(Vol. iv., pp. 24. 120.)
Having noticed in a recent number some rather various derivations of the
name "Petty Cury," which one of the streets in Cambridge bears, I have
been led to examine the word "Cury," and think that a meaning may be
given to it, preferable to any of the three mentioned in your paper. The
three to which I refer connect the word with "cook-shops," "stables," or
some kind of a court-house ("curia"). The arguments brought forward in
their favour either arise from the similarity of the words (as "Cury"
and "écurie"), or from the probability that either cook-shops, stables,
or a court-house existed in the vicinity of the street, whence it might
derive its name. With regard to the name "Cury" being derived from the
cook-shops in the streets, this seems to have little to do with the
question; for supposing there are some half dozen such shops there
(which I do not know to be the case), it proves little as to what was
the number three or four centuries ago. Secondly, "Cury" derived from
"écurie:" this seems unsatisfactory, for, as nothing whatever is known
about our former fellows' horses, the argument in its favour simply
consists in "Cury" being similar to "écurie." The third derivation is,
that "Cury" is taken from "curia," a senate or court-house. This falls
to the ground from the considerations, that if it were derived from it
we might expect the name to be Parva Cury and not Petty Cury; and if it
be derived from it, it implies that there was some larger court existing
at that time, in contradistinction to which this was called "Parva
Curia." But no larger one (as the advocate of the derivation allows) did
exist, so that this derivation meets the fate of the former ones.
The most probable derivation of the word is from the French "curie," a
_ward_ or _district_, which certainly possesses this advantage over the
three former ones, that the word is exactly the same as that of the
street. The arguments in its favour are these:--In referring to a map of
Cambridge dated A.D. 1574, I find the town divided into _wards_, with
different names attached to them. These wards are all larger than "Petty
Cury:" in the same map the name is spelt "_Peti Curie_" (_i.e._ small
ward), both words being French or Norman ones, and the word "peti" being
applied to it from its being smaller than any of the other wards. In
former times it was not unusual to give French names to the wards and
streets of a town, as may be seen any day in London, or even in
Liverpool, which is comparatively a modern place. Thus the word from
which I propose to derive the name "Cury" being the very same, and not
requiring us to form any vague suppositions either about cook-shops,
stables, or court-houses, I conclude, may be considered preferable to
the three before mentioned.