227 
mot with, but none are very common ; only one— ‘ Martin ’—occurs 
in tlio list of the fifty most common names given by the Eegistrar- 
General. Within the last few days I have seen a new version 
of the ‘ Clergy List,’ in which odd names have been grouped 
together, from wliich it would appear that next to ‘ Martin ’ the 
most common name among the birds is ‘Drake,’ which occurs 
eighteen times in the ‘ Clergy List.’ lliero are ten ^^ightingales, 
miio Havens, seven Woodcocks, and seven Swans. In what the 
compiler calls the ‘Clerical Menagerie,’ thirty Foxes, eighteen 
Jmlls, fifteen Bullocks, fifteen Lambs, and fourteen Harts; while 
the most common fish is the Salmon. The above figures may 
give us some idea of the comparative frerpieucy of these sur- 
names, many of which are names of contempt, and must have 
been imposed and not assumed by the persons themselves ; while 
many are from creatures with so little individuality, that it is 
difhcult to see how they could have imposed their names on 
any one. 
Camden says : “ The tyrant time which hath swallowed many 
names, hath also in use of speech changed more— contractiim 
mollifying, and curtailing them,” and this wo shall find to bo 
especially true of surnames from living objects. Many which are 
0 ten met w ith in poll-books of the last century arc not to be 
found in modem directories. Such names are seldom or never 
coined now, and while some die out, others are so changed that 
tliey scarcely suggest the animal or plant from which they are 
hnvm^\*n/l ^ 
