PATRONYMICS.
We are sprung from the sea; a county of seaports is our dwelling-place,
and the sea itself our ample dominion, covered throughout its vast
extent with our fellow subjects in their "floating cities." These are
filled with our wealth, which we commit to the winds and waves to
distribute to the extremities of the four quarters of the world. We are
therefore no common people, nor are they common events which form eras
in our history; nor common revolutions which have combined and modified
the elements of our speech.
Though we have kept no genealogies to record to us from what particular
horde of settlers we are sprung--no family chronicles to tell us
whether Saxon, Dane, Norse, or Norman owns us as progeny--still our
names serve partly to distinguish us, and "words" themselves thus still
remind us of what otherwise would be totally forgotten. It has been
claimed that two-thirds of us are sprung from the Anglo-Saxons and
Danes, and had our language kept pace with our blood we should have had
about two-thirds of our modern English of the same origin. But we have
more. Our tongue is, hence, less mixed than our blood. It is therefore
easier to trace out the histories of words than of families.
It is difficult at first sight to determine whether family names have
been derived from family residences or the residences have obtained
their names from their first proprietors. The Romans imposed their
military names upon the towns of the early Britons. The Danes added
their own descrip-names, and previous to becoming converted to
Christianity gave the names of their heathen deities to the mountains
and landmarks. To these were added the names of Norse and Danish
kings and jarls. After the Norman Conquest, when the land had been
divided by William the Conqueror among his followers, comes the period
when surnames were taken from the chief lands and residences. Pagan
deities supply us with many surnames. From "Balder" comes Balderstone,
Osbaldistone. "Thor" gives us Tursdale, Turton, Thursby, Thorley,
Thurston, and Thurstaston, in the Wirral, near West Kirby. "Frëyer"
supplies Frisby, Frankby, Fry, Fryer, Fraisthorpe, and Fraser. "Uller"
or "Oller" gives Elswick, Ullersthorpe, Elston, Ulverston. From "Vé,"
a sacred place, like "Viborg," the old Jutland assize town, we derive
Wydale, Wigthorpe, Wythorpe, Willoughby, Wilbeforce, Wigton, and
Wyre. Some of our earliest Lancashire names are derived from "Gorm,"
"Billingr," "Rollo," who were Norse and Danish kings. Their names
and their compounds show us that the Danes were Christianised, as
"Ormskirk," which provides very many surnames, such as Orme, Oram,
Ormsby, Ormerod, Ormeshaw; and another form of Gorm, "Grim" as Grimshaw
and Grimsargh. Formby and Hornby may also be traced to this origin.
From "Billingr" we get Billinge, the village near Wigan, standing on
a high hill and having a beacon, Billington and other names of this
construction. From "Rollo" we derive Roby, Raby, Rollo, Rollinson,
Ribby. From "Arving," an heir, we get Irving, Irvin, and Irton. From
"Oter" we have Otter, Ottley, Uttley. The Danes sailed up the river
Douglas, and gave the name Tarleton, from "Jarlstown." Many Christian
names come from the Danish--Eric, Elsie, Karl, Harold, Hugo, Magnus,
Olave, Ralph, Ronald, Reginald. Surnames formed by the addition of
"son" or "sen" are common to both Danes and English, but never appear
in Saxon names. Thus we have Anderson, Adamson, Howson, Haldan,
Matheson, Nelson, Jackson, Johnson, Thomson, and Stevenson.
The different names we find given to the same trees arise from
different settlers giving and using their own form of name: "Birch,"
"Bracken," "Crabtree," and "Cawthorn." "Wil-ding" is also known in
Westmorland and Yorkshire. "Whasset," which gives its name to a small
hamlet near Beetham, in Westmorland, is Danish; "Wil-ding" is probably
Flemish, and also Wild, Wilde, as this name dates from about the year
A.D. 1338, when Edward III. encouraged numbers of Flemings to come
over from the Netherlands to introduce and improve the manufacture of
woollens. He located them in different parts of the country, and we
find them settled in Kendal and in the vicinity of Bury and Rochdale.
