_Meaning of Wallop_--In the article of Collins's _Peerage_ which
narrates the history of the "Wallops, Earls of Portsmouth," great and
deserved praise is bestowed upon Sir John Wallop, a most valorous and
successful military commander.
Not to trouble you with more, I make one extract, which is, for more
reasons than one, likely to be interesting:
"Sir John Wallop, in 6 Henry VIII., was sent as Admiral and
Commander-in-Chief of the fleet, to encounter Prior John, the
French Admiral, who, landing in Sussex, had burnt the town of
Brighthelmstone. The French getting into their own ports, Sir John
Wallop sailed to the coast of Normandy, and there landed and burnt
twenty-one villages and towns with great slaughter, and also the
ships and boats in the havens of Treaport, Staple, &c., wherein he
acquitted himself with such conduct and valour, that all our
historians have mentioned this expedition much to his honour."
The Query which I desire to ask is, whether the significant, but
somewhat coarse phrase of "to wallop," have its origin in the exploits
of this gallant ancestor of the Earl of Portsmouth?