loyalty of the English people in the times we live in; for whereas our
forefathers were for the most part content to express their loyalty
to the throne by the choice of such vague tavern signs as =The King’s
Head=, or =The Queen’s Head=, we of the nineteenth century are not
nearly so half-hearted. Not only are =The Victoria=, =The Prince
Albert=, =The Prince of Wales=, and =The Prince of Wales’ Feathers=
honoured on every hand in the course of a day’s perambulation, but =The
Duke of Edinburgh=, =The Duke of Cambridge=, =The Duke of Connaught=,
and other members of the Royal Family, are similarly memorialized.
Perhaps in the future, when the Prince of Wales shall occupy the
British Throne, his descendants may also in their turn form the subject
of many a tavern sign in our midst.
_ROYAL SURNAMES._
=Alfred the Great= (reigned 871 to 901) fully merited his surname
because he expelled the Danes, established a navy, founded schools,
and effected the restoration of law and order during one of the most
critical periods of early British history. Taking the remainder of the
Saxon monarchs in chronological order, we have:--=Edward the Martyr=
(975 to 978), treacherously murdered at Corfe Castle; =Ethelred the
Unready= (978 to 1016), who, lacking _rede_, or council, fled to
Normandy to escape the consequences of a threatened invasion by the
Danes; =Edmund Ironsides= (reigned 1016), whose habitual precaution
of wearing a complete suit of mail availed him nothing against the
fatality of assassination; =Edgar Atheling= (born 1017, died 1120),
otherwise “Edgar of Royal Descent”; =Harold Harefoot= (1035 to 1039),
swift of foot as a hare; and =Edward the Confessor= (1042 to 1066), so
called on account of his holy life. The distinction between a CONFESSOR
and a MARTYR in the early days of Christianity was simply this: both
made an open confession of their faith, and expressed their readiness
to die for it; the former, however, was never called upon to do so,
whereas the latter actually suffered martyrdom.
William I. (reigned 1066 to 1087), was styled =The Conqueror= because
he defeated the Saxons at the Battle of Hastings, and founded the
Norman Dynasty in England. William II. (1087 to 1100), received the
name of =Rufus= from his florid complexion; _rufus_ being Latin for
ruddy. Henry I. (1100 to 1135), was surnamed =Beauclerc=, or good
clerk, in recognition of his scholarly attainments. Richard I. (1189
to 1199), styled =Cœur de Leon=, otherwise “The Lion Hearted,” is
traditionally said to have torn the living heart out of the mouth of
a lion to whose fury he was exposed by the Duke of Austria for having
killed his son in battle. This extraordinary exploit surpasses the
bounds of reason; still there is no doubt that he performed prodigies
of valour during the Wars of the Crusades. Another British monarch
who rejoiced in a surname of the leonine order was =William the
Lion=, King of the Scots (1165 to 1214), so called because he chose a
red lion rampant for his crest. It is from this king that the lions
distinguished in the Royal Arms of Scotland trace their origin.
King John (reigned 1199 to 1216) received the surname of =Lackland=
on account of his improvidence, which at the time of the death of
his father (Henry II.) left him entirely without provision. Edward
I. (1272 to 1307) was styled =Longshanks= from his spindle legs. The
eldest son of Edward III., known as =The Black Prince= (born 1330,
died 1376), was not exclusively addicted to the wearing of black
armour, as he is usually represented in waxwork shows and picture
toy-books; consequently he did not derive his surname from such an
association; but, as the historian Froissart informs us, “he received
his name by terror of his arms.” Seeing that at the age of sixteen he
won his knightly spurs at Crecy, and ten years later took the French
king prisoner at Poictiers and brought him in triumph to London, the
military renown of this young warrior must have been sufficient to
command respect from his enemies. =John of Gaunt=, Duke of Lancaster
(born 1340, died 1399), took his title from the town of Ghent, in
Flanders, where he was born. In like manner his son, Henry IV. (1399 to
1413), was styled =Bolingbroke=, after his native place.
