Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/146

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NOTES AND QUERIES. tn s. v. FEB. 10, 1912.

that the origin and meaning of the nam had then been quite forgotten. It is to be noted that in this family the name was never written " atte Feld," either in Irelanc or England. The earliest form of spelling the name above noted, " de Felda," appears not only in Ireland, but also in Norfolk in 1206: Richard " de Felda," and in ' Rotul Normanii ' in 1205: Ernald " de Felda."

An examination of the history of the name in localities where it became " atte Feld ' reveals the following. In Beds in 118J appears Hugh " de la Felde " ; and there were lands called " la Felde " in the place where Hugh lived. Men of this family appear occasionally in Beds (the name alwayi being spelt as above) until 1302, when we find Gilbert " atte Feld "; and thereafter the name in the form " de la Feld " does not again appear in that county. There was also a family of the name in Herts which seems to have been large and prosperous ; here also all become " atte Feld " in the early fourteenth century. The " de la Fekh " of Oxon also all become " atte Feld " at about the same date. Here, too, there was a place called " la Feld." In Sussex there was a powerful family of the same name : they were lords of the Manor of la Felde. Here in 1360 we find Henry " atte Felde," and in the same year his name appears several times written " de la Felde."

So also in Hereford the armigerous family of the name was represented in 1256 by David " de la Felde " and Matilda his wife, and in 1266 we find William, son of Matilda " Atye Felde." However, the name gener- ally appears as " de la Feld " in this county until early in the fourteenth century.

Richard, the Rector of St. Michael's, Cornhill, London, appears as Richard " de la Feld " in 1374 and 1397, and as Richard "atte Feld" in 1384. He exchanged his parish for that of Olive about 1397 ; there- after he is generally called Richard " Feld."

As stated at 11 S. iv. 127, many other names which formerly commenced " de la " change to " atte " on the records at about this date ; so " de la More " to " atte More," &c.

It is stated that, during the reigns of Henry III. and the three Edwards, the language of the gentry and nobility was changing from French to English, and that this process was complete by the end of Richard II.'s reign. This circumstance, with the specific examples above stated, leads me to believe that if the spoken names only were considered, it would be found that they had not changed at all. The members

of certain families had from the earliest time been called " atte Feld," and of other families " de la Feld," according to the class and station in life they occupied. Those who belonged to the French-speaking fami- lies were called " de la Feld," those who belonged to the English-speaking people were called " atte Feld." But when it came to writing the names, the clerks, who were trained to speak and write in French and Latin, translated the English " atte " into " de la." Thus the names became indis- tinguishable 'on the records, and the con- fusion is solved only at a later date, when the spread of the use of English among the nobility and clergy caused them to write the names as they were spoken.

What were the influences that caused at a later date the dropping of these prefixes- altogether, whether " atte " or " de la," we have not learnt.

The theory here advanced is tentative only, and it will be most interesting to learn the opinions of others who have doubtless- given this subject much more exact study than the writer.

JOHN Ross DELAFIELD.

Fieklston, Kiverdale, New York City.

on

A Neiv English Dictionary. Simple-Sleep. (Vol. TX.) By W. A. Craigie. (Oxford, Clarendon Press.)

THIS section begins in the middle of the adjective- " simple," and continues with several words of the same origin. Under " simplesse " Matthew Arnold's use of the word to indicate affected, lite- rary simplicity instead of the real thing might lave been noted. The analysis of " simply " shows the care and skill of the 'Dictionary.' Room might, perhaps, have been found for "' Shnsim," the Arabic name of " Sesame," as it
 * s given in the latest edition of ' The Story of Ali

Baba ' (Lane's ' Arabian Nights,' 1906, new Bonn 'ssue) and compared with " Open, Simsi," in a jrerman folk-tale. " Simurgh," a bird of Persian egend, has a quotation from ' Vathek ' and two- 'romSouthey. Under "Sinaitic" the last quota- ion refers to " the Sinaitic manuscript." and is
 * aken from The Century Rlayazinc. The most

'am cms MS. of that name is one of the three great authorities for the text of the New Testament. and is called by scholars " The Sinaitic " without "urther addition. We should consequently prefer uch a quotation as :

" The Sinaitic Codex I was myself so happy is to discover in 1844 and 1859, at the Convent of St. Catherine, on Mount Sinai."

These are Tischendorf's own words in an Intro- duction he wrote in 1868 to ' The New Testament,' ""'aucbnita edition, 1869.

A " sinapism " is a learned word for a mustard- laster. A " sin-canter " is an odd and obscure erm of abuse applied to men from 1540 till 1672.