The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-07-08
Bible Names in ENGLAND.

The following is from CuriOsities of
Puritan Nomenclature" If 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 if Canaan and the
West Riding had got ineXtricablv mixed.
What q spectacle meets our eyei
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. Nashni, 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 neighbOrs.
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 Gladden. fire, have
been deluged with baptismal water. l
have lighted upon name aftername that
| did not know existed in the Bible at
all till 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 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, eh?' he asked,
in a somewhat agitated voice. The
parents had opened the Bible haphaz-
ard, according to the village tradition.
and selectedahe first name the eve fell
on.
1t was but q year ago little child
was christened TellnO in own within
six miles of Manchester, at the sugges-
ton of cotton-spinner. the father,
workman of the name of Lees, having
asked his advice. 81 suppose it must
be Scripture name," said his master.
go, yes; that's of course" Suppose
you choose Tellno," said his employer.
That II do" 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
Lancashire way of pronouncing 'Lies'O
the father, too late, finding that he had
been hoaxed. "STs." was the answer
given to a bewildered curate, after the
usual demand to name the child He
objected, but was informed that it was
Scripture name, and the verse, ''Sirs,
what must | do to be saved?n was tri-
umphantly appealed to. This reminds
one of the Puritan who styled his dog
Moreover. after the dog in the Cos
pei: Moreover the dog came and licked
his sores" fs. >D".. ....
There is, again, story of a clergy
man making the customary demand as
to name from knot of women round
the font. LAX her." said one. Turn
ing to the woman who appeared to be
indicated, he again asked, What
name?" LAX her." she replied. The
third woman, being questioned, gave
the same reply. At last he discovered
the name to be the scriptural Aehsah,
Caleb's daughter name, BY the way,
which was somewhat popular with our
fOrefathers.