Henry VIII. (reigned 1509 to 1547) was surnamed =Bluff King Hal= on
account of his bluff manners; he also received the title of =Defender
of the Faith= from Pope Leo X., in recognition of the tract he
published against the heresy of Martin Luther. Mary, Queen of Scots
(born 1542, died 1587), was known as =The White Queen= because she
adopted white mourning for her husband, Lord Darnley. Our own Queen
Mary (1547 to 1558) has been handed down to posterity under the
opprobrious title of =Bloody Mary=, in consequence of the wholesale
burnings of the Protestants under her reign. The religious persecutions
of her time admit of no denial, yet they were fully equalled by those
brought to light during the reign of her successor, Elizabeth, while
they fell infinitely short of those characterized by the reign of
Henry VIII. In one sense Elizabeth (1558 to 1603) was appropriately
styled =Good Queen Bess=, inasmuch as she exercised due regard to the
interests of the realm and the welfare of her people. Her enemies
she speedily removed, but she was just as ready to bestow honours
and rewards upon her nation’s worthies. Oliver Cromwell was called
=The Lord Protector= (born 1599, died 1658) because he protected
the interests of the Commonwealth. The reason why Charles II. (1660
to 1685) was dubbed =The Merry Monarch= must be sought in the
licentiousness of the times in which he lived. Much nearer to our own
day, William IV. (1830 to 1837) was distinguished by the title of =The
Sailor King=, from the circumstance of his having entered the navy as
a midshipman and worked his way upwards until he attained the rank of
Lord High Admiral.
The family name of =Plantagenet=, derived from the Latin _planta_, a
plant, and _genista_, broom, was originally assumed by Fulke Martel,
Earl of Anjou, the great grandfather of Henry II., in commemoration
of the incident, while on his pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, of
having offered himself to be scourged with the stems of the broom
plant by his two attendants as an atonement for the murder of the Earl
of Brittany. The =Tudor= Dynasty was founded by Owen Tudor, a Welsh
soldier stationed at Windsor, who contracted a secret marriage with
Catherine, the widowed queen of Henry V. The first of the long line of
the =Stuart= sovereigns (Scottish and English) was Walter, the Lord
High Steward of Scotland, whose wife was the daughter of King Robert
the Bruce. As this Walter was the sixth member of his family that had
held the post of Lord High Steward, he was popularly said to belong to
the _Stewards_, until in course of time this word became corrupted into
_Stuarts_, and was adopted as a family name.
Charles I., Emperor of Germany (born 742, died 814), was surnamed
=Charlemagne=, otherwise Charles the Great. =The She-Wolf of France=
was Isabella (born 1290, died 1357), daughter of Philip IV. of France,
and queen of Edward II. of England, whom she, in concert with the Earl
of Mortimer, her paramour, murdered by thrusting a red-hot iron into
his bowels. =Pedro the Cruel=, King of Castille and Leon in 1350,
merited his surname owing to his cruel treatment of his two brothers,
whom he murdered, and his queen, whom he poisoned. Ivan II., Czar of
Russia (reigned 1533 to 1584), was styled =The Terrible= on account
of the cruelties he inflicted upon all who offended his autocracy.
Frederick I., of Germany (reigned 1152 to 1190), was surnamed
=Barbarossa= from his red beard, _barba_ being Latin for beard; while
for his bombardment of Messina in 1848 Ferdinand, King of Naples,
was nicknamed =Bomba=. Philippe, Duc d’Orleans, the father of Louis
Philippe, King of France, assumed the name of =Egalité= when he joined
the Republican party in 1789. Of a truth, if “Equality” was what this
not unworthy Prince aspired to, he enjoyed it to the full, for he lost
his head under the guillotine in common with more than twenty thousand
of his fellow-citizens.
_NATIONAL NICKNAMES._
=Brother Jonathan=, the popular nickname of the United States, arose
out of the person of Jonathan Trumbull, the Governor of Connecticut,
whom General Washington never failed to consult in cases of emergency.
“We must refer the matter to Brother Jonathan!” he was wont to exclaim
when no other officer could offer any practical suggestion to aid him
out of a difficulty; and true enough, “Brother Jonathan” proved himself
in every instance equal to the confidence reposed in him. Another stock
nickname for the United States is =Uncle Sam=. This originated from a
vulgar misconception of the initial letters “U. S.” (United States) for
those of the well-known sobriquet of an official whose business it was
to mark them on all Government property. The numerous acquaintances of
this person understood that the goods so marked had passed through the
hands of “Uncle Sam,” and the joke becoming public it spread far and
wide, until in the end it was considered far too good to be allowed
to drop. The term =Yankee= finds its origin in the native attempt to
pronounce the word “English,” but approaching no nearer to the sound
than _Yengees_, the name bestowed upon the English colonists by the
Indians of Massachusetts, and afterwards given to the New Englanders by
the British soldiers during the American War.
