Chapter 9

"Redareof howsys, calamator, arundinarius" (Prompt. Parv.)—

and the latter is a Norman variant ofButcher, as already mentioned.

SPELLING OF TRADE-NAMES

The spelling of occupative surnames often differs from that now associated with the trade itself. InNaylor,Taylor, andTylerwe have the archaic preference fory.[Footnote:It may be noted here that John Tiler of Dartford, who killed a tax-gatherer for insulting his daughter, was not Wat Tiler, who was killed at Smithfield for insulting the King. The confusion between the two has led to much sympathy being wasted on a ruffian.]Our ancestors thoughtsopeas good a spelling assoap, hence the nameSoper. APlummer,i.e. a man who worked in lead, Lat.plumbum, is now written, by etymological reaction, plumber, though the restored letter is not sounded. A man who dealt in'arbsoriginated the nameArber, which we should now replace by herbalist. We have a restored spelling inclerk, though educated people pronounce the word as it was once written

Clarke, or he that readeth distinctly, clericus." (Holyoak's Lat. Dict., 1612.)

In many cases we are unable to say exactly what is the ocpupation indicated. We may assume that aSetterand aTipperdid setting and tipping, and both are said to have been concerned in the arrow industry. If this is true, I should say thatSettermight represent the Old Fr,saieteur, arrow-maker, fromsaiete, an arrow, Lat.sagitta. But in a medieval vocabulary we find "setterof mes,dapifer,"which would make it the same asSewer (Chapter XV). Similarly, when we consider the number of objects that can be tipped, we shall be shy of defining the activity of the Tipper too closely.Trinder, earliertrenden, is from Mid. Eng.trender, to roll (cf.Roller). In the west countrytrindernow means specifically a wool-winder—

"Lat hymrollenandtrendenwithynne hymself the lyght of his ynwarde sighte"(Boece,1043).

There are also some names of this class to which we can with certainty attribute two or more origins.Boultermeans a maker of bolts for crossbows,[Footnote:How many people who use the expression "boltupright," associate it with "straight as adart"?]but also a sifter, from the obsolete verb tobolt—

"The fanned snow, that'sboltedBy the northern blasts twice o'er."(Winter'sTale,iv. 3.)

"The fanned snow, that'sboltedBy the northern blasts twice o'er."

(Winter'sTale,iv. 3.)

Cornermeans horn-blower, Fr,cor, horn, and is also a contraction of coroner, but its commonest origin is local,inangulo, in the corner.CurrenandCurryerare generally connected with leather, but Henry VII. bestowed £3 on theCurrenthat brought tidings of Perkin War-beck.Garnerhas five possible origins: (i) a contraction ofgardener,(ii)from the French personal nameGarner, Ger.Werner,(iii)Old Fr.grenier, grain-keeper, (iv) Old Fr,garennier, warren keeper, (v) local, from garner, Fr.grenier, Lat.granarium. In the next chapter will be found, as a specimen problem, an investigation of the nameRutter.

PHONETIC CHANGES

Two phonetic phenomena should also be noticed. One is the regular insertion ofnbefore the ending -ger, as inFirminger(Chapter XV),Massinger(Chapter XX),Pottinger(Chapter XVIII), and inArminger,Clavinger, from the latinizedarmiger, esquire, andclaviger, mace-bearer, etc. (Chapter XV). The other is the fact that many occupative names ending in -rerlose the -erby dissimilation (Chapter III). Examples areArmourfor armourer,Barterfor barterer,Bucklerfor bucklerer, but also for buckle-maker,Callenderfor calenderer, one who calendered,i.e. pressed, cloth

"And my good friend theCallenderWill lend his horsetogo."(JohnGilpin,1.22)—

"And my good friend theCallenderWill lend his horsetogo."

(JohnGilpin,1.22)—

Coffer, for cofferer, a treasurer,Cover, for coverer,i.e. tiler, Fr.couvreur, when it does not correspond to Fr.cuvier,i.e.amaker ofcoves, vats,Ginger,Grammer, for grammarer,Paternoster, maker of paternosters or rosaries,Pepper,Sellar, for cellarer (Chapter III),Tabor, forTaberer, player on the taber. Here also belongsTreasure, for treasurer.Salterissometimes forsautrier, a player on the psaltery. We have the opposite process in poulterer forPointer(Chapter II), and caterer forCator(Chapter III).

