Chapter 11

"Neve, neverthryfte, or wastowre"(Prompt.Parv.).

It is likely thatNevisonandNevinsonare sometimes derivatives of this word.

Childwas sometimes used in the special sense of youth of gentle blood, or young knight; cf. Childe Harold and Childe Rowland(Lear, iii. 4). But the more general meaning may be assumed in its compounds, of which the most interesting isLeifchild, dear-child, a fairly common name in Anglo-Saxon. The correspondingFaunt, whenceFauntleroy(Chapter XV), is now rare. Another word, now only used in dialect or by affectation, is "bairn," a frequent source of the very common surnameBarnes;cf.FairbairnandGoodbairn, often perverted toFairburn,Goodburn,Goodban.Barnfatheris about equivalent to Lat.paterfamilias, butPennefatheris an old nickname for a miser—

"Caqueduc, a niggard, micher, miser, scrape-good, pinch-penny,penny-father;a covetous and greedy wretch" (Cotgrave).

The nameBastardwas once considered no disgrace if the dishonour came from a noble source, and several great medieval warriors bore this sobriquet. With this we may compareLemanorLemon, Mid. Eng.leof-man, dear man, beloved, andParamor, Fr.paramour, an example of an adverbial phrase that has become a noun. This expression, used of lawful love in Old French, in the stock phrase "aimer une belle dameparamour,"had already an evil meaning by Chaucer's time—

"My fourthe housbonde was a revelour,This is to seyn, he hadde aparamour" (D, 453).

With these names we may putDrewryorDrury, sweetheart, from the Old French abstractdruerie, of Germanic origin and cognate withtrue—

"For certeynly no such beesteTo be loved is not worthy,Or bere the name ofdruerie."(RomauntoftheRose, 5062.)

"For certeynly no such beesteTo be loved is not worthy,Or bere the name ofdruerie."

(RomauntoftheRose, 5062.)

Sucklingis a nickname applied to a helpless person; cf.Littlechildand "milksop," which still exists, though rare, in the formsMilsoppandMellsop. The heir survives asAyreandEyre.Batchelor, the origin of which is one of the etymological problems yet unsolved, had in Old French and Mid. English also the meaning of young warrior or squire. Chaucer's Squier is described as—

"A lovyere and a lustybacheler"(A, 80).

May, maiden, whence Mildmay, is used by Chaucer for the Holy Virgin

"Now, lady bright, to whom alle woful cryen,Thow glorie of wommanhede, thow fairemay,Thow haven of refut, brighte sterre of day" (B, 850).

This is the same word as Mid. Eng.mai, relative, cognate withmaidand GaelicMac- (Chapter VI). A form of it survives in the Nottingham nameWatmoughand perhaps inHickmott—

"Mow, housbandys sister or syster in law"(Prompt. Parv.).

I imagine that WilliamEchemannesmai, who owed the Treasury a mark in 1182, was one of the sponging fraternity.

Virgoe, a latinization ofVirgin, is perhaps due to a shop-sign.Rigmaiden, explained by Lower as "a romping girl," is local, from a place in Westmorland. RicharddeRiggemaydenwas living in Lancashire in 1307. With this group of names we may putGossip, originally a god-parent, lit. related in God, from Mid. Eng.sib, kin.

With names likeFarebrother,Goodfellow, we may compare some of French origin such asBonser(bon sire),Bonamy, andBellamy

"Thoubeel amy, thou pardoner, he sayde,Telle us som myrth, or japes, right anon."(B, 318.)

"Thoubeel amy, thou pardoner, he sayde,Telle us som myrth, or japes, right anon."

(B, 318.)

Beldam(belle dame), originally a complimentary name for grandmother or grandam, has become uncomplimentary in meaning—

First Witch."Why, how now, Hecate! you look angerly."Hecate. "Have I not reason,beldamsas you are,Saucy and overbold?"(Macbeth,iii. 5).

First Witch."Why, how now, Hecate! you look angerly."

Hecate. "Have I not reason,beldamsas you are,

Saucy and overbold?"(Macbeth,iii. 5).