The nickname of the typical Englishman, =John Bull=, was derived from
Dr. Arbuthnot’s satire of this title published in 1721. There was also
a real person of the name of John Bull, well known as the composer
of “God Save the King”; but he died just a hundred years before Dr.
Arbuthnot’s performance was heard of. Of a still later date is the
national English nickname, =Mrs. Grundy=, which arose out of the
passage, “What will Mrs. Grundy say?” from Thomas Morton’s drama,
“Speed the Plough,” produced in 1798. The proverbial prudishness of
the English people in matters affecting art, could scarcely be better
expressed than under the style of =The British Matron=. The British
soldier is popularly referred to under the general designation of
=Tommy Atkins=, because “Thomas Atkins” was a fictitious name that
figured in the soldiers’ monthly statement of accounts.
The Irish as a nation are invariably alluded to as =Pat= or =Paddy=,
being short for Patrick, their most common Christian name, selected in
honour of St. Padhrig, or Patrick (born 373, died 466); the Scots as
=Sandie= or =Sawney=, a contraction of Alexander, their most popular
Christian name; and the Welsh as =Taffy=, a corruption of Davy, and
short for David, the name of their Archbishop and Saint (born 490, died
554).
The national nickname of the Chinese is =John Chinaman=, in imitation
of our own characteristic “John Bull.” Even now a Chinaman addresses
every Englishman he meets as “John,” which is his idea of our most
popular name. Hence, British sailors in the Chinese waters from the
first returned the compliment, so to speak, by alluding to each
Celestial with whom they came in contact as “John Chinaman.”
The Chinese are also called =Pigtails=, on account of their Tartar
tonsure and braided _queue_. By the Indians of North America Europeans
are styled =Pale Faces=; while the Europeans designate the Indians
=Red Skins=, both terms having reference to the complexion. The word
=Nigger= is a corruption of =Negro=, derived from _niger_, the Latin
for black. The reason why a negro generally bears the name of =Sambo=
is because _Zambo_ is the native term used to designate the offspring
of a black person and a mulatto. The word =Mulatto= is Spanish, derived
from the Latin _mulus_, a mule, and signifying a mixed breed. A Mulatto
may be either the offspring of a negress by a white man, or of a white
woman by a negro.
_BIRDS._
The following owe their names to their characteristic note:--the
=Cuck-oo=, the =Pee-wit=, the =Cur-lew=, the =Chick-a-dee=, and the
=Whip-poor-will=. The =Trumpeter= of South America is so called
on account of its loud, clear, and trumpet-like cry. The word
=Nightingale= is a modern form of the Anglo-Saxon _nihtegale_,
indicative of a bird that sings by night, agreeably to its component
parts, _niht_, night, and _gale_, a songster. The =Night-Jar= bears
its name because the sound it emits resembles the whirring of a
spinning-wheel. The =Mocking-bird= possesses the power of imitating the
notes of other birds; while the =Humming-bird= is remarkable for the
humming sound that proceeds from its wings as it speeds through the air.
Several birds are named after the colour or some other characteristic
of their plumage. Among these we have the =Greenfinch= and the
=Goldfinch=, the term =Finch= from the Anglo-Saxon _finc_, denoting
a small singing bird; the =Greenlet= expressing a tiny green bird
peculiar to South America; the =Jay=, a corruption of _gai_, its
French name, alluding to its gay or showy appearance; the =Blue-bird=,
common in the United States, the upper half of which is blue; the
=Blackbird=, so called from its sable aspect; the =Starling=, owing
to the specks at the extremities of its feathers; the =Flamingo=,
of South America and Africa, from its flaming colour; the =Oriole=,
an Australian bird of golden-yellow plumage, agreeably to the Latin
_aureolus_, golden; and the =Lyre-bird=, also a native of Australia,
so denominated on account of the sixteen feathers of the tail which
when folded form in appearance a perfect lyre. The British song-bird
known as the =Red-poll= receives its name from the tuft of red feathers
upon its head; whereas the South African =Secretary-bird= is so called
because a tuft of feathers on each side of its head are supposed to
resemble quill pens stuck behind the ear. The South American =Birds
of Paradise= are indeed a beautiful species, all the colours of the
rainbow being represented in their plumage; and the same may be said of
the =Love-birds=, so designated from the extraordinary affection which
they exhibit towards one another. The =Kingfisher= is regarded as the
king of fisher-birds, or those that dive for fish as their prey, by
reason of his gay plumage.
