PURITAN ECCENTRICITIES.
I. INTRODUCTORY 117
II. ORIGINATED BY THE PRESBYTERIAN CLERGY 121
III. CURIOUS NAMES NOT PURITAN 128
IV. INSTANCES 134
(_a._) Latin Names 134
(_b._) Grace Names 138
(_c._) Exhortatory Names 155
(_d._) Accidents of Birth 166
(_e._) General 176
V. A SCOFFING WORLD 179
(_a._) The Playwrights 182
(_b._) The Sussex Jury 191
(_c._) Royalists with Puritan Names 194
VI. BUNYAN'S DEBT TO THE PURITANS 198
VII. THE INFLUENCE OF PURITANISM ON AMERICAN NOMENCLATURE 201
EPILOGUE.
DOUBLE CHRISTIAN NAMES: THEIR RISE AND PROGRESS.
I. ROYAL DOUBLE NAMES 213
II. CONJOINED NAMES 222
III. HYPHENED NAMES 224
IV. THE DECAY OF SINGLE PATRONYMICS IN BAPTISM 228
V. THE INFLUENCE OF FOUNDLING NAMES UPON DOUBLE BAPTISMAL
NAMES 233
INDEX 239
CURIOSITIES OF PURITAN NOMENCLATURE.
PROLOGUE.
THE PET-NAME EPOCH IN ENGLAND.
"One grows too fat, another too lean: modest Matilda, pretty pleasing
Peg, sweet-singing Susan, mincing merry Moll, dainty dancing Doll,
neat Nancy, jolly Joan, nimble Nell, kissing Kate, bouncing Bess with
black eyes, fair Phillis with fine white hands, fiddling Frank, tall
Tib, slender Sib, will quickly lose their grace, grow fulsome, stale,
sad, heavy, dull, sour, and all at last out of fashion."--_Anatomy of
Melancholy._
"Be the jacks fair within, the jills fair without, the carpets laid,
and everything in order?"--_The Taming of the Shrew._
I. THE PAUCITY OF NAMES AFTER THE CONQUEST.
There were no Scripture names in England when the Conqueror took
possession; even in Normandy they had appeared but a generation or two
before William came over. If any are found in the old English period, we
may feel assured they were ecclesiastic titles, adopted at ordination.
Greek and Latin saints were equally unnoticed.
It is hard to believe the statement I have made. Before many generations
had passed, Bartholomew, Simon, Peter, Philip, Thomas, Nicholas, John, and
Elias, had engrossed a third of the male population; yet Domesday Book has
no Philip, no Thomas, only one Nicholas, and but a sprinkling of Johns. It
was not long before Jack and Jill took the place of Godric and Godgivu as
representative of the English sexes, yet Jack was from the Bible, and Jill
from the saintly Calendar.
Without entering into a deep discussion, we may say that the great mass of
the old English names had gone down before the year 1200 had been reached.
Those that survived only held on for bare existence. From the moment of
William's advent, the names of the Norman began to prevail. He brought in
Bible names, Saint names, and his own Teutonic names. The old English
names bowed to them, and disappeared.
A curious result followed. From the year 1150 to 1550, four hundred years
in round numbers, there was a very much smaller dictionary of English
personal names than there had been for four hundred years before, and than
there has been in the four hundred years since. The Norman list was
really a small one, and yet it took possession of the whole of England.
A consequence of this was the Pet-name Epoch. In every community of one
hundred Englishmen about the year 1300, there would be an average of
twenty Johns and fifteen Williams; then would follow Thomas, Bartholomew,
Nicholas, Philip, Simon, Peter, and Isaac from the Scriptures, and
Richard, Robert, Walter, Henry, Guy, Roger, and Baldwin from the Teutonic
list. Of female names, Matilda, Isabella, and Emma were first favourites,
and Cecilia, Catharine, Margaret, and Gillian came closely upon their
heels. Behind these, again, followed a fairly familiar number of names of
either sex, some from the Teuton, some from the Hebrew, some from the
Greek and Latin Church, but, when all told, not a large category.
It was, of course, impossible for Englishmen and Englishwomen to maintain
their individuality on these terms. Various methods to secure a
personality arose. The surname was adopted, and there were John Atte-wood,
John the Wheelwright, John the Bigg, and John Richard's son, in every
community. Among the middle and lower classes these did not become
_hereditary_ till so late as 1450 or 1500.[1] This was not enough, for in
common parlance it was not likely the full name would be used. Besides,
there might be two, or even three, Johns in the same family. So late as
March, 1545, the will of John Parnell de Gyrton runs:
"Alice, my wife, and Old John, my son, to occupy my farm together,
till Olde John marries; Young John, my son, shall have Brenlay's land,
plowed and sowed at Old John's cost."
The register of Raby, Leicestershire, has this entry:
"1559. Item: 29th day of August was John, and John Picke, the children
of Xtopher and Anne, baptized.
"Item: the 31st of August the same John and John were buried."
Mr. Burns, who quotes these instances in his "History of Parish
Registers," adds that at this same time "one John Barker had three sons
named John Barker, and two daughters named Margaret Barker."[2]
If the same family had but one name for the household, we may imagine the
difficulty when this one name was also popular throughout the village. The
difficulty was naturally solved by, _firstly_, the adoption of _nick_
forms; _secondly_, the addition of _pet_ desinences. Thus Emma became by
the one practice simple _Emm_, by the other _Emmott_; and any number of
boys in a small community might be entered in a register as Bartholomew,
and yet preserve their individuality in work-a-day life by bearing such
names as Bat, Bate, Batty, Bartle, Bartelot, Batcock, Batkin, and Tolly,
or Tholy. In a word, these several forms of Bartholomew were treated as so
many separate proper names.