From the corresponding Old Fr.bel-sire,beau-sire, we haveBewsher,Bowser, and the Picard formBelcher

"The greatbelsire, the grandsire, sire, and sonne,Lie here interred under this grave stone."(Weever,AncientFuneralMonuments.)

"The greatbelsire, the grandsire, sire, and sonne,Lie here interred under this grave stone."

(Weever,AncientFuneralMonuments.)

Relationship was often expressed by the use of French words, so that for son-in-law we findGender,Ginder, corresponding to Fr. Legendre.Fitch, usually an animal nickname (Chapter XXIII), is occasionally forlefiz, the son, which also survives asFitz.Goodson, from the personal nameGood(Chapter I), is sometimes registered asFizDeu. Cf. Fr.Lefilleul,i.e. the godson.

ABSTRACTS

A possible derivative of the nameMay(Chapter XXI) isIvimey. Holly and Ivy were the names of characters in Christmas games, and an old rime says

"Holy and his mery men, they dawnsyn and they syng,Ivyand hurmaydins, they wepen and they wryng."

IfIvimeyis from this source, the same origin must sometimes be allowed toHolliman(Chapter I). This conjecture[Footnote:Probably a myth. See mySurnames, p. 197.]has in its favour the fact that many of our surnames are undoubtedly derived from characters assumed in dramatic performances and popular festivities. To this class belong many surnames which have the form of abstract nouns, e.g.Charity,Verity,Virtue,Vice. Of similar origin are perhapsBliss,Chance,Luck, andGoodluck;cf.Bonaventure.Love,Luff, occurs generally as a personal name, hence the dim.Lufkins, but it is sometimes a nickname.Lovell,Lovett, more often mean little wolf. BothLouvetandLouveauare common French surnames. The nameLovell, in the wolf sense, was often applied to a dog, as in the famous couplet

"The ratte, the catte, andLovell, our doggeRule all England under the hogge,"

for which William Collingborne was executed in 1484.Lowellis a variant ofLovell.

But many apparent abstract names are due to folk-etymology, e.g.Marriageis local, Old Fr.marage, marsh, andWedlockis imitative forWedlake;cf.Mortlockfor Mortlake and perhapsDiplockfor deep-lake.Creedis the Anglo-Saxon personal name Creda.Revel, a common French surname, is a personal name of obscure origin.Wantis the Mid. Eng.wont, mole, whenceWontner, mole-catcher. It is difficult to see how such names asWarr,Battle, andConquestcame into existence. The former, found asdelawarre, is no doubt sometimes local (Chapter XIII), andBattleis a dim. of Bat (Chapter VI). Butdelabatayleis also a common entry, andLaguerreandLabatailleare common French surnames.

COSTUME

A nickname was often conferred in connection with some external object regularly associated with the individual. Names taken from shop-signs really belong to this class. Corresponding to ourHood[Footnote:Hoodmay also be for Hud (Chapter I), but the garment is made into a personal name in Little Red Ridinghood, who is called in FrenchlepetitChaperonRouge.]we have Fr.Capron(chaperon).Burdon, Fr.bourdon, meant a staff, especially a pilgrim's staff. Daunger is described as having—

"In his honde a gretburdoun"(RomauntoftheRose, 3401).

"In his honde a gretburdoun"

(RomauntoftheRose, 3401).

But the nameBurdonis also local.Bracegirdle,i.e. breeks-girdle, must have been the nickname of one who wore a gorgeous belt. It is a curious fact that this name is chiefly found in the same region (Cheshire) as the somewhat similarBroadbelt. The Sussex nameQuailerepresents the Norman pronunciation of coif. More usually an adjective enters into such combinations. With the historic Curthose, Longsword, Strongbow we may compareShorthouse, a perversion of shorthose,Longstaff,Horlock(hoar),Silverlock,Whitlock,etc.Whitehouseis usually of local origin, but has also absorbed the medieval names Whitehose and White-hawse, the latter from Mid. Eng.hawse, neck.Woollardmay be the Anglo-Saxon personal name Wulfweard, but is more probably fromwoolward,i.e. without linen, a costume assumed as a sign of penitence

"Wolwarde, without any lynnen nexte ones body,sans chemyse".(Palsgrave.)

