  in  this  faculty,'  made — 

Is  horn  and  elect  for  a  ric  [A]  speaker. 

Of  that  of  Johannes  Williams,  the  Welsh  divine  and 
statesman,  well  known  as  the  strenuous  opponent  of 
Laud,  Mr.  Hugh  Holland  made  a  quadruple  anagram, 
which,  however,  is  far  from  exact : 

1.  lO  SIS  LUMEN  IN  AULA. 

O,  mayst  thou  be  a  light  in  the  palace  ! 

2.  My  wall  is  on  high. 

3.  My  wall  high  Sion. 

And  (in  reference  to  his  love  for  the  country  that  gave 
him  birth,) 

4.  WALLIS    ES    IN    ANIMO. 

O  Wales  how  I  love  thee  ! 

Honest  John  Bunyan  found  out  the  following  for  his 
anagram,  which,  albeit  somewhat  defective  and  rough,  is 
highly  characteristic  of  the  man  : 

John  Bunyan. 

NU    HONY    in    A    B  (!) 

The  anagram  on  Monk,^  afterwards  Duke  of  Albemarle, 
on  the  restoration  of  Chas.  IL  included  an  important  date 
in  our  history : 

Georgius  Monke,  dux  de  Albemarle, 
Ego  Regem  reduxi,  An\  Sa.  MDCLFF.* 
I  brought  back  the  King  in  the  year  1660. 

*  D'Israeli,  Curiosities  of  Literature,  vol.  iii.  p.  209, 


ANAGRAMS.  239 

Anagram-making  seems  to  have  been  the  favourite 
amusement  of  wits  and  scholars  two  or  three  centuries  ago, 
and  every  name  of  note  was  found  to  contain  what  would 
least  be  expected  from  it.  Those  indeed  were  the  days  for 
seeking  'what's  in  a  name.'  By  a  slight  transposition 
a  Wit  was  found  in  Wiat,  Renoun  in  Vernon,  and 
Lawrel  in  Waller.  Randle  Holmes,  the  heraldic 
writer,  was  complimented  with 

LO,  men's  herald! 

Few  anagrams  have  been  more  happy   than  that   on 
Lord  Nelson. 

Horatio  Nelson, 
Honor  est  a  Nilo. 
My  honour  is  from  the  Nile. 

It  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  extend  this  gossip  over 
many  pages,  but  I  must  refer  the  reader  who  wishes  for 
more  of  it  to  the  teeming  chapters  of  Camden  and 
D'IsraeH.  There  is,  however,  an  anecdote  connected  with 
anagrammatizing  which  although  ^decies  repetita,  placebit.' 
"Lady  Eleanor  Davies,  the  wife  of  the  celebrated 
Sir  John  Davies,  the  poet,  was  a  very  extraordinary  cha- 
racter. She  was  the  Cassandra  of  her  age,  and  several  of 
her  predictions  warranted  her  to  conceive  she  was  a  pro- 
phetess. As  her  prophecies  in  the  troubled  times  of  Charles 
L  were  usually  against  the  government,  she  was  at  length 
brought  by  them  into  the  Court  of  High  Commission. 
The  prophetess  was  not  a  Httle  mad,  and  fancied  the 
spirit  of  Daniel  was  in  her,  from  an  anagram  she  had 
formed  of  her  name, 

Eleanor  Davies, 

Reveal  O  Daniel ! 


240  ANAGRAMS. 

The  anagram  had  too  much  by  an  l  and  too  little  by  an  s ; 
yet  Daniel  and  reveal  were  in  it,  and  this  was  sufficient  to 
satisfy  her  inspirations.  The  court  attempted  to  dis- 
possess the  spirit  from  the  lady,  while  the  bishops  were  in 
vain  reasoning  the  point  with  her  out  of  the  scriptures,  to 
no  purpose,  she  poising  text  against  text :  one  of  the  deans 
of  Arches,  says  HeyUn,  *  shot  her  thorough  and  thorough 
with  an  arrow  borrowed  from  her  own  quiver :'  he  took  a 
pen,  and  at  last  hit  upon  this  excellent  anagram  : 

Dame  Eleanor  Davies. 
Never  so  mad  a  Ladie  ! 

"  The  happy  fancy  put  the  solemn  court  into  laughter, 
and  Cassandra  into  the  utmost  dejection  of  spirit.  Foiled 
by  her  own  weapons,  her  spirit  suddenly  forsook  her  ;  and 
either  she  never  afterwards  ventured  on  prophesying,  or 
the  anagram  perpetually  reminded  her  hearers  of  her  state 
— ^and  we  hear  no  more  of  this  prophetess."* 

A  few  more  "last  words."  A  friend  of  mine  has 
favoured  me  with  two  specimens  of  his  own  construction, 
which  have  so  much  of  the  spirit  of  true  metagrammatism 
in  them,  that  I  am  sure  I  shall  be  pardoned  the  introduc- 
tion of  them  here. 

After  the  battle  of  Navarino,  Admiral  Sir  Edward 
Codrington  having  made  some  reflections  discreditable  to 
the  reputation  of  Capt.  R.  Dickenson  in  that  affair,  Capt.  D.  - 
demanded  a  court-martial,  the  result  of  which  was,  not 
only  his  honorable  acquittal,  but  the  most  complimentary 
testimony  of  the    court   to  his   high  professional  merit. 

•  Curiosities  of  Literature,  vol.  iii.  pp.  212-13. 


ANAGRAMS.  241 

This  circumstance  gave  rise  to  the  anagram  below,  on  the 
name  of 

Sir  Edward  Codrington. 

Rd.  Bic'enson  got  reward. 

George  Thompson,  Esq.,  the  eloquent  anti-slavery  advo- 
cate, was  solicited  to  go  into  Parliament,  with  a  view  to  his 
more  efficiently  serving  the  cause  of  negro  emancipation. 
This  question  being  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  his 
friends,  one  of  them  found  the  following  answer  in  the  let- 
ters of  his  name : 

George  Thompson. 
O  go — the  Negro's  M.P.  ! 


11 


242 


ADDITIONS ;  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  THE 
PRECEDING  ESSAYS. 


[Several  highly  valuable  communications  having  been 
received  since  the  first  sheet  went  to  press,  I  deem  it 
more  advisable  to  present  them  to  the  reader  in  this 
desultory  form  than  to  omit  them  altogether.] 


Essay  I.  Patronymics. — The  use  of  the  word  son, 
adjoined  to  the  father's  name  as  a  surname,  is  by  no  means 
pecuhar  to  this  country.  Many  Swedish  and  Icelandic 
names  end  in  -son,  as  Torstenson,  Arfredson,  Thorlaksson, 
Sturleson. 

Danish  in  -sen,  as  Herningsen,  Cristensen,  Emarsen. 

Dutch  in  -sen,  as  Petersen,  Jansen,  Hendriksen. 

Essay  II.  Inappropriateness  of  surnames  denoting 
qualities  inherent  in  the  person,  &c.  &c.  for  transmission 
to  descendants.     Some  droll  lines  proving  that  "  surnames 


ADDITIONS,  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  243 

ever  go  by  contraries,"  written  by  *  a  Mr.  Smith,'  contain 
the  following  hits : 

"  Mr.  Oldcastle  dwells  in  a  modern-buUt  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  ! 

Mr.  Barker's  as  mute  as  a  fish  in  the  sea, 

Mr.  Miles  never  moves  on  a  journey  ; 
Mr.  Gotohed  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 !" 

Essay  III.  Local  names. — Goth  and  Gaul  occur  in 
Yorkshire :  these,  if  not  corruptions  of  foreign  names, 
were  probably  sobriquets. 

Si/kes,  hitherto  regarded  as  a  diminutive  or  'nurse- 
name'  of  Simon,  appears  to  be  a  local  name  of  the  second 
class,  meaning  in  the  North  a  small  brook  or  a  fountain. 
In  the  latter  sense  it  occurs  in  the  blazon  of  the  arms  of 
Sykes  of  Yorkshire,  viz.  "Argent,  a  cheveron  sable  be- 
tween three  si/kes  or  fountains." 

The  names  of  foundlings  were  usually  local,  as  we  have 
seen  in  the  instances  of  Bytheseuy  Pitt,  Groves,  &c.  At 
Doncaster  there  is  a  person  named  Found,  whose  grand- 
father's grandfather  was  a  foundling.  Inventus  occurs  in 
the  register  of  that  parish  as  a  surname. 

Galilee  occurs  in  Yorkshire. 


244  ADDITIONS,  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

By  the  shortest  surname  in  England. 

On  has  occurred  since  this  was  written. 

In  Belgium  there  is  a  noble  family  bearing  the  still 
shorter  one  of  O. 

To  the  glossary  of  local  names,  add 

Bold,  a  dweUing,  (Newbold,  Archbold,  &c.) 

Russell,  (sometimes — See  Essay  VI.)  a  stream,  brook. 
Two  channels  near  Guernsey  are  called  *  le  grand  et  le  petit 
Ruiseil,'  and  by  our  seamen  *  the  great  and  little  Russell.' 

Eccles,  (eglise,  ecclesia,  eKKkriaia,)  a  church. 

*'  Ollerenshaw^^  a  local  name  meaning  holly-grove,  has 
been  contracted  to  Renshaw,  and  that  in  its  turn  corrupted 
to  Wrencher! 

Thwaytes  may  be  nothing  more  than  the  plural  of 
Thwayte,  notwithstanding  Verstegan's  assertion.  A  York- 
shire correspondent  thinks  Thwayte,  a  crasis  for  *  the  wait,'' 
that  is,  minstrel. 

Halytreholm,  the  singular  name  of  a  benefactor  to  St. 
John's  Coll.  Camb.,  probably  means  *the  island  of  the 
holy  tree.' 

Heap  occurs  as  an  English  surname,  and  the  French 
have  de  Monceux,  *  of  the  heaps.' 

Essay  IV.  To  the  list  of  surnames  derived  from  avo- 
cations, add  Copper-wright,  Starman  (^1)  Tyerman  and 
Tireman,  probably  a  maker  of  ornaments  for  the  head ; 
tire  being,  as  Johnson  supposes,  a  corruption  either  of 
*  tiara'  or  of  *  attire.' 

"  On  her  head  she  wore  a  tire  of  gold, 
Adorned  with  gems  and  ouches."     (Spenser.) 
Round  tires  lilje  the  moon. — hakh,  c.  iii.  v.  18, 
*  Tirewoman,*  an  obsolescent  word,  meaning  one  whose 


THE  PRECEDING  ESSAYS.  245 

business  it  is  to  make  dresses  for  the  head,  is  retained  by 
Johnson.  Perhaps,  however,  the  TyerMXs  of  olden  times 
was  no  man-milHner,  but  followed  the  more  masculine 
occupation  of  making  ready  the  furniture  of  the  battle- 
field: 

"  Immedicate  sieges  and  the  tire  of  war, 
Rowl  in  thy  eager  mind."  {Philips.) 

Lunhunter  has  cost  me  conjectures  not  a  few.  An  in- 
genious correspondent  suggests  the  two  following  etymons  : 
1 .  Lone,  soUtary,  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  con- 
fess that  it  would  have  been  more  satisfactory  had  my 
correspondent  identified  lun  or  lund  with  some  quadruped 
bearing  such  trivial  or  provincial  appellation. 

Names  of  occupations  in  a  latinized  form  occur  among 
the  freeholders  of  Yorkshire,  (vide  Poll-books,)  as  Mercator, 
Tomor,  Faber,  &c. 

Smith  in  Gaelic  is  Gow  :  hence  M'Gowan  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.     M'Intyre  is  Carpenter's  son. 

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  with  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  child." 


246  ADDITIONS,  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

Tubman,  Tupper,  and  Dubber  are  probably  synonymous 
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. 

*Cade'  we  have  seen  (Essay  VIII.)  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." 
"  Dick.    Or  rather  of  stealing  a  cade  of  herrings  /" 

{Hen.  vi.  Act  iv.  «Se.  2.) 

In  the  same  play  we  have  an  illustration  of  the  name 
Shearman.     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?" 

"With  respect  to  Gladman  two  suggestions  have  been 
offered;  1,  that  it  is  a  corruption  of  (cla'c-man)  cloth- 
man  ;  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.* 

Spelman.  In  addition  to  what  has  been  said  upon  this 
name  it  may  be  remarked,  that  *  spelman'  is  the  Swedish, 
and  '  speilmann'  the  German,  for  a  wandering  musician, 
while  '  spielman'  in  the  Scottish  dialect,  means  a  chmbing 
man.f    A  '  spill'  is  a  spindle  or  a  lath :  hence  Speller, 

♦  Lit.  Gaz.  Ap.  29,  1843.  +  Id. 


THE  PRECEDING  ESSAYS.  247 

Spiller,  and  Spillmany  must  be  makers  of  spindles  or 
cleavers  of  laths.  The  latter  business,  it  may  be  observed, 
still  maintains  its  existence  as  a  separate  branch  of  em- 
ployment in  some  districts. 

To  Horseman,  FalfrimaUy  &c.  may  be  added  F adman : 
a  *  pad'  was  an  easy-paced  nag. 

Pulter,  Poltevy  and  Poulter  are  the  original  and  true 
forms  of  poulterer  (to  which,  as  in  the  cases  of  fruiterer, 
upholsterer,  &c.  an  extra  -er  has  been  added).  In  the 
directions  to  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London  for  the  reception 
of  the  suite  of  Charles  V.  when  he  visited  Henry  VIIL 
appears  this, 

"  Item,  to  appoynt  iiij  pullers  to  serve  for  the  said  persons  of  all 
maner^M^n/,* 

and  the  same  king  incorporated  a  "  Poulters'  Company." 
Cramer  is  German  (kramer),  and  signifies  a  retail  dealer. 
Among  other  names  of  Occupations  which  require  no 

explanation   may  be   added.   Stapler,    Paviour,    Milliner, 

Collarmaker,    Driver,    Drover,    Pilot,    Caulker,    Pedlar, 

and  Bellman. 

Essay  V.  To  the  names  from  ecclesiastical  dignities 
add  Canon ;  also  Primate,  borne  by  a  family  in  Yorkshire. 
The  Highland  name  M'Taggart  means  the  son  of  a  priest. 

Essay  VL  To  the  surnames  from  qualities  inherent  in 
the  person,  of  the  physical  class,  add  Spruce,  Fairest,  Nut- 
brown,  Long-waist,  Mankin  (manikin,  a  dwarf).  Fairy, 
Shurlock  (shire-lock),  Hurlock  (hoar-lock),  Brunell  (0.  F. 
brown),    Sale  (Fr.)  dirty,    and   Lyt   (A.-S,    lyt,    little). 

*  Rutland  Papers,  Camd.  Soc. 


248  ADDITIONS,  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

Chaucer  describes  his  poor  parson  as  visiting  impartially  all 
his  parishioners,  "both  moche  and  ZzYe,"  that  is,  both  great 
and  little.     Handsomehody  occurs  in  the  west  of  England. 

To  those  of  the  moral  class  add  Holyt  Precious,  Idle, 
Lax,  SilUman,  the  last,  by  the  "way,  the  most  inappropriate 
in  the  world  for  the  great  transatlantic  philosopher. 
Prudhom  and  Prudhoe  are  from  the  Old  French  *  prud- 
homme,'  brave  man. 

In  the  church  at  Eaton-Bishop,  near  Hereford,  is  this 
epitaph : 

"  Good  was  first  her  maiden  name, 
Better,  when  in  marriage  given, 
Best  she  at  the  last  became ; 
The  next  degree  reached  Heaven !" 

Essay  VII.  Gillot  is  more  probably  from  Gmllot,  the 
French  diminutive  of  William. 

Tidd  and  Teed  are  from  Tit  or  Tid,  the  abbreviate  of 
Theodore. 

Essay  VIII.     Mushett  is  the  male  sparrow-hawk. 

Mudd  occurs  in  Suffolk,  and  possibly  its  origin  may  be 
traced  by  a  very  antient  inscription  on  the  pil/pit  of  the 
church  at  Newton  in  that  county : 

"  (©rate  p  aia  ^itfy.  |Hotri.*' 

The  following  are  probably  borrowed  from  signs  :  Buckle, 
Phoenix,  Griffin,  Garland,  Arrow,  Dart,  Lance,  Banner, 
Vase,  Bowl,  Goblet,  Knife,  Cruse,  Cushion,  Bridle. 

The  German  names  Rothschild  and  Schwarzschild  mean 
respectively  *  red-shield'  and  *  black-shield.' 


THE  PRECEDING  ESSAYS.  249 

To  the  names  borrowed  from  habiliments  add  Shirty 
Stocking^  Boot,  Buskin,  Breeches,  Hat,  Bonnet,  Scai'f, 
Robe,  Mitten,  Patten,  Silk,  Ribbon,  &c. 

To  those  from  articles  of  food,  &c.  Cheese,  Bread,  Cake, 
Cakebread,  Eggs,  Jelly,  Custard,  Coffee,  Ginger,  Sherry, 
Claret,  and  Dinner  ! 

Essay  IX.  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 
of  such  good  augury. 

Essay  XI.  Surnames  of  Contempt,  &c.  Maulovel, 
a  Norman  name,  is  *  bad  wolfling,'  and  Maureward,  may 
be  either  *  mal-regard,'  evil  look,  or  bad  reward,  probably 
with  some  historical  allusion.  Ourson  is  from  the  French 
— a  young  bear !  The  Normans  seem  to  have  given  many 
similar  names  :  the  following  with  others  occur  in  the 
Battel  2don :  Malebuche,  bad-mouth ;  Malemayn,  bad- 
hand  ;  Musard,  the  loiterer ;  Maucovenaunt,  ill-bargain ; 
Mauclerc,  bad-scholar. 

Essay  XII.  Oddities.  The  following  names  may  fairly 
rank  under  this  category :  Boast,  Bragg,  Blow,  Bias,  Cure, 
Cheap,  Cant,  Clammy,  Duel,  Speck,  Spike,  Shirt,  Tuck, 
Pick,  Tremble,  Slumber,  Pant,  Whip,  Much,  Skim,  Battle 
(local?)  Priesthood,  Worship,  Gossip,  Gabble,  Open,  Shut, 
Treble  and  Bass  (in  one  street  in  London),  Mummery, 
Foppery,  Simper,  Grieve,  Self,  Gaze,  Ogle,  Catch-side, 
Cap-stick,  Drink-row,  Duck-wit,  Drake-vp,  Pick-up,  Card- 

11  § 


250  ADDITIONS,  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

up.  Luck-up  J  Broxhup,  Green-up,"^  Wool-fork,  Pitch-fork, 
Stand-even,  Garman-sway,  Smooth-man,  Kettle-band,  Ket- 
tle-strings (!)  Red-rings,  Suck-smith,  Hug-buck,  Rake-straw, 
Inch-board,  and  Great-rakes. 

What,  without  conveying  the  shghtest  idea  of  their 
meaning,  can  be  more  absurd  than  the  following? — Twitty, 
Nutchy,  Jowsy,  Snarry,  Vitty,  Thruttles,  Jagger,  Wox, 
Fligg,  Jibb,  Ragg,  Lutt,  and  Brabbs. 

It  is  but  right  to  state  that  the  authentic  list  from  which 
the  above  names  have  been  selected,  was  compiled  in  part 
from  such  authorities  as  the  Pohce  Reports  and  the  Newgate 
Calendar.  Hence  probably  a  great  many  of  them  are  but 
sobriquets  and  *  aliases.'  Pillage  was  literally  the  name 
of  a  thief  brought  not  long  since  before  the  magistrates  at 
Bath ;  and  a  female  brought  before  the  Lord  Mayor  bore 
the  ominous  cognomen  of  Comeagain,  which  she  averred  to 
be  her  true  and  only  name! 

