HIDDEN HISTORY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22719, 4 November 1935, Page 13

HIDDEN HISTORY

SURNAMES TELL TALES It was not until after the Norman Con* q. st that surnames were adopted (says an English paper). They were first given as nicknames to suit particular individuals. To-day we rarely find any appropriateness in the names we bear. The greatest hero of the day may easily carry the name Coward, while Mr Fox may be anything but sly. Yet it is probable that the first man to bear the name of Fox was pre-eminent in cunning, just as the first Parrott, or Parratt. wae most likely a great talker. Many people were named by reason or their possession of some quality which waa associated with a particular animal. Hart, for instance, was, no doubt, a great runner, and Nightingale could sing. As fc-j the Ruddocks (robin redbreast) and Woodalls (wood-wale, a wood-pecker), they probably received their names from the signs they favoured outside their doors. The most interesting names are thoso which plainly originated through the occupation of those who held them. There is no doubt about Shepherd, Hedger, Herd, or Heard. Ackerman was the man who drove the plough over the acres; Swinnart tended swine: and Calvert looked after the calves; while Wcthered was a wetherherd, and Goddard a goatherd. The thatcher who roofed the manors and hovels of the day was probably Thackeray, but as his materials for thatchir., would vary according to the district his 'name would also vary. Thus, where reeds were used, he would be a Reeder, or, as we often spell it to-day, Reader,