No one would think of describing Wat Tyler's--we should now say Walter
Tyler's--insurrection as Gowen does:
"_Watte_ vocat, cui _Thoma_ venit, neque _Symme_ retardat,
_Bat_--que _Gibbe_ simul, _Hykke_ venire subent:
_Colle_ furit, quem _Bobbe_ juvat, nocumenta parantes,
Cum quibus, ad damnum _Wille_ coire volat--
_Crigge_ rapit, dum _Davie_ strepit, comes est quibus _Hobbe_,
_Larkin_ et in medio non minor esse putat:
_Hudde_ ferit, quem _Judde_ terit, dum _Tibbe_ juvatur
_Jacke_ domosque viros vellit, en ense necat."
These names, taken in order, are Walter, Thomas, Simon, Bartholomew,
Gilbert, Isaac, Nicholas, Robert, William, Gregory, David, Robert (2),
Lawrence, Hugh, Jordan (or George), Theobald, and John.
Another instance will be evidence enough. The author of "Piers Plowman"
says--
"Then goeth Glutton in, and grete other after,
_Cesse_, the sonteresse, sat on the bench:
_Watte_, the warner, and his wife bothe:
_Tymme_, the tynkere, and twayne of his prentices:
_Hikke_, the hackney man, and _Hugh_, the pedlere,
_Clarice_, of Cokkeslane, and the clerke of the churche:
_Dawe_, the dykere, and a dozen othere."
Taken in their order, these nick forms represent Cecilia, Walter, Timothy,
Isaac, Clarice, and David. It will be seen at a glance that such
appellatives are rare, by comparison, in the present day. Tricks of this
kind were not to be played with Bible names at the Reformation, and the
new names from that time were pronounced, with such exceptions as will be
detailed hereafter, in their fulness.
To speak of William and John is to speak of a race and rivalry 800 years
old. In Domesday there were 68 Williams, 48 Roberts, 28 Walters, to 10
Johns. Robert Montensis asserts that in 1173, at a court feast of Henry
II., Sir William St. John and Sir William Fitz-Hamon bade none but those
who bore the name of William to appear. There were present 120 Williams,
all knights. In Edward I.'s reign John came forward. In a Wiltshire
document containing 588 names, 92 are William, 88 John, 55 Richard, 48
Robert, 23 Roger, Geoffrey, Ralph, and Peter 16. A century later John was
first. In 1347, out of 133 common councilmen for London, first convened,
35 were John, 17 William, 15 Thomas, (St. Thomas of Canterbury was now an
institution), 10 Richard, 8 Henry, 8 Robert. In 1385 the Guild of St.
George at Norwich contained 377 names. Of these, John engrossed no less
than 128, William 47, Thomas 41. The Reformation and the Puritan
Commonwealth for a time darkened the fortunes of John and William, but the
Protestant accession befriended the latter, and now, as 800 years ago,
William is first and John second.
But when we come to realize that nearly one-third of Englishmen were known
either by the name of William or John about the year 1300, it will be seen
that the _pet name_ and _nick form_ were no freak, but a necessity. We
dare not attempt a category, but the surnames of to-day tell us much. Will
was quite a distinct youth from Willot, Willot from Wilmot, Wilmot from
Wilkin, and Wilkin from Wilcock. There might be half a dozen Johns about
the farmstead, but it mattered little so long as one was called Jack,
another Jenning, a third Jenkin, a fourth Jackcock (now Jacox as a
surname), a fifth Brownjohn, and a sixth Micklejohn, or Littlejohn, or
Properjohn (_i.e._ well built or handsome).
The _nick_ forms are still familiar in many instances, though almost
entirely confined to such names as have descended from that day to the
present. We still talk of Bob, and Tom, and Dick, and Jack. The
introduction of Bible names at the Reformation did them much harm. But the
Reformation, and the English Bible combined, utterly overwhelmed the _pet_
desinences, and they succumbed. Emmot and Hamlet lived till the close of
the seventeenth century, but only because they had ceased to be looked
upon as altered forms of old favourite names, and were entered in vestry
books on their own account as orthodox proper names.
II. PET FORMS.
These pet desinences were of four kinds.
(_a_) _Kin._
The primary sense of _kin_ seems to have been relationship: from thence
family, or offspring. The phrases "from generation to generation," or
"from father to son," in "Cursor Mundi" find a briefer expression:
"This writte was gett fra kin to kin,
That best it cuth to haf in min."
The next meaning acquired by _kin_ was child, or "young one." We still
speak in a diminutive sense of a manikin, kilderkin, pipkin, lambkin,
jerkin, minikin (little minion), or doitkin. Appended to baptismal names
it became very familiar. "A litul soth Sermun" says--
"Nor those prude yongemen
That loveth Malekyn,
And those prude maydenes
That loveth Janekyn:
* * *
Masses and matins
Ne kepeth they nouht,
For Wilekyn and Watekyn
Be in their thouht."
Unquestionably the incomers from Brabant and Flanders, whether as
troopers or artisans, gave a great impulse to the desinence. They tacked
it on to everything:
"_Rutterkin_ can speke no Englyssh,
His tongue runneth all on buttyred fyssh,
Besmeared with grece abowte his dysshe
Like a rutter hoyda."