The three namesMedley,Medlicott, andMotleygo together, though all three of them may be local (the mid-lea, the middle-cot, and the moat-lea).Medleymixed, is the Anglo-French past participle of Old Fr.mesler(mêler).Motleyis of unknown origin, but it was not necessarily a fool's dress—

"A marchant was ther with a forked berd,Inmottelye, and hye on horse he sat,Upon his heed a Flaundryssh bevere hat" (A, 270).

So also the Serjeant of the Law was distinguished his, for the period, plain dress—

"He rood but hoomly in amedleecote"(A, 328).

Gildersleeveis now rare in England, though it still flourishes in the United States. [Footnote: We have several instances of this phenomenon. A familiar example isLippincott, a surname of local origin (Devonshire). But Bardsley's inclusion of American statistics is often misleading. It is a well-known fact that the foreign names of immigrants are regularly assimilated to English forms in the United States. In some cases, such as Cook forKoch, Cope (Chapter XII) forKopf, Stout (Chapter XXII) forStolzorStultz, the change is etymologically justified. But in other cases, such as Tallman forThalmann, dale-man, Trout forTraut, faithful, the resemblance is accidental. Beam and Chestnut, common in the States but very rare in England, represent an imitative form ofBöhmorBehm, Bohemian, and a translation ofKestenbaum, chestnut tree, both Jewish names. The Becks and Bowmans of New York outnumber those of London by about five to one, the first being forBeck, baker (Chapter XV), and the second forBaumann, equivalent toBauer, farmer. Bardsley explains the common American name Arrison by the fact that there are Cockneys in America. It comes of course from Arend, a Dutch name related to Arnold."A remarkable record in changes of surname was cited some years ago by an American correspondent ofNotes and Queries. 'The changes which befell a resident of New Orleans were that when he moved from an American quarter to a German neighbourhood his name of Flint became Feuerstein, which for convenience was shortened to Stein. Upon his removal to a French district he was re-christened Pierre. Hence upon his return to an English neighbourhood he was translated into Peters, and his first neighbours were surprised and puzzled to find Flint turned Peters.'"

(DailyChronicle, April 4, 1913.)]

PHYSICAL FEATURES

Names likeBeard,Chinn,Toothwere conferred because of some prominent feature. In Anglo-French we findGernon, moustache, now corrupted toGarnham, and alsoalgernon, with the moustache, which has becomeAlgernon. But we have already seen (Chapter XIII) that some names which appear to belong to this class are of local origin. So alsoTongueis derived from one of several places named Tong or Tonge, though the ultimate origin is perhaps in some cases the same, a "tongue" of land.Quartermainis forQuatre-mains, perhaps bestowed on a very acquisitive person; JosciusQuatre-buches, four mouths, and RogerTunekes, two necks, were alive in the twelfth century; and there is record of a Saracen champion namedQuinze-paumes, though this is perhaps rather a measure of height.CheekI conjecture to be forChick. The odd-lookingKidneyis apparently Irish. There is a rare namePoindexter, appearing in French asPoingdestre,"right fist."[Footnote:PresidentPoincaré'sname appears to mean "square fist."]I have seen it explained as from the heraldic termpointdexter, but it is rather to be taken literally. I find Johannescumpugnoin 1184, and we can imagine that such a name may have been conferred on a medieval bruiser. There is also the possibility, considering the brutality of many old nicknames, that the bearer of the name had been judicially deprived of his right hand, a very common punishment, especially for striking a feudal superior. Thus Renaut de Montauban, finding that his unknown opponent is Charlemagne, exclaims—

"J'ai forfait lepoingdestredont je l'ai adesé (struck)."

