242 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
[No. 16. 
of the ghost of Mrs. Veal, prefixed to Drelincourt on 
Death. 
“ Aware that Mr. Arundell had no idea that Rud- 
dell’s ghost story was to be found in any work previous 
to Gilbert’s, I lost no time in communicating to that 
gentleman what I could not but deem a very curious 
discovery. He assured me there could be no mistake 
as to the genuineness of the ghost document he had 
found, as he had compared the manuscript with Rud- 
dell's hand-writing in other papers, and saw it was one 
and the same. Soon after, Mr, Arundell favoured me 
with some further information on the subject, which I 
here give, as it adds still more to the interest of the 
story : —‘ Looking into Gilbert's History of Cornwall, 
in the parish of South Petherwin, there is said to be 
in the old mansion of Botathan five portraits of the 
Bligh family ; one of them is the likeness of the boy, 
whose intimacy with the ghost of Dorothy Durant has 
been spoken of in his first volume, where she is erro- 
neously called Dingley. If this be a fact, it is very 
interesting ; for it is strange that both Mr. Ruddell, 
the narrator (whose manuscript I lent to Gilbert), and 
De Foe, should have called her Dingley. I have no 
doubt it was a fictitious name, for I never heard of it 
in Launceston or the neighbourhood ; whereas Durant 
is the name of an ancient Cornish family: and I re- 
member a tall, respectable man of that name in Laun- 
eeston, who died at avery advanced age ; very probably 
a connexion of the Ghost Lady. He must have been 
born about 1730. Durant was probably too respect- 
able a name to be published, and hence the fictitious 
one. Mr. Arundell likewise says, ‘In Launceston 
Chureh is a monument to Charles Bligh and Judith 
his wife, who died, one in 1716, and the other in 1717. | 
He is said to have been sixty years old, and was pro- 
bably the brother of Samuel, the hero of Dorothy 
Dingley. Sarah, the wife of the Rev. John Ruddell, 
has a monument also in Launceston Church. She 
died in 1667. Mr. Ruddell was Vicar of Aternon in 
1684. He was the minister of Launceston in 1665, 
when he saw the ghost who haunted the boy.’” 
Such is Mrs. Bray’s account of these very 
curious circumstances. The ghost story imserted 
in Gilbert, as mentioned above, is altogether so 
much in the style of De Foe, that a doubt remains 
whether, after all, he may not have been the 
author of it. Can “D.S.,” or any of your read- 
ers, throw further light on the subject? D.S. Y. 
PET-NAMES. 
“ Mary” is informed that “Polly” is one of those 
“hypocorisms,” or pet-names, in which our lan- 
guage abounds. Most are mere abbreviations, as 
Will, Nat, Pat, Bell, &c., taken usually from the 
beginning, sometimes from the end of the name. 
The ending y or ie is often added, as a more 
endearing form: as Annie, Willy, Amy, Charlie, 
&e. Many have letter-changes, most of which 
imitate the pronunciation of infants. JZ is lisped 
for r. A central consonant is doubled. O be- 
tween m and J is more easily sounded than a. An 
infant forms p with its lips sooner than m; papa 
before mamma. The order of change is: Mary, 
Maly, Mally, Molly, Polly. Let me illustrate 
this ; 7 for 7 appears in Sally, Dolly, Hal; P for 
m in Patty, Peggy : vowel-change in Harry, Jim, 
Mes, Kitty, &c.; and in several of these the 
doubled consonant. To pursue the subject: re- 
duplication is used ; as in Nannie, Nell, Dandie; 
and (by substitution) in Bob. Ded would be of 
ill omen: therefore we have, for Edward, Ned or 
Ted, and ¢ being coheir to d; for Rick, Dick, 
perhaps on account of the final d in Richard. 
Letters are dropped for softness: as Fanny for 
Franny, Bab for Barb, Wat for Walt. Maud is 
Norman for Mald, from Mathild, as Bauduin for 
Baldwin. Argidius becomes Giles, our nursery 
friend Gill, who accompanied Jack in his dis- 
astrous expedition “up the hill.” Elizabeth gives 
birth to Elspeth, Eliza (Eloisa?), Lisa, Lizzie, 
Bet, Betty, Betsy, Bessie, Bess; Alexander 
(w=cs) to Allick and Sandie. What are we to 
say of Jack for John? It seems to be from 
Jacques, which is the French for our James? 
How came the confusion? I do not remember to 
have met with the name James in early English 
history; and it seems to have reached us from 
Scotland. Perhaps, as Jean and Jacques were 
among the commonest French names, John came 
into use as a baptismal name, and Jacques or 
Jack entered by its side as a familiar term. But 
this is a mere guess; and I solicit further infor- 
mation. John answers to the German Johann or 
Jehann, the Sclavonie Ivan, the Italian Giovanni 
(all these languages using a strengthening con- 
sonant to begin the second syllable): the French 
Jean, the Spanish Juan, James to the German 
Jacob, the Italian Giacomo, the French Jacques, 
the Spanish Jago. It is observable that of these, 
James and Giacomo alone have the m. Is James 
derived from Giacomo? How came the name 
into Scotland ? 
Of German pet-names some are formed by 
abbreviation ; some also add s, as Fritz for Frieds 
from Friedrich, Hans for Hann from Johann. 
(To this answers our s or c in the forms Betsy, 
Nancy, Elsie, &c.) Some take chen (our hin, as 
mannikin) as Franschen, Hannchen. ‘Thus Cat- 
skin in the nursery ballad which appears in Mr. 
Halluvell's Collection, is a corruption of Katchen, 
Kitty. Most of our softened words are due to 
the smooth-tongued Normans. The harsh Saxon 
Schrobbesbyrigschire, or Shropshire, was by them 
softened into le Comté de Salop, and both names 
are still used. Bens. H. Kennepy. 
Shrewsbury, Feb. 2. 1850. 
LACED/EMONIAN BLACK BROTH. 
If your readers are not already as much dis- 
gusted with Spartan Black Broth as Dionysius was 
