indeed left a name behind him"; and not only the "name," but wherever
found he still exhibits "the indomitable vigor of the Scandinavian
with the buoyant vivacity of the Gaul." It must be remembered, in
discussing so large and complicated a subject as this, that philosophic
scholarship is seldom narrow, absolute, final, or exclusive in its
views. It would be folly to affirm, says the anonymous English writer
who anticipated in certain aspects the theories of Du Chaillu, that
the possession of Norman and Danish blood "always implies energy
and intellect; and Saxon descent, the reverse." We have too much
evidence to the contrary. It is not individual instances that are now
under consideration; it is the comparative qualities of _race_. We
can only safely affirm, in a rational and considerate discussion of
the question, that our people are not Saxons nor Scandinavians, nor
Normans, but broadly speaking, are a great branch of the English race
which happily mingles the highest qualities of the THREE; the stolid
conservatism of the first, the daring enterprise of the second, the
"buoyant vivacity," the "spontaneity, enthusiasm, and versatility" of
the third. When these racial elements were fairly balanced, as in the
time of Elizabeth, the evolution of the Englishman was complete. It
was then that, surcharged with complex currents of racial vitality,
the adventurous "Elizabethan" sought our shore. The Virginian hunter
followed or formed a trail in every wilderness, and the Yankee skipper
trafficked on every coast. The march begun in Central Asia was resumed
upon the American Continent, and "the most dramatic spectacle in
history" was gradually unfolded before the eyes of men.
[Illustration: NORTHUMBRIA.]
We should find many Anglo-Norman or Scandinavian names upon the company
rolls of that vast host. Many of these names we have already heard,
and, beside the bold Norman, others walk unseen--men of blended races
cast in the same heroic mold. It is the mark of a "true Kentuckian"
that, like the amiable and sagacious Isaac le Bon, he appreciates a
good "cross," and to the end of time he will carry the cross which was
originally stamped upon his English ancestor in the ancient nursery of
the race. He has no quarrel, therefore, with his Anglo-Saxon blood.
"Nature," as Mr. Disraeli says: "natural selection," as others say,
seems to delight in working with a purpose and upon a plan; and, when
impelled to frame a creature that could do the work which apparently
the Anglo-Norman was called to do, she seems to have found her model in
the man of ancient ROME: she made him _strong_--a man of oak and bronze.
_Illi tobur et æs_ TRIPLEX. Some of the elements may be crude, but
_all_ must be strong. A Roman trireme might safely carry a Vergilian
body and an Horatian soul; but only a vessel framed with the toughest
constituents at Nature's command could carry for century after century,
in every land, upon every sea, in the "teeth of clenched antagonisms,"
and upon fixed predestinated lines, the fortunes of the English or
"Anglo-Norman" race.
In point of fact, DESTINY itself seems to have directed the process of
evolution when the germ-plasm of those picked races--the Norman, the
Saxon, and the Dane--was united to create the English or Anglo-Norman
race, the Norman element by virtue of peculiar traits being dominant
in the "cross." The Kentuckian is no degenerate product of this
magnificent ancestral "blend," and one of the objects of the "Names"
and the accompanying "Notes" is to show that in every characteristic
respect he has bred true to the ancient blood. If the storm of Norman
conquest scarcely touched the solid elements of that old manorial life,
so the continuous intermingling, through many centuries, of the blood
of three remotely kindred races has served to fix and transmit the
characteristic traits which are stamped upon the Kentuckian of to-day.
XIX
Perhaps no critic has thrown more light upon mediæval history than Mr.
Freeman, who in his discriminating analysis of the Norman character
declares the supreme, the directive, the dominant quality to be
_craft_: a special power of intellect which seems to have been created
or evolved by the necessities of those times--intellect fused with
instinct and directed by a conscienceless common sense. Mr. Freeman
detected its manifestations in all the Norman's great affairs. In
legal proceedings, in court intrigues, in ecclesiastical relations;
in diplomatic affairs, in local or in provincial administration, and,
most notable of all, in the _conduct of war_. It was in _war-craft_
that the Saxon fell short. If success in battle had come with a sturdy
frame, a stout heart, and a short sword, the Saxon would seldom have
failed in war. But he was not strong (Mr. Freeman says) in "the wiles
of war." From the very outset the Scandinavian has won battles by sheer
weight of brain, and nature certainly "turned loose a thinker" when she
projected a Scandinavian freebooter upon the soil of France.