We have some nicknames describing gait, e.g.AmblerandShaylor—

"Ishayle, as a man or horse dothe that gothe croked with his leggs,jevaseschays"(Palsgrave) —

and perhaps sometimesTrotter. If George Eliot had been a student of surnames she would hardly have named a heroine NancyLammiter,i.e. cripple—

"Though ye may think him alamiter, yet, grippie for grippie,he'll make the bluid spin frae under your nails"(Black Dwarf, ch. xvii.).

PettigrewandPettiferare of French origin,pieddegrue(crane) andpieddefer. The former is the origin of the word pedigree, from a sign used in drawing genealogical trees. The Buckinghamshire namePuddifootorPuddephatt(Podefat, 1273) and the aristocraticPauncefoteare unsolved. The former may be a corruption ofPettifer, which occurs commonly, along with the intermediatePuddifer, in the same county. But theEnglishDialectDictionarygives as an obsolete Northants word the adjective puddy, stumpy, pudgy, applied especially to hands, fingers, etc., and Pudito (puddy toe) occurs as a surname in theHundredRolls. As forPauncefote, I believe it simply means what it appears to, viz. "belly-foot," a curious formation, though not without parallels, among obsolete rustic nicknames. If these two conjectures are correct, both Puddifoot and Pauncefote may be almost literal equivalents of the Greek OEdipus,i.e. "swell-foot."

In other languages as well as English we find money nicknames. It is easy to understand how some of these come into existence, e.g. that Pierce. Pennilesse was the opposite of Thomas Thousandpound, whose name occursc. 1300. With the latter we may compare Fr.Centlivre, the name of an English lady dramatist of the eighteenth century.Moneypennyis found in 1273 asManipeni, and a Londoner namedManypenydied in 1348. TheMoney- is partly north country, partly imitative.

Moneyitself is usually occupative or local (Chapter XVII), andShillingis the Anglo-Saxon name Scilling. The oldest and commonest of such nicknames is the simplePenny, with which we may compare the German surnamePfennigand its compoundsBarpfennig,Weisspfennig, etc. The early adoption of this coin-name as a personal name is due to the fact that the word was taken in the sense of money in general. We still speak of a rich man as "worth a pretty penny."Hallmarkis folk-etymology for the medievalHalf-mark. Such medieval names asFour-pence,Twenty-mark,etc., probably now obsolete, are paralleled by Fr.QuatresousandSixdenier, still to be found in the Paris Directory. It would be easy to form conjectures as to the various ways in which such names may have come into existence. To the same class must belongBesant, the name of a coin from Byzantium, its foreign origin giving it a dignity which is absent from the nativeFarthingandHalfpenny, though the latter, in one instance, was improved beyond recognition intoMacAlpine.

IMPRECATIONS

There is also a small group of surnames derived from oaths or exclamations which by habitual use became associated with certain individuals. We know that monarchs had a special tendency to indulge in a favourite expletive. To Roger de Collerye we owe some information as to the imprecations preferred by four French kings—

"Quand laPasque-Dieu(Louis XI.) décéda,LeBon Jour Dieu(Charles VIII.) luy succéda,AuBon Jour Dieudeffunct et mortSuccéda leDyable m'emport(Louis XII).Luy décédé, nous voyons commeNous duist (governs) laFoy de Gentilhomme(Francis I.)."

So important was this branch of linguistics once considered that Palsgrave, the French tutor of Princess Mary Tudor, includes in hisEsclarcissementdelaLangueFrancoysea section on "The Maners of Cursyng." Among the examples are "Le grant diable luy rompe le col et les deux jambes," "Le diable l'emporte, corps et ame, tripes et boyaux," which were unfortunately too long for surname purposes, but an abridged form of "Le feu Saint Anthoyne l'arde"[Footnote:Saint Anthony's fire,i.e. erysipelas, burn him!]has given the French nameFeulard. Such names, usually containing the name of God, e.g. Godmefetch, Helpusgod, have mostly disappeared in this country; butDieuleveutandDieumegardare still found in Paris, andGottbehüt, God forbid, andGotthelf, God help, occur in German.Godbeherestill exists, and there is not the slightest reason why it should not be of the origin which its form indicates. InGracedieu, thanks to God, the second element is an Old French dative.Pardoe,Purdue, whencePurdey, is for parDieu-—

"I have a wyfpardee, as wel as thow" (A, 3158).