NAMES FROM WARES

Such names asGinger,Pepper, may however belong to the class of nicknames conferred on dealers in certain commodities; cf.Pescod,Peskett, from pease-cod. Of this we have several examples which can be confirmed by foreign parallels, e.g.Garlick, found in German as Knoblauch,[Footnote:The cognate Eng.Clove-leekoccurs as a surname in the Ramsey Chartulary.]Straw, represented in German by the cognate name Stroh, andPease, which is certified by Fr. Despois. We findWitepeasein the twelfth century.

Especially common are those names which deal with the two staple foods of the country, bread and beer. In German we find several compounds ofBrot, bread, and one of the greatest of chess-players bore the amazing nameZuckertort, sugar-tart. In French we have such names as Painchaud, Painlevê, Pain-tendre—

"Eugene Aram was usher, in 1744, to the Rev. Mr.Painblanc, in Piccadilly"(Bardsley).

"Eugene Aram was usher, in 1744, to the Rev. Mr.Painblanc, in Piccadilly"

(Bardsley).

Hence ourCakebreadandWhitbreadwere probably names given to bakers.Simnelisexplained in the same way, and Lambert Simnel is understood to have been a baker's lad, but the name could equally well be from Fr.Simonel, dim. of Simon.Wastallisfound in the Hundred Rolls asWasted, Old Fr.gastel(gâteau). Here also belongsCracknell—

"Craquelin, acracknell;made of the yolks of egges, water, and flower; and fashioned like a hollow trendle" (Cotgrave).

Goodbeeris explained by Bardsley as a perversion ofGodber(Chapter VII), which may be true, but the name is also to be taken literally. We have Ger.Gutbier, and the existence ofSouralein the Hundred Rolls andSowerbuttsat the present day justifies us in accepting bothGoodbeerandGoodaleat their face-value. ButRiceis an imitative form of WelshRhys,Reece, andSalt, when not derived from Salt in Stafford, is from Old Fr.sault, a wood, Lat.saltus. [Footnote: This is common in place-names, and I should suggest, as a guess, thatSacheverellis from the village of Sault-Chevreuil-du-Tronchet (Manche).] It is doubtful whether the nameCheeseis to be included here. Jan Kees, for John Cornelius, said to have been a nickname for a Hollander, may easily have reached the Eastern counties. Bardsley's earliest instance for the name is JohnChese, who was living in Norfolk in 1273. But still I findFurmageas a medieval surname.

We also have the dealer in meat represented by the classical example ofHogsflesh, with which we may compareMuttonandVeal, two names which may be seen fairly near each other in Hammersmith Road (but for these see also Chapter XXIII), and I have known a German named Kalbfleisch. Names of this kind would sometimes come into existence through the practice of crying wares; though if Mr.Rottenherring, who was a freeman of York in1332, obtained his in this way, he must have deliberately ignored an ancient piece of wisdom.

CHAPTER XVIA SPECIMEN PROBLEM: RUTTER

"Howe sayst thou, man? am not I a jolyrutter?"(Skelton,Magnyfycence,1.762.)

"Howe sayst thou, man? am not I a jolyrutter?"

(Skelton,Magnyfycence,1.762.)

The fairly common nameRutteris a good example of the difficulty of explaining a surname derived from a trade or calling no longer practised. Even so careful an authority as Bardsley has gone hopelessly astray over this name. He says, "Germanritter, a rider,i.e. a trooper," and quotes from Halliwell, "rutter, a rider, a trooper, from the German; a name given to mercenary soldiers engaged from Brabant, etc." Now this statement is altogether opposed to chronology. The name occurs asleroter,rotour,ruterin the Hundred Rolls of 1273,i.e. more than two centuries before any German name for trooper could possibly have become familiar in England. Any stray Mid. High Ger.Riterwould have been assimilated to the cognate Eng.Rider. It is possible that some GermanReutershave become EnglishRuttersin comparatively modern times, but the German surnameReuterhas nothing to do with a trooper. It represents Mid. High Ger.riutaere, a clearer of land, from the verbriuten(reuten), corresponding to Low Ger.roden, and related to ourroyd, a clearing (Chapter XII). This word is apparently not connected with ourroot, though it means to root out, but ultimately belongs to a rootruwhich appears in Lat.rutrum, a spade,rutabulum, a rake, etc.

