Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-07-15
Bible Names In England.

The following is from " Curiosities Of
Puritan Nomenclature" IL we look
over the pages of the directories of
West Yorkshire and East Lancashire,
and strike out the surnames, we could
imagine we were consulting anciently
inscribed registers of Joppa or Jericho.
1t would seem as IL Canaan and the
West Riding had got inextricably mixed.
What a spectacle meets our eyel
Within the limits of ten leaves we have
three Pharaoh's, while as many Heph-
zibahs are to be found on one single
page. Adah and Zillah Pickles. sisters,
are milliners. Jehoiada Rhodes makes
saws-not Solomon's sort-and Hariph
Crawshaw keeps farm. Vashni, from
somewhere in the Chronicles, page Is
rescued from oblivion by vashni Wilkin-
son, coal merchant, who very likely
goes to Barzillai Williamson, on the
same page, for his joints. Barzillai be-
ing butcher. joachim, known to but
few as situated in the Book of Kings, Is
in the person of joachim Firth, a beer
retailer, familiar to all his neighbour
Heber Holdsworth on one page Is faced
by Err Illingworth on the other. Asa
and Joab are extremely popular, while
Abner, Adna, Ashael. Erastus. Eunice,
Benaiah, Aquila, Elihu and Philemon
enjoy fair amount of patronage. Shad-
rach, Meshack and Abednego, having
been rescued from Chalden fire, have
been deluged with baptismal water. I
have lighted upon name after name that
1 did not know existed in the Bible ut
all till L looked into the Lancashire and
Yorkshire directories.
The Bible has decided the nomencla-
ture of the North of England. In towns
like Oldham. Bolton, Ashton and Black
burn, the clergyman's baptismal regis
ter is but a record of Bible names. A
clerical friend of mine christened twins
Cain and Abel. only the other day, much
against his own wishes. Another par
son on the Derbyshire border was grave
ly informed, at the proper moment,
that the name of baptism was Ramoth-
Gilead. "Boy or girl, ehP" he asked,
in a somewhat agitated voice. The
parents had opened the Bible haphaz-
ard, according to the village tradition,
and selected the first name the eye fell
on.
1t was but year ago little child
was christened Tellno in q own within
six miles of Manchester. at the sugges-
ton of cotton-spinner, the father, a
workman of the name of Lees, having
asked his advice. 81 suppose it must
be Scripture name." said his master.
40, yes; that's of course" Suppose
you choose Tellno," said his employer.
80 That'll d." replied the other, who
had never heard it before, and liked It
the better on that account. The child
is now Tell-no Lees, ("Lees" being the
way of pronouncing '.Lies'o
the father. too late, finding that he had
been hoaxed. "Sirs." was the answer
given to bewildered curate, after the
usual demand to name the child. He
objected, but was informed that It was
4 Scripture name, and the verse, "Sirs,
what must do to be savedr' was tri-
appealed to. This reminds
,ne of the Puritan who styled his dog
q Moreover. after the dog in the Cos
,el: Moreover the dog came and licked
his Sores"
There is, again, a story Of . clergy
nan making the customary demand a.
o name from a knot of women round
he font. "Ax her." said one. Turn
NC to the woman who appeared to be
he again asked, "What
Iamep" AK her." she replied. The
bird woman, being questioned, gave
he same reply. At last he discovered
he name to be the scriptural Achsah,
;aleb's daughter-a name, by the way,
which was somewhat popular with our
orefathers.