They brought in Hankin, and Han-cock, from Johannes; not to say Baudkin,
or Bodkin, from Baldwin. _Baudechon le Bocher_ in the Hundred Rolls, and
_Simmerquin Waller_, lieutenant of the Castle of Harcourt in "Wars of the
English in France," look delightfully Flemish.
Hankin is found late:
"Thus for her love and loss poor Hankin dies,
His amorous soul down flies."
"Musarum Deliciae," 1655.
To furnish a list of English names ending in _kin_ would be impossible.
The great favourites were Hopkin (Robert),[3] Lampkin and Lambkin
(Lambert), Larkin (Lawrence), Tonkin (Antony), Dickin, Stepkin
(Stephen),[4] Dawkin (David), Adkin,[5] now Atkin (Adam, not Arthur),
Jeffkin (Jeffrey), Pipkin and Potkin (Philip), Simkin, Tipkin (Theobald),
Tomkin, Wilkin, Watkin (Walter), Jenkin, Silkin (Sybil),[6] Malkin (Mary),
Perkin (Peter), Hankin (Hans), and Halkin or Hawkin (Henry). Pashkin or
Paskin reminds us of Pask or Pash, the old baptismal name for children
born at Easter. Judkin (now as a surname also Juckin) was the
representative of Judd, that is, Jordan. George afterwards usurped the
place. All these names would be entered in their orthodox baptismal style
in all formal records. But here and there we get free and easy entries, as
for instance:
"Agnes Hobkin-wyf, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
"Henry, son of Halekyn, for 17-1/2 acres of land."--"De Lacy
Inquisition," 1311.
"Emma Watkyn-doghter, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
"Thi beste cote, Hankyn,
Hath manye moles and spottes,
It moste ben y-wasshe."
"Piers Plowman."
_Malkin_ was one of the few English female names with this appendage. Some
relics of this form of Mary still remain. Malkin in Shakespeare is the
coarse scullery wench:
"The kitchen malkin pins
Her richest lockram 'bout her reechy neck,
Clambering the walls to eye him."
"Coriolanus," Act ii. sc. 1.
While the author of the "Anatomy of Melancholy" is still more unkind, for
he says--
"A filthy knave, a deformed quean, a crooked carcass, a maukin, a
witch, a rotten post, a hedge-stake may be so set out and tricked up,
that it shall make a fair show, as much enamour as the rest."--Part
iii. sect. 2, mem. 2, sub-sect. 3.
From a drab Malkin became a scarecrow. Hence Chaucer talks of
"malkin-trash." As if this were not enough, malkin became the baker's
clout to clean ovens with. Thus, as Jack took the name of the implements
Jack used, as in boot-jack, so by easy transitions Malkin. The last hit
was when Grimalkin (that is, grey-malkin) came to be the cant term for an
old worn-out quean cat. Hence the witch's name in "Macbeth."
It will be seen at a glance why Malkin is the only name of this class that
has no place among our surnames.[7] She had lost character. I have
suggested, in "English Surnames," that Makin, Meakin, and Makinson owe
their origin to either Mary or Maud. I would retract that supposition.
There can be little doubt these are patronymics of Matthew, just as is
Maycock or Meacock. Maykinus Lappyng occurs in "Materials for a History of
Henry VII.," and the Maykina Parmunter of the Hundred Rolls is probably
but a feminine form. The masculine name was often turned into a feminine,
but I have never seen an instance of the reverse order.
Terminations in _kin_ were slightly going down in popular estimation, when
the Hebrew invasion made a clean sweep of them. They found shelter in
Wales, however, and our directories preserve in their list of surnames
their memorial for ever.[8]
(_b_) _Cock._
The term "cock" implied _pertness_: especially the pertness of lusty and
swaggering youth. To cock up the eye, or the hat, or the tail, a haycock
in a field, a cock-robin in the wood, and a cock-horse in the nursery, all
had the same relationship of meaning--brisk action, pert
demonstrativeness. The barn-door cockerel was not more cockapert than the
boy in the scullery that opened upon the yard where both strutted. Hence
any lusty lad was "Cock," while such fuller titles as Jeff-cock, or
Sim-cock, or Bat-cock gave him a preciser individuality. The story of
"Cocke Lorelle" is a relic of this; while the prentice lad in "Gammer
Gurton's Needle," acted at Christ College, Cambridge, in 1566, goes by the
only name of "Cock." Tib the servant wench says to Hodge, after the needle
is gone--
"My Gammer is so out of course, and frantic all at once,
That Cock our boy, and I, poor wench, have felt it on our bones."
By-and-by Gammer calls the lad to search:
"Come hither, Cock: what, Cock, I say.
_Cock._ How, Gammer?
_Gammer._ Go, hie thee soon: and grope behind the old brass pan."
Such terms as nescock, meacock, dawcock, pillicock, or lobcock may be
compounds--unless they owe their origin to "cockeney," a spoiled,
home-cherished lad. In "Wit without Money" Valentine says--
"For then you are meacocks, fools, and miserable."
In "Appius and Virginia" (1563) Mausipula says (Act i. sc. 1)--
"My lady's great business belike is at end,
When you, goodman dawcock, lust for to wend."
In "King Lear"
"Pillicock sat on pillicock-hill"
seems an earlier rendering of the nursery rhyme--
"Pillicock, Pillicock sate on a hill,
If he's not gone, he sits there still."