There is another Ger.Reuter, a trooper, which has given the sixteenth-century Eng.rutter, but not as a surname. The word appears in German about 1500,i.e. rather late for the surname period, and comes from Du.ruiter, a mercenary trooper. The German for trooper isReiter, really the same word asRitter, a knight, the two forms having been differentiated in meaning; cf. Fr.cavalier, a trooper, andchevalier, a knight. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Ger.Reiterwas confused with, and supplanted by, this borrowed wordReuter, which was taken to mean rider, and we find the cavalry calledReutereiwell into the eighteenth century. As a matter of fact the two words are quite unrelated, though the origin of Du.ruiteris disputed.

The New English Dictionary gives, from the year 1506,rutter(var.ruter,ruiter), a cavalry soldier, especially German, from Du.ruiter, whence Ger.Reuter, as above. It connects the Dutch word with medieval Lat.rutarius,i.e.ruptarius, which is also Kluge's view.[Footnote:Deutsches Etymologisches Wrterbuch.]But Franck[Footnote:Etymologisch Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal.]sees phonetic difficulties and prefers to regardruiteras belonging rather toruiten, to uproot. The application of the name up-rooter to a lawless mercenary is not unnatural.

But whatever be the ultimate origin of this Dutch and German military word, it is sufficiently obvious that it cannot have given an English surname which is already common in the thirteenth century. There is a much earlier claimant in the field.

The New English Dictionary hasroter(1297), var.rotour,rotor, androuter(1379), a lawless person, robber, ruffian, from Old Fr.rotier(routier), and also the formrutar, used by Philemon Holland, who, in his translation of Camden'sBritannia(1610), says "That age called foraine and willing souldioursrutars." The reference is to King John's mercenaries,c. 1215. Fr,routier, a mercenary, is usually derived fromroute, a band, Lat.rupta, a piece broken off, adetachment. References to thegranderroutes, the great mercenary bands which overran France in the fourteenth century, are common in French history. But the word was popularly, and naturally, connected withroute, Lat.(via)rupta, a highway, so that Godefroy[Footnote:DictionnairederancienFrançais.] separatesroutier, a vagabond, fromroutier, a bandit soldier. Cotgrave has—

"Routier, an old traveller, one that by much trotting up and down is grown acquainted with most waies; and hence, an old beaten souldier; one whom a long practise hath made experienced in, or absolute master of, his profession; and (in evill part) an old crafty fox, notable beguiler, ordinary deceiver, subtill knave; also, a purse-taker, or a robber by the high way side."

It is impossible to determine the relative shares ofroute, a band, androute, a highway, in this definition, but there has probably been natural confusion between two words, separate in meaning, though etymologically identical.

Now our thirteenth-centuryrotorsandrulersmay represent Old Fr.routier, and have been names applied to a mercenary soldier or a vagabond. But this cannot be considered certain. If we consult du Cange,[Footnote:GlossariumadScripturesmedicsetinflowsLatinitatis.] we find, s.v.rumpere,"ruptarii, proruptuarii, quidam praedones sub xi saeculum, ex rusticis. . . collecti ac conflati," which suggests connection with "ruptuarius, colonus qui agrum seu terram rumpit, proscindit, colic,"i.e. that theruptarii, also calledrutarii,rutharii,rotharii,rotarii, etc., were so named because they were revolting peasants,i.e. men connected with theroture, or breaking of the soil, from which we getroturier, a plebeian. That would still connect ourRutterswith Lat.rumpere, but by a third road.

Finally, Old French has one more word which seems to me quite as good a candidate as any of the others, viz.roteur, a player on therote,i.e. the fiddle used by the medieval minstrels, Chaucer says of his Frere—

"Wel koude he synge and playen on arote."(A, 236.)

"Wel koude he synge and playen on arote."

(A, 236.)

The word is possibly of Celtic origin (Welshcrwth)and a doublet of the archaiccrowd, orcrowth, a fiddle. Bothroteandcrowthare used by Spenser.Crowdis perhaps not yet obsolete in dialect, and the fiddler in Hudibras is calledCrowdero. ThusRuttermay be a doublet ofCrowther. There may be other possible etymologies forRutter, but those discussed will suffice to show that the origin of occupative names is not always easily guessed.

Since the above was written I have found strong evidence for the "fiddler" derivation of the name. In 1266 it was decided by a Lancashire jury that RichardleHarperkilled WilliamleRoter, orRuter, in self-defence. I think there can be little doubt that some, if not all, of ourRuttersowe their names to the profession represented by this enraged musician. WilliamleCitolurand WilliamlePiperalso appear from the same record (Patent Rolls) to have indulged in homicide in the course of the year.

