Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 11.djvu/229

 io s. XL MAR. G, 1909.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

185

Ironyni. An ironical pseudonym.

Examples : Doggrel Drydog : H. p. 44. Orpheus C. Kerr (office seeker) [R. H. Newell] : H. p. 72. See also p. 92.

' The Comic Almanack/ by Rigdum Fun- nidos [that was James Henry Vizetelly, until his death in 1838], with cuts by G. Cruikshank, 1834-8.

Spectroruini (le R. P.), moine italien, auteur suppose [F. L. M. Belin de la Libor- liere]. This pseudonym or ironym was used for ' La Nuit anglaise,' a novel published in 1797, in ridicule of the romances of brigands, ruins, and spectres. Villon (Fr.), sobriquet qui signifie fripon [an ironym assumed by a French poet of the fifteenth century], Fran$ois Corbueil.

When writers assume the name of Satan, Querard calls it a pseudonym, but I should call it an ironym or ironical pseudonym.

Literary name. One taken for all the author's publications, not probably for dis- guise, but for distinction from others.

Comtesse de Bremont used for ' The Gentle- man Digger,' instead of de Bremond, d'Ars.

Anthony Hope has written all his books under these forenames, his full name being Anthony Hope Hawkins. I presume that Anthony Hope can be called a literary name, and yet not a pseudonym, except that it is a prenonym. In our National Library it would be called a pseudonym if the surname were not known, and yet the librarians had been told Hope was not the author's sur- name. But they avoid the point in (for their Catalogue) a rather unusual manner by cataloguing it in this way : " Hope (Anthony) [i.e. Anthony Hope Hawkins]," the word pseud, being left out.

Sewrin (C. A. B.), nom litteraire [C. A. de Bassompierre].

Nickname. An additional name given for all kinds of reasons, in praise, blame, dis- tinction, derision, fun, satire, in good humour or ill humour, &c.

Examples of all will be found in the book by Albert R. Frey of the Astor Library, New York City, published in 1886, entitled ' Sobriquets and Nicknames.' It is odd he should put the French word first ; probably he thought it sounded better. Sobriquet has no higher meaning than, nor different meaning from, nor any advantage over nick- name, which is English ; sobriquet is from the French, though it has long been naturalized. Frey nearly always uses nickname. His book is a big one, with many important articles, but generally it is mere compilation. He does not give a preliminary treatise or

introduction on his subject, as I expected! he would.

I have never used " sobriquet," though it occurs in a quotation in the ' Handbook,' p. 12, where it is said that the forger W. H.. Ireland to the time of his death " carried with him the significant sobriquet of Shake- speare Ireland " (not in Frey's Sobriquets' ).

But neither "nickname" nor "sobri- quet " is applied to the highest purpose. Thus the West Saxon king Edward was surnamed " the Confessor " ; Richard I. was surnamed " Coeur de Lion " " Nick- name " would not be used for these. Of the- two, Richard only is in ' Sobriquets,' and Frey mistakenly calls the words a sobriquet, instead of a surname. This would make it appear that he thought sobriquet had a higher meaning, for he calls " the Con- queror " a sobriquet for William I.

Examples of national nicknames, all given in good humour and to hit off some charac- teristic, will be found in Brewer's ' Phrase and Fable.'

Example : ' Nautical Economy, or Fore- castle Recollections [and revelations !] of Events during the last War.' Dedicated to the brave tars of Old England, by a sailor politely called by the officers of the Navy Jack Nasty-face. (London, 1836.)

A nickname cannot be considered an assumed or pseudo name, as it must be given by others. Nevertheless it may become a pseudonym on being assumed by the person indicated. An instance of this, though not a literary one, is given in ' N. & Q.,' 7 Sept., 1907, p. 186, thus : J. A. Roebuck was known "as ' Tear 'em,' a nickname very unusual in such cases of his own choosing." See also Boase, M.E.B., vol. iii. p. 252.

According to Frey, Byron called Shelley " the snake," and it is said the latter did not resent it. A new ' Dictionary of Nick- names ' has lately (1904) been published by Mr. E. Latham, but I find no mention of Mr. Frey, the first worker on the subject.

Hundreds of instances of nicknames will be found in the indexes to Mr. Boase's volumes of ' Modern English Biography,' under ' Names, Fancy.'

Nom de guerre : nom de plume. I have never used either of these expressions. Nom de guerre is used as equivalent to pseudo- nym by Mr. D. J. O'Donoghue in 'The Poets of Ireland,' 1892, p. v.

The word " guerre " would be more suit- able for sport than for literature. Names- can be assumed for sporting purposes, but they must be registered in accordance with the rules of racing (see The Sporting Life,