There is a well-known professional footballer namedMordue('sdeath), and a French composer namedBoieldieu(God's bowels). The French nickname for an Englishman,goddam—

"Those syllables intense,Nucleus of England's native eloquence"(Byron,The Island, iii. 5)—

Nucleus of England's native eloquence"(Byron,The Island, iii. 5)—

(Byron,The Island, iii. 5)—

goes back to the fifteenth century, in which invective references to thegodonsare numerous.[Footnote:"Les Anglais en vérité ajoutent par-ci, par-là quelques autres mots en conversant; mais il est bien aisé de voir quegoddamest le fond de la langue" (Beaumarchais,MariagedeFigaro,iii. 5).]

Such nicknames are still in common use in some parts of France—

"Les Berrichons se désignent souvent par le juron qui leur est familier. Ainsi ils diront: 'Diablemebrûleest bien malade.Nomd'unratest à la foire. La femme àDiablem’estrangouilleest morte. Le garçonàBonYou(Dieu) se marie avec la filleàDieumeconfonde.'"(Nyrop, Grammairehistoriquedelalanguefrançaise, iv. 209).

(Nyrop, Grammairehistoriquedelalanguefrançaise, iv. 209).

PHRASE-NAMES

Perhaps the most interesting group of nicknames is that of which we may takeShakespeareas the type. Incidentally we should be thankful that our greatest poet bore a name so much more picturesque thanCorneille, crow, orRacine, root. It is agreed among all competent scholars that in compounds of this formation the verb was originally an imperative. This is shown by the form; cf.ne'er-do-well, Fr.vaurien, Ger.Taugenichts, good-for-naught. ThusHasluckcannot belong to this class, but must be an imitative form of the personal name Aslac, which we find in Aslockton.

As Bardsley well says, it is impossible to retail all the nonsense that has been written about the nameShakespeare—"never a name in English nomenclature so simple or so certain in its origin; it is exactly what it looks—shake-spear." The equivalentSchüttespeeris found in German, and we have also in EnglishShakeshaft,Waghorn,Wagstaff,Breakspear,Winspear. "Winshipthe mariner" was a freeman of York in the fourteenth century. Cf.Benbow(bend-bow),Hurlbatt, and the less athleticLovejoy,Makepeace.Gathergoodand its oppositeScattergoodare of similar origin,goodhaving here the sense of goods.Dogoodis sometimes forToogood, and the latter may be, likeThoroughgood, an imitative form ofThurgod(Chapter VII); but both names may also be taken literally, for we find Ger.Thunichtgut, do no good, and Fr.Trodoux(tropdoux).

As a pendant toDolittlewe find a medievalHack-little, no doubt a lazy wood-cutter, while virtue is represented by a twelfth-centuryTire-little.Sherwinrepresents the medievalSchere-wynd, applied to a swift runner; cf. Ger.Schneidewind, cut wind, and Fr.Tranchevent. A nurseryman at Highgate has the appropriate nameCutbush, the French equivalent of which,Taillebois, has given usTallboys;and a famous herbalist was namedCulpepper. InGathercolethe second element may mean cabbage or charcoal. In one case,Horniblowfor horn-blow, the verb comes after its object.

Names of this formation are very common in Mid. English as in Old French, and often bear witness to a violent or brutal nature. ThusScorch-beef, which is found in the Hundred Rolls, has no connection with careless cookery; it is Old Fr.escorche(écorche)-buef, flay ox, a name given to some medieval "Skin-the-goat."Catchpole(Chapter XX) is formed in the same way, and in French we find, applied to law officials, the surnamesBaillehart, give halter,[Footnote:Bailler, the usual Old French for to give, is still used colloquially and in dialect.]andBaillehache, give axe, the latter still appropriately borne, asBailhache, by an English judge.