Essay  XIII.  Foreign  names  naturalized  in 
England.  Many  Jew^ish  names  are  German,  as  Roths- 
child (vide  ante),  Ha7^t  (herz,  heart). 

Some  Dutch,  as  Goldsmid, 

Some  Portuguese,  as  Lousada,  Lindo. 

Some  Italian,  as  Montefiore. 

Some  Spanish,  as  Ximenes,  Mendoza. 

Names  in  -er  with  the  name  of  a  German  town  are 
Jewish,  as  Friedland-er,  Bantzig-er,  Hamburg-er.  Having 
no  surnames  of  their  own,  the  German  Jews  often  assume 
them  from  the  place  of  their  abode. 


*  Many  of  these  are  questionless  corruptions  of  local  names.     Those  names 
terminating  in  up  are  piobably  corruptions  of  hope,  explained  in  Essay  III. 


THE  PRECEDING  ESSAYS.  251 

The  greatest  importation  of  French  names  and  families 
since  the  Conquest  was  at  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of 
Nantes :  hence  date  the  Ducarels,  Chamiers,  Palairets, 
Gtiardots,  Laprimandayes,  Tessiersy  and  many  others. 

Essay  XIV.  To  what  is  said  on  changed  surnames,  it 
may  be  added  that  many  famihes  in  our  own  times  have 
changed  their  names  for  others  of  better  sound  or  higher 
fame  ;  thus  Hayward  has  become  Howard  ;  Sheepshanks, 
Yorke ;  Upjohn,  Ap-John. 

Many  Jewish  families  have  assimilated  their  surnames 
to  others  of  English  origin,  as  Abraham  to  Braham,  Moses 
to  Moss,  Salomon  to  Salmon,  Jonas  to  Jones,  Levi  to 
Lewis. 

Almack  is  supposed  by  the  family  bearing  it  to  be  a 
transposition  of  the  Scottish  Mac-All. 

Chapter  of  Canting  Arms,  Puns,  &c. — Robert  de 
Eglesfield,  the  munificent  founder  of  Queen's  Coll.  Oxon. 
thought  fit  to  perpetuate  his  name  with  what  may  be 
called  a  practical  pun.  On  Christmas-day,  the  great 
annual  solemnity  of  the  College,  when  the  boar's  head  is 
placed  on  the  hall  table  with  various  ceremonies,  each  of 
the  senior  fellows  receives  from  the  provost  pertain  needles- 
ful  of  purple  and  scarlet  silk,  with  the  admonition,  *Be 
thrifty :'  the  French  aiguillis  et  Jil,  (needles  and  thread,) 
being  a  play  on  Eglesfield.  The  donor's  punning  v/as  as 
poor  as  his  liberality  was  large. 


252       ADDITIONS,  &C.  OF  THE  PRECEDING  ESSAYS. 


Victor  Hugo  (a  close  observer  of  nominal  curiosities),  in 
his  work  on  the  *  Rhine,'*  mentions  c?e-MEUSE  ;  that  is, 
"  Of  the  Meuse,"  as  a  common  name  at  Namur  and  Liege 
on  that  river.  At  Paris  and  Rouen  (both  on  the  Seine) 
c??SEiNE  and  c^^senne  are  found.  The  Roman  name 
Tiberius  was  derived  from  the  Tiber.  Hence  it  appears 
that  the  borrowing  of  names  from  rivers  is  by  no  means 
peculiar  to  the  English,  nor  to  modern  times.  From  the 
same  work  we  find  that  names  borrowed  from  classical 
personages  are  not  infrequent  on  the  continent :  M.  Janus 
is  a  baker  at  Namur,  M.  Marius  a  hairdresser  at  Aries,  and 
M.  Nero  a  confectioner  at  Paris  ! ! 

«  Vol.  I.  p.  76. 


253 


APPENDIX. 


m)t  ISoU  Of  ISattel  atiea. 

INTRODUCTION. 

I  HAVE  already  mentioned  this  celebrated  document, 
and  1  cannot  better  introduce  it  to  the  reader  than  by 
citing  the  Rev.  Mark  Noble's  curious  and  valuable 
"Dissertation  on  the  various  Changes  in  the  Families  of 
England  since  the  Conquest,"  prefixed  to  his  History  of 
the  College  of  Arms. 

"Those  who  had  fought  under  the  ducal  banners  [at 
Hastings]  took  every  possible  means  to  have  their  names 
well  known  and  remembered  by  future  ages,  not  only  be- 
cause they  and  their  descendants  would  by  it  be  enabled 
to  plead  for  favours  from  the  reigning  family,  and  an 
assuring  to  themselves  the  estates  they  had  gained,  but 
also  from  the  pride  inherent  in  human  nature  as  founders 
of  families  in  a  country  they  had  won  by  their  prowess. 
For  these  reasons  the  name  of  every  person  of  any  con- 


254  ROLL  OF  BATTEL  ABBEY  : 

sideration  was  written  upon  a  Roll,  and  liung  up  in  the 
Abbey  of  Battel.* 

"  As  the  persons  there  mentioned  were  the  patriarchs  of 
most  of  the  EngUsh  gentry  for  many  ages,  and  of  many  of 
our  chief  nobility  at  the  present  day,  it  will  not  be  im- 
proper to  examine  into  the  authenticity  of  this  roll  of 
names;  for  different  authors  have  given,  some  a  greater, 
and  some  a  less,  number.  As  to  the  orthography,  it  is  of 
little  consequence;  the  spelling  of  names  was  not  at  that 
time,  nor  for  many  ages  afterwards,  fixed;  every  one 
writing  them  as  he  pleased. 

"  Grafton,  in  his  Chronicle,  has  given  very  many  names, 
which  he  received  from  Clarenceux,  king  at  arms,  and  out 
of  John  Harding's  Chronicle,  with  others.  Holinshed 
mentions  upwards  of  six  hundred;  Stow,  in  his  Chronicle, 
only  four  hundred  and  seven ;  Thomas  Scriven,  Esquire, 
still  fewer.  Fuller,  in  his  Church  History,  has  copied 
them,  but  he  does  not  mention  who  Mr.  Scriven  was,  nor 
from  whence  that  gentleman  took  them.  Foxe,  in  his 
Acts  and  Monuments,  has  also  given  in  a  list  of  the  names 
of  William's  officers  and  great  men;  but  these.  Fuller 
thinks,  were  not  collected  by  Foxe.  This  catalogue  of 
names  is  valuable,  however,  because  the  initials  of  the 
christian  names  are  given.  The  great  difference  made  in 
these  collections  naturally  leads  us  to  suspect  that  many 
omissions  are  made  in  some,  and  that  numbers  of  names 
have  been  put  in  others  to  please  individuals.  Sir  WiUiam 
Dugdale  openly  accuses  the  monks  of  Battel  of  flattery, 
from  having  inserted  the  names  of  persons  whose  ancestors 

*  William  ordered  the  erection  of  a  monastery  on  the  very  spot  where  he  had 
gained  that  decisive  victory  which  gave  him  the  crown  of  England,  from  which 
circumstance  it  was  called  Battel  Abbey. 


INTRODUCTION.    "  255 

were  never  at  the  conquest.  Guilliam  Tayleur,  a  Norman 
historian,  who  could  not  have  had  any  communication  with 
the  monks  of  Battel,  has  also  published  the  muster-roll, 
which  was  called  over  after  the  battle  of  Hastings."* 

In  the  foregoing  enumeration  of  the  copies  of  this  famous 
Roll,  the  writer  does  not  mention  Leland's  copy,  nor  that 
of  Dugdale.  It  is  remarkable  that  although  many,  per- 
haps the  majority,  of  the  names  occur  in  all  the  copies, 
others  occur  in  one  or  two  only ;  and  the  difference  between 
the  copies  is  such  as  to  render  all  attempts  at  collation 
useless.  As  my  object  is  to  give  names  said  to  have  been 
introduced  into  this  country  by  the  Norman  Conquest, 
rather  than  a  critical  inquiry  into  the  authenticity  of  the 
several  lists,  I  shall  lay  before  the  reader  three  of  the  latter, 
namely,  those  of  Leland,  Holinshed,  and  Foxe,  adding,  en 
passant,  such  notes  and  observations  as  may  seem  useful 
in  illustration  of  the  subject. 


The  original  Roll,  compiled  by  the  monks  of  Battel, 
was  hung  up  in  their  monastery,  beneath  the  following 
Latin  verses : 

"  Sicitur  a  hello,  fSellum  locu^  ^tc,  quia  hello 
^nSltgenae  iiictt,  ^unt  ^t  in  morte  relictt : 
IRarturiiS  in  €^x\^ii  fes'to  cecitiere  Calixti : 
^exagenuig  evat  i^extu^  miUeiSimug  annus; 
Cum  pereunt  ^ngli  Jitella  monsitrante  cometa.** 

♦  *«  The  day  after  the  battell,  very  early  in  the  morning,  Odo,  Bishop  of 
Baieux,  sung  masse  for  those  that  were  departed.  The  duke  after  that,  desirous 
to  know  the  estate  of  his  battell,  and  what  people  he  had  therein  lost  and  were 
slaine,  he  caused  to  come  unto  him  a  clerk,  that  had  written  their  names  when 
they  were  embarked  at  S.  Valeries,  and  commanded  him  to  call  them  all  by  their 
names,  who  called  them  that  had  bin  at  the  battell,  and  passed  the  seas  with 
Duke  William."  (John  Foxe,  Acts  and  Mon.) 


256  RdLL  OF  BATTEL  ABBEY  : 

Id  esty 

"  This  place  is  called  Battel,  because  the  English,  slain 
in  war,  were  here  left  dead.  They  fell  on  the  day  of  the 
feast  of  Christ's  martyr,  Calixtus.  It  was  the  year  one 
thousand  and  sixty-six  when  the  English  perished,  a  great 
comet  being  visible  at  the  time(?)" 

A  metrical  Enghsh  version  of  these  verses  was  formerly 
inscribed  on  a  tablet  in  the  parish  church  of  Battel. 

**  Z^i^  place  of  toar  t!^  ?3attel  fallttJ,  becauiSe  mhattle  \)txt, 
(Suite  CO  nqiierttJ  antJ  obeirti^^olun  t\)t  (Qn^i^\^  nation  iwere ; 
%^^  iSlaugl^ter  ^appenetr  to  t^em  upon  ^t.  Celtct'iS  t(ap, 
Cf)e^ear  tojereof  (1066)  t^ijg  uumtiei:  trot]^  arrap.*' 

Of  the  history  of  the  Roll  subsequently  to  the  dissolution 
of  the  monastery  nothing  certain  is  known.  Three  months 
after  the  surrender  of  the  abbey,  the  site  and  lands  were 
given  by  Henry  VIII.  to  Sir  Anthony  Browne,  ancestor  of 
the  Viscounts  Montague,  This  family  sold  the  mansion, 
with  its  appurtenances,  to  Sir  Thomas  Webster,  Bart, 
(whose  descendants  still  possess  it),  and  resided  afterwards 
at  their  other  seat,  Cowdray  House  near  Midhurst,  and 
thither  this  famous  document  was  probably  carried.* 
Cowdray  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1793,  when  the  Roll  is 
presumed  to  have  perished,  with  everything  else  of  value 
which  that  lordly  edifice  contained. 

•  Gleaniugs  respectinj  Battel  Abbey. 


leland's  copy.  257 


The  preference  ought  unquestionably  to  be  conceded  to 
this  copy.  John  Leland  saw  and  transcribed  the  original;, 
and  in  the  notes  to  his  transcript  he  notices  some  particular 
points  marked  upon  the  Roll,  which  he  also  transfers  to 
his  copy.  There  seems  to  be  an  attempt  to  arrange  the 
names  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  the  last  syllable  of  the 
second  pair  rhyme  with  that  of  the  first,  and  also  to 
produce  aUiteration  in  the  pairs,  e.  g. 

''  Ferers  et  Foleville, 
Briaunson  et  Baskeville.'* 


AuMARiLLctDEYNCouRT,  Camoys  et  Cameville, 

Bertrem  et  Buttencourt,  Hautein  et  Hanville, 

Baird  et  Biford,  Warenne*  et  Wauncy, 

Bardolf  et  Basset,  Chauunt  et  Chauncy, 

Deyville  et  Darcy,  Loveyne  et  Lascy, 

Pygot  et  Percy,  Graunson  et  Tracy, 

Gumey  et  Greilly,  Mohaud  et  Mooun, 

Tregos  et  Trylly,  Bigotf  et  Brown,  | 

*  Some  families  bearing  this  name  are  unquestionably  of  English  origin ;  from 
the  first  persons  bearing  the  name  having  resided  near  a  rabbi t-wan-en. 

+  According  to  Camden  the  name  of  Bigod  was  a  sobriquet  given  to  the  Nor- 
mans for  their  profanity,  "  because  at  euery  other  word  they  would  sweare  6y 
God,"  (Remaines,  p.  106,)  and  hence  our  word  bigot. 

^  This  name  occurs  in  most  copies  of  the  Roll,  but  it  would  seem  to  be  an 
interpolation,  unless,  indeed,  it  be  an  English  spelling  of  the  French  Brun. 


258 


ROLL  OF  BATTEL  ABBEY: 


Mamey  et  Maundeville, 
Vipont  et  Umfreville, 
Mauley  et  Meneville, 
Burnel  et  Buttevillain, 
Malebuche  et  Malemayn, 
Morteyn  et  Mortimer, 
Comeyn  et  Columber, 
St.  Cloyis  et  St.  Clere,* 
Otinel  et  St.  Thomer, 

••  t 

Gorgeise  et  Gower, 
Bruys  et  Dispenser, 
Lymesey  et  Latymer, 
Boys  et  Boteler, 
Fenes  et  Filebert, 
Fitz-Roger  et  Fitz-Robert, 
Martine  et  Muse, 
St.  Ligiere  et  Quyncy, 
Cricketot  et  Crevecuer, 
Morley  et  Moundeville, 
Baillol  et  Boundeville, 
Estraunge  et  Estoteville, 
Mowbray  et  Morville, 
Viez  et  Vinoun, 
Audele  et  Aungeloun, 
Vausteneys  et  Wauille, 


SouchevilleCoudrey  et  CoUe- 

ville, 
Ferers  et  FolevUle, 
Briaunson  et  Baskeville, 
Neners  et  Nereville, 
Chaumberlayne  et  Chaumbe- 

roun, 
Fitz-Walter  et  Werdoun, 
Argenteyn  et  Avenele, 
Ros  et  Ridel, 
Hasting:^  et  Haulley, 
Merkenfell  et  Mourreis, 
Fitz-Phillip  et  Filiot, 
Takel  et  Talbot, 
Lenias  et  Levecot, 
Fourbeville  et  Tipitot, 
Saunzauer  et  Saundford, 
Mountague  et  Mountford, 
Forneux  et  Furnivaus, 
Valence  et  Vaux, 
Clerevals  et  Clarel, 
Dodingle  et  Darel, 
Mantelent  et  Maudiet, 
Chapes  et  Chaudut, 
Cauntelow  et  Coubray, 
Sainct  Tese  et  Saunay, 


*  Some  of  the  Normans  "  affecting  religion  took  the  name  of  some  Saint." 
(Noble,  p.  6,  7.) 

t  Sic  cum  duobus  punctis. 

+  This  name  would  seem  to  be  of  the  local  kind,  and  was  probably  borrowed 
from  Hastings  in  Sussex.  This,  however,  is  no  argument  against  the  Norman 
origin  of  this  celebrated  family,  as  some  Norman  grandees  took  the  names  of  the 
seignories  given  them  by  the  Conqueror. 


LELAND  S    COPY. 


259 


Braund  et  Baybof, 
Fitz-Alayne  et  Gilebof, 
Maunys  et  Maulos, 
Power  et  Panel,  alias  Paignel, 
Tuchet  et  Tmsselle, 
Peche  et  PevereUe, 
Daubenay  et  Deverelle, 
Sainct  Amande  et  Adryelle, 
Ryvers  et  Ryvel, 
Loveday  et  Lovel, 
Denyas  et  Druel, 
Mountburgh  et  Mounsorel, 
Maleville  et  Malet, 
Newmarch  et  Newbet, 
Corby  et  Corbet, 
Mounfey  et  Mountfichet, 
Gaunt  et  Garre, 
Maleberge  et  Marre, 
Geneville  et  Gifard, 
Someray  et  Howarde, 
Perot  et  Pykard, 
Cliaundoys  et  Chaward, 
De  la  Hay  et  Haunsard, 
Mussegros  et  Musard, 
Maingun  et  Mountravers, 


Fovecourt  et  Feniers, 
Vesay  et  Verders, 
Brabason  et  Bevers, 
Challouns  et  Chaleys, 
Maihermer  et  Muschet, 
* 

Bans  et  Bluet, 
Beke  et  Biroune, 
Saunz  Peur  et  Fitz  Simoun, 
Gaugyf  et  Gobaude, 
Rugetius  et  Fitz-Bohant, 
Peverel  et  Fitz-Payne, 

-ger, 
Fitz-Robert  et  Fitz-Aleyne, 

•••  t 
Souley  et  Soules, 
Bruys  et  Burgb, 
NeviUe  et  Newburgh, 
Fitz- William  et  Wateville,  § 
De  la  Launde  et  Del  Isle, 
Sorel  et  Somery, 
St.  John  et  St.  lory, 
Wavile  et  Warley, 
De  la  Pole  et  Pinkeney, 
Mortivaus  et  Mounthensey, 


*  Sic  cum  puncto  sub  posteriore  parte  literae  m. 

t  Gage  ? 

t  Sic  cum  tribus  punctis. 

§  The  termination  ville  (equivalent  to  our  own  ton)  was  the  prevalent  one 
among  the  Normans.  Noble  gives  the  following  general  rule  for  ascertaining  the 
district  to  which  any  particular  name  in  the  Roll  should  be  assigned  :  "  The 
Norman  names  end  chiefly  in  -ville  ;  those  of  Anjou  in  -lere  ,•  those  of  Guienne 
and  the  banks  of  the  Garonne  in  -acj  and  those  of  Picardy  in  -cour." 


