Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1898-08-26
SPANISH GRANDEES.
FAMILY peolGREes THAT RUN BACK
TEN CENTURIES.

FAMILY PEDlGREES THAT RUN BACK
TEN CENTURIES.
The National Vanity borders ON the Alb ;
surdly Grosesquc, aud Playing the Gem
tleman Has Been Called '.the Endemic ;
Disease of SPAIN" |
1t is related that u young guard, hav. !;
Ing neglected to pay the usual salute to !
q S! Ilish duke at tho court Of Madrid, !
excused himself by saying that he did
not know the offended nobleman's rank.
my friend" replied his grace, "the
safe rule is to assume that everybody in
the palace who looks like q monkey is q
grandee Of the first class"
The truth is tho Spanish are q thor
pughly monSrcl race, and their conceit
Of themselves amazes us. Their country
has probably been oftener overrun and
conquered than any other territory Of
equal extent in Europe. Phnnician.
Carthaginian, Roman, Vandal, Visigoth
and Moor have NIL successfully made it
their stamping ground, and the effect
OF oil this upon the pure Castilian
blood. whatever that may be, is indeli-
bly, stamped on every really Spanish
face.
But playing the gentleman has been
called "tho endemic disease Of Spain"
aud tho national vanity is something
grotcsque. One of their historians seri-
ously advanced tho theory that the first
inhabitants of tho country CARVED
by air." so impressed was no by their
s%uperhuman qualities TINT nothing short
of n descent from tho sky could account
for them. \ subsequent historian, how
ever, after a long and grave discussion
Of tho question, finally announced his
opinion that "they moro probably came
by land"
After this wo need not be astonished
that tho Spanish claim to possess tho
Oldest families in Europe. Tho surpris-
ing circumstance is that tho claim is
not wholly without foundation. Their
family names can in somo cases DO trac-
cd back to m incredibly remote period,
though it must not DO assumed that tho
original blood persists in any purity.
Probably tho most ancient family in
Spain is tho house Of Paoheco, whose
estates arc not far from Carteia, now
I called Cartaya, in Andalusia. Plutaroh
tells us That when Crassus fed from
Italy no concealed himself for eight
months at Ximena, near Cartoia, in
caves belonging to u Spanish gentleman
named Paciccus. Cicero also mentions
this generous Spaniard, and there can
be no doubt that he was ono Of tho an
, cestors Of tho Pacheco family, whose
namo is obviously derived from his and
who still own the caves. This carried
them back about z, 900 years, to a period
a%ntcdating tho Christian era, but it is
possible to trace tho limo much further.
Tho namei is clearly of Phnnician origin,
being ultimately derived from ''patai.
COL" tho word by which tho Tyrians
designated the carved tigurehead Of
their galloys.
Tho identification is made more COM
plcto by the fact that tho Phnnicians
wcro tho founders of Cartoia, as Of Cad
il in the same province. That adds
another 1000 years OF 80 to tho Pacheco
pedigree. Think of it-a landed estate
remaining in tho possession of tho
same family for 5000 yoarsl This is
doubtless tho most wonderful family
trco in tho world and unusually we'll
authenticated. Tho Pachccos may we'll
DO pardoncd for taking pride in it,
though it roots in rather unsavory soil
at last, for tho great original Pacheco
was evidently n Tyrian freebooter.
Names that trace back to the Cartha.
gilman occupation III tho time of Han
nibal arc also found, and tho tito Of
Hannibal's wv clan, Barca, is perpet-
uated by tho Barcias and Garcias, we'll
known families Of Andalusin. There
arc also several names Of Roman ante.
cedents, as Ponce and Cane, in Latin
Pontius and Canius. A Spanish gentle
man bearing the latter name was u per-
sonal friend Of tho poet Martial, all Of
which seems to bring antiquity very
near-in Spain. The fact of the matter
is sho has never emerged from antiquity.
Tho Spanish, however, arc inclined
to look back to the Goths as ''tho purcst
fountain Of nobility" This certainly
seems strange pcrycrsion Of sentiment,
for Of all tho barbarians that camo down
from the north to lay waste Roman CIV
ilization with fire and sword tho Cloths,
with their cousins, the Vandals, were
the most irrcdeemably villainous.
And these Cloths were no extraordi-
nary heroes either, ever i'll war. With
supine and brsggart incompctcncy they
lost to the Moors in the eight months
campaign a supremacy which it cost
eight centuries of conflict to regain.
Yet "Gothic of Spain" is tho pet phrase.
To II rank outsider it would seem that
the Basque families have the most hon
orable lineage, and their pedigrees run
back to time immcmorial, though not
easily traccable. The Basques represent
tho original population Of tho Spanish
peninsula. Their scat is tho mountains
Of tho northern district, and in many
ways remind us Of tho Welsh. They
have the same simplicity Of life, and
the same really justifiable pride of birth,
for their blood is dc purcst in Spain, if
that counts for anything. Like tho
Welsh also, they have to a considerable
extent maintained their ancient Ian
! guagc, one Of the %strangcst which sur
vive upon the earth, bearing no resem-
blance to any other i'll Europe.
: These BASQUE families. for tho most