Chapter 5

“And we have known Williams and Richards, names not found in sacred story, but familiar to our country, prove as gracious saints as any Safe-deliverance, Fight-the-good-fight-of-faith, or such like, which have been rather descriptions than names.”—Thomas Adams,Meditations upon the Creed, 1629.“In giving names to children, it was their opinion thatheathenish namesshould be avoided, as not so fit for Christians; and also the names of God, and Christ, and angels, and the peculiar offices of the Mediator,”—Neal,History of the Puritans, vol. 1, ch. v. 1565.

“In giving names to children, it was their opinion thatheathenish namesshould be avoided, as not so fit for Christians; and also the names of God, and Christ, and angels, and the peculiar offices of the Mediator,”—Neal,History of the Puritans, vol. 1, ch. v. 1565.

I.Introductory.

There are still many people who are sceptical about the stories told against the Puritans in the matter of name-giving. Of these some are Nonconformists, who do not like the slights thus cast upon their spiritual ancestry; unaware that while this curious phase was at its climax, Puritanism was yet within the pale of the Church of England. Others, having searched through the lists of the Protector’s Parliaments, Commissioners, and army officers, and having found but a handful of oddbaptismal names, declare, without hesitation, that these stories are wicked calumnies. Mr. Peacock, whose book on the “Army Lists of Roundheads and Cavaliers” is well worth study, says, in one of the numbers ofNotes and Queries—

“I know modern writers have repeated the same thing over and over again; but I do not remember any trustworthy evidence of the Commonwealth time, or that of Charles II., that would lead us to believe that strange christian names were more common in those days than now. What passages have we on this subject in the works of the Restoration playwrights?”

This is an old mistake. If Mr. Peacock had looked at our registers from 1580 to 1640, instead of from 1640 to 1680, he would never have written the above. There is the most distinct evidence that during the latter portion of Elizabeth’s reign, the whole of James’s reign, and great part of Charles’s reign, in a district roughly comprising England south of the Trent, and having, say, Banbury for its centre, there prevailed, amongst a certain class of English religionists, a practice of baptizing children by scriptural phrases, pious ejaculations, or godly admonitions. It was a practice instituted of deliberate purpose, as conducive to vital religion, and as intending to separate the truly godly and renewed portion of the community from the world at large. The Reformation epoch had seen the English middle andlower classes generally adopting the proper names of Scripture. Thus, the sterner Puritan had found a list of Bible names that he would gladly have monopolized, shared in by half the English population. That a father should style his child Nehemiah, or Abacuck, or Tabitha, or Dorcas, he discovered with dismay, did not prove that that particular parent was under any deep conviction of sin. This began to trouble the minds and consciences of the elect. Fresh limits must be created. As Richard and Roger had given way to Nathaniel and Zerrubabel, so Nathaniel and Zerrubabel must now give way toLearn-wisdomandHate-evil. Who inaugurated the movement, with what success, and how it slowly waned, this chapter will show.

There can be no doubt that it is entirely owing to Praise-God Barebone, and the Parliament that went by his name,[30]the impression got abroad in after days that the Commonwealth period was the heyday of these eccentricities, and that these remarkable names were merely adopted after conversion, and were not entered in the vestry-books as baptismal names at all.

The existence of these names could not escapethe attention of Lord Macaulay and Sir Walter Scott. The Whig historian has referred to Tribulation Wholesome and Zeal-of-the-land Busy almost as frequently as to that fourth-form boy for whose average (!) abilities to the very end of his literary life he entertained such a profound respect. Two quotations will suffice. In his “Comic Dramatists of the Restoration” he says, speaking of the Commonwealth—

“To know whether a man was really godly was impossible. But it was easy to know whether he had a plain dress, lank hair, no starch in his linen, no gay furniture in his house; whether he talked through his nose, and showed the whites of his eyes; whether he named his childrenAssurance,Tribulation, andMaher-shalal-hash-baz.”

Again, in his Essay on Croker’s “Boswell’s Life of Johnson,” he declares—

“Johnson could easily see that a Roundhead who named all his children after Solomon’s singers, and talked in the House of Commons about seeking the Lord, might be an unprincipled villain, whose religious mummeries only aggravated his fault.”

In “Woodstock,” Scott has such characters asZerrubabelRobins andMercifulStrickalthrow, both soldiers of Oliver Cromwell; while the zealot ranter is oneNehemiahHoldenough. Mr. Peacock most certainly has grounds for complaint here, but not as to facts, only dates.

II.Originated by the Presbyterian Clergy.

In Strype’s “Life of Whitgift” (i. 255) we find the following statement:—

“I find yet again another company of these fault-finders with the Book of Common Prayer, in another diocese, namely, that of Chichester, whose names and livings were these: William Hopkinson, vicar of Salehurst; Samuel Norden, parson of Hamsey; Antony Hobson, vicar of Leominster; Thomas Underdown, parson of St. Mary’s in Lewes; John Bingham, preacher of Hodeleigh; Thomas Heley, preacher of Warbleton; John German, vicar of Burienam; and Richard Whiteaker, vicar of Ambreley.”

I follow up the history of but two of these ministers, Hopkinson of Salehurst, and Heley of Warbleton. Suspended by the commissary, they were summoned to Canterbury, December 6, 1583, and subscribed. Both being married men, with young families, we may note their action in regard to name-giving. The following are to be found in the register at Salehurst:

“Maye 3, 1579, was baptized Persis (Rom. xvi. 12), the daughter of William Hopkinson, minister heare.“June 18, 1587, was baptized Stedfast, the sonne of Mr. William Bell, minister.“Nov. 3, 1588, was baptized Renewed, the doughter of William Hopkinson, minister.“Feb. 28, 1591, was baptized Safe-on-Highe, the sonne of Willm. Hopkinson, minister of the Lord’s Worde there.[31]“Oct. 29, 1596. Constant, filia Thomæ Lorde, baptisata fuit.“March, 1621. Rejoyce, filia Thomæ Lorde, baptisata fuit die 10, et sepulta die 23.“November, 1646. Bethshua, doughter of Mr. John Lorde, minister of Salehurst, bapt. 22 die.”