260 


ROLL  OF  BATTEL  ABBEY  : 


Crescy  et  Courteny, 
St.  Leo  et  Lascey, 
Bavent  et  Bassey, 
Lascels  et  Lovein, 
Thays  et  Tony, 
Hurel  et  Husee, 
Longville  et  Longespe, 
De  WakeetDelaWar, 
De  la  Marehe  et  De  la  Marc, 
Constable  et  Tally, 
•  * 

Poynce  et  Paveley, 
Tuk  et  Tany, 
Mallop  et  Marny, 
Paifrer  et  Plukenet, 
Bretoun  et  Blundet, 
Myriet  et  Morley, 
Tyriet  et  Turley, 
Fryville  et  Fresell, 
De  la  River  et  Rivell, 
Destranges  et  Delatoun, 
Perrers  et  Pavilloun, 
Vallonis  et  Vernoun, 
Grymward  et  Gernoun, 
Herey  et  Heroun, 
Verdour  et  Veroun, 
Dalseny  et  Dautre, 
Mengle  et  Maufe, 


Maucovenaiint    et   Mounpin- 

son, 
Pikard  et  Pinkadoun, 
Gray  et  Graunson, 
Diseny  et  Dabernoun, 
Maoun  et  Mainard, 
Banestre  et  Bekard, 
Bealum  et  Beauchamp, 

•  t 
Loverak  et  Longechamp, 
Baudin  et  Bray, 
Saluayn  et  Say, 
Ry  et  Rokel, 
Fitz-Rafe  et  Rosel, 
Fitz-Bryan  et  Bracey, 
Place  et  Placey, 
Damary  et  Deveroys, 
Vavasor  et  Warroys,;]: 
Perpounte  et  Fitz-Peris, 
Sesce  et  Solers, 
Navimere  et  Fitz-Nele, 
"Waloys  et  Levele, 
Caumpeneys  et  Chaunceus, 
Malebys  et  Monceus, 
Thorney  et  Thornille, 
Wace  et  Wyville, 
Velroys  et  Wacely, 
Pugoys  et  Paiteny, 


*  Sic,  cum  puncto  sub  posteriore  /. 
t  Sic,  cum  puncto  sub  posteriore  parte  literse  m- 

i  The  names  that  contain  the  letters  w  and  k  aie  thought  to  be  Flemish - 
those  letters  not  being  found  in  Norman-French. 


LELAND  S    COPY. 


261 


Galofer  et  Gubioun, 
Burdet  et  Baroun, 
Davarenge  et  Duylly, 
Soverenge  et  Snylly, 
Kymarays  et  Kyriel, 
Lisours  et  Longvale, 
Glauncourt  et  Chaumount, 
Bawdewyn  et  Beaumont, 
Graundyn  et  Gerdoun, 
Blundel  et  Burdoun, 
Fitz-Rauf*  et  FiKol, 
Fitz-Thomas  et  Tybot, 
Onatule  et  Cbeyni, 
Maulicerer  et  Mouncey, 
Querru  et  Coigners, 
Mauclerk  et  Maners, 
Warde  et  Werlay, 
Nusetys  et  Merlay, 
Baray  et  Breteville, 
Tolimer  et  Treville, 
Blounte  et  Boseville, 
Liffard  et  Oseville, 
Benny  et  Boyville, 
Courson  et  Courtville, 
Fitz-Morice  et  St.  More, 
Broth  et  Barbedor, 
Fitz-Hugh  et  Fitz-Henry, 


Fitz-Aviz  et  Esturmy, 
Walangay  et  Fitz-Warin, 
Fitz-Raynald  et  Roselin, 
Baret  et  Bourt, 
Heryce  et  Harecourt, 
Venables  et  Venour, 
Haywardf  et  Henour, 
Dulce  et  De  la  Laund, 
De  la  Valet  et  Veylaund, 
De  la  Plaunche  et  Puterel, 
Loring  et  Loterel, 
Fitz-Marmaduket  Mountrivel, 
Tinel  et  Travile, 
Byngard  et  Bernevale, 
La-Muile  et  Lownay, 
Damot  et  Damay, 

••  X 

Bonet  et  Barry, 
Avonel  et  St.  Amary, 
Jardyn  et  Jay, 
Fourys  et  Tay, 
Aimeris  et  Avereris, 
Vilain  et  Valeris, 
Fitz-Eustace  et  Eustacy, 
MaucLes  et  Massey, 
Brian  et  Bidin, 
Movet  et  St.  Martine, 


*  Verstegan  is  of  opinion  that  the  prefix  fitz  originated  in  Flanders.  It  is 
remarkable  that  it  is  now  unknown  in  France,  and  that  it  does  not  occur  in 
the  antient  chronicles  of  that  country.     {Noble.) 

t  This  is  evidently  an  English  name. 

%  Sic  cum  duobus  punctis. 


262 


ROLL  OF  BATTEL  ABBEY : 


Surdevale  et  Sengryn, 
Buscel  et  Bevery, 
Durant  et  Doreny, 
Disart  et  Dorynell, 
Male-Kake  et  Mauncel, 
Burneville  et  Bretville, 
Hameline  et  Hareville, 
De  la  Huse  et  Howel, 
Fingez  et  Coruyele, 
Chartres  et  Chenil, 
Belew  et  Bertine, 
Mangysir  et  Mauveysin, 
Angers  et  Angewyne, 
Tolet  et  Tisoun, 
Fermbaud  et  Frisonn, 

St.  Barbe  et  Sageville, 


Vernoun  et  Waterville, 
Wermelay  et  Wamerville, 

u 
Broy  et  Bromeville, 

••  t 
Bleyn  et  Briecourt, 
Tarteray  et  Chercourt, 
Oysel  et  Olifard, 
Maulovel  et  Maureward, 
Kanoes  et  Keveters, 
Loif  et  Lymers, 
Rysers  et  Reynevile, 
Busard  et  Belevile, 
Elvers  et  Ripers, 
Perechay  et  Perers, 
Fichent  et  Trivent. 


*  Sic  cum  duobus  punctis. 


t  Sic  cum  duobus  punctis. 


KOLINSHED  S  COPY. 


263 


'^o\mf)tr>'^  ©DPS. 


Aumarle, 

Bertram, 

Blondell, 

Aincourt, 

Buttecourt, 

Breton, 

Audeley, 

Brebus  and 

Bluat  and 

Angilliam, 

Bysey, 

Baious, 

Argentoune, 

Bardolfe, 

Browne, 

Arundel, 

Basset  and 

Beke, 

Auenant, 

Bigot, 

Bikard, 

AbeU, 

Bohun, 

Banastre, 

Arwerne, 

Bailif, 

Baloun, 

Aunwers, 

Bondevile, 

Beauchampe, 

Angers, 

Brabason, 

Bray  and 

Angenoun, 

Baskervile, 

Bandy, 

Archere, 

Bures, 

Bracy, 

Anuay, 

Bounilaine, 

Boundes, 

Asperuile, 

Bois, 

Bascoun, 

Abbevile, 

Botelere, 

Broilem, 

Andevile, 

Bourcher, 

Broleuy, 

Amouerduile, 

Brabaion, 

Burnell, 

Arcy  and 

Berners, 

BeUet, 

Akeny, 

Braibuf, 

Baudewin, 

Albeny, 

Brand  and 

Burdon, 

Aybeuare, 

Brouce, 

Berteuilay, 

Amay, 

Burgh, 

Busseuille, 

Aspermound, 

Bushy, 

Blunt, 

Amerenges. 

Banet, 

Baupere, 

264 


ROLL  OF  BATTEL  ABBEY  : 


Be\d]l, 

Braine, 

Cribett, 

Barduedor, 

Brent, 

Creuquere, 

Brette, 

Braunch, 

Corbine, 

Barrett, 

Belesur, 

Corbett, 

Bonrett, 

BlundeU, 

Chaundos, 

Bainard, 

Burdett, 

Chaworth, 

Barnivale, 

Bagott, 

Cleremaus, 

Bonett, 

Beauuise, 

ClareU, 

Bary, 

Belemis, 

Chopis, 

Bryan, 

Beisin, 

Chaunduit, 

Bodin, 

Bernon, 

Chantelow,* 

Beteruile, 

Boels, 

Chamberay,t 

Bertin, 

Belefroun, 

Cressy, 

Bereneuile, 

Brutz, 

Curtenay, 

Bellew, 

Barchampe, 

Conestable, 

Beuery, 

Beaumont, 

Cholmeley, 

Bushell, 

Barre. 

Champney, 

Boranuile, 

Camois, 

Chawnos, 

Browe, 

Cam  vile. 

Coinivile, 

Beleuers, 

Chawent, 

Champaine, 

Buffard, 

Cauncy, 

Careuile, 

Bonueier, 

Conderay, 

Carbonelle, 

Botevile, 

Colvile, 

Charles, 

BeUire, 

Chamberlaine, 

Chereberge, 

Bastard, 

Chambernoun, 

Chawnes, 

Brazard, 

Comin, 

Chaumont, 

Beelhelme, 

Columber, 

Caperoun,:^ 

*  Cantelupe  ?  t  De-la- Cham bre  ? 

:j:  Caperoun.  The  antient  family  of  Quaife,  of  Kent  and  Sussex,  have  a  tra- 
dition that  their  ancestor  came  into  England  with  the  Conqueror,  and  that  he  was 
called  Ck>ife,  because  he  wore  a  hood  in  battle  instead  of  a  helmet.  Now  caperoun 
is  the  old  French  (or  chaperon ,  a  hood,  which  renders  it  exceedingly  probable  that 
the  individual  named  in  the  Roll,  and  the  person  referred  to  by  the  tradition  are 
identical. 


HOLINSHED  S  COPY. 


265 


Cheine, 

De  la  Ware, 

Estrange, 

Curson, 

De  la  Uache, 

Estuteville, 

Couille, 

Dakeny, 

Engaine, 

Chaiters, 

Dauntre, 

Estriels, 

Cheines, 

Desny, 

Esturney. 

Cateray, 

Dabernoune, 

Ferrerers, 

Cherecourt, 

Damry, 

Folvile, 

Cammile, 

Daueros, 

Fitz  Walter, 

Clerenay, 

Dauonge, 

Fitz  Marmaduke, 

Curly, 

Duilby, 

Fleuez, 

Cuily, 

De  la  Uere, 

Filberd, 

Clinels, 

De  la  Hoid, 

Fitz  Roger, 

Clifford. 

Durange 

Fauecourt, 

Denaville, 

Delee, 

Ferrers, 

Derey, 

Delaund, 

Fitz  Philip, 

Dive, 

Delaward, 

Fohot, 

Dispencere, 

De  la  Planch, 

Furnieueus, 

Daubeney, 

Damnot, 

Fitz  Otes, 

Daniel, 

Danway, 

Fitz  WiUiam, 

Deuise  and 

Deheuse, 

Fitz  Roand, 

Druell, 

Deuile, 

Fitz  Pain, 

Devaus, 

Disard, 

Fitz  Auger, 

Davers, 

Doiville, 

Fitz  Aleyn, 

Dodingsels, 

Durand, 

Fitz  Rauf, 

Darell, 

Drury, 

Fitz  Browne, 

Delaber, 

Dabitott, 

Fouke, 

De  la  Pole, 

Dunstervile, 

Frevile, 

De  la  Linde, 

Dunchamp, 

Front  de  Boef,* 

De  la  HiU, 

Dambelton. 

Facunburge, 

•  An  early  instance  of  the  sobriquet,    literally  signifying  "  the  forehead  of 
an  ox." 

12 


266 


ROLL   OF  BATTEL  ABBEY : 


Forz, 

Fitz  Fitz, 

Guines, 

Frisell, 

Fitz  John, 

Griuel, 

Fitz  Simon, 

Fleschampe. 

Greneuile, 

Fitz  Fouk, 

Gurnay, 

Glateuile, 

FolioU, 

Grassy, 

Giffard, 

Fitz  Thomas, 

Graunson, 

Gouerges, 

Fitz  Morice, 

Gracy, 

Gamages. 

Fitz  Hugh, 

Georges, 

Hauteny, 

Fitz  Henrie, 

Gower, 

Haunsard, 

Fitz  Waren, 

Gaugy, 

Hastings, 

Fitz  Rainold, 

Goband, 

Hanlay, 

Flamvile, 

Gray, 

HaureU, 

Formay, 

Gaunson, 

Husee, 

Fitz  Eustach, 

Golofre, 

Hercy, 

Fitz  Lawrence, 

Gobion, 

Herioun, 

Formibaud, 

Grensy, 

Heme, 

Frisound, 

Graunt, 

Hareeourt, 

Finere, 

Greile, 

Henoure, 

Fitz  Robert, 

Grenet, 

HoueU, 

Furnivall, 

Gurry, 

Hamelin, 

Fitz  Geffrey, 

Gurley, 

HareweU,* 

Fitz  Herbert, 

Grammori, 

HardeU, 

Fitz  Peres, 

Gernoun, 

Haket, 

Fichet, 

Grendon, 

Hamound, 

Fitz  Rewes, 

Gurdon, 

Harcord. 

*  From  the  frequent  occurrence  of  names  with  such  very  English  orthographies, 
one  of  two  things  is  pretty  certain.  Either  the  monks  of  Battel  introduced  names 
of  English  families  surreptitiously  to  gratify  the  vanity  of  benefactors,  or  the 
Roll  cannot  have  been  compiled  until  many  years  after  the  foundation  of  the 
abbey,  and  by  persons  who  did  not  understand  the  French  language.  This  re- 
mark may  seem  to  clash  with  a  former  note,  (vide  the  name  of  Hasting  in 
Leland's  copy;)  but  the  names  borrowed  from  seignories  in  England, immediatel.v 
after  the  Conquest,  were  very  few  in  number. 


HOLINSHED  S  COPY. 


267 


Jarden, 

Loterell, 

Mare, 

Jay. 

Loruge, 

Musegros, 

Jeniels, 

Longueuale, 

Musarde, 

Jerconuise, 

Loy, 

Moine, 

Januile, 

Lorancourt, 

Montrauers, 

Jasperuile. 

Loious, 

Merke, 

Kaunt, 

Limers, 

Murres, 

ICarre, 

Longepay, 

Mortiuale, 

Karrowe, 

Laumale, 

Monchenesey, 

Keine, 

Tiane, 

Mallony, 

Kimaronne, 

Lovetot. 

Marny, 

KirieU, 

Mohant, 

Mountagu, 

Kancey, 

Mowne, 

Mountford, 

Kenelre. 

Maundevile, 

Maule, 

Loueney, 

Marmilon, 

Monthermon, 

Lacy, 

Moribray, 

Musett, 

Linnebey, 

Morvile, 

Menevile, 

Latomer, 

Miriel, 

Manteuenant, 

Loveday, 

Maulay, 

Manse, 

Lovell, 

Malebrauch, 

Menpincoy, 

Lemare, 

Malemaine, 

Maine, 

Leuetot, 

Mortimere, 

Maniard, 

Lucy, 

Mortimaine, 

MoreU, 

Luny, 

Muse, 

Mainell, 

Logeuile, 

Marteine, 

Maleluse, 

Longespes, 

Mountbother, 

Memorous, 

Louerace, 

Mountsoler, 

Morreis, 

Longechampe, 

Maleuile, 

Morleian, 

Lascales, 

Malet, 

Maine, 

Louan, 

Mourteney, 

Malevere, 

Leded, 

Monfichet, 

Mandut, 

Luse, 

Maleherbe, 

Mountmarten, 

268 


ROLL  OF  BATTEL  ABBEY  : 


Mantolet, 

Newmarch, 

Pomeray, 

Miners, 

Norbet, 

Pounce, 

Mauclerke, 

Nonce, 

Pavely, 

Maunchenell, 

Newborough, 

Paifrere, 

Mouett, 

Neiremet, 

Plukenet, 

Meintenore, 

Neile, 

Phuars, 

Meletak, 

Normavile, 

Punchardoun, 

Manuile, 

Nefmarche, 

Pinchard, 

Mangisere, 

Nermitz, 

Placy, 

Maumasin, 

Nembrutz. 

Pugoy, 

Mountlouel, 

OteveU, 

Patefine, 

Maurewarde, 

Olibef, 

Place, 

Monhaut, 

Olifant, 

Pampilivun, 

MeUer, 

Olenel, 

Percelay, 

Mountgomerie, 

Oisell, 

Perere  and 

Manlay, 

Olifard, 

Pekeny, 

Maularde, 

Ounall, 

Poterell, 

Menere, 

OrioU. 

Peukeny, 

Martin  aste. 

Pigot, 

Peccell,* 

Mainwaring, 

Pery, 

PineU, 

Matelay, 

Perepound, 

PutriU, 

Malemis, 

Pershale, 

PetiuoU, 

Maleheire, 

Power, 

Preaus, 

Moren, 

PaneU, 

Pantolf, 

Melun, 

Peche  and 

Peito, 

Marceaus, 

Pauey, 

Penecord, 

Maiell, 

Pevrell, 

Preuelirlegast, 

Morton. 

Perot, 

Percivale, 

Noers, 

Picard, 

Quinci, 

Nevile, 

Pinkenie, 

•  PechelH 

Quintini. 

HOLINSHED  S  COPY. 


269 


Ros, 

Saunsouerre, 

Tracy, 

RideU, 

Sanford, 

Trousbut, 

Rivers, 

Sanctes, 

Trainell, 

RiueU, 

Sauay, 

Taket, 

Rous, 

Saulay, 

Trussell, 

RusheU, 

Sules, 

Trison, 

Raband, 

SoreU, 

Talbot, 

Ronde, 

Somerey, 

Touny, 

Rie, 

Sent  John, 

Traies, 

Rokell, 

Sent  George, 

Tollemach, 

Risers, 

Sent  Les, 

Tolous, 

Randuile, 

Seffe, 

Tanny, 

Roselin, 

Saluin, 

Touke, 

Rastoke, 

Say, 

Tibtote, 

Rinuill, 

Solers, 

Turbevile, 

Rougere, 

Sent  Albin, 

Turvile, 

Rait, 

Sent  Martin, 

Tomy  and 

Ripere, 

Sourdemale, 

Tavernez, 

RigDy, 

Seguin, 

Trenchevile, 

Richmound, 

Sent  Barbe, 

Trenchilion, 

Rochford, 

Sent  Vile, 

Tankervile, 

Raimond. 

Suremounte, 

Tirell, 

Souch, 

Soreglise, 

Trivet, 

Shemle, 

Sandvile, 

Tolet, 

Sucheus, 

Sauncey, 

Travers, 

Senclere, 

Sirewast, 

Tardevile, 

Sent  Quintin, 

Sent  Cheveroll, 

Tinevile, 

Sent  Omere, 

Sent  More, 

Torell, 

Sent  Amond, 

Sent  Scudemore. 

Tortechappell, 

Sent  Legere, 

Toget, 

TrevereU, 

Somervile, 

Tercy, 

Tenwis, 

Sieward, 

Tuchet, 

Totelles. 

270 


ROLL  OF  BATTEL  ABBEY 


Vere, 

Vauuruile, 

ViuiUe, 

Vernoun, 

Veniels, 

Vancorde  and 

Vesey, 

Verrere, 

Valenges. 

Verdoune, 

Vschere, 

Wardebois, 

Valence, 

Vessay, 

Ward, 

Verdeire, 

Vanay, 

Wafre, 

Vavasour, 

Vian, 

Wake, 

Vendore, 

Vernoys, 

Wareine, 

Verlay, 

Vrnall, 

Wate, 

Valenger,* 

Vnket, 

Watelin, 

Venables, 

Vrnaftd, 

Watevil, 

Venoure, 

Vasderoll, 

Wely, 

Vilan, 

Vaberon, 

Werdonell, 

Verland, 

Valingford, 

Wespaile, 

Valers, 

Venecorde, 

Wivell. 

Veirny, 

Valine, 

- 

*  Now  Wallinger. 

JOHN   FOXE  S  COPY. 


271 


3fo5n  Jfoxt*^  S'opg. 


It  is,  strictly  speaking,  a  misnomer  to  call  this  a  copy  of 
the  Battel  Roll.  Foxe  does  not  mention  it  as  such,  but 
says,  he  took  it  "out  of  the  Annals  of  Normandy,  in 
French,  whereof  one  very  ancient  written  booke  in  parch- 
ment remaineth  in  the  custody  of  the  writer  hereof." 


"  The  names  of  those  that  were  at  the  Conquest  of  England. 


