264 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[ana s. No 66., April 4. '57* 



and Sancho III. of Spain were the Beloved ; Al- 

 phonso III. of Spain was the Beneficent; Louis IX. 

 of France and Ferdinand III. of Spain were the 

 Saint ; William II. of Bavaria the Religious ; 

 Henry the Holy ; the Emperor Antoninus, Albert 

 the Bavarian, the Tuscan Boniface, and Henry of 

 Saxony, were the Pious ; our own Edwards were, 

 one the Martyr and one the Confessor ; Charles I. 

 the Royal Martyr; Ferdinand V. of Spain was 

 the Catholic ; Denis of Portugal the Father of his 

 Country ; Louis XII. of France and Christian III. 

 of Denmark the Father of his People ; Margaret 

 was the Semiramis of the North; Albert III. of 

 Prussia the German Achilles; John IH. the Cicero 

 of Germany; Frederick William the Grand Elec- 

 tor ; Louis XIV. of France Dieu donne, which 

 reminds us of the Adeodati of the Church ; Gan- 

 ganeili was the Protestant Pope; our Edward I. 

 the English Justinian. The , Ptolemies delighted 

 in appendages, witness the Philopater and Philo' 

 meter, and Philadelphus ; the Physcon, Lathyrus, 

 Bacchus and Auletes, Lagus, Soter, and Fpi- 

 phanes. Seleucus was the Thunderer ; Stephen 

 II. of Hungary, Thunder; Mithridates, King of 

 Kings; Bajazet the Thunderlfolt ; the Czar De- 

 metrius the Impostor ; Octavian Augustus ; Titus 

 was the Delight of Mankind ; Omar Emperor of 

 Believers ; while Attila was the Scourge of God ; 

 Tamerlane the Prince of Destruction ; and Julian 

 the Apostate. The Fair Maid of Norway, the 

 Fair Rosamond, the Fair Imogene, and the 

 Princess Elizabeth the Queen of Hearts, are only 

 a few of the illustrious or unfortunate ladies whose 

 names might be added to our list. 



We must pass on from crowned heads to a few 

 memorable princes and subjects. Prince George 

 of Denmark lives as King James's Est-il possible ? 

 the great Edward as the Black Prince; Prince 

 Charles Edward as the Young Chevalier; Prince 

 James as the Old Pretender ; the Duke of York 

 as the Soldiers' Friend; the Duke of Cumberland 

 as the Butcher; Duke Humphrey as the Good 

 Duke ; Edmund Plantagenet as Crouch-back ; 

 Geoffrey of Anjou as Grisogonel the Grey Cloak; 

 the infamous Duke of Orleans as Egalite. Who 

 has not heard of Jockey of Norfolk , the Proud 

 Duke, and the Duke with the Silver Hand of the 

 house of Somerset ? A French general of the four- 

 teenth century was well known as Gnaw-crust; 

 Nelson is ever the Hero of the Nile ; Cromwell 

 is Old Noll; Wellington the Iron Duke; Bayard 

 ihe Knight without fear or reproach; the Earl of 

 Pembroke Strongbow ; and Marlborough, as Tu- 

 renne called him, the Handsome Englishman. 

 Fulke Earl of Anjou is still the Plantagenet, 

 though the name recals an ignominious whipping 

 with birch broom before the altar of Jerusalem. 

 Simon we remember as Stylites. The Capuchin, 

 the Curtal, and Crvtched Friar were nicknames of 

 old. Who but speaks of the " Moral Gower," as 



Chaucer dubbed him ? Who has forgotten the 

 Doctors Aquinas the Angelic, Bonaventura the 

 Seraphic, Hales t\\Q Irrefragable, Duns Scotus the 

 Most subtle, and Occam the Invincible ? Bede is 

 the Venerable; Don Roderic the Cid; Gonsalvo 

 the Great Captain ; Roland the Brave ; the Patriot 

 Tell; Godoy Prince of the Peace; Hales of Eton 

 the Ever memorable ; Copley the Grostete ; Hooker 

 the Judicious ; Izaak Walton the Gentle ; John 

 Selden the Learned ; Monk Lewis ; Elia C. Lamb ; 

 Herbert the Sweet Singer of the Temple ; Middle- 

 ton Memory, and Hamilton Single Speech. Charles 

 II. the Merry Monarch ; Robert the Bruce, and 

 Henry VIII. Bluff Hal ; O'Connell the Agitator ; 

 Crichton the Admirable ; Vernon Old Grog; By- 

 ron of the Wager Foul-weather Jack, and Howe 

 Black Dick. Dun, the sheriff's officer of Queen 

 Elizabeth's reign ; Jack Ketch, the hangman of 

 the Restoration, and Derrick his successor ; Duns 

 Scotus ; Dr. Guillotine ; Bombastes Paracelsus ; 

 Merry Andrew Borde, the Arabian Geber. Mar- 

 tinet, Andrew Cant, Simon Magus, Machiavel, and 

 Malagrida, the Jesuit, are very nicknames to this 

 day for men or things. Phoebus is yet Dan ? 

 May we not add Saturnine, Jovial, and Mercurial f 

 Had your space permitted, the subject might 

 have been carried out to considerable length. 

 Sufficient, however, has been said, we hope, to 

 show that there is something in a name, and con- 

 vince us that Sterne was not far wrong in urging 

 its importance. There are few of the most ancient 

 and honourable names of our nobles and landed 

 gentry which may not be traced back to an early 

 nickname, a point shown long ago by Camden and 

 Spelman, and still more agreeably by Mr. M. A. 

 Lower. Mackenzie Walcott, M.A. 



A NOTE ON EDINGTON, SOMEBSET. 



At the foot of the Polden Hill, or Down End, 

 is Huntshill Reach. This has been spoken of in 

 the neighbourhood as the landing-place of a 

 famous Dane. This Dane was, no doubt. Half- 

 dene. He had chosen this hill or stretch of the 

 river Parret, or Perrot, as the most suitable place 

 of harbourage. From thence he could attack or 

 retreat, as circumstances required. It was favour- 

 able for attack, for in the days of King Alfred the 

 river was navigable up to Langport. It is certain 

 that, at the present time, no vessels can go beyond 

 the Bridgwater bridge; but in the ninth century the 

 land on either side of the river Pedred, or Parret, 

 was not enclosed by the great mounds or dykes 

 which have been raised to keep off all floods. In 

 those times Athelney, King Alfred's hiding-place, 

 was one vast swamp. 



Alder bushes, the natural produce of the 

 country, formed a secure defence against the 

 enemy. 