“Maye 3, 1579, was baptized Persis (Rom. xvi. 12), the daughter of William Hopkinson, minister heare.

“June 18, 1587, was baptized Stedfast, the sonne of Mr. William Bell, minister.

“Nov. 3, 1588, was baptized Renewed, the doughter of William Hopkinson, minister.

“Feb. 28, 1591, was baptized Safe-on-Highe, the sonne of Willm. Hopkinson, minister of the Lord’s Worde there.[31]

“Oct. 29, 1596. Constant, filia Thomæ Lorde, baptisata fuit.

“March, 1621. Rejoyce, filia Thomæ Lorde, baptisata fuit die 10, et sepulta die 23.

“November, 1646. Bethshua, doughter of Mr. John Lorde, minister of Salehurst, bapt. 22 die.”

These entries are of the utmost importance; they begin at the very date when the new custom arose, and are patronized by three ministers in succession—possibly four, if Thomas Lorde was also a clergyman.

Heley’s case is yet more curious. He had been prescribing grace-names for his flock shortly before the birth of his first child. He thus practises upon his own offspring:

“Nov. 7, 1585. Muche-merceye, the sonne of Thomas Hellye, minyster.“March 26, 1587. Increased, the dather of Thomas Helly, minister.“Maye 5, 1588. Sin-denie, the dather of Thomas Helly, minister.“Maye 25, 1589. Fear-not, the sonne of Thomas Helly, minister.”

“Nov. 7, 1585. Muche-merceye, the sonne of Thomas Hellye, minyster.

“March 26, 1587. Increased, the dather of Thomas Helly, minister.

“Maye 5, 1588. Sin-denie, the dather of Thomas Helly, minister.

“Maye 25, 1589. Fear-not, the sonne of Thomas Helly, minister.”

Under rectorial pressure the villagers followed suit; and for half a century Warbleton was, in the names of its parishioners, a complete exegesis of justification by faith without the deeds of the law.Sorry-for-sinCoupard was a peripatetic exhortation to repentance, andNo-meritVynall was a standing denunciation of works. No register in England is better worth a pilgrimage to-day than Warbleton.[32]

Still confining our attention to Sussex and Kent, we come to Berwick:

“1594, Dec. 22. Baptized Continent, daughter of Hugh Walker, vicar.“1602, Dec. 12. Baptized Christophilus, son of Hugh Walker.”—Berwick, Sussex.

“1594, Dec. 22. Baptized Continent, daughter of Hugh Walker, vicar.

“1602, Dec. 12. Baptized Christophilus, son of Hugh Walker.”—Berwick, Sussex.

I think the father ought to be whipped most incontinently in the open market who would inflict such a name on an infant daughter. They did not think so then. The point, however, is that the father was incumbent of the parish.

A more historic instance may be given. John Frewen, Puritan rector of Northiam, Sussex, from 1583 to 1628, and author of “Grounds and Principles of the Christian Religion,” had two sons, at least, baptized in his church. The dates tally exactly with the new custom:

“1588, May 26. Baptized Accepted, sonne of John Frewen.“1591, Sep. 5. Baptized Thankful, sonne of John Frewen.”—Northiam, Sussex.

“1588, May 26. Baptized Accepted, sonne of John Frewen.

“1591, Sep. 5. Baptized Thankful, sonne of John Frewen.”—Northiam, Sussex.

Accepted[33]died Archbishop of York, being prebend designate of Canterbury so early as 1620:

“1620, Sep. 8. Grant in reversion to Accepted Frewen of a prebend in Canterbury Cathedral.”—“C. S. P. Dom.”

One more instance before we pass on. In twoseparate wills, dated 1602 and 1604 (folio 25, Montagu, “Prerog. Ct. of Cant.,” and folio 25, Harte, ditto), will be found references to “More-fruite and Faint-not, children of Dudley Fenner, minister of the Word of God” at Marden, in Kent.

Now, this Dudley Fenner was a thoroughly worthy man, but a fanatic of most intolerant type. In 1583 we find him at Cranbrook, in Kent. An account of his sayings and doings was forwarded, says Strype, to Lord Burghley, who himself marked the following passage:—

“Ye shall pray also that God would strike through the sides of all such as go about to take away from the ministers of the Gospel the liberty which is granted them by the Word of God.”

But a curious note occurs alongside this passage in Lord Burghley’s hand:

“Names given in baptism by Dudley Fenner: Joy-againe, From-above, More-fruit, Dust.”—Whitgift, i. p. 247.

Two of these names were given to his own children, as Cranbrook register shows to this day:

“1583, Dec. 22. Baptized More-fruit, son of Mr. Dudley Fenner.”“1585, June 6. Baptized Faint-not, fil. Mr. Dudley Fenner, concional digniss.”

“1583, Dec. 22. Baptized More-fruit, son of Mr. Dudley Fenner.”

“1585, June 6. Baptized Faint-not, fil. Mr. Dudley Fenner, concional digniss.”

Soon after this Dudley Fenner again got into trouble through his sturdy spirit of nonconformity. After an imprisonment of twelve months, he fled to Middleborough, in Holland, and died there about 1589.