In "Wily Beguiled" Will Cricket says to Churms--
"Why, since you were bumbasted that your lubberly legs would not carry
your lobcock body."
These words have their value in proving how familiarly the term _cock_ was
employed in forming nicknames. That it should similarly be appended to
baptismal names, especially the nick form of Sim, Will, or Jeff, can
therefore present no difficulty.
_Cock_ was almost as common as "_kin_" as a desinence. _Sim-cock_ was
_Simcock_ to the end of his days, of course, if his individuality had come
to be known by the name.
"Hamme, son of Adecock, held 29 acres of land.
"Mokock de la Lowe, for 10 acres.
"Mokock dal Moreclough, for six acres.
"Dik, son of Mocock, of Breercroft, for 20 acres."--"The De Lacy
Inquisition," 1311.
Adecock is Adam, and Mocock or Mokock is Matthew. In the same way
Sander-cock is a diminutive of Sander, Lay-cock of Lawrence, Luccock of
Luke, Pidcock and Peacock of Peter, Maycock and Mycock of Matthew,
Jeff-cock of Jeffrey, Johncock of John, Hitch-cock or Hiscock or Heacock
of Higg or Hick (Isaac), Elcock of Ellis, Hancock or Handcock of Han or
Hand (Dutch John), Drocock or Drewcock of Drew, Wilcock of William,
Badcock or Batcock of Bartholomew, and Bawcock of Baldwin, Adcock or
Atcock of Adam, Silcock of Silas, and Palcock of Paul:
"Johannes Palcock, et Beatrix uxor ejus, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
"Ricardus Sylkok, et Matilda uxor ejus, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
The difficulty of identification was manifestly lessened in a village or
town where _Bate_ could be distinguished from _Batkin_, and _Batkin_ from
_Batcock_. Hence, again, the common occurrence of such a component as
_cock_. This diminutive is never seen in the seventeenth century; and yet
we have many evidences of its use in the beginning of the sixteenth. The
English Bible, with its tendency to require the full name as a matter of
reverence, while it supplied new names in the place of the old ones that
were accustomed to the desinence, caused this. It may be, too, that the
new regulation of Cromwell in 1538, requiring the careful registration of
all baptized children, caused parents to lay greater stress on the name as
it was entered in the vestry-book.
Any way, the sixteenth century saw the end of names terminating in "cock."
(_c._) _On or In._
A dictionary instance is "violin," that is, a little viol, a fiddle of
four strings, instead of six. This diminutive, to judge from the Paris
Directory, must have been enormously popular with our neighbours. Our
connection with Normandy and France generally brought the fashion to the
English Court, and in habits of this kind the English folk quickly copied
their superiors. Terminations in _kin_ and _cock_ were confined to the
lower orders first and last. Terminations in _on_ or _in_, and _ot_ or
_et_, were the introduction of fashion, and being under patronage of the
highest families in the land, naturally obtained a much wider popularity.
Our formal registers, again, are of little assistance. Beton is coldly and
orthodoxly Beatrice or Beatrix in the Hundred Rolls. Only here and there
can we gather that Beatrice was never so called in work-a-day life. In
"Piers Plowman" it is said--
"_Beton_ the Brewestere
Bade him good morrow."
And again, later on:
"And bade Bette cut a bough,
And beat _Betoun_ therewith."
If Alice is Alice in the registrar's hands, not so in homely Chaucer:
"This _Alison_ answered: Who is there
That knocketh so? I warrant him a thefe."
Or take an old Yorkshire will:
"Item: to Symkyn, and Watkyn, and Alison Meek, servandes of John of
Bolton, to ilk one of yaim, 26{s}. 8{d}."--"Test. Ebor." iii. 21.
Surtees Society.
Hugh, too, gets his name familiarly entered occasionally:
"_Hugyn_ held of the said earl an oxgang of land, and paid yearly
iii{s}. vi{d}."--"The De Lacy Inquisition," 1311.
Huggins in our directories is the memorial of this. But in the north of
England Hutchin was a more popular form. In the "Wappentagium de
Strafford" occurs--
"Willelmus Huchon, & Matilda uxor ejus, iiii{d}."
Also--
"Elena Houchon-servant, iiii{d}."
that is, Ellen the servant of Houchon. Our Hutchinsons are all north of
Trent folk. Thus, too, Peter (Pier) became Perrin:
"The wife of Peryn."--"Manor of Ashton-under-Lyne," Chetham Society,
p. 87.
Marion, from Mary, is the only familiar instance that has descended to us,
and no doubt we owe this fact to Maid Marion, the May-lady. Many a Mary
Ann, in these days of double baptismal names, perpetuates the impression
that Marion or Marian was compounded of Mary and Ann.
Of familiar occurrence were such names as _Perrin_, from Pierre, Peter;
_Robin_ and _Dobbin_, from Rob and Dob, Robert; _Colin_, from Col,
Nicholas; _Diccon_, from Dick, Richard; _Huggin_, from Hugh; _Higgin_,
from Hick or Higg, Isaac; _Figgin_, from Figg, Fulke;[9] _Phippin_, from
Phip and Philip; and _Gibbin_, or _Gibbon_, or _Gilpin_, from Gilbert.
Every instance proves the debt our surnames have incurred by this
practice.
