The Romance of Words Part 26

_waucrant_, present participle of _waucrer_, a common verb in the Picard dialect, perhaps related to Eng. _walk_. Cotgrave spells it _vaucrer_, "to range, roame, vagary, wander, idly (idle) it up and down." Cotgrave also attributes to it the special meaning of a s.h.i.+p sailing "whither wind and tide will carry it," the precise sense in which it is used in the 13th-century romance of _Auca.s.sin et Nicolette_.

Other examples of mistaken a.s.sociation are _scullion_ and _scullery_ (p.

43), and _sentry_ and _sentinel_ (p. 102). Many years ago _Punch_ had a picture by Du Maurier called the "_Vikings_ of Whitby," followed by a companion picture, the "_Viqueens_." The word is not _vi-king_ but _vik-ing_, the first syllable probably representing an Old Norse form of Anglo-Sax. _wic_, encampment.

FOOTNOTES:

[112] Kluge, _Etymologisches Worterbuch_.

[113] Now abbreviated to _miss_ in a special sense.

[114] The _Bowery_ of New York was formerly a homestead.

[115] Knave of trumps.

[116] In modern French the lemon is called _citron_ and the citron _cedrat_.

[117] In the chapter on "_Artillery_." So also, in the _Authorised Version_--"Jonathan gave his _artillery_ (his bow and arrows) unto his lad, and said unto him, 'Go, carry them into the city.'" (1 Samuel, xx.

40.) It is curious that the words _artillery_ and _gun_ both belong to the pre-gunpowder period.

[118] Hence, or rather from Du. _hals_, the _hawse_-holes, the "throat"

through which the cable runs.

[119] Ger. _all aus_, all out.

[120] Hence the _Mall_ and _Pall-Mall_, where games like croquet were played.

[121] The _g-_ represents the Old High German prefix _gi-_, _ge-_. _Cf._ Eng. _luck_ and Ger. _Gluck_.

CHAPTER XII

FAMILY NAMES

In the study of family names we come across very much the same phenomena as in dealing with other words. They are subject to the same phonetic accidents and to the distortions of folk-etymology, being "altered strangely to significative words by the common sort, who desire to make all to be significative" (Camden, _Remains concerning Britain_).

Doublets and h.o.m.onyms are of frequent occurrence, and the origin of some names is obscured by the well-meaning efforts of early philologists. It might be expected that a family name would by its very nature tend to preserve its original form. This is, however, not the case. In old parish registers one often finds on one page two or three different spellings for the same name, and there are said to be a hundred and thirty variants of _Mainwaring_.[122] The telescoped p.r.o.nunciation of long names such as Cholmondeley, Daventry, Marjoribanks, Strachan, is a familiar phenomenon, and very often the shorter form persists separately, _e.g._, _Posnett_ and _Poslett_ occur often in Westmoreland for _Postlethwaite_; _Beecham_ exists by the side of _Beauchamp_; _Saint Clair_ and _Saint Maur_ are usually reduced to _Sinclair_ and _Seymour_; _Boon_[123] and _Moon_ disguise the aristocratic _Bohun_ and _Mohun_. In a story by Mr Wells, _Miss Winchelsea's Heart_, the name _Snooks_ is gradually improved to _Sevenoaks_, from which in all probability it originally came, via _Senoaks_; cf. _sennight_ for _seven-night_, and such names as _Fiveash_, _Twelvetrees_, etc.

Folk-etymology converts _Arblaster_, the cross-bowman, into _Alabaster_, _ThurG.o.d_ into _Thoroughgood_, and the Cornish _Hannibal_ into _Honeyball_. _Beaufoy_ is a grammatical monstrosity. Its older form is _Beaufou_, fine beech (see p. 129), with an ambiguous second syllable.

_Malthus_ looks like Latin, but is identical with _Malthouse_, just as _Bellows_ is for _Bellhouse_, _Loftus_ for _Lofthouse_, and _Bacchus_, fined for intoxication, Jan. 5, 1911, for _Bakehouse_. But many odd names which are often explained as corruptions may also have their face-value. The first _Gotobed_ was a sluggard, _G.o.dbehere_ was fond of this pious form of greeting, and _Goodbeer_ purveyed sound liquor. With _Toogood_, perhaps ironical, we may compare Fr. _Troplong_, and with _Goodenough_ a lady named _Belle-a.s.sez_, often mentioned in the Pipe Rolls. _Physick_ occurs as a medieval nickname.