It has sometimes been assumed that most names of this class are due to folk-etymology. The frequency of their occurrence in Mid. English and in continental languages makes it certain that the contrary is the case and that many surnames of obscure origin are perversions of this very large and popular class. I have seen it stated somewhere thatShakespeareisacorruption of an Old French nameSacquespée,[Footnote:Of common occurrence in Mid. English records.]the theorist being apparently unable to see that this latter, meaningdraw-sword, is merely an additional argument, if such were needed, for the literal interpretation of the English name.[Footnote:In one day's reading I came across the following Mid. English names:Baillebien(give good),Baysedame(kiss lady),Esveillechien(wake dog),Lievelance(raise lance),Metlefrein(put the bridle),Tracepurcel(track hog),Turnecotel(turn coat), together with the nativeCachehareandHoppeschort.]

Tredgoldseems to have been conferred on some medieval stoic, for we find alsoSpurnegold. Without pinning our faith to any particular anecdote, we need have no hesitation in acceptingTurnbullas a sobriquet conferred for some feat of strength and daring on a stalwart Borderer. We find the correspondingTornebeufin Old French, andTurnbuckalso occurs.TrumbullandTrumbleare variants due to metathesis followed by assimilation (Chapter III), whileTrembleis a very degenerate form. InKnatchbullwe have the obsolete verbknatch, which in Mid. English meant to strike on the head, fell.Crawcouris Fr.Crèvecoeur, breakheart, which has also become a local name in France. WithShacklock, shake-lock, andSherlock,Shurlock, shear-lock, we may compare Robin Hood's comradeScathelock, though the precise interpretation of all three names is difficult.Rackstraw, rake-straw, corresponds to Fr.Grattepaille.Golightlymeans much the same asLightfoot(Chapter XIII), nor need we hesitate to regard the JohnGotobedwho lived in Cambridgeshire in 1273 as a notorious sluggard compared with whom his neighbour SerlGotokirkewas a shining example.[Footnote:The name is still found in the same county. Undergraduates contemporary with the author occasionally slaked their thirst at a riverside inn kept by Bathsheba Gotobed.]

Telferis Fr.Taillefer, the iron cleaver, and Henry II.'s yacht captain was AlanTrenchemer, the sea cleaver. He had a contemporary namedVentados, wind abaft.

Slocombhas assumed a local aspect, but may very well correspond to Fr.Tardifor Ger.Mühsam, applied to some Weary Willie of the Middle Ages.Doubtfireis a misspelling ofDout-fire, from the dialectdout, to extinguish (do out), formed likedonanddoff.Fullalove, which does not belong to the same formation, is also found asPleind'amour—

"Of Sir Lybeux andPleyndamour"(B, 2090)—

and corresponds to Ger.Liebevoll.Waddiloveactually occurs in the Hundred Rolls asWade-in-love, presumably a nickname conferred on some medieval Don Juan.

MISCELLANEOUS

There is one curious little group of nicknames which seem to correspond to such Latin names as Piso, frompisum, a pea, and Cicero, fromcicer—

"Cicer, a small pulse, lesse than pease" (Cooper).

Such areBarleycornandPeppercorn, the former found in French asGraindorge. The rather romantic namesAvenelandPeverelseem to be of similar formation, from Lat.avena, oats, andpiper, pepper. In factPeverelis found inDomesdayas Piperellus, andPepperellstill exists. With these may be mentionedCarbonel, corresponding to the French surnameCharbonneau, a little coal.

CHAPTER XXIIADJECTIVAL NICKNAMES

"The man replied that he did not know the object of the building; and to make it quite manifest that he really did not know, he put an adjective before the word 'object,' and another—that is, the same—before the word 'building.' With that he passed on his way, and Lord Jocelyn was left marvelling at the slender resources of our language, which makes one adjective do duty for so many qualifications."(BESANT,AllSortsandConditionsofMen, ch. xxxviii.)

(BESANT,AllSortsandConditionsofMen, ch. xxxviii.)