Several cases are obscured by time and bad pronunciation. Our Tippings
should more rightly be Tippins, originally Tibbins, from Tibbe (Theobald);
our Collinges and Collings, Collins; and our Gibbings, Gibbins. Our
Jennings should be Jennins; _Jennin_ Caervil was barber to the Earl of
Suffolk in the French wars ("Wars of England in France," Henry VI.).
Robing had early taken the place of Robin:
"Johanne Robyng-doghter, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
Such entries as Raoulin Meriel and Raoul Partrer (this Raoul was private
secretary to Henry VI.) remind us of the former popularity of Ralph and of
the origin of our surnames Rawlins and Rawlinson:
"Dionisia Rawlyn-wyf, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
Here again, however, the "_in_" has become "_ing_," for Rawlings is even
more common than Rawlins. Deccon and Dickin have got mixed, and both are
now Dickens, although Dicconson exists as distinct from Dickinson. Spenser
knew the name well:
"Diggon Davie, I bid her 'good-day;'
Or Diggon her is, or I missay."
"Matilda Dicon-wyf, webester, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
The London Directory contains Lamming and Laming. Alongside are Lampin,
Lamin, and Lammin. These again are more correct, all being surnames formed
from Lambin, a pet form of Lambert:
"Willelmus Lambyn, et Alicia uxor ejus, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
Lambyn Clay played before Edward at Westminster at the great festival in
1306 (Chappell's "Popular Music of ye Olden Time," i. 29). The French
forms are Lambin, Lamblin, and Lamberton, all to be met with in the Paris
Directory.
All these names are relics of a custom that is obsolete in England, though
not with our neighbours.
(_d._) _Ot and Et._
These are the terminations that ran first in favour for many generations.
This diminutive _ot_ or _et_ is found in our language in such words as
_poppet_, _jacket_, _lancet_, _ballot_, _gibbet_, _target_, _gigot_,
_chariot_, _latchet_, _pocket_, _ballet_. In the same way a little page
became a _paget_, and hence among our surnames Smallpage, Littlepage, and
Paget.
Coming to baptism, we find scarcely a single name of any pretensions to
popularity that did not take to itself this desinence. The two favourite
girl-names in Yorkshire previous to the Reformation were Matilda and Emma.
Two of the commonest surnames there to-day are Emmott and Tillot, with
such variations as Emmett and Tillett, Emmotson and Tillotson. The
archbishop came from Yorkshire. _Tyllot_ Thompson occurs under date 1414
in the "Fabric Rolls of York Minster" (Surtees Society).
"Rome, April 27, Eugenius IV. (1433). Dispensation from Selow for
Richard de Akerode and Emmotte de Greenwood to marry, they being
related in the fourth degree."--"Test. Ebor.," iii. 317.
"Licence to the Vicar of Bradford to marry Roger Prestwick and Emmote
Crossley. Bannes thrice in one day" (1466).--"Test. Ebor.," iii. 338.
Isabella was also popular in Yorkshire: hence our Ibbots and Ibbotsons,
our Ibbetts and Ibbetsons. Registrations such as "Ibbota filia Adam," or
"Robert filius Ibote," are of frequent occurrence in the county archives.
The "Wappentagium de Strafford" has:
"Johanna Ibot-doghter, iiii{d}.
"Willelmus Kene, et Ibota uxor ejus, iiii{d}.
"Thomas Gaylyour, et Ebbot sa femme, iiii{d}."
Cecilia became Sissot or Cissot:
"Willelmus Crake, & Cissot sa femme, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
In the "Manor of Ashton-under-Lyne" (Chetham Society), penned fortunately
for our purpose in every-day style, we have such entries as--
"Syssot, wife of Patrick.
"Syssot, wife of Diccon Wilson.
"Syssot, wife of Thomas the Cook.
"Syssot, wife of Jak of Barsley."
Four wives named Cecilia in a community of some twenty-five families will
be evidence enough of the popularity of that name. All, however, were
known in every-day converse as Sissot.
Of other girl-names we may mention Mabel, which from Mab became Mabbott;
Douce became Dowcett and Dowsett; Gillian or Julian, from Gill or Jill
(whence Jack and Jill), became Gillot, Juliet, and Jowett; Margaret became
Margett and Margott, and in the north Magot. Hence such entries from the
Yorkshire parchments, already quoted, as--
"Thomas de Balme, et Magota uxor ejus, chapman, iiii{d}.
"Hugo Farrowe, et Magota uxor ejus, smyth, iiii{d}.
"Johannes Magotson, iiii{d}."
Custance became Cussot, from Cuss or Cust, the nick form. The Hundred
Rolls contain a "Cussot Colling"--a rare place to find one of these
diminutives, for they are set down with great clerkly formality.
From Lettice, Lesot was obtained:
"Johan Chapman, & Lesot sa femme, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
And Dionisia was very popular as Diot:
"Johannes Chetel, & Diot uxor ejus, iiii{d}.
"Willelmus Wege, & Diot uxor ejus, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
Of course, it became a surname:
"Robertus Diot, & Mariona uxor ejus, iiii{d}.
"Willelmus Diotson, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
It is curious to observe that Annot, which now as Annette represents Anne,
in Richard II.'s day was extremely familiar as the diminutive of Annora or
Alianora. So common was Annot in North England that the common sea-gull
came to be so known. It is a mistake to suppose that Annot had any
connection with Anna. One out of every eight or ten girls was Annot in
Yorkshire at a time when Anna is never found to be in use at all:
"Stephanus Webester, & Anota uxor ejus, iiii{d}.