Odo,  Bishop  of  Baieux, 
Robert,  Conte  de  Mortaign, 

(these  two  were  brethren 

unto  Duke  WilUam    by 

their  mother,) 
Baudwin  de  Buillon, 
Roger  Conte  de  Beaumont, 

surnamed  With  the  Beard, 

of  whom  descended  the 

line  of  Meullent, 
Guillaume  Malet, 
Le   Sire   de  Monfort,    sur 

Rille, 
Guill.  de  Viexpont, 
Neel  de  S.  Saveur  leViconte, 


Le  Sire  de  Hougiers, 

Henry  Seigneur  de  Fer- 
rieres, 

Le  Sire  Daubemare, 

Guillaume  Sire  de  Rom- 
mare,* 

Le  Sire  de  Lithehare, 

Le  Sire  de  Touque, 

Le  Sire  de  la  Mare, 

Le  Sire  de  Neauhou, 

Le  Sire  de  Pirou, 

Rob.  Sire  de  Beaufou, 

Le  Sire  Davou, 

Le  Sire  de  Sotoville, 

Le  Sire  de  Margneville, 


*  It  is  pretty  evident  that  this  personage  and  numerous  others  in  this  list  had 
not  as  yet  assumed  surnames,  although  they  soon  after  took  the  names  of  their 
estates  as  family  appellatives. 


272 


ROLL  OF  BATTEL  ABBEY 


Le  Sire  de  Tancarville, 
Eustace  Dambleville, 
Le  Sire  de  Mangneville, 
Le  Sire  de  Gratmesnil, 
Guillaume  Crespin, 
Le  Sire  de  S.  Martin, 
Guill.  de  Moulins, 
Le  Sire  de  Puis, 
Geoffrey  Sire  de  Maienne, 
Auffroy  de  Bolion, 
Auffroy     and  Mangier   de 

Cartrait, 
Guill.  de  Garrennes, 
Hue  de  Gournay, 
Sire  de  Bray, 

Le  Conte  Hue  de  Gournay, 
Euguemont  del'Aigle,* 
Liviconte  de  Touars, 
Rich.  Danverrnechin, 
Le  Sire  de  Biars, 
Le  Sire  de  Solligny, 
Le  Bouteiller  Daubigny, 
Le  Sire  de  Maire, 
Le  Sire  de  Vitry, 
Le  Sire  de  Lacy, 
Le  Sire  du  Val  Dary, 
Le  Sire  de  Tracy, 
Hue  Sire  de  Montfort, 
Le  Sire  de  Piquegny, 
Hamon  de  Kaieu, 


Le  Sire  Despinay, 

Le  Sire  de  Port, 

Le  Sire  de  Torcy, 

Le  Sire  de  lort, 

Le  Sire  de  Riviers, 

Guillaume  Moyonne, 

Raoul    Tesson    de    Tin- 

gueleiz, 
Roger  Marmion, 
Raoul  de  Guel, 
Avenel  des  Biars, 
Paennel  du  Monstier- Hubert, 
Rob.  Bertram  le  Tort, 
Le  Sire  de  Senile, 
Le  Sire  de  Dorival, 
Le  Sire  de  Breval, 
Le  Sire  de  S.  lehan, 
Le  Sire  de  Bris, 
Le  Sire  du  Homme, 
Le  Sire  de  Sauchhoy, 
Le  Sire  de  Cailly, 
Le  Sire  de  Semilly, 
Le  Sire  de  Tilly, 
Le  Sire  de  Romelly,  • 
Mar.  de  Basqueville, 
Le  Sire  de  Preaulx, 
Le  Sire  de  Gonis, 
Le  Sire  de  SainceaiUx, 
Le  Sire  de  Moulloy, 
Le  Sire  de  Monceaulx. 


*  Elsewhere  called  Engenulph  d'Aquila  or  Aguillon. 


JOHN  FOXE  S  COPY. 


273 


^  The  Archers  du  Vol  du  Reul,  and  of  Bretheul,  and  of 
many  other  places. 


Le  Sire  de  S.  Saen,  i.  de  S. 

Sydonio, 
Le  Sire  de  la  Kiviere, 
Le  Sire  de  Salnaruille, 
Le  Sire  de  Rony, 
Eude  de  Beaugieu, 
Le  Sire  de  Oblie, 
Le  Sire  de  Sacie, 
Le  Sire  de  Nassie, 
Le  Visquaius  de  Chymes, 
Le  Sire  du  Sap, 
Le  Sire  de  Glos, 
Le  Sire  de  Mine, 
Le  Sire  de  Glanuille, 
Le  Sire  de  Breencon, 
Le  Vidam  de  Partay, 
Raoul  de  Morimont, 
Pierre   de   Bailleul  Sire  de 

Fiscamp, 
Le  Sire  de  Beaufault, 
Le  Sire  de  Tillieres, 
Le  Sire  de  Pacy, 
Le  Seeschal  de  Torcy, 
Le  Sire  de  Gacy, 
Le  Sire  de  Doully, 
Le  Sire  de  Sacy, 
Le  Sire  de  Vacy, 
Le  Sire  de  Tourneeur, 
Le  Sire  de  Praeres, 


Guillaume  de  Coulombieres, 

Hue  Sire  de  Bollebec, 

Rich.  Sire  Dorbeck, 

Le  Sire  de  Bonneboz, 

Le  Sire  de  Tresgoz, 

Le  Sire  de  Montfiquet, 

Hue.le  Bigor  de  Maletot, 

Le  Sire  de  la  Hay, 

Le  Sire  de  Mombray, 

Le  Sire  de  Say, 

Le  Sire  de  lay  Ferte, 

Bouteuillian, 

Troussebout, 

Guillaume  Patric  de  la  Laund, 

Hue  de  Mortemer, 

Le  Sire  Danuillers, 

Le  Sire  Donnebaut, 

Le  Sire  de  S.  Cler, 

Rob.  le  filz  Herneys  Due 

de  Orleans, 
Le  Sire  de  Harecourt, 
Le  Sire  de  Crevecoeur, 
Le  Sire  de  Deincourt, 
Le  Sire  de  Bremetot, 
Le  Sire  Combray, 
Le  Sire  Daunay, 
Le  Sire  de  Fontenay, 
Le  Conte  Deureux, 
Le  Sire  de  Rebelchil, 
12  § 


274 


ROLL  OF  BATTEL  ABBEY  : 


Alain    Fergant    Conte   de 

Britaigne, 
Le  Sire  de  S.  Vallery, 
Le  Conte  Deu, 
Gualtier  Gilford  Conte  de 

Longeville, 
Le  Sire  Destouteville, 
Le  Conte  Thomas  Daubmalle, 
Guill.    Conte   de    Hoymes 

and  d'Arques, 


Le  Sire  de  Bereville, 
Le  Sire  de  Breante, 
Le  Sire  de  Freanvible, 
Le  Sire  de  PauiUy, 
Le  Sire  de  Clere, 
Toustan  du  Bee, 
Le  Sire  Maugny, 
Roger  de  Montgomery, 
Amauri  de  Touars. 


"  Out  of  the  ancient  Chronicles  of  England,  touching  the 
names  of  other  Normans  which  seemed  to  remaine  alive 
after  the  battell,  and  to  be  advanced  in  the  signiories  of 
this  land : 


John  de  Maudevile, 
Adam  Vndevile, 
Bernard  de  Frevile, 
Rich,  de  Rochuile, 
Gilbert  de  Frankuile, 
Hugo  de  Dovile, 
Symond  de  Rotevile, 
R.  de  Evile, 

B.  de  Knevile, 
Hugo  de  Morvile, 
R.  de  Colevile, 
A.  de  Warvile, 

C.  de  Karvile, 
R.  de  Rotevile, 
S.  de  Stotevile, 


H.  Bonum, 
L  Monum, 
W.  de  Vignoum, 
K.  de  Vispount, 
W.  Bailbeof, 
S.  de  Baleyn, 
H.  de  Marreys, 
1.  Aguleyne, 
G.  Agilon, 
R.  Chamburlayne, 
N.  de  Vendres, 
H.  de  Verdon, 
H.  de  Verto, 
C.  de  Vernon, 
H.  Hardul, 


JOHN  FOXE  S  COPY. 


275 


C.  Cappan, 
W.  de  Camvile, 
I.  de  Cameyes, 
R.  de  Rotes, 
R.  de  Boys, 
W.  de  Waren, 
T.  de  Wardboys, 
R.  de  Boys, 
W.  de  Audeley, 
K.  Dynham, 
R.  de  Vaures, 
G.  Vargenteyn, 
I.  de  Hastings, 
G.  de  Hastank, 
L.  de  Burgee, 
R.  de  Butuileyn, 
H.  de  Malebranch, 
S.  de  Malemain, 
G.  de  Hautevile, 
H.  Hauteyn, 
R.  de  Morteyn, 
R.  de  Mortimer, 
G.  de  Kanovile, 
E.  de  Columb, 
W.  Paynal, 
C.  Panner, 
H.  Pontrel, 
I.  de  Rivers, 
T.  Revile, 
W.  de  Beauchamp, 
R.  de  Beaupale, 
E.  de  Cu, 


F.  Lovel, 

S.  de  Troys, 

I.  de  Artel, 

John  de  Montebrugge, 

H.  de  Monteserel, 

W.  Trussebut, 

W.  Trussel, 

H.  By  set, 

R.  Basset, 

R.  Molet, 

H.  Malovile, 

G.  Bonet, 

P.  de  Bon  vile, 
S.  de  Rovile, 
N.  de  Norback, 
I.  de  Corneux, 
P.  de  Corbet, 
W.  de  Mountague, 
S.  de  Mountfychet, 
I.  de  Genevyle, 
H.  GyfFard, 
I.  de  Say, 
T.  Gilbard, 
R.  de  Chalons, 
S.  de  Chauward, 
H.  Ferret, 
Hugo  Pepard, 
I.  de  Harecourt, 
H.  de  Haunsard, 
I.  de  Lamare, 
P.  de  Mautrevers, 
G.  de  Ferron, 


276 


ROLL  OF  BATTEL  ABBEY  : 


R.  de  Ferrers, 

I.  de  Desty, 

W.  de  Werders, 

H.  de  Borneuile, 

I.  de  Saintenys, 

S.  de  Syncler, 

R.  de  Gorges, 

E.  de  Gemere, 

W.  de  Feus, 

S.  de  Filberd, 

H.  de  Turbervile, 

R.  Trobleneur, 

R.  de  Angon, 

T.  de  Morer, 

T.  de  Rotelet, 

H.  de  Spencer, 

E.  de  Saintquenten, 

I.  de  Saint  Martin, 

G.  de  Custan, 

Saint  Constantine, 

Saint  Leger  and  Saint  Med, 

M.  de  Cronu  and  de  S.  Viger, 

S.  de  Cray  el, 

R.  de  Crenker, 

N.  Meyuel, 

I.  de  Berners, 

S.  de  Chumly, 

E.  de  Chares, 

J.  de  Gray, 

W.  de  Grangers, 

S.  de  Grangers, 

S.  Baubenyn, 


H.  Vamgers, 

E.  Bertram, 

R.  Bygot, 

S.  Treoly, 

I.  Trigos, 

G.  de  Feues, 

H.  FiHot, 

R.  Taperyn, 

S.  Talbot, 

H.  Santsaver, 

T.  de  Samford, 

G.  de  Vandien, 

C.  de  Vautort, 

G.  de  Mountague, 

Tho.  de  Chambernon, 

S.  de  Montfort, 
R.  de  Ferneuaulx, 
W.  de  Valence, 
T.  Clarel, 

S.  de  Cleruaus, 
P.  de  Aubemarle, 

H.  de  Saint  Arvant, 

E.  de  Auganuteys, 

S.  de  Gant, 

G.  de  Malearbe, 

H.  Mandut, 

W.  de  Chesun, 

L.  de  Chandut, 

B.  Filz  Urs, 

B.  Vicont  de  Low, 

G.  de  Cantemere, 

T.  de  Cantlow, 


JOHN  FOXE  S  COPY. 


277 


R.  Breaunce, 
T.  de  Broxeboof, 
S.  de  Bolebec, 

B.  Mol.  de  Boef, 
I.  de  Muelis, 

R.  de  Brus, 
S.  de  Brewes, 
J.  de  Lille, 
T.  de  BellUe, 
J.  de  Watervile, 
G.  de  Nevile, 
R.  de  Neuburgh, 
H.  de  Burgoyne, 
G.  de  Bourgh, 
S.  de  Lymoges, 
L.  de  Lyben, 
W.  de  Helyoun, 
H.  de  Hildrebron, 
R.  de  Loges, 
S.  de  Saintlow, 
I.  de  Maubank, 
P.  de  Saint  Malow, 
R.  de  Leoferne, 
I.  de  Lovotot, 
G.  de  Dabbevile, 
H.  de  Appetot, 
W.  de  Percy, 
H.  de  Lacy, 

C.  de  Quincy, 
E.  Tracy, 

R.  de  la  Soucbe, 
V.  de  Somery, 
I.  de  Saint  John, 


T.  de  Saint  Gory, 
P.  de  Boyly, 
R.  de  Saint  Valery, 
P.  de  Pinkeny, 
S.  de  Pavely, 
G.  de  Monthaut, 
T.  de  Mountchesy, 
R.  de  Lymozy, 
G.  de  Lucy, 
I.  de  Artois, 
N.  de  Artey, 
P.  de  Grenvile, 
L  de  Greys, 
V.  de  Cresty, 
F.  de  Courcy, 
T.  de  Lamar, 
H.  de  Lymastz, 
L  de  Moubray, 
C.  de  Morley, 
S.  de  Gorney, 
R.  de  Courtenay, 
P.  de  Gourney, 
R.  de  Cony, 
1.  de  la  Huse, 
R.  de  la  Huse, 
V.  de  Longevile, 
P.  Longespy, 
I.  Pouchardon, 
R.  de  la  Pomercy, 
L  de  Pountz, 
R.  de  Pontlarge, 
R.  Estraunge, 
Tho.  Savage. 


278 


3Latini?eii  §>urnamej3* 


As  Latin  was  the  language  employed  by  the  clerks  of 
early  times,  proper  names  were  almost  uniformly  latinized. 
This  practice  was  in  full  vogue  from  the  eleventh  century 
to  the  sixteenth,  in  most  legal  and  other  documents  written 
in  that  language.  Thus  Hall  was  made  D'Aula,  Rivers, 
De  RiPARiis,  and  Haultry,  D'Alta  Ripa  ;  Gilbert  de 
Aquila,  surnamed  the  Great,  who  flourished  in  the  eleventh 
century,  was  called  Gislebertus  Magnus.  This  name  was 
again  transformed  into  the  Saxon  as  Gilbert  Michel,  and  it 
is  remarkable  that  although  the  family  of  which  he  was  the 
head  is  extinct  in  the  legitimate  Une,  there  are  two  Enghsh 
families  illegitimately  descended,  from  him  still  in  existence 
— one  bearing  for  their  patronymic  EgleSy  from  Aquila, 
and  the  other  Michel,  from  Magnus — the  one  his  family, 
the  other  his  personal  surname.  By  means  of  this  latiniza- 
tion  some  very  commonplace  names  were  transformed  into 
high-sounding  appellations — Goldsmith  and  Saltmarsh,  for 
instance,  became  Aurifaber  and  Salsomarisco,  Sometimes 
the  EngUsh  form  was  retained  with  a  Latin  termination,  as 
Lowerus  Boscowinus,  Lower  Boscow^en,  Thomas  Chouneus, 
Thomas  Chowne.  Even  scholars  and  divines  affected  this 
pedantry,  and  that  after  the  revival  of  learning,  not  iu 
England  alone,  but  in  Holland,  Germany,  and  several  other 


LATINIZED    SURNAMES.  279 

countries.*  Some  of  these  attempts  to  put  modern  names 
into  a  Latin  dress  were  extremely  ridiculous.  Andrew 
BoRDE,  the  "original  Merry  Andrew,"  in  his  "Boke  of 
the  Introduction  of  Knowledge,"  written  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VITI.  styles  himself  Andreas  Perforatus  (bored!) 
But  this  is  nothing  to  the  name  of  Sir  John  Hawkwood 
being  turned  into  Johannes  Acutus !  Let  Verstegan  tell 
the  story : 

"  Some  gentlemen  of  our  nation  travelling  into  Italy  and 
passing  thorow  Florence,  there,  in  the  great  church, 
beholding  the  monument  and  epitaph  of  the  renowned 
EngUsh  knight,  and  most  famous  warrior  of  his  time,  there 
named  Johannes  Acutus,  long  wondered  what  John  Sharp 
this  might  be,  seeing  in  England  they  had  never  heard  of 
any  such,  his  name  rightly  written  being  indeed  Sir  John 
Hawkwood ;  but  by  omitting  the  H.  in  Latine  as  frivolous, 
and  the  K  and  W  as  unusual,  he  is  here  from  Hawkwood 
turned  into  Acutus,  and  from  Acutus  returned  in  EngHsh 
again  unto  Sharp  /" 

Camden  gives  a  list  of  latinized  surnames  in  his 
Remaines.f  In  Wright's  "  Court  Hand  Restored,":};  is  a 
more  copious  catalogue,  which  I  here  copy,  in  the  hope 
that  it  will  prove  useful  to  the  antiquary,  and  afford  some 
amusement  to  the  general  reader.  It  is  certainly  interest- 
ing in  an  etymological  point  of  view,  although  not  much 
to  be  depended  upon  in  that  respect.  I  have  made  a  few 
literal  and  verbal  alterations,  but  they  are  not  of  sufficient 
importance  to  need  particularizing. 

*  Does  not  our  veneration  for  Erasmus  and  Grotius  and  old  Puteanus,  receive 
a  slight  shock  when  we  find  that  they  were  de  jure,  only  simple  Gerard  and 
Groot  anJ  Vandeput  ? 

t  Pages  130-1-2-3.  %  London,  1776. 


280 


LATINIZED    SURNAMES. 


De  Adurni  portu, 

De  Albeneio, 

De  Alba  Maria, 

Albericus,  Albrea,  Aubraeus 

vel  Aubericus, 
De  Albo  Monasterio, 
Ala  Campi, 

Henricus  de  Alditheleia, 
De  Alneto, 
De  Arcubus, 
De  Alta  ripa, 
De  Aqua  frisca, 
Aqua  pontana, 
De  Arida  villa, 
Arundelius, 

Arundelius,  De  Hirundine, 
Johannes  Avonius, 
De  Augo, 

Aurifaber, 

De  Aula, 

De  Aureo  vado, 

Bardulphus, 

De  Beda,  vel  De  Bajocis, 

De  Bella  aqua, 

De  Bella  fide, 

De  Bello  loco, 

De  Bello  foco, 

De  Bello  marisco, 

De  Bello  faco. 


Ethrington. 
D'Aubeney,  Albiney. 
Albemarle. 

^Awbrey. 

Whitchurch. 

Wingfield. 

Was  the  first  Lord  Audley. 

Dauney. 

Bowes. 

Dautry. 

Freshwater. 

Bridgewater. 

Dryton,  or  Dry  don. 

f  Arundel. 

John  of  Northampton. 

Owe,  or  Eu. 

rOrfeur,  an»antient  name  in 

L     Cumberland. 

HaU. 

Goldford,  or  Guldeforde. 

B. 

Bardolf,  cr  Bardolph. 

Bacon. 

Bellew. 

Beaufoy. 

Beaulieu. 

Beaufeu. 

Beaumarsh. 

Beaufo. 


LATINIZED    SURNAMES. 


