138 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 95. 



Lord Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors (p. 259.) 

 the first letter is signed " William Cooper." 



W. D. Cooper. 



Cow/)er.— There is an afiectation in the present 

 day for pronouncing words, not only contrary to 

 established usage, but in defiance of orthogrnphy. 

 The B.ar furnishes one example, and " jiolite 

 society" the other. By the former, a judge on 

 the bench is called, instead of '■'■'My Lord" and 

 " His Lordship" " JNIy Lud" and " His Ludship;" 

 and in the latter, Cowpcr is metamorphosed into 

 Cooper. Now, I fancy that " My Lord " is a vast 

 deal more euphonious tlian "My Lud;" and 

 Cowpe?; as Shakspeare has it, "becomes the 

 mouth as well" as Cooper. We don't speak of 

 getting milk from the coo, but from the coiv ; and 

 Cow being the first syllable of the poet's name, 

 should not be tortured into Coo, in compliment to 

 a nonsensical fastidiousness, whoever may have set 

 the example. As Coicper the poet has been hitherto 

 known, and by that name will be cherislied by 

 posterity. John Kembic, the great actor, I re- 

 member, tried to alter the pronunciation of Rome 

 to room, and was laughed at for his pains, though 

 he had the authority of a pun of the bard's own 

 for the change : " Oh Rome and room enough." 

 But Shakspeare was but an indifferent punster at 

 the best, as is proved by Falstaff's refusing to give 

 a reason on compulsion, even though '■'■reasons 

 were as plentiful as blackberries;" corrupting 

 raisin into reason, for his purpose, which is as far- 

 fetched as any instance of the kind on record, I 

 think. But I digress, and beg pardon for running 

 so away from the cow. John Bull. 



Lord Campbell, in his entertaining Lives of the 

 Chief Justices, says, in a paragraph introductory 

 to the life of Sir Edward Coke : 



" As tlie name does not correspond very aptly with the 

 notion of their having come over with the Conqueror, 

 it has been derived from the Bi-itish word ' Cock ' or 

 'Coke,' a ' Chief;' but, like ' Butler,' ' Taylor,' and 

 other names now ennobled, it much more probably 

 took its origiu from the occupation of the founder of 

 the race at the period when surnames were first adopted 

 in England. Even in Queen Elizabeth's reign, as well 

 as that of James I., Sir Edward's name was frequently 

 spelt ' Cook.' Lady Hatton, his second wife, who 

 would not assume it, ado|)ted this spelling in writing 

 to him, and according to this spelling it has invariably 

 been pronounced." 



Lord Campbell, who seems rather fond of such 

 speculations, however, in the case of Lord Cowper 

 does not give the etymology of the name. But he 

 gives a letter written from school by the subse- 

 quent chancellor, in which he signs his name 

 " William Cooper." However, elsewhere, in a note 

 he speaks of the propensity evinced by those who 

 have risen to wealth and station to obliterate the 

 trace of their origin by di-opping, adding, or 



altering letters ; and among them he mentions 

 " Cowper " as having its origin in " Cooper." Mr. 

 ]\Iark Antony Lower, too, in his Essay on English 

 Surnames, classes Cowper among the surnames 

 derived from trade. Possibly, therefore, notwith- 

 standing the alteration, the original pronunciation 

 has been continued. Tee Bee. 



SRcpItc^ to JHtiior caucrt'c^. 



Voce Populi Halfpenny (Vol. iv., pp. 19. 5(j.'). — 

 I have /biw varieties of this coin : 



\. The one which J. N. C. describes, and which 

 is engraved by Lindsay, in his work on the coinage 

 of Irelan<l, and is considered the rarest type. 



2. A precisely similar type, with the exception 

 that tlie "P" is beneath, instead of being on the 

 side of the. portrait. 



3. A more youthful portrait, and of smaller size 

 than the preceiling, and a trifle better executed. 

 It wants the " P" altogether, and has for "MM." 

 a small quatrefoil. The engrailing also very 

 different. 



4. A totally ditTerent, and older portrait than 

 any of the preceding. "MM." and engrailing the 

 same as No. 3., and it also wants the " P." 



The reverses of all four appear to differ only in 

 very minute particulars. Pinkerton, in his Essay 

 on Medals, vol. ii. p. 127., after stating that the 

 Irish halfpence and farthings were all coined in 

 the Tower, and then sent to Ireland, there being 

 no mint in that country, remarks — 



"In 17G0, however, there was a great scarcity of 

 copper coin in Ireland ; upon which a society of Irish 

 gentlemen applied for leave, upon proper conditions, 

 to coin halfpence ; which being granted, those appeared 

 with a very bad portrait of George II., and 'voce 

 populi' around it. The bust bears a much greater 

 resemblance to the Pretender ; but whether this was a 

 piece of waggery in the engraver, or only arose from 

 his ignorance in drawing, must be left in doubt. Some 

 say that these pieces were issued without any leave 

 being asked or obtained." 



E. S. Taylor. 



I would have referred J. N. C. to either Pin- 

 kerton or Lindsay, where he would find a full 

 account about his Irish halfpenny ; but as he may 

 not possess a numismatic library, perhaps you will 

 allow me to trouble you with the extracts. Pin- 

 kerton says : 



" In 1760 there w.ns a great scarcity of copper coin 

 in Ireland ; upon which a society of Irish gentlemen 

 applied for leave, upon proper conditions, to coin half- 

 pence ; which being granted, those appeared with a very 

 bad portrait of George il., and 'voce populi' around 

 it. The bust bears a much greater resemblance to the 

 Pretender; but whether this was a piece of waggery 

 in the engraver, or only arose from his ignorance in 

 drawing, must be left to doubt." 



Pinkerton does not here specially refer to the 