"Richard Annotson, wryght, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
As Alianora and Eleanora are the same, so were Enot and Anot:
"Henricus filius Johannis Enotson, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
Again, Eleanor became Elena, and this Lina and Linot. Hence in the Hundred
Rolls we find "Linota atte Field." In fact, the early forms of Eleanor are
innumerable. The favourite Sibilla became Sibot:
"Johannes de Estwode, et Sibota uxor ejus, iiii{d}.
"Willelmus Howeson, et Sibbota uxor ejus, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
Mary not merely became Marion, but Mariot, and from our surnames it would
appear the latter was the favourite:
"Isabella serviens Mariota Gulle, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
"Mariota in le Lane."--Hundred Rolls.
Eve became Evot, Adam and Eve being popular names. In the will of William
de Kirkby, dated 1391, are bequests to "Evae uxori Johannes Parvying" and
"Willielmo de Rowlay," and later on he refers to them again as the
aforementioned "Evotam et dictum Willielmum Rowlay" ("Test. Ebor.," i.
145. Surtees Society).
But the girl-name that made most mark was originally a boy's name,
Theobald. Tibbe was the nick form, and Tibbot the pet name. Very speedily
it became the property of the female sex, such entries as Tibot Fitz-piers
ending in favour of Tibota Foliot. After the year 1300 Tib, or Tibet, is
invariably feminine. In "Gammer Gurton's Needle," Gammer says to her
maid--
"How now, Tib? quick! let's hear what news thou hast brought
hither."--Act. i. sc. 5.
In "Ralph Roister Doister," the pet name is used in the song, evidently
older than the play:
"Pipe, merry Annot, etc.,
Trilla, Trilla, Trillary.
Work, Tibet; work, Annot; work, Margery;
Sew, Tibet; knit, Annot; spin, Margery;
Let us see who will win the victory."
Gib, from Gilbert, and Tib became the common name for a male and female
cat. Scarcely any other terms were employed from 1350 to 1550:
"For right no more than Gibbe, our cat,
That awaiteth mice and rattes to killen,
Ne entend I but to beguilen."
Hence both Tibet and Gibbet were also used for the same; as in the old
phrase "flitter-gibbett," for one of wanton character. Tom in tom-cat came
into ordinary parlance later. All our modern Tibbots, Tibbetts, Tibbitts,
Tippitts, Tebbutts, and their endless other forms, are descended from
Tibbe.
Coming to boys' names, all our Wyatts in the Directory hail from
Guiot,[10] the diminutive of Guy, just as Wilmot from William:
"Adam, son of Wyot, held an oxgang of land."--"De Lacy Inquisition."
"Ibbote Wylymot, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
_Payn_ is met in the form of Paynot and Paynet, _Warin_ as Warinot, _Drew_
as Drewet, _Philip_ as Philpot, though this is feminine sometimes:
"Johannes Schikyn, et Philipot uxor ejus, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
_Thomas_ is found as Thomaset, _Higg_ (Isaac) as Higgot, _Jack_ as
Jackett, _Hal_ (Henry) as Hallet (Harriot or Harriet is now feminine), and
Hugh or Hew as Hewet:
"Dionisia Howet-doghter, iiii{d}."--W. D. S.
The most interesting, perhaps, of these examples is Hamnet, or Hamlet.
Hamon, or Hamond, was introduced from Normandy:
"Hamme, son of Adcock, held 29 acres of land."--"De Lacy Inquisition,"
1311.
It became a favourite among high and low, and took to itself the forms of
Hamonet and Hamelot:
"The wife of Richard, son of Hamelot."--"De Lacy Inquisition," 1311.
These were quickly abbreviated into Hamnet and Hamlet. They ran side by
side for several centuries, and at last, like Emmot, defied the English
Bible, the Reformation, and even the Puritan period, and lived unto the
eighteenth century. Hamlet Winstanley, the painter, was born in 1700, at
Warrington, and died in 1756. In Kent's London Directory for 1736 several
Hamnets occur as baptismal names. Shakespeare's little son was Hamnet, or
Hamlet, after his godfather Hamnet Sadler. I find several instances where
both forms are entered as the name of the same boy:
"Nov. 13, 1502. Item: the same day to Hamlet Clegge, for money by him
layed out ... to the keper of Dachet Ferrey in rewarde for conveying
the Quenes grace over Thamys there, iii{s}. iiii{d}."
Compare this with--
"June 13, 1502. Item: the same day to Hampnet Clegge, for mone by him
delivered to the Quene for hir offring to Saint Edward at Westm.,
vi{s}. viii{d}."--"Privy Purse Expenses, Eliz. of York," pp. 21 and
62.
Speaking of Hamelot, we must not forget that _ot_ and _et_ sometimes
became _elot_ or _elet_. As a diminutive it is found in such dictionary
words as bracelet, tartlet, gimblet, poplet (for poppet). The old ruff or
high collar worn alike by men and women was styled a _partlet_:
"Jan. 1544. Item: from Mr. Braye ii. high collar partletts, iii{s}.
ix{d}."--"Privy Purse Expenses, Princess Mary."
Hence partlet, a hen, on account of the ruffled feathers, a term used
alike by Chaucer and Shakespeare.
In our nomenclature we have but few traces of it. In France it was very
commonly used. But Hughelot or Huelot, from Hugh, was popular, as our
Hewletts can testify. Richelot for Richard, Hobelot and Robelot for
Robert, Crestolot for Christopher, Cesselot for Cecilia, and Barbelot for
Barbara, are found also, and prove that the desinence had made its mark.