The rejection by the British workman of all adjectives but one is due to the same imaginative poverty which makes the adjective "nice" supreme in refined circles, and which limits the schoolgirl to "ripping" and her more self-conscious brother to the tempered "decent." But dozens of useful adjectives, now either obsolete or banished to rustic dialect, are found among our surnames. The tendency to accompany every noun by an adjective seems to belong to some deep-rooted human instinct. To this is partly due the Protean character of this part of speech, for the word, like the coin, becomes dulled and worn in circulation and needs periodically to be withdrawn and replaced. An epithet which is complimentary in one generation is ironical in the next and eventually offensive.Moody, with its northern formMudie, which now means morose, was once valiant (Chapter I); and pert, surviving in the namePeart, meant active, brisk, etc.—

"Awake thepertand nimble spirit of mirth."(MidsummerNight'sDream,i.1.)

"Awake thepertand nimble spirit of mirth."

(MidsummerNight'sDream,i.1.)

ARCHAIC MEANINGS

To interpret an adjectival nickname we must go to its meaning in Chaucer and his contemporaries.Silly,Seeley,Seely

"Thissely, innocent Custance" (B, 682)—

still means innocent when we speak of the "silly sheep," and happy in the phrase "silly Suffolk." It is cognate with Ger.selig, blessed, often used in speaking of the dead. We have compounds inSillilant, simple child (Chapter X), andSelibarn.Seelywas also used for Cecil or Cecilia.Saddwas once sedate and steadfast

"But thogh this mayde tendre were of age,Yet in the brest of hire virginiteeTher was enclosed rype andsadcorage"(E, 218);

"But thogh this mayde tendre were of age,Yet in the brest of hire virginiteeTher was enclosed rype andsadcorage"

(E, 218);

and as late as 1660 we find a book in defence of Charles I. described as—

"Asadand impartial inquiry whether the King or Parliament began the war."

Stout, valiant, now used euphemistically for fat, is cognate with Ger.stolz, proud, and possibly with Lat.stultus, foolish. The three ideas are not incompatible, for fools are notoriously proud of their folly and are said to be less subject to fear than the angels.Sturdy, Sturdee, once meant rebellious, pig-headed—

"Sturdy, unbuxum,rebellis, contumax, inobediens." (Prompt. Parv.)

Cotgrave offers a much wider choice for the French original—

"Estourdi(étourdi), dulled, amazed, astonished, dizzie-headed, or whose head seemes very much troubled; (hence) also, heedlesse, inconsiderate, unadvised, witlesse, uncircumspect, rash, retchlesse, or carelesse; and sottish, blockish, lumpish, lusk-like, without life, metall, spirit"

Slyand its variantSleighhave degenerated in the same way as crafty and cunning, both of which once meant skilled. Chaucer calls the wings of Daedalus "his playesslye,"i.e. his ingenious contrivances.Quickmeant alert, lively, as in "thequickand the dead."Slight, cognate with Ger.schlecht, bad, once meant plain or simple.

Many adjectives which are quite obsolete in literary English survive as surnames. Mid. Eng.Lylehas been supplanted by its derivativeLittle, the opposite pair surviving asMutchandMickle. The poor parson did not fail—

"In siknesse nor in meschief to visiteThe ferreste in his parisshe,mucheandlyte."(A, 493.)

"In siknesse nor in meschief to visiteThe ferreste in his parisshe,mucheandlyte."

(A, 493.)

We have forLytealso the imitativeLight;cf.Lightwood. WithLittlemaybe mentionedMurch, an obsolete word for dwarf—

"Murch, lytyl man,nanus."(Prompt.Parv.)

"Murch, lytyl man,nanus."

(Prompt.Parv.)

Lenainis a fairly common name in France.Snell, swift or valiant, had become a personal name in Anglo-Saxon, but we findlesnelin the Middle Ages.Freake,Frick, also meant valiant or warrior—

"Ther was nofrekethat ther wolde flye"(ChevyChase);

"Ther was nofrekethat ther wolde flye"

(ChevyChase);

but thePromptoriumParvulorummakes it equivalent toCraske(Chapter XXII)—

"Fryke, orcraske, in grete helth,crassus."