The above incident from Strype is interesting, for here manifestly is the source whence Camden derived his information upon the subject. In his quaint “Remaines,” published thirty years later (1614), after alluding to the Latin names then in vogue, he adds:

“As little will be thought of the new names, Free-Gift, Reformation, Earth, Dust, Ashes, Delivery, More-fruit, Tribulation, The-Lord-is-near, More-triale, Discipline, Joy-againe, From-above, which have lately been given by some to their children, with no evill meaning, but upon some singular and precise conceite.”

Very likely Lord Burghley gave Fenner’s selection to the great antiquary.

Coming into London, the following case occurs. John Press was incumbent of St. Matthew, Friday Street, from 1573 to 1612:

“1584. Baptized Purifie, son of Mr. John Presse, parson.”

John Bunyan’s great character name ofHopefulis to be seen in Banbury Church register. But such an eccentricity is to be expected in the parish over which Wheatley presided, the head-quarters, too, of extravagant Puritanism. We all remember drunken Barnaby:

“To Banbury came I, O prophane one!Where I saw a Puritane one,Hanging of his cat on MondayFor killing of a mouse on Sunday.”

But the point I want to emphasize is that thisHopefulwas Wheatley’s own daughter:

“1604, Dec. 21. Baptized Hope-full, daughter of William Wheatlye.”

Take a run from Banbury into Leicestershire. A stern Puritan was Antony Grey, “parson and patron” of Burbach; and he continued “a constant and faithfull preacher of the Gospell of Jesus Christ, even to his extreame old age, and for some yeares after he was Earle of Kent,” as his tombstone tells us. He had twelve children, and their baptismal entries are worth recording:

“1593, April 29. Grace, daughter of Mr. Anthonie Grey.“1594, Nov. 28. Henry, son of ditto.“1596, Nov. 16. Magdalen, daughter of ditto.“1598, May 8. Christian, daughter of ditto.“1600, Feb. 2. Faith-my-joy, daughter of ditto.[34]“1603, April 3. John, son of ditto.“1604, Feb. 23. Patience, daughter of Myster Anthonie Grey, preacher.“1606, Oct. 5. Jobe, son of ditto.“1608, May 1. Theophilus, son of ditto.“1609, March 14. Priscilla, daughter of ditto (died).“1613, Sept. 19. Nathaniel, son of ditto.“1615, May 7. Presela, daughter of ditto.”

“1593, April 29. Grace, daughter of Mr. Anthonie Grey.

“1594, Nov. 28. Henry, son of ditto.

“1596, Nov. 16. Magdalen, daughter of ditto.

“1598, May 8. Christian, daughter of ditto.

“1600, Feb. 2. Faith-my-joy, daughter of ditto.[34]

“1603, April 3. John, son of ditto.

“1604, Feb. 23. Patience, daughter of Myster Anthonie Grey, preacher.

“1606, Oct. 5. Jobe, son of ditto.

“1608, May 1. Theophilus, son of ditto.

“1609, March 14. Priscilla, daughter of ditto (died).

“1613, Sept. 19. Nathaniel, son of ditto.

“1615, May 7. Presela, daughter of ditto.”

Why old Antony was persuaded of the devil to christen his second child by the ungodly agnomen of Henry, we are not informed. It must have given him many a twinge of conscience afterwards.

Had the Puritan clergy confined these vagaries to their own nurseries, it would not have matteredmuch. But there can be no doubt they used their influence to bias the minds of godparents and witnesses in the same direction. We have only to pitch upon a minister who came under the archbishop’s or Lord Treasurer’s notice as disaffected, seek out the church over which he presided, scan the register of baptisms during the years of his incumbency, and a batch of extravagant names will at once be unearthed. In the villages of Sussex and Kent, where the personal influence of the recalcitrant clergy seems to have been greatest, the parochial records teem with them.

Thus was the final stage of fanaticism reached, the year 1580 being as nearly as possible the exact date of its development. Thus were English people being prepared for the influx of a large batch of names which had never been seen before, nor will be again. The purely Biblical names, those that commemorated Bible worthies, swept over the whole country, and left ineffaceable impressions. The second stage of Puritan excess, names that savour of eccentricity and fanaticism combined, scarcely reached England north of Trent, and, for lack of volume, have left but the faintest traces. They lasted long enough to cover what may be fairly called an epoch, and extended just far enough to embrace a province. The epochwas a hundred years, and the province was from Kent to Hereford, making a small arc northwards, so as to take in Bedfordshire, Leicestershire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire. The practice, so far as the bolder examples is concerned, was adeliberate schemeon the part of the Presbyterian clergy. On this point the evidence is in all respects conclusive.

III.Curious Names not Puritan.

Several names found in the registers at this time, though commonly ascribed to the zealots, must be placed under a different category. For instance, original sin and the Ninth Article would seem to be commemorated in such a name as Original. We may reject Camden’s theory:

“Originall may seem to be deducted from the Greekorigines, that is, borne in good time,”

inasmuch as he does not appear to have believed in it himself. The name, as a matter of fact, was given in the early part of the sixteenth century, in certain families of position, to the eldest son and heir, denoting that in him was carried on the original stock. The Bellamys of Lambcote Grange, Stainton, are a case in point. The eldest son for three generations bore the name; viz.OriginalBellamy, buried at Stainton, September 12, 1619,aged 80;Original, his son and heir, the record of whose death I cannot find; andOriginal, his son and heir, who was baptized December 29, 1606. The first of these must have been born in 1539, far too early a date for the name to be fathered upon the Puritans.Originalwas in use in the family of Babington, of Rampton. Original Babington, son and heir of John Babington, was a contemporary of the first Original Bellamy (Nicholl’s “Gen. et Top.,” viii.).

