May 29. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



509 



These are supposed to stand for "St. Paul" 

 and " St. Peter." It is said that this seal was 

 used for the purpose of affixing an impression to 

 an instrument which pretended to be a Papal 

 Bull : in fact, that it was used for forging Pope's 

 Bulls. One of the objects of such forgeries (if 

 they really occun-ed) would be, to grant dispensa- 

 tions for marriages on account of consanguinity. 

 Some noble families in Ireland had very ancient 

 Papal dispensations of this nature. It would often 

 be convenient that extraordinary despatch should 

 be used in obtaining a dispensation. 



Can any of your correspondents compare the 

 seals on those dispensations with the above, or 

 throw any light on the practice of dispensing with 

 the ecclesiastical law against consanguineous mar- 

 riages ? H. F. H. 



Wexford. 



A PASSAGE IN " ALL's WELL THAT ENDS WELL." 



Will Mb. Singek favour me with the information 

 where the proposed emendation, referred to by 

 him in " N. & Q.," Vol. v., p. 436., in AlVs Well 

 that ends Well, infinite cunning for "infuite com- 

 juing," of the folio 1623, is to be met with ? If it 

 be in the Athenceum it has escaped my observation, 

 although I have turned over the pages of that able 

 periodical carefully to find it. I have a particular 

 reason ibr wishing to trace the suggestion, if I 

 can, to the source where it originated. Owing to 

 iin accident, which it is needless to explain, the 

 number of " N. & Q." containing Mr. Singer' s 

 communication did not meet my eye until this 

 jiiorning. J. Payne Collieb. 



May 22. 1852. 



SURNAMES. 



I have to thank many of your readers who have 

 favoured me with private lettei's on this subject 

 since the printing of the prospectus of my Dic- 

 iionary of Surnames in your columns ; and before 

 troubling you with a string of Queries, I would 

 briefly refer to two or three points in the kind 

 communications under this head in " N. & Q." of 

 May 1. E. H. Y. will find the question, surname 

 or 5i>name, slightly touched upon in my English 

 Surnames (3rd edit., vol. i. p. 13.), and argued at 

 length in the Literary Gazette for Xov. 1842, in a 

 correspondence origuiating out of a notice of the 

 first edition of my book. I think the balance of 

 evidence is in favour of swrname ; that is, a name 

 superadded to the personal or baptismal appella- 

 tion, which applies with equal propriety to the 

 sobriquets given to monarchs and distinguished 

 men, and to the hereditary designations of people 

 of humble rank. Alexander Mitchell, your groom, 

 is no other than Alexander the Great ; and Bill 

 Mowse, your errand-boy, is the namesake of the 



Red King who fell in the New Forest ; the only 

 difference being, that the plebeians inherit their 

 second name from their ancestors, while the mag- 

 nates enjoy theirs by exclusive right. I do not 

 think, therefore, that the distinction contended for 

 by E. H. Y. is either necessary or desirable : in- 

 deed I consider sirename as a mere play upon a 

 mis-spelt word. In saying this, I would by no 

 means disparage your excellent correspondent, 

 whose communications I always read with pleasure 

 I might add, that the distinction of " nomen patris 

 additum proprio," siren&me, and " nomen supra 

 nomen additum," surname, is by no means new. 



I cannot quite agree with E. S.'s suggestion as 

 to the desirableness of omitting the names derived 

 from Christian names, this being one of the most 

 interesting branches of my inquiry. I have already 

 shown that from ten to thirty family names are 

 occasionally found to proceed from one baptismal 

 appellation ; and at least half a dozen of the names 

 to which E. S. calls my attention for explanation 

 are so derived. To the termination -cock, occur- 

 ring in so many names, I have already given atten- 

 tion, and the result may be seen in E7ig. Sum., 

 vol. i. pp. 160. to 165., both inclusive. 



To the surnames derived from extinct or pi*o- 

 vincial words designating employments, I am pay- 

 ing considerable attention ; but although I am 

 tolerably well acquainted with our mediaeval 

 writers, and their glossarists, there are many names 

 ending in er (generally having in 6ld records the 

 prefix Ze), which have hitherto baflied my etymo- 

 logical skill. 



W. L.'s remarks support the statements made 

 in Eng. Sum., vol. i., p. 38. et seq., to show that 

 family names have scarcely become hereditary, in 

 some parts of England, even now, in the middle of 

 the nineteenth century. Without occupying your 

 valuable sj)ace unduly, I would now submit the 

 following Queries : — 



1. What book gives any rational account of the 

 origin of the Scottish clans, and their distinctive or 

 family names ? I know Buchanan's work, but it 

 gives very little information of the kind desired. 

 !!4?i?/ authentic particulars regarding Scottish names 

 will be acceptable. 



2. What is the real meaning of worth, which 

 forms the final syllable of so many surnames ? I 

 have seen no less than six explanations of it, 

 which cannot all be correct. 



3. Are there any works (besides dictionaries) in 

 the Dutch, German, and Scandinavian languages 

 which would throw light upon the family names of 

 this country ? 



4. What is the best compendious gazetteer or 

 topographical dictionary of Normandy extant ? 



5. Is anything known of a collection of surnames 

 made by Mr. Cole, the antiquary, in the last cen- 

 tury ? It is mentioned in Collet's Relics of Litera- 

 ture, 1823. 