Family names fall into four great cla.s.ses, which are, in descending order of size, local, baptismal, functional, and nicknames. But we have a great many h.o.m.onyms, names capable of two or more explanations. Thus _Bell_ may be for Fr. _le bel_ or from a shop-sign, _Collet_ a diminutive of _Nicholas_ or an aphetic form of _acolyte_. _Dennis_ is usually for _Dionysius_, but sometimes for _le Danois_, the Dane; _Gillott_, and all family names beginning with _Gill-_, may be from _Gillian_ (see p. 46), or from Fr. _Guillaume_. A famous member of the latter family was _Guillotin_, the humanitarian doctor who urged the abolition of clumsy methods of decapitation. His name is a double diminutive, like Fr. _diablotin_, goblin. _Leggatt_ is a variant of _Lidgate_, swing gate, and of _Legate_. _Lovell_ is an affectionate diminutive or is for Old Fr. _louvel_, little wolf. It was also in Mid.

English a dog's name, hence the force of the rime--

"The Rat (Ratcliffe), the Cat (Catesby), and _Lovell_, our dog, Rule all England under the Hog." (1484.)

It has a doublet _Lowell_. The name _Turney_, well known in Nottingham, is from the town of _Tournay_, or is aphetic for _attorney_. In the following paragraphs I generally give only one source for each name, but it should be understood that in many cases two or more are possible. The forms also vary.

[Page Heading: BAPTISMAL NAMES]

Baptismal names often give surnames without any suffix. Sometimes these are slightly disguised, e.g., _Cobbett_ (Cuthbert), _Garrett_ (Gerard), _Hammond_, Fr. _Hamon_ (Hamo), _Hibbert_ (Hubert), _Jessop_ (Joseph), _Neil_ (Nigel), _Custance_ (Constance); or they preserve a name no longer given baptismally, e.g., _Aldridge_ (Alderic), _Bardell_ (Bardolph), _Goodeve_ (G.o.diva), _Goodlake_ (Guthlac), _Goodrich_ (G.o.deric), _Harvey_[124] (Hervey, Fr. _Herve_), _Mayhew_ (Old Fr.

_Mahieu_, Matthew). With the help of diminutive suffixes we get _Atkin_ (Adam), _Bodkin_ (Baldwin), _Larkin_ (Lawrence), _Perkin_, _Parkin_ (Peter), _Hackett_ (Haco), _Huggin_, _Hutchin_, _Hewett_, _Hewlett_, _Howitt_ (Hugh), _Philpot_ (Philip), _Tibbet_ (Theobald or Isabella), _Tillet_ (Matilda), _Wilmot_ (William), _Wyatt_ (Guy), _Gilbey_, _Gibbon_ (Gilbert), etc., with numerous variants and further derivatives. The changes that can be rung on one favourite name are bewildering, _e.g._, from _Robert_ we have _Rob_, _Dob_, _Hob_, and _Bob_; the first three with a numerous progeny, while _Bob_, now the favourite abbreviation, came into use too late to found a large dynasty.

From _Richard_ we have _Richards_ and _Richardson_, and from its three abbreviations _Rick_, _d.i.c.k_, _Hick_, with their variants _Rich_, _Digg_, _Hig_, _Hitch_, one of the largest families of surnames in the language.[125] As the preceding examples show, family names are frequently derived from the mother. Other examples, which are not quite obvious, are _Betts_ (Beatrice), _Sisson_ (Cecilia), _Moxon_ and _Padgett_ (Margaret, Moggy, Madge, Padge), _Parnell_ (Petronilla), _Ibbotson_ (Ib, Isabella), _Tillotson_ (Matilda). One group of surnames is derived from baptismal names given according to the season of the Church. Such are _Pentecost_, _Pascal_, whence Cornish _Pascoe_, _Nowell_, and _Middlemas_, a corruption of _Michaelmas_.[126] With these may be grouped _Loveday_, a day appointed for reconciliations.

[Page Heading: LOCAL NAMES]

Surnames derived from place of residence often contain a preposition, e.g., _Atwood_, _Underhill_, and sometimes the article as well, e.g., _Atterbury_, _Bythesea_. In _Surtees_, on the Tees, we have a French preposition and an English river name. Sometimes they preserve a word otherwise obsolete. _Barton_, a farmyard, originally a barley-field, has given its name to about thirty places in England, and thus, directly or indirectly, to many families. _Bristow_ preserves what was once the regular p.r.o.nunciation of _Bristol_. The famous north country name _Peel_ means castle, as still in the Isle of Man. It is Old Fr. _pel_ (_pal_), stake, and the name was originally given to a wooden hill-fort or stockade.