Another instance occurs later on:

“1635, May 21. These under-written names are to be transported to St. Christopher’s, imbarqued in theMatthewof London, Richard Goodladd, master, per warrant from ye Earle of Carlisle:“Originall Lowis, 28 yeres,” etc.—Hotten’s “Emigrants,” p. 81.

“1635, May 21. These under-written names are to be transported to St. Christopher’s, imbarqued in theMatthewof London, Richard Goodladd, master, per warrant from ye Earle of Carlisle:

“Originall Lowis, 28 yeres,” etc.—Hotten’s “Emigrants,” p. 81.

Sense, a common name in Elizabeth and James’s reigns, looks closely connected with some of the abstract virtues, such as Prudence and Temperance. The learned compiler of the “Calendar of State Papers” (1637-38) seems to have been much bothered with the name:

“1638, April 23. Petition of Seuce Whitley, widow of Thomas Whitley, citizen, and grocer.”

The suggestion from the editorial pen is that this Seuce (as he prints it) is a bewildered spelling of Susey, from Susan! The fact is, Seuce is a bewildered misreading on the compiler’s part of Sense, and Sense is an English dress of the foreignSenchia, or Sancho, still familiar to us in Sancho Panza. Several of the following entries will prove that Sense was too early an inmate of our registers to be a Puritan agnomen:

“1564, Oct. 15. Baptized Saints, d. of Francis Muschamp.“1565, Nov. 25. Buried Sence, d. of ditto.“1559, June 13. Married Matthew Draper and Sence Blackwell.“1570-1, Jan. 15. Baptized Sence, d. of John Bowyer.”—Camberwell Church.“1651. Zanchy Harvyn, Grocer’s Arms, Abbey Milton.”—“Tokens of Seventeenth Century.”“1661, June. Petition of Mrs. Zanchy Mark.”—C. S. P.

“1564, Oct. 15. Baptized Saints, d. of Francis Muschamp.

“1565, Nov. 25. Buried Sence, d. of ditto.

“1559, June 13. Married Matthew Draper and Sence Blackwell.

“1570-1, Jan. 15. Baptized Sence, d. of John Bowyer.”—Camberwell Church.

“1651. Zanchy Harvyn, Grocer’s Arms, Abbey Milton.”—“Tokens of Seventeenth Century.”

“1661, June. Petition of Mrs. Zanchy Mark.”—C. S. P.

That it was familiar to Camden in 1614 is clear:

“Sanchia, from Sancta, that is, Holy.”—“Remaines,” p. 88.

The name became obsolete by the close of the seventeenth century, and, being a saintly title, was sufficiently odious to the Presbyterians to be carefully rejected by them in the sixteenth century. Men who refused the Apostles their saintly title were not likely to stamp the same for life on weak flesh.[35]

Nor canEmanuel, orAngel, be brought as charges against the Puritans. Both flatly contradicted Cartwright’s canon; yet both, and especially the former, have been attributed to the zealots. Nonames could have been more offensive to them than these. Even Adams, in his “Meditations upon the Creed,” while attacking his friends on their eccentricity in preferring “Safe-deliverance” to “Richard,” takes care to rebuke those on the other side, who would introduceEmanuel, or evenGabrielorMichael, into their nurseries:

“Some call their sonsEmanuel: this is too bold. The name is proper to Christ, therefore not to be communicated to any creature.”

Emanuelwas imported from the Continent about 1500:

“1545, March 19. Baptized Humphrey, son of Emanuell Roger.”—St. Columb Major.

The same conclusion must be drawn regardingAngel. Adams continues:

“Yea, it seems to me not fit for Christian humility to call a manGabrielorMichael, giving the names of angels to the sons of mortality.”

If the Puritans objected, as they did to a man, to the use of Gabriel and Michael as angelic names, the generic term itself would be still more objectionable:

“1645, Nov. 13. Buried Miss Angela Boyce.”—Cant. Cath.“1682, April 11. Baptized Angel, d. of Sir Nicholas Butler, Knt.”—St. Helen, Bishopgate.“Weymouth, March 20, 1635. Embarked for New England: Angell Holland, aged 21 years.”—Hotten’s “Emigrants,” p. 285.

“1645, Nov. 13. Buried Miss Angela Boyce.”—Cant. Cath.

“1682, April 11. Baptized Angel, d. of Sir Nicholas Butler, Knt.”—St. Helen, Bishopgate.

“Weymouth, March 20, 1635. Embarked for New England: Angell Holland, aged 21 years.”—Hotten’s “Emigrants,” p. 285.

In this case we may presume the son, and not the father, had turned Puritan.

A curious custom, which terminated soon after Protestantism was established in England, gave rise to several names which read oddly enough to modern eyes. These were titles like Vitalis or Creature—names applicable to either sex. Mr. Maskell, without furnishing instances, says Creature occurs in the registers of All-Hallows, Barking (“Hist. All-Hallows,” p. 62). In the vestry-books of Staplehurst, Kent, are registered:

“1 Edward VI. Apryle xxvii., there were borne ii. childre of Alex’nder Beeryl: the one christened at home, and so deceased, called Creature; the other christened at church, called John.”—Burns, “History of Parish Registers,” p. 81.“1550, Nov. 5. Buried Creature, daughter of Agnes Mathews, syngle woman, the seconde childe.“1579, July 19. Married John Haffynden and Creature Cheseman, yong folke.”—Staplehurst, Kent.

“1550, Nov. 5. Buried Creature, daughter of Agnes Mathews, syngle woman, the seconde childe.

“1579, July 19. Married John Haffynden and Creature Cheseman, yong folke.”—Staplehurst, Kent.