This will account for this surname being so frequently found in
Lancashire.
From Copenhagen "the harbour of merchants," we derive many important
place-names and surnames. A Copeman was a Chapman, a merchant or
dealer; and thus we derive Cheap, Cheapside, Chepstow, and Chipping.
In surnames we get Copeland, Copley, Copethorne, and Capenhurst. The
common expression "to chop or change," comes from this source. In the
London Lyckpeny of 1430 we find: "Flemings began on me for to cry
'Master, what will you copen or buy.'" In 1579, Calvin in a sermon
said: "They play the copemaisters, and make merchandise of the doctrine
of this Gospel." These early copmen remind us of the Lancashire
merchant who had visited the States after the American Civil War. He
said to the late John Bright: "How I should like to return here, fifty
years after my death, to see what wonderful progress these people have
made." John Bright replied: "I have no doubt, sir, you will be glad of
any excuse to come back."
To the abundance of surnames derived from Danish origin the following
are important:--Lund, Lindsey, Lyster, Galt or Geld, and Kell. Lund was
a grove where pagan rites were conducted. Lindsey is a grove by the
sea. Lyster is Danish for a fishing fork composed of barbed iron spikes
on a pole for spearing fish. Galt or Geld, an offering of the expiatory
barrow pig to the god "Frëyer." From Kell, in Danish a "spring," we get
Kellet and Okell.
Surnames of a distinct Danish character, and customs derived from
Viking days are to be met with in our local Fairs and Wakes. Writing
on this subject, the Rev. W. T. Bulpit of Southport says that, "Robert
de Cowdray, who died in 1222, was an enterprising Lord of Manor of
Meols, and obtained a Charter from the King, with whom he was a
_Persona-Grata_, for a weekly Wednesday market, and a yearly Fair,
to be held on the Eve and Day of St Cuthbert, to whom the church is
dedicated.
The Charter probably did but legalise what already existed; Cowdray
was a man of the world, and knew that it would be an advantage to his
estate to have a fair.
Soon after his death the Charter lapsed. Enemies said it interfered
with pre-existing fairs.
Though legally it had no existence the fair continued for centuries
in connection with St. Cuthbert's wake in March. It was also the end
of the civil year, when payments had to be made, and thus farm stock
was sold. This caused the market and wake to be useful adjuncts, and a
preparation for welcoming the New Year on March 25th, St. Cuthbert's
Day, the anniversary of his death was held on March 23rd, and a Viking
custom demanded a feast. The old name of the death feast was called
Darval, and the name was transferred to the cakes eaten at the wake,
and they were called Darvel Cakes.[C]
Long after the event commemorated was forgotten Darvel Cakes were
supplied in Lent to guests at Churchtown wakes.
Connected with these fairs there was a ceremony of electing officials,
and at these social gatherings of all the local celebrities a Mayor
was elected who generally distinguished himself by being hospitable.
Similar ceremonies still exist, where charters no longer survive, at
such places as Poulton near Blackpool, and Norden near Rochdale.
Traces of the Norman are found in Dunham Massey and Darcy Lever and a
few others, but along the whole of the east and north of the county the
Saxon and Danish landholder seems to have held in peace the ancestral
manor house in which he had dwelt before the Conquest, and the haughty
insolence of the Norman was comparatively unknown. Speke, the oldest
manor house in South Lancashire, near Liverpool, is derived from
"Spika," Norse for mast, which was used for fattening swine. "Parr"
is a wooded hill, and this word enters into many compound names.