This attribution of craft, and all that it implies, to the Norman,
does not rest solely upon the deductions of a studious historian. The
conception did not originate in the closet of a scholar; it seems to
have come first from the "great common people"; from the field, from
the market, the fireside, and the street. It is proverbial in the
speech of France.
"C'est un Normand, c'est un fin Normand, c'est un Normand, adroit.
"Réponse normande, réponse ambiguë. Que cela peut être vrai est peut
être faux; la réponse est un peu normande."
These popular conceptions of the Norman character did not necessarily
imply disparagement or reprobation. On the contrary, in that wild
mediæval struggle for existence, astuteness and duplicity were the
winning cards. In the councils of the forest the popular favorite,
Renard, was at the front. Even the imperious Isangrim was handicapped
by lack of wit: a deprivation not unlike that of the clawless cat in
Hades.
This sinister and sagacious quality of the Norman intellect seems to
have had full play through all the varied experiences of the race; but
its most enduring effects were visible in the great triune nationality
evolved upon English soil. It quickened the sluggish wits of the Saxon;
it tempered the rudeness and ferocity of the Dane, and became a shaping
factor in the civilization of the world.
XX
The "Names" which follow, and the occasional "Notes" that accompany
them, are intended to illustrate the theory of descent which has
been advocated in this discussion. To find a large body of people in
Kentucky derived from English sources and bearing Norman surnames is
in itself a circumstance of peculiar interest and of almost conclusive
weight. But to find noted in connection with an hereditary surname
certain characteristics that are common to two races and apparently
derived along certain historic lines from the same ethnical source,
materially strengthens the argument in favor of the assumed origin
of the later or remoter race; and if, therefore, we conclude that
the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky are derived from that old
Norman strain, we ought to be able to indicate without difficulty
characteristic and conspicuous points of resemblance between the
original and the derivative stock. Taking in hand the exact and vivid
characterization of the old Norman by the contemporary chronicler,
Malaterra, we ask ourselves, "Are the Kentuckians also marked by the
characteristics here described?" Are they persuasive orators, able
lawyers, brilliant fighters, ready and practical thinkers; astute and
successful negotiators? Have they scholarly tastes? Social gifts and
accomplishments? A passion for travel, exploration, adventure, field
sports, and fine horses? "I like him very much," said the English swell
St. Aldegonde, speaking of Colonel Campian, the Southern colonel. "He
knows all about horses and tobacco."[11]
[11] DON'T FORGET TO REST YOUR HORSES. The observant traveler in
Norway notes at the foot of every steep hill a sign-post with the
inscription--"Don't forget to rest your horses." Possibly this
Scandinavian consideration for the horse runs with the blood. The
Kentuckian, however, has learned to "rest his horses" before he has
learned to read.
A little information of this kind ought to be found in our "Notes"
by way of giving confirmation to the inference suggested by the
"Names." There is something in the name, but not everything. We have a
notable--a brilliant--example in the current history of a Kentuckian
who is a Norman in almost everything except the name, and he belongs to
a family that is characteristically Norman in many respects; and yet
it has borne with great distinction for generations a fine old Saxon
name. Not a few of our leading families are in the same category. The
impartial agencies of evolution have given them their due proportion of
Norman or Scandinavian blood, the name being a secondary consideration
with the evolutionary Fates.
For Saxon or Norman, or--"whatever we"--
Celtæ, Saxones, or Norseman or Gaul,
There's no better stuff for a family tree,
Wherever the seed of the races may fall.
Note the broad and generous philosophy in these lines; and, some might
add, the imaginative touch which almost gives the quatrain a poetic
value. The Kentuckian, at least, has but little reason to criticise the
stuff of which he is made, particularly since he stands easily _first
among the modern races of men_. This is an estimate from an impartial
source--a writer for the English press.[12] Is it not a fit conclusion
to our ethnological tale?
[12] Mr. Bart Kennedy, London _Mail_.
