The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1886-12-10
DERIVATION OF FAMILIAR WORDS.
;IoW the Words Blanket, Caterpillar. Pen
ny, and Sterling Were Coined

now the Words Blanket, Caterpillar. Pen
ny, and Sterling Were Coined
" Yorick writes 70 the New York
Sun, as follows:
Some words of our language in
common use puzzle US when we seek
their derivation, and the pages of
neither Webster nor Worcester, go far
as L can discover, afford us any help.
The derivation is curious of the
common word blanket When Ed
ward III ascended the throne of
England he Immediately declared war
against France, and shortly after pre-
pared to invade her territory. But the
sinews of war were wanting and so the
monarch appealed to his loving sub
iects.
English money bags, however.
were not so plethoric as they have be-
come since, and little coin, compare
lively, was IN circulation. The people
loved their young and valiant king,
and the war was popular one.
The English raised large ouanti-
ties of wool, which they sent 20 Flan-
ders for manufacture. Il was deter.
mined to devote tho wool crop Of that
year toward defrRying the expenses Of
the expedition. After tho moro val
liable portion had been used there WIS
aquantity quite unfit for the Flemish
looms. This WAS bought up by one
SIr Thomas Blunquette, who had IL
woven into a coarse but warm material.
and patrioticnlly presented il TO the
hlnS os contribution to tho comfort
OF tho soldiers and as y covering for the
horses Of the mobiles and knights.
This material was named Blan-
quette, or Blanquet, from the name
OF tho donor, and We now spell it
blanket.
Caterpillar Many New Yorkers are
perhaps ignorant whence the pest, which
was combated by that other pest tho Eng
hsh sparrow, derived its name. About
the time OF tho soi-disant virgin Queen
. kind OF cake. composed Of flour,
honey, and spice, was in high favor:
they were called =" Gates" In The
Tanning of the Shrew " Petruchio puus
upon the name Of his prospective
bride:
Ny super dainty Kate.
For dainties all are Hates, SO.
The Purveyor of this dainty wa
called, from the name of the coufeo-
tion, a g cater" or more recently In a
wider Specification, " caterer"
g The insect in question was a de-
structive raider on the wheat which fur
nished the -four to the cater. and
hence It was called " cRter-pillager.
1t docs not require much ingenuity to
see how cater-pillnger became
" caterpillar"
Perhaps some of the good people Of
Wall Street would like to know the
origin of the words penny and sterling.
" 1t appears that there lived at one
t1mc IN Germany brace of beggars,
pretended cripplcs. Both these advcn-
turOus beggars arc said to have once
formed o part of the Council ut Dant-
zlg, but to have subsequently lost
property and been subjected to tho
severcst privntiOns.
The oldest of these lame gentle
men, known by the name of Thomas
Penny, was exceedingly disliked by
the people, and on one occasion IN q
grand row he was literally thrown out
of the window into the street, by which
he became . Veritable cripple. 1t was
curntly reported of him in DAntzig
thst he bad there displayed an i'm
msnse amount of copper coin, but so
badly executed In the mint as to have
given rise to the nickname of Penny's
money, an appellatiOn which we are
aware has been retained to the present
day.
" To this we may add the origin of
the term sterling to complete the
primitive descent of pounds as well -
of pence. In the time of Richard
money coined in the eastern parts ::
Germany came into special request In
England on account of its purity, and
was called Essterling money, as all
the inhabitants OF those parts were
called Easterlings.
I" King Edward established certain
standard for the silver coin of England,
but no gold WAS coined until the reign
of Edward III, who, In the year 1929,
caused several pieces 70 be coined
called Florentes because they were
coined by Florentines. From the name
of the purer coinage, called Easterling
money, cAme the term sterling, - ex-
pressive of q standard purity.
I'm the reign Of Charles II! certain
traders brought . quantity of gold
from the coast Of Guinea. The King
caused it to be coined into pieces
which were called Guiness, from
the country whence the gold UAs
brought" .I