Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1851-07-01
MARTINsBURG, Va, TUESDAY MORNING, JULY /, 1851.
FEMALE NAMES.

Mary, the sweetest Of the female names.
may not appropriately stand at the head of
our list. 1t is from the Hebrew, and signi
fies exalted Its French form is Marie. 1t
is, we hardly need say, a famous name in
both sacred and profane history. The name
has, literally been exalted 1t has been link
ed with titles and power-with crowns and
coronets, and adorned by goodness and beau
ty. Mary has ever been favorite name
with the poets. Byron, as he assured US,
felt an absolute passion for it. 1t is inwo-
ven with some of the sweetest verses. The
peasant poet, Burns, seems as much attach
ed to it as the author of Childe Harold 1t
is still the theme of bards aud bardlings UNI
numbered We might fill column or TWO
with songs, sonnets, and ballads, in the mel
ody of whose verse the most musical sylla-
bles are those which form the charming name
of Mary. But where so much presents it.
SELF we can quote nothing. We need quote
nothing, for
''The very music of the name has gone
Into our being"
Let the motto, or the toast if you will, be
the single line of Bryan Waller Proctor:
Here's health to theej Nary
Sarah is almost as common a name as
Mary, but it lacks the prestige which its
historical and poetical associations throw a.
round the latter 1t is also from the He
brew, and signifies princess In poetry it
takes the form of Sally or Sdllie, aud is
found in many love song and ballad. Sal
ly is sometimes contracted to Sal, which is
neither poetical nor euphonious.
Laughing sporting prattling Sallie,
Now tell me what shall be
The tint of sky, sunlight or starry,
To which 'lllinken thee
The softest shades of heavens own blue
Those lustrous eyes seem melting through"
Susan, another name of Hebrew origin,
signifies lily. In poetry it is usually seen
in its contracted form of Sue. 1t is pretty
name, and is immortalized in Gays we'll
known ballad. The Specification of the
name is very happily introduced in the clos
ing line:
"Adieu, she cried, and waved her lily hand"
Ralph Hoyt, in a very graceful poem, entitled
"My Sue, has the following lines:
''Aed how often have strayed
With the lads along the lea,
And with many pretty maid,
Yet, ali none of them for me.
For if she whom loved best
In the groups could not be seen,
No contentment in my breast,
No delight upon the green;
But there was garden nigh,
With its bower just i'll view,
And still craved my heart and eye
That SWEET i'y there--my Sue"
Mabel is probably derived from ma bella,
signifying my fair, though some suppose that
it is contracted from amabilis, lovely or ami
able. 1t IS good name in either case, and
worthy Of being perpctuated. Mary Hewitt
has ballad commencing.
"Arise, my maiden Maben
which is the only poem we now recollcct in
which the name occurs.
Ursula, name associated in our mind with
LONELINESS OF face and goodness of heart con-
cealed under the veil OF nun, is from the
Latin, and signifies nothing more amiable
than female bear Who, knowing this,
will give the name to child
Blanche, one of the sweetest names ever
borne by woman, is from the French, and
signifies white or fair. Mary Howit makes
the orange flower its floral type:
"Ah, Cousin Blanche let's see
What's the flower resembling thee
With those dove like eyes of thine
And thy fair hairs silken Irvine,
With thy low broad forehead, white
As marble, and as purely bright;
With thy mouth so calm and sweet
And thy dainty hands and feet;
What's the flower most like thee
Blossom of the orange tree ~
Lucy, in its French from Lacie signifies
lucid, and comes from the Latin,
"Lucy is golden girl"
says Bryan Proctor, and many will echo the
line. Lucy is a favorite name with almost
every one Wordsworth has made it one of
the
"Names welded into songs
And lovely indeed is the maiden bearing
that sweet name whom nature proposed to
mould, at will, to her own taste:
"She will be sportive MS the fawn
That wild with glee across the lawn
0rup the mountain springs
And hers shall be the breathing balm,
And hers the silence and the calm
OF mute insensate things.
eThe stars Of midnight shall be dear
To her. and she shall lean her ear
In many a secret place.
Where rivulets dance their Maynard round
And beauty, born of murmuring sound,
Shall pass into her face.