XXI
There came at last a shadow over our memory of the bright Arcadian
days. "The beautiful Scandinavian" was fatally stricken in her
prime by an insidious malady which gradually sapped her strength
but scarcely touched the saint-like beauty which was the glory and
charm of her youth. The Great Traveler, who construed at a glance the
ethnical significance of those embodied charms, has long ago passed
to his eternal rest. In her children she seems to live again. Her
sons--handsome young Scandinavians of the higher type--are winning
success and distinction in the great industrial movements of the
times; and her beautiful daughter, vividly reproducing the attractions
of the mother, is a passionate lover of travel, and but recently has
demonstrated the Scandinavian quality of her blood in the midst of a
terrific nine days' storm that swept the seas near the coast of Japan.
[Illustration: COLONEL THEODORE O'HARA.]
With this parting glance at the impressive figures which appeared in
the early pages of this paper, the "explanatory preface" comes to a
close; and the reader--the patient reader--is at last introduced to
a rare lexicon of Names--names which carry on their light wings the
histories of States and men. Here the humblest scholar may read without
effort, in almost continuous narrative, the marvelous story of three
kindred stocks transmuted by the fires of internecine conflict into
one invincible race, which after centuries of almost unbroken struggle
in peace and in war may almost be said to have made the earth its own.
What part it has played in the genesis of our own Commonwealth, each
student of this "lexicon" must judge for himself, remembering that the
decision of this question must rest upon a clear judicial faculty at
last. Many "names" might be added, but here mere numbers do not count.
"To the quick eye of genius"--says Max Müller--"one case is like a
thousand"; and it may be that the scholarly enquirer will find in the
brilliant Du Chaillu an illustration of this maxim of the great German
scholar.
APPENDIX
ALPHABETICAL SERIES
OF
NORSE, NORMAN, AND ANGLO-NORMAN,
OR NON-SAXON, SURNAMES.
Derived from
English Official Records
and from other Authentic
Sources.
[The learned Canon of Carlisle assures us that not only has Normandy
supplied us with many of our family names, but it enjoys the
distinction of having been the first to establish an hereditary
surname. Few stop to consider that a surname thus conceived is not
merely an heraldic vanity or device to give social dignity and
distinction to those who bear it, but is in reality a scientific
advance in the working nomenclature of a race. If to "name" is but
to classify, the addition or introduction of the surname simply adds
completeness and precision to the racial classification. Here, then,
we have in the following list a large body of surnames coming almost
directly from the land in which surnames are said to have originated.
If a name, therefore, be merely that by which a thing is known, it
would seem that a people who have borne these names continuously (as is
historically attested) for _eight hundred years_ have in all likelihood
inherited the characteristic traits, as well as the distinctive
surnames, of the antique Norman race. In Kentucky, the original tone
and vigor of the Norman people are unimpaired. Changes there have been;
changes there will be; but, whatever changes may occur, there remains
this one unalterable characteristic of the Norman race, that "the more
you change it, the more it is the same."]
_Abbett_, a form of Abbott.
_Abbey_, for l'Abbe.
_Abbott_, or Abbot, Abbas (1180, Normandy), Abbot, Abbet, Thirteenth
Century.
_Abel_, Aubeale, Normandy, Twelfth Century; Sir John Abel of Kent,
1313.
_Aberdeen_, Aberdern, Abadam, from Abadon. Normandy, 1180.
_Achard_, 1238, Berks.
_Ackin_, from Dakin.
_Acland_, or de Vantort, from Vantort in Mayenne; the baronets Acland.
_Acton_, or Barnell. From this family, Lord Acton.
_Adderley_, from Adderley Salop.
_Addington_, de Abernon, Normandy, 1112; one branch in Somerset.
_Adrian_, Hadrin (Normandy), Adrien (England).
_Agate_, a form of Haggett or Hacket.
_Agne_, Battle Abbey Roll.
_Agnew_, or Aigneaux, near Bayeux, England, Twelfth Century; Scotland,
baronets Agnew.
_Ains_, from Aignes, near Angoulême.
_Airey_, Castle of Airey, Normandy; Airy--celebrated astronomer.
_Albert_, Walter and Peter Albert (Normandy, 1180).
_Albin_, or Albon, St. Auben (Robson).
_Alden_, Normandy, 1195.
_Aldworth_, or De la Mare.
_Aleman_ (Allman).
_Alfee_, for Alis or Ellis.