281 


De  Bello  campo, 

Beauchaimp. 

De  Bello  monte. 

Beaumont. 

De  Bello  prato, 

Beaupre. 

De  Beverlaco, 

Beverley. 

De  Bello  situ. 

Ballasise. 

De  Benefactis, 

Benfield. 

Benevolus, 

Benlows. 

De  Bona  villa. 

Bonevil. 

De  Bono  fossato, 

Goodrick. 

De  Blostevilla, 

Blovile,  Blofield. 

Blaunpain,  alias  Blancpain, 

*  Whitebread. 

Bononius, 

BoUen. 

Borlasius, 

Borlace. 

De  Bortana,  sive  Burtana, 

Burton. 

De  Bovis  Villa, 

BovH. 

De  Bosco, 

Bois. 

De  Braiosa, 

Braose. 

De  Bosco  Roardi, 

Borhard. 

De  Bruera, 

De  Bryer,  or  Bryer. 

De  Buliaco, 

Busli,  or  Bussey. 

De  Burgo, 

Burgh,  Burk,  or  Bourk, 

De  Burgo  charo. 

Bourchier. 

De  Calvo  monte. 

c. 

Chaumond. 

De  Camera, 

Chambers. 

De  Campania, 

Champnies. 

De  Campo  Florido, 

Chamfleur. 

De  Campo  Arnulphi, 

Champernoun. 

De  Capricuria,  and 

IChevercourt. 

De  Capreolocuria, 

De  Cantilupo, 

Cantlow. 

De  CamviUa, 

Camvil. 

*  Some  few  of  these  names  are  Frenchified,  not  Latinized. 


282 


LATINIZED    SURNAMES. 


De  Capella, 

Caradocus, 

De  Cearo  loco, 

De  Casa  Dei, 

De  Casineto  and  Chaisneto, 

De  Castello, 

De  Castello  magno, 

De  Ceraso, 

De  Cestria, 

Cinomannieus, 

De  Chauris,  and  Cadurcis, 

Cheligrevus, 

Chirchebeius, 

De  Claro  monte, 

De  Claris  vaUibus,  Claranas, 

De  Clarifagio, 

De  Clintona, 

De  Clivo  forti, 

De  Columbariis, 

De  Conductu, 

De  Cornubia, 

De  Corvo  Spinse, 

De  Curva  Spina, 

De  Crepito  Corde, 

De  Curceo,  De  Curci, 

Cunetius, 


Capel. 

rCaradock,  or  Cradock,  now 

L     called  Newton. 

Carelieu. 

GodshaU. 

Cheyney,  Cheney. 

Castle,  or  Castel. 

Castlemain. 

Cherry. 

Chester. 

Maine. 

Chaworth. 

Killigrew. 

Kirby. 

Clermont. 

Clarival,  or  Clare. 

Clerfay. 

CUnton. 

Clifford. 

Columbers. 

Chenduit. 

Cornwayle. 

Crowthorne. 

Creithorne. 

Crevecoeur. 

Decourcy. 

Kenet. 


De  Dalenrigius,  Dalegrig,  Dalyngruge. 

De  David  villa,  D'Aiville,  D'Eyville. 

D'Aynecuria  vel  Daincuri-' 

ensis, 
De  Dovera, 


"JDai 


Daincourt. 
Dover. 


LATINIZED    SURNAMES. 


283 


De  la  Mara, 

De  la  Mare. 

De  Doito  (Fr.  Doet), 

Brooke. 

Dispensator, 

Le  Dispencer,  Spencer. 

De  Diva, 

Dive,  Dives. 

Drogo  (Saxon), 

Drew. 

Dunestanvilla, 

Dunstavile. 

Dutchtius. 

Doughty. 

De  Ebroicis  and  de  Ebrois, 

E. 

D'Evreux. 

Easterlingus, 

Stradling. 

De  Erolitto, 

Erliche. 

De  Ericeto, 

Briewer. 

Estlega  and  de  Estlega, 

Astley,  or  Estley. 

Extranaeus, 

L' Estrange. 

De  Fago, 

F. 

Beech  and  Beecher. 

De  Ferrariis, 

Ferrers. 

De  FiUceto, 

Fernham. 

Filius  Alani, 

Fitz  Alan. 

Filius  Alvredi, 

Fitz  Alard. 

Filius  Amandi, 

Fitz  Amand. 

Filius  Andrese, 

Fitz  Andrew. 

Filius  Bernardi, 

Fitz  Barnard. 

Filius  Briani, 

Fitz  Brian. 

Filius  Comitis, 

Fitz  Count. 

Filius  Eustachii, 

Fitz  Eustace. 

Filius  Fulconis, 

Fitz  Fulk. 

Filius  Galfredi, 

Fitz  Geoffry. 

Filius  Gerrardi, 

Fitz  Gerrard. 

Filius  Gilberti, 

Fitz  Gilbert. 

Filius  Guidonis, 

Fitzwith. 

Filius  Hardingi, 

Fitz  Harding. 

Filius  Haimonis, 

Fitz  Haimon. 

284 


LATINIZED    SURNAMES. 


Filius  Henrici, 
Filius  Herbert!, 
Filius  Hugonis, 
Filius  Humphredi, 
Filius  Jacobi, 
Filius  Jobannis, 
Filius  Lucse, 
Filius  Mauricii, 
Fnius  Micbaelis, 
Filius  Nicbolai, 
Filius  Oliveri, 
Filius  Osburni, 
Filius  Osmondi, 
Filius  Odonis, 
Filius  Pagani, 
Filius  Patricii, 
Filius  Petri, 
Filius  Radulpbi, 
Filius  Reginaldi, 
Filius  Ricardi, 
Filius  Roberti, 
Filius  Rogeri, 
Filius  Simeonis, 

Filius  Stepbani, 

Filius  Tbomasi, 
Filius  Walteri, 
Filius  Warreni, 
Filius  Gulielmi, 
De  Foliis, 
De  Fonte  Australi, 
De  Fonte  Limpido, 
De  Fontibus, 


Fitz  Henry. 

Fitz  Herbert. 

Fitz  Hugh. 

Fitz  Humphrey. 

Fitz  James. 

Fitz  John. 

Fitz  Lukas  or  Lucas. 

Fitz  Maurice. 

Fitz  Michael. 

Fitz  Nichols. 

Fitz  Oliver. 

Fitz  Osburn. 

Fitz  Osmond. 

Fitz  Otes. 

Fitz  Paine. 

Fitz  Patrick. 

Fitz  Peter. 

Fitz  Ralph. 

Fitz  Raynold. 

Fitz  Richard. 

Fitz  Robert. 

Fitz  Roger. 

Fitz  Simon. 
rFitz    Stephen,    commonly 
\     called  Stephenson. 

Fitz  Thomas. 

Fitz  Walter. 

Fitz  Warren. 

Fitz  William. 

FouUs. 

Southwel. 

Sherbourne. 

WeUs. 


LATINIZED    SURNAMES. 


285 


De  Fonte  Ebrardi, 

Fonteverard. 

De  Forti  scuto. 

Fortescue. 

Flavus, 

Blund,  Blount. 

De  Fossa  nova, 

Newdike. 

De  Fluctibus, 

Flood. 

Frescoburnus, 

Freshburne. 

De  Frisca  Marisca, 

Freshmarsh. 

De  Frevilla,  de  Frisca  villa,     Frevil,  or  Fretcheville. 

De  Fraxino, 

Frene,  Ashe. 

De  Fronte  bovis. 

De  Grundbeof. 

G. 

De  Gandavo,  et  Gandavensis,  Gaunt. 

De  Glanvilla, 

Glanvil. 

De  Gorniaco, 

Gorney,  or  Gurney. 

De  Granavilla  vel  Greenvilla,  Greenvil,  or  Grenvile. 

De  Grandavilla, 

Gran  vile. 

De  Geneva, 

Genevile. 

De  Genisteto, 

Bromfield. 

De  Grendona, 

Greendon. 

Giovanus, 

Young. 

De  GrossoVenatore,  Grandis^ 

vel  Magnus  Venator,         jGrosvenor. 

De  Grosso  Monte, 

Grismond. 

De  Guntheri  sylva. 

Gunter. 

De  Hantona, 

H. 

Hanton. 

De  Harcla, 

Harkley. 

Havertus,  Howardus, 

Howard. 

De    Hosata,    Hosatus 
Usus  Mare, 

veh 

>  Hose,  or  Hussey. 

Jodocus, 

I. 

Joice. 

De  Insula, 

Lisle. 

De  Insula  bona, 

Lislebone. 

286 


LATINIZED    SURNAMES. 


Be  Insula  fontis. 

Lilburne. 

De  Ipra, 

De  Ipres. 

J4. 

De  Kaineto,  alias  Caineto,       Keynes. 

De  Laga, 

1.. 

Lee,  Lea,  and  Leigh. 

Lambardus, 

Lambard,  or  Lambert, 

De  Langdona,  vel  Landa,        Langdon. 

De  Lato  Campo, 

Bradfield. 

De  Lato  Vado, 

Bradford. 

De  Lato  pede. 

Braidfoot. 

De  Lseto  loco. 

Lettley. 

De  Leicestria, 

Lester. 

De  Leica,  and  Lecha, 

Leke. 

Leuchenovus, 

Lewkin. 

De  Lexintuna, 

Lexington. 

Laurentii  filius, 

Lawson. 

De  Limesi, 

Limsie. 

De  Linna, 

Linne. 

De  Lisoriis, 

Lisurs,  Lisors. 

De  Logiis, 

Lodge. 

De  Longo  campo. 

Longchamp. 

De  Longo  prato. 

Longmede. 

De  Longa  spata. 

Longespee. 

De  Longa  villa. 

Longville. 

Lupus, 

Woolf,  Love,  Loo. 

Lupellus, 

Lovel,  or  Lovet. 

Macer, 

M. 

Le  Meyre, 

De    Mala   platea,    and 
Malo  passu. 

^^1  Malpas. 

Magnus  Venator, 

Grosvenor. 

De   Magna  Villa,    and 

^^\  Mandeville. 

Mandavilla, 

/ 

LATINIZED    SURNAMES. 


287 


De  Magroomonte, 

De  Mala  terra, 

De  Malis  manibus, 

Malus  catulus, 

De  Malo  lacu, 

Male  conductus,  vel  De  Malo 

conductu, 
De  Malo  leone, 
De  Malo  visu, 

Malus  leporarius, 

Malus  lupeUus, 
De  Maneriis, 
De  Marchia, 
Marescallus, 
De  Marei  vallibus, 
De  Meduana, 
De  Media  villa, 
De  Melsa, 
Medicus, 
De  Micenis, 
De  Mineriis, 


Grosmount,  or  Gromount. 

Mauland. 

Malmains. 

Malchin,  vulgo  Machel. 

Mauley. 

.Malduit. 

Malleon. 

Malvisin. 

rMaleverer,  Mallieure,   co 

1^     monly  Mallyvery. 

Manlovel,  Mallovel. 

Manners. 

March. 

Mareschal,  or  Marchal. 

Martival. 

Maine. 

Middleton. 

Mews. 

Leech. 

Meschines. 

Miners,  or  Minours. 


DeMolendenis,Molendinarius,Molines. 

De  Moehs,  Moelles. 

De  Monasteriis,  Musters,  or  Masters. 

Monachus,  Moigne,  Monk. 

De  Monte  canisto,  Montchensey. 

De  Monte  hermerii,  Monthermer. 

De  Monte  fixo,  Montfitchet. 

De  Monte  pesono,De  Monte  ~)-^     ^  i       ,t 

-         TIT     ^     •        •     fMontpesson,    vulgo   Mom- 
pessulano,  Monte  pissonis,  >  ^  °  , 

vel  De  Monte  pissoris,        )     P 


288 


LATINIZED    SURNAMES. 


De  Monte  Jovis,  De  Montel  ^     . . 

r<„„j"  f  J    J' 


Gaudii, 

I''- 

De  Monte  acuto. 

Montacute. 

De  Monte  alto, 

Montalt,  or  Moald 

De  Monte  Gomericee, 

Montgomery. 

De  Monte  hegonis, 

Monthegon. 

De  Monte  forti. 

Montfort. 

De  Monte  aquilse. 

Mounteagle. 

De  Mortuo  Mari, 

Mortimer. 

Ad  Murum, 

Walton. 

De  Musco  campo, 

Muschamp. 

De  Mowbraia, 

Mowbray. 

De  Nevilla  and  de  Nova  villa 

N. 

,  Nevil. 

Nigellus, 

Niele,  or  Neal. 

De  Novo  burgo, 

Newburgli. 

De  Novo  loco. 

Newark. 

De  Novo  castello. 

Newcastle. 

De  Nodariis  vel  Nodoriis, 

Nowres. 

Norriscus, 

Norris. 

De  Norwieo, 

Norwich. 

De  Nova  terra, 

Newland. 

De  Nova  mercatu, 

New  march. 

o. 


De   Oileio,    and   Oili,    and^  D'O'l 
Oilius,  J 


Pagenelli, 

De  Pavilliano,  Pietonus, 

De  Parva  villa, 

Parmentarius, 

De  Palude, 


p. 

Pagnells,  or  Painels. 

Peiton. 
Littleton. 
Taylor. 
Puddle,  Marsh. 


LATINIZED    SURNAMES. 


289 


De  Pascua  Lapidosd, 

Stanley. 

De  Pavilidro,  and  Pauliaco, 

Paveley. 

De  Pedeplanco, 

Pauneefot. 

De  Peccato, 

Peche  vel  Pecke. 

Pelliparius, 

Skinner. 

De  Perrariis, 

Perrers. 

De  Petraponte, 

Pierepont,  vulgarly  Perpoint, 

De  Pictavia, 

Peyto. 

De  Plantageneta, 

Plantagenet. 

Ad  Pontem, 

Paunton. 

De  Porcellis  vel  Purcellis, 

PurceU. 

Le  Poure, 

Power. 

De  Praeriis, 

Praers. 

De  Pulclirocapellisio, 

Fairfax. 

De  Puteaco, 

Pusae,  com  TTi  only  Pudsey. 

De  Querceto, 

Q. 

Cheney. 

De  Quinciato, 

Quincy. 

De  Ralega  vel  Regeneia, 

R. 

Raleigh. 

De  Radeona, 

Rodney. 

De  Redveriis,  De  Ripariis, 
Rigidii,  De  Riperia, 

S-Rivers. 

Reginaldus, 

Reynolds. 

De  Rico  monte. 

Richmond. 

Rotarius, 

Wheeler. 

rRouxcarrier,    Roussir, 
t     Rooper,  Roper.* 

De  Rubra  spatha, 

De  Rupe  forti. 

Rochfort. 

•  "  There  is  a  very  antient  family  of  the  Ropers  in  Cumberland,  who  have 
lived  iramemorially  near  a  quarry  of  red  spate  there,  from  whence  they  first 
took  the  surname  of  Rubra-Spath^."    (Wright.) 

13 


290 


LATINIZED    SURNAMES. 


De  Rupe,  Rupibus,  Rupinus,  Roche,  Rock. 
De  Rubro  clivo,  Radcliff. 

De  Rubra  Manu,  Redmain. 

Rufus,  Rouse. 

De  Rupe  scissa,  Cutcliffe. 


De  Sabaudia, 
De  Sacra  quercu, 
De  Sacra  fago, 
De  Sacro  bosco. 

Savoy. 
Holyoak. 
HoUebeach. 
Holywood. 

De  Sacro  fonte, 
De  Saio, 
Sagittarius, 
De  Salceto, 
De  Salicosa  mara, 
De  SalchaviUa, 

Holybrook. 

Say. 

Archer. 

Saucey. 

Wilmore. 

Salkeld. 

De  Salicosa  vena. 

Salvein. 

De  Salso  marisco, 

Saltmarsh. 

De  Saltu  capellee, 

Salvagius, 

De  Sancto  Mauro, 

De  Sancto  Laudo, 

Sacheverel. 

Savage. 

St.  Maur,  or  Seymour. 

Sentlo,  or  Senlo. 

De  Sancta  Terra, 
De  Sancta  Clara, 

Holyland. 

St.  Clare,  Sencleer,  Sinclair. 

De  Sancto  Medardo, 

Semark. 

De  Sancto  Amando, 

St.  Amond. 

De  Sancto  Albano, 

St.  Alban. 

De  Sancto  Audemaro, 

St.  Omer. 

De   Sancto   Lizio,   and 
Sylvaneclensis, 
De  Sancta  Ermina, 
De  Sancta  Fide, 

rSenlez,  Seyton. 

Armine. 
St.  Faith. 

De  Sancto  Mauricio, 

St.  Morris. 

LATINIZED  SURNAMES. 


291 


De  Sancto  Wallerico, 

St.  Wallere. 

De  Sancto  Leodegario, 

St.  Leger,  vulgo  Sallenger. 

De  Sancta  Barbara, 

Senbarb,  vulgo  Simberb. 

De  Sancto  Petro, 

Sampier. 

De  Sancto  Paulo, 

Sampol,  or  Sample. 

De  Sancto  Lupo, 

Sentlow. 

De  Sancto  Audceno, 

St.  Owen. 

De  Sancto  Gelasio, 

Singlis. 

De  Sancto  Martino, 

Semarton. 

De  Sandwico, 

Sandwich. 

De  Sancto  Quintinio, 

St.  Quintin. 

De  Sancto  Alemondo, 

Salmon. 

De  Sancto  Vedasto, 

Foster. 

De  Saxo  ferrato. 

Ironston,  vulgo  Ironzon. 

De  Scalariis, 

Scales. 

De  Sicca  villa. 

Drytown,  or  Sackville. 

Sitsiltus,  alias  Cecilius, 

Sitsilt,  or  Cecil. 

De  Solariis, 

Solers. 

De  Spineto, 

Spine. 

De  Stagno, 

Poole. 

De  Stipite  sicco. 

De  la  Zouch.* 

De  Stratone, 

Stretton. 

Super  Tysam, 

Surteys,  Surtees. 

De  Sudburia, 

Sudbury. 

De  Suthleia,  and  Sutleia, 

Suthley,  or  Sudley. 

De  Sylva, 

Weld. 

De  Tanaia, 

T. 

Taney. 

De  TankardiviUa, 

Tankerville. 

*  For  William  de  la  Zouch,  archbishop  of  Yorke,  is  so  called  in  this  verse,  for 
his  valour  in  an  encounter  against  the  Scottishmen  at  Bear  par  ke,  1342: 
*'  Est  pater  inuictus  sicco  de  stipite  dictus." 

(Camden,  Rem.  p.  133.) 


292 


LATINIZED    SURNAMES. 


Teutonicus, 

Teys. 

De  Tulka, 

Toke,  Tuke. 

De  TurbidaviUa, 

Turberville. 

Turchetissus, 

Turchill. 

De  Turri, 

Towers. 

De  Parva  Turri, 

Torel,  Tirel. 

De  Turpi  vado, 

Fulford. 

De  Vado  Saxi, 

V. 

Stanford. 

De  Vado  bourn, 

Oxford. 

De  VaUe  torta, 

Vautort. 

De  VaUe, 

Wale. 

De  Valentia, 

Valence. 

De  VaUibus, 

Vaux. 

De  Vesci, 

Vesey. 

De  Veteri  aula. 

OldhaU,  Oldham. 

De  Veteri  ponte, 

Vipont,  or  Vipount. 

De  Vicariis, 

Viccars. 

De  ViUa  torta. 

Croketon. 

De  Villariis, 

ViUers. 

