The Romance of Names Part 25

"An haberdasher, and a Carpenter, A Webbe, a deyer (Dyer), and a tapiser."

(A, 361.)

To these may be added the Wife of Bath, whose comfortable means were drawn from the cloth trade, then our staple industry.

From rural surroundings come the Miller and the Plowman, as kindly a man as the poor parson his brother, for--

"He wolde threshe, and therto d.y.k.e and delve, For Cristes sake, for every poure wight, Withouten hire, if it lay in his myght."

(A, 536.)

The Miller is the same as the Meller or Mellor--

"Upon the whiche brook ther stant a melle; And this is verray sooth, that I yow tell."

(A, 3923.)

[Footnote: Melle is a Kentish form, used by Chaucer for the rime; cf.

pet for pit (Chapter XIII).]

The oldest form of the name is Milner, from Anglo-Sax. myln, Lat.

molina; cf. Kilner from kiln, Lat. culina, kitchen.

The official or servile cla.s.s includes the manciple, or buyer for a fraternity of templars, otherwise called an achatour, whence Cator, Chaytor, Chater (Chapter III), [Footnote: Chater, Chaytor may be also from escheatour, an official who has given us the word cheat.] the Reeve, an estate steward, so crafty that--

"Ther nas baillif (Chapter IV), ne herde (Chapter III), nor oother hyne (Chapter III), That he ne knew his sleights and his covyne"

(A, 603);

and finally the Cook, or c.o.ke (Chapter I)--

"To boylle the chicknes and the marybones."

(A, 380.)

In a cla.s.s by himself stands the grimmest figure of all, the Shipman, of whom we are told

"If that he faught, and hadde the hyer hond, By water he sente hem hoom to every lond."

(A, 399.)

The same occupation has given the name Marner, for mariner, and Seaman, but the medieval forms of the rare name Saylor show that it is from Fr. sailleur, a dancer, an artist who also survives as Hopper and Leaper--

"To one that leped at Chestre, 6s. 8d."

(Privy Purse Expenses of Henry VII, 1495.)

[Footnote: He was usually more generous to the high arts, e.g. "To a Spaynarde that pleyed the fole, 2," "To the young damoysell that daunceth, 30." With which cf. "To Carter for writing of a boke, 7s.

4d."]

The pilgrims were accompanied by the host of the Tabard Inn, whose occupation has given us the names Inman and Hostler, Oastler, Old Fr.

hostelier (hotelier), now applied to the inn servant who looks after the 'osses. Another form is the modern-looking Hustler. Distinct from these is Oster, Fr. oiseleur, a bird-catcher; cf. Fowler.

ECCLESIASTICAL NAMES

If we deal here with ecclesiastical names, as being really nicknames (Chapter XV), that will leave the trader and craftsman, the peasant, and the official or servile cla.s.s to be treated in separate chapters.

Social, as distinguished from occupative, surnames have already been touched on, and the names, not very numerous, connected with warfare have also been mentioned in various connections.

Among ecclesiastical names Monk has the largest number of variants.

Its Anglo-French form is sometimes represented by Munn and Moon, while Money is the oldest Fr. monie; cf. Vicary from Old Fr. vicarie. But the French names La Monnaie, de la Monnaie, are local, from residence near the mint. The canon appears as Cannon, Channen, and Shannon, Fr.

chanoine--

"With this chanoun I dwelt have seven yere"

(G, 720);

but Dean is also local sometimes (Chapter XII) and Deacon is an imitative form of Dakin or Deakin, from David (Chapter VI). Charter was used of a monk of the Charter-house, a popular corruption of Chartreuse

"With a company dyde I mete, As ermytes, monkes, and freres, Chanons, chartores . . ."

(c.o.c.k Lorelles Bote.)

Charter also comes from archaic Fr. chartier (charretier), a carter, and perhaps sometimes from Old Fr. chartrier, "a jaylor; also, a prisoner" (Cotg.), which belongs to Lat. carcer, prison. [Footnote: The sense development of these two words is curious.]

Charters may be from the French town Chartres, but is more likely a perversion of Charterhouse, as Childers is of the obsolete "childer-house," orphanage.

Among lower orders of the church we have Lister, a reader, [Footnote: Found in Late Latin as legista, from Lat. Legere, to read.] Bennet, an exorcist, and Collet, aphetic for acolyte. But each of these is susceptible of another origin which is generally to be preferred.

Chaplin is of course for chaplain, Fr. chapelain. The legate appears as Leggatt. Crosier or Crozier means cross-bearer. At the funeral of Anne of Cleves (1557) the ma.s.s was executed--

"By thabbott in pontificalibus wthis croysyer, deacon and subdeacon."

Canter, Caunter is for chanter, and has an apparent dim. Cantrell, corresponding to the French name Chantereau. The practice, unknown in English, of forming dims. from occupative names is very common in French, e.g. from Mercier we have Mercerot, from Berger, i.e.

Shepherd, a number of derivatives such as Bergerat, Bergeret, Bergerot, etc. Sanger and Sangster were not necessarily ecclesiastical Singers. Converse meant a lay-brother employed as a drudge in a monastery. Sacristan, the man in charge of the sacristy, from which we have Secretan, is contracted into Saxton and s.e.xton, a name now usually a.s.sociated with grave-digging and bell-ringing, though the latter task once belonged to the Knowler--

"Carilloneur, a chymer, or knowler of bells" (Cotgrave).

This is of course connected with "knell," though the only Kneller who has become famous was a German named Kniller.

Marillier, probably a Huguenot name, is an Old French form of marguillier, a churchwarden, Lat. matricularius. The hermit survives as Armatt, Armitt, with which cf. the Huguenot Lermitte (l'ermite), and the name of his dwelling is common (Chapter XIII); Anker, now anchorite, is also extant. Fals-Semblant says--

"Somtyme I am religious, Now lyk an anker in an hous."

(Romaunt of the Rose, 6348.)

PILGRIMS