Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1902-04-11
WESTMINSTER WEST.
A STUDY OF NAMES.
A Paper Read at a Recent Meeting Of
Maple Grove Grange, Westminster

WEST.
| [Certain characteristics of the people of
the West Parish as shown by the names
they bear.1
1t is commonly believed that nearly
all the inhabitants of the place are tlllers
of the ground like Cain, or keepers of
| sheep and cattle like Abel. This Is
| great mistake. There is no Farmer or
| Shepherd In the parish. What kinds of
business then are pursued? There are
| Cooks and Carpenters Millers and Mi
nards, Fishers and Smiths, whether black
| smiths, tinsmiths, slversmiths or gold
| smiths Is not asserted. There is
| Chandler-a trader in a special line as
| the dictionary informs us, such as
| tallow chandler or a ships chandler; also
| a Chapman, as the English call store
keeper. and his clerk or Clark in the
Yorkshire dialect
In what kind of buildings do we reside?
| There is no House or Shedd or Church or
| Tower in the place, strange as we may
| think. But there are several Barnes and
| Halls which we are forced to be content
| with in the way of shelter for want of
| anything better. One of us even makes
| his abode in the Conner of a Field, with
which he seems to be satisfied, since he
has built residence at Saxtons River
| but does not occupy IT,
| With what do we furnish our homes?
We have no Curtains or Couch or Case
as some people have. Indeed we are so
| lacking in this line that we are obliged
to make shift with only few Riggs.
What kind of food do we live upon?
| We are no vegetarians. We have no
| Wheat as they have in Putney and no
Rice they have in the East Parish,
nor can we go Nutting as the people do
| there. We are carnivorous race.
| There are two kinds of ham; Durham
and Gor-ham. The difference must be
| that while one is well done. the other is
| mn rod Of oil ne fnr
| Cutting the same. We have butter from
| our Butterfleld which must be n cow
| pasture. For fish, there is A. Codding or
codling as 1t was originally. We have
Blood for pudding or. II any prefer. some
Hastings or hasty pudding. II may be
| inferred that there are chickens since
| there are some who Cromwell; also a
| Corlew in French OF curlew in English, a
| kind of bird like a woodcock and ex
| cellent eating. II is said. Most wonderful
| of all, we have one woman who can Sto-
| well all this provision
| For drink we have no Wine nor Waters
mineral or mixed. not even Coffee. We
have only Perry. made as some of us
know from the juice OF pears.
| AS means of summoning us to dinner
there is n Bell; or II occasion requires,
| there are some large Camp-bells which
| can surely make Dins-more.
What kind OF fuel do we use? No
Cole or Wood. We have neither; that is.
| soft wood. We have Woodland. hard
| wood and If that fails we can burn some
| Reeds which grow in the southwestern
part of the town, as people do where fuel
| Is scarce.
What kind OF people are we TO look at?
Well. few of us must be handsome for
| we are of a Good-hue. The rest prob
ably are invisible green. since no one is
Green enough to be visible. Neither is
anyone White. Black. Brown. Blue or
~ ,l.x. In.
No. -. One OF our maidens. however.
by going away from home, became White
| not long ago.
What are we In respect to size or
| height? We must all be short and
small. for there is no Tallman in the
| place. The Goodells are the tallest.
| They measure only four feet and one
! inch, IL It is the English ell IA is likely.
| But perhaps II is the French ell. the
| longest known Then they are four feet,
six inches tall. The rest OF us are
Smalley and some are Harlow-as low as
| a hare or rabbit. that is-they are doubt
less. descendants of our ancient friend
| Bildad the Shuttle. the shortest man
| spoken OF in the Bible.
What kind of animals do we keep?
Only few Kerrs, some creatures that
are Wilder, and strange kind of bee.
an insect rather than an animal. that
goes by the name of Orms-bee. probably
cousin OF the big humble bee. There is
some hint of a long horned deer in the
| name Buxton.
How is II with us in the matter of
health? Most OF us are in that medium
state which is common. and which We
are wont to say very little about
neither very well, nor very Ill, for there
is only one who really calls himself
Wellman, and on the other hand only
one family chemically ill--always af-
fiicted, as Job was. with Boyles.
What kind of amusements do we indulge
in? Footraces for the most part as they
did in ancient Greece. We have some
smart Walkers and a good number Of
Ranneys. whose ancestor presumably
acquired the name because he ran so
much and so fast and carried Off the
prize so often We have fine Field for
those games like II spy" which demand a
goal. or Gould as the children call 1t.
| How do we travel? In the latest fash
ion, to be sure. By Carr. for we have
nothing else In this line.
What do we do with offenders? We
put them in Ward, of course, as the
apostles were thrust into ward in Je-
rusalem; or we treat great criminals
the Moore desperate-as Daniel was
served in Babylon; we have Holden of
lions ready for them.
| Only a few names are left-Braley Is
probably a contraction of bravely or
stoutly; Powers came from a person of
strength. Six others complete the list
for the parish. The significance of these
is not apparent. Nearly the whole list
is of Anglo-Saxon origin.