One instance ofVitalismay be given:

“Vitalis, son of Richard Engaine, and Sara his wife, released his manor of Dagworth in 1217 to Margery de Cressi.”—Blomefield’s “Norfolk,” vi. 382, 383.

These are not Puritan names. The dates are against the theory. They belong to a pre-Reformation practice, being names given toquick children before birth, in cases when it was feared, from the condition of the mother, they might not be delivered alive. Being christened before the sex could be known, it was necessary to affix a neutral name, and Vitalis or Creature answered the purpose. The old Romish rubric ran thus:

“Nemo in utero matris clausus baptizari debet, sed si infans caput emiserit, et periculum mortis immineat, baptizetur in capite, nec postea si vivus evaserit, erit iterum baptizandus. At si aliud membrum emiserit, quod vitalem indicet motum in illo, si periculum pendeat baptizetur,” etc.

Vitalis Engaine and Creature Cheeseman, in the above instances, both lived, but, by the law just quoted, retained the names given to them, and underwent no second baptism. If the sex of the yet breathing child was discovered, but death certain, the name of baptism ran thus:

“1563, July 17. Baptizata fuit in ædibus Mri Humfrey filia ejus quæ nominata fuit Creatura Christi.”—St. Peter in the East, Oxford.“1563, July 17. Creatura Christi, filia Laurentii Humfredi sepulta.”—Ditto.

“1563, July 17. Baptizata fuit in ædibus Mri Humfrey filia ejus quæ nominata fuit Creatura Christi.”—St. Peter in the East, Oxford.

“1563, July 17. Creatura Christi, filia Laurentii Humfredi sepulta.”—Ditto.

An English form occurs earlier:

“1561, June 30. The Chylde-of-God, filius Ric. Stacey.”—Ditto.

Without entering into controversy, I will only say that if the clergy, up to the time of the alteration in our Article on Baptism, truly believed that “insomuch as infants, and children dying in their infancy, shall undoubtedly be saved thereby (i.e.baptism),and else not,” it was natural that such a delicate ceremonial as I have hinted at should have suggested itself to their minds. After the Reformation, the practice as to unborn children fell into desuetude, and the names with it.

IV.Instances.

(a.)Latin Names.

The elder Disraeli reminded us, in his “Curiosities of Literature,” that in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries it was common for our more learned pundits to re-style themselves in their own studies by Greek and Latin names. Some of these—as, for instance, Erasmus[36]and Melancthon—are only known to the world at large by their adopted titles.

The Reformation had not become an accomplished fact before this custom began to prevail in England, only it was transferred from the study to the font, and from scholars to babies. Renovata, Renatus, Donatus, and Beata began to grow common. Camden, writing in 1614, speaks of still stranger names—

“If that any among us have named their children Remedium, Amoris, ‘Imago-sæculi,’ or with such-like names, I know some will think it more than a vanity.”—“Remaines,” p. 44.

While, however, the Presbyterian clergy did notobject to some of these Latin sobriquets, as being identical with the names of early believers of the Primitive Church, stamped in not a few instances with the honours of martyrdom, they preferred to translate them into English. Many of my examples of eccentricity will be found to be nothing more than literal translations of names that had been in common vogue among Christians twelve and thirteen hundred years before. To the majority of the Puritan clergy, to change the Latin dress for an English equivalent would be as natural and imperative as the adoption of Tyndale’s or the Genevan Bible in the place of the Latin Vulgate.

A curious, though somewhat later, proof of this statement is met with in a will from the Probate Court of Peterborough. The testator was one Theodore Closland, senior fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. The date is June 24, 1665:

“Item: to What-God-will Crosland, forty shillings, and tenn shillings to his wife. And to his sonne What-God-will, six pound, thirteen shillings, fourpence.”

This is a manifest translation of the early Christian “Quod-vult-deus.” Grainger, in his “History of England” (iii. 360, fifth edition), says—

“In Montfaucon’s ‘Diarium Italicum’ (p. 270), is a sepulchral inscription of the year 396, upon Quod-vult-deus, a Christian, to which is a note: ‘Hoc ævo non pauci erant qui piis sententiolis nomina propria concinnarent,v.g.Quod-vult-deus, Deogratias, Habet-deum, Adeodatus.’”

Closland, or Crosland, the grandfather, was evidently a Puritan, with a horror of the Latin Vulgate, Latin Pope, and Latin everything. Hence the translation.

Nevertheless, the Puritans seem to have favoured Latin names at first. It was a break between the familiar sound of the old and the oddity of the new. Redemptus was less grotesque than Redeemed, and Renata than Renewed. The English equivalents soon ruled supreme, but for a generation or two, and in some cases for a century, the Latin names went side by side with them.

Take Renatus, for instance:

“1616, Sep. 29. Baptized Renatus, son of Renatus Byllett, gent.”—St. Columb Major.“1637-8, Jan. 12. Order of Council to Renatus Edwards, girdler, to shut up his shop in Lombard Street, because he is not a goldsmith.“1690, April 10. Petition of Renatus Palmer, who prays to be appointed surveyor in the port of Dartmouth.”—C. S. P.“1659, Nov. 11. Baptized Renovata, the daughter of John Durance.”—Cant. Cath.

“1616, Sep. 29. Baptized Renatus, son of Renatus Byllett, gent.”—St. Columb Major.

“1637-8, Jan. 12. Order of Council to Renatus Edwards, girdler, to shut up his shop in Lombard Street, because he is not a goldsmith.

“1690, April 10. Petition of Renatus Palmer, who prays to be appointed surveyor in the port of Dartmouth.”—C. S. P.

“1659, Nov. 11. Baptized Renovata, the daughter of John Durance.”—Cant. Cath.