_Alison_, Barnard de Alençon (Sir Archibald Alison).
_Allan_, for Alan.
_Allanson_, Alison.
_Allebone._
_Alley_, from Ailly, near Falaise, a form of Hallett or Allet.
_Alleyne._
_Allison._
_Allman._
_Alpe_, for Heppe or Helps.
_Alpey_, Averay.
_Alvers_, or Alves.
_Amand._
_Amber_, from Ambrières.
_Ambler_, from Ampliers, or Aumliers, near Arras. England; Virginia.
_Amblie_, Hamley.
_Ambrose._
_Amery_, from Hamars, near Caen.
_Ames_, from Hiesmes, Normandy.
_Amherst_, or Henhurst.
_Amias_, Ames.
_Ammon_, Amond, Amand.
_Amory_, Darmer.
_Amos_, Ames.
_Amphlett._
_Amy._
_Ancell._ "Ansel," a famous colored "trainer" in Kentucky.
_Anders_, from Andres, near Boulogne.
_Andersen_ or Anderson (Scand.)
_Anderson-Pelham_, or De Lisle from the Castle of Lisle (Normandy).
Sire Edmund Anderson, Chief Justice, temp. Elizabeth.
_Andersons_ of Kentucky, a distinguished family. Connected by blood
with George Rogers Clark. Major Robert Anderson, of "Sumter" fame, was
of this family.
_Andrew_, from St. Andre, Evreux.
_Andrews._ Geoffrey Andreas, 1180 (Normandy). Landaff W. Andrews, a
bold, able, and popular Whig leader (Ky.), conspicuous in Congress
(1842), and characterized by John Quincy Adams, who admired his
courage and ability, as "a Nimrod Wildfire from Kentucky." (Vide
Diary.) When he objected to one of Adams' resolutions (in which he
was sustained by the Speaker) he looked, says Adams, "as savage as a
famished wolf"; as Circuit Judge in Kentucky, during the Civil War,
he rendered certain decisions that were distasteful to the Federal
authorities. "That brother of yours," said General Palmer to Mrs.
Thomas Steele, of Louisville, "is a bold judge."
_Angell_, from De l'Angle, from Les Angles, near Evreux.
_Anger_, from Angers, Anjou; also Angier.
_Angle_, Angell.
_Angwin_, for Angevin.
_Ankers_, for Anceres, vide Dancer.
_Anley_, or Andley, near Rouen.
_Annable_, or Annabell, from Anneboutt (Cotentin).
_Anne_, or Anns, from L'Agne, near Argenton (Normandy).
_Annesley._
_Ansell._
_Anstruther_, or Malberbe.
_Anthony_, St. Antoine, near Bolbec.
_Anvers_, or Danvers.
_Anvill_, or Hanwell, from Andeville, near Valognes.
_Arch_, or De Arques, from the Castle of Arques, near Dieppe. Joseph
Arch, a famous English "labor leader."
_Archdeacon_, Archidiaconus, Normandy, 1180; England, 1086.
_Archer_, Arcuarius (general of bowmen), Sagittarius (Normandy), 1195.
_Archer_, or De Bois, armorially identified with De Bosco; Boys.
_Arden_, or Ardern; a Norman family; came to England in 1066.
_Argles_, Hargle (Hargis), Normandy, 1198.
_Aris_, a form of Heriz or Harris.
_Arle_, or Airel.
_Arliss._
_Armes._
_Armit._
_Arnald_, Arnold.
_Arnes._
_Arnold_, Ernaldus or Ernaut, Normandy, 1180; in England, 1272.
_Arrah_, Arrow.
_Arundel_, Hirendale, Normandy, 1198.
_Ascouga_, Askew.
_Ashburnham_, or De Criol.
_Ashley_, De Esseleia, Normandy, 1198.
_Ashley_, Cooper, or De Columbers, from Colombières, near Bayeux.
_Askew_, for Ascuo.
_Aspray_, from Esperraye, Normandy.
_Astor_, Willielmus Titz--Estus or Estor, Normandy, 1180, 1198;
England, 1272.
_Aubrey_, the Norman origin of this name established.
_Aure_, with an aspirate. (Hoare.) Johne de Aur was summoned in 1268
to march against the Welsh.
_Auriol_, L'Oriel.
