July 28, 1894. A Note on his Name.
Even as there is an M alike in Macedon and Monmouth, so Thomas Carew
and I have a common grievance--that our names are constantly
mispronounced. It is their own fault, of course; on the face of it
they ought to rhyme with "few" and "vouch." And if it be urged
(impolitely but with a fair amount of plausibility) that what my name
may or may not rhyme with is of no concern to anybody, I have only to
reply that, until a month or so back, I cheerfully shared this opinion
and acquiesced in the general error. Had I dreamed then of becoming a
subject for poetry, I had pointed out--as I do now--for the benefit of
all intending bards, that I do not legitimately rhyme with "vouch" (so
liable is human judgment to err, even in trifles), unless they
pronounce it "vooch," which is awkward. I believe, indeed (speaking as
one who has never had occasion to own a Rhyming Dictionary), that the
number of English words consonant with my name is exceedingly small;
but leave the difficulty to the ingenious Dr. Alexander H. Japp,
LL.D., F.R.S.E., who has lately been at the pains to compose and put
into private circulation a sprightly lampoon upon me. As it is not my
intention to reply with a set of verses upon Dr. Japp, it seems
superfluous to inquire if _his_ name should be pronounced as it is
spelt.
But Carew's case is rather important; and it is really odd that his
latest and most learned editor, the Rev. J.F. Ebsworth, should fall
into the old error. In a "dedicatory prelude" to his edition of "The
Poems and Masque of Thomas Carew" (London: Reeves & Turner), Mr.
Ebsworth writes as follows:--
"Hearken strains from one who knew
How to praise and how to sue:
_Celia's_ lover, TOM CAREW."
Thomas Carew (born April 3d, 1590, at Wickham, in Kent) was the son of
Sir Matthew Carew, Master in Chancery, and the grandson of Sir Wymond
Carew, of East Antony, or Antony St. Jacob, between the Lynher and
Tamar rivers in Cornwall, where the family of Pole-Carew lives to
this day. Now, the Cornish Carews have always pronounced their name as
"Carey," though, as soon as you cross the Tamar and find yourself (let
us say) as far east as Haccombe in South Devon, the name becomes
"Carew"--pronounced as it is written. The two forms are both of great
age, as the old rhyme bears witness--
"Carew, Carey and Courtenay,
When the Conqueror came, were here at play"--
and the name was often written "Carey" or "Cary," as in the case of
the famous Lucius Carey, Lord Falkland, and his descendants. In
Cornwall, however, where spelling is often an untrustworthy guide to
pronunciation (I have known people to write their name "Hix" and
pronounce it as "Hic"--when sober, too), it was written "Carew" and
pronounced as "Carey"; and there is not the slightest doubt that this
was the case with our poet's name. If anyone deny it, let him consider
the verse in which Carew is mentioned by his contemporaries: and
attempt, for instance, to scan the lines in Robert Baron's "Pocula
Castalia," 1650--
"Sweet _Suckling_ then, the glory of the Bower
Wherein I've wanton'd many a genial hour,
Fair Plant! whom I have seen _Minerva_ wear
An ornament to her well-plaited hair,
On highest days; remove a little from
Thy excellent _Carew_! and thou, dearest _Tom_,
_Love's Oracle_! lay thee a little off
Thy flourishing _Suckling_, that between you both
I may find room...."