The =Lapwing= derives its name from the loud flapping noise made by
its wings during flight; the =Wagtail=, from the incessant wagging of
its tail; and the =Scissors-tail=--found only in South America--from
the peculiar nature of its tail, which, like a pair of scissors, opens
and shuts in the course of its rapid passage through the air and so
entraps the flies upon which it preys. The =Hangbird= is so called
from its habit of suspending its nest from the limb of a tree; the
=Weaver-bird=, from the wonderful intertwining of twigs and grass
displayed in the construction of its nest; and the =Tailor-bird=, from
the skill it displays in constructing its nest by stitching together
the leaves of plants.
Among corruptions of the names of birds it will be sufficient to
mention the =Widow-bird=, properly the _Whydaw-bird_, after the
territory in Africa of which it is a native; the =Martin=, from the
Latin _murustenco_, or wall-swallow, shortened into _murten_, and
mispronounced _marten_; and the =Muscovy Duck=, which, so far from
claiming a Muscovite origin, is merely a _musk duck_, a species
somewhat larger than our common duck.
The =Swift= derives its name from its rapid flight; the
=Passenger-pigeon=, from its migratory habits; the =Skylark=, from
mounting to the sky and singing as it flies; and the =Chaffinch=, from
its preference for chaff above every other kind of food. The =Diver=
is remarkable for its habit of diving; the =Sandpiper= inhabits the
sea-beach; and the =Chimney-swallow= builds his nest in an ordinary
house chimney. The =Horn-bill=, the =Boat-bill=, the =Spoon-bill=, and
the =Duck-bill= are respectively so named on account of the resemblance
of their bills to the articles, and in the last-mentioned case to the
bird, indicated; while the =Cross-bill= has its mandibles crossed in
opposite directions. The =Pouter-pigeon= is so called from the pouting,
or bulging out, of its breast; the =Ring-dove=, from the white ring
around its neck; and the =Wryneck=, from the curious manner in which
it turns its neck over its shoulder when surprised. The =Woodcock= is
found in the underwood of a forest, while the =Woodpecker= pecks holes
in the bark of trees in search for insects.
Chief among the birds which derive their names from the countries
to which they originally belonged are the =Guinea-fowl=, brought
from Guinea, West Africa; the =Brahma-fowl=, from the neighbourhood
of the Brahmapootra River in India; the =Bantam=, from Bantam in
Java; the =Barb=, from Barbary, and the =Turkey=, which, although an
American bird, was long believed to have been imported from European
Turkey. Another native of North America received its name of the
=Baltimore-bird= from the fact that its colours corresponded with those
which occurred in the arms of Lord Baltimore, the Governor of Maryland,
in which State it principally abounds. The =Canary= was first brought
from the Canary Islands in 1500. The =Petrel=, a sea-bird usually
associated with storms, expresses the Anglicized form of the Italian
_petrillo_, a diminutive of Peter, in allusion to St. Peter walking on
the sea, and the frequent appearance of this bird standing as it were
on the surface of the water.
_RELIGIOUS ORDERS._
Strictly speaking, the members of the various Religious Orders, in
this country at least, are not =Monks=, but Friars. Only those who
live completely isolated from the rest of mankind, as did St. Anthony,
are entitled to the former designation, which, in common with the
term =Monastery=, comes from the Greek _monos_, alone. Consequently,
a Religious House is incorrectly described as a Monastery unless each
individual within its walls occupies a separate cell, both by night
and by day, and never suffers himself to have the least communion
with his neighbour. Failing compliance with such a rule, the term
=Convent=, derived from the Latin _con_, together, and _venire_, to
come, is more fittingly applicable. This designation, however, is now
borne by an institution reserved for a community of =Nuns=, so called
from the Italian _nonna_, a grandmother, because they originally
comprised only very aged women; albeit it was formerly the custom to
speak of Monasteries and Convents without discrimination. An =Abbey=
always indicated a Religious House in connection with a Church, as, for
example, Westminster Abbey, the abode of the community attached to the
West Minster, presided over by an =Abbot=, so styled in accordance
with the Syriac and Latin _abba_, a father, or, in the case of a
female community, by an =Abbess=; whereas a =Priory= denoted a lesser
or branch establishment placed at some distance from the Abbey, and
controlled by a =Prior= (or =Prioress=), signifying one who had a prior
claim over the rest to the office of Abbot (or Abbess) in the original
community.
