Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 3.djvu/642

 622 APPENDIX C Pronunciation. [mpoverishment jf language. !*James of villeins. having had two Christian names at baptism, but is equivalent to " Thomas, sonor Arnold William." John Stokker Jekell, gent, was living in 1541 (Add. Chs. 21067 ^^^ I9^78)j Mark Alexander Boyd, the poet, was born 1563; Thomas Posthumous Hoby was born in 1566, and Sir Thomas Maria Wingfield was knighted 8 May 1597; Thomas Pope Blount occurs in 1602 (Egerton Ch. 303). One of the earliest examples to be found in Complete Peerage is that of Frederick Philip Bourchier, elder brother of Henry, Earl of Bath, which Frederick Philip died young 8 Mar. 1587; Anthony Ashley Cooper, ist Earl of Shaftesbury, born 1 621, was another; and William George Richard, Earl of Derby, born about 1 6^^. The fashion of more than one Christian name seems to have come from Germany, or at any rate from the Continent, as in the case of Charles I's wife, Henriette Marie. In France two or more Christian names seem to have been common from very early times. In this paper there has been no attempt to touch the difficult question of pronunciation, though it must have had much effect in the gradual modifi- cation of name forms, e.g. it is generally recognized that the mediaeval pronunciation of " eux " and " aux " was soft, and Devereux, Rievaulx, were sounded Deverose and Rievose, so we have now the family of Clarke Jervoise for Jervaulx. It has been pointed out by other writers how much the language of England became impoverished during the reign of Henry III (1216-72), an immense number of English words becoming obsolete during that period. An examination of the list of names given below bea/s out this statement, and shows it to apply quite as much to Christian names as to other words, for the list of Edward Ill's time is seen to show far less variety not only than that of the present day, but than that of Henry II, for all the names of the Aelfric, Athelard, fffc, class have disappeared. It is true that we have little means of knowing what were the names borne by the peasantry or villeins in Edward Ill's time, or of finding names corresponding to Walter Scott's " Higg the son of Snell," but doubtless in this class names were preserved long after they had disappeared from the ranks of the gentry, as is shown by the following: Sebbe, Greu, Ulf, Grip or Gripe, Grimchet (from O.N. Grim-Ketill), Alfi, are all names occurring in twelfth century Sempringham Charters, which had belonged to original inhabi- tants before the Conquest, and became entirely extinct by 1 400. Any number of them are to be found in and before the twelfth century, but as will be seen from Josiah Wedgwood's list of villeins beginning in 1299, nearly all had by then been replaced by Norman names. Of the same class, and probably in many cases of Scandinavian origin, are the names to be found in Add. Charter 20731, Hadde (O.E. Hadda), Goche (Old Norse gaukr=cuckoo, Scottish gowk), Spiwant, Baligan, Gunca or Gunghe, and Asco, spelt else- where also Azo. Sparahauk occurs in the same place as a Christian or nick- name, but soon became a surname, as which it is found in the present day (cf. Patience Sparhawk, a novel by Gertrude Atherton). In Add. Chart. 20639 are also to be found Godith (elsewhere appearing as Godiot) and Gillegray. Bodin, Brittmar, Ragmer, and Godesman (=Goda's man) are all of the