De  Villa  magna, 

Mandevile. 

De  Vino  salvo. 

Vinesalf. 

De  Umbrosa  quercu, 

Dimoak,  now  Dymock. 

De  Urtica, 

Lorti,  Lort. 

De  Warrenna, 

Warren. 

De  Warnevilla  vel 

jwilloughby. 

Willoughbaeus, 

De  Watelega, 

Wateley,  Wheatley. 

FINIS. 

C.  AND  J.  ADIARD,  PIUNTERS,  BARTHOLOMEW  CU)SE. 


2^aluai)le  antr  Xnterestiitfl  HSoofes 


PUBLISHED    OR    SOLD    BY 

JOHN   EUSSELL    SMITH, 

4,  OLD  COxVlPTON  STREET,  SOHO  SQUARE,  LONDON. 


*/\  DICTIONARY    of  ARCHAIC    and    PROVINCIAL    WORDS, 

'*•  OBSOLETE  PHRASES,  PROVERBS,  and  ANCIENT  CUSTOMS,  from  the XI Vth 
Century.  Forming  a  Key  to  the  Writings  of  our  Ancient  Poets,  Dramatists,  and  other 
\uthors,  whose  works  abound  with  allusions  of  which  explanations  are  not  to  be  found  in 
he  ordinary  books  of  reference.  By  JAMES  ORCHARD  HALLIWELL,  F.R.S.,  F.S.A.,&c. 
<vo.  Parts  I.  and  II.  closely  printed  in  double  columns,  2s.  Qd.  each. 
*^*  To  be  completed  in  Twelve  Parts. 

The  work  now  placed  before  the  notice  of  the  public  is  intended  to  furnish  a  Manual,  the 
Tsnt  of  which  has  long  been  felt  by  most  persons  who  have  had  occasion  to  study  or  refer 
;o  the  works  of  our  old  writers.     No  general  dictionary  of  the  early  English  language  has 
litherto  appeared,  and  the  student  often  finds  himself  at  a  loss,  when,  probably,  a  compre- 
lensive  glossary  would  at  once  give  the  information  required.     To  remedy  this  inconve- 
lience,  the  present  publication  has  been  projected.    It  is  intended,  within  as  moderate  a  com- 
jass  as  possible,  to  give  a  large  collection  of  those  obsolete  and  provincial  words  which  are 
nost  likely  to  be  generally  useful,  without  extending  the  size  and  cost  of  the  work  by  ety- 
nological  or  other  similar  researches ;  and  while  care  is  taken  to  establish,  as  far  as  possible, 
he  correct  meanings  of  the  words,  to  avoid  discussions  on  subjects  that  would  be  interesting 
)nly  to  the  professed  etymologist.    It  is  not,  of  course,  proposed  to  exclude  etymology,  but 
nerely  to  render  it  subservient  in  the  way  of  explanation,  and  not  allow  it  to  occupy  much 
ipace.    Bearing  this  general  plan  always  in  view,  it  is  hoped  that  the  work,  when  completed, 
vill  be  found  a  useful  book  of  reference  in  the  hands  of  a  large  class  of  readers.     Most  of  the 
irincipal  archaisms  will  be  illustrated  by  examples,  many  of  them  selected  from  early  inedited 
VISS.  and  rare  books,  and  by  far  the  larger  portion  will  be  found  to  be  original  authorities. 
The  libraries  of  Lincoln,  Cambridge,  and  Oxford  have  supplied  much  valuable  material  for 
;his  purpose.   Without  examples  it  is  often  difficult  to  convey  the  true  meaning,  and  the 
eferences  to  books  more  readily  accessible  will  enable  the  student  to  pursue  the  history  of 
my  particular  word  to  a  greater  extent  than  our  plan  has  here  permitted, 
"This  promises  to  be  a  most  useful  work  . . .  Mr.  Halliwell,  though  habitually  too  oflF-handed 
to  be  altogether  satisfactory,  is,  we  must  acknowledge,  as  well  qualified,  by  industry, 
ability,  and  previous  study,  to  be  the  editor  as  any  man  living.     We  could  indeed 
easily  name  a  dozen  persons,  each  of  whom  would  be  better  qualified  for  particular 
departments,   but  not  one  who,  including  the  whole  range  embraced  by  the  title, 
would  have  the  ability  and  energy  to  go  through  all  the  drudging  duties  of  the  office 
more  satisfactorily.    It  is  a  work,  however,  that,  in  the  first  instance,  must  be  im- 
perfect.   We  hold,  therefore,  that  every  English  scholar  should  have  an  interleaved 
copy,  that  he  may  contribute  a  something  towards  improving  a  second  edition.    The 
first  number  appears  to  have  been  carefully  compiled  ;  but  we  are  not  inclined  to  seek    , 
very  curiously  for  faults  in  a  work  of  such  obvious   difficulty,  when,  even  if  it  be  fi 
imperfect,  it  cannot  fail  to  be  nseiuV—AthencEum.  J 


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IVrURSERY    RHYMES    of    ENGLAND,     collected    chiefly    from 

-L^  Oral  Tradition.  Edited  by  JAMES  ORCHARD  HALLIWELL,  Esq.  F.R.S.  The 
'  Third  EninoN,  with  alterations  and  additions,  royal  18mo,  with  33  Designs  by  W.  B.  Scott, 
engraved  by  Orrin  Smith  and  Linton,  extra  cloth,  4s.  6d. 

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numerous  patrons  of  Nursery  Rhymes." — Globe. 

"  We  confess  to  a  sort  of  respect  for  these  Nursery  Rhymes,  when  we  consider  that  they 

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erudite  volume,  one,  too,  that  may  be  useful  to  the  antiquary,  by  helping  him  to  trace 

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««Not  only  all  mothers,  aunts,  nurses  (for  nurses  can  even  read  now)  are  obliged  to  Mr. 

Halliwell  for  this  careful  and  elegant  collection  of  this  most  popular  portion  of  our 

national  poetry,  but  grave  and  gray-head  scholars  may  find  in  them  traces  of  manners 

long  passed  away,  and  sentiments  that  may  awaken  a  pleasing  train  of  meditations." 

Monthly  Magazine. 
' '  We  are  persuaded  that  the  very  rudest  of  these  jingles,  tales,  and  rhymes  possess  a  strong 
imagination-nourishing  power;  and  that  in  infancy  and  early  childhood  a  sprinkling  of 
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tales  for  the  spelling  public,  as  are  works  of  entertainment  for  the  reading  public.  The 
work  is  worthy  of  the  attention  of  the  popular  antiquary." — Tail's  Mag.  Feb.  1843. 

•»*  The  public  are  cautioned  against  other  works  with  imitative  titles,  which  have  been  pub- 
lished since  the  second  edition  of  the  above,  and  which  are  mostly  pirated  from  it.  Mr. 
Halliwell's  is  the  cheapest  and  most  copious  book. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  of  JOSEPH  LISTER,  of  Bradford,  in  York- 

■^^  shire,  to  which  is  added  a  eotemporary  account  of  the  Defence  of  Bradford  and  Capture 
of  Leeds  by  the  Parliamentarians  in  1642.  Edited  by  THOMAS  WRIGHT,  M.A.  F.S.A. 
&c.    8vo,  cloth,  4s.     [Only  250  Copies  PRINTED.] 

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belonging  to  the  civil  wars;  and  3dly,  as  throwing  a  light  upon  the  general  habits  of  a 
particular  class  of  the  inhabitants  of  England  two  hundred  years  ago." — Literary  Gaz. 

"  Several  remarkable  matters  may  be  collected  from  its  perusal,  and  such  compositions  are 
always  valuable  as  pictures  of  character  and  manners." — Gent's  Mag. 

'«  The  volume  is  a  curious  and  interesting  fragment  of  the  history  of  those  eventful  times. 
It  gives  a  welcome  glimpse  of  the  early  nonconformists."— Brad/ord  Observer. 

LOVE  LETTERS  of  MRS.  PIOZZI,  written  when  she  was  Eighty, 
to  the  handsome  Actor,   WILLIAM  AUGUSTUS  CONWAY,   aged  Twenty-seven. 
8vo,  sewed,  2s, 

" written  at  three,  four,  and  five  o'clock  (in  the  morning)  by  an  Octogenary  pen,  a 

heart  (as  Mrs.  Lee  says)  twenty-six  years  old,  and  as  H.  L.  P.  feels  it  to  be,  all  your 
own."— Letter  V.  3d  Feb.  1820. 

"  This  is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  collections  of  love  epistles  we  have  ever  chanced 
to  meet  with,  and  the  well  known  literary  reputation  of  the  lady— the  Mrs.  Thrale, 
of  Dr.  Johnson  and  Miss  Burney  celebrity— considerably  enhances  their  interest.  The 
letters  themselves  it  is  not  easy  to  characterize ;  nor  shall  we  venture  to  decide  whether 
they  more  bespeak  the  drivelling  of  dotage  or  the  folly  of  love ;  in  either  case  they 
present  human  nature  to  us  under  a  new  aspect,  and  furnish  one  of  those  riddles  which 
nothing  yet  dreamt  of  in  our  philosophy  can  satisfactorily  so\\e."— Polytechnic  Rev. 


BY   J.    R.   SMITH,   4,   OLD    COMPTON    ST.    SOHO.  3 

ENGLISH  SURNAMES.  A  Series  of  Essays  on  Family  Nomen- 
clature.  Historical,  Etymological,  and  Humorous ;  with  Chapters  on  Canting  Arms, 
Rebuses,  the  Roll  of  Battel  Abbey,  a  List  of  Latinized  Surnames,  &c.  By  MARK 
ANTONY  LOWER.  The  Skcond  Edition,  enlarged,  post  8vo,  pp.  292,  with  20 
woodcuts,  cloth,  6s. 

«*  This  is  a  curious  volume,  and  full  of  divers  matter,  which  comes  home  to  everybody,  both 

in  the  way  of  information  and  amusement." — Literary  Gazette. 
'•  This  is  a  curious  book  of  its  kind,  written  by  a  man  of  some  antiquarian  reading,  and 
possessed  of  a  certain  vein  of  dry  humour.     He  apologizes  to  the  utilitarian  for  the 
frivolity  of  his  subject ;  but  the  origin  of  surnames  is  a  branch  of  the  history  of  the 
formation  of  language,  and  of  the  natural  operations  of  the  mind  in  making  known  or 

supplying  its  wants Taken,  as  a  whole,  the  book  is  really  entertaining  as  well 

as  informing," — Tait's  Mag. 
"  An  instructive  and  amusing  volume,  which  ought  to  be  popular.  Perhaps  no  subject  Ls 
more  curious  than  the  history  of  proper  names.  How  few  persons  are  there  who 
have  not  on  one  occasion  or  other  been  struck  with  the  singularnames  which  have  fallen 
under  their  own  observation,  and  who  have  not  sought  for  information  as  to  their 
origin?  Yet  we  know  of  no  work  of  any  value,  much  more  a  popular  work,  which 
treats  on  the  subject.  Mr.  Lower  has  written  a  very  good  and  well-arranged  book, 
which  we  can  with  confidence  recommend  to  our  readers." — Archceologist. 
"  This  is  a  most  amusing  volume,  mingling  wit  and  pleasantry  with  antiquarian  research 
and  historical  interest." — Weekly  Chronicle. 

QT.  PATRICK'S  PURGATORY:    an  Essay  on  the  Legends  of  Pur- 

*^  gatory.  Hell,  and  Paradise,  current  during  the  Middle  Ages.  By  THOMAS  WRIGHT, 
M.A.,  F.S.A.,  &c.     Post  8vo,  cloth,  Qs. 

"  It  must  be  observed,  that  this  is  not  a  mere  account  of  St.  Patrick's  Purgatory,  but  a 
complete  history  of  the  legends  and  superstitions  relating  to  the  subject,  from  the 
earliest  times,  rescued  from  old  MSS.  as  well  as  from  old  printed  books.  Moreover, 
it  embraces  a  singular  chapter  of  literary  history,  omitted  by  Warton  and  all  former 
writers  with  whom  we  are  acquainted  ;  and  we  think  we  may  add,  that  it  forms  the 
best  introduction  to  Dante  that  has  yet  been  published." — Literary  Gazette. 

"  This  appears  to  be  a  curious  and  even  amusing  book  on  the  singular  subject  of  purgatory, 
in  which  the  idle  and  fearful  dreams  of  superstition  are  shown  to  be  first  narrated  as 
tales,  and  then  applied  as  means  of  deducing  the  moral  character  of  the  age  in  which 
they  prevailed."— Specfa^or. 

"  This  is  a  very  curious  and  learned  work,  and  must  have  cost  the  writer  an  immense  deal 
of  research.  The  subject  is  full  of  interest,  and  one  on  which  we  have  scarcely  any 
literature,  at  least  in  a  collected  form.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  nearly  all  the  old 
monkish  legends  relative  to  purgatory  are  either  English  or  Irish.  They  are  exceed- 
ingly poetical,  and  open  up  a  new  field  to  the  imaginative  mind.  There  can  be  no 
estimation  of  the  power  these  Legends  must  have  had  upon  the  minds  of  the  ignorant 
people  of  the  middle  ages.  The  monks,  when  they  invented  them,  perfectly  knew 
what  they  were  about,  and  perhaps  they  did  what  was  best  on  the  whole,— they  could 
only  reach  the  intellect  of  the  age  by  these  means." — Weekly  Chronicle. 


?!3ramatic  Hitcrature* 


A  COURSE  of  LECTURES   on   DRAMATIC   ART  and  LITE- 

■^  RATURE.  By  AUGUSTUS  WILLIAM  SCHLEGEL.  Translated  from  the  German 
by  JOHN  BLACK,  Esq.,  Editor  of  the  'Morning  Chronicle.'  2  vols,  foolscap  8vo.  Second 
Edition,  cloth,  I2s. 

"  The  present  work  contains  a  critical  and  historical  account  of  the  ancient  and  modern 
drama — the  Greek,  Latin,  Italian,  German,  Spanish,  and  English.  The  view  which 
the  author  has  taken  of  the  standard  productions,  whether  tragic  or  comic,  is  ingenious 
and  just,  and  his  reasonings  on  the  principles  of  taste  are  as  satisfactory  as  they  are 
profound.  The  acute  and  sensible  remarks— the  high  tone  of  morality — are  very  ad- 
mirable and  exemplary ;  and  we  refer  those  who  desire  to  elevate  their  understandings 
to  a  guide  so  learned  and  philosophical  as  the  author  of  these  volumes." — Edinb.  Rev. 
"  In  a  few  pages  we  reap  the  fruit  of  the  labour  of  a  whole  life.  Every  opinion  formed  by 
the  author,  every  epithet  given  to  the  writers  of  whom  he  speaks  is  beautiful  and 
just,  concise  and  animated." — Mad,  de  StaeVs  Germany. 
"  A  work  of  extraordinary  merit." — Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  XII.  pp.  112-46. 


4  VALUABLE    AND    INTERESTING    BOOKS    ON    SALE 

CHAKESPERIANA,  a  Catalogue  of  the  Early  Editions  of  Shakespeare's 

^     Plays,  and  of  the  Commentaries  and  other  Publications  illustrative  of  his  Works.    By 
JAMES  ORCHARD  HALLIWELL,  Esq.  F.R.S.  F.S.A.  &c.    8vo,  cloth,  3s. 
"  Indispensable    to    everybody   who   wishes  to  carry  on  any  inquiries   connected   with 

Skakespeare,  or  who  may  have  a  fancy  for  Shakesperian  Bibliography." — Spectator. 
"  It  ought  to  be  placed  by  the  side  of  every  edition.    It  is  the  most  concise,  yet  the  most 
copious  illustration  of  the  subject  which  has  been  given  to  the  public."— Li<.  Gaz. 

AN  ACCOUNT  of  the  only  known  MANUSCRIPT  of  Shakespeare's 

•^  Plays,  comprising  some  important  variations  and  corrections  in  the  Merry  Wives  of 
Windsor,  obtained  from  a  Playhouse  copy  of  that  Play  recently  discovered.  By  JAMES 
ORCHARD  HALLIWELL,   F.R.S.  &c.    8vo,  sewed,  Is. 

T'HE  HARROWING  of  HELL,  a  Miracle  Play,  written  in  the  reign 

-■-  of  Edward  II.,  now  first  published  from  the  Original  in  the  British  Museum,  with  a 
Modern  Reading,  Introduction,  and  Notes.  By  JAMES  ORCHARD  HALLIWELL,  Esq. 
F.R.S.  F.S.A.  &c.    8vo,  sewed,  2s. 

This  curious  piece  is  supposed  to  be  the  earliest  specimen  of  dramatic  composition  in  the 
English  Language :  vide  Hallam's  Literature  of  Europe,  Vol.  I. ;  Strutt's  Manners  and 
Customs,  Vol.11.;  Warton's  English  Poetry;  Sharon  Turner's  England;  Collier's  History 
of  English  Dramatic  Poetry,  Vol.  II.  p.  213.    All  these  writers  refer  to  the  Manuscript. 

■pARLY   MYSTERIES;    and  other  Latin  Poems  of  the  XHth  and 

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ANECDOTA  LITERARIA:  a  Collection  of  Short  Poems  in  English, 

"^^  Latin,  and  French,  illustrative  of  the  Literature  and  History  of  England  in  the  Xlllth 
Century ;  and  more  especially  of  the  Condition  and  Manners  of  the  different  Classes  of  Society. 
By  T.WRIGHT,  M.A.,  F.S.A.,  &c.  Bvo,  cloth.     Only  250  printed,     la.  Gd. 

T^UG^  POETICiE ;  Select  Pieces  of  Old  English  Popular  Poetry, 

•'■^  illustrating  the  Manners  and  Arts  of  the  XVth  Century.  Editedby  J.  O.  HALLIWELL, 
Esq.,  F.R.S.,  &c.     Post  Bvo.     Only  100  copies  printed,  cloth,  5s. 

Contents: — Colyn  Blowbol's  Testament;  the  Debate  of  the  Carpenter's  Tools;  the  Merchant 
and  his  Son;  the  Maid  and  the  Magpie;  Elegy  on  Lobe,  Henry  Vlllth's  Fool ;  Romance  of 
Robert  of  Sicily,  and  five  other  curious  pieces  of  the  same  kind. 

nrORRENT  of  PORTUGAL ;  an  English  Metrical  Romance,  nowjirst 

-*-  published,  from  an  unique  MS.  of  the  XVth  century,  preserved  in  the  Chetham  Library 
at  Manchester.  Edited  by  JAMES  ORCHARD  HALLIWELL,  Esq.  F.R.S.  F.S.A.  &c. 
Post  8vo,  cloth,  uniform  with  Ritson,  Weber,  and  Ellis's  publications,  5s. 

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lAterary  Gazette, 
««  A  literary  curiosity,  and  one  both  welcome  and  serviceable  to  the  lover  of  black-letter 
lore.  Though  the  obsoleteness  of  the  style  may  occasion  sad  stumbling  to  a  modem 
reader,  yet  the  class  to  which  it  rightly  belongs  will  value  it  accordingly;  both  because 
it  is  curious  in  its  details,  and  possesses  philological  importance.  To  the  general 
reader  it  presents  one  feature  of  interest,  viz.  the  reference  to  Wayland  Smith,  whom 
Sir  W.  Scott  has  invested  with  so  much  interest." — Metropolitan  Magazine. 

rpHE  MERRY  TALES  of  the  WISE  MEN  of  GOTHAM.    Edited 

■■■  by  JAMES  ORCHARD  HALLIWELL,  Esq.  F.S.A.  post  8vo,  Is. 

