The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-10-18
MEMS NAMES.

but the C0rnhiU Magazine for July, new
ertheless, has an interesting article, from
which We extract some entertaining allu-
sions to the subject:
At first, the weaving Of names seems
really to have been more fashion than a
settled rule or established practice. The
case Of natural children was forgotten,
and was met by a contrivance not un-
known in our own day. When Henry ].
wished to marry his son Robert to Mabel,
co.heiress Of Fitz .llammon, the lady de-
INJURED:
/ =" It were to me great shame,
hTo4bave lord without his twa name
! Robert cf GtSOS,-
Whnrounnn." says Camden, "the King,
his father, gave him the name ol TltZ-ltny,
who after was Earl of Gloucester, and the
only worthy Of his age in England"
1t was some considerable GMMep before
the manner Of applying the fashion be-
came ut aH settled. Du Cange says that
suinamcs were first written mot in di-
rect line after TIE Christian name, but
above it," and hence they were called in
Latin supranomina, in Italian sopranOmi,
and in French surnoms. 1t is certain that
nearly all individuals in nations untouched
by civilization have only single names, and
that the addition of the supranomina
marks very advanced stage Of develop
mcnt. \ striking instance OF this is re-.
corded in the history Of Poland. When
/ Ladislaus JagelIon, King Of Poland, became
Christian Gn 1880, many of his sub
jccts followed his example. The mobiles
and warriors were baptized separately !;
but the plcbian candidates for the sacred
rites were divided into companies, and
the priest baptized them in lots, giving
all in the same section the same name
! Thus, all the men in the company No.
were called Peter. and all the women
/ Catherine; while the individuals Of divis-
ion No. were made Pauls and Margarets.
So many people bearing the same name, il
! became, of course, necessary to dislin-
guiSh them by soubriqurts, which gradu-
ally found their way into legal documents.
In process Of time, however, even this
: proved 70 be insufficient, and total
change in the system Of names was then
adopted by the invention Of hereditary
snrnameS. AS have said, the period at
which this took place in the different
States Of Western Europe varies greatly
for it was Of necessity n process inter
mixed with transitive stages, and was very
/ gradual in its march. In other words,
there is no date to mark the period; and
! the process was often very tardy in one
and the same country. While in Eng.
land, for example, surnames have been in
use for some centuries, in Wales they
/ were not adopted nnlil n comparatively
recent period, and the mode of develop.
mcnt here WAS peculiar.
One principle Tor constructing names
not u known in England was especially
illustrated by ti,, custom Of the principal
ity. The first idea was to take the faith
rrS name with the prefix zap, or "SOn
Of" the same as the Norman "FitZ," and
not altogether unlike the Scotch Mac, v
or the Irish 90" Even hundred years
back it was not unusual to hear Welsh
names, as Evan-ap-Griffith-ap- David-ap'
Jenkin, and SO on to the seventh and
eighth generations. The church of Liam
golIcn, in Wales, remains solcmnly dedi
Gated to st. Collen,ap, Gwynnawg-ap
: Clyndawg-ap. .Cowr,la-ap- -Caralnc Frrich
fas-ap. .Llynn.ap- -Merm.ap- -Eanon-ap-Yrtt
ap.Cunedda ap.Wlcdig. TO burlesqut
this very extraordinary fashion of nomen
clature, witty rhymestcr of the seven
tcenth century describes Welsh cheese aS
"Adam's own cousin german by its birth,
Ap-Curds-ap Milk-ap.Cow ap Grass-ap Earth. ,
In the plays of the Elizabethan perioC
there is fre0uent allusion to this ludicrou'
Welsh system Of names Even with the
gentry the use of hereditary Surnames die
not come into effect until the time of Hen
ry VIII, who paid great attention tC
the subject lie strongly recommended
the heads of Welsh families to conform tt
the usage long before it became universe
among the English; and, in consequence
many houses made their old names sta
tionary, while Il few adopted the names o
English relations. Among these latter
was the family Of Williams, which, Somt
generations alter this gracious recommen
dation, gave birth to Oliver Cromwell.
Ireland was divided, by the Pale, be
tween the Norman or Saxon practice o
England, aud the Indigenous or Gaelic
practice of the wild Irish; so that the sis
ter island affords no special illustration o
norotivclv - shor, Est Of snrnnmos nortI,
trom tho usc of clan des;annt;nnS co.;
oC r.nti,r uroc,icc onJ nortlv cor 1I ~,
Sarn con.o ,s in WaI.S h thc sacIrSo,
T and ruJe ronditinn ~ Of thc @ neonIo Ss SsDsc;ol
" oIonr thr COAST and III in % tba fishipg vii
larcs Whcn the fosb;on was first carr; m a,
into the North abont the time Of the Re
formotion the ;nhohitonts Of tbcse sncIu
dcd nIaccI Seem to havs toIt T Tho, the lack ~ q
chornctcr;.tic do.;cna,;on Wv .ovoro,r w -,
;;;,i,;ir intcllect hIT'I tsz,,,r.IIv H,,,;,r5
tcror7i;n,r r., th, -,c 49,;
Gle in EtcI,rooJ'x U,oo-;ne C,r Anr;l
1S4o on g Fish, FoIl, y ,,ora ,rara H.,
scldom moro tLon twn or thrno snrnoms
in = town In ..hnol,;n,," tho;. on,to,,,
rrs tbc crocnrs ;nvar;oII,, ;usortod IN
nick name nr ss Too" ,a,Mo. on,I ;n ca,o =
.,,,n,';,'J 49,, 49,, w - - e" .c ',