It is cognate with Ger.frech, which now means impudent.Notthas already been mentioned (Chapter II). Of the Yeoman we are told—

"Anothed hadde he, with a broun visage."(A, 109.)

"Anothed hadde he, with a broun visage."

(A, 109.)

Stark, cognate with starch, now usually means stiff, rather than strong—

"I feele my lymesstarkand suffisauntTo do al that a man bilongeth to."

(E, 1458.)

DISGUISED SPELLINGS

ButStarkis also for an earlier Sterk (cf. Clark and Clerk), which represents Mid. Eng.stirk, a heifer. In the cow with thecrumpledhorn we have a derivative of Mid. Eng.crum, crooked, whence the namesCrumandCrump. Ludwig's German Dict. (1715) explains krumm as "crump, crooked, wry." The nameCrookgenerally has the same meaning, the Ger. Krummbein corresponding to ourCruikshankorCrookshanks. It is possible thatGleggandGleigare Mid. Eng.gleg, skilful, of Scand. origin.

There are some adjectival surnames which are not immediately recognizable.Bolt, when not local (Chapter XIII) is for bold,Leafis imitative forlief,i.e. dear.Dearitself is of course hopelessly mixed up withDeer... The timorous-lookingFearis Fr.lefier, the proud or fierce.Skeyis an old form of shy;Blighis forBlyth;HendyandHentyare related to handy, and had in Mid. English the sense of helpful, courteous—

"Oure hoost tho spak, 'A, sire, ye sholde behendeAnd curteys, as a man of youre estat.'"(D, 1286.)

"Oure hoost tho spak, 'A, sire, ye sholde behendeAnd curteys, as a man of youre estat.'"

(D, 1286.)

ForSavagewe find also the archaic spellingSalvage(Lat.silvaticus).Curtisis Norman Fr.curteis(courtois). The adjective garish, now only poetical, but once commonly applied to gaudiness in dress, has givenGerrish. Quaint, which has so many meanings intermediate between its etymological sense of known or familiar (Lat.cognitus)and its present sense of unusual or unfamiliar, survives asQuint. ButCoyis usually local, from Quy (Cambridgeshire).

Orpwoodis a corruption of Mid. Eng.orped, bold, warlike.Craskeis an East Anglian word for fat, andCrouseis used in the north for sprightly, confident. To these we may addKetch,Kedge,Gedge, from an East Anglian adjective meaning lively—

"Kygge, or joly,jocundus" (Prompt. Parv.)—

andSpragg, etymologically akin toSpry.Braggwas once used for bold or brave, without any uncomplimentary suggestion. TheNew English Dictionaryquotes (c. 1310) from a lyric poem—

"That maketh us sobragand boldeAnd biddeth us ben blythe."

Creaseis a West-country word for squeamish, but the East Anglian nameCreasey, Cressy, is usually for the localKersey(Suffolk). The only solution ofPrattis that it is Anglo-Sax.praett, cunning, adopted early as a personal name, whileStorr, of Scandinavian origin, means big, strong. It is cognate withSteer, a bull.DeveyandDombeyseem to be diminutive forms of deaf and dumb, still used in dialect in reference to persons thus afflicted. We find in French and German surnames corresponding to these very natural nicknames. Cf.CrombiefromCrum(Chapter XXII).

FRENCH ADJECTIVES

A large proportion of our adjectival nicknames are of French origin.Lebelappears not only asBellbut also, through Picard, asBeal. Other examples areBoon,Bone,Bunn(bon),Grant(grand),Bass(bas) and its derivativeBassett,Dasent(décent),FollettandFolliott, dim. offol(fou), mad, which also appears in the compoundFoljambe,Fulljames.

Mordauntmeans biting.Poweris generally Anglo-Fr.lepoure(le pauvre) andGraceis forlegras, the fat.Joligerepresents the Old French form ofjoli—

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