Many places which have given family names have themselves disappeared from the map, while others, now of great importance, are of too recent growth to have been used in this way. Many of our family names are taken from those of continental towns, especially French and Flemish. Camden says, "Neither is there any village in Normandy that gave not denomination to some family in England." Such are _Bullen_ or _Boleyn_ (Boulogne), _Cullen_ (Cologne), _Challis_ (Calais), _Challen_ (Chalon), _Chaworth_ (Cahors), _Bridges_[127] (Bruges), _Druce_ (Dreux), _Gaunt_ (_Gand_, Ghent), _Lubbock_ (Lubeck), _Luck_ (_Luick_, Liege), _Mann_ (le Mans), _Malins_ (_Malines_, Mechlin), _Nugent_ (Nogent), _Hawtrey_ (Hauterive), and _Dampier_ (Dampierre). To decide which is the particular _Hauterive_ or _Dampierre_ in question is the work of the genealogist. _Dampierre_ (_Dominus Petrus_) means _Saint Peter_. In some cases these names have been simplified, _e.g._, Camden notes that _Conyers_, from _Coigniers_, lit. quince-trees, becomes _Quince_.

French provinces have given us _Burgoyne_, _Champain_. _Gascoyne_ or _Gaskin_, and _Mayne_, and adjectives formed from names of countries, provinces and towns survive in _Allman_ (_Allemand_), _Brabazon_ (_le Brabancon_, the Brabanter), _Brett_ (_le Bret_ or _le Breton_[128]), _Pickard_ (_le Picard_), _Poidevin_[129] (_le Poitevin_), _Mansell_, Old Fr. _Mancel_ (_le Manceau_, inhabitant of Maine or le Mans), _Hanway_ and _Hannay_ (_le Hannuyer_, the Hainaulter), _Loring_ (_le Lorrain_), a.s.similated to _Fleming_, _Champneys_ (_le Champenois_), with which we may compare _Cornwallis_, from the Old French adjective _cornwaleis_, man of Cornwall. To these may be added _Pollock_, which occasionally means the Pole, or _Polack_--

"Why then the _Polack_ never will defend it."

(_Hamlet_, iv. 4.)

_Janaway_, the Genoese, and _Haunce_, from the famous _Hanse_ confederation. _Morris_ means sometimes _Moorish_ (see p. 49), and _Norris_, besides having the meaning seen in its contracted form _nurse_, Fr. _nourrice_, may stand for _le Noreis_, the Northerner. We still have a _Norroy_ king-at-arms, lit. north king, who holds office north of the Trent.

In some cases the territorial _de_ remains, e.g., _Dolman_ is sometimes the same as _Dalmain_, _d'Allemagne_, _Daubeney_ is _d'Aubigne_, _Danvers_ is _d'Anvers_ (Antwerp), _Devereux_ is _d'evreux_, a town which takes its name from the _Eburovices_, and _Disney_ is _d'Isigny_.

With these may be mentioned _Dubberley_, Fr. _du Boulay_, of the birch wood, and _Dawnay_, from Old Fr. _aunai_,[130] a grove of alders. The last governor of the Bastille was the Marquis de _Launay_ (_l'aunai_).

There is a large group of such words in French, coming from Latin collectives in _-etum_; _d'Aubray_ is from Lat. _arboretum_, and has given also the dissimilated form _Darblay_, famous in English literature. Other examples are _Chesney_, _Chaney_, etc., the oak-grove,[131] _Pomeroy_, the apple-garden.

Names of French origin are particularly subject to corruption and folk-etymology. We have the cla.s.sic example of Tess _Durbeyfield_.[132]

Camden, in his _Remains concerning Britain_, gives, among other curious instances, _Troublefield_ for _Turberville_. _Greenfield_ is usually literal (cf. _Whitfield_, _Whittaker_, _Greenacre_, etc.), but occasionally for _Grenville_. _Summerfield_ is for _Somerville_. The notorious _Dangerfield_ was of Norman ancestry, from _Angerville_.

_Mullins_ looks a very English name, but it is from Fr. _moulin_, mill, as _Musters_ is from Old Fr. _moustier_, monastery. _Phillimore_ is a corruption of _Finnemore_, Fr. _fin amour_.

[Page Heading: OCCUPATIVE NAMES]

When we come to names which indicate office or trade, we have to distinguish between those that are practically nicknames, such as _King_, _Duke_, _Bishop_, _Caesar_[133] (Julius Caesar was a famous cricketer of the old school), and those that are to be taken literally.

Many callings now obsolete have left traces in our surnames. The very common name _Chapman_ reminds us that this was once the general term for a dealer (see p. 67), one who spends his time in _chaffering_ or "_chopping_ and changing." The _grocer_, or _engrosser_, _i.e._, the man who bought wholesale, Fr. _en gros_,[134] came too late to supplant the family name _Spicer_. _Bailey_, Old Fr. _bailif_ (_bailli_), represents all sorts of officials from a Scotch magistrate to a man in possession.

_Bayliss_ seems to be formed from it like Williams from William.

