Part 6

Perhaps the most glaring instance of this kind originated in the sign of =The Garter=, or the insignia of the Order of the Garter represented in its proper position on a leg (whence we have the intelligible sign of =The Star and Garter=); yet the vulgar mind quite failed to grasp the idea, with a result that a house exhibiting this sign was invariably referred to as =The Leg and Star=. Corruptions of a different character are of later date, when the name of the house instead of the device began to make its appearance on an innkeeper’s signboard. Chief among these are:--=The Cat and Fiddle=, a perversion of “Caton le Fidele,” in honour of Caton, the faithful Governor of Calais; =The Bag o’ Nails=, of “The Bacchanals,” in reference to Pan and the Satyrs; =The Goat and Compasses=, of the Puritan motto “God encompass us”; =The Iron Devil=, of “The Hirondelle,” or swallow; =The Bull and Mouth=, and =The Bull and Gate=, of “The Boulogne Mouth” and “The Boulogne Gate,” in compliment to Henry VIII., who effected the siege of Boulogne and its harbour in 1544; =The Lion and Key=, of “The Lion on the Quay,” meaning a house bearing the sign of _The Lion_, and situated by the water-side, in order to distinguish it from other _Lions_ in the same port; =The Cat and Wheel=, of “The Catherine Wheel,” the instrument of St. Catherine’s martyrdom; =The Plume and Feathers=, of “The Plume of Feathers,” in allusion to the Prince of Wales; =The Bully Ruffian=, of “The Bellerophon,” the vessel on board of which Napoleon surrendered his sword to Captain Maitland after his defeat at Waterloo; and =The Blue Pig=, a mere modification of “The Blue Boar.” =The Pig and Whistle= is a very old sign, the term _whistle_ being a corruption of “wassail,” and _pig_, the Old English for a bowl or cup. Surely there could be no more fitting sign for a tavern than that which suggested the drinking of healths!

The original character of many of our country inns is at once indicated by their signs. Thus, =The Coach and Horses= was clearly, before the introduction of railways, a coaching establishment; while =The Pack Horse= announced the fact that pack-horses were let out on hire. Again, =The Bear=--subject to sundry modifications, such as =The Brown Bear=, =The Black Bear=, =The Grizzly Bear=--informed the frequenters of such resorts that bear-baiting might be witnessed on the premises; exactly as, nearer to our own day, =The Dog and Duck= called attention to the popular diversion of duck-hunting by spaniels in a pond. =The Skittles= and =The Bowling Green= indicated a more rational kind of sport. Once more, =The Grapes= conveyed the intelligence that a vinery existed in connection with the establishment; whereas =The Castle=, which constitutes the arms of Spain, =The Globe=, the arms of the King of Portugal, and =The Spread Eagle=, the arms of Germany, told that the wines of those respective countries were to be had there. In the north of England the sign of =The Yorkshire Stingo= is very common, the allusion being to an old beer of particular strength and sharpness for which the county of York has won considerable celebrity.

Among other familiar country inn and tavern signs may be mentioned =The Bell=, referring to the silver bell that formed the prize at races previous to the Restoration; =The Barley Mow=, denoting the premises where the barley was housed, _mowe_ being the Saxon term for “a heap”; and =The Old Hat=, which in the olden time may have been the shop of a hatter rejoicing in the sign of “The Hat,” and subsequently converted into a place of refreshment. Another distinctly tradesmanlike sign is =The Ram and Teazle=, which was originally chosen in compliment to the Clothiers’ Company; the lamb with the golden fleece being emblematical of wool, and the teazle, a tool used for raising the nap of the wool when woven into cloth. =The Bricklayers’ Arms= merely indicate a house of call for bricklayers; while =The Cricketers’ Arms= derives its title from a neighbouring cricket-ground. The significance of =The Tankard=, =The Bottle=, and similar signs, need not detain us. We may, however, state that =The Black Jack= refers to a leathern pitcher for holding beer, which took its name from the defensive breastplate of strong leather formerly worn by horsemen, and known as a _Jacque_, whence the term JACKET has been derived.

Signs that betray a political bias, such as =The Royal Oak=, =The Boscobel=, =The Jacobite=, =The Hanover=, &c., are altogether too numerous to mention. In the early part of the present century, too, the names of political leaders were largely drawn upon as an attraction for tavern signs, as were those also of distinguished naval and military commanders, and of the battles won by them. =The Canning=, =The Palmerston=, =The Nelson=, =The Wellington=, =The Marquis of Granby=, =The Portobello Arms=, =The Trafalgar=, =The Waterloo=, and a host of others of the like character, are everywhere to be encountered; while the old sign of =The Ship= carries us back to the days of Elizabeth, when the circumnavigation of the globe by Sir Francis Drake was regarded as an exploit that could scarcely be too highly honoured.

Before concluding, let us add a few words of comment upon the signal 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._