Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 10.djvu/383

 Origin and Meaning of Proj^er Names.

��367

��ham, the home of oxen ; ITorsle}' and Hoi'sfield, the abode of horses ; so Ramsey, Ramscoinbe, Goalley, Goat- ham, Foxley, P^oxcote, Dereham, Deerhurst, Hartford, and Harthile an- nounce at once their own genealogy. Birdl)rook, Birdham, Eaglesfiekl,

��hence we find among the Saxon kings Bco-vvulf and Adel-wnlf and Os-wulf. We also find Wulf-helm and Wulf- heah, profeciion and high. " Ead "■ means possession. This is often compounded with " weard " or ward, meaning guardian ; with " wine," a

��Eaglesham, Ravensdale, Ravenscroft, friend, a darling; with 'Mnund,"

��Gosden, and Gosford speak for them- selves. Oakley, Ockwood, Boxhill, Boxley. Ashley, Thornhill, Pinewell, Bircluim, Maplested. and Bromley need no interpretation. Here the forest trees never shed their summer glories ; the birds still sing in their favoiNte haunts ; the beasts yet lie undisturbed in their chosen lairs, and the herds and flocks still ruminate in their native homes. It is history, however, not present reality, that

��protector; with "red," a counsellor^ as Eadweard, Eadwine, Eadraund, Eadred. The word '' red " or " raed " appears often in other combinations, as "■ Ethel-red," the noble counsellor ;. Aelc-red, all counsel ; Cuth-red, known in counsel ; and INIild-red, mild in counsel. Those old German names, Ariovistus and Arminius, are supposed to be the Latinized forms of Heer-fiirst and Heer-mann (now Herman), "heer" meaning a host,

��presents these enduring pictures to and " furst," a leader or prince.

��the mind's eye. The " animated na- ture" which these names describe re- sembles the land of shades where un- substantial ghosts forever repeat the deeds of another life.

The personal names of the old Saxons carry us back to the infancy of our race. Names indicate the

��Ludewig, Ludwig, Louis, and Lewis are the same name. " Lud " means loud, and "wig" means war; pos- sibly Ludwig has a signification like ]Un^\/ ayaOi't^ iu Greek ; or the "corpora ad impetum valida" of Tacitus, good for the rush, bold in the onset ; or, perhaps, loud in battle.

��taste, pursuits, and culture of those The word "wig" appears also in Clod-

��that employ them. AVe are surprised at some of the appellatives given to their chiefs by oiu" Indian tribes. They seem to think themselves en- nobled by wearing the names of sav- age beasts and birds of prey. Hen- gist and Ilorsa are horses as well as heroes.

Beorn means a prince, a noble. In the Norse tongue, beorn, biarn, biorn, means a bear, the most ferocious beast of the North as the lion is of the South ; hence princes had their names formed of beorn, or the name of some other fierce animal, as wolf ;

��wig or Clovis, and in Merowig, the founder of the Merovingian dynasty. The word " mer " or " maer " is great, and Mer-wig is great in war. The names of common men are borrowed from every conceivable source ; from things in heaven, things iu earth, and things under the earth. The whole number is said to be thirty or forty thousand. Like the king's preroga- tive, they have increased, are increas- ing, and ouglit to be diminished. Lan- guage is the oldest historical monu- ment on which is written the genesis of human thought ; and the names of

�� �