_Austin_, William Argustinus, Normandy, Twelfth Century.
_Aveling_, Aveline, Evelyn.
_Avens_, from Avernes, Normandy, 1180.
_Averance_, from Avranches, Normandy, 1130.
_Averell_, Avril, Normandy, 1198.
_Avery_, Every.
_Avery._ Traced to Aubrey, a Norman form of Albericus.
_Awdry_, from Audrien, or Aldry, near Caen.
_Ayers_, Ayres, Ayre.
_Aylard_, Allard.
_Ayre_, Eyre.
_Ayrton._
[Illustration: COLONEL JOHN T. PICKETT.]
_Babington_, Normandy, 1180; England, Thirteenth Century. Bernard de
Babington. Little Babington, Northumberland.
_Babot_, Babo, Normandy, 1195.
_Bachelor_, Normandy, 1195.
_Back_, Sir George Back, Arctic explorer. Vide Beck.
_Bacon._ (Roger and Francis Bacon members of this family.) Bacen or
Bacco, Eleventh Century in Maine, Northman family.
_Bagehot_, for Bagot.
_Bagot._ A baronial family (Normandy); came to England at the
Conquest. Henry Bagod, ancestor of house of Stafford.
_Bailey_, Baillie, from the Norman office of Le Bailli. The Baillies
of Scotland a branch of De Quincys.
_Baine_, Bayne.
_Baird._ Ralph Baiart in Normandy before the Conquest. Godfrey Baiard
in 1165 held a barony in Northumberland. From this line descended
George Washington, the great American General.
_Baker_, Normandy, 1086; England, 1086.
_Baldwin_, Normandy, William Baldwinus, 1180; Robert, 1183; England,
1116.
_Ballance_, for Valence, Normandy, 1210.
_Bally_, for Baly.
_Bamfyld_, from Baionville, near Caen, 1093. In Thirteenth Century
held lands of the Honour of Wallingford.
_Banard_, for Bainard, Banyard.
_Bancroft_, from Boncraft, near Warrington, Cheshire. See Butler.
_Band_, from Calvus or Le Band, England, 1083.
_Bangs_, for Banks.
_Banks_, from Banc, near Honfleur; England, 1130. The eminent savant,
Sir Joseph Banks, a descendant.
_Banner_, 1180, Normandy, Le Baneor.
_Bannester_, from Banastre, now Beneter, near Estampes.
_Banyard._ Vide Beaumont.
_Barbot_, Normandy, 1188.
_Barbour_, from St. Barbe sur Gaillon, Normandy, where was situated
the celebrated Abbey St. Barbara. (Vide British Family Surnames
(Barber) London.) Barbour, a hamlet in Dumbartonshire. St. Barbe is on
the Roll of Battle Abbey. William de St. Barbara, Bishop of Durham,
1143 A. D. Le Barbier, Court of Husting, London, 1258. John Barbour,
a churchman and Archdeacon of Aberdeen (1357): traveled in France
(temp. Edward III): employed in a high capacity in civil affairs:
historian, poet, and Auditor of the Exchequer. James Barbour, born
in Orange County, Virginia, U. S. Senator (1815-1825): Secretary of
War: Minister to the Court of St. James. Philip Pendleton Barbour,
brother of James Barbour, Associate Justice of the United States
Supreme Court. John S. Barbour (Virginia), member of Congress
(1823-1833). James Barbour (Kentucky), Assistant State Auditor (under
Helm): President Lexington and Danville R. R.: Cashier Branch Bank of
Kentucky. Doctor Lewis Green Barbour of Louisville, late of Central
University, is a finished scholar.
_Bardo_, for Bardolph.
_Bardolph_, England, 1165. Held lands in Normandy (Honour of Montfort).
_Barefoot_, Barfot, Normandy, 1180; England soon after.
_Barker._ Bercarius, Normandy, 1180. Le Bercher (England).
_Barker._ Norman French La Bercher. English surnames Barcarius and Le
Barkere. William le Barcur.
_Barnes_, a form of Berners from Bernieres, near Falaise; England,
1086.
_Barnett._ Barnet (Barney), Bernai, Normandy.
_Barnewall_, from the Norman family De Barneval, England, 1086
(Domesday).
_Barney_, armorially identified with Berney.
_Barold_, Vide Barrell.