"Bold," near St. Helens, signifies a stone house, and is the surname
of one of the oldest Lancashire families. The Norse "Brecka," a gentle
declivity, is much in evidence in West Lancashire, as in Norbreck,
Warbrick, Swarbrick, Torbrick, Killbrick in the Fylde district, and
also Scarisbrick, in the vicinity of Ormskirk. This name used to be
spelt Scaursbreck, and is a compound of "Scaur," a bird of the seagull
type, and "breck" from the natural formation of the land. Birkdale,
Ainsdale, Skelmersdale, Kirkdale, Ansdell, Kirby, Kirkby, Crosby, are
all place-names of Danish origin which provide many surnames in the
county. Where Danish names abound the dialect still partakes of a
Danish character.
ENGLISH SURNAMES.
A great majority are derived from trades and callings. Some may be
traced from ancient words which have dropped out. "Chaucer"[D] and
"Sutor" are now meaningless, but long ago both signified a shoemaker.
A "pilcher" formerly made greatcoats; a "Reader," thatched buildings
with reeds or straw; a "Latimer" was a writer in Latin for legal and
such like purposes. An "Arkwright" was the maker of the great meal
chests or "arks," which were formerly essential pieces of household
furniture; "Tucker" was a fuller; "Lorimer" was a sadler; "Launder"
or "Lavender," a washerman; "Tupper" made tubs; "Jenner" was a joiner;
"Barker" a tanner; "Dexter," a charwoman; "Bannister" kept a bath;
"Sanger" is a corruption of singer or minstrel; "Bowcher," a butcher;
"Milner" a miller; "Forster," a forester; a "Chapman" was a merchant.
The ancestors of the Colemans and Woodyers sold those commodities
in former generations; "Wagners" were waggoners; and "Naylors" made
nails. A "Kemp" was once a term for a soldier; a "Vavasour" held rank
between a knight and a baron. Certain old-fashioned Christian names
or quaint corruptions of them have given rise to patronymics which
at first sight appear hard to interpret. Everyone is not aware that
Austin is identical with Augustin; and the name Anstice is but the
shortening of Anastasius. Ellis was originally derived from Elias. Hood
in like manner is but a modern corruption of the ancient Odo, or Odin.
Everett is not far removed from the once not uncommon Christian name
Everard, while even Stiggins can be safely referred to the northern
hero "Stigand." The termination "ing," signified son or "offspring."
Thus Browning and Whiting in this way would mean the dark or fair
children. A number of ancient words for rural objects have long ago
become obsolete. "Cowdray" in olden days signified a grove of hazel;
"Garnett," a granary. The suffix "Bec" in Ashbec and Holmbec is a
survival of the Danish "by," a habitation. "Dean" signifies a hollow
or dell, and the word "bottom" meant the same thing. Thus Higginbottom
meant a dell where the "hicken" or mountain ash flourished. "Beckett"
is a little brook, from the Norse "beck." "Boys" is a corruption of
"bois," the French for wood. "Donne" means a down; "Holt," a grove,
and "Hurst," a copse. "Brock" was the old term for a badger, hence
Broxbourne; while "Gos" in Gosford signified a goose.
ON DIALECT IN LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE.
The district of England which during the Heptarchy was, and since has
been known by the name of Northumbria, which consists of the territory
lying to the north of the rivers Humber (whence the name North-humbria)
and Mersey, which form the southern boundaries, and extending north
as far as the rivers Tweed and Forth, is generally known to vary
considerably in the speech of its inhabitants from the rest of
England. Considering the great extent and importance of this district,
comprising as it does more than one-fourth of the area and population
of England, it seems surprising that the attention of philologists
should not have been more drawn to the fact of this difference and
its causes. From an essay on some of the leading characteristics of
the dialects spoken in the six northern counties of England (ancient
Northumbria) by the late Robert Backhouse Peacock, edited by the Rev.
T. C. Atkinson, 1869, we learn that, when addressing themselves to
the subject of dialect, investigators have essayed to examine it
through the medium of its written rather than its spoken language.
