"All _Toms_ are alike," quoth the elegant Pelham; and if we were asked
to define the leading idea of him, we should describe a downright honest
John Bull, essentially manly, but withal a bit--perhaps a large bit--of
a dullard. His masculinity is unquestionable. A male cat, as every
body knows, is a _Tom_-cat; a romping boy-like girl is a _Tom_-boy,
or a _Tom_-rig; a large nob-headed pin is a _Tom_-pin; and in many
provincial dialects the great toe is, _par excellence_, the _Tom_-toe.
Last, not {240} least, there is the nectar of St. Giles, the venerable
Old _Tom_. In proof of his stupidity we can adduce a goodly show of
epithets--_Tom_-fool, _Tom_-neddy, _Tom_-noddy, _Tom_-cull, _Tom_-coney,
_Tom_-farthing, &c. We know, indeed, there are people who hold that even
in these instances _Tom_ is merely the masculine prefix to distinguish
the _he_-fool (_i. e._ the _Tom_-fool) from the Molly or _she_-fool of
the ancient mumming. But the race of Toms must not lay this flattering
unction to their souls, for the hypothesis won't stand. The very
monosyllable itself, like "Sammy," has a strong twang of the bauble
in it. An open truth-loving fellow is a _Tom_ Tell-truth; but, on the
other hand, all tinkers--a sadly libelled race of men--are invariably
_Tom_-tinkers, as all tars have been _Jack_-tars from time immemorial.
In some of the old-fashioned country games at cards the knave is called
_Tom_; and the wandering mendicants who used to levy black-mail, under
the plea of insanity, were Mad _Toms_, or "_Toms_-o'-Bedlam." "Tom all
alone" is a northern _sobriquet_ for the Wandering Jew, who, the last
time we heard of him, was caught stealing gingerbread nuts at Richmond
Fair. In the legendary division there is the notorious _Tom_-Styles--the
depredatory _Tom_ the piper's son (legitimate issue of _Tom_ Piper,
the musician of the old Morris Dance)--the fortunate _Tom_ Tidler of
the original diggings, and that heroic little liege of Queen Mab, the
knight of the thumb. _Tom_-Tumbler was a saltatory fiend in the days of
Reginald Scott; and _Tom_ Poker still devours little folks in Suffolk,
without doubt (thinks Forby) a descendant of the Sui.-G. _tompte poecke_,
or house-goblin. As for the ignominious _Tom_ Tiler (North Country for
hen-pecked husband) we cannot allow him to belong to the family; for who
can imagine a hen-pecked Tom! he must have been a wretched individuality,
a suffering, corporeal Tiler.
Tom also bestows his name on divers other things, animate and inanimate.
Among fishes there are _Tommy_-Loach, _Tommy_-Bar, and _Tom_-Toddy
(the Cornish name of the tod-pole). The Long-_Tom_ and the _Tom_-tit
are both ornithological Toms. Tom Tailor is a child's name for the
Harry-long-legs--another singular instance, by the way, of Christian
names applied to animals. _Tom_-trot reminds one of pre-pantaloon orgies,
and is (I think) something in the brandy-ball line. Finally, we may
remark, that a large proportion of her Majesty's subjects are in the
habit of conferring the endearing name upon the staff of life itself.
"Navvies," agricultural labourers, and such like gentry, are accustomed
to divide all human food into two classes, which they euphonically
denominate respectively _Todge_ and _Tommy_; the former comprising
spoon-meat, and the latter all hard food which requires mastication. But
this, we think, is not a case of Tom _per se_, but rather referable to
the Camb.-Brit. _tama_, which has exactly the same acceptation.