_Baron_, from Baron, near Caen, England, 1165.
_Barough_, armorially identified with Barrow.
_Barr_, from La Barre in the Cotentin. Tiger de Barra (Normandy, 1180).
_Barr._ La Barr, Normandy; Norman-French, De la Barre.
_Barrable_, for Barbal, Normandy, 1180.
_Barre_, armorially identified with Barry.
_Barrell_, Richard Barel, Normandy, 1180. See Battle Abbey Roll.
_Barrett._ (Domesday) Baret.
_Barrett._ John Buret, 1195. Walter de la Burette, Devon, 1272.
_Barrington_, or De Barenton, from Barenton, near Candebec, Normandy.
_Barrow_, Barou was near Falaise, Normandy. England, Barene, 1560.
_Barry_, armorially identified with Barr.
_Bartellot_ (or Bertelot), Normandy, 1180; England, 1272.
_Bartleet_, a form of Bartelot.
_Bartrum_, armorially identified with Bartram.
_Barwell_, from Berville, near Pont Andemar, 1165; England, 1086.
_Baskerville_, from Bacquerville, near Rouen. In 1109 Robert de
Baskerville, on his return from Palestine, granted lands to Gloucester
Abbey. The Baskervilles were early seated in Virginia.
_Baskett._ Walter Pesket, Normandy, 1180.
_Bass._ Richard le Bas, 1180. John Basse, England, 1272.
_Bassett_, from Bathet or Baset. Duke of the Normans of the Loire,
895. From this stock are descended the Doyleys (D'Ouilly), Lisores,
and Downnays. Osmond Basset accompanied the Conqueror, 1066. There
were Bassets in Devon, Essex, and Wales.
_Bassit_, from Biszeilles, near Lithe.
_Bastable._ Wastable, Normandy, 1180. Barnstaple (Lower).
_Bastard._ Robert Bastard, a baron in Devon, 1080, son of William the
Conqueror. Also Baistard, Bestard.
_Baswell_, for Boswell.
_Batcheller._ Vide Bachelor.
_Bateley_, from Batilly, near Alençon, Normandy.
_Batell_, armorially identified with Battayle.
_Bateman_, from Baudemont in the Norman Vexin. Roger de Battemound,
Northumberland, Thirteenth Century.
_Bath._ Ramier, afterwards De Bada.
_Bathurst._ Bateste, Bathurts. Thirteenth Century, Cranbrook, Kent.
_Batten._ Batin (Flemish?), 1272, England.
_Battle._ Batell.
_Batty_, from La Bathie, Maine, Ralph Baty, Thirteenth Century, Devon.
_Baugh_, or De Baa, from Bahais, near Contances.
_Bavin_, or Bavant, from Bavant, near Caen.
_Bax_, or Backs.
_Bayes_, for Boyes.
_Bayley._ Vide Baillie.
_Bayne._
_Baynes_, from Baynes, near Bayeux.
_Bazin_, Normandy, 1180; England, Fourteenth Century.
_Beach_, armorially identified with Beche or De la Beche. From Bac in
Normandy, frequently written Bech and Beche in England.
_Beacham_, for Beauchamp.
_Beadel._ Normandy, 1180. Bucks, England, 1086. Bishop.
_Beadle_, for Beaddell.
_Beadon_, from Bidon in Burgundy. Held a fee from the Honour of
Wallingford.
_Beale_, or Le Bele, a form of Bell.
_Beamand._
_Beamis_, formerly Beaumis, Beaumeys, or Beaumetz, from Beaumetz, near
Abbeville. Dujardin Beaumetz was a famous medical savant of Paris,
France, in the latter half of the Nineteenth Century.
_Beamish_, for Beamis.
_Beamont_, armorially identified with Beaumont of Yorkshire.
_Beamand_, the same.
_Bean_, for Bene.
_Beard_, armorially identified with Bard, a form of Baird.
_Beards_, for Beard.
_Bearfield_, for De Berville, from Berville, near Caen. William de
Bareville, Normandy, 1180; Robert de B., England, 1272.
_Bease_, for Bisse.
_Beaten_, for Beaton.
_Beaton_, or Bethune. From the Carlovingian Counts of Artois. The Duke
of Sully (Sully's "Memoirs") was of this family.