CHAPTER XVIITHE CANTERBURY PILGRIMS

In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay,Redy to wenden on my pilgrymage,To Caunterbury with ful devout corage,At nyght were come into that hostelryeWel nyne and twenty in a compaignyeOf sondry folk, by aventure y-falleIn felaweshipe, and pilgrimes were they alle,That toward Caunterbury wolden ryde."(Prologue,1. 20.)

(Prologue,1. 20.)

This famous band of wayfarers includes representatives of all classes, save the highest and the lowest, just at the period when our surnames were becoming fixed. It seems natural to distinguish the following groups. The leisured class is represented by theKnight(Chapter XV) and his son theSquire, also found asSwireorSwyer, Old Fr.escuyer(écuyer), a shield-bearer (Lat.Scutum), with their attendantYeoman, a name that originally meant a small landowner and later a trusted attendant of the warlike kind—

"And in his hand he baar a myghty bow"(A, 108.)

"And in his hand he baar a myghty bow"

(A, 108.)

With these goes theFranklin(Chapter XV), who had beenSherriff,i.e. shire-reeve. He is also described as aVavasour(p.ii)—

"Was nowher such a worthyvavasour"(A, 360.)

From the Church and the professions we have theNunn, her attendant priests, whence the namesPress,Prest, theMonk, theFrere, orFryer, "a wantowne and a merye," theClarkof Oxenforde, theSargentof the lawe, theSumner,i.e. summoner or apparitor, the doctor of physic,i.e. theLeechorLeach—

"Make war breed peace; make peace stint war; make eachPrescribe to other, as each other'sleech"(TimonofAthens,v. 4)—

"Make war breed peace; make peace stint war; make eachPrescribe to other, as each other'sleech"

(TimonofAthens,v. 4)—

[Footnote:The same word as the wormleech, from an Anglo-Saxon word for healer.]

and the poor parson.Lesurgienandlefisicienwere once common surnames, but the former is almost swallowed up bySargent, and the latter seems to have died out. The nameLeachhas been reinforced by the dialectlache, a bog, whence also the compoundsBlackleach,Depledge. Loosely attached to the church is thePardoner, with his wallet—

"Bret-ful of pardon, comen from Rome al hoot."(A, 687.)

"Bret-ful of pardon, comen from Rome al hoot."

(A, 687.)

His name still survives asPardner, and perhaps asPartner, though both are very rare.

Commerce is represented by theMarchant, depicted as a character of weight and dignity, and the humbler trades and crafts by—

"An haberdasher, and aCarpenter,AWebbe, a deyer(Dyer), and a tapiser."(A, 361.)

"An haberdasher, and aCarpenter,AWebbe, a deyer(Dyer), and a tapiser."

(A, 361.)

To these may be added the Wife of Bath, whose comfortable means were drawn from the cloth trade, then our staple industry.

From rural surroundings come the Miller and the Plowman, as kindly a man as the poor parson his brother, for—

"He wolde threshe, and therto dyke and delve,For Cristes sake, for every poure wight,Withouten hire, if it lay in his myght."

(A,536.)

TheMilleris the same as theMellerorMellor—

"Upon the whiche brook ther stant amelle;And this is verray sooth, that I yow tell."(A,3923.)

"Upon the whiche brook ther stant amelle;And this is verray sooth, that I yow tell."

(A,3923.)

[Footnote:Melleisa Kentish form, used by Chaucer for the rime; cf.petforpit(Chapter XIII).]

The oldest form of the name isMilner, from Anglo-Sax.myln, Lat.molina;cf. Kilnerfromkiln, Lat.culina, kitchen.

The official or servile class includes the manciple, or buyer for a fraternity of templars, otherwise called anachatour, whenceCator,Chaytor,Chater(Chapter III),[Footnote:Chater,Chaytormaybe also fromescheatour,anofficial who has given us the wordcheat.] theReeve, an estate steward, so crafty that—

"Ther nasbaillif(Chapter IV), neherde(Chapter III), nor ootherhyne (Chapter III),That he ne knew his sleights and his covyne"

(A,603);

and finally theCook, orCoke(Chapter I)—

"To boylle the chicknes and the marybones."(A,380.)

"To boylle the chicknes and the marybones."