Returning, however, to _ot_ and _et_: Eliot or Elliot, from Ellis (Elias),
had a great run. In the north it is sometimes found as Aliot:
"Alyott de Symondeston held half an oxgang of land, xix{d}."--"De Lacy
Inquisition," 1311.
The feminine form was Elisot or Elicot, although this was used also for
boys. The will of William de Aldeburgh, written in 1319, runs--
"Item: do et lego Elisotae domicellae meae 40{s}."--"Test. Ebor.," i.
151.
The will of Patrick de Barton, administered in the same year, says--
"Item: lego Elisotae, uxori Ricardi Bustard unam vaccam, et
10{s}."--"Test. Ebor.," i. 155.
"Eliseus Carpenter, cartwyth, et Elesot uxor ejus, vi{d}."--W. D. S.
As Ellis became Ellisot, so Ellice became Ellicot, whence the present
surname. Bartholomew became Bartelot, now Bartlett, and from the pet form
Toll, or Tolly, came Tollett and Tollitt.
It is curious to notice why Emmot and Hamlet, or Hamnet, survived the
crises that overwhelmed the others. Both became baptismal names in their
own right. People forgot in course of time that they were diminutives of
Emma and Hamond, and separated them from their parents. This did not come
about till the close of Elizabeth's reign, so they have still the credit
of having won a victory against terrible odds, the Hebrew army. Hamnet
Shakespeare was so baptized. Hamon or Hamond would have been the regular
form.
Looking back, it is hard to realize that a custom equally affected by
prince and peasant, as popular in country as town, as familiar in
Yorkshire and Lancashire as in London and Winchester, should have been so
completely uprooted, that ninety-nine out of the hundred are now unaware
that it ever existed. This was unmistakably the result of some disturbing
element of English social life. At the commencement of the sixteenth
century there was no appearance of this confusion. In France the practice
went on without let or hindrance. We can again but attribute it to the
Reformation, and the English Bible, which swept away a large batch of the
old names, and pronounced the new without addition or diminution. When
some of the old names were restored, it was too late to fall back upon the
familiarities that had been taken with them in the earlier period.
(_e._) _Double Terminatives._
In spite of the enormous popularity in England of _ot_ and _et_, they bear
no proportion to the number in France. In England our _local_ surnames are
two-fifths of the whole. In France _patronymic_ surnames are almost
two-fifths of the whole. Terminatives in _on_ or _in_, and _ot_ and _et_,
have done this. We in England only adopted double diminutives in two
cases, those of _Colinet_ and _Robinet_, or _Dobinet_, and both were
rarely used. Robinet has come down to us as a surname; and Dobinet so
existed till the middle of the fifteenth century, for one John Dobynette
is mentioned in an inventory of goods, 1463 (Mun. Acad. Oxon.). This
Dobinet seems to have been somewhat familiarly used, for Dobinet Doughty
is Ralph's servant in "Ralph Roister Doister." Matthew Merrygreek says--
"I know where she is: Dobinet hath wrought some wile.
_Tibet Talkapace._ He brought a ring and token, which he said was
sent
From our dame's husband."--Act. iii. sc. 2.
Colin is turned into Colinet in Spenser's "Shepherd's Calendar," where
Colin beseeches Pan:
"Hearken awhile from thy green cabinet,
The laurel song of careful Colinet?"
Jannet is found as Janniting (Jannetin) once on English soil, for in the
"London Chanticleers," a comedy written about 1636, Janniting is the
apple-wench. _Welcome_ says--
"Who are they which they're enamoured so with?
_Bung._ The one's Nancy Curds, and the other Hanna Jenniting: Ditty
and Jenniting are agreed already ... the wedding will be kept at our
house."--Scene xiii.
But the use of double diminutives was of every-day practice in Normandy
and France, and increased their total greatly. I take at random the
following _surnames_ (originally, of course, christian names) from the
Paris Directory:--Margotin, Marioton, Lambinet (Lambert), Perrinot,
Perrotin, Philiponet, Jannotin, Hugonet, Huguenin, Jacquinot, and
Fauconnet (English Fulke). Huguenin (little wee Hugh) repeats the same
diminutive; Perrinot and Perrotin (little wee Peter) simply reverse the
order of the two diminutives. The "marionettes" in the puppet-show take
the same liberty with Mariotin (little wee Mary) above mentioned. Hugonet,
of course, is the same as Huguenot; and had English, not to say French,
writers remembered this old custom, they would have found no difficulty in
reducing the origin of the religious sect of that name to an _individual_
as a starting-point. _Guillotin_ (little wee William) belongs to the same
class, and descended from a baptismal name to become the surname of the
famous doctor who invented the deadly machine that bears his title. I have
discovered one instance of this as a baptismal name, viz. Gillotyne
Hansake ("Wars of English in France: Henry VI.," vol. ii. p. 531).
Returning to England, we find these pet forms in use well up to the
Reformation:
"Nov., 1543. Item: geven to Fylpot, my Lady of Suffolk's lackaye,
vii{s}. vi{d}.
"June, 1537. Item: payed to Typkyn for cherys, xx{d}."--"Privy Purse
Expenses, Princess Mary."
"1548, July 22. Alson, d. of Jenkin Rowse."--St. Columb Major.