It was Renatus Harris who built the organ in All-Hallows, Barking, in 1675 (“Hist. All-Hallows, Barking,” Maskell). Renatus and Rediviva occur in St. Matthew, Friday Street, circa 1590. Rediviva lingered into the eighteenth century:

“1735, ——. Buried Rediviva Mathews.”—Banbury.

Desiderata and Desiderius were being used at theclose of Elizabeth’s reign, and survived the restoration of Charles II.:

“1671, May 26. Baptized Desiderius Dionys, a poor child found in Lyme Street.”—St. Dionis Backchurch.

Donatus and Deodatus, also, were Latin names on English soil before the seventeenth century came in:

“1616, Jan. 29. Baptized Donate, vel Deonata, daughter of Martyn Donnacombe.”—St. Columb Major.

Desire and Given,[37]the equivalents, both crossed the Atlantic with the Pilgrim Fathers.

Lovewas popular. Side by side with it wentAmor. George Fox, in his “Journal,” writing in 1670, says—

“When I was come to Enfield, I went first to visit Amor Stoddart, who lay very weak and almost speechless. Within a few days Amor died.”—Ed. 1836, ii. 129.

In Ripon Cathedral may be seen:

“Amor Oxley, died Nov. 23, 1773, aged 74.”

The name still exists in Yorkshire, but no other county, I imagine.

Other instances could be mentioned.[38]I place a few in order:

“1594, Aug. 3. Baptized Relictus Dunstane, a childe found in this parisshe.”—St. Dunstan.“1613, Nov. 7. Baptized Beata, d. of Mr. John Briggs, minister.”—Witherley, Leic.“1653, Sep. 29. Married Richard Moone to Benedicta Rolfe.”—Cant. Cath.“1661, May 25. Married Edward Clayton and Melior[39]Billinge.”—St. Dionis, Backchurch.“1706. Beata Meetkirke, born Nov. 2, 1705; died Sep. 10, 1706.”—Rushden, Hereford.

“1594, Aug. 3. Baptized Relictus Dunstane, a childe found in this parisshe.”—St. Dunstan.

“1613, Nov. 7. Baptized Beata, d. of Mr. John Briggs, minister.”—Witherley, Leic.

“1653, Sep. 29. Married Richard Moone to Benedicta Rolfe.”—Cant. Cath.

“1661, May 25. Married Edward Clayton and Melior[39]Billinge.”—St. Dionis, Backchurch.

“1706. Beata Meetkirke, born Nov. 2, 1705; died Sep. 10, 1706.”—Rushden, Hereford.

(b.)Grace Names.

In furnishing instances, we naturally begin with those grace names, in all cases culled from the registers of the period, which belong to what we may style the first stage. They were, one by one, but taken from the lists found in the New Testament, and were probably suggested at the outset by the moralities or interludes. The morality went between the old miracle-play, or mystery, and the regular drama. In “Every Man,” written in the reign of Henry VIII., it is made a vehicle for retaining the love of the people for the old ways, the old worship, and the old superstitions. From the time of Edward VI. to the middle of Elizabeth’s reign, there issued a cluster of interludes of this same moral type and cast; only all breathedof the new religion, and more or less assaulted the dogmas of Rome.

These moralities were popular, and were frequently rendered in public, until the Elizabethan drama was well established. All were allegorical, and required personal representatives of the abstract graces, and doctrines of which they treated. Thedramatis personæin “Hickscorner” are Freewill, Perseverance, Pity, Contemplation, and Imagination, and in “The Interlude of Youth,” Humility, Pride, Charity, and Lechery.

It is just possible, therefore, that several of these grace names were originated under the shadow of the pre-Reformation Church. The following are early, considering they are found in Cornwall, the county most likely to be the last to take up a new custom:

“1549, July 1. Baptized Patience, d. of Willm. Haygar.”—“1553, May 29. Baptized Honour, d. of Robert Sexton.”—St. Columb Major.

“1549, July 1. Baptized Patience, d. of Willm. Haygar.”—

“1553, May 29. Baptized Honour, d. of Robert Sexton.”—St. Columb Major.

However this may be, we only find the cardinal virtues at the beginning of the movement—those which are popular in some places to this day, and still maintain a firm hold in America, borne thither by the Puritan emigrants.

The three Graces, and Grace itself, took root almost immediately as favourites. Shakespeare seems to have been aware of it, for Hermione says—

“My last good deed was to entreat his stay:What was my first? It has an elder sister,Or I mistake you—O would her name were Grace!”“Winter’s Tale,” Act i. sc. 2.“1565, March 19. Christening of Grace, daughter of — Hilles.”—St. Peter, Cornhill.“1574, Jan. 29. Baptized Grace, daughter of John Russell.”—St. Columb Major.“1588, Aug. 1. Married Thomas Wood and Faythe Wilson.”—St. Dionis Backchurch.“1565, ——. Baptized Faith, daughter of Thomas and Agnes Blomefield.”—Rushall, Norfolk.“1567, Aprill 17. Christening of Charity, daughter of Randoll Burchenshaw.”—St. Peter, Cornhill.“1571, ——. Baptized Charity, daughter of Thomas Blomefield.”—Rushall, Norfolk.“1598, Nov. 19. Baptized Hope, d. of John Mainwaringe.”—Cant. Cath.“1636, Nov. 25. Buried Hope, d. of Thomas Alford, aged 23.”—Drayton, Leicester.

“My last good deed was to entreat his stay:What was my first? It has an elder sister,Or I mistake you—O would her name were Grace!”“Winter’s Tale,” Act i. sc. 2.

“1565, March 19. Christening of Grace, daughter of — Hilles.”—St. Peter, Cornhill.