_Chaucer_, Old Fr. _chaucier_, now replaced by _chaussetier_, "a hosier, or hose-maker" (Cotgrave), is probably obsolete as an English surname. Mr _Homer's_ ancestors made helmets, Fr. _heaume_. _Jenner_ is for _engenour_, engineer (see _gin_, p. 65). In _Ferrier_ traditional spelling seems to have triumphed over popular p.r.o.nunciation (_farrier_), but the latter appears in _Farrar_. Chaucer's _somonour_ survives as _Sumner_. _Ark_ was once a general name for a bin, hence the name _Arkwright_. Nottingham still has a Fletcher Gate, Lister Gate, and Pilcher Gate. It is not surprising that the trade of _fletcher_, Old Fr.

_fleschier_ (_Flechier_), arrow-maker, should be obsolete. The _Fletchers_ have absorbed also the _fleshers_, _i.e._ butchers, which explains why they so greatly outnumber the _Bowyers_ (see p. 178), _Boyers_, etc. _Lister_, earlier _littester_, gave way to _dighester_, whence the name _Dexter_, well known in Nottingham, and this is now replaced by _dyer_. A _Pilcher_ made _pilches_, or mantles; _cf._ the cognate Fr. name _Pelissier_, a maker of _pelisses_.[135] _Kiddier_ was once equivalent to pedlar, from _kid_, a basket. Sailors still speak of the bread-_kid_. For the name _Wait_, see p. 76. The ancestor of the _Poyser_ family made scales (_poises_), or was in charge of a public balance. _Faulkner_, falconer, _Foster_, _Forster_, forester, and _Warner_, warrener, go together. With the contraction of _Warner_ we may compare _Marner_, mariner. _Crowther_ means fiddler. The obsolete _crowd_, a fiddle, is of Celtic origin. It gave Old Fr. _rote_, the name of the instrument played by the medieval minstrels--

"Saxon minstrels and Welsh bards were extracting mistuned dirges from their harps, _crowds_, and _rotes_."

(_Ivanhoe_, Ch. 41.)

_Kemp_ is an old English word for warrior, champion. It represents, like Ger. _kampfen_, to fight, a very early loan from Lat. _campus_, in the sense of battle-field.

[Page Heading: OBSOLETE CALLINGS]

_Pinder_, the man in charge of the pound or pinfold, was the name of a famous wicket-keeper of the last century. The still more famous cricketing name of _Trumper_ means one who blows the trump. Cf. _Horner_ and _Corner_, which have, however, alternative origins, a maker of horn cups and a _coroner_[136] respectively. A dealer in _shalloon_ (see p.

47) was a _Chaloner_ or _Chawner_. _Parminter_, a tailor, is as obsolete as its Old French original _parmentier_, a maker of _parements_, deckings, from _parer_, Lat. _parare_, to prepare. A member of the _Parmentier_ family popularised the cultivation of the potato in France just before the Revolution, hence _potage Parmentier_, potato soup. The _white tawer_ still plies his trade, but is hardly recognisable in _Whittier_. _Ma.s.singer_ is a corruption of _messenger_. The _Todhunter_, or fox-hunter, used to get twelve pence per fox-head from the parish warden. _Coltman_ is simple, but _Runciman_, the man in charge of the _runcies_ or _rouncies_, is less obvious. _Rouncy_, a nag, is a common word in Mid. English. It comes from Old Fr. _roncin_ (_roussin_), and is probably a derivative of Ger. _Ross_, horse. The Spanish form is _rocin_, "a horse or jade" (Minsheu, 1623), whence Don Quixote's charger _Rocin-ante_, "a jade formerly."

A park keeper is no longer called a _Parker_, nor a maker of palings and palisades a _Palliser_. An English sea-king has immortalised the trade of the _Frobisher_, or furbisher, and a famous bishop bore the appropriate name of _Latimer_, for _Latiner_. With this we may compare _Lorimer_, for _loriner_, harness-maker, a derivative, through Old French, of Lat. _lorum_, "a thong of leather; a coller or other thing, wherewith beastes are bounden or tyed; the reyne of a brydle" (Cooper).

The _Loriners_ still figure among the London City Livery Companies, as do also the _Bowyers_, _Broderers_, _Fletchers_ (see p. 176), _Horners_ (see p. 177), _Pattenmakers_, _Poulters_ and _Upholders_ (see p. 63).

_Scriven_, Old Fr. _escrivain_ (_ecrivain_), is now usually extended to _Scrivener_. For _Cator_ see p. 63. In some of the above cases the name may have descended from a female, as we have not usually a separate word for women carrying on trades generally practised by men. In French there is a feminine form for nearly every occupation, hence such names as _Labouchere_, the lady butcher, or the butcher's wife.

The meaning of occupative names is not always on the surface. It would, for instance, be rash to form hasty conclusions as to the pursuits of Richard _Kisser_, whose name occurs in medieval London records. He probably made _cuisses_,[137] thigh armour, Fr. _cuisse_, thigh, Lat.