"1545, Oct. 3. Baptized Alison, d. of John James."--Ditto.[11]
"Ralph Roister Doister," written not earlier than 1545, and not later than
1550, by Nicholas Udall, contains three characters styled Annot Alyface,
Tibet Talkapace, and Dobinet Doughty. Christian Custance, Sim Suresby,
Madge Mumblecheek, and Gawyn Goodluck are other characters, all well-known
contemporary names.
In "Thersites," an interlude written in 1537, there is mention of
"_Simkin_ Sydnam, Sumnor,
That killed a cat at Cumnor."
_Jenkin_ Jacon is introduced, also _Robin_ Rover. In a book entitled
"Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic" (Henry VIII.), we find a
document (numbered 1939, and dated 1526) containing a list of the
household attendants and retinue of the king. Even here, although so
formal a record, there occurs the name of "Hamynet Harrington, gentleman
usher."
We may assert with the utmost certainty that, on the eve of the Hebrew
invasion, there was not a baptismal name in England of average popularity
that had not attached to it in _daily converse_ one or other of these
diminutives--_kin_, _cock_, _in_, _on_, _ot_, and _et_; not a name, too,
that, before it had thus attached them, had not been shorn of all its
fulness, and curtailed to a monosyllabic nick form. Bartholomew must
first become Bat before it becomes Batcock, Peter must become Pierre
before Perrot can be formed, Nicholas must be abbreviated to Col or Cole
before Col or Cole can be styled Colin, and Thomas must be reduced to Tom
before Tomkin can make his appearance.
Several names had attached to themselves all these enclytics. For
instance, Peter is met with, up to the crisis we are about to consider, in
the several shapes of Perkin or Parkin, Peacock, Perrot, and Perrin; and
William as Willin (now Willing and Willan in our directories), Wilcock,
Wilkin, and Wilmot, was familiar to every district in the country.
III. SCRIPTURE NAMES ALREADY IN USE AT THE REFORMATION.
It now remains simply to consider the state of nomenclature in England at
the eve of the Reformation in relation to the Bible. _Four_ classes may be
mentioned.
(_a._) _Mystery Names._
The leading incidents of Bible narrative were familiarized to the English
lower orders by the performance of sacred plays, or mysteries, rendered
under the supervision of the Church. To these plays we owe the early
popularity of Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Sara,
Daniel, Sampson, Susanna, Judith, Hanna or Anna, and Hester. But the
Apocryphal names were not frequently used till about 1500. Scarcely any
diminutives are found of them. On the other hand, Adam became Adcock and
Adkin; Eve, Evott and Evett; Isaac, Hickin, and Higgin, and Higgot, and
Higget; Joseph, Joskin; and Daniel, Dankin and Dannet.
(_b._) _Crusade Names._
The Crusaders gave us several prominent names. To them we are indebted for
_Baptist_, _Ellis_, and _Jordan_: and _John_ received a great stimulus.
The sacred water brought in the leathern bottle was used for baptismal
purposes. The Jordan commemorated John the Baptist, the second Elias, the
forerunner and baptizer of Jesus Christ. Children were styled by these
incidents. _Jordan_ became popular through Western Europe. In England he
gave us, as already observed, Judd, Judkin, Judson, Jordan, and Jordanson.
Elias, as Ellis, took about the eighth place of frequency, and John, for a
while, the first.
(_c._) _The Saints' Calendar._
The legends of the saints were carefully taught by the priesthood, and the
day as religiously observed. All children born on these holy days received
the name of the saint commemorated: St. James's Day, or St. Nicholas's
Day, or St. Thomas's Day, saw a small batch of Jameses, Nicholases, and
Thomases received into the fold of the Church. In other cases the gossip
had some favourite saint, and placed the child under his or her
protection. Of course, it bore the patron's name. A large number of these
hagiological names were extra-Biblical--such as Cecilia, Catharine, or
Theobald. Of these I make no mention here. All the Apostles, save Judas,
became household names, John, Simon, Peter, Bartholomew, Matthew, James,
Thomas, and Philip being the favourites. Paul and Timothy were also
utilized, the former being always found as Pol.
(_d._) _Festival Names._
If a child was born at Whitsuntide or Easter, Christmas or Epiphany, like
Robinson Crusoe's man Friday, or Thursday October Christian of the
Pitcairn islanders, he received the name of the day. Hence our once
familiar names of Noel or Nowell, Pask or Pascal, Easter, Pentecost, and
Epiphany or Tiffany.
It will be observed that all these imply no direct or personal
acquaintance with the Scriptures. All came through the Church. All, too,
were in the full tide of prosperity--with the single exception of Jordan,
which was nearly obsolete--when the Bible, printed into English and set up
in our churches, became an institution. The immediate result was that the
old Scripture names of Bartholomew, Peter, Philip, and Nicholas received a
blow much deadlier than that received by such Teutonic names as Robert,
Richard, Roger, and Ralph. But that will be brought out as we progress.
The subject of the influence of an English Bible upon English nomenclature
is not uninteresting. It may be said of the "Vulgar Tongue" Bible that it
revolutionized our nomenclature within the space of forty years, or little
over a generation. No such crisis, surely, ever visited a nation's
register before, nor can such possibly happen again. Every home felt the
effect. It was like the massacre of the innocents in Egyptian days: "There
was not one house where there was not one dead." But in Pharoah's day they
did not replace the dead with the living. At the Reformation such a locust
army of new names burst upon the land that we may well style it the Hebrew
Invasion.