“1574, Jan. 29. Baptized Grace, daughter of John Russell.”—St. Columb Major.

“1588, Aug. 1. Married Thomas Wood and Faythe Wilson.”—St. Dionis Backchurch.

“1565, ——. Baptized Faith, daughter of Thomas and Agnes Blomefield.”—Rushall, Norfolk.

“1567, Aprill 17. Christening of Charity, daughter of Randoll Burchenshaw.”—St. Peter, Cornhill.

“1571, ——. Baptized Charity, daughter of Thomas Blomefield.”—Rushall, Norfolk.

“1598, Nov. 19. Baptized Hope, d. of John Mainwaringe.”—Cant. Cath.

“1636, Nov. 25. Buried Hope, d. of Thomas Alford, aged 23.”—Drayton, Leicester.

The registers of the sixteenth and seventeenth century teem with these; sometimes boys received them. The Rev. Hope Sherhard was a minister in Providence Isle in 1632 (“Cal. S. P. Colonial,” 1632).

We may note that the still common custom of christening trine-born children by these names dates from the period of their rise:[40]

“1639, Sep. 7. Baptized Faith, Hope, and Charity, daughters of George Lamb, and Alice his wife.”—Hillingdon.“1666, Feb. 22. — Finch, wife of — Finch, being delivered of three children, two of them were baptized, one called Faith, and the other Hope; and the third was intended to be called Charity, but died unbaptized.”—Cranford.VideLyson’s “Middlesex,” p. 30.

“1639, Sep. 7. Baptized Faith, Hope, and Charity, daughters of George Lamb, and Alice his wife.”—Hillingdon.

“1666, Feb. 22. — Finch, wife of — Finch, being delivered of three children, two of them were baptized, one called Faith, and the other Hope; and the third was intended to be called Charity, but died unbaptized.”—Cranford.VideLyson’s “Middlesex,” p. 30.

Mr. Lower says (“Essays on English Surnames,” ii. 159)—

“At Charlton, Kent, three female children produced at one birth received the names of Faith, Hope, and Charity.”

Thomas Adams, in his sermon on the “Three Divine Sisters,” says—

“They shall not want prosperity,That keep faith, hope, and charity.”

Perhaps some of these parents remembered this.

Faith and Charity are both mentioned as distinctly Puritan sobriquets in the “Psalm of Mercie,” a political poem:

“‘A match,’ quoth my sister Joyce,‘Contented,’ quoth Rachel, too:Quoth Abigaile, ‘Yea,’ and Faith, ‘Verily,’And Charity, ‘Let it be so.’”

Love, as the synonym of Charity, was also a favourite. Love Atkinson went out to Virginia with the early refugees (Hotten, “Emigrants,” p. 68).

“1631-2, Jan. 31. Buried Love, daughter of William Ballard.”—Berwick, Sussex.“1740, April 30. Buried Love Arundell.”—Racton, Sussex.“1749, May 31. Love Luckett admitted a freeman by birthright.”—“History of Town and Port of Rye,” p. 237.“1662, May 7. Baptized Love, d. of Mr. Richard Appletree.”—Banbury.

“1631-2, Jan. 31. Buried Love, daughter of William Ballard.”—Berwick, Sussex.

“1740, April 30. Buried Love Arundell.”—Racton, Sussex.

“1749, May 31. Love Luckett admitted a freeman by birthright.”—“History of Town and Port of Rye,” p. 237.

“1662, May 7. Baptized Love, d. of Mr. Richard Appletree.”—Banbury.

Besides Love and Charity, other variations were Humanity and Clemency:

“1637, March 8. Bond of William Shaw, junior, and Thomas Snelling, citizens and turners, to Humanity Mayo, of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, in £100 0 0.”—C. S. P.“1625, Aug. 27. Buried Clemency Chawncey.”—St. Dionis Backchurch.

“1637, March 8. Bond of William Shaw, junior, and Thomas Snelling, citizens and turners, to Humanity Mayo, of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, in £100 0 0.”—C. S. P.

“1625, Aug. 27. Buried Clemency Chawncey.”—St. Dionis Backchurch.

Clemency was pretty, and deserved to live; but Mercy seems to have monopolized the honours, and, by the aid of John Bunyan’s heroine in the “Pilgrim’s Progress,” still has her admirers. Instances are needless, but I furnish one or two for form’s sake. They shall be late ones:

“1702, Sep. 28. Married Matthias Wallraven and Mercy Waymarke.”—St. Dionis Backchurch.“1716, May 25. Married Thomas Day and Mercy Parsons, of Staplehurst.”—Cant. Cath.

“1702, Sep. 28. Married Matthias Wallraven and Mercy Waymarke.”—St. Dionis Backchurch.

“1716, May 25. Married Thomas Day and Mercy Parsons, of Staplehurst.”—Cant. Cath.

But there were plenty of virtues left. Prudence had such a run, that she became Pru in the sixteenth, and Prudentia in the seventeenth century:

“1574, June 30. Buried Prudence, d. of John Mayhew.“1612, Aug. 2. Married Robert Browne and Prudence Coxe.”—St. Dionis Backchurch.

“1574, June 30. Buried Prudence, d. of John Mayhew.

“1612, Aug. 2. Married Robert Browne and Prudence Coxe.”—St. Dionis Backchurch.

Justice is hard to separate from the legal title; but here is an instance:

“1660, July 16. Richard Bickley and Justice Willington reported guilty of embezzling late king’s goods.”—“Cal. St. P. Dom.”