These  tales  are  supposed  to  have  been  composed  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century 
by  Dr.  Andrew  Borde,  the  well-known  progenitor  of  Merry  Andrews.  "  In  the  time  of  Henry 
the  Eighth,  and  after,"  says  Ant.-a-Wood,  «•  it  was  accounted  a  book  full  of  wit  and  mirth  by 
scholars  and  gentlemen." 

rpHE  NOBLE  and  RENOWNED  HISTORY  of  GUY,   EARL  of 

-*-  WARWICK,  containing  a  full  and  true  account  of  his  many  famous  and  valiant  actions, 
12mo,  new  edition,  with  woodcuts,  cloth,  2s.  6d. 


BY   J.    R.    SMITH,   4,   OLD    COMPTON    ST.    SOHO.  5 

©oposrapibical  Hiteratuve* 

TJISTORY  and  ANTIQUITIES  of  the  HUNDRED  of  COMPTON, 

BERKS,  with  Dissertations  on  the  Roman  Station  of  Calleva  Attrebatum,  and  the  Battle 
ofAshdown.     By  W.  HEWETT,  Jun.    8vo.    18  plates,  cloth.    Only  25Q  printed.    I5s. 

UISTORY  and  ANTIQUITIES   of  DARTFORD,  in  KENT,  with 

■*•■■■  Incidental  Notices  of  Places  in  its  Neighbourhood.  By  J.  DUNKIN,  Author  of  the 
"History  of  the  Hundreds  of  Bullington  and  Ploughley  in  Oxfordshire;"  "History  of 
Bicester;"  "History  of  Bromley,"  &c.    8vo.    VJ  plates,  cloth.    Only  250  printed.    II.  Is. 

Published  Monthly  in  royal  &vo,  averaging  52  pp.  and  profusely  illustrated  with  woodcuts, 
price  Is.  per  part, 

nPHE  LOCAL  HISTORIAN'S  TABLE   BOOK  of  Remarkable  Oc- 

-*-  currences,  Historical  Facts,  Traditions,  Legendary  and  Descriptive  Ballads,  &c.  &c., 
connected  with  the  Counties  of  Newcastlk-on-Tyne,  Northumberland  and  Durham. 
By  M.  A.  RICHARDSON.    Parts  I.  to  L.  have  already  appeared. 

Volumes  I,  II,  and  III,  of  the  "  HISTORICAL  DIVISION,"  containing  1309  pp.  and 
554  woodcuts  may  now  he  had  in  cloth,  price  9*.  each. 

Volume  I,  of  the  "LEGENDARY  DIVISION,"  containing  424  pp.  and  31  woodcuts, 
cloth,  9«. 

This  will  be  found  a  very  interesting  volume  to  those  who  feel  no  interest  in  the 
Historical  portion. 
**  This  chronology  of  local  occurrences,  from  the  earliest  times  when  a  date  is  acertainable, 
possesses  an  especial  interest  for  the  residents  of  the  Northern  Counties ;  but,  inas- 
much as  it  records  historical  events  as  well  as  trivial  incidents  and  includes  biogra- 
phical notices  of  men  whose  fame  extended  beyond  their  birth-places,  it  is  not  without 
a  value  to  the  general  reader.  The  work  is  divided  into  two  portions,  the  larger  con- 
sisting of  the  chronicle,  and  the  lesser  of  the  traditions  and  ballads  of  the  country. 
Some  of  these  are  very  characteristic  and  curious  ;  they  invest  with  poetic  associations 
almost  every  ruin  or  plot  of  ground  ;  and  the  earlier  legends  of  moss-troopers  and 
border-strifes  afford  an  insight  into  the  customs  and  state  of  society  in  remote  periods. 
The  handsome  pages  are  illustrated  with  woodcuts  of  old  buildings  and  other  an- 
tiquities."—Spectator. 
"  We  cordially  recommend  this  work  to  our  friends.  We  are  at  a  loss  to  conceive  how, 
at  so  low  a  price,  the  proprietor  is  to  be  remunerated  for  the  immense  outlay  incurred 
in  its  production." — Newcastle  Journal. 

l^EWCASTLE    TRACTS;  Reprints  of  Rare   and  Curious  Tracts, 

^^  chiefly  illustrative  of  the  History  of  the  Northern  Counties;  beautifully  printed  in 
crown  8  vo,  on  a  fine  thick  paper,  with  Facsimile  Titles,  and  other  features  characteristic  of  the 
originals.     Only  IW  copies  printed.     \Q  tios.  sewed,  \l.  14*.  6d. 

Purchasers  are  expected  to  take  the  succeeding  Tracts  as  published. 

HISTORIC  SITES  and  other  Remarkable  and  Interesting  Places 
in  the  County  of  Suffolk.  By  JOHN  WODDERSPOON,  with  Prefatory  Verses  by 
BERNARD  BARTON,  esq.,  and  a  Poetical  Epilogue  by  a  "  Suffolk  Villager."  Im- 
proved eAition,  fine  woodcuts,  postSvo,  pp.  232,  closely  printed,  and  containing  as  much  matter 
a   many  125.  volumes,  cloth,  6s.  6d. 

Principal  Contents: — Framlingham  Castle;  Staningfield ;  Rookwood;  Mrs.  Inchbald ; 
Aldham  Common;  the  Martyr's  Stone;  Westhorpe  Hall,  the  residence  of  Charles  Brandon, 
Duke  of  Suffolk  ;  Ipswich ;  Wolsey's  Gate  and  Mr.  Sparrow's  House  ;  Rendlesham ;  Redgrave; 
Bury  St.  Edmunds,  the  Abbey;  David  Hartley;  Bp.  Gardiner;  George  Bloomfield ; 
Wetheringset ;  Haughley  Castle ;  Grimstone  Hall ;  Cavendish,  the  Voyager ;  Framlingham 
Church,  the  burial  place  of  Surrey,  the  Poet;  Bungay  Castle;  Dunwich;  Aldborough  ; 
Wingfield,  and  the  Old  Halls  of  Suffolk. 

A    NEW  GUIDE  to  IPSWICH,   containing   Notices  of  its  Ancient 

"^^    and  Modern  History,   Buildings,  and  Social  and  Commercial  Condition.    By  JOHN 
WODDERSPOON.  Foolscap  8vo,  fine  woodcuts, cloth,  2s.  6d. 
"  It  is  handsomely  got  up,  and  reflects  great  credit  on  Ipswich  typography."— Specfo^or. 


6  VALUABLE  AND  INTERESTING  BOOKS  ON  SALE 

"DIBLIOTHECA  CANTfANA,    a  Bibliographical   Account  of  what 

■^  has  been  published  on  the  History,  Topc^raphy/ Antiquities,  Customs,  and  Family 
Genealogy  of  the  County  of  Kent, with  Biographical  Notes.  By  JOHN  RUSSELL  SMITH. 
In  a  handsome  8vo  volume,  pp.  370,  with  two  platea  of  facsimiles  of  Autog7-apha  of  33  eminent 
Kentish  Writers.    14*.  reduced  to  5s.— large  paper,  10*.  6d. 

Contents— I.  Historians  of  the  County.  II.  Principal  Maps  of  the  County.  III.  Heraldic 
Visitations,  with  referenceto  the  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum  and  other  places.  IV.  Tracts 
printed  during  the  Civil  War  and  Commonwealth,  1640-1660.  V.  A  Chronological  List  of  all 
the  Local,  Personal,  and  Private  Acts  of  Parliament,  (upwards  of  600)  which  have  been 
passed  on  the  County, from  Edward  I.  to  Queen  Victoria.  VI.  Works  relative  to  the  County 
in  general.  VII.  Particular  Parishes,  Seats,  Customs,  and  Family  Genealogy,  in  alphabetical 
order.  The  work  also  comprises  a  notice  of  every  Paper  which  has  been  written  on  the 
County,  and  published  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society,  Gentleman'* 
Magazine,  Archcenlogia,  Vetusta  Monumenta,  Topogiapher,  Antiquarian  Repertory,  and  nume- 
rous other  valuable  publications,  with  a  copious  Index  of  every  person  and  place  mentioned 
throughout  the  volume. 

"  The  industrious  compiler  of  the  volume  before  us  has  shown  how  largely  the  history  and 
antiquities  of  Kent  have  already  occupied  the  attention  of  Topographers  and  Anti- 
quarians; and,  by  exhibiting  in  one  view  what  is  now  before  the  public,  he  has  at 
once  facilitated  the  researches  of  future  writers,  and  has  pointed  out  how  ample  a 
field  still  remains  for  their  labours.  The  volume  contains  a  complete  catalogue  of 
all  the  printed  works  relative  to  the  county,  including,  with  respect  to  the  most  im- 
portant, not  only  their  titles  in  length,  but  also  useful  particulars  which  serve  as  the 
guide  for  collation,  in  ascertaining  whether  a  book  is  perfect,  or  the  principal  divisions 
of  the  contents,  the  number  of  pages,  lists  of  plates,  &c.  We  must  also  mention  that 
it  is  rendered  more  readable  and  interesting  by  the  insertion  of  memoirs  of  the 
Kentish  authors,  and  the  plates  of  their  autographs." — Gentleman's  Magazine. 

TTISTORY  of  PORTSMOUTH.  PORTSEA,  LANDPORT,  SOUTH- 

^^  SEA  and  GOSPORT.    By  HENRY  SLIGHT,  Esq.    8vo,  third  Edition,  hds.  4*. 

npHE  VISITOR'S  GUIDE  to  Knole  House,  near  Seven  Oaks  in  Kent, 

-•-  with  Catalogue  of  the  Pictures  contained  in  the  Mansion,  a  Genealogical  History  of  the 
Sackville  Family,  &c.  &c.  By  J.  H.  BRADY,  F.R.A.S.  12mo,  27  woodcuts  by  Bonner,  Sly, 
^c.  cloth.  As.  6d.    Large  paper,  10s. 

"  A  very  interesting  guide  to  one  of  the  most  remarkable  old  family  mansions,  or  we  might 
even  say,  palaces,  of  England.  The  biographical  notices  of  the  portraits  are  very 
curious,  and  the  descriptions  of  old  trees,  and  other  particulars  in  the  park  and 
gardens  will  amuse  the  gardener  ;  while  the  architect  will  be  instructed  by  the 
engravings  of  difftrent  parts  of  the  house,  and  of  the  ancient  furniture,  more  par- 
ticularly of  the  fire-places,  fire-dogs,  chairs,  tripods,  masks,  sconces,  &c." — J.  C. 
LiOVDON,  Gardener's  Magazine,  Jan.  1840. 

ILLUSTRATIONS   of  Knole    House,  from    Drawings  by  Knight, 

"*-  engraved  on  Wood  by  Bonner,  Sly,  &c.     8vo,  16  plates  with  descriptions,  5s. 

nREENWICH:  its  History,  Antiquities,  and  Public  Buildings.     By 

^-^  H.  S.  R1CHARDS(3n.     12mo,^ne  woodcuts  by  Baxter,  ls.6d. 

THE  FOLKESTONE  FIERY  SERPENT,  together  with  the  Hii- 
mours  of  the  Dovor  Mayor;  being  an  Ancient  Ballad  full  of  Mystery  and  pleasant 
Conceit,  now  first  collected  and  printed  from  the  various  MS.  copies  in  the  possession  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  South-east  coast  of  Kent,  with  Notes.     12mo,  Is. 

THE  KENTISH  CORONAL,  consisting  of  Contributions  in  Prose 
and  Verse.    By  Writers  of  the  County  of  Kent.    Fcp.  8vo,  pp.  192,  with  frontispiece, 
cloth,  gilt  leaves,  2s.  6d. 

Among  the  papers  inserted  may  be  mentioned  a  series  on  the  "  Vegetable  Productions  of 
Kent,"  by  Ann  Pratt,  author  of  "  Flowers  and  their  Associations ;"  on  the  Geology  of 
Maidstone  and  its  neighbourhood,  by  W.  H.  Benstkd  ;  on  the  Historical  and  Traditionary 
Incidents  connected  with  the  County,  by  the  Editor  G.  H.  Adams,  and  other  matters 
LOCALLY  interesting. 


BY  J.    R.    SMITH,   4,    OLD    COMPTON    ST.    SOHO.  ^ 

A  JOURNEY  to  BERESFORD  HALL,  in  Derbyshire,  the  Seat  of 
CHARLES  COTTON,  Esq.  the  celebrated  Author  and  Angler.  By  W.  ALEXANDER, 
F.S.A.,  F.L.S.,  late  Keeper  of  the  Prints  in  the  British  Museum.  Crown  4to,  printed  on 
tinted  paper,  with  a  spirited  frontispiece,  representing  Walton  and  his  adopted  Son  Cotton  in  the 
Fishing-house,  <ind  vignette  title-page,  cloth,  5s. 

Dedicated  to  the  Anglers  of  Great  Britain  and  the  various  Walton  and  Cotton  Clubs. 
Only  100  printed. 


THE    ARCH^OLOGIST   and    JOURNAL    of    ANTIQUARIAN 

-*'     SCIENCE,    Edited  by  J.  O.  HALLIWELL,  Esq.    8vo,  Nos  I.  to  X.  complete,  with 
Index,  pp.  490,  with  19  engravings,  cloth,  reduced  from  10s.  6d.  to  5s.  6rf. 

Containing  original  articles  on  Architecture,  Historical  Literature,  Round  Towers  of 
Ireland,  Philology,  Bibliography,  Topography,  Proceedings  of  the  various  Antiquarian 
Societies,  Retrospective  Reviews,  and  Reviews  of  Recent  Antiquarian  Works,  &c. 

nOINS    of   the    ROMANS    relating  to   BRITAIN,    described    and 

^     illustrated.   By  JOHN  YONGE  AKERMAN,  F.S.A.,  Secretary  to  to  the  Numismatic 
Society,  &c.  Second  Edition,  greatly  enlarged.  8vo,  with  plates  and  woodcuts,  cloth,  10s.  6d. 

A  NCIENT  COINS  of  CITIES  and  PRINCES,  Geographically  arranged 

■^  and  described.  By  J.  Y,  AKERMAN,  F.S.A.   Nos.  I,  II,  and  III.-HrsPANiA,8vo,  with 

12  plates.  2s.  6d.  each. 
"  This  promises  to  be  a  large  and  laborious  work,  but  for  which  neither  the  industry  nor 
the  talents  of  the  now  long  experienced  author  are  likely  to  prove  deficient.  He  has 
commenced  with  the  coins  of  a  country  presenting,  probably,  greater  room  for  novelty 
of  illustration  than  any  other,  in  consequence  of  having  bafiSed,  in  a  great  degree,  the 
learning  and  research  of  the  most  eminent  numismatists."— Genu's  Mag. 

nPHE  NEW  TESTAMENT  of  our  LORD  and  SAVIOUR  JESUS 

•*■      CHRIST.    The  Text  from  the  authorized  Version,  with  Notes  and  Numismatic  Illus- 
trations, from  Ancient  Coins  in  various  Public  and  Private  Collections.  By  J.  Y.  AKERMAN. 
No.  I.    8vo,  2*.  6d.—(To  be  completed  in  8  parts.) 
*'  Mr.  Akerman's  Numismatic  Illustrations  are  not  confined  to  the  explanation  of  the  direct 
allusions  to  different  kinds  of  money  in  the  sacred    text ;   but  he  brings  his   numis- 
matic knowledge  not  only  to  explain  historical  difficulties,  but  to  furnish  new  and  most 
decisive  evidence  of  the  authenticity  of  Holy  Writ.     In  fact,  he  has  done  as  much 
(if  not  more)  for  the  New  Testament  as  the  Gronovii  and  Graevii  of  former  days  did  in 
this  department  of  criticism  for  the  classical  writers  of  antiquity.     His  notes  are  en- 
tirely explanatory,  and  he  has  carefully  avoided  entering  into  all  subjects  of  a  con- 
troversial or  doctrinal  nature,  so  that  we  can  safely  recommend  his  edition  of  the  New 
Testament  to  all  classes  of  readers,  to  whatever  religious  sect  they  may  belong. 

Literary  Gazette. 

T^UMISMATIC  CHRONICLE  and  PROCEEDINGS  of  the  NUMIS- 

MATIC  SOCIETY,  5  vols,  and  3  Nos.  to  Oct.  1843;  a  subscriber's  copy,  many  plates, 
eloth,  21.  I2s.  6d.  (pub.  at  3/.  17*.) 


l^eraltirB  anti  CSenealoag. 

'^FHE  CURIOSITIES  OF  HERALDRY,  with  Illustrations  from  old 

■*■  English  Writers.  By  MARK  ANTONY  LOWER,  Author  of  "  Essays  on  English 
Surnames;"  with  Illuminated  Title-page,  and  numerous  Engravings  from  designs  by  the  Author. 
8vo,  cloth,  GULES,  appropriately  ornamented,  or.  14,v. 

Contents  :~C\\'AY>.  I.  The  Fabulous  History  of  Heraldry.  II.  The  Authentic  History 
of  Heraldry.  III.  Rationale  of  Heraldric  Charges.  IV.  The  Chimerical  Figures  of  Heraldry. 
V.  The  Language  of  Arms.  VI.  Allusive  Arms.  VII.  Observations  on  Crests,  Supporters, 
Badges,  &c.  VIII.  Mottoes.  IX.  Anecdotes  relative  to  the  acquisition  of  arms  and  Aug- 
mentations;  X.  Desultory  Remarks  on  Titles  of  Honour.  XI.  Brief  Historical  Sketch  of 
the  College  of  Arms.  XII.  Notices  of  Heraldric  Authors  and  their  Works,  from  the  15th 
century  to  the  19th.  XIII.  Genealogy. — Appendix.  On  the  Differences  of  Arms,  by  Sir 
Edw.  Dering,  Bart.,  noiv  first  printed.  Exemplifications  of  the  Practice  of  Deriving  Arms 
from  those  of  feudal  superiors,  &c.  drawn  from  the  County  of  Cornwall,  and  several  other 
curious  Papers. 


8  VALUABLE   AND    INTERESTING   BOOKS    ON    SALE 

A  GENEALOGICAL  and  HERALDIC  HISTORY  of  the  EXTINCT 

-'^  and  DORMANT  BARONETCIES  of  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland,  By 
J.  BURKE,  Esq.  and  J.  B.  BURKE,  Esq.  Medium  8vo,  Second  Edition.  638  closel}/ 
printed  pages,  in  double  columns,  with  about  1000  arms  engraved  on  wood,  fine  portrait  of 
James  I,  and  illuminated  title-page,  extra  cloth,  105.,  published  at  II.  8s. 

This  work,  which  has  engaged  the  attention  of  the  Authors  for  several  years,  comprises 
nearly  a  thousand  families,  many  of  them  amongst  the  most  ancient  and  eminent  in  the 
kingdom,  each  carried  down  to  its  representative  or  representatives  still  existing,  with  elabo- 
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with  the  last  edition  of  Mr.  Burke's  Dictionary  of  the  Existing  Peerage  and  Baronetage  ;  the 
armorial  bearings  are  engraved  in  the  best  style,  and  are  incorporated  with  the  text  as  in  that 
work. 

\     GENERAL  ARMORY  of  ENGLAND,  SCOTLAND,  and 

-^  IRELAND  ;  comprising  a  Registry  of  all  Armorial  Bearings,  from  the  earliest  to  the 
present  time.  By  J.  BURKE,  Esq.  and  J.  B.  BURKE,  Esq.  Royal  Bvo,  Third  Edition, 
with  Supplement.  1200  pages,  in  double  columns,  illuminated  title-page,  cloth,  1/.  Is. 
published  at  21.  2s. 