A =Friar=, on the other hand, is--conformably to the Latin _fratre_
and the French _frère_, a brother--what the term implies, viz., one
of a brotherhood. In olden times there existed four distinct and
powerful Orders of Friars. These were the =Dominicans=, founded by St.
Dominic to preach away the Albigensian heresies, also known as the
=Black Friars=, on account of their black habits, and in France as the
=Jacobins=, because their first convent was situated in the Rue St.
Jacques, Paris; the =Franciscans=, or =Grey Friars=, named after St.
Francis d’Assissi; the =Carmelites=, or =White Friars= of Mount Carmel;
and the =Augustines=, or =Austin Friars=, whose origin is ascribed to
St. Augustin or Austin, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, who died in
605. Eventually a fifth Order, styled the =Trinitarians=, or Friars of
the Holy Trinity, otherwise the =Crutched Friars=, so called from the
cross (Latin _cruciati_, crossed) embroidered on their habit, came into
existence.
Referring to the Franciscans, those who conformed to the austere
rules laid down by their founder were denominated =Observant Friars=,
while those who, as time wore on, began to live in convents and
coveted lands, chapels, and books, received the name of =Conventional
Friars=. Out of the Franciscans there have sprung two lesser Orders,
so to speak, chiefly distinguished by a slight change in the details
appertaining to the habit worn by them. These are the =Capuchins=,
so called from the _capuce_, or pointed cowl, that they wear, and
the =Cordeliers=, from the knotted cord which encircles their waist
in place of a girdle. In effect, however, these two offshoots of the
Franciscans are the same, and subject to the like rules, as the parent
institution.
Having disposed of the Friars, let us now turn to the Monks properly
so called. Originally the sole existing order of monks was that of
the =Benedictines= as established by St. Benedict, who introduced
the monastic system into Western Europe in the year 529. No less
than twelve large Monasteries were raised by him before he died;
but notwithstanding the austere rules which obtained among the
Benedictines, these were yet considered too lax by some individual
members of the Order, with the result that first one and then another
“Reformed Order” sprang into existence, the latest being in each
case distinguished for a still more rigorous rule than that of its
immediate predecessor. Thus, we now have the =Carthusians=, our
English designation for the monks of La Chartreuse near Grenoble,
by whom the celebrated liqueur known as =Chartreuse= is prepared;
the =Cistercians=, or monks of Citeau; and the =Cluniacs=, or monks
of Cluny, respectively named after the vicinity of their original
monastery in France; while the =Bernardines= received their title from
St. Bernard, who founded the famous Hospice of Mont St. Bernard in the
year 962. From the Carthusians, also, there have sprung the =Basilians=
founded by St. Basil, and from the Cistercians, the =Trappists=, or
monks of La Trappe, originally established in the French district so
denominated.
Foremost among the Religious Orders not comprised in any of the
brotherhoods cited above are the =Jesuists=, properly styled “The
Society of Jesus,” an organization founded upon a military basis by
St. Ignatius Loyola in 1534, which extends its influence all over the
globe. Next in point of importance come the =Servites=, otherwise
“The Religious Servants of the Holy Virgin,” established by seven
Florentine merchants in 1283; the =Passionists=, a community of priests
solemnly agreed to preach “Jesus Christ and Him crucified,” founded
by Paul Francis, better known as St. Paul of the Cross, in 1737; and
the =Redemptorists=, or preachers of the Redemption, also styled the
=Liguorians=, after St. Francis Liguori, who originated this Order
in 1732. Each of these, except, of course, the lay members of the
Jesuists, are professedly Monks; and yet these are not really Monks,
but _Friars_, because they live in community, and at times mingle
freely with the people. In short, they are =Missionary Friars=.
_PAPER AND PRINTING._
The word =Paper= comes from the Latin _papyrus_, and Greek _papyros_,
the designation of an Egyptian plant from whose reeds the earliest kind
of writing material was obtained. =Parchment= is an Anglicized form of
the French _parchemin_, from the Greek _pergamenos_, named after the
ancient city of Pergamos, in Asia Minor, where the skins of goats were
first prepared for writing upon at a time when Ptolemy prohibited the
exportation of the papyrus from Egypt.