(A,380.)

In a class by himself stands the grimmest figure of all, theShipman, of whom we are told

"If that he faught, and hadde the hyer hond,By water he sente hem hoom to every lond."(A, 399.)

"If that he faught, and hadde the hyer hond,By water he sente hem hoom to every lond."

(A, 399.)

The same occupation has given the nameMarner, for mariner, andSeaman, but the medieval forms of the rare nameSaylorshow that it is from Fr.sailleur, a dancer, an artist who also survives asHopperandLeaper—

"To one thatlepedatChestre,6s.8d."(Privy PurseExpensesofHenryVII,1495.)

"To one thatlepedatChestre,6s.8d."

(Privy PurseExpensesofHenryVII,1495.)

[Footnote:He was usually more generous to the high arts, e.g. "To a Spaynarde that pleyed the fole, £2," "To the young damoysell that daunceth, £30." With which cf. "To Carter for writing of a boke,7s.4d."]

The pilgrims were accompanied by the host of the Tabard Inn, whose occupation has given us the namesInmanandHostler,Oastler, Old Fr.hostelier(hôtelier), now applied to the inn servant who looks after the 'osses. Another form is the modern-lookingHustler. Distinct from these isOster, Fr.oiseleur, a bird-catcher; cf.Fowler.

ECCLESIASTICAL NAMES

If we deal here with ecclesiastical names, as being really nicknames (Chapter XV), that will leave the trader and craftsman, the peasant, and the official or servile class to be treated in separate chapters. Social, as distinguished from occupative, surnames have already been touched on, and the names, not very numerous, connected with warfare have also been mentioned in various connections.

Among ecclesiastical namesMonkhas the largest number of variants. Its Anglo-French form is sometimes represented byMunnandMoon, whileMoneyis the oldest Fr.monie;cf. Vicaryfrom Old Fr.vicarie. But the French namesLaMonnaie,delaMonnaie, are local, from residence near the mint. The canon appears asCannon,Channen, andShannon, Fr.chanoine—

"With thischanounI dwelt have seven yere"(G, 720);

"With thischanounI dwelt have seven yere"

(G, 720);

butDeanis also local sometimes (Chapter XII) andDeaconisan imitative formofDakinorDeakin, from David (Chapter VI).Charterwas used of a monk of the Charter-house, a popular corruption of Chartreuse

"With a company dyde I mete,As ermytes, monkes, and freres,Chanons,chartores. . ."(CockLorellesBote.)

"With a company dyde I mete,As ermytes, monkes, and freres,Chanons,chartores. . ."

(CockLorellesBote.)

Charteralso comes from archaic Fr.chartier(charretier), a carter, and perhaps sometimes from Old Fr.chartrier, "a jaylor; also, a prisoner" (Cotg.), which belongs to Lat.carcer, prison.[Footnote:The sense development of these two words is curious.]

Chartersmay be from the French town Chartres, but is more likely a perversion of Charterhouse, asChildersis of the obsolete "childer-house," orphanage.

Among lower orders of the church we haveLister, a reader,[Footnote:Found in Late Latin aslegista, from Lat.Legere, to read.]Bennet, an exorcist, andCollet, aphetic for acolyte. But each of these is susceptible of another origin which is generally to be preferred.Chaplinis of course for chaplain, Fr.chapelain. The legate appears asLeggatt.CrosierorCroziermeans cross-bearer. At the funeral of Anne of Cleves (1557) the mass was executed—

"By thabbott in pontificalibus wthiscroysyer, deacon and subdeacon."

Canter, Caunteris for chanter, and has an apparent dim.Cantrell, corresponding to the French nameChantereau. The practice, unknown in English, of forming dims. from occupative names is very common in French, e.g. fromMercierwe haveMercerot, fromBerger, i.e. Shepherd, a number of derivatives such asBergerat, Bergeret, Bergerot, etc.SangerandSangsterwere not necessarily ecclesiasticalSingers. Conversemeant a lay-brother employed as a drudge in a monastery.Sacristan, the man in charge of the sacristy, from which we haveSecretan, is contracted intoSaxtonandSexton, a name now usually associated with grave-digging and bell-ringing, though the latter task once belonged to theKnowler—

"Carilloneur, a chymer, orknowlerof bells" (Cotgrave).

This is of course connected with "knell," though the onlyKnellerwho has become famous was a German named Kniller.