Truth, Constancy, Honour, and Temperance were frequently personified at the font. Temperancehad the shortest life; but, if short, it was merry. There is scarcely a register, from Gretna Green to St. Michael’s, without it:

“1615, Feb. 25. Baptized Temperance, d. of — Osberne.”—Hawnes, Bedford.“1610, Aug. 14. Baptized Temperance, d. of John Goodyer.”—Banbury.“1611, Nov. —. Baptized Temperance, d. of Robert Carpinter.”—Stepney.“1619, July 22. Married Gyles Rolles to Temperance Blinco.”—St. Peter, Cornhill.

“1615, Feb. 25. Baptized Temperance, d. of — Osberne.”—Hawnes, Bedford.

“1610, Aug. 14. Baptized Temperance, d. of John Goodyer.”—Banbury.

“1611, Nov. —. Baptized Temperance, d. of Robert Carpinter.”—Stepney.

“1619, July 22. Married Gyles Rolles to Temperance Blinco.”—St. Peter, Cornhill.

Constance,[41]Constancy, and Constant were common, it will be seen, to both sexes:

“1593, Sep. 29. Buried Constancy, servant with Mr. Coussin.”—St. Dionis Backchurch.“1629, Dec. Petition of Captain Constance Ferrar, for losses at Cape Breton.”—“C. S. P. Colonial.”“1665, May 25. Communication from Constance Pley to the Commissioners in relation to the arrival of a convoy.”—C. S. P.“1665, May 31. Grant to Edward Halshall of £225 0 0, forfeited by Connistant Cant, of Lynn Regis, for embarking wool to Guernsey not entered in the Custom House.”—Ditto.“1671, Sep. 2. Buried Constant Sylvester, Esquire.”—Brampton, Hunts.

“1593, Sep. 29. Buried Constancy, servant with Mr. Coussin.”—St. Dionis Backchurch.

“1629, Dec. Petition of Captain Constance Ferrar, for losses at Cape Breton.”—“C. S. P. Colonial.”

“1665, May 25. Communication from Constance Pley to the Commissioners in relation to the arrival of a convoy.”—C. S. P.

“1665, May 31. Grant to Edward Halshall of £225 0 0, forfeited by Connistant Cant, of Lynn Regis, for embarking wool to Guernsey not entered in the Custom House.”—Ditto.

“1671, Sep. 2. Buried Constant Sylvester, Esquire.”—Brampton, Hunts.

Patience, too, was male as well as female. Sir Patience Warde was Lord Mayor of London in 1681. Thus the weaker vessels were not allowed to monopolize the graces. How familiar some of these abstract names had become, the Cavaliershall tell us in his parody of the sanctimonious Roundheads’ style:

“‘Ay, marry,’ quoth Agatha,And Temperance, eke, also:Quoth Hannah, ‘It’s just,’ and Mary, ‘It must,’‘And shall be,’ quoth Grace, ‘I trow.’”

Several “Truths” occur in the “Chancery Suits” of Elizabeth, and the Greek Alathea arose with it:

“1595, June 27. Faith and Truth, gemini, — John Johnson, bapt.”—Wath, Ripon.

Alathea lasted till the eighteenth century was well-nigh out:

“1701, Dec. 4. Francis Milles to Alathea Wilton.”—West. Abbey.“1720, Sep. 18. Buried Alydea, wife of Willm. Gough, aged 42 years.”—Harnhill, Glouc.“1786, Oct. 6. Died Althea, wife of Thomas Heberden, prebendary.”—Exeter Cath.[42]

“1701, Dec. 4. Francis Milles to Alathea Wilton.”—West. Abbey.

“1720, Sep. 18. Buried Alydea, wife of Willm. Gough, aged 42 years.”—Harnhill, Glouc.

“1786, Oct. 6. Died Althea, wife of Thomas Heberden, prebendary.”—Exeter Cath.[42]

Honour, of course, became Honora, in the eighteenth century, and has retained that form:

“1583, Aug. 24. Baptized Honor, daughter of Thomas Teage.”—St. Columb Major.“1614, July 4. Baptized Honour, d. of John Baylye, of Radcliffe.”—Stepney.“1667, Oct. 9. Christened Mary, d. of Sir John and Lady Honour Huxley.”—Hammersmith.“1722, Oct. 4. Christened Martha, d. of John and Honoria Hart.”—St. Dionis Backchurch.

“1583, Aug. 24. Baptized Honor, daughter of Thomas Teage.”—St. Columb Major.

“1614, July 4. Baptized Honour, d. of John Baylye, of Radcliffe.”—Stepney.

“1667, Oct. 9. Christened Mary, d. of Sir John and Lady Honour Huxley.”—Hammersmith.

“1722, Oct. 4. Christened Martha, d. of John and Honoria Hart.”—St. Dionis Backchurch.

Sir Thomas Carew, Speaker of the Commons in James’s and Charles’s reign, had a wife Temperance, and four daughters, Patience, Temperance, Silence, and Prudence (Lodge’s “Illust.,” iii. 37). Possibly, as Speaker, he had had better opportunity to observe that these were the four cardinal parliamentary virtues, especially Silence. This last was somewhat popular, and seems to have got curtailed to “Sill,” as Prudence to “Pru,” and Constance to “Con.” In the Calendar of “State Papers” (June 21, 1666), a man named Taylor, writing to another named Williamson, wishes “his brother Sill would come and reap the sweets of Harwich.” Writing again, five days later, he asks “after his brother, Silence Taylor.”

This was one of the names that crossed the Atlantic and became a fixture in America (Bowditch). It is not, however, to be confounded with Sill, that is, Sybil, in the old Cavalier chorus:

“‘And God blesse King Charles,’ quoth George,‘And save him,’ says Simon and Sill.”

Silence is one of the few Puritan names that found its way into the north of England:

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