The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-07-29
WASHINGTON.

with feast.
WASHINGTON.
Mr.. Arthur gives the derivation and
meaning of nearly every name in com
mon use among the American people.
Washington, he says, was originally
Wessyngton, and was taken from the
place in England where the family
originated; from veis or wash, a creek
setting in from the sea, the shallow
part of d river; ling" means a mca-
dow or low ground, and ton" town
or hill, so that Washington means the
town on a salt creek.
Arthur, his own name, means n
strong man; from "ar" Uat. viD. 1
man. and thor" strong. In the Gaelic
air is the same as dear" a man.
and the ancient Scythians called
man "aior." Thor was the Jupiter Of
the Teutonic races. their god of thun-
der. In Welsh "arth" is bear-an
emblem of strength and courage, and
''ur" a noun termination, a man. Ar
thur" was a bear man, a hero, a man
of strength, the name of a British
| prince.
The patronymic Grant is treated
| thus:
!
| that it may be derived from the Sax
| on, Irish or French. In the Saxon
! Grant signifies crooked or bowed.
! Thus Cambridge, the town and uni
versity of England so called, signifies
crooked bridge, or rather a bridge
! upon Cam river, or the crooked and
winding river. The SaXons called this
| town Grant Bridge, cam in the Brit
| 'orl Il, t1,., .T
the same signiflcauce-rrooked.
so Mons Gramphins, the Grampian
! hill, was called by the SaXons Granz
Ben, or the crooked hill but we can
not see how from this Saxon word the
| surname should be borrowed.
In the old Irish grandma signifies
| ugly, ill-favored. "Grande" signifies
| dark, swarthy. Grant and char sig
! Nifty much the same thing, or are syn
! onymous words, and there being a
! tribe of the Grants called Clan CHA
ran it is the same as Clan Grant. Thus
the surname might nave been taken
| from a prOgenitor that was Char or
! Grant-that is to say, a swarthy or
| gray-bearded man-and though in
! time became the common and prevail
! ing surname yet some always retained
!
| called Clan Chiaran.
In the French Grant signifies great,
! brave, valorous, and from thence many
| are inclined to think that the surname
/ Grant is taken from grand, which in
| the Irish is sounded short, and there
| by the letter d at the end of the word
| is changed into t. and thus Grand
| into Grant. The surname. it seems
in, 4
800 years ago, for Richard Grant was
| made archbishop of Canterbury in the
| year 1929, and is in Mr.. Anderson's S
| genealogical tables as we'll as by others
| expressly called Richard Grant. But
| the English historians of that time
writing in Latin, call him Richard
Magnus, which plainly shows that they
| took Grant to be the same with the
| French grand and the Latin mag
| nus to which, let us add, that in the
! old writs the article the is pat before
| the surname Grant"
The name Conkling is said to be de-
rived from con" bold, wise, knowing,
and klein" little, or son-that is, the
son of Con. "Konkelen" in Dutch sig
nifies to plot, to intrigue, conspire
"Cleangleann," Gaelic, the head of the
| valley"
Blaine comes from the town of Blain
| in Bretagne France. Mr.. Arthur says
"Blaen in the Welsh signifies the sum
init or top; the same as pen brig
and bar the highest part of a noun
tain: the end or top of an object; the
inland extremity of a glen; leader or
| chief"
Cameron means crooked, or crooked
nose, from the Gaelic cam" crooked,
and "eron." nose.
John Sherman's name comes from IA
shearman, one who used to shear
cloth. Villain, thy father was a plas-
terer and thyself a shearman."
Jones Is said to be from the Hebrew
| and to signify gracious.
Lincoln is from Lincoln in England.
The name is derived from lin i'm the
Gaelic, Welsh and Cornish British,
which signifies a pool. pond or lake,
and COIN the ridge or neck of hill,
so called from its situation, as it oc-
cupies the top and side Of steep LiIl
on the river Witham, which here di-
vides. into three streams"
Garfield is local Saxon, "garwian." I"
TO prepare; German or Dutch, gar"
| dressed, done, ready. prepared; aud
| field" place where everything Is fin
nished necessary for an army.
Bliss i'm English is a happy name, IN
posed by others on the individual.
''Blys" in the Welsh signifies deriving,
longing.
p,t1av mil. F,,,iI,r l.,s,..