Marillier, probably a Huguenot name, is an Old French form ofmarguillier, a churchwarden, Lat.matricularius. The hermit survives asArmatt,Armitt, with which cf. the HuguenotLermitte(l'ermite), and the name of his dwelling is common (Chapter XIII);Anker, now anchorite, is also extant. Fals-Semblant says—

"Somtyme I am religious,Now lyk anankerin an hous."(RomauntoftheRose,6348.)

"Somtyme I am religious,Now lyk anankerin an hous."

(RomauntoftheRose,6348.)

PILGRIMS

While aPilgrimacquired his name by a journey to any shrine, aPalmermust originally have been to the Holy Land, and aRomerto Rome. But the frequent occurrence ofPalmersuggests that it was often a nickname for a pious fraud. We have a doublet ofPilgriminPegram, though this may come from the name Peregrine, the etymology being the same, viz. Lat.peregrines, a foreigner.

CHAPTER XVIIITRADES AND CRAFTS

"What d'ye lack, noble sir? —What d'ye lack, beauteous madam?"(FortunesofNigel, ch.i.)

"What d'ye lack, noble sir? —What d'ye lack, beauteous madam?"

(FortunesofNigel, ch.i.)

In the Middle Ages there was no great class of retail dealers distinct from the craftsmen who fashioned objects. The same man made and sold in almost every case. There were of course general dealers, such as the FrenchMarchantor his English equivalent theChapman(Chapter II), the Dutch form of which has given us the Norfolk nameCopeman. TheBrokerisnow generally absorbed by the localBrooker. There were also the itinerant merchants, of whom more anon; but in the great majority of cases the craftsman made and sold one article, and was, in fact, strictly forbidden to wander outside his special line.

ARCHERY

Fuller tells us that—

"England were but a fling,Save for the crooked stick and the gray-goose-wing,"

Save for the crooked stick and the gray-goose-wing,"

and the importance of the bow and arrow is shown by the number of surnames connected with their manufacture. We find theBowyer,BowerorBowmaker, who trimmed and shaped the wand of yew,[Footnote:This is also one source ofBoyer, but the very common French surname Boyer means ox-herd.]theFletcher(Chapter XV),Arrowsmith, orFlower, who prepared the arrow—

"His bowe he bente and sette therinne aflo"(H, 264)—[Footnote:The true English word for arrow, Anglo-Sax. fla.]

and theTipper,Stringer, andHorner, who attended to smaller details, though theTipperandStringerprobably tipped and strung other things, and theHorner, though he made the horn nocks of the long-bow, also made horn cups and other objects.

The extent to which specialization was carried is shown by the trade description of John Darks,longbowstringemaker, who died in 1600. TheArblastermay have either made or used the arblast or cross-bow, medieval Lat.arcubalista, bow-sling. His name has given the imitativeAlabaster. We also find the shortenedBallisterandBalestier, from which we haveBannister(Chapter III). Or, to take an example from comestibles, aFlannerlimited his activity to the making of flat cakes calledflansorflawns, from Old Fr.flaon(flan), a word of Germanic origin, ultimately related toflat

"He that is hanged in May will eat noflannesin Midsummer."(TheAbbot, ch. xxxiii.)

"He that is hanged in May will eat noflannesin Midsummer."

(TheAbbot, ch. xxxiii.)

Some names have become strangely restricted in meaning, e.g.Mercer, now almost limited to silk, was a name for a dealer in any kind of merchandise (Lat.merx);in Old French it meant pedlar—

"Mercier, a good pedler, or meane haberdasher of small wares" (Cotgrave).

On the other handChandler, properly a candle-maker, is now used in the compounds corn-chandler and ship's chandler. Of all the -mongersthe only common survival isIronmongerorIremonger, with the variantIsemonger, from Mid. Eng.isen, iron.Ironmongeris also dealer in eggs, Mid. Eng.eiren.

