The Red Cloud chief., 1881-11-03

huiScuous use Va gfcat Hatles tcgf1Gss
them; it is o 3 pleasant thing 10 see a
George Washington or a benjamin
Franklin in the police news for petty
larceny.
For the most part Old Testament
names are defective In cuphony and
very inharmonious with English family
names. The female names are still
less musical. Nothing can reconcile
US TO Naomi Brett, Hcpzibah Dicken-
son or Dinah Winter. And TO prove
that the unpleasant effect produced by
such combinations does not result FROM
the surnames selected. let Us substitute
appellatio1s uneXccptionable and the
result will be even worse-Naomi Pei
ham, Hepzibah Howard. DiHah Neville.
A Hebrew Christian name requires. in
most cases, n Hebrew nan
Some parents very wisely refuse for
their children all names susceptible OF
the nicking process. thinking with DIR.
Dove that ''it is not a good thing 10 be
Tom'd or Bold. Jack'd or Jim'd.
Sand or Bend. Wild or Biifd, Joed
or Jerry'd, as you 90 through the
world" Sobriquets are to be equally
deprecated. We know a beautiful
woman who when a girl was remark
able for a wealth Of ripping curling
hair. Some one gave her the name Of
"FriZ." and il still sticks TO the dignt
fed matrOn. Wit, or would be wit, de.
lights TO exercise itself after this fash
ion. but a child's name is too precious
a thing to be ridiculed.
Fanciful names are neither always
pretty nor prudent. Parents had need
Of the gift of prophecy who call their
children Grace, Faith. Hope. Fortune.
Love, etc. 1t is possible nat their aft
er-lifc may turn such names into bitter
irony.
For the sake of conciliating n rich
friend never give a child a disagreeable
his side as long as he lives, and after all
he nav miss the legacy.
A child, too. may have such an as
sembly of unrhythmical names that he
and his friends have to go jolting over
them all their lives. Suppose a boy is
called Richard Edward Robert. The
ear in a moment detects a tumble of
sounds of which it a make nothing.
II many Christian names are decided
upon, string them together on some
harmonious principle; that are
m%outhfuls of c~onsonants n not be
borne without bad consequences to the
owner.
The euphony of our nomenclature
would be greatly improved by a judi
cious adaptation of the Christian name
/ to the surname. When the is
n monosyllable the Christian name
should be long. Nothing can reconcile
the ear TO such curt names as Mark
Fox, Luke Harte, Ann Scott; but Gil
bert Fox. Alexander IIarte. and Cecilia
Scott are far from d~espicable.
A variety of excellent Christian
names, it is astonishing that SO few
should be i'm ordinary use. The die
tionaries contain lists of about two hun
dred and fifty male and one hundred
and fifty female names, but out of these
not more than twenty or thirty for each
sex can be called at all common.
Yet u language has many beautiful
names both male and female worthy Of
a popularity they have not yet attained.
Among the male, for instance -Alban,
Ambrose. Bernard, Clement. Christie
pher, Gilbert, Godfrey, Harold, Michael.
Marmaduke, Oliver, Paul, Ralph, Ru-
pert, Roger, Reginald, Roland, Syl-
vester. Theobald, Urban, Valentine,
Vincent, Gabriel, Tristram, Norman,
Percival. Nigel, Lionel, Nicholas,
Eustace, Colin. Sebastian. Basil, Mar.
tin, Antony. Claude, Justus, Cyril, etc.
all Of which have the attributes OF
euphony, good etymo!ogy, and interest
ing associations.
And au,opn fomola pop,oS ,,by boro
we not more girls called by the noble
or graceful appellations of Agatha,
Alethia, Arabella. Beatrice, Bertha.
Cecilia. Evelyn, Ethel, Gertrude. Isa-
bel, Leonora, Florence, Mildred. MILL
cent, Philippa, Pauline, Hilda, Clarice,
Amabel, Irene, Zoe, Muriel, Estelle.
Eugenia, Euphemia, Christabel, The.
-esa. Marcia, Antonio, Claudia, Sibylla,
Rosabel, Rosamond, etc?
There are some curious superstiti0ns
regarding the naming Of children,
which, as a matter of gossip. are worth
a passing notice. The ~peasantry of
Sussex believe that if a child receive
the name of a dead brother or sister, it
it also will die at IN early age. In some
parts of Ireland it is thought that giving
the child the name of one of its parents
abridees the life of that parent. 1t is
generally thought lucky to have the
initials of Christian name and surname
the same, and also to have the initials
spell some word. In the northwestern
parts of Scotland a newly-named infant
is vibrated gently two or three times
over a flame, with the words: LET the
flames consume thee now or never;
and this lustratiOn by fire is common
to-day in the Hebrides and Western
Isles. There is a widespread supersti-
ton that a child who does not cry at its
baptism will not live: also one which
considers it specially unlucky if any
thing interferes to prevent the baptism
at the exact time first appointed. In
many parts of Scotland, il children of
different are at the font, the min
lister who attempted to baptize the girl
before the boy would be interrupted.
1t is said to be peculiarly unfortunate
to the child if a priest that is left-hand-
ed christens it. In Cumberland and
Westmoreland a child going to be chris
tened carries with it a slice of bread
and cheese, and this is given to the first
person met. In return the recipient
must give the babe three different
things, and wish it health and fortune.
We have witnessed the aforementioned
custom very frequently, and once in a
farmhouse at the foot of Saddleback
Mountain we saw a very singular meth
cd Of deciding what the name of the
child should be. Six candles of equal
length were named, and all lit at the
same moment. The babe was called
after the candle which burned the long
est.
We have mentioned these supersti-
tons as curious proofs that our ignorant
ancestors considered the naming of chill
dren an important event; and we would
feel sorry if they tended to weaken in
any measure previous thoughts. For.
careless as we may be Of the fact, it
still remains a fact beyond doubt, that
the name of q person is the sound that
suggests the idea of him or her-it is
their portrait painted in letters. There
fore we Cannot be too careful not to
give one that will be q shame or an en-
barraSsment, or which will even con-
| denim tho hoarar tn tho commopnlaco