The  most  useful  book  on  Heraldry  extant;  it  embodies  all  the  arms  of  Guillim,  Edmonson, 
Robson,  Berry  and  others,  prefaced  by  a  history  of  the  art. 


tlrabincial  ©ialectgs  of  ©nglanli. 

pOEMS  of  RURAL   LIFE,  in  the  DORSET  DIALECT,  with  a 

■*■      Dissertation  and  Glossary.    By  WILLIAM  BARNES,  royal  12mo,  cloth,  10*. 

A    GLOSSARY  of  PROVINCIAL  WORDS  and  PHRASES  in  use 

-^    in  Wiltshire,  shewing  their  Derivation  in  numerous  instances  from  the  Language  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons.     By  JOHN  YONGE  AKERMAN,  Esq.  F.S.A,     12mo,  cloth,  3s. 

WESTMORLAND  and  CUMBERLAND  DIALECTS.  Dialogues, 
Poems,  Songs,  and  Ballads,  by  various  Writers,  in  the  Westmorland  and  Cumberland 
Dialects,  now  first  collected,  to  which  is  added,  a  Copious  Glossary  of  Words  peculiar  to  those 
Counties.    Post  Bvo,  pp.  408,  cloth,  9s. 

This  collection  comprises,  in  the  Westmorland  Dialect,  Mrs.  ANN  WHEELER'S  Four 
Familiar  Dialogues,  with  Poems,  &c.;  and  in  the  Cumberland  Dialect,  I.  Poems  and  Pastorals 
by  the  Rev.  JOSIAH  RELPH  ;  II,  Pastorals,  &c.,  by  EWAN  CLARK;  IIL  Letter  from 
Dublin  by  a  young  Borrowdale  Shepherd,  by  ISAAC  RITSON  ;  IV.  Poems  by  JOHN 
STAGG ;  V.  Poems  by  MARK  LONSDALE  ;  VI.  Ballads  and  Songs  by  ROBERT 
ANDERSON,  the  Cumbrian  Bard  {including  some,  now  firat  printed) ;  VII.  Songs  by  Miss 
BLAMIRE  and  Miss  GILPIN;  VIII.  Songs  by  JOHN  RAYSON;  IX.  An  Extensive 
Glossary  of  Westmorland  and  Cumberland  Words. 

"Among  the  specimens  of  Cumberland  Verse  will  be  found  some  true  poetry,  if  not  the 
best  ever  written  in  the  language  of  rural  life  this  side  the  Scotch  Borders.  The 
writers  seem  to  have  caught  in  their  happiest  hours  inspiration  from  the  rapt  soul  of 
Burns.  Anderson's  touching  song  of  wedded  love,  '  The  Days  that  are  geane,'  is  a 
worthy  answer  for  a  husband  to  Burn's  •  John  Anderson  my  Jo.'  "  —Gent's.  Magazine. 
••No  other  two  counties  in  England  have  so  many  pieces,  both  in  prose  and  verse,  illus- 
trative of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  inhabitants,  and  written  in  their  own  native 
dialect.  The  philologist  will  find  numerous  examples  of  words  and  phrases  which  are 
obsolete  in  the  general  language  of  England,  or  which  have  been  peculiar  to  West- 
morland and  Cumberland  from  time  immemorial.  Nor  are  the  pieces  uninteresting 
in  other  respects.  Some  of  the  patois  verses  are  rich  in  the  true  spirit  and  vigour  of 
poetry." — Metropolitan . 
•«  A  charming  volume :  it  contains  some  beautiful  poetical  effusions,  as  well  as  characteristic 
sketches  in  prose." — Archceologist. 

THE  VOCABULARY  of  EAST  ANGLIA,  an  attempt  to  record  the 
vulgar  tongue  of  the  twin  sister  Counties,  Not-folk  and  Suffolk,  as  it  existed  in  the  last 
twenty  years  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  and  still  exists;  with  proof  of  its  Antiquity  from 
Etymology  and  Authority.  By  the  Rev.  R.  FORBY.  2  vols.  postSvo,  cloth,  Us.  (original 
price  II.  Is.) 


BY  J.    R.   SMITH,   4,    OLD    COMPTOiN    ST.  SOHO.  9 

PROSE'S  (FRANCIS,  F.S.A.)  GLOSSARY  of  PROVINCfAL  and 

^  LOCAL  WORDS  used  in  ENGLAND,  with  which  is  now  first  incorporated  the  Sup- 
plement by  SAMUEL  PEGGE,  F.S.A.     Post  8vo,  elegantly  printed,  cloth,  4s.  6d. 

The  utility  of  a  Provincial  Glossary  to  all  persons  desirous  of  understanding  our  ancient 
poets  is  so  universally  acknowledged,  that  to  enter  into  a  proof  of  it  would  be  entirely  a  work 
of  supererogation.  Grose  and  Pegge  are  constantly  referred  to  in  Todd's  "  Johnson's  Dic- 
tionary." 

EXMOOR    SCOLDING  and    COURTSHIP   in   the    Propriety  and 
Decency  of  Exmoor  (Devonshire)  Language,  with  Notes  and  a  Glossary.  Post  8vo,  12th 
edition.  Is.  6d, 

"  A  very  rich  bit  of  West  of  Englandism." — Metropolitan. 

nBSERVATIONS  on  some   of  the  DIALECTS   of  the  WEST  of 

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Gent's  Magazine,  May  1841. 


T 


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T)OUCHER'S     GLOSSARY    of    ARCHAIC    and    PROVINCIAL 

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Metropolitan. 


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••The  most  perfect  Narrative  of  any  thing  of  this  nature  hitherto  ext&nt."— Preface. 


BY  J.  R.  SMITH,  4,  OLD  COMPTON  ST.  SOHO.  11 

WONDERFUL   DISCOVERY  of  the  WITCHCRAFTS  of  MAR- 

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Contents:  Johannis  de  Sacro-Bosco  Tractatus  de  Arte  Numerandi;  Method  used  in 
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ACCOUNT  of  the  LIFE,  WRITINGS,  and  INVENTIONS  of  Sir 

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JOHANNIS  DE    SACRO-BOSCO,  AngUd,  DE  ARTE  NUME- 

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pLUxMPTON   CORRESPONDENCE;    a   Series   of  Letters  written 

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ANECDOTES   and  TRADITIONS,    illustrative   of  Early  English 

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BY   J.    R.    SMITH,  4,    OLD    COMPTON    ST.  SOHO.  13 

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Report  of  the  C.  S.  1841. 

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APOLOGY   for   LOLLARD   DOCTRINES   attributed   to  Wicliffe. 

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Magdalen  College,  Oxford, 

ORIGINAL  LETTERS  of  EMINENT  LITERARY  MEN  of  the 

^^XVIth,  XVllth,  and  XVIIIth  Centuries,  from  the  originals  in  the  British  Museum  and 
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memorials  of  the  literature  of  the  last  three  centuries."— Report  of  the  Council,  1843. 

A    CONTEMPORARY  NARRATIVE   of  the  proceedings   against 

-^*-    DAME  ALLICE   KYTLER,  prosecuted  for  SORCERY  in  1324.    By  RICHARD  de 
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This  volume  affords  a  curious  picture  of  the  turbulent  state  of  Ireland  in  the  Reign   of 
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pROMPTORIUM     Parvulorum    sive    Clericoruin,    Lexicon    Anglo- 

Latinum  princeps,  autore  Fratre  Galfrido  Grammatico  Dicto  e  Predicationibus  Lenne 
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LETTERS  and  STATE  PAPERS  relating  to  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Earl  of  Leicester  in  the  Low  Countries,  1585-6.     Edited  by  BRUCE,    pp.500,  14«. 

A  FRENCH  CHRONICLE  of  LONDON,  from  the  44tli  of  Henry  III 

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pOLYDORE  VERGIL'S  History  of  the  Reigns  of  Henry  VI,  Edward 

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By  Sir  H.  ELLIS.    Is.  Gd. 

''PHE    THORNTON     ROMANCES.      The   Early  English  Metrical 

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BALLADS  of  the  utmost  rarity,  now  first  collected  and  edited 


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PLEASANT     HISTORY    of    the    TWO    ANGRY    WOMEN    of 

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A  Play  by  HENRY  PORTER,  1599.  Edited  by  the  Rev.  A.  DYCE.  4*. 

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A  PARAPHRASE  on  the  SEVEN  PENITENTIAL   PSALMS  in 

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St.  Bernard.    Edited  by  W.  H.  BLACK.  4*.  6d. 

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^  by  R.  JOHNSON,  1612.    Edited  by  W.  CIIAPPELL.  3s. 

T)tALOGUE    concerning    WITCHES    and    WITCHCRAFTS,    by 

■*-^  GEORGE  GIFFORD,  Vicar  of  Maldon,  1603.  Edited  by  WRIGHT.  As.  6d. 

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TROLLIES'  ANATOMIE,  or  SATYRES  and  SATYRICALL  EPI- 

-■-     GRAMS,  by  HENRY  HUTTON.  Dunelmensis,  1619.  Edited  by  RIMBAULT.  3«. 

TACK  of  DOVER,  his  Quest  of  Inquirie,  or  his  Privy  Search  for  the 

"  veriest  Foole  in  England,  a  collection  of  Merry  Tales.  1604.  2s,  6d. 

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were  popular  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries. 

ANCIENT    POETICAL    TRACTS    of   the    XVItli    Century,    re- 

•^  printed  from  unique  copies.    Edited  by  RIMBAULT.    3s.  6d. 

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rPHE  HARMONY  of  the  CHURCH,   SPIRITUAL    SONGS  and 

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pOEMS  by  SIR  HENRY  AYOTTON.    Edited  by  DYCE.     Is.  6d. 

THE  HARMONY  of  BIRDS,  a  Poem,  from  the  only  known  copy 
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A   KERRY   PASTORAL,   in   Imitation   of    the   First  Eclogue  of 
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A  curious  picture  of  Irish  manners  about  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

'T'HE  FOUR  KNAVES,  a  Series  of  Satirical  Tracts.     By  SAMUEL 

■■•      ROWLANDS.  1611-13.  Edited,  with  introduction  and  Notes,  by  RIMBAULT.  Wood- 
cuts, 4s.  6d. 

A  POEM  to  the  MEMORY  of  WILLIAM  CONGREVE,  by  JAMES 

•^  THOMSON.     Edited  by  P.  CUNNINGHAM.    Is.  6d. 

PLEASANT  CONCEITES  of  OLD  HOBSON,  the  Merry  Londoner, 

full  of  humourous  discourses  and  witty  merriments,  whereat  the  quicltest  wittes  may 
laugh,  and  the  wiser  sorttalce  pleasure.  1607.    Edited  by  HALLIWELL.    2s. 

MAROCCUS  EXTATICUS;    or,  BANKES'S  BAY  HORSE  in  a 
TRANCE  :  anatomizing  some  abuses  and  bad  tricks  of  this  age  (1595).     Edited  by 
RIMBAULT.     Is.  6d. 

LORD  MAYORS'  PAGEANTS;  being  Collections  towards  a  History 
of  these  annual  celebrations :  with  specimens  of  the  descriptive  pamphlets  published  by 
the  City  poets.     Edited  by  F.  W.  FAIRHOLT.     Part  I.    Woodcuts,  5s. 

Part  II.  5*. 


BY  J.  R.  SMITH,  4,  OLD  COMPTON  ST.  SOHO.  17 

OWL  and  the  NIGHTINGALE,  a  Poem  of  the  13th  Century;  attri- 
buted  to  Nicholas  de  Guildford  :  with  some  shorter  Poems  from  the  same  MSB. 
Edited  by  WRIGHT.     2^.  6d. 

'THIRTEEN  PSALMS,  and  the  First  Chapter  of  Ecclesiastes,  translated 

-*•      into  English  Verse  by  JOHN  CROKE,  temp.  Henry  VIII,  with  Documents  relative  to 
the  Croke  Family.    Edited  by  BLISS.    23.  6d. 

TTISTORICALL  EXPOSl^ULATION  against  the  beastlye  Abusers 

-*"^    both  of  Chyrurgerie  and  Physyke  in  oure  Time :  by  JOHN  HALLE,   {wUh  porti-ait.) 
Edited  by  PETTIGREW.    2s,  6d. 

OLD  BALLADS;  illustrating  the  great  Frost  of  1683-4,  and  the  Fair 
*  on  the  River  Thames.    Edited  by  RIMBAULT.    3*. 

UONESTIE  OF  THIS  AGE;  proving  by  Good  Circumstance  that  the 

•■-*  World  was  never  Honest  till  now.    By  BARNABY  RICH,  1614.    Edited  by  P.  CUN- 
NINGHAM.    3*. 

TTISTORY  of  REYNARD  the  FOX,  from  Caxton's  edition  in  1481, 

-Tl-      with  Notes  and  Literary  History  of  the  Romance.    Edited  by  W.  J.  THOMS.    6s. 

nPHE   KEEN  (Funeral  Lamentations)  of  the  South  of  Ireland, 

illustrative  of  Irish  Political  and  Domestic  History,  Manners,  Music,  and  Superstitions. 
Edited  by  T.  C.CROKER,  4s. 

POEMS  of  JOHN  AUDELAY,  a  specimen  of  the  Shropshire  Dialect 
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ST.  BRANDRAN ;  a  Medieval  Legend  of  the  Sea,  in  English  Verse 
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ROMANCE  of  the  EMPEROR  OCTAVI AN,  now  first  published  from 
MSS.  at  Lincoln  and  Cambridge,  edited  by  HALLIWELL.     2s.  6d. 

ClX  BALLADS  with  BURDENS,  from  a  MS.  at  Cambridge,  edited 

•^  by  GOODWIN.     Is.  6d. 

LYRICAL  POEMS,  selected  from  Musical  Publications,  1589   and 
1600.    Edited  by  COLLIER.     3«.  6d. 

pRIAR  BAKON'S  PROPHESIE  ;  a  Satire  on  the  Degeneracy  of  the 

■■■  Times,  A.D.  1604.     Edited  by  HALLIWELL.     Is.  6d. 

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^|ui)Ucatton0  of  ti)e<Sf)aftj3peare5ocietB,  1841-44. 

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IXTEMOIRS  of  EDWARD  ALLEYN,  Founder  of  Dulwich  College, 

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THE  SCHOOL  of  ABUSE,  containing  a  Pleasant  Invective  against 
Poets,  Pipers,  Players,  &c.  by  STEPHEN   GOSSON,  1579— HEYWOOD'S  (Thomas) 
Apology  for  Actors,  1612,  reprinted  in  one  vol.  5s. 

T  UDUS  COVENTRIiE— A  Collection  of  Mysteries  formerly  repre- 

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A    DEBATE  between  PRIDE  and   LOWLINESS,   by  FRANCIS 

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18 


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pATIENT  GRISEL,   A  Comedy  by  DEKKER,  CHETTLE,  and 

•*■  HAUGHTON,  with  Introduction  by  COLLIER.  8vo,  5s. 

J^XTRACTS  from  the  ACCOUNTS  of  the  REVELS  at  COURT, 

temp.  Queen  Elizabeth  and  James  I,  with  Introduction  and  Notes  by  P.  CUNNINGHAM. 
6*. 

"PIRST    SKETCH    of    SHAKSPEARES    MERRIE    WIVES    of 

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■pOOLS  and   JESTERS,  with  a  reprint   of  ROBERT   AltMIN'S 

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THE  OLD  PLAY  of  TIMON  of  ATHENS,  which  preceded    that 

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piERCE   PENNILESSS   SUPPLICATION  to   the  DEVIL.      By 

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XTEYWOOD'S    (THOMAS)    FIRST    and    SECOND    PARTS     of 

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'THE  FIRST  SKETCHES  of  the  SECOND  and  THIRD  PARTS 

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THE  CHESTER  PLAYS:  a  Collection   of  Mysteries  founded  upon 

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Edited  by  THOMAS  WRIGHT.  Vol.  I.  95. 

ALLEYN  PAPERS;  a  Collection  of  Original  Documents  illustrative 

-^     of  the  Life  and  Times  of  EDWARD  ALLEYN,  and  of  the  Early  English  Stage  and 
Drama.     Edited  by  COLLIER,    is.  6d.     [A  Companion  to  the  first  Article.] 

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rpRVE  TRAGEDY  of  RICHARD   III;   to  which   is  appended  the 

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Shakespeare's  Drama,  with  Notes  by  BARRON  FIELD,     is. 

rpUE  GHOST  of  RICHARD  III,  a  Poem,  1614,  founded  upon  Shake- 

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CIR  THOMAS  MORE,  a  Play  now  first  printed,  edited  by  DYCE. 


BY  J.  R.  SMITH,  4,  OLD  COMPTON  ST.  SOHO.  l9 

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'T'HE  OLD  TAMING  OF  A  SHREW,  1594,  upon  which  Shakespeare 

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CATALOGUE   of   the   ORIGINAL  LIBRARY  of  ST.   CATHE- 

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ABBREVIATA  CHRONICA,  ab  anno  1377,  usque  ad  anuum  1469. 

-^  Edited  by  the  Rev.  J.  SMITH.  Ato,fac- simile,  3s. 

APPLICATION    of   HERALDRY   to    the   Illustration    of    various 

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A  RCHITECTURAL  NOMENCLATURE  of  the  MIDDLE  AGES. 

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CAMBRIDGE  ANTIQUARIAN  SOCIETY.    8vo,  Is.  each. 


i^iiftUcation  of  tibe  abftotjsforii  ©lufj. 

r  E  ROMAN   des   AVENTURES   de  FREGUS   (an  Anglo-Norman 

-L'     Romance.)  Par  GUILLAUME  LE  CLERC,  Trouvere  du  treizieme  sifecle ;  public  pour 
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l-incolnjsSire  €opoBvap!)ical  Societg. 

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-^  read  before  the  Lincolnshire  Topographical  Society,  1841-2.  Small  4to,  ten  plates,  cl.  7s.  6d. 
Contents:  Opening  address,  by  E.  J.  WILLSON,  F.S.A.  ;  Geology  of  Lincoln,  by  W. 
BEDFORD  ;  The  Malandry  Hospital  for  Lepers  at  Lincoln,  by  Dr.  COOKSON ;  Leprosy  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  by  Dr.  COOKSON  ;  Temple  Bruer  and  its  Knights,  by  Dr.  OLIVER  ;  Ad- 
vantage of  Recording  the  discovery  of  Local  Antiquities,  by  W.  A.  NICHOLSON;  Tat- 
tershall  Castle,  by  W.  A.  NICHOLSON, 


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CANDY'S  (BISHOP)  SERMONS  and  MISCELLANEOUS  PIECES. 

^  Edited  by  Rev.  J.  AYRE.    lO*-.  6d. 

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T  ECTURES  on   the  COINAGE  of  the  GREEKS  and   ROMANS, 

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]>JAUTICAL  OBSERVATIONS   on    the   PORT  and  MARITIME 

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OISTORY  of  MUHAMEDANISM,  comprising  the  Life  and  Character 

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14  DAY  USF 

^-^TOOBSKPKOMWH^BOKROWBO 

LOAN  DEPT 

This  book  is  due  on  fhA  loc*  J  * 


(H241slO)476B 


.  General  Library 

University  of  California 
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