The characteristics to be found in the language now spoken have been
preserved in a degree of purity which does not appertain to the English
of the present day. It is therefore from the dialect rather than from
any literary monuments that we must obtain the evidence necessary for
ascertaining the extent to which this Northumbrian differs from English
in its grammatical forms,--not to speak of its general vocabulary.
The most remarkable characteristic is the definite article, or the
demonstrative pronoun--"t," which is an abbreviation of the old Norse
neuter demonstrative pronoun "hit"--Swedish and Danish "et." That this
abbreviation is not simply an elision of the letters "he" from the
English article "_the_," which is of old Frisian origin, is apparent
from the fact that all the versions of the second chapter, verse 1, for
instance, of Solomon's Song, "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of
the valleys," the uniform abbreviation for all parts of England is the
elision of the final letter "e," making _the_ into "th"; on the other
hand, out of fourteen specimens of the same verse in Northumbria, eight
give the "t" occurring three times in the verse, thus, "I's t' rooaz o'
Sharon, an' t' lily o' t' valleys."
The districts where the Scandinavian article so abbreviated prevails
are found in the versions to be the county of Durham, Central and South
Cumberland, Westmorland; all Lancashire, except the South-eastern
district, and all Yorkshire; an area which comprehends on the map about
three-fourths of all Northumbria.
The next leading feature is the proposition--i, which is used for in.
This is also a pure Scandinavianism, being not only old Norse, but used
in Icelandic, Swedish and Danish of the present day. Two instances
occur in the 14th verse of the same chapter, where for "O my dove, thou
art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs,
etc.," we have idiomatic version: "O my cushat, 'at 's i' t' grikes o'
t' crags, i' t' darkin' whols o' t' stairs."
Another word which occurs in six of the Northumbrian versions is
also Scandinavian, viz., the relative pronoun _at_ for _that_. From
this illustration of a short verse and a half of Scripture, we have
established the Norse character of the dialect as distinguished from
common English, of five of the most ordinary words in the English
language, namely, the representatives of the words _the_, _in_, _that_,
_art_ and _am_. These instances from the Etymology of the Dialects
help to establish the following canon: That when a provincial word is
common to more than one dialect district (that is, districts where in
other respects the dialects differ from each other), it may, as a rule,
be relied upon, that the word is not a corruption but a legitimate
inheritance. Those referred to, we have seen, are the inheritance of a
whole province, that province being formerly an entire kingdom.
Proceeding in the usual order of grammars, having disposed of the
article, we come next to the _substantives_. These differ from the
ordinary English in that they recognise only one "case" where English
has two. The Northumbrian dialect dispenses with the possessive or
genitive case almost entirely, and for "my father's hat," or "my
uncle's wife's mother's house," say, "my faddher hat," and "my uncle
wife muddher house." Upon which, all that need be remarked is that they
have gone further in simplifying this part of speech than the rest of
their countrymen, who have only abolished the dative and accusative
cases from the parent languages of their speech. Extreme brevity and
simplicity are eminently Norse and Northumbrian characteristics.
We have already seen some remarkable instances in the versions of
Solomon's Song, where we saw that the first three words, "I am the,"
are expressed in as many letters, namely, "I's t'"; and again in verse
14, "thou art in the," by "at 's i t'." We have here another instance
in the abolition of the genitive case-ending, out of many more that
might be added.
In pronouncing the days of the week we find: Sunnda for Sunday, Thorsda
for Thursday, and Setterda for Saturday, always with the short da. The
remaining days as in ordinary English.
In pronouns we find "wer" for "our," in the possessive case, from old
Norse vârr.
Relative--_At_ for who, which, that.
Demonstrative--T' The.
That theyar--that one.
Thoer--these or those.
Indefinites--Summat=something, somewhat. From old Norse sum-hvat,
somewhat.
The two following are common at Preston and adjacent districts:
Sooawhaasse=whosoever.
Sooawheddersa=whethersoever.
Correlative adjectival pronoun:
Sa mich=so much.