CLOTHIERS

The wool trade occupied a very large number of workers and has given a good many surnames. TheShearerwas distinct from theShearmanorSherman, the former operating on the sheep and the latter on the nap of the cloth. ForComberwe also have the olderKempster, and probablyKimber, from the Mid. Eng.kemben, to comb, which survives in "unkempt". TheWalker,Fuller, andTucker, all did very much the same work of "waulking," or trampling, the cloth. All three words are used in Wyclif's Bible in variant renderings of Mark ix. 3.Fulleris from Fr.fouler, to trample, andTuckeris of uncertain origin.Fulleris found in the south and south-east,Tuckerin the west, andWalkerin the north. ADyerwas also calledDyster, and the same trade is the origin of the Latin-lookingDexter(Chapter II). From Mid. Eng.litster, a dyer, a word of Scandinavian origin, comesLister, as in Lister Gate, Nottingham. With these goes theWadman, who dealt in, or grew, the dye-plant called woad; cf.Flaxman. A beater of flax was calledSwingler—

"Fleyl,swyngyl, verga, tribulum"(Prompt.Parv.).

ATozerteased the cloth with a teasel. In Mid. English the verb istaesenortosen, so that the names Teaser and Towser, sometimes given to bull-terriers, are doublets.Seckermeans sack-maker.

We have already noticed the predominance ofTaylor. This is the more remarkable when we consider that the name has as rivals the nativeSeamerandShapsterand the importedParmenter, Old Fr.parmentier, a maker ofparements, now used chiefly of facings on clothes. But another, and more usual, origin ofParmenter,Parminter,Parmiter, isparchmenter, a very important medieval trade. The word would correspond to a Lat.pergamentarius, which has given also the German surnameBerminter. Several old German cities had a Permentergasse,i.e. parchment-makers' street. APilchermade pilches,i.e. fur cloaks, an early loan-word from Vulgar Lat.pellicia(pellis, skin). Chaucer's version of

"Till May is out, ne'er cast a clout"

"After greet heet cometh colde;No man caste hispilcheaway."

Another name connected with clothes isChaucer, Old Fr.chaussier, a hosier (Lat.calceus, boot), while AdmiralHozier'sGhost reminds us of the native word. The oldest meaning of hose seems to have been gaiters. It ascended in Tudor times to the dignity of breeches (cf. trunk-hose), the meaning it has in modern German. Now it has become a tradesman's euphemism for the improper word stocking, a fact which led a friend of the writer's, imperfectly acquainted with German, to ask a gifted lady of that nationality if she were aBlauhose. AChalonerorChawnerdealt in shalloon, Mid. Eng.chalons, a material supposed to have been made at Châlons-sur-Marne—

"And in his owene chambre hem made a bed,With sheetes and withchalonsfaire y-spred."(A. 4139.)

"And in his owene chambre hem made a bed,With sheetes and withchalonsfaire y-spred."

(A. 4139.)

Ganteror Gaunter is Fr. gantier, glove-maker.

METAL WORKERS

Some metal-workers have already been mentioned in connection withSmith(Chapter IV), and elsewhere. The French Fèvre, from Lat.faber, is found asFeaver.Fearoncomes from Old Fr,feron,ferron, smith.Faceleferrun,i.e. Boniface (Chapter III) the smith, lived in Northampton in the twelfth century. This is an example of the French use of -onas an agential suffix. Another example is Old Fr.charton, orcharreton, a waggoner, from the Norman form of which we haveCarton. InScriven, from Old Fr.escrivain(écrivain), we have an isolated agential suffix. The English form is usually lengthened toScrivener. InFerrier, for farrier, the traditional spelling has prevailed over the pronunciation, but we have the latter inFarrar.Ferriersometimes means ferryman, andFarrarhas absorbed the common Mid. English nicknameFayrhayr.Aguilarmeans needle-maker, Fr.aiguille, butPinneris more often official (Chapter XIX).Culler, Fr.coutelier, Old Fr.coutel, knife, andSpoonergo together, but the fork is a modern fad.Poynteris another good example of the specialization of medieval crafts: the points were the metal tags by which the doublet and hose were connected. Hence, the play on words when Falstaff is recounting his adventure with the men in buckram—

Fal. "Their points being broken—"Poins. "Down fell their hose."(IHenryIV.,ii, 4.)

Fal. "Their points being broken—"

Poins. "Down fell their hose."

(IHenryIV.,ii, 4.)

Latimer, Latnersometimes means a worker inlatten, a mixed metal of which the etymological origin is unknown. The Pardoner—

"Hadde a croys oflatounful of stones" (A, 699).

For the change from -nto -mwe may compareLorimerforLoriner, a bridle-maker, belonging ultimately to Lat.lorum, "the reyne of a brydle" (Cooper). ButLatimercomes also from Latiner, a man skilled in Latin, hence an interpreter, Sir John Mandeville tells us that, on the way to Sinai-—

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