The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1898-10-08
SPANISH GRANDEES.
FAMILY PE0leREes THAT RUN BACK
TEN CENTURIES.

The National Vanity borders ON the Ab-
surdiy Grotesque, aud Playing the Gem
tleman Has Been Called 1.-The Endemic
Disease Of SPAIN"
lt is related that young guard, hay
ing neglected. to pay the usual salute to
Spanish duke at the 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 monkey is q
grandee of the first class. -
The truth is the Spanish are thor
oughly mongrel race, and their conceit
OF themselves amazes us. Their country
has probably been oftener overrun and
conquered than any other territory of
equal extent i'll Europe. Phpnician,
Carthaginian, Roman, vandal, VisigSth
and Moor have all successfully made it
their stamping ground, and the effect
OF all 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 "the endemic disease of Spain, "
and the national vanity is something
grotesque. One Of their historians seri-
ously advanced the theory that the first
Inhabitants of the country arrived
by air., SO impressed was he by their
superhuman qualities that nothing short
OF a descent from the sky could account
for them. A subsequent historian, how
ever, after long and grave discussion
OF the question, finally announced his
opinion that ''they more probably came
by land. -
After this we need not be astonished
that the Spanish claim to possess the
oldest families in Europe. The surpris-
ing circumstance is that the claim is
not wholly without foundation. Their
family names can In some cases be trao-
ed back to an incredibly remote period,
though it must not be assumed that the
original blood persists in any purity
Probably the most ancient family in
Spain is the house of Paoheco, whose
estates are not far from Carteia, now
called Cartaya, in Andalusia. Plutarch
tells us that when Crassus fed from
Italy he concealed himself for eight
months at Ximena, near Carteia, in
caves belonging to Spanish gentleman
named Paciccus. Cicero also mentions
this generous Spaniard, and there can
be no doubt that he was one Of the an
oestors of the Pacheco family, whose
name is obviously derived from his and
who still own the caves. This carried
them back about 2, 900 years, to period
antedating the Christian era but it is
possible to trace the line much further.
The name is clearly OF Phenician origin,
being ultimately derived from ''patai-
col, - the word by which the Tyrians
designated the carved fgurehead of
their galleys.
The Identification is made more COM
plete by the fact that the Phoenicians
were the founders of Carteia, as of Cad
IL in the same province. That adds
another / 1000 years Or so to the Pacheoo
pedigree. Think of it-a landed estate
remaining i'll the possession of the
same family for 5000 years! This is
doubtless the most wonderful family
tree in the world and unusually we'll
authenticated. The Pachecos may we'll
be pardoned for taking pride in it,
though 1t roots in rather unsavory soil
at last, for the great original Pacheco
was evidently Tyrian freebooter.
Names that trace back to the Cartha-
gtnian occupation in the time of Han.
nibal are also found, and the title Of
Hannibal's own clan, Barca, is perpet-
uated by the Barcias and Garcias, we'll
known families of Andalusia. There
are 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 a per.
sonal friend Of the poet Martial, all Of
which seems to bring antiquity very
near--in Spain. The fact of the matter
Is she has never emerged from antiquity.
The Spanish, however, are inclined
to look back to the Cloths as "the purest
fountain of nobility This certainly
seems strange perversion of sentiment,
for of all the barbarians that came down
from the north to lay waste Roman civ
ilization with fire and sword the Goths,
with their cousins, the Vandals, were
the most irredeemably villainous
And these Goths were no extraordi-
nary heroes either, even in war. With
supine and braggart incompetency 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 the pet phrase
To a rank outsider it would seem that
the Basque families have the most hon
orable lineage, and their pedigrees run
back to time immemorial, though not
easily traoeable. The Basques represent
the original population of the Spanish
peninsula. Their seat is the mountains
Of the northern district, and in many
ways remind us of the Welsh. They
have the same simplicity of life, and
the same really justifiable pride of birth,
for their blood is the purest in Spain, if
that counts for anything. Like the
Welsh also, they have to considerable
extent maintained their ancient Ian
guage, one Of the strangest whichAsur-
vive upon the earth, bearing no resem-
blance to any other in Europe.
These Basque families, for the most
part, bear names which appear to be
geographical in their origin, as Ugarte,
meaning between waters;" Zubia,
"the bridge" Ibarra. "the valley'--a
style which reminds us of our American
Indians, although it is found more or
less all over the world. The termina.
tlon "ez," so common in Spanish