Swedish, Sâ mycket.
Adverbs from Scandinavian:
Backerds--backwards.
Connily--prettily, nicely.
eigh--yes; forrùt, forrud--forwards;
helder--preferably; i mornin--to-morrow;
i now--presently; lang sen--long since;
lowsley--loosely; neddher--lower nether;
neya--no; noo--now;
reetly--rightly; sa--so; sen--since;
Shamfully--Shamefully.
Shaply--shapely; sooa--so.
tull--to; weel--well; whaar--where.
_Interjections._
Ech!--exclamation of delight.
Hoity-toity!--what's the matter: from old Norse "hutututu."
Woe-werth!--woe betide.
AN ILLUSTRATION.
A good illustration of Danish terms may be gathered from the following
conversation heard by a minister in this county between a poor man
on his death-bed and a farmer's wife, who had come to visit him:
"Well, John," she said, "when yo' getten theer yo'll may happen see
eaur Tummus; and yo'll tell 'im we'n had th' shandry mended, un a new
pig-stoye built, un 'at we dun pretty well beawt him." "Beli' me,
Meary!" he answered, "dost think at aw's nowt for t' do bo go clumpin'
up un deawn t' skoies a seechin' yo're Tummus!" The word "mun" also is
in frequent use, and comes from the Danish verb "monne;" the Danish
"swiga," to drink in, as "to tak a good swig," and "Heaw he swigged
at it!" Many Danish words become purely English, as foul, fowl; kow,
cow; fued, food; stued, stood; drown, drown; "forenoun" and "atternoun"
became "forenoon" and "afternoon;" stalker, stalker; kok, cock; want,
to want.
In popular superstition the races had much in common. The Danish river
sprite "Nok," imagined by some to be "Nick," or "Owd Nick," the devil;
but properly "Nix," a "brownie." He wore a red cap and teased the
peasants who tried to "flit" (Danish "flytter") in order to escape him.
Though we have "Gretan," to weep, it also means to salute or bid
farewell, from the Danish "grata." "Give o'er greeting," we hear it
said to a crying child. While "greeting" is a popular word of Danish
origin, so is "Yuletide" for Christmas, and "Yule Candles," "Yule
Cakes," "Yule Log." The word "Tandle" means fire or light, and is given
to a hill near Oldham. From this we derive our "Candle." "Lake," to
play, is still used in our district, but never heard where Danish words
are not prevalent. In the Danish, "Slat" means to slop, and it is said,
"He slat the water up and down." A very common participle in Lancashire
is "beawn." The Danish "buinn" is "prepared," or "addressed to," or
"bound for," as "Weere ar't beawn furt' goo?" In Danish and Lancashire
"ling" means heath; but it does not occur in Anglo-Saxon. From the
Danish "Snig," to creep, we get "snig," eels.
Locally we also have the name "Rossendale," which covers a large extent
of our county. May we not suppose this to be from "rost," a torrent or
whirlpool, and "dale," the Danish for valley?
The names of places beginning or ending with "Garth," or "Gaard," shows
that the people were settling in "Gaarde" or farms belonging to the
chief, earl, or Udaller. With the Danish "Steen," for stone, we have
Garston, Garstang, Garton, as well as Garswood and garden.
The Danish having no such sound or dipthong as our "th," must account
for the relic of the pronunciation "at" for "that," which is much used
in our local dialect, as "It's toime at he were here,"--"at" being the
Danish conjunction for "that." The word we use for sprinkling water, to
"deg," does not come from the Anglo-Saxon "deagan," which means to dye
or tinge with colour, but from "deog" or "deigr." Shakespeare uses the
word in the "Tempest," where Prospero says: "When I have deck'd the sea
with drops full salt." From "Klumbr," a mass or clod, we get "clump,"
as clump of wood, and "clumpin' clogs." Stowe says, "He brought his
wooden shoes or clumpers with him."
Physical Types Still Existing